My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World: Volume 8, page 19
“Uh, this is the baron’s.”
A petite woman spoke from a room in a corner of the royal palace. She was situated near a tall stack of materials and papers, and her small frame was almost buried by this mountain of documents. Despite that, she was skillfully clearing it all away.
The woman had been sent here a few months ago. Long after Count Eimoor had finished his monster subjugation, and long after the war expenditures had been sorted out, someone had noticed that the expense of the campaign had been far too little when compared with other similar military ventures. There had been a request to double-check these documents and confirm that nothing was amiss.
Her name was Frederica Schurter. Later, she would become known by her nickname: the Demon of the Law.
“If you ask me, some of this is a little wasteful.”
She raised a document in the air, putting it under the light. The letters were neat, but the contents were a jumbled mess, implying that it had been quickly scribbled down—perhaps based on a report the scribe had heard. According to the document, a large number of soldiers were needed to chase bandits out of a region, and the baron was asking for a bit of financial help from the crown. Normally, maintaining the safety of a domain was up to the lord of that land, and those expenses generally fell upon the lord. However, that was just a general rule, and there were always exceptions.
Of course, Frederica was well aware of these exceptions. For example, if a lord was tasked with protecting the safety of a main road, the expenses would be split in half and shared with the kingdom. This was because if the main road was deemed unsafe, many would begin to avoid the kingdom, and the crown wanted to avoid a situation like that.
Frederica was currently scanning the baron’s invoice. Someone had pointed out that his expenses were too much for the task he was trying to accomplish. Upon further examination, she found this to be true. Chasing away bandits was a smaller job than the monster subjugation campaign had been, and yet the baron was requesting more troops than had been on the campaign. Even when compared to campaigns that were less “efficient” than Count Eimoor’s, the baron was still asking for too much.
However, there had been a reason listed for this extra expenditure. To ensure that some of the guards could gain experience, the baron had sent along a few new recruits—something that was not usually done. The kingdom had claimed that since this decision had been the baron’s, it wasn’t the crown’s responsibility to foot the bill for extra soldiers.
Frederica found herself agreeing with that sentiment.
“Huh? But if I recall correctly...”
Near the baron’s document was another large stack of papers. She rummaged through it, took out an old piece of parchment, and laid it out in front of her.
“Hm, I see.”
Some insects had eaten away at the paper, but the words were faintly legible. It was a law regarding the maximum number of troops that could be dispatched. This document had been created during the Great War six hundred years ago. Resources at the time had been limited, so sending out troops and citizens like there was an unlimited supply would have exhausted the population of the kingdom. Therefore, this law had been conceived to restrict the number of people thrown into battle.
As Frederica mulled this over, she realized she could reverse this logic—since there was a limit, it meant that one could send out troops until they hit that limit.
“Ah, I knew it.”
Frederica copied down what she’d found on a different piece of paper. In terms of troop size, the baron had sent out exactly his limit of soldiers. She could hardly believe he knew about this—a law created six hundred years ago. But even so...
“Rules are rules.”
As Frederica muttered to herself, she tacked the old law onto the invoice. Since he’d been within the limit, the baron had every right to bill the kingdom.
“And if training improves the strength of the soldiers, then the main roads will ultimately be safer, resulting in an overall profit for the kingdom.”
That wasn’t all—the baron’s domain contained types of rare ore. If the kingdom did him a favor here, it would be easier for them to ask for these resources later. This would be an ace up the kingdom’s sleeve that they could play in the future.
Frederica gave a small smile and thought, This arrangement works out well for everyone involved.
“Now then, next on the docket—oh, this one is no good.” The invoice looked fine at a glance, but as she rummaged through old documents, she found grounds to reject it.
Frederica Schurter was a small demon dwelling within the royal palace...and her horns were growing by the day.
Afterword
Hi there. I don’t know if “pleased to meet you” is a proper greeting anymore. But if it is, I’m so glad to meet you, and for the returning readers, it’s been a while. I’m Tamamaru, the one writing light novels as a side gig. This is the eighth time I’ve been able to greet you all, and I think this series is starting to grow. I’d like to thank everyone here for reading and supporting these books.
This time around, Eizo was able to pull back the curtain on the origins of his new world. Though he only caught a glimpse of the Dragon of the Land, the world’s intentions have been revealed just a little. But Lluisa hasn’t told Eizo much, and we still do not know how the world will treat our blacksmith in the future.
Eizo and his family had a battle scene in this volume! I just wanted to see how Forge Eizo would fare if they went all out to fight an opponent. In the web novel version, the monster went down pretty quickly—Forge Eizo completely dominated. It would be great if that was reflected in this volume, but I wonder if that will be the case?
Now for the acknowledgments. Thank you to my editor, I-san, who was in charge of me once again. I always appreciate your precise instructions. I’d also like to thank Kinta for the wonderful illustrations! When I look at your rough drafts and final illustrations, I always say, “This is my vision.” Thank you so much!
Thank you to Yoshino Himori, who is in charge of the manga. As I read it, I’m always thinking, “Damn, I should’ve developed the scene like that!” Rike, Samya, Diana, and Helen are so cute! They always soothe my eyes and soul. The manga has been received quite well, so if you haven’t read it yet, I encourage you to do so!
I also want to express my gratitude to those involved in creating the audiobook and releasing this volume overseas.
Thank you to my mother and younger sister; my cats, Chama and Konbu; and to Shijimi, a cat that might become a part of my family by the time this volume is out. To my friends who are always giving me their energy—I appreciate your support.
Lastly, I’d like to give my biggest and most heartfelt gratitude to the readers who have continued to follow this series. Let us meet again in the next volume!
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Copyright
My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World: Volume 8
by Tamamaru
Translated by piyo
Edited by C.D. Leeson
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © Tamamaru, Kinta 2023
First published in Japan in 2023 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo
English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.
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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
Ebook edition 1.0: December 2023
Tamamaru, My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World: Volume 8
