“Yeah, that suits you well.”
“Y-you think?”
Renee pinched the hem of her new maid-uniform skirt and gave a small twirl. The pendant at her neck swung wide with the motion.
“That pendant’ll get in the way of work — tuck it inside the uniform.”
“Ah, right. Got it, Touya-nii-chan.”
True enough that it’d get in the way, but more importantly — best not to flash something like that where it could be stolen.
Lime-san, standing beside me, fixed his eyes on Renee.
“Renee. From today onward, you are a member of this household’s staff. In front of guests, you do not call him Touya-nii-chan — you call him Master.”
“Ah, uh, yes. Lime-san.”
“Good. Your duties are to support the working staff here. Before each meal — morning, noon, and night — you will assist Claire. Outside those hours, you will follow Lapis and the others and learn.”
“Got it… I mean — understood.”
Renee answered firmly. We’ll see how it goes… A little worried, but.
“All right, Renee-chan, let’s go~”
“Mm. I’m off, Touya-nii-cha — Master.”
“Do your best~”
Cécile-san led Renee out of the dining room. Well, she’ll pick it up bit by bit.
“I don’t think you need to worry.”
”…I, agree.”
Over after-breakfast tea, the twin sisters cosigned. I’d explained the whole story of how Renee came to be hired the previous day.
“That child has a strong core, and the type who thinks things through, methinks.”
That from Yae, still working her way through breakfast. You sure can eat… How many croissants is that?
The door clattered open and Yumina entered the dining room. She held a slip of paper in one hand.
“From Father. He says — if Touya-san has time today, would you stop by the palace.”
The palace-side Gate-mirror was set up in Yumina’s room. The note must have come through that. Walking takes about thirty minutes, but the mirror is just plain handy.
“The king? What about?”
“He was just complaining that Uncle’s been showing off his bicycle — that, probably?”
Yumina answered with a wry smile. Ahh — wants one for himself, then.
Guess I’ll build one and bring it. And consult him about Renee while I’m there.
I went out to the garden, used [Storage] to pull out bicycle materials. By now I’d built several, so a single bike was done in ten minutes. Back into [Storage] it went. Really, this spell is incredible.
“All right, off I go.”
“I’ll come along.”
Yumina stepped out into the garden. Sure — I can’t move freely through the palace without her, so glad to have her.
“Ah, wait. I’m coming too. Want to spar with the General.”
Elze came running up, the asymmetrical gauntlets at her hips clanking. She and General Leon, the Kingdom Army Commander, had sparred so many times by now that they were starting to look like teacher and apprentice.
Speaking of — this country has two organizations: an “Army” and a “Knight Order.” What’s the difference, again? Foreign vs. domestic defense? Or is the Knight Order the king’s personal guard, the royal escort? Haven’t met the head of the Knight Order yet.
Pondering that, I opened the [Gate].
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
“Well, you see, the thing is… A — I mean, Duke Ortlinde showed me an unusual vehicle, and I hear it’s of your making, Lord Touya, and… well… could you, perhaps, fix me up with one as well…”
The king broached the topic with a markedly shifty manner. Knew it.
We were in a small chamber of the royal palace. Elze had headed off to the General, Yumina to the queen — leaving us one-on-one.
“Anticipated as much, so I built one and brought it along.”
“Oh! Most appreciated! And — where is it!?”
I used [Storage], the magic circle deploying across the floor of the room, and called out the bicycle.
“Quite as outlandish as ever, Lord Touya. Is this different from [Gate]?”
“It’s a storage spell. Lets me pocket all kinds of things — extremely useful.”
The king made an exasperated noise, but his eyes never left the bicycle. He examined it from every angle, ran his hands over it.
“Did the Duke let you try riding it?”
“Mm — but I couldn’t manage. Al said practice would be needed. How long does it take?”
“The Duke took a day; my maids picked it up in three hours. Three days at the outside, you’ll have it down.”
The king’s a busy man — he can’t spend a whole day practicing a bicycle. Still, given continued practice he ought to pick it up.
Now then — with the king happily astride the saddle, time for him to hear my request.
“So — for my part — I have a request, or rather a consultation, to ask…”
“Oh? Rare, for you to bring something.”
I told the king, who looked a little surprised, about Renee. The king listened in silence, then opened his mouth, weight in his voice.
“A crime is a crime. There must be atonement. However — taking the girl’s circumstances into account, there is room for clemency. If Lord Touya pledges to keep an eye on her and ensure her rehabilitation, we will let this matter rest with a substantial fine and a warning. But there will be no second time. See to it that she understands.”
I let out a breath at the king’s words. The what if in the back of my head had been there; in that case, I’d been ready to fight to protect Renee. Glad the king’s a reasonable man.
But — the king then went quiet, sunk in thought. Did I say something bad?
“Mm… I still don’t follow.”
“What?”
“That there are so many street children, I mean. The capital’s orphanages receive ample funding from the crown. Could it be that…”
The king clapped his hands sharply twice — and a figure in all black, white mask on the face, descended soundlessly from the ceiling. Whoa, that startled me!
For a moment I thought it was Lapis-san or Cécile-san from home, but the crest on the mask was different. Lapis-san’s was hexagonal; Cécile-san’s, oval. This one was pentagonal. Probably another member of Espion, the king’s personal intelligence service.
“Who’s in charge of administering the orphanage funds?”
”…Baron Sebek, I believe. He’s been notably flush these past few years, per rumor.”
“Investigate the money trail thoroughly. If embezzlement is confirmed, arrest him immediately.”
“At once.”
As soundlessly as the figure had appeared, it vanished back into the ceiling. Genuine ninja…
“My apologies. It may be that the girl you took in was also a casualty of our oversight. I’d ask your forgiveness.”
The king bowed his head. I see — the funds that should have gone to the orphanage were being skimmed off by the man above. That would have starved the orphanages — couldn’t take in the street children.
Always one of them somewhere — the ones who fatten themselves at the public’s expense.
“Sounds rough, being king.”
“You have no idea. Like to hand it off to someone and retire, frankly.”
The king smirked. That smirk is hinting at me marrying Yumina, isn’t it. Even if I did marry her, I’m not becoming king. I’m going to have to hand the palace head chef some virility-boosting recipes and get the king working on number two. Garlic, yams, snapping turtle — do they have those here? Need to look into this fast.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
“We’re back.”
Yumina and I stepped through the [Gate] onto our own front porch. Elze would walk home after she finished training, apparently.
I opened the door and stepped into the entrance hall, where Lime-san met us.
“Welcome home, Master.”
“I’m back, Lime-san. Renee’s situation worked out.”
“Splendid. Ah — Master, you have a visitor.”
“Visitor?”
I glanced down the hall past Lime-san — and saw something bobbing toward us.
Fifty centimeters tall. Gray fur, red ribbon at the neck. Round button eyes. A stuffed bear.
“Paula!?”
The bear, on hearing her name, smartly raised one paw in greeting. I caught her as she bobbed up and lifted her into my arms.
“Wait — you didn’t walk here from Mismid by yourself, did you?”
“Of course not. She came along as my attendant.”
The drawing-room door opened, and out stepped a girl with twin-tailed white hair and a black gothic-lolita dress.
“Leen!? Why are you here!?”
Then again — if Paula was here, of course her owner Leen was. Hardly a mystery.
“A bit of research. And to give Charlotte a piece of my mind. Already slapped her, though.”
She holds onto that, doesn’t she. Six-hundred-odd years old and still pulling petty grudges…
I was looking at Leen with mild exasperation when tug, tug — Yumina pulled at my sleeve.
“Touya-san? Who is this?”
“Ah — your first time meeting her, right? This is the chief of the fae-folk in Mismid. Name’s Leen. She doesn’t look it, but she’s much older than us.”
“Fae-folk…? But…”
Yumina regarded Leen with a dubious eye. Huh? Now that she mentions it, there are no fae wings sprouting from her back. Surely she didn’t have them cut off?
“Ah, the wings — I’m hiding them with light magic. Stand out too much in this country.”
Whatever cloak-spell she released, faint translucent wings slowly resolved behind her, gleaming in the sunlight from the window. Unrelated, but how do fae-folk and winged-folk handle wings when they’re sleeping?
“So — why our place? How’d you find it?”
“Charlotte told me. And I wanted to ask you about something. The crystal monster you defeated a few months ago.”
”…What did you say?”
The crystal monster. There’s only one thing that calls to mind — the one that emerged from the underground ruins of the old royal capital. Blades didn’t cut it, magic was absorbed, and it had regenerative abilities. That monster.
“One appeared in Mismid. The same crystal monster.”
At Leen’s words, I felt a chill alongside the surprise. Something I couldn’t name.