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Grazia

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The Margraviate, located at the northwestern edge of the continent, was the least developed region on the continent, excluding the eastern grasslands of the Horse Tribes. It was a lawless land where savage beasts and bandits roamed freely. To eradicate those bandits, the Margrave of Schlossberg dispatched a Subjugation Force. Among the expedition was an adventurer introduced by the Adventurers' Guild, claiming to be an "S-Class." The hero confronted the bandit gang and raised his magnificent greatsword toward the heavens. "Bandits who torment the people! If you do not fear this hero's blade, then come at me! Thunder! Grant me your power!!" Suddenly, from the dark clouds overhead, a massive bolt of lightning struck the hero's greatsword! Both the bandits and the Subjugation force were stunned by the deafening thunder and blinding flash. "Ohhh! Incredible! Such is the Hero's power!" The expedition's morale soared, while the bandits' morale plummeted. However, the hero never answered the cheers of the expedition... He simply collapsed to the ground. His body had been burned pitch black. "What?! What 'power of thunder'?! You just got struck by lightning!!" The bandits burst into laughter, clutching their stomachs. In an instant, the morale of both sides completely reversed. The bandits charged the expedition. The poor self-proclaimed hero's charred remains were mercilessly trampled beneath their feet, and the Subjugation force fled without putting up much of a fight. "Damn it! So he was all show! I thought this'd be easy money, but I'd have been better off staying a bandit!" One of the retreating men cursed bitterly. Most of the expedition were not regular soldiers but mercenaries, and they too had been hired through the Adventurers' Guild. "Father!! What is the meaning of this pathetic report?!" Grazia slammed the expedition's report onto the mahogany desk. "The Subjugation force fled without even putting up a proper fight? And the expensive S-Class adventurer ended up burned pitch black?! What kind of American joke is this?!" "A... Ame...? What is that supposed to be? In any case, calm yourself, Grazia." The Margrave, whom she called Father, wiped the sweat from his brow as he tried to calm his daughter. "How can I possibly remain calm?! The contract fee for that charred hero! The wages for those mercenaries! Do you have any idea how heavily these expenses burden our treasury?! And they've never once done work worthy of the money they receive! They're nothing but freeloaders!!" Grazia punctuated every sentence by repeatedly pounding the desk. The Margrave wanted to argue, but everything she said was true, leaving him speechless. "If you're going to waste money like that, then buy your daughter more dresses instead! I've only received two this month!" The Margrave hurriedly protested. "Now hold on! That would be an even greater burden on the treasury!" "Father, fashion is forever changing! Keeping up with it is simply the duty of a noble! Otherwise I'll be mocked as nothing more than some country girl from the frontier! Are you saying you'd be perfectly content watching your daughter become the laughingstock of high society?!" Unable to answer, the Margrave could only listen as Grazia pressed on relentlessly. "Money spent on your daughter is an investment. Money spent on mercenaries is no different than throwing it into a cesspit. Can you truly not understand such a simple difference, Father?!" The Margrave buried his face in his hands. Perhaps... he had spoiled his daughter a little too much. "Listen carefully, Father. Mercenaries are no different from bandits. They merely choose whichever line of work is easier to make money at that particular moment. The government is simply being taken advantage of by them!" "E-Even if that were true... what exactly do you expect us to do about it?" The Margrave looked utterly at a loss. "Isn't it obvious?! We shall crush the Adventurers' Guild—the very organization that stands behind those bandits! Oooh-hohohoho!!" "Wipe out... the Adventurers' Guild?! Daughter, what are you thinking?! The majority of our nation's military strength comes through the Adventurers' Guild's referrals! What do you expect to do without them?!" "Father, you truly are slow-witted!! Once the Adventurers' Guild—the root of the problem—is gone, the bandits will disappear as well, and there will no longer be any need to hire mercenaries! All this time you've been raising bandits with public funds! Had you invested that budget in your daughter's dresses and commercial development instead, this nation would be far more prosperous by now!!" "Now, now, now!! Your dresses have nothing to do with this!!" Ignoring her father's protest, Grazia walked out of the room. She had already given up on her weak-willed father. "Shinobu! Shinobu!" "...Yes, milady." The moment Grazia called, a ninja clad in black appeared from seemingly nowhere. "How did it go?" "As ordered... We ambushed and confiscated the funds being transported by Guild personnel—the hero's contract fee, the advance payment for his reward, and this season's mercenary payroll." "Excellent work, Shinobu. We have no obligation to pay those who never perform the work they're paid for... I'll put those funds to proper use instead..." Grazia paused in thought, her expression growing serious. "Shinobu, let me ask you something frankly.... Can you assassinate the master of the Adventurers' Guild?" "...It would be a trivial task. However, I see no purpose in carrying it out. One incompetent fool would simply be replaced by another." Shinobu answered precisely, without saying anything unnecessary. That was one of the qualities Grazia admired most in her ninja. "I see... Then I suppose only a nadegiri will do." "nadegiri" was an Imperial idiom Shinobu had taught her, meaning to slaughter everyone. "...My Lady, you speak of a nadegiri... but if they were simply offered other employment, might some of them not be worth reusing?" Though Shinobu knew Grazia rarely withdrew one of her decisions, she asked anyway. "Then answer me this, Shinobu. If the ninja village you escaped from welcomed you back with open arms, would you return and devote your loyalty to them once again?" ".........No." Shinobu shook her head without hesitation. "Precisely." To Grazia, the Adventurers' Guild, which served as a shelter for bandits, had become nothing less than a nest of dangerous elements. "Jij!! Where is Jij?! We're going on an inspection! You will accompany me!!" The doors of the Adventurers' Guild burst open with a loud bang. There stood Grazia, hands on her hips. "Your bandit-infested Adventurers' Guild is finished as of today! Surrender yourselves peacefully! Oooh-hohohoho!!" Inside, several rough-looking men were lazily drinking straight from bottles. The moment they noticed Grazia, they growled, "Huh?!" Jij let out an involuntary sigh. Wasn't this supposed to be an inspection...? As Grazia proudly puffed out her chest, several large men surrounded the entrance. Naturally, every one of them was glaring at her. "T-Today shall be declared a draw! Jij! We are advancing... in the opposite direction!" Jij immediately advanced toward the rear at full speed together with Grazia. Behind them, the roughnecks gave chase, roaring incoherently. Grazia stopped where she would not be surrounded, with the carriage at her back. "Huff... Huff... Persistent rabble...Shinobu!! Jij!! Finish them off!!"