Watching the events take place from a little distance away, Zenjirou muttered quietly enough that only Freya could hear him, “They certainly are nervous.” His gaze wasn’t on Yngvi, but on the Capuan girls being introduced to him.
“It is little surprise,” Freya answered just as quietly, her arm still in his. “This is a huge fork in their lives.”
Zenjirou nodded silently. The girls speaking with the prince had all been investigated by Aura, their backgrounds inspected, after which they had been permitted to speak to him directly. They were, in essence, the cream of the crop. Still, the normal age for remaining unwed in this world meant that they were still teenage girls.
Despite being born into noble families and living with the knowledge that their families’ circumstances were paramount in their future plans, even if this marriage was something they wanted, there was no chance they would remain calm about marrying into a completely different world—the Northern Continent. There was an extremely high possibility that one of them would become Yngvi’s second wife and spend the rest of her life in a foreign country.
“I want to do what I can to help,” Zenjirou muttered to himself, this time quietly enough that not even Freya could hear him from her position at his side.
Zenjirou had literally married into a different world all on his own, so in some respects, he understood how they felt more than anyone. The person who could likely understand them almost as well was Freya, who had married into the Southern Continent. Fortunately, they had Zenjirou’s teleportation and her position as former royalty of Uppasala. They would likely be able to support the girl who became Yngvi’s second wife.
Of course, that assumed that her husband would also act in good faith. After that thought, the two of them turned their attention from the girls and guardians to the accessories the girls were wearing. Rings, bracelets, necklaces, and hairpieces made up the bulk of them. All of them were made of gold as well. The penny dropped for Zenjirou, and he began looking around for a specific person.
He soon found her. Her blonde hair drew the eye when among the group of primarily darker hair and skin tones present. Practically at the same time as he spotted her, she had looked towards him. Their eyes met and a smile made its way to her lips.
“Freya,” Zenijrou prompted.
“Of course, Sir Zenjirou,” she replied before they started walking slowly towards her.
“Talajeh,” he greeted her once they were close enough. “I hope you are enjoying yourself.”
“I am indeed, Your Majesty,” the blonde replied as her smile deepened.
Talajeh was from the Elementaccato family, one of the four ducal houses of the Twin Kingdoms. She had lush blonde hair, amber eyes, and lightly tanned skin, perhaps due to a mixing of blood between the native desert nomads and the migrants who had fled the Northern Continent.
She was adorned with plenty of gold—the local specialty of her homeland—using herself as a living mannequin to display her wares. Zenjirou looked meaningfully at the girls around Yngvi.
“It seems you have been a great help. You have my thanks.”
“Not at all,” Talajeh replied. “I should be thanking you for the good business opportunity. I hope it can continue.”
The smile on her face took on a decidedly calculating gleam. If one were to sum Talajeh up in a single word, it would probably be “mercantile.”
It was an unusual group for a noble girl from the Southern Continent to fall into. The gold jewelry the gathered girls were wearing had all been sold using her honeyed words. The accessories from the Elementaccato lands were high in purity and also finely crafted. It was hardly unfair business, but Zenjirou wasn’t exactly happy to see Capuan silver diverted to the Twin Kingdoms with his own eyes.
That said, it was hard to deny that he himself was one of the greatest assets to her business. After all, every time he teleported to the Twin Kingdoms, he was paid a fee to cast the spell on Talajeh so that she could take the coinage back and replenish her goods. However expensive the gold accessories were, she still only had what she could physically carry, so the currency outflow could be ignored. If the unidirectional purchases continued, though, they would need to sell something to the Twin Kingdoms to maintain the balance.
At that, Zenjirou recalled one of the most expensive things they could be selling. “That reminds me, have you heard how the barrier magic tool is progressing?”
Talajeh smiled as she nodded. “I have. Princess Bona has assured me that it is going well,” she said as she thrust her large chest out.
Capua’s space-time magic contained a spell that physically isolated an area, and Talajeh had requested a magic tool that used this spell. Aura and Bona were currently collaborating on it.
All Aura was doing was going to Bona’s workshop and casting the spell once a day, so the majority of the work was on the princess’s side. Of course, Bona didn’t have the time to spend every day creating a magic tool, so she sometimes took time off of it. That meant that it would be some time before it was completed, but apparently things were proceeding apace.
“So, everything is going well?”
“Well, ‘everything’ would perhaps be something of an overstatement, but things are certainly moving in the right direction.” Her expression was completely at ease as she spoke. Of course, being part of a highly placed noble family and working as a merchant meant that a poker face was indispensable. Still, there was no doubt that things were going well for her, so the expression was likely sincere.
“I would like to restock soon. Do you plan to visit the Twin Kingdoms?” she asked.
When Zenjirou was in the Twin Kingdoms, and only then, the combination of him and Aura made an instantaneous round trip between the two countries possible. Therefore, his presence in the Twin Kingdoms also gave the Northerners in Capua a chance to temporarily return home.
That said, the fee was significant even to the royal coffers. Talajeh was possibly the only person who expected enough profit from the return trip for the fee to be worth it.
“I am unsure. I will inform you before I go. After all, I wish to buy two of the Elementaccato specialties myself. Can I ask you to arrange that?”
Zenjirou’s words prompted the brightest smile she’d displayed so far that night. At the same time, Freya’s grip on his arm tightened.
If Zenjirou was asking for two pieces of jewelry, there was little need to say who exactly they would be for.
“Of course, leave it to me. In fact, would you be interested in visiting our estate in the capital? For you, we are willing to display even our reserved products that guests would not usually be shown. Of course, we would also offer a discount. If you were to visit our capital rather than our residence you would find even more valuable items, and we would not even charge you in such a case. We would guarantee your safety throughout the journey with our lives. In fact, I would even pay for your travel.”
Everyone, whether domestic or international, would want to invite Zenjirou—a caster of teleportation—to their homeland, but Talajeh was by far the most enthusiastic. If Zenjirou visited the place even once—or more accurately, if he photographed it—he would be able to use it as a destination directly.
“I will consider visiting the estate. The capital is out of the question, though,” he answered, a reluctant smile on his face at her zeal.
With people as motivated and capable as Talajeh, it was best not to give a reason when refusing an offer. If he did so, she could respond with a direct counterattack, destroying the reason he’d given.
“A shame,” she said.
The look on her face was one of a lion watching a gazelle escaping its grasp.
Although the evening’s festivities were for Yngvi to meet the candidates for his second wife, his socialization time was not only spent with them. After all, only those vetted beforehand by Aura were allowed to directly appeal to him, and that was an extremely limited number. Once conversation with those few had finished, there was still plenty of time left to be used for socializing with other people.
“It is an honor to have the chance to meet you, Prince Yngvi. I am Capua’s marshal, Pujol Guillén, and this is my wife, Lucinda.”
“An honor, Your Highness,” Lucinda added.
The Uppasalan prince responded to the couple’s greetings with a smile. “My brother mentioned you, Marshal. He called you a truly gifted warrior. It is just as much of an honor for me to meet you both.”
The massive man grinned broadly. He was one of Capua’s most prized warriors and the commander in chief of the army. The two had somewhat similar goals in terms of aiming to strengthen both their nations and their own influence, so conversation flowed freely between them.
“I envy the dash drakes, I must say. While their speed is minimally different from a horse’s, their stamina and strength are many times greater. I presume they require commensurately more food and water, but they still outstrip horses easily. If they could adapt to the climate and ecosystem of the Northern Continent, I would love to purchase some.”
“Meanwhile, the speed at which horses grow is exceptional,” the marshal replied. “Three or four years before they are fieldable is impressive. The drakes may be able to serve longer, but that is not necessarily always an advantage. Callous as it sounds, mounts are expendable to an army, after all.”