Ladies of Labyrinth City
Satou here. I think lack of communication is the biggest cause of conflict between people. Sometimes you assume you won’t be able to reach an understanding with someone, but if you talk it out, you might find that they’re actually not so bad.
“L-l-let go!”
Flustered, Karina pushed between Zena and me as the latter clung to me. Karina looked oddly displeased.
“Eek!” Zena let out a cute little squeal of surprise at the unexpected push, but thanks to her well-honed reflexes, she quickly recovered.
“Violence baaad?”
“No fighting, sir.”
“I wasn’t fighting! It simply seems inappropriate to embrace someone out of nowhere.”
Tama and Pochi scolded Karina for removing Zena with her Raka-enhanced superstrength.
“I’m sorry for jumping on him all of a sudden…”
For some reason, Zena was apologizing to Karina, not me.
“A-as long as you understand.”
In response, Karina blushed and turned her back on the other girl.
Clearly, she was still as shy as ever.
“So who is this young lady?”
“Oh, I guess you haven’t been introduced yet.”
I wanted to know what Zena was in such a rush about, but I figured I should introduce them first.
“Miss Zena, this is Lady Karina, the second daughter of my lord, Baron Muno.”
Karina turned a bit red and looked aside again. “Karina Muno,” she mumbled. She must have been too nervous to make eye contact.
Because of the way she was crossing her arms under her chest and jutting out her chin, Miss Karina’s proportions were particularly noticeable.
“…Wow, she’s pretty,” Zena muttered quietly, putting a hand to her own chest and looking a little intimidated.
I couldn’t blame her, since Karina’s combination of good looks and ample bosom was so rare.
“Lady Karina, this is Miss Zena of the house of Sir Marienteil the hereditary knight, a magic soldier in the army who looked out for me a great deal in the capital of Seiryuu County.”
“Hereditary knight… Is she Satou’s lover?” Karina muttered, very off the mark.
“She saved Tama’s liiife.”
“And Pochi’s and Liza’s, too, sir.”
Tama and Pochi chimed in to tell Karina of Zena’s good deeds.
“You saved them? That is certainly impressive.”
At that, the harshness left Karina’s face.
I guess she felt that any friend of Tama and Pochi’s was a friend of hers.
“Not at all! Mr. Satou saved my life when a wyvern sent me flying once, too.”
“You fought a wyvern?”
“Y-yes, but not alone. I was with my patrol squad.”
Zena shook her head sheepishly, but the battle-loving Karina was already hooked. Her shyness seemed to have conveniently vanished.
“Satou saved my life once, too. When I was on my way to meet the giants of—”
“Lady Karina, let’s keep that story for once we can sit down and relax somewhere, all right?”
I appreciated her enthusiasm, but it seemed like Zena had some urgent matter to tell me about, so I wanted to get that sorted first.
“So what’s the matter?”
As I brought things back to the matter at hand, the alarm returned to Zena’s face. “Oh, right!” she exclaimed. “L-look at this…”
Zena held out a familiar-looking envelope with a fancy seal.
Looking at the opened wax seal’s design, I observed, “It’s a letter from the viceroy’s wife—that is, the house of Marquis Ashinen.”
“That’s right! I don’t know why, but it came to my barracks yesterday!”
She said it had been delivered by one of the viceroy’s wife’s servants while she was away.
“Is it an invitation to tomorrow’s tea party?”
“Ze—Erm, you too?”
Zena looked at Karina and me in surprise.
Karina had probably refrained from saying her name out of shyness, not rudeness.
“I thought so. As it happens, Lady Karina and I both received invitations as well.”
A look of understanding flashed across Zena’s face, but she still looked nervous.
“But why would she invite me?”
“I’m sorry. It’s probably because you’re a friend of mine.”
I was guessing that Karina had been invited for the same reason.
“Oh, I see…”
Zena looked downcast, but for a different reason than the shy Karina.
“I didn’t bring many of my things on this excursion, so I don’t have any clothing or experience with attending a viceroy’s wife’s tea party… I was going to decline, but…”
Her superiors and the officials in the force had all insisted that she go.
“Our supplies chief Morando and some of the officials like Karana went to arrange for some clothes, but since we just got to Labyrinth City, none of us knows our way around very well…” Zena looked at me imploringly. “S-so I was hoping you could help me find a secondhand shop where I can get clothes for the tea party, please.”
“The dresses at secondhand shops tend to be a bit behind the times, so I wouldn’t especially recommend it.”
Zena’s shoulders slumped at my response.
“Well, how about this? We were just on our way to a rental shop to find an outfit for Lady Karina. Would you like to come along?”
“May I?!”
Zena’s clouded expression quickly cleared up again.
“Yes, of course.” I smiled and nodded reassuringly.
“But I don’t want to intrude…”
Zena glanced at Karina.
Pochi and Tama looked up at her, too.
“I-it’s quite all right! You saved Pochi and Tama, after all.”
Karina did look a little dissatisfied, or maybe even pouty, but she kindly agreed even as she turned her face away.
At a glance, it seemed like she was jealous that I was so close with Zena, but as far as I could tell from our past, it didn’t seem like she was in love with me or anything.
If anything, maybe it was more like the shock when you find out that a close friend of yours has another close friend you didn’t know about?
In Karina’s case, it’s sometimes tough to tell whether her feelings were girlish or just childish.
I used the Space Magic spell Telephone to contact Arisa back at the mansion and asked her to bring Pina and the others to the clothing rental shop.
“Hey, isn’t that young Sir Pendragon?”
“You’re right. He’s with a gorgeous woman and a sweet-looking young lady… He likes ’em pretty, huh?”
“Lulu, look, it’s the young master.”
“Master!”
As we passed by the tailor next to our destination rental shop, I spotted Lulu among some maids. The other girls seemed to work for the Ashinen family.
“Hey, Lulu. Shopping with friends?”
“Yes, sir!”
As always, Lulu’s smile was charming enough to move mountains.
She explained that the Ashinen maids had asked for advice in getting maid outfits similar to the Pendragon girls’, so she’d brought them to this tailor.
Looking rather pleased, she said they were going to the three girls’ favorite accessory shop after.
Lulu had served as our coachman at some of the viceroy’s wife’s tea parties and banquets, which must have been where they became friends.
“Take care of our Lulu.”
“““Yes, Sir Knight!”””
We parted ways with the cheerful maids and headed into the rental clothing shop next door.
I chose the highest-grade rental shop in Labyrinth City Celivera, but when I saw the almost off-puttingly flashy clothes lined up in front, I started to get a little nervous.
“Hello, I made a reservation under the name Pendragon—”
“Young master! Miss Miteruna only mentioned one person. Which of these lovely ladies is looking for dresses today?”
I had never been to this place before, but the shopkeeper seemed to know me somehow.
“I’m terribly sorry to change plans last minute, but would it be possible for both of them to pick out clothes today?”
“Yes, that’s fine, of course.”
The shopkeeper struck her chest reassuringly.
“As far as dresses that are popular in Labyrinth City right now… Something like these, perhaps?”
The woman placed a few dresses on the counter that looked like they would suit Zena and Karina, who sorted through them with serious expressions.
“Byooti-full.”
“Like princesses, sir.”
Tama and Pochi usually only cared about food, but now they hung off the side of the counter with their eyes sparkling.
As I was watching them fondly, I felt a smack from behind.
“Master, we’re here.”
It was Arisa, with Pina and company in tow.
Once I introduced everyone, Pina and Karina’s other maid guards went to help her choose a dress.
“These seem pretty flashy.”
“Do you think so? If you pick something too plain in this city, you won’t stand out.”
The shopkeeper tilted her head at Arisa.
The explorers in Labyrinth City seemed fond of gaudy clothes, which appeared to have influenced the overall sense of fashion; flashy clothes that showed a little skin were especially popular here.
Still, maybe that was inevitable, since I suppose the only people who would come to a rental shop in Labyrinth City were higher-ranking explorers or visiting lesser nobles from other areas.
“Doing okay, Zena?”
“Well…”
Zena seemed to be stuck between a rock and a hard place: Everything was either too flashy or too revealing for her usual sensibilities.
“…We’re going to the viceroy’s wife’s tea party. Do you have anything a bit more reserved?”
“The viceroy’s wife’s tea party!” the shopkeeper exclaimed and bustled off to the back to search for clothes.
“Did you see any dresses you liked?”
“E-erm… Maybe this one?”
Zena produced a relatively mature-looking dress from who-knows-where and held it up in front of herself.
The material looked a little cheap, but since Zena herself was made of good material, it suited her surprisingly well.
“Miss, that’s a maid outfit,” the shopkeeper explained when she came back.
No wonder the material looked cheap.
“How about these, young master?”
The shopkeeper placed some dresses on the table. They looked a little old-fashioned, but they were probably still better than the first batch.
“These are so old ladyish.”
Arisa voiced a similar thought as she sorted through the dresses with Zena.
“Well, they are on the older side.”
The shopkeeper shrugged. Apparently, she herself was aware that they were old-fashioned.
“How ’bout this one, Zena? If we got rid of the high collar and updated the old-fashioned lace on the shoulders, it wouldn’t be bad, don’cha think? I’d wanna fix the weird cuffs on the sleeves, too, while I’m at it.”
Arisa offered the flummoxed-looking Zena a lifeboat.
It was a good plan. With those modifications, this dress wouldn’t look so far off from the ones those noblewomen in the royal capital were wearing.
If it came down to it, I could probably stay up all night and use my “Sewing” skill to make dresses for Zena and Karina myself.
“Well, if you modify it that much, you’d have to buy it, not rent it.”
“That’s fine, right, master?”
I nodded at Arisa’s question.
As far as I could tell from my “Estimation” skill, buying them outright wouldn’t be much more expensive than renting them.
“Sir Knight, what about something like this?”
In front of Karina, Pina held up a very sexy-looking dress with a huge opening at the chest.
I couldn’t say it out loud, but I would love to see her wearing that.
“This is far too embarrassing.”
Karina turned bright red and squirmed, as if put off by the very thought.
Karina sometimes seemed a bit immature, but she could occasionally show this charmingly girlish side, too.
If she could just get over her communication issues, I was sure she could marry into a good family right away.
“It might be nice for an evening party or a ball, but I think that could be a bit too sensational for a tea party.”
Evening parties and balls held by nobles tended to be good meeting places for potential marriage partners, so I didn’t think there was anything wrong with showing off a little at those, but it might be a bit too out of place at a tea party.
“Arisa, can you help them out with trying things on and suggesting alterations?”
“Okey-dokey. Wait, where are you going?”
“Just to stock up on clothes.”
At that, Arisa rolled her eyes and muttered, “So you’re gonna cheat again, huh?”
I left the rental store, got a room in a nearby inn, and used the Create Stone Object spell to make life-size models of Zena and Karina.
Their faces didn’t look entirely right, but the rest should be fairly accurate.
I used the Space Magic spell Clairvoyance to make sure I didn’t have any major mishaps, then moved on to the next step.
I pulled up the screenshot of the noblewomen from the royal capital and picked a few dresses that would suit Zena and Karina.
“For the fabric…I’ll use the extra jade silk from the old capital and the crimson silk from Lalagi.”
The delicate jade would suit Zena well, and the luxurious crimson would match Karina’s golden locks.
Obviously, I would have to resist using ultrarare fabrics like fairy silk or orichalcum fibers.
Using my “Sewing” skill, I cut the fabric without even making a pattern. If Arisa could see me, she would definitely scold me for being such a cheater.
All this sewing would be difficult with only two hands, so I used the Practical Magic spell Magic Hand to make things easier.
“This should do it, right?”
Far sooner than I expected—in less than ten minutes, in fact—I’d finished two dresses for each of them. The bases were all the same, but I modified the decorations and degree of exposed skin.
I put the dresses on the models and looked at them from various angles to assess whether they matched their inspiration.
They were certainly a bit simpler than the original dresses, and I’d used different jewels and such to decorate based on what I had on hand, but they should be fine overall.
I put the four dresses in a Garage Bag and went back to the rental shop.
“Oh? Something wrong, master?”
“No, I finished the clothes already, so I brought them.”
“For real?”
Arisa stared at me in shock.
Stop giving me such disturbingly weird faces.
“Are they still trying things on?”
“Yep. I think they should be out soon.”
Before Arisa finished her sentence, Zena emerged.
Prior to modifications, the dress was theoretically plain and old-fashioned, but it ended up looking mysteriously good when Zena wore it.
“It looks great on you.”
“Oh gosh, I don’t know…”
Zena looked flustered but happy.
“Sir Knight, give this one a look, too, please.”
Standing in front of Karina’s changing room, Pina forcibly pulled aside the curtain.
Uh, WOW.
An incredible amount of skin was thrust before my eyes.
She was wearing clothes, of course, but still.
The cleavage was out of control.
“EEEEEK!”
Forgetting her usual noble mannerisms, Karina shrieked, covered her chest with her hands, and squatted down.
All this sudden movement was too much for the fabric of the dress, which let out a scream as the magic boobs began to push past the clothing’s limits—
“Arisa uses Iron Protectiooooon!”
—but Arisa jumped in front of me to block my vision before that happened.
A bit of a shame, but still: Thank you, Arisa.
If I’d witnessed that head-on, I didn’t know if even my “Poker Face” skill would have been enough to carry me through.
As I quietly tried to calm down, I pulled out the clothes I’d made for Zena and Karina (who had changed back into her original outfit) and handed them over.
“Th-they’re pretty nice and all, but they’re not flashy enough to be popular in Labyrinth City, if you ask me.”
Aside from the shopkeeper’s bitter comments, everyone else seemed impressed.
Of the two dresses I’d prepared for each, both of them chose the one that showed less skin.
I didn’t think it was so bad to show a little shoulder and back, even if they were shy to expose their cleavage, but the girls were too embarrassed.
“Satou, what do you think?”
Karina was the first to change into her dress for any modifications.
“It looks wonderful. I knew the crimson color would bring out your beauty nicely.”
“B-beauty…”
The direct compliment was enough to make steam come out of Karina’s ears.
Considering how gorgeous she was, she didn’t seem very accustomed to being complimented.
“…She’s so pretty… I’m sure Satou must…”
My “Keen Hearing” skill picked up on Zena’s comment.
I wasn’t sure what the rest of that sentence was supposed to be, but I was eager to see how the dress looked, so I turned around.
Nice job, me.
It looked so good on her that I was tempted to congratulate myself out loud.
“You look amazing, Miss Zena. The delicate jade silk suits you well.”
“Thank you very much. Even if you’re just flattering me, I appreciate it.”
“No need for modesty. You look lovely.”
At my insistent seal of approval, Zena turned red and cutely mumbled, “Thanks.”
That sort of gesture suited her ridiculously well. If they could see her now, tons of fancy nobles would surely be clamoring for her hand in marriage.
“…Sh-she’s far too cute… This girl and Satou might…”
Behind me, my “Keen Hearing” skill picked up on Karina muttering this time.
Somehow, it sounded very similar to what Zena had said. Maybe these two would actually get along pretty well.
“Sir Knight, what shall we do with the dresses these two didn’t choose?” Pina asked.
“I’ve already bought those, too, so let’s get them altered as well.”
Since it’d be poor manners to ask them to alter clothes I’d brought in myself, I bought some of the clothes Miss Karina had ruined and a few others they’d tried on to balance it out.
The clothes I’d made needed only minor alterations, so we moved on to buy some accessories to match them.
“Trying to pull one over on us ’cause they think we’re bumpkins!”
As we were on our way to the accessory shop, we heard a familiar voice cursing in front of an alchemy shop.
“Lilio!”
“Oh, Zenacchi and her boy!”
As the two of them shrieked at their unexpected reunion, Iona and Lou emerged from the shop to complete Zena’s squad.
“Miss Lilio, you really shouldn’t call him ‘boy.’ ‘Sir Pendragon’ or ‘Sir Knight’ would be more appropriate.”
Miss Iona scolded Lilio firmly.
“Oh, right, I forgot he’s a noble.”
“‘Boy’ is fine, thank you. As long as we’re not in an official setting anyway.”
“See? My boy here says it’s fine.”
Iona looked like she wanted to say something else, but since I’d basically given my permission, she refrained from pressing the matter further.
“So what were you doing at the alchemy shop?”
“Nothing in particular—”
“Zenacchi, get this! We don’t have enough potions for our trip tomorrow!”
Iona tried to pass it off, but Lilio ignored her and blurted out the full situation.
“Th-that’s awful! But didn’t Sir Hence say he found a good source?”
“That’s the whole problem, Zenacchi.”
“The potions Sir Hence purchased are all really low-quality.”
“And our supply chief Morando is upset because Sir Hence stocked up without permission.”
Thus, Lilio and the other soldiers were going around to alchemy shops trying to buy up more medicine.
“Were you able to get any potions?”
“Well, they tried to charge us at least three times what they’re worth…,” Lilio grumbled.
“That’s the standard here in Labyrinth City. Recently, there’s an alternative available called ‘veria magic potions,’ but otherwise potions here are more expensive than the royal capital.”
At that, Zena’s squad exchanged worried glances.
While we were killing time in the labyrinth after defeating the floormaster, the explorers’ guild had collected all the components of the veria potion recipe. I didn’t want the power balance in the city to fall to shambles, so I had some employees of the Echigoya Company’s Celivera branch convey the remaining recipe to Baronet Dyukeli and the alchemists’ guild.
However, since there was a bit of a trick to making the potions, only a handful of skilled alchemists had succeeded so far, and the resulting product was fairly low-quality.
It would probably be a little longer before the novice alchemists who specialized in selling low-price potions were able to produce and sell good-quality veria potions for cheap.
“Hey, boy. You got any connections that could help us out?”
“Lilio!”
Zena exclaimed at Lilio for her frank request.
Iona looked like she wanted to scold Lilio, too, but they didn’t have anyone else to ask for help in this area, so she hesitated.
“It’s all right. I should be able to help you.”
With that, I turned to Arisa and the others.
“You heard that, right? Can you take care of the alterations and such?”
“Oh, fine. Just leave it to your darling Arisa.”
Arisa, heroic as always, was quick to agree.
“I’ll trust you with the accessories to match Zena’s outfit, too. Here’s your budget. If you finish that, arrange for extra clothes for Karina and the maids, too, please.”
With that, I handed a few purses of gold coins to Arisa from the Garage Bag.
As we started to walk away from Arisa and company, Karina grabbed my arm.
“You’re leaving?” She looked up at me with puppy-dog eyes. “Is Z—is she more important to you?”
She seemed to feel neglected.
“It’s normal to help a friend who’s in trouble. If Pochi or Tama needed help, you’d take care of them, too, right?”
As I responded, both Zena and Karina muttered “friend” in two very different tones.
Um, that wasn’t the point.
“Very well. Yes, friends are quite important.”
Karina looked at Tama and Pochi, then nodded and walked over to the accessory store with Arisa and the others. I guess friendship was a pretty weighty concept for her.
“Shall we get going, too, then?”
“R-right. Of course…”
Zena was looking down as she answered, but then she gave herself a light slap on the cheek and looked up.
“I’m sorry. Let’s go, Satou!”
“Sorry, Zenacchi.” As Zena returned to her usual smile, Lilio murmured an apology.
She probably felt bad for interrupting Zena’s private shopping trip.
“If you want to buy cheaper magic potions, I’d recommend the pharmacy on the second floor of the explorers’ guild or the bargain shops in Kuuts Alley. You can get them in the downtown area or the stalls by the labyrinth, too, but most of those are duds, so I don’t suggest it unless you have the ‘Analyze Goods’ skill.”
Miss Iona and the others discussed it for a moment and decided to split up to investigate.
Zena and I would go to Kuuts Alley, Iona to the eastern explorers’ guild in the nobles’ district, Lou to the western explorers’ guild, and Lilio to the stalls near the labyrinth, specifically to the ones I’d said were trustworthy.
Of course, this was just a front—I’d actually used my map search to locate which merchants were selling good-quality potions and suggested them to her.
Since we didn’t have cell phones or anything, we agreed to use Zena’s Wind Magic spell Echo to get back in touch in an hour. Echo was a spell specific to the Seiryuu County army and could convey simple sound waves to basic magic tools carried by the soldiers to relay short messages.
“Thank you very much, Sir Knight.”
Miss Iona thanked me for the group, and we parted ways to go to our different destinations.
Of course, if they weren’t able to get enough supplies, I was willing to share some of my own stock.
“Is this Kuuts Alley?”
“It is. They sell lots of products besides potions here.”
The alley was a jumble of shops with narrow entrances. As usual, it was very crowded.
“What, you don’t have any?! Dammit!”
A particularly loud shout came from a liquor store up ahead.
“As far as cheap wine, this one’s good, too.”
“I told you, what I want is Lessau’s Lifeblood!”
“They’re all the same, right?”
“No, they’re not! And you don’t have any, yeah?”
“I’m afraid not. We haven’t gotten any shipments from Lessau County ’cause of the whole demon affair. Try asking at the liquor shop on the north-south main street.”
“If they had it there, I wouldn’t be comin’ to a dump like this in the first place.”
“Well, I’m sorry our dump isn’t to your liking. Shipments were stopped up in Zetts County until recently, so maybe the merchants went to sell in the Eluette Marquisate instead of here?”
A man who seemed to be the liquor shop owner was having it out with a familiar explorer in front of the store.
“Good day, Lord Dozon.”
“Oh, hey, young master.”
Dozon waved at me lightly.
“You need something?”
“A little bird told me you were looking for this.”
I produced a bottle of Lessau’s Lifeblood wine from Storage by way of the Garage Bag.
“Ooh! That’s the stuff! I owe ya one, young master. Now I can beat Mahiruna for sure.”
Dozon accepted the bottle from me, gave me far more money than was necessary for some cheap wine, and marched away triumphantly. He was probably looking for it on request from the labyrinth village.
When we last visited the labyrinth village, the drink vendor had said he wanted to buy all my Lessau’s Lifeblood for the Blue People. This leftover bottle was my last one.
“That reminds me. What path did your force take to get here, Miss Zena?”
On our way to the shop, Zena shared some stories from her eventful trip to Labyrinth City.
“…Sounds like you had a difficult time.”
The journey was hard in itself, but their battle against an intermediate demon army in Lessau County sounded particularly life-threatening. If an amazingly skilled mage by the name of Mito hadn’t intervened, it could’ve gone far worse.
Intermediate demons usually weren’t that bright in my experience, but I guess these ones were clever enough to launch a surprise attack and nearly wipe out an army. For that matter, Ludaman’s demon lord was pretty scary, too, and the most recent scuffle with intermediate demons had been handled only with the help of Helmina from the Eight Swordsmen of Shiga and her Holy Knights.
“Our difficulties were nothing compared to the citizens of Lessau County, who’ve been terrorized by monsters and demons.”
Though Zena played it off, it seemed to me like they’d had a pretty harrowing journey.
Lessau County was the home of the horrible lord who’d harassed Tifaleeza and Neru and made them into criminal slaves, but that wasn’t the fault of the citizens. If they collected funds to help reconstruct their territory, I decided to contribute on the generous side.
“We even ran into a lesser dragon at the Zetts County border.”
Zena smiled and changed the subject.
The Flying Dragon Knight of the Eight Swordsmen of Shiga, Sir Torel, had challenged the lesser dragon and was bitterly defeated. Then Mito, the same mage who’d defeated the intermediate demons in Lessau County, chased the lesser dragon off, according to Zena.
“What sort of person is this Mito?”
I couldn’t help being a little curious.
“A very pretty lady with black hair. She seems to be in her twenties, but she uses amazing Practical Magic techniques like standing in midair on magic footholds, like something out of the legends of the ancestral king.”
“She sounds like a Hero.”
In this world, where youth-rejuvenating potions and other such things existed, it didn’t seem that unusual that a Hero from one or two generations ago might still be alive.
“…Yes, perhaps.”
Zena hesitated a little before she nodded.
There must be some secret circumstances surrounding this mysterious Mito person.
The existence of an unknown entity this powerful worried me a bit, but from what Zena said, she seemed like a good-natured person, so there was probably no need to push the subject further.
“That’s the shop.”
We finally arrived at the store I was heading for.
“Huh? Hey, it’s Mister Knight.”
“Sir Pendragon.”
I was running into a lot of acquaintances today.
This time, it was Sumina, the chief explorer and elder-sister figure of the Echigoya Company’s Celivera branch, and the branch manager, Polina.
“Are you having any trouble?”
“Not at all, Sir Knight. Business at the food carts has stabilized with your help, and the orders from the explorers’ school and private orphanage have been a great boon.”
Polina bowed her head in gratitude.
Still, all I’d done as Satou was help them get permission to open the food carts, lent them carts I’d made on the down low for free, and gave them some recipes by way of Lulu.
Oh, and I’d had Tama draw the signboard for them, I guess.
“There’s no need to thank me. I haven’t done very much at all.”
Besides, it went both ways, since I was always asking them for pretty big favors.
“That’s not true! The tomatoes and cherry tomatoes you gave us are growing quite nicely on our experimental farm, so we’ll be sure to send them along as soon as we can harvest them.”
“Thank you. I’m looking forward to it.”
The experimental farm in question was located outside the southern wall of Labyrinth City.
I made it in order to help improve the state of farming in Labyrinth City and provide a source of income for the Echigoya Company’s Celivera branch.
Disguised as Kuro, I’d enclosed a large empty field with Earth Magic, had golems plow the field, and dug in some leaf mold from the monster territories to use as mulch. I’d really had a lot of time to kill in the waiting period after we beat the floormaster.
The tomatoes and cherry tomatoes must be the ones I’d given to Neru when the food carts first started up, from the garden Lulu was cultivating at the mansion.
Based on what they’d told me as Kuro before, the cultivation was going well overall, but they were having difficulties fending off birds, moles, and other pests.
“Polina, we don’t wanna get in the way of Mister Knight’s date.”
Sumina clapped Polina on the shoulder.
“Oh my—pardon me! I wasn’t thinking.”
I didn’t see a point in going out of my way to protest that it wasn’t a date, so I simply said my farewells and parted from the pair.
“You seem to have an awful lot of friends in Labyrinth City.”
“Yes, everyone’s been very kind to me.”
Confused by the low tone in Zena’s voice, I answered as simply as possible.
“It feels like you’ve gotten so far away from me…”
Zena murmured almost to herself, then clapped a hand over her mouth.
“I-I’m sorry! I don’t know what I was thinking…”
As she shook her head and hands frantically and apologized, Zena turned bright red.
Fortunately, since the shop had just recently gotten in a shipment, we were able to buy the amount of veria potions the force needed.
While Zena relayed her success to the rest of the squad with the Wind Magic spell Echo, I put the veria magic potions away in a Magic Bag.
“Huh? Whaaa—?!”
Zena exclaimed in surprise as I put the dozens of potions into the bag.
“Satou, is that a Magic Bag?!”
“Yes, it is. In fact, you can find lower-capacity bags for sale right here in Labyrinth City.”
I responded nonchalantly to her question.
It wasn’t relevant to me, but according to Baronet Dyukeli, who had a finger on the pulse of all things related to magic tool sales, Magic Bags were found only in labyrinth treasure chests at a rate of about a dozen a year.
Most of them carried a fairly small amount of objects, and since the alternate spaces within weren’t sealed completely, even the weight-lessening effects were incomplete. However, they sold at high prices to merchants and military nobles.
Since these nobles and wealthy merchants had them, they were no rarer than a Magic Sword or mithril weapon.
High-capacity, better-quality Magic Bags, like the ones I’d found in the haunted fortress in Muno or from the Emerin fleet, were far rarer and more valuable.
“Oh, I see. They’re very rare in Seiryuu County, so I was really surprised.”
Zena smiled, looking a little embarrassed.
Aside from occasionally being lent to the military for big expeditions, the ones in Seiryuu County were usually stashed away in the castle’s treasure warehouse.
“Well, it seems like we’ve completed our mission.”
“Right.”
Zena gazed at me for a moment, then looked away.
It seemed like she wanted to ask something but couldn’t quite say it.
“Zena, did you eat breakfast?”
“W-well…no, I was so busy with the invitation…”
I thought so.
Unfortunately, it was already well past lunchtime, so most proper restaurants and cafeterias would probably have shut down their kitchens for the afternoon.
“Shall we buy some food at the carts and eat in the park?”
At my suggestion, we bought some meat-filled galettes and veria water, then walked toward the park.
“I never would have imagined there was such a big park so close by.”
“This is actually one of the city’s emergency evacuation sites.”
There was a monster-proof shelter beneath the park.
“There’s an open bench in the shade of that tree over there where we can sit and eat.”
I placed a handkerchief on the bench and gestured for Zena to sit.
“Hee-hee.” A smile crept across Zena’s lips.
“What is it?”
“Oh, this just brings back memories, that’s all.”
She looked at me as if to ask whether I remembered.
“Ah, yes, like the time you showed me around Seiryuu City.”
“Exactly!”
Zena’s smile widened.
“It’s nice and cool in the shade here.”
Finishing her galette, Zena looked around at the people in the park.
“Yes, it’s nice.”
The chirping of birds among the trees was soothing to the ears.
“Satou…”
“Yes?”
Zena hesitated after saying my name, so I waited in silence for her to gather her thoughts instead of trying to force a new topic.
“When you were in Seiryuu City, were you, erm…a noble then?”
“No, I was just an ordinary citizen at the time.”
Zena’s shoulders sagged at my response. Was that what she wanted to ask me?
I briefly explained how when I’d visited the Muno Barony after I left Seiryuu City, I ended up helping to defend Muno City from monsters and was rewarded by the marquis with the title of honorary hereditary knight.
“…Then, um…that lady from before, Lady Karina, is sh-she…?” Zena stammered even more. “S-Satou, is she your…um…you know, your f-fiancée?!”
Zena clenched her fists as she finally managed to ask the question.
“No, she’s not.”
“B-but…why would a young noblewoman from such a faraway place come somewhere as dangerous as Labyrinth City…?”
Zena seemed to think that Karina had followed me here because she was in love.
“She’s here for the labyrinth, not for me. I’m told she’s always wanted to come to Labyrinth City. She was even taking classes at the explorers’ school just this morning.”
For the sake of Miss Karina’s honor, I didn’t mention that she’d already been expelled.
Zena still looked doubtful, as if the idea that a marquis’s daughter would want to explore a labyrinth didn’t sound convincing.
“She once told me that it’s always been her dream to be a Hero’s attendant, so perhaps that’s why she wants to get stronger.”
I couldn’t remember when she’d said this, but it must have been at Muno Castle or after we met the Hero’s attendant Miss Ringrande in the old capital.
“Oh, I understand that!”
So now you’re convinced…?
Maybe Zena and Karina were more alike than I realized.
Now that Zena had been reassured, we chatted for a while, then delivered the potions to their lodging house before the sun set.
That evening, I did some investigating in the labyrinth for an area to train the Echigoya staff, then went to the Ivy Manor to spend the night working on developing simple Raka clones to support Pochi and Tama.
Since I packed in a few too many features, they ended up on the same level as the Ivy Manor’s False Cores, so I decided to whittle things down to the bare minimum as I compressed the magic circuits.
“Welcome, Sir Pendragon. And it’s a pleasure to meet you, young lady. I am Reythel, wife to Marquis Ashinen, the viceroy of Celivera.”
The next afternoon, I accompanied Miss Karina to the viceroy’s tea party as her escort, and the viceroy’s wife greeted us as soon as we came into the parlor.
Marquis Ashinen’s family was sending a carriage to pick up Zena from her lodging house, which was why she didn’t arrive with us.
“…Lady Karina.”
Karina froze up immediately, so I gently nudged her to introduce herself.
“I—I am Karina Muno—erm, the second daughter of Baron Leon Muno of the Muno Barony. Pleased to meet you.”
She got the order wrong, but she still managed to introduce herself.
“The pleasure is all mine, Lady Karina. Please have a seat right here.”
Her face still stiff with nervousness, Karina sat on the sofa the viceroy’s wife had indicated. I sat next to her so I could try to help her stay calm.
The viceroy’s wife had a higher standing than Karina, but she was probably calling her “Lady” because she was a guest.
“My, what a lovely outfit you’re wearing.”
“Is that the latest fashion from the royal capital?”
The young women who were already in the salon were sharp-eyed enough to identify the basis of Karina’s outfit right away.
“This fabric is crimson silk from Lalagi, is it not? Material of this quality is rarely found on the market.”
In addition to the hostess, her noblewoman friends spoke kindly to Karina, too.
“The embroidery on the silk is lovely as well, but these little inlaid jewels… Could they be Heaven’s Teardrops?”
“Goodness, they’re sparkling like rainbows. Even small ones like these are terribly rare.”
“What a gorgeous dress. I’d expect no less of a baron’s daughter or a close friend of Sir Pendragon.”
The women all gazed raptly at Karina’s dress.
Since she was remarkably shy, Karina looked very uncomfortable.
“Most impressive of all is that ruby brooch with your house crest. Imagine carving a crest into such a large ruby without hesitation… The Muno Barony must be quite prosperous.”
For some reason, they were all complimenting her clothes and accessories instead of her good looks. Was there some unspoken rule about not commenting on that?
Miss Karina’s infamous shyness was in full force: She was only replying to the ladies’ questions with “yes” or “no,” so the conversation wasn’t getting very far.
I tried to intervene to keep things going, but whenever I did so, I wound up being the only one joining in on the conversation instead.
I guess the best way to fix her shyness would be for her to make female friends her own age.
“Lady Karina, are you, by chance, engaged to Sir Pendragon?”
Once the topic of clothes and accessories had mostly run dry, Baron Ralpott’s wife, who loved gossip and romance, brought up this subject with a sly smile.
Karina seemed too embarrassed to even confirm or deny, so I cut in. “Lady Karina ought to marry someone of far higher class than the likes of me.”
The baron’s wife suggested her fifth son, who was near thirty, but a slight prompting from me changed the subject to a rumor that this same son was currently dating a certain hereditary knight’s daughter, sparing Karina the pain of responding.
When Lady Karina shot me a rather disappointed glance, I thought the conversation might’ve taken the wrong turn somewhere, but Baron Ralpott’s wife seemed satisfied to latch on to the other topic I’d brought up.
“But don’t you perhaps harbor some intentions on Sir Pendragon, dear Lady Karina?”
Another wife tried a similar attack on Karina, but she was quick to shake her head and say, “No?”
This was just a guess, but judging by her lack of reaction, I suspected that the sheltered Miss Karina didn’t understand what she meant by “harboring intentions.”
Things were starting to get a bit awkward, so I decided to settle things down by gesturing for the maids to bring in the shortcakes and cheese tarts I’d brought in advance.
Hmm?
One of the ladies-in-waiting who entered the room whispered something to the viceroy’s wife, who hid a mischievous smile behind her fan and looked in my direction.
I should probably get ready to act surprised.
The blue dot on my radar that indicated Zena gave away the viceroy’s wife’s surprise guest, but if I didn’t react when she entered, her hard work would go to waste.
“It appears our other guest has arrived. Please come in.”
Escorted by a lady-in-waiting and fully dressed up, Zena entered the room.
I did my best to give a show of surprise that wouldn’t seem exaggerated.
“Oh my, it’s quite unusual to see our coolheaded Sir Pendragon get so flustered.”
Evidently satisfied with my reaction, the viceroy’s wife chuckled and murmured incorrectly, “So this one really is where his heart lies.”
“I am the daughter of Sir Marienteil, hereditary knight of Seiryuu County, Zena. It is an honor to make your acquaintance.”
Zena gave a somewhat stiff, military-style introduction.
“My goodness, she’s adorable and chivalrous.”
The viceroy’s wife looked at her with an approving smile.
“Lady Zena’s rank seems closer to Sir Pendragon. Could she be his fiancée?”
Nosy as always, Mrs. Ralpott waggled her eyebrows.
Karina’s gaze turned on Zena.
“N-no, no! I-I’m Satou’s—I mean, Sir Pendragon’s—um, f-friend? That is—I’m his close friend, but…”
Zena’s eyes started to spin, so I stepped in to rescue her.
“Miss Zena was very kind to me when I visited Seiryuu City. As it happens, she saved the lives of some of my comrades, too.”
Somehow, my explanation didn’t seem to thrill the other ladies.
“But Lady Zena is definitely fond of Sir Pendragon, hmm?”
At this comment from Baron Ralpott’s wife, the purehearted Zena turned bright red.
“Ah, to be young again.”
Baronet Dyukeli’s wife smiled warmly at Zena.
“Lady Zena, is your dress not made of jade silk from the Ougoch Duchy, perhaps? Just as with Lady Karina’s crimson silk, that’s quite a high-quality fabric that’s hard to find on the market.”
“Is it made by the same designer as Lady Karina’s dress, by chance?”
“It’s small, but Lady Zena’s pendant has the same style of carving.”
“How impressive to carve a family crest into a stone as hard as sapphire…”
Baronet Dyukeli’s wife changed the subject, and the other wives followed suit.
“Could it be that they were both gifts from Sir Pendragon?”
I nodded at the inquisitive viceroy’s wife.
“Yes, I had them altered by a merchant I often work with. I’m told they were made using magical means.”
The jewels in Karina’s and Zena’s brooches were actually artificial gems made with the Earth Magic spell Create Stone Object, so they were extremely cheap to make.
“Magic? Well, that must be a joke, I’m sure.”
One of the wives, a particular fan of gemstones, rejected my claim.
“A joke? I thought there was an Earth Magic spell called Create Stone Object that could alter stones, if memory serves…”
“You’re quite knowledgeable, Sir Pendragon. But in this case, I’m afraid your studies are incomplete.”
I apologized meekly and prompted her to explain my apparent mistake.
“Only the most talented of Earth Magic mages are able to alter gemstones with Create Stone Object. And even then, it would require an incredible amount of concentration and talent to modify such stones without affecting their translucent quality.”
“Oh, I see…”
Sorry, but I did that in a matter of seconds while humming a little tune.
“Since you’re not an Earth Magic user or anything, it’s perfectly reasonable that you wouldn’t know, Sir Pendragon.”
“Next time you’re in the royal capital, I recommend visiting their gem museum. They have incredible jewels created by a legendary mage of old who was known as the Gemstone Mage.”
Ooh, that sounds like a fun sightseeing spot.
“I’ll definitely have to go there sometime,” I responded with a smile.
“Do you know where you’ll be staying when you do visit the royal capital? If not, you are quite welcome to stay in our mansion there.”
“Oh, I couldn’t possibly—”
“Hee-hee, I’m only joking. That would be rude to Baron Muno.”
The viceroy’s wife smiled mischievously and went on.
“If you’re to buy a mansion in the old capital, we do know a few good companies, and I’d be happy to write a letter of introduction for you. It should still make it in time with our fastest horses.”
She explained that inns in the royal capital were hard to come by around New Year’s, so I was happy to accept her offer.
“Ah yes, I nearly forgot to ask. When do you plan to go to the royal capital?”
“His Majesty is generously providing an airship. I’ll be riding that there.”
The airship was originally sent specially to bring Sir Jelil’s company and their spoils from defeating the Middle Stratum floormaster to the royal capital, but since the timing worked out well, they’d offered to give us a ride, too.
“Oh my, is that so? We’re planning to take the regular service at the end of the month there, so you’ll be arriving well ahead of us. If you have any troubles before I arrive in the royal capital, please do have Emma help you. She might be a bit of a prankster, but she’s still quite dependable. I’ll give you a letter for her later, too.”
Emma Ritton, the wife of Count Ritton, was apparently a very influential person among the nobles and high society in the royal capital; it would be good to have a person like that vouching for me.
I thanked the viceroy’s wife and asked about Mrs. Ritton’s likes, personality, and so on, keeping her from locking on to Zena or Karina in the process.
Thus, I made it through the anxiety-inducing tea party and subsequent dinner and managed to keep from incurring any bad feelings amid the viceroy’s wife’s community.
The one saving grace of the evening was that Karina and Zena ended up chatting about their shared interest in stories about heroes.
That might be an unusual topic of choice for proper young ladies, but it was one of the few times that the normally shy Karina became exceptionally talkative.
I wasn’t sure if they’d become friends just yet, but at least they were on the acquaintance level.
If possible, I hoped that Zena would befriend the awkward Karina in time.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login