Arasila lowered her waist and made eye contact with Travis, smiling sweetly.

Her smiling face with curved eyes was beautiful, but her gaze was sharp enough to instantly kill the other person’s spirit.

Flustered, Travis belatedly opened his mouth to try to make a poor excuse.

“No, I…”

“But you know what? If a bluebird is a failed bird, what do you call a recently malfunctioning food storage box? A rotten box?”

However, Arasila cut off his words, pressing down on his shoulder with her hand.

Travis’s face contorted. He felt very upset hearing such words in a situation where complaints were pouring in about food spoiling due to broken temperature control.

“Even so, saying that is a bit…”

“It’s a bit much, isn’t it? Well, you should have kept your juniors’ mouths shut. Does it feel bad to be hit back after hitting first?”

Travis was immediately at a loss for words and closed his mouth. Arasila looked down at him silently for a moment before speaking.

“And you know what? I investigated who spread the false rumors about the magic airship, and the appearance of the original source was similar to yours.”

At those words, Travis flinched in surprise and his face hardened. He turned his head to the side sharply and retorted.

“So what, I didn’t say it, okay?”

“That’s fortunate. I was going to crush every bone in their body if I found out who it was.”

“…”

“I’m really relieved that we’re not colleagues from the same magic tower.”

Travis’s face turned pale white. It was because he knew that Arasila’s attack magic could really crush every bone in one’s body.

Although Arasila had suspicions but no concrete evidence that he was the original source of the rumors, she patted his shoulder to wrap things up here.

“If you mess with our people one more time, I won’t let it slide. Manage your juniors properly, and work hard on repairing the food storage boxes.”

When she raised her head and looked at the other magicians, they all averted their gazes downward.

Arasila smirked and turned to leave.

Travis remained in that spot for a long time, feeling shame and embarrassment at being thoroughly scolded by a young female magician.

While the bluebird gained popularity as a passenger airship, Arasila additionally made a cargo airship for Demian.

It was called the red bird.

Demian jumped into the transport business with that airship. The first place he approached was, of course, the territories surrounding Duke Vandermir’s domain.

Duke Vandermir’s domain was located at the center of a route passing through several territories, so it usually collected enormous taxes from surrounding territories under the pretext of passage fees.

Even if they wanted to develop separate routes, they couldn’t because the duchy had bought up all the nearby land.

They even stationed knights at nearby routes to prevent people from surrounding territories from freely coming and going.

Well aware of these facts, Demian offered free airship rides to the surrounding territories under the guise of business promotion.

While they had to pass through Duke Vandermir’s domain when using land routes, there was no need when using the sky.

The lords of the surrounding territories who properly felt these advantages rushed to make contracts with the magic airship.

“How much, how much do you want!”

“We were in a tough spot with the duchy raising taxes every year, but this is great!”

“We want to contract with the airship too!”

Demian proceeded with contracts with all of them, not rejecting a single one. He even reduced the contract fee for territories that didn’t have money.

As a result, Duke Vandermir’s domain not only had its income from surrounding territories cut off, but also had its relationships with them severed.

This was a massive blow to the duchy that had been ruling over them like a king.

And this was precisely the reason Demian wanted a new means of transport, and the ultimate goal he wanted to achieve through this business.

“Damn it! We’ve suffered huge losses because of that magic airship or whatever!”

Duke Vandermir was naturally enraged by this situation. In fact, collecting taxes under the pretext of passage fees was intended more to subjugate the surrounding territories under the duchy rather than for money.

Since they couldn’t go to the capital or interact with surrounding territories without passing through Vandermir territory, everyone had no choice but to bow down to the duchy even if they didn’t like it.

However, with the appearance of the magic airship, there was no reason for the surrounding territories to grovel to the duchy anymore.

Unable to just sit back and take this, Duke Vandermir began looking for any excuse to find fault.

“Pay me for passing through the skies of Vandermir territory too! You should pay a passage fee since flying through the sky is also entering and leaving above my land!”

He pressured the surrounding territories with this unreasonable demand. However, sky passage fees were unheard of, and as Demian quickly made a contract with the imperial family for the airship as well, the duke’s claim was dismissed.

If they had to pay a passage fee every time they passed through the skies of a territory as the duke claimed, the imperial family’s airship would have to pay money too, so they didn’t take his side.

And there was also a perception in the empire that the emperor, who was the sun, ruled the skies, so ownership of the sky was not recognized to that extent.

Convinced that Demian had deliberately used the magic airship to win over the territories surrounding the duchy and the imperial family, the duke was furious.

“Demian, that bastard really…”

Unable to contain his boiling anger, he immediately summoned Demian to the duchy.

Demian, who happened to be nearby for a contract with the last territory, complied without resistance.

The face of Demian, who was visiting his family home after several years, was indifferent. He had never become attached to this place that had only tormented his mother and himself, so he felt nothing even upon returning after a long time.

He entered the reception room, guided by a servant. As soon as the door opened, an angry shout burst out.

“Demian, you bastard! You deliberately seduced the territories around us, didn’t you?”

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

“Are you going to play dumb?! Don’t think I don’t know you secretly approached the territories surrounding the duchy!”

The duke shouted, breathing heavily. Calmly looking at his father who was losing his temper more freely than in the capital, claiming it was his own territory, Demian shrugged his shoulders.

“I simply made contracts with territories that needed airships. It seems to be your persecution complex, so don’t blame me.”

Seeing him speak so nonchalantly, the duke felt heat rising to the top of his head. He raised his voice as if about to snort.

“You’re determined to block your father’s path now! Ungrateful child! How can you call yourself human and not a beast after doing this!”

“Why are you suddenly saying this after raising me like a beast, Father?”

“W-what?”

“It must be quite disappointing that you failed to hunt the beast at the hunting festival. Isn’t that right?”

Demian smiled coldly. The duke flinched and involuntarily averted his gaze.

It was because his son’s yellow eyes were really flashing like those of a wild beast.

“Ahem, hem! I don’t know what you mean.”

“Yes, you wouldn’t. Keep pretending not to know.”

While you pretend not to know, I will put a blade to your chin.

Swallowing the words that were welling up, Demian checked his watch. He really just stopped by briefly, so he had to leave soon.

He stood up and quietly stared at his father for a moment. The duke frowned at the physical intimidation given by his grown son.

“Don’t feel too wronged. Considering how everyone wanted to make a contract with me wholeheartedly… it seems you haven’t managed relationships very well, Father.”

Demian pulled his lips back as if sneering. Although he had approached them first, seeing how they all switched over without even hesitating, it seemed the duchy had been quite tyrannical.

“You, you…! Are you done talking now?!”

The duke pointed his finger with a red face. Ignoring his enraged father, Demian turned around.

His father’s angry shouts continued to be heard from behind, but he thoroughly ignored them. This was just the beginning, after all.

A party celebrating the business success was held at the Vandermir mansion.

The party hall, which was connected to the garden by opening the windows wide, was full of people. This was because many wanted to get in on the magic airship business, even if belatedly.

The guests craned their necks, waiting for the Vandermir couple to appear.

As they say the main characters appear last, the Vandermir couple finally appeared at the top of the stairs after a long wait.

The two, dressed in matching dark teal outfits today as well, looked like a painting. They matched well together, having the common point of striking appearances while giving off different vibes.

“They really both have amazing faces.”

Everyone agreed with someone’s whispered words. Their outward appearances were truly flawless and perfect beyond measure.

Arasila, with her hair tied back with a black ribbon adorned with pearls, was elegant, while Demian, with his hair parted and swept to one side, was dignified.

As soon as the couple came down the stairs, people flocked to them like clouds, wanting to speak to them.

“Lady Vandermir, you are so beautiful!”

“Congratulations, my lord. You are not only skilled in swordsmanship but also in business acumen!”

People eager to make a good impression rushed to offer flattery.

This was especially true for those running their own businesses. They wanted to collaborate with the magic airship, which had many potential uses in various fields.

Unfortunately for such people, Demian had already chosen his business partners.

Unaware of this, Arasila was responding appropriately to people trying their best to get into the couple’s good graces when she suddenly felt something bothersome.

“How do you maintain such beauty even after marriage, my lady? May I ask your secret?”

This was what a noblewoman said to her.

“Lord Vandermir, I’ve been quite interested in business lately. If it’s alright with you, how about we have a discussion sometime?”

This was what a nobleman said to Demian.

Although it was a joint business success for the couple, people only asked Arasila about her appearance, dress, and jewelry, while directing all business-related talk solely to Demian.

Perhaps those speaking to Arasila were mainly women uninterested in business, while it was the opposite for Demian, but it was still irritating nonetheless.

“My beauty secret is innate so I have nothing else to say, and for dresses and accessories, I had them tailored at my regular dressmaker’s shop so look it up yourselves. Do you have anything else you want to ask me?”

Getting tired of receiving such low-quality questions, Arasila threw out a challenging remark.

At those words, people exchanged glances and pondered. Then a noblewoman opened her mouth.

“Ah, I’d like to ask Lady Vandermir how you support your husband so well.”

“That’s right, didn’t your support play a big role in Lord Vandermir’s business success?”

“Come to think of it, that’s true. You must be pleased, my lord. To have such a beautiful wife who’s also so supportive. Hahaha!”

People burst into laughter, but Arasila’s expression turned cold.

Are they really spouting this as praise right now?

Arasila had not supported Demian, but worked together with him as an equal.

In the first place, since it was Arasila and her two juniors who created the magic airship, there was no reason for her role to be lumped together as ‘a wife who supported her husband well’.

But people were talking as if Demian was the center of the business, and Arasila’s existence was just a side piece.

This would not only ignore her own contributions, but also erase the efforts of her juniors who worked hard together.

Just as Arasila was about to say something:

“Let’s get the facts straight. It’s I who supported my wife well.”