Thomas: The Reincarnated Person Who Became the Adopted Child of a Knightly Noble Family
Now that my engagement to Lady Lene was settled, my grandmother had been enjoying herself every day, going out frequently. Apparently, she was already making preparations for our wedding.
Wait a minute—we just got engaged! The wedding was supposed to be after the invasion of the Catriais Holy Kingdom, wasn’t it?
Even though the Catriais Holy Kingdom had weakened considerably, it would still take several years to completely conquer it. If she started moving at full speed now, she’d run out of steam halfway through. She should take it easy.
While my grandmother was in that state, I was also quite busy.
Ben, my vassal in name, was set to marry Lady Claudia of the Balzer Count family in January of next year. Meanwhile, Reinhardt was marrying his cousin, Theresia, in February.
For Reinhardt, I only needed to prepare a gift, but for Ben, our household was responsible for hosting the wedding. That made things much more complicated.
“How’s the preparation for Ben’s new home coming along?”
“No problems at all.”
Ben’s answer was way too casual, making me uneasy. I turned my gaze toward Charmy. She let out a deep sigh.
“I somehow managed to make it look presentable. This idiot Ben doesn’t understand a thing about women, so it was a real struggle.”
“I see. Thanks for your hard work.”
As long as Charmy was overseeing things, there shouldn’t be any issues. That was reassuring.
As I was nearing adulthood, I had been spending most of my time handling governmental affairs in my office.
That day, Albert Klebe entered the room. Some of you might remember him—he was once the vice-captain of my father’s territorial army. When I was granted the title of marquis, he transferred to my service and was now the commander of my marquisate’s army.
Thanks to taking in refugees from the Catriais Holy Kingdom, development in the Balde territory had been progressing rapidly. It had become the largest grain-producing region in the country and now had the second-largest population after the royal domain.
The standing army of Balde alone consisted of 8,000 soldiers. If we conducted recruitment, we estimated that we could easily gather over 50,000 troops. Since most of them would be followers of Deuro, including others would make the number even higher.
Not that we planned to recruit that many.
In May of next year, we were set to invade the Catriais Holy Kingdom. Because of this, Commander Albert had been traveling back and forth between Balde and the royal capital.
“Here is the document outlining our military strength for the May campaign.”
I received the document and reviewed its contents. There didn’t seem to be any issues, so I signed it and handed it back to Albert.
“Proceed as planned.”
“Understood!”
It seemed our household wouldn’t be on the front lines. That was the current plan, though it could change depending on the situation. Apparently, if we took too much credit, it would create political friction.
Personally, I wanted to send the three Grand High Priests straight to hell with my own hands.
“Isn’t Albert’s fourth child due soon?”
“Yes, the baby is expected in March next year.”
“That means you’ll have to leave for the battlefield right after the baby is born. Sorry about that.”
“No need to apologize. This campaign is to bring justice to those who kidnapped the baroness. My child will surely be proud of me.”
The “baroness” he referred to was my mother. The Roxfall family, which governed the Ashwood Territory, now held the title of baron.
That said, for a child, having their parent by their side was the most important thing. I wanted to believe that there weren’t many parents like the ones I had in my previous life.
I prayed to Deuro that this war would end as quickly as possible.
Lady Lene arrived at our estate.
Since we were both preparing for the war in May, our schedules were hectic. Even so, we made it a point to meet at least once a week.
“Ideally, I would take you somewhere nice, but I’m sorry.”
“Please don’t worry about it. I understand the circumstances we are in.”
Saying that, she stepped in.
A sharp clang rang out as our swords met. Even though our blades were dulled, a solid hit could still cause serious injury. The fact that she swung her sword at me without hesitation showed how much she trusted me.
I deflected her swift thrust and advanced slowly. She retreated to match my movement but kept up her relentless attacks.
“Hah! I won’t let it end like this!”
She launched another sharp thrust—but it suddenly changed direction.
Her blade slipped past mine and aimed straight for my chest. I forced my body to move, sidestepping just half a step to the left, barely managing to evade her attack.
“That was close.”
“And yet, I still couldn’t land a hit. I realize how much more I need to improve… Even after raising my level to 270.”
When she first entered the academy, her level was around 40. Now, it had reached 270, a testament to her incredible effort.
Reinhardt had also raised his level close to 300, making them both exceptional among their peers.
Moreover, Lene had originally been ranked A as a Gale Swordswoman, but after converting to the Deuro faith, she had ascended to an S-rank Gale Tempest Sword Saint.
The Niekehen sword style specialized in unpredictable attacks and speed, making her strikes incredibly difficult to dodge.
I tried not to show it, but I had barely managed to keep up.
“I was really cutting it close.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not. My divine blessing isn’t combat-oriented, so even with a level difference, it’s a close match.”
To be honest, fighting someone like Ben—who had a combat-oriented blessing and was at a similar level—would be nearly impossible for me.
Ben was aware of this and usually held back when sparring with me. If he went all out, I wouldn’t be able to dodge his attacks.
“I’d love to wipe that smug grin off your face.”
Lene’s competitive side was refreshing.
And when she fought with everything she had, she was breathtakingly beautiful.
“Please go easy on me…”
At level 460, my growth had slowed significantly.
Lene, on the other hand, still had plenty of room to improve. It was only a matter of time before she caught up to me.
As a man, I didn’t want to lose so easily.
I had to keep pushing myself.
