"Why am I getting called at such an early time…… the world is totally unfair, really"

Early morning of a certain spring, Yui"s relegated life in Carlin had reached its fourth year.

He received a summoning from Ernst, the sole superintendent of the Carlin Regional Army, to the aging town hall which also doubles as army barracks in case of emergencies.

There are ten ranks present in the Clarice army; it started from the highest – the Ministry of Military Affairs, to tenth rank, given to new recruits drafted in wartime.

Due to circ.u.mstances which is the deployment from the central, Yui was bestowed a sixth rank, and in this Carlin he was appointed as the chief strategic officer.

And the one who summoned him, Ernst, is a fifth rank officer and is the current military commander-in-chief of the Carlin Army.

"Still, it"s pretty unusual for me to be called at such time, which means the situation is pretty hectic over there……"

In the hierarchy of the local army in Clarice Kingdom, each of the three departments, the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Magic, and Ministry of Tactics should dispatch their officers to the local area, and the locally hired soldiers will be a.s.signed to them - that was the common practice.

However, Carlin is a town located at the westernmost end of the continent and with the mountain ranges at its back, and since it doesn"t share any borders with the other countries, its strategic value is equal to none. For this reason, the necessity of military power in Carlin is very low, and all the soldiers hired by the Ministry of Defense covering the town"s security are its locals.

(TL Note: Stolen from ErikaWalker"s site . She used Karin instead of Carlin. I prefer the latter because it suits the "medieval" feeling. I mean just look at the other places on the map. They sound so……old)

Meanwhile, the fact that the central supervision is loose probably caused them to take liberty of the local army, and three years ago, for the first time since the foundation of the country, the order if the Carlin army was brought into question. It is because an aristocrat from the said place heard reports that some of the local soldiers are being used as private armies, becoming the hotbed of corruption.

As a result, the central decided to dispatch personnel other than the Ministry of Defense to act as a corporate inspector to the site. The Ministry of Magic and the Ministry of strategy kept pushing the responsibility on each other, and in the end, the Ministry of Strategy decided to dispatch a resident military officer to the said place for the first time, and that was the relegated officer Yui Ystats, nicknamed as "The Deadbeat of the Royal Capital".

"Well, what"s done is done. But what if it"s about a job relocation, how will I refuse this……"

Ernst, who called him, knew that Yui is really not a morning person so whenever there is a meeting, he always consider to hold it in the afternoon. For the situation to make Ernst call him in this early, Yui felt a bad premonition.

That is why he a.s.sumed the worst case scenario which is being relocated back to the kingdom capital, and made his brain simulate on how to decline the offer while walking towards the city hall. By the time he had finished simulating his ways of declining in about five patterns or so in his mind, Yui finally reached Ernst"s office.

Yui put his head into order once again and to the room in front, he knocked on the door modestly.

"Ystats, is that you? Get in"

Responding to the knock, Ernst"s calm voice reverberated towards the other side of the door.
Yui who heard the voice breathed out gently, relaxed his shoulders and opened the door slowly.

As he set foot on the office, what reflected in Yui"s eyes is a blonde man in his mid-thirties sitting on the sofa. At the same time, he caught the figure of gray-haired Ernst, with a stiff expression on the other side of the sofa.

"It"s been a long while, Ystats. We have already met when you a.s.sumed the new post, though it seems that you are already used to Carlin"s waters already"

The middle-aged man with a blonde hair rose up from the sofa from he was sitting on, spread both his arms towards Yui then laughs.

Yui couldn"t recall the man"s name at once, and as he lowered his head in respect, he moved his eyes toward Ernst.

"Mr. Ystats, over here"

Catching Yui"s stare, Ernst prompt him to move next to him.

Yui who was made to approach slowly sunk his waist on the sofa, then finally remembered the good-looking man sitting opposite of him on the list of people"s names in his brain.

Count Samuel.

That"s the name of the man sitting on the opposite side. And to add it further, a noun called mayor rather than a count was often stuck behind his name.

"Sorry to call you so all of a sudden in this early in the morning. Actually, I was about to make preparations beforehand, but before that I intend to ask you……"

Yui felt a little anxious on how to cut down the talk, but taking into account the mayor"s presence, the possibility of the topic to be a transfer is low, so he immediately regained his original composure.

However, this is the first time he saw the mayor present since he arrived here. And seeing the usually mild Ernst with a stiff expression, he felt that something really bad is coming.

"Actually, I want to ask you a request to be an escort. The time period is about one week"

"……Escort?"

Yui asked by reflex to Ernst"s unexpected proposal.

Escort missions in Carlin fall down on the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense, so asking Yui who came from the Ministry of Tactics for an escort mission is unlikely to think about.

"Yes. An escort mission. I"m sorry to push this work on you, who was originally from the Ministry of Tactics……but this time there are some special circ.u.mstances"

As Ernst hesitated to talk, Samuel sitting opposite of us continued the story with a smile.

"No, it was me who asked Commander Ernst to ask you. To tell you the truth, one tourist is going to come to my territory from the royal capital, but the visitor in itself is a little bit of the problem. Elise Fon Eltobourgh is the visitor. You know her?"

Yui ruminated over the name Elise, but even after he dug up his memory, there wasn"t anyone who fell under his acquaintances. However at the moment he recognized the surname Eltobourgh, Yui felt an impact as if he was. .h.i.t with a large impact at the back of his head.

"Eltobourgh…… you mean the first princess Elise?!"

Yui alternately looked that the faces of the two to confirm.

Ernst then gave a heavy nod, and at the end of his line of sight, Samuel opened his mouth to affirm Yui"s opinion while observing his reaction.

"Yes, that"s the one. For the time being, it"s said to be a sightseeing combined with territory inspection, but inside my dominion there are no one with a suitable talent in escorting a princess, therefore we chose you, who came from the royal capital."

"I"m sorry to say this, but that"s the situation, Mr. Ystats. I think you already know this, but there aren"t any subordinates well-educated in the culture of the royal capital in my side either. To be honest, I can only ask you who came from the royal capital. Sorry, but can you fulfill this request?"

Ernst, who was considerably older than him, lowered his head in apology, and Yui being flurried had no choice but to give an affirmation.

"I see, so that"s the reason. I"d like to refuse originally, but it"s not like I was given a choice to decline, right? Understood, I"ll accept this mission. However, I think that the numbers of our military unit guarding the princess are still too few, but……how shall we go around it?"

Yui asked Ernst as he thought of the faces of the six people of the Tactics Division floating in his mind.

Then, Ernst shook his head as he didn"t need to worry.

As for that, it seems that some Royal Guards will be arriving from the capital. So rather than a bodyguard, you"ll be playing the role of a guide more"

Upon hearing Ernst"s words, Yui felt relieved that he won"t have any excessive worries regarding the escort problem.

Of course, if the escorts showed prejudice against the local soldiers, there is a possibility of trouble coming up. Therefore, he"s still a little anxious about it, but considering the fact that the situation requires a pressing need for his confirmation, he switched his thoughts.

"……Understood. So, when is Princess Elise going to arrive?"

"That"s today"

Ernst, while making an expression as if chewing up a bitter bug, told Yui.

"Today……is that the truth?"

Receiving a response from Ernst that he didn"t expect, Yui took a glance at the ceiling unconsciously, and squeezed his thoughts outside.

"Yes. Princess Elise said that she would like to see the inspection personally. It seems that the same is true from her tours to the other territories, suddenly heading for inspection within the territory without prior contact. Last night was also the first time we received contact, and they have left the capital three days ago and it is said that they are arriving today."

"That"s……quite a tomboyish personality she had, that first princess"

Looking toward the worried figures of the two, Samuel who floated a slightly cringe smile brings back the subject to Yui.

"But Mr. Ystats, since you were in the kingdom, haven"t you at least heard the rumors? The royal princess" eccentric behavior, right? It"s quite a topic among the n.o.bles"

"Unfortunately, when considering the members of the royal family, I can"t remember that much…… but being called an inspection, where should I guide her?"

"Well, for now, today we have decided to welcome her at my villa in Carlin. As for the schedule at the moment, tomorrow the city, the day after tomorrow the outskirts, and two days after tomorrow the Croceon Mountain Ranges are the following they said that they would like to visit"

When Samuel spoke the name of the mountain ranges representing the scenic nature of Carlin, Yui finally understood the main purpose of the other party.

"Indeed. I understand well what she meant by a tourist. If it"s the case then I"ll make arrangements with that intention. Now, if you"ll excuse me, I must hurry with my preparations"

With that, Yui stood up from the sofa, bowed to the two people and left the office.

"But is it really alright with him? Certainly, if you refer to his grades back in the military academy, but still……"

Samuel told the question he was holding back as he moved his eyes towards Ernst from the door where Yui left.

"Yes. He"s an excellent man. Though he is rumored to have always played truant from work within the kingdom, if you examine his works closely, you will find out that almost every single one of them has a single fault at all. In other words, he"s clever enough not to make those mistakes happen. Moreover if there is a time left over, he a.s.sists others on their work in his own initiative, and there was never a time when he made a plan where he plays the main role nor taking achievements for himself"

"I see……as expected from the boss himself, you understood him well"

Saying so, Samuel nodded in satisfaction.

Since he became the Chief of Military Affairs, Samuel kept the town safe without failing in any way while going through various troubles, and put his full trust on the aging general.

"Nah, I can be his boss only when he"s here. But I"m sure, he will be the one who will stand above me immediately as soon as he returns to the kingdom, although I might retire first before that"

Ernst spoke of the youth with expectation, as if his face that was depressed until just now seemed to be a lie.