Redefining the Relationship
"A shame, really, but the booth with the lowest sales was yours, young master!"
"Well. Damn."
Blow scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish, while Skadi was already slapping a high five with Cunsai.
"We won!"
"Haha..."
Jane, who had been watching the two of them celebrate, offered the figures as if they were merely an afterthought.
"Three hundred ninety-five silver and five pennies, in total."
"The worst booth still cleared thirty-nine gold? That's insane."
"Grilling the meat took time, and you weren't selling drinks either."
"I got carried away in the middle and burned through too much fire magic. That's on me."
"Are you disappointed?"
"No. I planned every booth myself, so it doesn't matter. The total is what counts."
"That is true. Next, then..."
The other two looked at her as if they could hardly wait. Jane's hand indicated Cunsai.
"Next is the donut booth. Five hundred seventy-one silver and four pennies."
"Truly?!"
Cunsai's mouth fell open. A heartbeat later he was bent at the waist before Blow.
"Thank you! This is all thanks to you, young master!"
"The donuts really were that good. Any way you look at it, we should have charged more."
Blow clicked his tongue, plainly regretful. Jane's gaze slid toward Skadi, triumphant.
"And last, the hot-spring booth. Nine hundred seventy-four silver."
"Yes! First place!"
Skadi crowed in triumph and clapped her hands against Jane's, then marched over to Yulia and Hervena, who had been watching the whole thing with fond amusement, and shouted.
"This is all thanks to you! I dedicate this glory to you!"
"You are enjoying this far too much. Well, you did work the hardest."
"Lady Skadi, I really do think you may have a quiet talent for business."
While they passed the credit back and forth, Jane turned to Blow and added, all business,
"The hot-spring booth stayed packed and never stopped turning over. That's why."
"Figures. About twenty people at a time, so sixty an hour."
"Most of the guests ordered drinks along with the potatoes."
"The concept was good. Cost a bit, though."
Even as he answered, Skadi arrived in front of him and declared, bursting with pride,
"Now then, Blow Deblique! Hurry up and praise me!"
"Yeah, yeah. It's thanks to you. You did great. Really."
"Wahaha!"
Blow decided, privately, that there was no need to tell her what the foot baths had cost to build. If she was happy, that was enough. Only Yulia, who was already in the hotel business, watched him without a word, wearing a smile so faint it might have been imagined.
"Now it's a party!!"
Skadi strode off like a general returning in triumph. Blow watched her go, then leaned toward Jane and dropped his voice.
"So how much did we actually clear?"
"Your booth, two hundred one silver and five pennies. The donut booth, three hundred thirty-eight silver. The hot-spring booth comes to three hundred eighty-one silver once we subtract construction."
"Construction came in lower than I expected."
"Yes. Ornn said he arranged things so every material used could be recycled, and cut the cost as far as he could. The ades also left a much better margin than we thought."
"Put the ades on the restaurant menu too."
"Yes, young master."
All three booths together: nine hundred twenty silver and five pennies. For two days' work, it was a remarkable sum. Once the accounting was finished, Jane finally allowed herself to lean back in her chair, and Blow offered her a small, genuine smile.
"Jane. You worked hard right through to the end."
"Not at all. I only did what needed doing."
"You have worked so hard!"
Cunsai put his whole strength into the words. Blow gave his shoulder a pat, thought for a moment, and then beckoned Jane over.
"Jane. Lend me your ear a moment."
He whispered something. Jane nodded, went up to the second floor, and came back down carrying a heavy brown pouch. With a pleased look she held it out to Cunsai. He took it in both arms as if he were embracing it, then blinked in confusion.
"Th-this is...?"
"Your booth's earnings, Cunsai."
"I couldn't! We'll only take our own profit."
"We got plenty of publicity out of this, so this is enough. I'm just tossing a little extra on top. About sixty gold, all told?"
"Th-that's nearly double...?"
Tears welled in Cunsai's eyes. Blow propped his chin on one hand and answered,
"I tried the donuts. They're too good. Good enough that you could start selling them tomorrow."
"How am I ever supposed to repay a kindness as boundless as the sea...?"
"We'll just keep talking. Closely. The way we are now."
"He's right, Cunsai. Starting with the sugar supply, young master Blow gained quite a bit from this as well. If it were me, I think I'd have given about that much too."
Yulia, drinking beer at the next table, added her voice to his. Only then did Cunsai draw the pouch in against his chest.
"Thank you, young master. I'll put it to truly good use."
"Don't mention it. Thanks to you, it was a good time."
Blow said it easily, and Cunsai went on thanking him. After their cups had met, Blow's gaze shifted to Jane. The look in his eyes was softer than anything, and Yulia, watching, felt her own eyes narrow.
His face goes softest when he looks at Jane. I'm envious of you, Jane.
A ripple spread through her heart, faint but unmistakable. Until now she had believed she only wanted to help his growth from the side. Then she remembered the fortune told of Blow's love life, and she pressed her lips firmly shut.
"Senior?"
She startled and looked up to find Hervena and Skadi watching her.
"You seemed to be thinking about something interesting."
"N-no! Hervena! Skadi! Shall we have a drink? The three of us!"
"Yes, senior."
Yulia raised her cup in a hurry. The other two met it almost at once.
Cunsai thanked him for a long while and at last went home. Jane stretched, rose from her seat, and said,
"Young master, I'll head in first."
"Yeah. You must be tired. Good work."
"Only a little."
"Let's get those glasses fitted next week. No putting it off."
"Yes. Senior Yulia, I'll be going in first."
Jane bowed to Yulia, who was still seated at the next table.
"Good work, Jane."
"What a shame! Jane's fun when she's drunk!"
"I am never getting drunk again."
With that, Jane stepped outside. Skadi, who had been waiting for precisely this moment, called out in a bright voice.
"Hey, Blow! Let's have a drink."
Blow hesitated, his eyes on the ceiling. In the brief quiet that followed, the faint sound of a door opening on the second floor reached them. Once he had heard it, he looked to Yulia, and her head tipped to one side.
"Young master? Did you have something to say?"
"Yes. I'd like a word with you alone for a moment, senior."
"Has something happened?"
"Yes. Just a moment..."
The hardness in his eyes unsettled Skadi, and she shoved her way in.
"Hey, what! What is it! What happened! Why are you putting on a mood that doesn't suit you at all!"
"Young master, unless it truly has to be just the two of you, I think it's better said here."
Blow was quiet for a beat. Then he let out a long breath.
"I realized I'd forgotten to ask you, senior."
"About what?"
"I heard you know about Instructor Mnevoir's experiment as well."
Moonlight filled the restaurant. The corner of Yulia's mouth rose, gentle.
"Young master, did you happen to confirm the name Lisleia of the Flowing Water?"
"Yes. The instructor showed me the minutes."
"Then this will be quick. Of course I was shocked when I first heard about the experiment. But once I was told she herself would be taking part, I set that worry down."
She drained what remained of her beer and met his eyes.
"I figured that if even she couldn't manage it, the whole continent would be in danger."
"But there's always that one chance in ten thousand. If it came to that, you'd be the one taking the loss."
"If it came to that, we'd all go down together, so it wouldn't even count as a loss, would it?"
Yulia's eyes sparkled with perfect innocence. She folded both hands neatly on the table and added, more quietly,
"Lisleia of the Flowing Water. That name carries exactly that much weight."
"If you've judged it rationally, then I don't have anything more to say."
"It was a decision I made after thinking it through. And... we're friends, aren't we?"
"Friends?"
The word startled him into repeating it. They had been seeing more of each other lately, but she was still a lady of House Edfolk, and that weight had not left him. His reaction must not have pleased her. Yulia's shoulders sank.
"I thought of us that way..."
"...Now that I think about it, you're right. Friends. You said it so suddenly that I was thrown for a second."
He answered quickly, and her head came up. Light wavered in her violet eyes.
"You mean it?"
"Of course. I only drink with friends."
"That's right! We've gotten a lot closer with senior lately! Be friends with me too, senior!"
Skadi, who had been watching for an opening, jumped in at once. Yulia looked at her, laughed a soft fufu, and added,
"Haha, of course, Skadi! If you come to the secretariat next year, we'll grow even closer!"
"That... I'll think about it."
"I feel as if this is the first I'm hearing of Skadi going to the secretariat."
"We talked about it at the hotel. While you had stepped out, young master."
"Ah. Then..."
While the three of them spoke of the student council still to come, Hervena, who had been watching Yulia all the while, bit gently at her lower lip.
That isn't just someone who wants to linger over corn cheese.
Irritation surged up in her, and she glared at Yulia. Skadi, reading the look, draped an arm over her shoulder.
"Hervena, you too. Cheers!"
"...Sure."
The air had turned strangely charged. Cups met with a bright clink, and Blow, having set down the weight on his mind, raked a hand back through his hair and turned his thoughts to what came next.
Angus Coffee House. The Blue Rose Gallery.
In a stuffy sealed room without a single window, Redprine Blueos and Julbert Mertios sat facing each other.
"It's been a while! Young. Mas. Ter Julbert?"
Redprine tipped a just-poured coffee back and dumped the whole of it down her throat. Julbert let out an empty laugh.
"...You really haven't changed."
"So? Did you like my present?"
"Shall I say it was very you? Thanks to it, our side barely came up at all."
"Haha! I scattered them everywhere again this morning! I did well, didn't I? Young. Mas. Ter?"
She asked it with a flush high on her cheeks.
Redprine Blueos lived by a single creed: it was enough if someone, anyone, read her articles. She did not care if they were torn to shreds, or if her own reputation sank with them. It was the same satisfaction a sadist takes in laying a whip across another person's body. To dye, even briefly, the feelings and thoughts of whoever touched her writing in her own color—that was what pleased her. James read that purely twisted desire, and his brow creased without mercy.
"Just how much of those articles of yours is actually true?"
"All of it? Truth isn't really that important, you know."
"Wouldn't an ordinary press consider it important?"
"I'll handle it. Young. Mas. Ter?"
At her sneering tone, James's eyes went hard. If Julbert had not warned him before they came in, he would have stepped forward without a second thought.
"Redprine. May I ask a favor of you?"
"What is it, young master?"
"From now on, I'd like you to leave the Finance Department out of your articles."
"Pardon?"
"His Highness the prince dotes on Cindy so very much, doesn't he? If Cindy were to go tattling to him, things would become tiresome."
Redprine, who had been listening closely, brought a hand to her mouth and looked at him as if she could not quite believe it.
"What's this? Don't tell me you still have feelings for that sky-blue airhead?"
"......"
"Hahaha! Our young master, honestly!! Really, this is too funny."
She drummed on the desk as if she might die laughing. Julbert's voice sank, cold.
"...Is it funny?"
"Of course! Aah, I am so glad I took our young master's side! So you're still fussing over that obnoxious sky-blue twin-tail bitch? How pitiful. My, my—a love that transcends status..."
"That will do, Redprine Blueos."
James, silent until then, finally opened his mouth. Redprine rolled her eyes this way and that.
"No—leave out the Golan pieces, leave out the young master's pieces, leave out the Finance pieces. What, then, do I have to wreck Greig or Rosalyn?"
"Those ones don't matter."
"Young master? Nobody cares about them. That one in Finance, what was his name. The bland one draws more interest. He's well-behaved, see. At least there's some fun in dragging him down."
"Didn't you churn out pieces on Blow Deblique well enough before?"
At that, Redprine whipped her head from side to side.
"Rosalyn doesn't go brawling with knight cadets over something like that, does she? And with Blow, my personal feelings got mixed in."
"What? What is that supposed to mean?"
"Young master Blow is handsome, isn't he? Haah, he's been far too well-behaved lately. If only it weren't for that damned spirit-summoning ceremony!"
"That's what you call a handsome face?"
"If it is to my eyes, that's enough, isn't it? Anyway, you amused me today, so I'll grant a favor of about that size."
"My thanks."
"Any other orders to hand down?"
"If I had one, would you take it?"
"As if. Exams are over now, so I've got to slam the articles out like hell, don't I? And the money's plenty."
She dragged the bundle of money on the table toward herself and tucked it neatly down into the cleft of her breasts. Julbert clicked his tongue, folded his arms, and said,
"How should I put it. You seem to have been born in the wrong era."
"Why?"
"A talent like yours ought to have been born in the age of the unification wars."
"You think? Mmm? You think so? Mmm?"
Redprine bobbed her head in a fussy little rhythm, popped a candy into her mouth, and crunched it to pieces.
"Ah, speaking of Blow reminds me. I heard there was some meeting. Do you know anything about it?"
"Was there? Why do you ask?"
"Why else! I want to write a piece on young master Blow, that's why."
The minutes she was hunting, Julbert had as well. Tell her now, and an article would certainly go out. He resolved to play ignorant to the end.
"If you want to write about Blow that badly, why not review the roasted potatoes he's selling?"
"Come on. Then young master Blow wouldn't even glance at it. It would hurt my feelings."
"I did hear he went to the Central Festival this time, though."
Redprine looked at Julbert, wiped the play from her face, and then grinned. She climbed onto the table and came toward him, slow and unhurried.
"You do know, don't you? I can tell, from the way our young master Julbert keeps talking in circles."