To the Imperial Capital
Some time had passed since Adel had taken up his post as an attendant of the Lichtenauer family.
Nothing of consequence had occurred. Day after day had unfolded in the most ordinary fashion.
At least, until today.
"My lady. A letter has arrived."
Adel held out the letter that had just been delivered. The wrapping had a distinctly antique air about it, and an elegant, flowing script stood out upon the surface.
"A letter? Who's it from?"
Sien took it from her attendant, pausing in the middle of her work. Adel glanced at the exterior and spoke.
"It says it's from your closest friend, my lady."
"Ah. I know who it is. I didn't think it'd arrive this quickly, though."
"A comrade... that is to say, a friend of yours?"
At Adel's question, Sien offered a faint smile.
"Yes. A friend. A very dear one — someone who once shared similar worries with me. She helped me a great deal when I was living alone and lonely in the capital. She's a truly precious friend."
"She sounds like a good person."
"Yes. A very good friend. Truly."
So saying, Sien opened the letter. Lest he disturb her, Adel stepped a little farther away.
"...Hmm."
A moment later, having finished reading, Sien let out a low hum. Then she even bit her lip slightly. It was only natural to wonder if something was wrong.
"Are you all right?"
"Ah, yes. I'm fine, Adel. I was just thinking for a moment."
Sien toyed with her chin, sinking into thought. To summarize the contents of the letter in her hand:
I can lend you the funds.
But you'll have to come to the Imperial Capital once more.
Don't ask why — just come, and quickly.
She's trying to push me into something again, isn't she.
The friend who had sent this letter was, truly, a good person. There was just one thing that weighed on Sien's mind: she tried to look after her with such passionate care that her pure goodwill had reached the point of being burdensome. The request to come to the Imperial Capital at once was no different.
Her friend knew full well that Sien had left the capital for Lichtenauer in the north less than a month ago. She would have to endure that long, exhausting journey all over again. The head of a family still in the midst of recovery would have to leave her post. And yet she was being summoned — there had to be something significant behind it. A desire to give Sien something, surely. And it was precisely that desire that Sien found a little overwhelming.
"...Adel."
"Yes, Lady Sien."
"Please go and convene a meeting of the retainers. I think I need to hear their opinions."
"Understood."
Adel faithfully carried out his lord's command, going around the castle and informing the retainers of the family head's will. Afterward, at Sien's request, a meeting of the Lichtenauer retainers was held. Upon hearing the matter she put before them, the retainers split into two camps.
"Lichtenauer has only just begun to recover. And yet at this critical hour, the family head would leave her post? For the Imperial Capital, no less? Factoring in the travel and the schedule after arrival, it would be a journey of a month at the very least. That is a difficult position for this house to be in."
"But this is no trivial errand — she says it is to resolve the matter of our funds, does she not?"
"Then we of the retainers shall put forward our own assets. Please, remain here."
"That might cover us for the moment, but money is consumed without end. Funds that sit idle have their limits. We need a new channel of capital."
"There is reason in that."
At first the opinions had divided cleanly into for and against. Gradually, however, the room tilted toward reluctant approval. Even after the family head had already sold off a considerable number of her personal belongings, the Lichtenauer family was still gasping under a shortage of funds. Even if the retainers offered up their own fortunes, it would be nothing more than a stopgap — not a fundamental solution.
Sharing a small puddle among themselves would not be the end of it. What they needed now, above all, was a new waterway. Without one, even the mightiest of ancient trees would simply wither — slowly, so very slowly — and die.
"It seems we've reached a conclusion."
Sien, who had been listening carefully to her retainers' views, rose to her feet. The retainers stood as one behind her.
"It won't be long. A month — a month and a half at most."
"..."
"Until then, I would ask that you look after Lichtenauer a little while longer. I trust that you will give your utmost in answer to my faith in you. I can trust you, can't I?"
"Without question."
"Until the day you return, my lady, we shall protect this house even at the cost of our lives."
"Hearing you say so gives me all the more strength."
The sight of a family head striving in every direction for the sake of her house. Adel quietly took in that image of Sien with both eyes. It was not a radiance to rival the Emperor's — and yet, little by little, she was beginning to shine.
Once the decision was made, everything that followed proceeded with remarkable speed. Sien selected the knights who would accompany her to the Imperial Capital — and yet their numbers were far too few. A mere dozen knights or so, and a few dozen guards. Even fewer than the escort that had brought Sien to Lichtenauer in the first place.
"My lady. Will this number of men truly be sufficient?"
"I worry it may be too few, my lady."
That Brender and Rascal would voice their concern was only to be expected. Sien smiled at the two retainers' worry.
"It's all right. Adel will be coming with us, won't he?"
With Adel's overwhelming ability, he could surely do the work of ten knights or more. The two retainers were well aware of that fact. And yet both men were still worried for her.
"I know. I know what the two of you are afraid of."
"You... know, my lady?"
"Why do you think nobles travel with more attendants than they need? Safety is part of it, of course — but they also want to show something. That even in these difficult times, they still possess formidable strength."
"..."
"By contrast, a small retinue makes for a picture that's all too easy to look down on. Am I wrong?"
She was not. It was precisely the truth. The reason they worried over so few attendants was not simply a matter of safety in case of emergency — it was the eyes of others upon the head of the Lichtenauer family. Some might call it fussing over a mere matter of appearances, but in the world of politics, even that kind of display was a form of power, a form of strategy. There was nothing to be gained by looking weak. The only ones who could appear weak and still not be dismissed were the Imperial family. Anyone else simply became fodder for gossip in high society, chewed over this way and that.
"Don't worry. Precisely because the retinue is small, I'll simply have to do better."
"My lady."
"I don't mean to boast, but I know the capital's affairs better than anyone. I lived there a long time, after all. So trust me — and the two of you, please hold Lichtenauer firm. There was another Rift just the other day, and another battle besides, wasn't there? While the master of this great house is briefly away, I would like her loyal men to look after it well."
In the end, the two retainers had no choice but to follow Sien's will. As Sien boarded the carriage and preparations for departure were underway, Brender and Rascal approached Adel, who had been waiting nearby.
"Adel."
"Commander. Captain."
Adel bowed his head, and the two retainers bowed theirs in turn. Then, putting on their best smiles, they spoke.
"Please — we beg you to take good care of her ladyship."
"Do not worry. No demonic beast will bar our path."
At that, Rascal slowly shook his head. Demonic beasts were not the whole of what troubled him. There might well be enemies more troublesome than any beast.
"I trust your skill, of course, Adel. But... there may be those who would pick a fight for no reason, hoping to tarnish Lichtenauer's name. Be wary of that. Don't rise to the bait."
"...Is the Lichtenauer family not a renowned house of swordsmanship within the Empire?"
"It is. And that is precisely why they will want to tear into you all the more. That is how this world works. Politics, power — they are full of things we swordsmen can scarcely understand."
Adel considered Rascal's words for a moment, then nodded. The particulars escaped him, but one thing he understood with perfect clarity: if someone picked a fight, he would make certain they never did so again.
"In any case, have a safe journey yourself. This will be your first time in the Imperial Capital, will it not?"
"Ah. Yes. It's... my first time. Yes. My first time."
"It should be a fine experience."
"Don't go losing your head over the sights and neglecting her ladyship."
Rascal had said it in a teasing way, asking Adel to look after Sien. But he had not the slightest inkling that Adel knew the Imperial Capital — and even the Imperial Palace — exceedingly well.
The journey toward the Imperial Capital proceeded without incident. A Rift did appear nearby along the way, but before the Lichtenauer party could even step forward, Imperial troops stationed in the vicinity swept the demonic beasts aside. It had been a 5th-grade Rift, the lowest rank — so of course they had.
On the road back to the capital she had left not long ago, Sien gazed out at the passing scenery and sank into thought.
What on earth are you plotting, Karina?
The friend she had met in the capital, Karina Legram, was not a human of the Empire. She was a demon — the same as Sien's own mother. Perhaps she had felt sorry for Sien, a child of mixed human and demon blood. From the beginning, Karina had cherished and doted on her like a little sister. One might worry that she had approached with some ulterior motive, but Karina's backing was far too substantial for that to be plausible.
If I can get the merchant group's help, at least we'll be able to breathe.
After fleeing to this world with her own people, the shrewd Karina had formed a merchant group together with the demons around her. And in less than twenty years, it had swollen rapidly in power — the product of absolute creditworthiness and the characteristic tenacity of her kind. Legram, one of the foremost merchant houses in the Empire. It was the owner of that house they were going to meet.
Sien tapped on the carriage window. It opened, and Adel's voice came through.
"Yes, Lady Sien."
"How much farther?"
"I am told we should arrive sometime between tomorrow morning and noon."
"...Then let us stop at a nearby city and rest."
"As you command."
At the family head's word, the Lichtenauer procession diverted toward a nearby city. As they waited before the gates for a brief inspection, Sien, sitting quietly inside the carriage, suddenly noticed that it had grown strangely noisy outside.
"Adel. Is something the matter?"
"...My lady, I think you had best come out and see for yourself. It is a situation I find rather difficult to understand."
At Adel's last words, Sien tilted her head. A situation he found difficult to understand? What was that supposed to mean? Had some problem arisen with the inspection? Sien rose and stepped out of the carriage. If a problem had come up, she would simply resolve it as family head. The Lichtenauer family was not so easily trifled with — there was nothing to be concerned about.
"...Hah."
The moment she took in the scene before her, however, Sien let out a sigh laced with no small amount of irritation.
Of all places to run into the Fiore family...
The Empire had several renowned houses of swordsmanship. Some exchanged visits and cultivated friendships — but others stood in opposition. The most representative example of the latter was Lichtenauer and Fiore. Their territories were not even particularly far apart, and though their swordsmanship differed in small ways, the two styles shared the same roots. Thanks to that, the two houses had been snarling at each other since time immemorial. And when word came that the previous head of Lichtenauer had married a demon, Fiore had provoked them all the more fiercely, accusing them of tainting the bloodline.
...This could be trouble.
Something considerably unpleasant seemed about to unfold. Sien could only hope that her fears would prove unfounded.