“Do you mean support for the faction that you’re holding in Marquess Rodan’s territory, Duke Huguenot?” Liselotte asked, showing no particular change of expression. She had nothing to fear, being someone of her position who had faced numerous sly nobles and merchants many times before.
“Yes, that’s right. ...I’d like to take this opportunity to drop all pretenses. Liselotte, how much of our kingdom’s situation are you aware of?” Duke Huguenot asked suddenly, getting to the heart of the matter.
“...If I were to limit my knowledge to confirmed information, then I know the Beltrum army was crushed by the Proxia Empire several months ago. Several strategically located bases and territories were occupied, leading to the reemergence of Duke Arbor’s house after their fall nine years ago. After that, when Duke Arbor pressed His Majesty and Duke Huguenot for responsibility of the defeat, he managed to skillfully seize political power. It was so skillful, it was as though he had arranged everything in advance,” Liselotte explained, speaking eloquently about the facts she had gathered from her information network.
“I see. Considering how much of our country’s situation you have a grasp of, including the unconfirmed information, that is quite impressive indeed.” Duke Huguenot chuckled faintly. Flora and Roanna were both gazing in awe, surprised at how well Liselotte understood their kingdom’s domestic affairs.
“I am merely a minor noble and merchant,” Liselotte said humbly with a cool smile.
“Hahaha, it makes things much easier if you are that aware of the situation. You’re an intelligent individual... I’m sure you’ve already realized the meaning behind why Princess Flora is here with me, no?”
“...That you are backing Princess Flora in order to oppose Duke Arbor, I suppose?”
To put it another way, King Philip III of the Kingdom of Beltrum had entrusted Flora to Duke Huguenot — but Liselotte purposefully chose not to express it like that.
“That’s right. You may be aware already, but we are secretly in the middle of negotiations with the Kingdom of Galarc for its support,” Duke Huguenot confirmed.
“...There’s one thing I’d like to ask you. Would I be correct in assuming that the hero’s presence here means he has also sided with your faction, Duke Huguenot?” Liselotte looked at Hiroaki in question.
“Yeah, that’s right. Geez... I just wanted to quietly live my life without drawing attention to myself, but apparently the situation surrounding me won’t let me do that,” Hiroaki agreed tiredly and shrugged his shoulders.
I guess it’s certain that he’s the strongly self-asserted type, then? Duke Huguenot must have stirred his true nature well to get him to join. There was still a need to observe his personality further, Liselotte analyzed calmly in her head as she smiled.
“I believe our negotiations with the Kingdom of Galarc will conclude in the near future, making us formally allied. At that time, we would like to request your support,” Duke Huguenot stated.
“I am but one young girl. Wouldn’t it be better to seek my father’s cooperation if you wish for political or military assistance?” Liselotte said, avoiding an answer. In reality, she was only the daughter of a duke, so she had no real political or military power outside of her position as Amande’s governor.
Duke Huguenot shook his head bluntly. “No, what we seek is financial support.”
“What do you mean?” Liselotte asked, her eyes fixed on him.
“As you are the president of the Ricca Guild, I am requesting this of you. Would you be willing to invest your company’s valuable resources — funds, goods, and connections — for our sake? You can call this a business negotiation. Of course, you will be duly rewarded,” Duke Huguenot stressed the vital point.
The Ricca Guild was an extremely young organization established by Liselotte, but it was already a high-class trading guild famous in neighboring kingdoms. It continuously produced products that captured not only the hearts of nobles, but commoners too, making its financial influence reach far beyond that of a small kingdom. Such a large trading firm was built up in a single generation, by the still-fifteen-year-old Liselotte.
Consequently, Duke Huguenot was certain that having Liselotte and the Ricca Guild as their allies would be even more beneficial than having the support of the Galarc Kingdom.
“...I understand. In that case, as long as you agree to several of my conditions, I will agree to providing you support,” Liselotte replied after a pause.
Duke Huguenot’s eyes widened faintly. “...That was a rather quick decision. I honestly expected more resistance.”
“Oh? The Ricca Guild isn’t a charity, after all. If it’s a business negotiation with a return for us, then I am willing to invest in it. Please look at these first.” Liselotte smiled cutely, then took out several documents; the female attendant waiting beside her immediately carried them to Duke Huguenot.
“...Oh?” Duke Huguenot ran his eyes over the documents swiftly, before breathing an impressed hum. The document contained the clearly written conditions of the Ricca Guild’s support for the Huguenot faction.
So she saw through our intentions from the start. What truly wonderful talent, Duke Huguenot thought, astonished.
“Hmm. So all that’s left is for us to accept these conditions... Could you allow us some time to carefully consider this?”
“Of course. We can reach a conclusion once you’ve done that. You’re welcome to stay in my estate until you have reached a decision you are satisfied with.”
“That would be greatly appreciated. Then I shall explain the overview of this to Princess Flora and Sir Hiroaki immediately.”
“In that case, a separate room will be prepared for you. Aria?” Liselotte said, addressing the sole attendant in the room.
“Understood. Everyone, please follow me this way.” Aria promptly opened the door of the dining hall and invited Duke Huguenot and the others to step out. Then, after entrusting the party to another attendant waiting outside the room, Aria spoke up again. “She will be the one to guide you there. Please let her know if you need anything.”
Just before he left the room, Duke Huguenot stared at Aria’s face. “...Excuse me for asking, but have we met somewhere before?” he asked curiously.
“...No, I don’t believe so.” Aria shook her head slowly.
“I see. My apologies. Liselotte, I shall see you later. Please excuse us for now,” Duke Huguenot said, seemingly unbothered as he quickly left the room.
Meanwhile, Hiroaki’s eyes were drawn to Aria’s well-proportioned face, but he was urged out of the room by Flora and Roanna behind him.
Thus, once Liselotte and Aria were the only ones left in the dining hall, Liselotte spoke up. “Duke Huguenot seemed to recognize your face. Are you sure you didn’t meet him while you were working in the Beltrum royal castle?” she suddenly asked.
“No, I never actually met him.” Aria shook her head disinterestedly. Liselotte didn’t seem too interested either, as she soon changed the subject.
“I see. Well, that’s fine. More importantly, can I ask how the hero looked to you?”
“...He gave the impression of someone who dislikes being restricted, and he strongly desires to stand out, despite what he was saying. If that wasn’t an act, then I believe he’s simply a young man who craves the limelight after obtaining undeserving power so suddenly.”
“Harsh. But accurate,” Liselotte agreed with a wry smile. If he really didn’t want to stand out, then he didn’t have to be the hero. The fact he was sticking his neck into the kingdom’s affairs was proof of that contradiction. Otherwise, there had to be a reason why he had to act as the hero.
He may be easy to handle now, but those types of people are more bothersome to handle when aggravated. Duke Huguenot was probably aware of that, thought Liselotte.
Chapter 2: New Life in the Village
The afternoon of the day after Miharu and the others began their new lives in the spirit folk village...
Rio held a trainin
g sword in his hand as he stood with Sara, Alma, and Orphia, all four of them gathered in the square before the town hall. At the request of Sara and the other girls, they were about to have a sparring match.
Beside them, the winged werebeast and warrior chief of the village, Uzuma, was acting as the referee, while Miharu, Aki, Masato, and Latifa were observing from a short distance away. The children of the village, led by Vera and Arslan, were running over after hearing the rumors of what was about to happen. However, Aishia had gone to visit Dryas and wasn’t present.
They checked the condition of the training equipment before their match, warming up lightly first. “Rio, would you be okay with a one-on-three match? I’d like you to check our coordination as a group today,” Sara asked as she grabbed a training dagger.
Rio nodded immediately. “Sure, I don’t mind. I wanted to practice facing multiple opponents more anyway.”
“Hey, is one-on-three a proper match? Sara and the others aren’t that strong, are they?” Masato asked Arslan, who stood next to him; they were watching the whole exchange from the sidelines. After the banquet and a night of sleeping under the same roof together, he seemed to have warmed up to Sara and the others enough not to call them “miss” anymore.
Arslan corrected Masato’s misunderstanding rather excitedly. “Stupid, Sara and the other girls are pretty strong, too... But Rio’s just too strong.” His eyes shined brightly as he imagined the exciting match that was about to unfold before them.
“Really...”
“Like I said before, Rio’s strong enough to be the very best fighter in the village. Just watch carefully.”
“Y-Yeah. Seems like it’s starting now.” Arslan’s words and the mood in the air seemed to reach Masato, as he nodded rather nervously in return. Right before his eyes, Rio and the girls were facing each other and bracing their weapons.
“Begin!” Uzuma called out, giving the signal to begin the match. Immediately after, Sara’s figure all but disappeared as she burst into a run toward Rio.
“So fast!!” Masato, Aki, and Miharu gazed in shock at the speed that far surpassed their imagination as Sara resolutely swung her dagger and aimed multiple attacks at Rio. Her aim seemed to be to pin him in place, as her series of blows placed more emphasis on speed rather than power and precision.
However, Rio managed to avoid those attacks splendidly. He deflected the minimum amount of attacks with his sword, while the rest he evaded lightly with the ways he positioned his body.
“Fuh!” Alma, who had been hiding behind Sara with her small frame, drew near Rio and tried to land a heavy blow with her mace. However, Rio seemed to be expecting Alma’s movements in advance, as he stepped back easily to avoid her attack. Alma’s mace cut through the air with a sharp sound and bore into the ground; the sound of the soil being pulverized echoed belatedly.
“W-Wow! But wouldn’t you die if that hit you?!” Masato yelled, flustered at how Alma’s herculean strength didn’t suit her small stature.
“It’s fine! They’ve enhanced their physical bodies. There’s spirit arts for healing, too,” Arslan explained excitedly.
Alma easily swung her blunt mace that didn’t suit her build, attempting to land her attacks on Rio. However, she seemed to be lacking in speed, as he easily evaded all of them. That was where Sara came in; she continued to launch her sharp attacks against Rio, covering for Alma’s wider gestures.
The speed fighter Sara and power fighter Alma — if Rio focused on one of them, the other would come in to back them up, freeing their movements. Their roles were clearly separated, showing splendid coordination. Furthermore, Rio’s mind had to be split across one more opponent.
“I’d like to join the fun too,” Orphia said, politely interrupting them as she fired a series of light bullets she had spread out around her toward Rio. Their appearance and individual force were identical to the low grade offensive magic of Photon Projectilis, but their trajectory twisted and turned freely instead of moving in a straight line.
Rio finally burst into a run to avoid the bullets, but Sara and Alma had promptly closed in on both his sides, obstructing his path to safety. At that, Rio immediately stopped evading. He drew the bullets as close to him as possible before stomping down on the ground heavily. No sooner had he done that, a thick dirt wall rose from the ground before him and blocked the light projectiles; he had poured essence into his feet to manipulate the ground with spirit arts.
However, Sara and Alma instinctually expected the fact that he would defend himself and broke into a run right away, closing in on Rio in a pincer attack. Rio glanced left and right, before thrusting his sword into the ground and choosing to brace himself unarmed. His actions even made Sara and the other onlookers a bit taken aback with surprise.
Rio didn’t let that moment of weakness escape him. He instantly pulled his sword out of the ground and approached Alma first, moving to intercept her. Alma swung her mace reflexively, but Rio braced his sword sideways and spun his body, using his centrifugal force to swing his sword. Immediately after, Rio’s sword clashed with Alma’s mace, ringing with a tremendous impact.
Sweat dripped from Alma’s forehead. “To think you’d directly challenge a dwarf like me in a test of strength...” Dwarves boasted the highest level of monstrous strength among the spirit folk species, but she and Rio were completely equal in power just now.
“That’s because you’re a girl. I can’t afford to lose in a test of strength.” Rio smiled with a chuckle. By effortlessly withdrawing his sword, he cleverly threw Alma off balance.
“Huh? Kya?!”
When she lost her balance, Alma let out a cute sound that was normally unheard from her. She just barely managed to swing her mace, but Rio stepped deeply into her personal space and reached a hand out to gracefully parry her mace, snatching it and flinging it far away.
“Uh?!”
Alma felt her center of gravity drop with a jerk. Apparently she had fallen straight into Rio’s throwing trap, as she was grabbed by the chest and lightly thrown toward Sara.
“Waah!” Sara had been about to attack Rio from behind when Alma came flying toward her, making her dodge her in a fluster.
“I can’t believe you dodged that, Sara!” Alma objected.
“We both would’ve been taken out if I tried to catch you!”
In that time, Rio had braced his sword once again and started to run toward Sara.
“Guh, Alma — quick! Pick up your weapon!” Sara just barely managed to block Rio’s attack as she ordered Alma. Alma rolled against the ground to land safely and started running, when Orphia’s voice echoed from the sidelines.
“Sara, fall back!”
Sara backstepped reflexively. Soon after, countless crumbled lumps of dirt scattered around the open space and attacked Rio.
She used the dirt wall I used to defend myself earlier. Rio determined that Orphia had been hiding in his blind spot behind the dirt wall when she attacked him, then backstepped to face the incoming clumps of dirt. He flicked away the bothersome dirt lumps with his sword and feet.
While Rio was evading the attack, Orphia prepared an extra large water bullet with spirit arts and fired it. The water bullet arched in a gentle parabola through the air and came down on Rio’s head with a great amount of force. But Rio leapt, pouring a large amount of essence into his sword and slicing it in a single splashing stroke. The water that had been split violently went rushing toward the floor.
At the same time, Sara and Alma both attacked Rio from opposite sides once again.
“Our timing was perfect this time,” Sara said with a grin. Alma was closing in on the opposite side, forming the perfect pincer attack. Just like earlier, dealing with one of them would leave no time to intercept the other. However—
“?!”
The very next moment, a large blast of wind blew out from around Rio.
“Kyah?!” Sara and Alma both let out a scream as they were blown away. Then, Rio approached the fallen Sara and
pointed his training sword at her.
“...I yield,” Sara groaned with disappointment, admitting her defeat.
“That’s enough! The victor is Lord Rio!” Uzuma declared.
“Ugh... so you were gathering ode within you as you were dealing with Orphia’s water bullet,” Sara said to Rio with a pout.
“I could tell you and Alma were about to attack me right away. I thought it’d be more efficient to take the both of you out at once, since you decided to come at me together.” Rio nodded with a wry smile.
“So you’re saying we fell right into your trap... Ugh...” Sara sighed.
“Ahaha, looks like we lost,” Orphia added as she approached.
Alma also walked over with a small sigh. “Looks like we have a lot to learn. Rio toyed with us again this time.”
“It wasn’t my intention to toy with you — it was actually a good training experience. Your coordination as a trio was wonderful,” Rio said in support of the three of them, smiling softly.
“That’s not what I meant...” Alma murmured quietly, recalling how she was treated like a little girl during the match. However, her words didn’t reach Rio’s ears.
“It was a splendid match. Lord Rio, if you would face me next!” Uzuma stepped forward as Rio’s next opponent in high spirits.
“Sure, it’d be my pleasure,” Rio agreed readily, then had his sparring match with Uzuma. Miharu and Aki watched on in astonishment, while Masato gazed at the mock battle with a fire burning in his eyes.
◇ ◇ ◇
After the sparring match, Rio and the others returned home to take a break. Rio took the initiative to serve the food, while Miharu and Orphia immediately volunteered to help, preparing tea and snacks for several people. In that time, Vera and Arslan led a heated conversation about the sparring match they just witnessed.
“The coolest part was when you tore Orphia’s water bullet apart with a slash of your sword!”
“No no no, the highlight of that match was when he released that blast of wind with spirit arts!”
The Silver Bride Page 5
