Volume 2Chapter 5

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.