The morning after having the necessary measurements taken at the mechanical prosthetic arm workshop, Elsa and the master blacksmith departed early for the Razgrim domain. It would take at least a month or more for it to be finished... Once word arrived, I would return to the royal capital to pick it up myself. There was no point in the two of them lingering until then, and having left their forge vacant for so long to craft our tournament gear, a mountain of backlogged work was waiting for them back home.
Before that, however, there was something I needed to double-check.
"So... payment really doesn't have to be made until it's finished, right?"
Though wearing an exasperated expression, the craftsman nodded. "We'll send word to House Razgrim once it's complete. You can pay then." The reality of owing over two hundred gold coins hadn't changed, but at least it wouldn't be vanishing from my purse this very second. That alone took a weight off my chest.
"Vain... Just so you know, the price hasn't gone down, okay?"
"I know that! Just let me have some peace of mind for now..."
At the workshop entrance, Elsa was packing her bags with the master. Once she set her mind on heading home, she shifted gears fast; pulling the luggage straps taut with her remaining arm, she turned toward me.
"Vain, make sure you come pick it up, okay? If you forget about it after getting the notice that it's done, I'll never forgive you!"
"How could I forget something that costs over two hundred gold coins?! It's more likely to haunt my nightmares!"
"Honestly, being able to obsess over gold coins to that degree is almost impressive..."
The master chuckled as he headed toward the carriage loaded with their baggage.
"Well then, Duke, we'll be taking our leave first. We've been away for quite a spell thanks to the tournament... There'll be a mountain of work waiting for us when we get back."
"Good. You can work off the time you claimed you'd spend retiring."
"You're still on about that...? Good grief, you're a real slave driver, my Lord Duke."
Even as he said that, the master looked cheerful. Elsa climbed into the carriage as well, raising her voice. "Until my new arm arrives, I'm gonna get even better with what I've got now!" When I retorted, "When you get back, clear out your backlogged work first," she snapped back, complaining about how I had to be like that right to the very end.
Even after seeing off their carriage, we didn't return to our domain right away. I still had loose ends to tie up here, and the soldiers had worked themselves to the bone leading up to the tournament. It wouldn't hurt to let them sightsee around the royal capital for a few days before returning. They'd be put to work again once we got back anyway, so letting them do as they pleased for now was fine.
◇
At the lodgings of House Eldran, Percival bowed deeply before Galvas.
"My sincerest apologies... Your Grace. We have suffered defeat. Entrusted with the soldiers of House Eldran, I failed to bring home the championship—"
"Gahahahaha! Think nothing of it! Thanks to that, I got to witness quite a spectacle! I had no idea those Razgrim fellows had it in them. If we lost, all we have to do is win next time!"
"Hearing Your Grace say so brings me relief. However, next year, we shall surely claim our revenge—"
"Right, it's decided! Next year, I shall enter the tournament myself!"
Percival clamped his mouth shut, letting out a deep sigh once he realized his lord wasn't joking.
"...Do you truly believe His Majesty will grant his permission?"
"Who cares! I shall enter regardless! I wish to clash directly with Razgrim's soldiers myself!"
"If Your Grace were to participate, the very purpose of the tournament would change..."
Attempting to dissuade him was useless. Percival resigned himself to fate, telling himself His Majesty would surely manage something in the end, while Galvas cast his eyes down at the parchment on his desk.
"Now then, Lydia did splendidly as well! She worked exceptionally hard during the tournament and seems to have adapted to Razgrim far better than expected... However, I believe I shall have her do one more job."
Watching Galvas glide his brush across the paper with sheer delight, Percival was gripped by a bad premonition. Before long, the letter was presented to him. At first, proper words lined the page—Your performance on this occasion was magnificent. It was an effort befitting a daughter of Eldran—but his hands froze upon reading what followed.
However, I have no intention of permitting your return just yet. I command you with your next task. Do not return until you have stolen a kiss from Duke Vain Razgrim. If you are truly a daughter of Eldran, prove it by stealing at least a single kiss.
"...Your Grace. I-Is this... a military duty...?"
"An essential mission, is it not?"
Before his master, who declared this with his chest puffed out, Percival held his tongue.
◇
Around noon that day, I was on my way back from settling my remaining business at the royal castle. From the mouths of nobles talking down the corridor, a familiar name caught my ear.
"That woman named Raisa is quite something... I heard she was a former mercenary, but to coordinate three hundred soldiers to such an extent...!"
"I thought little of her after hearing she had resigned from the Kingdom Knights, but after watching the tournament, one has no choice but to revise that assessment. Any house would desire someone capable of handling troops so masterfully."
"I know not under what terms Duke Razgrim employs her, but it might not be a bad idea to approach her with an offer..."
I nearly stopped dead in my tracks.
—Approach her with an offer...? To my Raisa...?
Before the tournament, she was merely a woman who had left the Kingdom Knights to become a mercenary... But now, she had a track record of training a ducal house's troops and claiming victory in the Military Tournament. I understood why the perception around her had changed... I understood, but if she vanished, who was going to train the troops...?! Having to search all over again from scratch for someone who knew the current soldiers' quirks inside and out was far too much of a pain!
That night, upon returning to the encampment, the soldiers were enjoying meat and drink around the campfire. Some were even showing off souvenirs they had bought in the royal capital. Raisa and Lydia were conversing a short distance away, so I headed straight toward them.
"Raisa! Got a minute?"
"What is it, Danna? I finally gave 'em a break, so don't you go telling me training starts tomorrow."
"No... that's not it. Starting today, you're the commander-in-chief of the Razgrim army."
The area around the campfire instantly fell dead silent. Without laughing, Raisa stared into my face and parted her lips as if to check whether she had misheard.
"Huh?!...D-Danna. What did you just say...? W-What?"
"Commander-in-chief! In the Razgrim army, you're at the very top!"
Raisa lowered her eyes to the campfire, and after a moment of silence, spoke in a low voice.
"H-Hold on a second...! I'm a woman who quit the Kingdom Knights, you know?! From there, I fell all the way to being a mercenary... I got paid to guard things, swung my sword when asked, and that's how I put food on the table! Even back in the Kingdom Knights, being at the very top of an army was a distant fantasy, and after becoming a mercenary, I was only hired when needed, and once the job was done, that was it... That's how I intended to live out my days....A-Are you seriously telling me you're entrusting the army of a ducal house to someone like that?"
"Well, you're basically the commander-in-chief already, aren't you?"
Raisa stared, dumbfounded.
"You're the one training the troops, and you're the one giving daily orders. Whenever something happens, these guys look to you first... It was the same during the tournament, wasn't it? If so, all we're doing is putting a title on what you've already been doing."
When I cast my gaze toward the campfire, the soldiers exchanged looks, and one of them let out a booming laugh.
"Lord Vain is completely right! We don't have the slightest intention of following anyone other than big sis! It'd be more of a pain if we were told to follow someone else now!"
Starting with that voice, words of agreement erupted from all around. They had been forced to run until they dropped, knocked to the ground countless times, and she had been like a demon during training—even with such complaints mixed in, they ended up laughing, saying, "It's because big sis was here that we made it this far." Raisa scratched the tip of her nose awkwardly.
"You bastards... only saying nice things at times like this!"
"Lord Vain! I agree as well! While there were instances during this tournament where I devised the tactical maneuvers, it was Raisa-dono who conveyed them to the troops and shaped them into actionable movements! Including daily training, Raisa-dono is the one who knows the current Razgrim army best... At the very least, I know of no one more suited to be commander-in-chief than Raisa-dono."
When Lydia, who was stricter than anyone when it came to military matters, asserted this without hesitation, Raisa's eyes widened slightly.
"...Even Lady Lydia says so?"
"It is the truth! Furthermore, I too feel far more at ease with Raisa-dono as commander-in-chief."
Raisa gazed at the soldiers' faces one by one, lost for words. For my part, the most crucial topic still remained.
"Besides... today, some other nobles were talking about you. Saying they might approach you depending on the terms... That's why I'm locking you down first. If you leave, I'll have to search for another capable person. I absolutely refuse to deal with something that annoying! So in exchange—work for me until you die."
After looking blank for a moment, Raisa finally burst out laughing.
"Haha... After saying all that, that's your punchline...? You really are something else, Danna."
Though she was laughing, her voice was slightly huskier than usual. She fell silent, looking down at the campfire, and when she finally lifted her face, her usual hearty smile had returned.
"...I never thought there'd be someone who valued me this much... And entrusting the entire army of a ducal house to me, no less! If you're gonna go that far, then I'll stick with you until the day I die, Danna!"
At that moment, the soldiers erupted in cheers. Someone raised their cup, prompting everyone around to stand up. Then, one of them hollered at Raisa with a grin.
"Hahaha! Now big sis is just like the rest of us! You can never escape Danna for the rest of your life!"
"Ain't that the truth! No way you're gettin' away on your own, big sis!"
The soldiers laughed merrily. These guys... they still remembered what I said when we won the tournament...
"What's that?! Acting awfully mighty the second I become commander-in-chief, aren't you?"
Raisa laughed along with them. For my part, I only wanted to eliminate the risk of her getting poached, but if both she and the troops were motivated, all the better. With this, it seemed I wouldn't have to go through the hassle of searching for an army head again.
◇
Around the time the commotion settled down, Lydia stood at the edge of the encampment, watching the soldiers surround Raisa. She was genuinely overjoyed about the appointment. Raisa-dono could undoubtedly make this army even stronger, and she had supported it without hesitation. Even so, as she watched Raisa laughing, a small pang remained in the depths of her chest.
Raisa-dono would remain here from now on. The soldiers, Lord Vain, Clarice, Serena—once they returned to the domain, they would go back to their daily lives just as before... But she was different. Her promise upon arriving as a guest officer was for half a year, and only a few months remained. In the midst of being absorbed in preparing for the tournament, talking with the soldiers, devising tactics with Raisa, and being dragged along by Vain's unreasonable whims, being in this place had become far too natural.
"Lydia~! A letter from House Eldran! Looks like it just arrived."
Turning around, Clarice was holding a sealed letter. Thanking her and taking it, Lydia broke the seal. Written at the beginning were words from her father: Your performance on this occasion was magnificent. It was an effort befitting a daughter of Eldran. Being praised so straightforwardly was rare, and that alone made her slightly happy.
However, where it continued with However, I have no intention of permitting your return just yet. I command you with your next task, Lydia straightened her posture.
"...A next task?"
Assuming it was some instruction regarding military affairs, she read on—and froze on the spot.
Do not return until you have stolen a kiss from Duke Vain Razgrim. If you are truly a daughter of Eldran, prove it by stealing at least a single kiss.
The meaning failed to register on the first read, so she read it once more. Even then, the words remained unchanged. Before her very eyes, her face grew burning hot, and even the fingers holding the letter began to tremble.
"A-Aaaah... W-Wh-Wh-What am I to do...?!"
At Lydia's sudden panic, Clarice's eyes went wide.
"H-Hold on!...What's wrong? Was something that alarming written in it?"
"I-I cannot say! I absolutely cannot say this! Father, what on earth are you thinking... Aaaah...! Ah?!"
As she frantically tried to fold it, the letter slipped from her fingers, and Clarice caught it by reflex. Just as she moved to return it, the name inside caught her eye, and her movement halted for an instant.
"...Vain's... kiss?"
"P-Pleeaaase do not read itttt!!"
Lydia hastily snatched it back, hiding it against her chest. Clarice stared at her crimson face for a moment, then narrowed her eyes ever so slightly.
"...Heeeh~?"
"It is not 'Heeeh~!' W-What should I do, Clarice-san?! Father is serious! Whenever Father is like this, he is undeniably serious! But the promise for a guest officer was half a year, so what should I do after that... Before that, Lord Vain's, k-k-k-kiss is just...!"
The moment she said it herself, her ears flushed even redder. After a brief pause, Clarice replied, "Well... looks like it's no longer a matter of returning to Eldran immediately once the half year is up."
"That is not the issue heeeere...! A-And if I am not returning, I must consult Lord Vain... Wait, am I supposed to tell Lord Vain about this letter?! That is impossible! Utterly impossibleee!"
Though she had been brooding just moments ago over having only a few months left here, that loneliness had been blown away completely.
Beside the frantically flustered Lydia, Clarice muttered under her breath once more, "...Hmph."
◇
—In the kingdom's history of later generations, whenever the name of Duke Vain Razgrim was recounted, there were individuals who were almost certainly recorded alongside him.
One of them was the "Red Lion," Raisa Vangrit.
The woman who had once left the Kingdom Knights and subsequently swung her sword as a mercenary would eventually become widely renowned as the commander-in-chief of the Razgrim army. A general who united soldiers regardless of status or birth, commanding immense trust from the rough-and-tumble troops of Razgrim. It was not widely known that her beginning stemmed from a casual appointment on this very night.
—And another.
Lydia Eldran, who would later be counted among the "Razgrim Four Knights" and leave her name in the kingdom's history under the moniker "Maiden of Silver Flash."
Though she was the daughter of the renowned House Eldran, she who had traveled to Razgrim as a temporary guest officer had no way of knowing at this time that she would one day be recorded side by side with the name of Vain Razgrim.
On this night—
The Red Lion laughed at having the entire ducal army entrusted to her, while the Maiden of Silver Flash clutched a single letter from her father to her chest,
"A-Aaaah... W-Wh-What am I to do...?!"
flushing bright red, or so it was said.
Though, naturally, that very last sentence was never recorded in the kingdom's history.