Who'd Even Want Something Like This?
"Whaaat!? All of this is ours?"
Before they could head to the library to prepare for the third exam, Blow had summoned them to Hills, and now the Traffic Light Trio stood staring at the slacks in their hands, utterly stunned.
"Yeah. They're yours. You've been the ones modeling them all along, ever since we opened."
"Boss..."
None of them had seen it coming. They simply gaped at him, and Alice, the most sentimental of the three, was sniffling hard enough that her nose had gone red.
"Our pay is already more than enough, and now you're looking after us on top of that..."
"Call it advertising while we're at it. I'd like you to wear them and stay in the library through the whole exam period."
"Ah, so that's why you gave us two each?"
"Right. Sharp as ever, Cosette. Take turns, and wear them well."
"But, Boss, there's something I've been wondering."
"Ask away."
"Mine's navy, Alice's is beige, and Radness's is wine. Did you match them to our hair?"
"Yeah. Figured I might as well, while I was at it. So you'll match when you cast later."
"Oh, honestly, you're so meticulous! Boss, you...!"
"Really!!"
When Cosette burst out in admiration, Alice clasped her hands and cried out in agreement. Meanwhile Radness took the basket Jane held out to her, her face bright.
"Radness, Hervena's, Skadi's, Rowbedi's, Linne's, and Rosalyn's are in there too, so you have to deliver every one of them. All right?"
"Senior Rosalyn's, too...?"
Startled, Radness looked to Blow, and he nodded.
"Yeah. The young lady of House Ropert is supplying us liquor at a discount. We ought to look after her."
"...Do you think she'll like it?"
"Give it to her and she'll like it very much. She's simpler than she looks."
"Yes! I'll make sure she gets it."
Radness clenched her fist as if to prove just how hard she meant to try. Jane, who had been turning something over, looked back at Blow.
"But, young master."
"What is it, Jane."
"Will Hervena be all right with it? After all, this was Senior Yulia's outfit..."
"If we don't give her one, she'll feel left out. We've already prepared Rosalyn's."
"That's true..."
"Radness, make sure you tell Hervena separately that I designed hers. And tell Rosalyn that if she wants the size adjusted, she should just say so."
"Yes! I'll tell them exactly that. May we change in the restroom here and come back out?"
"As much as you like."
A little while later the Traffic Light Trio emerged in their new clothes: school shirts above, trousers below. Every one of them was smiling, bright and unguarded, as if the fit had already won them over.
"Young master! They're so, so comfortable!"
"Putting on stockings was a nuisance every single time, and now I don't have to. I love it!"
"I think it'll be nice to switch between these and a skirt, depending on my mood!"
Seeing all three of them react so warmly, it seemed Blow's notion of clothes a person could actually live in day to day had landed exactly where he had aimed.
"All right, then, my three little mages, off you go. And Alice, take these doughnuts and hand them out, one each."
"We'll carry out our assigned duties to the letter!!"
"If anyone asks about the product, we'll send them to Red Forest, or to Karlfeld's atelier in the central market!"
For this run of Yulia Slacks, Karlfeld himself was handling the actual production. But for the magic-school students, where demand was expected to surge, measuring, ordering, and pickup would all be done at Red Forest. Blow had already arranged with Karlfeld to station at least two tailors there, even if only for a while, to deal with the students.
If the crowds get too thick, I may just have to buy the building next to Red Forest. Not that anything of the sort is likely to happen.
Watching the trio glance back at him again and again, he waved them off, and almost without thinking shot a look at Jane, who had come to stand at his side.
A few minutes later, at Caipol Municipal Magic School, the Traffic Light Trio stepped through the rear gate in their slacks. Students swarmed in around them, and before long a circle had closed.
"Radness, where on earth did you three get those?"
"Hm? We got them because we work there."
"Senior Blow gave them to you?"
"Yeah! They measured us all around Saturday."
"Wow. I'm seriously jealous."
"Alice! H-how much do those run?"
"Right now it's the launch price — nine silver and nine pennies!!"
"Whoa, not as expensive as I thought. Where do I go to ask?"
"Red Forest, obviously!"
Radness said it with no small amount of pride, and sighs slipped out among the students who heard her.
"I should've applied when they were hiring..."
"Those three have always been ridiculously loyal, though."
"Still, I didn't think Senior Blow would look after them this much. I heard they even get a discount on the potion subscription..."
It was true. Blow had told them not to hide any of it — to talk about it, and loudly.
You have to make it feel like a place people want to work. That's how competition starts, how the good ones come in, and how things get easier for all of you.
Cosette didn't miss the hush that had fallen around them. She slipped in a quiet addition.
"A second shop is opening by the front gate. They'll need people then, too."
"Oh, really?"
"Mm."
"Cosette, put in a good word for me with the boss..."
"Hey, no! Me first!!"
The ones who had only ever envied others were now the ones being envied. For commoners, it was a pleasure they rarely got to taste, and the deeper that pleasure ran, the higher their loyalty to their boss, Blow, climbed.
"I'll think about it."
Cosette answered in a deliberately easy tone. And so the three arrived at the library with half the crowd in tow. The moment they stepped inside, every eye turned to them.
"They're here!"
With that hearty shout, Skadi dropped from the third floor straight into the circle around the trio and waved.
"Hello, Senior Skadi!"
"Call me Investor!"
"Hello, Investor Skadi!!!"
"Yes, yes. Judging by that basket — those must be doughnuts!!!"
"Not doughnuts. These are trousers!"
Cosette quickly pulled out Skadi's share and held it out. The instant Skadi realized Blow had seen to it himself, her face lit up.
"Ah, our Boss Blow. He really didn't have to go out of his way for something like this! Umhahaha!!"
While she burst out laughing, the others already in the room stepped into the circle. Once Hervena saw what Skadi was holding, she couldn't bring herself any closer, and hovered uncertainly behind her.
These are Senior Yulia's slacks, so he must have left mine out. It's all right. I received a dress separately, anyway...
Reading that look, Radness went to her and held out a pair washed in pale violet.
"This is...?"
"The boss designed it himself. He said I absolutely had to make sure you got it."
"Really?"
"Yes!"
"Even the young master, looking after someone like me with something like this..."
Hervena took the slacks and hugged them the way a child hugs a doll, eyes brimming as she stroked the cloth. Behind her, Linne and Rowbedi accepted pairs matched to their own colors and smiled at each other, while on every face watching them there was nothing but envy.
Among those faces was Rosalyn Ropert, seated at a desk near the first-floor lobby.
"Must be nice..."
She murmured it on a sigh heavy enough to sink the floor, then dragged her eyes back to her report. By then Radness had come over and offered a scrupulous bow.
"Senior Rosalyn, the boss asked me to bring you this."
The moment Rosalyn saw the slacks in her hands, her face flared hot, and she flinched back.
"Wh-what is that?"
"Slacks."
"Wh-who do you take me for, an idiot! I know that much...!"
"The boss said it's a thank-you, for supplying Ropert Rose to Hills."
"Honestly..."
"The young master matched the size as closely as he could, and if it doesn't fit, he said they'll tailor it—"
"I can handle that much myself! And wh-who said anyone would be happy to receive something like this!"
And yet, somewhere in the middle of the protest, Rosalyn had quietly taken them. Seeing that, Radness smiled and bowed once more. As she turned to rejoin the others, Rosalyn's voice reached her from behind — barely there, almost not.
"Tell him thank you.... That I'll wear them well..."
"I'll be sure to tell the boss."
By the time Radness had rejoined the group, Cindy was shouting, her voice thick with complaint.
"So there's nothing for me?"
"Cindy, why would there be? You're not even staff."
"Then why did you get one, Skadi!!"
"Because I invested in Blow's shop?"
"And that Rosalyn?"
"She supplies Hills."
"Wow. The exclusion is real..."
When the thoroughly sulking Cindy clamped her mouth shut, Alice stepped in and whispered at her ear.
"We did bring doughnuts, though, senior."
"Aha! Really?"
"Yes."
The instant she heard it, a smile spread across Cindy's face as if the sulk had never happened.
"Well then, shall I let it pass this time, out of the greatness of my heart? Everyone, back to the room!"
"S-senior, may we join in too?"
"Of course. You're very precious, you know? Obviously I mean that thing you're holding!"
And so, with Cindy in the lead, the so-called Blow family climbed toward the third floor. First-years in the trio's year, and second-years in Linne's, took one look at that lineup and quietly abandoned any hope for their third-exam report scores. Watching them go, Rosalyn casually lifted the trousers she had been given and — quite unlike herself — smiled at the maid beside her.
While the Traffic Light Trio were turning the school upside down, Blow, with time to spare after lunch, was handing out potatoes to the children alongside Jane.
"Young master, is Lady Megan doing well?"
"Yeah. More applicants than I expected."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I hear Megan even gave some kind of speech."
"A speech? I never would have thought Lady Megan had a talent for that..."
While Jane shook her head in wonder, a few of the children taking potatoes from them called out.
"Young master! Where did Big Sister Megan go?"
"She's away for a bit. She went down to her hometown, Blanya."
"Oh, so that's why Big Brother Hans has been bringing them these past few days."
"Yeah. Hans didn't tell you?"
"He's looked so tired lately, we just took the potatoes and let him go!"
...These kids really don't miss a thing.
Blow nodded at the girl, then turned to the rest of them.
"All right. Anyone who didn't get one?"
"No! We all got some."
"Good. Then shall we call it here for today?"
Blow and Jane were about to head back to Hills when the same girl raised her hand.
"Emma? Something else?"
"Young master, lately there's been someone in the alleys asking about you!"
...Someone's digging around behind my back?
Blow's eyes narrowed at once. He bent a knee to meet her gaze.
"Do you happen to know what they looked like?"
"Yes!! But everyone saw someone different!"
"Different?"
"Yes. A little kid with pale sky-blue hair asked me, but the others said it was a lady and an old man. Right?"
No sooner had she finished than the children started listing off whoever each of them had seen. Blow stroked his chin with a finger, turning over who it might be. Merchants from the neighborhood, come to ask about taxes before Hervena and Yulia's match? It could be someone from another outfit, the sort that had gone toe-to-toe with One-Armed Jackson. Or someone from a restaurant jealous of his. What was certain was that his business had grown large enough that people like that were bound to start appearing. Back in the other world, when he had run a convenience store, he had watched the owners of the shops nearby prowl around his place more than once.
"I see. And what did you tell them?"
"Obviously! That you're the best person in all of Dusk Block!"
"That's right!! When we grow up, we're definitely going to pay you back for the potatoes!!"
The children shouted over one another. Finding them unbearably cute, Blow patted each head in turn, Jane beside him.
"Good. Grow up healthy, and be sure you do."
"Yes!!"
And so they left the children bowing until their arms nearly gave out, and walked back toward Hills.
"The children follow you so well. I never could have imagined it before."
"No."
"Speaking of children, didn't Brother Aubio say last time that the Saintess would stop by?"
"Yeah. I hear they're still working out the schedule. Senior Yulia agreed to handle it."
"It would be quite the event. The Saintess gracing Hills."
"Your word choice has been impressive lately, Jane."
"It's because I'm always at your side."
For a moment, neither of them spoke. Turning her own words over, Jane added, her voice shrinking.
"Ah — no, I mean, your vocabulary is just so..."
"Why bother explaining it?"
"No, I just... just a little..."
When she mumbled it out like that, Blow let out a short laugh and steered the talk elsewhere.
"Jane, how many children do you want to raise someday?"
"Me? Just... as many as I can handle...?"
"Is that so?"
"Yes. One son and one daughter... wouldn't that be enough?"
"If there are a lot of them, there's a certain lively clutter to it, don't you think?"
"Haha, I just don't trust myself to manage it. But why so suddenly? Has someone you want to marry come along?"
"No? I was just curious."
"I see."
Talking like that, they reached Hills before they knew it, set the basket down in the kitchen, and took a nearby table as if they had always meant to.
"During the third exam, we should assume the students basically can't leave school, right?"
"Yes, usually. Which is why I'm this idle, too."
"You set everything up on your own, I saw. The washing, and the subscriptions."
"Yes. The Ain have been so devoted about it. Truly grateful people."
"I'm starting to think just hiring the Ain outright might be one way to go."
"I agree. They always treat it like their own work..."
They fell quiet for a moment and breathed in the scent of oldflower. Warm sunlight poured through the window, and birdsong drifted in with it, as if time itself had stopped.
"Quiet, isn't it."
"I think this is the most peaceful moment we've had since we came up here."
"Right. The big things are behind us, for now."
"I wish it would last just a few more days. If only this peace could hold until your experiment goes well—"
But she never finished. The door of Hills burst open, and in came Marchen, Yulia's right hand.
"Marchen? What brings you at this hour."
"Young master, I have come to deliver Lady Yulia's words."
"All right. What is it?"
"The meal with His Highness the Prince, and the hour, have been confirmed."
"I thought it was oddly quiet."
At Blow's words, Jane was already shaking her head.
"May I continue?"
"Go on. When was it set?"
"The young lady called upon him herself, a short while ago. The hour is tomorrow evening. And the place is..."
Sensing the words beginning to drag, Blow flinched, his face twisting, and waved her off.
"Tell her no. Please."
But Marchen had already closed her eyes, and with a faint sigh and a look of regret, she added the rest.
"It is Hills."