Tuk-tuk-tuk.
The first sound that broke the morning tranquility was not a cockcrow, but a rather rhythmic and polite knock on the door.
I was a little surprised when I was eating in the hall, but I still opened the door to welcome the arrival of new customers in line with the idea of doing serious business.
But unfortunately, there was a guy standing at the door who didn't look like a guest.
"You...hey, what are you..."
"It doesn't matter if you can't remember it. After all, according to my memory, I didn't tell you my name at all at that time - of course it's better not to know."
The man in front of him is not much different from a few months ago. He still looks like a gangster uncle.
It just seems that his expression is much more serious.
"It looks like you're working under the lord now, right?"
I had absolutely no intention of inviting him in, so I blocked the door and pretended to have something to say.
But this time he didn't say much. He simply nodded and said, "Yes, I have to do that in order to survive."
He turned his head slightly and glanced at the scene in the store. After probably making sure that there was no danger of leakage, he said: "This place has been a little uneasy recently, so the lord hopes that you can--can help him."
"Didn't you say you didn't need my help at the beginning..."
I sighed.
Having said that, I can't really ignore it.
My intuition tells me that this matter may have something to do with the railway builder I met before.
"There is no way, after all, no one expected such a thing to happen." He said helplessly, "All in all, the White Empire seems to have the idea of building a railway here. If I am not mistaken, it may pass through this village."
I subconsciously said, “Wouldn’t that be great—wait!?”
Something is wrong.
"Hey, I heard that the railway was built to facilitate the transportation of goods to the nearby Human Empire. Why does it have to go through Weika Village?"
In other words, passing through Vika Village is too deliberate, because if the straight line is really drawn casually for financial reasons, Vika Village will not be able to pass no matter how it is divided.
He nodded and said, "Yes, that's what's wrong. Lord Lord... he also has some special channels. After hearing about this matter, he learned about it a little bit and immediately realized that something was wrong."
He lowered his voice, as if he was afraid of being overheard and said: "In order to build a railway, you need materials, right? But the lord has obtained information - the trains transporting supplies are filled with high-quality stainless steel. It’s impossible to use it on railways, but—it’s more like a material that can be used to make swords.”
"...In other words, do any of them want to start a war?"
This place, this key node.
The uncle nodded.
"Did the lord say who it was aimed at?"
"No, no, he told me that if you are interested, come to the Lord's Mansion to learn more about it, and he will give you a suitable reward."
Trouble...are you taking advantage of the fact that my identity is unknown, so you try to talk to me?
The sad thing is that I do this.
"I understand, I will choose a time to go when necessary."
"Thanks for understanding."
After saying that, he arrived and left in a hurry.
"I chose it early in the morning to avoid other people's sight——"
But he also hid something.
That's why he came to me.
In addition to the materials transported on the train, there should be something that made him sure that this was not just a simple matter of building a railway.
Maybe someone.
Someone he knew, who was probably an army commander, appeared on the magic train that made him so anxious.
And that guy is probably very strong, otherwise he can do this just as his bodyguard without my help.
"Lin Zhihe, why are you standing at the door in a daze? Everyone is gone." Villier's voice brought me back to reality from my distant thoughts.
I closed the door and turned around and said, "We have work to do."
"······ha?"
Not only did Villier make a confused sound, but Theresa at the table also had a blank expression.
"The store probably won't be able to open for the time being, so let's deal with the current issues first."
"I sorted it out a little bit, and it seems that an army is coming to this place out of nowhere. As for who it is to deal with... I don't know yet."
Villier frowned and said, "Are you targeting Nolan Lusi?"
"I don't know, but the behavior of the person who told me the information seems a little strange."
If you are dealing with the Demon King, there is no need to transport shapeless steel materials to build weapons on site, you only need to use standard weapons.
And the fact that it is specifically disguised as transporting railway materials is also very suspicious.
If it was to deal with the Demon King, there was no need to be so sneaky.
"...This is troublesome."
"Anyway, I'll go take a look first."
I finished my breakfast quickly, originally thinking that I had never seen where the Lord's Mansion was, but I discovered that there was a building that was obviously just built not far from the street.
Hmm... Although it seems to look good, something feels wrong.
The wall seems too thin.
Somewhat curiously, he stretched out his hand and knocked on the wall, but instead of a solid sound as expected, there was a hollow echo like wood.
"It's made of wood, just put a layer of putty on the outside." A voice I hadn't heard for a long time came from the steps next to me. I turned around and saw that it was Field standing at the door.
After not seeing each other for several months, he still pretended to be in need of a beating, as if he had really absorbed this wonderful temperament after acting for a long time.
"So simple?" I joked like an old friend.
The corner of Field's mouth twitched slightly and he said: "I would like to build some kind of luxurious mansion, but no architect dares to come to this place at all, so I can only make do with it for the time being."
"Okay then." I shrugged.
Field said helplessly: "Come in first, this time things may be more difficult than imagined."
After passing through the living room, which we could still see through for the time being, we went directly to the rather shabby study.
In this place there is only a table, a chair and wooden boards temporarily nailed up as bookshelves.
And after Field arrived, he didn't talk much nonsense. He said straight to the point: "I suspect that something is likely to happen here soon... Well, let's call it a counter-insurgency war."
"······ha?"
