She stared at me without a word. Her expression clearly showed that she had not expected this at all.

It made sense.

Even when the Protagonist told her, Millia didn’t believe it.

That’s how firmly she believed it. Perhaps because of his appearance, she never saw the Protagonist as a Mage who controlled Golems.

But this time was different.

It was the Lord himself speaking, not anyone else. She couldn’t help but believe him. Her expression kept changing as if she was confused.

It seemed like she had a lot to say.

If she hadn’t been talking to the Lord, she probably would have rushed over to resolve her curiosity right away.

Even amidst that, the Lord was still talking.

He was very interested in battles. He certainly gave that impression.

Upon closer inspection, he was large and seemed strong.

The rumor that the Lord was good at fighting came to mind.

He was said to be a High Knight. Even in places swarming with people wielding swords, the number of High Knights was very small. They could be counted on one’s fingers.

She wondered how well he could fight at that level. She thought he might be on Garkus’s level. Thinking that, the Lord didn’t seem like a Human to her.

She had a conversation with the Lord. He would ask questions, and the Protagonist would answer. As the Protagonist described each step of the battles he had fought, his expression gradually changed.

There were many sudden questions among them. When she immediately answered the parts he didn’t understand, he would nod.

Even with Count Haines’s letter, it seemed the Lord didn’t believe everything. Since military achievements were often exaggerated, there were things that needed to be filtered out.

By the end of the conversation, he seemed to believe her.

It was because she answered everything he asked correctly. If she had deliberately mixed in lies or exaggerations, there should have been instances where she stammered.

But the Protagonist didn’t do that.

His military achievements were already sufficient without exaggeration.

He seemed to find the Salamander hard to believe and looked troubled. Charlotte then said she had brought its hide and claws and would show them to him later. At the mention of a low-grade Magic Stone also being found, the Lord trembled.

Monsters with low-grade Magic Stones were not easy even for him. Especially Salamanders, no matter how skilled one’s Swordsmanship, it was impossible to even approach them due to the heat they emitted from their bodies.

However, the Protagonist could send Magic from a distance while having a Golem in front. It was good to have a Capital City that could extinguish fire with ice, like a high Castle.

Even so, it was a Salamander he almost died catching. It was something the Lord couldn’t have done even if he had been there.

“I’ve never seen a Mage who travels with a Golem in my life. And to have a Golem fight against Trolls and even a Salamander! If there were ten Mages like you, war would be a joke.”

“It’s nothing compared to the achievements General Dalton has made.”

“Hahaha. You’re praising me. I’ve achieved quite a bit this time too, but I don’t think it’s as much as this boy.”

Perhaps because of that, the Lord praised him in a loud voice. Charlotte intervened, perhaps thinking it was too much. She seemed to dislike the attention drawing to them.

The Lord was shouting as if to make sure everyone around could hear. It seemed like he was laying the groundwork for a task he intended to assign. He was intentionally creating an atmosphere that would make it difficult to refuse in the Capital City.

Every small action of the Nobles had an ulterior motive.

Charlotte referred to him as General. She didn’t bother using the title Count. It seemed he preferred to be called General rather than Count.

General Dalton showed great interest in the Golem. He would praise it, then immediately pry for more information about it.

To his eyes, having extensive experience in warfare, the Golem appeared to be an attractive prospect.

He said Golem Magic was difficult to learn and that only the Protagonist knew it.

General Dalton offered a large sum of money to be taught separately. When told it was a Secret Art, he readily gave up.

He was also a Noble. He understood how important the knowledge he possessed was. It seemed he only asked just in case, to test the waters.

Instead, he asked if I intended to achieve more merit this time. I flinched, wondering if there would be another fight with Orcs.

The battle in the Count’s Territory was already tough.

It seemed like it would be even harder on this Front Line.

Perhaps I might even encounter the Great Chieftains. I had no desire to fight Orcs anymore. Since coming to The North, I had encountered so many Orcs that I was thoroughly sick of them.

However, he was talking about a different Monster: Lizardmen.

Lizardmen referred to small lizards that walked upright like humans. ‘Small’ in this context meant small for a Monster.

I listened to Dalton’s story.

He said that while Humans and Orcs were at war, Lizardmen were running rampant, and they were gathering people to subjugate them.

He also mentioned that a peace treaty had already been signed with the Orcs.

This was news to me. When the Orcs found it difficult to conquer Human territory, they tried to take the damp Swamps where the Lizardmen lived instead.

In exchange for stopping their offensive, the Orcs also requested help from the Humans. Many of their Warriors had died fighting, and they weren’t sure if they could win against the Lizardmen.

Conveniently, the destination of the Extermination Squad matched the Protagonist’s. However, I shook my head. There was no reason to accept General Dalton’s offer.

The Protagonist had already fought enough and gained everything worth gaining. Whatever reward he offered, it wasn’t very appealing to the Protagonist.

Most importantly, I was slowly wanting to leave The North. Unless there was a compelling reason to fight, I just wanted to solve my curiosity about God and return.

General Dalton also made the offer to those around him. Hearing his words, everyone fell into thought. The boisterous chatter significantly subsided.

While the Protagonist had already achieved enough merit, many others had not. In fact, far more had not. It was not easy to achieve significant merit on the Battlefield. Simply surviving was a great feat.

The war in The North was fierce.

If they had fought properly, they should have achieved significant military accomplishments. Otherwise, there were two possibilities: they were injured and unable to fight, or they retreated like cowards. Everyone here was perfectly fine. This meant it was the latter, not the former.

If they didn’t receive any medals at the awards ceremony after such a major war, their reputation would be shattered. It wouldn’t be strange to be branded a coward.

General Dalton told them that even sending a private soldier would get their names on the list. If he wrote their names down, it would be as if they had fought themselves, even without being on the battlefield. He was helping them get a share of the credit.

Perhaps that’s why many offered to send private soldiers.

The problem was who would command them. No one was willing to step forward themselves.

They wanted to achieve military accomplishments, but it was a dangerous endeavor. If they failed using the nobles’ private soldiers, they would incur all their resentment.

No matter how much General Dalton promised to put their names on the list, it would be useless if the army was defeated. It would just be a waste of their carefully trained private soldiers.

Bruno stepped up as that captain. Unlike those who were already nobles, as a mercenary, he had to achieve more military accomplishments, even if it meant taking risks.

I heard he had achieved many military accomplishments during that time, but it seemed he wanted a definitive result.

Perhaps he made that decision after seeing the protagonist. Before stepping forward, he glared at the protagonist for a long time.

This was of no concern to me. After the discussion ended, I enjoyed the banquet a bit more, then left. I took in the night air on the balcony.

Today, I ate delicious food to my heart’s content.

I also had a pleasant dance with Charlotte. I was happy. Time flew by in an instant. Thinking that nobles enjoyed themselves like this every day, I became envious of their lives.

Now that the war was over, I wondered if the protagonist could live that way if he went to the capital city and received a title.

I thought it was probably possible. When he was a little older, he also had to marry Amelin. I also wanted to live with Charlotte.

Adding Lorina… I was scared I’d be stabbed with a knife. There were other women I was concerned about, but I tried my best to ignore them.

I decided I should quickly return after just looking around Hansen’s hometown. Once that was done, there was no particular reason to stay in the North. It would be good if I could easily find the statue. The best scenario would be for the group who worships the Goddess of Ice to be inside the castle.

I was very excited to think that the protagonist would become a noble.

It was just a change in status. Actually, it was nothing much. But thinking that his life would change accordingly made me feel very good.

Just a few years ago, he was still picking grass in the mountains to make ends meet.

But now it was different. He lacked nothing. After learning magic, the protagonist changed. He promised to marry the woman he loved and would be able to start a family.

Amelin was single, but Charlotte was a bit of a concern. Her family was an ancient noble family. He might be rejected.

With that in mind, he decided to train even harder. If the protagonist became stronger, he wouldn’t be looked down upon for being single, like he was as an alchemist.

Just then, someone subtly appeared on the balcony where the protagonist was. It was Millia.

“Hello…?”

But her tone was strange. She had been looking down on me, but now she spoke with an awkward expression, using strange honorifics.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well… I overheard your conversation with the Lord earlier. You really were that Mage…?”

“You said you heard it.”

“I just can’t believe it.”

Even after hearing the previous conversation, Millia couldn’t believe it and kept scrutinizing me. Her gaze was almost like a lick.

“Don’t you want to fight more?”

“I’m not going to fight.”

“Why?”

“Why, you ask? Because I’ve fought enough already.”

Even just one major battle would have been enough. But the Protagonist had already fought more than three such battles. He had even fought a battle to demonstrate how strong an Ice Golem was.

The goal of achieving military accomplishments had already been reached. Unless there was another reason, there was nothing to gain from fighting more.

The battle he fought with Count Haines was just like that. He remembered the Count saying that even if he went to the Capital City himself and told the King, the King wouldn’t believe it all.

Millia seemed to have nothing to refute, so she just looked around. Her confident demeanor had vanished, and she pressed her knees together, rubbing her legs as if she were trying to hold in her urine.

A blush also appeared on her cheeks. Her face was red. It seemed she was embarrassed.

She seemed embarrassed recalling her previous attitude towards the Protagonist. Yet, she came all the way to find the Protagonist, and I wondered what she had to say.

“But, you’re still a commoner, aren’t you? Shouldn’t you fight more…?”

For a commoner to obtain a Title, they needed military achievements that everyone would acknowledge. The Protagonist was an exception.

“What’s your point?”

I had a hunch what she wanted to say. She was accompanying Bruno. Bruno had decided to join the Orcs this time to wage war against the Lizardmen.

He had become the Captain of the Extermination Squad, but more power was always welcome. She must have seen Dalton praise the Protagonist endlessly, so she was clinging to him.

Since she was also a Mage, she probably knew how helpful a skilled Mage could be in war.

Most importantly, if the Protagonist came along, she would have more opportunities to talk to him. She might have such a shallow motive.

I remembered her practically clinging to me, asking to be introduced to my master. Golems were usually made of earth and rock. It was better for a Mage who had trained in earth magic to learn it.

As the Protagonist’s Magic Ring showed, if one’s level rose, they could create not just earth but also metal.

It would be amazing if I could create a Golem as tough as Black Armor. Metal was much heavier and harder than ice. If he swung and struck with something like that, no one would be able to withstand it.

Millia seemed to know that. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be clinging to him as if she were about to lick his feet.

Sure enough.

She said exactly what the Protagonist had been thinking, word for word.

“You, I thought a Mage like you would be helpful to Bruno. I also wish I could learn Magic…”

“Do you know that Magic isn’t taught to just anyone?”

Millia flinched. It seemed difficult now that she had brought it up. If there had been an Old Man, a master she had mistakenly thought of, she would have probably asked to become his disciple.

But it seemed difficult for her to ask the Protagonist to accept her as a disciple.

Naturally.

Her pride wouldn’t allow her to ask the Protagonist, who looked much younger, to take her as a disciple.

Millia still gritted her teeth, as if she was determined to learn Golem Magic.

“Yes, I’ll do anything you want!”

“Anything?”