Fun Territory Defense Chapter 208 (Patreon)

[Another Viewpoint] Sibling Reunion

[Gallardo]

The hastily gathered mercenaries were slow in their preparations, and it took longer than expected for them to leave.

Meanwhile, I received an order from my father to leave before he did. I might have made a bad impression at this point. I was so nervous that I had to let the private soldiers make other preparations, and even helped the mercenaries get their equipment in order.

The expenses were not insignificant. Hiring mercenaries for a month would cost from one to three large silver coins per head. But if there were a hundred of them, it would be one to three large gold coins per month. With a thousand men, it would be ten times that amount. Considering that a knight's annual income is usually three to four gold coins, this would be a considerable expense.

And it is unlikely that the expedition would be completed in a month or two this time. If the expedition does not produce any significant results, we will be in the red.

That is why we need to go to the remote village as soon as possible to impress His Majesty as much as possible.

"...Van's territory, huh? I doubted that the failure would have a knighthood."

Not only did he have an aptitude for four-elemental magic, he even had an aptitude for magic that was considered incompetent. It appears that Espada and Dee took pity on him and accompanied him, and he must have somehow managed to take credit for it with the help of those two. I also heard that they hired adventurers or mercenaries. They may have helped him financially as well.

Dee, of course, and Espada, too, are said to have served with distinction on the battlefield in the past. With these two men, it would be possible to slay the dragon. As a result, Van was treated like a hero for saving a small frontier village and slaying the dragon. That's lucky, but it's also important.

However, in the upcoming battle, he would show his power by burning the battlefield with flames and make Gallardo Gai Fertio's existence known. With this in mind, we set out for Van's territory, swaying in the carriage.

Although we were able to recover some of our strength in the towns and villages along the way, the long ride was mentally exhausting, and even when speaking with Sesto, we both became increasingly unable to hide our exhaustion.

Meanwhile, the mercenary who was leading us finally reported that we had arrived at our destination.

"Gallardo-sama! We are almost there!"

"...Damn. Can't you report a little more quietly?"

Irritated by the mercenary's coarse language, I look out the window of the carriage. I've yelled at the mercenary leader since day one for using language that was so ungracious, but it made him a little more decent. As headaches go, this one is still a good one.

With a frown, I looked at the carriage next to me and my eyes met those of Sesto, who had a similar expression on his face.

"Looks like we're finally arriving."

Sesto mutters in disgust. I nodded back at him and let out a sigh.

"It was good to get a sense of the vastness of our marquis territory. But I also pity my youngest brother who has been pushed so far to the edge. I'm sure he will be treated differently because of his talent, but I guess he was judged to be that unskilled."

I say this with some pity for Van's situation and a slight sense of superiority over myself as a four-element magician. Sesto raised an eyebrow and looked at the destination of the carriage.

"...Brother Gallardo, what is that? Is that Van's territory?"

Sesto said this to me in a stunned tone, and I looked up to see what he was talking about. But I immediately felt the same way.

"...Walls? You don't think they built that many walls in just over a year?"

At the end of the street, I could indeed see a fortified city surrounded by walls. Although small, it is still a magnificent place where more than 1,000 people can live. Soldiers could be seen on top of the walls, and it seemed that the surrounding area was well guarded.

"As I thought, it looks like Dee and Espada are working on it. But how much money did they spend?"

I muttered calmly as best I could, but inwardly I was quite upset. The town where he served as a deputy was far from Van's territory, and it was not until he returned to his father's house that he heard Van's recent rumors, which he dismissed as wild rumors.

Van had built a house and made weapons with magic. It is said that Van's territory has grown greatly with his power.

Nonsense. I have never heard of such magic. There is no doubt that it is a production-type magic, but there has never been such a production-type magician in the history of the world.

I had heard rumors of such magic, but I didn't pay any attention to them.

However, there was a fortified city in front of me that I did not think could be built in a little more than a year. As I approached it, I could see the intimidating presence of the city gates looking up at me.

I have never seen such an architectural style before."

"Yes, it is...even so, it's huge."

I spoke to him in a casual tone so that he would not be intimidated, but Sesto could not hide his agitation. As I did so, a voice called out from the top of the ramparts.

"I presume you are the people from Marquis Fertio's family, right?"

It was a young woman's voice. The leader of the knighthood, thinking this was a surprise, replied, "We are the Fertio family. I told him not only that we were from the House of Fertio, but that I and Sesto were also here." As a result, the gates were opened immediately, but we did not immediately enter the castle.

"What? Up to ten representatives?"

"I am sorry. There are still many more knights scheduled to arrive."

So I was told, and I stared at the view behind the gate. The moment the gate was opened, I was struck by the town that was so developed that I thought it was the Royal Capital, but it certainly wasn't that big.

"Brother, it can't be helped. We don't have enough grounds."

Sesto told me this with a half smile, and I snorted and nodded.

"Ah, yes. Well, I should say, I'm amazed that they let their poor village get this far."

I reply with a strong smile and enter the town, which, as Sesto said, is full of gorgeous, lofty buildings, but the site is not large at all. At most, there is room for about 1,000 people. No, the buildings are all more than three stories high, so a few more people might be able to live there.

However, even if that were the case, it would be smaller than the town they ruled as deputies. It must be disadvantageous in terms of distribution.

As I walked around the town looking at the scenery with a sense of relief, I was led to the gate on the other side of the town for some reason.

Why are you trying to get out of the town?

"You're not going to kick us out, are you?"

As we were made to stand in front of the gate, we both complained to the soldier who was leading us out. The soldier then looked back at us with a curious expression and nodded as if he remembered something.

"Oh, I apologize for not explaining myself better. This is not Seat Village yet. There were too many adventurers visiting Seat Village, so Van-sama is a newly created town exclusively for adventurers."

"...Huh?"

Not understanding the meaning of the soldier's explanation, I involuntarily nodded my head in a curt reply. I had never heard of a town exclusively for adventurers. What in the world is this person talking about?

I looked at Sesto and pondered the meaning of the words with a confused head.

"Open the gates!"

Meanwhile, the gates opened and the view outside the town spread out before us.

"...Hey, what the hell is that...?"

"...Don't tell me that's Van's...?"

What appeared was the appearance of a magnificent fortress city, larger than this town.