Isabella

A few days later, a Dragon Spawn arrived from Iorga.

“Greetings. My name is Isabella Iorga, and I have been dispatched here. Starting today, I will be performing administrative duties at Valdrova Castle.”

As befitted a descendant of Iorga, the pair of horns on her forehead was round and nonthreatening.

Her eyes were sharp, and her every movement was disciplined, making her seem like a strict dormitory warden at first glance.

He had heard that a Spawn would be arriving, but there was one discrepancy in the paperwork.

“I heard about that, but I was told the Spawn coming here would be named Yuria.”

“I volunteered in Yuria’s place. Rest assured, as Chief Erika’s senior secretary, I take pride in being far more capable of performing this mission than Yuria. Within the tower, I am known as the ruthless secretary.”

Isabella adjusted her glasses and put on a solemn expression.

He could tell that she was overflowing with confidence in herself, but he had no way of knowing whether she was actually as capable as she claimed.

He already knew all too well how arrogant Dragon Spawns could be.

“Anyway, understood.”

“The alliance proclamation ceremony is scheduled for a week from now. It will be based on a document personally signed by Lady Blancaros, and we will announce it throughout the continent of Cerdès. Do you have any questions?”

“I have already heard the details in writing from Chief Erika, so there is nothing in particular I am curious about.”

“Understood. Please review the terms of the alliance to be presented to the chief and affix your seal.”

Since it was an important document, Ferda checked every letter before stamping it with the royal seal.

He thought that was the end of it, but another document flew over and came to rest before him.

“This document is a consent form for the authority required by an administrator. This is a letter of delegation granting me judicial and tax-collection authority, as well as the authority to make decisions whenever subcontracting is necessary for administrative work….”

The contents of the document were simple enough to summarize.

Ferda would personally approve major matters such as tax collection, law enforcement, and diplomacy, while she, as the administrator, would directly handle minor matters, private disputes, the system for managing tax collectors, and the like.

“That concludes all the documents concerning delegated authority.”

“Is that all?”

“This is only the beginning. We need to carefully review the castle’s security classifications. Apart from permanent residents and staff, I will send all menial workers and unranked personnel outside. And—”

After that, they discussed the castle’s administrative affairs.

She explained at length how the changes she had discussed with Mori would work in practice, persuading Ferda with arguments based on efficiency and appearance.

As their discussion of the castle’s administration drew to a close, Isabella casually looked out the window.

Below them stretched a forest devoid of the sounds of beasts.

“I had heard about it, but it seems Valdrova Castle really does not have a city at its foot.”

“I hear ordinary people would have a hard time living here.”

“Where do you plan to house the adventurers?”

“Would Count Consilius’s domain not suffice?”

“That is not a good idea.”

Isabella answered coldly.

“When building national power, population takes priority over capital and food. We must begin designing a city around here so that we can accommodate adventurers.”

“I heard ordinary people would have difficulty living near here. It seems you are overlooking that.”

“That would be true if there were no experts capable of using magic. I will request that the Blue-Eyed Mages dispatch a mage in charge of maintaining the magic circles. Of course, this would be employment, so I will prepare a budget and have it approved so that we can form a magic squad. If we can dispel the unease caused by the dragon’s fear, this city would be fit to serve as a capital.”

A capital….

Those were the words Olivia Arken had spoken.

She wanted this place to become a second capital.

That was supposed to happen someday, but was it not too soon?

“What about pressure from the Empire?”

“That would be like refusing to brew soy sauce because you are afraid of maggots. They will not dare interfere. Adventurers will gather in the Land of Demons, and their gathering will naturally lead to the formation of a city. Since this is being done in the name of conquering the East, if they dare try to stop it, Iorga will make its opposition known.”

The Empire might have viewed Valdrova as little more than a guard dog protecting its home, but Iorga was a group of mages with influence throughout the continent.

Ferda was satisfied by their promise to properly support them.

“We need to recruit merchant houses, but it seems Your Excellency has already brought one in. The Pascal Trading Company, correct?”

“Correct.”

“One large merchant house will not be enough. Even if we cannot trade with the western merchant houses, we must actively conduct trade in the north and south as well.”

“I suppose I will have to discuss that with Stephan.”

“I will handle it as the administrator. I should be able to find a satisfactory compromise with the Pascal Trading Company.”

“Please do so.”

More matters continued to pour out without pause.

Road reforms, investment funds and donations, urban-planning strategies, and so on.

Ferda thought he had studied fairly hard in his own way, but compared to Isabella, he was only a drop in the bucket.

She smoothly voiced new ideas one after another, making use of everything Ferda had at exactly the right points.

‘She really is worthy of being called a senior secretary.’

Rather than playing with words through rhetoric, she summarized only the essentials and conveyed exactly what was needed.

She dealt with important matters decisively and minor matters flexibly, emphasizing practical benefit.

‘I thought I was getting a chicken instead of a pheasant, but a phoenix has descended instead.’

She was unquestionably a trustworthy talent.

She was so trustworthy that it was almost frightening.

‘Why did someone this capable come to this castle?’

That was what Ferda wanted to know.

If a Spawn named Yuria had come, he would have assumed Erika had sent her, but Isabella had volunteered.

The descendants of Iorga were Dragon Spawns.

At their core was an overwhelming pride in being fundamentally different from everyone else.

They were especially proud of the Blue-Eyed Mages created by Iorga, and hated leaving the magic tower with a passion.

Being dispatched to Valdrova Castle was effectively the same as being exiled.

Was there really a reason for such a capable secretary to come to a place of exile?

While he was thinking about that, Isabella organized the documents spread across the desk.

“For now, this is enough for a brief overview. We will draw up the roadmap together later. Let us wrap up today’s work lightly. Thank you for your hard work.”

“All right. Good work.”

“May I ask you one question?”

Isabella asked with a solemn expression.

“Do you happen to enjoy drinking, Your Excellency?”

“I do not touch alcohol.”

When Ferda answered curtly, Isabella’s body flinched slightly.

The woman who had been speaking so smoothly suddenly looked flustered.

“I should have addressed this possibility in advance, but this castle has not declared Prohibition or anything like that, has it?”

“No. I simply do not drink.”

“I see. Understood.”

She immediately looked relieved.

For some reason, that sight irritated Ferda, so he asked her a question.

“Do you enjoy drinking?”

“I drink a little. Alcohol after work is especially enjoyable.”

“Hmm. I see.”

Even if their species differed, a mage was a mage.

A mage’s friends were alcohol and women.

No one complained if a mage enjoyed both, so indulging in one of them was certainly acceptable.

Knock, knock.

Someone knocked and entered the office.

It was Luri, a girl wearing a maid’s uniform.

“Lord Ferda, there is someone at the castle gate… Hm?”

She had been on her way to deliver some message when she spotted Isabella, and her gaze was drawn toward her.

“So you are the person who was dispatched here for Lady Valdrova.”

Luri frowned and walked toward Isabella.

When she stopped with roughly three paces between them, the difference in their height was obvious.

But Luri did not back down and engaged in a battle of wills.

“Since this is your first day here, I will make this clear. No one has served this castle more than I have. If you remove or replace anything without my consent, you will not be able to avoid friction.

The atmosphere was utterly serious.

It was forged from a firm resolve to start a war if anyone so much as touched her belongings.

Ferda saw it a little differently.

‘She is like a dog marking its territory.’

Preconceptions were truly frightening things.

All Ferda could see was a Chihuahua yapping.

Isabella looked down at Luri.

Her rational eyes gleamed as she opened her mouth.

“Small and neat….”

“Pardon?”

She adjusted her glasses with her middle finger and spoke.

She said the words she had just uttered coldly, as though Luri had misheard them.

“I heard that you, Luri Silverwind, handle all the work involved in managing this place.”

“That is correct.”

“From now on, I will call you Miss Luri. I have confirmed that your standards of cleanliness are higher than those of our magic tower. However, the administrative work is five minutes from becoming a complete disaster. There are many things that do not suit efficiency or practical benefit.”

“Nitpicking over such things does not suit a dragon’s dignity.”

“We will have to nitpick. Of all the dragons we have confirmed, Lady Valdrova has the least wealth. It is enough to make us despair over the budget we originally planned to set.”

“So you are dissatisfied?”

“Rather than dissatisfied, I mean that proper financial management is necessary.”

The remark about having little wealth irritated him, but he could not bring himself to argue.

In fact, Valdrova had always lived without any interest in rare treasures.

“There will be changes within the castle for the sake of administrative reform, but I will visit Miss Luri and ask for her understanding beforehand. Will that be acceptable?”

“If you do that, I have no objections.”

“Understood. Then I will be going now. I will see you tomorrow, Regent Ferda.”

“Very well.”

The sound of her heels echoed across the marble.

As befitted the senior secretary of the prestigious Iorga magic tower, she withdrew with an elegant gait.

Luri watched her back with an expression of disgust.

“I dislike that woman.”

“Are you jealous?”

“No. Why would I be jealous of those water lizards? She simply makes me uncomfortable.”

Luri had felt something strange whenever Isabella looked at her.

She had clearly won, yet somehow it did not feel like a victory.

It came from the strange discomfort caused by the gaze beyond those glasses.

Of course, Ferda was not interested in that.

He merely thought she was jealous.

“So did you come here to mark your territory?”

“Please do not speak of me as if I were a stray dog prowling around the neighborhood. Director Escolleia has arrived.”

Director Escolleia.

In exchange for saving his life, Ferda had been promised the blueprint for a device that could predict the emergence of demonkin.

He had deliberately refrained from pressuring him because there had been important matters to handle, but it seemed he had not forgotten.

“He must have come a long way, so entertain him appropriately first. Tell him I will see him in two hours.”

“Understood.”

Luri withdrew.

Ferda wanted to take a brief rest, but he also had another matter to attend to.

On Ferda’s desk lay a crystal ball.

The crystal ball, engraved with communication magic, was blinking.

That meant someone was trying to contact him.

Ferda placed his hand on the crystal and received the telepathic message.

-Hello, Regent Ferda.

It was Erika Iorga.

“Yes, Chief Iorga.”

-You will not cut off the telepathic call this time, will you?

“If you wish, I can cut it off right now.”

-Let us not be so cold. We are about to become allies, are we not? I received the document confirming that you reviewed the alliance terms.

“Is that why you are contacting me?”

-I am also taking care of something else. Someone other than Yuria went, correct?

“Yes. She said her name was Isabella.”

-Yes, that is right. What do you think? If you do not like her, I can send Yuria as originally planned.

For some reason, it sounded as though Erika wanted to reclaim her senior secretary, and Ferda instinctively felt resistant.

“There is no need for that. I think she is exactly the capable person we need.”

-That is right, she is good at her job. After all, she is my senior secretary. She is so interested in practical work that she hid her identity, secretly went to Escolleia, and earned a doctorate. But….

She let out a long sigh.

“Is there a problem?”

-No. Let us not talk about this. It is probably better for you to find out gradually. It is not that there is anything wrong with that girl.

She is perfect at work, after all.

The more she muttered like that, the more curious she made him.

What on earth was wrong with that woman for Erika to act like this?

She must be the sort who was troublesome, but not in any way that caused problems at work.

-As promised, the proclamation will take place a week from now. Since you have that much time, make sure you prepare properly.

“Understood.”

-Then. For the sake of our alliance, I will contact you often from now on.

Erika spoke in a voice that seemed to carry a bright smile, then ended the telepathic call.

‘The proclamation is a week away….’

They said that the beginning was half the work.

Ferda foresaw a mountain of paperwork.

It would be troublesome, but it was not a bad thing.

This, too, was for Valdrova.

Ferda looked outside.

For now, there was only a forest densely overgrown with trees.

It would be filled with buildings and people.

People and carriages would move frantically through the streets, singing Valdrova’s name and praising her.

Therefore, Ferda would endure this hardship.

For my one and only fiancée.