Hard Work Will Never Betray Me - CH 48

I approached Felix’ , exhausted and dizzy, as my magic seemed to be nearing its limit. I approached him with caution, just in case he is  fainted, but this time he definitely did.

“I can’t believe you fainted after all , …….”

Felix was badly injured. Even in his dazed state after being shot in the head, he still had a lot of marks on his right arm where he had tried to slash my shock bullets .

However, the sword was broken and the arm from the right shoulder down was shattered and fractured. In the meantime, when I examined him with “Diagnosis”, one of the recovery magic, I found a broken left leg, ribs, and several other injuries such as concussions and serious damage to internal organs.

His …… “wind slash” was very strong, but with this arm, he would never be able to wield a sword again. Felix himself is still alive, but  he is dead as the wind slayer .

Normally, I would think that Felix would be dead if he was injured this badly, but the fact that he is still alive after all this is probably because his vitality is so outstanding. Even the direct hit to the brain by Mei’s  gun had only caused a slight cut to his temple and a concussion. Honestly, I don’t understand. That magic shock gun, although less powerful than my “shock bullet”, is still powerful enough to penetrate a wooden board. I’m sure it will kill  him .

I’ll tie him up.

It’s not impossible for Felix, so while he’s unconscious, let’s take away his  tie him with the “bondage rope”.

“Rope.”

Ropes  from magical power extended from my hands and twisted intricately to bind the unconscious Felix. Felix jerked, as if he could feel the pain even though he was unconscious, but he showed no signs of waking up. The damage seemed too great.

“…… . Sir Eberhard!”

Just as I  finished restraining Felix, the captain of the duke’s escor  arrived with several of his men and a patrol of Canard town. Apparently, they were able to restrain the small fish without incident.

“Are you injured, sir Eberhard?”

” I’m fine, but I need you to take Lily into save place .

“Yes, sir. So, where is the young lady?

I silently point to the moonlit bell tower.

“Make sure the lady is safe!　Hurry up!

“Yes , sir !”

The movement of the escort unit that was trying to protect Lily was quite agile and solid. Although they were caught off guard by an unexpectedly strong enemy, they were still excellent guards for the duke’s family.

“…… Hal-!”

“Lily!”

Lily, who had come down from the bell tower with Mei, ran up to me at once.

“I was scared that Hal would lose. ……

“There’s no way I’m going to lose.

“But I  was scared.

was scared for Lily, too, but she’s okay.

“Thank you, ………….

“What’s the point of being a bride if you can’t  your fiancee  in time of need?”

“Hal.”

“What?”

“I  love you.”

“What?

–Squeal.

“Aaah!　This guy dodged a bullet!　I’m not going to let you get away with this, even though  you the  heroine this time!

“Oh, !　 we  can’t do this in public!

“Oh, so this is the nobleman’s knight story. I’ll have one of my minstrels sing it for you.”

“That’s a good  thing . I’m looking forward to listening to it over a drink.

Hey, patrolman, don’t get excited about people’s love stories. And don’t try to spread it!

“Well, I’m glad Lily’s okay anyway.

“I’m glad you’re okay too, Hal.

And so   the Lily kidnapping case  was  ended  without  anyone getting hurt.

✳︎

“Eberhard . Thank you so much for  saving Lily , how can I thank you?”

“Sir, please raise your head. I was only saving Lily’s life as her fiance . I did what I had to do, so don’t worry about  it .”

A few days after the incident, Lily’s father, the Duke of Bernstein, received the news and came to the frontier count’s mansion in Heitburg with more guards than usual and a large reward. I’m in the middle of asking  me  about the reward for saving Lily’s life.

“However, this time it was my fault for limiting the number of guards. As a father, I feel ashamed.”

” What do you mean? This incident took place in my territory. The entire responsibility lies with me. I will take full responsibility.”

“North General. Your son took care of it instead of you didn’t he? If you look at the entire frontier count family, there is no one it at blame . After all, it was my blame .

“I’m sorry to interrupt you. This incident was caused entirely by the fact that we, the guards, were not strong enough. I apologize with all my heart and soul for this, and I hope you will not be offended by it .

“How dare you!　You literally risked your life to protect  her . I. I’m not a martial arts expert, but I’ve heard  the “wind slayer” nickname. There’s nothing for you and your convoy to be ashamed of.”

“But that’s no way to show it!”

The discussion was becoming confused. The only saving grace was that in the end, no real harm was done and everyone felt responsible and wanted to apologize. If this had turned into a blame game, we would have gone to hell in a handbasket. I’m glad  everything ended well .

Aside from that, we can’t go on like this.

“Then let’s do this.”

I was the only one in the group who wasn’t responsible for the situation, but I was the only one who had made a difference, so I had to come up with  a solution

“We all have to take responsibility. The Count of Farenheit failed to notice that a serious crime was taking place in his territory, and it could have been a serious matter. The Duke of Bernstein also  limited his daughter’s escort, which almost led to a diplomatic incident with another territory. The guards also failed to protect her who entrusted to them by their lord. All of them have a point, and it can’t be the responsibility of  just one person. Then all of us must take responsibility and use it as a lesson for the future so that this kind of situation will never happen again.”

“…… Yes, this incident would not have happened if everyone had taken proper measures.”

“I can assure you that nothing like this will ever happen again in my territory.

“I can assure you that nothing like this will ever happen again in my territory.

“Next time, I will protect the Lady at all costs.”

Everyone said their determination with a mysterious look on their face.

Well, we’ll have to work out the details of how we’re going to carry out that resolution, but for now, let’s finish this. Fortunately, Lily was not injured.”

“…… That’s the kid you often bring over to our house to play with, right?　I’ll come to your house later to thank you.”

“You might be surprised, master. ……”

“It would be a surprise if lord and the duke of another territory all came to workshop to thank me. He might be shocked to find out who I am, a regular visitor.”

“Please be generous with reward for Mei. If it Mei was not with me  , this rescue wouldn’t have been possible.

I told about the magic plane “M-1” that Meo  invented and the last cover fire with the magic shock gun.

“What?　…… That’s a military revolution in the making.”

“You have a terrible talent, ……. Eberhard, how dare you spit on such a genius?”

“Well, I just happened to find it.”

Mei’s talents seem to be frightening even to those who are in charge of the affairs of the country. As a lord, this is a talent that they want to capture. They may regret that they did not realize that such a talent was lying dormant.

“Maybe there are geniuses lying around in places we don’t normally pay attention to.

It’s not the world we live in, but there have been men who came from commoner backgrounds and rose to power. It is not surprising that anything can happen.

“You’re absolutely right.

“I’m going to do my best to keep up with them.

The three of them, who had experienced the bitterness of Lily’s kidnapping, each expressed their own thoughts.

“Speaking of which, what happened to the merchant and Felix?

I asked my father, curious about the the people who had made this incident the most complicated. I’m sure the noblemen who rule the estate have a gag order in place, as they don’t want the  bad news of the duchess being taken prisoner to be spread around, but there’s no need for secrecy when I’m the one in charge.

“The merchant will be confiscated and executed.Felix was kept alive because he might have some use for  us , but he’s injured. He still hasn’t woken up.”

“Execution, that’s fair enough. I don’t think Felix would listen to if he woke up.”

“That’s why we’re always on the lookout for him, just in case he wakes up.

It’s Felix. I’m sure Felix will be able to break out of jail even if he’s badly injured.

“For now, you should stay by Lily’s side for a while longer. She’ll want to be with you.

“Do me a favor, too. Go play with  her .

“I’ll leave you to it.

I finished what I needed I headed back to Lily. It’s not that I volunteered to talk to them . It was because I needed to as a party and as the next head of the family. Of course I want to talk to girls.

I wonder what she’s doing now, probably having tea in the garden with Mei  and sister Noel.

I headed  to the garden, excited about the leisurely girl time to come.

✳︎

“Well, it’s time to grow up from here.”

“How about a reward   or the Arendelle workshop?”

“I’ve heard that the craftsmens  is quite skilled. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to embrace them as your personal craftsmens ?”

“That’s a good idea, but if we do that, they might react if there’s a problem.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll have to make him the first of my business partners. As a lord, whenever you have to deal with a  them , I have to order the work from that workshop.

“Or perhaps you could give them preferential treatment in terms of taxes and patents.”

“Well, since I’m a duke, I suppose the reward would be money and goods.

“That’s good, my lord. You’re so easygoing.”

“How can you say that when you have so many men in your own lands?””

“Ha-ha-ha.

“Ha-ha-ha.

In the parlor where Eberhard left off, the dirty laugh…