A Moonlit Night in the Public Relations Department
It was late evening, and Blow had only just stepped into Yulia's Public Relations Department.
Kunsai Cherohun, finished with his after-school studies, had come home and was carefully putting his coat away.
The house stood in the Dusk Block: small, filthy, and so sour with stink that the Nyx Inn seemed pleasant by comparison. He and Luta occupied the second floor. The other rooms were given over to storing sugar and the like, so the two of them lived in a cramped chamber packed so full of furniture there was hardly room to lie down, sleeping in a bunk bed they had made themselves.
"Haa..."
With a deep sigh, Kunsai finished tidying his clothes and crouched in the corner of the lower bunk he used.
Luta returned not long after, studied his face, and asked in a worried tone.
"...Did something bad happen at school again?"
At that, Kunsai nodded as if it were nothing.
"Well, it's just the usual."
"......"
"I was looking around for a place to set up the booth when Delter and his crew showed up and started running their mouths."
"Saying what?"
"Asking who'd ever eat sugar that looks like it's covered in dirt."
"......"
"I couldn't even answer them. More than anything else, that's what... burns."
A silence like a tomb settled between them.
After a while Kunsai held out his school uniform. Seeing it wrinkled, sand clinging here and there, Luta could only grind his teeth.
"Shirt's filthy again."
"Lately I've been keeping my distance, barely even talking to them, so I don't know why they do it. I guess they just hate me."
"Kunsai, I say this every time, but I have to wonder if you really need to keep going to that school when this is how they treat you..."
"We agreed we wouldn't have that conversation."
Even as he said it, Kunsai forced a smile for Luta. Looking at him, Luta could only let a miserable sound escape.
Nearly a year had already passed since the bullying began. When Kunsai moved up to the second year, he had landed in the same class as Delter—and the trouble was that Delter was the son of a noble house from Parso.
That had been the first thing Delter said upon seeing him, and everything after was predictable. A clique gathered around the young noble, and they began quietly shutting Kunsai out. Lately it had only been getting worse. In just the past few days they had grabbed him by the collar and even knocked him down. They had not yet swung a fist at his face.
Still, it kept escalating, and Luta could not help fearing that Kunsai might cross a river he could never come back from—or sink so deep into despair he would never rise again. So at the start of the year he had suggested the boy simply go home.
Kunsai, however, had shaken his head, firm. He would endure it, he said. Next year the classes would change, and things would get better. And if he could not even stomach this much and went back to the village, he would have no face left to show anyone.
So the letters he sent home every week were, as always, packed with lies about how much he was enjoying school.
...Unfortunately, Luta could say nothing about it. All he felt was helplessness. He was not even the boy's parent, and he was a demihuman—a commoner who was not even treated as one. Going to the school to complain would only make things harder for Kunsai.
".....I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do for you."
"Just having you beside me is enough, Mr. Luta."
"I washed your clothes ahead of time."
"Thank you. They're spotless. I'm meeting the young master tomorrow, and this should do."
"Tomorrow too?"
"Yes. He said he'll come by our school in the afternoon and take a look at the booth."
"...Enthusiastic, isn't he."
If there was any hope in it, it was the man Luta had seen on Sunday: Blow Deblique. He had listened to them more seriously, and more completely, than any human they had met, and had even shared in their worries. Luta, burned by humans too many times, still could not bring himself to trust the man entirely, and he wondered whether Blow might only be using them. But he could not say that to Kunsai, who lit up with excitement every time the subject came up.
"Tomorrow the Bavarians are coming too, to look over the booth."
"Those big ones you mentioned yesterday?"
"Yes. They really are huge. It was my first time talking with them, you know? And we understood each other so well..."
And then Kunsai was chattering all over again about everything that had happened with them. Luta, having come into the room, lit the lamp. On Kunsai's face, the shadow had already vanished.
The Public Relations Department conference room.
Having set the corn cheese aside for the moment, Yulia was listening to Blow Deblique explain what had happened with Kunsai on Sunday evening.
"To think something like that happened... What a shame. Young Master, things just keep happening to you, don't they?"
Yulia spoke with regret, and Blow shrugged.
"I've been wondering about that myself lately."
"It was quite a fascinating story. I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't know the demihumans' situation in anywhere near that much depth. Oh—then that donut you gave me back then was...?"
"That's right."
"Young Master Blow, you're more thorough than you let on, aren't you? Sounding me out like that."
"What? I just happened to think of you while I was eating a donut."
"You... did?"
"You do love good food, Senior."
Caught in the moment and lying without so much as a blink, Blow Deblique. For some reason Yulia could not find it in herself to dislike it. It only put her in a wonderful mood.
"I see. Young Master, it was delicious. Like rain in a drought."
"I'm glad to hear it."
"Right... so the reason you came to see me today is the contract with that demihuman, isn't it?"
"Yes. I wanted to hear your advice."
Feeling as if she had been acknowledged, Yulia found herself smiling without meaning to. For someone who wanted a contract with him, this was unmistakably a good sign. Having carefully weighed every variable, she offered the tense-looking Blow a bright smile.
"I don't think it'll be that big a problem."
"Oh, really?"
Blow's face brightened at once, and he met Jane's eyes beside him with pleasure. She seemed relieved as well, letting out a sigh.
"The imperial palace hasn't been looking kindly on Parso lately, either. The talk is that they took far too much in return for being the first to surrender in the Unification War."
"Ah, I think I've heard that."
"This city is Caipol, and more than anything, my stance on Parso—and my family's—matches the palace's."
"Your thoughts on Parso?"
"Yes. My parents feel the same way. Sugar is simply too expensive, no matter what you do. Young Master, it seems Yulia Edfolk has found one more way to be of help to you."
Yulia spoke with expectant eyes, and Blow, catching her meaning, answered with a small smile.
"Let's talk again after the exams. Thank you for the advice."
"Marchen is preparing diligently. We'll go over it from every angle then!"
"Ah, I also meant to bring up the carbonated-water supply."
"You mean you'd like to be supplied with carbonated water from the Roten region?"
"Yes, that's right. I thought you'd know Roten well."
Hearing that, Yulia could not hide her delight. Things were going even better than she had expected.
"Perfect! Then I'll have Marchen look into suppliers as well."
"Thank you."
"I'm in such a good mood, Young Master! And Cheese Corn Cheese on top of it—truly the icing on the cake."
Seeing Yulia's eyes sparkling with anticipation, Blow rose and pointed toward the outer room.
"Shall we go eat, then?"
"Gladly, Young Master!"
At her answer, the backsides of the Public Relations members who had been watching the conference room twitched. Blow saw it and smiled.
"You've been waiting, haven't you? I'll have the meal ready right away."
"Yes!"
Blow immediately used fire magic to make the corn cheese with Jane, while Linne began warming the ollred with warmth magic. At the meat's downright violent aroma, and the sizzle of roasting corn, color returned to the Public Relations members' faces.
"Young Master! Let me help too."
Yulia came to his side then, eyes shining, and Blow pointed her toward the sandwiches beside him.
"Then would you set out the sandwiches?"
"Ah, yes, of course!"
At the sight of that, the Public Relations members went pale and rushed toward her.
"We'll do it, Department Head!!"
"Stay where you are. I want to do this for all of you myself, as your department head."
"Of course. It's because of you, Senior, that I hauled all this over again."
"Honestly, if you put it like that, who wouldn't be pleased?"
Yulia was laughing, bright and open, and the Public Relations members looked utterly dumbfounded. She was kind to everyone, but she was not the sort to show her feelings so plainly. While they stood there stunned, the dishes were finished one after another, neat and quick.
Then, without warning, the Public Relations door burst open.
"Who's filling the hall with food smells in the middle of the night!!!!"
The one who stormed in, thoroughly annoyed, was Finance Department Head Cindy Whiteglass. Huffing, she spotted Blow busily making corn cheese, rubbed her eyes, and looked again.
"Huh? It really is Blow Deblique? What are you doing here?"
"Long time no see, Cindy."
"What are you doing, Young. Mas. Ter. Blow Deblique?"
"Can't you see? I came out on a job and I'm cooking."
"Hey! Sorry, but I've got eyes too. Look at these Public Relations people. You called in an outside cook to the hall? Does your department head even know about this?"
At Cindy's sharp voice, the Public Relations members subtly avoided her gaze. She swept them with her eyes—and stopped dead on Yulia, who had finished setting the sandwiches and was wearing a blissful expression as she looked at the corn cheese.
"...Department Head Yulia?"
"Finance Head? You were at the hall?"
"No... why would the department head...?"
Cindy, who had never imagined Yulia eating in the hall in the dead of night, went stiff as stone.