As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World (LN) - Volume 5 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: House Fujimiya

One day, Rietz and I were walking through the main street of Canarre. Our objective: to search for new recruits the old-fashioned way.

I’d gotten pretty used to sending out word of my recruitment drives and waiting for candidates to come see me in the castle, but I figured that there wouldn’t be any harm in going back to my roots and walking through town to appraise people I happened to come across as well. After all, some people who might make good retainers wouldn’t think to come to the castle on their own initiative…and, frankly, I also just wanted to get out and walk around a little for the fun of it. That was actually the bigger reason, if I was being completely honest.

Rietz had accompanied me as my bodyguard. I couldn’t exactly walk around on my own, considering there was no telling what sort of schemes Seitz might have been getting up to. I’d chosen Rietz for the task myself─he’d been quite busy lately, and I thought that taking what more or less amounted to a break to walk around Canarre would be good for him. That being said, he was taking his guard duty a little too seriously, perhaps. In fact, he seemed even more high-strung than ever, and I was starting to worry this would just tire him out even more. My plan may have backfired, unfortunately.

“Rietz, it’s the middle of the day,” I said. “Nobody’s going to attack us when we’re out in the open like this. You should try to relax a little.”

“Relax…? How could I do such a thing? I can’t risk exposing you to danger, Lord Ars, especially considering the troubles with thievery that Canarre’s been facing,” Rietz replied.

I’d heard about the city’s burglar troubles as well. A notably crafty and vicious group of them had arrived in the area. Apparently, they hadn’t just been stealing valuable goods─they’d also been abducting people. I’d mobilized our forces to hunt them down, but so far, we hadn’t had any success on that front. For all the trouble they’d been causing, they were also very good at lying low when the heat was on them, which made them a very troublesome problem to solve.

The group of bandits we’d driven out of an old fort, it seemed, had only been the start of Canarre’s problems. We’d seen more and more troublesome groups move into the county as of late. That, unfortunately, struck me as inevitable─as the population grew, so too would the number of troublemakers we’d have to deal with.

I walked all the way to the city’s central plaza, appraising people as I went, but I had yet to find anyone that caught my eye. That wasn’t unexpected, to be clear. I knew very well that exceptional people weren’t so easy to find, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if I’d gone the whole day without finding even one.

“Hm? Lord Ars, look─there’s a group of people wearing very unusual clothing,” Rietz muttered to me.

I checked in the direction he’d gestured, and picked out a trio─two young men and one young woman─standing near the center of the plaza. They were indeed dressed in a very unusual manner, by Canarre’s standards: their clothes looked very similar to traditional Japanese garb. Actually, their facial features struck me as distinctly Japanese as well, just like mine had been in my previous life. One of them was a man of medium build, the other a larger, more muscular man, and the third a small-statured girl with long, messy hair.

“Do you suppose they’re from another continent? Why would people like them be in Canarre?” asked Rietz, a note of suspicion entering his voice. To be fair, being skeptical of strangers was more or less a bodyguard’s job, especially when they were so unusual in appearance.

I, on the other hand, found myself feeling a strange sense of familiarity with the mysterious trio, maybe on account of my previous life as a Japanese person. It’s not like I had no doubts, of course─I may have been Japanese in my past life, but I’d been living in this world for a long time now, and was no longer as naive as I used to be.

The three of them were clustered around the billboard near the center of the plaza, looking at the various recruitment posters on display there. I took that to mean that they knew the local language─they wouldn’t have been staring at the poster so intently if they couldn’t read it.

For a moment I wondered if they were searching for a lord to serve, but it was too early to make that conclusion for sure. House Louvent’s recruitment poster wasn’t the only one on display on that billboard, so it was possible they hadn’t been thinking about that sort of position at all.

It was, however, clear to me that they were looking for work in Canarre, and I knew that would be a pretty tall order for foreigners like them. I decided to appraise them─after all, if they were capable enough then I’d have no problem with bringing them into my employ. I decided to start with the man with the medium build. His hair was gray, and his features were rather attractive on the whole. He also had a sword hung from his belt, which on a second glance seemed to be rather finely-made. I took a close look at him, and activated my skill.

Born on the twentieth day of the sixth month, 194 Imperial Era, in Tenn City, nation of Yoh. Has eight older brothers, five older sisters, one younger brother, and one younger sister. Parents, eight older brothers, and five older sisters have passed away. Younger brother and sister both alive. A serious and diligent individual. Likes rice balls. No hobbies in particular. Enjoys the company of kind women.

Even his name, Rikuya Fujimiya, screamed “Japanese” to me. The fact that every single one of his stats had a maximum score of 75 also made him something of a rarity. He didn’t have one single area he excelled in, but it seemed like he could make an excellent all-rounder.

What really caught my attention was his place of birth, a country called Yoh. I’d never heard of a nation by that name before, though then again, I knew next to nothing about any of the lands that lay outside the continent of Summerforth. The fact that all of his older siblings and his parents were dead was quite something, too. I’d appraised plenty of people who’d lost their parents, but losing thirteen siblings on top of it seemed like a lot to deal with, to say the least. It wasn’t uncommon for children to die young in this world, but the fact that he’d had that many siblings to begin with made me wonder if there was something unusual about his family circumstances.

I moved on to appraise the muscular man next. His head was shaven, and he was exceptionally tall, with the sort of face that gave him a naturally intimidating aura.

Born on the thirteenth day of the fourth month, 196 Imperial Era, in Tenn City, nation of Yoh. Has nine older brothers and six older sisters. Father, eight older brothers, and five older sisters have passed away. Mother, one older brother, and one older sister alive. A laid-back individual who loves meat. Enjoys eating and taking naps. Likes tall women.

The burly man’s stats had extreme highs and lows, to say the least. His Valor score was remarkable─I’d gotten the impression that he was tough from his appearance, and in this case, looks hadn’t been deceiving.

I also took note of the fact that he was also a Fujimiya. Maybe he and Rikuya were siblings? They looked nothing like each other, but then again, Rikuya’s mother was dead while Takao’s was still alive. If they were half-siblings then the extreme differences in their appearances would all make sense. In fact, the more I thought about it the more likely it seemed to me, though I supposed I would have to ask to be certain.

Finally, I appraised the girl. She looked young, with rather scruffy black hair. Her gaze had a certain sharpness to it which gave her an intimidating air for someone so short, and she was rather attractive as well.

Born on the first day of the second month, 195 Imperial Era, in Tenn City, nation of Yoh. Has nine older brothers, five older sisters, and one younger brother. Father, eight older brothers, and five older sisters have passed away. Mother, one older brother, and one younger brother alive. A logical and rational person. Loves sweets, and enjoys collecting ancient relics. Likes smart men.

So her name’s Maika…? I thought to myself. Her Intelligence score was incredibly high, though on the other hand, her Valor was one of the lowest I’d ever seen. She was, presumably, not built for combat. Her Leadership was low too, so I couldn’t see her going out in battle. Her stats were just as unbalanced as Takao’s, though in the exact opposite direction, and her family name was also Fujimiya. Were all three of them siblings, maybe?

Maika was short, even for a girl, and her figure was so childlike that I’d assumed she’d be the youngest of the group, but as it turned out she was a year older than Takao. I felt a little bad for thinking it, but to be honest, I never would’ve guessed that she was seventeen. She looked like she was my age.

All around, the three of them were quite the remarkable trio. Rikuya didn’t excel in any one area but had no weaknesses either, Takao had incredible Valor, and Maika had remarkable Intelligence. I had no doubt that they’d make excellent retainers, and wanted to recruit them at all costs.

“Have those three caught your eye, Lord Ars?” asked Rietz. It seemed he’d noticed that I was observing them, and he’d known me for long enough to more or less guess what I was thinking at times like these.

“They have,” I said. “I appraised them, and they’re all quite talented. I’d love to bring them into my service, if I can…”

Just then, before I could finish my explanation, a shout rang out.

“You there! Child!”

I turned to look and found Maika glaring at me, her brow furrowed with what seemed at a glance to be fury.

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed you staring at us!” she shouted. “What are you after?! Has my overwhelming talent terrified you so much that you’ve decided to have me assassinated?! Or has my beauty so bewitched you that you’ve chosen to abduct me and make me your own?! Confess your crimes, wicked one!”

Clearly, my stare had not gone unnoticed─and had caused one hell of a misunderstanding, to boot. I frantically shook my head.

“No, nothing of the sort! I’d never do either of those things, or anything like them!” I replied.

“Then why were you staring at me?!” Maika shouted back. Her attitude had become so menacing at that point that Rietz felt the need to step between us, standing at the ready in case she tried anything.

“Grr… Wh-What? Are you trying to start something?” Maika growled as she flinched away from Rietz. She definitely wasn’t much of a fighter, considering the results of my appraisal, so it struck me as a natural reaction.

At that point, Rikuya─who’d been reading the fliers on the billboard─noticed what was happening and came rushing over. He had a sword hung at his hip, which meant that if I let this misunderstanding carry on for any longer it could prove very dangerous, especially considering that Rietz’s hand had just dropped to the hilt of his weapon.

“Oh, Brother!” said Maika. “Excellent timing! This boy was─”

For just a moment I was worried that a fight was about to break out…but then Rikuya proved me wrong and cut Maika off by driving his fist straight into her skull. It was such a solid blow that I actually heard the impact.

“Aaaaaaugh!” Maika shrieked as tears pooled in her eyes. “Wh-What are you doing, Brother?!”

“What are you doing?! I told you a thousand times not to bother the locals, didn’t I?!” Rikuya shouted back, then turned to me. “A thousand apologies! She means no harm, she just has no common sense!” he said, giving me a deep bow.

“Come on, you too! Show some shame for once!” Rikuya added as he grabbed the back of Maika’s head and forced her to bow as well.

At that, Rietz seemed to decide that they weren’t a threat after all and released his sword’s hilt.

“No need to apologize. She didn’t cause any harm, after all. Please, no need to bow,” I said.

Rikuya and Maika straightened up once more. “M-Many thanks, good sir,” said Rikuya.

“Ugh…” Maika grumbled unhappily.

“We’ll be on our way, then,” said Rikuya. He was all too excited to make an exit, but considering I was hoping to recruit him and his siblings, I couldn’t let that happen.

“Wait,” I said.

“Huh?” grunted Rikuya.

“Are the three of you looking for work?”

“Well, yes,” Rikuya hesitantly acknowledged. Skepticism was written all over his face─he clearly didn’t understand why a child would be asking him that.

“Good! It just so happens that I have a position I could recommend you for. Are you interested?” I asked.

“Huh? You do?” Rikuya said disbelievingly.

“I do! Perhaps I should introduce myself, to start,” I said. “My name is Ars Louvent, and the man accompanying me is called Rietz Muses.”

“O-Oh, is that so…? Well, umm, you can call me Rikuya Fujimiya,” Rikuya replied, matching my introduction with his own in spite of his misgivings.

“Ars Louvent…that’s the name of the Count of Canarre, isn’t it? And I just saw a flier indicating that he was searching for retainers to take into his service. I think I understand now─you’ve perceived our capabilities and decided to recruit us, haven’t you?” said Maika. Her brother still hadn’t managed to swallow the situation, but she, in sharp contrast, had figured out exactly what was happening from my name alone.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” scolded Rikuya. “How could a child like him possibly be the─?”

“Rumor has it that the count’s only fourteen. Haven’t you heard, Brother?”

“We only just arrived in this town, so of course I haven’t! Wait…where did you hear about that?”

“I overheard someone discussing it at the pub. Surely you were listening, too?”

“I don’t make a point of eavesdropping on people, or memorizing conversations I happen to overhear, either,” Rikuya sighed. I, meanwhile, made a mental note that Maika was both very observant and also had quite the memory. “I’ll admit that he’s dressed rather well. I assumed you were the scion of some well-to-do family…but is it true? Are you the count?”

I nodded.

“Well! That’s certainly remarkable, but I’m sure you’re not trying to solicit us to be your retainers. I can only assume you’re hoping to recruit us for a less savory task that most common folk wouldn’t be able to handle…?”

“Actually, no. I was hoping to take you into my formal service,” I replied.

“Seriously…?” muttered Rikuya. He was in a state of utter shock.

“Heh heh heh! No need to be so startled, Brother. The cause is clear: my talents were too great for me to conceal!” Maika said with a sneering grin, her arms crossed triumphantly. “It’s high time I introduced myself. I am Maika Fujimiya, the most talented tactician in all of Yoh!” she declared.

“You’re smart, and I won’t deny it, but someone who’s never won a battle can hardly call herself a talented tactician,” sighed Rikuya.

“Hmph! I would have accolades to my name by now, if only our late father and brothers hadn’t failed to carry out my brilliant strategy,” countered Maika. I wasn’t following their exchange─clearly, the two of them had been through quite a lot that only they would understand.

“And honestly,” Rikuya continued, “anyone meeting you for the first time would assume that you’re just some random shrimp, based on first impression alone. He can’t have been aiming for you in particular.”

“Sh-Shrimp?!” Maika shrieked indignantly.

“I’m not that impressive at a glance, either… Oh, of course, Takao! You can tell how strong he is just by looking at him. He must be the one the count was after!”

“Family or not, there are some things that not even you’re allowed to say about me, Brother!” Maika shouted. Her righteous fury might have been quite intimidating if it weren’t for the fact that she was so tiny.

“Wait, where is Takao?” asked Rikuya.

Rikuya spun around to search for the third member of their trio. I looked as well, and spotted him sprawled out on the ground by the billboard. Apparently, he was asleep.

“Unbelievable…he’s sleeping on the street again,” Rikuya groaned, clutching his head. Apparently, this was a recurring issue with him. “Well, the guy sleeping over there is named Takao. He’s exactly as strong as he looks, but he’s also about as smart as a sack of bricks. I can’t say he’d make for the best retainer.”

“Actually,” I said, “I was hoping to recruit him anyway, along with the two of you.”

“Huh…?” Rikuya blinked. “You mean, you want him so badly that you’ll take us in too, just to ensure he agrees to join you?”

“Not quite. I believe that all three of you have talents that would be useful to me,” I replied.

“How could you possibly know that?” asked Rikuya, which was fair enough. I was about to give him a quick explanation of my Appraisal skill, but before I could, I was interrupted.

“Heh heh heh! I’m certain now─my talent is far too overwhelming to ever hope to conceal!” Maika said, her arms crossed and a smug smirk spreading across her face once more.

“Okay, but…just look at her,” protested Rikuya. “Not only is she a shrimp, but you’d think she has a brick for a brain listening to the way she usually talks! Most people would never even consider hiring her unless they’d had the time to get to know her!”

“Why, you─Again?! You won’t get away with it this time!” Maika shouted. Apparently, being called a shrimp twice in a row was too much for her to look past. She started battering Rikuya with her fists…but she was both quite weak and very bad at punching, so Rikuya just ignored her.

“Um… Your Lordship?” whispered Rietz. “I’ll admit that they’re an interesting bunch, but are you sure about taking these three in as your retainers?”

Considering how our encounter with them had gone so far, his worries were understandable. I was starting to worry a little, myself. Takao and Maika in particular clearly had unbalanced personalities to match their unbalanced stat distributions. But, when all was said and done, I knew their talent was the real deal.

“I’m certain it’ll be fine,” I whispered back. “They don’t seem to trust us, though, so can you help me try to talk them into it?”

“Understood,” said Rietz.

Around that time, Maika gave up on her not-so-relentless assault and stooped over, gasping for breath. “I’ll…let you off…with that…for today,” she wheezed. Rikuya, of course, hadn’t been so much as scratched, so her effort didn’t seem to have borne any fruit.

Maika took a moment to catch her breath, then gave me an appraising glance. “Hmm. Well, I’ll admit, I’m well aware that I look like little more than a cute, precious little girl, at a glance.”

“If you knew that already, then why chew me out over it?” sighed Rikuya. “And wait, did you just call yourself cute?”

“You’ve picked a poor quip to question, Brother,” said Maika with a glare.

“You know what…? If that’s how you see yourself, then who am I to argue?” said Rikuya. I’d been expecting him to fire back, but he’d just let it slide instead. As a side note, Maika did have a point─she was rather cute, when all was said and done.

“Moreover,” Maika continued, picking up her previous thought, “women’s skills are undervalued, by and large. Not to mention that we are outsiders to these lands! It is indeed suspect that one would try to recruit us on a first meeting, considering all these circumstances…and yet, I am inclined to trust him anyway.”

“Why’s that?” asked Rikuya.

“You read the flier on the billboard, did you not? It said that anyone with talent would be welcomed, regardless of race or sex. And to top it off, the man who’s accompanying him is clearly unlike most Summerforth natives in appearance. He’s a Malkan, I believe─a race subject to terrible prejudice in these lands.”

“A Malkan…? That does ring a bell, now that you mention it. Are you sure he’s one of them, though?”

“I’ve never seen one myself, but he matches the characteristics I’ve been told of. If he’s one of the count’s close associates, we can take it to mean that the flier was not exaggerating about his willingness to employ anyone.”

“I understand that, but it just doesn’t seem like a good enough reason for him to hire us.”

“He claims that he’ll take anyone with talent into his service. In other words, he believes himself capable of discerning those with talent at a glance! I don’t know whether he does have that capability, or whether he just got lucky this time, but one way or another it’s clear that he’s identified us as talented enough to interest him.”

“I’ll admit…it would be incredible if he had the ability to judge talent that easily, but at a glance? Really? Surely he’d have to test us, or at least interview us?”

“Only he could explain how it works. Perhaps it is just a matter of taking one look at us. And it’s not as if interviews and tests can tell you whether someone will prove useful in the long run either, can they?”

“Hmm…” Rikuya muttered. It seemed that Maika had at least partially sold him on her line of thought.

“That said,” Maika continued, “considering he chose to solicit our help so readily, I’m almost inclined to believe he does have the power to see through talent at a glance.”

Maika had sussed out the possibility of my Appraisal skill from a single look at one of my recruitment posters. It was clear that she was as smart as my skill had claimed.

“Is it true? Can you perceive people’s talents?” asked Rikuya.

“I can,” I replied. Trying to keep it secret would have just set the conversation back at that point.

“And does it really only take a glance for you to do it?”

I nodded.

“Seriously…? I can hardly even imagine what I could’ve done with a power like that. Maybe then… No, no point in dwelling on it,” Rikuya muttered to himself with a shake of his head. “Does this ability of yours let you see people’s current abilities, or their full potential?”

“Both,” I replied.

“Both…? I’ve been told I’m quite skillful, and I’ve never had much difficulty with any task I was given, but on the other hand, I’ve never found anything I truly excel at either. I’ve been treated as a prodigy and a jack of all trades, but at the same time, I know plenty of people also refer to me as a master of none,” said Rikuya, launching into a very abrupt and personal monologue. “I always wished that I’d someday discover a latent talent slumbering within me. I gave up on that dream long ago…but if you’re trying to recruit me, then should I take that to mean that I do have some form of untapped potential?”

“Well…umm,” I floundered, then decided to be honest with him. “To be honest, no. You don’t have any single ability that stands out above the others, but you are capable in all fields, which makes you a very solid candidate in my book.”

“C-Capable in all fields…? Yes, well, that…certainly makes it sound nice, but…should I take that to mean that when everyone called me a jack of all trades, master of none, they were…right?”

“Y-You could also call yourself an all-rounder!” I suggested.

“That’s the same damn thing!” Rikuya groaned. I was starting to appreciate that he had a real chip on his shoulder regarding his abilities.

“How dare you?!” shouted Maika, wheeling about on me. “My brother is very sensitive about the fact that he’s a common, if not mediocre man with no distinguishing traits in particular to speak of! Calling him an all-rounder is tantamount to calling him a waste of space!”

“Common? Mediocre? No distinguishing traits?!” Rikuya repeated, sinking deeper and deeper into depression as Maika’s word choice carved his self-esteem to pieces.

“See?! Look what you’ve done! He’s inconsolable!” said Maika.

“Thanks to you, you idiot!” Rikuya wailed. He looked like he was on the verge of tears.

“Brother, Sister…I’m hungry,” said Takao. I hadn’t even noticed him approach the other two from behind─in fact, I’d thought he was still asleep. He was certainly up now, though, and rubbing his rumbling stomach.

“We just ate, didn’t we? Tough it out,” said Rikuya.

“That wasn’t a meal. That was just a snack,” moaned Takao.

“Any normal person would call that a meal, and we don’t have the money to keep shoveling food down your gullet! Wait until dinner.”

Takao’s shoulders slumped with disappointment. Shockingly intense disappointment, actually. A body that big took a lot of food to fuel, it seemed.

“Anyway, I get the picture. You want to hire us…” Rikuya said, turning to me, crossing his arms, then sinking into thought. “But…no. That’s out of the question. You’ll have to find someone else.”

“Are you sure about that? I assure you you’ll be satisfied by our wages,” I said. Becoming a count’s retainer would have put them on the sort of salary that most people could only dream of.

“It’s not about the money,” said Rikuya. “I mean, I’ll admit, we are pressed for cash…”

“Well then, why?” I pressed.

“It’s complicated,” said Rikuya. I didn’t get the sense he wanted to tell me any more than that, and considering we’d only just met, pressing for details felt like a bad idea.

“You should know, Brother, that if we agree to serve this boy, it will allow us to achieve our own objectives at a far greater pace,” chimed in Maika.

“Ugh,” Rikuya grunted, then paused to mull the matter over once more. Maika seemed enthusiastic about our offer, at least, but Rikuya soon shook his head once again. “No, no, we can’t. Becoming someone’s retainer just isn’t on the table.”

“Very well,” Maika said, then didn’t press the issue any further. For all her assertiveness, it seemed she’d entrusted Rikuya with the final say when it came to big decisions like this.

“We’re honored to receive such a generous offer, but I’m afraid to say that we must respectfully decline,” said Rikuya, turning to me and offering a formal refusal.

I didn’t want to give up on them, but on the other hand, I didn’t know what to say to bring them around. As I tried to come up with my next move, however, Rietz stepped in to lend a hand.

“That’s a shame─isn’t it, Lord Ars?” he said, then turned his gaze to Rikuya. “Might I ask how long the three of you intend to stay in Canarre?”

“We’ll be here a while if we can find work, but otherwise, we’ll be moving on to the next town before long,” said Rikuya.

“Understood. In that case, might I offer you an alternate opportunity? The name of House Louvent carries great weight in these parts, and if Lord Ars were to offer you his endorsement, you might find it much easier to find employment,” suggested Rietz.

Oh, I get it! That means that at the very least we’ll keep them around in Canarre, and they’ll owe us a favor on top of it.

Rikuya had kept his reasons for not wanting to become my retainer vague, but there was still a chance that their circumstances would change with time. I was immediately on board with Rietz’s idea.

“Huh? Seriously?!” exclaimed Rikuya. “And right after we turned you down…? You’re a real stand-up guy, aren’t you?”

“Brother…” Maika sighed. “You’re being far too credulous. He’s hoping to keep us in town so he can win us over and ultimately recruit us. Doing us a favor will make it harder for us to turn down his requests in the future. Men of their stature don’t extend purposeless pity.”

We’d almost had Rikuya, but unfortunately, his sister had seen through our intentions. On the other hand, we hadn’t been making an effort to conceal them.

“I-I see,” said Rikuya.

“That being said, I believe their offer is still worth taking,” Maika continued. “Unmistakably foreign though we are, the word of the count will surely allow us to find work. Wandering aimlessly as we have so far, on the other hand, offers no such guarantee. Accepting their referral will not obligate us to become the count’s retainer, so I see little reason for you to refuse.”

“You have a point,” Rikuya said, then lapsed into thought again.

“If this can get us work, I think we should do it. Work means we can eat more,” Takao chimed in.

“Do you seriously have nothing but food on your brain…? I guess it is important, though, so fair enough,” said Rikuya. Finally, he seemed to come to a decision and turned to face Rietz, his expression firm and formal. “We will gladly take you up on your most gracious offer,” he said.

“Understood,” said Rietz. “In that case, please make your way to Castle Canarre tomorrow. We can discuss the details then.”

“All right,” said Rikuya.

With that, we’d managed to tie the three of them down in Canarre for the time being. There was no guarantee I’d be able to win them over, but at least it was a start, and it was certainly better than having them wander off to some other county. For the time being, though, we said our goodbyes and returned to the castle.

○

“Thanks for helping out back there, Rietz. That was some quick thinking,” I said after we’d split up with the Fujimiya trio. His offer to introduce them to a suitable job had turned the situation around.

“N-No need to thank me! I just did what was natural,” Rietz replied, embarrassed by my compliment.

“By the way, do you know anything about a country called Yoh? I think they said that’s where they’re from, didn’t they?”

“I’ve heard the name,” said Rietz. “If memory serves, it’s located on an island to the far southeast of Summerforth. I’m afraid I don’t know anything about the nation itself, though. My apologies.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “I was just thinking that they had a lot going on, and if we could just figure out what their circumstances were, it might make it easier to recruit them. The girl, Maika, seemed open to the idea of becoming my retainer, at least.”

“Yes, I see what you mean… It’s possible that Rosell might know more. The breadth of his knowledge is remarkable.”

Rosell absorbed information like a sponge. Not only was his memory superb, but he also made a point of reading any and every book he could get his hands on. He was the most knowledgeable of my retainers by far, so I figured Rietz had a point─Rosell really might know a thing or two about Yoh.

I decided to seek Rosell out and ask if he knew anything. To that end, I headed straight for the castle’s library. As expected, I found him within the chamber, writing something with piles of books strewn about his vicinity. Rosell’s daily activities were quite varied─he’d read books, come up with new tools and weapons, and even plan out new policies for Canarre with Rietz. At the moment, he seemed to be compiling his many ideas into a readable form.

“Do you have a minute, Rosell?” I asked.

“Oh, Ars! What’s up?” Rosell replied. He made a habit of concentrating so hard he wound up in his own little world and hadn’t noticed me enter the room at all, but talking to him snapped him out of his trance.

“I was hoping you might be able to fill me in on something. Do you know anything about a country called Yoh?”

“Yoh? Yeah, I do,” Rosell replied immediately. “It’s an island nation located southeast of Summerforth. They’re dealing with a lot of the same issues the empire is─they’ve got a civil war going on, apparently. I read that in a book that was written a pretty long while ago, though, so it might’ve already settled down by now.”

“A civil war…?” I muttered.

“Yup,” said Rosell with a nod. “The people there are supposed to look pretty different from Summerforth folks. Oh, and I guess civil wars happen all the time over there, so a lot of its inhabitants are used to war. Supposedly, they’d already developed advanced martial arts and swordsmanship techniques way back before the Summerforth Empire was even founded. I know about that because of records about a band of mercenaries from Yoh that showed up back in the day and wreaked havoc over here.”

Rosell carried on for some time, dumping every bit of info on the country that he had to offer. The study of foreign nations wasn’t his specialty by any means, so I was pretty impressed by the sheer depth of his knowledge.

“Why did you want to know about Yoh, anyway?” Rosell asked when he’d hit a stopping point in his lecture. I quickly explained about our encounter with Rikuya and his siblings. “Oh, huh! That’d do it. You always go after the weird ones when you’re looking for retainers,” Rosell replied.

“I just don’t like letting exceptional people slip away from me,” I countered.

“Fair enough,” said Rosell. “I wonder why they turned you down, though? Finding any sort of job is tough for foreigners, so you’d think that an offer like that would’ve been a great opportunity for them…”

Rosell, it seemed, was just as mystified by Rikuya’s refusal as I had been. A moment later, however, an idea seemed to occur to him.

“Huh? Wait a minute─did you say their surname was Fujimiya?” he said. “I’m pretty sure that’s the name of Yoh’s ruling house.”

“Their ruling house? You mean they’re royalty?” I asked.

“Yup,” said Rosell. “From what I remember, the recent civil war broke out because House Fujimiya’s authority was starting to deteriorate.”

“Could that mean that the Fujimiyas lost the civil war, and the survivors ended up fleeing to the empire?” I asked. If the document Rosell had read about the civil war was that old, then it seemed plausible that the war had already come to an end by now.

“Maybe…but just because they have the royal family’s name doesn’t mean they’re part of it,” said Rosell. “They might just be faking it, for one thing, and supposedly, Fujimiya’s not that uncommon of a surname, so it might just be a coincidence. That wouldn’t happen in Summerforth, since falsely claiming the imperial family’s name is a crime, but that’s not the case in other places.”

“I see,” I said with a nod.

It did feel like I might have been jumping to conclusions…but on the other hand, my appraisal’s results had told me that the three of them had a ridiculous number of siblings, and that Rikuya’s mother was dead while both Maika’s and Takao’s were alive, meaning they were only half-siblings. Them being royalty explained the polygamy. The sword that Rikuya was carrying hadn’t looked like the sort of weapon that a commoner could get his hands on, either. Even if they weren’t part of the ruling family itself, it seemed likely that they came from a noble background in some capacity.

“Them being royalty would explain why they didn’t want to become my retainers, though, wouldn’t it?” I said. “If they were royals before the civil war forced them into exile, then serving a different noble family wouldn’t sit right with them.”

“And being a manual laborer would? Wouldn’t that be even more humiliating?” Rosell countered.

“That depends on what sort of manual labor we’re talking about, I guess. But you can always quit that sort of job whenever you feel like it. That’s not so easy when you’re serving a lord, is it?”

Becoming a lord’s retainer was a serious obligation that involved swearing an oath of fealty. It wasn’t the sort of casual arrangement that you could step away from on a whim. Some nobles would see that sort of act as treasonous, and it wasn’t unprecedented for people to be executed for it. I certainly had no intention to be that uncompromising, and would probably have let one of my retainers go if they’d insisted, but I knew I was an exception in that regard. I wasn’t planning on carrying out any executions, at least, which may have meant that I was still a little too naive for the troubled times I lived in.

“Who knows if they see it that way? You’d have to ask them,” said Rosell.

“True enough… But okay, here’s a question, if they did turn me down because they’re royalty, then how could I go about convincing them to change their minds?”

“Hmm…” Rosell muttered, then lapsed into a lengthy period of thought. He seemed to be struggling with the question. It was a tough one, to be fair─one’s lineage was a hard thing to negotiate with, and I didn’t even know where to start. There may not be an easy solution to this one.

“For now, I guess you’ll just have to meet with them again and see how the conversation goes,” Rosell finally said. “That should let you clear up whether or not they’re those Fujimiyas, as well.”

“I guess that makes sense,” I admitted. It seemed like the natural conclusion to reach. I didn’t know whether or not they would come out and admit that they were royalty, but at the very least, talking with them again would be a step in the right direction.

Thankfully, Rietz’s quick thinking had led to them promising to come to Castle Canarre the very next day. I’d almost certainly have the chance to talk with them once more then, and resolved to take advantage of it and clear away some of my lingering questions.

○

The next day, I received word that Rikuya and his siblings had arrived at Castle Canarre. Rietz and I headed out to greet them at once. We found them standing in the entry hall, gawking at the castle’s interior.

“So this is Castle Canarre…” Rikuya muttered.

“Will we get to eat lots of good food today, Brother?” asked Takao.

“Do you ever think about anything other than food…? We came here to talk about work, not to eat!” Rikuya snapped back, much to Takao’s obvious disappointment.

We guided the three of them to the office. I wanted to jump right into discussing their backgrounds, the circumstances that had led them to Missian, and the reasons why they didn’t want to work for me, but I figured it would be best to keep my word and discuss their employment options first.

“Are you really willing to find us jobs?” Rikuya asked skeptically as the discussion kicked off.

“Of course,” said Rietz. “You’ve arrived in Canarre during a period of economic growth, and jobs are abundant as a result. What sort of field would you prefer to work in?”

“A field in which my boundless wit and wisdom shall be put to good use!” declared Maika.

“Umm…meaning a field in which you’ll have to do a lot of thinking?” asked Rietz.

“Quite!” said Maika.

“Hold on a second,” said Rikuya, cutting back into the exchange. “That’s all well and good for you, sure, but there’s no way Takao could cut it in a job like that! It’s heavy lifting or nothing for him!”

“H-Heavy lifting? And how do you expect a frail, delicate woman such as I to do work like that?!” said Maika.

Clearly, getting the three of them the same job was a lost cause. “Why don’t the three of you try working in different fields?” I suggested.

“D-Different fields…?” Maika repeated apprehensively. “W-Well, yes, I suppose that’s a reasonable thought, and while I would be perfectly all right with it, my brothers would be ever so forlorn without me! For their sake, we should find employment that all three of us can participate in…”

“What she’s trying to say is that even though she acts like a bigshot, she’s pretty timid when she’s on her own. It’d probably be for the best to keep us together,” said Rikuya.

“Wh-Who are you calling timid?! I’m just watching out for you and Takao!” Maika shot back in a fluster.

“Right, sure, we’ll go with that,” said Rikuya. “Anyway, setting Maika aside, Takao can’t really be trusted to work on his own,” he added.

“If eating was a job, I could do that alone,” said Takao.

“Case in point,” Rikuya sighed.

I had to agree─the idea of sending Takao out to work on his own made me more than a little nervous. That said, I was also drawing a blank when it came to jobs that would allow both Maika and Takao to excel, considering their opposing strong points.

“I believe we’re approaching this from the wrong direction. We should not be looking for employment─we should be looking for an opportunity to start an enterprise of our own,” Maika said out of the blue, diverging from the line of thought we’d been traveling down.

“An enterprise?” Rietz repeated skeptically. “I’m afraid that starting any sort of business would require funding…”

“And that’s one thing we don’t have,” said Rikuya.

“But we could…if you would part with your beloved sword,” Maika replied, eyeing the blade that Rikuya was carrying.

“Wha─?!” Rikuya spluttered. “I-I’ve told you before that I’m not selling this under any circumstances! I’m sure you haven’t forgotten that discussion!”

“I haven’t forgotten, no, but I remain unconvinced! It’s hardly a practical blade to begin with. If we want to make the most of its merits, we should sell it.”

“You know that’s not an option! How are we supposed to bring anyone over to our side when we return home without it?!”

“Hmph! If that sword were truly that potent of a symbol, we would never have had to make our way to Summerforth. If we want to win allies then we need money before all else.”

“That’s not true, and you know it!”

The conversation had taken a rather contentious turn, and I had no idea why. Neither Rikuya nor Maika seemed to have any interest in filling the rest of us in on the context of their argument.

“What about you, Takao?! What do you think?!” said Rikuya.

“Huh?” grunted Takao. “I’ll do whatever you say, Brother…”

“See?! That makes this two versus one!”

“Takao,” said Maika, “if we sell the sword, then we’ll have plenty of money to feed you anything your heart desires.”

“Huh? Okay, then let’s sell it,” said Takao.

“Heh heh heh! Two versus one indeed,” said Maika with a smirk.

“H-Hey! That’s not fair! No dragging Takao into this!” snapped Rikuya.

“Big words from the man who started it, Brother!” shouted Maika. By this point, the two were openly glaring at each other.

“What makes you think this sword would sell for a high price in the first place?” asked Rikuya. “There’s no reason to believe that a Summerforthian would have any idea what it’s worth!”

“In our homeland, that blade would be considered a treasure so valuable, one could hardly assign a price to it…but I do not know how highly it would be appraised here, I admit,” said Maika. “However, considering the materials it’s made of, I can hardly imagine it would fetch a low price.”

“Would you mind if I took a look at that sword?” said Rietz, joining the conversation.

“If you’d like,” Rikuya said. He unbuckled the sword from his waist and held it out to Rietz.

It was a slightly curved blade, similar in shape and structure to the katanas I’d seen in my previous life. Its sheath was red, with golden detail work that I suspected had been crafted from actual gold. The guard seemed to be made from gold as well, with blue gemstones set in it, and the pommel was made in the same fashion, gemstones and all.

“Will you draw it for me?” asked Rietz.

“Sure,” said Rikuya, who then did just that. The blade proved as beautiful as its hilt. I didn’t know very much about swords, but I could tell that it had been made by a skilled craftsman.

“Hmm… It’s shaped somewhat like a scimitar,” observed Rietz. “Its edge is finely honed, and I believe the gems in its hilt are blue diamonds…”

Blue diamonds? Aren’t those incredibly expensive…? Though, wait, I guess that was back on Earth. Who knows how much they’re worth in this world?

“The craftsmanship of the scabbard and hilt are both remarkable, and the materials they’re made from are no less fine. Judging by the blade, I imagine it would be of practical use in battle as well,” said Rietz. “I think it’s likely that if you could find a noble who collects weaponry as a pastime, they would be willing to pay a rather high price for it. It would sell for over a hundred gold coins, at the minimum.”

“A hundred?! Isn’t that an incredible sum of money?!” gasped Rikuya. Ten gold coins was enough money to live on for a year, meaning the sword was worth a decade’s worth of living expenses. It was no wonder he was stunned to hear it.

Maika, however, seemed less than pleased.

“I’d think it would be worth much more than that,” she said. “I would have valued it at a thousand, myself.”

“I did say at the minimum,” said Rietz. “There’s no telling how highly a collector would value a piece such as this without finding one and showing it to them. I will say, however, that I would not be surprised if someone out there was willing to pay a thousand gold for it.”

“A thousand is on the table…?” Rikuya said. He spent a moment gawking at the sword in his hand, then gulped. He’d presumably known that selling it was an option, but hadn’t realized just how valuable it truly was. His decision to not sell the sword under any circumstances, it seemed, was beginning to waver.

“A hundred gold wouldn’t be sufficient to ensure our enterprise’s foundation, so I’d sooner sell it to someone who values it more highly,” said Maika. “Oh, I know! Our intention today was for you to introduce us to a place of employment, but would you be willing to search for a buyer for the sword instead? We would surrender a portion of the profit to you as a commission, of course! You stand much to gain!”

“Hey! S-Stop making it sound like we’re already committed to selling it!” shouted Rikuya. Maika had been all ready to start negotiating the deal, but he wasn’t quite ready to take that step yet.

“Hmph! Why so stubborn?” asked Maika. “For all we know, selling the blade could solve all our problems in one fell swoop!”

“Ugh,” grunted Rikuya.

“The terms you propose are most attractive to us, so if you are willing to part with the sword, we would be very interested in pursuing the opportunity,” said Rietz. I had to agree─I couldn’t think of any downsides to the arrangement from House Louvent’s perspective.

Rikuya stared once more at the sword, agonizing over his options. As precious as it was to him, the offer of over a hundred gold coins was compelling to someone who was all but broke. I would’ve thought he’d sell it in an instant, and the fact that he had to think it over so carefully told me just how important he considered the blade to be.

“We’re in dire need of funds, I’ll admit,” Rikuya finally said, “but this sword is worth so much more than any sum of money… If we were in Yoh, then it would be considered too valuable to ever put a price on. Even a thousand gold coins doesn’t come close to approaching its true value.”

“True though that may be, returning to Yoh is beyond us. There’s no sense wishing for the impossible,” said Maika.

“Grr…” Rikuya growled in lieu of an actual argument. There was nothing he could say to refute her claim.

By that point, I’d gathered from their argument that the sword had some sort of incredible significance and value by the standards of their home country. I was starting to get curious about its history. It had clearly been made by an incredible craftsman, but would that be enough to make it just that valuable?

“What is that sword? Is it really that valuable in your homeland?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

“This sword is an heirloom, passed down through House Fujimiya for generations,” explained Rikuya. “It’s known as the Wyrmsbane Blade, and as its name would imply, it is said that it was used to slay a dragon in an age long past.”

“A dragon…?” I repeated.

I hadn’t seen a single dragon since I was reincarnated in my new world. In fact, I wasn’t entirely sure if they existed at all─there certainly weren’t any in Summerforth, at least. Rumor had it they lived in other regions of the world, but frankly, I viewed those tales with intense skepticism. I’d seen dogs with wings and cats with horns since I was reincarnated, so I knew that there were creatures in this world that hadn’t existed on Earth, but I had yet to see any monsters straight out of a work of fantasy.

In any case, the fact that the sword had been “passed down through House Fujimiya for generations” told me that, as expected, they were almost certainly not your everyday family of commoners. The Fujimiyas likely came from a high place in Yoh’s societal structure.

“I have another question,” I said. It felt like I had plenty of pretext to throw caution to the wind and ask about their origins, at that point.

“What is it?” said Rikuya.

“I did some looking into Yoh since we last met, and learned that the nation’s royal family goes by the name of Fujimiya. Am I safe in assuming that the three of you have some association with the royal line?”

A look of shock passed across Rikuya and Maika’s faces.

“Y-You researched us?” Rikuya stammered.

“So word of Yoh’s affairs has spread as far as Summerforth,” muttered Maika. “Strange. I’d thought next to no trade was conducted between our nations.”

“We’ve told a bunch of people we’re from Yoh, and they always made it seem like they had no idea where that is,” added Takao, who seemed to be taking the news much more in stride than his siblings.

“Anyway, I think it’s clear by now that you aren’t bad people…so I suppose I can share the truth,” Rikuya said after gathering his resolve. “We are indeed of House Fujimiya, the original ruling family of Yoh─and I am the current head of said house.”

Just like that, he’d revealed his identity. We’d already predicted as much, of course, but it was still quite something to learn for sure that they were royalty.

“Maika and Takao were born to different mothers, but they are also members of the royal family,” Rikuya continued. “However, a rebellion occurred within our kingdom. Our father, the king, was killed along with the vast majority of our relatives. We barely managed to make it out alive, bringing the sword with us, and fled to a foreign country.”

“I see,” I said with a nod. Them ending up in Summerforth now made complete sense.

“I call us royalty, but I should make it clear that if we were to return to our nation, we would be executed on the spot,” Rikuya added. “We have no authority in these lands, so for all intents and purposes, we’re nothing more than commoners for the time being. In fact, as foreigners, our standing is lesser than that of the local peasantry. If you hope to make use of our status, I regret to inform you that we have little to offer.”

“I had no such intention,” I immediately clarified.

“The Wyrmsbane Blade has traditionally been inherited by the successor to the Fujimiya line,” Rikuya said as he held the sword aloft. “In other words, it’s the symbol of the king of Yoh.”

Suddenly, the blade’s priceless nature made perfect sense to me.

“Are you sure you should be selling something so precious to begin with?” I asked.

“At this moment, we need money above all else. Our goal is to return to Yoh and restore House Fujimiya to its former glory. We’ll need soldiers to accomplish that, and money to hire them.”

“You hope to restore your house to power?” I asked.

“Of course,” said Maika. “We have no intention of ending our lives in exile.”

Maika’s expression made it clear that she was serious, but I had to wonder: was their goal really achievable? Gathering up soldiers in Summerforth to launch an invasion of Yoh seemed like quite the task…though then again, the empire was hardly lacking in mercenaries for them to employ. Some of them would surely be willing to fight in a foreign land, as long as they were paid enough for the task, so if the Fujimiyas could build up a big enough warchest, I couldn’t rule it out. That being said, I also couldn’t imagine that defeating an entire nation’s military would be that easy.

“The state of Yoh’s magical technology is underdeveloped compared to that of Summerforth. If we assemble enough talented mages from these lands, then victory will be feasible,” Maika explained confidently. Considering the sort of earth-shaking effects that well-used magic could have on a battlefield, part of me believed her─if their enemies weren’t capable of using it, then maybe they did stand a chance of winning.

“I appreciate your need for funding,” said Rietz, “but if the sword truly holds that much significance, then perhaps you would be better off keeping ahold of it? The three of you will need to find allies in Yoh upon your return, and bringing others around to the side of House Fujimiya will likely be easier with the sword on hand. In contrast, if the king in exile returns without the sword that legitimizes his reign, it seems likely that you’ll be treated as nothing more than an upstart.”

“R-Right! That’s exactly what I’ve been trying to say this whole time!” said Rikuya. “What was your name─Rietz? You understand how all this works!”

“I’ll admit that bearing the blade would make our task easier upon our return, but ours is a position that demands careful prioritization,” said Maika. “We stand in a position of powerlessness, and as such, in our hands the sword is nothing more than a meaningless trinket. Were we to return to Yoh with nothing more than the sword in hand, the usurpers would claim it from us and bring our quest to an end. We will never stand a chance without the power to oppose our foes, and selling the sword is the fastest and most certain means to gain that power. Moreover, allies and legitimacy can both be won with power, whether or not we bear a symbol of our rule. You need look no further than the current government of Yoh to see that─they reign without the sword in hand, do they not?”

I could see Maika’s point. Making the money they needed through hard work alone would be a challenge, and a time-consuming one, at that. I wasn’t sure how long it had been since they were driven out of Yoh, but the more time passed, the more entrenched its current rulers would become, thus making it harder and harder for the Fujimiyas to regain control. It was in their best interests to gather up the forces they needed as quickly as possible.

“We have no certain means of restoring House Fujimiya to power. As such, our only option is to pick the path that grants us the highest odds of success,” Maika concluded.

“Ugh…” Rikuya groaned, unable to come up with a counterargument. Still, some part of him seemed reluctant to sell the sword. I could tell just how much it meant to him. “But how am I supposed to call myself the head of House Fujimiya without it? If I sell the sword, not even I will be convinced my claim is legitimate,” he added in a quiet mutter, glancing anxiously at the Wyrmsbane Blade.

“You mustn’t be so timid, Brother. You are, without question, the head of House Fujimiya and the rightful king of Yoh. You and you alone bear a legitimate claim to that title, whether or not that sword is in your hands. If you lose your drive to rid your kingdom of the pretender that sits upon your throne─if you lack the spirit to declare yourself king─then what will you have left?” scolded Maika, doing her best to raise Rikuya’s spirits.

“I should note that if you were to become my retainers for a time, you would be able to reach your goals without having to part with your sword. Won’t you reconsider your choice on that front? I believe the salary I would offer you is quite considerable, and if I’m able to strengthen my territory in the long term, I might even be able to provide you with troops to aid in your endeavor,” I said.

This seemed like my best shot at soliciting them one more time. Of course, if I loaned them some of my troops and they managed to reclaim their own country, that would mean the end of their service. On the other hand, it would also mean that the king of a foreign nation would owe me a personal favor, which felt like a pretty big deal in its own right.

Rikuya paused for a moment to mull over my suggestion, then shook his head.

“No, I’m afraid not. My position as a member of Yoh’s royalty does not allow me to enter into the service of another. Moreover, if I were to become your retainer and overthrow the government of Yoh, I would seem to be doing so on your behalf. That, in turn, would make Yoh a vassal state of the Summerforth Empire, would it not?”

“I, umm…think you might be overthinking this a little?” I suggested.

“No, no, he’s right,” said Maika. “That would indeed leave us with no recourse should you seek to claim Yoh as the property of House Louvent. You’re quite the schemer for one so young and seemingly innocent, aren’t you?”

“That’s not what I was going for, I swear!” I shouted. I’d genuinely just been thinking about forging friendly relationships, and had stumbled my way into a terrible misunderstanding in the process.

“I thought there would be little harm in becoming your retainers, at first, but in doing so I was being too eager to rely on the goodwill of others. If we can forge our own path to success, then that would be for the best,” said Maika. Not only had I not won them over, it seemed that I’d lost the interest of the one Fujimiya who’d been open to the idea before.

“Come to think of it, you said you were planning on starting a business, didn’t you? Are you confident that you can make it work?” I asked.

“Heh heh heh! With the funding we need, I am certain that all will proceed as planned… But I’m afraid I cannot share the details with you! I can’t have you imitating my methods, after all!” said Maika.

She seemed very confident, but in a way that made me a little suspicious of what she was planning. I’d known someone in my previous life who had founded a business, claiming that there was no chance of it failing, only for the company to crumble, leaving my acquaintance under a mountain of debt in the process. I wasn’t convinced that Maika would go down that same road, per se, but I was a little worried now.

“I don’t mean to imply any ill will on your part, but I’m afraid that as the head of House Fujimiya, I cannot allow myself to enter your─or anyone’s─service, barring the most extreme of circumstances,” said Rikuya.

The last bit of his statement caught my attention. I wasn’t sure what “the most extreme of circumstances” would entail, but one way or another, it was clear that bringing him around wouldn’t be easy. I wanted as many talented individuals on my side as I could find, but in this case, it seemed my only choice was to give up.

“Now then, with that settled, we must talk of selling the Wyrmsbane Blade! Let’s move this discussion along, shall we?” said Maika.

“W-Wait a second! Are we really selling it? Really?!” protested Rikuya.

“You understand that it’s our only option, don’t you?”

“Ugh…”

Once again, Rikuya sank into thought─this time for several minutes.

“I need some more time to think about this,” he concluded.

Maika sighed.

“Must you be so confoundingly indecisive…?” she grumbled with a shake of her head.

As promised, we went on to introduce the three Fujimiyas to a potential workplace. They were almost entirely broke at the moment, so they needed to find some source of funding as soon as possible for the sake of putting food on the table.

We ended up finding an inn that was willing to hire them. Canarre’s population was booming, and more and more travelers were arriving from outside of the county as a result. That meant an increase in demand for temporary lodgings, which had led to more and more new inns opening their doors. The already-existing businesses were doing their best to increase the scope of their operations, as well, so workers were in high demand.

The work at that sort of establishment largely consisted of manual labor, but inns also needed employees with a head for figures to handle the money, meaning that all three Fujimiyas would be able to do work that suited them in the same place. House Louvent had made efforts to support the local inns, so finding a place that would hire them with our endorsement was quite easy. Things went so smoothly, in fact, that by the time our talks were finished they were scheduled to begin working the very next day.

“So I’m to work as an underling at an inn…? I suppose beggars can’t be choosers,” Maika grumbled. Considering the fact that she was former royalty, I couldn’t blame her for being upset.

“Thank you for giving us this opportunity. I swear that we will repay this debt someday,” said Rikuya.

“Indeed!” piped up Maika. “If our business goes as planned, we’ll likely choose Canarre as our base of operations. When that time comes, we will assuredly pay you back!”

“I have a feeling that might take a while,” I replied.

“It will not! We shall repay our debts before you know it! And we’ll be back to discuss our sale of the sword in short order, as well!”

“Understood,” I said.

With that, the Fujimiyas departed from Castle Canarre. It seemed there was little hope of recruiting them as my retainers, but if they had a positive effect on the state of the city of Canarre independently, then introducing them to a job seemed well worth the effort. I had high hopes things would turn out for the best.

○

Some time later, the Fujimiya siblings found themselves in the room that their live-in job had provided them. Their work for the day was finished, and they were taking the opportunity to rest.

“Ughh, I am exhausted! This was not part of the deal we reached! I was under the distinct impression I would not be asked to do manual labor, and look how long that lasted!” Maika shouted. Her exhaustion had put her in a paradoxically high-strung state of mind. She had indeed been hired to do clerical work, in theory, but the inn had had so many customers that evening that she’d been pulled away from her calculations and asked to wait tables, clean, and even do a smattering of heavy lifting.

“Was it really that bad? We’re getting fed, so I’m super satisfied. I wish I could work here forever,” said Takao, who seemed more pleased than tired. The owner of the inn had provided him with an extra-large meal to reward him for his hard work, and apparently, that was all it took to sell him on the arrangement.

“Don’t even joke about that,” snapped Maika. “Our goal is to quit this job and attain independence as soon as possible! We seek to accomplish an outrageous objective, and every minute we spend gaining funds and seeking out troops lowers the chances of our invasion succeeding. The fact that the Count of Canarre has acknowledged our talents is a boon─it’s possible that he might support us if we try to establish our enterprise in this city. I don’t like the thought of seeking his aid over and over, but beggars can’t be choosers. In any case, our plans will begin in earnest whenever our brother decides to sell the Wyrmsbane Blade,” Maika concluded as she glanced over at Rikuya, who was still mulling over his options as he stared at his sword.

“Hmm…” muttered Rikuya. “Are we sure about this, though…?”

“I think we should sell it too,” said Takao. “People in town have been giving it weird looks.”

“Weird looks?” said Rikuya. “Do you mean that they were thinking about stealing it? You’ve always had a pretty good sense for these things.”

Takao’s strength wasn’t his only asset in battle. He also boasted remarkable instincts, which among other things bolstered his defenses, making him a force to be reckoned with.

“It’s clearly valuable, after all,” said Maika. “In that sense, it may be in our best interests to rid ourselves of it posthaste.”

“How would anyone even steal it from us, though?” asked Rikuya. “I’m always carrying it with me, and if someone tried to take it from us by force, Takao and I could surely drive them off. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve had to defend ourselves.”

The Fujimiya siblings had been thrust into danger a number of times since arriving in Summerforth. Each time, however, they had pooled their strengths and overcome the challenges that faced them.

“It’s dangerous to assume that because all has gone well up until now, all will go well in the future. Some men will go so far as to kill for money, and dying to protect the blade would be the height of pointlessness,” said Maika.

“I know that, but still,” Rikuya sighed as he gazed at his sword. “To be honest, I’ve started to think that it’d be for the best to sell it as well. Without this blade in my hands I’ll be nothing more than a commoner, but that will not change the fact that the blood of the Fujimiyas flows through my veins. I would not be able to stand proud and declare myself the head of House Fujimiya without the blade…but that is a problem that I must overcome, whether or not I part with it.”

“Precisely,” said Maika. “Whether in Yoh or Summerforth, those who hold power hold the right to deem what is just. Such is the nature of the era we live in─to show weakness is to invite death. Perhaps you alone do not stand a chance against the monsters who brought House Fujimiya to ruin, Brother, but with all three of our powers combined, we can overthrow them even without the Wyrmsbane Blade. Is that not so, Takao?”

“Yeah,” said Takao. “And then we’ll be able to eat all we want, and sleep like logs.”

“That…is not precisely the reassurance I had in mind, but it will suffice.”

“Maika, Takao,” Rikuya muttered, his gaze full of emotion as he looked upon his siblings. Finally, he seemed to make up his mind. “All right. I’ll do it. I’ll sell the sword!”

“Very well!” said Maika. “In that case, no need to hesitate─let us make for Castle Canarre tomorrow! The count’s people are trustworthy, and will surely find a buyer for us.”

“Agreed,” said Rikuya. “I don’t even want to think about how badly we’d get ripped off if we tried to sell it to some random merchant.”

“And lots of money will mean lots of food,” said Takao.

“You should know, Takao, that the money from selling the blade will all go into our enterprise’s warchest! We won’t be using so much as a coin from it to buy food,” said Maika.

“What?!” Takao gasped, a look of shock and horror passing across his face.

“Okay, it’s not quite that bad. We can splurge on some nice food at least once, right?” said Rikuya in an effort to console his brother. A moment later, he glanced over at the room’s window, a suspicious expression coming across his face. “Hmm…?”

“What is it, Brother?” asked Maika.

“I’m not sure. I thought I saw something moving outside for a moment…”

“Hmm… Perhaps we’re being spied upon. Did you notice anything, Takao?”

“I wasn’t paying attention to the window, so I dunno.”

“Fair enough,” said Rikuya. “It’s possible we’re being targeted by a burglar, so keep your guard up.”

Takao nodded, his expression resolute.

○

A report arrived at my office in Castle Canarre.

“It seems the Fujimiya siblings are hard at work in the inn we introduced them to,” said Rietz.

“Oh? That’s good to hear,” I replied.

“That being said, I do have some concerns,” Rietz continued. “For one thing, the sword in Rikuya’s possession strikes me as far too valuable for a normal person to carry around.”

“True enough,” I said. “Takao seemed pretty tough, but if enough people jumped them at once, there’s a chance they wouldn’t be able to fight their way out of it no matter how capable he is.”

We’d taken steps to impose harsh penalties on crime and had bolstered the town guard in Canarre as well, which had helped improve the state of public order on the whole. Still, we hadn’t cleared the bandits out of the county, so crime was a factor we had to pay attention to. The Wyrmsbane Blade, meanwhile, was so conspicuously valuable that it was easy to imagine a criminal setting their sights upon it.

“Oh, and I also have a report from Pham,” Rietz continued. “I believe that you’ll want to hear this, if you have a moment.”

“From Pham? Go ahead,” I said.

“We had requested that Pham and the Shadows investigate a gang of thieves that have been on something of a spree in Canarre as of late. However, it seems that in spite of their capabilities, the Shadows have been unable to catch any of them in the act. They’ve speculated that the thieves may be in possession of some sort of magical tool that’s enabling their exploits.”

This was the first that I’d heard of Pham’s crew investigating a local band of thieves. I would have thought that tracking down petty criminals like them would have been a simple feat for the Shadows, and was surprised to hear that it hadn’t been going well. Apparently, their opponents this time around were more skilled than expected.

The mention of a mysterious magic tool, however, is what caught my attention. The rate of progress in Summerforth’s magical technology was rapid enough that figuring out who had made it would be a lost cause─magical tools of unknown origin seemed to be everywhere, as of late. Most of them were junk, and catalyzers were the only tool that had found any use on the field of battle so far, but every once in a while a tool turned up that had real, practical use. If this band of thieves had one of those tools in their possession and was using it to throw the Shadows off their tail, then tracking them down might be a difficult task indeed.

“Do they have any idea what sort of tool it might be?” I asked.

“One that eliminates all noise made by the user, apparently,” replied Rietz.

I was by no means an expert on magical theory, but that sounded like an application of sound magic, if I had to hazard a guess. Regardless, being able to muffle the noises you made would make burglary far easier.

“Several dozen break-ins have been reported so far,” Rietz continued. “The Shadows’ intent is to put more personnel on this case and expand the range of their investigations.”

“I just hope they track the thieves down quickly,” I said.

Come to think of it, if a band of thieves who’re that capable are operating in Canarre, wouldn’t that put the Fujimiyas in a pretty dangerous spot? I made a mental note to send them a warning when I had the chance.

○

Late that night, Takao’s eyes shot open as he sensed a presence in the room he was sleeping in.

Somebody just snuck in, he thought to himself. Two somebodies, in fact. It was too dark for him to discern their ages or sexes, and they weren’t making any sounds in particular. Takao had only been able to notice them thanks to his almost superhuman sense for the space around him. Rikuya and Maika had yet to realize that anything was wrong. Both of them were still sound asleep, judging by the rhythm of their breathing.

He could tell that the intruders were making their way toward Rikuya, and the instant they stepped within Takao’s reach, he shot up from his bed and tackled them at a speed one wouldn’t think possible for a man of his size. Takao was a large, powerful man, but he wasn’t slow by any means. Speed was one of his greatest assets. His athleticism was exceptional across the board.

Takao’s wild charge sent the intruders crashing into the wall. It was a solid blow, and their impact with the wall was substantial, but it hadn’t made the slightest noise. Takao thought that was strange, but didn’t bother trying to figure out what it meant. Fighting was his wheelhouse─thinking, not so much.

Despite having been sent flying halfway across the room, the intruders were back on their feet in no time. Takao, it seemed, wasn’t the only exceptional fighter in the room. They took up combat stances, drawing knives from hiding places in their clothing.

Takao was unarmed, but he didn’t flinch away from his assailants’ blades. He was a master of barehanded combat, and was confident that he could easily bring down an armed opponent, so he didn’t hesitate to square off against the intruders and prepare for a fight.

○

“What in the…?” Rikuya muttered as Takao’s tackle roused him from his slumber. He sat up, blearily looking around the room, then took in a sharp breath, his eyes shooting open in alarm. It was quite dark, but what little light there was in the room was enough for him to make out the intruders.

Rikuya grabbed the Wyrmsbane Blade in a flash, shooting to his feet, drawing the sword, and taking up a combat stance. He did not, however, immediately attack. With his vision impaired due to the lack of light, a careless strike could turn into a miss, leaving him open to counterattack. As sudden as the incursion was, Rikuya was capable of keeping cool-headed enough to move with prudence and not set himself up for failure.

For a moment, both sides stared each other down. Finally, the trespassers made the first move, aiming not for Rikuya or Takao, but rather Maika, who was still fast asleep. They made a beeline toward her, as if they could see with perfect clarity despite the near-total darkness. Clearly, they were used to operating in the dark.

Rikuya and Takao had both expected the enemy to come at them, and were caught off guard by the unexpected move. Their reactions came at a slight delay, and though Rikuya caught on quickly enough to try to stop them, he wasn’t quite fast enough. One of the intruders had already pressed their knife to Maika’s throat. A moment later, they pulled some sort of magical tool out from a pocket, fiddled with it, then began to speak.

“Freeze,” the intruder said in a seemingly male voice. “I think you know what’s gonna happen if either of you so much as twitch.”

Takao and Rikuya’s expressions stiffened. Maika, meanwhile, had finally woken up, and the knife pressed to her neck along with the intruder’s words filled her in on the pertinent details of the situation. A look of panic flashed across her face.

“We’ll start easy─hand over the sword,” said the intruder.

Rikuya drew in a sharp breath, his eyes widening. The unstated implication was clear: if he didn’t surrender the sword, Maika’s life would be forfeit.

“Don’t give it to him, Brother,” Maika said, her expression now resolved. “We have no reason to think he’ll spare me, even if you do hand it over!”

“Oh, I will, all right. If I kill you, then that monster might take the both of us out,” said the intruder as he glanced at Takao. “I’m not convinced we could take him, even two on one. Plus, I’m not saying we’ll let you go once we have the sword. One way or another, you three will be following our orders for the time being,” he added in a firm and confident tone. He knew how valuable of a hostage Maika was─apparently, he’d looked into them in advance.

“Understood. We’ll do as you say,” said Rikuya.

“Brother…” Maika muttered.

Rikuya had no intention to take Maika’s advice this time. Going along with their assailants’ orders seemed less than likely to guarantee his and his siblings’ eventual release. The intruders would want to leave as little evidence of their crime as possible, after all, so the odds that all three of them would be killed after they gave up the sword seemed rather high. If he chose to give up on Maika, keep the sword, and fight back, then he and Takao, at least, would likely survive…but in Rikuya’s mind, losing Maika wasn’t an option. He chose to risk all three of their lives to save hers in the moment, and held out the sword to his attackers.

“Smart move,” said one of the intruders as he took the sword.

“So, what do we do with ’em now? Kill ’em?” asked the other.

“We’re thieves, not murderers. We don’t kill unless we’ve got no other option. We’ll take them back to the hideout and throw them in a cell, to start. We can talk it out with the boss after that. The big one should fetch a nice price as a slave, at least…and hey, maybe we’ll even be able to ransom them to their relatives. You never know,” said the first intruder, his tone calm and collected. “For now, tie the big one’s hands. You hear that? Not a move from you!”

The thief who was closer to Takao brought out a length of rope and bound his hands behind his back.

“All right, now follow us,” said the first intruder. With Maika still held hostage, the Fujimiyas had no choice but to obey. Rikuya kept quiet and followed his attackers.

The Fujimiyas and their captors left the inn and made their way through the city streets. Not many people were out and about at this time of night, but the fact that thieves had been operating within the city had the town guard patrolling in greater numbers than usual. The thieves, however, seemed to have a reasonable idea of where the guards would be stationed. Between that and their sound-erasing magical tool, they managed to evade the patrols.

Maika was still being held at knifepoint, meaning that Rikuya and Takao couldn’t raise the alarm without risking her life. Even if they’d been willing to try, it seemed that the magic tool muffled not only noises made by the user, but by anyone else in the immediate vicinity as well. Rikuya couldn’t make any loud noises, even if he wanted to. In the end, he and his siblings were brought to the thieves’ hideout without being discovered by the guards.

○

I went out to warn the Fujimiyas about the recent string of burglaries in Canarre, only to be informed by the innkeeper that all three of them had vanished. One evening they’d gone to bed, and the next morning they were gone without a trace, leaving the innkeeper under the impression that they’d run out on him. That had left the innkeeper at a lack of manual laborers, and he was all too eager to come complaining to House Louvent about the issue. Thankfully, Rietz had taken care of that problem by dispatching some of the castle’s servants to help out until we could find replacements.

“Do you really think the three of them ran away, though?” I wondered out loud. Rikuya had seemed to be motivated, from my perspective, and the other two had made a point of following his directions. If he’d dedicated himself to his work, I was certain they would have as well. It would be one thing if they’d vanished after a few months, but it had only been a matter of days. Them running away after that short a span of time just didn’t make sense, considering their attitudes.

“I wonder about that as well,” said Rietz. “The inn in question only just opened its doors, and the workload was apparently rather heavy, but they still didn’t strike me as the sort of people who would steal away in the night without a word.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” I said.

“Still, if they didn’t run away, what could explain their absence?”

“I guess…they might’ve been kidnapped?”

“There were no signs of a disturbance in their room, though. It wasn’t left in perfect order, apparently, but not to an unusual degree for a room that was occupied.”

“Hmm… Takao and Rikuya both know how to fight, so if there had been a struggle, you’d think there’d at least be a few bloodstains…and the innkeeper would’ve heard something if there’d been a fight, too,” I stated.

Considering what we knew, assuming that they’d left on their own initiative did seem the most reasonable conclusion. Rikuya had struck me as a motivated worker, but he was also former royalty. He might have decided that lowly work like he’d been asked to do was demeaning.

“Put out a search for them, just in case,” I ordered. “For all we know, they might’ve been caught up in some sort of trouble…though if they did run away, then they’re probably long gone from Canarre, I guess.”

“Understood,” said Rietz.

○

“I wonder what’s going to happen to us…?” Rikuya muttered to himself. At the same moment Ars was speculating about what had become of the Fujimiyas, Rikuya and his siblings found themselves locked up in a cell in the thieves’ hideout.

“Perhaps we’ll be saved…but I wouldn’t put money on it,” Maika replied with an air of resignation.

The thieves’ hideout was located in a rough part of Canarre. From the outside it looked like an ordinary dwelling, but the building featured an expansive basement containing both a jail and a warehouse where the thieves stored their ill-begotten loot until they were able to fence it. The entrance to the basement was well-hidden, and was unlikely to be discovered anytime soon. In other words, it would be very difficult for anyone to get in and find the prisoners who were kept there.

“I’m starving,” Takao groaned, his stomach rumbling at the same moment. They had been fed, technically, but they’d each been given little more than a slice of bread, which wasn’t anywhere near enough to satisfy Takao’s appetite.

“You should have abandoned me, Brother,” said Maika. “At least then two of us would have remained free.”

“D-Don’t even start! You know I could never leave you to die!” Rikuya snapped back.

“You must be able to if the need arises! It would have been the most rational and effective choice to make. A king must be capable of making the right decision when the time comes, no matter how cold or callous that decision may seem.”

“I don’t care how rational it might be─if being a king means having to leave my sister to die, then they can keep the damn throne for all I care!” Rikuya shouted.

Maika shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh. “You are far too soft, Brother…but I suppose I must thank you for saving my life, regardless of the consequences. I would, for the record, prefer not to die if at all possible,” she added, her tone growing bashful.

“You should have opened with that,” grumbled Rikuya as he mussed up Maika’s hair.

“S-Stop that! You know full well that I’m not a child anymore!” Maika shouted. Her face flushed red as she shook off Rikuya’s hand.

“I’m so hungry…” Takao moaned. He hadn’t been paying any attention to his siblings’ exchange, and was slumped over on the floor.

“Hey there,” a voice rang out. It came without warning from outside of the cell, and the Fujimiya siblings reflexively turned to look in its direction.

A tall man with a narrow face stood outside the cell. His hair was carefully styled, with facial hair that was equally well-groomed. Even his clothes were clean and proper. At a glance, he looked more like a well-off merchant than a burglar.

I know that man, Rikuya thought to himself. He’d caught a glimpse of the burglar back when they had arrived at the hideout. The other thieves had called him “boss,” which made his position in their organization rather clear.

“So, tell me─do you have any relatives with some spare cash on hand? We’d be happy to return you to them safe and sound, if a big enough ransom’s on the table,” said the man.

Rikuya paused to think. He had been chased out of his nation, and so for all intents and purposes, he had no relatives to speak of at all. Nobody other than his siblings had accompanied him to Summerforth. Plus, he wasn’t close enough to the owner of the inn he’d been working at to expect the man to pay a ransom.

The only person Rikuya could think of who may have fit the bill was Ars. He had seemed to value Rikuya and his siblings’ talents, so there was at least some small chance that he’d be willing to pay a ransom to guarantee their safety. Even so, Rikuya couldn’t bring himself to bring up Ars’s name. In his mind, to do so would have been to trouble a man who had already gone out of his way to help him.

“None,” Rikuya finally replied.

“Oh, really?” said the man. “Strange, considering the sword you were carrying. I have a hard time believing you could get your hands on something like that without connections to someone well-to-do.”

“We stole that sword back in our homeland. We ended up here because we had to flee the authorities,” Rikuya replied. He had a feeling that revealing his true status would be a terrible idea, and chose to lie instead.

“Oh, so that thing’s stolen goods? Who knew! Guess I should’ve expected you to be a pauper, considering you were working at an inn. I figured that if foreigners like you had family, they’d be willing to pay a pretty penny for you. Foreign folks in Summerforth tend to stick together, you know?” said the man with a disappointed shake of his head.

“What did you do with the sword?” asked Rikuya.

“Sold it, of course. Got a pretty decent price for it, too. Now we just have to figure out what to do with you,” the thieves’ boss said before pausing to think. “I’m leaning toward selling you as slaves. It’s the only good option. The kid’s gonna be a tough sell…but then again, she’s got a decent enough face, and some buyers are the sorta freaks who like ’em young.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Maika. Her expression indicated that she didn’t understand what the thieves’ boss was insinuating. Having been raised as royalty, her knowledge regarding the more vulgar side of society was lacking─or, rather, nonexistent.

“The big guy’ll fetch a good price, at least,” the boss continued, ignoring Maika’s question. “I know a noble who was just looking for a tough fighter-type the other day.”

An establishment in the duchy of Ansel had made a business out of pitting the strongest slaves they could find against each other in combat, inviting in large audiences to watch and bet on the bloodbath. As a result, slaves who could fight were in high demand.

“Hey, you can fight, right? How good are you?” asked the boss.

“I’m hungry…” Takao groaned in reply.

“Figure it’d take at least two guys at once to take you down, eh?”

“I’m hungry…”

“What, too good to talk to me, is that it?”

“When he gets hungry, he never talks about anything else. He can’t, really,” Rikuya explained.

“The hell? Well, whatever. He looks piss-weak right now, and we can’t let him go dragging down his price on us. Hey! Bring some food over─lots of it!” the boss shouted.

“Comin’ up!” one of his underlings replied.

Before long, a towering pile of meat and bread was brought into the cell. Takao’s eyes shone with excitement as he dug in without hesitation.

“Hey, Brother─these people might be nice after all!” said Takao after he’d finished his meal.

“They most certainly are not! They’re planning to sell us, you know?!” snapped Rikuya.

“That just leaves you,” the boss said, looking to Rikuya next. “You look…huh. What is your deal? Can’t say you look particularly remarkable in any real way…but you’re a man, I guess, so we can sell you off for manual labor, or whatever.”

“Hey! You could at least put a little more thought into it!” Rikuya shouted indignantly. Being called unremarkable by a burglar, of all people, had touched a very sensitive nerve.

“It’s gonna take a little while to get all the preparations for selling you done, so we’ll be keeping you here for a while. Don’t go trying to escape now, you hear? Make one move toward breaking out, and we’ll kill you on the spot,” the boss said with a dangerous glint in his eyes before going on his way.

It looks like we’ll be making it out of here alive, at least… But on the other hand, we’ll be sold to different places. Sounds like they’ll be using Takao as a fighter, and Maika as…ugh, Rikuya thought, trying not to dwell on what the future had in store for his sister.

Rikuya didn’t know for sure where he’d be sold, but if he was to be used for manual labor, then the odds were decent his conditions wouldn’t be unbearable. The same could not be said for his siblings, though. No matter how capable a warrior Takao was, he could only go up against so many worthy opponents before his luck ran out and he was killed or maimed. Maika, on the other hand, could very well be sold into such terrible circumstances that death would be the far preferable option.

It looks like breaking out’s our only option, then. But how…?

The burglars had guards constantly stationed outside the cell, with no gaps between their shifts, and Rikuya saw little reason to doubt their boss’s words. They seemed prepared to kill their prisoners at the first sign of defiance. Even if he and his siblings made it out of their cell, escaping the building would be a tall order. There were just too many criminals around for them to slip out unnoticed, and though Takao was a capable unarmed fighter, he couldn’t take on that many opponents at once and emerge victorious.

We’ll get our chance, though, one way or another. Panicking and trying to force a breakout will just set us back. I have to wait for an opportunity, and be prepared to take it when it arrives.

Having concluded that there was nothing he could do for the time being, Rikuya decided to keep calm and settled in for a long wait.

○

A few days had passed since the Fujimiya siblings had disappeared. Our search had turned up no leads at all in that time, so we ended up calling it off. We had other pressing matters─like the string of burglaries in Canarre─to take care of, so devoting resources to looking for them when the odds were good they weren’t even in town anymore just didn’t feel worthwhile. For all I knew, I might never see them again…or so I thought, until a chance encounter turned the situation on its head.

“It seems a merchant has requested an audience with you, Lord Ars. Will you meet with him?” asked Rietz.

A merchant…? I thought to myself. This wouldn’t be the first time a businessperson had arrived at the castle in the hopes of selling me something. I generally preferred to leave that sort of decision up to Rietz, but the purchase of anything pricey required me to sign off on it, so I often tagged along for the talks with the merchants for simplicity’s sake.

When merchants showed up, they usually came bearing rare magical tools or works of art to show me. Some of the tools they’d brought in the past had been quite handy for my day-to-day lifestyle, and I’d made a point of picking up the ones that looked particularly useful. Art, on the other hand, wasn’t something that interested me, so I rarely bothered with those. They were expensive anyway, so I wouldn’t have been able to afford many of them regardless. That being said, I’d been thinking about how forging deeper ties with other nobles would be a diplomatic necessity recently, and I knew that giving works of art as presents would be a good way of demonstrating my friendship. Our finances were doing a little better than before, so I figured it might be the right time to start snapping the occasional art piece up.

I had the merchant shown into Castle Canarre’s parlor, where I met with him. This time, he turned out to be a man with an amiable expression who looked like he was in his thirties, or thereabouts.

“A pleasure to meet you! My name is Thoenes Camchar,” said the merchant. “I am a merchant based out of Canarre, and I’ve recently come across a very unusual item. I knew at once I had to give our fair city’s count the opportunity to make it his own, and came here with all due haste to show it to you!”

I’d heard the merchant’s name before, but I’d never met him myself until now. Canarre was bustling with merchants these days, so I hadn’t come even close to putting names to all of their faces yet.

Thoenes set a long, slender box down on the table before him, then removed its lid. My eyes widened with shock as I glanced inside, and when I looked over at Rietz, I found that he looked just as astonished. I didn’t exactly need to ask why.

“I’m inclined to believe that this blade was forged by a foreign craftsman! Inspect, if you will, the intricate design of its scabbard. That’s real gold, you know, and…er… Your Lordship? I see you’re quite enraptured by the sword─has it caught your interest, perhaps?”

There was indeed a sword within the box, and a sword that Rietz and I couldn’t tear our eyes away from. We weren’t entranced by its beauty, to be clear. No, we were stunned by the fact that it was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Rikuya’s Wyrmsbane Blade. The sword was so distinctive that there was no mistaking it, and the idea that another sword that looked just like it had made its way to Canarre was unthinkable.

The question, then, was how it had ended up in a merchant’s hands. Had the Fujimiyas decided to sell it? If so, why hadn’t they contacted us in the hopes of finding the buyer who would give them the best possible price for it? Maika had expressed her intention of doing just that.

I wasn’t judging them for selling to a local merchant, per se. Putting a proper price on it would require dedicating a fair amount of time to asking around and seeing how much various buyers would be willing to pay. Selling it to the first merchant they came across seemed like a bit of a waste in terms of profit, but if they needed money as soon as possible, it was a reasonable choice to make.

However, Maika’s goal had been to establish a business of her own, and she’d wanted every scrap of coin that she could get her hands on in order to do it. Considering that, it seemed very unlikely that she’d choose speed over profit, whether or not she asked for House Louvent’s help in finding a buyer. The alternative, then, was a simple assumption: the sword had been stolen.

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than Rietz spoke up to ask the same question I wanted an answer to.

“Who did you obtain this blade from?” he asked, his tone and expression considerably harsh. Suddenly, our negotiations had turned into an interrogation.

The merchant picked up on the shift in tone and seemed aware that this was no trivial matter.

“U-Umm,” he stammered anxiously, “I purchased it from another merchant in Canarre named Mister Lobke! It seems he’s fallen on hard times and was willing to let it go for a very reasonable price, so I snapped it up without a second thought.”

“Lobke… Is he a rather heavyset man who runs a shop in Canarre’s southern district?” asked Rietz.

“Yes! Th-That’s the man…but, um, I must ask─is something the matter with this sword?”

“There’s a very high chance that it’s stolen goods. We’ll be conducting an investigation, just to be safe.”

“S-Stolen goods?!” the merchant shrieked.

The buying and selling of stolen goods was, needless to say, prohibited by law in Canarre. Those who were taken advantage of and inadvertently dealt in such items weren’t punished, but anyone who refused to cooperate with an investigation was assumed complicit by default. In other words, a merchant who bought a stolen item unknowingly would have to cooperate, no matter how unfair the investigation seemed to them. And because burglars were a thorn in the side of legitimate merchants, very few of them protested the current state of the law.

“V-Very well, then,” said Thoenes, who had gone deathly pale. “I’ll tell you everything I know about the sword, but before we begin, I want to make it very clear that I had no clue it had been obtained illegitimately! I swear on my honor, Your Lordship!”

“We understand,” Rietz replied reassuringly. “And to be clear, we have yet to confirm the sword was stolen to begin with. This is just a suspicion, for now─a full investigation will determine the truth.”

Thoenes went on to tell us everything he knew, which admittedly wasn’t all that much. He’d purchased the sword from Lobke for eighty gold coins, it seemed, implying that Lobke had paid even less than that.

That news deepened our already-roused suspicions. Rietz had priced the sword at a hundred gold coins, minimum, and it was very difficult to believe that the Fujimiyas had willingly sold it for less than that. On the other hand, if the sword had been stolen, then the thieves would have been motivated to get it out of their hands as soon as possible. It was very common for goods of unclear worth to be sold for well below their true value as a matter of expediency.

“What do you think, Rietz? Was it really stolen, or did Rikuya sell it himself?” I asked.

“Hmm… Considering what we know, I think it was stolen. I was suspicious when I’d heard that they’d fled in the night to begin with─none of them struck me as the sort of people who would do such a thing,” Rietz replied. It seemed he’d had the same hunch as I had. “Operating under the assumption that it was stolen, it seems likely that the culprits were the same burglars we’ve been attempting to apprehend. There was no evidence that a robbery took place, and the band we’re seeking has a history of leaving no evidence behind, so the pieces seem to fit together. In other words, even not taking the fate of the Fujimiyas into account, I see this as an opportunity for us to bring the burglars to justice.”

“Good point,” I said. “But what do you think happened to the three of them?”

“It’s possible that they were kidnapped, or─much as I hate to consider it─killed. Though to be fair, the burglars don’t have a history of murder, so I would be surprised if that were the case. It’s possible that there are factors at play we aren’t even considering, of course.”

“If the sword was stolen, do you think there’s a chance that the Fujimiyas decided to go get it back themselves?”

“Given the complete lack of sightings reported during our search, I would say that’s extremely unlikely. The three of them stand out enough that if they were investigating the burglars, someone would have noticed.”

That seemed reasonable enough to me…which, unfortunately, left them having been kidnapped or killed the only plausible explanations.

“There were no signs of a struggle in the inn, so it’s difficult to imagine they were killed on the spot,” said Rietz. “In other words, we can assume they were abducted for some period of time, at the very least─and if that’s the case, then their captors would benefit far more by selling them than killing them. As such, I believe they’re still alive.”

That logic checked out with me…or at least, I wanted to believe it was the case. “One way or another, we have to find these burglars fast. Can I leave that to you, Rietz?”

“Of course. I’ll contact the Shadows and begin an investigation at once,” Rietz replied, then left to get to work on the double.

○

Several days had passed since Rikuya and his siblings had been confined in the burglars’ cell, and he still had yet to reach a decision regarding what his next move should be. Their captors had proven even more vigilant than expected, and their cell was kept constantly under watch.

Eventually, Rikuya conferred with Maika with a whisper. Unfortunately, she had yet to come up with any ideas either, beyond staying quiet and biding time until an opportunity presented itself. Rikuya knew, however, that the longer they waited, the more likely they would be split apart and sent their separate ways. That, above all else, was an outcome he wanted to avoid.

I never want to lose another family member. Never again, Rikuya thought as the memories of what had happened back in Yoh resurfaced in his mind.

Ever since the era in which his grandfather ruled over the nation, House Fujimiya had been in a state of gradual decline. Rikuya’s grandfather was by no means a bad person, but as a monarch, he had proven lacking. He was as indecisive as a person could be, and that trait proved detrimental to his ability to rule. Furthermore, he was far too kindhearted a man to dispatch the sort of judgments that effective rulers needed to on occasion. His vassals’ disobedience remained unpunished, in all but the lightest of senses.

Under the reign of Rikuya’s grandfather, the lords who ruled over the various regions of Yoh were able to amass more and more power and influence of their own. By the time Rikuya’s grandfather passed on and his father ascended to the throne, House Fujimiya had already lost the respect of its followers.

Rikuya’s father could hardly have been more different from the previous king. He was a bold and decisive man who excelled when it came to taking the initiative, and immediately sought to reassert control over the nation and bring the uppity nobility back under control. That, however, proved to be a fatal mistake─the policies he attempted to put into place sowed the seeds of rebellion, and all of Yoh was soon embroiled in an age of vicious warfare.

Those were the troubled times that Rikuya had been born into. Being royalty he was just one of many siblings, and being on the younger side, he had not received the sort of education one would give to the heir apparent. Instead, he had been trained to support whichever elder sibling wound up inheriting the throne. Rikuya never doubted that that was the role he would one day fall into…until the war grew in intensity, and the Fujimiyas found themselves at a lack of commanding officers.

One by one, Rikuya’s brothers─each a capable warrior in his own right─were called into battle, and one by one, they met their ends at the rebels’ blades. Rikuya was close with his siblings, and the pain of losing them never lessened. Each death carved a gash into his heart that would never heal.

As time wore on, House Fujimiya found itself fighting a losing war. Ultimately, their final stronghold was surrounded by the enemy forces. The castle featured a secret escape route known only to the king and his family, but Rikuya’s father chose not to use it. He would perish when the castle fell, instead giving his royal blade to Rikuya and urging him, along with Takao and Maika, to escape in his stead. At the king’s order the three siblings fled through the secret passage, boarded a boat, and escaped from Yoh altogether.

At the time of their escape, a number of the Fujimiya trio’s elder sisters were still alive. They had decided among themselves, however, that the more people who fled the more likely they were to be caught en route, and had resolved to send only the three youngest among them away. That left Rikuya with a profound guilt weighing upon his conscience. He had argued with all his might against the decision, not wanting the three of them to be the only ones left alive, but in the end he’d been unable to convince his other sisters to accompany him.

Traveling through the secret passage, of course, wasn’t enough to ward off pursuit. The journey from the castle to the ocean was fraught with close calls with groups of soldiers who were searching for Rikuya and his siblings, and they just barely managed to reach the coast and board a ship sailing for Summerforth. Their lives had been saved…but all of their older siblings, along with their parents, had been slain.

Rikuya was hellbent on protecting Maika and Takao, come what may. He was more than willing to sacrifice himself for their sake, and in that light, he’d managed to come up with just one plan. Putting it into action would likely doom him…but at the very least, it could save his siblings.

“Abandon that line of thought, Brother,” said Maika. She’d been watching his expression, and seemed to have seen through what he was planning.

“I wasn’t─” Rikuya began, then reconsidered. “Look, you said it yourself, didn’t you? It’s more logical to sacrifice one of us than to let all three of us get captured and killed.”

“That was a circumstantial truth, not a universal one. More to the point, you are the only one of us who cannot be sacrificed, no matter the circumstances. You have to live on and become king.”

“Why me? Why can’t you be king?”

“Because I’m a woman, obviously.”

“Okay, then what about Takao?”

“Do you truly believe he’s up to the task?”

RIkuya glanced over at Takao. The burglars had just delivered their food, and Takao returned Rikuya’s gaze with a satisfied, complacent grin. Rikuya had to admit that it was very hard to imagine his brother serving as a monarch after seeing him in this light.

“You are the only one of us who can fill the role, Brother. Neither Takao nor I can become king and carry on House Fujimiya’s legacy,” Maika stated definitively.

“Well, you know what? I can’t either,” Rikuya muttered.

“Brother…that’s not─”

“It’s true, and you know it as well as I do. I don’t have what it takes. Even if I did have the talent to rule, it’s far beyond me to overthrow Yoh’s current rulers and reclaim the throne! I know you understand that!”

Maika didn’t say a word. She couldn’t bring herself to disagree. As a member of House Fujimiya, spending the rest of her life in Summerforth would be unbearable. She’d mulled over plan after plan to return to her homeland and reinstate her house’s rule, but in truth, she was well aware that the obstacles that stood between her and the accomplishment of that objective were close to insurmountable.

“The one thing I can do is make sure my brother and sister survive. Won’t you allow me even that much, at the end of it all?” asked Rikuya.

“The end…? Of course I couldn’t,” Maika replied with a sharp glare. “To start, sacrificing yourself wouldn’t be enough to turn this situation around for the two of us. You would die in vain.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Rikuya said, then explained the plan he’d come up with.

“Hmm. I would have rather you kept that idea to yourself,” Maika said indignantly after Rikuya had finished.

“It might work, though, don’t you think?” replied Rikuya. “I might die, sure, but the two of you would make it out alive.”

“Only in the best case. In the worst, all three of us would perish─and that’s far and away the most likely outcome.”

“I guess, but if we don’t do something, all three of us are gonna be sold as slaves.”

“And being enslaved is better than being dead.”

“Are you sure? Being a slave means having your dignity and humanity stripped away from you. Does that even count as living, in your book?”

“I happen to value my life over my dignity,” said Maika, though her tone lacked its usual self-assuredness. She had a pretty good idea of the sort of horrors and indignities that a life of slavery would entail.

“A life in slavery for me would be one thing, but you and Takao could end up in situations so terrible, I don’t even want to think about them. I can’t risk that happening. No decent brother would ever allow it,” said Rikuya.

“They claimed they would have Takao fight for sport, did they not? I can see your point, in his case─a life of combat is no easy thing, and he may not even last a year, if worse comes to worst. My case, however, confuses me. What did he mean that ‘freaks’ would be interested in me? What would they have me do?” asked Maika.

“You, uh…don’t want to know,” Rikuya muttered. “And I’m not letting it happen, so you don’t need to know, either.”

“Wh-What could that possibly mean…? I’m more curious than ever now!” Maika asked apprehensively. The grave look on Rikuya’s face wasn’t doing her nerves any favors. “I-In any case, I cannot endorse a plan that leaves you to be sacrificed, Brother. On this, I will not budge!”

“Sister?” said Takao, who’d been happily stuffing his face until just a moment beforehand.

“What is it, Takao? I don’t have any food for you, if that’s what you’re wondering,” replied Maika.

“No, not that. We made a promise when we left Yoh, didn’t we? We agreed that we’d do what our brother tells us to as much as possible.”

Rikuya and Maika were both gobsmacked. They’d been expecting Takao to ask about food, not to join the conversation with a very serious interjection.

“That’s right, you did! So keep your promise, already!”

“Y-You’re forgetting the most important part! We promised to obey his word, except for cases where his judgment is plainly mistaken!”

“So that’s what you’d call this? You think I’m making an unambiguous mistake?”

“Ugh,” Maika grunted, unable to refute Rikuya’s argument. The truth was that she couldn’t make any such claim whatsoever, but she wasn’t ready to give up yet. “Listen to me, Takao. Wouldn’t you be sad if our brother perished?”

“I would, yeah, but it’s his decision, right? If he thinks this is for the best, I’ll do it. I’m too stupid to figure these things out, so I think that’s the right choice,” Takao stated. His expression was grief stricken, but his absolute faith in Rikuya had overruled his emotions.

“How dare you, Brother?” said Maika after a moment of hesitation. “After all that talk of not wanting to sacrifice me, what gives you the right to turn about and sacrifice yourself? Do you not see your own hypocrisy?”

“If I’m a hypocrite, then what does that make you? You’re the one who kept going on about how we should always make the most logical decisions we can, aren’t you?”

“Grr… Must you quibble so…?”

“Never thought I’d hear the day you accused me of quibbling,” Rikuya retorted. Maika had far more of a way with words than he did, so it was quite rare for him to find himself on the winning end of an argument. “Look, I’m not saying that sacrificing myself is the right thing for me to do. I’m saying it’s what I want to do, so I’m doing it. That’s all there is to it.”

“You can’t be serious,” Maika replied. “That’s a terrible reason to do something so drastic!”

“That’s life. When it comes down to it, most drastic choices are driven by emotion, not logic.”

Maika fell silent. She understood now how firm Rikuya’s convictions were, and knew that trying to change his mind was a lost cause. Rikuya paused for a moment as well, then spoke on.

“Maika, Takao─the two of you have what it takes to cover for the other’s weaknesses. You make a good team, and you’ll do just fine, even without me. You could even reclaim the throne, no trouble. I mean, okay, I can’t imagine Takao being the king if I’m being honest, but you could easily be the first queen in Yoh’s history, Maika─don’t you think? You’re the sort of person who can pull off feats that nobody else could manage, so I’m sure you could find a way.”

“No more of this talk. I have no intention to listen to your dying wishes,” muttered Maika.

With that, Rikuya explained the details of his plan to Takao as well, then settled in to wait for the moment he’d put it into action.

A few hours passed by, over the course of which Rikuya and his siblings kept a diligent watch over the guards posted outside of their cell. Two guards were kept by the cell the majority of the time, but on rare occasions, there were brief periods where only a single guard stood watch. The Fujimiyas were watching and waiting for one of those moments to come about.

“Shift’s up,” a guard declared as he arrived at the cell.

“’Kay,” one of the two current guards replied.

“Hope we sell ’em soon and can be done with this,” the other grumbled.

The time had arrived─after the shift changed, only one guard was left outside the cell. Rikuya signaled Maika with a glance, and for a moment, Maika seemed to hesitate, wondering if she could truly go through with their plan. She quickly resigned herself, however, and shouted the words that set everything into motion.

“I’m through with you, Brother! I’ve had enough! Taste my fists, you miserable fool!” Maika shouted, at the same time launching herself toward Rikuya, fists flailing. She was trying her best to punch him, though given how weak she was, he hardly even felt the impacts. Maika soon found herself in more discomfort than Rikuya, in fact─all those punches tired her out in no time, and tears soon pooled in her eyes as the pain started to build.

“How dare you call your own brother a miserable fool! You’re dead!” Rikuya shouted back, then leaped upon Maika with a terrifying ferocity.

The guard, who hadn’t been expecting his prisoners to go after each other’s throats, started to panic. From the burglars’ perspective, Maika was valuable merchandise, and any injuries she sustained would reduce that value drastically─or eliminate it altogether, if worse came to worst and she died. The guard couldn’t afford to let their fight play out unimpeded.

“Hey, you two! Cut that out!” the guard shouted. He wavered for a moment, then pulled out the cell’s key, opened the door, and stepped inside.

That was the moment Takao had been waiting for. He stepped behind the guard and headbutted him directly in the back of his skull. Takao’s forehead impacted with the force of a large, hefty stone, and the guard dropped to the floor in a heap. Assuming that Takao was harmless since his hands were bound had proven to be a fatal error on his captors’ part.

“Well…that worked out,” said Rikuya.

“Because he was a fool. Luck was on our side─now let’s hope it lasts,” Maika retorted.

Rikuya had to agree. No matter how scared the guard was that Maika could be killed, opening the cell that easily was a sign that he was not the smartest man they could’ve chosen to keep watch. Rikuya relieved the guard of his sword and sliced the ropes that had bound Takao’s hands. Rikuya and Maika, incidentally, hadn’t been restrained at all. Apparently, the burglars hadn’t thought much of their ability to put up a fight.

“All right,” said Rikuya. “Here’s where the real challenge starts.”

They’d managed to escape from their cell, and the next step of the plan was for Rikuya to act as a decoy, drawing the burglars’ attention while Takao and Maika fled their hideout. Fighting their way out would have been a lost cause─Takao was mighty, but there were too many enemies for him to deal with all of them. If Rikuya could capture the attention of the bulk of their forces, however, then few enough burglars would be left to try to stop Takao and Maika that they would theoretically be able to break through and make it outside.

Rikuya, on the other hand, would be left to face off against the entire enemy force at once. His death would be all but guaranteed, and in the event that the enemy didn’t fall for his diversion or defeated him quicker than planned, all three of the Fujimiya siblings could wind up dead. Unfortunately, there was just no way to guarantee their escape, considering the situation they were in, and Rikuya had proposed the plan knowing the risks it entailed.

“Do you remember how to get to the exit from here?” asked Rikuya.

“Of course. My memory would never fail me,” replied Maika.

“Good. In that case, I’ll head out first. Wait until you think I have their attention, then get moving,” Rikuya said before stepping out of the cell, the guard’s sword in hand.

Maika and Takao would bide their time until Rikuya’s diversion was in full swing, then slip out using the chaos as cover. It wasn’t the most elaborate plan, and there were plenty of ways in which it could fail. All it would take was for Maika to misjudge the moment to make her move and the whole attempt would amount to nothing, but her only choice was to make the most of the opportunity while it lasted.

“Brother…” Maika muttered, her voice quiet and feeble. She sounded like she might break down in tears at any moment, and Rikuya heard her, but he didn’t so much as turn around. Now that they had taken out the cell’s guard, there was no turning back. The plan was already in motion, and from here on, it was do or die.

Rikuya stepped out of the hideout’s jail. The whole hideout was located underground, and the jail in particular was two floors deep. That floor was mostly occupied by storage rooms and the like, while the floor above served as the burglars’ living space. Rikuya had been brought through the basement’s first floor on the way to his cell, so he more or less remembered the base’s layout, and knowing Maika’s memory she would have an even more detailed understanding of the structure than he did.

A staircase led from the basement’s first floor to the surface. There would be burglars in the above-ground section of the house as well, and there was little hope of Rikuya luring them into his distraction, but thankfully, only a skeleton crew had been present when they passed through the house. Takao would be able to wipe up numbers like those on his own without difficulty.

To start, Rikuya headed for the staircase to the basement’s first floor. He didn’t even make it all the way there before he ran into one of the burglars, however. The two men noticed each other at the same instant, and the burglar’s eyes widened for just a moment as he put two and two together. Soon, his befuddled expression shifted into one of alarm, and he shouted “We’ve got a jailbreak!” at the top of his lungs.

From Rikuya’s perspective, the alarm being raised worked out just fine. His whole goal was to provide a diversion, after all. That being said, if he couldn’t get to the first floor in time the whole plan would go up in smoke, so he stepped forward and drew his sword across the burglar’s throat in a flash. The man let out a sputtering gargle as he collapsed, blood spewing from the gash in his neck, and Rikuya dashed past him at top speed, making his way up the stairs.

A number of burglars who had been near the staircase came running, drawn by the noise, but Rikuya cut each of them down in a single stroke and made it up to the basement’s first floor. He emerged into a vast chamber, where a crowd of burglars lay in wait for him─apparently, they had decided that fighting in a narrow stairwell would put them at a disadvantage. They did their best to surround Rikuya, but his appearance had been so sudden that they didn’t quite have the numbers to box him in. A gap on the left side of their formation gave Rikuya the opportunity he needed, and he was swift enough to take advantage of it and slip free.

“Don’t let him get away!” roared one of the burglars behind Rikuya. He glanced over his shoulder to find the whole crowd that had tried to surround him closing in on him en masse. They didn’t have the presence of mind to realize that Takao and Maika were nowhere to be found, so Rikuya smirked as the knowledge his plan was working sank in.

He wasn’t out of the woods yet, though. More burglars arrived in front of him, blocking his path on two fronts. Thankfully, there was a room just to his right that he could slip into. Rikuya fled through the door, and the burglars swarmed after him─more than ten of them, as best as he could tell. He didn’t know how many members their band had, but his best estimate was somewhere around twenty. In other words, he’d captured the majority of their attention.

This is going better than I expected, Rikuya thought to himself. He was almost certainly about to be killed, yet he felt a slight sense of relief. He wouldn’t be able to witness Takao and Maika’s escape, but with this many of their captors distracted, he knew it wouldn’t be difficult for them to slip away.

“Well, you’re cornered now, that’s for sure. What possessed you to pull a stupid stunt like this?” asked the burglars’ boss. Rikuya hadn’t realized it in the chaos, but it seemed he’d been one of the people pursuing him. A moment later, the boss raised an eyebrow. “Hm…? Where’re the other two?”

“Who knows?” replied Rikuya.

The boss paused, then turned to his subordinates.

“All right, boys─find the other two, and─”

Rikuya knew what was about to happen. The boss had figured out his plan, and was about to send his men to find Rikuya’s siblings, which was an outcome he had to prevent at all costs. He threw himself at the boss, cutting him off before he could finish his command.

The boss clicked his tongue with irritation at Rikuya’s assault. He was, unsurprisingly, a cut above his flunkies, and parried Rikuya’s attack with ease in spite of Rikuya having the element of surprise. As his sword locked with Rikuya’s, he shouted “Find the other two! This one’s a distraction!” to the rest of his men.

“Allow us to spare you the trouble of searching!” a woman’s voice rang out, as if in response to the boss’s order.

“Aaaugh!”

“Wh-What the hell?!”

“Gaaah!”

A trio of screams followed immediately afterward. Rikuya had no idea what had just happened, so he took a moment to reassess the situation. It didn’t take long for him to find his explanation: he spotted Takao at the back of the group of burglars, laying into them with his fists, and Maika behind him, doling out orders.

“Wh-What are you doing?!” Rikuya shouted.

“A force caught unawares is a force doomed to defeat!” Maika shouted back. “With their attention focused upon you, I decided this was our perfect chance to strike!”

“Y-You idiot! That wasn’t the plan!”

“You’re the only idiot here, Brother! When has one of your plans ever been better than mine?! Now, Takao─charge! Scatter our foes to the winds!”

Takao was still unarmed, but he was prepared to carry out Maika’s orders nonetheless. He punched and kicked at the burglars, each swipe of his massive limbs sending another enemy falling to the floor. The onslaught was so sudden and ferocious that the burglars began to descend into a state of panic, and a surge of hope shot through Rikuya as he watched their formation begin to crumble.

Maybe, he thought, this might just actually work!

“Tch… It’s just never as easy as it should be,” the bandit boss grunted. He was keeping his cool, in contrast to his men─being made of stronger stuff was probably what had made him the leader in the first place.

Rikuya, on the other hand, realized that if he could bring the bandit boss down, the rest of them would surely be routed.

“Graaahhhhhh!” he roared as he pressed the attack.

“Ugh!” the bandit boss grunted. Rikuya was pouring every bit of strength he had into his onslaught, but it wasn’t working out as he’d hoped. The bandit boss shifted to a defensive fighting style, barely managing to intercept Rikuya’s sword at the last second.

“Calm down, people! Don’t panic! We have them outnumbered─go at them all at once, and we can win this!” he shouted, even as he warded off Rikuya’s assault.

The bandit boss’s words were exactly what his men had needed. They regained their composure, facing Takao as a united front and coordinating their attack in an attempt to bring him down. Takao, however, was far faster than an ordinary man, and continued dodging their attacks while slipping in the occasional punch, each of which brought down another burglar.

“Heh!” Rikuya chuckled. “Thought you could beat Takao if you just kept your cool, huh? Feeding him was a big mistake. When his stomach’s full, Takao can fight at a hundred twenty percent of his usual power!”

Rikuya was more confident than ever that he and his siblings would win the day…but that confidence wouldn’t last. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than he noticed one of the burglars bearing down on Maika out of the corner of his eye. The man held a mace, and was charging at full tilt toward her, ready to crush her skull with a single swing. Maika, meanwhile, hadn’t even noticed that the burglar was there.

Rikuya acted in a flash. He abandoned his duel with the burglars’ boss, focusing all his attention upon saving his sister. He sprinted toward her, making it to Maika’s side just in time to leap between her and the burglar…and in doing so, took the blow himself. The mace impacted heavily into Rikuya’s head.

“B-Brother…?” Maika muttered in stunned disbelief.

The blow had been a heavy one. The shock was severe, and agonizing pain raced through Rikuya’s skull.

“Brotherrr!”

Rikuya’s sense of balance abandoned him, and Maika’s terrified wail echoed in his ears as he collapsed to the ground. He felt a pulsing sensation where the mace had impacted, and knew from the lukewarm wetness spreading across his cheek that he was bleeding profusely.

I guess this is it, Rikuya thought as his consciousness began to fade. Memories of his past flashed through his mind, fading away into the darkness that consumed him. Moments before Rikuya slipped away into that darkness himself, one last shout rang out.

“In the name of House Louvent, I, Rietz Muses, order all of you to freeze!”

○

“Judging by the noise-erasing magical tool we seized from their base and the variety of stolen goods we recovered, I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that the individuals who abducted the Fujimiya siblings are indeed the thieves we’ve been tracking for some time now,” reported Rietz.

“Good to know,” I said with a nod.

To make a long story short, we had come to the conclusion that the Wyrmsbane Blade had been stolen rather than sold. With that tidbit of extra information to guide them, Rietz and his men had managed to track down the burglars’ hideout and rounded the whole gang up in a single raid. All of the members we’d found in the hideout were locked up in Castle Canarre’s prison.

It seemed that these bandits were the sort who took quite a lot of care selling their stolen goods, on the whole, but Rikuya’s sword had been an exception. Since he was a foreigner, they had assumed that the odds of his belongings being identified as stolen goods were low, and they’d been unusually casual about fencing the sword as a result. Lobke, the man who had sold it to Thoenes, had initially insisted that he hadn’t known it was contraband either, but it hadn’t taken long for him to cave under the pressure and admit that he knew the whole time.

Lobke had been well aware of the dangers of dealing in stolen goods, but his business had been on the downswing and the sword’s tremendously low price had been too much of a temptation for him to resist. His poor decision proved helpful for us, in the long run─he had given us a description of the man who had sold him the sword, which we’d been able to use to follow his trail through the city, eventually tracking him back to the bandits’ hideout without much difficulty at all. The base was already in a state of moderate chaos when Rietz and his men arrived, thanks to the Fujimiyas’ well-timed escape attempt, and the burglars had found themselves incapable of resisting Rietz’s force. They’d been subdued and arrested in no time flat.

Maika and Takao made it out of the fiasco without any major injuries to speak of. Rikuya, however, was a different story. He’d been brained by a burglar’s mace, and the injury the blow had left him with was a serious one. He was still unconscious and in critical condition, it seemed. He hadn’t received lethal levels of brain damage, at least─the blood loss, apparently, was the most dangerous factor.

This world’s level of medical expertise wasn’t very high on the whole, and while healing magic was a thing, the aqua magia needed to cast it was monopolized by Paradille and we didn’t have any access to it whatsoever. Blood transfusion technology, meanwhile, hadn’t been developed yet, so that was off the table as well. According to the doctor who we’d had look at him, whether or not Rikuya would recover was a question of whether his vitality was up to snuff.

“I wonder if Rikuya’s going to pull through…?” I muttered.

“It’s hard to say. I’m afraid there’s little I can do to help, as far as medical matters are concerned. He seemed like a young and healthy man, at the very least, so with any luck…” Rietz said, trailing off before reaching a clear conclusion.

At that point in our conversation, Maika and Takao arrived to join us. The moment Maika saw me, she rushed over and practically shouted, “Please… I’m begging you! Save my brother!”

Her eyes were bloodshot, and their lids swollen. Clearly, she’d spent quite some time in tears.

“We’ll do everything we can. I’m sure he’ll make it…or at least, I hope so,” I said, shifting to a less certain tone at the last moment. Considering how dicey the situation looked, it would have felt irresponsible to make too definite of a promise.

“Please… Don’t let him die… I’m begging you, please…save him…” Maika implored over and over again. She was trembling violently, and her tears once again streamed down her cheeks. She’d struck me as a strong-willed and unflappable woman when we’d first met, but her attitude now could hardly have been further from that impression. This, I imagined, was her true self.

“It’s all right. Our brother would never die,” said Takao. In sharp contrast to Maika, he didn’t seem shaken in the slightest. I could tell that he had absolute faith that Rikuya would pull through, come what may. His steadfast calm seemed to get through to Maika, at least a little, pulling her out from the depression she’d sunk into.

A few anxious hours passed by, and finally, a report arrived.

“Rikuya has regained consciousness!”

○

“Where am I…?” Rikuya muttered, glancing around at his surroundings.

Rikuya had awoken in a soft, comfortable bed, gazing up at a white ceiling. He tried to sit up, but instead flinched and let out a yelp of pain as a sharp, piercing jolt of agony shot through his head.

The noise drew the attention of a woman wearing a maid’s uniform, who came running over in a fluster.

“He’s awake! The patient’s awake!” the maid bellowed excitedly.

“Oh─it’s true! I’ll report to Lord Ars at once!” a second voice rang out in response, this one sounding like it belonged to a middle-aged man.

Where is this place…? And who are these people…? Wasn’t I fighting those burglars just a moment ago? thought Rikuya. His mind had yet to catch up with the situation he’d found himself in. And wait─did that man say Ars just now?

An image of the young count he’d met just days before drifted through Rikuya’s mind. He tried to recall more and figure out what had brought him to this place, but before his effort bore fruit, a middle-aged man wearing a white robe sat down in front of him and began closely observing him.

“Can you tell me how many fingers I’m holding up?” the man asked as he extended two fingers in the air.

“Two,” replied Rikuya.

“How about now?” continued the man, adding in a second hand and raising six fingers in total.

“Six… What’s the point of all this?”

“Good, good. No abnormalities, then,” said the man, ignoring Rikuya’s question─much to his frustration.

“Wait, where are Maika and Takao? Um, I mean… Have you seen a small girl and a huge man somewhere around here?”

“Oh, those two? They’ll be here any minute now, I’d imagine.”

“Any minute now?”

Before Rikuya had the time to question the man’s words, the room’s door flew open.

“Brother!”

Maika burst into the room, tears streaming down her face as she charged over to Rikuya and threw her arms around him.

“Brother, you fool! You utter imbecile! You would’ve died if Sir Rietz had arrived even a moment later! Can you imagine how I would have felt if you’d gotten killed protecting me?!” Maika wailed as she pounded her fists into Rikuya’s chest.

Maika’s words─the way she’d said that he protected her─finally jogged Rikuya’s memory and reminded him of how he’d been hurt. The fact that Ars and Rietz had also stepped into the room, meanwhile, told him that his life had been saved, if only just barely.

I guess that means this must be Castle Canarre…and that I owe these people my life, Rikuya thought with a slight sigh. He looked back at his sister, who was still embracing him. He couldn’t see her face, but the occasional faint shudder made it clear that she was still sobbing her eyes out, and it pained Rikuya’s heart to know that he’d made her worry about him.

“Sorry,” Rikuya whispered as he returned Maika’s hug and gently stroked her hair.

○

A few weeks had passed since Rikuya regained consciousness. We kept him in the castle’s sickroom for some time to make sure he got enough rest to recover, but he had proven surprisingly resilient, and his wound had healed at a remarkable pace. He was back on his feet again far quicker than I’d anticipated.

As a side note, I had of course decided to return the Wyrmsbane Blade to Rikuya. Lobke had been forced to give Thoenes his money back, and was banned from doing business in Canarre ever again as punishment for the crime of dealing in stolen goods. In any case, now that Rikuya had recovered, it seemed like the right time to give his sword back, and so I went out to do just that.

“The Wyrmsbane Blade…?” Rikuya said with an air of shock as I presented the sword to him. “You got it back for me?”

“That’s one way of looking at it, but from my perspective, this sword is what led us to the burglars’ hideout,” I said, offering it to him. Rikuya, however, didn’t accept the blade. “What’s wrong? It’s yours again, so go ahead and take it.”

“I’m afraid I can’t,” said Rikuya with a shake of his head.

Huh? But wait, why? I couldn’t make any sense of Rikuya’s intentions, and was left in a state of bafflement.

“How could I possibly let you return the Wyrmsbane Blade to me after everything that’s happened?” said Rikuya. “I already owe you my life. I can’t allow myself to become any more indebted to you than I already am.”

“I’m not trying to put you in my debt,” I said. “And besides, the people who stole it and imprisoned you were criminals working in Canarre─the territory that House Louvent rules! I have an obligation to protect my people from criminals like them, so if anything, I owe you an apology for allowing you to be hurt.”

“What? No, stop that! Do you realize how disgraceful it is to be apologized to by the person who just saved my life?! I owe House Louvent a great debt─that’s the truth, and you won’t be able to convince me otherwise!” Rikuya insisted. He then pushed the Wyrmsbane Blade away from him as if to demonstrate that he had no intention of reconsidering.

I, on the other hand, knew how much of a problem not getting the sword back would be for Rikuya and his siblings. I paused for a moment to think about how I could convince him to take it, but in the end, Rikuya spoke first.

“I know I have no right to ask this after turning you down so many times, but would you consider allowing us to serve you as retainers of House Louvent?” asked Rikuya. “If you’ll have me, I swear I will serve you to my fullest ability and repay you for what you’ve done for me. Please.”

“Well, I certainly don’t have any problem with taking you into my service…but are you sure about this? You’re royalty, aren’t you?” I replied.

“Well, sure, but I guess you could say I’ve realized that some things are more important to me than being king. I appreciate that I’m asking a lot from you, but still─I hope you’ll take us in,” said Rikuya with a deep bow. He’d gone from swearing to never serve me to begging me to take him─quite the remarkable change of heart, all around.

“C-Consider that a request from me as well!” shouted Maika, who had just been listening to the exchange up to that point. “I may not seem impressive, but you’ll find that I have quite the sharp mind! Takao is exactly as capable of a warrior as he looks. As for our brother…well, he doesn’t have any stand-out talents, but he also has no glaring defects and will be able to handle any task you set him to with a modicum of competence! You’ll find him more useful than you’d think, I promise!”

“Hey! Were you even trying to make me sound good?!” Rikuya shouted indignantly.

Fortunately for him, I didn’t need to be convinced that the three of them would be useful. I already knew that very well, and although they’d turned me down twice before, I didn’t hold a grudge over it.

“If the three of you are willing to serve me, then I would be most pleased to have you. I’m sure we’ll do great things together,” I agreed without hesitation.

“Thank you… Thank you so much! I swear to you that you will not regret this!” Rikuya said, bowing down once more.

“You’ve made a wise decision indeed by taking me into your service, Master,” said Maika.

“I-I’m sorry, ‘master’?” I repeated. I’d only just made her my retainer a second ago, and she’d already taken to calling me by an inexplicable title.

“Being a retainer means I’ll get to eat lots of good food, right? I’m okay with that,” said Takao, to nobody’s surprise.

“The fact that we’re bound to serve another lord is no reason for you to give up on your dreams of kingship, Brother,” said Maika. “We need only strive to raise our master to the pinnacle of power! Once we’ve made him Emperor of Summerforth, we can have him grant us this land of Missian as a reward, and with the Missian army at our beck and call, we can storm the shores of Yoh and reclaim your just title!”

“E-Emperor?!” I stammered, aghast at what I was hearing. I had no plans or interest in climbing that far up the social ladder! My chief concern was surviving through an era of bloody civil warfare, not coming out on top of it!

“You realize that would make us nothing more than invaders, don’t you?” said Rikuya.

“Hmph! If they didn’t want an invasion on their hands, then they should never have driven us into exile,” said Maika. “In any case, the more I think about it the more I realize that this is far and away our most realistic option. With the unique power our master wields at his side, rising to the status of emperor is a most achievable goal.”

“H-Hey, stop that!” I said, jumping into the exchange. “You can’t go around talking like that, seriously! I’m not planning on becoming emperor! I just want to live in peace and quiet!”

“Ambitions so meager will never amount to anything, Master,” said Maika. “And more to the point, these turbulent times will not come to a close until a new emperor is chosen! Claiming the title for yourself is the quickest way to gain the peace you desire!”

“That sounds great, except for the constant warfare I’d have to go through between now and then! And anyway, I’m not cut out to be an emperor─” I began, only to be interrupted by an unexpected voice.

“I’m in favor of this plan. Lord Ars is indeed a man most suited to the emperor’s throne,” said Rietz, jumping into the conversation out of nowhere. I hadn’t even realized that he’d been listening. “Only a man such as he─a man who does not judge his followers by race or by sex, and who treats his people with fairness and impartiality─has the right to rule over this land.”

“Look, I’m telling you…ugh, fine. I’ll admit that moving up a little further in the world will make things easier for us, but trying to become the emperor’s going way too far! Sorry, but that’s one expectation I can’t live up to!” I said, closing the book on that conversation. I then made a mental note to keep a tight rein on my followers’ expectations in the future.

And so Rikuya, Maika, and Takao became my three newest retainers.