According to the list of candidates for the next generation of elders that Oberon had brought, this was what it contained.
Amon Naitra.
The most brilliant mind in the Naitra family, and yet—
The Naitra family places great importance on martial prowess.
That was precisely the reason Amon worked in a tucked-away office at the rear of the ducal estate.
He had already shown a marked lack of talent with the sword, and then an accident in his youth had left him with a body that could no longer train in the martial arts at all.
The head of the Naitra family had done everything in his power to keep Amon hidden away, as though he were something shameful.
And yet Amon had managed to hold onto his position through his own abilities alone.
In short, his was a story that could not be heard without tears.
“What are you… what are you saying right now? Is that truly the reason Riersha has come to see me…?”
Amon seemed to find his own words strange, because he scratched his cheek in flustered embarrassment as he said them.
Understandably so.
Throughout his time working at the Arachrene ducal estate, he had always been shut out of what could be called important work.
Amon was a man of ill fortune who had seen every bit of credit he had ever earned stolen from him.
Didn’t they say his younger siblings took all the credit?
Riersha clicked her tongue inwardly.
But how would Oberon have known all of this?
He probably never realized that Rosinante was watching everything that happened within the family.
Thanks to that, things had become considerably easier for Riersha.
“That’s right. I came because I have something to ask of Amon. And of course I’m not asking you to help for free—”
“…”
“If Amon helps me.”
Riersha’s eyes sparkled.
“I’ll get you out of the Naitra family.”
“…!”
“You’d be coming to me — someone far above the reach of the Naitra family head, somewhere his influence can’t touch.”
Amon drew a sharp breath.
His eyes went wide. His body went perfectly still. He was clearly more shaken than she had anticipated.
“You’re offering me…”
He opened his mouth blankly.
He was not ignorant of what the official heir selection examination meant.
It was the same as a bell ringing out to announce that the competition for succession within the ducal family had begun.
“…What is your reason for giving me an opportunity like this? I am not… I am not the kind of influential person Riersha is expecting me to be.”
“That’s fine.”
Riersha shrugged, as if it were nothing to worry about.
“I can supply the power. What I’m interested in is Amon’s mind.”
Having finished her business, Riersha rose from the sofa.
She had much more ground to cover and couldn’t afford to linger.
“Oh, and one more thing.”
Just before leaving Amon’s office.
Riersha turned back to him with a bright smile and delivered her final, most calculated remark.
“You know I can’t give you much time to think, right?”
Creak — thud.
The rusted door swung shut with a sound that made one wince, and even then, Amon was still staring after Riersha with a blank look on his face.
Riersha closed the door, stepped out into the hallway, and exhaled with a satisfied, “Huff!”
Then she reached into her pocket, rummaging around until she pulled out a folded piece of paper.
“Alright, let’s see. The next place I need to go is… Right here!”
⁂
Word began to spread over the following days that Riersha was going around meeting the candidates on the list for the next generation of elders.
Those who had privately expected her to come to them were left with nothing for their trouble.
The people thrown into difficulty by Riersha’s unexpected, unpredictable actions were sweating through their collars.
“Riersha is going around meeting… not the current elders, but the candidates for the next generation?”
“So they say.”
“Then what becomes of us?”
“…”
“I mean… what about us?”
Silence settled over the room.
The expressions of those who had already been openly weighing their options while pledging support to various heirs were particularly sour.
They had intended to use the cards Riersha had put on the table this time to negotiate with those heirs directly.
I was certain she would come to me!
They had grown complacent — there had never been a gathering in which they were not at the center of things.
But something had gone very, very wrong.
And by the time they realized it, it already felt far too late.
“Ahem — I, ah, actually have another matter to attend to elsewhere. I’m afraid I must be going.”
“Oh, come to think of it, I have a rather important engagement as well—!”
“My, how unfortunate. If you all have pressing matters, then please, do go.”
One by one, those who had been exchanging wary glances hastily excused themselves and left.
Those who needed to shore up their own suddenly precarious positions began to move, and so did those who saw an opening and intended to claim a new foothold for themselves.
The situation was rolling forward in perfect accordance with Riersha’s calculations.
⁂
Riersha’s castle.
Sona’s eyes went wide with genuine amazement.
An array of marbles had arrived addressed to Riersha — ten or more by a generous count.
“Goodness, Riersha. How on earth did you gather the support of so many people?”
“…If I recall correctly, the list I gave you did not contain this many names.”
Oberon didn’t show it plainly, but he was just as surprised.
He had expected her to use the list to collect the marbles, nothing more—
Is she saying Riersha has already grown to the point where she can turn the surrounding atmosphere itself to her advantage?
Oberon’s sharp eyes narrowed.
Whether or not she had any idea of what extraordinary thing she had accomplished, Riersha was holding the marbles in her open palm with a perfectly carefree smile on her face.
The reason was simple — along with the marbles, one additional piece of parchment had arrived.
And it was exactly what Riersha had been waiting for.
“Oh! Another problem’s come!”
Riersha excitedly unrolled the tightly wound scroll.
Written on it was the final task.
Task 2. Retrieve the ‘Mark of Summoning’ from the examination site.
Riersha murmured with a puzzled tilt in her voice.
“The Mark of Summoning…?”
If it was the Mark of Summoning—
It was something Riersha already knew about.
While searching for the location of the examination site, she had been conducting research on the three districts simultaneously.
And the Mark of Summoning, according to what was recorded, could only be obtained from the Forbidden Altar — the site said to be the burial place of the empire’s heroes.
There were no detailed records beyond that.
I have no idea why they gave it such an ominous name.
Regardless, she now knew with certainty where the examination site was.
The Forbidden Altar.
A place at the very edge of the Declair Empire.
“Found it!”
Riersha sprang to her feet with a bright smile.
She dashed to her desk and immediately began writing a letter.
It was a letter requesting the issuance of a travel permit.
As she sat in her chair writing, her legs swung back and forth with barely contained excitement.
Sona, who had been watching her with a worried expression, sidled up close to Oberon and whispered.
“No one has ever managed to bring back the Mark of Summoning.”
“…”
“And yet they’re setting that as a main task, not even a special bonus task… Isn’t this clearly designed to make Riersha fail?”
She was right.
Not a single heir, across all the years this had continued, had ever returned with the Mark of Summoning in hand.
There was even an unspoken rule that if anyone ever did manage to bring it back, that heir would be immediately designated the next young duke.
And yet—
“Done! Huff.”
Riersha went over the letter she had written several times, carefully checking to make sure she hadn’t made any mistakes.
The addressee was the Emperor of this empire.
Calius Declair.
Just as Riersha was climbing down from her chair with the letter in hand, she came face to face with Sona and Oberon, who were watching her with a strange, worried air about them.
“Why are you two looking at me like that? Did something happen again?”
“No, Riersha. Nothing’s happened.”
Sona laughed awkwardly and shook her head.
Then she quietly stepped away from Oberon’s side, waving both hands vigorously to insist that everything was perfectly fine and nothing had happened at all.
“Really?”
Riersha looked back and forth between the two of them with a puzzled expression, then gave a small nod.
And the following day.
Arcmund stared at the object sitting on his desk and shook his head slowly.
“Take a look at this.”
Pernoa gazed down at it with a quietly displeasured expression.
Riersha had gone and done it after all.
It was a travel authorization and transit permit, unmistakably stamped with the Emperor’s seal.
“If she brings back the Mark of Summoning on top of this, what are you going to say then to tell her she can’t have it?”
“That won’t happen.”
“…Have you made peace with Riersha yet?”
“I will. Definitely.”
“When?”
“…”
“That’s what I thought.”
Arcmund waved a hand, dismissing him.
Left alone in his office, Arcmund pressed his dry hands over his face.
The worry gnawing at him was no less than anyone else’s.
If Riersha passed this round of the heir selection examination—
What on earth does that little one think she’s doing, trying to come face to face with such a dangerous creature?
Arcmund’s red eyes grew heavy and low.
“Honestly…. She really is too clever for her own good, whoever’s granddaughter she is.”
Worry was worry.
But pride was also pride.
The corner of Arcmund’s mouth curved faintly upward.
