The Last Vacation - 2
The Second Section Chief sent over a temporary contract along with a map marking every shop that handled strawberries. Even in the middle of negotiating a deal he showed that kind of sense. If he displayed even half that much tact and consideration on ordinary days, he really would have been a subordinate I treasured.
That clever bastard.
The kind who poured every ounce of that sharp mind into making his superior's life miserable…
Still, today he had found something Mar wanted to eat, so I would let it slide.
The terms aren't bad.
I walked toward the shop while skimming the contract. The contents were short and clean. Unless the Second Section Chief had completely lost his mind, he would never slip anything into a contract that could stab me in the back, and I had no intention of bullying or strong-arming a vassal house either. When it came to money, clean and quiet was always best.
The terms were fine, and I had even received a bit of consideration that wasn't really consideration. I probably needed to give this contract a proper look.
Should I expand the scope?
Something beyond a private arrangement that lasted only through my wives' morning-sickness periods—maybe a territory-wide contract on a much larger scale.
Tailglehen County already had established distribution partners, so that was out of the question, but the northern territories including Wiridia County were essentially blank slate. If I was going to hand the contract to someone anyway, better to give it to someone I already knew. Connections existed for a reason.
The Baron family is trustworthy enough.
The current head of the Baron baronial house—and the Second Section Chief's father—was a capable man who had risen from commoner status to a hereditary title. My personal trust in the Second Section Chief sat at rock bottom, but the Baron house itself was solid.
All right. Once I got back to the mansion I would give it serious thought.
"Welcome, Your Excellency! We heard you were coming and prepared everything in advance!"
"Ah, right. Thank you."
When I arrived at the shop the Second Section Chief had pointed out, the owner was already standing at the entrance with a basket of strawberries in hand.
He heard I was coming?
On a hunch I glanced up at the shop sign. The thoroughly familiar crest of the Baron baronial house was painted there.
That Second Section Chief bastard.
He hadn't simply recommended a place he knew—he had steered me straight to a shop run by his own family. The kid was dead serious about business.
Even if the head of the house changes, it should be fine.
That same seriousness actually put me at ease. If even the Second Section Chief was this invested, the contract wouldn't wobble just because leadership changed hands.
I spent my days peacefully and productively: securing whatever foods Mar and First Snow were craving in real time, greeting the three children sleeping in Trixie's arms, chasing after Titi who always seemed to have something stuffed in his mouth as he fled, and answering the flood of congratulatory messages from acquaintances one by one.
"It's been a long time, Chief. We heard the good news and came to visit."
"I trust you have been well."
Which was why even guests I hadn't seen in quite a while started turning up.
"Good to see both of you. It really has been ages."
Apparently they had heard that Mar had developed a taste for fruit. The Third Section Chief and Fifth Section Chief arrived carrying fruit baskets in both hands, and the sight of them actually made me glad. Unlike the Deputy Minister I sometimes checked on regarding the progress of founding the Inspectorate Ministry, my lover the First Section Chief, or the newlywed Second Section Chief, I genuinely never ran into these two.
Besides, I was the one who had lined them up as the designated Enforcement Chief and Enforcement Deputy Chief, so they were currently drowning in work. If the very person who shoved them into that pit of labor showed up asking, "Hey, busy?" they would have every right to be furious. If it were me, superior or not, I would have thrown a punch.
"It doesn't feel that long. Didn't we see each other at the wedding?"
"Even that already feels like ancient history."
I let out a short laugh at the Third Section Chief's words and accepted the fruit baskets. Every former executive from the Audit Department had attended my wedding to Trixie, but so much had happened since then that it already felt like months had passed.
"Ah, do you both have time? Since you're here, stay for a meal."
"Yes, well. If we didn't even have time to eat we would have bitten our tongues off long ago."
The Third Section Chief's words carried a heavy weariness; even the Fifth Section Chief fell silent and dropped his gaze to the floor. It was only a short sentence and a single gesture, yet I could feel the suffering the two nominees must have endured without any filter.
I am the sinner here.
Looking at them, I quietly averted my eyes as well. Promoting the two of them so quickly—even though they had only recently become section chiefs themselves—had been entirely my decision. No matter that I, younger than either of them, had been nominated as a minister, my own suffering did not erase anyone else's.
What made it worse was that while I felt sorry for the decision, I did not regret it. Honestly, they were the only ones I could trust enough to hand executive posts. To seize control of a brand-new department quickly you had to place your own people in the high seats.
And ultimately, once I became minister I could already picture the Third Section Chief cheerfully teasing me for the rest of my life. So I had simply launched a preemptive counterattack with the promotion card before he could strike first.
— Wang wang!
While the awkward silence lingered, Titi appeared out of nowhere, tail wagging furiously as he barked at the Third and Fifth Section Chiefs. He must have caught the scent of strangers and come running in pure excitement.
That little guy has something in his mouth again.
I gave a bitter smile at the dirt smudged around Titi's muzzle. People said babies put everything new straight into their mouths—maybe Titi was the same. He had grown bigger, but he was still a young puppy.
Or maybe it was just ordinary dog behavior. Either way, no amount of effort from his owner was going to change it.
"Oh, so this is Titi?"
"He's larger than I expected. I heard he was still young."
In any case, Titi's appearance melted the awkward atmosphere at once. The Third Section Chief crouched down and stroked Titi's head, and even the previously silent Fifth Section Chief drifted closer and began offering commentary.
So these two secretly liked animals. I hadn't known.
"He's a retriever, so he grows fast. Not long ago I could hold him in one hand."
Even I found it amazing. The compact little thing from just a short while ago had ballooned almost overnight.
"Keup."
"Mmm."
Then Titi's sudden action made both me and the Fifth Section Chief instinctively bite our lips. Panting happily, Titi planted his front paws on the crouching Third Section Chief's knees and started licking the area around his temple.
It looked exactly like he was working on a lollipop. I desperately forced myself to think sad thoughts: First Snow someday asking, "Daddy, why don't you have a diploma?" The day Sun, Sky, and Chomok hit puberty and started yelling, "I hate Daddy!"
"What an affectionate little one."
The Third Section Chief himself showed neither anger nor embarrassment and simply laughed it off.
This lunatic.
But the moment those words left his mouth another crisis arrived. The tongue that had been working the temple steadily climbed higher toward the top of his head.
Please, please stop. Of all places, why there.
"My wife always said animals can tell a good person. Looks like she was right."
"R-right. Seems that way."
I almost asked what nonsense he was spouting, but I held it back. If the source was his wife rather than the Third Section Chief himself, I couldn't exactly curse about it.
I doubt he's licking him because he's kind.
Still watching Titi treat the man like a giant lollipop, I thought of the Chef who would be in the kitchen right now. Everyone in the mansion adored Titi, but the Chef was especially fond of him—fond enough to grill meat for him personally. As a result Titi was fairly attached to the Chef as well.
And the Chef was completely bald by choice.
Unfortunately, the Third Section Chief was also bald.
And of course both of them are huge.
Apparently Titi saw the familiar Chef in this stranger he was meeting for the first time.
You can tell people apart by scent just fine, so why…
Ever since vacation began I had quietly stayed on the territory. Aside from my brother's wedding and the times I went to see Zenobia, I threw myself into training from morning till night.
As a man of the Crassius family I had never neglected training to begin with, but once vacation ended the second semester of third year would start. That would also be the last chance I had to spar with Ryutis.
Thinking about it that way only made me train harder. Ryutis was a sparring partner and friend I would never find again in this lifetime. Wanting to raise my win rate even a little before graduation was only natural. As a martial artist, a low win rate was simply unacceptable.
"Erich!"
But even my iron resolve wavered the moment I heard Sera's voice.
"I told you not to come this far—it's dangerous."
I let out a small sigh and walked toward her. This was the place where the family's knights trained and sparred just as I did.
Of course the knights would be careful the moment a delicate lady like Sera appeared, but the world was full of "what ifs." If a blind wooden sword so much as grazed her, no greater disaster could exist.
"If I didn't come get you first, you were going to skip dinner again, weren't you?"
Her words left me momentarily speechless. Denying it would have pricked my conscience.
It was true that my training sessions had been growing longer lately. The feeling that just a little more effort would put something within reach made me lose myself swinging the sword more times than I could count.
As a result I had skipped meals often enough that the nanny had already scolded me. Today must have looked like another skipped-meal day, so the nanny—fed up—had sent Sera to drag me back.
"What good is training if you starve yourself? You need to eat properly if you want any strength!"
Sera's slender, soft hand took mine and pulled. Naturally the force was far too weak to drag a sturdy martial artist—
"I'm coming, so walk slowly. You'll fall."
—yet it was more than enough to lead me.
After all, this was a situation in which my fiancée wanted to put something in her fiancé's mouth. If it required great strength, that would have been the stranger part.
"You mean it? If you don't eat this time I'll tell Zenobia unnie too."
"That one's a little scary."
Being dragged along by both of my fiancées at once would look a bit ridiculous.