88. Dance with the Witch (1)
88. Dance with the Witch (1)
"...Has your shovel gotten kind of flashy?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying it looks flashier than before."
What did a large allocated budget mean?
It meant I could skim a little off the top.
Skimming a little off the top also meant I could invest that money in the future.
Legal skimming to save the world.
That was why I could hold my head high.
"I polished it with expensive oil. That's all."
"No, that alone wouldn't make it gleam like that. No matter how I look at it, that looks like mithril... It's mithril, right? Isn't it?"
Reni's suspicious gaze landed on the shovel resting on my workbench. My shovel blade, which had been plain white, now glittered silver, scattering a blue sheen. Even a village mongrel could've told you that blade wasn't made of ordinary material.
...Perhaps I needed to smear some dirt on it.
Even if I covered it, I doubted I could hide such a beautiful sight—one exciting enough merely to look at. I subtly blocked Reni's view with my bulky frame, but that wasn't enough to make her sharp gaze go away. I deliberately approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"...There's a little left over."
"What?"
"There's a little mithril left over. Didn't you complain your sword was poor quality? I could coat it in mithril for you."
"Wait, didn't you buy this with the budget for the passageway? That's embezzlement..."
Reni's pupils shook wildly the moment our eyes met. That was only natural. What swordswoman in the world could resist a blade made of mithril? Any swordswoman who could withstand mithril was either a saint or a bullshitter.
So, Reni would naturally have an interest in mithril.
I pressed that advantage for all it was worth.
"It's fine. I was careful not to leave traces. If it's just coating, no one will notice."
"No, but still..."
"It's for Karina."
Reni's expression changed dramatically at my words. She quickly regained her composure, but this was still a green light. Bringing up Karina was pretty effective on a Karina worshipper. To persuade Reni, I began whispering sweet words like a venomous snake.
"Think about it. Our number one objective is protecting Karina. To protect Karina effectively, shouldn't we be using quality weapons? If your sword snaps mid-fight, do you plan to fight with your bare fists? Against armed enemies? Recall the bastards we've faced just getting here."
Reni's face hardened at my words. My argument was getting through to her.
Wyverns, zealots, all kinds of monsters. No matter how high-quality the iron, a weapon made of it was still just iron in the end. Outside of battle, you could repair it or buy a new sword, but there was no way that was possible in the middle of a fight.
But what about a blade coated in mithril? Even a mere mithril coating boasted durability incomparable to iron—that was common knowledge in this world. That was why deep-pocketed swordsmen were always frothing at the mouth to get their hands on even a fist-sized lump of mithril.
"Are you planning to debate honor against enemies who use any means necessary?"
At my final argument, Reni wore an expression that said she had no choice. She was a former mercenary, not someone who would preach honor like a knight, so my persuasion worked well. Thank goodness she wasn't rigid.
In the end, Reni gave in to my persuasion. Shaking her head as though she had no choice, she asked one final question.
"...We really won't get caught?"
"As long as neither of us confesses."
Who the hell would pay attention to my shovel? It would not matter as long as Reni didn't draw her sword. Unless one of us slipped up, no one would discover the embezzlement. I'd even gone out of my way to make the emergency passage rather elaborate.
"...Next time you're going to do something like this, tell me first."
"Got it."
There would be plenty to discuss from now on.
"So, what brings you to the workshop?"
"The school closure was lifted two days ago, you know?"
"Ah. Was that so?"
I'd been so absorbed fiddling with that pain-in-the-ass mithril that I hadn't realized the time had passed. I'd been holed up in the workshop for almost four days straight. I yawned and listened to what Reni had to say.
"Elisa came back from class today and seemed to be looking for you, but she was hovering around too nervously to say anything. You know her personality. She gets frightened and freezes up over nothing. So I came to tell you myself."
"You really take good care of her."
"She's basically my first real subordinate."
"Subordinate... huh."
She wasn't officially employed yet, but since she was working as administrative staff, the description wasn't exactly wrong. Reni's statement seemed fair enough, so I accepted it. It was not as though I'd ever acted like Reni's subordinate.
"Yeah. Unlike you, my nominal subordinate, she's a real one, so I can't help but look after her. She's the type who needs a lot of hand-holding anyway... Still, she does decent work. Thanks to her, things have gotten easier."
"That's good to hear."
If she had panicked and fainted the way she did around me, she'd have been a nuisance rather than a help. Hearing that she was doing a good job put me at ease.
"So you're telling me to go ask her myself?"
"Yeah. Go talk to her in person. The way she is now, she'll agonize over it for days and never manage to say a word."
"Got it."
"I'm heading out, then. Lunch did not end that long ago, so come upstairs around dinnertime and talk to her. If you come up to eat, you'll have a natural chance to talk. Speak with Karina too. She's been worried because you hardly ever come upstairs."
"Dinnertime... huh."
"Are you coming up today?"
That startled me. When had she arrived? At some point, Millia had appeared in the doorway on her scooter. Her eyes sparkled with a peculiar sense of anticipation.
"We're eating dinner together tonight, right?"
"Yeah."
"Heehee, we can all gather and eat together today!"
Unable to contain her delight, Millia sped away on her scooter again. We looked at each other and shrugged at the way she had appeared like the wind and vanished just as quickly.
"She never gets tired of riding that thing all day, does she? Are all Dullahans like that?"
"I don't think so."
I couldn't imagine there being multiple beagle-like Dullahans.
We looked at each other and chuckled.
-------------------
"Elisa."
As soon as dinner ended, I approached Elisa, who kept shooting me furtive glances and walking on eggshells. When I drew near, Elisa flinched and cowered like a frightened hamster, but I paid it no mind, knelt down, and matched her eye level.
"Elisa."
"Y-Yes?!"
She needed to stop panicking. The servants were staring at me and whispering. I had not done anything. I had done nothing at all. I forced myself to ignore the uncomfortable looks and spoke again.
"I heard you were looking for me."
"Uh, uh, uh, uh... Y-yes, that's right..."
"What did you need me for? If it's hard to talk about here, we can talk elsewhere."
At my words, Elisa looked around, then nodded and answered.
"S-Somewhere else..."
"Got it."
I stood up and dusted off my knees. The servants were always cleaning rigorously, so I doubted there'd be any dust, but it was a habit I'd picked up from rolling around on dirt so often.
"Lead the way. Let's talk somewhere you're comfortable."
"O-okay..."
I followed the gloomy purple-haired girl out of the dining hall. Elisa led me to the room where she was staying. It was not large, but it was decent for staff quarters. After hesitating for a moment, she asked in a small voice.
"D-do you drink black tea...?"
"If you're making some."
"J-just a moment, please..."
Elisa opened the lid of the teapot sitting on a drawer in the corner of the room, extended her hand toward the opening, and chanted a spell.
"...W-water."
Once her incantation finished, a sphere of water about the size of a baseball materialized right above the teapot's mouth. This was the first time I'd seen magic up close. I watched Elisa's magic show with curious eyes.
Elisa dropped the magically created sphere into the pot, then took tea leaves from the drawer and placed them into the pot's infuser. Then she fiddled with a flat plate that looked like a magical tool.
An electric hot plate in a place without even a gas stove, huh. I was curious about the principle, but I'd have to set that aside for now. I sat quietly in a chair and waited for the tea to boil.
Uncomfortable silence.
The two of us exchanged no conversation whatsoever, simply staring blankly as the water inside the teapot came to a boil.
With only me, who was bad at conversation, and Elisa, timidity taken to its extreme, the suffocating atmosphere refused to break. We did not manage to speak again until the tea had been poured into two cups.
"You make good tea."
"Th-thank you..."
The start of smooth communication was always a compliment. I took a sip of the fragrant black tea and continued.
"What did you need me for?"
"Well... um..."
Elisa stared into her teacup. I leisurely savored the tea while waiting for her to speak. It'd only take a few minutes, so there was no reason to rush her.
Elisa finally answered after I'd nearly emptied my cup.
"P-please help me... with my, my assignment!"
"Got it."
"H-huh?"
"Helping with an assignment isn't difficult."
I could use this opportunity to steadily raise her affection and clear a mission. I was getting curious about the next mission anyway.
"Th-thank you!"
This was the first time I'd seen her make such a bright expression. I asked the relieved-looking Elisa the most important question.
"So, what's the assignment? I cannot help unless you tell me what it is."
Just what kind of assignment required my help so badly?
I stared at her with open curiosity. Apparently overwhelmed by my gaze, Elisa squeezed her eyes shut and finally explained the assignment.
"P-please go to a dungeon with me!"