by Mamare Touno
The Adventurers had proven not just their combat abilities but their technical and economic power and the strength of their unity to the League. Of course, since they had shown their military power as well, there were probably no lords who would attempt to occupy Akiba, but there’d been an explosive increase in the number of lords who wanted to gain their friendship, to ally themselves with the Adventurers and to milk the relationship for all it was worth.
In fact, over the past month, Raynesia had seen so many examples of this that she was sick of them.
Having been transferred to a post in Akiba by her grandfather, Raynesia’s position was something halfway between penance and a martial arts training journey. At the same time, however, she was also the first person in charge of negotiations to be dispatched from the League to Akiba.
She received many requests from the Round Table Council and participated in ceremonies and the like. As a daughter of the aristocracy, she was also invited to…ball-like gatherings. Thanks to the finishing-school gentility that had been drummed into her ever since she was born, these gatherings were a walk in the park (although, of course, they were also a pain in the neck). However, the problem lay elsewhere.
For example, prominent members of clans whose central occupation was commerce—or, to use the Adventurer term, clans who were production guilds—asked her for business-related advice. Conversely, wealthy merchants and aristocrats from Eastal asked her for introductions to the influential figures of Akiba.
If she failed to examine the content of these requests carefully before responding, she might lose their trust, and it could occasionally cause trouble of massive proportions.
Of course, if she turned them all down, she couldn’t go wrong, but when the social world of aristocratic society was taken into consideration, there were some requests she simply couldn’t refuse. Even if she did belong to the duchy that boasted the greatest power in northeastern Yamato, she wasn’t its head; she was merely his granddaughter. Some willfulness would be allowed, but some would not.
On the other hand, the Adventurers said and did so little in the way of plotting that it shocked her. To them, the fact that she was a direct descendent of the head of one of the only two duchies in Yamato made her an object of interest and courtesy, but they didn’t seem to think she had either the sort of authority that would obligate them to kneel, or rights and interests enough to compel them to get on her good side.
She was a Person of the Earth, and they came to ask her about her opinion and connections as such. The idea of using her rank to attempt to accomplish something didn’t seem to have occurred to them.
She felt this was probably because they thought they—the Adventurers—were strong, and that, even if Raynesia was an aristocrat, she was a Person of the Earth, and therefore weak.
To Raynesia, this was vexing.
Of course she was glad to be acknowledged as an individual human being and not treated as a noble, but that gladness and the vexation were two sides of the same coin.
As an ordinary Person of the Earth, she was glad. As a powerless aristocrat, she was nonplussed.
And yet, that in itself is…
Now, in this situation, even that feeling seemed to have been a trap.
In order to fulfill aristocratic associations, honor, and ties of obligation, she’d had to learn about Adventurers and the town of Akiba. She didn’t feel it was her place to say it, but the People of the Earth—particularly the nobles and powerful individuals—really knew nothing at all about the Adventurers. Because (perhaps unfortunately) they spoke the same language and looked similar, they came to feel that they did understand, but there were vast differences between their lifestyles and cultures. When they cooperated or made deals, if they didn’t have a bare minimum of understanding, there were countless situations in which they would clash.
If she neglected to give nobles and wealthy merchants this sort of hard-to-hear advice and simply introduced them to Adventurers and production guilds, it was inevitable that a huge problem would occur someday.
Meanwhile, the Adventurers’ questions put Raynesia in a gloomy mood. Adventurers were an extremely pragmatic breed, and for the most part, they wanted practical knowledge. Each individual Adventurer was intelligent and highly educated. When she spoke with them, she was forced to realize that she knew nothing about her own people’s country or lifestyles.
Because she wasn’t a soldier, wasn’t a civil servant, wasn’t a man…
Up until now, for a variety of reasons, Raynesia had been kept away from the duchy’s public political affairs, and she’d considered that only natural. However, when she talked with the Adventurers, she found she didn’t even know anything about what the townspeople and farmers ate, what sort of houses they lived in, or what made them happy or sad, let alone about politics.
To the aristocrat Raynesia, knowing nothing about the lives and feelings of the citizens she was supposed to govern, let alone the Adventurers, was a keenly embarrassing thing.
As a result, responding seriously to requests from nobles and the Adventurers would require enormous amounts of knowledge and research, and the stretch of resulting work was so taxing that the words “three meals and naps” were absolutely nowhere to be seen.
“Agh… There really is no end to it.”
The worst of it was that there was no ceiling to this sort of study. Even if she hit on some superb idea or piece of advice or match, nobody would guarantee that it was the best.
If she thought a little harder or investigated a little more, she might find a better idea. Either that, or if she planned just a tiny bit more carefully, she might be able to head off the worst of the trouble. These ideas were constantly in a corner of her mind, and even with the slacker nature Raynesia herself admitted she had, they hadn’t let her cut corners.
She’d stayed at her work, paging through documents until she was truly worn out, and when she came down with a fever and collapsed—as you’d expect—Elissa had lectured her. Though, still, even though she didn’t know what prompted that preaching, she’d gotten these three days off, so she probably shouldn’t complain.
“Honestly! I refuse to do a thing.”
Raynesia ate her bento elegantly with her tiny mouth.
Stewed vegetables, boiled greens in soy sauce. The brown thing was a miniature hamburger steak. It was a Japanese-European hybrid bento in the compact maku-no-uchi style.
From an aristocratic perspective, a tiny meal packed in a box like this would have been considered far too vulgar and shabby, but Raynesia liked them. In any case, even if she was offered a whole tableful of grilled meat, boiled meat, roasted meat, and whatnot, she couldn’t eat it all. She’d always simply eaten fruit and bread torn into small pieces and smiled. They’d called her fragile and similar things when she did this, which had made it terribly hard to cope.
In contrast, this little take-out lunch was an incredibly relaxing meal. Of course, in terms of flavor, postrevolution meals couldn’t even be compared to what they had been before. This was so true that, at this point, she couldn’t remember her gray-colored diet from before.
Vegetables pickled in salt and the rice the Adventurers liked had a real depth of flavor. The ones that had Raynesia’s favorite sweet egg omelet in them were also pleasant. After she’d eaten the whole thing, Raynesia carefully closed the lid and set her fork on top of it. She was still learning how to use the utensils known as chopsticks.
“Could I have some tea, Elissa?”
The room was quiet and cool.
Could there be any luxury other than eating in her own, nest-like room without being criticized by anyone? No, Raynesia thought, there could not.
That said, Raynesia might have been the only one who thought she was being slovenly. Having undergone training ever since she was little, even if what she was wearing wasn’t a velvet two-piece dress, she wore it with dignity, and she had what could be called a noble, elegant aura. She might think she was dressed as sloppily as c
ould be, but her linen and georgette loungewear would have appeared quite formal to the Adventurers. Her fresh, youthful beauty, which led to her moniker of “Eastal’s Winter Rose,” was unchanged, and as she relaxed in her loungewear, smiling and enjoying her meal, her sweet expression matched her age.
Her nagging maid might have called her clothes and attitude scandalous, but after all, she had three days of vacation. Raynesia had made up her mind that she would not let this chance pass her by.
She was going to make up for all the slacking off she hadn’t been able to do earlier.
It was all the fault of that brain eater, Krusty. She’d been tricked into this predicament by that lying, narrow-eyed knight.
As she accepted the tea that had been set down quietly and felt its hot steam on her cheeks, she realized how very busy things had been lately. It was as if a sweet tingling was spreading through every joint in her body. It was the unique sense of deep fulfillment that came right after having slept long and soundly.
Lately, the amount of time she slept just kept shrinking. The only words she had for that were “horrid abuse.”
“Honestly. It’s all that bullying menace’s fault. How could things get so busy?… Next time, I shall have to teach him what rightful power relationships really are.”
Just then, as Raynesia was enjoying the fragrant aroma and breathing a sigh of relief, a voice that really shouldn’t have been there addressed her.
“I understand them quite well, so I won’t require the lecture.”
Krusty, seated on the sofa to Raynesia’s right, retorted, looking unconcerned.
His tunic, which was intended to be worn about town, was dyed in several different shades that resembled the colors of dead leaves. In combination with his black-trimmed jacket, it gave Krusty an autumnal look, and his appearance was neat, as if he’d just finished dressing.
This merciless knight, who was so large he could have been called a giant, was certainly tall. However, since his arms and legs were also long and his physique was well-balanced, as long as he was simply walking around town in ordinary clothes, he didn’t strike others as enormous. On the contrary, his profile was delicate enough to make him look like a scholar or researcher. On top of this, he was always neatly dressed, and he showed no vulnerabilities. Absolutely none. No matter how hard you looked, you’d find nothing.
It was terribly unfair that this warrior, who had given off such an ominous aura on the battlefield and had looked like a veritable giant, seemed so quiet in town.
The timing of Krusty’s appearance had been unbelievable, and Raynesia’s mouth flapped uselessly in protest.
“Ah. Ah! Aah!”
“Scream or struggle if you like, but I think you should put this down first.”
Krusty spoke quietly, taking the ceramic cup out of Raynesia’s violently trembling hands. His calm attitude made Raynesia’s mind boil over all at once, making it impossible for her to think properly.
“Wha, wha!!”
She couldn’t pull her thoughts together. Why was he here? Who had allowed it? What did he mean by invading a lady’s private room (although, since it was also her office, that part was debatable)? These questions rose up and vanished in a fit of anger.
Raynesia scooted backward on her behind, shifting position, and fled to the end of the sofa. In physical terms, she’d moved only about a meter, which wasn’t nearly enough when you considered the length of Krusty’s arms, but unfortunately, if she went any farther, she’d fall off the sofa.
“Wh-what ti—”
“In terms of time, I believe it’s about ten o’clock.”
“How—”
“Elissa let me through in the usual way.”
“Wh-wh-why—”
“I heard you were recuperating, so I came to harass you.”
Raynesia was speechless.
Harass, he’d said. This menace had actually said “harass,” as if it was nothing!
“……Ah.”
“So this is harassment, then?!”
“Pardon me. Since there were no aristocratic ears around, I carelessly misspoke. You were terribly busy performing your duties, Princess Raynesia, and I came to show my support for your efforts. Simply to encourage you, as it were.”
As he brought tea—the same sort of tea that had been served to Raynesia—to his lips, Krusty spoke calmly in a laid-back voice. His words had been sealed over with lies from corner to corner, and they really couldn’t be trusted.
For her part, Raynesia was trembling (at least internally) on the very end of the sofa. In her mind, she heard Elissa scolding her—And you a princess of Maihama, the pride of Eastal! For shame!—but even if someone had actually said that to her, there was nothing to be done.
“Well. That’s enough joking for now.”
“Um…”
“How is the Libra Festival looking?”
Krusty’s question had been casual, but Raynesia realized that this was probably the main issue of the day.
The Libra Festival was a celebration that was being held by the entire town of Akiba. Raynesia’s understanding was that the Adventurers were holding the festival to celebrate their safety and prosperity. Apparently, they would bring all sorts of things and show them to each other, exchange them, and sell them. The fact that there would be no prayers to the spirits or gods and that it seemed quite a lot like a market made it different from the festivals Raynesia knew, but the part where lots of people would get together and have fun was the same. At least, these were the reports Raynesia had received.
At the Libra Festival, many Adventurers would gather and sell items, and lots of People of the Earth merchants were expected to come as well. In fact, Raynesia had received lots of letters requesting that she act as a go-between with the Adventurers.
“Yes. Well…”
“You’re busy, it’s hard, it’s too much responsibility.”
He’d read her mind again. Raynesia was afraid, but by now, she was no longer really surprised. Please don’t do that, she thought deliberately. That thought was sure to have gotten through to him as well. …Not that he’d ever held back, of course.
However, contrary to this fearful feeling, it was true that talking with Krusty was easy. He picked up everything, including things that were hard to say and things she wanted him to notice.
“I am…doing my job properly.”
“Yes, I expect you are.”
She argued back in a subdued way, but he turned it aside easily.
Apparently this mind-reading menace wasn’t about to be kind enough to pick up on Raynesia’s efforts and hardship.
“……”
“Is something the matter?”
“No. Nothing.”
Raynesia turned away. She’d ignore him. She averted her face from the gentleman who was there with her, putting on a bored expression. It was a perfect attack. She was through letting Krusty’s honeyed words fool her. With that firm thought, although she’d been watching Krusty out of the corner of her eye, Raynesia hastily turned her gaze away. Snorting would have been far too rude, so she refrained from that (and in fact, she had no memory of ever doing such a thing before, but he made her want to).
“The preparations for the dinner party are underway,” she said. “It’s all right. I’m doing things correctly.”
At Raynesia’s words, Krusty looked a little surprised. Maybe he’d considered her grossly incompetent. If that was what he thought, then he could just as well stop sending work her way.
“…Oh. The one you’re hosting…”
…But apparently he’d only forgotten.
What a truly exasperating menace.
Raynesia was hosting the dinner party held on the evening of the second day. Of course, “hosting” carried the nuance of “as a representative,” and there was nothing for her to do regarding the preparations or cooking.
Raynesia’s job was to attend the main dinner party and greet the invited guests. She was simply managing the event as
its hostess. Not only that, but in the town of Akiba, even this main role would be abbreviated in comparison to the many dinner parties Raynesia had attended in the past.
Adventurers disliked empty formalities.
In the month since she’d taken up her post in the town, her impression of this idea had changed slightly.
It wasn’t that they hated empty formalities. They just didn’t see the point. Since they didn’t see the point, they didn’t learn them, so they had no knowledge of complicated manners and etiquette.
The Adventurers had a serious lack of knowledge regarding the world of Yamato and the People of the Earth society. Sometimes, when she saw them like that, it made her wonder whether they were infants.
But that’s…
That was probably true for both sides, Raynesia thought.
Raynesia was relatively more involved with the Adventurers than most People of the Earth, but when they began a serious discussion with others of their kind, even if she was standing beside them listening, she couldn’t follow half of what they said. She didn’t understand any of the specialized terminology they used. She didn’t understand more than half the points of view they brought up, and even when she did understand the meaning itself, she couldn’t fathom why they’d say such outrageous things.
Adventurers didn’t even understand the concept of aristocrats and commoners.
As that example showed, there was still a considerable distance between the two groups.
However, it was a distance they would be able to close.
At least, that was what Raynesia thought.
The same issue was behind the fact that this ceremonial dinner had been planned as a dinner party and not a banquet.
If it had been a banquet, the invited guests would have been seated at tables by rank and had food served to them. Raynesia would have presided over the event, including the meal, and shown hospitality to the guests.
