Reincarnation into the Barrier Master

In the end, I didn't sleep a wink. Apparently, the others couldn't sleep either.

I was in no condition to eat breakfast, so I refrained, drinking herbal tea and getting ready to leave. Then Rico comes in and brings me a sandwich.

"You may be hungry around noon, please take it with you.

He thanks Rico and puts the sandwich in the infinite storage. And when everything was ready, Lady Considine herself came to meet us in our room. She is dressed in armor, not unlike a sorceress.

Are you ready? We will now depart. We will escort you to the border. If we see a deer on the way, we will take it down. Please understand that we may not be able to protect you at that time.

After a brief explanation, the lady leaves the room. We just silently followed behind her.

It was a needle in a haystack in the defeat squadron. The heroes who had revived Krumphal had ridden into the deer-stricken principality of Niza, and there was nothing we could do about it. The deer escaped through the wards, causing more damage to the crops, and the wards he had placed on the king did not work, and in the end he returned to the empire with nothing to show for his efforts. The animosity is palpable.

"...I wondered what kind of a hero was coming, but it's a very young man..."

"That's why I was suspicious from the start. I didn't know that a young man like that could have restored the city of Krumphal.

"I heard he's the son-in-law of the imperial emperor's sister. I'm sure it was her retainers who restored the city.

You've been so overconfident that you can take credit for that... You're a nuisance.

"After all, you've been in the Principality for a few days and you've just gobbled up the life-giving food of the dwarves and you're going back home!"

There were no words to refute the unspoken words of the adventurers. Instead, I have been thinking about the Dwarf King since last night. Would the king's death really save the land? Will the Deer God really stop the deer from damaging the crops in exchange for the Dwarf King's life? Is there any way to get rid of them? But no good idea comes to mind.

"Mr. Linos, let's cut down those adventurers!"

"Master, let's go our separate ways now."

The two girls' voices brought me back to life. It seems that the adventurers are tired of talking about me and are now talking about something else.

"I wonder which of those girls got the Marquis' hand first?

"No, maybe the woman was the one who approached him?"

"Both of them have the kind of face and body that a man would love. I can't say the same for their asses.

"If Princess Licorette, who's scarier than an ogre, finds out, the Marquis will weep. Let's not tell anyone, okay? Hahahaha."

Lady Considine, leading the way, doesn't even look back at us. She can probably hear the conversation of the adventurers, but does not seem to pay any attention to it. She is talking with the robed man next to her, who is also on a horse. Perhaps this robed man is one of Dr. Recolnai's men.

After a while, the march stops. Lady Considine turns her horse around and comes up to us.

"We will now take a rest. It's a little early for lunch.

No, we'll pass. We have our own food.

You needn't hesitate. The food we are serving is the relief supplies you originally brought from Heedata. Moreover, they are crops from your territory, aren't they? Since you are eating your own food, so to speak, there is nothing wrong with that, is there?"

A guy in a hood interrupts the conversation. From the sound of his voice, he sounds like a woman.

"Thank you. I appreciate you saying that. But I'm only asking for your kindness.

"I see. We will leave in two hours to prepare for lunch. Until then, you are free to go as you please.

We moved away from Lady Considine, out of earshot of the adventurers, and made a resting place.

"What's going on? Those adventurers!"

"You have no sense of decorum at all! I hate those men!"

The two girls are preening and angry. Apparently, they had said some pretty obscene things to me without my noticing. I suggested that we put up a ward to block the adventurers' voices, but they strongly refused. They said they didn't like the idea of losing to the adventurers.

"We'll be at the border as soon as we enter the forest. We're almost there. Patience.

While I was quieting them down, I looked out at the troops led by the Lady Considine. Perhaps the Duchy of Niza had provided them with weapons and armor made by dwarves. They were equipped with weapons and armor I had never seen before. And almost all of them were imbued with magical powers. They may have been given magic to strengthen their bodies.

While I was thinking about this, a herd of deer appeared at the entrance of the forest far ahead. The troop is in an uproar and everyone is in a panic. And those who had completed their gear were the first to mount their horses and charge at the deer.

We stopped to rest for the time being and followed the troop. Ferris and Ruara are on foot, and Ilimo is running at the same speed as she is, so speed is not a big deal.

The deer, perhaps startled by the sight of about 100 adventurers charging ahead of them, pull back into the forest. I thought that the troop was going to follow the deer into the forest, but for some reason they stopped far in front of the forest. As I approached, I found that there seemed to be some kind of dispute at the front of the troop.

"What nonsense! We should kill all the deer we can find!"

"I am the head of this unit! I will not allow you to act arbitrarily without my order!"

It seems that the earlier assault was the work of a group of adventurers on their own.

"Don't worry, princess. We'll take care of it. We'll take care of the deer.

"Yes, yes. I'm not sure how many lives I'd have if I listened to you, princess.

The situation is almost out of control. Seeing this scene, Ferris poked me in the leg. I looked at them and nodded, turning my head toward Lady Considine.

"Excuse me for interrupting. The fact that deer have appeared leads me to believe that you are going to start hunting them down. We do not wish to intrude, so we will leave you to your work. The border will be near soon.

"Ah, yes. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I'm sorry. We're going to start killing the deer now. I'm afraid we'll have to end our protection of the Marquis here.

Yes, good luck with that.

Please wait.

For some reason, I was stopped by the Princess Considine. I approach her again.

"I'm sorry to ask this, but... well... the Marquis is said to have quelled a civil war in the Hereditary Empire. And he is reputed to be skilled at fighting in the forest. Is there anything we should pay attention to when our troops fight in the forest?

"What do I need to be careful about?

"Princess, why do you ask such a question to the Marquis? We are a party that has participated in the conquest of dragons. We know how to fight in the forest better than anyone. Leave it to us!

A man who looks like an adventurer yells at me. I raise my voice a little,

"It is heartening to know that someone has slain a dragon. Then killing a deer should be a piece of cake. But only if he really has slain a dragon.

"What? What do you mean!"

There are many who have conquered dragons. Even those who are trembling in the back of the troop can be said to have participated in the conquest of dragons.

What do you know about it?

"If a party is truly capable of conquering dragons, they will not make a rash move just because they have found their prey. No one would act on their own initiative.

You... you want to die?

"Stop it! I'm sorry, Marquis. This is all my fault for my lack of leadership. Please forgive me.

"No, Mr. Considine does not need to apologize. No, Mr. Considine does not need to apologize. I have two pieces of advice for the battle in the forest. To secure your retreat and to ride a fast horse.

"...what does that mean?"

This attempt to take down the deer will surely fail. Then it is only a matter of whether your life will be saved or not. In order to save yourself, it is essential that you make a clear exit and leave the battlefield as soon as possible. Therefore, you need to make a retreat and get on a fast horse.

"Humph, sounds like something a useless, waste-eating aristocrat would say. Did you hear that, guys? We're going to battle, and we're going to kill a deer, and they want us to clear a path out! Isn't that funny, huh?

"Gahahahaha! It's true. I can't believe you thought of escape from the very beginning! Gahahahahaha!"

The adventurers burst into laughter. Even Lady Considine throws me a little scornful glance.

"Since ancient times, I have never heard of a victory won by an unorganized force. Well, I trust that my fears are unfounded. I wish you the best in your command. I wish you the best of luck.

With that, I drove Ilimo back to where my friends were waiting. Then we headed through the forest toward Heedata.

"Will Lady Considine's attempt to kill the deer fail?

"Yes, there's a pretty high probability. If the adventurers do as they please, there will be no strategy at all. The deer are not stupid.

"I hope the deer will play nice with those guys!"

"Well, there's only one thing for me to do. I must return to the empire as soon as possible and ask for reinforcements for the relief supplies. Also, I may be able to speed up the harvest of the crops in Krumfal. I'll have to talk to Rico and May about that. Then we need to get back to the house as soon as possible. I'm going to set up a transfer boundary here right now.

"Yes, sir!"

Ferris replies cheerfully.

"...Ilimo? What's wrong?"

Ilimo had stopped walking and had not moved.