“We get a lot of visitors, so there’s no need to worry about coming unannounced. Besides, it’s an honor to receive a visit from one of the Invited. And I’m thrilled that you came all the way here just to meet Ann.”
Lati smiled a beautiful smile just like Nelly’s, but where Nelly’s was more cool, Lati’s was gentle and ephemeral. Maybe the differences stood out all the more the better you knew someone.
“Wow, you really do look just like Miss Nelly!”
Should Sara speak up for Nelly and tell him not to call her ‘Miss’?
Haruto’s eyes had gone wide, and he’d completely dropped the polite tone he’d been using, but Lati just smiled with amusement.
“It makes me happier than anything to be told Neffie and I look alike. If you’re an Invited, you’re something like Ann’s sibling. There’s no need for any formalities.”
“Thank you very much, ma’am.”
Haruto had charmed the mistress of the house instantly and become the main character of the scene. Sara was more and more impressed.
“I’m happy to see you too, Allen, Kuntz. Thank you so much for your help last time.”
Lati went out of her way to name the two of them as well. They’d only been here as Hunters last time, so Sara thought it was unlikely she would remember them just from that. She must have learned their names just to welcome them here.
“We’re just here to accompany Elm and Sara, but thanks for having us.”
“Yeah, thanks for having us.”
If the way that Lati was acting now, so considerate to everyone, was how she typically was, then it was obvious just how out of sorts she’d been the last time they met.
“But I’m getting so lonely thinking about Ann going off to the capital... Part of me wishes you hadn’t come so quickly to fetch her. And joining the knights is so dangerous, oh, I just can’t take it! For the record, I was against Neffie joining as well. I just wish Ann could settle down with someone nice, you know?”
Sara narrowed her eyes a bit, thinking this was exactly what her problem was. People’s values didn’t change overnight, though, she supposed.
“Then why didn’t you have her stay with the prime minister’s family? Chris said their third son Noel is the best candidate for her fiancé right now.”
Sara was a little surprised Elm would say that. She hadn’t thought he’d be interested in the topic. She got a bit of a faraway look in her eyes at the thought that Chris really did seem to favor House Hills.
“I want her to marry someone nice, but I don’t want her to decide her future right away! She can decide who she’ll marry a little later.”
Sara wouldn’t go so far as to call Lati selfish, but she was still faithful to her own desires and valued Ann above all else.
“Ann’s future can wait. And what about you, Elm?”
“There it is.”
Sara had to hold in another comeback at that.
“Lati, I came out all the way to the gate ’cause I was so excited, but it’s still a little chilly out here, don’t you think?” chimed Ann.
“Oh my, you’re right! Let’s head to the mansion in the carriage. Could we get a ride with you?”
Lati almost fainted when she found out that they’d come on foot instead of by carriage, but thanks to Ann’s quick thinking, Elm was able to avoid any further questioning.
Sara knew Ann wanted to join the knights, but there were all sorts of things she wanted to ask her about the matter, such as why now, but there wasn’t time at all to talk during their stay. Not only had family come to visit but so had two Invited as well, so social gatherings and parties were hurriedly thrown, and in between these, Ann had to get ready to leave, and Lati had to prepare herself emotionally for Ann’s departure. They’d taken just five days to get there, but they didn’t expect being in Gardenia to take up so much time.
Elm’s eyes were completely dead each time Lati dragged him to these social events. Haruto and Sara got out of them as soon as they could after performing the bare minimum of social niceties expected of them as Invited.
If they had all this time to socialize, Sara would have rather heard about how things were with the green grass locusts after last time. But they would be passing the location where they’d dealt with the locusts on their way to the capital, so she could just hear about them there. This meant that all she could do at the lord’s manor was talk to the lord, Ed, and the apothecary, Keiligh.
“Long time no see, Sara. You’ve grown even more beautiful.”
“Thank you. And thank you for what you did for Nelly and Chris last time. They managed to get married and are living together happily now.”
The worldly Keiligh was a type Sara didn’t usually have around her, but since she knew that he’d played the fool in order to bring Nelly and Chris closer to one another, she felt like she could accept his compliments without worrying about whether or not he was being sincere. She had to make sure she thanked him and gave him her report as well, as Chris’s apprentice.
“Sorry for the abrupt change of subject, but what happened with your green grass locust experiments?”
She’d heard from Ed that the green grass locusts had appeared again the next year, but there had just been a few more of them than usual, and they’d gotten through it just fine. Apparently they’d left behind a lot of eggs as well. He’d been worried about their harvest since there was a lot of damage to their crops from the year before, but they hunted the locusts early and avoided too much trouble. This year, they were simply continuing to be cautious.
“To do much real experimenting, we’d have to starve the green grass locusts to the point that they turn black, but as an apothecary, I’m not crazy about doing something like that, personally.”
“I get it.”
Even if they were just bugs, Sara didn’t like the idea of making them suffer.
“From the experiments we conducted the year of the outbreak, our best bet is probably to be more aware of the circumstances that can lead to the green grass locusts starving, which we’ve been trying to do since last year. That and stocking up more.”
“Stocking up?” Sara tilted her head. Stocking up what, she wondered.
“On the grass the locusts eat, on different types of potions, and on extra food in Gardenia in case our crop harvests suffer.”
“Makes sense.”
It sounded like they had a lot to do.
“Still, it’s not like storage boxes are infinite, and they’re expensive, so the idea to stock up on grass for the locusts was canned.”
Keiligh grinned wryly, but that part of the plan did seem rather unrealistic.
“Since there aren’t many Hunters here, there’s not much demand for potions, so we haven’t had much of a stock of those either, but we’ve at least changed that policy. We’re working on keeping a stock of ingredients for paralytics and antiparalytics as well as the completed potions.”
“Well, that is the role of an Apothecary’s Guild.”
It seemed the green grass locust outbreak had greatly changed the direction of the Apothecary’s Guild in Gardenia.
“Stocking up on food will take time, but we’ll work on it. There’s no way to get a ton of it all at once, so Ed’s going to stock up gradually.”
“That’s reassuring to hear.”
“Yeah. We’ll keep an eye out for irregularities and request aid as soon as we can when we find them. Gardenia will do whatever stocking up they can. Short of us finding some way to change the weather, I’m sure we’ll continue to have more green grass locust outbreaks in the future, but we’re making sure we’re as prepared as we can be for when that happens.”
“Right.”
All the trouble they’d been through had been worth it.
Sara told Keiligh about the supreme healing herbs; after her report, it seemed they might start ordering them from Hydrangea as well. She was endlessly grateful for Caren’s suggestion to work out a way for other people to gather them instead of just Sara doing it. It really felt like her influence would extend beyond Hydrangea.
Finally, the day of their departure for the capital arrived.
“Don’t push yourself, Ann.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll have Elm and Sara, and Haruto and Allen and Kuntz too.”
“I know, but still...”
“And Vice Captain Liam said they would welcome more female knights. Plus, Nelly was a knight once. That gives me some peace of mind.”
“Still...”
Even on the verge of their departure, Lati was having a hard time letting Ann go. Still, everyone kept their mouths shut and simply waited for the farewells to be over. Lati was definitely a worrywart, but it was understandable to find it hard to part with your twelve-year-old daughter when she was going somewhere far away.
“Come, Lati. Let’s get as much work done as we can so we can find some time to go to the capital ourselves.” Ed put an arm around Lati’s shoulders. “Your mana always used to overflow at times like these, so it was hard to comfort you even if I wanted to. Look at how much the two of us have grown as well just from Ann coming here.”