A Somewhat Strange Saintess (1)
Amelia knocked on the Headmaster's office with a look that promised trouble.
"I'm coming in."
She practically kicked the door open. The Headmaster looked up at her with a face that seemed to have aged another ten years.
"The second child of House Windsor, I see."
"I hear you've been making unreasonable demands of my little brother."
Having heard the whole story from Hershey, Amelia was furious down to the tips of her hair. She stood perfectly straight in front of the Headmaster and slammed a stack of documents down with a bang.
"So this is what you've been up to all this while."
The documents contained every contract Luid and Clifford had ever signed between them. Every single one was blatantly unreasonable — terms that placed Luid at a one-sided disadvantage.
"You even left yourself the option of reclaiming Rach's Orb. And you call yourself the Headmaster of the Academy?"
"...Value differs according to each party's circumstances. It was an equivalent exchange. Money means little to House Windsor, does it not?"
"One gold from House Windsor and one gold from a commoner are both exactly one gold. The fact remains that you signed contracts that amount to fraud."
Clifford pressed wearily at the corners of his eyes.
"Boy, what is that even supposed to mean? To a commoner, a single gold is a matter of life and death. And besides, that loafer didn't leave the Academy over that, did he now?"
"So you knew."
Amelia clenched her fists.
"Do you truly not consider it an unreasonable demand, asking my little brother — who was sleeping peacefully at the lake — to do anything at all?"
"It's a matter of efficiency. That loafer would have caught wind of the black magic plot without any effort at all."
He let out a tired sigh and looked up at her.
"And another thing, you brat. As Headmaster, what exactly is wrong with asking a student to assemble an investigation team? The Academy has already afforded that loafer countless accommodations — going so far as to defy the testament of His Majesty the First Emperor, an authority we are bound to follow absolutely. A demand of this scale was... entirely reasonable."
Amelia's eyes went cold as ice.
"You are beyond reasoning with."
"...There is nothing I cannot say to my Headmaster."
"The moment you treated Luid like any other ordinary student, you lost the right to sit in that chair."
It had been the Academy that told him, we'll provide everything you could possibly need, so just come. Yet Clifford had broken his word from the very start, piling demands on Luid and repeatedly pushing through deals that only disadvantaged him.
Amelia could not forgive it.
"House Windsor will not forget this."
She glared at Clifford with quiet, still eyes.
The Imperial Capital was, how to put it, striking and full of life. There's a saying that to gauge a nation's standard of living, look at its people's expressions — and for the most part, the faces here were bright.
This was Luid's first time here. He'd only ever flitted in and out of his own mansion, nestled in the upscale residential district.
Luid stood in the plaza for a long while, lost in a daze.
"I should have come out ages ago."
With that thought, he started walking. Where to go first? Thinking about it, he felt a flicker of excitement.
From every corner of the streets, the chatter of merchants and the cries of hawkers filling the roads stirred at his ears. What caught his eye most of all were the people ringing bells. Judging by their vestments, they seemed to be from the Church.
Makes sense, he thought, turning his gaze away. What had stolen his attention was a tavern — an eating house that doubled as an inn.
Ugh, this tastes awful. Do nobles really eat nothing but this?
He remembered the commoners saying things like that. Unlike nobles, who cast purification magic over everything before touching it, commoners enjoyed their food exactly as it was.
He'd wanted to try it for ages. Now that he'd quit the Academy anyway, this was the time. Luid went looking for one tucked away in a quiet corner — because if you're going to dine alone, a calm, unassuming place is best.
{ Where the Wind Rests }
Common name.
It was the sort of utterly ordinary name you'd find on fifty thousand establishments across the Empire — but there was something about that plainness he liked. Luid pushed the door open and stepped inside.
"Meals are five pesos, lodging's twenty-five. If you think that's expensive, get lost."
The moment he entered, a hulking black man barked at him in a voice like gravel. His build was so enormous that Luid wondered if the doorway had even accommodated it. He was bald, and his head came within a hair's breadth of the ceiling.
Luid rested a small hand on the high counter.
"I'd like a meal."
"Hm? A little customer, are you."
He glanced at Luid, looking mildly surprised, then his face settled back into indifference.
"Five pesos."
Luid dug through his pockets. He quietly connected his subspace and pulled out a gold coin. He knew a peso was a small denomination — but gold was all he had on him.
"...Hey."
"Yes?"
Luid looked up at him with a blank, uncomprehending blink.
The man sighed and held out his hand, lowering his voice.
"That's too big a unit. I can't make change for that."
"Consider it payment for a month in advance."
Luid answered as though he'd anticipated the objection.
"What? And if the food's terrible?"
"Then you'll have lost one very expensive customer."
The man snorted a laugh. The heavy tattoo across his face rippled with it.
"Well, I'd hate to lose a customer like that. Guess I'd better put my back into it."
"Sounds good."
"Go take a seat, expensive customer. I'll knock your socks off."
He took the gold coin from Luid's hand and vanished through the back door.
Luid scanned the room for a seat. Four plain tables in all, with two other customers. One was slumped in a corner with a robe just like his own thrown over their head. The other had been watching this place for a while now.
A woman with a solid, athletic build. Bandages on her legs and arms, leather armor covering only the most essential vitals, and a sword hanging at her hip — a mercenary, most likely.
Luid sat down beside her. It was the window seat — more of a hole than a proper window, but still.
The moment he sat, she flashed him a bright grin.
"Well, milord, you've got a good eye! Ralph's cooking is the finest around."
So the big man's name was Ralph. Fitting, Luid thought.
"Name's Eudis. A third-rate mercenary scraping by day by day. Mind if I share your table? I was eating alone and getting bored."
By the time she'd finished saying all this, Eudis was already seated. But you can't spit on a smiling face — and with that easy, sunny grin, he couldn't bring himself to turn her away.
"Sure."
"And milord's name is?"
"Luid. Though I'm not a 'milord.'"
"Luid. Now that's a noble-sounding name."
"Is it that obvious?"
"Obvious? Massively."
Eudis smirked. Luid examined his own clothing.
It's perfect, though.
This shabby robe was a hunting robe. The kind genuinely worn by commoners in the North.
"You've got that how did she know? look on your face. Want me to tell you? Why I'm so certain you're a noble?"
"Please do."
"First, the way you talk. No commoner speaks with that refined an accent — and you didn't even drop the formalities on a first meeting."
Luid flinched. He hadn't given his speech a single thought.
Eudis crossed her legs and snickered.
"Then there's the clothes. Shabby as they look, anyone with a decent eye can place them. That fabric is expensive. I know because I once tried to buy something similar — it was so cold I nearly wept."
"...This?"
Luid looked down at his thick robe, genuinely taken aback.
"But above all — those sapphire eyes, like jewels that gleam even in shadow. No commoner alive has eyes like that. And honestly, you're just too pale, milord. If you want to pass as a commoner, you'd best go work on your tan."
"......"
Deflated, Luid pulled off his robe. He finally understood that it had all been pointless. At the sight of his face, Eudis went visibly startled.
"Actually, retract everything I just said. No amount of tanning will do anything against hair that radiant. Just give up."
Luid grumbled,
"You're being rather familiar with me, aren't you."
"Well, obviously. You hid your status in the first place because you wanted to be left in peace, didn't you? This is exactly the treatment you were hoping for. Same goes for Ralph — that's why neither of us said a word."
Just then Ralph arrived with the stew and glared daggers at Eudis.
"What do you think you're doing, hassling my customer? Useless woman who can't even pay her tab."
"Hehe, sorry, sorry."
"Fine, whatever. If the customers get friendly, that's good for me. Just don't interrupt his meal."
Ralph set the meat stew down in front of Luid and headed back to his station.
Luid drew the steaming bowl toward him, wisps of vapor curling off its surface. He picked up the wooden spoon and gave it a stir. It smelled absolutely delicious.
But what exactly is this?
Eudis must have read the question off his face, because she answered brightly.
"It's a stew made with orc meat. The flavor is an art form."
"...Orc meat?"
His appetite plummeted.
They really do eat monsters here.
Compared to livestock like pigs or cattle, monster meat was easier to come by — he'd heard it was what commoners mostly ate — but actually having it in front of him was... something else.
"Try it. You're in for a surprise."
At Eudis's confident urging, Luid scooped up a single piece of meat with his spoon, squeezed his eyes shut, and ate.
Eudis rested her chin on her hands and watched him with a satisfied look.
Luid's eyes went wide.
"This is..."
"Good, right? You've probably never tasted anything like it, milord. Nobles do nothing but eat flavorless food, after all."
Luid silently took another spoonful.
"...!"
Then he fell upon the stew with complete abandon.
It was beyond any comparison to mushrooms — it was delicious...!
Luid walked along with a deep sense of satisfaction. His belly was full; now it was time to find a suitable spot and sleep.
I'll be eating at commoner restaurants from now on.
He'd thought this world had nothing but bland food. If he'd known it could taste like this, he would have gone hunting for it long ago.
The food at Where the Wind Rests had been shockingly intense. Properly salted meat, so punchy it bordered on over-seasoned; a stew steeped with deep, layered flavor that grew more addictive with every bite.
I'll come back again later.
Having decided that, Luid looked around. He was behind the Grand Cathedral, and geographically speaking, the spot felt like a guaranteed recipe for perfect sleep. Good sunlight, and being beside a cathedral, blessedly quiet. His target: the cathedral rooftop.
Luid cast an invisibility spell and levitated his body, landing lightly on the roof.
There was already a guest in residence.
Where have I seen her before?
A girl with that kind of presence lay curled up, fast asleep.
Luid thought nothing strange of it. Popular spots always draw a crowd; he'd simply have to accept this much. He took out his pillow and settled down at a reasonable distance from the girl.
The warm sunlight made it a wonderful spot. The only annoyance was that the girl wasn't very far away — but there was nothing to be done.
This is clearly a two-seater.
The rest of the roof was far too shady. He rolled onto his side and closed his eyes.
Chirp, chirp—
Just as he was surrendering himself to the creeping drowsiness, listening to the sparrows chirping softly —
Swish—
A soft weight pressed down on him, and Luid opened his eyes.
The girl from before was straddling him.
Whether it was natural to her or the work of the sunlight, her faintly glowing silver hair lent her a deeply mystical air. The girl tilted her head with round, wide-open eyes — then blurted out, without warning:
"Want to kiss?"