Ganudos Port Country was much smaller than Tearmoon. Nevertheless, the capital was filled with the ports that served as this nation’s keystones, as well as fish markets selling fresh seafood and large facilities, such as those for making ships. The people who walked through its streets were full of life.
“This port certainly is bustling,” remarked Mia. As soon as she and the others had stepped out from their carriages, they first headed to their inn, blending in with the other visitors until they reached their rooms and could finally heave a sigh of relief.
“Plenty of merchants frequent these parts, and plenty go out to sea for days at a time. There are even strangers who come here to work just for the season, so I doubt you’ll be discovered,” said one of Shalloak’s apprentice merchants with a sinister smirk.
They really must work for Shalloak! Their expression is mighty terrifying. Mia nodded as she turned her gaze to what lay outside the window. She could see the Greenmoons’ villa that she had stayed at once before in the wealthy district located closer to the castle. Mia had first planned on borrowing the villa, but had ultimately decided to stay at a normal inn once she realized the manor was likely under surveillance.
“Well then! Why don’t we have a snack while we wait for Orania? Hmm... Might we have any cake?”
“I received quite a novel snack, milady,” offered Anne after returning from her short trip at the perfect moment.
“A novel snack? Let me at it.”
“Of course. It’s dried fish pickled in some sort of sauce.” With that, Anne placed some sliced fish drowned in a brown sauce on a plate.
“Oh! Those are really yummy!” said Kiryl. He was watching from the sidelines, grinning from ear to ear.
“Oho ho! Then why don’t we share them? You should have some as well, Yanna.”
“Huh? Oh, but... I don’t need that many...”
Yanna was clearly hesitating, and so Mia laughed it away. “There’s no need to be polite! Children are supposed to eat as much as they want,” she said with a wink. “My appetite has always been on the smaller side anyway. I’m sure we’ll have extras.”
“Huh?” Both Yanna and Kiryl looked at her in disbelief, which Mia reciprocated.
Patty had been watching these proceedings, and she tiptoed up to Yanna and Kiryl and whispered in their ears, “It’s probably a joke.”
“O-Oh! That makes sense. Aha ha ha!” The children flashed her a vague smile, but Mia still didn’t quite follow.
A joke? What joke?
Suddenly, the door flew open. “Master Mia!” It was Orania.
“My! Greetings, Orania.”
“Thank you so much for coming to such a remote country...” Despite her dress, she kneeled before Mia in the pose of a loyal vassal, inducing visions of Tearmoon’s Ganudos domain that were frankly...annoying.
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“Um, Orania? I don’t need such treatment. We’re both princesses, and that makes us equals.”
“Not at all...! You’re my master, so I need to give you the proper respect! That’s only natural considering you’ve made the journey to visit my nation yourself...” she said, looking awfully serious.
This inspired some fear in Mia. It had only been a short while since they last met, but Orania’s respect for her had ballooned! She couldn’t help but feel this was a premonition of a certain abominable golden structure to come.
“U-Um, I’d appreciate it if you dropped the title of master.”
“I could never...! I still have much to learn in the Way of the Princess,” she said, somehow looking even more serious.
“I-I see,” responded Mia with a forced smile. She cleared her throat and...
“‘Master Mia,’ you said?” Mia turned to the owner of that voice to find Ludwig, staring at her with an awkward grin of his own.
“Y-Yes. Orania apparently has much she wants to learn from me, so this is the title that’s stuck.”
“I see. It suits you perfectly,” said Ludwig in utmost honesty as a glint of light reflected off his glasses.
What does he mean by that?! I’m struggling over here, yet that stupid four-eyes is... That’s right!
Something suddenly occurred to Mia, and she turned back to Orania with a composed expression. “Orania, I’ve brought two of my dear vassals with me today. The man with the glasses is Ludwig, and the one with the sword who’s a bit—well, perhaps more than a bit—scary-looking is Dion.”
“Wow!”
Mia ignored Orania’s surprise and continued. “Ludwig is responsible for half of my brainwork!”
Mia exaggerated, overemphasized, and dramatized! Though quite frankly, there was room to question how much of that was really an overstatement. Anyways...
I absolutely need to rein in her respect for me!
Mia had two main goals here. One was to find Hannes, while the other was to prevent the assassination of Ganudos’s king, solve the issue of the Visalian Ghetto, and thus put a stop to that abominable golden creation. And for the sake of that last bit, she wanted to stay as low as possible.
Given her current attitude, she’ll go singing my praises even if she solves this problem herself, and then that thing will be built!
This meant Mia absolutely needed to reduce the respect Orania had for her. “I would have accomplished next to nothing without Ludwig here. He, Dion, Anne, and all my other dear vassals are what make me, well, me.”
Thus, Mia emphasized that no matter what she accomplished in Ganudos, it wasn’t an accomplishment that could be credited to her, thus implicitly imploring them not to build a certain, odd golden thing.
“So basically...you’re saying I need smart vassals like Ludwig, right?”
“Huh? Um, hmm... I guess so? The sad truth is that those of us at the top can accomplish little on our own.”
“I see...” With a ponderous expression, Orania took out a certain book. The awfully odd title was handwritten on the cover which read: Master Mia’s Words of Gold!
“Wh-What is that book?!”
“I’ve been writing down your words so I can remember them...” answered Orania as she moved her pen. “‘Worthy vassals are the first step to worthy princesses.’ You’ve taught me ever so much, Master Mia... You’re the best!”
“N-No, I’m not! I mean, I am, but...” Mia cursed under her breath. Orania was making it sound like enlisting Ludwig as one of her vassals had been Mia’s accomplishment! She had the feeling that the more brilliant Ludwig proved himself to be, the better she’d view Mia too.
Ugh! This is the exact opposite of what I wanted! I need to figure something out...
Mia was at an utter loss.
Thus, pavement had already been laid on the path to the Golden Mia Lighthouse.