Gorgalia (1)
Approximately one month before the wedding day. I had handed Tirsi an invitation and waited for her reply. She was the person I could most comfortably send an invitation to when I started preparing for the wedding. It wasn’t self-praise; objectively speaking, she was a close friend.
‘But for some reason, her reply never came.’
Winter is a slow season for potion alchemists. It wasn’t like autumn, when they received massive orders for potions to spray on farmlands, and commoners tightened their belts during winter. It was strange that she hadn’t replied despite having plenty of free time, so I visited the Mage Guild.
I met Cromwell, told him I was back, and headed to the alchemy school’s lab. But Tirsi wasn’t there. They said she had taken a winter vacation while we were away on our business trip and returned to her hometown.
Tirsi’s hometown. Of all places, it was Romania.
“There’s no way Tir would return home without a good reason.”
Maria Hennessis said as she removed her nun’s veil. So ‘Tir’ was her nickname. I nodded and replied.
“I’ve heard most of her past from her directly.”
“……That’s one of the reasons I’m making this request of you. We exchange letters from time to time, but it seems Tir trusts you quite a bit.”
“When you cross the line between life and death together, the walls in your heart tend to come down. I’d trust her with my life too.”
It was a slightly exaggerated statement. Still, it wasn’t complete bullshit. In situations where it was truly life or death, I trusted her enough to bet my life on her. Both her character and her skill.
The young lady touched the holy emblem of the Goddess of Abundance.
“I saw the way you looked at your wife. I’ll trust you.”
“Thank you for the generous words. So, the reason you think Tirsi has gone missing is because she stopped replying to your letters?”
I awkwardly changed the subject because her evaluation made my back itch with embarrassment. A month ago, I had accidentally run into the young lady at the Mage Guild, immediately dropped to one knee, and was promptly dragged into the reception room where I heard about Tirsi’s disappearance.
“That’s right. To my great annoyance, she left behind nothing but a letter saying she was going to Romania so I shouldn’t worry. She even wrote down her destination.”
Maria Hennessis narrowed her eyes as if irritated while speaking.
“But even though I wrote back in anger, she replied to that one, and after that her responses completely stopped. Even though I used the express carrier pigeons that can travel between Sargadis and Romania in a single week.”
“……Is it possible the letters got lost midway?”
“I sent them multiple times, and I received repeated confirmations from the express carrier service that they had arrived properly. Even the news that Tir simply wasn’t picking them up.”
“Even though they were sent to the Mage Guild?”
─Nod.
Maria Hennessis affirmed my words. It was a strange story. For a mage, the Mage Guild was like a triple-combo facility of a convenience store right in front of your house, a Daiso, and a free inn. If she was staying there, the letters should have naturally reached Tirsi’s room. Even if not, the moment she went to the counter she would have heard, “There’s a letter for you, ma’am.” It was a physical message notification. For letters that were so easy to receive, there was no record of her picking them up at all.
To me, it sounded like Tirsi had left her lodgings and hadn’t returned even for a single day.
“I slightly abused my authority behind my father’s back and looked into it. It was within the range my pocket money could cover.”
That was what Maria Hennessis said. Her proactive behavior in eavesdropping on conversations hadn’t gone anywhere.
“Tir purchased supplies useful for exploration at the Mage Guild, and then her trail went cold. For nearly a month now.”
“……That’s worrying news.”
“Yes. But that was as far as I could investigate. If I reached out too far into another country’s guild, it could easily be seen as interference in their internal affairs.”
The young lady looked bitter. Even though she could wield considerable power within Britannia, especially in Sargadis, in Romania she was nothing more than some foreign noble B.
You know how the saying goes. With great power comes great… whatever. If a noble like her crossed the line by meddling with another country’s guild, it would become an international incident. It was a completely different situation from adventurers who could freely cross borders to work.
And that was exactly why Maria Hennessis had thrown this unofficial personal request at me.
“Am I correct in understanding that you want me to go all the way to Romania and confirm Tirsi’s safety?”
It was a perfectly appropriate request to give a freelance adventurer. A trustworthy person who also had a personal connection with Tirsi—there could be no better choice. It was only natural that I had been selected.
“I won’t ask you to leave immediately. I currently have people on the ground conducting an investigation. If the next report also comes back suspicious, I will call for you again at that time.”
“……If it doesn’t go through the Adventurer Guild, it becomes a private request. You understand that, right?”
I asked carefully so it wouldn’t sound like I was threatening her to pay more. I didn’t need to explain the downsides of cutting out the middleman. But if we involved our shitty little Audumla, it would leave a record. Supporting a fallen noble would be a burden for the young lady.
‘The lord might just cut her off.’
It was a highly probable prediction since it could become a problem. Would a hereditary public official like the lord risk hearing things like “Your daughter’s friend? War call??” from a foreign country? In the worst case, it would be a situation where he’d have to cut off his own daughter’s tail. And from the tail’s perspective, having its head chopped off by guillotine wasn’t exactly “cutting off a tail”—it was straight-up execution.
Fortunately, if I went out without making it an official request, there was no such risk. Even if this conversation leaked, they could just say I went because I heard about it from a friend of a friend. The chance of it becoming an international issue would be zero percent.
‘I already gave the wedding speech, so I wasn’t planning on asking for anything more……’
As I was thinking that, Maria Hennessis raised a finger. What the hell? Was she about to throw a punch? I thought a nun death beam might fly at me, but the young lady pointed at the display cabinet in the confessional room.
“The wedding ceremony today followed the style I learned in Romania. Because so much of Britannia’s native culture was lost after the Great War, we’ve been heavily influenced by Romania.”
The topic suddenly changed? No, this must be the introduction. I gave a vague response.
“I heard the bathhouses in Sargadis are the same. Of course, as commoners, we can only be grateful for the lord’s benevolence.”
“That is the result of my father incorporating the experiences I had in Romania into policy. The fact that I received baptism from the church was also part of my father’s consideration so that I could see the wider world.”
Ah, so that was how it was. She must have become friends with Tirsi, who was a Romanian noble, during that study-abroad period.
“Culture and tradition are important. The strength of a people comes from their pride in their nation. And what supports that pride is culture. The reality is that our country is forgetting its own traditions.”
The young lady spoke fluently. It seemed like something she had been thinking about for a long time.
‘People in this other world tend to have pretty strong regional sentiments.’
It was a world where gods literally existed. Even the timid Franc, who wasn’t particularly religious, had once argued with me about whether our German one-eyed god was better than Romania’s Uranus. Nationalistic content works everywhere! And if you throw in some “Do you know kimchi?” on top of that? There’s no way you can hold back. It was inevitable that they would develop pride or regret regarding their own country’s culture. Especially when compared to another nation. It would make their blood boil like a Korean pro gamer getting absolutely destroyed at StarCraft by a Japanese player.
‘Even wedding culture is like that.’
In modern times, if someone suggested a traditional wedding with red and green makeup, people would frown. But in this other world, wanting to follow your hometown’s wedding style probably wasn’t considered conservative.
‘Franc doesn’t seem particularly attached to it, but Dana and Veronica might hate it if we did it the Romanian way.’
Especially Veronica. Given how strongly she felt about her clan, it seemed even more likely. She might react like a Christian being forced to bow at a ancestral rite during the holidays.
‘But I don’t want to force my own tastes on them if my wives don’t like it.’
Anyway, I’d think about that later. I sang the young lady’s praises.
“You have truly excellent insight. For the heir of the territory to be this wise, Sargadis is guaranteed a hundred years of peace.”
“Yes. In that sense, it was also I who persuaded my father to grant permission for the establishment of your second wife’s research institute. I did it out of regret that Britannia is only passively accepting Romanian influence, but it unexpectedly created a point of contact with you, Norde.”
“……I see. It was incredibly helpful.”
She was talking about Dana’s research institute. I was a little surprised that the topic had continued from the introduction, but I could roughly see where the young lady was leading this conversation.
The young lady said,
“If you accept this request── then I, Maria Hennessis, will become a sponsor for Dana Berbeia.”
A sponsor. Even if the young lady didn’t know I was a former archaeology master’s student, figuring out that our purple-haired girl was my wife would be as easy as lying down and getting laid. So I wasn’t particularly surprised by that part.
“Of course, I won’t do anything like putting a leash on you. I will support your wife’s research as an equal partner. If a better sponsor appears, you are free to pursue a new connection.”
It was an insanely generous condition. No power imbalance and free to switch sponsors? It was treatment that nobles who tried to turn sponsored commoners into their son’s concubines to create a hive mind could never even dream of. Moreover, considering that this young lady would become the next Hennessis lord as the lord’s child, the value of this offer would easily double or triple.
But I answered after thinking coldly.
“It seems like an excessive offer. It also feels premature.”
“──Ah, I see. Then how about sponsorship for the research institute itself? If it’s framed as a fund for the development of the territory, there shouldn’t be any backlash.”
The young lady corrected herself as if she had noticed the flaw in her original proposal. Whoa, damn. Look at how quick she is on the uptake. I’d really have to stay on my toes when talking to this person.
I smiled awkwardly.
“When you pay this much attention, it’s hard to refuse. I will discuss it with my wife and make sure to give you a good answer.”
It would be dangerous to jump at the sponsor offer immediately. After all, I couldn’t guarantee that the young lady’s current thoughts would remain the same a few years from now. People’s hearts change all the time. Politicians’ main job is literally changing their words. If it was for the benefit of thousands of territory residents, she could easily screw me and our purple-haired girl over. The better the ruler, the higher the chance. Wasn’t that what The Prince said? That an outstanding monarch must also know how to break promises.
‘Besides, once a sponsor appears, it becomes difficult for another one to show up.’
Unless it was a noble who wanted to pick a fight with Lord Hennessis, no one would deliberately try to sponsor our purple-haired girl. That would be on the level of trying to steal someone else’s sports team with money. Even if the young lady had no such intentions now, the future was uncertain. Therefore, offering operating funds for the research institute was an excellent proposal. In crude terms, she had played her cards very well.
“I will wait until the next time you call to give my answer regarding the proposal.”
“Yes. Please return safely.”
The young lady stood up as if the conversation was over. I followed suit and gave my farewell.
“Of course. I wish you well too. Once again, congratulations on the wedding.”
With those words, the young lady left. Her escort soldiers took her back to the territory. I rolled my shoulders, feeling like I had finished a sales call.
Fuck. As my skills improve, will I have to deal with these noble types more often? That’s going to be exhausting as hell.
I quickly returned to my wives and rubbed my cheek against Franc.
“Ugh. Franc, I’m sorry. Leaving you on a day like this to go work……”
“You did well. It must have been hard today, right? As expected, our Norde is the best.”
Even the same compliment felt completely different when it came from my wife rather than from others. ─Chu. And Franc even gave me some lip service (a kiss). Yeah, fuck. This is what it means to be alive. This is what makes all the hard work worth it.
As I grinned like an idiot, Dana asked me.
“So? Honestly, you worked hard today. What did the young lady say?”
“She said if I accept the request, she’ll become our purple-haired girl’s sugar mama. It was a win-win proposal, but I’ll explain the details later so just wait.”
I left it at that and headed home. There was plenty of time to explain later. I was worried about Tirsi, but there was nothing I could do about someone who was so far away. I could only hope she was safe.
‘She’s not the type to stick her head into dangerous places alone.’
Tirsi would at least make sure she stayed above the safety baseline. And honestly, talking about another woman on the day of my wedding would be a dick move.
When we returned home, we had a small after-party. We didn’t prepare a grand feast. They said we could pick up the leftover fruit and ham that had been set aside as reserves so the wedding food wouldn’t run out, so we brought those and laid them out casually. Since it wasn’t food that other people had touched and it had never even made it to the table, there were no hygiene concerns.
─Cheers!
We laid out snacks that matched the drinks and clinked glasses. Larilura, who was still a minor, had a non-alcoholic drink again, and even Franc abstained from drinking today. The atmosphere made it seem like she wanted to drink, but she appeared to be avoiding getting drunk.
‘We already drank plenty during the Bierfest.’
After visiting the ancestral graves, we had a few days to spare before returning to Britannia. We had tasted beers from all sorts of countries back then, so she was probably trying to restrain herself today.
……Actually, back then Franc had been drinking to get drunk rather than to enjoy the taste because she was thinking about her parents. Seeing her happily smiling and drinking non-alcoholic beverages after getting married was much nicer to watch.
“Senior……? Don’t throw away the bouquet…… I’m going to take it with me……?”
Maybe because she had stayed up until 2 a.m. without any alcohol in her system, the sleepy Larilura headed to the guest room. Dana and Veronica yawned and went up to their rooms as well.
“……Everyone’s gone.”
Franc, who hadn’t drunk any alcohol yet showed no signs of sleepiness in her eyes, said that. She had taken off her wedding dress long ago and removed her makeup, so there would be no problem brushing her teeth and going to sleep. However, her sparkling blue eyes didn’t seem to be asking for a goodnight kiss. It seemed she was holding back from taking the initiative out of consideration for how tired I was, but sometimes having a quick-witted wife could be inconvenient.
‘Well, it’s better than not noticing at all.’
What other reason would Franc have for not drinking on a wonderful day like this? I downed the remaining alcohol and walked over to Franc, wrapping my arms around her waist.
“Franc. Are you sleepy?”
“……If Norde isn’t sleepy, then I’m not sleepy either.”
Franc covered her face in embarrassment. Fuck, our Franc is so cute all the time that I feel like I’m going to die. They say living creatures experience a surge in reproductive instinct and sex drive right before death. At this rate, even right before I die from overwork, my dick will probably still be rock hard, and I’ll end up having sex with my wives and dying from a heart attack during orgasm. I need to be careful.
I gently bit Franc’s ear.
“Come to my room. I’ll be waiting.”
“……………Okay.”
Franc fidgeted with her fingers, hesitating for a moment before giving me a fresh, innocent kiss on the lips. There were many things to think about and many tasks piled up for the winter, but fortunately for us as a couple, the nights in December were very long.