Alexia's Sworn Enemy

"Well, I can't use this anymore. It was easy to use and I rather liked it."

With a sigh, Alexia looked at the file she herself had mangled.

The thick iron handle had been twisted into a pitiful shape.

Finn and Azu, who were nearby, had apparently seen the moment it bent and were staring wide-eyed.

I could even hear Finn let out an involuntary "Whoa."

I understood the feeling.

I couldn't imagine how much force it would take to do that, but the thought of being gripped by such strength was rather terrifying.

Thank goodness we'd built a trusting relationship with Alexia.

Marquis Arius. If he had goaded her father, then he must be the liege lord from that incident.

The man effectively responsible for ending her family line.

He was more than sufficient as a target for hatred and rage. He might even be called her nemesis.

The cause of Alexia becoming a slave was a skirmish between the kingdom and the Empire.

In the end, it had been settled politically as one imperial noble getting blinded by greed and rushing for glory.

Because of that, Alexia hadn't been treated as a prisoner of war, and with no ransom payment from the Empire, she had been sold into slavery.

Marquis Arius had abandoned Alexia and her father the moment the invasion failed… or perhaps that had been his goal all along.

Because immediately afterward, Baron Aarg, one of Marquis Arius's vassals, had become the new lord and tried to crystallize the Water Elemental by scorching it, drying up the entire city in the process.

I'd traveled there because they'd promised to pay well for burning stone, only to be lowballed. I didn't have fond memories of that noble.

Still, without that incident, Alexia might never have come to trust me. So it wasn't all in vain.

And thanks to the Water Elemental, Azu had powered up considerably too.

The root cause, I'd heard, was Alexia's father running into financial difficulties managing his territory.

Originally, her family had risen through military merit, but that very capability had made them targets of suspicion, and they'd been pushed away from the center of power.

They had a title, but the lucrative positions never came their way. Yet being close to the kingdom's border meant heavy military expenses. They'd scraped by funding it through monster subjugation and farming.

They must have been constantly worried about money. It was possible they'd even borrowed from Marquis Arius.

If so, refusing an unreasonable order would have been impossible.

The result was that her father had been forced into invading the kingdom with only a small force, Alexia in tow.

Still, the fact that a Water Elemental's blessing had settled there suggested the territory had been run conscientiously, taxes included.

The warm welcome Alexia had received when I'd first taken her back to her former territory was proof of that.

Though resolving the drought had probably helped too…

"We come to the Empire often enough that I thought I might hear the name somewhere along the way. Is that man still scheming as always?"

"I don't know the details, but I've heard the conflict with Duke Dantarg became clear around the time the succession struggle started behind the scenes."

"Then he'll fall on his own. The balance of power is practically decided already. Maybe the curse I swore when my father died, that I'd kill that man with my own hands, was unnecessary after all."

She laughed softly, but her eyes were serious.

If the man himself were in front of her now, Alexia would surely cast everything aside and do it.

How many people could stop her as she was now?

Sensing Alexia's intense emotions, the Fire Elemental emerged from her brooch, circled around her, and settled on her shoulder.

"You're worried about me? I'm fine."

She soothed the Fire Elemental with those words.

"The timing might actually be good. If the final battle for the throne is coming, we should leave before it starts."

"Getting caught up in that again would be no fun."

"True. If I were still an imperial noble, I would have begged Duke Dantarg to let me fight. But right now, I'm just a humble merchant's slave."

"Not that humble…"

"Master is wonderful, please stand tall."

Azu hurriedly tried to encourage me. With Elza and Orleans agreeing, my pride was barely preserved.

I was concerned about Alexia, but this wasn't a situation for a kingdom merchant to involve himself in, militarily or politically.

Better to leave the Empire quickly; that would probably help her calm down too.

Duke Dantarg and his faction, backing Crown Prince Kelves, were now the largest force in the Empire.

They would surely bring good news to the kingdom.

When that happened, I could just send a congratulatory gift.

The stay-behind group had finished preparations while we'd been away.

Having more people really was an advantage at times like this.

Speed was of the essence in warfare, as they said. The sooner the better. I'd planned to leave tomorrow, but decided to depart for the kingdom that same afternoon.

The cargo was heavy, so the mules walked more slowly than on the outward journey.

Pushing them would strain their legs.

That meant more monster encounters, but with no truly dangerous ones around, it actually meant an extra dish at mealtime.

After several days, we returned to the kingdom.

After sending word to Princess Tianis and Lady Anatia, we headed straight for Alsarm to deliver the iron ore.