A Thoroughly Realistic Story
A low rumble rolled down out of the sky, in the very instant when everyone was still thinking, Surely not.
Yulia's hands were already pressed together, and the words she breathed were barely loud enough to hear.
"Perun's Strike."
⟨ Perun's Strike ⟩
The words had scarcely left her when the air seemed to flash, and a single bolt of indigo lightning crashed down inside the magic circle.
KRA-KOOM—
Thunder vast enough to echo all the way into the stands. Most of the crowd squeezed their eyes shut, and Sen, nearly every drop of mana burned away, had sunk to one knee and was dragging in ragged breaths.
Rumble—
The clouds flickered again beneath that ominous sound. Faces in the seats went tight as they waited for whatever would come next.
In that instant, three magic circles of different colors spread across the dueling floor and scattered Yulia's circle into nothing.
"Yulia wins!"
Aurora sprang out as she had before and declared the victory, and applause and cheers poured from the stands together.
"Whoa!"
"The PR director is no joke."
"Right? Before Hervena, Senior Yulia was first!!"
"Wow, she's going over to help them up herself. Manners and everything!"
Praise of one kind and another spilled through the seats. Watching Yulia lift her opponent, Sen, with her own hands, Rachel muttered in a thoroughly unimpressed tone.
"It wasn't even a direct hit. It landed nearby. So what."
"I'd have fainted just from watching. But, my lady—could you actually block that?"
"In the end it's mana, so I'd break it apart with aura. Of course, not letting her cast it at all would be best."
"I suppose that was a pointless question to ask you, my lady."
"Still, Yulia's magic does seem to have grown a little, doesn't it?"
Rachel was stroking her chin when Yulia waved to Blow.
"Lord Blow!"
Her voice carried clear even from that distance. Blow lifted his hands above his head and clapped so she would be sure to see him, and so the first day of the quarterfinals drew to a close.
After the match, Yulia headed for the hotel, saying she had to prepare for tomorrow's meeting. Rachel and Blow walked on toward Dusk Block with the rest.
"Even so. I can't believe that Greig went down so easily."
"What can you do? Hervena's basically a natural disaster."
"True. Still, Greig didn't forfeit. Maybe I ought to have lunch with him tomorrow."
While Rachel carried on in that self-satisfied way, Blow asked the thing he'd been wondering.
"Still, after seeing Senior Yulia's magic today, don't you think she might be all right against Hervena?"
"Who knows? I'm not sure. I don't think Hervena's going to wait around for her."
"You think so?"
"Yulia's good at everything, but she has a habit of trying to play the mental game. A duel has to be prepared the way you prepare. You go in ready to be drenched in blood from head to toe."
Blow's head tilted as he tried to picture Yulia like that.
"I honestly can't imagine Senior doing that."
"That's why I said I don't know. The way I see it, Hervena's the one who looks like she'd do it."
"How can you tell?"
"You can see it in her eyes from the start. So if the Demon King ever falls, just leave it to her."
"Even so, Senior Yulia should make the finals without much trouble, right?"
"You think?"
"Wouldn't she? I know the girl she'll be facing, and she's not on that level."
He was on friendly terms with Cindy, but it was still the plain truth. Of course, if Cindy ever learned he'd said it, she would bring a hand down on his shoulder hard enough to crack.
"But your right hand, Hervena—her semifinal won't be easy either, will it? Her opponent was Rebecca, wasn't it?"
"Yes, that's right."
"That Rebecca really knows how to use her body. One of the greatest talents the knight academy ever let slip away, I'd say."
"They've let a lot of people slip away. The knight academy..."
"Rebecca actually passed the imperial capital's knight academy, too. She nearly became my junior."
"Oh—really?"
"But the Northern Grand Duke wanted her to attend a magic school. The North took heavy losses from mages during the Unification War."
"I think I heard something about that in history class."
"If Rebecca had come in just one class below me, it would have been perfect. Sophia on my left, Rebecca on my right."
The more she thought about it, the more she regretted it, until she was even clicking her tongue. Watching her, Blow let out a short laugh before he could stop himself.
"If even you say so, my lady, Hervena might have a hard time against Rebecca."
"Right. But shouldn't Hervena be preparing? She doesn't seem to be."
"Magic is something you have to do entirely on your own."
"Oh, that's a fine line. Who said it? Blow Deblique?"
"My first teacher. White Flame."
At the name of one of the Six Great Mages, a sound of admiration escaped Rachel.
"You landed an incredible first teacher."
"I was lucky."
"Was it bad luck? If you hadn't met that person, you'd have come to the knight academy."
"And why would that be bad?"
Rachel's face crumpled in an instant. Dodging the glare she shot at him, Blow caught sight of Hills far ahead.
For some reason, a carriage of a size he had never seen—small enough to seem almost modest—stood in front of his shop.
"Hmm. What's that?"
Wondering if a customer had come, Blow walked quickly that way. A beastkin girl who recognized his face shot up from her seat and called out, bright with welcome.
"Hello! Lord Blow!"
"And you are?"
"My name is Liliane Aparot!"
"Ah. I think I heard the name from Cunsai."
"I came for the magic school exam, and I just had to meet you once! I really did!! Everyone, everyone! Come out!! Lord Blow is here!!"
With her words the carriage door flew open, and several beastkin tumbled out to bow before Blow.
"We greet the benefactor of the beastkin, Lord Blow of Blanya!"
"Ah—did you all come up from the beastkin village?"
"Yes! We did!! My lord, our elder has sent a letter!"
"A letter?"
"Yes!! Oh my, you really are handsome! My lord!!"
"I think you're the finest human I've ever seen!"
Embarrassed by their admiration, Blow tucked the letter they handed him inside his coat and asked,
"Have you all eaten?"
"No, we were waiting for you, my lord!!"
"This late... One moment."
At the sight of their sparkling eyes, Blow shifted his gaze to Melo, who had followed behind. Melo smiled brightly, as if to say it was fine, nodded, and was already rolling up her sleeves.
At that same hour, Skadi's mansion was busier than usual, thanks to its master, Björn, having come up to the city. Skadi and Björn, back from watching the first day of the quarterfinals, were sharing a late dinner. The servants looking on had gone white, as if they were sitting through a terrifying play—because today, too, Skadi spent the entire meal talking about nothing but Blow, right in front of Björn.
"There's Blow, right? He started the business in an inn that was practically falling down, you know? And even then, business was incredible! People lined up just to eat potatoes."
"I see. He did seem to have a knack for it."
"He's really something else. He uses things I'd never even heard of, like curry powder and tomatoes, and he just whips up the recipes like it's nothing."
"If my daughter ate well, that's a good thing."
"And also, when I went to Roten with Blow that time—there's Blow, right? He even seemed close with Saintess Marta."
"You went to Roten together? Why?"
"Blow said he was traveling with the servants, so I joined in!"
"Roten has hot springs, doesn't it?"
"Why does that matter? Huh? Of course we used separate baths!"
"Haa..."
Every one of Skadi's stories turned, without fail, into Blow, and the servants watching Björn's visibly souring mood could only pray for the meal to end.
"Oh, right! I went to a ball for the first time!"
"Into society? Truly?"
"Yes. I went to the Black Bridge Gathering."
"You mean the place your sister and brother attended in their academy days?"
"Yes."
"What wonderful news, truly! So, how was it? Was it all right?"
"Yes, it was better than I expected!"
Skadi, his adorable youngest, had always done nothing but avoid places like that, and the worry Björn had quietly carried gave way to relief and surprise at once. After a brief hesitation, she went on.
"And I talked a little with Lady Rebecca, too."
Every sound in the room cut off at once, and Björn's face went rigid where it was.
"Lady Rebecca said she'd very much like to pay you a visit sometime."
"I see. By any chance... did you see Danvers?"
"Yes. She left partway through the gathering, though."
"I see. With that child..."
"She seemed really uncomfortable around me. Honestly, I'm a little uncomfortable around her, too."
"Yes, that can't be helped. Anyway, daughter, this father of yours is truly proud of you. Now that you've tried it, it wasn't such a big deal, was it?"
"That's not true. I was so nervous, and I was nothing but slow when we danced..."
"Haha. That's the sort of thing you learn from here on! I'll even find you a teacher this winter."
"Still, it would have been hard if it weren't for Blow."
Blow again?
The servants, who had hoped the mood might ease, took one look at Björn freezing solid where he sat and truly felt like crying.
"...That brat—no. That fellow. What did he do this time?"
"Well, he picked out my dress, and when I got nervous he even assigned me a servant, and he matched my terrible dancing..."
Thinking it through one thing at a time, Skadi felt her nose sting at how much Blow had looked after her.
"A servant?"
"Jane. The one with the white hair you saw earlier..."
"Ah."
"Yes. It was my first time in a place like that, so I was worried. He came all the way out here to put me at ease, and he cheered me on from the day before right through the gathering."
"......"
Having heard that much, Björn truly did not want to admit it—but he had to acknowledge that he was in that Blow's debt. It was Skadi. No one else. Skadi, the daughter he cherished most of all. That she had been helped to break out of her shell was a kindness beyond measuring.
Even so, one corner of his heart grew uneasy. Skadi was smiling with a face exactly like the one her mother, Vera Hetaya, used to wear when she looked at him.
The next evening, at Hills. With no match between Yulia and Hervena, it was a day of ordinary business. Yulia had asked to hold the meeting at Hills, so Blow, having closed early, was deep in the preparations.
Those attending were Blow, Yulia, Rachel, and Skadi; Jane, come as representative of the Red Forest main store, along with Linne and Lil, who would be opening the new branch; Cunsai, owner of the donut shop whose name had at last been settled as Ace Donut; Liliane and her father, Ichi, who had begged to sit in and watch; and Skadi's father, Björn, joining them with a thoroughly displeased expression.
"Your Grace, you're here again today."
"Why? Is there a problem?"
"No! No! It's better this way. Thank you for taking an interest. Today I'll mainly be explaining our plans going forward."
"Proceed as if I'm not here."
"Yes. Understood."
To Björn, who somehow sounded as if he were issuing a warning, Blow answered smoothly. The reason Björn's face soured whenever he looked at him was simple: all the way here, he had listened to nothing from Skadi but stories about Blow.
At this rate, that red-haired nobody and my daughter...
Killing intent pooled in Björn's eyes. Unable to ignore it, Skadi caught his arm and held on tight.
"Skadi."
"Dad."
She smiled brightly up at him. His anger melted, and Björn found himself smiling with her. Blow, watching the change come over Björn's face, felt a chill run through him—then went over to Yulia, who was reviewing the meeting as a whole.
"There really are a lot of people today."
"Yes. So I was thinking we'd organize everything overall and focus on the larger items."
"Shall we start right away?"
"Yes."
A round of brief introductions and the passing out of materials came and went, and the reports began with Hills.
"In Hills' case, current sales average twenty gold a day, and monthly sales come to a little over five hundred fifty gold."
"Well now. That's something."
"We have a lot of regulars. And that's revenue, not net profit. The Hills main store—this place where you're all sitting—we'll focus on maintaining as it is. Melo, the head chef, will be learning the work at the hotel through the first half of next year."
"Please. What could Melo possibly have left to learn?"
"I said it last time, too, but apparently she has a great deal to learn?"
"Hmph."
"And going forward, Hills expects to be supplied directly with the Ropert lineup, including Ropert Rose."
At the mention of Rosalyn, everyone, for some reason, went quiet as clams. Blow shrugged at them and passed the turn to Yulia.
"I'll continue right away. First, Hills will open in sequence at three of my hotel branches, starting in January of next year. The order will be Caipol, Roten, then the imperial capital, Serdia."
"You're doing a tomato-cuisine promotion, too, aren't you?"
"Yes. The restaurant at Edfolk Caipol is already running a tomato-dish promotion. As for the tomatoes themselves, we plan to sell them through a shop under the name Cypress Seasonings."
"You'll be raking it in."
"After that, Lord Blow and I intend to launch a general-goods brand beyond Hills. The current plan is to place the Cypress Seasonings brand naturally inside that shop. The lord of Cypress has said he'll review that part favorably."
"Didn't you and Blow say you were doing cosmetics as well?"
"Once we have a bit of room, yes. Truthfully, I've received quite a few letters from people wanting to invest since the Black Bridge Gathering, but I'd like to clear the work in front of us first and take it slowly."
Next came Red Forest's turn. Jane, looking tense, pushed her glasses up and began to explain in a calm voice.
"Red Forest's current daily sales are forty gold. I've excluded the subscription system from the sales for now."
"Well now."
Fresh admiration went around the table at her words, and Blow opened the bag Linne had passed him so that everyone could see. It was packed with laboratory tools, beakers among them. Liliane's eyes went wide as she took in the set.
"What's that?"
"A kit exclusively for new students, which Red Forest will begin selling in December. We put it together so students can use it without trouble through their third year."
The idea had come from the science kits Han Ji-hoo had seen back in elementary school. The contents had been checked by Jane, Linne, and even Hervena.
"We've cut slots into the bag according to the size of each item, and spare beakers and the like will be sold separately at Red Forest."
After that came the matter of the potion bottles, and talk of the potions Lil would be brewing.
"Lil Made is planned as an entry a grade above Foresti Made, and the marketing will be aimed toward premium mana potions...!"
Lil gave that explanation herself. Looking over what followed, Rachel spoke as if she couldn't believe it.
"The lucky draws are bringing in the highest sales?"
"Yes."
"I truly cannot understand human beings."
Just then Skadi, who had been looking through the documents, raised her hand.
"This subscription thing is incredible. It's already past sixty people?"
"Ah, I was just about to explain that. Yes. Our subscription system is running very smoothly at the moment. The goal, for now, is to capture more than half the students at our school."
"Then washing the glass bottles is going to take an awful lot of hands, Lord Blow."
"Yes, Senior. We'll need to start hiring quite a few staff soon, won't we?"
"Hey. What about my Straight?"
"I'll explain that to you separately before you head out."
Rachel nodded at his answer, and this time Yulia began her briefing on Ace Donut, passing around donuts she had made as samples.
"The donut shop, Ace Donut, is scheduled to open in the middle of this month. About two of the beastkin will be coming up to help with the work."
Everyone who put a donut in their mouth smiled as if they were perfectly happy. Rachel, who had been thinking it over, spoke in an uncharacteristically hesitant tone.
"Even so, wouldn't it be better to keep separate staff for dealing with customers?"
The mood froze in an instant. But Rachel added, as if it couldn't be helped,
"Perception is something you can't just ignore, isn't it? It isn't only about what the customers think. From the beastkin clerks' side as well, dealing with human customers could be more stressful than you'd expect."
"That's why Cunsai is watching the register at Hills for now."
"That's because the owner here is you, Blow Deblique. What are you going to do if you open a donut shop and kids come in picking fights for no reason, the way those delinquents do?"
"That's..."
Yulia glanced at Liliane, seated farther off. Of course her expression could not be good. While Yulia was still wondering what she ought to say, Rachel, sorry despite herself, added one line more.
"Humans are that kind of creature, aren't they? The moment someone looks even a little easier to push around than they are, they bite."
But Rachel's point was a thoroughly realistic one. It was also a problem that Blow and Yulia had known, if only unconsciously. The one who broke the brief silence between them was Cunsai, who would be the owner of Ace Donut.
"I've thought about this part myself. Would it be all right if I offered a word?"
"Of course. It's your shop, Cunsai. You should speak."
Cunsai drew a short breath, then addressed them all in a careful but clear voice.
"I don't think Lady Rachel is entirely wrong. Once the shop has found its footing, to some degree, I think it would be fine to consider what comes next then."
Having said that, he turned his gaze to Blow. A heavy silence passed for a moment. Blow, who had been thinking, opened his mouth at last in a clear voice.