Chapter 47: Progress Report Meeting We arrived at the room that the Knight Order was borrowing.
I heard that they borrowed a room, but they actually borrowed a two story building on the castle grounds.
According to Captain-san, the Knight Order always used that building whenever they went on an expedition here.
The first floor of the building was used as a battle station by the Knight Order.
There was a hall as soon as I entered the building. There was a long table with chairs in the hall, and I could see knights talking about something while they were looking at a map.
Since everyone knew each other, the knights only raised their hand in greeting when they noticed that Captain-san and I had entered.
I followed after Captain-san, went pa.s.s the hall, and climbed the stairs at the back.
There were a lot of rooms on the second floor.
One of the rooms was used as the Captain"s office.
The office had an office desk and lounge suite, like the ones in the knight barracks at the Royal Capital.
I sat down on the lounge suite opposite Captain-san when he asked me to.
"It"s a bit sudden but I want to get to the point."
"Okay."
Captain-san started talking about the Knight Order"s present condition, and the results of the preliminary investigation.
The knights split up into groups and moved separately.
The groups scattered in the north, east, south and west.
They investigated the surrounding area in turns. The knights on the first floor had just returned from their investigation.
The knights were also subjugating demons as they investigated the surroundings.
According to them, there were as many demons here as there used to be in the Royal Capital.
Demon subjugation missions would begin once the investigation was over, but it would take some time to deal with the demons.
Captain-san thought the same as me.
"It would probably take some time to deal with the problem. I would like to return to the Royal Capital as soon as possible but……"
"I"m fine with that. I can learn about medicinal herbs in the distillation room."
"Really?"
Captain-san seemed apologetic, so I told him about the distillation room and he looked relieved.
Then he smiled, probably because he remembered the things we were talking about on the way here.
Sorry that I"m obsessed with potions.
I suddenly remembered something and tried to talk about it. "If the knights have been encountering demons during the investigation, then they"ve been using potions, haven"t they?"
"Yes we have."
"How do you replenish your potions?"
"We brought some with us from the Royal Capital and we"ll buy more here when we run out."
"If you don"t mind, then, should I make them?"
"You will?"
"Yes. Of course, I"ll need you to prepare the ingredients, but I think it"s cheaper to buy medicinal herbs than potions."
"That"s true, but you"ll need tools if you"re making potions."
"I was wondering if I could use the ones at the distillation room. I"ll check with Feudal Lord-sama."
"I see. Then let me confirm if you"re permitted to use the distillation room."
"Thank you."
They were still investigating the surrounding areas, so they didn"t consume that many potions.
However, they would probably start using more potions once they start subjugations.
The Knight Order would probably need a large number of potions, since a lot of knights came on this expedition.
I don"t know what recipes are used to make the potions sold in the city.
Fewer ingredients were used in the secret recipe than the normal one.
This city was also facing a medicinal herb shortage, even though this is a medicinal herb production area. I could save on ingredients if I made the potions myself so I thought that it was better this way.
Captain-san also said that this way was better because it cut out expenses.
Personally speaking, I could practice the secret recipe as much as I want using the Knight Order as an excuse.
I had Corinnsan"s permission to make the potions and I made a lot of potions while practicing.
I could still make more potions.
I was a bit worried that the distillation room would be overflowed with potions, like the Research Inst.i.tute.
I could make a little more if we sell it to the mercenaries and the Knight Order, right?
"Let"s go back to the main topic. Are you subjugating after you finish the investigations?"
"That"s the plan."
"Will the Knight Order and mercenaries be teaming up to go on subjugations?"
I remembered about the mercenaries and asked Captain-san about it and it looked as if I"ve touched a touchy subject.
What"s wrong?
He worried for a while after I confirmed that fact, and answered my question while being vague.
I heard Captain-san and the others talk about the demon situation on the day we arrived at Klaussner, while I was resting in my room.
Captain-san had met with the mercenaries that were employed in the fief at that time, but he said that the vibe wasn"t really good.
The mercenaries that protected the fief were strong and they rarely requested for the Knight Order"s help.
However, the demons had effected their main industry, so they requested the Knight Order"s help.
Although they were hired, the mercenaries took pride in being able to protect the fief for so long.
Even when Captain-san meet with them, it felt like they had only reluctantly accepted the Knight Order"s help under Feudal Lord-sama"s orders.
Under such circ.u.mstances, Captain-san decided that they would all subjugate in their own sections, instead of mixing the teams.
The person who had met Captain-san was probably Leonhardt-san.
He had said that he a.s.sembled the mercenary groups when I met him at the distillation room.
He didn"t seem like someone who would have a vendetta against the people who came from the Royal Capital.
Perhaps, he didn"t know I came from the Royal Capital?
Come to think of it, I only told him my name.
"What"s wrong?"
"Was the person you met Leonhardt-san?"
"Yes, do you know him?"
"He came to the distillation room this morning to pick up some potions, so I met him then."
"Didn"t he say anything?"
"Nope, nothing."
Leonhardt-san thought that I was Corinnsan"s apprentice, so it wasn"t something that Captain-san should be worried about.
I don"t know about what would happen if Leonhardt-san found out that I came here with the Knight Order.
But I wasn"t worried about it.
The mercenaries seemed really energetic when I met them today.
They opened up to me somehow, even if they had ill feelings for me in the beginning.
That"s what I think anyways. Am I being too optimistic?
"I think Leonhardt-san would be fine. But about the subjugation…"
"Yes. We"re still planning to investigate tomorrow. I will contact you when the subjugation has been decided."
"Okay."
Is it not my turn yet?
Well then, I"ll just study at the distillation room for a bit longer.
Oh yeah, I should let Corinnsan know that they might be making potions for the Knight Order.
I came up with some plans in my head, and my talk with Captain-san was over, so I went back to my own room.