Maruyama Kugane - The Invaders of the Large Tomb

Being trapped in their own small world, they wouldn't be able to see what was happening outside.

Arche helplessly shook her head.

"The two of you stop fighting."

Seeing her laid-back mother, Arche decided to call it quits with her father.

Shortly afterwards, her mother stood up and passed a small vial to Arche.

"Arche. This is perfume, bought just for you."

"—How much?"

"Three gold coins."

"Is that so... thank you."

While calculating in her heart the eighteen gold coins that got wasted, Arche said her thanks to her mother. After accepting the tiny vial that contained a very small quantity of perfume, she placed it into her bag.

It was hard for Arche to look at her mother with such a cold gaze. At least perfumes and makeup had more practical uses than glasswork.

Properly dressing oneself up and attending high-class parties were a means for nobles to mingle together and make connections. If one considered marriage, pregnancy and childbirth to be a woman's happiness, then it was important for daughters of nobility to decorate themselves, at least from a noble's point of view.

However, even if that was the case, in their current situation, Arche's simply couldn’t afford to be this wasteful. Also, three gold coins were enough to feed a normal family for a whole month.

"—I've said this countless times already, keep spending to a minimum. Only buy what you really need."

"Exactly, that's what I said! This was necessary!"

Feeling tired of arguing, Arche simply stared at the flushed face of her father. Having to continuously remind them of such simple things was becoming too much for her. She could only blame herself for all of this. If she had used force to resolve these things in the beginning, it wouldn't have ended up this way. Also, she wouldn't have brought trouble to 'Foresight'.

"—I'm no longer going to send money home. I will take my sisters with me and live elsewhere."

Hearing the quiet words spoken by Arche, her father started to heat up once more. What unnerved her father the most was probably the loss of her income, Arche thought indifferently.

“Just who do you think it was that raised you from birth to now?”

"—I've already repaid my obligations."

Arche forcefully ended the conversation. The amount of income she had earned so far, while not ridiculously high, was still quite a considerable sum. That money had been earned during the adventures she took with her comrades, and should have been used to strengthen herself just like the rest of her teammates had done.

Seeing how she never updated her equipment, what would her comrades think?

Not having strong equipment would mean she was the weakest member of the team.

However, the members of 'Foresight' never said a thing to her about it. Arche had been spoiled too much by this already.

Arche stared intensely. Having received the full burst of Arche's gaze, her father caved in and looked away. For someone who had gone through life and death situations, there was no reason for Arche to lose to a bumbling aristocrat of a father.

Arche glanced once more at her speechless father and left the room.

Walking out of the room, Arche sighed in relief.

"Ojou-sama."

"—What's wrong, James?"

James had been the butler to Arche's family for a long time now. A tense expression was visible on his wrinkled face. That face had been seen very often since her family’s fall from grace.

"Although I don't wish to say such things to ojou-sama but..."

Arche raised her hand and interrupted the speech. After considering that it wasn't a butler's right to say certain things, James distanced himself away.

Arche took out a small bag and opened it. Various different lights sparkled from within. The majority of the lights were silver, followed by bronze. The least amount were gold.

"—This much should be enough right?"

Having been handed the bag, James looked inside and finally relaxed his face.

"Salary, as well as the interest for the merchants... I think I should be able to solve the rest. Ojou-sama."

"—That's good."

Arche finally managed to relax. Although it was the bare minimum amount, it was just enough to scrape by.

"—You weren't able to stop father from buying it?"

"It couldn't be helped. The seller came with nobles acquainted with us. Although I did remind the old master multiple times..."

"—I see."

The two of them sighed.

"—Just a small question. How much do I need to prepare in order to clear everything away?"

James widened his eyes, and then returned a sad smile. Perhaps the reason why there wasn't any movements in his eye was because he had already seen it coming.

"Certainly. Once I finish calculating it, I will bring it in."

"—I'll be relying on you then."

At that moment, the sound of running was be heard within the corridor. Even without looking up, Arche knew who it was.

Softening her face, Arche turned around just in time to see a shadow running towards her and leaping at her without slowing down.

The figure that had leapt into Arche's embrace had a height of less than one meter. Her age was around five years old, with eyes similar to Arche's. While hugging Arche, this girl raised her face and displayed an expression of dissatisfaction with her pink cheeks bulging.

"Way too hard."

This wasn't directed at Arche's flat chest.

Arch was wearing clothes made for adventuring. The area around the chest and abdomen had been reinforced with hard leather to improve its defensive properties. Running into it would definitely feel like running into a hard surface.

"—Are you okay?"

She touched the girl's cheek while stroking her head.

"Mm, I'm fine. Onee-sama."

Seeing the happy face made by her sister, Arche started to smile.

"...I shall leave the two of you be, then" Arche expressed her thanks towards the butler that did not wish to disturb the two of them, and then turned around to once more stroke her sister's head.

"Ulei... when in the hall..."

Arche suddenly stopped speaking halfway. She was about to say that it was inelegant for daughters of nobility to run inside the house, but after having told her father that they were no longer nobles, scoldings like these were no longer needed.

During this period, Arche's hand did not stop once, though the girl whose hair had already become a complete mess did not mind at all and continue to laugh.

Arche looked around her surroundings, and confirmed that one other person wasn't here.

"Where's Kuude?"

"Inside her room!"

"Is that so... there are a few things that I wish to speak with the two of you, let's go together."

"Mm."

Protecting the cheerful smiles of her sisters was Arche's responsibility. Holding Ulei's hand, a warm feeling quickly grew inside Arche. Ulei's small hands were something that even Arche's hands could fully cover.

"Onee-sama's hand is really hard."

Arche looked at her other hand. Due to injuries received from numerous adventures, these hardened hands could no longer be called hands befitting an ojou-sama from a noble family. However, she had no regrets. These hands were proof that she was living her life together with friends—her comrades in 'Foresight'.

"But I still really like it!"

With her hand tightly grasped by her both of her sister's, Arche smiled and said;

"—Thanks."

♦ ♦ ♦

As usual, the North Market of the Empire's Capital was full of energy. However, the number of customers that frequented the North Market was a lot less when compared to the central market, due to the specialisation of the sold products. As such, it wasn't difficult to navigate through the less crowded streets.

Seeing the usual atmosphere surrounding the market, Hekkeran and Roberdyck relaxed their shoulders and started browsing.