Three People, Five Glasses
"I was about to close up. An investor is the exception."
"Tch... you could've just told me to come in."
Skadi took the innermost seat, directly across from Jane, who was still settling the accounts. At the gloom written over her face, Blow and Jane's eyes met.
Jane stopped her tallying and shut the ledger. Two glasses went down in front of Blow, two in front of Skadi, and one before Jane—five beers in all spread across the table.
"Thanks, Hans."
"Yes, Young Master."
"Once you're finished, head up with Melo and Megan. I'll lock up."
Blow gave a small flick of his eyes. Hans, quick to sense that something was afoot, bowed at the waist, hurried through the last of the cleanup, and went upstairs with Melo and Megan.
Their footsteps faded. By the time Skadi had worked through about two beers alongside the mussel stew she loved, she was still sitting with her shoulders slumped and not a word to spare. Blow asked, calm and even.
"Well? Something worrying you?"
"...Is it that obvious?"
"Your face looks like death. Why?"
"It's just... tomorrow's gathering. My heart's been all restless."
"I heard the dress came out beautifully. So why?"
"I only went to something like this once, at the first gathering of my first year, and it just... wasn't good."
First year meant roughly three years ago, and something like this could only mean a noble social gathering. Blow remembered that she, like him, had always avoided such affairs, and he softened his tone.
"Why? What happened back then?"
"I couldn't get a single word out the whole time. Back then..."
"...Really?"
"Yeah. Except when you talked to me."
Her careful words sent Blow searching his memory for a long while, trying to place when that had been. For Skadi it was three years past. For Blow, it belonged to a far older life.
Most of what he had organized in his notes during his years as Han Ji-hoo, and reread dozens of times, centered on the vivid things—the days at the monastery and the like. His first year at the academy had been one long stretch of drinking parties, each day colored almost exactly like the last, and it was the period with the most blank spaces of all. A day that was nothing but haze to the Blow of now had, it seemed, been a matter of real weight to Skadi.
Something like guilt stirred in him. He rubbed the back of his neck for no particular reason and spoke.
"What did I even say to you back then?"
"You asked why I looked so miserable, and whether it was because Cindy wasn't there."
"Did I."
"But I was really grateful. That you at least acted like you knew me..."
Skadi was remembering the eyes of her classmates, which had felt nothing but cold. Every whisper in the room had seemed to be about her. The people who had approached Rebecca and Danvers only to be turned away had looked at her as if they meant to cut her with their stares. And yet the Blow of that time had come up to her and asked what she was doing. Recalling it, Skadi found a faint smile on her lips before she knew it.
"Looking at you now, it's hard to imagine you were ever like that."
"A noble gathering isn't quite the same as an ordinary drinking party. Even now, they weigh on me."
"Right. You can't exactly drink your fill, can you?"
"Exactly. That's why going to this Black Bridge Gathering was decided so suddenly."
"It was. Lady Rachel brought it up out of nowhere."
"I said I'd go without thinking, and I sort of... regret it. What if I get there and can't say anything again. And..."
Skadi hesitated a moment, then added the rest.
"They say Rebecca and Danvers are coming too. Just like then..."
Her shoulders sank even lower, like a cat caught in the rain. Blow was still turning over what he ought to say to her when Jane, who had been listening quietly at his side, spoke first.
"Skadi, now that we've grown closer, I've realized you're more delicate than I thought. Sometimes almost too much."
"......"
"But that isn't something you can fix overnight, is it? So I'll help you."
"...How?"
"If the Young Master allows it tonight, I'll go to your house, and we'll talk through every bit of tomorrow—from the moment you meet Danvers and Rebecca to the very end."
"Jane..."
"We'll go over every possibility, one by one. From the worst to the best."
Jane spoke with clear, steady care, and the worry that had filled Skadi's face began, little by little, to lift. Blow, who had been listening in silence, added a word of his own.
"Sometimes a sheer accident brings about a great change. This might be exactly that moment."
"Blow..."
"I'll adjust the tables and the rest as much as I can, so don't worry too much. And..."
He shifted his gaze toward Jane and let out a short laugh.
"Our Manager Jane will take proper care of you tonight."
"Young Master, why do you always go so well, and then ruin it with a joke every single time?"
"I'm right, though, aren't I?"
"Honestly, you're such a child sometimes...!"
"You looked very much like a little kid yourself, the last time you cried."
"Young Master!"
Jane and Blow bickered, and Skadi, watching them, burst out laughing and kept rubbing at the corners of her eyes.
"Thank you."
"What are friends for."
"I'm really always just grateful. Blow, Jane..."
"Have a drink."
"Yes, Lady Skadi. Have a drink. With us."
Two glasses were set before her, and only then did Skadi do as she always did, taking a beer in each hand.
She knocked both of her glasses against the ones Blow and Jane held out. A little later, the carriage bound for Skadi's mansion carried Jane, wearing a gentler expression than usual.
The next day, the first-floor banquet hall of the Caipol Edfolk Hotel, where the Black Bridge Gathering was to be held.
The hall, striking for its dais dressed in flowers, looked busier than ever. Glittering chandeliers hung all across the ceiling, and underfoot lay marble patterned in quiet luxury, faintly throwing back their light. Round tables seating eight were spread with indigo cloth, the color of House Edfolk, and that same indigo ran as an accent along the walls. At a few of the tables, early arrivals had already taken their seats and fallen into conversation.
Meanwhile Yulia, Blow, and Herbena were run off their feet, inspecting the banquet and receiving the guests as they came in.
"When is our host, Lady Rachel, supposed to arrive?"
"Truly. For the host herself to be this late."
At Blow's words Yulia's face hardened, as if the delay were personally offensive. Just then the banquet hall's great double doors opened together, and a formation of some twenty women in formal dress came in, ranks aligned.
At their head was Rachel, who had always arrived armored, the massive Black Blade in hand. Tonight she had finally set both aside. She entered in a pale orange mermaid dress that clung to her legs.
"Lady Yulia. Young Master Blow Deblique."
"You've arrived, my lady."
Directly behind the greeting Rachel stood Yelich, in an unremarkable red dress and angular glasses, and Renerit, in a short, fairy-like dress of pale yellow-green. Renerit was looking about so busily that her fluffy white hair kept bouncing.
"You've arrived, Lady Yelich."
"Lady Yulia. It's been a while."
"It's Lady Yulia!!"
With that, Renerit came pattering over at a run and threw herself into Yulia's arms. Unlike the girl clinging to her in delight, Yulia's face had gone stiff.
While Renerit stayed glued to her side, Yelich, standing beside Rachel at the front, swept her gaze over the whole hall and spoke in a needling tone.
"You've decorated it properly. As expected of Lord Deschamp's eye—"
"I chose every piece myself. Lady Yelich."
Yulia cut her off. Yelich glared. The two of them waged a silent contest of presence, and into the space between them Blow slipped, offering Yelich the first greeting.
"Hello, Lady Yelich. Lady Renerit. I'm Blow Deblique."
"Ah. The one from Blanya."
"Hm?"
Renerit had been studying Blow's red hair. Her eyes went round, and she cried out.
"Oh! Red hair! This must be the person Lady Rachel mentioned!"
"Lady Renerit, mind your dignity."
"I'm Renerit Hersi! Hello, Young Master."
"I've heard the name in passing a few times. You're quite the beauty."
"Oh my, how can you say such a thing!"
From Renerit, preening so, mana of tremendous density leaked free.
Does she have no intention of hiding it? Or is she simply unable to?
It was not a pleasant sensation, and Yulia's gaze hardened. In the meantime Blow spoke to Renerit in a gentle voice.
"Your mana is strong enough that even someone as meager as I can feel it."
"Ehehe, not at all."
Then Renerit's eyes flashed. A smile spread wide across her mouth, and mana began to pour from her in full, unmistakable waves. Blow almost felt as if a great magical beast were standing directly in front of him.
"This is more like it!"
...Is she trying to crush my spirit?
But there was one thing Renerit did not know. Blow was not a man who could be cowed by mana. He had been exposed to Herbena's since he was a child.
"Truly incredible mana. But might you withdraw it? The staff seem rather unsettled."
"Ah! Yes! I'm sorry! It's been so long since a gathering, I got excited!"
The pressure of mana vanished all at once. Yelich, standing beside her, snorted and looked at Blow.
"Wasn't it you who was unsettled, Young Master Blow Deblique?"
"Yes, I very nearly sat down hard on my backside, didn't I? Haha!"
He scratched his head and played it off, and Renerit's eyes began to sparkle with interest. The subtly infuriating tone nettled Yelich all the more. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"You're more amusing than the rumors, Young Master Blow of Blanya."
"I hear that now and then! Thank you for the compliment, Lady Yelich."
Yelich shot a sharp glare at Rachel, who was struggling not to laugh beside her.
"Better than I expected, Blow Deblique."
"What do you mean, Lady Rachel Campbell?"
"I knew that if it were you—no, if it were you—I would want to introduce my dear friends, no matter what!"
"To go to such lengths to praise me in so roundabout a fashion, thank you, my lady."
"Exactly! This is the part! Hahaha!"
Rachel burst out laughing, plainly pleased. Sophia, who had finished adapting to her in a single day, caught herself nodding along before she came to her senses with a start and stilled her head.
"Anyway, I'm counting on you today, Blow Deblique."
"I'll do my utmost."
"We may sit anywhere for now, yes?"
"If it is you, my lady, you may even sit up on that dais."
She pointed at him, then turned to her companions, who were tilting their heads in puzzlement at the way Blow treated her.
"Everyone. Let's go in."
With that, the whole party brushed past Blow and Yulia. Yelich glared at him, then whipped her head away. Renerit craned her neck until it looked ready to fall off, smiling back at him until she could no longer see him at all.
Once they had gone to take their seats, Yulia looked at him and whispered, barely loud enough to hear.
"Young Master, thank you. Honestly, I was a little worried about how to receive them. It seems to have gone over smoothly."
"They're kind people, aren't they? They even complimented me."
Yulia tilted her head.
"You're joking, aren't you?"
"Yes. Of course."
At Blow's answer Yulia laughed under her breath. He turned then to Herbena, who was staring off toward Renerit and Yelich.
"Well?"
"Their level is still quite high."
"Think you can beat them?"
"Yes, well... they're about at the teachers' level."
At Herbena's indifferent tone, Blow narrowed his eyes and looked at Yulia.
"I have absolutely no idea what that is supposed to mean. Is it just me, my lady?"
"It's Herbena. Still, this Yulia is fairly confident herself, you know."
Yulia's eyes flashed with a fierce light. Blow found himself suddenly missing Jane and Skadi.
"I'm not sure that's something you ought to say while wearing a dress."
"It's just something you say. Just talk!"
Yulia Edfolk answered in precisely his cadence, and smiled.
One by one, the seats of the Black Bridge Gathering filled.