Published: January 15, 2026
After a while, Murcia arrived at Seato Village. It was earlier than initially planned—arriving in just ten days. Upon hearing the news, I went to the castle gates to greet him, and Murcia, looking a bit worn out with teary eyes, waved his hand.
"Van!"
"Brother Murcia!"
It was an emotional reunion. Murcia happily passed through the castle gates and took something out to show me.
"You had a birthday recently, right?"
"Huh? Are you giving me something?"
I was delighted by the unexpected words and checked what was held out before me. There were white powders and brown powders, among others.
"What is this?"
When I asked, Murcia nodded with a smile.
"Well, I managed to purchase a large amount of seasonings and long-lasting ingredients through the Yelinetta Kingdom. Van, you liked eating, didn’t you? I actually wanted to bring prepared food, but it wouldn’t have survived the long journey."
Murcia said this with a kind smile. Most of the seasonings were imported, making their cost surprisingly high. Apparently, some were also loaded onto the wagon behind him, likely worth an amount equivalent to gold bars.
Unfortunately, we had just bought a large quantity from Apollo of the commerce guild recently. It was probably much cheaper than what Murcia paid.
Still, I was very happy with Murcia’s thoughtful gesture, so I accepted it with a genuine smile.
"Thank you so much! Til, can you make some hotcakes with this?"
"Yes! I’ll prepare them right away!"
I picked out the seasonings we had seen before and handed them to Til. After a week of trial and error, Til had succeeded in making delicious hotcakes. Truly, she was our village's proud culinary researcher, whose frequent failures were part of her charm.
Murcia, overhearing our exchange, tilted his head and spoke.
"Hmm? You already knew about these seasonings? There shouldn't be much import-export with the Yelinetta Kingdom yet."
"Gah."
I couldn’t help but let out that sound in response to Murcia’s words. Although Murcia saw through it, I managed to convey that I was happy to have such rare seasonings in stock.
Then, we all returned to the lord’s manor, eating Til’s special hotcakes and sharing laughter.
"This is delicious!"
The taste was so good that Murcia’s eyes widened in surprise. Well, sweets were rare in the frontier, so even just the presence of something sweet was a great joy. But this time, Til’s hotcakes were a major success, and she even went all out with the toppings—slightly less sweet fresh cream and plenty of fruit chunks.
"Impressive!"
"...Quite good."
"Dee and Espada also love sweets, even if their faces don’t show it."
"I prefer meat! Wahahaha!"
Not only Arte and Kamushin but also Dee and Espada were happily enjoying the hotcakes. The atmosphere felt like a rare family gathering, and I couldn’t help but smile.
"Hmm, this is tasty."
"Yeah, I’ve never had anything like it before."
"...It’s delicious, but this isn’t the last supper, right? It’s all going to be okay, right?"
Well, Count Panamera, Talga, and Prince Freitliner were also among us. Freitliner was even shedding tears from how delicious it was, but this atmosphere might be just right for some serious discussion.
"Now then, please listen while we eat. I’m going to propose our future plan."
Saying this, Panamera and Talga narrowed their eyes sharply. Murcia straightened his posture a bit late. Looking around at everyone, I began.
"First, the plan is to stabilize the territory and coordinate with Viscount Panamera’s lands."
"Count, Count."
"Ah, sorry. Count Panamera."
Panamera happily corrected me and puffed out his chest. Only Kamushin clapped softly; the others just gave shallow nods.
"Let’s get back on track... Starting with the nearby adventurer town. Prince Freitliner, who is a hostage, will become the magistrate, assisted by three of Espada’s disciples. Also, the Espada knight order will have no chief temporarily; instead, there’ll be two deputy commanders and one assistant to the chief."
"R-Really, I’m the magistrate...?"