“That’s right. Isn’t it about time you raised your own banner?”
Those words meant something entirely different to the young lady.
‘What? I’m about to raise my own flag? What flag?’
Lai En took one look at her blank stare and furrowed brow and knew her mind had wandered off onto some strange tangent again.
Sometimes she came up with astonishingly clever strategies, but most of the time…
“It’s not a death flag, is it?!”
The young lady gasped, instantly on high alert.
“Like, ‘After this battle, I’m going back home to get married’ or something?!”
“Who are you marrying?!”
Lai En nearly choked.
He pressed a hand to his temple, feeling it start to throb again.
“What on earth are you thinking about all day long?”
“Just… trying to avoid all possible death flags?”
Alicia shrank her neck and mumbled.
Deep breath, another deep breath.
Lai En barely restrained himself from flinging the fruit from his plate at her head, feeling utterly drained.
“What I meant was, it’s about time you had your own family coat of arms and banner. How about designing a personal crest for yourself?”
“Oh, a family crest…”
The young lady seemed relieved, then crossed her arms in thought.
In this world, for a noble to bestow the core element of their own crest upon a retainer, or personally design a crest for them, was the highest form of recognition and favor.
It symbolized the sovereign accepting the other as family.
Lai En had originally planned to give her the Double-Headed Eagle Emblem of the Maximilian Family, but seeing her deep in thought, his lips moved, but the words stayed unspoken.
As for Alicia?
Hearing she could design her own crest, she perked up immediately.
She grabbed a blank sheet of paper from Lai En’s desk, picked up a quill, and without a second thought drew a swastika.
Lai En’s expression shifted instantly.
“Alicia… Do you have any connection to the Church?”
“No? Why?”
The young lady was full of question marks.
‘Come on, that’s a Buddhist symbol where I’m from. Even if you mirror it and rotate it forty-five degrees, it’s at most associated with some mustachioed guy. What does that have to do with the Church in this world?’
“If you remove the four corners from that symbol, isn’t it exactly the Church’s Upright Cross Symbol?”
When the young lady had first crossed over, she’d nearly been hung up by the Church like a weather charm.
If her family crest could be interpreted as having ties to the Church, there was no way she could use it!
In her heart, the Church was already an enemy!
‘The Church are enemies… Then my crest has to oppose the Church!’
So with a grand sweep of her hand, she sketched a somewhat abstract silhouette of an Evil Dragon on the paper.
The corner of Lai En’s mouth twitched.
“Let’s not even talk about your drawing skills… Are you really sure you want an Evil Dragon as your family crest?”
“That’s right! Majestic and fierce, claws bared! Most importantly, it’s a direct declaration of war against the Church.”
The young lady splayed her fingers like claws.
“Will the Church’s holy sword slay the Evil Dragon first, or will the Evil Dragon’s flames burn the Church to ashes first?”
“You’ve chosen a difficult path for yourself.”
Lai En took the crookedly drawn dragon picture, but a smile crept onto his lips.
“But that’s fine. I’ve been fed up with them for a long time anyway.”
“When lord and retainer work together, the Church? Just a bunch of charlatans!”
The young lady waved her hand dismissively, her arrogance swelling.
“These feudal… uh, stubborn old forces will be crushed by the wheels of history sooner or later!”
“Alright, alright, don’t get too cocky.”
Lai En shook his head amusedly and set the drawing aside carefully.
“I’ll have someone refine this drawing, make it neat and imposing, and turn it into a banner for you. So next—”
He leaned forward slightly, fingers interlaced on the desk.
“Have you thought of a family name? A proper noble needs a respectable surname.”
The young lady immediately deflated.
By Earth’s traditions, a man never changes his name, but this wasn’t Earth, and she wasn’t a man anymore.
Besides, this world had its own customs.
If she gave herself a surname like Yang, Li, or Zhang, it would obviously be out of place.
Most importantly, the young lady suffered from name-picking difficulty.
Even choosing a username took her ages, and now she had to pick a surname that would be passed down for generations, even recorded in history, and she couldn’t change it?
‘This is killing me!’
Her eyes began to drift, her fingers unconsciously twirling a lock of hair.
“Dragon?”
“Are you really going to just call yourself the Dragon family? Be serious, Alicia!”
Lai En felt his temple start throbbing again.
The young lady pouted and sank back into a long silence.
‘…Is it really that hard?’
Lai En, who absolutely could not understand ‘name-picking difficulty,’ was somewhat speechless.
He waited a while, but when she still hadn’t come up with anything, he tentatively spoke.
“If you really can’t decide… I could offer a few suggestions.”
The young lady’s eyes lit up as if she’d grabbed a lifeline.
“Yes, yes, yes! Please do, my lord! I’m terrible at naming things!”
‘Whether it’s the castle or the army, I’d better not let her name anything from now on…’
Making a mental note, Lai En tapped the desk lightly.
“Brunhild, how about that?”
“Huh?”
The young lady looked disappointed.
“That doesn’t sound cool at all. I was hoping for something like Ludendorff, Himmler, Richthofen…”
Lai En couldn’t stop the corner of his mouth from twitching.
“…Why are you so familiar with the surnames of those major nobles from the Empire? Do you know those big shots?”
‘…So those surnames are already taken…’
The young lady pursed her lips.
“No, I just heard them somewhere. Hey, my lord, pick another one?”
“You’re quite picky!”
Lai En leaned back, cupping his chin as he thought.
“Right now, you’re just a lowly Baroness. That minor title doesn’t qualify for the honorific ‘von,’ and you don’t have an actual fief, so you can’t use a place name as a surname… Hmm…”
The young lady felt cheated.
‘He said he’d get me a title, but it turns out to be just a tiny little noble!’
“Ah! Hildebrand, how about that?”
Lai En’s eyes lit up.
“That’s fine…”
The young lady shrugged, accepting it readily.
“I’ll go with whatever my lord decides.”
The important matters were settled.
Lai En then summoned a scribe to draft a letter to be sent to the Senate.
Seeing that she was no longer needed, Alicia decided to make a swift exit.
She still had a burning issue on her mind!
Her long-awaited firearm project finally had progress!
Xindeli might be a bit absent-minded in other areas, seemed a little dense, but he and his brother were true master craftsmen.
The shame of their previous failure had driven them both.
This time, they seemed to have finally produced a reasonably safe and stable sample of a firearm!
Alicia brought Andrew, mounted their horses, and cheerfully galloped toward the testing ground on the outskirts.
But the hurried young lady completely missed lunchtime, and her stomach started growling loudly.
Faced with Andrew’s reproachful gaze, the young lady felt a bit embarrassed.
Fortunately, there was a village ahead where they could grab something to eat at a roadside inn.
A few minutes earlier.
On a country road, two figures walked one behind the other, their steps somewhat hesitant.
The man in front had a rough face with a thick beard.
At first glance, he seemed rather coarse, but upon closer inspection, a quietness settled in his deep-set eyes, contrasting with his appearance.
The burly man following at his side wore no armor, only a heavy woodcutter’s axe at his waist.
He was broad-shouldered and muscular, but his movements were stiff as wood, and his eyes darted around incessantly.
“Hey, relax. You’ve got ‘suspicious’ written all over your face. Are you trying to make sure the patrol notices us?”
The man in front lowered his voice, his tone displeased.
The burly man tensed even more.
“I… General… Brother, I’m trying to relax, but this is enemy territory after all. Better to be cautious!”
“Right now, we’re just two passing travelers.”
The man called brother frowned, his beard twitching.
“Just pretend you’re really out here chopping wood!”
“Chopping wood, right, chopping wood! I’m just a common woodcutter…”
The burly man muttered, trying to hypnotize himself, but the veins on the hand gripping his axe handle still bulged.
Seeing how jumpy he was, a flicker of helplessness passed through the man’s eyes, then a flash of inspiration.
“Here, there seems to be an inn up ahead. Let’s go in, get something to eat, and rest our feet.”
“Eat?!”
The burly man’s eyes lit up, his tense shoulders instantly dropping, and even the sound of him swallowing saliva was audible.
“W-Where? I haven’t had a proper meal in days…”
— This man was the commander of the Freedom Army’s Eastern Army, Leonidas.
The Freedom Army had been unstoppable, continuously absorbing starving peasants along the way, and now numbered tens of thousands.
But so many people needed to eat, and the food they had plundered before wouldn’t last long.
They had to keep attacking other nobles’ territories, seize more grain stores, and hold out until the autumn harvest no matter what.
Moreover, Spartacus’s goal was to march south, break the Imperial Capital, and overthrow the Empire.
For both food and the greater cause, they had no choice but to head south.
However, the Empire was split north and south by an east-west mountain range.
Apart from the plain where Saxon City stood, there were only a few passes, and every single one was a vital Imperial stronghold.
To that end, Spartacus divided his army into three: the Western Army to hold captured territories, cultivate, and sustain the campaign; the Central Army led by himself to sweep remaining enemies and search for other possible gaps to the south.
And the Eastern Army, led by Leonidas, had the toughest and most critical breakthrough mission — attacking the territory of the Duke of York.
Using it as a springboard, they would amass heavy troops and assault Saxon City!
As long as they tore through this obstacle of the Maximilian Family, the fertile heartland of the Empire would have no natural defenses left, and the road to the Imperial Capital would be wide open!
At least, in Spartacus’s calculations, that was how the script should go.
So, to scout the situation, Leonidas disguised himself, brought only one personal guard, and slipped quietly into the Maximilian Family’s territory.
Avoiding patrols along the way, he got a general picture of Saxon City’s defenses, then turned south, heading deeper toward Lide’an City.
“Hmm?”
As they neared the roadside inn, two other figures entered Leonidas’s view.
Leading them was a young lady.
Her clothes were made of fine material, cut well—understated but exuding an undeniable air of nobility.
Her thick black hair was unrestrained, swaying slightly behind her with each step.
Following at her side was a knight clad in full armor, even his face hidden in the shadow of his helmet visor.
He was tall and sturdy, his steps steady, each one seemingly carrying considerable weight.
“Damned nobles…”
The burly guard muttered through clenched teeth, his hand instinctively moving toward the axe handle at his waist.
“Boss, let’s go around?”
“Go around?”
Leonidas’s gaze sharpened.
Instead of backing off, a gleam of interest flashed in his eyes.
“Isn’t this a perfect chance to get close to them and pick up some news?”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.