A Scoundrel's Idea
A bundle of white fur came down the stairs.
Eyes blue enough to dive into and swim, a sleek body glossed with a living sheen—Jane the white cat found the stares pouring down on her unbearable, and she tried to crawl away under the table.
She never made it.
"A kitty!!"
Before she could slip all the way beneath, Linne snatched her up.
"A kitty!!!! So cute! That sweet little head-smell!!"
"Mraow..."
The three men standing there watching did their best to look anywhere but at the glare Jane was leveling at the pair, each of them wearing a distinctly uncomfortable face.
Only after the blessing of a long audience with that sacred head-scent had descended upon Linne did Blow step in close to the cat in her arms.
"That you, Jane?"
"Mraa..."
"She's subtler than I expected?"
"You think? Well, she does look a lot like Jane."
Hans kept tapping at her, and Jane answered with a tiny cat-punch to his finger. He had no choice but to yank his hand back in a hurry.
Blow, who had been gazing at her in silence, felt his eyes catch light—and then, inevitably, an idea no former scoundrel ought to have been allowed rose up in him.
"Come over here a second. Linne, set Jane down and come too."
A little later, giggles drifted over to her, along with worried murmurs of the do you really think that's all right variety.
What on earth are they trying to do?
A chill ran down Jane's spine. She swept the floor with her tail and looked up toward them, worry written all over her face, while Hans and Linne bustled about making something with great industry.
Sh-should I run?
As if he had read her, Blow reached out and caught her, and the corner of his mouth lifted, just slightly.
"Jane, wait a moment."
"Mraa?"
"I thought of something fun. No—something only you can do."
At the wicked look on his face, Jane began to tremble.
A short while later Linne came out of the kitchen with some small scrap of cloth and, quick as anything, fastened it around Jane's neck like a cape.
"Done!"
"Oh, nice work, Linne."
Blow gave her a nod, then set Jane briefly on the ground. She twisted this way and that, trying to see what they had done to her, and succeeded only in rolling pathetically across the floor.
"So cute!!!!"
"Hey. She's still your senior."
"Ah, sorry..."
"All right, Jane."
She had been rolling when the call startled her upright, and she looked up at Blow. He lifted the corner of his mouth and pointed outside.
"Off to school."
"Mraa?!"
Jane sprang up as if she could not believe her ears and yowled, sharp and indignant, but Blow's outstretched finger did not so much as waver.
That was when Hans brought a hand mirror and angled it at the cape.
FOR SALE
Baked Potatoes
Blow Deblique
On the back: Last 1 silver before the renovation
He means to use me as a billboard? Me?
The moment she saw it, Jane bristled and hissed at Blow. The effect was so uncanny that even the hiss only looked cute.
"There. Now you just walk around the school like that."
"...Mraa."
"How easy is that! I'll even throw in something special for today's wages!"
"Mraa!!!"
"Shall we step outside, then? Linne?"
Linne scooped Jane up with a deft, practiced motion, carried her out, and set her carefully on the ground.
Jane looked up at Blow and Linne, the very picture of someone wronged. Blow added, as if he were being terribly generous:
"Get you a fish when you come back. Haha."
She pouted for a long while, plainly unsatisfied, then set off as if she had no other choice. Once she had put a fair distance between them, Blow shouted after her.
"Every corner of the school!"
"Mraa!!!"
Hans, having heard that sharp yowl, leaned in and whispered.
"She says she'll handle it."
"Hans, you understand cat now?"
"I mean... anyone could tell that's what she meant."
"Fair enough."
Just then Linne, watching the retreating Jane with open regret, caught Blow's eye.
"Linne. How about it."
"Yes!?"
"I'll give you the chance to become a cat every morning."
He said it with a thin, sly smile, and Linne swallowed dry.
"Wh-what do you mean by that??"
"The way I see it, that potion will catch on better if we use it like this."
"F-for publicity?"
"Right. Every morning you work the shop, then go to class as a cat. How's that."
"Th-that's—! You'd make an offer that huge!?"
For reasons no one could quite name, Linne's eyes blazed with mania the instant the offer landed.
"I'll add to your wages, of course."
"I-I could do it even without the money!?"
"So? Want to think it over? If you don't, I'll just have Hans do it."
"Young Master...?"
Before the flustered Hans could get a word out, Linne shot one arm into the air.
"I-I'll do it!"
"Good thinking. You only have to go to school in the morning. Wearing that cape."
"Yes!"
"And I'll even add a spe-cial little something to your pay!"
"Thank you! Nothing but the cat!"
Rowbedi, her friend, who had been watching the whole scene, could only squeeze his eyes shut. Hans felt a chill race down to the bone, as if, for just a moment, he had seen Blow as he had been in his scoundrel days.
After the evening opening, once the rush had thinned a little, Blow was placing a call to Melo from a nearby communications post.
"Young Master, you're so meeean!!"
Melo's aggrieved voice came through the communication magic, and Blow, caught in an awkward spot, scratched at his head.
"How! How could you not contact me even onceee!!"
"Sorry. I was getting the restaurant and the potion shop ready to open..."
"Even so!! That's too much!!"
Judging that he could not endure a voice so thick with hurt it was nearly tears, Blow quietly steered the talk elsewhere.
"Haha... When are you coming up?"
"I don't knooow!"
Nothing came back from the other side. Startled, wondering if she had cut the magic, Blow looked to the mage in front of him, and the man shook his head at once.
A little later her mother Romang's voice arrived, along with a sigh.
"She'll probably set out tomorrow morning."
"Melo seems properly furious. Sorry, Romang."
"I was a little disappointed myself, you know?"
Something in that thoroughly sunken tone frightened him. Blow swallowed and said,
"I'll call once before you leave tomorrow."
"It's all right. Megan will contact you when they reach Splas. Get some rest..."
"No—put Melo back on for a second!"
A clutter of noise went on for a while, and then Melo's voice came from the far side.
"...Hello."
She sounded sulky and deflated. Blow spoke in a rush.
"When you get here, let's go eat oysters!"
"...Oysters?"
At the word, Melo's voice brightened all at once. Relieved that she was, thankfully, a simple soul, Blow swept a hand down his chest and hurried on.
"Yeah! Those fist-sized oysters you told me about."
"R-really?"
"Yeah!"
"Hehe."
And so, having survived yet another crisis, Blow was at last able to end the communication magic with Melo.
Still, it'd be nice if the restaurant were nearly finished before Melo gets here.
He was thinking that as he returned to the Nyx Inn, and as if they had read his mind, the barbarian Ornn was pacing in front of the door with two of his barbarian workers.
"Young Master, you've come."
"The customer's here!"
"There are guests inside and it's noisy, so let's go to the restaurant building."
"Yes!"
"Hans!"
At the call, Hans, who had been resting inside, came running out at once.
"Yes!"
"Come talk with me a minute."
"Yes, gladly!"
The owner had been gone a long while, and the restaurant building they entered was in a state of disorder. Ornn came up to Blow and offered, almost casually,
"We brought a cup of tea. Would you care to try it?"
"Hm? You brought tea as well?"
"Yes. I very much wanted to offer you some."
One of the barbarians standing behind Ornn loosened a pouch and held it out for him. Inside, well-dried white flowers no bigger than a fingernail were heaped up thick.
Catching the faint fragrance that rose from them, Blow had no choice but to nod.
"If you're offering, I'd count it an honor. I'll have a cup."
"I think it will be to your liking."
A short while later, two tiny teacups—absurd against barbarian hands like pot lids—were set before Blow and Hans. Soon a gentle scent spread through the whole restaurant.
"A fragrance I've never smelled before. What tea is this?"
"Elderflower."
"Elderflower is delicious!"
Hans, who had caught the scent a moment sooner, had his eyes fly open, and he all but shouted at Blow.
"Young Master! The scent is really wonderful!"
"It is. And remarkably exotic, too."
"Elderflower is a flower from the north. It looks like a bouquet made of clouds. I've drunk it often, as a child and now. It's good for warding off colds."
Hearing the explanation, Blow took a sip at once. Warmth spread through his whole body, and a curious sweetness and tartness passed through him, lingering pleasantly.
"This is quite good."
"Haha. I'm glad you think so."
"Where can I get this tea?"
"Ah, this is sent to us specially from our homeland, Drakenbuild. It would be difficult to purchase."
"That's a real shame."
Ornn studied the genuine regret on Blow's face, considered for a moment, and then said,
"If you want a connection, I'll arrange one for you. As a special case."
"I'd be grateful if you would!"
Blow's expression brightened at that. The potion shop would be opening soon enough, and he no longer had any reason to hesitate over something like this. Elderflower could be sold at the potion shop in tea bags, and sold separately at the restaurant as well.
"Do connect us. Without fail."
"Haha. If the Young Master enjoys our northern tea, the honor is ours."
"If it tastes good, that's all that matters."
"Right!!"
"Elderflower tea is really delicious!!"
Once the tasting was over, Ornn explained the estimate he had drawn up in detail.
The restaurant had already been used as one, so they would salvage everything that could be salvaged and change only some of the furniture, the wallpaper, and the lighting: 100 gold. The potion shop, by contrast, needed interior staircase work, along with lighting, flooring, and a great deal besides, and despite the smaller floor area the estimate came to 200 gold.
Isn't that far too expensive?
Figures in gold flying back and forth seemed to shrink Hans's liver to the size of a bean. Blow, unlike him, nodded and answered.
"That's cheap."
"I sourced the mana stones at the most reasonable price I could. If a mage will be staying at the potion shop, low-grade stones should be plenty. Proceed like this, and someone only needs to cast once every four hours."
"Not bad. Jane can manage that much."
"Ah—the white-haired woman we met last time?"
"Even so, she was a third-year at the magic school. A real talent."
Using a talent like that as a walking billboard...
Suddenly sorry for Jane, Hans sneaked a look at Blow's face.
"Aha. We thought she was your maid."
"Did she look like one?"
"She's so modestly beautiful, not like a student at all— I'm sorry. That was rude of me."
Ornn broke off mid-sentence to check his reaction. Blow had not particularly minded, and he nodded that it was fine.
"You didn't say anything bad. It's all right."
"Thank you. As for the schedule, if we begin with the restaurant—there's little to do there, so about a week—and then allow about three weeks for the potion shop. That's how I'm thinking of proceeding."
Blow called up the image of Jane they had just been discussing, then asked, lightly,
"If I put Jane on it, does the work get easier?"
"Pardon? The white-haired mage? Of course! Magic helps the efficiency of the work a great deal!"
"Then can we shorten the schedule a bit?"
"Yes, most likely. It would be like gaining another pair of hands."
"The total's 300 gold right now. Could you do it for 290?"
"Hmm. The schedule would move up quite a bit, but 290 is a little... How about 295?"
Sensing he could shave a little more, Blow braced himself and pressed.
"A mage's daily wage is steeper than you'd think. Cut just a little further?"
"Then may I set reasonable milestones, and judge by how the work actually goes?"
Hans, listening to the exchange, began to shiver where he stood.
Today he runs her ragged as a cat, and next it's a construction site. Miss Jane's going to be furious, isn't she?
While he was shaking like that, Blow planted a hand on his shoulder.
"I'll lend you this one, too."
Hans went pale.
"Y-Young Master, I have work!!"
"Join them after the morning service. Once Melo and Megan get here, we should be able to rotate things somehow."
Looking at the three barbarians, Hans felt the pressure of them, and his teeth began to chatter of their own accord.
"This human looks strong!!"
"Big, for a human!!"
"......"
While the barbarians looked Hans over, Blow let out a short laugh and made Ornn an offer.
"With him included, how about 290 gold?"
"A very reasonable proposal. The construction period should drop sharply. What was five weeks, if we cut it as far as it can be cut, might come down to about three weeks even including the potion shop. If the schedule moves up by a great deal, I'll return the difference."
"You can still do it safely, yes? I don't want an accident from rushing."
"I stake my neck on it."
Ornn's eyes were serious, as they always were. Liking that, Blow nodded once and held out his hand.
"If this goes well, then as I said before—whenever work involving buildings comes up, I'll leave all of it to you."
"Truly?!"
"Better to keep working with the people already doing the job, isn't it?"
"I'll work until my bones break."
"Boss is so open-handed!! So cool!!"
"We'll work hard!! Thank you!!"
Behind Ornn, who had taken Blow's hand gently, the hulking men bowed again and again. There was real sincerity in the way they stood, and Blow felt his heart steady, somehow, for no particular reason.
"Then when should the white-haired mage start working with us?"
"When does construction begin?"
"Tomorrow."
"Then from tomorrow."
"Understood. We'll bring the materials here tomorrow morning."
"I'd appreciate that."
A while later they stepped outside the restaurant building.
The street was already sunk in dark, and far off the school's bell tower caught Blow's eye.
Hm. I wonder if Jane's doing all right.
He pictured her for a moment, decided she was probably fine, and let it go, already hurrying toward the inn where Rowbedi and Linne would be keeping watch.
Jane, just then, was touring the school, scraping together even the last of her remaining loyalty to Blow.
The work was easier than she had expected.
Because even if she only passed by at a reasonable pace, the feet of those who had been her schoolmates stopped dead where they were.
"A cat!!!"
"So cute!! But what's this?"
Packs of her juniors came at her without the least reservation, and each time Jane, tense, had no choice but to halt stock-still. They stroked her head again and again, and checked the cape just as they were doing now.
"Potatoes?"
"Oh, that must be the place in the Dusk Block."
"Haha. So this is how they're advertising."
"That's fun!"
They said it, and still they went on petting Jane with great diligence. Secretly rather pleased, she let out a purr.
"Seriously, so cute!"
"Hm. Nyx—how late are they open?"
"Until about eleven, I think."
"Want to go take a look now?"
They left on those words. The groups Jane had already sent off well exceeded five tablefuls, and the people who had only petted her were far more numerous than that, so it counted as doing her best.
This should be enough, right?
Thinking so, she settled in a spot for a moment and looked up at the sky.
She was the one who had compounded the Meow-Meow Potion, but she had never drunk it and come outside, and so everything that met her eyes was a wonder. The sky, especially—she had never looked at it from so low—was truly high, and the school buildings felt enormous.
Meeting the cool wind and sinking into thought, Jane remembered the good days of before. Wearing her uniform, attending class in earnest, running potion experiments.
I can hardly believe I used to attend this school...
She was thinking about her own circumstances when a voice that should never have reached her ears arrived.
"Oh, a cat!"
She got up quickly and turned her head.
Herbena was there, gazing quietly down at her, and with her Skadi, looking uncharacteristically out of sorts.
"Well now. A white cat, of all things."
"Right? Is it the school cat?"
Herbena had already scooped her up, leaving her no chance to flee. Studying the thoroughly flustered Jane, Herbena's eyes narrowed.
"I'm getting the strangest sense of deja vu."
"Don't torment the cat. Put it down."
"When did I ever! No, but something's off. I feel like there's mana coming off it. Maybe."
Herbena pushed Jane right up to her own eyes and began to tilt her head.
"Hm... this mana...?"