“The Pouch of Lilium, I’ve securely delivered it.”

“Hmm.”

Dorothea examined the item handed over by Algind.

A small, plain green cloth pouch, far from being flashy or luxurious.

Judging by its appearance alone, it looked like something that might be displayed in a modest corner store, but the mana contained within was at an extraordinary level.

Above all, there was no room for doubt as the verdant deer that had popped out of the Animal Compass was unhesitatingly extending its muzzle towards the pouch.

When Dorothea held the cloth pouch upside down, mixed grains poured out endlessly.

And it kept going without stopping.

“…It’s amazing if you call it amazing, but how should I put it, um. It’s a bit plain.”

The power to create mixed grains at a level of creating something from nothing without any additional mana consumption was certainly admirable.

However, given that the pouch’s size was at most something that could be held in one hand, the amount of grain that could be produced within a set time wasn’t that much.

It was similar to the sentiment of “how long would it take” to fill a bathtub through the tiny opening of a magic bottle that endlessly poured out water.

“It’s an era of abundance,” as if answering Dorothea’s impression, Algind said. “If it were an era when the continent was overflowing with the destitute and poor, the value of that single pouch would truly be worthy of being called a national treasure. Much more so than a belt that strengthens one person’s body or gloves that can store many items.”

“Someone might think you’ve actually lived through such an era. I mean, even now, there are still plenty of poor and hungry people, you know?”

Algind didn’t answer.

Her face was expressionless as always, like a doll, but for some reason, Dorothea felt as if Algind was shrugging and smiling bitterly.

At this adult-like attitude, looking at a child’s immaturity, Dorothea felt strangely upset. She knew it would only make her look foolish if she got angry here, so she didn’t say anything out loud.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if the conversation is over!]

“But why?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says it’s now time to go cut off the Witch of the South’s head!]

“What nonsense. Why would we cut off the Witch of the South’s head?”

“Cough.”

For some reason, Algind beside her coughed as if choking on something while maintaining her expressionless face.

Dorothea momentarily thought, “What’s wrong with her now?” but soon understood.

Of course, it would be abnormal not to be surprised when one heard the casual remark of cutting off their master’s head. Especially since there were stories that Algind had inherited her surname as the adopted daughter of Glinda Goodwitch, so that relationship would be even more special.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ presents a reasonable opinion that since we’ve taken down the West and the North, the South should be next!]

“We dealt with the West because Elphaba ran off with the sacred treasure, and we had to deal with the North because our necks would have been on the line if we didn’t handle Mombi. We don’t have any particular reason to fight the Witch of the South. Right?”

The last words were directed at Algind. In Dorothea’s mind, it was meant to reassure her, but conversely, it also meant she would pounce anytime if there was a reason to fight.

The Black Witch, who avoided fights with large factions at all costs in the early stages of the journey due to the aftermath, was already gone. The Tin Knight was truly adept at breaking people’s brakes.

Algind answered with a subtly disgruntled look, “I suppose so.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that bosses are worth challenging just by being there!]

“I’m not sharing my taste with you.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ also says that thinking about it, we took down the Lion Duke instead of the Witch of the South, so that seems to count!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ praises Dorothea’s wise judgment, saying that when bosses appear consecutively without delay in one area, it lowers the prestige of each individual boss!]

The Tin Knight flipped his palm with surprising speed.

Originally, the Tin Knight’s main taste-sharing target was Adelaide, but recently she was often going elsewhere due to the matter of absorbing talent into the Ducal family.

While Dorothea’s meal portions weren’t particularly large either, she was in a better situation than Sophia, for whom the act of eating itself had reached the realm of luxury goods.

Even for the Tin Knight, it felt a bit much to forcibly request stuffing in something he didn’t particularly want to eat at every meal from someone who didn’t want to eat in the first place.

Dorothea, who showed the dignity of an evil organization’s female executive by subduing the decisive battle weapon that had unhesitatingly cut off the neck of the Empire’s hero with just a word, said as if she suddenly remembered, “Come to think of it, whatever happened to that recruitment test thing?”

“As soon as the situation settles down to some extent, they’ll immediately announce the successful candidates and establish a new unit. Currently, an adventurer-turned-applicant named Kumara Cent and two of his companions are standing out as commander candidates.”

“That’s an unexpected selection.”

“It’s symbolic of ‘employing those with ability even if they’re of common birth’, and it also serves to check the nobles who have become arrogant due to Lennart’s collapse. If the power of noble factions under their command, including relatives by marriage, becomes too strong, then conversely, imperial authority would be devoured.”

“Hmm.”

“If you all were to stay in the Empire, you could probably get the position of overall commander, would you be interested?”

“No thanks. Politics and such are troublesome,” Dorothea flatly refused.

Algind nodded as if she had expected such a response.

***

The Duke’s mansion was destroyed, related parties were arrested one after another for questioning, and all sorts of unsettling rumors were rampant in the capital, including talk that the Lennart Ducal family would soon have their titles demoted.

Listing it out like this, it might seem that the Ducal family members would be continuing a miserable life without even a roof to shelter from wind and rain, but in reality, the lodgings where the survivors of the Ducal family were staying weren’t so shabby.

No, while it was a bit smaller compared to the main house, it was at a level that could be evaluated as sufficiently magnificent by general standards.

This was partly due to the saying that even when rich people went bankrupt, they had wealth that could last for three generations, but that wasn’t all.

While it was Lennart who caused this incident, it was also Lennart who resolved it.

“So, in a word, it’s thanks to you.”

At Maris’ words, Adelaide waved her hands.

“That’s an exaggeration.”

“No, it’s the truth. The story of the entirety of Lennart participating in rebellion and some going berserk with suppression from within the family are completely different stories. In a sense, all the survivors could be said to owe you a debt.”

At the continued praise, Adelaide fidgeted as if embarrassed.

Seeing that innocent and somewhat foolish-looking appearance, it was hard to believe that she was the main figure in resolving the rebellion.

In fact, there were not a few who harbored dissatisfaction, though they couldn’t express it openly, about the Duke handing over the Lion Duke’s treasured sword to her before going to prison—in reality, it was merely acknowledging ownership of what she already had.

After all, it was tantamount to publicly declaring that Adelaide was qualified to lead the entire Lion Duke’s bloodline.

However, Maris didn’t think her father’s judgment was wrong.

She had seen Adelaide fiercely facing off against the Lion Duke without showing any fear or shrinking back.

The figure of the girl proudly occupying one of the main roles in a mythical battle that they didn’t even dare to intervene in.

While there were too many suspicious points about the Lion Duke’s resurrection, and to begin with, there were many who considered the resurrection itself a lie, among those who witnessed that battle and its conclusion, including Maris, there were no bloodline members who didn’t acknowledge Adelaide’s qualifications.

In fact, Maris had long since inwardly accepted Adelaide as the new head of the Lion Duke’s bloodline.

It was just that she maintained her previous attitude because Adelaide herself would have a fit if she used honorific language or tried to show respect as a subordinate.

“Grandfather Werner decided to help stabilize the military as a way of taking responsibility for this incident, and Uncle Conrad decided to stay by Father’s side. It’s like we’ve each gone our separate ways. The same goes for me—no, us as well.”

After saying that, Maris gestured towards the window.

There, Lion Duke bloodline members with golden hair and violet eyes were waiting as if anticipating Adelaide’s decision.

They numbered about fifty.

It seemed like a small number at first glance, but considering that each one possessed strength of at least knight level at a “minimum”, it was by no means a negligible force.

It was enough to instantly fill the military power of the Friedel domain, which had been virtually annihilated, and have change left over.

Above all, considering that many of them had administrative or other special skills to survive the fierce competition in the main family, they were high-quality talents that anyone running a domain would salivate over.

Such people were all fervently appealing to Adelaide.

Asking her to take them in.

“Thanks to the Imperial side’s unexpectedly generous response, there’s no particular hindrance to moving over to Friedel. While most of the main Ducal family’s property and territory will probably be taken away, they won’t touch assets in individual names, so that will be helpful in that aspect too. Also, um.”

Feeling like a job seeker promoting herself in front of an interviewer, Maris pondered for a moment.

Whether saying this would actually be helpful or not.

“…You’ll need someone to manage that brute too, right? You can’t keep accompanying her forever.”

“Hmm.”

Within the Lennart family, the elder faction and the forces influenced by them were essentially finished with this incident.

This was both in a political sense and a physical sense.

The core personnel who could be called the elder faction all died in the aftermath of the battle, and as a result of the Black Witch’s investigation to grasp the circumstances of the Lion Duke’s resurrection, it was confirmed that their very souls were suffering, trapped in something like black mud.

If one tried hard enough to achieve enlightenment, they might be able to liberate them, but the Black Witch was soft on allies, fair to neutrals, but merciless to enemies.

They would slowly disappear over a very long time, suffering and paying for their sins.

In some sense, it could be called a punishment left by the Lion Duke.

Even the remaining forces far from the main house were turning into a handful of blood in the midst of large-scale arrests and purges, but Hilda’s treatment was special in many ways.

Even considering that she was more of an action leader who just moved as told rather than the mastermind of the plan, the reason why she, who was clearly one of the main culprits, could walk around outside without going to prison or having her head cut off was entirely due to the Imperial Family’s influence, who were mindful of the reactions of the Tin Knight’s party.

Moreover, it was noteworthy that she survived with all limbs intact in that chaotic battlefield where all sorts of sword energy, malice, curses, and attack magic were rampant. Even Werner von Lennart had to sacrifice his left arm.

But Maris didn’t particularly consider it unfair.

It wasn’t a soft thought like Hilda should be forgiven because she was young… rather, it was because she was being beaten up by Adelaide every day to the point where it seemed like it might have been better for Hilda to just go to prison or lose a limb and go to a hospital.

“Since it’s a bit uncomfortable to see you making excuses about equipment differences, let’s just do it both bare-handed.”

Saying that while leaving both the Lion Duke’s sword and the Belt of Amaryllis aside, the sight of Adelaide beating up Hilda with just fists and limbs was incredibly fierce. Moreover, it was even more so because she did it impassively, as if working, without showing any signs of anger or irritation.

Few people knew that the reason Adelaide had recently been acting separately from her companions under the pretext of cleaning up after the Lion Duke’s bloodline was because she didn’t want to show such merciless behavior in front of the Tin Knight.

Although Hilda’s fighting spirit still remained and she kept charging at Adelaide desperately, it was clear to anyone that her attitude was becoming more polite by the day.

After continued persuasion, Adelaide finally nodded.

“Then, please wait a little. I got permission from the others to stop by Friedel domain briefly, but there’s something I need to do before that.”

“Something you need to do?”

“Clearing dojos. They say the last dojo is near the capital, so I need to finish that. And I’m going to proudly prove my skills to Giselle.”

Maris looked at Adelaide with a subtle gaze, as if she didn’t know what to say, then asked if she could just write one messenger bird.

Adelaide acquiesced with a look that said, “Why are you asking me for permission?”

The next day, Adelaide received the proof of passing the last dojo by messenger bird delivery.

“The representative instructor there asked me to pass it on,” Maris said. “He said, ‘Please consider my position of having to test you.’”

“…”

And so Adelaide was “forced” to pass.

***

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