Chapter 03

The Encounter

At the edge of the plains, an enormous city wall came into view.

Beyond the wall stood the Imperial Palace, soaring high into the sky.

It was a sight Elloze had seen countless times from the estate when she was a child.

“I finally made it.”

Elloze murmured to herself as she brushed the dirt from her hood.

Dust that had accumulated on her hood throughout the journey puffed into the air at her touch.

That night, Elloze had frantically made her way to a village in the opposite direction from the road leading to the capital.

There, she managed to hitch a ride on a carriage heading to a neighboring village.

Once she arrived, she used the money she had to buy a horse.

From then on, she rode straight toward the capital.

No one followed me.

Perhaps because she had deliberately taken a more roundabout route, she hadn’t seen anyone pursuing her.

The weather was gradually getting warmer, but she still couldn’t bring herself to take off her hooded robe.

I look absolutely terrible.

The dust was one thing, but she had also been caught in the rain along the way.

The road had turned into a muddy mess, making it impossible for her horse to run properly, so she had been forced to get off and walk.

Then, just as she was standing by the roadside, a large freight wagon came barreling toward her from the opposite direction without slowing down.

Elloze had been completely splattered with mud.

As a result, her face and hair were a complete disaster.

But she couldn’t exactly stop at a nearby inn and leisurely wash herself off.

I have to get to the estate today.

There was another reason she had to keep her hood on besides hiding her filthy appearance.

It would be troublesome if someone recognized me.

She had been sent to the monastery at such a young age that there probably weren’t many people who would recognize her.

Still, there was no harm in being careful.

Especially since the monastery might have already sent people looking for her.

Her horse had become too exhausted to go any farther, so she had sold it to a restaurant she had stopped at a little while ago.

From here on, she would have to travel on foot.

Besides, with the number of people on the roads increasing as they approached the capital, she wouldn’t have been able to move much faster even on horseback.

Elloze slipped into the line of people entering the capital.

Fortunately, she made it through the gates without any trouble.

“Wow…”

After entering the city and walking straight along the main road, she soon arrived at the capital’s central square.

Elloze stopped and looked around.

“So much has changed.”

This was the same square she used to pass through whenever she occasionally ventured outside the estate as a child.

Even back then, there had been plenty of people.

But it had never been so crowded that there was barely room to set foot anywhere.

There are so many more people now.

Elloze looked at the people filling the square.

People of all different skin tones and builds were moving through the bustling streets.

Northerners and Southerners, whom she had rarely seen as a child, especially caught her attention.

It must be because of the war.

Five years ago, beings that had crossed the Eternal Mountains at the northernmost edge of the continent had invaded the Empire.

They were beastfolk—half human and half beast.

At first, the Empire had been utterly helpless against them.

Although the Empire had known of the beastfolk’s existence, no one had expected them to launch such a massive invasion.

To make matters worse, the beastfolk commanded ferocious beasts that no one in the Empire had ever seen before.

As a result, in less than a year, the Empire lost most of its northern territory to the beastfolk.

Refugees who had lost their homes and lands flooded into the capital.

The Empire hurriedly gathered its forces.

Among them were many Northerners and Southerners who belonged to the Empire but had previously lived freely in their own regions.

And the most famous of them all was Harkan, the King of Mercenaries.

He had originally been a mercenary who fought in countless large and small wars throughout the northern regions.

Because he always covered his face with bandages, no one knew what he looked like or how old he was.

All they could guess was that he had to be at least fifty, considering that he had been active for more than thirty years.

He led the mercenaries under his command and fought the beastfolk on the front lines.

As a result, more and more mercenaries began following him.

Before long, he earned the nickname the King of Mercenaries.

Thanks to Harkan, the Imperial Army succeeded in driving back the beastfolk and restoring peace.

The Emperor rewarded Harkan, along with the countless others who had helped the Empire, with appropriate titles and honors.

That had been a year ago.

The war was over, but the scars it had left behind still remained in the north.

Reconstruction had only finally begun this year, so those who had yet to return home remained in the capital.

After watching the crowd for a moment, Elloze fell into thought.

What should I do now?

She couldn’t simply march straight to the estate.

Camilla was the one who had sent someone to prevent Elloze from reclaiming her inheritance.

The estate would already be filled with people loyal to her.

What would happen if Elloze went there and announced that she was Elloze, that she had come to inherit her mother’s fortune and her father’s title?

They would undoubtedly thank her for coming to them of her own accord and lock her up.

And then kill me.

Elloze thought of the thickest book in her cabin—the Imperial Code.

She had read the section on inheritance over and over again, so she remembered it well.

If she filed an objection immediately, the inheritance proceedings would be suspended.

But that didn’t mean the title and fortune would immediately come to Elloze.

Because I’m unmarried.

As outdated as one would expect from a law established a thousand years ago, Imperial law did not recognize unmarried individuals as legal adults.

Which meant an unmarried person could not properly inherit their parents’ property.

That was why most nobles married while they were still young.

Of course, those were usually marriages in name only.

I did receive marriage proposals once…

As the future Countess and heir to the Espensia Trading Company, Elloze remembered proposals arriving in mountains every single day.

But that had been a long time ago.

I need to get married right now.

Elloze needed a man who could go with her to register their marriage immediately.

The problem was that she couldn’t simply take anyone.

That was because her father had been a count.

Under Imperial law, in order to inherit the title and fortune in full, she had to marry a nobleman.

If he’s a commoner, the inheritance process becomes complicated.

So I need a nobleman… Someone with a personal title should be enough.

Elloze sighed.

She had heard plenty of news about the Empire’s rapidly increasing number of nobles.

After the war, a great many people had been granted personal titles.

But finding such a person wasn’t the end of the problem.

If I walk up to a complete stranger and ask him to marry me for a little while, he’ll obviously think I’m insane.

Today marked exactly one week since her father’s death.

According to the law, Elloze had to declare her intention to inherit his title by the end of today.

If she failed to do so, the title would temporarily pass on paper to Camilla, who was legally his wife.

The title alone wouldn’t have been a problem.

But the fortune would pass along with it.

That was the real issue.

She had to find an unmarried nobleman today, register their marriage at the authorities’ office, and then go to the estate.

The office closed at six.

And it was already three in the afternoon.

She had only three hours to find a man willing to marry her on such short notice.

In fact, Elloze had already thought of a way to find a husband before leaving the monastery.

She approached one of the city guards standing along the street.

“Excuse me, could you tell me which way the guild district is?”

“That way.”

The guard pointed toward one of the many roads branching off from the square.

Elloze thanked him and set off.

There were many guilds in the capital.

Originally, guilds had been organizations for people with specialized knowledge, such as herbalists’ guilds or artists’ guilds.

But they had since evolved into places where people could commission jobs that ordinary citizens found difficult to handle themselves.

In particular, after the war ended, the number of mercenaries who suddenly found themselves without work had increased.

As a result, the mercenary guilds began accepting almost any job they could get.

I remember merchants complaining that it caused all sorts of problems.

Elloze remembered a merchant who had once visited her village.

He had clicked his tongue and complained that the people from those guilds would do even illegal things as long as they were paid enough.

Elloze approached the largest-looking guild among the buildings lining the street.

I have fifty gold coins left.

That was everything she had earned from selling her horse, combined with the money she had saved over the years.

That should be enough to hire them.

Whenever Elloze visited the village, she had pestered the merchants wandering around with countless questions.

They had taught her things she could never have learned from books.

Everything from the state of the continent to something as mundane as guild fees.

They said they’ll take on any job as long as you pay.

What Elloze wanted was simple.

An unmarried nobleman with a title who could marry her immediately.

Since I’m hiring the guild, I should tell them to find someone who won’t cause trouble afterward.

It would be a problem if the man she married became greedy and started coveting her fortune.

One greedy man in her life—her father—had been more than enough.

Not that he’ll get anything even if he does become greedy.

Thinking about what she would do after inheriting the title and fortune, Elloze was about to enter the guild when several people came out from inside.

For some reason, she immediately got a bad feeling.

Elloze quickly slipped into the alley beside the building.

“Ugh, what a smell.”

Of all things, the object that happened to conceal her was a large garbage bin.

Holding her breath, Elloze peeked outside.

The men who had come out stopped at the entrance to the alley where Elloze was hiding.

Fortunately, they didn’t venture any deeper into the foul-smelling alley.

Resisting the urge to kiss the garbage bin that was shielding her, Elloze strained her ears.

“Ten thousand gold. I’ve never seen a bounty that high for a person-finding job.”

“I know. I was starting to wonder if I should leave because guild requests have dried up, and then something this lucrative comes along.”

“Still, it’s a little strange. They want us to find a twenty-two-year-old woman based only on the fact that she’s blonde and has green eyes. And the only other information is that she recently left a monastery. How are we supposed to find someone with that?”

“……!”

Elloze stopped breathing at the description of the request.

“Either way, we’d better hurry before the other guys find her first!”

Even after the mercenaries left, Elloze remained frozen in place for a long time.

They hadn’t mentioned her name.

But she knew.

The person they were looking for was her.

It wasn’t difficult to guess who wanted her found.

It must be Camilla.

She had realized far sooner than expected that something had gone wrong with the job she had ordered.

This is bad.

There was no way Elloze could use the guild now.

The moment she walked inside, she would practically be handing them ten thousand gold on a silver platter.

Elloze instinctively reached for her pouch again.

Ten thousand gold was the price on her head.

She had only about fifty gold coins to her name, even if she gathered every last coin she possessed.

Even if I promised to pay them after inheriting my fortune…

There was no doubt the guild members would choose the ten thousand gold they could collect immediately.

From somewhere in the distance came the sound of a bell ringing at thirty-minute intervals.

Three-thirty.

She had only two and a half hours left.

There simply wasn’t enough time to find someone who met her requirements without going through the guild.

“What am I supposed to do?”

Her plan to hire the guild to find one of the many newly ennobled nobles in the capital and marry him had fallen apart.

Without realizing it, Elloze muttered to herself,

“Oh, God, could you please send me just one man who can become my husband? If possible, I’d really appreciate it if you could send him right now.”

That was when it happened.

BANG!

A back door of one of the nearby houses burst open with a tremendous crash.

Then, a figure with a robe pulled over their head came tumbling out.

The person rolled several times before collapsing directly in front of Elloze.

Almost as if someone had delivered him straight to her.