I wasn’t sure if I should just be honest with her or if that was a bad idea. I started to feel like it might seem patronizing, so I decided to just gloss over the issue for now.

“It’s an area I’m already familiar with and I should be able to do things my way there. The area has strong ties with Eclair’s father, and it’s unlikely that anyone would have a problem with me getting involved there.”

Raphtalia and I sat there in silence for a few moments. Finally, she let out a sigh of resignation.

“Understood. We’ll just leave it at that.”

“We’ll round up some slaves starting with those that you know, Raphtalia. It will be easier to fight with people you’re already familiar with. After that, we’ll move on to other, ordinary slaves. Once we’ve established a respectable amount of fighting power there, we can consider training the castle soldiers or something.”

I wanted to train the slaves and develop enough fighting power that we would be able to easily defeat Glass and the others should it come to that.

“At the same time . . . muhahaha . . .”

This meant that Raphtalia’s friends would have to join my private army if they wanted to return to their precious village. I was basically holding the territory hostage.

“You’re trying to act all bad again. Let me guess—something about hostages?”

Yikes. She had completely seen through me.

“Hehe . . . You two are like an old married couple.”

Rishia went and dropped a real bombshell. Although, it was true that I had spent more time with Raphtalia than anyone else in this world, so she probably did understand me better than anyone. We were nothing like a married couple, though.

“Wh . . . wh . . . what is that supposed to mean?!”

Raphtalia’s face turned red in embarrassment as she shouted at Rishia. Just like I thought, any talk of love or romance really ruffled Raphtalia’s feathers. Rishia had stepped on a landmine.

Raphtalia may have started out as a child and a slave, but she had an exceptionally kind heart and always looked out for others. She’d lost her family and her village had been taken from her, so it was easy to imagine the sorrow she might have felt. That was why she was fighting—to ensure that no one else would have to end up in a situation like hers.

Driven by such a noble goal, Raphtalia undoubtedly had no interest in things like love and romance. Not to mention that, even though she may have looked like an adult, she was still a child in terms of age. She wasn’t even old enough to be interested in boys yet. I guess since Rishia was in love with Itsuki, for better or worse, her female mind would be sensitive to stuff like that.

“That’s right, Rishia. Raphtalia doesn’t like those kinds of jokes. Best be careful.”

“M . . . Mr. Naofumi . . .”