The Bond of Blood (2)
"Wh—why are you here?"
Was I seeing things? I rubbed my eyes for a moment and looked again.
Still there: a woman who looked just like me, yet somehow brighter and more vivacious, standing right in front of me.
She answered with a deep, playful bow.
"Why do you think? I came because I missed you, of course."
It was really her.
It was really Noah.
That smile. Even the habit of tapping her left heel with the toe of her right foot. A smile crept onto my face.
"Good heavens, it's been so long... no, wait."
But I quickly smoothed my expression back into blankness.
I couldn't go embracing family I hadn't seen in four years, not just yet. There was a procedure that came first.
"Ahem! Cough, cough!"
Having cleared my throat, I spoke.
"Please state your name, your place of origin, and your reason for entering the country."
"...Huh? Oppa?"
Her voice wavered with confusion. Noah blinked up at me, wide-eyed.
"It's me, Noah. Your little sister! What's gotten into you all of a sudden? I have to go through immigration too?"
I answered her, stiff as stone.
"There are no exceptions at the border."
At the border, everyone is equal before the law, whoever they may be. Family was no different.
Besides, after the unimaginable incident with that Changeling, anyone I knew personally deserved to be scrutinized all the more thoroughly.
Seeing my resolute expression, Noah pouted and relented.
"Noah Kell, born of our mother's belly, here because I missed my big brother."
"Uncooperative answers may result in denial of entry."
"Fine, fine. From the Nasan Viscounty, Crossline Kingdom."
"And the purpose of your visit?"
"Well, as you can see, I've sold everything there was to sell down south, wrapped up all my business, and I'm on my way back."
Behind her, as she said this, stood a full eight enormous wagons. Every last one of them belonging to the Kell Merchant Company.
"Hmm."
I had no idea what business she'd conducted, but it must have been substantial.
"There. All done? Are you going to keep being so stiff with me? I'm hurt."
"One more question."
"You're merciless, you know that? My happiness at seeing you is evaporating as we speak."
Noah grumbled, exasperated. But this was something I simply had to verify.
"What were the names of the puppies we raised as children?"
I asked for information that only the two of us in the whole world could know.
The answer came back instantly.
"Dondon and MoneyMoney."
—There.
At once my expression melted, and I swept her into a fierce embrace.
"It really is you, Noah. I missed you, little sister."
"...Give me back the touching moment, you idiot of a brother."
She flinched in surprise for a beat, and then her hands slowly rose up my back.
A warmth I once knew so well, though it felt just slightly unfamiliar now, flowed into me.
"...I missed you. It's the first time since I became an examiner, isn't it."
"How does a man not go home even once? You blockhead. Do you know how shocked I was when I heard about the trial?"
Just a few short words, passed back and forth.
But it was enough to dissolve four years of silence.
A little while later, I released her from the hug and spoke first.
"So if your southern business is finished, you're coming home for good this time."
"Nope? I'm heading straight for the western volcanic region."
"You too?"
What the hell was wrong with the damn West? Was it haunted or something? Now it was dragging my own family into it.
I heaved a long sigh.
"Because of the gold rush, I take it."
"Ooh, sharp as ever. That instinct of yours hasn't died yet, has it?"
She giggled and went on.
"We'll stay about a week, then head straight over."
"A week, you say?"
I tilted my head. That was longer than I'd expected.
People just passing through usually headed out within three days.
Noah patted my stiff shoulder.
"I spent four whole months out in the field—I deserve to catch my breath too. And since I'm seeing you for the first time in four years while I'm at it, shouldn't we catch up on how we've each been living?"
"You won't have much time to spare. Don't get comfortable for nothing—the gold rush is all about speed."
"That's for those fools running off to dig in the dirt. What would we have to sell them?"
I considered for a moment. What kinds of goods would tempt the people headed west?
"Clothing, tools, food from home... things like that."
"Sharp as ever, my dear brother. Some things about you never change."
She rapped a knuckle against one of the wagons behind her.
"Exactly. And demand for that sort of thing only rises after time passes. When gear breaks down, when clothes tear, when homesickness starts creeping in. Picture it—the moment people are aching most for thoughts of home, ta-da!, we show up with southern goods. What do you think happens then?"
The value of any product is, in the end, decided by people.
And people don't weigh the price of the things they desperately want and need.
"They'll buy anything connected to home, no matter the cost."
In other words, Noah meant to target southern natives in the West and sell them everything that stirred their nostalgia.
"And for the record, that's not all of it."
She pointed at the eight wagons behind her.
"Twelve more will arrive in a week. Cargo wagons packed to the brim, top to bottom."
"Ruthless."
Pure admiration slipped out of me.
The girl still had an uncanny nose for money.
"So that's why you said a week—you'd calculated everything. No one can call you anything but a merchant; you've seized the opportunity perfectly."
"I learned it all from Father and you, didn't I? Crisis is opportunity. If the company abandoned the roads our customers travel, that would be the real disaster."
With that, I'd asked everything that needed asking.
Her identity was certain, she was a Crossline citizen in the first place so there was nothing odd about her motive for entry, and her destination was clear.
"Very well. I judge your testimony to be entirely reasonable. Now, I will inspect the wagons."
"Go right ahead~. Nothing to hide, so feel free to dig through every last corner~."
She looked supremely confident. I was about to head over to the wagons when something occurred to me, and I turned back.
"If you're staying a week, you've arranged lodging, yes? Given the current situation, every inn in the area will be booked solid."
"Ah, about that..."
She leaned in close and whispered.
"Let me stay at your place for a few days, Oppa."
So this was her real purpose all along.
Free family lodging during peak season. I answered immediately.
"No."
"Aw, why not—!"
"Absolutely not. Just go to the main house."
"Then who's going to check on the wagons arriving in a week? You have to inspect the goods the moment they get here!"
"Send someone to do it."
"Whaaat? Don't you remember what happened last time we tried that—Father nearly got swindled? You can't trust anyone but family, you old man. And besides..."
Noah glanced around slyly, then lowered her voice.
"You live alone anyway. You're not married yet, I'd bet."
That gave me a moment of silence.
True. I wasn't married. But I didn't live alone either.
There were people at my house right now.
Erzena, Elaine, Hannah, and... Mnassil and the egg.
What would happen if my little sister walked into a house with them in it?
—A shiver.
Before I knew it, my whole body had gone cold.
The people inside that house were secrets more closely guarded than every classified document in the Immigration Bureau combined.
A Pandora's box, nothing less. One wrong step and the gates of hell would swing open.
And Noah was the next head of a merchant company that traversed the entire world. To a merchant for whom information was money and lifeblood, there was no way she wouldn't recognize figures this famous.
I shook my head like a madman.
"I'll somehow get you a suite at the finest inn in the region, so go stay there."
"Hmmm... Nathan Kell, famous far and wide for never spending a copper more than he must, throwing this much money on me. Something's fishy."
"There's nothing fishy."
"Are you living with someone?"
Oh, I was living with someone, all right.
One of them, a former Holy Maiden of the Holy Church on provisional refugee status. Another, a princess of this very kingdom installed by royal decree. And one more—one more whole dragon—throwing a tantrum because she wanted someone to sit on her egg.
...When you think about it, it's absurd.
Why were people like that in my house?
Come to think of it, it'd be far safer to move them all into the safehouse... ah, no, that's still under construction.
The whole world was conspiring against me.
Watching my face turn pitch black in real time, Noah's eyes went round.
"Gasp! Don't tell me—you've got a woman!?"
I exercised my right to remain silent.
"Wow, it's true. Wow... and here I thought you had zero interest in that sort of thing. Four years really is a long time, huh. Is it maybe..."
As I kept my mouth shut, her eyes narrowed—and then she suddenly whipped her head to the side.
Straight toward the Five Senses Officers and Erzena, who were plastered against the window of the bureau, peering down at the two of us through the gap in the curtains.
—Startled!
The moment their eyes met hers, they scattered in a panicked rush.
Why weren't those idiots doing their jobs?
"Is she one of them?"
"..."
I exercised my right to remain silent.
When I stood rooted in place like a guard captain turned to stone, Noah swiftly changed targets.
"You there, mister."
"Y-yes, sir!"
My direct subordinate, the attendant.
"Mister, you remember what the Central Officer told you earlier—how he has nothing whatsoever to do with a rude person like you?"
"W-well, you see..."
So that's why his face did that when she said 'little sister' earlier.
"Who does my big brother live with?"
She went straight for the throat.
"At the moment... there's—"
And just before his mouth could open—
"Attendant."
"Ah, yes."
"Information regarding high-ranking officials must not be disclosed."
"Q-quite right. My apologies. I am not authorized to say anything."
I barely managed to seal his lips. But Noah was not one to give up easily.
"Ahh~, I'm so heartbroken by the treatment I received earlier that I might just file a formal complaint. A public official preventing a man from even meeting his own little sister... why, this could be an abuse of power by the kingdom's own civil servant against its citizens, hmm?"
Instantly switching tactics, she began a veiled threat.
"Currently, at the Central Officer's residence—"
I cut in smoothly.
"Attendant. I intend to discuss overtime compensation and additional allowances with the Minister before long."
"...There's no one there! The Central Officer lives alone!"
Victory, secured in a single stroke.
"I will say nothing further. My deepest apologies."
What moves the human heart more surely than a veiled threat?
A sweet reward.
A Merchant Secret Technique: Targeting Tastes.
Offer exactly what the other party wants.
Threats are less effective than you'd think. Promise someone a sweet reward instead, and their heart moves far more readily.
—Snap.
I closed the file holding her entry documents and said,
"To forget the teachings handed down through our family for generations. You still have far to go, Noah Kell."
"Tch."
I tossed a smile at her pouting, sulking face.
"Please wait inside the bureau until the wagon inspection is complete. Welcome to the Crossline Kingdom."
Even the next head of a world-spanning merchant company, even a merchant with the sharpest head in the business, was in the end still my little sister.
She still had a long, long way to go before she could defeat the superior organism known as an older brother.
Meanwhile, inside the conference room that doubled as a temporary recovery room, the Five Senses Officers and Erzena sat around the round table with grave expressions.
"Now then. Let us begin the First Emergency Roundtable Meeting."
So declared the Smell Officer in a solemn voice.
Erzena was the first to speak.
"That woman... who could she be?"
Every gaze turned toward the window.
A woman with the same black hair and black eyes as Nathan. Striking for her bright, spirited air that somehow carried a sharp edge. The Smell Officer recalled her and spoke.
"She was no ordinary person. She noticed she was being watched and looked straight back at us, precisely. And the way she called the Central Officer aside... there's something there."
The Taste Officer chimed in next.
"Same black hair—could she be a fellow townsman of his?"
A fellow townsman.
At that word, Erzena's expression twisted into something complicated.
Maybe he was just happy to see someone from his hometown. Maybe that's all it was.
But even a shared hometown wouldn't explain such open affection. Erzena had clearly seen it—the eye-smiles and small gestures of intimacy that one simply does not offer to someone they feel nothing for.
The Touch Officer raised another suspicion.
"If they're from the same hometown, they might be childhood friends."
Childhood friends.
A far more dangerous word.
Erzena's expression grew heavier still.
—Vrrrm.
For the first time in a very long while, the concentration of divine power thickened and settled over the room, heavy and clinging.
It still played vividly before her eyes.
—There.
The image of Nathan, who had been conversing so calmly, suddenly seizing that woman in a burning embrace.
...Not once. Not once has he ever been that forward with me.
That was a gesture impossible between anyone but the closest of intimates. And with a member of the opposite sex, it was an expression reserved for bonds that ran deeper still.
Had he ever...
been like that with me?
Looking back—setting aside the time she had been a sow—there had never been a single occasion.
They had spent so many hours together, yet physical contact had been almost entirely absent.
—Creak.
Erzena's hand seized the armrest of her chair.
Lips pressed tight, she murmured quietly to herself.
Me too... with you... I wanted to... with you...
Wistfulness. And regret.
Something indescribable pressed down on her chest.
At that point, the Smell Officer, finally unable to bear the suspense, spoke up.
"Hey, Hearing Officer. Go listen in and find out what those two are to each other. That'd be faster than all this guessing."
"Hmm~. One moment."
Curious herself, the Hearing Officer pressed her ear to the window at once.
—Twitch.
The elf's slender, pointed ears flicked now and then.
"Mm-hm. Mm-hm. Oho. Aha."
Erzena watched her with anxious eyes. And before long, the Hearing Officer furrowed her brow in apparent disappointment.
"Aw, what? They're just the Central Officer's—"
The Hearing Officer stopped mid-sentence.
She glanced sidelong at Erzena.
"...Wh-what is it?"
Erzena raised her voice in feigned disinterest, but her two hands had already gone ghost-white.
"She said they're... just acquaintances? Her and Nathan?"
At that, the Hearing Officer smirked.
"Oh, she said they haven't seen each other in four years, and that she missed him half to death~?"
The corners of Erzena's mouth trembled violently.
The divine power grew thicker, clingier still.
And then—
—BANG!
The black-haired woman from before flung the door wide open and strode into the conference room.
"Huh?"
"You're not supposed to enter here..."
Erzena whirled around and hastily withdrew her divine power. That a former Holy Maiden was here could not be made known to ordinary people.
The black-haired woman swept her gaze around the room, then addressed the stunned, frozen Five Senses Officers.
"Hello! You must be the Central Officer's closest colleagues, yes?"
"Er? Ah—yes. That is so, but..."
"I am Noah Kell, the little sister of the Central Officer Nathan Kell!"
A bolt from the blue.
The self-introduction shattered every expectation, and the recovery room erupted.
"A—a little sister!?!?"
"That man—no, that Central Officer—has a little sister!?"
Shock and awe. But the most shocked of all was someone else entirely.
"Y-you're Nathan's sister!?"
Erzena whipped her head around with something close to a shriek.
"B-but the Hearing Officer just said you haven't seen each other in four years and..."
Like an old fox, the elf giggled as she watched Erzena flounder.
"I told no lies~. This officer never once stated what their relationship was~."
"Y-you—Hearing Officer..."
Embarrassment, wistfulness, and a storm of feelings she couldn't name dyed Erzena's face crimson to the very tips of her ears.
But the corners of her mouth were already trembling—shaking with pure, overwhelming relief.
And... Noah, seeing her in her unhidden glory, went equally pale with shock.
"N-no way... you're..."
Dazzlingly beautiful sky-blue hair, and golden eyes bright as sunlight.
Noah knew exactly whose features those were.
"Holy Maiden Erzena...?"
"Ah."
"Ah."
"Ah."
Only then did everyone realize, too late, that they had failed to conceal Erzena's identity in their shock.
Silence.
The Smell Officer muttered under his breath.
"We're screwed."
And so, one of the very people Nathan had desperately tried to hide was exposed—pathetically, effortlessly, without a fight.