Chapter 10: Rigid arms

In a spring stand-up fight, Sarah was ragged against Licia. That was already a bitter memory.

After that day, she trained even harder than before with the goal of defeating Licia.

But Licia had been beaten to a pulp.

And against a boy the same age as herself.

When Sarah heard the news, she was still upset, but she also found herself becoming excited.

“I was surprised that there’s a boy stronger than Licia. But I will work hard with Vayne and become stronger than you guys.”

“You mean the boy who protected you?”

Sarah blushed slightly when she was told this. Licia, noticing her embarrassment, knew that she had feelings for the boy in no small way.

No wonder. Licia, who had experienced something similar, was quick to understand.

“I’m looking forward to seeing you at the academy. It’s going to be interesting to have me, Vayne, you and the boy stronger than you.”

“Us and the academy? What are you talking about?”

“What do you mean, of course, the Imperial Academy?”

Sarah laughed in amusement.

“I thought you were going to be admitted too. Even the entrance exam for the special class is not that difficult for you, right?”

Licia would naturally enroll at the Imperial Academy of Military Science. Of course.

That is exactly what she is saying now.

But Licia hadn’t yet decided whether to enroll at the Imperial Academy of Military Science.

“You haven’t decided to enter school yet. Have you?”

When Sarah said that, Licia nodded.

“I understand the value of attending the Imperial Military Academy. But it’s not everything.”

“I know that, too. There are people among the top nobility who think the same way. Not all ministers graduated from the Imperial Academy.”

“Yes. That’s why I—-“

“But Licia, you should go to the Imperial Cadet Academy.”

“—- Sarah?”

The words were powerful and compelling.

Sarah moved her body closer to Licia, who twisted her head at the sound of her voice. She then winked at Lessard, and her voice trailed off.

Then it was time.

Just as Sarah was about to speak, the party hall was enveloped in a loud murmur.

“What’s going on?”

Licia said as Lessard and Sarah followed her lead and looked around.

The three of them looked at the entrance to the party hall, where the other nobles were looking, and realized the reason for the buzz.

Sarah’s cheeks twitched when she saw the great nobleman who was at the end of her line of sight.

The man who appeared at this venue was Ulysses Ignat, the mighty arm.

He was walking slowly through the hall like an incarnation of beauty and loveliness no less than Licia next to him.

He exchanged words and smiles with several of the nobles.

He soon spotted Licia and the others, smiled, and stepped toward them.

“Hello, nice to meet you two of the Clausel family.”

Marquis Ignat—- no, Ulysses said with a fresh smile on his masculine, colorful face as he stepped over.

“Oh? You’re of the House of Riohard……”

“Sa– my name is Sarah …….”

“Yes! Of course I know who you are! I’ve seen your face at a few parties. I’m sorry, by the way—- may I have a word with these two?”

At this time, Sarah’s whole body was tense with tension.

The pressure she felt from Ulysses standing in front of her was overwhelming her whole body. Just as she was about to start breathing unevenly, she realized how strong Ulysses was.

She wondered if this was the strength that many nobles feared.

After being asked if he could talk to Licia and her fater, she had to respond to the question, but she had forgotten to do so.

“I’m sorry. I must have made you nervous.”

Suddenly Ulysses shrugged.

He turned to Fiona, the incarnation of beauty and loveliness who was a step behind him.

“It’s your fault father, you know. You should be sorry.”

She stepped forward in place of her father and smiled at Sarah.

It was so lovely that Sarah, who is of the same sex, couldn’t help but admire it and forget her nervousness, and she secretly murmured, “Beautiful…”

Just having Licia and Fiona by her side made her feel as if she’s in a fairy tale world of gods.

Their flamboyance made it natural.

“I’m sorry for interrupting your conversation. May we speak with the two of them?”

Fiona reiterated the question that her own father had posed. She was apologetic and low.

Then Lessard offered a helping hand to Sarah.

“I’m very happy to hear from you tonight, Riohard-san. I hope you and Licia will get to see each other again.”

“Eh, yes….I understand…..”

His words are a paraphrase of his feeling that he can handle this place and it’ll be fine.

Sarah, who has been offered a helping hand, realizes this and leaves the room. She had no way of knowing until the end why Ulysses had come here.

“Now—.”

Ulysses turned toward Lessard.

“Shall we move to the terrace?”

“Are you sure? One might think we’re having some kind of secret conversation.”

“Ha-ha! That’s not true! For those who are asking about us, I’m now the bad guy who is questioning Baron Clausel!”

For example, in relation to the winter uproar, complaining to Baron Clausel, who has the Baldor Mountains within his domain.

In fact, the nobles who asked how they were doing were under the misapprehension that this was the case.

As the story goes, everyone moved to the terrace, where not a single other noble was to be found. No one came to ask how things were going, probably because it was Ulysses who was there.

The group walked along the terrace to the garden of the mansion where the party was to be held.

When they reached a corner of the garden behind a hedge, Ulysses stopped.

“We meet at last, Baron Clausel. We have so much to talk about, but first of all, a word of thanks.”

Ulysses stopped and bowed to Lessard and Licia, and in the same way, Fiona also bowed deeply.

Thinking that this was a bad idea at any cost, Lessard hurried to stop him.

“Oh, please don’t!”

“No, I won’t stop. Baron Clausel, you’re a benefactor to me and my daughter. I cannot tell you how long I have waited for the day when I will be able to bow to you like this.”

While the two were bowing, Lessard and Licia were in a state of anxiety. Needless to say, when they finally lifted their heads, they felt very relieved.

“Thank you so much. I’m alive today because of your help, Baron Clausel.”

“…..Ignat-san. It’s all thanks to Ren’s hard work.”

“I’m aware of that. But I’m sure that it was you who gave us the materials from the Thief Wolfen.”

Fiona bowed her head once more as she said this with strong determination.

The next time she looked up, her gaze met Licia’s.

Then they both thought the exact same thing. They thought the same thing when they saw each other at the party, and they’re thinking it again.

I’ve never seen such a beautiful girl before.

She never said it out loud and was careful not to let her expression give away her feelings.

Suddenly, the night wind blows around the area.

The platinum feather hair ornament adorning Licia’s hair swayed in the wind, as did the unprocessed star agate necklace on Fiona’s chest. Unlike ordinary star agate, this star agate was reddish in color.

“”Uh—-!””

They opened their mouths almost simultaneously, but their voices were interrupted by Ulysses.

“Regarding that matter the other day—- you two. Can you continue?”

“I–I’m sorry, I’m fine, please, Marquis Ignat ……!”

“I’m sorry! I’m fine too…. please, Father!”

“Is that so? Then I’ll take your word for it.”

Ulysses mentions the incident in the Baldor Mountains, and goes on to say that Fiona was also saved by Ren.

“My daughter told me that Ren Ashton saved her life and that she was able to thank him in person.”

“I’m sorry that so much trouble was caused in our territory.”

“Stop it. It was an incident that couldn’t be helped.”

“But ……”

“I’m the one who didn’t think it through. If I had been a little smarter, Fiona wouldn’t have gotten into the mess she did.”

“But if you, the Marquis doesn’t understand, it’s probably the same for everyone else.”

“Is that so? Then I don’t think you’re guilty, Baron Clausel.”

The words were spoken without a pause, and Lessard closed his mouth with a bitter smile.

He kept his expression of fear, trying not to say anything unnecessary.

“But don’t be modest. I know how capable you are, Baron Clausel. By the looks of things, I’m sure the Clausel estate will rise in stature even within the next few years.”

“What, may I ask, are you referring to?”

“You think I don’t know? I heard rumors that you’ve recently begun to take in merchants from the surrounding territories. Well, only in my head.”

“It’s true that merchants have been coming and going a lot lately, but I haven’t done anything in particular.”

“Really? Then I wonder what you are talking about with the construction of roads around the Baldor Mountains, which has been a headache for the merchants for a long time.”

“Well, I wanted to make it easier for them to get to the other territories.”

“You mean to say that you went to the trouble of cutting through one of the mountains near the range just for that purpose?”

Lessard said nothing, but kept a cool face. He didn’t show any sign of being intimidated by the strong arm Ulysses Ignat, but was just as usual.

“The mountain is in the process of being cleared, but once it is, it will be easier to go back and forth between the territory beyond and the former Viscount Givens’s territory. It’s inevitable that merchants who wanted to move around the area would go through there. Not only the two territories, but also the territories that can be reached by magic ship from those territories will be affected.”

“You are right. So recently, we have been approached by many nobles.”

“Hahaha. You’re not really after commercial opportunities, are you?”

Ulysses smirked and chuckled.

“You’re a hard man to please, Baron Clausel. You have made some arrangements with the nobles who approached you, haven’t you? For example, tax concessions on trade in exchange for the safe release of new roads as transit points?”

“…… No word from me yet.”

“—- Oh my. Once again, you’re really a hard man. I don’t believe that a baron would be able to singlehandedly bring about an arrangement with the higher nobility.”

Licia hadn’t heard a single one of those stories.

She was so amazed by her father’s work that she couldn’t help but look up at him beside her.

“I’m sorry, but things were so big, and I didn’t want to cause you unnecessary worry.”

“…… Father.”

“Well, that’s the case. I can’t be in Ren’s debt all the time.”

Ulysses also admired his work.

Although she was surprised at some point, his daughter Licia was also proud of his behavior to expand his power as a noble and enrich his territory.

The conversation continued.

At the party, there were only those who thought that Lessard was being stuffed, but in a corner of the garden, Ulysses bowed many times and Fiona did the same number of times.

The conversation eventually turned to the matter of Asval’s horn.

“Asval’s horn? That’s interesting.”

“I’m at a loss on how to handle it. I think it would be disrespectful to the Marquis to allow me to do so on my own.”

“No disrespect at all. I’m glad you’re concerned about it, though.”

Ulysses folded his arms.

“Who is in possession of the horn?”

“The horn is in our family’s possession, but I believe It belongs to Ren. If it should be offered to him, that would be a different story.”

“Then there is nothing to worry about. The horn belongs to Ren Ashton.”

Since Ulysses, the leader of the royalist faction, says so, there’s definitely nothing trivial to worry about.

If Lessard, the Lord of the Ashton family, approved, then there was nothing for Ulysses to be concerned about.

The only thing that remained was the main question of how to use it.

“The rest is up to Ren Ashton. I’ll see what I can do. For example, I might be able to make his equipment.”

“I am in awe. Then I will leave it to you, Marquis Ignat.”

“Leave it to me! I have a lot of acquaintances in spite of my appearance!”

There was nothing in his appearance, but Lessard and Licia laughed without saying anything.

“But I have a strange story to tell you. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it ended up in the village of the Ashtons.”

“I see. I think so too.”

For a moment, Lessard’s eyebrows twitched.

But he wouldn’t talk about the Ashton family’s ancestry.

But Ulysses did not miss that momentary reaction.

The reason he still didn’t mention it was because he was the benefactor of the other party.

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