Chapter 277 I Was Very Foolish
After the dinner party, Sara returned to her room in the main house for the first time in a while.
She changed from her dress into her nightgown, and just as she was about to lie down on the bed, there was a knock on the door.
"Who could it be at this hour?"
Maria, who was brushing Sara's hair, looked suspicious and called out from just inside the door.
"Who is it? Miss Sara is about to go to sleep."
"It's me."
Hearing the voice of Marquis Grandchester from outside, Maria hurriedly opened the door and let him in. Robert and Rebecca followed him into the room.
"What brings you all here together? If you had called, I would have come to you."
Sara offered the 3 of them chairs and asked Maria to prepare some drinks.
"It's about the letter from this morning. I thought I should apologize properly."
"I believe I wrote that an apology is unnecessary."
"However..."
"If you could stop using Sir Jeffrey, that would be fine."
Robert looked back and forth between his father and daughter before speaking.
"Father, what do you mean by the letter from this morning? I heard that Sara was moving to Maiden's Tower, and you were just trying to convince her to quit."
"It's certain that I will move to Maiden's Tower sooner or later, Father. I've already arranged a room there. In fact, it's bigger and more convenient than this one, you know?"
Sara smiled brightly at Robert.
"Wait, Sara. After I get married, we can move to the annex, and I can prepare a room that's bigger than this one. The facilities will be new too."
"I think I've said this many times, but I don't want to disturb the newlyweds."
"You can't possibly think of family as a disturbance!"
"You might have forgotten, but I remember being an older woman than you, Father. Can't you understand how uncomfortable it is to stay at the newlywed couple's home?"
Rebecca lightly tapped Robert's arm.
"Rob, it seems Sara has already made up her mind. It's probably useless to try to convince her."
"I'll make sure to go out and have fun, Father."
"But it's too lonely to be separated all of a sudden, even though Sara is finally going to be my daughter!"
Rebecca gently patted Robert's head, trying to comfort him as he slumped his shoulders sadly.
'Thinking about seeing that kind of casual affection every day is a bit much...'
"If that's the case, why not just stay at the main residence?"
"It's more convenient that way, grandfather. The golems will handle the security."
"Then you can just increase the number of golems at the main residence."
"That's also to avoid gradually adding golems to the Grandchester Castle's forces. Didn't Sir Jeffrey explain this to you?"
"He did. So, if I request the Sophia Merchant Guild as the lord, could they send golems?"
"I must decline."
"Then what if it's a lord's order?"
At that moment, Sara's expression changed, and her magic power began to leak out, starting to intimidate Marquis Grandchester.
"Sara, calm down. Your magic is leaking. Father-in-law was just talking hypothetically; he hasn't given any orders yet, right?"
Unlike Prince Andrew, there was no magic rampage. With Rebecca's persuasion, the magic quickly calmed down. However, Marquis Grandchester, overwhelmed by the immense magic, turned pale and sank wearily into the sofa.
"Father, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Huh... Sara is more intimidating than any knight I've faced on the battlefield. This is what stepping on a dragon's tail feels like. Mike and Pochi were right."
"I'm sorry. I was trying to prevent this kind of situation, but I couldn't control my magic well."
"No, it's probably my fault."
Just then, Maria entered the room pushing a cart with herbal tea and wine. Robert silently stood up, approached the cart, and poured a generous amount of wine from the decanter into a glass, then offered it to Marquis Grandchester.
"Ah, I'm sorry."
"No, it's fine. But I kind of understand what Father said to make Sara angry. Father, you wanted to use the golems, right?"
"That's right, Robert. Avalon is already in a standoff with the Coastal Union through Roisen. And the Grandchester territory is the first to be attacked. Since a betrayal from within has led to a misappropriation incident, we must remain cautious of further betrayals while protecting our people. It's only natural for a lord to want to secure valuable military strength."
Sara took a sip of the herbal tea that Maria served and looked at Marquis Grandchester with a serious expression.
"I'm impressed by your honesty. But I will never send out golems. If you plan to force me to do so by the lord's orders, I will leave the territory, and if a royal decree comes from His Majesty, I will leave the country."
"Why are you so stubborn? Don't you want to protect the people of Grandchester and Avalon?"
"Grandfather. Trying to force me with patriotism or guilt shows just how much of a ruler you are. I can see that you don't truly understand what I conveyed through Sir Jeffrey. And I feel like I finally understand why Rihito advised me at the dinner table."
"What do you mean? I don't think we talked about golems at the dinner."
The Marquis tilted his head, deep in thought.
"It means I went too far. I realize that what I created in this world is becoming a source of conflict."
"Source of conflict? That's an exaggeration. I just want you to protect the people."
"Grandfather. What does 'protect' really mean? The golems won't attack unless someone takes hostile action against them. Even if there's someone trying to harm the person they're guarding, they won't act unless an actual attack happens."
"Can you explain that a bit more?"
"Well, those golems constantly scan an area about 200 meters (656 ft) around them. Even if they spot a suspicious person, they just observe and don't seem to do anything. They don't even warn them. But in reality, as soon as they detect a suspicious person, the golems enter a state of alert, sharing information and trying to identify that person."
"They enter a state of alert without warning?"
"At first, I tried to give warnings, but there were so many that it got annoying, so I stopped the notifications. When you get warned repeatedly, you get used to it, and it becomes like, 'Oh, another suspicious person,' and you just stop caring."
"Hmm."
"So, when these suspicious people get too close, the golems talk to them and tell them to leave. If they still don't go away and keep getting closer, the golems will pick them up and carry them outside the area. They are very careful not to hurt the person during this."
"I see, I was carried like that too."
"This is basically a repeat of that, but if someone gets frustrated and acts aggressively towards the golems, they will try to restrain the person. If the person uses magic, they will reluctantly put a gag and blindfold on them."
"A blindfold?"
"The gag is to stop them from chanting, but it doesn't work on silent magic. However, many magicians can't use their magic well if they can't see their target. That's why we use the blindfold."
"Oh."
"Actually, I've never been in that situation, so I can't confirm if it works properly, but we have a secret technique for magicians who can still use magic while blindfolded."
"A secret technique?"
"We tickle them."
"Huh?"
"The golems use their fingers to tickle. If you can't concentrate, it's hard to activate magic."
"That's pretty ruthless."
"I'm honored by your compliment."
Marquis Grandchester imagined the golems tickling criminals and noticed a cold sweat running down his back.
"Still, those kids won't use more force than that. Even if they were to be destroyed themselves."
"What if a person with a weapon attacks the person they're protecting?"
"They're going to protect them with their body. In the meantime, the other golems will restrain the culprit."
"How noble of you."
"But it's Your Excellency the Marquis who is trying to overwork that noble golem, right?"
Marquis Grandchester was shocked when Sara called him 'Your Excellency the Marquis.'
"Why do you use such a formal way to address me?"
"Because I believe I am speaking to Your Excellency Marquis Grandchester, the lord."
"I see. But I have no intention of overworking the golems. Instead of protecting people with their bodies, we could just allow them to use force against anyone who acts hostile."
"Of course, it's possible to teach them that. But what exactly counts as hostile action?"
"At the very least, if someone is intentionally trying to attack us, that would be considered hostile."
As Marquis Grandchester spoke a bit excitedly, Sara let out a deep sigh.
"So, what is the standard for judging 'intentionally trying to attack us'? If someone raises a weapon from a distance, is that hostile? How do we judge someone with a bow within range? And how much force do we allow the golems to use?"
"That is..."
"Certainly, the golems are equipped with things like batons. However, they rarely attack the opponent. They mostly use them to deflect incoming attacks or to hold someone down when capturing them. They are very careful about attacking people."
"Why? Isn't it easier to suppress someone if you attack first?"
"Your Excellency Marquis Grandchester, I do not intend to teach the golems to intentionally harm people. If we allow that, one day we will end up ordering the golems to defeat our enemies."
"What's wrong with that? If it's to protect our people, it can't be helped."
"Next, to protect our people, you'll say to attack for Grandchester, for Avalon, and then you'll be telling them to invade enemy territory."
"I will not invade other countries!"
"Is that so? If an army from a neighboring country starts marching to attack us, wouldn't you strike first before they enter our land? Or if His Majesty the King orders an advance into another country, can you really say you won't command the golems to invade?"
"Hmm..."
"Your Excellency, golems are not human; they are merely magical tools. They move as commanded and do not question their actions. If a commander tells a golem, 'There are enemies hiding in that village, kill them all,' it won't hesitate to kill even women and children. They can easily become killing machines, reflecting the mindset of those who use them. I have indeed gone too far by creating something that can be turned into a weapon. I finally understand the difference in values that Rihito pointed out. I should have easily imagined this with a little thought, but I was very foolish."
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