“Let go of me! You dare lay hands on someone of my standing!”
“M-Mother. I’m frightened. What’s happening?”
It was a bolt from the blue, utterly without warning.
The Marquess House of Crender — one of the great noble families that had once commanded the Declair Empire — was falling.
“Ha-ha. My lady, all you need to do is repay the debt at once.”
“I’ll repay that trifling sum this very instant!”
Selvia Crender snapped, her face flushed crimson.
“How dare you — do you have any idea who I am!”
Yet not a single person listened. All that returned to her was mockery.
Selvia Crender flinched. She had never been treated like this before.
The feathered fan she had brought to this afternoon’s ladies’ party had long since tumbled to the floor and lay there forgotten.
She opened and closed her mouth in disbelief.
These were people who had once bowed their heads at a single word from her. And now they dared —
“As it happens, my lady, there is a noble household willing to take you on. You may repay the debt through wages earned there.”
“What — what did you say? You’re telling me to do work fit for commoners?”
“Yes.”
“…”
“You possess no particular skills, my lady, so the only solution we could find was manual labor.”
The man shook his head with an expression of theatrical regret.
“To think that a marchioness of the great Declair Empire is, in truth, entirely without practical use… We find it most unfortunate as well.”
Selvia Crender stood there like a fool, blinking.
Then, in the distance, she caught sight of the carriage that Marquess Crender had ridden out in that morning, now returning.
Her eyes sharpened with fury as she wrenched her arm free from the man who had come to collect.
“Wait. My husband will repay that paltry sum at once!”
Selvia Crender rushed toward the carriage as it drew to a stop in front of the manor.
A flicker of hope passed over her face — her husband, Marquess Crender, would set all of this right.
She called out to the carriage window.
“Darling!”
“…”
“Darling! Do something about these vermin at once. They’re saying the most absurd things — that our family has been handed over as collateral for a debt!”
But no answer came.
The Marquess, whom she had fully expected to come storming out with shouts and threats, sat ashen-faced inside the carriage, staring blankly at the manor.
“…Darling?”
Only then did Selvia Crender falter, a dawning sense that something had gone terribly wrong creeping over her.
The man who had been appraising valuables inside the manor rose unhurriedly and walked over as though the moment suited him perfectly.
He held up a document that the Marquess knew all too well.
“We meet again, Marquess Crender.”
“You — you people —”
“We heard the news. You’ve been removed from your position as Elder.”
“…The deadline for repaying the principal and interest hasn’t passed yet. Why have you come so soon?”
The man pointed to a single clause written in the contract.
“Party A may exercise the right to claim the debt immediately upon determining that Party B is unable to repay.”
The man’s smile was smooth and pleasant. His eyes were colder than they had ever been.
He shrugged with exaggerated nonchalance, his voice silken and unhurried.
“Oh, we’re well aware the deadline hasn’t passed. But we did want to hear in detail how you intend to repay the sum you borrowed, my lord. I mean to collect every last silver coin.”
Marquess Crender could not find a single word to say.
⁂
As planned, every last business that had once belonged to the Crender marquessate fell into Pernoa’s hands without a single exception.
And there was more good news.
Oberon’s mana restraint had finally been removed.
It was a most satisfying outcome.
“Hm-hmm, hm-hm-hmm.”
Riersha hummed to herself as she bounced along in a rhythmic, skipping sort of walk.
With every step, the two braids tied at either side of her head swung cheerfully over her shoulders.
Swish. Swish.
Riersha listened to the pleasant sound of grass bending beneath her feet and let out a delighted little laugh.
Beside her, Sona smiled along in kind.
In one hand, Sona carried a picnic mat and a basket.
“You’re in wonderful spirits today, Miss Riersha!”
“Mm-hm! It’s so good!”
“I see. Are you happy because you accomplished something truly remarkable this time, Miss Riersha?”
“Mm-hm. That’s part of it, but…”
That’s part of it?
Sona blinked.
Riersha announced brightly, “Yong-yongie!”
“…Pardon?”
“Today is the day Yong-yongie gets to come out!”
Riersha thought back to the day the Elders had been expelled from the main estate.
The people waiting outside the Grand Council Hall had not been only her brothers.
Aska and Haydin had come as well, to celebrate the joyful occasion together. Unfortunately, Milia and Johannes were away on business and could not be present.
That day, while everyone was playing a game of tag together in the garden —
Riersha, who was It, spotted Haydin hiding behind a tree and cried out.
“Found you!”
“Please, just this once, Miss Riersha. Aska is over there.”
“…Hmm. But tattling like that is cheating.”
Haydin pointed out Aska’s hiding spot without a moment’s hesitation and tried to bargain his way free. Riersha scrunched up her eyes, about to shake her head firmly and declare it wasn’t allowed —
“I’ll show you something special. Just for you, Miss Riersha.”
“What is it?”
Haydin summoned a magical beast with his mana.
“Kkyiyung?”
It was a teeny, adorably precious baby Yong-yongie! Riersha’s eyes went wide as saucers.
The little creature had tiny little fangs and was thumping the ground with its tail, looking curiously around at its surroundings.
The baby Yong-yongie tilted its head to one side, then fixed its gaze on Riersha.
“If you let me off this time, I’ll show you again next time.”
“Deal.”
Without a single moment of deliberation, Riersha turned on her heel and went pattering off in the other direction.
And so, the next person to be It was Aska.
Sona, who knew nothing of this secret episode, tilted her head.
“Yong-yongie?”
“Mm-hm, Yong-yongie!”
As Riersha chattered away with an expression full of eager anticipation, Sona slowly searched her memory.
Yong-yongie.
There was nothing in the Arachrene main estate that could reasonably be called a “Yong-yongie.”
And yet, the moment she heard that word, something was trying to surface from the back of her mind.
Surely not…
Surely it isn’t that.
Sona thought of the thing.
No, it couldn’t be.
She was just about to shake her head when —
“Hadi’s baby Yong-yongie that he brings with him.”
“…Whose baby Yong-yongie, did you say?”
“Haydin’s!”
Riersha answered carefully and clearly, as though she worried Sona might not have heard her properly.
With every syllable, Sona’s expression grew slowly, incrementally more rigid.
It did seem, after all, that the thing she was thinking of and the “Yong-yongie” Riersha was describing were one and the same.
The massive creature whose roar shook the very earth. The one whose terrible eyes gleamed with ferocity as it swept away entire enemy forces in a single breath.
Whenever Haydin summoned it, the surrounding area became hell incarnate.
And yet —
“Hadi! I’m here! Where’s Yong-yongie?”
“Ah, you’ve arrived. Yong-yongie is right here.”
True to his word, Haydin held out the Yong-yongie nestled in his arms to show her. Sona was momentarily speechless.
“Kkyiyung?”
The dragon that had driven armies to their knees in terror had acquired a new name — “Yong-yongie” — and was now appearing before her eyes.
Sona looked quietly at Haydin.
“Since when has it been called Yong-yongie?”
“…Ha-ha, well.”
“…”
“What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t let Aska catch me first and get mocked for it. I’d have never heard the end of it for at least a year.”
“…”
“I have my pride, you know.”
And what about Yong-yongie’s pride?
Sona’s gaze drifted back downward.
Blissfully unaware of any of this, Riersha was giggling as she cuddled Yong-yongie in her arms.
Nuzzle, nuzzle. Yong-yongie scrunched up its eyes in her embrace, scratched at its little face with a forepaw, and let out a long, rumbling sigh.
It was an exceptionally peaceful day.
And if nothing unusual came to pass, it would go on being peaceful for a good while yet.
Several days later, however, a visitor came to see Riersha.
“Miss Riersha, Miss Sonnet has come to call.”
Sonnet’s face was downcast and heavy with gloom. In one hand, she carried a written complaint.
