Just Call Me Urashima Taro
I came out of the jureve feeling entirely like Urashima Taro, a man from Japanese folklore who went to the undersea Dragon Palace for a few days, only to discover that a hundred years had passed when he returned.
Ferdinand hadn’t changed in the slightest, so I had barely even felt the passage of time at first; in fact, I had mainly just been upset about not getting to experience being nine years old. But once he carried me out of the room, I saw that Nicola and Monika had come of age—their hair was up, they wore long skirts, and their chests were bigger. Gil must have gone through puberty as well, because despite being only up to Fran’s chest in my memories, he now stood far above Fran’s shoulders. His voice was also so deep that he sounded like someone else entirely.
Those two years of sleep were like a single night to me, so waking up to find everyone having grown up so much is equal parts weird and terrifying...
I alone was the same as always—in fact, I was arguably in a worse position than before, because my muscles had atrophied so much that I couldn’t even move properly. I was basically paralyzed, at the complete mercy of those I technically knew but didn’t recognize as they stripped off my clothes and bathed me.
While I was scared and nervous beyond words, I couldn’t ask them to stop or say I would handle things myself. I desperately tried flapping my mouth, moving my legs, and opening my hands. Slowly but surely, I got used to moving my immobile body, plastering a smile on my face all the while to hide the fear dominating my heart.
Ferdinand gave me a concise version of the events that had occurred while I was asleep, and hearing how much everyone had worried about me had eased my nerves a little. But now, with the unstoppable flow of time being thrust right into my face, it felt as though there was an obstacle in front of me that could never be surmounted. I needed to get my life back in control as soon as possible, so that I could get to work adjusting to this new time period.
“I’ll get things back to normal starting tomorrow!” I announced. “If something can be done about my body, that is.”
Ferdinand abruptly stood up as though my words had reminded him of something. “I wish to fetch a magic tool. Would you prefer to wait here or come outside with me?”
“...I’ll wait here. Could you hand me one of those books before you go?” I asked, pointing with my eyes to the stack Gil had made while I was asleep.
Ferdinand picked up the top book, set it on my stomach, then turned around and left.
“A new book! Yay! Eheheh.”
After pumping myself up, I slowly moved my hands to touch it, the sensation of a new book bringing a broad smile to my face. I tried to open it with my weakly shaking hand, but it was harder than I had anticipated—even gripping and turning a page was an immense challenge.
“Ah...”
I couldn’t properly support the book as I tried to open it either, so it ended up sliding off my stomach and thudding onto the floor. Despite my best efforts to pick it back up, my arm just pathetically hung off the bench, too heavy for me to raise with my own strength. No way could I retrieve the book when I couldn’t even raise my arm.
I can’t believe I’m so weak that I can’t even read a book...
Even after sacrificing a whole two years of my life, I didn’t feel the slightest bit healthier than before. In fact, everything was worse—my body hadn’t grown, my muscles had atrophied, and I had even more mana. What was the point in forcing a smile onto my face? The remaining strength drained from me in an instant, and tears started to well up in my eyes.
“I am back,” Ferdinand announced. “Why are you crying?”
“I... I can’t even read books. My hands don’t... I can’t turn the pages. I hate this...”
Ferdinand sighed, then grabbed my left hand and stuck some fancy bracelet-looking thing around my upper arm. It shrunk in size like a magic ring, clinging to my skin before starting to suck up my mana.
“Ferdinand, what are you...? Wha? I can move my arm?”
“These are magic tools for reinforcing enhancement magic. I used them in the past in order to grasp the fundamental technique of physically enhancing oneself with mana. They should be perfect for you, since you are presently overflowing with excess mana. I expect they will allow you to move normally. Hold out your other arm.”
He stuck a second bracelet around my other arm, and with that, I could move my entire upper body with ease. It was incredible. I spun my arms around experimentally.
“Now I can read books!”
“...Could you please get excited over something else for once?”
“But why? I’m more moved and grateful right now than I’ve ever been in my life.”
Ferdinand shook his head, appearing to have immediately given up on the matter, then held out two more bracelets. “Attach these to your legs later on,” he said.
I took them from him and tilted my head. “Why aren’t we putting them on now?”
“They require contact with skin to function. Do you intend to expose your bare legs to me? I cannot say I am fond of such immodesty. It does not concern me if you are an exhibitionist, but at the very least, I ask that you satisfy such urges somewhere I am not present. I would rather not be mistaken for one of your kind.”
I was currently wearing socks that were attached by string to a belt around my waist, like a crudely made garter without a hint of sexiness, beneath a pair of old-fashioned drawers. In other words, for the leg bracelets to touch my skin, I would need to remove my underwear and have them clasped around my thighs. Given that I couldn’t move my legs on my own right now, asking Ferdinand to put the bracelets on for me was akin to me asking him to take off my underwear.
“Excuse me?! I’m no exhibitionist! I just assumed you could put them around my ankles or something. It’s your fault for not explaining that they need to touch the skin, Ferdinand. Now go call Nicola and Monika so they can put them on for me.”
Ferdinand exited the hidden room, with Nicola and Monika arriving a moment later to take his place. They removed my clothes and secured the bracelets around my thighs. I tried swinging my legs around, and much to my excitement, they moved just fine. The two girls widened their eyes in surprise at my once drooping limbs suddenly becoming so mobile.
“Ferdinand allowed me to borrow these to help me move again,” I explained. “Could you lend me your hands? I want to try standing up.”
“Of course.”
I put some strength into my legs and managed to stand up just as I wanted to. I slowly let go of their hands, walked a lap around the room on my own, then struck a victory pose.
“Yes! I’m finally healthy again!”
“The High Priest’s magic tools certainly are incredible...” Monika mused.
“I’m glad to see you smiling again, Lady Rozemyne!” Nicola exclaimed, now wearing a relieved smile herself. They had evidently realized that the smile I worked so hard to force while they were bathing me was completely fake.
“Sorry for worrying you two.”
With that, I went to exit the hidden room on my own two feet. Never had I thought that simply being able to move my body could feel so good. Reveling in the glory of my new health, I skipped to the door and threw it open.
“I can move on my own again thanks to you, Ferdinand. I thank you ever so much.”
Fran and my other attendants looked at me with shock, then broke into relieved smiles. Ferdinand, meanwhile, merely nodded as though it had been obvious that the magic tools would work.
“Rozemyne, you are to leave for the castle three days from now. Once there, you will be educated on what you need to know for the Royal Academy, and then it will immediately be time for winter socializing.”
“The Royal Academy...? Do I really need to go there, even in this state? Can’t you just delay it for a year so I don’t have to cram anything?” I asked, grimacing at the very thought. There was no chance Ferdinand would show me any mercy—he would expect results appropriate for the archduke’s adopted daughter, despite the fact I was recovering from a coma and needed magic tools just to move. His brutal teaching regimen was not something I was looking forward to right now.
No matter what happens, I’m not going to the Royal Academy! Ferdinand’s crazy expectations will definitely kill me!
“You will not be considered a noble until you graduate from the Royal Academy, as each noble undergoes their coming of age ceremony and their graduation ceremony at the same time. If you delayed your attendance by a year, you would not be considered an adult in noble society even after turning fifteen. This would make it harder for you to marry, find work, or do anything as a noble; it would introduce a considerable weakness for others to exploit.”
“Mm... Well, my noble life started with me pretending to be one year younger than I really am, and I already have a ton of weaknesses like being sickly, having been raised in the temple, and so on. I don’t really think holding back on this for now will change much, plus delaying my coming of age ceremony means I get to spend an extra year in the temple, right?”
When it came to attending the Royal Academy, I didn’t feel there was any need to rush whatsoever. The longer I went before coming of age, the longer I could spend in the lower city.
Ferdinand appeared to have fallen into thought. “All children go to the Royal Academy upon turning ten, and it is my honest opinion that you will find things more peaceful there. If you stay here, expect to spend the winter enduring strange looks from nobles and countless questions about whether the child of an archduke can survive after having their schooling delayed by a year.”
“That may be true, but I have the Dedication Ritual and the Lord of Winter hunt to take care of, plus I’ll be staying in the temple to recover, so I doubt I’ll see many nobles at all over the winter.”
Ferdinand gave a nod, but the contemplative look on his face remained. While I had managed to deflect his attack, he still intended to make me go to the Royal Academy. I prepared for his next move, determined to remain steadfast no matter what.
“Consider that if you delay your schooling by a year, you will end up in the same grade as Charlotte. You already look younger than her due to having slept for such a long time; if you end up in the same grade as well, where would your status as an older sister go?”
...Bwuh?! Missing a year will put me in the same grade as Charlotte?!
Now that was a serious problem. My heart wavered, and as if sensing my weakness, Ferdinand allowed his lips to curve into a grin. “Charlotte was devastated that she was responsible for your going into a coma,” he said. “If she ends up in the same grade as you, her dear older sister, as a consequence, she will surely regret her deeds each and every day you spend together in the Royal Academy. Do you truly wish to put her through such emotional turmoil?”
I had rushed out the window to save my cute little sister, not to cause her further hardships. The thought alone made my heart sink, and it annoyed me how much Ferdinand understood that.
“You will not have to cram as much as you did prior to Charlotte’s baptism, and the magic tools allowing you to move will assist you greatly. You may have lost two years of your life, but you can still remain an older sister she respects, if only you try.”
“...Fine. I’ll do it. As Charlotte’s big sister, I have to.”
“Good. In that case, I will see you in the castle three days hence. If you wish to meet with the Plantin Company before then, do so sooner rather than later.”
Ferdinand opened the door to the hidden room, signaling that our conversation was over. I had completely and utterly lost. The minutiae of noble politics didn’t really matter to me, but as Charlotte’s older sister, I absolutely needed to go to the Royal Academy.
“Lady Rozemyne, may we give our reports on what happened while you were asleep?” Fran asked.
I looked up to see my attendants standing in a line before me. Fran, Zahm, and Monika were grouped together, since they had collectively managed my chambers, while Nicola stood alone to give a report on the kitchen, where she had predominantly worked over the past two years. Then there were Wilma and Rosina, who would give a report on the orphanage—it seemed that Wilma had at some point conquered her fears of entering the noble section of the temple, as she was confidently standing right next to Rosina. At the very end were Gil and Fritz, ready to give reports on the workshop.
“Please do,” I replied.
“No major incidents occurred within your chambers,” Fran explained. “Zahm, Monika, and I spent each day working in the High Priest’s chambers to assist him with his workload. During Spring Prayer and the Harvest Festival, Lady Charlotte and Lord Wilfried traveled across the Central District in your place. They struggled somewhat during the first year, but during the second, they handled the divine instruments brilliantly and gave generous blessings to all.”
“I see. I’ll need to thank them later.”
“Their visiting the temple before and after the ceremonies has also resulted in a change of attitude among the blue priests—more have begun to take their duties seriously to earn their favor,” he continued. That motivation was definitely the result of greed, but I supposed it was better than nothing. “What we were most worried about was the High Priest’s use of potions. He is relying on them as much as he did previously, so we ask that you please encourage him to stop, as you did before. He merely shrugs off our advice.”
I gave a nod, trying to ease the worry in Fran’s eyes. The workload Ferdinand had endured was so immense that not even regular potion usage was enough for him to do it all himself, so there was no doubt in my mind that warnings from his attendants wouldn’t have even come close to getting him to cut back.
“I suppose I will need to help him with his work so that he doesn’t have to continue using those potions...” I replied.
Once Fran’s report was concluded, Nicola stepped forward with a wooden board in hand. “Thanks to you, Lady Rozemyne, I got to spend two years working in the kitchen as an assistant. I’ve learned to make all the recipes you left us, plus there were cooking competitions between Hugo and Leise that produced even more new ones.”
Cooking competitions? What the heck? Those sound like so much fun!
“I’m looking forward to the new recipes, but who won?”
“So far, they have won one each.”
“I look forward to the tiebreaker, then.”
“Also, Hugo and Ella have asked to get married. Hugo wanted me to tell you as soon as you woke up.”
...Come again?! Ferdinand never mentioned that Ella was the person Hugo wants to marry!
“It is apparently tradition for noblewomen to quit their work after getting married, but Ella wishes to remain a chef. If possible, I would appreciate you handling this matter for her.”
“It’s nice that she wants to keep working even after getting married, but... how will we handle their quarters? I’ll speak to Ferdinand, but for now, let’s arrange for them to get married next summer.”
“Aah, Hugo is going to be so happy! I thank you ever so much.”
Nicola completed her report by mentioning that the recipe book had been completed, then moved aside for Wilma and Rosina to step forward.
“Here is our report on the orphanage,” Wilma began. “We received three new orphans during the two years you were asleep. Two were found abandoned at the gate, while the third was born from a gray shrine maiden named Lily, who had previously served Brother Egmont.”
I knew Egmont—he was the villain who had wrecked my book room in the past.
And now he impregnated one of his attendants, then sent their child to the orphanage? Um, hold on a second. Is that normal here, or am I allowed to get mad about this?
I was too taken aback to respond immediately, and in the end, I decided to entrust the ethical debate to someone else rather than try to figure it out myself.
“Should I take that to mean she gave birth in the orphanage?”
“No—as there was nobody there who knew how to serve as a midwife, we were unable to care for her ourselves. We discussed the matter with Tuuli and the Plantin Company, then moved her to the monastery in Hasse so that the people there could help.”
Ferdinand had apparently told them to leave Lily alone and allow the baby to be born on its own. Wilma had been uneasy nonetheless, and so she had consulted Tuuli and Lutz, who naturally pointed out that this was definitely not the case.
Good work, you two.
There were about twenty women in the orphanage, but none had any experience helping with a birth, so they had moved Lily to the monastery with the gray shrine maidens at Benno’s direction. Nora took the lead there, since she had assisted with a birth before, and with other women from Hasse helping out as well, things proceeded smoothly without any major complications.
It seemed that Benno had yelled at Wilma for her unwillingness to accompany them to Hasse, despite her being responsible for the orphanage, so she was ultimately forced to go along as well.
“That... That must have been very hard for you,” I murmured. “Are you, um... Are you okay, Wilma?”
Getting shouted at by Benno was scary enough already, but with her fear of men, I could imagine it had been outright terrifying for Wilma. I couldn’t see how it would have accomplished anything other than reinforcing her existing trauma.
“It certainly was difficult, yes, but it was a valuable experience,” Wilma explained. “The mother and child are now staying in the orphanage. We are using our experience with Dirk and taking turns to look after the baby.”
“How is Dirk, by the way? Have you been draining his mana?”
“Yes. Once he shows signs of a buildup, we immediately send Fran to inform the High Priest, who in turn responds at once. As a result, Dirk has had no problems whatsoever.”
Dirk was in a tough spot, since a mana buildup would put his very life in danger, so it was good to hear he was doing well.
“The musical training in the orphanage is going splendidly as well,” Rosina added. “We allowed them all to touch the harspiel, though only those who expressed an interest were taught how to play. As far as I can tell, only one has the talent necessary to become a personal musician, but the fact they do not enjoy practicing means they will most likely never make use of said talent.”
Nobles had to study music for their debut, but the orphans had no such obligation. My only goal here was to identify the children with both talent and the drive to learn. There would almost certainly be children who were talented but had no interest in music, and there was no point in focusing on those who weren’t properly motivated.
“However, there is a child who seems to have a future as an artist. They love to draw, and whenever they have the time, they mimic Wilma’s art on their own stone slate.”
“I see. Feel free to buy as many replacement pens as you need.”
“Understood.”
It seemed that Rosina was taking her job of teaching the children in the orphanage very seriously, which came as a huge relief. I had been worried she would outright refuse, since this kind of work wasn’t normally expected of a musician.
“Now for the workshop,” Gil said in his shockingly deep voice. He was so tall and looked so much like an adult now that I couldn’t believe it.
He summarized the events of the past two years for me. They had run out of manuscripts they could print, so they had decided to borrow a book from Tuuli. In return, she and Lutz were taught proper etiquette in the orphanage.
“I believe they now observe etiquette well enough to be presented to mednobles,” Fritz said, having taught Lutz.
Wilma nodded in agreement, having taught Tuuli. “They have both shown much ambition and worked incredibly hard. They regularly visited the orphanage, and their help raising Dirk and assisting with Lily’s birth proved crucial.”
“I suppose I will need to thank them both as well,” I replied.
Gil suddenly looked up as though he had remembered something. “Tuuli recommended we make books that teach etiquette, and we finished printing them last winter. They are selling well among the rich upper class, since they cover noble greetings. You should thank her for that as well.”
...You know what? Tuuli might just be a real angel.
Five books in total had been released as products while I was asleep: the collection of knight stories, the collection of Mom’s stories I had given to Tuuli, a recipe book written by Nicola and illustrated by Wilma, and two books about manners that had been put together by my attendants at Tuuli’s suggestion.
“There was also a manuscript given to us by Lady Elvira, but since we were given a strict deadline to print them, we only made as many as were needed. Lady Elvira requested ownership of all copies, even those with errors, so we no longer have any versions at all,” Gil explained.
His wavering eyes told me everything—of course Elvira wouldn’t allow any loose copies to be left lying around the temple. Were Ferdinand to catch even a glimpse of one, he would no doubt fly into a rage and put his all into completely obliterating the workshop.
Mother, did you really want a book about him so badly that you would risk everything?
Gil had a progress report on Haldenzel as well: The Gutenbergs had mobilized on a large scale to establish branches of the Plant Paper and Printing Guilds in the province, whereupon they had negotiated the distribution of profits and such. They had then gone to the workshops Giebe Haldenzel had prepared to share our technology with the workers.
“We brought the metal parts needed to make the printing presses with us from Ehrenfest, since Johann wasn’t sure he could make them without his usual tools. We shared the schematics with the workers, but tools aside, they don’t even have the technical skill to put the parts together.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” I replied. With Johann handling my precise orders one after another, his technical ability was only continuing to improve. At this point, he was basically on a whole other level from anyone else.
“They’ll try making their own metal letter types over the winter, and they wish for us to check their quality come spring.”
“Very well. I appreciate you having traveled so far for this, Gil.”
“It was for the sake of spreading the printing industry,” he responded, breaking into a grin that reminded me so much of the younger him that I couldn’t help but smile as well.
“I understand well how hard you have all worked in my absence. Thank you. I would expect nothing less from my attendants,” I said, praising everyone once their reports were done.
With our business concluded, Fran put me to bed with several wooden boards. “I received these from the High Priest today, Lady Rozemyne. Please rest and spend your time reading them. He made it clear that you are not to overexert yourself whatsoever.”
“But I need to write letters...”
“Fear not—I have already contacted the Plantin and Gilberta Companies. You may rest now and leave the meeting arrangements to us. In three days’ time, you will be leaving for the castle, and from that point onward you are expected to cram until it is time to depart for the Royal Academy.”
I nodded, then leaned back on my bed and started looking over the boards. On them were long lists of everything I needed to know before entering the Royal Academy, sorted in order of priority. At the top were country history and geography, the ranking of duchies based on mana and economic power, the names and histories of the royal family, and the names and histories of the archduke candidates attending the Academy at the same time as me. As far as I was concerned, this was perfect.
Eheheh... Eheheheheh. I bet there are going to be sooo many books for me to read. I... Hm? Wait, I need to practice... dedication whirls? And Grandfather is going to put me through a physical training regimen? Am I going to die before I even make it to the Royal Academy?
Fran had organized my meeting straight away. It would be held tomorrow afternoon, so my morning schedule was the same as always.
Now that I was awake, Damuel would come to the temple as soon as second bell rang to serve as my guard knight. His youthful air had vanished completely, such that he now came across like a full-grown adult. I initially assumed that the visible exhaustion on his face was due to his lost love, but it was actually because Bonifatius was working him to the bone during training.
“Lord Bonifatius has spent every day training the archducal family’s guard knights to ensure you will not be put at risk again. Both Angelica and Cornelius have gotten so much stronger that I can hardly believe it.”
“I see. That makes me look forward to going to the castle a little more.”
I practiced the harspiel with Rosina after breakfast, but I was so rusty that I could barely move my fingers properly.
“They say that three days without practice will change one’s sound, and you have spent two years asleep, so there is no avoiding a slight deterioration in your playing ability. I must say though, you are getting back into the flow of things quite quickly. Perhaps it is because, from your perspective, the last time you played was only a few days ago.”
“Am I good enough to avoid embarrassing myself at the Royal Academy, I wonder...?”
Due to my time in the jureve, I was still playing at the level one would expect of an eight-year-old, which surely wasn’t ideal when I was going to a place packed with nobles who had practiced until they were ten.
“There is no need to worry; simply continue practicing and you will be fine. The study plan the High Priest arranged for you increased in difficulty quite rapidly, so once your fingers are moving properly again, you will not need to worry about embarrassing yourself.”
Even then, I could guess I would just barely be reaching a passable level. It was hard to make up for lost time in skill-based things like this, but my only choice was to continue practicing to the best of my ability.
At third bell, I went to help Ferdinand in his chambers. His attendants practically wept tears of joy when I arrived there with Fran and Zahm, which went to show just how painful the workload had been for them.
“Please be aware that I will soon be going to the Royal Academy, so I will only be helping today and tomorrow...” I warned them.
“Even just receiving fewer summons from the castle is more than welcome. We now have the strength to go on.”
Grr! Sylvester! How dare you exploit Ferdinand again!
In any case, I did my best to blast through the math I was given, determined to lessen Ferdinand’s workload as much as possible. When I was done, he gave me a nod with an exceedingly satisfied expression.
“Very good,” he said, handing me a rejuvenation potion.
“Thank you ever so much.”
I accepted the potion, though I actually felt pretty conflicted about doing so, whether the taste was improved or not. That said, I knew Ferdinand had made it out of... whatever kindness he possibly had in his heart, so I needed to at least act grateful.
After lunch, I went to look over the orphanage and the workshop, both to announce my recovery and praise everyone for their hard work. Gil and Damuel accompanied me, with Monika and Nicola returning to my orphanage director’s chambers ahead of time to make the necessary preparations.
The orphanage had changed in many ways: Several of the apprentices had come of age, and some of the kids who hadn’t been any bigger than me were now full-fledged apprentices. As for the pre-baptism children, Dirk and three babies were crawling around. Delia had always looked pretty, but now she was a jaw-dropping beauty, while Dirk was a toddler without much of a baby face anymore.
I guess Kamil is about this big now too...
If they kept growing at this rate, Kamil and Dirk would end up taller than me before long. The thought alone filled me with an instinctive sense of dread.
“Lady Rozemyne, the Plantin Company has arrived,” Fran announced as I was sitting at my desk, looking over the workshop’s balance sheet I had received from Gil.
Benno, Mark, and Lutz climbed up to where I was on the second floor. While he hadn’t grown as much as Gil, Lutz was much taller now, reaching all the way to Fran’s shoulders. He wore a sharp expression, and perhaps due to him having been forged in the fires of constant busyness, I sensed the aura of a capable workingman radiating from him.
After the standard tedious introductions, I went into my hidden room. Gil and Damuel followed, as they usually did when I was dealing with the Plantin Company, and no sooner had the door closed than I leapt straight into Lutz’s arms.
“Lutz, you’re so tall now!”
There was an audible thump as he caught me. Instead of my head reaching his shoulders like I was used to, it ended up buried somewhere between his chest and lower stomach. The fifteen-centimeter gap between us had evolved into something like thirty centimeters, and my mood plummeted in an instant.
Benno walked over, patted my head as I clung to Lutz, then blinked a little in surprise. “Rozemyne... have you shrunk?”
“No! I haven’t gotten taller, but I haven’t shrunk either, you meanie! It’s not like I slept because I wanted to...”
I could feel the floodgates inside of me give way as the words left my mouth. Before I knew it, tears were streaming down my cheeks, and maybe because I wasn’t usually permitted to show my emotions, there was just no stopping them.
“Er, sorry about that... Has anyone else mentioned it? Or have you just been holding back those tears for a while now?” Benno asked, which really made me think.
“Ferdinand told me not to get emotional; I’ve got even more mana now, so I can’t risk losing control. I guess I really did want to cry after all, though...”
“Isn’t losing control of your mana really damn serious?!”
“It’s okay, really. I’ve got four physical enhancement magic tools on my limbs.”
“Alright. Cry as much as you want, then. This is probably the only place you can do that, huh?” Benno said, ruffling my hair before stepping away.
Lutz gave a small smile and patted me on the back. “Yup, yup. Cry all you want. Honestly, I’m glad to see you haven’t changed much. I was talking to Tuuli the other day about what it’d be like if you suddenly ended up a totally new person.”
“Luuutz...”
Knowing that I could freely let out my emotions at last caused all the tension to drain from my body. I clung to Lutz and cried so hard that I even surprised myself, until eventually it was all out of my system. I felt a wave of relief, like all the fear and frustration that had built up inside of me had flowed out along with the tears.
I looked up and saw Lutz’s face, which was higher up than I remembered it being. It was nice to see that his jade eyes were the same as ever, at least.
“Lutz, you feel a lot different than you used to; you’re all hard and muscle-y now. Both you and Gil have grown up way too much. Plus, you both look so manly now, and Gil sounds like an entirely different person... Not you though, Benno. You just look old.”
“Gah! What was that, you little brat?!”
I giggled and stuck out my tongue while using Lutz as a shield, but Benno still managed to grind a fist against my head with a grimace.
“Gyaaah!” I cried out. “It hurts! It hurts!”
“This feels like a decent enough punishment. It’d do you good to remember how hard we’ve worked for you.”
“Aww! But we’re here to talk about exactly that, aren’t we?!”
“Then quit screwing around and pay attention! I’ll tell you everything that’s gone on.”
I nodded and sat down... on Lutz’s lap.
Benno sat across from me, then shot me a cold glare. “You being serious?” he asked.
“Let me have this; I haven’t yet recovered from my Lutz deficiency. Plus, I need to cram two years’ worth of studies in before going to a school full of nobles for a while, so I need to charge up now while I still can.”
“Right, right. Do what you want. I’ll just go ahead and give my report.”
Benno brought me up to date on the progress and status of the printing industry in Haldenzel. Unlike in Illgner, where we had only needed to teach them how to make paper, we had apparently needed to teach the locals how to make metal letter types and manage other crucial aspects of the printing industry. One season ultimately hadn’t been enough, so their plan was to visit the province again next spring to check up on everything. There were also several other things that had been stalled, since they required my approval.
“Right. We’ll shoot over there next spring on my highbeast, then blast through all the work that needs to be done,” I said.
“Blast through it, huh...? Couldn’t ask for anything more. For now though, I’m just glad you finally woke up. We really need you to rein in your people; I can’t take any more meetings where a bunch of archnobles stare me down while the High Priest gives me a sympathetic look.”
I quickly averted my gaze. It wasn’t hard to imagine Benno in that situation, surrounded by Haldenzel nobles questioning whether printing would really bring them a profit, while Elvira stood eagerly at their side, driven to establish a workshop by her own ulterior motives.
“Well, er... what can I say? My sympathies.”
Benno went on to explain that they had struggled with an ultra-express order from Elvira that she had needed done in time for winter socializing. When he was finished, I handed Lutz a letter for my family.
“What should I do with this?” he asked. “I’ve been living in the Plantin Company since last summer, and Tuuli’s living in the Gilberta Company now.”
“Wha? Oh, right. She’s a leherl too...”
Back when Tuuli had turned ten, the Plantin and Gilberta Companies were in the midst of relocating after becoming two separate businesses, so she hadn’t been able to move into the store immediately. Benno’s group were now staying on the second floor of the Plantin Company, while Corinna and Otto had moved from the third to the second floor of the Gilberta Company. Only once this was all done was a room prepared for Tuuli.
“You can deliver it straight to her house,” Benno chimed in. “Just hold on to it for now, Lutz.”
“Understood, Master Benno.”
With that settled, I explained that we wouldn’t be able to meet for a while, since I was going to the Royal Academy from the winter onward. Benno asked me to speak to the nobility about the printing industry in Haldenzel, after which my meeting with the Plantin Company came to an end.
“Gil, crouch down. I’ll give you a head pat for having worked so hard,” I said. His eyes widened in surprise as I reached out my hand.
“Lady Rozemyne, I’m too old for that now.”
“Whaaat?! Oh, um... Okay. Right. Sorry.”
Gil wore such an uncomfortable expression as he turned me down that I reflexively pulled back my hand. While he had certainly grown taller, I had thought he was the same person on the inside, but only then did I remember he was a fourteen-year-old right in the middle of puberty.
The Gil I knew who loved head pats is gone forever... I feel kind of sad now. After two whole years, I guess it only makes sense that he would change on the inside too.
But as I slumped over sadly, Gil knelt down and lowered his head in front of me. “E-Er, actually... I just remembered that I do want head pats. Please go ahead.”
I knew that he was just saying it for my sake, but I didn’t want to rebuff his kindness. I reached out for his grown-up head and gently stroked his hair, which felt a little coarser than I remembered it being. This would probably be the last time I ever got to praise him like this.
“You worked really hard over the past two years, Gil. I can’t describe how happy I was to wake up and see five new books right next to me. Thank you. Keep up the good work.”
“...Right.”
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