Journey to the Capital (3)
"Lucas Leopold. Roughly a distant relative of mine. Or rather, he was. You may as well think of him as a complete stranger now."
Karen's face twisted with open disgust.
Leon tipped his head in agreement, the gesture carrying a clear enough meaning: If you say so.
"Kh…"
The eyes of the retainers on both sides fixed on Lucas. Shame flooded his face. He had expected something like this—but to be insulted so nakedly, so thoroughly, was enough to make the humiliation rise all the same.
Lucas clicked his tongue and tried to shake free of Leon's grip. It was not a conscious decision; the motion simply came out of him, automatic and natural.
"……??"
And yet—what on earth was this?
He did not budge so much as an inch. The hold might as well have been forged of solid steel. It would not give at all.
Lucas was left speechless.
"When we last met, I told you never to show your face before me again. It seems you let those words go in one ear and out the other. Out of regard for your grandparents, I overlooked your outrages until now—but this is too much, even for you."
Contempt settled into Karen's eyes.
"Get out of my sight at once. This is truly the last time. Remember well that there will be no next."
With that, Karen turned her back.
Whispers stirred on every side. Realizing that every one of them was aimed at him, Lucas snapped back to himself. His gaze cut toward a man he had stationed in advance at the far end of the street. Cursing inwardly, he jerked his chin at the fellow.
An escort knight, hired at no small expense. From ages past, an escort knight had been a living fragment of a house's strength. At the very least, the man ought to be able to plant a humiliation sharp enough to wound her pride.
"…Hey. You seem to think you're somebody. I'll teach you your place while I've got the chance."
"??"
What is this guy even saying?
Leon cocked his head.
Then a towering bulk came striding up from behind. The man stood well over six-three, his shoulders nearly twice as broad as Leon's.
Thump.
A massive hand clamped down on Leon's shoulder.
"Hm?"
And after that—nothing. The giant simply stood there.
Puzzled, Lucas spoke up.
"What are you doing?"
"……He won't move."
"What? Are you joking right now!?"
The voice was as laconic as the frame was large. But cold sweat was already beading thick across the giant's brow.
"Hey, big guy. If you don't take that hand off, I'm going to have to do something about it myself."
The warning sent a full-body shiver racing over the giant's skin. He yanked his hand away at once.
"Hey, you bastard! You playing games with me!? Shit—hurry up and get this off him, what the hell are you doing!!!"
Lucas bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"…………"
The giant weighed his employer's trust against his own life—and made the wrong choice.
"Aww. And here I gave you a chance."
The massive arm reached for Leon again. Leon caught it and snapped it clean in a single motion.
"AAAAAAAH—!!"
From the giant's mouth tore a scream fit for a dainty little girl. Not that he was secretly a woman or anything so absurd—nothing of the sort.
"Hm? You there—what are you doing over there? Why haven't you come along already?"
At the sudden shriek, Karen turned back and asked.
"No, ma'am—it isn't that I wasn't coming. These guys just picked a fight out of nowhere."
"Oh-ho. Is that so?"
"What should I do? Rough them up?"
"So long as you don't kill them, do as you please."
The chilling words left her lips as casually as a remark about the weather. The two men let out thin, reedy screams.
"You heard the lady."
Leon flashed a grin edged with madness. Their faces went past pale and straight into bloodless white.
Well. Beating people up isn't exactly a hobby of mine.
In a rare show of mercy, he eased the strength from both hands. They bolted for their lives.
"If you're finished, come along already. I'm hungry."
"Yes, yes~"
"Physiognomy really is a science."
"Hm? What did you say?"
"Nothing."
Small fry are just small fry. Yeah. That tracks.
Leon nodded to himself. Karen let it pass without comment. By now, the two of them had grown thoroughly used to each other's quirks.
"So what does that guy actually do?"
Curiosity, however, was not so easily set aside.
"He is someone you have no need to know. I am not hiding anything—he is genuinely a person of no consequence whatsoever."
"That bad?"
"When my parents still headed the house, ours had a brief acquaintance with his. Now they have no territory left to govern. They are nothing but fools loitering on land that belongs to the Empire."
Karen let out a sigh that was half lament.
"I despise people like that. Unlike ordinary commoners, they were given something—and still they make no effort of their own. They simply latch onto better houses and try to scavenge whatever scraps fall their way."
A bitter smile touched her mouth as she went on.
"Well. I am hardly one to talk, having merely inherited my house myself."
"Come on, Boss. You work hard. There's no comparing you to a guy like that."
"Yes. It is because there are people like you who see me for what I am that I stand where I do now."
Karen smiled, soft and genuine.
"In that sense—thank you for just now. As you said, there are a great many places where you prove useful."
"Heh. What is there to say? This is just the kind of guy I am!"
Leon thumped his chest. The sight drew a quiet chuckle from Karen.
"Yes. With you at my side, affairs like these become considerably easier. You are a great help."
"Wow. You're being awfully honest."
"I have always been the honest sort. And did I not say I offer my thanks when they are due?"
Leon scratched at the back of his neck, suddenly self-conscious. Thinking on it now, they had grown markedly closer since the magical beast incident. If the upper limit of her emotional tolerance was a ten, she used to snap the moment anything climbed past a three. These days, five felt perfectly safe.
"Haha. Anyway, Boss—what would you have done without me? Seriously, without me around, nothing would even run~"
"Hmph. Enough nonsense. Find a restaurant. My stomach is about to stick to my spine."
"Yes, ma'am~"
Of course, cross the line and she still got angry just the same.
"Hmm. Doesn't look like there's anywhere around here that would suit your tastes, Boss."
Leon scanned the street with diligence, hunting for something suitable—but try as he might, he could not find a single establishment that seemed likely to please her palate. Even back in the Agnes Territory, the hotels occasionally housed a high-end restaurant or two. Here, no matter how hard he looked, there was nothing of the kind.
"Go wherever you wish to eat. Pay me no mind."
"Come on. If we're going to eat, we might as well pick somewhere we both like."
"Hmm. So you take me for someone who will not so much as touch a dish unless it is refined and expensive?"
"Wait—was that not the case?"
"Hmph. How rude. I eat most anything without fuss. And the fine restaurants you are searching for simply do not exist in this district."
"Ah. Is that right?"
"This place is different from the territories ruled by the great houses. It is land owned by the Empire itself. Any citizen of the Ruthenia Empire may settle here."
"Aha. So that's why that Rudolf guy—why he was hanging around here."
"It is Lucas. Do not speak that name again. In any case—fallen houses like his do live here, but the bulk of the people are commoners. That is why no high-class restaurant would bother to open its doors."
So that was it.
Well. I was always the type who'd rather buy a pile of fried chicken with the money for one fancy steak anyway.
No demand, no supply. Leon nodded.
"Then I'll have this. You gave me the choice, so you'll just have to follow along, Boss."
"……And what, exactly, does this shop sell?"
"When it's cold out, nothing beats a hot broth. And you can mix rice right into it—good old rice soup."
"Rice soup……?"
Rice soup was the quintessential commoner's meal. Wherever you went, you could find a bowl of it. Among the foods that could fill a person solidly for next to nothing, few things rivaled it.
The interior of the shop was loud and lively. Leon walked straight in without a second thought.
"Aren't you coming?"
"……I shall go."
Karen followed him inside.
"Crowded in here. Let's take those seats."
She had her hood drawn deep, so no one recognized her. The other patrons went on chatting with their tablemates as usual, savoring their steaming bowls.
"This way—further in."
"……Very well."
Karen obeyed with a stiff set to her face. He guided her to the far end of the single seats, settled her at the outermost spot, and took the place beside her.
"Here we are—two bowls of rice soup~"
"Yes, right here is fine."
The moment they sat, a bowl appeared before each of them.
"……When did you place an order?"
"Ah—I told them on the way in. Besides, this place only has the one dish."
"A single menu? It is a restaurant, and yet they conduct business with such audacity?"
"Come on, you don't get it. A single menu means they're that confident. Sure, if it tastes terrible they'll fold overnight—but with a crowd like this, the odds are pretty good it's delicious, don't you think?"
"……Is that so."
Karen lifted the lid with tense fingers. From the deep earthenware pot, thick white steam billowed upward.
"They say the seasoning here comes out about right already. You can just dig in."
At his words she swallowed once, hard, and raised her spoon. Oil floated in pale golden beads across the milky broth. Food she had never tasted in her life. She scooped a spoonful, blew on it gently, and set it on her tongue.
"Oh—this is actually really good. How about you, Boss?"
A note of genuine delight came from beside her. Karen, too, found herself answering the quiet charm of the dish.
"……It is delicious."
"Right?"
Why is it so good?
The question lingered even as her spoon kept returning to the bowl of its own accord.
"Man, this place is a real find. Should I order another bowl of rice? I skipped breakfast, so I'm still not full. You want more too, Boss?"
"……I will have more."
And so the two of them filled their stomachs very thoroughly indeed.