The Young Lady of House Hetaya
The banquet ended with everyone still in high spirits.
Blow, in particular, had put away twice what anyone else had and was one step from collapsing, but he clung to his senses with everything he had. Behind him, the culprits—Yulia and Hervena—watched with smiles so faint they were barely there.
Rosalyn, who had quietly held her own table until the very end of the gathering, was receiving his send-off before she climbed into her carriage.
"You said there's a meeting tomorrow."
"Mm, right! Then I've got a mountain of work."
"Is Ropert Rose selling well?"
"Yeah. The women like it quite a bit. Those three first-years over there are pretty fond of it too."
The sense of having been praised lifted Rosalyn's mood. She glanced at Blow and murmured, just loud enough to catch.
"If you need more of the Ropert lineup, say the word. I'll let you have it cheap."
"Oh, really? Thing is, aside from the Rose, the rest of your lineup already has distributors, so it feels a little awkward to just demand it."
"Why fuss over that? You're in business to take a cut."
"Mm... still, we ought to eat well and live well together, don't you think?"
Blow smiled at her softly, his eyes unfocused from the drink.
Live well together? That didn't sound like him at all.
And yet, for some reason, Rosalyn's heartbeat had quietly grown louder as she looked at him.
"Where is this place?"
"Huh? Why, you going to cut them a deal too?"
"Yeah. You're a partner, in your own way."
"Then a partner it is! There's a shop in the central market called Egg Bottles."
"Egg Bottles... All right. I'll take care of it. Just go pick it up."
"What's gotten into you? You're even handling the details?"
At her easy answer, the others who had been listening from behind went wide-eyed with interest. The moment she caught those looks, embarrassment hit her all at once, and she kicked a pebble at the roadside for no reason at all.
"I've been monitoring the sales. It was doing quite well, and it's my fault I didn't pay attention until now."
"The more we talk, the better."
"I don't know. The Rose just launched, so whatever."
"You've got a decent instinct for this. Try launching a few more of the lighter ones. We'll run promotions on our end too."
"Fine. And reserve a table for Sunday lunch."
"Sure. Coming alone?"
"No. I'm bringing my cousin."
"Would his name happen to be Gethier Ropert?"
"Yeah."
The stiff, prickly gaze Blow had seen in the market came back to him at once, and he nodded at Rosalyn as if to say he understood.
"Got it. I'll have everything ready as best I can."
"See you then."
Rosalyn offered that awkward farewell and climbed into the carriage, and Blow bowed to her properly, as befitted the young lady of a ducal house.
Her carriage was the first to leave. Blow then walked over to the employees who had been waiting for him, Linne among them.
"You should all have gone in already. Were you waiting?"
"We had to say goodbye!"
Radness and Alice answered brightly. Just then Linne, who had been watching Rosalyn's carriage draw away, opened her mouth with the look of someone who had made up her mind.
"Y-young master... actually..."
"Mm, Linne. Something to say?"
"B-before, when you went to the estate, there was talk. About you... Senior Rosalyn helped, back then."
"...She did?"
"The kids kept t-talking at me, so she told them to be quiet..."
That was unexpected.
Rosalyn, who only ever spoke with a sharp edge, had gone out of her way for Linne behind his back. A little surprised, Blow let out a short laugh and nodded.
"If Rosalyn went that far, she really looked out for you. I'll have to knock a bit off her weekend meal bill. Thanks for telling me, Linne. I almost let it pass without knowing."
"N-no! I w-wondered if I should have said it sooner, and I wasn't sure it was her, b-but just now it seemed r-right!"
"Looking at it myself, I'd say so too."
"Th-then I'll b-be going in! See you tomorrow!"
"Us too!!"
Linne and the Traffic Light Trio offered their bright goodbyes and drew away.
Yulia, who had somehow come up beside him, smiled at Blow.
"Young master, you didn't talk business with Rosalyn?"
"Only about Ropert Rose."
"There's a great deal you could learn from her in brewing and distillation. You might even pick up hints for the cosmetics business."
"Ah, that would be true."
"So it would be wise to keep a good relationship with Rosalyn going forward. Truth be told, even I find her a little difficult."
"Well, if we keep crossing paths, it ought to get easier, don't you think?"
When Blow said that, Yulia studied him for a moment, then nodded gently.
"...As expected of you, young master. I'll see you tomorrow. Today was truly wonderful."
"Yes. I'll see you at the meeting."
After Yulia left, Skadi was climbing into a carriage with the chefs from her estate who had worked so hard that day.
"Hey, Skadi. Why do you look so pleased?"
"Because! I drank."
"Doesn't seem like that's it."
"Everything just went well, that's all! See you tomorrow!"
She had always been light on her feet, but she looked lighter still. Blow was tilting his head at the sight of her when Hervena, who had lingered, came to stand blankly at his side.
"Hervena? Not heading back to the dorm?"
"...I had something to say. Just for a moment."
"Hm? What is it?"
"...You seem busy. I can come next month."
She twisted where she stood and barely got the words out. Blow glanced at the bracelet on his wrist and shook his head.
"You mean the meal, right? No. I'll tell you sometime next week."
"Yes."
"Still, a promise is a promise. You worked hard this time too."
"...I can do as much as you need. This much is nothing."
"When you move in, get along with the others."
"Yes."
"Bathing won't be easy, though. There are a lot of them."
"It's fine. I'll wash at dawn."
"And sleep?"
"That... I'll sleep properly once I'm dead."
She answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Blow ruffled her hair without mercy, and while her face flooded red he turned his gaze to Jane, standing beside her.
"She's not wrong, though. Sleep is something you do properly once you're dead."
"I'm already living that way. More or less."
"Sorry. Anyway, Hervena—we're heading up now?"
"Yes."
Blow scrunched his nose at her in farewell and went upstairs.
Hervena stared after him, swelling with the thought that she might soon stand on his other side, opposite Jane, and set off toward the school.
The next day was Saturday, and a meeting on the plans ahead was held at Hills.
Unlike the banquet the night before, the mood was a little more serious. Blow, who had already settled with Yulia everything that could be settled before they sat down, turned to Jane first.
"Jane, we've decided your poster work will go ahead after the Academia. Theo's swamped straight through the Caipol Academia too."
"...Yes."
"Couldn't you show a little more enthusiasm?"
"That's why I've been eating only half my dinner lately."
"Why? Theo's going to draw it however he likes anyway."
"Even so, the model has to be pretty. Then he'll draw it well."
"Fair point."
Blow nodded at Jane and turned his gaze to Cunsai.
"You decided to open after the Academia too, didn't you?"
"Yes! We'll promote properly at the Academia, then open the moment it ends."
"For the morning shift, Megan will go with Anne and help out."
"Ah, truly?"
"Yeah. Megan's practically the assistant manager of Hills by now, so she'll be a big help."
They did seem oddly bound by fate.
Megan, recalling Cunsai standing blankly in front of the Nyx Inn in the old days, looked his way, and Cunsai pressed his palms together in a respectful bow.
Next, Lil, seated beside Haghia, raised her hand, cleared her throat, and spoke.
"Store Two looks like it'll be after the Academia as well."
"Winter's the off-season, so let's prepare properly for the new term."
"Yes. Still, working together this time, I've gotten a sense of how things run. For the time being I'll keep coming in at Store One and learn everything I can."
"If you need staff sent over, just say so."
"Customer service and stocking are about all we'd need, so one person would be good."
"We can rotate people through. If you'd rather hire someone yourself, that's fine too."
"Yes. It doesn't seem terribly important, so we can decide later."
With Store Two settled, Blow was glancing at Jane, who sat beside him taking the minutes, when Yulia passed him a report on the Caipol Academia and spoke.
"Young master. We need to decide what we'll do for this Academia as well."
"The date is next week, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"If we'd started preparing last week, we'd have had plenty of time. A bit of a shame. Shall we just sell pizza as hard as we can this time?"
"Yes. We don't need a massive plan every single time. If we can simply imprint pizza on the citizens this round, that wouldn't be bad."
Yulia added a few remarks to Blow's suggestion, as if there were nothing wrong with it. Skadi, who had been turning something over in her mind, suddenly lifted her head toward him as if a thought had struck.
"Didn't we say we'd do that thing last time?"
"What?"
"The drinking contest."
"...Ah. I think we did. Wasn't that back at the Nyx?"
"Yeah. Simple, but isn't it good?"
At her words, Blow stroked his chin.
A drinking contest. Given the name, the drink would of course be beer—and among beers, it would be best to run it on Pilsner Paulos, the lager that represented them. On top of that, Saintess Marta was currently staying in the city. If they framed the event as a collaboration with her, it would be publicity, yes, but it might also polish his image a little further. Two birds with one stone.
Yulia, whose thoughts had been running along much the same lines, smiled and spoke to him.
"Young master, I think it's good."
"Yes. If we prepare one enormous oak cask and the Saintess lays a blessing on it, the feeling would be perfect, don't you think?"
"We could scale it up a little and hold it right in the plaza in front of city hall. My hotel is nearby anyway, so it would be convenient for putting people to work in all sorts of ways."
"We're meeting the Saintess on Monday. How about we bring it up with her then?"
"Let's place the preorder the moment this meeting ends!"
The two of them, talking with such energy, turned toward Skadi, who was smiling with satisfaction as if she had pulled something off.
"Skadi?"
"Hm?"
"That was good."
"Wahaha! Glad I could be of help! So you're seeing the Saintess on Monday?"
"Yeah. I'm having lunch with my senior. After that I'll probably go look at what's come up for auction."
"Mm, Blow, by any chance..."
"Hm?"
By then every eye in the meeting room had swung to her. Skadi swallowed and leaned toward him.
"On Monday... can I come too?"
While the meeting was in full swing at Hills, far to the east, at the Hetaya estate—
Bjorn, Skadi's father, had returned from an expedition to exterminate the magical beasts that had appeared around the domain, and he stepped into his office still in his armor.
"Finish the cleanup, then rest."
"Yes, sir!"
The adjutants answered as one, as if a single voice had spoken. Bjorn swept his gaze over them, and his mouth was just about to open again when the office door burst wide. Adjutant Radson, who oversaw the running of the estate, came in and offered him a bow.
"You've worked hard, my lord!"
"Radson. If you've come in like this now, that means?"
"A communication has arrived from Lady Skadi!"
"What!"
The office stirred at the name. Among the adjutants who had shared life and death with Bjorn, there was not one who did not dote on Skadi, and every face softened with fondness. Bjorn, who had felt a little hurt that she had scarcely been in touch of late, wore a smile he could not hide—one that ill fit the epithet Slaughterer of the East.
"Ahem. Very well. Shall we hear that first, then continue the meeting?"
"Yes, sir!"
"What does Skadi say? She promised she'd come to the domain this winter, didn't she?"
His tone was nothing but gentle. Hearing it, Radson somehow did not know what to do with himself. He swallowed a sigh and barely managed to open his mouth.
"She did not say that."
"...Then?"
"The young lady asked that every gold she is permitted to use be sent to her..."
"......"
Crack—
With the sound of an armrest splintering, the office went solemn, as if cold water had been thrown over it. In the midst of that silence Radson broke into a cold sweat and waited for his lord's next words.