Reincarnated into a Game As the Hero’s Friend

Max and the others rode their horses here and gathered around me.
It might be late for me to say this, but I was glad they were fine.
I gave a signal with my hand so they put a little distance between us.

 

“Welner-sama, did you call for us?” 

 

“Yeah, I want to give all of you some instructions.”

 

“Instruction?”

 

I knew that a lot of my ‘instructions’ had been pretty problematic, especially since the incident in Alea Village, but could you please stop looking at me like that!? This time I had no plan to go on some reckless mission!

 

After looking around and confirming that only Max, Augen, Barkey, Neurath, and Schunzel were there, I whispered, “As soon as we return, a military operation will be conducted in the capital.
The kingdom knights and the capital guards will be the one who will conduct this operation directly, not us.”

 

“A military operation?”

 

“We are now almost certain that the demons have really infiltrated the capital.”

 

Hearing my answer to Max’s question, everyone was surprised.
Well, this was an obvious reaction.
I mean the information about the demons infiltrating the capital wasn’t something that would be talked about openly so it made sense that none of them knew.

 

“First of all, as I said before, this military operation would mainly involve the kingdom knights and the capital guards.
We can’t just butt in and earn some achievements.”

 

“I understand.” (Augen)

 

“If that is the case, what should we do then?” (Barkey)

 

I already had a plan for us.
Still, the current situation was very uncertain.
In the worst-case scenario, a large-scale civil war might break out in the capital.
I still didn’t have detailed information about the operation so I need to prepare for every possibility.

 

“For now, I can only give rough instructions since making too much movement might hinder the operation and I also don’t have any detailed information about the operation.
First, Max.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Take several of our elites with you and go to the palace to protect my father.”

 

“Understood.”

 

Max bent his huge body and bowed to me.
Well, he was Father’s retainer so, of course, I would entrust Father’s safety to him.

 

“Augen.
In case something happened, I would like to entrust you with the safety of the families of our knights and soldiers.”

 

“As you wish.”

 

“Barkey, you will take care of the safety of orderlies, servants, and every other member who serves the Zeavert family.
If the two of you need to arrange anything to complete this job before we return to the capital, contact my father and give anything you need to me in writing.”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

The number of people who served a noble family was quite large especially if you also included their relatives.
Their safety was the responsibility of the noble family they were employed with.

 

That was why if a noble family collapsed, there would be many people who lost their job.
Once this happened, many families would lose their breadwinners and be turned upside down in just a night.
Nobles who didn’t care about commoners wouldn’t bother to think about this kind of thing, but I couldn’t help but be concerned.

 

“Neurath, Schunzel.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Sorry, but this time you guys won’t get any flashy work.
I want you to make sure that Mrs.
Arnate’s orphanage I told you about before was safe.
Do you remember its location?”

 

“Of course, I remember.”

 

“Please leave that to us.”

 

After knowing what Feli was capable of on the battlefield, they must have understood why I gave them this job.
In any case, I was glad they were accepting my instruction without complaint despite the fact that Feli was being pretty rude to me by noble’s standards.
I guess after they saw how that shitty village head acted, Feli’s rudeness seemed to be nothing big.

 

“How about you, Welner-sama? What is your plan?”

 

“I will take care of the mansion’s security.
If anything happens, contact my father for instructions.
if you can’t reach my father, come to me.”

 

“Understood.”

 

“How should we contact the Count about our plan?”

 

“I will contact him directly.
If my father gave any of you other instructions, prioritize it.
Just let me know if you have made changes according to my father’s instructions.”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

Originally, Father should be the one who gave this kind of instructions, but currently, the entire army was under my command.
That was why I decided to instruct while emphasizing that Father’s command took priority over my own.
If I didn’t make the chain of command clear, it would lead to miscommunication.

 

“I’ll ask my father to make arrangements in the capital.
Augen, Barkey, use Neurath’s house as your base of operation.”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

With this, in case they lost contact with both Father in the palace and me in the mansion, they could use Neurath’s house as the third command center.
I got a feeling that we were doomed the second we lost contact with Father, though.

 

I used Neurath’s house because chances of both the mansion and Neurath’s house becoming a battlefield at the same time was low.
They were pretty far, after all.

 

Anyway, I need to tell Father about the various instructions I gave here and also ask him to make arrangements to support my plan.
Ah, I also have to ask Father to take care of the Hearthing family, though I was sure that Father would do that without me asking.

 

A few days later, we met up with the first group on the outskirts of the capital.
After that, the commanding officers held a secret meeting, though I didn’t take part in it.
I was only told to make sure to arm my army properly to make them presentable for the victorious return.

 

We entered the capital the very next day, fully armed.
We walked to the palace amidst the cheer of the citizens, with Mazell at the very front.
As for me, I was currently trying my best to control my expression.

 

Fortunately, the stars of the show this time, other than Mazell, were the duke and the knights, so I was able to blend into the background.
Somehow, I felt guarding the aqueduct construction site would be far easier than being in the middle of a victory parade.

 

I felt that someone was pointing at me, but that was probably only my imagination, right?

 

To not make myself feel out of place in the parade, I looked around my surroundings.
The guards around the parade were armed pretty heavily, but none of the citizens seemed to be bothered by it.
Maybe the operation had already started.

 

We proceeded to the palace’s courtyard and held a military parade there.
His Majesty then gave a long speech before finally saying that the victory banquet would be held at a later date.
The noble knights were finally allowed to disband and rest.

 

So, the fact that important people always gave a long speech was true even in this world, huh? The Royal Guards and the White Dragon knights were here fully armed, maybe because this was a military parade? But His Highness, the Crown Prince and several ministers, including Father, weren’t here.

 

Looking at how the noble knights acted after being allowed to disband, it was clear which family had even the slightest knowledge about the military operation and which family knew nothing.
The knights of the Duke, Marquis Norporth, and Marquis Schramm didn’t disband but rather left the courtyard in an orderly manner and the Mage Unit stayed.
It looked like they were prepared for the fight to break out.

 

Amid the disbanding of noble knights, the Zeavert army created several groups, and each group moved separately according to my earlier instruction.
Some knights returned to the mansion with me, while others took a detour to arrive at the mansion’s back entrance.
With this, we could secure both the back and the front of the mansion.
A noble mansion was enormous, so it would be impossible for me to guard it alone.

 

A festive atmosphere remained in the capital, but overall, the capital was calmer compared to when I was in the middle of the victory parade.
Across the capital, there were heavily armed soldiers returning to their post.
As I moved, I could only hope that the mansion was still safe.

 

By the way, the Zeavert mansion was built with a defensive capability in mind.
The storm shutter on the first floor was made of metal, and behind the wooden board located beside the windows on the second floor, there were slits and holes made to shoot arrows. 

 

Mansions in the capital, like the Zeavert house, also had fences.
They weren’t too high, so if we fired arrows from the second floor, they would reach outside of the walls.
But because the fences weren’t too high, the enemies could climb them.

 

The glass was expensive, but I guess only noble mansions had glass windows.

 

Of course, all of these defensive capabilities weren’t built, so that the noble mansions could rebel or something.
They were built so the royal family could take refugees in the noble mansions in case there was a coup d’état or any other emergency.
It was more of a show of loyalty rather than an attempt to protect the mansions themselves.

 

If something happened in the military operation, it would be the first time the mansion showed its defensive capability since stuff like rebellion didn’t happen every day.
Thinking about what might happen made me feel restless.
I needed to calm down.

 

With these thoughts in my mind, I entered the mansion.
The scene inside made me struck in the place for a second.

 

“Welner-sama, welcome home.”

 

Why are you here, Lily-san?