In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 11 Premium Read online

  I reminded them that we didn’t offer a high wage, but they didn’t seem to mind. They weren’t lying, either... Those wages were seriously low, so they must’ve been easily satisfied. I shamefully made a mental note to get the rates increased somehow.

  I asked a few more questions, and I was pretty satisfied with the result. I was more than happy with them working for us.

  After they left, I turned to Yumina to get her opinion. She didn’t have an issue. All four of them passed. The leather-clad guy did not.

  Our interviews carried on throughout the second day. The number of people was immense, way more than I expected at the beginning. We couldn’t afford to slack off, so we just kept pushing onward.

  After a hard day, we ended up recruiting a lot of talented people. And eventually, we came to the last three...

  “Sarutobi Homura... Kirigakure Shizuku, and Fuma Nagi...” They were three girls clad in ninja gear sitting down in front of me. They were the trio that Tsubaki had recommended to me.

  They were the daughters of Sarutobi Sasuke, Kirigakure Saizou, and Fuuma Kotarou, respectively.

  Daughters... Honestly, I was expecting their parents. I asked them about their old men, and they said they were very elderly and retired some time ago.

  The girls were all fifteen years old, around two years younger than me. They were in the same age bracket as Elze and Linze, though. Homura was bright and energetic and seemed to be in high spirits. Shizuku was a cool, calm, and collected kind of girl. Nagi, on the other hand, barely had any presence to her at all.

  Homura had short hair, while Shizuku’s was long. Nagi’s was around shoulder length. They each had different specialties, as well. Homura was an accomplished martial artist, Nagi was an expert of ranged weapons, and Shizuku had a talent for concealing herself. They all had the basics of ninjutsu down, as well.

  It was Homura who saw me standing on top of that tree, but I thought she was a guy due to her outfit...

  “It may be a little difficult for you to understand, but I bear a Mystic Eye. I can see things at a long distance, and I have the ability to see through relatively small obstacles.” Homura’s eye was a slightly different, light brown color. It was hard to tell at a glance, though. She named this ability her “Second Sight.” It was similar to my [Long Sense], but only used the sense of sight. It would be a useful skill, nonetheless.

  I felt they’d be a good fit for Tsubaki’s intel corps. I asked them if they had a problem with that, and they didn’t seem to mind.

  “I am proficient in concealing myself, so I believe I would do well in such a group. Private investigation or simple surveillance is nothing to me,” said Shizuku.

  “I’m toootally faaast... I outran aaall the Oniii...” said Nagi. It seemed that her fast footwork helped her pass the exam.

  Nagi kind of reminded me of someone... Cecile, a maid of ours. The way she spoke was kind of similar, and if I recalled correctly, Cecile was talented with throwing knives. She had been employed by Belfast’s intel division, after all.

  “Hey theeere. My naaame’s Cecile.”

  “I’m Naaagiii... It’s niiice to meet youuu...”

  “Ufufuuu...”

  “Eheheee...” I tried imagining a scenario in which they met. It was scary. Both of them had a... very particular air about them. I wondered if they were somehow long-lost sisters or something...

  We finished up the rest of the questioning and ended the interview. They hadn’t lied, and Yumina didn’t have an issue either. Tsubaki’s recommendation was the final nail in the positive coffin, so they passed.

  Thus, the interview phase was complete. There were around four-hundred candidates that passed the second trial, and the interview phase narrowed that further down to a hundred-and-thirty-one. It was slightly less than we’d expected, so we had Kousaka prepare a separate interview event later on for people to fill up the civil service spots.

  Now, all we had to do was assign people to the roles of spies, patrollers, and castle guardsmen. We assigned some on the spot, but the rest weren’t sorted.

  Either way, all the successful candidates had been selected, so we just needed to formally enroll them with a ceremony.

  ◇　◇　◇

  “Congratulations to all of you. As grand duke, it’s my pleasure to induct you all into Brunhild’s knight order.” I stood atop the stage and greeted the crowd of successful applicants. Those that were meeting me for the first time were taken aback. After all, I was known the world over as a heroic adventurer who defeated crystal monsters, inherited the Frame Gears from an ancient civilization, killed Dragons, and solved political disputes solo.

  It was natural for them to be shocked at discovering the fabled hero was a young man. They didn’t seem to be taking me lightly, though. That only meant that Yumina’s assessment of them was right.

  “Now, you’ve passed the formal examination and you’re in... but I want to see your skills first-hand. I would like you all to fight me.” The crowd just kind of stared blankly as my request sank in. They looked around to each other and murmured in disbelief.

  “So we’re doing that, then...”

  “Wanna bet how many of them last?”

  “We shouldn’t be betting...”

  “Let’s hope none of them come out traumatized...” We all moved to one of the practice fields outside and decided the one-versus-one-hundred-and-thirty-one battle would commence. All the new recruits wielded wooden training weapons. I would’ve been fine if they used their regular weapons, but they probably would’ve been too unnerved to fight me seriously in that case. Either way, I wasn’t planning on letting them lay a finger on me.

  I decided I’d use this battle to judge where to assign the candidates. All the senior members of the knight order were watching carefully, after all.

  “We ready? [Accel]...” I used my acceleration spell and charged headlong toward the newbies.

  It took twenty minutes for the battle to come to a close, and all of the new recruits were on the ground. Not a single one of them had been able to remain standing.

  I quickly cast [Mega Heal] and [Refresh] on them, restoring them to the state they were in before the battle. I didn’t want to leave them rolling around on the floor, after all.

  A lot of them thanked me for healing me, but I felt a bit guilty. After all, I was the one who put them in that situation, and... it wasn’t over.

  “Alright, my turn... Ain’t it?” Moroha walked out on to the field and swapped places with me.

  That’s a hell of a grin you’re sporting... Make sure you don’t treat them too badly...

  “Listen up, new blood! I’m Mochizuki Moroha, Moroha’s my given name! I’m an adviser to Brunhild’s knight order and their primary swordplay instructor! Good job on joining the family, now I’m gonna whip your asses into shape!” And so it began, the grueling week-long training session we’d planned in advance. Moroha was angry at me for refusing to let her join in as an Oni in the second test, so this was the compromise I came up with for her.

  “Alright, let’s start by running around the castle. Fifty laps.”

  The newcomers grumbled and groaned. The perimeter of the castle was around two kilometers. If it was fifty laps, then they’d be running about a hundred kilometers... I felt sorry for them. Moroha was some kind of monster.

  I prayed to the heavens for their safety, but it felt a little bit futile... After all, the one so harshly chasing after them was sent by the heavens themselves...

  Moroha and the other gods weren’t allowed to interfere with the mortal realm using their divinity, but they were still allowed to operate within the parameters of a mortal. The only issue was that they tended to be mortals at the apex of skill.

  They were the kind of “humans” that reached a level of skill one could achieve after a thousand years. They weren’t taking lifespan into account at all... Well, then again... elves, fairies, and other demi-humans could probably reach that level given enough time.

&
nbsp; Either way, the hellish crucible would make our newbies stronger. They had to persevere for the sake of a brighter future.

  Interlude I: The Newbies

  “Haaah!”

  “That’s it! Stronger now!” Lanz was in the midst of a battle, facing off against another using his training weapon. It had been about thirty minutes since they started, and his footwork was getting unsteady. The battle was fierce, and his enemy showed no signs of stopping.

  Commander Lain and old man Baba had left newbie supervision down to Moroha, so she had organized individual sparring.

  “Guh!”

  “What’s wrong, hm?! Is this all the power a Lestian knight has in him?” His sparring partner, Hilde, came up from behind Lanz, armed with a sword. She was well and truly proving her status as a knight princess. The rush of battle reminded her of her days leading a squadron, and she knew she was sparring for the greater good.

  Back in Lestia, she would often inspire her troops by yelling about Lestian pride, so this was her own little way of encouraging that from Lanz.

  “Ghuh!” Hilde’s wooden blade struck true, smacking Lanz right in the stomach. He collapsed on the spot, keeling over.

  “That’ll do.” Moroha’s voice rang out across the training field. All the knights watching the battle could barely contain themselves, they heaved heavy sighs as the battle finally came to a close.

  Lanz used his weapon as a crutch and staggered to his feet, he bowed his head to Hilde.

  “Th-Thank you for training me, ma’am!”

  “Of course.” Hilde bowed her head in turn, and Lanz sank to the ground once more.

  A group of other rookies ran forward to check if he was okay, but Lanz raised his hand to say he was fine. Either way, it was clear he was at the height of exhaustion.

  “Come forth, Light! Breath of Vigor: [Refresh].” I stepped forward and gave a dose of fatigue-restoration magic to Lanz and Hilde. They had definitely taken a lot out of themselves, but I was honestly amazed they’d lasted as long as they did.

  “In Lestia, we’re taught to hone our physical technique and eliminate any unnecessary movement. Knowing the limits of our stamina allows us to move without wasting a single step. Then, at the height of exhaustion, we’re still capable of landing precise blows. Training in such extreme conditions is more valuable than a hundred sessions of restrained training!” He was pretty wild... Wasn’t too surprising, though, given he was from the Knight Kingdom of Lestia.

  “My my, it really did have me feeling like I was back in Lestia. It’s been a while since I had so much fun training...” Hilde seemed pretty pumped up, contrary to her typical self. The Lestians really did have a bit of a warrior culture in the end, kind of like Sparta.

  The newbies had been put under a grueling training session, courtesy of Moroha. But, as expected of those that passed the test, none of them were quite willing to give up. They all had renewed vigor and kept fighting.

  The newbies were all assigned to different areas, so they were receiving training from their established predecessors.

  I came over to see how they were doing, but it seemed like they were doing just fine without me...

  The knights currently on the training field were those who had been assigned to town patrol and the castle guard. We needed them to be strong, after all. And it seemed that they were managing just that.

  Nikola was here to oversee the training as well; he had tentatively taken command of the castle guardsmen. Logan was here to fight against them as well, as he was the captain of the watch. Logan was a man who I’d met back in Sandora; he was helping a group of slaves at the time. He never expected that he’d end up having a decent role to play in an emerging knight order like Brunhild’s, but here he was.

  Norn had also taken command of the patrolmen, with Rebecca as her number two. Rebecca was an adventurer who had been working in Sandora like Logan. She was a fairly respectable female knight of our order at this point.

  It seemed like my services weren’t really needed. Everyone was working hard. Rebecca was training against a lot of the new female recruits, too. And so, I looked over at Hilde, who still seemed a little out of it, so I handed her a sweat towel.

  “Looks like the new guys are all doing pretty good.”

  “Indeed. They’re all new and filled with new hopes. They all wish to become strong, and you can tell they wish to become strong for a good reason. Training alone can’t foster such a feeling, so I’m glad they had it from the start.”

  When I was interviewing them, I wanted to emphasize the hiring of people who would fight for the people. Yumina’s Mystic Eye and the polygraph test ruled out those that had impure motivations for getting stronger.

  Next up, I wanted to check on old man Naito’s agricultural project. Hilde wanted to come along, so we trotted off to the east. These people weren’t primarily fighters, so their training could be held off for a while.

  Many people might not associate the image of a knight with farm work and cultivation, but it was arguably the most important thing going on right now.

  This particular branch of our knight order specialized in developing experimental crops, opening up more safe land, building homes, and taking care to build and maintain roads.

  The man in charge of most of the planning was Kousaka, but it was old man Naito himself who did most of the hands-on stuff.

  Just as I entered the area, I found the man himself.

  “Oh, Your Highness and Lady Hilde. It’s good to see you.” He seemed pretty laid-back in general, but Naito was quite industrious. His problem-solving skills were second to none. Without him, we wouldn’t be as far along as we were now.

  “So, what brings you here?”

  “Just here to check up on the new recruits. How’re they holding up?”

  “Ah. Well, we don’t need much in the way of intensive training here, so they’re in the middle of basic memorization and learning our protocols.” I looked over to where he pointed and saw a group of recruits using string to measure plots of earth.

  Hmm... Where is he, I thought. Then, I suddenly spotted the plant guy from the survival game, the guy named Charon.

  Developing the land was vital to the growth of a nation. They had many duties to attend to that would become solid ground for Brunhild in the years to come. In a sense, the knights of the agricultural sector were general-purpose knights who build up the country from the roots. That kind of didn’t make them sound all that impressive, though... I decided not to say something like that to their face.

  “Knights tilling the ground with hoes and measuring out plots... A rather pleasant sight, wouldn’t you say? It’s not something you’d see back home in Lestia, at least.”

  “Really? Even soldiers plow fields in Eashen, as well.”

  “Is that right...?” Hilde was the princess of Lestia, a major eastern power. It seemed like it was unthinkable to have commanders and soldiers do farming and manual labor. All their military thought about was polishing their skill with a blade.

  Lestia’s royal family was certainly above such things, but I thought that looking after the land was a good quality to have for someone who’d be defending it.

  “A good few of the new recruits have Earth magic aptitude, it is proving quite the help. I gotta tell you, as someone born in Eashen, it’s quite remarkable. Magic just isn’t very widespread back there, and the few examples of magic I’ve seen are fire and wind.” Old man Naito was right about that. Magic was a rarity in Eashen. Yae’s family didn’t have much in the way of it either.

  Eashenese people devised special techniques like Ninjutsu in place of magic. Not quite the same thing, but somewhat similar either way. Speaking of which, it was time to go and visit Tsubaki’s infiltration squadron.

  I waved goodbye to old man Naito and headed into the western forest. It was here that you’d find the training zone for our more covert operatives.

  The obstacle course was originally designed to help train dexterity for the knig
ht order. Tsubaki recently had me install courses and runs for all three levels of difficulty, ranging from beginner to intermediate, to advanced. There were various traps and obstacles lined up along the courses, each varying in terms of danger.

  The infiltration corps was being trained on the course today.

  “Gwaaaugh?!” A screaming person suddenly soared through the air before landing in a small pond not far from us. She splashed into the water before rising to the surface, coughing and sputtering.

  Water dripped from her short, curly hair. She was a member of the ninja trio that had recently joined our order, Sarutobi Homura.

  “No good, Homura-san! Pay more attention next time. If that was an enemy’s trap, you’d be dead by now. Treat this course as you would a real mission.”

  “Ugh...” Tsubaki shook her head as she criticized Homura’s performance. At that moment, another shriek echoed through the air, and yet another girl came soaring through the air before landing in the pond.

  It was another of the ninja trio, Fuma Nagi.

  “G-Goodness, this is quite intensive...” Hilde seemed pretty shocked, but that wasn’t too surprising given two people had just flown through the air before our eyes.

  “Our mission is primarily the acquisition of intel. We need to be prepared for every possible dangerous situation, and infiltration is a must. We need to keep our eyes peeled for even the slightest out-of-place detail.” Tsubaki spoke as she hopped down from a treetop.

  Tsubaki’s intel corps generally handled information gathering. Brunhild was recognized by other nations, sometimes for good reasons, and sometimes for bad. There certainly were countries that didn’t think too highly of us. Yulong, for example, was an example of a country we had poor relations with. Yulong wasn’t really a country anymore though.

  But even if I was friends with a world leader, it didn’t mean that members of the nobility wouldn’t have it out for me. I remember hearing that a lot of Belfast and Regulus aristocrats didn’t much like my engagement to Yumina and Lu. People like that could always end up trying to cause trouble in Brunhild. And that was where Tsubaki and her agents came into the equation. They would gather intel on potential threats and relay it to me. For the most part, they were Eashenese, which meant they primarily used ninjutsu. There were a few capable of Dark magic, however, which meant they were able to summon stealthy animals to assist in spy operations.