The carriage driver had a loose tongue and a loud voice, so over the past few days, I had been able to roughly understand how this operation worked.

Basically, when hiring servants, reference letters and identity certificates are required. These people bought people cheaply, forged documents, and then sold them at a higher price or to those seeking women for other purposes. It was an act that trampled on the boundaries of the law.

If we could get hold of the forged documents and the connection to the Folluk merchant group, it could be a powerful weapon. Striking a blow to the Folluk merchant group was equivalent to striking a blow to Balshwin.

Seeing my expression grow cold, Tom let out a brief sigh.

“I’ll have others handle that, so you go back to the mansion with Jenne. If we delay any longer, Nix will come chasing after us too. You don’t want that, do you?”

For a moment, I couldn’t find words. It wasn’t difficult to deal with Tom and Nix individually, but facing the two of them together was very troublesome.

Despite not getting along particularly well, Tom and Nix always united with one mind and purpose when it came to lecturing me.

“Miss, what should we do with these people?”

As I turned my stiff shoulders, Jenne nodded toward the people who were milling about in confusion. I looked at them briefly.

“Pay what they were bought for and let them go.”

It wouldn’t be more than a few hundred pedir anyway, since they were bought cheaply. Jenne asked in a surprised voice:

“We’re not taking them to the territory?”

“Don’t be stupid. That would be like telling Folluk we raided their carriage.”

When Tom snorted mockingly, Jenne frowned and put her hands on her hips.

“Well, why pay the money then? We could just leave them as is.”

“It’s probably out of sympathy, isn’t it? Though Miss looks like a cold-hearted troublemaker, she has a soft spot.”

“Honestly, aren’t you partly responsible for making Miss a troublemaker?”

“What? What did I do? I’ve dedicated my life to cleaning up after Miss’s mistakes from one moment of poor judgment!”

While half-listening to the two bickering, I suddenly felt a gaze and turned around. The child who had shared the beef jerky with me was standing awkwardly, looking at me.

Seeing that expression, as if checking whether it was okay to speak, I approached the child and bent down.

“You can go wherever you want now. Do you want to go home?”

The child, blinking, shook her head without a moment’s hesitation. Then she carefully grabbed the hem of my sleeve.

“I’ll work hard at whatever you ask me to do. I want to go with you, big sister.”

I could feel the small hand trembling. The round eyes were also shaking. Looking quietly into those eyes, I whispered mischievously:

“Where I am isn’t safe. You could die at any time. Like those people say, I’m a troublemaker who only thinks of myself.”

The child shook her head vigorously again. Then, with a faint smile, she moved her tiny lips:

“That’s okay. No matter where you go, it’s the same—you never know when you’ll die anyway.”

I let out a small laugh at the child’s words. She wasn’t wrong. The street life of a girl without anyone’s protection could sometimes be worse than death.

“Alright. Let’s go then.”

As I grabbed the child’s wrist, Jenne and Tom, who were still arguing, turned to look at me simultaneously. I put the child on the horse first and then gestured.

“Tom, please take care of things here. Jenne, let’s return to the mansion.”

As I mounted behind the child and took the reins, Tom shouted urgently:

“Wa-wait, there you go again, just taking off—Jenne! Don’t forget to make sure Miss eats something in the village on the way!”

“Don’t worry, Jenne’s stomach clock is more accurate than the palace wall clock!”

As I kicked the horse’s belly and started galloping ahead, Jenne’s confident voice faded into the distance. The hood I had been wearing was pushed back by the wind.

The feeling of the refreshing breeze combing through my disheveled hair was pleasant. It seemed summer was drawing closer.

* * *

Many things had happened in the past four years. The Bickman family, which had once attracted attention and been the focus of social circles, had its reputation crumble like a sandcastle swept away by waves due to successive misfortunes.

Since Ulrich paid no attention to family affairs, I had to barely hold onto my desire to let everything go and take care of various matters of the territory with Brook.

However, the Nix merchant group held no particular meaning for me. I told Nix to disband quickly, knowing the count wouldn’t leave them alone, but he refused.

‘I have nothing else to do, so I’ll just continue my work. If something happens to me, that’s fate.’

Having lost his family to the count, he had regained some vitality after resuming his merchant group work at Kirhin’s persuasion. Nix returned to the merchant group, saying he would rather die working than return to a life where he was just living because he couldn’t die.

The count didn’t touch the Nix merchant group, even as Folluk’s sales declined day by day. Since his intentions were unknowable, it couldn’t be called safe, making it feel like walking a tightrope.

I took charge of the merchant group again about a year later. Nix persuaded me, uncharacteristically expressing regret, but I was also looking for a reason to live.

If Lars was alive, I needed to find him, and for that, I needed money and people. Also, if I wanted to take revenge on the count, even with my meager strength, I needed money and people for that too. And the only way for me to secure these was through the merchant group.

For three years, I expanded the power of the Nix merchant group demonstratively. I bought more ships, hired more people, and imported and sold more goods. I didn’t shy away from dangerous tasks.

Needing information circulating in the underworld, I also collected secret rumors from Fatura through Tom. As merchant group people began frequenting Fatura, it was transforming into an information organization that gathered all kinds of information under Tom’s command.

Of course, none of this was easy. This was because a war broke out in the Freemont duchy two years ago.

At that time, the Freemont duchy was ruled by Freemont II, who had been a loyal subject of Freemont I, who had passed away from a plague. Freemont II, who had married Freemont I’s queen as per his wishes, also had two sons, but the situation became unstable when Prince Leon, Freemont I’s son, came of age.

Prince Leon, who had gained power by marrying Miriam from the Heskel family, known for their military strength in Freemont, announced his position on succession as everyone had predicted. Freemont II rejected his proposal and started a war on the pretext of treason.

Various parts of the duchy turned into battlefields, and amid the confusion, nobles in Edmus also raised their voices saying they should intervene in the war. However, Prince Pelowic, who had formed a marriage alliance with the Talis ducal family, relatives of Queen Nagi of Freemont, opposed the war, citing Edmus’s peace.

The reason was that if mishandled, Freemont might turn the arrows of war toward Edmus, prioritizing the country’s crisis.

Dunkel III, the king of Edmus, heeded Pelowic’s words. As an elderly man, he was reluctant to start a war of uncertain duration with little to gain.

Nobles were always vocal, but when war actually broke out, they were cautious about sending their private armies. If they sent too many soldiers, they might face suspicious glances after the war, questioning why they had raised such a large private army.

Moreover, it was questionable whether their swords would truly point at Freemont.

In Edmus, there was the powerful Count Balshwin, and if nobles united around him, it would be a serious problem. In the worst case, not just the duchy but the throne of Edmus could be in danger.

The nobles watched Count Balshwin’s reaction, but since he didn’t particularly rebel, the excited atmosphere gradually subsided. As this ambiguous peace continued, the political situation in Freemont slowly settled. Leon’s forces were winning.

The momentum completely shifted when they captured the castle in the Recto region, which Freemont II and the Duncan family had made their center. Rumors said a talented mercenary commander was leading Leon to victory.

At the same time, Leon sent a message to Pelowic. If he became king, he would pay an annual tribute of 100,000 pedir as a gesture of respect for Edmus, the root of the duchy. For Dunkel III, there was no reason not to accept this flexible and spirited proposal.

Around two years after the war began, Freemont II finally declared surrender. This was when news arrived that Leon’s soldiers and the private armies of nobles supporting him had pushed to the doorstep of the palace.

And Leon inherited the throne, recently becoming Freemont III. Freemont II and his sons were imprisoned in the dungeon, and the property of nobles who had supported him was all confiscated and redistributed.

Queen Nagi, Leon’s mother and the queen of Freemont I and II, renounced all her rights and entered a convent of her own accord. Only then did a semblance of peace return to the Freemont duchy.

For us, who had been carefully and cautiously running the merchant group during this time, it was finally a moment to catch our breath.

“Oh my, Miss!”

Upon arriving at the mansion, Maya with a horrified face and Brook with a resigned expression came out to greet us. Their expressions made it clear what I looked like.

“How can you never once match the date you said you’d return? I’ve come to expect you’ll be a few days late now. And what’s with those shabby clothes…… What happened to the dresses I packed for you? And why is your face half-covered in dirt…… And who is this child?”