One look at Herion was enough to tell she’d been badly hurt. Her right arm was secured in a splint, one side of her face was swollen, and her left leg was wrapped in thick bandages.
“I had a little accident.”
“I don’t know what happened, but it left you in quite a state.”
“Ah... It’s not as bad as it looks. Hehe.”
Herion chuckled awkwardly.
How can you still laugh while looking like that?
“Call him.”
“Pardon? Who?”
“Jubelios.”
Fwoosh!
“Accident? What nonsense! It was obviously deliberate! Those wretched fools did this because they looked down on you!”
As though he had been waiting, Jubelios appeared at once and began berating Herion.
Well, that’s beside the point.
Why does he keep answering when Ceres calls him? Isn’t he supposed to respond only to his contractor?
“I did get an apology...”
“An apology? Is that what you call an apology? They were practically sneering while they said it! Never in my life have I seen a disgraceful excuse for one!”
Recently, tensions had been brewing within House Ellesia. The conflict began when disagreements arose between Herion, the head of the family, and the knights.
“Are you saying we absolutely need to purchase all of these weapons and supplies?”
“Of course. These are items we’ve purchased every year.”
The issue started with the knight order’s procurement proposal for the following year. Herion nearly approved it after hearing it was standard practice, but someone stepped in.
“There’s a problem with this proposal.”
“A problem?”
“The swords the knight order purchases from Alcaria cost 450 gold each. That’s roughly two months’ wages for an ordinary soldier. The real question is whether they’re worth the amount. From what I can see, they’re little more than ornamental pieces dressed up as military equipment. Frankly, I find it suspicious that the order insists on purchasing them every year.”
“Suspicious? What are you implying?”
The person who raised the objection was Juno, the secretary Herion had appointed after succeeding as head of the family. He was a childhood friend who had grown up in the same neighborhood and attended the Academy with her.
After graduating from the Academy’s Department of Economics with top marks, he had returned home and was enjoying a quiet break. However, when Herion personally sought him out and asked for his help, he accepted without hesitation.
“What would a deskbound scholar like you know about swords?”
“Very little, I admit. But I do know that the weapons currently used by the knight order are outrageously expensive for what they offer.”
The argument continued for quite some time. In the end, Herion sided with her secretary rather than the knight captain.
It wasn’t because Juno was an old friend. Even to her eyes, the swords seemed more decorative than practical.
“If that’s your decision, my lady, then I will abide by it.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
Although the knight captain didn’t look pleased, he ultimately accepted her decision. Watching him back down, Herion believed the matter was settled.
However, a few days later—
Whoosh!
Smack!
“Ah!”
“Lady Herion!”
“Goodness, are you hurt? You really should be more careful.”
Two wooden practice swords came flying at Herion while she was crossing the training grounds. They struck her head-on and knocked her to the ground.
That was how she’d ended up in her current state.
One side of her face was swollen, her arm had a hairline fracture, and she’d apparently twisted her ankle in the fall. It was swollen just as badly.
“Wooden swords? Did one of the trainees make a mistake?”
“Wouldn’t that have been nice? It was the knights.”
“The knights? Why were they using wooden swords?”
“Hah! Do you know what those b*stards said afterward?”
“Considering the state of the family’s finances, we can’t exactly afford to replace swords whenever we please. We were training with wooden swords to preserve the real ones. Since we’re still getting used to it, an accident seems to have occurred. We would appreciate your understanding, my lady.”
“That’s what that damned captain said!”
“He said it was an accident. He apologized too...”
“Did that smirking fool look sincere to you? Open your eyes, you hopeless girl!”
Faced with Jubelios’s blazing temper, Herion leaned back as far as she could and wisely kept her mouth shut.
“Where were you while all this was happening?”
“Where else would I be? Inside the ring! You know perfectly well I can’t come out unless I’m summoned.”
I know.
It was the same when the previous head was poisoned. He’d been sealed inside the ring, unable to do a thing.
That’s a problem too.
Herion was a healer. She was excellent at treating injuries, but when it came to situations like this, she had no instinct. It simply never occurred to her to summon Jubelios when she was in danger.
Ceres should make her practice that.
“So, why did you ask me to come? What do you need?”
Dragging the still-fuming spirit king away from Herion, Ceres sighed.
She was already appalled by the knights the last time she’d visited, but she never expected things to be this bad. They actually raised their weapons against the very person they were supposed to protect.
“Well... hehe...”
...Why are you laughing?
That couldn’t possibly be a good sign.
Still smiling to herself, Herion limped over to her desk and picked something up. As soon as Ceres saw it, she felt a sudden sense of unease.
“I’m in no shape to work right now, so I’d like to ask for your help until I’ve recovered.”
Accepting the documents Herion held out, Ceres stared at them for a while before looking up.
“...Are you asking me to act as head of the family?”
“Yes!”
“You can’t be serious.”
Did this even make sense? Handing the position of acting head to someone with no connection to the family? Did she honestly think anyone would accept that?
She was talking about appointing an outsider.
“I told her to.”
“You did?”
“Don’t worry about the others. As you know, the authority to appoint a temporary head of the family rests with me.”
Jubelios puffed out his chest as if expecting praise for a job well done. Ceres looked at him with a flat stare.
“...So this was your idea.”
“That’s right. Herion agreed to it too.”
“Jubelios.”
“Yes? Do you have another question?”
“Isn’t it about time you molted?”
“...Molted?”
Jubelios froze. Then, he shot away from her in a panic.
“W-Wait! Not yet!”
Oh, really?
Get back here. I’m plucking every last feather off you!
***
“An acting head?”
“Yes. Apparently, one has already been appointed.”
“Who is it? Someone chosen by the Council of Elders?”
“I don’t think so. From what I’ve heard, Lady Herion brought in someone she knows personally.”
“She did?”
Tylo, the captain of House Ellesia’s knight order, laughed in disbelief.
First the secretary, now the acting head too. Was she planning to hand every important position to people from her own circle?
“It wasn’t even a decision made by the elders. Does she really think everyone will just accept it?”
“Well...”
The vice-captain hesitated.
“What is it? Is there more?”
Tylo already planned to speak with several elders about removing the new acting head. But the vice-captain’s next words made him pause.
“I heard the Fire Spirit King approved the appointment.”
“Huh? The Fire Spirit King approved it?”
That made no sense. Jubelios’s rotten personality was known even to outsiders. Just recently, he’d reportedly caused a scene at an imperial council meeting.
But that spirit had approved an acting head ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) without putting up a fight?
“Are you sure?”
“I’ll look into it further.”
“Tsk.”
Ever since Herion became head of the family, nothing had gone right.
House Ellesia was a family of healers, not swordsmen. There wasn’t anything remarkable about its knight order. No one expected Ellesia’s knights to earn glory on the battlefield.
A knight order in name only.
It existed because a count’s family was expected to have one. Nothing more. Everyone knew that, including Tylo. And he was perfectly satisfied with that arrangement.
Sure, knights from other houses occasionally mocked them, but “Knight of House Ellesia” was still a respectable title.
Things were fine the way they were.
The pay was good too.
The previous patriarch knew next to nothing about swords or knight orders. They had even less interest in getting involved. Most members of the family were no different.
Naturally, that meant Tylo’s word carried the most weight within the order. No one questioned nor interfered with him.
But then, Herion took over.
Little by little, the old system started falling apart. People who had worked with him for years quietly disappeared from their positions.
Then, that strange secretary showed up and cut off every source of easy money he had left. As if that weren’t enough, they started digging into the knight order’s expenses.
That was where the real problem began.
Over the years, a considerable amount of money had passed through those procurement accounts. Now, even that path was blocked.
Given the circumstances, how could he look favorably on the new head of the family?
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