Chapter 265: Arriving in Ullistar.

Chapter 265: Arriving in Ullistar.

House Equevanna welcomes her Imperial Highness and the company Aurora to our fief and court. I am the current Duke Equevanna, Fillion Bastois Equevanna. It is an honor to meet you once again, Princess Hestia, Lord Equevanna bowed deeply with his wife as he greeted our group. Of course, the Equevanna Duchy also welcomes Aurenas heroes. May the Goddess bless our auspicious meeting today. Please, allow yourself to rest as you stay here.

Fillion Equevanna was the first son of the previous Lord Equevanna and the elder brother of Charleslyt. After the death penalty from his brother's betrayal and the fact that his father had to take on all the blame, Fillion was announced to succeed his father as the Duke after the previous duke was exiled from the duchy. Fortunately, he was still alive and was now a personal servant of King Drangleic, but he lost not only his status as a noble but was also forbidden from interacting with his family.

A cruel punishment, if you asked me, but King Drangleic had to weaken the Equevanna duchy as punishment for the traitorous actions of its numerous nobles and the second son of its duke. It was about maintaining authority and showing off the power of the crown.

Thank you very much for having us, Duke Equevanna. May the Goddess bless you and your duchys future, I greeted him with a nod. Now that my status was pretty much public, I wasnt allowed to curtsy to anybody but King Drangleic and his Queen according to etiquette.

Yes, may her light guide your path forward, banishing any shadows hiding underneath it. Asaka, still keeping up her [Saint Candidate] role in public, greeted Duke Equevanna as any saint should, albeit, in a bored tone.

After the recent conference, pretty much all the dukes knew about the truth of the churchs pope and the students hero titles. To the public, we still treated them as Aurenas heroes and saint candidates, but we knew better.

With my status as a princess of Kargryx, greeting and announcing my visit to a dukes city was necessary for courtesys sake. Fillions advisors, guards, and other attendants would all welcome us, so we all had to be on our best behavior.

Once the meet-and-greet and formal stuff ended, Fillion brought us into a private room with his wife. After we all sat down, Fillion and his wife stood back up again and bowed once more.

Lady Hestia, I cannot thank you enough for deciding to perform your concert in Ullistar for the Festival in two days. Weve already reserved a spot for you, as large as the concert you held in Griffonpeak, as you requested, Fillion informed me.

No, please, you two shouldnt need to bow like that. Im doing it simply because I wanted to, I tried to dissuade them, but it was ineffective.

No, please, allow us to show our respect, Fillions wife, Renea, insisted. After the noble purge and with everything going on, the duchys reputation and status have dropped significantly. Merchants, artisans, and even simple workers have begun migrating into the Greenveil and Groushia duchies of late. Weve tried to stop this bleeding, but the news about all the advances in Griffonpeak spread too fast for us to handle.

Merchants were people addicted to even the simplest gossips and rumors. To assure they continue making a profit, they had to listen to the words on the street. With what happened in Griffonpeak, how a new Duke Equevanna was announced, and why there was unrest in the noble houses, it would make anybody nervous.

I do not wish to bore you with the details and my complaints, Lady Hestia. Equevanna has committed a major sin against Artorias, and it will take more than me and my heir to redeem ourselves. As such, we wish to thank you for this kindness of yours, Fillion said with his head down. We have done as you asked, Lady Hestia. We announced that you will be performing here in Ullistar in two days. As you might have noticed while coming into the city, it is crowded with merchants.

Like his wife said, news spread fast.

In Griffonpeak, everybody knew who Saori and I were. They knew we were a fenrir and dragon respectively. However, due to our participation in the defense of Griffonpeak and how Saoris restaurant was popular amongst the middle district and adventurers, we were generally liked, albeit some considered us intimidating now. This applied to me especially, since they knew I was a champion and an imperial princess.

Without a doubt, with how loose mouths were amongst merchants, this information probably spread around. When we decided to come to Ullistar for the Sun Worship Festival, I had Duke Equevanna spread the news of my concert there. I did it purely to help my own attendance number and to help the Sarlenzia company, but I was still glad to hear I could help Fillion a bit.

After Fillion and his wife sat back down, they handed Saori multiple parchments concerning the concerts location and formalities. They told us that, while everything was cleared under his name, we should still announce it at the local merchant guild.

Saori, along with Haruka and Ellaine, began working through the details with the young duke and duchess. After all, they only made the reservation for us, they didnt talk to the guild about what we wanted to do there. Aside from my concert, we would also be selling merchandise, ticket sales for nobles, and more pastries.

Yeast-made pastries? Ah, is that why Lady Amelia Greenveil arrived with you today? Fillion asked, revealing that he had his spies keep watch when we arrived. Not like it was a problem when they made themselves easy to detect for Saori. Ah, I see You must be working with the Sarlenzia company, correct? I had heard whispers that Duke Greenveil was planning on keeping his momentum.

I smiled wryly, causing him to sigh deeply. Having your rival settle into your territory wouldnt be liked by anybody.

Its alright, Lady Hestia. I understand. If that is the cost for you to perform in our capital, then it is a price I am willing to pay. It is the price I must pay for the failures of my father and the betrayal of my younger brother. Regardless, even if the Sarlenzia company were to find a foothold in Ullistar with your help, I would hope you would allow us to keep our grounds against them as merchants? Although he looked stressed out and tired, there was still the fire of a merchant in his eyes.

I knew the impact Asakas and my attendance would have on the public. A religious festival with a blessed and a candidate? The possibility of meeting them and gaining their [Prayer] blessing? Now, that is something no one would want to miss out on.

And Fillion was right, the city was packed to the brim. Maneuvering through the city with the garms and RV was a difficult task. Fillion quickly forgave our ulterior motive since he knew I could become the catalyst to help fix his bleeding population of merchants and artisans. He had too much to lose if he were to suddenly antagonize me here. After all, it could mean his entire familys heads if King Drangleic thought he disrespected me, Artoriass only hope for an alliance with the northern countries.

Fillion nodded once more, announcing his support for my event and my partnership with the Sarlenzia company. Since we would be inviting nobles to the concert, Fillion also had to begin advertising this news to his fief lords. Even if the concert were to start in two days, nobles had gargoyles, griffons, and hippogryphs to travel over here quickly.

After Saori and others were done speaking business with him, we all stood up as we were about to leave. There was much for us to do.

Thank you very much for coming today, Lady Hestia. Will you be needing help with the construction? Fillion asked.

Most likely not. We will receive help from the attendants and servants of House Helvas and Greenveil. If you wish to help, could you order some soldiers to guard the area for us? We were planning on using Saoris tamed beasts to help us, so without the guards, people might get spooked.

I understand. I shall make the necessary preparations.

And with that, we left House Equevannas castle. Our next destination was the Sarlenzia companys branch in Ullistar.

Well be going back to the RV, Kyouya announced before leaving with Asaka, Tatsuya, and Daichi. They had to bring the RV to the concert area and begin the preparations with the Helvas attendants.

Haruka stayed with us, as she would be responsible for our finances, along with Saori and Ellaine. With the exception of Grimnir, who didnt come to the castle at all, the rest of us went to meet up with Amelia.

Lady Hestia, Ellaine! How was your meeting with Lord Fill Duke Equevanna? The moment we went into the branch, Amelia greeted us.

Of course, Amelia didnt come with us on the trip nor did she arrive in Ullistar before us. I just used the nexus to teleport her here.

Amelia wasnt a particularly strong mage, so naturally she wouldnt have had enough mana to teleport from Griffonpeak to Ullistar without help. There were two options: either I gave her mana or she used a catalyst with sufficient mana inside.

Well, thankfully, we had a pretty useful tool for that, disregarding our battle catalystsw. We still had the orb KleaHatma was sealed in, the [Zazail Orb of Sealed Shadows]. After her body was destroyed by Aurena, the orb returned to being a normal catalyst with a capacity for 10k mana. I had about 32k more in my dragon form, for reference. Recycle and reuse; if it can't cause any more trouble, we should use it.

It went well enough, I said before letting Saori, Ellaine, and Haruka explain everything to her. So, how is it on your side? This branch isnt exactly the largest.

Dont worry about the number of employees, Lady Hestia. I made sure to have the branch manager hire enough helpers for the concert. They will be ready to build and contribute once they make it to the location, Amelia said with confidence. My employees should be setting everything up in your subspaces bakery right now, correct? Have there been any problems on that front?

There shouldnt be any. Svena and Barathan should be making sure everything is working well and that nobody is causing any trouble. Tamae-chan should have the recipes ready for tonight and we can begin practice tomorrow. I hope you have made enough yeast for us to last, Lady Amelia. As you can see outside

I pointed at the people surrounding the branch at this moment. People in proper suits and dresses were eyeing us at this very moment, only to turn and walk away after I glared at them. Those were merchants or their attendants. Theyve been following us the moment we left the castle and noble district.

They havent given me any trouble yet, but it seemed people were already taking notice of me. I guess I wasnt very inconspicuous.

Mhmm, I agree, Amelia nodded with a wry smile. With how the Sarlenzia company has been spreading your products in Griffonpeak, the nobles and the wealthy commoners have come to know the taste of our confections. The queue of orders is always too long to read. The Sun Worship cakes and cupcakes are selling faster than we can make them. Once we announce another wave of new pastries, the concert will be overwhelmed by people.

W-Well, since she is currently occupied, I thought it might be good to meet and greet with her most exalted partner first! You are also the source of the recent success of the Sarlenzia companys expansion, so I thought it wise to pose my proposition to you first. To assess your thoughts on it, yes.

I shook my head in disappointment. I finally understood why he was here talking with me.

Then you sadly have the wrong person, Mister Ugene. I might be Lady Amelias partner, but I have nothing to do with the business side of our venture. I only provide her with my recipes and the yeast formula. The people you should be talking to are my party members, Saori and Lady Ellaine Helvas.

Seeing him twitch his eyes, I continued, now knowing he already knew about that. As you should be aware, Mister merchant guild representative, only Saori and Lady Ellaine are registered to the merchant guild as members. Unlike them, I have limited knowledge on how to properly lead a business. As such, I listen to the words of my retainers. Even if I have the final word, I have delegated the responsibility of working with Lady Amelia to them.

Everything I said was the truth, but I added a bit of my Noble Lady Licht persona into the mix to sound imposing. Wording my sentences the correct way was important to make the correct impression, and the one I was aiming for here was that of a graceful princess annoyed by the prattling of an opportunistic merchant.

If you wished to skip the process by speaking with me, then you have failed, Mister Ugene. I am not interested. Any sort of proposition you have may be directed to my retainers; however, if I could give you some advice, pose it to Lady Amelia. If the merchant guild wishes to do business in good faith, prove it on the table. You may leave, now.

B-But, your Imperial High

I know I dont have the authority to order you around, Mister Ugene. I am neither your fief lord nor princess. I am not a person who misuses her status and authority to do whatever she wishes. However, I could name you the next time I speak with Lady Amelia. Say that I do not trust you since you believed I was some naive girl. You may leave, Mister Ugene.

My lady has spoken. Sirs, would you kindly guide these four gentlemen outside the shop? Tasianna requested the branchs employees.

Grrrrr! Rajah kept growling, even conjuring up a white and black magic circle to threaten them to leave.

With Tasianna, Rajah, and me telling them to leave in our own ways, the merchant and his bodyguards left the building reluctantly and dejected. Rajah gave a proud Hmph and jumped back on my lap, holding his head high, proud that he protected me from a sleazy merchant.

What was that? I sighed deeply as I massaged my temples, completely confused at the merchants sudden appearance.

This is our first example of what will happen when we enter Estralia, Lady Hestia, Tasianna told me after finishing my tea.

What do you mean by that? This is supposed to be a common occurrence? I thought commoners hated speaking with nobles?

If we were in Greenveil and Griffonpeak? Yes, that would be the answer. However She then looked at the elated employees and asked them a question. Sirs, if I may have a portion of your time. Would you be able to tell me the dynamic between commoners and nobles in Equevanna and Estralia?

Both employees looked at each other for a moment before nodding to Tasianna.

Well, it is as her Imperial Highness just said. Commoners usually arent too fond of speaking with nobles. W-Well, nothing against Lady Amelia, of course! She is truly benevolent. H-However, this fear doesnt apply to the merchants.

Yes, merchants in Equevanna have a higher position due to the influence of the Republic of Estralia. Merchants know their worth here, allowing them to speak and work with nobles as if they were any other customer. In Estralia, where wealth and influence are worth more than your status at birth, merchants are said to be the ones to rule the republic. Equevanna has adopted this culture, although the Duke and his nobles have the final say on everything. Mostly.

In other words, a plutocracy.

This will be a headache once we

Excuse me, may I speak with Princess Hestia of Kargryx, please?

Another merchant entered. No, it looked like a line was forming outside the shop. Were they the same people who were window shopping before?!

Before I could say anything to them, Rajah jumped off my lap and followed a glaring Tasianna. Tasianna began conjuring up ice swords while Rajah readied another set of white and dark magic circles. Both were ready to shoot somebody!

After some chaotic moments of shouting out threats, the line in front of the shop disappeared. Once Tasianna and Rajah were back inside, both looked at each other and nodded their heads.

Good work, Rajah. You should ask Lady Hestia to grant you a title soon.

[Yes, maid-Sensei. I will be better.]

When the hell did Rajah begin calling Saori and Tasianna sensei?! When did he learn that word?! Urgh, merchants are scary, yo.

Afterwards, I learned that Tasianna and Saori knew this would happen from Muraina and Gael, both having been to Estralia and Ullistar before. Still, I felt a bit insulted that Saori thought I was naive enough to fall for their words, but I ignored it. I didnt want to think about it anymore.

Rajah, I cuddled my virigress. I didnt know you could cast two spells at once. Seeing you cast a holy and dark spell today was a surprise.

Rajah, from being granted protection from Aurena, chose to evolve into a virigress with the ability to cast [Holy Magic] when he had the chance in the forest. After his assimilation into Saoris shadow pack, his race mutated into a [Young Black-Light Virigress], now able to cast both holy and dark spells.

[Sensei. Teach me! Pack. Teach me, too!]

So Saori and her garms have been training them, huh? Mhmm! Urgh, that kinda makes me feel a bit jealous! Arck, why dont I have enough time to train Rajah, too!

I hugged Rajah harder. I was supposed to be his master, but I barely acted as one. Unfortunately, I would not have a lot of free time in the near future either. The concert was in two days and I needed to train Ellaine and Tasianna.

Being busy suuuuuucks.

After the meeting between the others ended, Amelia thanked us for coming and hoped nothing bad happened. The room was apparently protected by soundproof runes, so they didnt hear anything. Shrugging my shoulders, I told her everything that happened.

Haaaaa, merchants she sighed deeply, unaware of the irony in her statement.

After telling Amelia we would meet her for dinner, our group went over to the location of my concert. The helpers Amelia hired were already there, waiting. To not halt the construction for any longer, I quickly unpacked all the pieces of my performance stage from my storage and handed them to the workers.

Under the leadership of Grimnir, the helpers began building everything up. I, on the other hand, returned to the RV. I visited Mothers cave, seeing her still sleeping. She had to sleep but she promised to wake up to watch my concert. When she told me yesterday, it did give me a weird feeling in my chest.

Now that I thought about it, I always wanted Papa and Mama to watch me perform as an idol one day. That was part of my dream. To have them see me on a stage and think, thats our girl. After all the trouble I gave them, it once again made me sad I couldnt do it.

Maybe this was why I wanted to perform for Mother so badly? Not only to show her that there was still joy to find in a long life, but also to satisfy my own wish to make my parents proud? Maybe.

Well, whatever my reason was, I was certain about something. Im gonna give a show people will not be forgetting any time soon!

Its showtime!