180 End of Day One

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After carefully studying the royal vault and the royal treasury, the hero secretly took a generous sum for himself. He refrained from taking everything since it would cause a panic. Kazuya still needed to stay at the capital so taking everything would only have put him at a disadvantage.

"(Since I'll most likely won't be able to receive a sponsorship unless I agree to be their hero, I'll help myself and receive some compensation.)" he took some currency but left the artifacts intact. It would have been discovered if those suddenly disappear after all.

Kazuya had gotten word that Elrich's preparation had been completed after he had successfully replaced the hologram of himself that was left in the library. He left with a promise to come back as he bid his farewells politely towards the old librarian.

"I look forward to seeing you again, young hero. It is very rare that an old man like me comes across seekers of knowledge after all." the old librarian smiled and closed the doors of the royal library.

Since Duke Eberbach had a territory of his own to govern, he didn't give much importance to his estate in the Royal capital. He spent most of his riches on the military and focused on making the Zweifel kingdom's forces stronger.

Due to this, though his estate was not as grand as those who have a lower position than him in the capital, the power and position he held was what even the royal family envied. This was the dedication and the danger of the Eberbach family which did things that no noble would be able to.

"This place is…" the hero was surprised after reaching the Eberbach estate at the capital. It was not because it wasn't fit for a 'duke' but, because this exact estate was a place he was familiar with.

"Welcome to the Eberbach residence." The butler bowed outside of the carriage accompanied by a number of maids that were lined up on both sides of the way leading to the manor. "I will lead you to your room so that you can leave your luggage and freshen up before meeting with Elrich-sama."

"Eberbach residence…" he looked around and felt as if a fly had flown into his mouth.

This had been because this same manor was presented to him when he was first summoned to Edea in his previous life. The estate was humbly placed near the gates that separated the noble district from the western part of the commoner's area in the capital.

He had been impressed with the size of the manor and how neatly it had been decorated. The hero of the past was most grateful in receiving such a big and expensive looking property to serve as his home and base. What gave it more value in his first life was the statement 'it used to belong to a duke who once had been the kingdom's most powerful general' spoken by the king himself.

Today, not only had Kazuya learned that everything that he was impressed about this place had been a shameless lie, the confirmation of what he had been pondering about all day was already answered. He had arrived in Edea a few months early compared to his last visit.

"This will be where you will stay." The butler opened the door and let Kazuya enter the big room that had been prepared just for him.

"This room…" Kazuya's lips couldn't help but twitch. "… is mine?"

It was a room where he was specifically wasn't allowed to enter even while bearing the name hero after he had received ownership of the mansion in his previous life. It was because it belonged to one of the members who were once part of his party.

"Yes…" the butler noticed the weird expression on Kazuya's face. "I-is it not to your taste?"

"Ah! It's not that." Kazuya quickly shook his head and tried to get himself off his imagination. "I just thought that this room was a little bit more than what I expected. Does this room not have an owner?"

"It is a room where one of Elrich-sama's most trusted subordinates stay in when they visit the capital. Need not to worry hero-sama, no one will contest you for this room."

"I see…" Kazuya shifted his eyesight and saw the two maids that followed showed somewhat awkward expressions. "(These two should be part of the Steel Wolves or something similar…)" he thought.

"Well then, I shall leave you to yourself and help with the preparations for tonight's dinner. These two maids will be responsible for serving you." The butler introduced them as Neun and Acht. "Please inform them if you need anything or if you are ready to meet with Elrich-sama." He bowed and excused himself.

"(Neun and Acht huh…)" The two attractive maids impressed Kazuya but not because of their looks but because of how skilled he had judged them. Though he initially didn't know much about the duke when he first arrived, the royal guards that guided him around were quite talkative about the most powerful nobles as well as the most hated ones.

Kazuya was able to easily figure out the awkward atmosphere amongst the nobles as soon as he chose to stay with Elrich. Though it was not fully intentional, his decision turned out to be better than what he had initially planned. A neutral party was better than working on a person who was on the side of the king.

"Umm… hero-sama?" the ponytailed Acht called out to the quiet Kazuya.

"Hmm?" Kazuya raised his head and found the two maids in his room as if it were natural. "Ah, pardon me. I was just thinking about something."

"Would you like some help will your luggage?" Neun acted professionally and stared at his backpack. It was unlike any of the work she ever saw and wanted to see what kind of things the hero brought from the other world.

"I didn't really bring anything that I would need help with but…" Kazuya looked at them for a moment and smiled. "Can I ask you both to prepare a warm bath? We can talk while I wait."

""Understood!"" the two said in unison and immediately moved to guide Kazuya to the bath.

Arriving at the familiar grand bath, Kazuya couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic. He didn't expect to come here as a guest of the manor's previous owner. He watched the two maids with their preparations and decided to break the ice when they didn't look so occupied.

"Which unit are you two from?" his sudden question startled the two maids.

"That…" Acht couldn't help but leak out her voice and got glared at by her partner.

"You two don't have to hide it. I can tell that most of the personnel in this manor is capable and worthy to be called a subordinate of the 'War Duke'. I would have gotten the wrong impression if it was only you two but, even the butler called Zwei was pretty capable." He grinned.

""…"" the two maids were speechless. Even Neun who tried her best to maintain a straight face couldn't stop her expression from twitching.

They knew just how important a guest this person was to the duke just by being given a room that was next to his daughter. This was why even though they weren't really maids, they did their roles humbly and faced this guest as politely as they could.

The duke had given specific instructions to treat the hero well. What he didn't take into account was that the lack of personnel that wasn't included in the military was almost nonexistent in the manor. This led to the predicament of the two maids who were worried that Kazuya might misunderstand and think that he was under surveillance.

"Didn't I just say that there is nothing to worry about? Do I really look that scary?" Kazuya held back the urge to sigh and tried joking with the two. Their reaction was enough for him to throw away the possibility of the duke putting him under heavy surveillance.

"N-no… there aren't really many people here that have proper training as maids to be able to serve a guest such as yourself…" Acht spoke nervously.

"So, the duke is a military man before he is a noble like I heard." He tried to placate them by smiling amicably. "Looks like this kingdom has some hope after all." he chuckled.

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The Eberbach household had intrigued him ever since he heard the name of Elrich Eberbach. Known as the 'War Duke' in this life and referred to as the 'Mad Duke' in his previous one. A noble he never met but had perished before he arrived in Edea. His unexpected meeting with the duke together with Alicia and the king's actions as soon as he arrived served as evidence that their plans to use him had not changed in this lifetime.

"D-do you really mean it when you said that you wouldn't misunderstand? We're not serving you because of our capabilities… the other maids are still clumsy at serving people so Zwei-sama assigned us." Acth told him about the situation.

"I asked the opinions of the royal guards. They said that Elrich-san was an oddity as a noble. Some admired him for his acceptance of anyone capable to the military as well as his policy for not being as extravagant as the other nobles."

Neun who had remained silent couldn't help but admire Kazuya for his quick and sharp wit. For an elite like her, there were very few that impressed her enough to compare them to her commanding officer. This made her think that his title as hero, despite how normal he seemed was not so exaggerated after all.

What the two maids didn't know was that Kazuya had already taken measures as soon as he opened his eyes in this world. The hero's blessing he received was slowly being suppressed to the point that even through the skilled eyes of the two maids, Kazuya seemed like a person who just had a small advantage in mana capacity compared to them.

"Now then…" seeing the two calm down, he went to the main topic. "I want to ask you two a couple of questions about this kingdom…"

Though he couldn't get all the information he wanted because it would cause suspicions, Kazuya was still able to get valuable information about the nobles and their current situation. The slight misunderstanding they had earlier turned out to be a good thing for him as the two maids didn't really hold back in telling him what he wanted to know.

The maids excused themselves and Kazuya was able to soak in the bath while thinking about what needed to be done from here on out. The big difference in his arrival compared to the previous time he was summoned gave him new sets of options on how he would proceed.

Though it indeed give him several new options, it also meant that the unpredictable factors of this version of Edea had also increased. He knew that he would soon need to decide whether he would let the events happened in his previous life pass or change it and cause a major change in the history of Edea he knew.

"sigh… (I guess I'll have to find out more before I decide.)"

Kazuya immediately asked to be taken to see the duke after fixing himself back up. The two maids were a little bit more comfortable with him and though they were still careful about how they acted, the fear they had of him had more or less disappeared.

"Welcome to my humble abode, Kazuya-san." Elrich welcomed him warmly. "I heard that you were immediately able to discern that both Acht and Neun weren't ordinary staff members. I'm impressed."

"I've spent a fair share of time training people and training with people to be able to notice. Their movements were too precise and wouldn't have fit regular servants." He replied. "It really isn't a big issue unless the person they are spying on is skilled or has people surrounding him that are the same."

"Ah indeed. I was not wrong in my assumption that you indeed possess great qualities as a commander. Let us talk while we dine shall we?" The duke led him to the dining area while the servants served their meals.

The duke primarily talked about the things that the king wanted to convey. Even though Elrich didn't get along with the decisions that the king has been making lately, he understood that the king was looking at the best interest of their kingdom.

Elrich then continued with his own opinion on the matter. His principles and leadership were based on the hero Raphael's words about how soldiers were like on earth. Combined with the philosophy of chivalry, the current military forces of the Eberbach house was one of the most feared and respected armies of the human kingdom.

"(I can see why both the church and the crown didn't want to let house Eberbach come into contact with me.)" Kazuya thought.

He was assumed to be a military man because of the clothes he chose to wear. Despite his disastrous actions after arriving, the duke felt some sort of kinship towards him after making even the king himself speechless with his reasoning. Elrich agreed with Kazuya that their kingdom appeared to be kidnappers while the hero himself was indeed a victim of their selfishness.

"I wanted to let you meet my daughter but unfortunately, she has been too focused on her training that she had missed your arrival." Elrich's words made Kazuya remember something about the history he knew of the Eberbach house.

Elrich Eberbach was known as the 'Mad Duke' in his previous life because of one incident; the murder of his one and only daughter. According to what he was told, the demons wanted to weaken the kingdom's most powerful army so they had plotted to murder Elrich's daughter and blame it on the nobles who were at odds with Elrich.

Because of this, the duke went on a mad frenzy and attacked anyone who he suspected to have been a part of the scheme. This led to his ominous title and eventual downfall. Even the mighty military organization of the proud duke was no match for the combined forces of the kingdom and the church of light.

"Daughter?" Kazuya acted surprised. "I assumed you were still a bachelor since you look young." Kazuya gave a slight laugh.

"Haha! You're quite good with words." The duke laughed out loud. "She is about the same age as you and has been training with one of the most elite squads under my command. Her skills with her weapon are almost unmatched compared to people her age in the capital." He proudly boasted.

"Sounds like she is a child a military man like yourself is very proud of." Kazuya tried to know more about the person that caused this proud duke to go against the nobles he appeared to have been tolerant of earlier in the day.

"Indeed. I am lucky to have such a daughter." he nodded and felt satisfied that he found someone who listened to his boasts about his little princess.

"There is no need to disturb her training just to let her meet with someone like me. I haven't even agreed to help this kingdom after being called here so meeting me would have been pointless if I decide to return to my world."

"Right… About that…" Elrich's scratched his cheek awkwardly. "I've already received word that she will be going here."

Elrich knew that the hero had keen instincts. He tried to hide his expression to his thoughts being seen through. With his attempt to avoid talking about the pressure the king and the church will give Kazuya later on, Elrich missed the change in Kazuya's mood after hearing that the duke's daughter was currently on her way to the capital.

"How long will it take for her to get to the capital?" he looked at the framed map in the wall. "Come to think of it, I've heard the names of places the nobles introduced they own but didn't really understand where they were."

"It is a good thing that I had a copy of the Zweifel kingdom's map that indicates which noble occupies which land. I prepared it for my daughter, but I don't expect her to use it anytime soon." Elrich signaled one of the servants to fetch it. "It will take a few days to get here from the iron fortress but… if that light that brought you here was seen all the way there, she would take 2 days in the quickest. "

"2 days…" He mumbled and fell into thought.

Kazuya was used to a more chaotic map of territories. The distribution of the territories had a large part of it simplified by being labeled Eberbach's territory. His mind was quickly jolted after realizing that this information could help in telling which noble played a cruel hand against Elrich's family.

"Do you not want to meet my child?" The duke also suddenly thought of this thought.

"No… It is just that I wanted to be more knowledgeable about the customs of this world before meeting people that deserve respect." Kazuya had some thinking to do so he excused himself after thanking the duke for dinner.

Not knowing that his excuse to the duke had increased the noble's impression of him, Kazuya went for his room to think about this sudden time restricted decision.

"To keep history the same and keep my advantage, or… changing history and saving an army that will possibly go against me when I go against this kingdom…" he sighed. Kazuya wasn't prepared to make a decision that will change a whole world's history on his first day in Edea.