“Oh, that’s wonderful to hear, sir. People often say that tea is a drink for women to enjoy, so not many gentlemen are interested in it. Might you know what kind of leaf is in this tea?” Lotte asked, expression brightening like a blooming flower.
“Judging by this unique scent and faintly bitter taste, I’d say it is a leaf produced in Lis?”
“That is correct.”
“Then you’re using good quality tea indeed. And I see the tea set is also of wonderful quality. Forgive me for saying this, but from what I can see of the couch, as well as the table... Isn’t the furniture a little too high-quality to be used for greeting small trade customers?” Rio asked, trying to draw out more on the topic from Lotte.
The space they were sitting in was set up with partitions to imitate a private room. The couch and sofa placed there were both of such high quality, they could easily be used in a conference room for high profile guests.
Lotte’s face lit up with a happy smile as she answered Rio with pride. “Fufu, the best business transaction starts with the perfect business environment! That’s our guild motto, sir. And it doesn’t change depending on the scale of the transaction.”
“...I see. That must be one of the secrets to the Ricca Guild’s sudden growth. With attendants as young and cute as you, Miss Lotte, I can understand why people feel inclined to empty their wallets.”
“Oh, you flatter me.” Lotte covered her mouth with a hand in refined bashfulness.
“No, I truly believe that. I have some other items I am in need of, which I am thinking of purchasing here as well.”
“Fufu. In that case, how about we resume our business discussions? It is the job of a merchant to meet the demands of the customer, after all. We will gladly prepare all the items you need for your journey.”
Thus, Rio and Lotte resumed their talk.
Rio still needed preserved food and various ingredients, as well as the utensils to prepare them, and he was able to purchase all of the items he needed through the Ricca Guild’s service. Some of the items were somewhat pricey, but other items he wouldn’t have been able to find elsewhere, like many of the spices cultivated and imported from the southern islands. And with his main purpose of purchasing pasta accomplished, Rio was extremely satisfied with the outcome of his visit.
“Is there anything else you require?”
“No, that’s all I need. But if your guild also offers mail delivery services, I would like to request that too...” Rio made one last inquiry once all of their business discussions had wrapped up.
He couldn’t leave the Strahl region without sending a letter to Celia.
“We do have that service available, but we don’t deliver to certain regions. Where do you wish to deliver your mail?”
“The capital of the kingdom of Beltrum.” Her favorable answer prompted Rio to tell her his letter destination.
“That won’t be a problem. Your items will take a moment to prepare, so would you like to write your letter during that time?”
“Yes, please.”
Rio paid for his purchases with coins and Lotte left the meeting room to make a few preparations. Not too long after, a female store attendant appeared with some parchment, quill, and ink for Rio to write his letter. Rio accepted the equipment and — after a moment’s hesitation — slouched over the table and dipped the quill in the ink. His hand moved steadily over the parchment and scratched out neat characters.
The letter spoke of his journey so far: that he was in Galarc at the moment, and other little things that happened on the way. He signed it off as ‘Haruto’ at the end. After he finished writing, he waited a while for the ink to dry, then rolled the parchment into a scroll. He used the candle on the table to melt the sealing wax and drip it onto the scroll before sealing it. With the seal of the Ricca Guild on the scroll, the letter was finally complete.
Having the merchant guild that was run by a duke’s daughter responsible for delivering the letter was a lot more reassuring than asking any random organization or individual, as there was a much lower risk of losing the letter or breaking confidentiality.
Rio called over a nearby attendant and informed her that he was done writing. The attendant retreated to the back for a moment before returning with Lotte and the tea-serving attendant from earlier. All of Rio’s purchases had been prepared and left outside the meeting space.
“Please deliver this to Professor Celia Claire of the Royal Academy of Beltrum faculty.” Rio handed the important letter to Lotte.
“Understood. The address is the Royal Academy of Beltrum, for Professor Celia Claire. We will be sure to deliver it, sir. Your order items have also been gathered, so please confirm that everything is present.” Lotte’s eyes widened faintly when she heard the addressee was Celia, but only someone who was next to her would recognize the change in her expression — and only upon close observation.
Rio packed the items into his backpack as he checked them. It was quite a large number of items, but his backpack was large enough to accommodate everything. Once the backpack was packed full, Rio swung it over his shoulder easily, making Lotte’s eyes widen in shock.
“I see that you have a lot of strength. Fitting for an adventurer.”
“Traveling can be harsh, after all... I made sure to prepare myself for it. Now, I shall take my leave.” Rio said, Lotte’s words making him smile. With those parting words, he bowed once and turned on his heel.
“Thank you for your patronage, sir. If you ever pass through Amande again, our doors will always be open to you.” Lotte gave her words of farewell, then bowed alongside the attendant next to her. The two kept their heads lowered until Rio had left the building.
Then, once Rio was outside of the premises... “Celia Claire... The prodigious daughter of Count Claire, from the famous sorcerer family. The genius sorceress who graduated early from the Royal Academy,” Lotte raised her head and mumbled.
She was aware of Celia’s reputation as Beltrum’s genius sorceress, despite living here in the Kingdom of Galarc all her life. Because of the fact that simply having good grades wasn’t enough to graduate early, an overwhelming amount of excellence and talent had to be displayed in a specific area. That was why early graduates were rare — occurring once in a decade if the Academy was lucky — so any educated individual in a noble circle would be aware of Celia’s name.
On top of that, Celia was the youngest graduate in the history of the Royal Academy of Beltrum, making her far more famous than even she realized.
“What a mysterious boy that was, Lady Liselotte.” The attendant next to Lotte — or rather, Liselotte — spoke up.
“I wonder if he’s a noble son sneaking out to go on a journey. And I’m ‘Lotte’ right now, Cosette.” Liselotte narrowed her eyes and glared at the girl named Cosette.
“By the way, inspection time is over. Aria and Natalie sent a message to hurry back to the estate and finish off the rest of the accumulated paperwork,” Cosette reported with slumped shoulders.
“Oh my, then we must make haste.” The corners of Liselotte’s mouth turned up in a pleasant smile, making Cosette eye her curiously.
“You seem to be in a good mood today.”
“It was a good change of pace... The business talks were quite fun.”
“Hmm. Ah, I understand now. That boy just now was handsome, wasn’t he?”
“You... are not wrong, but that has nothing to do with it.” Liselotte denied it reflexively out of exasperation, but memories of Rio’s facial features resurfaced in her mind, making her respond in a perplexing way.
Seeing her master’s fascinating reaction made Cosette grin cheekily.
“See? That must be the case.”
“Enough already. I’m going now!”
With a faint blush tinged on her cheeks, Liselotte walked away briskly. Cosette gave a small giggle before following close behind.
Chapter 2: Assassin Girl
By the time Rio left the Ricca Guild, the western skies
were already turning red. Once the sun set, the city gates would be closed to any kind of traffic going in or out.
Rio, however, was walking down the main street, leisurely searching for an inn. He had been on a fairly strict schedule on his way here, and had to sleep outside numerous nights in a row. He wanted to rest easy on a proper bed for at least tonight.
As he glanced around at his surroundings, he could see street signs for inns practically everywhere, but he wasn’t about to settle for just any old place: there were differences in the facilities that inns could offer, and Rio was searching for one with a bath.
However, the bathtubs of the Strahl region were a little different in appearance to one that a Japanese person might imagine. This was partially due to the fact that water was not as readily available here as in Japan, and the general population’s lack of desire to submerge themselves in bath water. This meant that bathtubs deep enough to submerge a person simply didn’t exist. In fact, the word ‘bathtub’ here referred to shallow tubs that only held enough water to wash one’s hair and body.
Furthermore, the only ones who washed themselves every day were members of royalty and nobility — commoners would never spend money on baths. This meant that having a bucket filled with water and partitioning a private space away from others was enough to be considered a rather splendid bathing facility.
That being said, even that much would be difficult to find if Rio just wandered into any cheap inn, so as a former Japanese person, he was very selective about the bathtub status of the inn he chose. Just as Rio was pondering between his choices...
“Hey, mister!” A voice suddenly called out to him from behind. Rio turned around.
There stood a cute local girl in an apron and tunic dress, who looked to be around two or three years younger than Rio, making her around ten years old. The girl looked up at Rio with a bright and friendly smile.
“Um, do you mean me?” Rio asked, pointing at himself.
“Yup! Are you looking for somewhere to stay?”
“Yes, but who are you?”
“I’m working in that inn over there! Would you like to come stay at our place?” The girl asked, pointing at a wooden, three-story building that towered over its surroundings.
She clung to Rio’s arm tightly, as though it was her way of refusing to let a possible customer get away. Despite her young age, she was very good at drawing in business.
“I’m looking for a single room with a bathtub. Do you have something like that available?”
Naturally, Rio wasn’t able to tell whether bathtubs were included by looking at the inn from the outside, so he figured it’d be best to simply ask the person actually working there... All the more so if she had purposely come to him for business. With that in mind, Rio put forth his request conditions. The girl beamed and nodded.
“Yup! We only have individual rooms at our inn. We still have rooms available, and you can even rent a bathtub, too. So... will you choose us? Please?”
The little girl laughed happily, then peered at Rio, catching a glimpse of his face under the hood of his cloak. Her eyes widened by a fraction.
“I guess I will.” If he put it off until too late, there was a chance that all of the free rooms in the city could become taken. This place fulfilled his conditions, so Rio nodded, immediately deciding on it.
“Hehe, yay! One guest, coming right up! Follow me, this way! This way!” With a light blush on her cheeks, the girl pulled Rio’s arm energetically.
Upon entering the inn, the two were faced with a vacant reception desk. There was a swinging door to the right that led to the cafeteria, where quite a bit of hustle and bustle could be heard from within.
“The fee is paid upfront. It’ll be seven large coppers for one night, dinner included. You can get the bathtub free as a bonus!” Ignoring the commotion within the cafeteria, the little girl explained the prices in a loud and clear voice.
The price was neither cheap nor expensive; for a commoner staying at an average quality inn in a single room, the price tag was to be expected. For reference, staying at a shared room in one of the cheaper inns would have cost less than one large copper.
“Here you are, then.” Rio handed over seven large coppers.
“Thank you for your business! Oh, that’s right... What’s your name? I’m Chloe!” The girl asked with an innocent and professional smile, befitting for her age.
“I’m Haruto.”
“Haruto, okay! You’re probably a little older than me, right? It’s nice to meet you!”
“Yeah, nice to meet you.”
“Hmm... You’re kind of quiet. You seem cool, Haruto. You should take your hood off and smile more! Come on, lets see that smile!” Chloe pouted with a slight look of dissatisfaction at Rio’s calm reply.
“Haha...” It was difficult to smile on command, but Rio did his best.
“Hmm... Okay. I guess that’s acceptable. I’ll lead you to your room now!” The smile returned to Chloe’s face. She nodded, then grabbed Rio’s hand and walked off.
What a bubbly girl, Rio thought with a bitter smile. After being surrounded by impish children during his days in the Royal Academy, meeting someone like Chloe, who actually acted her age, was rather refreshing.
They marched their way up to the third floor, where Rio’s room was. It was around twenty-two square feet in area, with nothing but a bed inside.
“Here we are. You can only lock it from the inside, so don’t leave your valuables when you leave the room. It’s dinner time right now, so you can come down to the first floor once you’re ready. Or do you want your bath first?” Chloe explained at the doorway of the room.
“No, I’ll eat dinner first.”
“Got it. Then call me when you need the bathtub and the water prepared. I think I’ve explained everything... Do you have any questions?”
“Nope, I’m fine.”
“Great. Well, let me know if you need anything. ...Oh, that’s right! Many of our patrons are adventurers, so try not to pick fights with them, yeah?” Chloe added as an anecdotal warning.
“All right, got it,” Rio said, nodding a bit tiredly. He wished she had told him that during the negotiation stage of his visit, but those kinds of adventurers could be found in more or less every inn, so he gave in.
Adventurers were jack-of-all-trades that belonged to organizations called adventurer guilds, usually specializing in dirty work. They’d act as mercenaries during wars and exterminate monsters and other dangerous beasts during times of peace. Thus, most adventurers tended to be rather rough around the edges. It was common to see drunk adults picking fights with each other on a daily basis.
“Be careful, okay? Even if they’re not adventurers, adult men can be really stupid. They get mad quickly and always turn to violence... You might get picked on a little, but since you’re still a child, they’ll probably let you go without a fight if you just nod along with them,” Chloe said with insistence. There was a faint shadow over her face.
“It’s all right, Chloe. You have work to do, don’t you? You’d better get back before you’re scolded,” Rio replied, giving her a soft smile.
“Yeah. See you later, then!” With a nod, Chloe turned around. But before she left, she stopped abruptly.
“Umm, if you have some time after dinner... I’d love to talk to you some more. I like my job a lot, but I don’t have many friends around my age,” she said bashfully.
◇◇◇
Rio stepped into the cafeteria to find a large gathering of red-faced adults making quite a racket; it seemed as though business was booming at the inn. Some of the customers were even wearing swords — those were probably the adventurers. They stared after Rio’s hooded figure brazenly, but he purposefully ignored their stares. Just as he was looking around for a place to sit...
“Haruto! Welcome! Here, this seat is free.”
Chloe, who was working as a waitress inside the cafeteria, noticed Rio and came running. Even with his hood on, she recogn
ized him instantly from his stature. Rio let Chloe drag him to a counter seat.
“I’ll bring you your food right away. What would you like to drink? The first drink’s on the house.”
“What do you have?”
“The free options are beer, wine, and mead. Oh, and tea with milk.”
“A beer, then.”
“Heh... You can drink something that bitter, Haruto?”
There was no drinking age limit in this world, but it seemed like Chloe was still unaware of the delights of beer. Rio chuckled.
“Yeah. I’m actually pretty hungry right now, so if you could, please bring the food out quickly.”
“Got it! Mom’s pretty proud of the meal she cooked tonight, so you should look forward to it!” Chloe said, before running into the kitchen. As though they had been waiting for just the right moment, two male adventurers seated at a nearby table stood up.
“Heeey, kiddo. Aren’t ya a bit young to be drinking beer, huh?”
“Yeah. Weakling like you should be drinking milk, don’t ya think?”
“Tell me about it!”
They were probably drunk already. The red-faced men burst out into hearty laughter as they took the two seats on either side of Rio in an overly familiar manner. He sighed, his expression twisting at the stink of alcohol on their breaths. The other men nearby grinned as they watched on, treating the spectacle like an appetizer to accompany their booze.
“Hey, you lot! Don’t pick on Haruto. Let him eat his food in peace, okay?” Chloe warned the adults, pushing Rio’s meal at him from the other side of the counter.
“We’re not pickin’ on him, Miss Chloe. We were just startin’ a conversation with a kid we haven’t seen before.”
“Das right. He looks like a new adventurer. We thought we’d give ’im some pointers, bein’ his seniors and all.” The men argued back at Chloe with cheerful smiles. “Geez. Haruto, you can have as many servings of bread and soup as you want. I baked the bread myself, you know!” Chloe said gently to Rio after sighing in exasperation. The wooden plate that she offered him was stacked with food.
Blessing of the Spirits Page 4
