UHWKT 18

Chapter 18

Robert Gale.
A man from a minor provincial noble family, he had come crawling over after hearing that Caius had descended to the territory of Lucifenia, and had managed to secure the position of head of public security.
The frontier was rife with variables—from monster attacks to natural disasters—so magic was usually relied upon. But in a grand duchy without a mage, Robert and his security corps were responsible for overall management.

I brushed myself off and stood, extending my hand toward him.
“Nice to meet you. Sorry for the late introduction. I’m Charlotte Schmidt.”

Instead of taking my hand, Robert clicked his tongue and looked me over at an angle. His displeased gaze slid unpleasantly over my body.
“…My soldiers are troops for maintaining public order, not servants for this kind of menial labor.”

“Menial labor? As you can see, your soldiers are working hard for the safety of the grand duchy. They’re even cleaning the castle walls.”

“A flimsy excuse. I fail to understand by what authority you’re putting my honorable soldiers to work like this.”

“I requested the use of the security force from His Grace the Grand Duke under my authority as his appointed mage, and His Grace gladly approved.”

Robert’s face twisted.
“Hah. So you’re that filthy witch who was dragged here recently.”

Oh. He’s dropping honorifics.
I really hate that kind of thing.

Sure, Charlotte has done plenty of things, but still—this isn’t how you treat someone you’ve just met.

“My lord, you’re being rude.”

“And conscripting them without my consent isn’t rude? A witch daring to summon my proud soldiers for this sort of nonsense.”

“Strictly speaking, aren’t they His Grace’s soldiers rather than yours? He’s the one who approved the conscription.”

“Hah! A witch who came tumbling down from the capital, now trying to meddle with the Lucifenia Grand Duchy too? Insulting my soldiers in the process?”

What’s so insulting about cleaning walls? If there’s work to be done, you help out.
On my very first day here, I plowed fields, you know?
And isn’t this kind of work part of a soldier’s job anyway?

“Return my soldiers at once. Then I’ll quietly overlook the fact that you’ve sullied my honor and that of my men.”

Honor, my foot. He’s just sulking because a young woman dared to conscript his soldiers.
Robert isn’t being rude because Charlotte is a criminal—he just hates that a young, seemingly weak woman is undermining his authority.

Sheesh. What a petty little man.

“No.”

“…What?”

But I’d known he’d come at me like this eventually.
That was the whole point.

Robert Gale was infamous even among Lucifenia’s vassals for having a nasty temper.
In front of Caius, he played the loyal knight, but behind the scenes he looked down on anyone younger and easier to bully—especially young women.

And the reason I deliberately provoked him by specifically mobilizing the security force was simple.
He’s a traitor.

After fawning over Caius for his own advancement, the moment it seemed Caius had no intention of reclaiming the imperial throne, he shamelessly switched sides to a dark mage.

Preparing to press Robert’s sore spot, I smiled sweetly.
“Lord Gale, you don’t seem to grasp the situation. As I said, I’m the Grand Duke’s appointed mage.”

Temporarily, but still.

“That means I’m officially one of His Grace’s attendants.”

My life is the collateral, though.

“…So what of it?”

You understand perfectly well.

“And what is your rank, Lord Gale?”

“W-what?”

“As head of public security… isn’t that far below an attendant?”

Robert’s face crumpled violently. His eyes flared as he glared at me.
“…A disgraced witch abandoned after committing crimes—put a little trickery to use and you get a title, and suddenly nothing’s beneath your notice?”

Wow. “A little trickery.”
Charlotte was infamous in the capital as the worst witch around.

Isn’t that underselling it a bit?

I felt indignant, but quickly understood.
He’d lived his whole life in the provinces—he probably never had a proper encounter with a mage.

“My, such foul language.”

I drooped my eyebrows in mock regret.
“Still, I can understand why you’d be so irritable, stuck as head of public security even at your age. If it were me, I’d have quit long ago out of wounded pride. Well, perhaps even a paltry title is precious to you.”

“W-what….”

“But there are ranks and statuses to consider, so I’d appreciate it if you’d withdraw now. For your information, I’m still a count’s daughter. As a gesture of respect, would you kneel on one knee and greet me? As politely as possible.”

Seeing steam practically rising from Robert’s face, I gave a thin smile.
Trembling like a volcano on the verge of eruption, Robert raised his hand. His eyes rolled back white.

“Y-you insolent wench…!”

[Kkyu… kkyuu! Kkyuuuk!]

Good.
If I take one hit, everything after that is self-defense. Beat him down, dismiss him for insubordination, and bury him somewhere where no one will ever know…!

That was when it happened.

Thud, thud, thud.
KRAAASH!

The ground suddenly shook, a deafening roar rang out, and the figure of the man before me vanished in a tremendous gust.

When I opened my eyes, Robert was upside down, legs sticking out of the ground at the bottom of the hill.

“…Huh?”

What just flew past?

[Kkyu, kkyuu!]

[Charlotte, protect. Friend.]

The golem—moments ago indistinguishable from the castle wall—had risen and was about to smash Robert down with a gigantic fist.

H-huh?
No, wait!
If you hit him, he’ll burst and die!

“Stop, stop!”

At my frantic plea, the golem withdrew its hand and looked at me.

[If Charlotte is attacked, we attack too.]
[Kkyu!]

The golem pointed at Golsuni.

[Baby golem. Our eyes.]
[Kkyuu!]

Ah…
Golsuni…
So that was your role.

Come to think of it, golems could share senses. Realizing a fact I’d completely forgotten left me strangely dazed.

[Sleep again.]

Before I could even collect myself, the golem trudged away and curled back into the shape of the castle wall.

A cold silence settled over the area.

Thud.

A soldier who’d been standing there with his mouth hanging open finally dropped the wooden brush he was holding.

“I… what did I just see…?”

“So what do we do now?”

The next day.
Arriving at the office side by side with Golsuni, I fell into thought.

My plan had been to take a clean punch from Robert, hit him back just as hard, and then officially have him dismissed.
But thanks to Robert getting smacked by a golem and sent flying, everything had gone awry.

[Kkyuu…?]

Seeing my serious expression, Golsuni looked distressed. I reached out and patted her.

“No, you did well yesterday.”

Thank you.
Really, thank you.

But in this situation, if someone starts nitpicking, I’ll be at a disadvantage. If rumors spread that I attacked a resident of the territory, the golems I worked so hard to bring here might get expelled.

I glanced up to gauge Caius’s mood.
He was focused on his paperwork, saying nothing—fortunately, it seemed Robert’s incident hadn’t reached him yet.

If that’s the case, I need to act before Caius finds out.

“I’m going to step out for a bit.”

“…Skipping work first thing in the morning?”

“I’m going to work.”

I replied primly.

“Field work. Don’t you know it?”

Before he could scold me further, I grabbed the jacket draped over my chair and hurried out of the office.

“I’ll be back.”