Led by a knight, we finally arrived at the Rockford mansion which we’ve already visited a couple of times.
Completely different from Margrave Volton’s castle, we passed through the gates of a Versailles palace-like mansion, and the carriage ran across the vast grounds until we reached the mansion.
「Rockford City has gotten a lot cleaner.」
「The Purifier MDs have really spread, and this is a stopover between Volton and the Royal Capital, so it seems they’ve made an effort on the maintenance of the city.」
The Rockford Earldom is located right next to the Volton Margravery, so of course, there were no foreign troops or monsters drifting in from the Savage Lands. It’s not adjacent to the largest monster nest 『Forest of Death』 unlike the Volton Margravery, so it was one of the safer territories even within Valkyra Kingdom. They also work hard to suppress thieves, so could be said to have the best public order in the grain-producing regions in Valkyra Kingdom.
The capital of the Rockford territory capitalizes on its location as a halfway point between the Royal Capital and the Volton Margravery, and was experiencing prosperity that it hasn’t seen in recent years.
When we arrived in front of Earl Rockford’s mansion, I was so surprised panicked.
「E-earl Rockford!」 ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝓷𝓮𝓽
What!? With a face full of smiles, Earl Rockford himself came out to meet us. Moreover, it was not just Earl Rockford, Madam Rose and their eldest son Rod-kun, and a completely healthy Emilia-chan were also smiling and waving their hands excitedly.
The carriage stopped and I immediately got out to greet them.
「Long time no see. E-earl Rockford, you coming to meet me yourself isー 「Now, now, Iruma-dono, let’s make our greetings inside the mansion.」an honor…… Yes.」
「Welcome, Iruma-san, Sophia-san, Maria-san, and you must be Marnie-san. Ahh, Kaede-chan! I wanted to see you!」
Earl Rockford interrupted my greeting, implying that such a stiff greeting was unnecessary, and perhaps no longer able to hold herself back, Madam Rose’s machine gun talk began. Rod and Emilia-chan told her to stop, and she finally quieted down when Earl Rockford told her to settle down.
「Oh my, I have acted disgracefully. I was so elated that my excitement got the better of me.」
「No, I’m also glad to see you, Madam Rose.」
「It would be strange to talk at the entryway the entire time, wouldn’t it? Shall we head inside?」
Earl Rockford exchanged looks with a butler and a maid, then we were guided to the guest room by that maid.
「Dear guests, during your stay at Rockford, please feel free to use this room. I will return later to guide you.」
After a beautiful, exemplary bow, the maid walked out of the room, and we sat on the sofa of the guest room and took a short break.
「Haa~ Earl Rockford didn’t just suddenly meet us now, did he?」
「Yes he did, who could have imagined that the Earl himself would come to welcome us commoners.」
「Madam Rose’s excitement was really intense. Well, I know why, though.」
「The impression she gave today was very different from the time when we met at the wedding reception.」
「Marnie, you’ve only met her during the wedding and when Emilia-chan got sick, so it can’t be helped.」
Marnie was baffled because her impression of Madam Rose was vastly different. We who’ve stayed in this mansion before know about the so-called “Underwear Uproar”, so we weren’t surprised. And now, I’m taken aback looking at Maria.
「Speaking of which, the Earldom’s maids were also there. Could it be…… is that it, Maria?」
「Fufu, you got it, Takumi-sama. Everyone is eagerly awaiting the new line.」
「Haa~ so it really was that, after all.」
Marnie looked like she was still clueless about what we were talking about, so I explained.
「……Madam Rose and the maids of the Rockford Earldom are excited about the new line of underwear that Maria and Kaede had made.」
Then we talked about how, during our first visit, the underwear that Sophia and Maria were wearing had caused a culture shock to Madam Rose.
「Nowadays, high class women’s clothing stores in Volton and even in the Royal Capital sell them, but let’s just say that women’s clothing were boring before then.」
「So that’s what it was.」
Marnie was convinced, so we rested up and settled in a bit. Then, we heard a knock on the door.
「I have come to guide you.」
Led by the maid, we headed to the room where Earl Rockford was waiting.