Gacha Kingdom Building-Chapter 228: Breaking Formation

---This chapter is written using Licia's POV---

After we divided our forces into the Evretis and the Terith Army, Mia, Claire, and I went with Gullard to reconquer the lost territories in the north and hopefully advance the front against Hamperlon.

Although I knew I'd miss Miwen and the others a little, it was comforting to know I'd be spending time with the two of them, especially since I also happened to have a few things on my mind I wanted to bring up with Mia...

With such hopes in mind, I happily entered the wagon we'd be in for a few days while traveling from the capital to our first destination.

However... I had a few worries too.

Firstly, I studied a bit of our route to prepare myself and not be caught off guard.

Because of this, I knew we'd be passing by a Dungeon Gate when making our way to one of the villages we would stay in.

There wasn't much information about that Dungeon, but it had been a while since an adventurer party claimed to have defeated the boss, and by the time we would pass it by, there would be a good chance for the monsters inside to have already escaped or even have formed nests.

On the bright side, the last party to have successfully claimed to kill the boss inside was composed of only 5 level 20 adventurers. Which is also the level cap for its first floor.

This meant that this Dungeon was medium in difficulty, and shouldn't trouble us too much even if we were to face some of its monsters on our way.

Unfortunately, I was only considering our strength...

Gullard: "...! What was that?"

Licia: "Ah, well..."

Frankly, I didn't know where to hide my face.

Gullard treated us incredibly nicely during our journey. Even though he stood on shaky ground due to his appointment as leader of the army he had helped defeat, he still made sure to accommodate us as best as he could.

And then, how did we thank him for it?

Of course, Claire, feeling a little bored, just had to leap out of the wagon with Mia the second she caught the scent of blood in the air.

And then it was up to me to explain to him why, less than a minute later, the ground was shaking, explosions were going off, trees were crashing down, and something was getting blown to smithereens after slamming into the ground, or potentially into those very same trees.

Gullard: "Oh... Well, it's reassuring to know we have an abundance of firepower."

Licia: "Yes! You can certainly count on that."

At the very least...

I even warned them to exercise moderation, but I guess it's my fault for letting them go together.

For some reason, when they are together, moderation translates to a slow start, and that's all. They quickly lose sight of the word's meaning.

Gullard: "...Are you sure we shouldn't check?"

Licia: "It's totally fine. More importantly, I've been meaning to ask... How do you feel about Isabella? I mean, nowadays."

I was aware of their story for the most part.

Gullard is only a few years older than Isabella, and he was... Well, officially, a knight apprentice, but I believe he was already working as a fully-fledged knight at her estate and only needed to participate in a ceremony to be given the title.

However, on a certain occasion, he believed in and defended Isabella, which caused him to be fired from his position.

Later, he accompanied another knight until being knighted himself in a different territory.

Gullard: "...Are you worried about resentment? Because if so, I guarantee, there is no such-"

Licia: "No, no... I meant like... Romantically? I think she is really pretty, so... It would be natural, right?"

Gullard: "Haha... While I agree with you, unfortunately, I already have a special someone, you see..."

Oh...

So that's a no, huh...

Gullard: "If you don't mind returning a question, I have noticed that Lady Isabella is openly affectionate with your husband."

Licia: "Ah, yes, but I don't really mind it."

Gullard: "Yes, I've heard. Isabella explained a little about the relationship the four of you have, but... She told me you were his... Sponsor? Or at least I understood that you were his main wife, and not only incentivized but also helped him to pursue other ladies."

Sponsor...?

I've started getting used to being sarcastically called "Mom" by Claire and Miwen, and sometimes accidentally by Lily, Lana, and even Ellie, but... this was a first.

Gullard: "So... I thought you'd be more interested in helping them achieve a similar relationship..."

Licia: "Totally! Actually, I... We even had a small fight regarding this. He's being unnecessarily difficult about it. But that doesn't mean I was probing to see if you were a rival or anything of the sort either..."

It's a little complicated, but...

Licia: "...I don't think we will stay in this world for much longer, and I've accepted Miwen's feelings regarding this... I simply want to make sure she'll be happy, you know? Even when we are gone..."

Although I'm still hoping for them to be together, but...

Ultimately, it's for him to decide.

Gullard: "I see... I'm glad. When I served at the Evretis territory, I could see glimpses of that girl's strength. Even if it was just perseverance, the thought of being unjustly treated as a villain for so many years was terrifying to me, and it quickly made me realize how weak I was that I couldn't even help one little girl..."

...He had a sorrowful smile, his eyes avoiding contact with mine.

I was surprised, but I could feel the honesty within him. This experience had changed him fundamentally, and the person he is now, a kind and willing knight, was definitely molded by it in no small part.

Gullard: "I was surprised when I heard she had inherited the Duchy. And when I met her again, I recognized she had blossomed beautifully. And that I was not wrong about her in the slightest... However, I was flabbergasted by her strength and resilience since the incident with the Royal Family. I can only thank you for helping her grow into a more incredible person than she already was."

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Words can't describe how happy I was to see someone recognizing our daughter's qualities.

If only our other noble daughters could grow a fraction of her patience and composure...

Claire: "We're back!"

They returned under the soldiers' cheers, and Claire had the gall to act as if nothing had happened.

Thankfully, they were quick, and from what I later heard, they got the escaped boss from the Dungeon in their little adventure, which made the village that much safer for a while...

And because of a small incident that distracted me, I never got to reprimand them.

Licia: "...I think you tore your shirt, Mia."

Mia: "Hm? Oh... It must've gotten stuck on a branch... I'll use a few points to change, alright?"

Licia: "That's fine, but..."

We weren't the only ones in the wagon...

Licia: "Sorry, but I'll block your sight a little bit, alright?"

Gullard: "Of course..."

After instinctively looking at Mia when I pointed out her torn clothes, he hurriedly turned away.

Luckily, the tear was in a safe area...

Still, while I trusted him not to peek while she changed, I cast a small block of ice around his eyes, just to prevent any misunderstandings or mishaps.

Mia: "...Something wrong?"

Licia: "..."

Mia: "...You! Drop it!"

Waah-

I underestimated Miwen's words, since he always goes over the line, I thought he deserved it each and every time, but...

She really is quick to react physically when embarrassed... It's almost like an instinct.

However, I guess it was deserved... Even if it was just a teeny tinsy bit, I ended up staring at her quite intently for too long...

But I couldn't help it... I was worried...

And throwing her old shirt on my face, while cute, was definitely uncalled for.

Licia: "Sorry, I couldn't help but notice... You're very slim..."

Mia: "...There's nothing I can do about it, I get that for someone like you, there's nothing impressive about it, but... Not everyone is lucky enough to have a body as blessed as yours."

Hehe...

I could tell from her tone that she was annoyed and frustrated, but even then, her words leaned more towards a compliment than an insult, making it hard for me to know how to respond.

On one hand, I wanted to thank her, but on the other, it felt more appropriate to apologize...

Licia: "...I didn't mean it like that. I genuinely think you're beautiful..."

Since I didn't know what to do, I decided to turn it around.

Mia: "Ha... You're not very self-aware, are you? So... What was this all about, then?"

Licia: "Well... I was wondering... Are you eating properly?"

When we discovered this was Mia's world, we all knew we had to look out for her as much as possible.

She is a tough nut to crack, and she shares Miwen's stubborn tendency to keep her problems to herself if no one confronts her.

Nowadays, her stress must be at its highest, but it's hard to notice it, so without Miwen around, it's up to me to pay close attention and make sure she'll open up if she's feeling down.

Mia: "So it's about that, huh... Even though I should be..."

Licia: "Hm?"

Mia: "Nothing... You don't have to worry. If anything, I started eating more since I joined you guys... Just don't expect me to change like Lana. This body has been like this since forever."

Lana has indeed changed a lot since she was summoned. She was scarily skinny then and almost had no color in her face...

She eats more than anyone, though, so... I guess it makes sense for her to change quickly.

Still, there was this melancholy in Mia's voice when talking about how her body never changes, so... I had to question her about it.

Mia: "Look."

She permitted me to touch her arm and her stomach, but when I did, I quickly understood what she meant.

Even though she is slim, I could barely feel any muscle.

Claire: "Huh? What's the problem? I'm not muscular either."

Mia: "That's because all of your nutrition goes to that... No, it's probably because for every hour you train, you spend another six lazing around..."

...Only six?

To be fair, Claire trains regularly too. Definitely not on the same scale as Mia, but still...

Mia: "Whatever. For some reason, this changes completely when I enter my beast form. It's natural to a certain extent for this to happen, it's just that... People say the beast form expands on what's already there, so if there's nothing noteworthy... I feel like I'm limiting myself... But there's nothing I can do, so I've just... Accepted it."

That sounded rough, but... It didn't seem to me like she had simply accepted it either.

Otherwise, she wouldn't train nearly as much as she does.

It's hard for me to question the validity of those ideas though... The only ones I could consult about this would be... Lana and Lily? But I doubt either of them knows...

Oh. But maybe Beatrice, Cassandra, or Elizabeth...

All of them were busy somewhere else, and I didn't want to give them anything unnecessary to think about.

Thus, I decided to wait until a better time to ask them about this.

As for the rest of our journey...

It went pretty well. Claire and Mia bickered a bit here and there, but when it came time for action, the two of them proved themselves, as always.

The place we had to stop at had been occupied by Hamperlon's main army for a few days, but when we reached it, there were only a few men to defend it.

They had built a few wooden watchtowers and spikes, but...

They lasted for about a minute.

As for fighting... There was none. Upon seeing the size of our army and the giant flame spears being launched at them one after the other, they surrendered.

Which meant that we didn't need to attack the defenses they built in the first place, but Claire was at least inspiring the soldiers, and that had its own value...

If troubling Gullard even more counts as value, that is.