Epilogue:
The Name of the Unannounced Guest
A FEW DAYS HAD PASSED since the election for ambassador to the human realm. A noisy guest was visiting the clinic.
“Brother!” Sioux called. Glenn’s little sister’s voice was always ten times louder than his own.
She often visited the clinic while she was out on patrol, but she’d stopped by for a different reason today. That she’d chosen lunchtime, when there wouldn’t be other patients around, and yelled through the waiting room, were both hallmarks of Sioux’s strange, serious personality.
“Brother! Brother! I beg your pardon!” Sioux was sweating from her forehead.
“Welcome, Sioux.” Glenn greeted her.
Now that the storm had passed, there was no sign of Lindworm cooling off anytime soon. Sioux was especially susceptible to the heat, and immediately started gulping down the lemon water available to patients in the waiting room.
“Mmm, ahhhh!” She smacked her lips. “Lemon water is the best in the summer!”
“Believe it or not, it’s still spring,” Glenn reminded her.
The abnormal weather was affecting everyone in town. On the plantation, the heat had caused an abundant overgrowth of weeds, and they were looking for temporary workers to remove them. The fact that Aluloona saw this potential crisis as an opportunity to create jobs was a testament to her business acumen.
“Are you patrolling today?” Glenn asked Sioux.
“Ahh, no! I am not! I was just notified by the city council about who will accompany me to the human realm!”
“So the voting is finished, then?”
The ambassador had been decided. Sioux must have been anxious to learn which young lady would be joining her on the long journey east.
“It will be…two people!”
“Huh?”
“Miss Illy, of the harpies, and Miss Plum, the vampire. They received an equal number of votes, so they both shall be appointed!”
“I see.” Glenn nodded approvingly. “So that’s how it worked out.”
It must have been too difficult for the residents of Lindworm to choose between them. The good news was that if the incompatible duo received the exact same number of votes, it wouldn’t cause a fight. Plus, although both of them had recently been treated by Glenn, they were completely healthy now. Neither had any ailments that would prevent them from making a long journey.
“I am staring at you, Brother.”
“What is it, Sioux?”
His sister narrowed her eyes. Glenn wondered if she noticed him trying to avert his own gaze.
“You are hiding something.”
“Hiding what?”
“Brother! You plotted this, did you not?! It is nearly impossible for a referendum to end in a precisely equal number of votes!”
“That’s true, but there was nothing I could have done to manipulate it.” Glenn was just the town doctor, after all.
But Sioux didn’t accept this answer. She shook her head furiously. “No! Brother, you are friendly with the women of this town! The city council representative, her bodyguard, the plantation owner, the president of the hospital, the Lady of transportation, the manager of the graveyard district, et cetera, et cetera. Sioux is sure you have other connections Sioux doesn’t know about, which you could use to manipulate—”
“I haven’t done anything of the sort!”
“In other words, you admit that something was done!” Sioux drew closer.
Her questioning was fierce. No wonder she made such a great addition to the patrol team.
Glenn held up his hands. “Tisalia and Arahnia made…arrangements.”
“Arrangements?” Sioux repeated.
“Scythia Transportation was always going to back Illy, since she’s their employee,” he explained. “So they coordinated with Loose Silk Sewing to ensure that the number of votes would be the same. Apparently, all the arachnes at the sewing factory like Plum, since she comes to buy clothes there so often.”
Tisalia and Arahnia had done what they could to rig the voting, but in the end, it looked like Plum wouldn’t have quite enough votes, so Glenn had written her name on his ballot. Since this wasn’t a typical political election, and since Tisalia and Arahnia both had such extensive information networks, the whole thing had been rather simple.
“B-but even so, that would not make the votes precisely equal! There is a limit to how many people the two of them can mobilize!”
“Well, you see…” Glenn smiled. “In the end, it turned out that Plum and Illy were equally popular.”
“Ahh…I see.”
It had actually been a coincidence that they’d ended up with the same number of votes. Arahnia and Tisalia’s scheming had been a factor, but not the deciding one. According to Arahnia, when Lord Murdrac heard that Illy had saved Plum, he withdrew his formal opposition of her bid for the office of ambassador. Apparently, he now thought very highly of her.
“Take care of them, Sioux. Especially Illy. She’s had bad experiences with humans. Show them around. Teach them the good things about the human realm.”
“Roger that!” she saluted. “Sioux was not able to speak with them at length, but Sioux will take this as an opportunity to grow closer to both of them!”
Glenn’s sister innocently believed that there was no one in the world she couldn’t get along with. As long as Sioux was there, Illy and Plum could surely set their differences aside.
Actually…
Maybe I should have asked Sioux to mediate from the beginning…
If Sioux had been there, perhaps the whole thing would have been resolved in an instant. Or perhaps that was just Glenn’s bias.
“Thank you,” he replied.
“Leave it to Sioux!” she affirmed. Sioux was never timid when it came to human relationships. “Incidentally, Brother, I don’t see Sister.”
“Yeah. She’s out right now.”
“Out where?” Sioux asked casually.
“Here and there. She’s busy with wedding preparations.”
“Wedding!” Sioux’s eyes grew wide at the word. “Is that right? Soon, Brother will be married! You’ve waited so long, but you finally have Mother and Father’s permission.”
“It’s not all that dramatic.” Glenn thought she was going a little overboard.
Sioux’s eyes went wide.
“What are you saying?! Marriage is the most important thing! Especially the marriage between Brother and Sister Sapphee, for which I, too, have been waiting! It must be a grand celebration! Wait, Brother, why are you not accompanying Sister in the preparations?!”
Glenn scratched his head. “She told me not to come.”
Sapphee seemed to want to take charge of the ceremony so that Glenn could concentrate on work.
“Right. Well, that happens.” Sioux's temperament was so changeable. She also placed a high value on Sapphee’s feelings. “Has the date been set?”
“Not yet,” Glenn said. “It’s hard to schedule.”
“Sioux will be departing for the human realm next week. Memé has arranged a carriage and Lulala will be serenading us! Depending on my duties, I may not return in time for the ceremony.”
“That’s true,” Glenn agreed.