Taking the Field
"Isn't that a Wells Whiteburn?"
"As expected of Lady Skadi. You knew it at a glance?"
Yulia answered with a clap of her hands, and Skadi forced down the hollow laugh that wanted out, narrowing her eyes at her.
The reaction was only natural. The watch on Blow's wrist had come from the workshop of Wells, the most renowned name in the Serdian Empire. The Wells workshop made its timepieces in strictly limited numbers, and it was no exaggeration to say that who could buy one was already decided. Her father, Bjorn, for one. A luxury piece you reserved and then waited months for—a full year, if you were unlucky—and she had given one to Blow as a gift. And Blow had gone and accepted it without a second thought. From where Skadi stood, the feeling could only be complicated.
I could give him something like that anytime...
Afraid he might feel burdened, she had swallowed that impulse every time. Now she watched him examine the watch with a startled face and called out, sulky.
"What! You'll take something like that? You throw a fit the moment your share goes up even a little!!"
"The Wells I know?"
"Yes!"
"Don't they usually stay away from designs like this at the Wells workshop?"
Blow had once taken a deep interest in such things, but the past year had left him badly out of date. He squinted down at the watch, and only then did he catch it—the Wells mark, worked in so small it nearly vanished. Stunned, he turned a careful voice on Yulia, who was beaming at him.
"Senior, I'm quite sure I asked you for something reasonable."
"For you, that is exactly reasonable."
"......"
"Men have fewer ways to present themselves than women, don't they? You can't wear a necklace, and you can't wear earrings. That leaves a watch. And since you're the business partner of this Yulia Edfolk, of course you ought to be wearing at least a Wells. You have a position to keep."
She poured it out like water, as if she had been waiting for this exact moment, then smiled at her ease and added one line more.
"Besides, it's already been worn. You wouldn't think of giving it back, would you?"
...That sent a chill down his spine. Just like when she followed him to Roten.
The memory of Yulia then rose unbidden, and Blow found himself thinking, for no good reason, that his left wrist had grown heavier. Herbena, meanwhile, was staring at the wrist on his other side—at the magic bracelet she had made herself, catching the light in a soft gleam.
Go on, give him all the watches you want. My bracelet will do him far more good anyway.
While Herbena lifted her beer with perfect composure, Skadi, seated beside her, clenched the left hand no one else could see.
Come to think of it, didn't this bastard Blow take a high-grade mana stone from Lady Rachel last time? Looks like if you just shove a gift at him and call it a present, he takes it. Then I could...
Skadi finished the thought, let out a broad laugh, and raised her glass so everyone could see.
"Herbena gives you a bracelet, Senior Yulia buys you a watch—must be nice, Blow Deblique!"
"Well, I'm not unhappy about it."
"Then take two drinks for every one of ours!!"
She filled another glass and thrust it at him. Blow tilted his head, puzzled by the odd tension in her, and in that pause Yulia and Herbena nodded along as if the idea suited them perfectly.
"She's right, young master. Tonight, at least, you'll be taking two for every one!"
"Even so, you should drink with your right hand. You're right-handed, young master."
"Herbena? Were you asleep in Understanding the Body? A mage's mana pond, and the heart—the most important part of the human body—both sit on the left. So the left hand is the correct one for drinking, isn't it?"
"Senior, you were drinking with your right hand until just now."
"Oh, was I? Then from now on, the left it is!"
Herbena stared at her in disbelief while Yulia, all playful nonsense, lifted her beer in her left hand. Jane, who had been quietly watching the two of them, let out a soft laugh and spoke to Blow.
"You're going to have a hard time of it, young master."
"Tell me about it."
"Shall I bring a hangover cure? Better to take it ahead of time, I think."
"Yeah. Bring plenty. We'll share it around."
"Yes."
Jane answered and rose. Watching her go, Blow picked up his beer in both hands, and Skadi, reading the look, lifted her own glass high.
"One drink!!"
After drinking the Jane's Morning Jane had brought, Blow moved over to the employees' table, where Linne, Rowbedi, Melo, Hans, and the Traffic Light Trio were seated. The moment he arrived, they all broke into bright smiles to welcome him.
"Young master! You've worked hard!"
"You all worked harder. You especially, Linne."
"N-no! Lady Haghia and Lil h-helped me!"
"Is the work manageable these days?"
"Yes! B-but there aren't enough b-books, so..."
Linne spoke carefully, watching his face. Only then did the promise flicker through Blow's mind—the one he had made when they first contracted, that he would keep books at Red Forest. Sorry, despite himself, for Linne, who must have been waiting in silence, he cleared his throat and offered her a small smile.
"Ah, Linne. I've actually been thinking about that."
"R-really?"
"Yeah. Once the things I've started are settled, I'll move on it as fast as I can."
"Oh... o-oh... Are you thinking of opening a b-bookstore?"
"Yeah. Not an ordinary one, though. A secondhand bookstore."
"A secondhand bookstore?"
"Our school's a magic academy, isn't it? A lot of kids just throw away books they don't need once they move up a year."
"That's true... On the last day of class they all t-toss them out of the building..."
"So we buy those cheap and sell them dear. Let's see, the name..."
A swarm of secondhand marketplaces flashed through Blow's head. But when it came to a secondhand bookstore, there was really only one.
"Let's call it Saladin."
"S-Saladin! It sounds like it really means something!"
"If we do that, I'll let you focus more on that side of things, Linne."
"R-really?"
"Yeah. For potion research we've got Haghia and Lil, and Cosette and Liliane here too."
"I-if you just b-buy me the books, I can be a b-big help with the research too!"
He had only laid out the plan, and Linne had already brightened completely. Blow poured her a drink, and Cosette, whose interest had been caught, slipped into the conversation.
"Young master, so at this Saladin you'll be buying secondhand books as well as selling them?"
"That's right."
"Wow, I've got so many books I've already finished. Perfect timing!"
"I figured."
"Pardon?"
"You look like someone who studies well. Call it the Linne Prize. No contest."
"Oh! Young master, how did you know! Cosette took first in note-taking among the first-years this time!!"
"Because she looks the part."
At Radness's fussing, Cosette smiled, a little embarrassed. Alice, sitting quietly beside them, was dodging the look Blow sent her way.
"Alice?"
"Y-yes! Young master!!"
"And you?"
"I... I'm going to work hard at Hills."
"Me too! I want to become like Manager Jane someday! And move house, eventually!"
Alice answered as if shy; Radness answered bright. When a business grew, people were always what you lacked. Just listening filled him up. Blow poured her a drink and asked,
"Move house?"
"Yes!! I live around here, but if I get a little room to breathe, I want to move somewhere better. Somewhere with hot water, at least."
"...Come to think of it, Linne, didn't you say you live around here too?"
"Y-yes!"
This was Dusk Block, after all—a place where poor commoner students lived. Blow felt for them and was turning over whether there was any way to fix it when Rowbedi quietly opened his mouth.
"There's something I'd like to say, young master."
"What's this? You, with something to say."
"It's... what I asked of you before..."
Rowbedi offered an awkward smile. What was that again? Blow searched, and then he had it.
"Ah, right, right—we should! The retainer contract!"
"Thank you. Lady Megan has come up this time. Will we proceed together?"
"That's right... yes. Next month at the earliest. If we're doing it, we'll do it properly."
"Thank you."
"It isn't even a difficult thing. No need to thank me."
Megan, who had quietly taken a seat at their table, cleared her throat and spoke toward Blow.
"Young master? Even if the retainer contract comes later, may I serve as acting head maid?"
"That was a promise."
"Haha! Thank you."
"I'll look into lodgings for the new hires."
"Yes."
"While you were away, everyone was in an uproar without you. Keep looking after them."
At Blow's words, Megan pressed her hands together and answered.
"Young master? Shall I attach myself to Hills, or to Red Forest?"
"We'll decide that at the very next meeting. Until it's settled, go back and forth."
"That suits me fine."
"Young master! What about me! I worked hard at the hotel too...!!"
"Melo, wouldn't it be better to do that after you enter the academy?"
"Hmph. Fiiine. And if somebody steals me away, don't say I didn't warn you!!"
With that, Melo puffed her cheeks as if sulking and turned her head.
...Had Melo already grown this much?
Caught in a strange feeling, Blow was still choosing an answer when Yulia, who had been listening beside them, slipped a word in.
"Oh my! Young master, you're setting Melo loose? Then I'll offer her five times the pay you're giving her now..."
"I'll do eight!"
"That won't do. We'll see it through together."
"Good."
Only then did Melo smile, bright as anything. Hans, listening to the talk going back and forth, was smiling with quiet satisfaction. Blow, watching him, gave him a nod as well.
"You too, Hans."
"M-me? You mean me as well?"
"If you don't want it, forget it."
"No, of course I do. I just thought I wasn't measuring up to the others..."
"Please. Without you, I think we'd have gone under ages ago."
Even now, inventory and logistics were entirely Hans's charge, and giving potatoes to the children had been his idea too. A stumble backward onto a mouse, maybe—but because he had done it, they had even left a good impression on Lisleia. A distinguished service, by any measure.
"Take it while it's offered, before I change my mind."
"Young master..."
"Let's have a drink."
"Yes."
After that he made the rounds—Cunsai and Liliane's table, then Lil and Haghia's—and came back to his own. Herbena, who had been waiting the whole time for his return, quietly held out two full beers.
"The two of us had two drinks. So you drink four, young master."
"That's too much. You have no idea how much I already drank over there."
"......"
"Fine. I'll drink."
At Herbena's silent protest, Blow knocked both back at once. Glasses and talk flowed between them for a long while, until Yulia—her face a little flushed with drink—spoke up in a bright voice, as if something had just occurred to her.
"Young master! Today, Herbena and I swept the place clean, remember?"
"Yes, you did."
"Because of that, a few of the mansions Rich and Grown were holding will pass to the city hall and come up as listings. If you're interested, shall we go to the auction together?"
"Ah, there was that as well. Even just for the experience, I think I should go. If I can pick up lodgings for the staff while I'm at it, all the better. If you hadn't lent us the hotel rooms, Senior, it would have been a real disaster."
"Haha, something like that is nothing at all for this Yulia Edfolk!"
...Later, I should ask him to pet my head...!
While Blow clinked glasses with Yulia, who was thinking exactly that, Herbena—who did not like at all how bright the air between them had grown—eased herself into the conversation.
"Young master."
"Yeah."
"About my move... shall I come once there's a bit more room?"
"No need to wait. The others are staying at Senior Yulia's hotel anyway. I don't think it'll be a problem."
"Then I'll start moving my things over, little by little."
"If you come too, it'll get even more crowded in here."
"...Yes."
Herbena's face was red, and she was grinning. In her head she was already hard at work on a plan to share a quiet drink with Blow at night. A few more glasses went by, and around the time Jane, the weakest drinker among them, had folded forward onto the table, Skadi shot to her feet and called out in that bold voice of hers.
"Bathroom!"
"Yeah."
"Leave the beer out!"
With that she headed for the bathroom, glanced toward Blow where he was talking with Herbena, and then stepped over to Haghia, who was deep in one conversation or another with Lil.
"Lady Skadi, was there something you wished to say?"
"I have a favor to ask. I want to send a communication."
At her words, Haghia rose and offered a bow.
"Of course. It's noisy in here. Shall we step outside?"
"Yes."
"Where shall I connect you?"
To that question, Skadi answered with a face harder than it had been all night.