“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 Aurena’s 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 duchy’s future,” I greeted him with a nod. Now that my status was pretty much public, I wasn’t 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 church’s pope and the students’ “hero” titles. To the public, we still treated them as Aurena’s heroes and saint candidates, but we knew better.

With my status as a princess of Kargryx, greeting and announcing my visit to a duke’s city was necessary for courtesy’s sake. Fillion’s 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. We’ve 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 shouldn’t need to bow like that. I’m doing it simply because I wanted to,” I tried to dissuade them, but it was ineffective.

“No, please, allow us to show our respect,” Fillion’s wife, Renea, insisted. “After the noble purge and with everything going on, the duchy’s reputation and status have dropped significantly. Merchants, artisans, and even simple workers have begun migrating into the Greenveil and Groushia duchies of late. We’ve 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 Saori’s 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 concert’s 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 didn’t 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 wouldn’t be liked by anybody.

“It’s 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 Asaka’s 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 family’s heads if King Drangleic thought he disrespected me, Artorias’s 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 Saori’s 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 Equevanna’s castle. Our next destination was the Sarlenzia company’s branch in Ullistar.

“We’ll 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 didn’t 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 didn’t come with us on the trip nor did she arrive in Ullistar before us. I just used the nexus to teleport her here.

Amelia wasn’t a particularly strong mage, so naturally she wouldn’t 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 Klea’Hatma 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 isn’t exactly the largest.”

“Don’t 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 subspace’s bakery right now, correct? Have there been any problems on that front?”

“There shouldn’t 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. They’ve been following us the moment we left the castle and noble district.

They haven’t given me any trouble yet, but it seemed people were already taking notice of me. I guess I wasn’t 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.”

“Which is good, since we will now sell tickets for proper seats. The merchants and nobles will scramble to buy them,” Ellaine assessed.

In my first few concerts, we didn’t force people to buy tickets to attend my shows since I was aiming for larger crowds to benefit my [The Light]’s fandom count. The more the merrier. The faster I could acquire followers, the faster I could get to the different milestones for my reward.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

However, with my popularity rising and with the power of the pastries, getting people to attend wasn’t the problem now. As such, from our money-minded members, all of them suggested to me to start selling tickets.

Not to commoners, of course. If we did, that would be a dealbreaker for the majority of them and I didn’t want to risk having a smaller crowd.

The target demographic for these tickets would be the patricians of Artorias — the wealthy and influential. The people who aren’t willing to mingle among the “plebeians,” in other words. These tickets would allow them the privilege to sit on seats separated from the masses, giving them a comfortable experience. It was like selling the higher positioned seats in an opera or orchestra.

Of course, we couldn’t just have wealthy merchants sit with nobles, right? Well, according to Ellaine, this was also another way for us to make money. Separate the wealthy from the super-wealthy, and the schwertnobles from the mag- and greifnobles. Easy way to make money since people are obsessed with showing off their status and wealth, and we appease those who only want to speak with others of the same rank.

Geez, we sound like a bunch of nickel-and-dime economists.

But, money was important for us. Any opportunities we had to make some good amount of cash should be taken. Aside from our equipment and food fees, we also needed the money to buy the ingredients for Farron’s medicine. We had to fix his petrified lungs for Yorshka’s and Priscilla’s sake.

Of course, with my next milestone, I could gain the [Miraculous Grace] spell, which allowed me to regenerate limbs and organs. That most likely could solve Farron’s illness too, if he would allow me to perform surgery on him. Still, just to make sure, we had to make more money as a plan B. If we didn’t need this insurance, then it’s just more funds for us to work with.

“Good, good, okay. Now, my fair ladies, we should probably settle the prices right now. Lady Hestia, Miss Tasianna, would you two mind waiting for us? I shall send somebody with a tea set for you.” Amelia then pointed at a private room for them to speak in.

“True, true! With how the demand has skyrocketed, we need to adjust the prices of the pastries. The factory is struggling to keep up, so we need more money to expand,” Ellaine stated, going into the room without looking back at Tasianna or me. She only had business in her head.

“U-Uhm, we also need to keep the wages for the staff in mind. Quality over quantity should be our priority for the nobles. If we want it to spread organically, we need to give them the best experience ever. And we will need more experienced attendants to satisfy the VIPs. As such, the prices of the tickets should be…” Haruka mumbled, already calculating the prices in her head before they began the meeting. Asaka called her a human calculator, apparently.

“Rajah,” Saori called out the virigress cub from her shadow. “Keep watch over Hestia, alright? Make sure no shady-looking merchant enters and tries to speak with her.”

[“Yes, Sensei! I protect Master.”] Rajah announced loudly to everybody before leaping onto my lap and keeping watch like a guard dog.

Jeez! I am not a child, Saori! I know not to get scammed by some random person!

And with that said, Saori and Amelia were the last to enter the room. As the branch manager of this building closed the door as he joined them, I could hear my friends giggling over talking about money.

“… Lady Hestia, sometimes I do wish I never learned about the importance of currency, ehehe,” Tasianna laughed nervously before beginning to prepare our tea.

“… Money rules the world, right?” I ignored what I had seen and began stroking Rajah. Saori was overprotective, but I couldn’t believe she would think some random person would enter this shop just to solic—

“Ah, you must be her Imperial Highness, Princess Hestia, correct?”

W-What?!

A slightly chubby man dressed from head to toe in garments covered with conspicuous embroideries, looking like somebody with the fashion sense of a mule, entered the shop suddenly. Behind him was an entourage of three mercenaries, most likely the chubby guy’s bodyguards.

“S-Sir, you aren’t allowed to— Urgh!” Two employees stepped into the man’s way and tried to stop him from coming closer, only for his bodyguards to grab their arms and pull them to the side.

With a single bodyguard left, he bowed deeply in an exaggerated manner before he began introducing himself to me.

“I wish you a wonderful and auspicious day, Lady Champion. May I presume— Hueeeeiiiik?!”

“GrriiiGRAAAK!”

But before he could finish his sentence, Rajah jumped off my lap and roared as loudly as he could, scaring the chubby man shitless, prompting his bodyguard to step in front of my virigress and draw his sword.

“Stop.”

Before a confrontation could happen, a large icicle spear suddenly appeared out of nowhere, aiming the mercenary down. Turning around, I saw Tasianna had taken her catalyst out and materialized a spell.

“You are in the presence of my lady. If any of your mercenaries dare make another false move, I shall make sure none of you four will leave this shop with a warm body.” The temperature in the room lowered as Tasianna made that threat, glaring at all four intruders with no mercy.

“L-Lower your weapon,” the merchant commanded his mercenary, and he obeyed. “P-Princess Hestia, I am just a humble merchant. I do not wish you any ill. Yes, yes! I am here to tell you of a lucrative proposition, my lady.”

“Insolent human!” Tasianna’s hatred for humans was showing there. “You are speaking with an Imperial Princess of Kargryx here, and you dare speak in such a tone to her? After your mercenary almost dared attack one of our own?”

[“You. Dangerous! Sensei calls you ‘shady’!”] Rajah continued growling.

Looking at the situation, I was beginning to question how it even happened in the first place. Before it could escalate any further, I chimed in and told Tasianna and Rajah to lower their guards for now. Rajah wanted to protest but Tasianna quickly told him to listen to his mistress.

“T-Thank you, your Imperial Highness,” the merchant laughed nervously before bowing in apology for his mercenaries’ behavior. “My name is Ugene Lafreet, and I am one of the representatives of the Equevanna merchant’s guild. I personally lead the luxury product division and am responsible for the regulation of them inside our honored duke’s fief.”

Luxury products? Huh, well, I guess that answers why he looked rich.

“And, what do you want with me?” I asked, now completely suspicious of this person’s motives.

A representative as wealthy-looking as him wouldn’t personally meet up with me like this, although I guess it was more respectful than sending some random messenger? I wasn’t entirely sure about the etiquette protocols here.

“Well, I have heard that the illustrious Lady Ellaine of House Greenveil exited your carriage this morning. As such, may I presume she is here to further your partnership with the Sarlenzia company?” I nodded to his question. “Fantastic news! Please, allow me to say that the pastry recipes you have given to the Sarlenzia company were fantastic. My wife and daughters have praised it so many times my ears might fall off, hahahaha!”

Placing his hand on his protruding stomach, he laughed merrily all by himself. All while his mercenaries were staring warily at a smiling Tasianna.

He continued his pitch, “As such, I would like to propose a partnership with Equevanna’s merchant guild. I can see the Sarlenzia company wishing to expand into the duchy after the, well, power vacuum. As you must know, the Greenveil and Equevanna nobles aren’t too friendly with each other. They will pose a hurdle to the young Lady Amelia and her grandfather, Newt. However, with our support—”

“Then why aren’t you talking this over with Lady Amelia?”

But the pitch has gotten a bit too long for my liking. Should practice your elevator pitch, dude.

“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 company’s 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 Amelia’s 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 don’t 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 branch’s 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 merchant’s 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 aren’t too fond of speaking with nobles. W-Well, nothing against Lady Amelia, of course! She is truly benevolent. H-However, this fear doesn’t 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 didn’t want to think about it anymore.

“Rajah,” I cuddled my virigress. “I didn’t 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 Saori’s 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 don’t 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 didn’t 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 Mother’s 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, “that’s our girl.” After all the trouble I gave them, it once again made me sad I couldn’t 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. I’m gonna give a show people will not be forgetting any time soon!

It’s showtime!