RAC

Chapter 12 – Homecoming and Souvenirs

The day to go back to the royal capital came at last. Going to the port town, practicing magic with Lucien: I spent a genuinely worthwhile stretch of time at the ducal domain. We leave early this morning, so I got up early, finished getting ready, and now we’re all gathered in front of the house.

“Father, Mother, I shall be going.”

“Yes. Apply yourself properly. I shall look forward to seeing how you have grown when we come to the royal capital.”

“Lucien, mind you are not a nuisance to anybody. Take care of your health and work hard.”

Ugh… Living apart from your parents at that age has got to be lonely, and sad. This is where you cry. A parting between parent and child is where you cry. I was standing there with tears gathering when everybody turned puzzled faces on me.

“Why is Leon on the point of tears? Have you got something in your eye? If so you had better go and wash it out at once.”

And then Lucien said that. No, no. I was in tears over the sight of a family that has to live apart! Wait, none of you are crying? Isn’t this the tearful farewell scene?

“Excuse me, Lord Lucien. Are you not lonely?”

“At what?”

At what, he says. At living apart from your parents!

“At being separated from Lord Christophe and Lady Sophia. Are you not lonely?”

“Hm? I am not lonely. What is Leon talking about? Going to the capital at this age is a matter of course, and besides, my father and mother will both be coming to the capital before long, for the party that celebrates the Spring Moon.”

…Wait, will they? So it isn’t going to be a long time before he sees them again? And what is the Spring Moon?

“More to the point, I am very much looking forward to it! At the Royal Academy I may make friends, and it is thoroughly exciting. At parties I have never had much chance to talk with children of my own age. One talks on the day, and then there is no seeing them again for a long while.”

…So he’s looking forward to it. Give me back my tears! And tell me what the Spring Moon is!

“You are looking forward to it. By the way, what is the Spring Moon?”

Lucien’s face registered considerable astonishment at that.

“Y-you do not know?”

“No. This is the first I have heard of it.”

Presumably it’s something like a calendar, and I don’t know this world’s calendar. Whether by luck or the lack of it, I have got this far without ever once asking. I had even wondered whether there might not be a calendar at all.

“The Spring Moon, the Summer Moon, the Autumn Moon and the Winter Moon make one year, and it goes round and round like that. Surely?”

“I see. Then how many days are there in the Spring Moon?”

“Eighteen weeks. Ninety days, obviously! Do you truly not know?”

“It has not spread among commoners.”

“…Has it not. It is not something worth setting on the Royal Academy’s examination, so unless one sets out to learn it one would not know…”

Lucien looks shaken. Things too obvious among nobles to appear on an exam and yet not known among commoners: that’s where the biggest holes in my knowledge are.

“Grandfather! Leon does not know the calendar…”

Lucien ran over to Lord Richard, who was talking to a valet near the carriage, and reported it. And Lord Richard looks considerably astonished as well. So it really is that basic. I’m glad I asked now.

“Then we shall talk about it in the carriage. If we do not leave soon we shall not reach the town we are to stay in tonight, so we depart.”

“…Certainly. Then, Father, Mother, this time I really shall be going.”

“Yes. Off you go.”

“Leon, get into the carriage as well.”

“Yes. Lord Christophe, Lady Sophia, thank you for taking even me into your house on this occasion. I look forward to the day we meet again.”

“Yes, come again whenever you like. I look forward to meeting in the capital as well.”

“Look after Lucien for us. It would please me if you were friends.”

So we made our farewells to everybody and got into the carriage. Once it started moving and we were out of the residence’s grounds, Lucien pressed in on me.

“Leon, do you truly not know? When you know so many things that are far more difficult!”

My knowledge really is lopsided. Because I know an odd assortment of things, people assume I must already know the elementary ones and never tell me: it happens all the time.

“There has never been an occasion to learn it.”

I had heard people talk about going to the ducal domain at the end of autumn, or the examination being at the end of winter, but it never occurred to me that those were the calendar itself. I thought they were simply naming the season.

“Is that so… It is a shock. Then you had better learn it now. There will be occasions to use it at the Royal Academy.”

“Very well. Then I shall teach you.”

“Thank you. I would be grateful.”

To gather up what Lord Richard taught me: a year is four months, from the Spring Moon to the Winter Moon; one month is eighteen weeks, ninety days. So a year is three hundred and sixty days. The year seems to turn over at the first week of the Spring Moon, which would be April in Japan.

“Then the party celebrating the Spring Moon that Lord Lucien spoke of earlier, is that a celebration of the new year?”

“No, the party for the Spring Moon carries more the sense of celebrating spring’s arrival. In this country the new year is not much celebrated at all.”

“…I see.”

The seasons have very nearly gone round twice since I was reincarnated, and I had been thinking that there had never been any festival for the new year. There simply isn’t a custom of celebrating it. That is something of a culture shock. And being in that position is exactly why I ended up half worrying that there was no calendar.

They should make a festival for the new year and spread the calendar among commoners while they are at it. This country has one celebration, the Founding Festival in the middle of winter, and beyond that no events whatever. There is room for a good many more. Japan took in events from abroad as well: it started at New Year and ran on through Setsubun and Valentine’s Day, the Doll Festival, White Day, Tanabata, Halloween, Christmas. And a great many others besides.

“Is there anything else about the calendar I should keep in mind?”

“Let me see… the beginning of spring means the first week of the Spring Moon. The end of winter means the eighteenth week of the Winter Moon. Those are used often, so you had better remember them. The same holds for the Summer Moon and the Autumn Moon.”

So that’s what those meant. I’d been taking them for the season, plainly… There was no way of working that out.

“Then if one says the beginning of autumn, that means the first week of the Autumn Moon?”

“It does. If you have what we have discussed, you should not be inconvenienced. If any question comes up again, ask me at once.”

“Thank you.”

So the carriage went along while I got a piece of new knowledge into my head. The return’s by the same road as the way out, though, so the views and the towns went past without much to make them new. The one difference was that the deputy Morgan was gone and a guest room had been prepared for me. Not much time had passed since I spoke to Lord Richard, so I was a little surprised the matter had been settled already.

After that the journey went along without incident, and several days later we arrived safely at the ducal residence in the royal capital. It was late at night by then, so I stayed the night and went to sleep in the bed in the usual guest room.

Then the next morning. I ate breakfast and decided to set off home at once. Lucien came to see me off. Everybody else has work piled up and they’re busy with it. Being away from the capital for days on end really does cost them.

“Leon, is the next time we meet the examination?”

“No. I come to the central district to teach Her Highness magic, so I think we’ll see each other fairly soon. The lessons are once a week.”

There were no valets or guards within earshot, so I answered without formal speech. Lucien must have told them to withdraw.

“That is true, so it is. Then I shall look forward to your next visit to the house.”

“Yeah, so am I. Here’s to more of the same.”

“Of course.”

We waved each other off, both smiling, and I got into the carriage with Roger and went home. Seeing Lucien again is something to look forward to.

Watching the streets go by from the carriage, the feeling of having come back to somewhere I know settles me completely. Going somewhere unknown was enjoyable, though it does tire you out. And being with the ducal household the whole time has its own tension in it. I’ve got a good deal more used to it, though I’m not entirely used to it yet.

I was gazing out of the window and we arrived near my house in no time. After hours in a carriage on the way to the ducal domain, it feels very close.

“Master Leon, we have arrived.”

“Yeah. Thanks for bringing me all this way.”

“Please do not mention it. It is no more than a valet’s duty. Then when next you come to the ducal residence, I shall serve you with everything I have.”

“Thanks. I’ll be at the ducal house soon for Her Highness’s lesson, so I’ll see you then.”

“Certainly. I shall be waiting for Master Leon’s arrival.”

So I parted from Roger, got down from the carriage, and came home for the first time in a while.

“I’m back!”

Going into our house after so long, Marie and Ian were in the restaurant.

“Big Brother! Welcome home!”

“Leon, welcome back.”

Marie jumped up in her delight. Marie, are you that pleased…? Your big brother’s very glad. I put the things I was carrying down on a table and spread both arms to hug her. And Marie went not to me but to the luggage I’d put on the table.

“Big Brother! What’s in the wooden box and the sack? Are they souvenirs?!”

Ugh… Marie likes souvenirs better than her big brother. I’ve lost to a souvenir! I was sinking under that when Mom and Dad came out of the kitchen.

“Leon, welcome home. You weren’t hurt? Are you feeling all right?”

“Leon, welcome back. Did you have a good time?”

“I’m home, both of you. Mom, you worry too much. Not a scratch anywhere and I’m fine, so don’t worry. And it was tremendous fun.”

Hearing that, the two of them let their faces soften and smiled in relief. They had been worried. Having people who worry about you unconditionally is a wonderful thing. Living together is going to stop being possible before long, but I’ll work so that we can live together again one day. My final goal is probably all of us in a comfortable house together.

“That’s good. So what’s inside that luggage? It’s a good size.”

“These are souvenirs for everybody! The wooden box has good things from the sea in it, and the sack has beach sand and shells.”

The box holds seafood packed in ice. The sack holds sand and shells from the beach, plus the small glass bottles I bought in the central district. What I’ve got in mind is arranging the sand and shells inside the bottles neatly, for a souvenir you can stand on a shelf.

“The sack can wait for another day, but tonight I’ll cook what’s in this box for everybody. Oh, but are we open this evening?”

“Leon’s home, so we’ll close for tonight.”

“We will.”

“Thanks! Then I’ll cook once the lunch service is finished.”

I’ll put my back into making it good. I want them to know how good things from the sea are. And their reaction will tell me whether seafood could be accepted by the people of the capital. I bought oil and everything else I needed in the central district on the way, so I’m fully prepared.

“Big Brother’s cooking is good, so I’m looking forward to it!”

“I’d like some too. Is it all right if I stay and eat?”

Marie was thoroughly happy about it, and Ian, watching her, said that with a great deal of envy in it.

“Of course you can eat too, Ian. There’s plenty of everything, so it’s fine.”

“Really?! Leon, thanks!”

Ian is genuinely delighted, and threw in a fist-pump with it.

“You’ve never eaten anything from the sea, though, have you? And you still want it that much?”

“Of course! I’m never going to get another chance at food from the sea. Anybody wants to try something rare, don’t they!”

Well, true enough, a rare thing has value simply for being rare.

“Then let’s leave this for now. The lunch service is about to start.”

“So it is. Oh, that reminds me. Mom! There’s somebody I want to invite to dinner. Is that all right?”

“I don’t mind, but who?”

“Marcel. None of you have met him yet, have you? I’ve wanted to introduce him properly, and I want him to eat some of the seafood. And I told him about going to the ducal domain, so I want to report that I got back safely.”

I’d meant to introduce Marcel to my family, and in the end no occasion for it ever came up. I want it done properly once.

“Marcel. It’s true that Mom and Dad have both been wanting to meet him. He isn’t a man who minds about manners and so on, is he?”

“No! I don’t think he minds about that in the slightest. So can I invite him?”

“Of course. Then, Leon, go over to Marcel’s during the lunch service.”

“Mom, thanks!”

“Marie and Ian, back to getting ready.”

“Yes!”

I put the wooden box down in a corner of the kitchen and left the house for Marcel’s workshop. Home really is enjoyable after a while away, and settling, and it warms something in me. The road I’ve walked a hundred times felt like something special.

I reached Marcel’s workshop and knocked, and Marcel put his head out at once.

“Marcel. It’s been a while.”

“Leon. Back, are you. Not hurt?”

“Not a scratch anywhere. My first journey was tremendous fun.”

“Good.”

At that Marcel’s face broke into a gentle smile. And seeing Marcel like that makes me glad in turn.

“I came today to invite you to dinner at ours. The truth is I brought a lot of seafood back packed in ice as a souvenir. I’m cooking it for dinner tonight, so won’t you come? I wanted to introduce you to my family as well.”

“That’d be a pleasure, but… wouldn’t I be in the way of a family evening?”

“In the way? Nothing of the kind! And Ian is there, the lad who works at the restaurant, so it isn’t only family anyway.”

“Right. Then I’ll impose on you.”

“Really?!”

I’m glad Marcel is coming. It would be good if he and the family got on.

“Yes. What hour should I come at?”

“Let me think… around five in the evening.”

“Understood. I’ll look forward to it.”

“Yes! I’ll cook something extremely good!”

So, having invited Marcel to dinner, I went back home. The lunch service must have just finished, and everybody was clearing up.

“Leon, how was Marcel?”

“He’ll come a little before the evening bell.”

“Oh, good. Then we’ll have to make something good.”

“Yeah. I’ll do my best!”

Then we all ate what was left of the lunch service for our own lunch, rested a while, and it was time to make dinner. I went into the kitchen with my sleeves up. Mom and Dad are helping cook, and Marie and Ian are apparently watching. They’re thoroughly curious about seafood.

First the wooden box onto the counter, and the lid off. The large box holds the iced seafood; the smaller one holds the seasonings I bought in the central district.

“Is that ice? Why is there this much ice?”

Ian said it, puzzled. He’s right. In the depths of winter you can get ice by leaving water standing outside, but it’s only the beginning of winter yet.

“One of the ducal house’s people lent me a magic tool, and I made this ice with it.”

I can’t reveal much about my ability, so that was my answer. Commoners understand a magic tool as roughly a convenient device that nobles use, so in most cases saying magic tool settles it.

“Ah. Magic tools really are handy, aren’t they, if they can even make ice.”

“They are. Makes you envious. And what’s inside the ice is the food from the sea.”

I laid the seafood out one item after another on the big wooden board spread over the counter.

“From this end: yellowtail, horse mackerel, Spanish mackerel, scallops, octopus.”

I was pointing them out one by one as I explained when I caught sight of everybody taking a step back.

“What’s the matter with all of you?”

“L-Leon, what is that?!”

“What do you mean, what is it?”

Ian shouted it as though he were frightened of something, and Mom, Dad and Marie were all shaking their heads violently in agreement.

“Er, what’s the matter with all of you?”

“Th-that, that revolting-shaped one! The one right on the end!”

“The octopus?”

…Right. If you have never seen one, an octopus does look extraordinarily strange. Being frightened of it may be fair enough. True enough, on Earth as well, in countries that don’t eat octopus people were all frightened of it, as I recall.

“The look of this may be revolting, but it tastes good, so it’s all right.”

When I lifted the octopus with both hands, everybody let a little of the tension go, half believing me.

“And that hard-looking one, what’s that? Can you eat it?”

“The hard-looking one, you mean the scallop? Scallops are fine, you eat the inside. You don’t eat the outside.”

“Right. That’s all right then.”

Ian is finally reassured. They’ll have seen fish, since there are river fish, but the rest don’t live in rivers, and being frightened of something you have never seen is only natural. Which makes me think that getting the people of this capital to eat fish and shellfish, when many of them have never even eaten river fish, is a high bar.

In this capital they hardly eat river fish either. Now and then somebody who’s caught fish in the river goes round selling them, and even that you barely see. Meat is completely and utterly the main thing. River fish are for the few fish-lovers who catch their own and eat them.

“So, Leon, how do we cook it?”

Dad’s eyes look brighter than usual. A cook does enjoy having a new ingredient to work with.

“They have to be cut up first, and that part’s difficult, so I’ll do it. They taught me at the port town. Mom, Dad, could you cook the fish once they’re cut? I’ll tell you the recipes.”

“Right you are.”

What to make. There’s no oven here so baked scallops are out. In that case… garlic with salt and pepper in a pan will do. I made sure to buy garlic and pepper in the central district. The horse mackerel can be crumbed and fried and the octopus deep-fried, as before. Spanish mackerel had better be meunière. Meunière is salt, then dusted with flour, then fried well in oil, if I remember. And then butter in after that. Trying one new thing should be all right.

That leaves the yellowtail, and with yellowtail all I can think of is salt-grilled, or the sweet-soy glaze, or simmered with radish. But the glaze and the simmered one are both plainly short of the seasonings. Plain salt-grilled, then.

Right. The frying looks likely to take longest, so let’s start there.

“So, Mom, could you chop the leftover bread up fine with a knife? I want it really fine. As fine as mincing, near enough.”

“That fine?”

“Yeah. I don’t think it’ll work unless it’s fine, so please stick at it.”

“All right.”

“Thanks. And, Dad, I want you to make a sauce. Have we got any of the dried tomatoes in store? I’d like a tomato sauce from those.”

“There should be a little, I think. You don’t need much of it?”

“No. A small amount is fine.”

“Then I’ll make it.”

“Thanks.”

So with Mom and Dad set on, I started cutting up the horse mackerel myself. I worked carefully, trying to recall what Nasser had shown me. Tiring, but not a bad result.

With all the horse mackerel done, I started preparing the octopus. Once enough of the slime was off, I cut it into chunks. Preparing it was harder than I expected and I ended up using body strengthening magic. But it’s done. Nowhere near Nasser, but I have at least succeeded in cutting them up.

“Mom, I want you to put flour on this cut horse mackerel, then dip it in beaten egg, then get breadcrumbs all over it. Can I leave that with you?”

“Of course. And after that you grill it?”

“No. You fry it in a lot of oil. Put oil about halfway up this pot, and when the oil’s hot, put the prepared horse mackerel in. I’ll do the first ones.”

When I explained that, both Mom and Dad went round-eyed.

“Leon, halfway up this pot. I misheard that, didn’t I?”

“You didn’t. You may think it’s a waste, but that oil can be used for other dishes afterward, and more than anything it’s needed for what we’re about to make. I’ll use the oil I bought, so it’s fine.”

“Well, if that’s so…”

“So, Mom, could you get the horse mackerel ready and see to the oil alongside it?”

“All right.”

“Thanks. Dad, how’s the sauce?”

“Just finishing. What next?”

“Then I’d like you to season the octopus with salt and pepper. And once it’s stood a while, the octopus gets flour on it and gets fried too.”

“Understood. I’ll get the seasoning on it for now. How much pepper should I use?”

“Hmm, a bit less than the salt, I’d say.”

“Right. I’ll do my best with it.”

Dad gazed at the pepper with his eyes shining and picked it up as though it might break. Pepper is one of the seasonings a commoner cook dreams about.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

With all sorts of things handed to Mom and Dad, I started cutting up the Spanish mackerel and the yellowtail. Those two are salt-grilled and meunière, so they aren’t much trouble. Cut, seasoned, and into the pan.

While I was at it Dad had finished with the octopus.

“Leon, the octopus is ready. The sauce is done too.”

“Thanks. Then can I ask you for the Spanish mackerel and the yellowtail?”

“Of course. What do I do with these?”

“The Spanish mackerel wants salt on it and a dusting of flour, then into the pan. When it’s coming along, put a little butter in for the flavor and it’s done. The yellowtail is easier: salt on it and grill it, that’s all.”

“Understood. I’ll get it ready.”

“Thanks.”

Dad started seasoning and getting the pan ready for the Spanish mackerel I had cut. A while after that the Spanish mackerel and the yellowtail were all done.

“Leon, are your hands free?”

Mom called me straight away.

“Yeah. I’m free.”

“The oil’s ready. If you tell me what to do I’ll do it, shall I?”

“Then I’ll do a bit of it. After that it’s yours.”

I fried one crumbed horse mackerel and one piece of octopus, and took them out at what I thought was very slightly overdone.

“I want you to fry them like that. I think they’re cooked through, but could you check to be sure? If it’s cooked through and a little tough, that means too long, so I think you can shorten the frying time a bit.”

“All right. Leave it to Mom!”

“Thanks.”

With the frying left to a thoroughly willing Mom, I got on with the last thing, the scallops. Scallops need the meat taken out first. I set about working the meat out of the shells with a cooking knife. This takes a fair amount of strength and a knack, and it’s hard going.

“Leon, can I try that? That looks like something I could manage.”

I was wrestling with the scallops when Ian offered.

“You’ll do it? Thanks. The truth is I was getting fairly tired.”

“I’ll take over. I’ve been watching how you do it, so I think I’ll be fine.”

Ian took the scallops over for me, so in the meantime I minced the garlic and got ready to cook them.

“Leon, they’re all done.”

“Thanks! That was a real help.”

I took the scallops from Ian and patted the moisture off with a clean cloth. I had put Purification on the cloth beforehand. I would hate for anybody to get an upset stomach from bacteria on a cloth.

All that’s left is the cooking, and Mom is frying and Dad is cooking fish, so there’s nowhere to cook the scallops. Dad looks nearly finished, though. Mom still seems to be struggling.

“Dad, are you nearly done there?”

“Just finished this moment. The smell is wonderful; it opens the stomach.”

“Wait a bit longer. Once these are cooked we’re finished.”

“Is that the inside of the hard-looking things? Scallops, was it?”

“That’s it. These get cooked with garlic and salt and pepper.”

“Then Dad will cook those too. Leon, could you take out whatever is ready? Ian and Marcel are coming, so let’s use the dining room.”

“Understood. Then I’ll leave it with you. Ian, Marie, shall we get dinner laid out?”

“Sure.”

“Yes!”

So Marie and Ian and I went through to the dining room to set the table. And at exactly that moment there was a knock at the dining-room door. I hurried over and opened it, and it was Marcel.

“Marcel! Thank you for coming.”

“That’s my line. Thank you for the invitation. That’s a fine smell, though.”

“Yes. It’s finishing right now.”

“Big Brother, who’s that?”

Marie asked it, puzzled, while I was showing Marcel in and talking to him.

“This is somebody who does a great deal for me. His name is Marcel.”

“I’m Marcel. Would you be Leon’s little sister?”

“Yes! I’m Marie!”

“Marie, is it. You’re to call me Marcel.”

Marie thought about that for a moment, and then, taking her time over it, spoke.

“Marcel… Grandpa?”

Marcel heard it and his whole face melted into a grin on the instant. Well, I understand how he feels. Marie, you have a great deal to answer for…

“Yes, that is it exactly! Will you call me Grandpa Marcel?”

“Yes! Grandpa Marcel, I’m glad to know you!”

Marcel, having taken heavy damage from Marie’s beaming smile, gripped himself somewhere around the chest and froze. Marie’s adorableness really does work on anybody. On Marcel’s generation it may be lethal.

“Marcel, I’m Ian. I work at this restaurant. Good to know you.”

Ian made his greeting while keeping an eye on the state of Marcel. At which Marcel came back to reality with a start and turned to face him.

“Forgive me for greeting you late. I’m Marcel. Good to know you.”

“Then, Marcel, I’ll go and get Mom and Dad, so please wait a moment. Marie, show Marcel to a seat.”

“Yes! Grandpa Marcel, please sit here!”

I saw Marcel take the seat Marie offered him, looking delighted about it, and went through to the kitchen. Dad had already started clearing up and Mom seems to have just finished frying. The smell really is wonderful; it opens a hole in you.

“Mom, Dad, Marcel’s here.”

“I noticed. My hands were full so I couldn’t come and greet him. And I’ve just this minute finished the frying.”

“Then shall we carry it through? And I’ll introduce Marcel.”

The three of us carried all the finished dishes through, and when we came into the dining room Marie was in the seat beside Marcel, talking happily. And Marcel’s face as he listened to her was… a sight. Where has the sharp-eyed Marcel who faces a magic tool gone? Marcel likes children, evidently.

“Marcel, my mom and dad.”

I put the plates on the table and introduced them. Marcel stood up from his chair and turned to face them.

“My name is Marcel Roncoli. My apologies for the lateness of my greeting. I am glad to make your acquaintance.”

Mom and Dad froze for a second at how thoroughly formal that was, and then softened into easy smiles and spoke. Between the princess and Lord Frederick of the Royal Guard coming here, both of them are getting used to it by degrees.

“I’m Leon’s mother, Loana. Marcel, it sounds as though you’ve been helping Leon in all sorts of ways, and thank you.”

“Leon’s father, Jean. Leon’s told me all about you, Marcel, and thank you truly for giving him a hand.”

The two of them used the bit of formal speech I had taught them while keeping their usual way of talking. Formal speech really isn’t something you pick up that easily.

“There are things Leon teaches me and things he helps me with as well, so we’re even.”

“If Leon is any use at all then I’m glad. Now, no time like the present, the food will go cold, so let’s have dinner.”

“Quite so. It’s a very fine smell.”

“Isn’t it! These are the ones I fried. Do try them.”

“Then I’ll have those first.”

So the introductions ended in an easy mood and we all took our seats at once. Time to eat, at last.

“Leon, thank you for a wonderful souvenir. Itadakimasu.”

“Itadakimasu!”

We all said it together and each reached for whatever had caught their eye. What shall I have…? The Spanish mackerel meunière first. Whoa, this is dangerous. The moment it goes in your mouth the butter opens out, and then the sweetness of the Spanish mackerel with the salt lifting it. Dusting it with flour gives it a crisp edge as well, and it’s absurdly good.

“This Spanish mackerel is fantastic! Everybody try it!”

I said it out of sheer astonishment at how good it was, and everybody reached for the Spanish mackerel at once. Marie took one mouthful and beamed. Ian took one mouthful and froze with a look of surprise on him.

“Big Brother! This is so good!”

“This is astonishing…”

“It is. To think it could be this good. Sea fish has soft flesh and it’s delicious.”

“And this seasoning is good too.”

Dad and Mom took to it as well, which is a relief. Ian finally came back from being surprised and is on his second mouthful.

“Ian, is it good?”

“It’s unbelievably good. It’s so good it startled me.”

That was all he said, and then Ian settled down to eating nothing but Spanish mackerel. Being this pleased with it makes me glad.

“This one Loana recommends is extremely good as well.”

Marcel said it with the crumbed horse mackerel in his hand and no attempt to hide his astonishment.

“That is crumbed horse mackerel.”

I’ll have some too. Crisp… Mm, that texture is the best of it! And the tomato sauce does suit it.

“The crumbed horse mackerel is the best! That’s Mom and Dad for you.”

“Isn’t it? If I say so myself it came out beautifully. Jean’s sauce suits it too.”

“Big Brother, do I put this on it to eat it?”

“You do. But it’s good with salt on it instead of the sauce, too.”

“Understood!”

Marie answered brightly and ate her crumbed horse mackerel with tomato sauce on it. Marcel, having heard that salt was also good, seems to be trying it with salt this time.

“I like this! It’s crispy and it’s good!”

“It does work with salt… I’ve never eaten anything as good as this in my life.”

“If it suits your taste, Marcel, then I’m glad.”

After that we all traded our verdicts on the dishes and gave ourselves up to the food from the sea. It was the best and most enjoyable dinner.

“Big Brother. All of it was so good!”

“It was. This is the best souvenir there is.”

“It really is. It was extremely good, and making it was fun too.”

“Every one of them was genuinely good.”

“It’s been a long while since I had an evening as enjoyable as this. All of it was as good as anything I’ve eaten.”

To have them that pleased with it makes me glad. I’m glad to be a member of this family. The thought put a smile on my face without my arranging it.

“I’m glad to hear you say so. Thank you, everybody. If I get another chance to go to the sea I’ll buy souvenirs again, so let’s do this again.”

“Yes! Big Brother, you promise.”

Marie answered nearly on top of the sentence. Marie has no defense at all against good food. Everybody has a slightly rueful smile at the sight of her.

“Marie, I promise.”

“Yes!”

So a happy dinner ended. Being with family really does settle me, I thought.

Then the next day. I woke early, so before breakfast I got the other souvenir ready. I bought four of the small bottles, so one is Martine’s souvenir and the other three are for the family. First the sand goes into the bottle, and then the shells and something like a starfish go in on top.

This sort of thing is all about taste. I have the impression they were common in Japan and looked extremely smart, and when I do it the result comes out looking somehow tacky. Is there too much sand?

So, turning the bottles over and resetting the contents any number of times, an hour of trial and error. It finally came out at something I would call a pass. And with them finished I put cork stoppers in the three for the family. Martine’s looked likely to shift about on the journey, so I decided to leave hers unstoppered, to be put right on arrival.

“Mmph. Tired. My shoulders are stiff.”

“Leon, are you awake?”

Something answered my talking to myself and I jumped. I had concentrated too hard to notice Mom coming down.

“Morning, Mom. I was making souvenirs for everybody. There’s nothing to do with them but stand them somewhere, but aren’t they pretty?”

“Oh, they are. They’re very pretty.”

“This is sand and shells from the beach at the sea.”

“The look of it is nothing like ordinary sand.”

“It isn’t. There’s plenty of sand left, do you want to touch it?”

“Yes… it’s silky. That feels lovely.”

“Doesn’t it! It’s thoroughly habit-forming.”

I was touching the sand with Mom when Dad and Marie came into the living room.

“Dad, Marie, morning.”

“Morning. What are you doing?”

“The other souvenir. Sand and shells from the sea. I put them in bottles nicely, so stand it in your room.”

“It’s very pretty. Leon, thank you.”

“Yeah! One for Marie too.”

“What is this, it’s so pretty!”

Marie took the bottle and gazed at the contents with her eyes shining.

“If you tip it the inside shifts about, so be careful with it.”

“Yes! Is this mine to keep?”

“Of course. It’s a souvenir.”

“Big Brother, thank you!”

Marie threw her arms around me. Marie is too adorable… This will keep me going for a good while.

“Then Mom’s goes in the living room. Marie’s in the bedroom, shall we? And Jean’s in the kitchen, how about that? Then you can see one wherever you are.”

“I’ll do that! Then I’m taking mine upstairs!”

And Marie went out of the living room carrying her bottle as though it were precious.

Then, several days later, I was at the palace for Martine’s lesson. I’m back in the capital, so we started again straight away. Except that when I got to the palace it wasn’t a lesson; it turned into a tea party with just Martine and me.

“Martine, was it all right to skip the lesson?”

“Yes, because I wanted to hear about it. Leon went to the sea, did you not? I have never been.”

“Right. You’ve never been outside the capital at all, have you?”

“I have not. As a rule the royal family does not leave the capital.”

Royalty comes with a lot of strings attached… You get the life of splendor, and you don’t get much freedom.

“So how was the sea? The sea is the very first place I want to go one day. I hear it is enormously wide and beautiful.”

“Yeah. The sea goes on and on until you can’t see the end of it, and it really was beautiful. Look at the whole of it and it’s blue. The blue of the sky and the blue of the sea spreading out forever, and if you look at it a long time it gets a bit frightening as well. You feel how vast nature is.”

“Is that so… I should like to see it once.”

Martine said it gazing off into the distance, longing for it and a little forlorn with it. I wanted to give her something to be pleased about, so I took out the souvenir.

“Martine, I brought you a souvenir. Will you take it? It’s nothing much…”

I put the bottle on the table as I said it. I set the contents right earlier, so it’s perfect.

“It is so pretty! Leon, what is this?”

“Sand and shells from the beach by the sea. Put them in a bottle like this and stand it somewhere, and isn’t it lovely?”

“It is very lovely. If I stand it in my room I can feel the sea whenever I like.”

The smile she gave saying it had none of that forlornness left in it.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“It is the best souvenir there is. So the sea has sand as beautiful as this.”

“Yeah. I hope you get to go someday.”

Travel may be difficult in Martine’s position, but some official duty may take her toward the coast. If we could go together then, that would be good…

“Yes… And what did you do besides going to the sea?”

“Ate a lot of food from the sea, I suppose. Fish and shellfish dishes. Have you ever had any?”

“I ate the thing called dried fish once, long ago, I believe.”

So dried fish did come into the capital after all. Going by Martine’s face she may not have liked it much. She has an ambiguous expression on.

“You didn’t like it?”

“I do not remember the taste well, but I do remember thinking that I did not need any more of it…”

“Ha. Right. Go to the port town and there’s fresh seafood, and cooked fresh it’s wonderful.”

“Truly…?”

“Of course. Once ice makers spread, transporting it to the capital should become possible before long. Try it then.”

When that happens I’ll pass my recipes to the palace cooks for her. They’ll certainly make them better than I do.

“Is that so! Then I shall look forward to it. Let us have a tea party where the two of us enjoy food from the sea.”

“That tea party sounds tremendous.”

“Then it is a promise.”

“Of course.”

So Martine and I laughed together. Talking with Martine really is enjoyable.

“That reminds me, Leon, there was something I wanted to say. The Founding Festival is coming, is it not? Will you not go with me?”

“The Founding Festival, that’s the one in the middle of winter, right?”

“It is. The ninth week of the Winter Moon is the Founding Festival. A celebration once a year.”

The first year I never got to the Founding Festival, because I was reincarnated after it had finished. And the next year I went to the commoners’ festival. At the commoners’ festival there are far more stalls out than usual, and then there is the whole-cabbage stew the day is known for. A whole cabbage goes into a big pot, and it is seasoned with meat and salt and herbs. Because it’s a festival they are lavish with the seasoning, so my memory of it is that it was extremely good. And we shared it out among the family and Nikola and the others, which made it fun.

“Do they hold the Founding Festival in the central district too?”

“Of course they do. The Founding Festival is held all over the country. A stage is set up in the plaza and the palace orchestra plays. And there is a sword dance by the knights. A great many stalls are set out, and every year it is tremendous.”

An orchestra and a sword dance! The central district sounds enjoyable too. The Founding Festival runs a week, so going to the central district’s festival first and spending the rest at the festival near home should work.

“That sounds tremendous. Is it all right for me to come with you? Or rather, are you allowed out of the palace at festival time?”

“Of course! As far as the inside of the central district, I am told it is all right so long as proper guards come. I have been several times.”

“Right. Then let’s go together.”

“Yes, something to look forward to!”

So I spent that day at an enjoyable tea party with Martine and left the palace. The Founding Festival is something to look forward to.

Chapter 11 – Micheline’s Happy Day

“Leon, the divine object is in that very palace! If you’d only touch it, we could talk…”

Oh, it’s so frustrating! I failed at reincarnating the soul I brought over from Japan, and ever since I’ve been peeking in on Leon now and then and turning over every way there might be to reach him, and not one good idea has come to me!

Sherifie told me to try an oracle, but when I thought it through properly, my divine power only runs to about one oracle inside the divine domain. Meaning I can only send an oracle into the worship room of the church in the central district of the country Leon’s in.

If the king of that country, or Leon, would only come inside it, everything would be perfect, but neither of them shows the least sign of coming. Honestly, have a little faith in me! Though it isn’t only the king and Leon; almost nobody shows a face in there at all… The only one who comes to pray devotedly, near enough every day, is a single young woman. Besides her there’s an old man now and then, and an old woman who doesn’t pray at all and only rests on a chair a while. That’s the whole of it.

Suppose I spent precious divine power on an oracle to one of them. That young woman, say. Suppose I gave her an oracle to hand Leon the divine object in the palace: if she passed that on to the people around her, would they believe her…? Probably not. Even I can see that much. The likeliest end of it is being brushed aside with something about how she’s prayed so hard every day that her mind has gone. Then the old man who comes now and then? He’d only be taken for senile, or for hearing things… Honestly, what am I supposed to do in a state like this!

“Leon, this is very good!”

“I’m glad. Your cooks really are skilled, aren’t they. It’s pretty close to the taste I remember.”

“Is it. So I am eating the food of Leon’s previous world at this moment. That makes me happy somehow.”

Oh, honestly! Leon, you’re actually inside the palace and this is no time to be making eyes at a princess! When the divine object is right there. A short walk on through the palace and it’s in the treasury. Though nothing’s been passed on to him, so it’s unreasonable of me. As things stand, the chance of Leon happening to pick up the divine object is as near nothing as makes no difference. And he only goes to the palace to teach this princess magic, apparently.

Still. That pasta looks extremely good. I want something to eat as well. But creating things costs divine power too, so no. It isn’t as though I have any trouble going without food. And yet I want some. I want something sweet.

Sweet things are my very favorite. I love them enough to live on them and nothing else! Which is why I was planning to have Leon make me all the sweets there are in Japan, and that’s out of reach too while I can’t reach Leon.

I’m a rather pitiable goddess. I work hard at all sorts of things and none of it’s rewarded. Perhaps one would be all right? I want to make those sweet pancakes Leon was making. But the divine power…

Oh, I can’t bear this! I stopped peeking at Leon eating delicious food. And decided to go to Sherifie’s instead. Sherifie did say I might come and visit again.

“Sherifie!”

“Micheline. Here again. What became of the soul you took from Earth?”

“Leon, you mean. It’s going nowhere at all. Not one good method comes to me… I peek in on Leon and there’s no sign of him touching the divine object, and peeking uses a little divine power too, you know? So I can’t keep watching forever either…”

“Nothing’s been passed on to Leon, has it. Then his touching the divine object would be a miracle… Still, he’s a soul you went all the way to Earth for, so keep at it and don’t give up.”

“I know that, but let me rest a moment, pleeease. My divine realm’s got nothing in it, and no attendants, and I’m simply bored!”

When I let that out, Sherifie put on the face of somebody at the end of her patience.

“Your divine realm is beyond bleak. And you’ve kept to none of the practices recommended to a god. Ordinarily you furnish your realm and make at least three attendants, so the mind doesn’t break. Don’t tell me you didn’t know.”

“Of course I knew… But divine power seemed too precious to spend, so I put it off, and before I noticed there wasn’t any of it left to spend on the realm.”

“Micheline, you truly have no forward planning.”

She may say so, but I did mean to make a human world like Earth in my first one! And before I noticed it had turned into a world of monsters with no hope of any culture developing…

“I’ve got planning. It’s only that I’ve got no luck… I think.”

“Indeed. Then you haven’t been using divine power on sweets? You keep telling me you’re short of it, so surely you haven’t been.”

“S-suuurely not. As if I’d spend it on any such thing. I very nearly made pancakes a moment ago and I held myself back and came here instead!”

“You held yourself back a moment ago. Which means the rest of the time you make them, doesn’t it?”

Sherifie fixed me with a long, steady look.

“I-I hardly eat any. About five a day. That’s about the same as the divine power that comes back in a day, so it hasn’t gone down.”

“Micheline! Then your divine power will never increase, will it!”

Sherifie’s thunder came down. She looks so gentle and she’s genuinely frightening when she’s angry.

“But there’s nothing I can do, and without some little pleasure…”

“I do understand that, but the humans of your world are close to dying out! If you don’t want it to go the way the last world went, then work at it!”

Of course I don’t want it to go the way the last world went. Honestly, why am I so hopeless? Nothing but mistakes, and everything turning the worse way. I was sinking under it when Sherifie leaned in with a worried face.

“Micheline? I said too much. I’m sorry. Let’s have a change of mood, then! My divine realm has places to play in and companions to play with, plenty of both.”

Earth’s divine realm has every kind of building and every kind of country set out across a range so wide that walking it at a human’s pace would take months. And Sherifie has hundreds of attendants. So it’s lively here whenever I come, and bright, and enjoyable. I’d like my own realm to be like this one day. Mine’s got one desk, one sofa and a few shelves. The gap is remarkable…

“Shall we view the blossom? Or the autumn leaves? There’s skiing as well. Sea-bathing would be pleasant too. And I built a new amusement park the other day. We might watch a film at the cinema. Today I’ll let Micheline decide what we do.”

“I get to decide?”

“You may. Today’s special.”

“Sherifie, thank you! Then blossom-viewing! With a great many sweets!”

“Micheline really does love sweet things. Then today, as a special case, I’ll make you up to ten kinds.”

Usually it’s three, because divine power’s too precious to spend. Sherifie’s generous today!

“Sherifie, I love you!”

I threw my arms around her, and Sherifie looked faintly put upon and hugged me back. I truly am glad Sherifie’s my friend. No, friend isn’t a word that covers it any longer. Family? Well, there’s no need to put a name to it!

“Then first the dango and the sakura mochi! And I want the dorayaki and the warabi mochi. And the sakura roll cake and the baumkuchen. The ones I had before were genuinely wonderful! And then the cheesecake and the cream puffs and the chocolate gateau. And the last one is… the strawberry daifuku!”

“It really is only Japanese sweets that Micheline knows anything about.”

“Naturally!”

Something this good, that makes you this happy: you couldn’t forget it if you tried!

“Then I’ll create them.”

Sherifie waved a hand and one sweet after another appeared on the desk. Wonderful… This place really is paradise.

“Ashina. Are you there?”

At Sherifie’s call a girl appeared who’d look about ten in human terms. Fluffy brown hair tied up in a ponytail, and large striking eyes. She’s Sherifie’s favorite and she’s often near her. Ashina loves Sherifie too, so she serves without a word of complaint. Or rather, an attendant loves her master without exception. Though looking at Sherifie’s attendants, their characters seem to be all over the place.

“Yes. I am here! Did you need something?”

“Would you pack these sweets into a basket? Micheline and I are going to view the blossom.”

“Certainly! Oh—Micheline, you have come to visit us!”

“Ashina. It’s been a while.”

“Yes! I am so glad to see you again!”

Ashina’s always kind to me too; she truly is a good child. Every time I see her I want an attendant of my own… I really do want more divine power. If I were worshipped more… which is a difficult matter.

“Ashina, will you come to the blossom-viewing as well?”

“May I come with you?”

“Of course. Then I’ll make the ohagi that Ashina likes too.”

“Really?! Thank you very much!”

Sherifie’s so soft on Ashina. She might be a little softer with me. All I get is scolding.

“Then let’s go. Flying would take an instant, but it’s quite near. Shall we walk?”

“Then let’s walk!”

Earth’s divine realm is enjoyable simply to walk through. Flying’s dull.

“Then off we go.”

We followed Sherifie out of the house we were in. The house is a building Sherifie’s particularly fond of; the Heian period, was it, and something from that age called a shinden-zukuri, apparently. It seems to be like an old Japanese building, and why she goes to the trouble of living in an old one is entirely beyond me. A god can create anything that’s existed even once in the past or present of the world they made, so ordinarily you’d make the newest thing, wouldn’t you? She says something about its having character. I don’t follow it.

“It really is a large building.”

This shinden-zukuri thing is large enough to make you wonder how many hundreds could live in it.

“It’s got a solemn air to it. Isn’t that fine? I was fond of Japan in this period.”

“It isn’t bad, certainly… How many live here?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but about ten of them should have rooms. Which reminds me, I made a new attendant the other day! That one is here as well.”

“You made another?”

“I did. This time I thought I wanted a sweet pet, so I made a large dog. There, that’s him over there.”

Where Sherifie pointed was a large brown-furred dog. The moment he caught sight of Sherifie he came racing over.

“He’s large.”

“He is adorable! Choco, come here!”

The dog she called Choco arrived at very nearly a flying leap and set about swinging his tail. This one doesn’t speak… Surely he isn’t simply a dog?

“Sherifie, can’t this one talk?”

“I made it take time for him to become able to take human form. One wants to enjoy this much sweetness for a good long while, doesn’t one?”

“Does one, though…?”

Well, he’s sweet enough, I suppose. I’m not that fond of animals myself.

“Micheline, may Choco come to the blossom-viewing as well?”

“I’ve no objection. Then let’s hurry!”

After that we talked cheerfully as we walked, and about ten minutes on we reached a plaza with dozens of cherry trees in full and riotous bloom. A stream runs through the plaza too, with cherry petals floating down it. Beautiful.

“Loooovely every time I see it. Exactly the color of sakura mochi.”

“Micheline, you’ve no sensibility whatever. Be more moved than that. By this splendid scene of Japan.”

“It truly is beautiful. I love this place!”

“Ashina understands it, as you’d expect. Micheline should learn from her.”

“Yeees. Now, let’s eat the sweets!”

“Honestly, you understand nothing at all. Well, never mind. I’ll spread a cloth, so let’s sit there and eat.”

So we spread a large cloth at about the middle of the plaza, and Ashina laid out the sweets she’d carried. What a magnificent view! Better than the cherry blossom; I could look at these sweets for the rest of my life!

“Can I eat?”

“You may. Then let’s all eat. I’ll have the mitarashi dango, I think.”

“Mitarashi dango’s a fine thing too! Will you trade me one for one of my three-color dango?”

“If I must. There you are.”

“Sherifie, thank you!”

Mm, the chewiness of the three-color dango and that faint sweetness: unfairly good. And the mitarashi dango with its sweetness and its saltiness together is wonderful! Happiness…

“Micheline, will you trade me the ohagi for the sakura mochi? I like sakura mochi too.”

“Of course I will! I like ohagi as well.”

“Which would you like, the kinako or the anko? This kinako one has no bean paste inside.”

That’s… not decidable. Which would be better. This is the hardest choice I’ve ever faced. I love the flavor of kinako, and the anko’s got its sweetness and the scent of the beans, and…

“Micheline?”

“One moment. I’m working on the greatest problem I’ve faced since I was born a god. Kinako, or anko…”

“Then why don’t you halve it and eat both?”

“Ashina! You’re a genius!”

“Oh! Then please take both.”

“Thank you. The sakura mochi’s yours.”

“Thank you very much!”

Ashina truly is a good child. I want to take her home to my realm. But a god can move between worlds and an attendant can’t…

“Here you are, Choco. The pudding you like.”

“Pudding! Choco, are you being given pudding?”

“Honestly, Micheline, you’ve got ten kinds. Don’t go after Choco’s as well.”

“I-I’m not going after it. I only thought the pudding looked good too…”

“Very well, there’s no helping you. A trade, then. Choco’s pudding for one of your sweets.”

“Truly? Sherifie, I love you! Choco can eat anything, can’t he?”

“He’s an attendant. Naturally he can.”

“Then I’ll give him half of this roll cake.”

The roll cake’s large, so half of it is no great loss. A bitter decision all the same…

“A trade, then. Here’s the pudding.”

“Thank you!”

Mmm! The pudding’s ridiculous as well. That strange texture and the sweetness are habit-forming. It melts in your mouth… If only these sweets existed in my own world. I really must find some way of reaching Leon.

“That reminds me, Micheline, let’s play table tennis. My losing by so narrow a margin last time was a mistake of some kind!”

Sherifie created a table and paddles and a ball. We fought it out at table tennis the other day and I won by a narrow margin! I’ve got good reflexes, you see.

“Of course! And I’ll win again.”

There are all sorts of things I have to think about, and enjoying this time now is surely allowed!

And so I enjoyed a happy blossom-viewing with Sherifie and the others, surrounded by delicious sweets. Genuinely enjoyable, and happy… I want to make a space as happy as this in my own world too.

Chapter 10 – Richard and Christophe

When we returned from the port town to the ducal residence in Tarzelia, Christophe called me to his study.

“Father, how was the port town?”

“The cooking they make with what the sea gives them was delicious. It would be a fine thing if we could carry that as far as the royal capital.”

“I heard about it from Lucien as well. Something about Master Leon having cooked.”

“He did. And the food was astonishingly good. Even you would like that, Christophe.”

Christophe has never shown much interest in what comes out of the sea, but that crumbed fish was genuinely delicious. And the one by the name of deep-fried octopus will win an explosive popularity as something to eat with a drink. The baked scallops are refined and handsome enough on the plate to be added as a course at a noble party.

“As good as that… I should like to have eaten it myself.”

“Then ask Tony to send Nasser here. He cooked alongside Master Leon, so he will know the recipes.”

“Then I shall have it made here once. And when I do, I shall try out the ice maker.”

The ice maker is registered under Master Marcel’s name, but it is a magic tool Master Leon developed. A most useful thing, and I hear that orders are so far ahead of production that they cannot keep pace.

“The ice maker has arrived?”

“It came a few days ago. I had a water-attribute man with a mana capacity of five and a wind-attribute man put mana into it, and it worked without difficulty, so it is in use in the kitchen now. With an ice maker, carrying what the sea gives us from the port town to Tarzelia would become easy as well.”

“It would. Then try it. Once we are able to secure several ice makers, I should like to consider transporting seafood as far as the royal capital. As preparation for that, it would be as well to put a carrying system in place between the port town and Tarzelia.”

Dried fish was never accepted, but cooking of the sort Master Leon made will certainly find its public in the capital. If we can put a carrying system in place a step ahead of the other domains with a coastline, a considerable profit can be expected. This is a thing to do early.

“Certainly. Then I shall move promptly and prepare the ground for a carrying system as far as the capital.”

Christophe has grown into a genuinely dependable lord. And Lucien is growing up sturdy. House Townsend is secure.

“I leave it with you.”

Having got that far, Christophe drank a mouthful of tea and his expression turned severe.

“Then, Father, may we come to the real business? It concerns Morgan.”

So that was what this was. I must hear this out properly myself.

I was genuinely shocked when Master Leon told me. Morgan had served me since the days when I was lord of the domain. Embezzling the ducal house’s money, however, is not an act that may be forgiven. Money must be returned into the town, or in time the town withers. That he cannot see even that much.

And if it had stopped there it would have been the lesser evil. Morgan’s gravest offense is having driven Master Leon into a servant’s room. And the reason those rooms could not be used was that he had sold the furniture off for money. That cannot possibly be allowed to stand. It happened to come right only because Master Leon is a gracious soul who let slip not one word of complaint at being assigned a servant’s room; when I consider what it would have meant had he taken offense, my blood runs cold.

I did think of asking him to use my own room. But a commoner in the eyes of the world taking the guest room while I, the former duke, took a servant’s room: that could not be carried off, guest of the ducal house though he is. That day took years off my life. And we are to stay in that town on the return journey as well. Before then the rooms must be put right, whatever it takes.

“Of course. Tell me.”

“Certainly. First, on the matter of the deputy’s guest rooms, which has been troubling you: I have had furniture sent from the ducal residence so that guest rooms for Master Leon and for Lucien can be made ready. I have instructed several of the residence’s servants to go as well, so it should be arranged without difficulty.”

That is good to hear. One anxiety disposed of.

“At the same time I sent several of the house’s soldiers. My instruction is that Morgan is to be seized for the present and held at the town’s soldiers’ post. Morgan being a semi-noble, I did consider whether more caution was called for, but he appears to have cut his ties with his family, so that much consideration should not be necessary.”

“Good. That will do for the present. The problem is what to do if no evidence comes to light…”

There is a possibility that he has disposed of the evidence cleanly. In that case, what then. Though we should be able to get testimony from the servants this time, and once it is plain that the furniture is gone there will be no talking his way out of it.

“I believe the evidence will be found easily in this case. If we find the dealer he sold the furniture to, it should be simple. I cannot imagine him selling to a reputable merchant, so my expectation is that he sold to black-market men or some such, people who work in the dark. And furniture is troublesome to move, so he cannot have sold to men who travel far. If we look in that town, or in the towns and villages nearby, I believe he will be found. I have given instructions that the evidence is to be sought once Morgan is in custody.”

“Quite. Then as soon as the evidence is found, have Morgan escorted to the royal capital. I shall deal with the rest.”

“Certainly. Then the rest is in your hands, Father.”

“And in the unlikely event that no evidence is found, dismiss him. For the reason, discourteous conduct toward a guest of the ducal house will serve.”

“As you say. We have no need of a man who behaves discourteously to a guest of the ducal house on the ground that the guest is a commoner.”

Ordinarily a guest of a ducal house is treated as befits one, commoner or not. And on this occasion I had sent word myself that Master Leon was a guest and was to be treated with courtesy. To behave in that fashion even so means that contempt for commoners has been stamped into Morgan. The ducal house has no need of such a man.

We shall have to be more careful in future when we take a semi-noble into service. Morgan’s family, if I recall, held a neutral position. So the lesson is that one must judge not only the family but the man’s own thinking. To lessen the danger to Master Leon even a little, I shall take care over who is chosen.

“Then, Christophe. The rest is yours.”

“Certainly.”

So Christophe and I talked through what was to come, and I left the study.

⁂

Gone at last, that loathsome commoner! A commoner, and a guest of a ducal house; there is a limit to insolence. Unable to keep my irritation down, I made for my study with my feet loud on the boards.

“You there. Come here at once!”

I called the butler the moment I was inside. Slow-moving fellow.

“Master Morgan, what may I do for you?”

“It has become necessary to prepare two more guest rooms. See to it now.”

“B-but… there is no furniture to be put in guest rooms. That is… because Master Morgan sold it…”

“You wretch. Are you telling me the fault is mine?!”

This is precisely why commoners are so hateful. Useless, and employed here only by my own charity, and when anything goes wrong the whole of it is my fault. There is a limit to being no use.

“N-nothing of the kind, sir.”

“If there is no furniture, then buy some.”

“B-but there is no money for that either…”

“Then have a workshop make it cheaply, must I say it?! A commission from a noble and they will weep with gratitude. All the more when the commission comes from me. That you cannot work out even this much: incompetence at this pitch is a sorry thing to see.”

“Only… the work could not be finished in time…”

“Then have them work without sleep! Go and place the order, quickly!”

“Ah… yes, sir!”

Gone at last. He truly is too useless to keep. Perhaps it is time he was dismissed. Still, with the guest rooms in order everything will be perfect.

For several days after that I passed my time in the peace I am accustomed to. Simply not having that loathsome commoner about is a splendid feeling. What I want now is for the harvest season to hurry along. Until it comes, no great sum comes in. And selling any more of the furniture is genuinely unwise. Some better method must exist.

Then the boards began to thunder.

What is that noise? I was on the point of getting up to reprimand whichever servant was making the racket when the study door was flung open. And I had been just about to hit upon a good idea, too. The butler came running in.

“You there, that is too loud! Can you not move more quietly!”

“M-Master Morgan, soldiers of the ducal house are here!”

What? What business have the ducal house’s soldiers here? I was still thinking it when soldiers came into the study without leave.

“You are Morgan. An order has come from the ducal house that you be seized. Take him!”

“Sir!”

Before I could understand what was happening, two soldiers came to me and bound my hands with rope.

“Y-you wretches! Do you imagine you can do this to me and have it end there!”

“This is the decision of the ducal house.”

The decision of the ducal house?! Why has it come to this!

“Walk. Come along, at once!”

“I am a noble! Hear me out!”

“There will be all the hearing you like at the post.”

Why is this happening to me?! I am a noble!

Chapter 9 – To the Port Town

Yesterday was genuinely hard going. After lunch I was set on by everybody, all of them interested in what I know, and asked about magic on top of it, and by the time I noticed it was night. Thoroughly tired. Except that today I’m keyed up enough not to feel any of it. Because today’s the day we go to the port town!

Food from the sea to look forward to. Maybe I’ll get to see the sea and some boats for the first time in a long while. I finished getting ready in a fidget the whole time. The ones coming to the port town are Lucien and Lord Frederick, Lord Richard and Lady Catherine. Everyone else apparently prefers taking it easy at home to anything the sea has. Passing up seafood is unthinkable to a Japanese person.

At a glance Roger looks as expressionless as ever, but his face is softer than usual and you can tell how much he’s looking forward to seeing the sea.

“Roger, we finally get to see the sea.”

“Yes. I am glad to be in Master Leon’s service. I am very much looking forward to it.”

Roger’s eyes are shining brightly enough that I want to ask what happened to the usual blank face. Being told he’s glad to be in my service is lovely, except that if the reason is getting to see the sea then it wouldn’t matter whose service he was in! I’ve lost to the sea. That’s a bit deflating…

“Er, that is. Serving Master Leon is very enjoyable. Master Leon gives thought to the servants as well, and expresses his gratitude, and it makes the work rewarding. To be able to see the sea besides is why I am glad to be in Master Leon’s service.”

Roger seems to have worked out why I’d deflated, and said it in something of a hurry. So that’s what he thinks… That’s rather nice. Very nice, in fact. He does still finish on the sea, but I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that part.

“I’m glad you think that, Roger. Here’s to more of the same.”

“Yes. I shall serve you with all my heart from now on as well.”

“Thanks. Then it’s about time, so shall we go?”

“Certainly.”

So Roger and I made our way to the drawing room beside the entrance hall. I was first there, but all five of us gathered almost at once. Lord Richard was last.

“Everyone is here. Then let us go.”

The five of us got into the carriage and set off for the port town. It apparently takes about three hours to get there. A day trip would be hard going, so the plan is to stay a night in the port town.

“Is the port town a large town?”

“Let me see… it is not especially large, but it has life in it. Nearly everybody there makes salt or fishes, so there are a great many rough-built men. They do heavy work and eat a great deal, so there is no shortage of restaurants.”

Lord Richard answered my question. I can more or less picture it. A different feel from the capital, and it sounds like fun.

“Do the people of the port town eat food from the sea?”

“Yes, every day, so I hear. Those who live inland do not know how good it is, though, so it does not occur to them to buy it or to come and eat it. As a result almost none of it is sold to other towns. Dried fish could be sold at a distance, but there is no demand for it.”

It’s a waste that something good doesn’t spread. Even if fresh is impossible, dried fish is good too. Anybody who tried it should notice… Or maybe the look of it puts off people seeing it for the first time? True enough, on Earth as well, in places that don’t eat seafood people used to call the look of it revolting. I still think if they ate it they’d understand.

“It would be good if food from the sea reached the other towns as well.”

“I attempted it once when I was duke, but taking dried fish to the royal capital never really caught on.”

So it has been tried. Why didn’t it catch on…? I’d have thought some people would take to it if they ate it.

“Was there nobody who tried it and got a taste for the dried fish?”

“There were a few, but it was not accepted by any great number. They said it was awkward to eat, that there were few places to eat it, that it smelled.”

Well, there are bones, and it is more awkward than meat. And there’s less flesh on it. I don’t think the smell would trouble anybody much if you grilled it, though it may depend on how the fish is dried.

I’d teach them a way of drying fish that kills the smell if I could, except that I don’t know the first thing about drying fish. With no phone to hand, I really am scraping the bottom of what I know. If I only had a phone I could look anything up. It shows me exactly how much I leaned on the thing.

Anyway, the upshot is that for most people dried fish isn’t a taste worth forcing down. And I suppose if you aren’t used to it you never do notice how good dried fish is.

“I see. Are you fond of food from the sea, Lord Richard?”

“Yes, I am fond of it. Though I prefer the cooking one eats in the port town to dried fish.”

“I like it too. It’s a different sort of flavor from meat, and it’s good.”

“I love it as well. Though I do not often eat dried fish.”

So Lord Frederick and Lady Catherine like it too.

“Lord Lucien, have you ever eaten food from the sea?”

“Neither my father nor my mother eats it by choice, so I never have. Which is why today is something to look forward to.”

“Then I am very much looking forward to it as well. Let us eat a great deal of it.”

“Let us!”

Then three hours of swaying along in the carriage, and it seems we’ve reached the port town. I opened the carriage window and a sea wind came in. …The smell of the sea! Something about the smell takes me straight back. The sea smells the same even in a different world. The carriage went on through the town for a while and stopped in front of a house slightly grander than the ones around it. This seems to be the town’s deputy’s residence.

It isn’t a large town, so the residence is a smaller thing than the ones we’ve stayed in. There are apparently just barely enough rooms for us. Not having many rooms seems to be one of the reasons Lord Christophe and the others didn’t come. And what rooms there are aren’t grand ones.

In front of the residence stood a sun-browned, healthy-looking man. Built extremely solidly.

“It has been a long while, all of you. And a first meeting for the young gentlemen. My name is Tony.”

“I am Lucien.”

“I am Leon. I am glad to meet you.”

Tony is apparently a commoner deputy. Small towns don’t get a semi-noble hired for them; instead the ablest and best-liked among the commoners are educated at the ducal residence and sent out to the towns as deputies.

“I expect the house is a cramped one for all of you, but we’ll entertain you with everything we have.”

“Thank you, Tony. Only the one night, but we shall be glad of the rest.”

“Please make yourselves comfortable. I’ll show you to your rooms.”

The room I was shown to wasn’t grand, but it had been cleaned beautifully. A deputy’s residence with no noble in it doesn’t have the sewer laid on, though, so the toilets are the kind you empty by hand, several of them about the house, and there was no bath. Well, in a small town out in the country there’s nothing to be done about it. For the moment, making one toilet completely clean only costs about half the mana I currently have, so I may as well.

Which is another thing. My mana capacity has grown a great deal, and making a single toilet clean still uses half of it, so Purification’s efficiency is terrible. It would help to have a good image for it. I got the toilet gleaming. Clean as new, not a mark on it. Purification is impressive stuff. Incidentally, cleaning the toilet pleased everybody more than I’d expected. That kind of toilet is filthy and it smells, so I understand it. I dislike them too. Using one indefinitely is more than I could stand.

After that we were to rest in our rooms until lunch, so I spent it drinking tea slowly to get the travel out of me. Then lunchtime came and we all gathered in the dining room. The food is about to be brought in.

“I was told all of you wanted food from the sea, so I had the cook make a lunch with plenty of it. I hope it pleases you.”

Excellent, fish at last! Presumably nothing raw. Then again, if it’s fresh there may be a culture of eating it raw. And if not raw, grilled? Even plain grilled fish would make me very happy!

I was waiting in a fidget of anticipation when the servers brought the food in. The meal here isn’t in courses; everything for one person is laid out at once. At a glance there’s nothing raw, so that culture doesn’t exist. A slight shame, though raw is dangerous unless it’s genuinely fresh and handled carefully, and cooked is safer and better.

“Then let us eat.”

“Itadakimasu.”

I started with a soup that was giving off a wonderful smell. …Delicious! That flavor is prawn, definitely. It’s a prawn stock. This is dangerously good. I feel as though I haven’t tasted proper stock in a very long time. The capital’s cooking has developed, but it had no stock in it. I drank the soup straight down.

“Master Leon looks very happy eating that. Prawns are at their best about now, once it starts to get cold.”

Tony said it, and I’m embarrassed… Though it is fantastic, so there’s nothing to be done about that.

“It is delicious. Excuse me, what is this white fish?”

“That’ll be Spanish mackerel. It’s mostly caught in the hot season, but we still get it this time of year. It suits any dish you like.”

“Ah. Then I shall try this next.”

Extremely good-looking Spanish mackerel. I took one mouthful on the fork and put it in. Mm, that’s good! This is cooked in butter. The butter comes up through your nose and the flesh of the fish is sweet, and luxurious, and better than it has any right to be. I finished the Spanish mackerel in butter without looking up.

Two dishes left. One is octopus leg grilled with salt exactly as it is. The other is grilled scallops. Octopus first. Chew, chew… That’s a very springy octopus. But the more you chew the more the flavor comes out, and it’s good. Deep-fried, this would be superb, I’m certain of it.

Is there no deep-frying here? Not much of it, maybe? Then again I’ve eaten something plain-fried once, so the method must exist. In that case there’s nothing so strange about me making some deep-fried octopus. If they’ll let me use the kitchen later, I want to make it! And if I’m frying, crumbed fish would be good as well. I’ll ask this evening.

Last, the scallops. Bite… Delicious! Butter here as well. They must have grilled the scallops and melted butter over them. Enormously good. Even the liquid left behind is good. I’m thoroughly satisfied. I really am Japanese: I like meat too, but it’s food from the sea I find myself wanting.

Then, after an excellent lunch and a short rest, the afternoon found me swaying along in a carriage toward the sea. Lucien’s with me. Everyone else has seen it already and doesn’t feel the need to go and look.

“I am very much looking forward to this. The sea is so wide you cannot see the end of it, is it not?”

“Something to look forward to, right!”

There’s nobody in the carriage but Lucien and me, so no need for formal speech. The valets and guards are apparently following on foot. The town isn’t big enough for a carriage to get up much speed, so walking keeps pace.

“Lucien, after the sea I’d like to go to the market and the food stalls where they sell things from the sea. Is that all right?”

“Walking about and looking a while should be all right. Jacques is with us as guard.”

“Really?! Excellent!”

“Is there something interesting there?”

“I thought if I bought some good-looking fish they might use it for dinner. And there’s something I want to cook myself, so I want to buy the ingredients for that too.”

“Leon, you can cook?”

Lucien is quite startled. Which reminds me… I never told him my family runs a restaurant.

“My family’s place is a restaurant.”

“Is it. Then I should like to eat something Leon has cooked.”

“Then if they let me use the kitchen when we get back, I’ll make something.”

“In that case we shall buy a great deal. I have money from my grandfather.”

“Have you? Then I’ll spend it without holding back.”

We laughed about that. Then a while more of swaying along and it seems we reached the shore. I got down from the carriage and the wide sea was spread out in front of me.

…The sea, after so long. The wind off it feels wonderful. The sea is the same enormous thing in any world. I catch myself wishing the impossible, that Japan were on the other side of this water. The sea is genuinely beautiful, and something about looking at it brings an ache up in me.

I looked at it quietly for a while, and when I’d had my fill I turned round toward Roger. Roger was gazing at the sea with his eyes shining. He has a child’s face on. That’s another one I’ve never seen.

“Roger, what do you make of the sea?”

“Ah, Master Leon. It is extraordinary! To be so wide and so beautiful. I am glad to have seen it.”

“It really is beautiful. Roger, you were watching it with a face like a child, all lit up.”

“I… I am certain I was not making any such face.”

Roger is denying it with everything he has. There’s no need to deny it that hard. And now the usual blank face is back. He’s changed a great deal from the start, though. His expression moves often these days, so he must be letting his guard down with me. I’m glad we’ve got closer than we were. There’s no awkwardness in being together any more, either.

“I think you were.”

“No. I was not. More to the point, Master Leon, were you not going to collect sand?”

Roger turned the subject on me. But that matters too. I’d thought I’d take some of the sand from the beach and some shells home as souvenirs for Marie and Martine. The beach here isn’t wide, but there’s sand enough to collect plenty.

“That’s right. Could I have a sack?”

“Please use this.”

“Thanks.”

I got a sack from Roger and went over to Lucien.

“Lord Lucien, the sea is very wide and very beautiful.”

“Leon, it is extraordinary! To think there is this much water. It is so wide, and beautiful.”

Lucien is gazing at the sea with his eyes shining. Seeing it for the first time does move you. What moves me is how much I miss it.

“It really is beautiful… Lord Lucien, I was thinking of collecting some of the sand here to take home. Might I go and gather some?”

“Take it home? The sand here is fine and clean, certainly.”

Lucien answered while running his hand through the sand.

“Yes. I thought it would make a good souvenir.”

“That is a fine idea! I shall collect some as well.”

Lucien had his valet get a sack ready too. Whatever else he is, Lucien is a child as well. Which I can hardly say, when I’m collecting sand myself.

“If we are collecting, let us find clean sand. Over there looks better. Leon, come on!”

“Yes. If there are nice shells we should pick those up too.”

“Quite so. Let us look for those as well.”

Then for some tens of minutes Lucien and I enjoyed collecting sand and hunting for shells. Partway through it may have turned into simply playing in the sand, but we did collect plenty of both. I’m thoroughly satisfied. Playing like this now and then really is good.

“Master Leon, I shall carry that sack.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Leon, the market next.”

Once Lucien and I had finished with the sand and were content, we got back into the carriage and went to the market near the harbor. Getting down, the entrance to the market was right in front of us. It’s full of life and the feel of it is thoroughly enjoyable.

“Lord Lucien, may we stop if there is a shop I am curious about?”

“Of course! I want to see a great many shops as well.”

“Then let us go.”

At the market they had wooden boxes filled with water, with fish and shellfish and octopus sorted into them by kind. First I want octopus, since I want deep-fried octopus. Then a white fish for the crumbed fish. But which fish would be right? Hmm, no idea, so the Spanish mackerel from lunch will do. Anything ought to be good. And if I’m crumbing things, crumbed horse mackerel is good as well. If they have horse mackerel I’ll buy some. And yellowtail if they have it. Salt-grilled yellowtail was a great favorite of mine.

I was walking along looking over the stalls with that in mind when I found one selling octopus.

“Lord Lucien, may I buy some octopus?”

“Of course. Let us go to that shop.”

“Thank you.”

We went over, and I spoke to the fellow standing out front.

“Hello. I’d like to buy some octopus.”

“You wouldn’t be nobility, would you…?”

He said it half under his breath, and looked at us with a shade of anxiety.

“I’m not, but this is Lord Lucien of House Townsend.”

“House Townsend, that’s the lord of the domain! To have you come to a place like this, I’m grateful, I’m sure…”

He started bobbing his head at Lucien over and over. Maybe nobles never come round here.

“Forgive us for arriving without warning.”

“Not at all, not at all, we’re grateful.”

“Do nobles never come round here?”

“Course not, a town this small and the market of all places! Even House Townsend only ever came as far as the deputy’s house.”

He told me that in a low voice, meant for me alone. So I’ve done something out of the ordinary again. Lucien nodded so easily when I said the market that I’d assumed Lord Richard and the others came too.

Sorry about this, Lucien… Though I expect there’ll be more of it.

“I see. Lord Lucien is a good sort of noble, so there’s nothing to worry about. So can I buy the octopus?”

“Course you can. Better than that, having nobility buy from me is something to be grateful for. There’s some lively ones in today. Let me see… the ones in that box are the best.”

“Then three good ones out of that box, please. And I want Spanish mackerel and horse mackerel and yellowtail. Where would I go for those?”

“Three along from here, they land good lively ones.”

“Do they? Thanks.”

So I bought the octopus, had Roger carry it, and went to the next shop.

“Hello. I’d like Spanish mackerel, horse mackerel and yellowtail.”

“Right you are! How many of each?”

“Hmm. Three Spanish mackerel, one yellowtail and six horse mackerel, please. Pick good ones.”

The woman at this next shop was full of energy. She isn’t troubled in the least by what we’re wearing. She may take us for merchants’ children.

“These do you?”

“Yes! They look wonderful.”

“That they do. My man’s good at the fishing.”

So I bought fish from a thoroughly cheerful woman, and the mission’s accomplished. I made ice in the wooden box Roger is carrying, where nobody could see me do it. Now I don’t have to worry about time.

The shopping’s done, so next is eating our way along the stalls. This market doesn’t only sell fish; there are things you can eat as you walk about too.

“Lord Lucien, is there anything you would like to buy?”

“I do not really know what there is, so I shall follow Leon. All of it is new to me and enjoyable.”

“Then shall we eat our way along a little? Or would that be out of the question for Lord Lucien?”

“No, today of all days it should be all right.”

Excellent! Lucien’s valet had a face that wanted to stop him, but since Lucien is clearly enjoying himself he seems to have decided not to. What to eat. There’s fish cut open and grilled, octopus on skewers and grilled, shellfish grilled. Hard to choose, but what I want right now is shellfish.

“Lord Lucien, shall we have scallops?”

“Ah, the ones we had at lunch today. I liked those.”

“Then let us make it scallops.”

We went over to a shop selling scallops. Coming up to it, a wonderful smell of grilling seafood rolls out and opens a hole in your stomach at once.

“Hello. Could we have some scallops? How many… will all of you eat?”

I asked Lucien’s guards and valets. They shook their heads straight away.

“No, we are on duty, so we shall decline.”

“No, you should all eat. Once in a while is all right.”

“But…”

“There is no need to hold back.”

“We are on duty, however…”

Lucien and the valet each seem entirely unwilling to give ground. The man who put an end to that fruitless struggle was Jacques.

“We’ve got the chance, so let’s all have some. Thank you, Lord Lucien.”

That seems to have settled everybody on eating. Roger’s the same way; are valets mostly this serious-minded?

“So how many is it?”

“Er… five, please!”

“Five it is. I’ll grill them now, so wait a bit.”

The woman at the stall grilled five scallops for us as soon as we’d ordered. Then she worked the meat out of the shells with something like an iron skewer and salted them. They’re still hot enough to be hissing. This looks fantastic.

“There, they’re done.”

“Thanks! Lord Lucien, please. Ah, should somebody taste it first?”

“I shall do it.”

Lucien’s valet ate a little and checked it, then handed the scallop to Lucien.

“Thank you. Then let us eat.”

“Yes! Itadakimasu.”

I got my teeth into the scallop properly. The meat’s so big I can’t finish it in one bite. What is this, it’s outrageously good! Chew and the flavor comes flooding out and fills your whole mouth. Only a little salt, so the taste of the thing itself is doing the work, and it’s wonderful. Food from the sea really is about freshness and coming straight off the grill.

The scallop was big, and I finished it in no time. That was the best.

“Lord Lucien, that was very good indeed!”

“It was so good it startled me! If I were hungrier I should have wanted more.”

“Then let us buy scallops to take back as well. Could we have twenty scallops?”

“Course you can. Thank you kindly.”

So we carried our spoils back to the deputy’s residence in armfuls.

Getting back, there were two hours left until dinner. Preparations for it will presumably start before long. If I can I want to cook with what we bought, and I want to eat what I cook at dinner. I asked Roger to arrange a meeting with Lord Richard, and decided to ask, with nothing much to lose, whether I could make dinner.

The meeting was allowed at once, so Roger and I went to Lord Richard’s room.

“Master Leon is here.”

Roger knocked and announced me, and Lord Richard’s valet opened the door. I sat on the sofa I was offered.

“Lord Richard, I am sorry to come without warning.”

“There is no need to mind that. Any time at all is fine where you are concerned, Leon. Now then, what is it?”

“Thank you. The truth is that there are things I should like to make with the food from the sea for dinner, and I wondered whether I might have permission to use the kitchen.”

“You would make them, Leon?”

“If permission were given…”

“You can cook?”

Lord Richard said it looking considerably surprised. Right, to a noble, cooking is entirely the cook’s work, so somebody who isn’t a cook not being able to do it is the normal case. Not that my cooking is good enough to call being able to cook.

“My family’s place is a restaurant, so a little. And I thought I should like to cook with the food from the sea, so might I have permission? And if I may be greedy about it, I should be grateful for the cook’s help as well.”

“Cooking by Leon. That is something to look forward to. Then I shall tell Tony and the head cook that you will be using the kitchen. And I shall ask the head cook to help you. Go along to the kitchen a little later.”

“Truly?! Thank you very much!”

Excellent, now I get to eat the seafood dishes I want!

After that I went back to my room, killed a little time, put on an apron to cook and went to the kitchen. Inside was a gentle-looking man of middle years.

“Master Leon. I am the head cook. My name is Nasser.”

“I am Leon. Thank you for letting me use your kitchen.”

“Not at all. I hear Master Leon knows dishes that are unusual in this country. I am very much looking forward to seeing what they are. I shall be helping, so please ask me for anything at all. This wooden box holds what you purchased.”

“Nasser, thank you. I do not really know how to prepare things from the sea, so may I ask you to do it?”

“Of course.”

Nasser smiled and nodded. I’m glad he’s a kind man. If he’s helping, the cooking should go smoothly.

First I made the ice disappear where Nasser couldn’t see it, and checked over what we’d bought. Octopus, Spanish mackerel, horse mackerel, yellowtail, scallops. The octopus, Spanish mackerel and horse mackerel are going to be fried. The octopus deep-fried, and I want the Spanish mackerel and horse mackerel crumbed. Which means they need cutting up first.

“Nasser, would you prepare the Spanish mackerel and the horse mackerel?”

“Certainly. In what form should I cut them?”

Hmm, crumbed fish had the tail on and was a sort of triangle shape, wasn’t it. Would having the horse mackerel opened out flat do it? Except these are fairly large and thick. Half of an opened one may be better.

“Could the horse mackerel be opened out flat? And then I would like that split in half. A two-piece fillet, would that be?”

“Entirely possible.”

“Then the horse mackerel that way, please. The Spanish mackerel is very large, so… could you cut it to about the same size as a halved horse mackerel? And I would like both of them boned.”

“Certainly. I shall have them done quickly.”

Nasser set about the fish, and his hands were quick and neat. That really is what practice looks like. A professional, obviously… Right, my turn to get ready. The crumbing first. Crumbed fish was flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, then fry, if I remember.

I put flour out on a flat dish, broke eggs into a bowl and beat them. Then I got yesterday’s leftover bread from Nasser and worked at chopping it fine. There was no grater, so I did it with a knife, and it was hard going. The crumbs came out a bit coarse, but that gives them some bite, so it’s fine.

“Master Leon, they are all prepared. What should I do next?”

That was fast! Nasser is astonishing. Then next… I’ll have him cut up the octopus.

“Then could you cut the octopus into chunks? About one bite each, please.”

“Certainly. Octopus needs preparing first, so it will take a little time. Is that all right?”

Octopus needs preparing? Of course. The only octopus I know is the kind they sell in a supermarket. That must come already prepared. Come to that, supermarket octopus wasn’t raw octopus in the first place.

“Yes. Please go ahead. May I watch how it is prepared?”

“Of course.”

I decided to watch a while and learn how it’s done. Nasser used the knife deftly to take out what looked like the innards, then rubbed salt all over the octopus and worked it in. He kept at that for a while, and once a good deal of slime had come out he rinsed it away with water. Then he set about cutting it into chunks. So the innards and that slime are what have to come off.

“Would this size do?”

“Yes. About that, please.”

“Certainly.”

Nasser had the octopus done in no time as well. I took the chunks and rubbed salt and pepper into them to season. Pepper being simply kept in stock is impressive. Among commoners it’s expensive enough that nobody ever uses it. Right, and then flour on them just before frying.

Next… come to think of it, crumbed fish has no flavor of its own, does it? Salt again would be dull, so can’t I make some kind of sauce? Hmm, the only thing I can think of that this world can make is tomato sauce, but can you get tomatoes this time of year? At my house the cold-season vegetables were mostly radish and cabbage, I think. No tomatoes.

“Nasser, are there tomatoes at this time of year?”

“Tomatoes? I would think the season for them is well past…”

“I see… Then tomato sauce is out.”

“It is tomato sauce you want, rather than fresh tomatoes? In that case it can be made.”

“Really?!”

“Yes. We keep dried tomatoes in oil, so with those I believe a good tomato sauce can be made.”

“Then may I ask you to?”

“Yes. Leave it to me.”

Nasser took it on with a smile. Genuinely grateful. Now the crumbed fish can be eaten properly too. Oh, but before that I want the yellowtail cut up…

“Nasser, I am very sorry, but could you prepare the yellowtail first?”

“Of course, that is no trouble.”

Without Nasser, cutting these up would have taken me an age and come out a mess. It would certainly have been several grades less good. I really am glad Nasser is here. And I’d like to learn how to cut fish myself.

“Nasser, may I watch you prepare the yellowtail as well?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you.”

I watched his hands closely, and Nasser kindly taught me the knack of it as he went. I think I have the general method now. Whether I can actually do it is another question.

“I shall leave the yellowtail here. The tomato sauce next.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

While Nasser made the tomato sauce I got on with the scallops. What I want to make with those is baked scallops. I loved them in Japan and always ordered them at the restaurant near us. I’d tried to reproduce them at home too, so I have a rough idea of how it goes. I don’t know how the oven here works, but I’ll leave that to Nasser. Thank you very much, Nasser.

Oh, does the oven need lighting in advance? Better to tell him early.

“Nasser, I should like to use the oven. Does it need lighting in advance?”

“It does. There is a little time between lighting it and its being usable. Shall I get it ready?”

“Thank you. Please do.”

I left the oven to Nasser and started on the scallops. For baked scallops you separate the shell from the meat first. Then wash the hollow half of the shell, and wash the meat too and pat it dry. The black part of the meat comes off, if I remember. Then the scallop goes back in the shell and it’s the seasoning. The seasoning I like is the garlic one. Do they have garlic?

“Nasser, do you have garlic?”

“Garlic? It is over there, but that is for making the smell of beef less noticeable.”

That’s all it’s used for?! Now I think of it, I don’t think I’ve had a single dish with garlic in it.

“It is not used for anything else?”

“Not to my knowledge. It only came to be used in cooking at all quite recently.”

“Ah. But this dish is much better for garlic. May I use it?”

“I leave it to Master Leon. Though might I watch how you use it?”

“Of course.”

Garlic is a hugely useful thing to cook with, and I want Nasser to learn how to use it and go on to develop more dishes with it.

“You chop the garlic fine, like this, and putting it into a dish makes it a great deal better. It is good in tomato sauce, and good in stews as well.”

“In tomato sauce, and in stews… I shall try it.”

“Please do! It suits almost anything, so use as much of it as you like.”

I chopped the garlic fine and put it over the scallops. Then salt and pepper, and breadcrumbs on top. That’s them finished. Nothing left but the oven.

“Nasser, is the oven usable now?”

“Yes. Are those going into the oven?”

“They are.”

“It is dangerous, so please leave that to me.”

Nasser took the scallops from me, laid them on an iron sheet and put them into the oven.

“We shall look at how they are coming along in a while.”

“Please. Then in the meantime I shall finish the other dishes. The yellowtail is to be grilled with salt. May I ask you for that?”

“Simply salted and grilled?”

“Yes. I want something plain as well.”

“Certainly.”

While Nasser grilled the yellowtail, I got on with the frying. I was given oil, put it in a pot and heated it. And while the oil was heating, the last preparations. Flour on the octopus; flour then egg then breadcrumbs on the horse mackerel and the Spanish mackerel.

By the time the preparations were done the oil was hot, so I fried everything in turn. That sound frying makes. That sound is what starts you off. …I’m hungry.

Ten minutes or so and everything was fried. By then the baked scallops were done and the yellowtail had been grilled as well. That’s everything! It’s entirely thanks to Nasser, but I think it came out better than I expected. Now they only have to find it good and it’ll be perfect.

“Nasser, thank you very much for helping. Without you I could never have made any of this half so well.”

“I am a cook, so helping is a matter of course. It is I who got to see a great many new dishes, and I have learned a great deal from it. Thank you. Now, Master Leon, please go along to the dining room. The servers and I shall carry the food in.”

“Understood. Thank you.”

I thanked Nasser again and left the kitchen. Roger was waiting outside, and one glance at me and his face pulled into a frown.

“Master Leon, let us change your clothes in your room before you go to the dining room. They are dirty.”

“Are they?”

Looking down at myself, there is flour on me and there are crumbs of bread. Yes, dirty.

“You’re right. Let’s be quick, or it’ll be dinner.”

I changed in my room and went to the dining room. I changed in quite a hurry, and everybody was already seated when I got there.

“I am sorry to be late.”

“No, you were making our dinner, were you not, Leon? Being late is only natural. And your cooking is something to look forward to.”

“I am very much looking forward to it as well. I have never eaten anything Leon has made.”

Lord Richard and Lady Catherine seem to be looking forward to it a great deal.

“You used what we bought earlier, did you? I am looking forward to it too.”

“Will it be different from what we usually eat? I have hopes.”

Lucien and Lord Frederick look thoroughly eager as well. Expectations this high are quite a weight. What if they find it no good…?

I went a bit weak at that and was about to say “please don’t expect too much,” and then the food arrived. Nothing left but to pray it suits them. From the little I tasted it was extremely good, so it should be all right.

The dishes the servers brought in were beautifully arranged on the plates and looked like expensive cooking. I can’t believe I made them.

“I do not know whether it will suit you, but I hope you will eat.”

“It looks very good indeed. Then let us eat.”

“Itadakimasu.”

Everybody started with whatever had caught their eye most. Lord Richard began with the crumbed horse mackerel.

“What… what is this? The crispness of it is new and interesting. And the flesh is plump and very good. It goes with the tomato sauce as well. This is beyond anything…”

“It truly is… I have never had better.”

What Lady Catherine is eating is the crumbed Spanish mackerel. The crumbed fish seems to be rating highly.

“L-Leon, this is far too good! Is this the octopus?”

Lord Frederick has evidently eaten the deep-fried octopus. Deep-fried octopus is at the level of making you ask why it’s this good. I understand completely.

“It is octopus cut into chunks, seasoned with salt and pepper, and deep-fried.”

“It is genuinely delicious… I could eat it every day. It would go with drink as well.”

Deep-fried octopus is the very type of the thing you eat with a drink. So you arrive at that opinion in another world as well.

“I like this one! This is the scallop, is it not? Why is it this good?”

Lucien seems to have taken to the baked scallops. He’s already onto his third.

“The crispness of the breadcrumbs and the flavor of the garlic make the scallop better still. Other seasonings are possible as well, adding butter and so on.”

“This is genuinely extraordinary. I could eat it every day.”

“Is it as good as that? Then I shall have one as well…”

So everybody ate the dinner I’d made and looked thoroughly happy doing it. That makes me very glad. And of course I enjoyed an excellent dinner myself.

Which of them was best is a hard question, but for me it’s the baked scallops. The crisp bite and then the flavor flooding your mouth. The garlic working, and the salt, and it was genuinely superb. The salt-grilled yellowtail was good as well. Though the salt-grilled yellowtail may have been a slight mistake, because it made me want white rice more than anything. Salt-grilled fish does go with hot white rice. It would be good if there were rice somewhere in this world, but I never see it anywhere and everybody I ask has never heard of it. Finding rice may have to be one of my goals someday.

So a thoroughly satisfying dinner ended, and I was tired enough that day to fall asleep at once.

Chapter 8 – Magic Lessons and Compound Magic

In the event, no seafood at dinner. It takes about three hours by carriage from the port town to Tarzelia, and since ice makers haven’t spread yet, getting it this far is apparently difficult. This season it would probably be fine, but the thinking seems to be that there’s no need to go out of your way to eat something that carries a risk.

Which is fair, and I understand it, and I want to eat things from the sea! Ice makers need spreading, urgently. Commoners can’t buy one, though, so it’d have to be the ducal house buying them and lending them out. And then you need somebody watching them so they aren’t stolen, which means the staff for that, and if they’re used often you need somebody who can put mana into them. That’s quite a lot of work.

There’s also the question of whether the ice makers themselves can be made in quantity. I don’t know how much magic iron and magic stone there is to go around… It’d be good if there were enough to reach commoners as well. The problems are piled up. Well, for now, let’s get to the port town and enjoy what the sea has.

That night I lay down early and went to sleep. Then, the next day.

“Master Leon, good morning.”

Mmm… Roger’s waking me. But I’m still sleepy.

“Master Leon, were you not to teach Lord Lucien magic today? Unless you rise soon you will not be ready in time.”

“Yeah, I’m getting up…”

That’s right, I’m teaching Lord Lucien magic today. I promised him yesterday. Me turning up late won’t do… Right. Up. I got myself out of bed on willpower alone and stretched.

“Morning, Roger.”

“Good morning. A message from Lord Lucien’s valet: Lord Lucien is very much looking forward to being taught magic by Master Leon today, and asks that if possible you come earlier than the appointed hour, as soon as you are ready.”

“Really? So I’d better hurry, then.”

“Yes. Lord Lucien appears to have finished breakfast already.”

Isn’t that far too early?! How much was he looking forward to it? And hold on, that means he’s waiting for me right now! Me waiting is one thing, but keeping him waiting won’t do. Hurry!

“Roger, get breakfast ready right away. I’ll get dressed.”

“Certainly.”

So I got ready faster than I ever have. Tired already, and it’s morning.

“Master Leon is here.”

Roger knocked at Lord Lucien’s door and announced me. Outside would be better for practicing magic, but I’d been called to his room. The door opened and I went in, and Lord Lucien was sitting on the sofa waiting with his gold eyes shining. My first impression of him was keen and dependable, but going by the drawing room yesterday and by this, his real nature runs to curiosity. Well, he’s nine.

“Lord Lucien. Good morning.”

“Leon, morning. Sit down.”

“Excuse me, then.”

“Everyone, once you have prepared tea for Leon, would you withdraw?”

At Lord Lucien’s word the servants briskly set out the tea and nothing more, and went. The guard withdrew without any fuss either, so I seem to be fairly well trusted.

“Leon, you are going to teach me magic today, are you not?”

“Yes. Lord Lucien is fire attribute, I believe. What is your mana capacity?”

“Leon, we are the same age, so there is no need to speak to me as formally as that! You are my first friend, and I want us closer than this.”

Told again… Between Martine and Lord Lucien, do these people understand that I’m a commoner?

“But I am a commoner…”

“That has nothing to do with it. In public, or where others are present, formal speech is certainly needed. When there are only the two of us it is all right, surely?”

I’m already on first-name terms with Martine, so alone with him it’s probably fine. The problem with this is that I get used to talking casually and then let it slip somewhere with people around. I’ll be careful about that.

“Then, only when it’s the two of us.”

“Thank you! And call me Lucien.”

“Got it. Lucien it is, then.”

At that his whole face broke into a grin, genuinely delighted. If it makes him that happy, then good.

“So will you teach me magic? My mana capacity is four. Is that all right?”

“Yeah, any capacity is fine as far as teaching goes. I only wanted to know roughly where you run out of mana.”

I’ve been told I’m not to teach magic until I’ve graduated from the Royal Academy, with the exception that I may teach people who know about every attribute.

“Good. It is fire magic, so outside would be better, would it not? There is a practice ground for magic.”

“You’ve got one of those. Then let’s go there.”

The magic practice ground is behind the house, an open stretch with rocks and targets set out on it. Lucien’s valet and one guard, and Roger, are all waiting some way off. Far enough that they can’t hear us talk.

“Lucien, do you hold an image when you use magic?”

“I do. I picture fire.”

“So you picture fire burning, and use fire magic. That’s it?”

“That is it.”

“Then I’d like you to add the image I’m about to teach you to that one.”

From there I explained air and oxygen again. He likes swordsmanship, so I’d wondered how his head was, and in fact he was quick about it. His thinking is flexible and his memory is good. Strong with a sword and clever with it: he’s going to be absurdly popular when he gets to the Royal Academy.

“Leon, I think I have the feel of it, so may I try?”

“Yeah, use the spell with that image and put a Fireball into that rock.”

“Understood. Fireball.”

Whoa, that’s got real speed on it. Lucien may have a gift for magic as well.

“How was that? Less mana than usual, I think?”

“Leon, this is extraordinary! It took half the mana I have used until now, or less.”

He managed it, which is the main thing. I let some of the tension out of my shoulders in relief.

“Right, so don’t lose that image. If you can call it up straight away, you’ll be able to use it at a moment’s notice too.”

“Understood! Leon, thank you.”

“It’s nothing. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

When I said that, Lucien’s face lit up all over again. Maybe a lord’s son can’t make friends at the domain either. Being a noble does look harder than I’d expected.

“We are!”

“Then shall we finish up and go back?”

“No, before that, will you show me your magic?”

“Magic? I showed you yesterday…”

“Yesterday was not attack magic, was it? Will you show me attack magic?”

“But your valet and your guard are watching…”

“Those two know about Leon’s every attribute, so it is all right. I have brought nobody who has not been told properly.”

So that’s it. House Townsend apparently tells only the most trustworthy of the servants attached to each master. It’s certainly better than having it come out by accident.

“Right. Fireball, then?”

“Hmm. Leon, you can use the magic of every attribute, can you not? Can you not do a spell that combines them?”

Ugh… For him to notice that is impressive. I can, and the power’s too high. If I showed him that, wouldn’t it frighten him?

“Er… I can’t.”

I denied it, and my eyes wandered a bit while I did, so Lucien could see straight through me. He fixed me with a flat stare.

“Leon, lying is not good.”

“Ugh… but the power’s too high.”

“Then hold the power back and do it.”

Well. That’s fair, actually. Rock Tornado is genuinely out of the question, so if I’m showing him anything it had better be Fire Bullet.

“…Then I’ll try the spell called Fire Bullet. It’s an arrowhead made with earth magic, with fire wrapped around it by fire magic.”

“What is that! That sounds extremely cool!”

“I think so too.”

Getting praise for a spell I invented myself made me quite happy. Until now I’d only practiced in the forest, so nobody’s ever watched me do it. I’m a bit fired up.

Now, how much mana was it for a small one? Lately it’s been nothing but healing practice and I haven’t used this in a while. For now I’ll remember the last time and put in about as much mana as I did then. It only buried itself in a rock that time.

That was the thinking, and I said Fire Bullet out loud and used the spell. Purely because it sounds cooler that way.

“Fire Bullet.”

This is bad! I registered it the instant the Fire Bullet left me, and threw up a solid Wall in front of us with a great deal of mana in it. And at that moment the Fire Bullet crossed to the rock at enormous speed and blew the rock apart.

The bang was tremendous, the Wall got there by a hair so neither of us took any damage, and then the silence came down. This is bad, isn’t it. I have definitely done it now… Why did it come out with that much force? I’m sure I put in about the same mana as last time. Unless my capacity has grown so much that I can’t control it finely any more? Healing magic uses a good deal of mana, and it doesn’t need fine control. I have seriously done it. I should have kept practicing.

Looking around, the ground near where I made the Wall has sunk, and small fragments of rock are scattered everywhere. Off in the distance Roger and the others seem to be standing rooted. I looked beside me, and Lucien’s mouth was open and he was gaping at it.

How am I supposed to clean this up? Somebody help!

The first to come back to himself was Lucien’s guard. He came at a run and stopped in front of Lucien.

“Lord Lucien, are you hurt?!”

That seems to have brought Lucien round at last.

“Ah, no. No, I am not hurt. I am quite all right.”

…I’m about to be shouted at, aren’t I. Because that was endangering a ducal house’s son. I won’t get arrested, will I?! I’d just worked that out and gone cold with it when Lucien turned to me with his eyes shining.

“Leon! What tremendous power!”

“I put in a bit too much mana. Sorry… and I broke the rock.”

“That is nothing at all; one can simply bring another rock. Neither you nor I is hurt, so there is no problem. And it was cool!”

“Thanks. I’m glad you liked it.”

Then it hit me. There was a guard right there and I wasn’t using formal speech! I was looking back and forth between the guard and Lucien in a flap when the guard, who seems to have worked out what I was panicking about, spoke to me.

“I won’t make a fuss about it, so you’re all right. And thanks for getting friendly with Lord Lucien. He’s always acting grown-up, so it’s good to see him his own age for once.”

That embarrassed Lucien, evidently, because he went red and reacted.

“Jacques! Do not say that.”

Jacques, then. Jacques is smiling gently at him. They’ve built a good bond, master and man. Jacques is a good person.

While the three of us were talking, Lucien’s valet and Roger came running over too. And then Lord Richard, Lord Christophe and Lord Frederick came out of the house.

“What has happened?!”

Lord Richard asked it in a considerable flap. There’s no covering this up… Better to apologize honestly.

“Lord Richard, I am sorry! I was showing Lord Lucien some magic and I misjudged the power…”

“What manner of spell produces this?”

Lord Richard asked it carefully, with a slightly rigid face. It is a frightening amount of power, isn’t it. Part of it is that I’m out of practice, but a compound spell uses two spells at once, which makes the power much harder to regulate. And it tips toward the stronger of the two as a rule.

“It is something I call compound magic. A spell that combines the magic of two or more attributes.”

“Combines…? Such a thing is possible?”

“Yes. What I used a moment ago was a spell called Fire Bullet, compounding earth magic and fire magic.”

When I answered, Lord Richard’s face went difficult and he sank into thought. Lord Christophe and Lord Frederick had the same difficult look on.

“Leon, would it also be possible for two people to use magic and compound it between them?”

That’s a thought…! It had never crossed my mind. But with practice it might be possible. And if it were, wouldn’t that be fairly strong?

“I do not know, but it may be possible. Has it never been tried before?”

“When magic is used to attack, it is in war or against monsters. As a rule the fighting is done with swords and magic plays a supporting part. Even at a mana capacity of five, a spell of attacking grade is not one you may use many times over.”

So attack magic hasn’t developed very far. If you can’t use it repeatedly, a sword is better, obviously. A weak attack you can use any number of times beats a strong one you get once, every time. And with a sword, the more you polish the arm the stronger the attack gets.

“I follow. But in that case, will compound magic not go on being unnecessary?”

“No. If Leon comes to be teaching magic, people will be able to use far more spells than they can now, will they not? In that case it may be worth stationing someone in the rear whose specialty is magic.”

If I teach the image, the average person should manage at least three times as many casts as before. In that case attacking from the rear with compound magic might well be worth it.

“That is true. Then shall we try it? I shall make the arrowhead with earth magic, and I would ask Lord Lucien to wrap fire around it with fire magic.”

“Understood. I do it as in the spell I saw just now?”

“Yes. Here we go, then.”

“Bullet.”

“Fireball.”

Lucien wrapped his Fireball around the arrowhead I made in the air.

“Let us send them off on three, two, one. Here we go. Three, two, one.”

There was a sort of thud, and my Bullet and Lucien’s Fireball both flew off toward the rock. Except mine was faster and the Bullet got there first, and the Fireball hit the rock after it. Hmm. Even like that there’s an effect, since the Bullet gets heated, but it’s marginal. And this way the Fireball is only doing the job of heating the Bullet. Matching the speeds is going to be seriously hard. With a lot of practice it might be possible, but using it in a real fight would be difficult. Rock Tornado doesn’t need the speeds matched and it covers a wide area, so that may be the better one.

“Matching the speeds is difficult with this one. There is another compound spell, one called Rock Tornado, and that one may be easier to bring off.”

At that Lord Richard made a face somewhere between astonished and exasperated: “There is another one?”

“Then I should like you to try it.”

“Certainly. This one uses earth magic and wind magic. Is there anyone who can use either?”

“I can use earth magic.”

The hand that went up was Lord Frederick’s. So Lord Frederick is earth attribute.

“Then could you make several arrowheads with earth magic?”

“The things you were making a moment ago?”

“Yes. I shall make a Tornado with wind magic, and I would like you to create the arrowheads inside it.”

“I cannot make a thing created with earth magic float. Would creating them and throwing them in do instead?”

Er… Would throwing them in from outside actually work? I have a feeling they’d be flung back out. And this time there’s no need for the arrowheads to float; they only have to be created inside the Tornado.

“There is no need for them to float this time. Creating them inside the Tornado is enough, but can you create them at a distance?”

“I have not done it often… Let us try.”

Lord Frederick tried his earth magic, and an arrowhead was created in the air a good way off. There was a small click as the Bullet that had appeared in midair dropped to the ground.

“The mana cost goes up, but it seems it can be done.”

“Then that is all we need this time.”

I meant to go straight on and try the spell, and Lord Frederick was staring at me. Er… What is it?

“Is something the matter?”

“What must one do to make a thing created with earth magic float?”

“Er… it is not needed this time.”

“I want to know all the same. Will you tell me?”

…Explaining that is fairly hard work. I looked around for somebody to stop Lord Frederick, and every one of them was waiting for my explanation with open interest. Nothing for it, then.

From there I started with the fact that this world has gravity and worked all the way through to zero gravity. To make a thing created with earth magic float, the image of zero gravity is the best one. Try to make it float with no image and it takes a great deal of mana, enough to be impossible for an ordinary person.

“Then may I try Rock Tornado?”

“Yes. I am sorry for taking us off the track. Please go ahead.”

“Certainly. I shall make the Tornado. Since it would be dangerous if the arrowheads came flying this way, I shall put up a wall with earth magic as well. I shall leave a hole large enough to see through.”

“Thank you.”

“Wall.”

I walled in the place where I was going to make the Tornado. Now there’s no chance of an arrowhead flying out and hurting anybody.

“Here we go. Tornado. Lord Frederick, if you please.”

“Understood. Bullet.”

Lord Frederick made his Bullets appear inside the Tornado I’d raised. There we are, the Bullets are rampaging around inside it. Yes, this one goes together without any trouble. The power would be easier to judge if I threw something in. Could I use one of those targets?

“Lord Christophe, may I put one of those targets into the Rock Tornado? It would show the power more clearly, I think.”

“By all means.”

“Thank you.”

With Lord Christophe’s permission I tossed one of the targets, a scarecrow sort of thing made of wood and cloth, into the Rock Tornado.

There was a splintering, cracking run of noise.

The instant it touched the Rock Tornado the target broke apart into pieces. …This spell really is vicious. Without thinking about where you use it, you’d be left with something horrific.

After that I kept control so the Bullets wouldn’t scatter, weakened the spell by degrees and let the Tornado go. The Bullets were made from real earth, so they’re still lying there.

Earth magic can create earth out of mana, but using earth that’s already to hand costs less mana, so in almost every case you use the real thing. Which is why I can’t make these Bullets disappear. If a Bullet were made from mana alone, the caster could dispel it as he liked.

Right, it worked, which is what matters. Satisfied that the compound spell had gone well, I turned around. And every one of them was frozen with astonishment on their faces. They’re fairly shaken, then. Well, it’s a pretty vicious spell.

“How was that? The spell worked, at any rate…”

“Yes. The power is so great that I am genuinely astonished. This may serve well against monsters.”

When Lord Richard said it the others seemed to come back from their astonishment as well, and then went difficult and thoughtful again. They must be working through the situations it could be used in. But once they start that discussion it’ll run long, won’t it. I’m tired and I want to go back inside. It’s past noon and I’m hungry.

“Excuse me. Might we go back to the house first? It is past noon…”

“Is it that hour already! Yes, let us leave the thinking for later and go back for now. His Majesty will need to be consulted about this as well.”

Lord Richard left that ominous line behind him and went back into the house. So this is another matter that needs taking to His Majesty. I’m trying not to stand out. Why do I keep overdoing it?

Tired, and a little heavy in the legs, I made my way back to the house.

Chapter 7 – The Current Duke’s Family

I woke the next morning clear-headed, ate breakfast in the dining room and got ready to leave. Perhaps because I’d told Lord Richard the night before, meeting Morgan didn’t put me on edge the way it had.

Then it was time to go, almost at once.

“Thank you for stopping in this town on your journey. I pray for the safety of your road.”

“Yes. We are obliged to you. We plan to stop here on the way back as well, so we shall be in your hands again. There will be one more of us returning, so have two additional guest rooms prepared.”

Morgan’s face stiffened a little at that, and then went back to the usual smile, and he bowed.

“Certainly. We shall be waiting.”

So we got into the carriages and set off for Tarzelia. How’s Morgan going to prepare two more guest rooms? Furniture is made to order as a rule, and the furniture a ducal house would use is expensive. If he’s already sold it he’ll be short of both money and time.

Well. Not my problem. I’m under no obligation to worry about that man.

The road after that went extremely smoothly. The deputy at the residence where we stayed on the second night was a gentle, unhurried man, and he had a proper guest room ready for me as a matter of course. No looking down on the commoner, and I got a real rest. If every noble and semi-noble were as peaceable as that. But men like Morgan yesterday make up more than half of noble society, don’t they. Which means the Royal Academy will be full of children of that stamp. Thinking about it depresses me thoroughly.

I want to live quietly for a year. I’ll be lodging at the ducal house, but if I walk to the Royal Academy on my own, maybe I can keep from standing out? Turning up in a ducal carriage would be far too conspicuous.

Except that I promised to give the ducal house’s camp a push, so I have to make the backing visible. Which means standing out badly and getting picked at by somebody tiresome. In that case the thing to do may be to get friendly with this Lord Lucien I’m about to meet and have him clear the tiresome ones away for me. Right. I shall work hard at being friends.

I’d just settled on that when we finally arrived in Tarzelia.

“Leon, we are in Tarzelia. We shall be going up the main street now, so you had better look at the town.”

“Yes.”

I opened the window I’d shut out of boredom with the endless identical view. There are more houses about than there have been. We must have only just entered the town, though, because they’re still scattered. We went on a while and drew near a place where the houses were packed close.

At first there were a great many people walking about in rather poor clothes, like the district my house is in back in the capital, and then bit by bit the clothes grew finer. This part seems to be the district for the merchants who deal with nobles. This is the main city of a ducal domain, after all. It looks thoroughly prosperous. Then we passed through that as well, and the ducal residence came into view ahead of us in all its splendor.

Astonishing. The scale and grandeur of the house are no different from the one in the capital, but the grounds are enormous. Twice the size of the capital house, easily. This is their own land, so they can take as much of it as they like. Hard on the gardeners.

The carriage went in through the gates without stopping and halted in front of the entrance. Standing before the house were a young man and woman, a boy about my own age and a boy who looked about two, with the servants drawn up in a long line behind them. Those must be the current duke’s family. I got down from the carriage and stood facing them.

“Father, Mother, you must be tired after so long a road. You are very welcome here. Frederick, good of you to come as well.”

“Christophe. It has been a while. Lady Sophia and Lucien look well, which is the best of news. Is that child the new one?”

“Yes. He is called Albert. He has just turned three.”

Three years old. Still soft around the edges and thoroughly sweet.

“Albert, greet your grandfather.”

“Grandfather. How do you do. I am Albert.”

Lord Albert made his greeting in speech that still stumbled, and gave a little dip of a bow. He must have practiced it a great many times. He seemed pleased with himself for having got through it, because afterward he broke into a smile. That’s extremely cute. Just plain cute, no argument. What even is this child. I’d assumed a boy of about that age would be a cheeky little thing. Perhaps because he’s being brought up as a noble he sits quietly, and he doesn’t seem shy of strangers either; he’s looking us over with open interest. If little brothers come like this, I want one!

I was writhing about internally over that, and Lord Richard and the others appear to be feeling much the same. Every one of their faces has gone soft and slack. Lord Richard, there’s no dignity left in your face at all.

Lord Richard stayed in that state for a while, then came to himself with a start, coughed in an obviously manufactured way and got his serious expression back.

“Albert, if anything ever troubles you, tell me. And when there is something you want, tell me at once.”

Lord Richard, weren’t you just putting the dignity back on? He made a slightly stern face at the start of it and then went straight to being a grandfather looking at an adorable grandchild. Promising to buy the boy anything he wants: the textbook indulgent grandfather. Lord Albert didn’t seem to follow it, and tilted his head.

Lord Christophe watched that with a rueful smile.

“Father, please stop offering to buy Albert whatever he asks for. It will be a nuisance if he grows up spoiled.”

“Well. That is true… Then I shall buy whatever he needs.”

Lord Richard is determined to buy the boy something. Not only Lord Christophe but Lady Sophia and Lord Lucien have rueful smiles on now as well.

“Thank you. I shall tell you if anything is needed.”

“Yes. See that you do.”

“Yes. And you must be Leon. Forgive me for greeting you late. I am the current head of House Townsend, Christophe Townsend. This is my wife Sophia, my eldest son Lucien, and my second son Albert.”

Lord Christophe turned to me and made the introductions. He has brown hair and gold eyes and a kind face.

“I am honored to meet you, Lord Christophe, Lady Sophia, Lord Lucien, Lord Albert. My name is Leon.”

“Christophe’s wife. Sophia Townsend.”

“The eldest son. Lucien Townsend.”

“I am… Albert.”

Lady Sophia has blue hair and blue eyes and is slender and lovely; Lord Lucien has blue hair and gold eyes and, at nine, already a keen set to his face. Something about him looks strong and dependable. Lord Albert has brown hair and deep blue eyes and is, above all, cute.

“Well, the introductions are done, so let us go inside.”

Lord Richard and the others followed Lord Christophe into the house and I went after them. It feels rather like being the one outsider at a family gathering, and it doesn’t settle me. I trailed along at the back, keeping myself small.

Where we arrived was a very large drawing room. There are two big sofas with a table between them, and one of them would comfortably take six people. Lord Christophe’s family sat on one and we were to sit on the other.

I hesitated over whether I was allowed to sit, but Lord Christophe said, “Leon, sit down too,” so I took a place on the sofa. This is nerve-racking. I wiped the damp off my palms on my trousers as unobtrusively as I could.

“Father, Mother, and Frederick. Thank you for coming to collect Lucien.”

“Grandfather, Grandmother, Uncle. Thank you.”

Lord Lucien is so composed that it’s hard to believe he’s nine. Is this what a noble education produces? I’m nine as well, but the inside of me is a grown adult, so there’s no comparison to be made.

“Lucien, if anything happened to you it would be a serious matter. Coming to collect you is no more than natural.”

Lord Richard presumably meant that to sound impressive, and his face was too soft for any impressiveness to survive. It isn’t that he goes to pieces over small children; he goes to pieces over grandchildren.

I’ve been thinking it for a while, but House Townsend is remarkably good at being a family, for nobles. My mental picture of the nobility was grim family relations all round. I don’t know many other noble houses, so I can’t really judge, but this one feels like a special case among them.

Getting to know Lord Frederick first was extraordinarily lucky. Meeting Marcel too. With other people I might have been used and thrown away, or shut up somewhere.

…Which is frightening to think about. It really did come right.

“Lucien is enrolling at the Royal Academy already. The months go by quickly.”

“They do. He has not passed the examination yet, though.”

Lord Christophe answered Lord Richard’s musing with a rueful smile.

“That is so. He is hardly going to fail that examination.”

“Failing is certainly hard to imagine… Still, there is no telling what may happen before the day. And the content of the examination changes a little every year.”

Wait. The content of the exam changes?! That’s the first I’ve heard of it!

“Excuse me. Is the content of the examination not the same every year?”

I couldn’t leave it alone, and put in before I could stop myself. Every face in the room turned to me.

“Has nobody explained the details of the examination to Leon?”

Lord Christophe put the question to Lord Richard, who thought for a moment and then handed it on to Lord Frederick.

“Did Frederick not give him the study materials?”

“I did, yes… Though I believe I only talked to him about the content of the written examination. Leon knew about the Royal Academy’s examination to begin with, so I took it that he had the details from Master Marcel.”

Lord Christophe heard that much, let out a small breath and turned back to me.

“Leon, it seems nobody told you the details. I am sorry.”

“No, it is quite all right. I had it in my head that there was only the written examination, so I never asked. And so, what other examinations are there?”

“Last year, if I recall, there was a magic practical and an interview. But it changes often in recent years, so last year is not much of a guide. And everything besides the written examination counts only for a small number of additional points. Pass or fail is decided essentially on the written score, so there is nothing you need do by way of preparing for the rest.”

Is that all it is. Then I can stop worrying and just study for the written exam, can’t I.

“Thank you for telling me. That sounds manageable, and I am relieved.”

“Yes. From everything I have heard, Leon will not be failing. Nor will Lucien, for that matter.”

Lord Christophe said it with a rueful smile. Going by the study materials, anybody who’s actually studied is unlikely to fail.

“Leon! You enroll the same year as me, is that right?”

Lord Lucien had been listening to me and Lord Christophe, and his face brightened a little as he asked it.

“Yes. That is the plan.”

“Good. You are the first friend I have had of my own age. I look forward to it!”

Lord Lucien turned an entirely unguarded smile on me as he said it. There’s a boy in there after all. And he’s friendlier than I expected, which is a surprise.

“I look forward to it as well.”

“Leon, which class are you looking forward to? I am looking forward to swordsmanship!”

“You are fond of the sword?”

“I train properly, every day. The sword is good because it makes you stronger for exactly as much work as you put in. That is why I like it.”

That’s a formidable thing to think at his age. Swordsmanship, though… I’m looking forward to that too. I have to keep every attribute hidden so body strengthening is out, but with anything you start by getting the basics into your body. More ways to attack is better, and magic isn’t much suited to fighting up close. I shall put some work into the sword myself.

“I am looking forward to swordsmanship as well.”

“Truly?!”

Lord Lucien’s eyes shone brighter still at my answer. When he isn’t holding his feelings down in the noble manner, every one of them shows on his face and he’s easy to read. It looks as though we can be friends, which is a relief. I was talking happily with him when he stopped moving all at once. Then, after something like a moment of hesitation, he asked Lord Christophe in a low voice.

“Father, may I speak about Leon’s abilities here and now?”

“Let me see… Would all of you withdraw a while?”

Lord Christophe sent every servant out of the room.

“Lucien, here you may speak of it. As a rule you must take care that not even the servants hear it.”

“I understand.”

Lord Lucien settled that with his father and then turned back to me.

“Leon, you can use the magic of every attribute, can you not? Will you show me some magic? I am fire attribute, and I want to be better at magic than I am.”

Lord Lucien knows about every attribute too. I was startled by that, and Lord Richard filled it in for me.

“In truth I had meant not to tell the children, but Prince Stephane and Her Highness came to know of it, and the two of them will be in company with you often at the Royal Academy, so we decided to tell Lucien as well.”

Martine did find out, and once she had, it was always going to reach Lord Stephane. I’ve no objection at all to being told about by people who judge it necessary. Having people who know makes things easier for me, so it’s to my advantage too.

“I understand. Lord Lucien, if I am good enough for it I shall both teach you magic and show you some.”

“Truly?! Leon, thank you!”

“Leon, if you are willing, would you use the magic of every attribute here and now? I have had it from my father in a letter, but I should like to see it for myself.”

That was Lord Christophe. Hearing about it and believing it are fairly different things.

“Certainly. I shall start with fire magic, then.”

I used the spells that carry no danger in a drawing room, in the order fire, water, wind, earth, body strengthening. And last, the healing attribute.

“The last is the healing attribute. If anyone has an injury I can heal that, but there is also a spell for examining whether there is any illness. Shall I look at the state of everyone’s bodies?”

I’ve been practicing healing magic every day since then, to the very edge of my mana, so the spell for identifying trouble in a body and its cause has become more precise. I’ve been at it with my family and with Martine all this time.

I can cover a whole body with less mana than I used to, and I can now make out things like headaches and stomach aches that aren’t caused by a virus. But while I can remove viruses, pathogens and malignant cells, I can’t cure a plain headache. A stomach ache I can clear if it comes from something eaten, and one that comes from the nerves I can’t. So the magic isn’t all-powerful.

“That is very welcome. Are you able to see everyone here?”

“Yes. Curing an illness costs mana, but examining does not cost much.”

“Then please do.”

“Certainly. Who shall be first?”

“My father, I think.”

I went over to Lord Richard and covered his whole body in healing-attribute mana. …Hm? There may be something like a small tumor low in his abdomen. It’s still very small, and I’m glad to have caught it now. At this size I can cure it without using much mana.

I was still working out the state of him when Lord Richard, made uneasy by my going quiet, leaned in to look at my face.

“Leon, is something wrong?”

“Ah, forgive me. There appears to be a small growth low in your abdomen. May I cure it now?”

Lord Richard’s face registered considerable surprise.

“I have felt perfectly well…”

“I do not think it has grown far enough to affect how you feel. It can be cured easily now, so there is nothing to worry about.”

I smiled to put him at ease, and his own face eased a little.

“I see. It is a good thing you looked at me, Leon. Please go ahead.”

“Certainly. I shall cure it, then.”

I drew the mana I’d spread through him in to his lower abdomen and poured more in after it, and it seems to have healed completely almost at once, without much mana spent. Catching a thing early really does make it simple.

“That has done it.”

“Thank you, Leon. You do nothing but rescue me. It seems I have a great deal to repay.”

Lord Richard said it with a rueful smile, so I answered smiling as well.

“Lord Richard and the ducal house are very good to me. This is no more than my due. Then Lady Catherine will be next.”

I checked Lady Catherine and Lord Frederick, and nothing was wrong with either of them, so I turned back toward Lord Christophe and his family. And they were sitting there open-mouthed, as though astonished at something. Er. What’s the matter?

“Is something wrong?”

“…Ah, forgive me. Was my father’s illness truly cured by that? To cure it as easily as that is genuinely astonishing.”

I see, it’s the first time they’ve watched it, so maybe that’s what startled them.

“Since there is no visible change in Lord Richard, I understand it is difficult to tell…”

“That is so, but the mana was giving off a most holy light.”

A holy light…? When healing magic is used, the part you’re pouring mana into glows unless you deliberately suppress the light. But not an ordinary light?

“Is it not an ordinary light?”

“No. When other healing magic users heal, the light is nothing like as bright, surely?”

…That’s true, actually. Martine and Lady Catherine don’t glow anything like that much. So is it my quantity of mana that makes it shine…? In that case I’d better take care not to let it glow from now on. The size of my mana is another thing better hidden as far as possible.

“That may well be so. Then from now on I shall take care not to let it shine much.”

“Yes. For not standing out, that would be best.”

“Thank you. Then may I go on to Lord Christophe?”

“Yes, please do.”

“Excuse me, then.”

After that I examined Lord Christophe, Lady Sophia, Lord Lucien and Lord Albert in that order, and none of them had anything wrong.

“There was nothing wrong with any of you. If any of you should feel unwell in the future, please tell me at once.”

“Leon, thank you. That is a great reassurance.”

“It has set my mind at rest as well. Thank you.”

“I am glad it pleases you.”

We talked about nothing in particular for a while after that, and then we were to be shown to our rooms. A rest in the room, and then dinner. Will there be things from the sea? I’m looking forward to it enormously.

Chapter 6 – The Deputy’s Residence

We finished lunch, sat a while to let it settle, and then swayed along in the carriage again until we reached a large town as the light was starting to go. Every town in the ducal domain except the main city is managed by a deputy, and in a small town the deputy’s residence is a modest place, while a large town gets a fairly grand building. The ducal house is the one that builds them, so showing the house’s authority must be part of it. This town’s a large one and the residence is roomy, so there’s apparently plenty of space even with all of us staying.

The carriages went through the town and turned in at the grounds of the residence, and stopped. The valet got down first, then me, then Lord Frederick, in the same order as before. In front of the residence stood a man in slightly grand clothes who looked like the deputy, with a long row of servants behind him.

I heard it in the carriage earlier: the deputy of a large town is generally a third or later son of a lower noble house. Rather than working as officials at the palace, a fair number of them take service with a noble and become deputies. This town’s deputy is one of those, a man who used to be a baron’s third son. A semi-noble, as they say.

The man who’d been bowing in front of the house raised his head. He looks to be in his forties. His belly is enormous. The man is vast.

“We have been waiting for you. To have the family of House Townsend under this roof is a very great honor. We shall entertain you with everything we have, so please pass your time here at your ease.”

He said it with a broad, pleasant smile. He looks tremendously friendly… and there’s something under the smile. I don’t know why I think so. Instinct is all I can call it. If I had to put it into words, it’s a smile that seems like a lie. The kind you fawn on power with. For now, I’ll keep out of his way.

“Morgan. It has been a while. Only the one day, but we are in your hands.”

“My lord. It has been too long, and it is a joy to see you looking so well. Please come in. I shall show you to your rooms.”

We followed Morgan into the house. The way the place is built isn’t much different from the ducal mansion; it’s simply plainer and smaller than that one. This may be the size I find restful, in fact. Not that this house would be anything less than an outright mansion if you dropped it into Japan. I may be getting steeped in this world’s scale of things.

Our guest rooms seem to be on the second floor, and we went up the stairs and Lord Richard and the others were shown into the rooms from the far end.

“My lord, please take this room. The mistress here, and Lord Frederick here.”

I assumed I was next, and my room wasn’t shown to me.

“Morgan, where is Leon’s room? I believe I sent word that Leon was to be treated exactly as we are.”

“I understood it so. However, I am terribly sorry to say that there are only these three guest rooms. Might Master Leon therefore use one of the vacant servants’ rooms?”

“A servant’s room? There are other rooms besides. Are they not guest rooms?”

When Lord Richard asked it, I thought for a moment I saw the barest flicker of panic go across Morgan’s face. I’m still short enough to see up into a face from below, which is the only reason I caught it; nobody else will have.

“Those rooms are used for storage. On no occasion when the family has come here have there been more than three of you, so I thought it better to make good use of the other rooms as storage… I am very sorry to have taken it on myself.”

Rooms that could be guest rooms being used as a storeroom is a strange business. Is that really what happened? I had my doubts, but putting my oar in here looked likely to complicate matters, so I kept quiet.

“Morgan, the rooms exist, so have them properly fitted out as guest rooms. Add another two or three while you are about it. It is chance that has kept us to three or fewer until now.”

“Certainly. I am very sorry.”

“And in the meantime, what to do about tonight…”

Having reproved Morgan, Lord Richard fell to worrying about the sleeping arrangements. I’m a commoner; a servant’s room is honestly fine by me.

“Lord Richard, a servant’s room would not trouble me in the least.”

“But to have you treated in that fashion, Leon, is really…”

“Even so. For me to take a guest room while somebody of rank uses a servant’s room is out of the question, and it is only for the one day.”

Lord Richard seemed to turn it over for some time, but in the end he accepted it.

“Then I am truly sorry, but would you use a servant’s room, Leon?”

“Certainly.”

That closed the matter, and I parted from the family and was shown down to the servants’ rooms with Roger.

“Please use this one.”

Morgan’s at least keeping his words polite, but the eyes he turns on me are contemptuous. That look told me everything. This man will be the sort of noble who looks down on commoners. Not noble; semi-noble. And the business with the guest rooms may simply have been that he didn’t want to put a commoner in a grand one.

“Thank you very much.”

I thanked him for form’s sake, and Morgan gave me a hard glare and left. …Is that man an idiot? Doesn’t he understand at all what it means that Lord Richard went out of his way to ask that I be treated as the family are? Lord Richard hesitated over letting me use a servant’s room a minute ago. Anybody who thought for a moment would guess that this commoner is an important guest.

Turn a look like that on the guest, and doesn’t it occur to him that one word from me to Lord Richard finishes him on the spot? A noble’s son, a semi-noble, may do as he pleases with a commoner. Perhaps that’s what has taken root in him.

Morgan may have hidden it well in front of Lord Richard and the others, but this amounts to his holding the same ideas as the camp that opposes House Townsend. That may be worth telling Lord Richard. One night only, and it’s already looking like a nuisance.

I’d got that far in my thinking when Roger came into the room.

“Master Leon, the servants’ room next door has been lent to me, so I shall sleep there. Please call for me at once if anything is needed.”

“Right. Thanks.”

“Though to put Master Leon, a guest of the ducal house, into a room of this kind.”

Roger was frowning where anybody could see it. Feeling on display is a rare event with him.

“And this room is very dusty. I doubt it has been cleaned.”

“It is, isn’t it. Would you give it a clean? Nothing thorough.”

“Certainly.”

If he makes his spite this obvious, doesn’t it occur to him that he’s backing himself into a corner? It’s so stupid that it becomes hard to get properly angry about. If I told Lord Richard what he said and did and what this room is actually like, Morgan might be dismissed on the spot, but if he’s any good as a deputy then perhaps that’s better not done. That’s the difficult part.

Putting up with one night is no trouble at all to me. Still, Morgan’s way of thinking must collide with the camp House Townsend stands in, and if Lord Richard and the others haven’t noticed it, then reporting it is probably the right thing. Hmm. I still don’t know much about how any of that works in practice. It’s possible that where a man stands and how he does his job are separate matters. For now, watch and see.

After that Roger cleaned the room properly and brought me a pail of hot water to wipe myself down with.

“Master Leon, this room has no bath, so might I ask you to make do with wiping yourself down today?”

“Wiping down is fine, thanks.”

I cleaned myself up with Roger’s help and changed into the clothes I wear indoors. At home it’s a cloth and water every time, so it’s no difficulty whatever. And if it starts to bother me I can make myself clean with Purification.

A while later it was time for dinner, and one of the house’s servants showed me to the dining room. The servants here only seem to be avoiding crossing Morgan; they aren’t actively out to do me any harm. Well, we’re commoners together, and nobody takes on that kind of risk.

When I went in Morgan was already in his seat and none of the family had arrived. Marvelous… Is he about to do something else to me? I braced for it, and was saved by Lord Frederick coming in almost at once. This is exhausting.

Dinner went along in an easy mood from beginning to end, presumably because the family were there. The food was a little below what we eat at the mansion in the capital, but decent and satisfying.

“Leon, how is your room? Is there anything you lack?”

“No. It is a small shame that there is no bath, but I lack nothing in particular.”

“A bath… In that case you had better use mine.”

Use the bath in Lord Richard’s room?! There’s no possible way I could be that brazen!

“No, Roger prepared hot water for me earlier and I have cleaned myself up, so I am quite all right. Thank you for the thought.”

“I see. As long as that is so…”

“Yes. It is only tonight, and there is no difficulty at all.”

“Good. But say so at any time if you find you want a bath.”

“Certainly.”

A bath is a little tempting, but I’m not thick-skinned enough to relax in the bath in Lord Richard’s own room. And doing it would only earn me more of Morgan’s resentment.

“That reminds me, Morgan. On the matter of order in this town…”

Lord Richard moved on from there to talking with Morgan about keeping the peace in the town. Once I’d stopped being the subject I finally settled down and got back to eating. This house is an uncomfortable place. Simply knowing that somebody here means me ill is enough to keep me on edge.

After a while Lady Catherine and Lord Frederick went back to their rooms, so I decided to follow them up. Out of this room at last.

“Then, since I have the road behind me as well, I shall go up ahead of you.”

“Yes. Until tomorrow, Leon.”

“Yes. Please rest well, Lord Richard.”

Successfully out of the dining room at last. That took a good deal out of me. Other people’s ill will really is frightening. It brought home to me all over again how decent every single person I’ve dealt with until now has been.

Back in the room I changed into nightclothes and sat on the edge of the bed. I’m tired; I may as well sleep. I’m not in the mood to enjoy tea in this room either.

“Master Leon, shall I pour you some tea?”

“No, I’m tired today, so I’ll leave it. I’m going to sleep.”

“Certainly. Then I shall withdraw as well.”

“Yeah. Roger, thanks. For everything, always.”

It struck me how much it’s worth that Roger serves a commoner like me in earnest, and the thanks came out of me before I’d decided to say it. Roger’s face eased a very little.

“Serving Master Leon is my work.”

The words are curt, and what comes through them is something like pride in serving me. …That’s a good feeling to have. All the more so now, with somebody’s ill will in the house. I’m glad Roger is my valet.

Then Roger withdrew to his own room and I was alone. There was nothing to do, so I lay down on the bed, and I couldn’t really sleep; I was too surprised that a person could look down on me that far for nothing but being a commoner. Meeting one in the flesh is quite a shock.

I was rolling around on the bed when I heard somebody talking outside. Servants? Young women’s voices, so new maids perhaps. I found myself curious about what they were saying, so I gathered mana in my ears and strengthened my hearing. Using body strengthening magic on the ears does raise your hearing a little. Only a little, so it isn’t much use as a rule, but at a time like this it earns its keep.

“I was on edge thinking the family were going to find out.”

“Me too. Though we can’t relax until they’ve gone.”

“I know. But I don’t know what Morgan thinks he’s doing, selling the furniture out of the guest rooms.”

“About that… Don’t tell anybody, but they say he’s spending the money on himself.”

“What?!”

“Keep your voice down!”

“S-sorry. But is that really true?”

“Yes. There’s a servant who heard Morgan and the butler talking about it.”

“So the butler’s in on it?”

“Apparently not. The way I heard it, the butler tried to stop him. We’re commoners; we can’t go against Morgan, can we.”

“No. I suppose not.”

I managed to hear that much, and then they got too far off and I lost them. …That’s quite a thing to have overheard. I’d assumed he couldn’t lend me a room out of spite, and instead there was this behind it. Morgan is embezzling this town’s money. And if he’s going as far as selling the furniture, is he skimming the taxes too? Whichever it is, this is a straightforward crime.

So Morgan probably isn’t even good at being a deputy. Not merely no good; harmful, more likely. This has to be reported to Lord Richard.

I decided to call Roger so he could find out whether Lord Richard would see me. Normally I’d ring the bell, but from this room there’s a chance it wouldn’t be heard, so the arrangement is that I knock on the wall Roger’s room is on. I knocked lightly, and a few seconds later Roger came in. Which is much too fast, surely?

“Master Leon, what may I do for you?”

“Isn’t that too quick after a knock?”

“I am your valet.”

Is a valet supposed to be superhuman? Well, it’s Roger. Roger is extremely capable.

“The thing is, there’s something I want to tell Lord Richard. Could I see him now, do you think?”

“I would think now discourteous. Would tomorrow present a difficulty?”

“Yeah, I think it’s better told as soon as possible.”

“Certainly. Then I shall go and ask whether he will see you. Please wait here, Master Leon.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

Roger went out at speed and came back a few minutes later.

“Master Leon, he will see you now.”

“Good. Then let’s go straight away and not keep him waiting.”

“Certainly. Let us change your clothes first, however. Going in nightclothes is better avoided.”

At which I looked down at what I was wearing. …Extremely casual nightclothes. I hadn’t noticed at all. Without Roger I’d have walked into Lord Richard’s room in my pajamas.

“Thanks, Roger. My clothes hadn’t even crossed my mind.”

So Roger got me properly dressed, and I went to Lord Richard’s room a little tense. Roger knocked at the door and spoke through it.

“Master Leon is here.”

Lord Richard’s valet opened the door at once. Lord Richard was sitting on the sofa; he seems to have been waiting for me.

“I am sorry to come at such an hour. Thank you for making time for me.”

“Think nothing of it. And coming to see me at this hour means something has happened?”

“Yes. Though I cannot judge whether it is a matter others should hear.”

I said it with my eyes on the valet and the guards in the room.

“Let me see… All of you, withdraw a while.”

At Lord Richard’s word they went out at once and the two of us were alone.

“Now then. What is it?”

“Yes. It concerns Morgan…”

From there I told him the talk I’d overheard. About his looking down on commoners I decided to keep quiet for the moment. For a noble that much may well be nothing worth remarking on.

Lord Richard heard me out, and then his face went difficult and he sat thinking. After a while, in his own time, he spoke.

“Leon, would you keep this from the others for now? I shall work out how to handle it properly. It will have to wait until the actual evidence is in hand, but Morgan will be resigning as deputy. And he will most likely answer for the crime in the royal capital.”

To charge him they apparently need evidence that he actually took the money, and it has to be done carefully so that nothing gets buried. First they’ll look into who bought the furniture, and after that into whatever else he’s been doing. Left with Lord Richard, it should be all right.

“Certainly. I shall keep it between us.”

“Thank you. …We truly have you to thank this time, Leon. I am the one who hired Morgan, so this is my responsibility.”

Lord Richard seems to be blaming himself for not having seen through Morgan. Seeing through people is hard, though. A man can start out honest and be carried off by greed as the work goes on.

“There may indeed be some responsibility of yours in it, but seeing through a person is difficult, so I think what matters is having a system in which a deputy cannot do as he likes.”

I said it without thinking much about it, and Lord Richard seemed to find it interesting.

“Oh? What sort of system would you suggest?”

…I shouldn’t have opened my mouth. Now he’s interested. Hmm. What sort of system would work. It isn’t as though I know anything about this…

“Let me think… What about dividing the power up? You could cut the agricultural districts into several parts, appoint a head within each, and have each district head submit the harvest figures. And if they were submitted in two places, the deputy’s residence and the ducal residence, it would be harder to falsify them. If the deputy were doing something dishonest, it would also be easier for a head to report it.”

In practice it wouldn’t go that smoothly, but as an idea it may just pass.

“There is certainly something in that worth a second look. I shall talk it over with Christophe.”

Well received, surprisingly. I let a quiet breath out in relief.

“Then leave Morgan to me.”

“Certainly. I have no right to put my oar in. It was only that the talk I happened to overhear was not the sort of thing one can ignore.”

I said it with a rueful smile, and Lord Richard answered with one of his own.

“Instead of resting from the road, I have tired you out. I am sorry for it. Go back to your room and rest properly.”

“Thank you. Excuse me, then.”

So I went back to my own room with Roger. Telling Lord Richard must have cleared something out of me, because after that I slept soundly.

Chapter 5 – To the Ducal Domain

The months went by after that and the season came around to the end of autumn. From summer into autumn I spent my time helping at home, teaching Martine, going to tea parties. Then, in the middle of all those quiet days, word came from House Townsend: they were leaving for the ducal domain in three days, so would I come to the house the day after tomorrow.

“Mom, Dad, about going to the ducal domain. They’ve settled on three days from now, so I’ll go over to the ducal house the day after tomorrow.”

My family already know about the trip. They’ve met Lord Frederick in person, and I’ve been going to the ducal house every week lately, so they agreed to it without any fuss.

“So the day’s settled. Take care of yourself, and off you go. Mind you’re not a nuisance to anybody.”

“Yeah, I’ll be careful.”

“Good timing, though, all things considered.”

Dad said it, which suggests something’s going on.

“The truth is we’ve found somebody to work for us. He starts tomorrow, as it happens.”

“Really?! That’s great news!”

With me away Marie has too much to do, and that was the one thing worrying me.

“What sort of person?”

“A boy of fifteen who’s come of age just this year. He’s interested in cooking, and he begged us to teach him between jobs.”

“He looks keen, and he seemed a good lad. Kind sort of face.”

Which is all very well, except… hold on. He’s a man? And he wants to be a cook. Which means, if he plays it right, he wants to take over our restaurant, doesn’t it?! Is Marie in danger here?!

“Listen, have you really gone and hired him?”

“Of course. Why would you ask a thing like that? Mom met him once and he’s a lovely boy.”

“But a man’s a risk to Marie, isn’t he? Wouldn’t a girl be better, somebody her own sort she could be friends with?”

I put the case as hard as I could and neither of them would take me seriously for a second.

“There’s no danger in it, so stop worrying. And who knows, he might do very nicely marrying into the family one day and taking Marie’s name.”

How did we get there? I was arguing the exact opposite of that a moment ago!

“Loana, that really is getting ahead of things.”

Nice, Dad. Hold the line!

“Although it’s true that if the two of them suit each other it might come to that in time. And I’d be glad to have somebody to hand the restaurant on to.”

Dad! I thought you were on my side! Granted, if I’m not taking the restaurant then Marie is, and that does mean somebody has to marry into it… I understand the logic. It still sits badly. Nothing for it: I’ll take the measure of this man myself. If I find one thing about him that isn’t good enough for Marie, I’m opposing the whole business.

That was where I stood when the next day came. Today the man starts work.

“Big Brother, you’re in the way standing there. Come and help me get ready!”

I’d been standing since morning with a hard look on my face, glaring at the door, and Marie told me I was in the way.

“Sorry, Marie. But the first day matters with a new employee. If he decides he can walk over me at the start, that’s it.”

“Honestly, Big Brother, what are you talking about? Hurry up and get ready. Anyway, everybody except you has already met him.”

“What?! Marie, you’ve met him too!”

I asked in a hurry at that shattering revelation, and Marie answered with a touch of temper.

“He came to the house once, so obviously I did. You were out.”

“He didn’t do anything to you? Nothing horrible?”

“He was really nice. He helped with the work that day and he was quick about it. He might be more use around here than you are.”

…For Marie to say a thing like that to me. Is it because I’ve been out so much lately and we haven’t played together as much as we used to? Has Marie hit a rebellious phase? I was standing there rooted, thinking that over, when the restaurant door opened and a kind-faced young man with brown hair and brown eyes came in.

“Hello.”

“Oh, Ian!”

Marie ran off toward the young man. So that’s the new employee?

“Big Brother’s here today, so I’ll introduce you! Big Brother, come here!”

Marie called me over, and when I came up to him he greeted me with a bright, open smile.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Ian.”

Ugh… His first impression’s flawless, isn’t it. A pleasant, well-set-up young man, and he even manages a bit of formal speech. Something in me went sour and I fired my greeting back with both barrels.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Marie’s brother. Leon.”

I put a good deal of weight on the brother, and Marie glared at me. Marie, why…? Have you gone off your big brother? Somewhere close to tears, I set about hunting for a flaw in this Ian person.

“Loana, Jean, I’ll do my best from today!”

“Ian. We’re glad you’re here.”

“Welcome, Ian. For now, would you learn the restaurant work with Marie?”

“Yes. Marie, will you show me?”

“Yes! First you wipe the tables with this cloth, and then…”

Marie set about teaching him the work, never leaving his side. Ian listened seriously, putting in a word here and there. He’s conscientious… And once the explanation was done he got straight to work, cleaning quickly and neatly. He’s being thorough about it, and the place is genuinely coming up. So he can work as well…

Next Mom and Dad called him over to taste today’s lunch menu. He said it was delicious, with a smile all over his face. He’s a good sort… Which means there’s nothing wrong with him!

…No, hang on, this is a good thing. Having a decent person working here is something to be glad about. It only feels as though Marie’s been taken away from me, and that stings.

I drooped, and shuffled off to get back to helping. Then Ian came over toward me. What now? Does he have a complaint about me? Am I about to be told Marie’s his? I was busy building that persecution fantasy in my head when he spoke to me, smiling.

“Leon, you’re really clever, they tell me, and you’re going to the Royal Academy. I was honestly amazed when I heard. I had a little chance to learn some formal speech and my letters, and it was hard enough. School would be beyond me. I’ll work hard and keep this restaurant safe, so don’t worry about the place. Give it everything at school.”

Ugh… What a good person. And I was aiming looks like knives at somebody like this. Sorry, Ian. I lose. Nothing for it, I’m going to have to accept you.

“Thanks, Ian. Look after the restaurant and Marie for me.”

“Sure. Leave it to me.”

Ian smiled a warm smile. He’s so thoroughly decent that I start to look bad by comparison. I’ve got some work to do myself.

After that I put my back into helping properly. I taught Ian some of the work too, and I think we got a bit friendlier. It hasn’t stopped stinging that Marie seems to have outgrown her big brother, though. She’s been talking to Ian rather than me all morning. But there’s nothing to be done about it…

Carrying that tangle around, I somehow got through the work. From now on Ian eats lunch with us, and after lunch he gets his cooking lesson. Only today, for whatever reason, I didn’t want to sit and eat with them, so I said I had an errand and went out. Watching Marie and Ian getting on so well was more than I could take.

Do I have a sister complex? I’m aware that I’m too fond of Marie, granted. She’s a genuinely adorable little sister. But I need to keep it within limits if I don’t want her to end up hating me… I was out the door and shuffling off in the general direction of the square when Marie called after me.

“Big Brother!”

“Marie? What’s wrong?”

I hadn’t expected her to come after me at all, and turned round in surprise. Marie’s face was a little worried.

“It’s just, you went all flat partway through today, so I thought maybe you were feeling ill. Are you okay?”

She was genuinely anxious about me, and she came right up and looked up at me from below with worry all over her face. Marie… To have been watching me closely enough to notice something was off! I was so pleased about it that the whole tangle of a moment ago went straight out of my head. Just plain glad, that’s what I am.

“Marie, thank you. I’m glad I’m your big brother.”

“What’s that about?”

“It means your big brother loves you.”

“Does he? I love you too, Big Brother!”

Marie gave me a beaming smile. I want to keep this smile of hers safe for as long as I live. I can’t always be nearby, so if there’s somebody else to protect Marie then I’ll accept him. I found I meant it. Well, I intend to keep protecting her myself as far as I possibly can.

“Big Brother, are you going out anyway?”

“Hmm. I’ll go later after all. Let’s have lunch at home together.”

“Yes!”

And so Marie and I went back to the house on the best of terms.

Then, the next day. Roger came to fetch me by carriage and I set off for the ducal mansion. When I arrived I was shown up to the usual guest room.

“Master Leon, the clothes ordered from the tailor earlier and everything else thought likely to be needed have been packed, so the preparations are already complete. Please rest at your leisure today.”

Done already. I’d have no idea what to take, so this is a mercy. Which reminds me, and it’s late in the day to be wondering, but where is the ducal domain? I’ve never seen a map of this world at all. I know we’re going by carriage; how long is the journey? It’s the end of autumn now and I was told we’ll be back before winter closes in, so it can’t be all that far.

“Roger, thank you. And this is late to be asking, but do you know where the ducal domain is? I’ve never seen a map of this country, so I don’t really have a picture of it.”

“I have heard that the domain’s main city, where the lord’s residence stands, is about three days by carriage. Maps are classified information, however, so they cannot be shown to anyone without the master’s permission.”

Now that he says it, I remember hearing that maps were military secrets on Earth as well. So I probably won’t be shown one.

“Master Leon might be granted permission, though. The master is at the mansion today, so shall I ask whether a map may be lent to you?”

“Really?! Then, yes, please, if you don’t mind.”

“Certainly. One moment, please.”

Roger bowed and went briskly out of the room. I hope the permission comes. I’ve wanted to see a map of this country for ages. I don’t even know where the country sits, or where the royal capital sits inside it. If I can see a map of the world too, I want that. Is this a large continent?

I was waiting and fidgeting with that in mind when Roger came back with two largish rolled sheets in his hands.

“Thank you for waiting. The master’s permission has been given, so I have brought both: a map including the surrounding countries and a map of this country alone.”

Excellent, permission granted! Very grateful indeed. They trust me a fair amount, then. I should work hard for the ducal house too, so as not to let that trust down.

“This is the map including the surrounding countries. This country, the Kingdom of Lathlasia, is here.”

Roger spread the map on the desk and showed me the map of the world first. Now that I think of it, Roger’s senior enough to be allowed to look at maps himself.

“Thank you.”

The map Roger had spread out had only one continent on it, and the Kingdom of Lathlasia sat at the southwest of that continent. The south and the west of the country face the sea, and to the north there are a great many countries. Ours looks like the largest of them, running long from west to east, and along the eastern side of the country a great forest spreads. That’ll be the monster forest. The whole eastern part of the continent appears to be monster forest, and where the continent ends isn’t marked at all.

Maybe nobody knows any longer how far the monster forest runs. And looking at a map like this, properly, this really isn’t Earth. The thought arrived out of nowhere. Perhaps because I saw world maps often enough in Japan.

I was looking over the map of the world, or of the continent rather, with that in my head, when Roger spread out the map of the country as well.

“This is the map of this country. The royal capital is here, and the ducal domain is around here. And this is Tarzelia, the main city of the ducal domain.”

The map of the country was drawn in far more detail than the map of the continent. The royal capital seems to sit a little southwest of the country’s center. The ducal domain lay off to the southeast of the capital, an enormous stretch of land with a coastline. The main city, Tarzelia, is apparently near the sea as well. Might I get to eat things from the sea? In this world I’ve had a little river fish and otherwise almost nothing but meat. If there’s seafood, I’m going to look forward to this trip a great deal more.

“Roger, have you been anywhere other than the royal capital?”

“No. I was born and raised in the royal capital and have never left this city. I am very grateful to be able to go to the ducal domain this time, accompanying Master Leon.”

Roger’s face loosened slightly as he said it. There! For Roger to make a face like that is a rare event. He must be quite looking forward to it. It’d be good to get closer to him on this trip; we’re going to know each other a long time.

“It sounds like the sea is close, so it’d be nice if we could go and look at it.”

“Yes! …Ah. Er, I beg your pardon. I have an interest in the sea.”

It seems to have come out louder than Roger intended, and he patched himself up, a little embarrassed. Not the usual blank face; there’s feeling showing in it. Roger really is unlike himself today. I prefer him this way, though.

He’s that excited about the sea. I couldn’t help laughing a little.

“Heh… I’ll ask if we can go and see it.”

“…Yes. Thank you very much.”

After that we spent the time drinking tea unhurriedly and getting the maps into my head.

Then, that evening. Dinner in the dining room with the household. Lord Richard, Lady Catherine and Lord Frederick are all here today.

“Leon, we leave early tomorrow morning, so rest properly tonight.”

“Yes, thank you. Who will be going to the ducal domain?”

Nobody had told me who was coming yet.

“Ah, did I not say? Catherine and Frederick and myself, the three of us, are to go.”

“Ah. Is your work all right, though?”

I’d assumed Lord Richard and Lord Frederick couldn’t take time off and that Lady Catherine would be going alone.

“The work is quite all right. In this country one may take an extended leave in order to return to one’s domain. Things should manage without me for a short while.”

“What a convenient arrangement to have.”

“The knights have it too. So I get to come along this time. Doubling as escort, mind you.”

Lord Frederick said it. Escort, though. Is the road actually dangerous? I froze with a piece of meat on my fork.

“Is there some danger?”

“No, hardly any. It is only a precaution.”

Fine, then. Reassured, I put the meat in my mouth. Chew, chew… Delicious.

“We are going to collect Lord Lucien this time, is that right? Is there anything else planned?”

“No, nothing in particular. Only that I should like to show you the domain. Is there anywhere you would like to go?”

He’ll take me where I want to go?! In that case there’s only one answer.

“I should like to go to a town with the sea. I am interested in food from the sea as well.”

“Very well. There is a port town near Tarzelia, the main city, so we shall go there. That town has fresh seafood and the food is very good. I am fond of it myself.”

“So we are going to that town. I am looking forward to it as well. The cooking there is delicious.”

Lady Catherine likes it too. That raises my expectations. Good seafood is a moral good. And if the ice maker spreads, might the royal capital get seafood as well? Presumably packing it in ice for days on end is asking too much. Then again, three days or so by carriage; over that distance, ice ought to hold. It’d be good if the capital could have seafood.

But first, the genuine article at the source. I remembered a seafood barbecue and very nearly started drooling. Careful, careful.

“To have food as good as that, I am very much looking forward to it.”

“Look forward to it, then.”

Dinner ended with the mood as easy as that. I went to bed early that night and dropped off almost at once.

Then the next morning, I was woken earlier than usual.

“Master Leon, we depart early today, so unless you rise soon you will be late.”

“Uuugh… all right. Thanks for waking me.”

I rubbed my eyes and managed to sit up, and it looked to be still dark outside. On the way to the ducal domain we apparently stay at the deputies’ residences in the towns along the road, and the first town we’re due to stay in is a fair way off, so we have to leave early.

I clapped both hands against my cheeks and woke myself up. Ow. Too much enthusiasm… Still, I’m awake, so we’ll call it a success.

“Morning, Roger.”

“Good morning. The luggage has already been loaded by the servants, so please see to your own preparations.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

“Breakfast is being prepared, so please wash your face here and wait.”

So I ate breakfast, changed into the splendid clothes, and got myself ready to go.

“Then let us go.”

Roger led me to the drawing room beside the entrance hall, the sort of room they must use for callers who aren’t staying. Nobody had arrived yet when we went in. I sat on the sofa and took a breather over the tea Roger poured me, and after a while Lord Frederick came in.

“Leon, morning. You’re early.”

“Lord Frederick. Good morning.”

“Nervous, are you?”

Am I? I hadn’t noticed it myself. Though it’s the first time I’ll be with nobility for days on end, so perhaps I am a little. I’ve got used to Lord Richard and the others, but the people at the domain I’ve never met.

“I may be, now that you say so. I have never met your eldest brother before…”

“No need to be nervous about that. My eldest brother and the rest are good people. And they’ve been told about you.”

Hearing that does settle me a bit. Then Lord Frederick and I talked about nothing in particular until Lord Richard and Lady Catherine came down from their rooms.

“Everyone is here. Then let us set off at once. Get into the carriage.”

The four of us got into a carriage that was outstandingly large and grand even by the standards of the ducal house, and two servants rode with us. The other servants are in a second carriage, and there are apparently carriages loaded with luggage as well. Four in all, moving along in a line, with the ducal house’s soldiers ringed around them.

I’m surprised there are this many guards on top of Lord Frederick. Well, it’s a ducal house, so perhaps it’s a matter of course. Some of it must be about showing the house’s authority.

The carriages made good progress and we left the streets of the royal capital behind. I opened the window and looked out at fields spreading away on every side, with houses standing here and there among them. There’s something like a church now and then, so maybe a church gets put in once you’re a certain distance out from the capital’s streets. Out this far you’d certainly never hear the bells. Which raises a question: is this still the royal capital? I put it to Lord Richard.

“Lord Richard, is this place still the royal capital, or something like land held directly by the royal house? Or is it a noble’s domain already?”

“No, this is still the capital’s agricultural belt. A little further on we enter the ducal domain’s agricultural belt.”

So the land around the capital is held directly by the royal house for a good while yet.

“I see. Does the road go on like this the whole way?”

“As far as Tarzelia the road is maintained like this more or less throughout. Leave the main highways, however, and that is no longer the case.”

The road we’re on now is bare earth, but well packed and properly kept. That highway runs on and on, and the agricultural belts and the towns sit along it, and off away from it there are small villages here and there.

I asked Lord Richard about all sorts of things and watched out of the window for a while, but the same view does eventually go on too long, and I got bored and shut the window.

“Leon, is there a food you like?”

Lord Richard asked it out of nowhere. A food I like… Being asked outright makes it a difficult question.

“Let me think… I like most things, generally, but the stewed beef I was given at the mansion was very good indeed.”

“Ah, that. I am fond of it too. The seasoning is a recent creation, and it makes the meat tender as well. Very good.”

It’s beef stewed in a sauce a little different from beef stew but tasting like a relative of it, and it comes out tender and delicious. Of everything I’ve eaten at the ducal house’s dinners it’s my favorite.

“Then let us have lunch today at a place where you can eat beef.”

“We are able to eat lunch at a restaurant?”

“There is a town just inside the ducal domain. Lunch will be somewhat late, but eating at a restaurant is better if we can manage it, would you not say?”

There’s a town on the border with the capital. It does make the boundary easier to see, I suppose.

“I shall look forward to it. It will be the first town other than the royal capital I have ever been to.”

“Look forward to it. The feel of it is a little different from the capital; you should enjoy it.”

We swayed along for a while after that, and it seems we reached the town where we were to eat. Looking out of the window I could see houses packed close together.

“Do towns other than the royal capital have anything like a central district?”

“No, they do not. There is a street where the higher-class shops stand, though.”

So that’s it. There are hardly any nobles in the other towns, so a central district wouldn’t be needed.

The carriage went slowly along the town’s main street. The townspeople look at the carriage as though startled, and then most of them turn away as if they’d rather not be involved. The people of House Townsend aren’t like it, but I hear there are nobles who are simply unjust to commoners, and from a commoner’s side the nobility must be one single thing you don’t want to go near.

I was watching the town go by and swaying along when the carriage stopped after a while, in front of a shop with a polished air about it. I could see Lord Richard’s valet going into the place ahead of us; they must send word ahead to have nobles received properly. Then we waited in the carriage a short while, a man of middle years came out of the shop, and the valet came back to us.

“It appears the preparations are complete.”

“Very well.”

The order of getting down is me, Lord Frederick, Lord Richard, Lady Catherine. Broadly it goes from the lowest in rank upward, and the man who does the escorting gets down before the lady he escorts. Lord Frederick and I got down and waited for the other two, and then followed behind as Lord Richard escorted Lady Catherine to the door.

“The family of House Townsend. Our sincere thanks for coming to us today. Your seats are ready; please come in.”

“You have moved quickly, considering we came without notice. Thank you.”

“It is no more than our duty.”

Inside, the place was built on quite a lavish scale. It can’t match the ducal mansion, of course, but it’s grand enough that even somebody who knows the mansion would think so. We were shown to a private room at the back: a square room with a large round table and four chairs. Lord Richard sat furthest in and I took the chair nearest the door.

“Your menus.”

A server handed a menu to each of us. It looked as though you chose one main from several meat dishes and the rest of the set was fixed. Herb-roasted chicken, beef, pork steak, stewed beef and so on were laid out on it. Stewed beef for me, obviously. Talking about it earlier had made me want it.

“The stewed beef, if you please.”

“I should like the herb-roasted chicken.”

“The pork steak for me.”

Stewed beef for Lord Richard, herb-roasted chicken for Lady Catherine, and the pork steak for Lord Frederick.

“The stewed beef for me as well, please.”

“Certainly. One moment, then.”

The server went out once the ordering was done, leaving the four of us with two valets and the guards in the room. The other valets and guards must be eating in shifts.

“So Leon settled on the stewed beef as well.”

“Yes. Talking about it earlier made me want it.”

Lord Richard had asked, so I answered with a slightly sheepish smile.

“It is certainly delicious. Though it is heavy for me to eat in the middle of the day. Chicken is about right.”

“It may indeed be a little heavy for Catherine.”

We were talking like that when the server came in with a pot of soup on a trolley. Then a valet drank a little of the soup first. So nobles do need a taster after all. Every time I see it in front of me I think how frightening it is.

Once the tasting was done the soup was served out into the dishes. The valet had taken the dishes out of a case, so they may well be brought from home. Thinking about it, this cutlery may be the same as what we always use at the ducal house. …Nobility really is frightening.

Maybe I should get some poison weak enough to upset the stomach and practice healing magic that removes poison. I’m going to have to be wary of poison myself from now on, so it must be worth having. I’ll think about it when we’re home.

“Then let us eat.”

“Itadakimasu.”

I decided to forget about poison for the moment and enjoy the soup in front of me. I spooned some up and got it into my mouth. …That’s good, actually. A rich, thick potage, very smooth on the tongue, and the flavor isn’t cloying. Barely different from the soup we get at the ducal house.

Do the new cooking methods developed in the central district make their way to expensive places like this? Or is this something like a chain?

From there I listened to talk about the ducal domain and gave myself up to a very good meal. The stewed beef was delicious as well and left me thoroughly satisfied. The sauce tasted a little different from the usual, so it was a second stewed-beef dish rather than the same one. If you asked me which I preferred I’d still say the ducal house’s cook, but eating a different version now and then is its own kind of pleasure. That’s part of what travel is for.

Chapter 4 – A Tea Party for Two

By the time I’d given the magic lessons often enough to be used to going up to the palace, Her Highness invited me to a tea party. The official story is a tea party for three, Lady Elisabeth and Her Highness and Lady Catherine, except that Lady Elisabeth and Lady Catherine are having their tea somewhere else, so today’s tea party is apparently me and Her Highness on our own. A few trusted servants set it up, and the party itself is held with the whole place cleared.

Why the two of us, I don’t know, and there was never any question of my refusing an invitation from her, so the day arrived. I rode up to the palace with Lady Catherine as usual, and partway through I alone was shown out to a pavilion in the North Palace garden. Tea and sweets were already laid out there. The servant who’d brought me offered me a chair, so I sat and waited for Her Highness, and she came almost at once with a single guard. When she took her seat the guard withdrew far enough that nothing we said would carry.

“Leon. Thank you for coming today.”

“Your Highness. Thank you for inviting me to such a lovely tea party.”

Her Highness is in a grander dress than usual today, tea-party specification presumably, with a good deal of jewelry on as well. She’s very pretty, and that’s putting it mildly. It suits her enormously. And if she smiles on top of that, I’m finished.

The moment the thought went through my head she gave me a small bright smile. Ugh… I’ve got no defense against that. My heart is banging away where I can hear it. If I’m not careful I’m going to sit here gaping at her like an idiot.

“I wanted to talk with you properly, just the two of us. I am happy about today.”

“I am honored to be able to speak with Your Highness like this.”

At which Her Highness’s face took on a faint look of something not quite satisfied.

“Leon, I keep telling you that you may relax with me. I want to be better friends with you than this.”

“But… Your Highness is a princess. And the palace is a place that makes me nervous.”

“When I am the one saying that it is allowed, there is nothing to mind. And palace or not, there is nobody within hearing of us now.”

Lately she tells me to relax every single time. That she wants us to be closer makes me very happy, and I’d like to be closer too if I could, but the fact that she’s a princess still puts the brakes on me.

“Is it a nuisance to you, my wanting to be better friends with you…”

She dropped her eyes, and she looked lonely. …That’s not the face I want to put on her. I want her smiling, always.

“It is nothing of the kind. To have you think so makes me very glad. It is only that I am conscious of the eyes around us…”

“I see… Then let us do this! When it is only the two of us, you relax with me. How would that be?”

She put it to me with her face lit up, as though she’d just thought of something splendid. It’s true that when there’s nobody but the two of us, nobody can call it disrespect, and if she herself says it’s all right, then perhaps it is.

“Certainly. Then when it is only the two of us, I shall do that.”

“Truly?! I am very glad. Then call me Martine, and no formal speech.”

Her Highness smiled at me, thoroughly delighted. If getting to see that smile is what it takes, I’d do more or less anything… which may be a slightly dangerous state to be in.

“Certain—no… Right. Got it. I’ll call you Martine, then?”

“Oh. It feels as though Leon and I have really become friends. I am glad.”

Her Highness said it, no, Martine said it, and went a little red with embarrassment. When she makes a face like that I’m liable to go red myself.

“So Martine, you’re the same age as me, aren’t you?”

I forced the subject sideways to cover the awkwardness. I heard the other day that we’re the same age.

“I am. And Leon will be in the same year as me at the Royal Academy, so I am very much looking forward to enrolling.”

Right, the same year at the Academy too. I’ll be attending from the ducal house, so I’ll stand out horribly once I enroll. Not in the good way either, definitely the bad way. Since I promised to help build up the ducal house’s camp, there’s nothing to be done about it.

Still, every attribute stays hidden for now, so maybe I can get through it without standing out too much? No, better not to count on that… The last of the time I get to spend hidden and unremarkable runs until I enroll at the Royal Academy. After that I stand out at school as the commoner with a ducal house behind him, and once I graduate the every-attribute business goes public and I stand out as a noble. In short, I look like standing out forever. For now I’ll enjoy being an ordinary commoner while it lasts, because it won’t last.

“That reminds me, at the Royal Academy I’ll have to act like I’m meeting you and Lord Stephane for the first time, won’t I?”

I come here as Lady Catherine’s attendant, so an attendant who’s already on visiting terms with Martine and Lord Stephane would look very odd indeed.

“At the start it will have to be so, yes. But I should be lonely if I could not talk to you, so perhaps I shall make some opening for us to get to know one another quickly.”

Martine said it half to herself and sank into thinking. A commoner with a ducal house behind him who’s on good terms with a princess… That’s quite a position. I can’t make myself believe it’s mine.

“Well, I shall think about it in various ways. Enrolling is still some way off.”

“I haven’t even passed the entrance exam yet.”

“But you will pass, will you not? Leon knows so many things…”

She got that far and then her face went difficult all at once and she stopped speaking.

“What’s wrong? Are you all right…?”

“Yes. …Leon, this is not easy to say, but there is something you are keeping hidden, is there not? I wondered whether you might tell me what it is. I have no wish at all to force it out of you. It is only that I thought you might be suffering with it.”

“Wh… why?”

“When you cured me, and I began to ask you why you had knowledge of that kind, there was a moment when your face looked sad. As though it hurt.”

…Seriously? Was I making a face like that? Though it’s true that remembering Japan still turns me sad. Part of what makes it hard is having nobody I can tell any of it to. Some small ordinary thing will come up in the day and I’ll think, we had these in Japan too, or, my family and I used to eat like this when I was little, and there’s nobody I can say it to. That gets to me badly.

“I cannot even imagine what it is you are carrying, but I can hear it and hold it. And if you tell me to keep it a secret, then of course it will be a secret between the two of us and I shall never speak of it anywhere. If you feel able to trust me, I think telling it would make you lighter.”

Martine finished and smiled at me gently, the way you would to somebody hurt. I felt that smile at my back like a hand pushing me forward. Martine isn’t the sort to break a promise. And she’d listen to it seriously, I know that. We haven’t known each other all that long, but I’ve met her enough times now to know the strength of the core under all that gentleness.

Martine I could tell. That’s what I find I think. And the truth is that carrying it alone any longer had reached its limit. I can never tell my family that I’m a different person inside their son, so telling Martine, who stands at a distance from my family, may be exactly the right thing.

“It’s going to sound absolutely wild. Will you hear it out…?”

“Of course.”

Her smile gave me the courage, and I said the thing I’ve kept secret all this time.

“The truth is… I have memories of living in another world.”

“…Another world. What do you mean by that?”

“How to put it… A country a very long way off, somewhere you couldn’t reach from this one in a whole lifetime. Something like that, I suppose.”

“Then Leon has memories of living in such a distant country.”

“Yeah. And not as Leon, as somebody else. I was born there and lived past being grown, and I think I got caught up in some kind of accident and died. And then I came to and I was the eight-year-old Leon in this world. So all my knowledge is knowledge I got in the world before.”

When I’d got that much out, Martine sat thinking with a serious face, working at it to understand. She didn’t say I was mad, or that it was impossible; that alone, that she was trying to take it seriously, feels like being rescued.

“I cannot picture it. I wonder whether such a thing can really happen. But if Leon has the memories then it must be able to… Is there some connection between those memories of yours and having every attribute?”

“That’s what I keep wondering myself. I think there might be a connection, but there’s no way for me to check.”

“…No. Leon, may I ask you this one question, only once more? You are not the Apostle, are you?”

“No. I’m not the Apostle. I’ve never met the goddess, at the very least.”

“So it is as I thought. It did not seem to me that Leon was lying.”

Martine nodded at my answer with the look of somebody whose mind is settled. If it didn’t seem to Martine that I was lying, then somebody out there thinks I am. Meaning somebody believes I really am the Apostle. Lord Alexis and the others, presumably. From what I’ve heard nobody but the Apostle has ever had every attribute, so being taken for one is fair enough.

“Do Lord Alexis and Lord Richard think I’m the Apostle?”

“It is hard to say it, but Father and the others did seem to think you were. That Leon has knowledge of every sort is because Leon is the Apostle, they said. The records that survive say the Apostle held knowledge of every kind and had the use of every attribute, and Leon is that, exactly.”

Fair enough that they suspect it, then. In fact it makes me start wondering whether I really am not… But if I were the Apostle the goddess would certainly have made some kind of approach to me, so I can’t be. In which case, what am I? Lately I keep going around that question with myself, and one of the things I’ve started thinking is that I might be a foreign body in this world. If that happens to be right, and the goddess finds me, would I get erased? It frightens me a little.

“Martine, there’s no chance of me being publicly announced as the Apostle, is there?”

“The man himself denies it, so that is out of the question. Father and the others merely think it privately.”

Right. Then I needn’t worry too much about it. If they proclaimed me the Apostle, I’d be someone who had taken the Apostle’s name falsely, and that’s what I wanted to avoid. I want to keep from being found by the goddess as long as I can. Whether there really is a goddess I don’t know, but there does seem to have been an Apostle in the past, so caution costs nothing.

“If it’s not going public, then I don’t mind the misunderstanding. Nobody wonders where I got my knowledge that way.”

So that’s why, when I laid out all that knowledge in the magic lessons, not one of them asked where it came from. They thought I was the Apostle.

“Ha, that is quite true. Let Father think whatever he likes.”

The way she laughed when she said it took some of the tightness out of the air.

“Leon, I shall not press you if you would rather not talk. But if you ever want to tell somebody, tell me, as much as you like. About your memories of the world you lived in before, too. I shall hear all of it. I cannot picture it well, but I can listen.”

Why does she keep finding the words that let me off the hook like that? I’m truly glad I met Martine. And glad that I could save her.

“Martine, thank you. Really. …So, will you listen? There’s a lot of it I want to say.”

“Yes, of course.”

Her gentle smile loosened my tongue.

“Where to start… Food, obviously.”

“Was the food of your world before different from this one?”

“Yeah. Some of it was similar, but the world before was further along, I guess. And there were more kinds.”

“How interesting. I should like to eat the food of Leon’s previous world.”

“Actually, pancakes are food from the world before.”

“Are they! Those were truly delicious. If they were as good as that, I am all the more curious about your previous world’s cooking. Is there nothing else you could make?”

Things I could actually make in this world are the difficult part… Things I want to eat come to mind by the dozen. Ramen and sushi, curry, soba, udon, pasta, pizza, fried rice. I want every one of them, and I gave up on making any of them myself long ago.

“It’s just that I’m vague about the methods, so there’s a limit to what I can make on my own.”

“If the rough method and a picture of the finished dish are known, the palace cooks will make it. Is there nothing you know that far?”

If rough is good enough, there might be. Something I could make from what this world has… pasta, surely.

“There’s a dish called pasta I might be able to manage. You don’t have it in this world, do you?”

“It is a dish I have never heard of. I am very curious. Would you write the recipe out for me?”

“Sure, but won’t somebody ask who came up with it?”

“That will be quite all right. I am the First Princess, after all.”

Martine said it with a slightly pleased look. When she makes that face she looks her own age, and that’s cute in a different way. My own memories run to having lived to adulthood, but I’ve been Leon for over a year now and lately my heart feels as though it’s matched itself to my body. I’m still Ryosuke Ichigaya as a person, of course. It’s more as though that same person had been made young again. So nothing feels strange to me any more about being nine years old.

“That’s fair. All right, I’ll write it.”

“Thank you!”

Which is also why Martine doesn’t strike me as a cute child so much as a cute girl, in the ordinary way. And she isn’t only pretty; there’s a great deal in her I can respect, and thinking along those lines is probably dangerous. I shook the thought off and decided to concentrate on remembering how pasta is made.

“Bring me paper and a pen.”

Martine rang a bell, called over the guard standing away from us and gave the order. The guard gave a small nod and withdrew again.

“They will bring paper, so if you would write it on that.”

“Got it. I’d better remember it properly.”

“Ha, but even if there are vague parts, the cooks will bring it out well. It may come out a little different from the one in Leon’s memory, and that would be its own kind of fun.”

“That’s true, yeah.”

What she said took a weight off me. We waited a while, and then the guard came back with paper and a pen, handed them to Martine and withdrew to her place again.

“Leon, on this, if you would.”

“Right.”

Pasta starts with the noodles, and for now I know that wheat flour does the job. Beyond that… it was oil and egg and salt. I made it with my mother exactly once. But I don’t remember a single quantity. I can work it out from the picture I half remember. Flour, four scoops taken up in both hands, near enough. There wasn’t much oil, so let’s say a little under half a spoon. One egg, and a pinch of salt. Can it possibly work as loose as that? I’ll write down that the quantities are for them to try and adjust.

Anyway, mix those four, knead them and let them come together. And the rest of it I remember, because I worked hard at it. Once it’s mixed and holding as one lump, dust it with flour and rest it about ten minutes. After it has rested, roll it with a round wooden rod to a thickness of about two millimeters, dust it with flour again and fold it in three. Then cut it into thin strips at the end. That was it, I’m fairly sure. And the width at the end, about two millimeters will do. After that there’s nothing left but boiling it. Boiling time, call it five minutes or so, and I’ll write that the best boiling time changes with the noodle. That’s the noodles done.

That leaves the sauce, and which pasta to make. The noodles that come out of this will be the slightly thick, chewy fresh sort. In that case tomato suits it better than a plain salt dressing. Or cream.

Hmm. Tomato today. Tomatoes should be in good condition this time of year, so I’ll write that I’d like a tomato sauce with bacon or chicken in it. Then toss the sauce through the pasta and it’s done.

There. Finished. A lot of it is vague, but a professional cook should manage.

“Martine, I’ve written it.”

“Leon, thank you! Next let us have a tea party that doubles as a tasting for this dish. I am looking forward to it.”

“That sounds great. So am I.”

She was so obviously happy about it that I ended up smiling along with her.

“Then, and I am sorry for it, shall we close for today? We are already past the time we were given.”

“Oh, are we. Then that’s today done. See you at the next lesson.”

“Yes. I am looking forward to that as well.”

And that was the end of the tea party. It was so enjoyable, and it took something off my heart, and it was a genuinely happy stretch of time.

⁂

Today, nearly two weeks after that, the second tea party for two is under way. I’ve just this moment taken my seat in the same pavilion as last time. The food is already laid out in front of me. It must have come straight from the kitchen, because a little steam is coming off it and it looks wonderful. There’s a smell coming over that opens a hole in my stomach.

“Your Highness, that looks delicious.”

“Leon, it is only the two of us, so no formal speech.”

Right, of course. There’s been no occasion since to be alone with her, so I forgot.

“Sorry. I use it all the time, so it’s habit.”

“If only we could talk like this with people around as well. It is frustrating.”

“That’d be hard to pull off, yeah…”

There can hardly be anybody in this country who’s entitled to speak to Martine without formal speech, princess that she is.

“No… there cannot.”

Her face changed and went a little lonely, and I opened my mouth in a hurry to get it back to a smile.

“The future’s unknowable, though. And never mind the gloomy stuff, let’s talk about the food first. It’d be a crime to let it go cold.”

She heard that and came back to a smile.

“Ha, that is quite true. Then let us eat without more delay. The head cook was tremendously keen about the new recipe. He said it had come out to his satisfaction. Today is the first time I am eating it as well.”

“Wait, really?”

“I told them not to serve it at any meal until this tea party. Since we had the chance, I wanted to share the surprise with Leon.”

Martine smiled a little shyly as she said it. I’m very glad, and more than that I’m embarrassed, and it makes my ears warm.

“Thanks. That makes me happy.”

“There is no need to thank me for it. This smell. It does open the stomach.”

Martine seemed to have embarrassed herself too, and turned the subject.

“Yeah, the smell’s been getting to me since I sat down. My stomach’s going to start making noises.”

“Then let us eat without more delay.”

“Yeah. Itadakimasu.”

I picked up the fork and spoon that had been set out and wound a mouthful of pasta onto the fork, and got it straight into my mouth. Oh… that’s good. The tomato has its sharpness, and salt and herbs and the rest have brought it into balance. The pasta is chewy and superb. It’s a little different from the taste in Japan, but on its own terms it’s fantastic. The head cook is amazing.

I looked over at Martine, and her face had gone soft, so it must be good for her too. I’m glad she likes it.

“Leon, this is very good!”

“I’m glad. Your cooks really are skilled, aren’t they. It’s pretty close to the taste I remember.”

“Is it. So I am eating the food of Leon’s previous world at this moment. That makes me happy somehow.”

That she should be happy about that fact makes me happy. Martine really is a good girl. Good girl may not be quite the right way to put it, but nothing else comes to mind that fits.

After that we talked a little and gave ourselves up to eating for a while.

“Leon, that was truly delicious. Are there no other recipes you could reproduce?”

“Hmm. There are plenty of dishes I can think of, but once you narrow it to things this world could make right away and that I actually remember the recipe for… there isn’t much.”

“I understand. Leon, do your best and remember more of them!”

Martine said it laughing. I’d like to remember them, but a lot of it is gone and a lot of it I never knew. And there’s too much this world is missing. Soy sauce, miso, noodle broth: without the seasonings it’s difficult. Wait. Which reminds me, I’ve never asked any of the nobility whether soy sauce or miso exists. Could there be a miracle where they turn out to exist and simply be expensive? I asked Martine with a bit too much excitement.

“Martine, does this world have soy sauce or miso? They’re seasonings!”

“Th-that is quite a rush of enthusiasm. Are they so delicious? Hmm. But I have never heard of them. I shall check with the cooks and with Father, just in case.”

“Right… thanks. They’re made from a bean called the soybean.”

“The soybean. I shall ask.”

“Please do!”

Lord Alexis might know, actually. That they exist in some distant country, or something. What would I do. If they exist I want them whatever they cost. I want to go to that country! My heart’s racing about it already.

“Then I shall tell you the result at the next lesson.”

“Yeah!”

So I fidgeted my way through to the day of the next lesson, and at the palace I’d finally reached I was given the answer. That nobody knew of any seasonings called soy sauce or miso.

It knocked me flat. I’d let myself hope a little that they might exist, which made it worse. I have no idea how soy sauce and miso are made! What am I supposed to do!

Chapter 3 – Magic Lessons and Royalty

I’m in the ducal house’s carriage with Lady Catherine, on the road to the royal palace. A few weeks have gone by since I cured Her Highness’s illness. That day I went straight back to the ducal house and home to my family the day after, and then a letter came from the ducal house with the schedule for the princess’s lessons in it, so yesterday I came back here again. She’s recovered steadily, and by all accounts she’s well enough now that a magic lesson won’t do her any harm. Which is the best news there is.

“To be allowed to come along with you. I am honored. You are going to teach me healing magic as well, are you not?”

“I cannot promise it will be of any use to you, Lady Catherine, but I shall do my best to teach you.”

“There is no need to be modest. You cured Her Highness’s illness and Alban’s besides. You are a far better hand at it than I shall ever be. I have been looking forward to today enormously.”

“It means a great deal to hear you say so. Thank you.”

On the day I cured Her Highness, Lord Richard and I sat down with Lady Catherine at the ducal house and took her through the whole course of things. She was overjoyed that the illness was gone, and even more delighted, if anything, at the news that she’d be learning healing magic alongside the princess. Lord Richard says she’s always been like that: curious to a fault and mad for anything new.

And it’s true that Lady Catherine’s eye goes a bit predatory now and then. When it does I want to put some distance between us. Well. She isn’t a bad person.

I swayed along in the carriage with her, and after a while we arrived at the palace. We got down and a palace servant showed us through the building to a drawing room, and Lord Alexis and Her Highness were inside.

“Your Majesty. Your Highness. It has been a long while.”

“Yes, yes. There’s no need to stand on ceremony to that extent. It has been a while, Catherine.”

“Lady Catherine. It has been a long while.”

Lady Catherine did the greeting; I’m officially her attendant, so I stood behind her and waited quietly. There followed a stretch of greetings and pleasant nothings, and at the first gap in the talk Lord Alexis cleared the room.

“Everyone withdraw. The techniques Catherine is to teach must not spread in a garbled form, and for that they had better not be overheard by a crowd.”

“Just so, Your Majesty. Healing magic touches human life directly, and I believe the danger of inaccurate knowledge spreading should be shut out as far as it can be. …However, my attendant is needed for the teaching of magic, so I should be grateful if he were allowed to stay.”

“Very well. Then all of you except Catherine’s attendant may withdraw.”

Whatever they made of that, it satisfied them, and out they went. The door was shut and there were four of us left in the room.

“Leon. You may sit on the sofa.”

“Thank you. Excuse me, then.”

I sat down, a little tense with it. Palaces get to me when it’s been a while.

“Martine, I came myself because today is the first of them, but from the next time you are to clear the room yourself. The reason has been given now, so it should go smoothly enough.”

“Certainly. Thank you, Father.”

Her Highness looks entirely well again. She’s filled out a little and she’s very pretty with it, and she seems a shade older than she did the day she came to our restaurant, with more of that fineness about her. It’s honestly an unfair face to have. And when she smiles, multiply that by ten…

“Leon. Thank you for coming all this way.”

I was in the middle of that idiotic train of thought when Lord Alexis spoke to me. I jumped a little, and turned to him with as level a face as I could manage so nobody would guess what I’d been thinking about. We were on two-seater sofas facing each other, Her Highness across from me, Lord Alexis across from Lady Catherine.

“Not at all. It is no trouble.”

“I should like to ask for about once a week from here on. Will that do? And for you, Catherine?”

“I am free at any time, Your Majesty.”

“The same for me.”

“Then that’s settled. Once a week from now on, and would you come on Healing Day?”

“Certainly.”

A week in this country is five days, if I have it right: Fire Day, Water Day, Wind Day, Earth Day, Healing Day, and around again. So the lessons come once every five days. Now that I think about it, I still don’t know how many days or months make a year here. It’s never once come up. Leon’s own memories and his age tell me a year exists as a unit, and past that I’ve got nothing.

Well, the chance to find out will come along. For now I’ll make sure I have the week straight.

“Then let us have today’s lesson without more delay. May I listen in as well?”

“Of course. Then I shall begin. First of all, are you aware that the mana a spell costs can be brought down by the image you hold?”

“I heard a little of it from Leon the other day, but I did not know it before that. We are certainly taught that a spell will not fire unless the image is firm. That the image improves how efficiently the mana goes, I have never heard.”

That was Her Highness answering.

“Nor have I ever heard such a thing.”

If the King of the country doesn’t know it, then it isn’t known in this country at all.

“Very well. Then, Your Highness, Lady Catherine, you both use magic of the healing attribute to close a wound, I think. Do you know why a wound closes in the first place?”

“Why…? Is it not because magic was used?”

She said it as though it were the plainest thing in the world. Magic exists here and it’s tremendously convenient, so probably nobody’s ever thought hard about why the thing happens at all. The reason is that it was magic, and that closes the question.

“But a wound will heal in time even without healing magic. Have you ever wondered why?”

“A wound heals without healing magic?!”

Er… we’re starting from there?! Royalty and the high nobility must have a magic user standing by who closes so much as a scratch on the spot. I suppose that’d mean never once seeing anything heal on its own. But there are servants and guards about, surely?

“When you were hurt, was it always healed with healing magic?”

“It was cast on me at once, always. And I hardly ever came to any harm to begin with.”

Fair enough, if you never handle a knife. Royalty really is something else.

“What about the guard knights, and the maids?”

“They were all healed at once as well.”

Never to have seen a wound close by itself. What an environment to grow up in… they must be curing genuinely trivial cuts.

“Your Highness, then here is the thing I would ask you to learn today. A wound will close without healing magic. Healing magic is more like a hand held out to help it.”

“I see…”

“Yes. And if you understand the mechanism by which a body heals itself, and hold that as your image while you use healing magic, the mana it costs comes down.”

From there I explained natural healing as far as I understand it myself. They’d almost no idea how a body is put together, so getting it across was hard going, but I think in the end they had it. My knowledge is shabby enough, but next to knowing nothing at all it’s got to be an improvement.

I’d been sure today would be the day somebody asked where I got it from, and I had a whole set of excuses lined up: a traveler told me, I read it in a book. In the event nobody asked, and the lesson went along smoothly.

“I think I have the shape of it!”

“I understood it as well. I should like to try it in earnest.”

“I am glad.”

Over an hour to get them there. Still, it landed. Practice next, and since I can hardly put a cut on royalty or nobility it’ll have to be my own finger…

“I think the best thing would be for me to cut my finger a little and have you try it on that. Does anyone have a blade?”

“I have one.”

Lord Alexis produced a smallish knife from inside his coat, and lent it to me. Is this the hidden blade for when things go wrong? Terrifying. Right. Best not to think about it.

I took the knife gingerly and cut my finger.

“Then, Your Highness, if you would begin. Fix the image firmly first.”

“Leon, does it not hurt?”

She seems genuinely worried about my having cut myself.

“It is quite all right. Though I would be grateful if you healed it sooner rather than later.”

“Yes. I shall do my best.”

Her Highness used Heal, and my fingertip glowed faintly, and when the light went out the cut was gone without a trace.

“How was the mana?”

“Astonishing! It took far less than it usually does. If I could normally use the spell once, I believe I could manage four more times.”

Which makes it about a fifth of what it cost her before. Total success. Lady Catherine tried it after her and brought the cost down the same way.

Both of them managed it, which is the main thing. Though I’m extremely tired. Teaching somebody who knows nothing at all, from the beginning, is this hard. Compulsory schooling back in Japan deserves more credit than I ever gave it. We’ll finish here for today; cramming too much in at one go would only muddle it, and I’ve had enough.

Curing illness starts next time, I suppose. Not that being taught means she can do it. The real problem is mana capacity. With something like a cold, would healing it a little at a time over several goes get there? Well, that’s for next time too.

“Then let us finish here for today. Please practice before the next lesson.”

“I will! Leon, thank you, truly.”

“I am glad Your Highness is pleased.”

“You need not be so distant with me… Leon, will you not call me Martine? And you may leave off the formal speech. Since you are my teacher now, ought I to be calling you sir?”

No, no, no, there’s no possible way of doing that to a princess! And I haven’t done enough to have anybody call me their teacher…

“I could not possibly call Your Highness by name alone. Please let it stay as it has been.”

“…Well. Perhaps that cannot be changed just yet. But we shall become better friends than this, shall we not?”

Her Highness smiled at me, wide and warm. That’s the smile I’ve got no defense against! I felt my face going red and dropped my eyes in a hurry, and just at the right moment Lord Alexis cut into the conversation.

“Leon. Do these images of yours exist for magic besides healing? If you are willing, would you teach me the image for fire magic?”

Now? I’d like to say no, because I’m tired, except I’m going to be in Lord Alexis’s debt for a long time yet, so… right. Nothing for it. A bit more effort.

“Certainly.”

From there I explained the idea of air, and of oxygen. Another hour or so. It was worth the trouble, though, because Lord Alexis appears to have got it thoroughly. Explaining a concept this world simply doesn’t have is genuinely hard work.

“Now, if you would make a small Fireball.”

“Very well. …Ah. That’s remarkable. The mana it costs has come down to something like a tenth.”

Lord Alexis marveled at it, and then his face went difficult and he sat silent. He must be turning over how far this ought to spread. Spreading it carelessly could strengthen an enemy, which is what makes it dangerous.

“Leon. What is your own view on spreading this method?”

“Yes. For the present I do not intend to spread it widely. It would strengthen our enemies as well, and I think that is dangerous. But I do believe it may be taught to people who can be trusted, as it was today.”

Lord Alexis nodded at that as though it settled something, and his face eased a little.

“Good. I’d thought the same. And when Leon graduates from the Royal Academy, I should like you to take up the work of teaching people how to use magic. Only those I trust and those you trust, of course.”

When I graduate from the Royal Academy. I haven’t even enrolled and my career after graduation is being settled?! Honestly, something that far off is beyond me, but it isn’t a bad offer. And I do think Lord Alexis can be trusted.

“It is still a long way off, so I cannot promise anything for certain, but I think I would be glad to take it on.”

“Truly?! Thank you. Then until that time, take care not to let it be widely known.”

“Certainly.”

“Though you say a long way off. It isn’t so very long.”

The Royal Academy runs five years, so it seems fairly long to me…

“The Royal Academy holds a graduation examination at the end of every winter, and the students of every year sit it. Whoever passes graduates, so a first-year who passes graduates in one year. Three or four years is the usual, but there are those who graduate in one. My own opinion is that Leon will graduate in one.”

So that’s how it works. Interesting. But I’d rather he didn’t expect that much of me. I’m not actually clever. All I have is the memory of having studied in Japan and the thinking power of a grown adult. I may have to go at that graduation examination for dear life…

“I had no idea that was the system. I shall work hard.”

“Yes. I can arrange you any number of positions, so put your back into it. My own aide would do… though that’s hardly possible straight away, so perhaps assistant to the Chancellor…”

Somehow my career is being decided in a place I have no part in. I’m grateful, I’m extremely grateful, but this is too sudden and much too early!

“Well, there’s more than a year yet. I shall think about it. To change the subject: my wife and Martine’s twin brother would like to thank you today, and to make you a gift as well. Would you meet them after this? Both of them know everything about your abilities, so there is nothing to worry about.”

The two of them, which means the Queen and the Prince?! And Her Highness is a twin, with an elder brother at that. That’s another thing I never knew. I’ve met so many extraordinary people lately that my sense of it has gone strange. I know perfectly well that it’s extraordinary, and I’m less startled than I was. Which is probably better for my nerves, if anything. Going tense over every single one of them would finish me off.

“I have no objection at all to meeting them. Only, as for thanks, I have already received what Lord Alexis has given me, and that is more than enough…”

“Do not say so. Take it. What I gave you has no shape to it, and she’s been throwing herself into choosing the gift with tremendous energy.”

Lord Alexis said it with a wry smile. A present a royal has thrown themselves into is a frightening thing to be handed. It’ll be something expensive, won’t it? I’ve got a strong feeling I’ll have no idea what to do with it. But there’s no refusing, obviously.

“Certainly. Then, gratefully…”

“Thank you. I shall call my valet in, so would you go back to being Catherine’s attendant?”

“Certainly.”

Once I was in place as Lady Catherine’s attendant again, Lord Alexis rang the bell, called his valet and asked him to fetch the two of them. We waited a while, and then two people came into the room giving off a royal aura you could feel: a woman with very beautiful golden hair and pink eyes, and a cool-looking boy with golden hair and blue eyes. This has to be Her Highness’s twin brother, the elder of the two, though for twins their faces aren’t all that alike. The prince takes after Lord Alexis and Her Highness after the Queen.

The two of them sat down on a sofa and Lord Alexis sent the servants out again, which left the royal family, Lady Catherine and me: a set of people that rather raises the question of what I’m doing among them. The aura is a bit much. My stomach is starting to hurt…

“I am Elisabeth Lathlasia, First Queen.”

“Stephane Lathlasia, First Prince.”

So Martine’s twin brother is the First Prince. Which makes him very likely the next king.

“Lady Elisabeth. Your Highness. It has been a long while.”

“I am honored to meet you. My name is Leon.”

Lady Catherine and I made our greetings in turn, and I sat down again on the sofa I was shown to. I might have been less tense standing.

“There is no need to be so formal. Today is not a public occasion. I wanted very much to thank you myself, Leon. You saved Martine’s life, and I am grateful from the heart. Thank you.”

“Leon. I should like to thank you as well. You saved my younger sister’s life, and I am grateful for it.”

Both of them bowed their heads to me as they said it. Being bowed to by royalty is something I can’t sit still under. All of you, please stop bowing to me!

“Er, please raise your heads. I am truly glad that I could help Her Highness.”

“Yes. Thank you, truly. …I have had a great many gifts prepared for today. I do hope you will like them.”

In front of Lady Elisabeth, as she said it, was the pile of things a maid had carried in a little earlier. That surely can’t all be gifts. If it is, it’s far too much!

“Er… the truth is that I have already received thanks from Lord Alexis…”

“Oh, thanks from Alexis and thanks from me are quite separate things.”

Are they. They look much the same from where I’m sitting. Still, refusing would be the greater discourtesy, so I’d better take them honestly and be glad.

“Then I shall accept them gratefully. To be given gifts by Her Highness the Queen is a very great honor.”

“I am glad they please you. And Leon, you are to call me Elisabeth, too. You use Alexis’s name, and Martine’s.”

“That goes for me as well. You may call me Stephane.”

Why does the royal family of this country all want me using their names? Well, never mind. I’m going to stop thinking about it too hard.

“Certainly. Then I shall call you Lady Elisabeth and Lord Stephane.”

“Do that. Now then, let us begin handing over the gifts!”

Lady Elisabeth’s face as she said it was shining with enjoyment. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

“I chose every one of them with real care, so I shall explain them one at a time.”

Thoroughly pleased with herself, she picked up the gift nearest to hand. She isn’t going to take all of them one at a time, is she?! There’s no telling how many hours that would run to. But a request from the Queen isn’t a thing you refuse.

The only person who can stop Lady Elisabeth is Lord Alexis. I turned my eyes to him on that thought, met his for an instant, and watched them slide casually away. Lord Alexis, you aren’t going to stop her?! Don’t tell me the King of this country is under his wife’s thumb?! No good. There’s nobody here who can stop Lady Elisabeth. It’s an honor, when all is said, so let’s be introduced to them…

“Thank you very much. I am looking forward to seeing what they are.”

I got a pleasant smile onto my face with some effort. It probably came out stiff at the edges…

“This is the first. It is a brooch, but it is made of a magic stone rather than a jewel. A magic stone changes color according to the mana you put into it, which makes it a very fine ornament. And it will cast nothing at all unless it is set into magic iron, so there is no need for concern.”

They turn a precious magic stone into jewelry. I’d rather make it into a magic tool. And this brooch is worth a fortune, probably.

“It is very beautiful. If it turns so many colors, it should be possible to match it to the color of one’s clothes.”

“Just so! You can change the color to suit the mood of the day as well. I do think it is worth having one.”

“Thank you. I shall take it.”

“Yes. Then the next. Next is this clothing. I had it made by our own tailor. The finest thread there is, worked up into something truly splendid.”

Right. That’s very splendid indeed. Isn’t that the sort of thing Lord Stephane wears? Handing it to me is no use to anybody. I can’t picture a single occasion for it: you couldn’t wear anything that splendid even to a formal occasion, and wearing it as ordinary clothes is out of the question…

“I am very grateful, but I cannot think of an occasion where I would wear this…”

“Oh, but Leon is to be given noble standing once he graduates from the Royal Academy, is he not? I heard that you asked it of Alexis as thanks for curing Martine.”

I did say I wanted standing. Is it already settled that I get a noble title?

“Would standing as a noble be given to a commoner as easily as that?”

“Not as easily as that, no. But Leon has an achievement behind him, and he looks likely to leave a great many more. I think standing as a noble is well within reach. Is that not so, Alexis?”

“It is. Once he graduates from the Royal Academy it’ll be possible. To begin with, every attribute alone makes ennoblement possible on graduation. I have a number of things in mind, so look forward to it.”

“Yes… thank you.”

A number of things. I’m pleased, and also a little frightened. In my head I’d been picturing a knighthood, or a baron’s title, something in the lower ranks. Does an outfit like this mean something further up? It’s plainly clothing that would look wrong on anybody below a ducal house.

Standing is worth having, but the duties that come with it must be heavy, and moderate would suit me. Things are going to get difficult from here. No, they’re already difficult…

“You would do well to keep this clothing carefully. It has been made on the large side, so have it altered when the time comes to wear it.”

“Certainly. Thank you very much.”

“Then the next. Next is…”

After that the introduction of the gifts ran on for over an hour. Splendid ornaments and clothes, and cloth not yet made up into anything. Every one of them is a wonderful thing and I’m grateful, but I’m also very tired. Everybody else looks fairly tired too. Lord Alexis, Lord Stephane and Her Highness all had a wry smile on, so Lady Elisabeth running away with herself may well be a regular event. She must simply love clothes and ornaments.

“That is all of them. Have they pleased you?”

“Yes. To be given so many splendid things at once… thank you, truly. I shall use every one of them with care.”

Lady Elisabeth is smiling, thoroughly satisfied. That’s that, at any rate.

“It would look odd for these to have been given to Leon, so shall we box them all up and have Catherine carry them back to the ducal house as gifts from Elisabeth to her? Catherine is to be teaching Martine healing magic, so a gift is nothing out of the way.”

Lord Alexis put that in once he had confirmed that Lady Elisabeth was satisfied.

“Certainly. I shall carry them back on that footing and have them stored carefully in Leon’s room at the ducal house.”

They’ll keep them at the ducal house. That’s a relief. Taking this lot back to my own house would be terrifying, security being what it is. At the ducal house I can be easy about it.

“Is that all right with you as well, Leon?”

“Yes. Storing them at my house would be difficult, so that helps me a great deal.”

“Then let it be done that way.”

With the keeping of the gifts settled, the air finally turned toward an ending.

“Then, since a good deal of time has gone, let us close here. Leon, Catherine, will you come again in a week?”

“Certainly.”

“Thank you. Leon, back to playing Catherine’s attendant.”

I took my place at Lady Catherine’s shoulder as her attendant again, and Lord Alexis rang the bell for the valets and the guards.

“These parcels are to go to the ducal house, so I should like them carried out to the carriage.”

At Lady Catherine’s word several palace servants were brought in and carried the parcels out. I took one myself and followed her out of the room.

“Then we shall take our leave of you all. I shall come again in a week.”

“Yes. We shall expect you.”

We made our way back to the carriage, and I returned to the ducal house with Lady Catherine. Once we were back it was settled that the guest room I’ve always used is to be mine and nobody else’s, and the gifts were all carried into it. I looked the whole pile over again, and it really is nothing but splendid things. I can’t believe this room is my room.

“Roger. These are all extremely fine things, aren’t they.”

“Yes. The quality is such that there would be nothing amiss with them in a ducal house.”

I thought as much. The title I’m going to be given is frightening all over again. I’d better start now on becoming a person who deserves it, even a little.

Then, with the tidying finished, I went home to my family that same day. The next lesson is in a week. Today’s tired me out thoroughly, and until then I mean to take it easy at home.