To the Imperial Capital (4)
"Just a moment."
"Lady Sien?"
Sien drifted carefully toward the edge of the street, and Adel followed, wondering what had caught her eye.
A man of shabby appearance had spread a stall there. The wares laid out upon it were crude accessories — the sort of trinkets one might find on any street corner, no matter how generously one looked at them.
This was not a place where people came to buy and sell. A little farther on, the main avenue opened up, and that was where the real commerce lived. Customers gathered naturally wherever merchants clustered. They wanted better goods, more choices, the chance to compare. A stall here had no hope of thriving.
And yet he had set one up. That meant only one thing: his circumstances were desperate, and he had no experience as a merchant. He had ended up here because he had never managed to secure a proper spot.
"Excuse me."
Perhaps startled by the lovely woman's voice, the middle-aged man jerked his head up and offered a greeting.
"Ah — welcome. Would you wait just a moment? I haven't quite finished putting everything out..."
He fumbled and asked her to wait a little longer. There weren't even that many items, yet he made no speed at all. The reason became clear soon enough.
The man's right sleeve was empty. Where an arm ought to have been, the fabric hung loose and vacant.
Sien must have spotted it somehow.
"I'm sorry, miss. My hands are a bit slow..."
Though he could not see her face clearly, something in her voice and the air she carried must have told him enough. He addressed Sien as one would a noble.
"No. It's quite all right."
Sien studied him for a moment, then bit her lip lightly and spoke.
"It seems your hand is giving you trouble."
"Pardon? Ah... yes. That's right."
"Were you in an accident?"
The man gave an awkward smile and said that he hadn't been.
"Then perhaps... during the Great War...?"
"Yes. Well. Shameful as it is, that's the case."
A middle-aged man who had lost his arm fighting demonic beasts and withdrawn from the field. He had received compensation, but the sum had not been large — not enough to provide for his family. And he had not wanted to sit in despair simply because he was missing an arm. So he had taken up this trade, hoping to do something. Anything.
"...Ah. I've gone on and on about my own story. Forgive me."
"Not at all. I was just thinking what a remarkable person you are."
"For someone of your standing to say so is an honor."
"Standing? Hardly. Then — did you make all of these yourself?"
"I did. With what little skill I have, shameful as they are..."
To have made them himself despite missing an arm — he clearly had a gifted hand.
"They're lovely. I'll take this one, please."
Sien picked up a butterfly-shaped brooch. Its violet wings suited her hair remarkably well.
"Yes, miss. Three copper coins will do."
He named a price cheaper than even ordinary accessories. Sien placed three coins in his palm, just as he had asked.
"...Huh?"
What she had given him, however, was not copper. It was silver.
"M-miss?"
"Yes?"
"Forgive me, but I think you've given me the wrong coins. Not silver — copper..."
"I believe I gave you the right ones."
"No. I can't accept this. I'd be grateful enough for three coppers..."
"There's the labor of the man who made it. And that hand of yours once saved the Empire's future."
The man refused stubbornly; Sien pressed the coins into his grip just as stubbornly. After a brief tussle, Sien was the one who won.
"...Thank you. Truly, thank you."
"Take care. And keep your spirits up."
Having concluded that unexpected transaction, Sien walked on, the brooch she had just bought pinned to her clothes.
"...That was a little sudden, wasn't it?"
Adel nodded at Sien's question.
"To be honest, yes."
"I'm sorry. But when I see people like him, my heart just... goes soft. My mother, who died of wounds she took fighting demonic beasts. All the knights and soldiers of our house who fell in battle. I think of them, and I think of myself, still alive because of them. And I feel I have to do at least this much. That's why, back when I was in the central territories, I used to help wounded soldiers in whatever small ways I could."
And now her father and her brother as well. Honoring those who had given their lives fighting for others was not merely a matter of mourning and comforting the dead. It meant treating those who had fought beside them with dignity. That was how Sien had always thought, and how she had always acted.
"But, Lady Sien."
"What is it?"
"The Empire has already compensated him, has it not?"
Adel could not quite understand. That man had nothing to do with the Lichtenauers. He and Sien were complete strangers. He was not even a knight — just an unknown soldier. And yet she felt this way about him. Adel found he wanted to hear her answer.
"...Those who willingly sacrificed themselves deserve to be treated with honor, don't they?"
If they were not — if people like him were not given their due — then who, in days to come, would ever give their life to protect another? Compensation had its limits, but respect and regard should never run dry. Sien said it as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
A scene from not long ago rose unbidden in his mind. Even when the family had been short of funds, Sien had refused to give up the consolation payments for the fallen. She had clung, stubbornly, to the duty of honoring and comforting them.
You really are a remarkable person.
A woman who shone with a faint but unmistakable light. Adel watched her back for a moment, then quietly followed.
"Hmm. Sien. Forget that one — try this on?"
"...Karina. Be honest. You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"As if. I'm doing this for myself. If the person I'm arriving with looks shabby, I'm the one who loses, aren't I?"
It had already been an hour. Sien had been seized by Karina and put through every dress in the shop — every cut, every color, with no end in sight. Another thirty minutes passed before they finally settled on one.
"That's Sien taken care of. Next up is your escort..."
"Adel can come along as well?"
"Mm. Each of us is allowed one person at our side."
And so, after Sien, it was Adel's turn to be dressed. He had expected it to be over quickly, but it ate up a surprising amount of time. Everything they put on him suited him so well that neither Sien nor Karina could make up their minds.
It was the first time he had ever worn clothes like these — the first time he had ever been through anything like this at all. Adel simply blinked and put on whatever they handed him. At last they settled on black formal attire.
"Shall we be off?"
Karina climbed into the carriage first and took Sien's hand. Adel shut the door, and they set out for the Imperial Palace.
"I heard. You ran into House Fiore."
"That already reached your ears?"
"It's a matter between Lichtenauer and Fiore. And it happened in a city not far from here. People talk, and talk spreads fast — faster still when the story's that juicy."
"..."
"You did well not to take the bait. Knowing Etria of Fiore, if you'd risen to the provocation she would have forced it into a duel somehow. That's as plain as day."
Karina would always stand on Sien's side. But if Sien and Etria ever came to blows, the victor would be Etria. On that point, at least, she had drawn a cold and clear conclusion.
"I'll tell you now. House Fiore has been invited to this imperial banquet as well."
"...Is that so."
"They successfully stopped that large-scale rift outbreak not long ago. Four third-grade Rifts alone, and more than ten if you count the lower grades."
"That's an enormous scale."
"There was some damage, but the local nobles banded together and wiped them all out in the end. House Fiore's reputation rose even higher for it. People are saying that with their knight order as it stands now, they could win even against a second-grade Rift. Objectively speaking, it is impressive."
It was hardly a story Sien would enjoy hearing. But one could only deal with an opponent one understood — and so Karina told her everything she knew.
"Unless something unusual happens, the nobles will favor House Fiore. That's why I'm going out of my way to bring you. We have to keep the spotlight from gathering entirely on their side. By any means necessary."
"...By any means necessary."
Karina nodded. If there was truly no other way, they would have to use the story of the fallen previous family head — and of Sien herself, who had been forced to take up the title so suddenly. Even sympathy would do, so long as it made them allies. She had wanted to say that much, but that, at least, she kept behind her teeth.
"Ah, and another thing, Sien."
Karina glanced out the window. Sensing something odd in her manner, Sien watched her quietly.
"That man you call your escort attendant. Is he really someone you can trust?"
"Did you already have him investigated in that short a time?"
"He's not a Lichtenauer knight, and he's not a name anyone knows, either. Almost no one can take on third-grade demonic beasts alone — and toy with them, at that. Even if someone like that existed, he'd already be a famous knight. But the name Adel is one I've never heard. Not anywhere."
"There's a reason for that. I can't tell you, but..."
"That's exactly why I'm more worried. A man who suddenly appeared the moment Lichtenauer was in crisis. Anyone would find that strange. If this is someone's scheme to burrow deep into the house while they have the chance, that's a truly serious matter."
Sien let out a quiet breath. Karina's concern was more than reasonable. Even within the family, there were still many who doubted Adel. But Sien shook her head. Once she had decided to trust someone, she wanted to trust them to the end. And looking at Adel, he did not seem like that kind of man. It was a certainty that was not quite a certainty — but it was enough.
"Don't worry about Adel. I'll vouch for him."
"Among us merchants, you don't give a guarantee lightly, you know."
"I'm not a merchant."
"That's not what I meant..."
Karina trailed off and closed her mouth. A few seconds later, a knock sounded against the carriage door.
"We will arrive at the Imperial Palace shortly, everyone."
"Yes, I understand. Adel. Thank you."
After Sien's reply, his presence receded once more.
"...Anyway. Look into that man a little more."
Sien knew the words came from genuine concern for her. And so, however reluctantly, she nodded.
Of course, she had absolutely no intention of investigating Adel.