95 — 10 (5)

Marquis Maximilian of House Batenberg knew Marquis Gangpireu well. That was why he had realized Louis’s value faster than anyone else. There was no child of his who could fail to understand when their father spoke this clearly.

Maximilian was gently saying that they needed to build a connection with Louis, and just as their third son Blancfor was rejoicing that his own thoughts had been proven right, Linsia spoke up.

Linsia was the youngest of Maximilian’s children, the only daughter, and a great beauty. At eighteen, it was about time for her to be thinking of marriage. Beyond that, Linsia genuinely wanted to meet this man named Louis.

“I want to go. I want to see him with my own eyes.”

“I will go as well. Since you speak so, Father, my interest is piqued.”

Mesond spoke bluntly.

“I am going too. There is no way I can be left out of a party. Is there anyone else here who already has information on Louis? I am the most suitable choice.”

Blancfor pushed his lips out in a slight pout.

Marquis Maximilian, seeing his three children all sharing the same opinion for once, smiled in satisfaction—and then coughed.

“All three of you cannot go. Linsia must attend, given her age, and one of you, Mesond or Blancfor, must stay here to assist me. The one who will stay is…”

Maximilian slowly looked back and forth between his two tense sons, and his gaze stopped on Blancfor.

“This time, you will go. Since you had the information first, there ought to be a reward for that.”

“Hehe… but of course, Father. Don’t worry.”

Mesond frowned as he looked at the excited Blancfor. He had thought the peddler was nothing special, but that had become the wedge that split this opportunity. I still have a long way to go. Muttering to himself, Mesond left the room first. The two who remained began to listen as Maximilian gave them additional information.

Louis’s office. Until not long ago, the idea of Louis presiding over affairs here had been unimaginable, but now, not only was he handling government business, the entire city itself belonged to him.

The people who lived here, the crops, and even the money had all been absorbed into House Pontina and redistributed. Before Louis now stood quite a number of nobles in line. It did not quite resemble a marketplace floor, but even so, a proper queue had formed.

They were here to pledge loyalty to Louis and to have him reaffirm the authority they had previously held. After he had driven the nobles very harshly in the other cities, it seemed that in this city, everyone was already bowing low to him, so this time it was enough simply to meet the existing power holders separately and tighten the reins on them.

In truth, even after Louis greatly reduced the number of nobles he had to meet in this city, there were still this many. Yet this was work that had to be done. These were all lower houses that had followed House Haidek up until now, so it was no different from forming new relationships.

In any case, beyond mere submission, the people gathered here were in a state where loyalty toward Louis was beginning to surge. Jodan had spread news of the letter from the Prince-King Orpendius at a perfect moment the previous day.

Now, the nobles in front of Louis were looking at him in admiration.

-We must get on his good side.

-The side has changed. Father doesn’t understand anything—honor is worthless. When what we eat today and tomorrow is at stake, following House Pontina is the right choice.

-His swordsmanship seems quite impressive too…

-He has the Prince-King’s trust. If the Prince-King had intended to help Marquis Gangpireu, he should have stepped in before that disaster ever happened… The tide has turned.

Behind their tightly drawn expressions, all sorts of thoughts ran through their minds, but none of them thought along the lines of, I must raise my sword against Louis, or How could I deceive him somehow? Rumors currently said not only that Louis had received the blessing of Mars, god of war, but also that Rukus, god of slaughter, was goading Louis out of jealousy toward Mars.

It had not been enough for him to completely smash House Haidek—he had hounded them so relentlessly they could not even catch their breath and burned their house to the ground, and that incident had already spread across the Duchy of Eron faster than birds could fly. On top of that, an additional rumor had been added: that the Prince-King was turning a blind eye to it.

Thus, the lower houses that had followed House Haidek realized that if they pursued honor, a single misstep could cause their family line to be cut off in their generation. In those unexplained deaths, there had not been the slightest mercy in the hand that struck. There was not a single noble present who did not know that Louis stood at the root of those events.

One noble knelt before Louis and swore an oath. Louis placed a hand on his shoulder, and Jodan, standing beside him, said, “Next.” The noble who had just sworn to Louis was perhaps sixteen, and after looking up at Louis with eyes full of admiration, he stepped aside.

The next noble in line drew Louis’s attention. It could hardly be otherwise, because this noble was a girl about the same age as the boy just before her. The neatly tied ribbon and the dress embroidered with daffodils caught his eye at once, and above all, the girl’s face was pure and beautiful.

Her name was Reiner Ermia. Ermia felt as if her heart might burst from pounding so hard. Her emotions had been impossible to control from a moment ago. It was not quite fear, but a different feeling altogether. When she met Louis’s gaze, her face flushed red, and that was not all—her lips refused to part properly. She wanted to avert her eyes, but as if under some spell, she could not lower her gaze.

When Louis looked at this pure young girl, a brief thought crossed his mind: Did the war wipe out all the capable people in her house? He felt a passing sympathy for her, but none of that showed on his face. According to the proper procedure, the girl was supposed to lower her eyes and then move on to the next posture, but Reiner Ermia, face burning red, simply stared fixedly at Louis.

Louis wondered if there was something on his face and briefly considered calling for an attendant, but then he felt something oddly subtle. It was a strangely familiar feeling. For some reason, Louis traced the source of that feeling back through his memories, and the girl, Ermia, was still looking at him in silence, so the one who panicked was Jodan. Glancing at Louis’s expression, Jodan quickly scolded her.

“Reiner Ermia. Please show the proper respect to His Grace the Duke.”

His tone was quite severe, and only then did Ermia startle and bow her head low. Inside, she thought over and over, I’m such an idiot. What do I do? I made a mistake. But Louis, who should have been angry, rested his chin on his hand and sank into thought.

“I… I am sorry, Your Grace.”

Ignoring her apology, Louis continued thinking and finally recalled why her family name sounded so similar.

Reiner Mihoff.

“Ha-ha-ha.”

Everyone around them, braced for Louis to possibly explode in anger, was taken aback by his sudden laughter, and some even laughed along with him. They had no reason to laugh—Louis alone held the reason—but the human instinct to curry favor with someone could sometimes produce ridiculous situations like this.

As the atmosphere took an unexpectedly strange turn, those who had been keeping their faces stern now did not know what to do, torn between laughing along or maintaining their original posture. At that moment, Louis spoke.

“I will ask your name once more. What did you say it was?”

In this situation, the most flustered person of all was likely Reiner Ermia. Her infatuation with Louis was the sort that most girls her age felt, but in any case, she was so nervous that she forgot even the simple, carefully practiced procedure she had stayed up half the night rehearsing, and when Louis suddenly laughed, she had no idea what to do and floundered.

The few women present were all looking at her with expressions that said, Serves you right.

“R-Reiner Ermia.”

“Reiner Ermia, then—House Reiner. Jodan, does that name not sound strangely familiar to you as well?”

When Louis casually floated the question, Jodan, who had been thinking of something else, finally caught on to Louis’s intention.

“Ah…! Surely you don’t mean…”

“Yes. She is his younger sister.”

“What a blunder. I apologize. I will immediately…”

“No, that is enough. Let us end the vows here for today. See the others out.”

The soldiers shouted the order:

“His Grace the Duke has declared today’s oath ceremony concluded. The remaining nobles, please return tomorrow.”

A few faces showed dissatisfaction, but in truth, most of them were plainly wondering just what was going on. One or two sharper minds seemed to have grasped Louis’s intent, but they also realized at the same time that this was something that must not be spoken aloud.

Once the people left, the room fell quiet. Louis decided to secure the oath first. At his signal, she nervously began again, but this time, she spoke every word without a mistake. Louis took the girl’s shoulders. Ermia’s face flushed red all over again. The oath was complete.

“I accept the pledge of House Reiner. From now on, I hope you will faithfully carry out your duties.”

“Yes. I will fulfill my duties to the best of my ability.”

“Now then, I intend to begin the real questions. Lady Ermia, do you have any siblings?”

“Y-yes, I do.”

The face that had been shining with joy just moments before darkened at once when her sibling was mentioned.

“What is your sibling’s name?”

“Reiner Mihoff. She is my older sister. But since the war ended, she has not returned.”

Jodan clapped his hands together.

“So we were right.”

“Yes.”

“…Surely you don’t mean that Mihoff is still alive?”

A particular word caught Louis’s ear and bothered him. He tilted his head and spoke.

“…Mihoff is a woman?”

When Louis looked at Jodan, Jodan scratched his head hard.

“Well, the thing is…”

“I am sorry. My sister hides her gender. She is rather eccentric. Duke Louis, I will do anything. Please show her mercy.”

So that was it. There had been many ambiguous things about Mihoff’s information, and Louis had often gotten the sense that Marquis Gangpireu did not fully trust Mihoff. If Mihoff had been hiding her gender, it made everything fall neatly into place.

Right, there was Enneu as well.

Enneu, too, was a woman, yet she possessed outstanding talent in metallurgy. Assuming that a woman could not be gifted in swordsmanship had been nothing but prejudice. Louis was of the school of thought that gender did not matter as long as one had the ability, and in this way he broke one more prejudice. Strictly speaking, the importance of a Sword Expert lay in how deeply one could secure and wield mana, not in how far one could develop physical strength.

Louis realized this with his own body every single day. Through the war, he had grown so tremendously that he was now on the verge of reaching the level of a Sword Expert himself. Having physical strength was not a bad thing, but what truly mattered was the amount and use of mana, and one’s sense for the sword.

For that reason, even more than the confused Jodan, Louis grasped the entire chain of cause and effect. Louis smiled broadly. He had imprisoned Mihoff in Grad and had been worrying about how to recruit him—or rather, her. Now that the solution was standing right before his eyes, all he needed to do was recruit her as soon as he arrived in Grad.

“Lady Reiner Ermia.”

“…Y-yes, Your Grace!”

“A few days from now, you will have to accompany me to Grad and follow my schedule. Since you might ask why, I will tell you in advance: your older sister is imprisoned beneath the city of Grad. I captured her in the midst of the war.”

“…R-really?”

She was on the verge of tears. It was probably the tears of joy at learning that the sister she had thought dead was still alive. So Louis judged, and after sending her away, he accepted the necklace she had been wearing.