Cooking and Dancing
Satou here. I’m not particularly interested in fossils in general, but for some reason, whenever I go to a hotel or department store made with marble, I end up looking for them. Maybe it’s just another way of killing time?
“Wow! Master, look at that! The ceiling is amazing!”
“How fitting for a ball hosted by a duke of the great Shiga Kingdom.”
Lulu and Arisa pointed excitedly at the ceiling. Not long before, they’d also pointed out the fluffy carpets and mythical engraving on the marble wall with equal enthusiasm.
The pair was attending the ball as my cooking assistants, not guests, which was why they were wearing black dresses with lace-trimmed white aprons. The other children were at home watching the house.
The venue was as large as the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, with mirrors on its domed ceiling sparkling brilliantly in the light of the chandelier.
According to the AR display, a mithril alloy frame supported the ceiling’s enormous weight.
On the outer edge of the venue were spaces for resting and light conversation, as well as the booth where we were preparing the food.
It seemed that evening parties were generally buffet-style; between each booth and rest area was a large space with a few small, elegant tables.
Much of the food consisted of light hors d’oeuvres so that the nobles could snack easily during their casual conversations.
In a way, it wasn’t much different from a contemporary buffet-style party.
“Sir Knight, are these arrangements satisfactory?”
The maids had gone all out with the presentation, even decorating the buffet with flowers to make the food especially pleasing to the eye.
Furthermore, they’d treated the flowers so the fragrance wouldn’t affect the dishes.
“Yes, it’s perfect. You’ve made my food look much more appealing.”
“It’s an honor to assist your cooking in any way, Sir Knight.”
I thanked the maids, who appeared pleased as they moved on to prepare the next booth.
Before long, the guests began to arrive.
I had expected gourmets like Marquis Lloyd and Count Hohen to come running in first, but it turned out that they were still working with the duke in a conference room at the castle.
Considering how much they were looking forward to this, I made a note to save some food for them just in case.
I prepared four dishes for the occasion.
The first, of course, was the consommé soup the duke had specially requested.
Since it took a long time to prepare, I cooked it beforehand at the mansion and brought it to the site of the party. Putting out all five pots at once wouldn’t leave much room in our booth, so I brought out only two.
I had really put Mia to work fixing the special soup. Consequently, she was down for the count back at the mansion.
Earlier that morning, we brought some of the finished soup to Tenion Temple. There was no time for me to see Sara, but hopefully she’d try it along with the head priestess.
“Ooh! So this is the soup that the young master Lloyd praised so highly!”
“But it looks like water…”
“You can’t call yourself a gourmet if you let appearances fool you.”
“Indeed. It smells deliciously rich.”
As soon as I took the lid off one of the consommé soup pots, people started crowding around.
Apparently, Imperial Knight Ipasa, aka “the young master Lloyd,” had been spreading the word about the dish.
Since the oil for the tempura wasn’t hot enough yet, I decided to dish out the consommé soup first. I served it in heat-resistant glass containers from the duke’s castle.
“Delicious! What in the world is it?”
“How heavenly.”
“Wonderful. It tastes even better than it smells.”
“Ahh… I must have been born to eat this soup.”
A little embarrassed by the nobles’ extravagant praise, I started preparing the tempura.
Before long, I ran into a problem that wasn’t entirely unexpected: Many of the guests were eating several bowls of soup each.
I didn’t want to get stuck making it again if we ran out, so I limited it to three bowls per person. A few of them got childishly whiny about it, but I managed to distract them with the second dish.
The demand for the tempura wasn’t quite as high as the soup, but plenty of people still wanted to try every kind.
I was on the verge of falling behind the demand, but luckily, I was able to borrow a few of the kitchen’s sous chefs to help with the prep work. In fact, they were all quite happy to oblige. Maybe I’d won them over with those vegetable fritters before.
“I dunno about this one. It looks nice and all, but…”
Arisa’s face clouded at the sight of the third dish.
This was my take on the “meat jelly” that we’d found in the city market.
I’d heard it was a commoner’s dish that nobles would never have at their table, so I had tried making a more elegant version of the sort you might find at a traditional Kyoto restaurant.
At Arisa’s suggestion, I also used colorful ingredients to avoid an unappetizing brown color.
And it was “colorful” in another way, too.
“Oh-ho, how clever! You’ve crafted our duke’s coat of arms in edible form.”
This compliment came from a gentleman with an impressive beard.
I had indeed arranged the jelly into the duke’s coat of arms. Unfortunately, this meant none of the nobles wanted to be the first to take a piece and thus destroy the crest. Maybe I should have thought that through a little more…
“It looks like the jelly spoken of in the legends of Ancestral King Yamato.”
“Is this a new dish, Satou? I can’t wait to try it. Everything you make is always tasty.”
Behind the gentleman was Miss Ringrande, wearing makeup and a dress for the occasion.
“Oh, so this is the fellow you mentioned, Rin?”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. I am Satou Pendragon, an honorary hereditary knight.”
According to his AR label, this man was Ringrande’s father, the next duke.
“Pendragon, eh? So you’re the savior of Muno City who Tolma mentioned, too? You’re much younger and more diminutive than I imagined.”
Damn that Tolma. Gossip or not, I had to get him to stop talking me up as “the savior of Muno City.” For one thing, the “savior” label was honestly kind of embarrassing.
“That Tolma would be a great lobbyist,” Arisa muttered.
She was crouching behind the booth, snatching up food on a small plate.
I didn’t mind her slacking off a little, since her main role was to coordinate with the kitchen and supply power for Lulu’s magic item.
“Tolma bragged about your deeds as if they were his own. Why, you even defeated a demon in Gururian City, did you not?”
Politely dodging the future duke’s compliments, I tried to redirect him toward the food.
“I hate to destroy this work of art, but I am quite interested in your cooking. I’ll take a serving.”
I gave Miss Ringrande and her father each a plate with two of the best kinds: jellied mackerel and jellied vegetable broth made with edamame and carrots.
“Hmm, I’ve never had the likes of this before. It’s very flavorful.”
“It really is. The fish is delicious, but so are the vegetables…but… Argh! No matter how good your cooking is, I’m not letting you marry Sara.”
I think her love for her sister almost lost to her appetite for a second there…
It appeared many of the nobles from the old capital had a powerful weakness for food.
“Sara is a kind girl, too kind for the life of a noble. Besides, she has left the house of the duke for the sanctuary. If you wish her to return to secular life, you would first need to convince the holy woman of Tenion Temple.”
“Rest assured, I am not trying to court Lady Sara. It is only a misunderstanding on Lady Ringrande’s part, you see…”
The next duke was quick to understand and accept my explanation. If only Miss Ringrande would do the same.
Now that the ducal pair had broken up the crest, the rest of the nobles ventured to try the jellies as well.
Between the people clamoring for food and the ambitious ones trying to cozy up to the duke’s heir and Miss Ringrande, the booth was getting crowded.
“Hmph. Have you changed roles from a so-called savior to a servant, then?”
Of course, this rude comment came from the third prince, dressed to the nines in royal garb. This time, he was attended by only the old knight, not that deranged young one.
I wish he hadn’t gone out of his way to approach me.
Where did he even hear about the whole “savior” thing, anyway? How am I going to deal with him…?
But before I racked my brain for too long, the future duke came to my rescue.
“He is an honored guest of the duke, Prince Sharorik. My father heard of his fame as a miracle chef and requested that he make some of his famous dishes tonight.”
The prince, who hadn’t noticed the next duke amid the flock of nobles, looked startled.
Please don’t start calling me “miracle chef.” Isn’t “savior” embarrassing enough?
“He is also Rin’s friend and my youngest daughter’s benefactor. I shall not look kindly on insults toward him, not even from a prince.”
The duke’s heir stepped forward as if to protect me from the prince. Even I could tell Sharorik was out of his league here.
Then, to add to the confusion…
“Sir Satou! I hope there’s still some of that incredible shrimp tempura left for me!”
“Or the superior pickled ginger tempura!”
The pair of epicurean nobles, Marquis Lloyd and Count Hohen, raced each other to the front of the crowd.
“…Hmm? If it isn’t Prince Sharorik.”
“As if bringing dishonor on Lady Ringrande’s name wasn’t enough, now the fool dares to insult Lord Satou?”
“Quite so, quite so! An upstart who fails to appreciate Lady Rin’s swordsmanship or Sir Satou’s cooking has no place at Lady Sara’s side.”
Rein it in, you two! I wanted to exclaim. I appreciated their eagerness to defend me, but picking a fight with royalty seemed like a bad idea.
His temper sparked, the prince reached for the Holy Sword at his waist, but luckily someone else came to the rescue.
“Why, there you are, Your Highness. Won’t you come and regale us with tales of the royal capital?”
Cutting through the crowd, a small army of women in slightly heavy makeup came to lure the prince away. Mercifully, he deigned to join them and brusquely took his leave.
Miss Ringrande’s father sighed as he watched the prince go.
“If only he would mature a little, perhaps—”
“I doubt that’ll ever happen. He hasn’t changed a bit from ten years ago.”
“But he is one of the finest swordsmen in the kingdom…”
“Father, physical strength has no bearing on strength of character. Otherwise, even Hayato would be more—”
Ringrande was evidently about to slander the hero, but she clapped a hand to her mouth at the last moment with a guilty look.
Because it would be improper for me to comfort her, I simply waited for the duke to arrive and recommend the consommé soup to everyone. Before too long, the atmosphere was back to normal.
Food tasted better when you were having fun, after all.
Once the older and higher-ranking nobles, like the duke and his family, drifted away from our booth, the younger ones who’d been watching from a distance scrambled to grab some food.
Several of them inquired into my relationship with Miss Ringrande, but I assured them that she was only teaching me swordsmanship occasionally.
I thought I had brought plenty of food, but somehow I ran out of everything in less than thirty minutes. I guess the combination of novelty and the smell of freshly fried food won out.
“Sir Pendragon, might I speak with you?”
Miss Karina approached me with a young man on her arm—although not in an amorous way. The young man was Orion, Baron Muno’s eldest son and Miss Karina’s younger brother.
Despite his apparent fondness for the martial arts tournament, he couldn’t get out of attending the duke’s evening party.
“Hello, Lady Karina. And this must be the brother you spoke so highly of? I am Satou Pendragon, a hereditary knight. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“Indeed. I’m Orion Muno. Nice to meet you, Sir Pendragon.”
Orion nodded importantly as he introduced himself. He appeared to have reached the age where a young boy tries to puff himself up as much as possible.
He did mumble his first name, though, probably because his hero-loving father had given it to him. From what I understood, he was named after Orion Pendragon, a fictional hero from the legends.
After a short chat, the two went off to the main hall. I discreetly advised them to steer clear of the prince.
At the center of the hall, the dance was picking up as young noblemen invited beautiful young ladies to join them at the edge of the floor. It was a pretty good place to meet people.
If a new noble like me tried to join in, I’d probably just get burned, so I had no intention of inviting anyone to dance. Besides, the unmarried young ladies were far too young for me, as their ages ranged from thirteen to eighteen.
After watching over the youthful attempts at romance for a while, I decided it was time to bring out the last course.
My fourth and final dish was dessert.
Originally, I wanted to make strawberry shortcakes or cheesecakes, but I couldn’t perfect my sponge batter in time. I decided to settle for crepes.
Despite the buffet-style service, the nobles seemed averse to eating with their hands, so I came up with a creative solution.
Instead of the large crepes that were a popular street food in modern Japan, I decided to make mini crepes and cut them into quarters.
The reason I went with such small slices was so that even the young women could eat them in a single bite. I also added a sauce made from strawberry jam to keep them from looking so lonely on the plates by themselves.
“My, that smells delicious.”
“They’ll be ready soon, ma’am.”
I placed fresh cream and sliced strawberries in the hot crepes. Then I cut them up quickly, put them on a plate Lulu was holding, and presented them to the waiting young woman.
As soon as she tasted the bite-size crepe, the girl’s face melted.
Even the makeup that she’d worked so hard to apply couldn’t disguise her innocent glee in that moment. Charmed by her reaction, a gaggle of young male nobles gathered around as soon as she finished eating and asked her to dance.
Good luck, you crazy kids.
“You realize you’re making a total old-man face, right?”
Arisa munched on a crepe as she sniped at me from the floor.
Oh, come on. What’s wrong with cheering on young love?
With no time to answer her out loud, I simply kept making crepes at the demand of the young women.
Interestingly, no one mistook me for a servant. Maybe it was because of my fancy clothes. Thanks to that, though, I had to exchange introductions every time I took an order for a crepe, meaning I ended up learning the names of over a hundred girls.
I ran out of ingredients partway through, so Lulu and Arisa had to run and grab more cream and strawberries from the kitchen.
Phew, at least I can rest for a minute now…
“S-Sir Knight! Would you like to share a dance with me, please, maybe?”
Perhaps I looked bored or friendly, because a girl in her early teens who was just making her societal debut came over to me almost immediately.
Thanks to my “Dancing” and “Sociability” skills, I should be able to handle it.
“Certainly, if you’d like.”
Besides, the fear of rejection was written all over her face. I felt I should at least oblige her for one song.
“Please, there’s no need to be so tense. Just pretend the people around us are trees or statues. And you can think of me as a father or older brother–like figure, if it puts you at ease,” I whispered, and the tension seemed to leave the girl’s shoulders ever so slightly. “Don’t worry, just relax. Try to go with the flow, like a princess.”
Taking the lead, I tried to make sure she enjoyed the dance, reassuring her each time she made a misstep.
Eventually, the song ended, and I walked my partner off the dance floor, only to find a whole line of girls waiting for their turn.
As far as I could tell, it wasn’t so much that they liked me personally, just that they’d deemed me an ideal practice partner for a societal debut.
Lulu and Arisa still weren’t back with the cream, so I obliged their requests.
Before long, several of them invited me over to their homes.
I wasn’t exactly looking to marry into money, but I did my best to politely acquiesce to these invitations.
Sure, one or two of their parents owned workshops that I’d been hoping to tour, but more importantly, I figured it’d be best to have a lot of noble allies in case I ever made an enemy of someone powerful like the prince.
Dealing with problems was a lot less stressful when you had people you could rely on.
Eventually, the next round of supplies ran out as well, so we decided to head home, leaving the cleanup of the booth to the castle staff. Before we left, I naturally checked in with the duke’s butler, who was in charge of orchestrating the party.
Because Lulu had to run back to the kitchen to get something she’d forgotten, Arisa and I waited in the courtyard, gazing up at the stars in the cool evening breeze.
“Even out here, you can still hear the music from the ball.”
“Yeah.”
The lilting strains of a waltz were still faintly audible.
“You were pretty popular with the lolis in there, huh?” Arisa was rather peeved.
“You think so? I figured they just needed a practice partner to get used to dancing with men.”
I stood up with a shrug.
“…Are you mad?”
“Of course not.” I smiled at her. “More importantly, madam, may I have this dance?”
“Huh? Oh, umm… Yes! It’d be my pleasure!”
Arisa was briefly puzzled by my playfully theatrical invitation, then broke into a big smile.
We danced lightly around the courtyard. Arisa was surprisingly good; perhaps she’d had lessons back when she was a princess.
After we’d danced to three songs, Lulu reappeared.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, master, Arisa.”
She’d taken longer than expected because the head chef had stopped her and told her she could work there anytime she wanted. Of course the old man would try to recruit her as soon as my back was turned.
“Even from a distance, it’s still beautiful.”
Lulu gave a little sigh as she gazed past the hedges at the lit-up ballroom. Might as well see if she wants to dance, too.
“Miss, would you care for a dance?”
“O-of course! I’d love to.”
We twirled in the faint light from the ballroom, and Lulu’s long black hair swayed gently to the rhythm.
“Ah, it’s just like a dream…”
“Glad to hear it.”
Lulu and I danced on and on, a faraway expression on her face.
“H-hey, come on! Don’t I get another turn?”
Lulu giggled. “Hee-hee. Oh, Arisa, you’re so cute.”
I was planning to stop whenever Lulu got bored, but I started to suspect she never would. Instead, I traded places with the ever-jealous Arisa.
With the occasional warm looks from passing maids and servants, the three of us took turns dancing the night away.
It was nice to spend an evening like this every once in a while.
After the ball, my days only got busier.
It was still way easier than the weeks of nonstop work back when I was a programmer, of course. The endless tea parties hosted by nobles or their daughters were a far cry from how I’d spent my days in Japan.
It felt strange by modern standards to bring a gift to a tea party, but the custom among nobles here was to give something to the hosts when you were invited over for tea for the first time.
If the butler hadn’t told me about it beforehand, I could’ve been in big trouble.
The token couldn’t be just any old gift, either. If you gave something too expensive, the host would assume that you were trying to curry favor for marriage, civil service, or something of the sort. But of course, something cheap would be an insult to the recipient.
And the ideal gift differed depending on the faction and influence of the family, too.
I wasn’t thrilled about tackling such an impossibly difficult game without a reset button, but an unexpected savior came to my rescue.
Tolma, of all people.
“Good evening, Sir Satou. I heard you were invited to the homes of some young ladies for tea, so I thought I’d come over to give you the rundown on the families and their preferences and such.”
Showing up on my doorstep with a bottle of high-class wine in hand, Tolma gave me unusually detailed information on all the noble families in the old capital.
He inhaled the mountain of snacks I had prepared as he listed the likes, dislikes, and personalities of each and every member of the aristocracy. He even warned me about which topics never to mention around certain people.
I filled a thick notebook with information until he was finally too drunk to continue.
I decided to call this treasured new object the “Tolma Memo.”
Which was great and all, but…
“Well, you might not need that much info anyway, since you managed to mediate between Sir Lloyd and Count Hohen. Those two fight like cats and dogs.”
…I wasn’t expecting that comment.
“Those two, like cats and dogs? But they seem like such good friends.”
And I didn’t remember doing any mediating.
All I’d done was have some nice chats with them about cooking and spell books.
“Good friends, eh? You’re a pretty weird kid, Sir Satou.”
Maybe my “Negotiation” and “Mediation” skills just acted of their own accord.
The tea parties were going smoothly, thanks in no small part to Tolma’s help.
I brought cheese soufflés and other baked goods, and for hosts who didn’t have a sweet tooth, I took soufflés baked with brandy and raisins.
At Arisa’s suggestion, I also brought some plainer baked snacks for the maids of each home.
For the gifts, I tried making jewelry like earrings and necklaces on thin silver chains.
With my own personal twist, of course.
“Mother, do look at this.”
“Why, isn’t that lovely!”
A rune appeared in the center of the small pendant as it glowed in the young lady’s hands. I had carved the symbol into a light stone scarcely bigger than a grain of rice, a simple design that would glow if charged with magical power.
I’d used information from the Carving Magic book I bought at Mr. Kikinu’s magic shop.
A single rune wouldn’t have any special effects, but there were some with meanings similar to Japanese omamori charms, like “peace and prosperity” or “luck in love,” so I used one of those.
“How wonderful. It’s a good-luck rune.”
“This one is a rune for bravery! Let’s have Father carry it when he goes out to lead the highway patrol.”
I smiled at the host family, glad to see them so enamored with my gift.
When I was first asked who made the glowing pendant, I randomly made up a name, so now a fictional magic tool engineer called Trismegistus was gaining fame throughout the city. Of course, I didn’t inscribe any name on the pendants.
It was technically a magic tool, but such an insubstantial effect shouldn’t pose any problems.
However, the pendants ended up going over a little too well…
“S-Sir Satou, would you like to come for tea at my home, too?”
“No, no, you should come to my house! My father is a baron, not a baronet like Ferna’s.”
…So all the other girls wanted one, too.
Before I knew it, I went from having tea parties every other day to every day, and in the end, I wound up with three per day.
Making new friends was good and all, but I was having a hard time keeping track of all these different faces. Luckily, thanks to my high INT stat, I was able to memorize names and faces right away as long as I made a conscious effort to do so.
Incidentally, since I made the light stone pendants myself, they cost me less than one gold coin each. However, as demand grew, the price displayed by my “Appraisal” skill rose until its value reached twenty gold coins.
Because of my high “Metalworking” skill, the slender chains I made had a delicacy rarely seen in accessories in this world. Making them was a very finicky process. If I hadn’t been able to practice Magic Hand at the same time, I probably would’ve switched to a different gift right away.
All that training paid off big-time, though. By the end, I was able to use one hundred and twenty Magic Hands at once to create the chains assembly line–style.
Not that this was my aim, but befriending all these nobles did get me permission to tour the workshops they owned.
I was too busy at present, but once the tea party marathon was over, I figured I could take everyone along.
As an added bonus, I was able to convince several of the nobles who had old or inferior stocks of rice, preserved food, and so on to contribute them to the Muno Barony for little to no money.
The retired Count Worgoch helped organize transportation for these supplies to the barony. Hopefully, by the time I came back, I’d be able to buy plenty of sasakama there.
However, making new friends among the upper crust wasn’t always a good thing.
“Master, you’ve received letters and photographs for marriage interviews.”
“Again…?”
When I came home from the latest tea party, a disgruntled Arisa greeted me.
I’d been receiving these with increasing frequency over the past few days.
“Karina, you okaaay?”
“Pull it together, ma’am! It’s only a flesh wound, ma’am!”
“Tama, Pochi…”
Tama and Pochi comforted Miss Karina on the couch where she’d collapsed as soon as she entered the living room.
I’d been taking her along to some of the tea parties to help her expand her circle of friends, but so far it wasn’t going very well.
“Sorry, Lulu, but could you bring my blue-green tea to the study?”
“Of course, master!”
I took the letters along to the study, leaving the photos behind.
“You’re going to turn them down without even looking at the pictures?”
“It’d be more insulting to reject them after seeing them, wouldn’t it?”
I shrugged at Arisa and headed into the study.
As I wrote my letters of polite refusal, I noted the names of the girls and their families who had proposed in my memo tab.
They were all lower-class nobles, and a handful even included requests for loans at the same time.
Some of them must have seen me as a member of the nouveau riche who bought expensive magic items as tea party gifts.
I asked Lulu to deliver the finished letters to the butler to be sent.
“Satou?”
“Master, are you going out again? I inquire.”
The sharp eyes of Mia and Nana noticed right away that my coat was in my hand.
“Yes, sorry. I’ve been invited to Marquis Lloyd’s dinner party.”
“C’mooon, another one? Weren’t you just at Count Hohen’s yesterday?”
In addition to the tea parties, Marquis Lloyd and Count Hohen had been inviting me over for dinner almost every day.
I’d given both of their head chefs the recipe for tempura, so this time I was being invited as a proper guest, not a chef. By the way, I gave the tempura recipe to the chefs of Count Worgoch and the duke, too.
Then, at the dinner parties…
“Sir Knight, what did you think of that dish?”
“Delicious. The duck was cooked perfectly.”
“I appreciate that, but what needed to be improved?”
…the chefs kept accosting me for advice. Still, I got to eat some exquisite fare and learn new cooking techniques. It was a win-win.
“Sir Satou, will you be working again tonight?”
“Certainly, if you’ll allow me the honor.”
“I admire your passion. But be careful not to neglect your health. Your body is not yours alone, after all.”
Out of context, Marquis Lloyd’s choice of words could easily be misinterpreted.
“Many of us often find ourselves eagerly anticipating your next dish,” he added.
With that, I gained permission to head back into Marquis Lloyd’s library.
I took a chained spell book down from the shelf and started reading. Because of all the valuable texts, there was a librarian on duty to guard them, but I didn’t mind.
I gained permission to peruse this collection in exchange for sharing the original Water Magic spell I used to make consommé soup.
Since the permission was granted on the condition that I couldn’t write anything down, I didn’t copy any of the books into my memo tab, either.
However, thanks to my extremely high INT skill, I was able to memorize the pages with amazing accuracy, and our contract said nothing about writing things down from memory once I got back to the mansion.
Besides, each house seemed to have several libraries, which meant they would probably keep anything truly secret in a different room.
I made similar contracts with other important nobles like Count Hohen and Duke Ougoch, so I was able to read a great deal of valuable books. This included the former Count Worgoch, too, of course.
Thanks to that, my knowledge of greater magic increased exponentially. I still couldn’t use the spells myself, though.
And so, I spent my time blissfully grappling with esoteric texts and acquiring new knowledge.
> Title Acquired: Library Master
> Title Acquired: Scholar of the Written Word
It was six days after the evening party, our tenth morning in the old capital.
I had a little time to spare before I headed out, so I decided to watch my kids train for a bit.
“Masterrr?”
“Master! Sir! Come see how hard we’ve been practicing, sir!”
Once I was prepared for my outing, I went into the courtyard and was promptly greeted by Tama and Pochi.
“Tama, Pochi, you mustn’t touch master’s clothes with dirty hands.”
“Master, I would like you to praise the results of my training, I entreat.”
Liza and Nana were there, too. As usual, Nana couldn’t hide her true motives.
They’d all been working hard, though. I had no trouble giving them generous commendations.
“Why, the young master is here! Why don’t you spar two-on-two and show him the fruits of your training?”
Mr. Kajiro, the Saga Kingdom samurai who was drilling the vanguard team, gave the signal for the mock battle to begin.
“Remember, Ayaume will ambush you if you let your guard down! Watch yourselves!”
Miss Ayaume, the female samurai, was hiding behind a nearby bush with a short bow in hand. Instead of arrowheads, the tips of the arrows were wrapped in cloth to prevent any injury.
This training must be to prepare them in case of bandit attacks.
I stood next to Mr. Kajiro and watched the battle play out. They certainly seemed to have fewer openings than before. Pochi, in particular, who was normally focused solely on attacking, was paying closer attention to her surroundings.
Whenever one of them let their guard down for a moment, Ayaume would shoot an arrow at them or surprise attack them from a tree with a twig.
Mr. Kajiro explained that they had to do extra training for each time they fell victim to one of these surprise attacks.
Liza and Tama ended up winning the sparring match, but Nana and Pochi performed well, too.
As I was complimenting them on each area of improvement, the butler called us from inside the mansion.
It was time to go.
Miss Karina and I rode in a carriage behind that of the retired Count Worgoch and his wife.
Our destination was the airship landing area.
There was already a great deal of old capital nobles gathered there when we arrived.
“It’s rather small for an airship, no?”
“That’s true. But it’s likely more agile, and its armor is made of mithril alloy.”
Miss Karina and I watched as the airship touched down on the ground. The AR display labeled it the king’s private high-speed airship.
“Is His Majesty aboard?”
“Yes, I believe so.”
As I nodded at the anxious-looking Miss Karina, I referred to the information on my map.
We were here today with the other nobles to greet the king arriving on his private airship. It wasn’t necessarily mandatory, but I did want to see what the monarch looked like, which was why I came along.
Temple representatives had come, too, but I didn’t see Sara or the head priestess of Tenion Temple.
I hadn’t been able to see Sara since the soup kitchen incident, but from what I’d heard at a few of the tea parties, she was lying low in the sanctuary to avoid the prince’s courtship.
With all these nobles and officials gathered in one place, it would have been a likely target for a terrorist attack. However, most of the remaining Wings of Freedom members in the old capital had been hunted down; there weren’t enough of them left to try anything.
Word at the banquet had been that the king was here to attend the wedding of Tisrado, the duke’s grandson and eventual successor, and the granddaughter of Marquis Eluette, whose territory was on the western edge of the kingdom.
From my impression of the bride-to-be at Marquis Lloyd’s dinner party, she was a beautiful, ethereal girl.
The wedding was in five days, and I’d been invited to cook for it already.
“Is that His Majesty the king?”
Raising my head, I saw a man with silver-gray hair descending the airship’s ramp. Oddly, his beard alone was pure white.
The AR display appeared next to him, so I read the text there. He was fifty-five years old, younger than I thought.
The next bit of information surprised me: This wasn’t the real king but a body double.
The minister behind him seemed to be real, though.
The nobles around us kneeled reverently, and I followed suit.
We stayed on our knees as the duke’s heir approached to give a few words of welcome, and then until the king was out of sight.
The heads of the more powerful noble families and other influential people headed into the duke’s castle, but that was the end for the rest of us, so I returned to the mansion.
“Satou.”
Mia, who’d been reading a spell book with Arisa in the living room, trotted over to me and latched onto my waist. In her hand was a message addressed to me.
“Scrolls.”
“Thank you, Mia.”
The card was a notice from the scroll workshop that part of my scroll order had been completed.
“Prr, prr.” Mia was imitating a cat’s purr as she hung off me. I gently detached her.
“Mrrr.”
Patting her head to alleviate her bad mood, I announced my latest errand.
“I’m going to Viscount Siemmen’s place for a bit.”
“’kaaay.”
Arisa was too focused on memorizing Space Magic spells to give much of an answer.
“Hurry back.”
“Of course.”
Mia came to the entrance hall to see me off, and I patted her again.
“I’m just picking up the scrolls and saying hello to Tolma, so it won’t be long. Then we’ll all have dinner together, okay?”
“Mm.”
For a moment, I felt like a father with a young daughter. Then I headed out to Viscount Siemmen’s place nearby.
Mr. Djang, the workshop manager, presented me with the scrolls I’d prioritized highest: Remote Stun, Shooter, Standard Out, and Graphic View.
“Mr. Djang, Mr. Djang! Is Mr. Knight still here?!”
“Quiet down, Natalina!”
Natalina rushed in, waving around two more scrolls.
“Oh, perfect! Ta-da—I stayed up all night finishing Fireworks and Fireworks Illusion!”
The bags under her eyes suggested she was running on a post-all-nighter high as she thrust the scrolls toward me.
“Thank you very much, Miss Natalina.”
“Hee-hee, no prob! …So hey, I was thinking, maybe you could sell us these spells…”
Natalina put on a show of fidgeting and winking bashfully.
“Stop it, Natalina. You don’t have the assets for that.”
“You’re sooo mean, Mr. Djang!”
Djang shook his head and turned to me with a serious expression.
“We’d be willing to pay this sum for the Fireworks and Fireworks Illusion spells.”
Glancing over the contract he handed me, I raised my eyebrows when I saw the sum at the bottom.
“…Has there been some mistake with the number of zeroes?”
A hundred gold coins seemed like way too much for just two spells. Besides, selling the full chant for the spell with explanations and the rights to resell it didn’t mean I couldn’t use the spell myself anymore or that I couldn’t sell it elsewhere. It wasn’t an exclusive deal.
“See? I told you, Mr. Djang! This magic’s worth way more than that! It’s lesser magic—anyone can use it, you know?! And even from a scroll, it still makes beautiful fireworks… If we could finish it in time for Lord Tisrado’s wedding, our orders would go through the roof! We’d make our investment back in a year, tops!”
Natalina seemed to have fallen in love with my Fireworks spells.
Still, the wedding was only five days away. I doubted they could mass-produce it before then.
…Wait, what?
Did they think I meant a hundred wasn’t enough and wanted another zero?
“Good point. A hundred gold coins would normally be enough to buy one new spell, but these will surely be popular with nobles. Let’s talk to Lord Hosarris and see if we can raise our offer to five hundred.”
“Hooray!”
They were planning to buy them for a hundred gold coins each? I would’ve sold them both for ten, honestly…
Neither one took more than a day’s work to create, so getting five hundred gold coins per spell would feel unjust.
“Wait a moment, please. If you really value my humble spells so highly, I’d be happy to sell them at your original price.”
“Oooh, really? Yay! In that case, we’ve gotta start mass-producing them right away! Mr. Djang, we can halt production on other products for now, right?”
“Yes, that’s fine… Except for Sir Knight’s order, of course.”
“Well, duh! But everything else is getting tabled for firewooorks!”
With that, Natalina bolted out of the room at top speed. Then she reappeared moments later.
“Thank you, Sir Knight!”
After a quick bow, she darted away again.
That’s a lot of energy.
“I’m sorry. She can be a handful.”
Mr. Djang and I sorted out the difference between the sale of the new spells and the price of my order, and he gave me a bundle of scrolls.
I made out like a bandit, if you ask me.
Once my business at Viscount Siemmen’s estate was finished, I headed to Tolma’s house nearby.
The maid guided me to a gazebo where, surprisingly, Tolma’s family was enjoying tea with Miss Ringrande.
“Pardon me for intruding, Lord Tolma.”
“Hey, Sir Satou. Come on in. You don’t mind, right, Rin?”
“Certainly.”
I had intended to simply thank Tolma for the information he’d given me and leave, but it would’ve been rude to refuse his invitation, so I came in and took the empty seat next to Ringrande.
“How’s your social life going?”
“Very well, thanks to the wisdom you were kind enough to share with me.”
“Glad to hear it. So, you’ve got some marriage proposals, too, right? Going to take a few of them up on it?”
I knew polygamy was common among nobles in this kingdom, but I couldn’t get used to the idea of having multiple fiancées.
“No, I feel that I’m still too young for marriage.”
If I settled down, I wouldn’t be free to travel the world.
At a few of the tea parties, I had met young ladies around the same level of beauty as Sara or Miss Karina, but with Lulu and company around all the time, I was confident I wouldn’t fall in love that easily.
“You sure? You must be popular with the ladies, right? If you at least marry your fiancée Karina, you’ll become a viceroy of Muno Barony for sure, and then you’ll have as much income and power as a senior noble. Then you could make Sara your second wife and probably find two or three more besides. If you take on some concubines, too, you’ll have ten women easily!”
So you’re talking about a literal harem? Seriously, what kind of kingdom is this?
Tolma’s wife, Miss Hayuna, looked as appalled as I was, but the reaction of one particular individual was especially intense.
“Satou! So you are after Sara, then? And what’s this about a second wife? She wouldn’t even be your first?!”
Miss Ringrande stood up furiously and grabbed me by the collar, her love for her sister burning in her eyes.
“Please, calm down. Lord Tolma is letting his imagination run away with him. As I said in the temple, Sara is a dear friend of mine and nothing more. Besides, Karina and I aren’t even in a relationship, never mind engaged.”
I put both hands up in front of me.
“…You swear?”
“Yes, on my honor as a hereditary knight.”
Miss Ringrande’s suspicions hadn’t subsided, but she at least let go of me.
Please stop believing everything you hear about me, people.
“I’m sorry. Something upset me earlier, so I’m still a bit on edge.”
Miss Ringrande clenched her fists, trying to control her anger.
She must have remembered whatever that “something” was and gotten mad all over again.
Sensing the tension in the air, baby Mayuna started crying.
“Oh no, I’m sorry! There, there…”
The baby’s cries softened Ringrande’s rage immediately.
“Uncle Tolma, could we use your garden for a bit? Come with me, Satou.”
With that, Miss Ringrande drew her sword briskly and insisted on sparring with me for almost an hour.
“You two must be thirsty, right? Why not drop the training for now and come have some wine?”
Tolma already had the wine in hand as he invited us back inside.
Miss Hayuna had returned to the house to put Mayuna to bed. The only other person left in the gazebo was a maid.
“…Can you believe that? I’m supposed to throw the fight in front of the whole city? And to that awful Prince Sharorik, no less!”
Drunk on the wine, Miss Ringrande leaned into me as she complained about what had been bothering her earlier.
It certainly felt nice on my arm, but it added to her flushed face and the scent of perfume mixed with sweat was threatening to make me dizzy.
“Why should I have to have some mock battle with the prince just because His Majesty will be present?”
Ah, and here comes round number three.
“And His Highness’s sword is the Holy Sword Claidheamh Soluis. It’s supposed to be the symbol of victory, the embodiment of the Shiga Kingdom, you know? So I don’t…” She trailed off.
As it turned out, the third time was the last. She’d fallen asleep.
I eased the wineglass out of Miss Ringrande’s hand and quietly put it on the table.
I let her lean on my shoulder as she napped, and Tolma and I chatted awhile and deepened our friendship with her light snoring in the background.
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