Just some 3 years ago, if one asked around at the captial of the Holy Shushunu Kingdom, Rishu, about famous clans, one would surely received many different answers.
There was the small but powerful Swallow Clan. Among the bigger clans, there was the Proud Clan (Leon Heart Clan), which focused on war and accepted even demihumans among their ranks. The Burning Bright Moons (Red Moon) that focused their activities in the desert. The Clan Coalition of the Red King (Red King) that took in many different clans.
And then there was the Dagger of Webrus and the Shadow of the New Moon that even dealt with assassinations. There was also the smaller but deeply unified clan, the Soar to Freedom (Elks Clan), and the Short Sword Battle Maiden (Valkyria).
But within the short span of just three years, these famous clans vanished one after another.
As the Leon Heart Clan declined, they migrated west, while the Red King can no longer maintain the coalition after Brandika’s passing. The Elks Clan has already been destroyed, while the Swallow Clan has narrowed down its activities to the Oceanic Kingdom Yarma.
The Dagger of Webrus and the Shadow of the New Moon were also out of the question. The Dagger of Webrus were destroyed by the remnants of the Elks Clan, while the Shadow of the New Moon found a new employer and moved there. The Red Moon Clan rallied the small clans and attacked the weakened Germion Kingdom.
Most of the clans that once livened up the Holy Shushunu Kingdom were now gone.
Only the Valkyria Clan remained the same.
They were a clan with 2,000 members and worked mainly on mercenary operations. Their current clan leader was Far Ramfado, the second clan leader since their conception.
Far Ramfado is a beautiful woman at the young age of 28. Her hair dazzled a silver-hue, while her eyes were stiff and slackless. There was a strictness about her that caused anyone she looked at to straighten their back.
She was tall for a woman, and the way she looked dressed in armor was no inferior to the men. This woman who possessed the charisma to bring together a clan and was herself fairly skilled proceeded to unseal an envelope she received from the guild despite her confusion.
A letter from the guild was rarely a good thing. It could be about a member of her clan that caused trouble, a subjugation request to eliminate a bandit misrepresenting himself, or an S-Rank job.
As soon as she saw the seal on the letter, her face cramped.
“An S Rank job.”
A breath left her lips as she heaved a deep sigh.
Fortunately, there was only her in the room. She usually wore a calm expression, but given the circumstances, it couldn’t be helped that even that cold face of hers slackened. For a while, she considered tearing the letter and throwing it away, but in the end, she resigned to her fate and opened it.
“…”
She sighed again. It is said that sighs bring misfortune, but that was clearly a superstition given how eager misfortune was to visit her without sighing.
By the time she left her room, she had already regained her calm expression. She made her way to the guild.
When she got there, the executives that managed the headquarters of the guild were already waiting at a room. Every one of them was a distinguished person. The vice president of the guild and all the representatives of the guild branches were present. If the president of the guild himself were here, then one could easily presume that they had gathered here for the general meeting that occurred once a year.
Far wryly smiled.
Only, she kept that wry smile in her mind and made sure that her face remained stern on the outside. She waited for the executives to speak.
“There’s only one reason why we would call you out here. We want you to take on a job.”
“What kind of job?”
“Enter an enemy territory and take the head of a certain enemy. If we were to put it briefly, it would be something like that.”
“I refuse.”
Far refused the job without so much as moving her brows.
“You!”
One of the branch heads became visibly angry and yelled at her, but the vice president stopped him.
“This is not a job that can be refused. Neither you nor the guild have the right to refuse it.”
“…”
Far quietly analyzed the information she had been given. War has broken out with the goblins, and now the guild wants to send her to a hostile region to claim the head of one of the kingdom’s enemies. Anyone could figure it out with just a little thinking.
These people wanted to send her to the goblin territory to kill their boss.
But it was precisely because Far didn’t want to use her clan for something like that that she immediately refused, but if not even the guild could refuse the request, then that could only mean one thing. The client was none other than the House of Ririnoie.
“You’ll do it, right?”
The vice president of the guild glared at her, but she refused to nod her head.
“No.”
They were basically telling her to go and die, but she had 2,000 lives to protect. It was true that the guild helped them find work, but they wouldn’t throw their lives away for no reason.
The vice president continued to glare at Far for a while before eventually sighing and throwing a card at her.
“Write whatever sum you want. When you’re done, go to the room inside. The client is waiting.”
“…We’ll take the payment in advance.”
“As you wish.”
Far wrote down an amount that could cover all the expenses of the clan and keep it going, then she threw the card back to the vice president of the guild. After that she went to the room she was told about. As soon as she entered, the fragrant aroma of black tea wafted to her nose.
For a moment, Far found her consciousness leaving her because of that strong aroma, but she quickly recovered and turned to the master of the room.
“You look well, Far.”
“…Clan Leader, it’s been awhile. My apologies for not contacting you.”
“It’s fine. There’s no need for such stiff formalities.”
As Blanche the War Princess’s blonde hair fell to her waist and she elegantly enjoyed her cup of tea, Far knelt before her and greeted her.
“And I’m not the clan leader anymore. Word has gotten around, Far. It seems you’re doing rather well as the clan leader.”
“I have yet to catch up with the shadow of the clan leader.”
“Like I said. I’m no longer the clan leader.”
Blanche wryly smiled, but Far was so formal in front of her that she resembled a knight before its king. In the end, Far compromised to calling her Blanche-sama.
“That will do. Now then, let us talk about this job.”
“If it’s for your sake, Blanche-sama, then I will gladly surrender my life…”
“There’s no need to panic. Just listen first.”