Chapter 15
Chapter 15
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Harvest Festival (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After returning home, he encountered memories and connections in the downtown area he visited for the first time.
Something that had once settled in his memories as longing was now overlaid with something new.
Despite such moments, Elric's time slipped away relentlessly.
“Today marks the start of the Harvest Festival.”
“Indeed. I was quite shocked to see the wheat fields all shaved bald.”
At the breakfast table, Elric chuckled and replied to Tiria's words.
The wheat fields that had painted the whole world in gold had become barren plains.
The harvest had ended successfully, and now it was time to enjoy.
Of course, that was for the territory's people.
“Now you'll be truly busy from here on out.”
That wasn't the case for Tiria.
She had to sort and categorize the harvested crops into portions for offering to the royal family, for commerce, and for distribution to the territory's people.
After that came the tedious task of tallying up the year's profits.
If Aldio was right, she would now suffer through grueling workloads.
Feeling sorry for her, Elric asked.
“Is there nothing I can help with?”
“There isn't.”
“Really nothing? I can handle sorting documents too.”
“It's not greatly needed.”
She was firm.
Just as he wondered if he should sit idly sucking his thumb,
“This year, just watch from the side. I'll oversee it and teach you.”
Ah, so that's what she meant by no help needed.
Elric grinned awkwardly.
“Hmm...”
“You'll only learn the broad categories. The details are so complex they take years of training to grasp fully, so you won't master it all at once.”
Her voice was soft and measured, yet her words carried weight.
Her gently drooping eyes added a sense of pressure.
“Perfect timing. Let's dive into the paperwork right away today.”
“...Aren't you going to enjoy the Harvest Festival?”
“Attending for the speech on the final day will suffice.”
Had he poked the beehive?
“...My head isn't all that sharp.”
“I'll bear with it.”
Maybe he shouldn't have said that.
Elric felt a belated regret.
But nothing changed.
It was time to pay for not recognizing her patience.
Anyway, this damn mouth of his was the problem again.
*
“Spare me.”
“I'm not killing you.”
“I feel like I'm dying.”
“People don't die that easily.”
*‘They die easily enough. One sword strike and it's fair game.’*
Elric swallowed those words with effort.
The place was the study, the time the morning of the Harvest Festival's final day.
Her lessons were brutal.
Her meticulous and persistent nature meant she wouldn't move on from any part until he understood it fully, and her patient disposition led to the worst outcome: lessons that dragged on for hours once started.
Elric wondered if she might be more skilled at torture than the renowned experts from the Western Wars.
It was that horrific, and that's why he desperately wanted today to end.
“...Shouldn't we prepare soon? For the speech.”
“It's still morning.”
“No rehearsal or anything?”
“I already did it.”
“When?”
“By cutting into my sleep.”
Indeed, Tiria seemed like a workaholic.
But Elric couldn't give up.
Above all, he just wanted to escape this interminable lesson.
“...Why not take a break instead? It's the last day of the festival—surely you can enjoy it a little.”
Tiria paused.
Elric pleaded inwardly. He hoped she'd say something about resting, and for once, the heavens didn't abandon him.
“...I've been short-sighted. This is the first festival you've attended in ten years, Family Head.”
It wasn't the reason, but Elric nodded frantically.
The more excuses, the better, right?
It actually worked.
Tiria let out a long breath and organized the documents.
“Understood. Then let's end today's lesson here. Heading out a bit early to stroll the streets with... him sounds good.”
“Great idea! I'm really looking forward to it! I'll get ready quickly... no, leisurely!”
Elric shot to his feet, shouting, and promptly grabbed his cane.
He left the study in such haste that he didn't see it.
Tiria biting her lip and bowing her head.
Her face was distinctly flushed.
*
Finally, liberation from that interminable lesson.
He could rest fully for at least today.
Trying to do work that didn't suit his temperament had left his body aching.
For Elric, who hadn't done anything but swing a sword for the past ten years, sitting still staring at ink stains was torture enough to induce vomiting.
“Young Master, you need to change quickly.”
“Take it easy.”
“That's not easy—that's dawdling.”
“Arguing with your master now?”
“It's advice. And someone who can't even play the master convincingly isn't scary at all.”
“You're fired...”
“You can't. Personnel is Lady's domain.”
“...”
Not a single soul took his side.
Sure, it was ridiculous to expect sympathy after running away for ten years and coming back, but feeling miffed was still feeling miffed.
He thought Aldio would understand...
“Young Master, you can't escape this time.”
Aldio was resolute.
It felt like being back in childhood, scolded for being immature.
He was aware he was acting immature, but realizing it was another matter.
Grumbling, Elric changed clothes.
It was ready-made attire.
“You'll be on the speech platform. Even if you're not speaking, you need to dress properly. I'll call the maids.”
“Why the maids?”
“You need makeup too.”
“A man doing makeup? You've lost it.”
“If I'm mad, then every noble, royal, and imperial in the world is mad too.”
“Aldio, your tongue's especially sharp today.”
“And you're especially immature today.”
Elric sank.
In the end, after enduring the absurd ordeal of powdering his skin as Aldio insisted, he dragged his uncomfortable steps to the study.
Not to work, but because the window there offered the perfect view of the estate outside.
Creak—
The door opened, and sunlight poured into the room before his eyes.
A study not used for work—how could it look so beautiful?
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Elric let out a chuckle.
*‘...Now, even looking here, Father doesn't come to mind first.’*
It was a belated realization.
Whether due to her ruthless education, or because the distant past had faded, entering the study brought her leftover documents to mind before his father's face.
Opening the study door, he first pictured her sitting at the desk.
This too was an overlaid memory.
Just as the changed downtown overlaid the faded one in his recollections, the scene that came to mind when thinking of the study had shifted.
Bitterness and joy rose together.
Elric gazed at the harvested, barren wheat fields, then perched on the desk in the study.
Thud—
His hand brushed untouched documents.
“Hm?”
Elric turned to check the papers.
“This is...”
It was the work he'd learned today.
Hadn't she cleared them? Casually lifting the papers, he finally noticed the memo beneath.
Elric's eyes widened.
『Deadline: 21st.』
The marked deadline was today.
She'd said it had leeway, but how could this half-unprocessed stack be leisurely finished today?
Dozens of pages visible—solving them would take half a day at least.
The moment he thought that, Elric realized.
*‘...Teaching me makes it half a day.’*
If she handled it alone, it wouldn't take this long.
Elric knew his aptitude for clerical work was slow.
Tiria had been teaching at his pace.
The tight deadline was likely because of him from the start.
The reason she'd allowed an early outing despite the backlog.
That too began to etch into Elric's mind.
*‘She was considerate of me?’*
Perhaps she'd slowed the pace to accommodate his fatigue.
Even amid such busyness, she'd prioritized his exhaustion.
It was a self-centered guess, but he couldn't dismiss it lightly—not with how she'd always shown consideration.
“...”
If he'd gone out like that, what then?
Given her personality of never complaining, she'd have split her sleep to finish alone and kept silent.
He never would have known how much harder she'd worked.
A sudden wave of shame hit him.
It made him look like a whiny brat.
Elric furrowed his brow.
Then he picked up the pen.
Feeling gratitude toward someone considerate and just accepting it was sly.
Elric didn't want to be that person.
So he rummaged through the documents for a while, recalling what he'd learned, and began filling in the writing bit by bit.
Tiria entered about an hour later.
“Family Head?”
She looked surprised.
Elric smiled sheepishly and said.
“The deadline was today. Why didn't you tell me?”
“That was...”
“Sorry. I didn't consider your position properly.”
Shock was plain on Tiria's face as they met eyes.
It embarrassed him so much that Elric bowed his head and said.
“I couldn't do much. Can you help?”
Her reply came a beat late.
“...Yes, let's do that.”
Her voice was a touch huskier than usual.
Her mood... didn't seem bad.
A relief.