I suddenly had another idea. “Hey, Van, since you’re all dirty, why don’t you bathe in the hot springs?”
“You’re right. We can head back to the Noisette mansion once we clean ourselves off here.”
Van let me down and invited Roche to join him in the pillar of hot spring water erupting from the ground.
Roche checked the water first. “Lord Dragon Duke, it seems the temperature is just right!”
“Oh, is it? That’s great!”
The two big dragons then seemed to enjoy their hot springs baths.
“How enviable. I would love to bathe in those hot springs as well,” Lady Opera muttered.
“If we start building the resort facility now, assuming things go well, it might take about a year to be ready,” I said.
“I cannot wait that long!” Lady Opera tried to rush toward the hot springs, but Parfeil managed to catch her first. She dragged the struggling royal lady toward her guards. Madeleine followed right after them.
I took samples of the water into bottles to check their quality. I looked forward to finding out what properties this water had. Letting the steam escape would be a waste, so I sealed the bottles with caps I had prepared. The caps had magic circles on them that would stop the steam from escaping. The fissures on the ground had also been sealed with a magic circle to prevent the steam and hot water from erupting excessively.
“All right, that should do it,” Van said. “Mille-Feuille, let’s return to the Noisette mansion.”
“Yes, let’s.”
Since Van was going to head back in his dragon form, he let me ride on his back. Once we arrived at the mansion, I wanted to borrow an atelier space so I could analyze the samples I’d brought back from the hot springs.
Upon reaching the mansion, Madeleine offered to help with my work, even though we had just arrived. A number of my white squirrels that had stayed behind started clinging to my back upon my return.
Along with Parfeil, we had the housemaids guide us to the atelier. Ateliers were usually located underground so as not to expose the medicines being brewed there to sunlight. I thought we were going to be led into one such room, but what awaited us was a space akin to a stillroom where many varieties of jams and confitures were being made.
“You are free to use anything within this room,” said the maid who had guided us there.
“Thank you.”
I decided to ask the maid if there was an underground atelier. An old, prestigious house of magic such as House Noisette was sure to have one.
“Does this mansion not have a magic atelier?”
The moment I asked that, the maid dropped the ring of keys she was holding and it clattered to the ground. Her face went pale, and I could see that her shoulders were trembling.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“No, it’s... Um, Lady Fenetra ordered us not to enter the atelier, so...”
“Fenetra did? Why?”
“I-I don’t know. B-But a maid who broke that rule went missing the day after she entered the atelier. She still hasn’t been found.”
Fenetra had apparently flown into a rage and yelled at that maid. The maid we were talking to must have been terrified after witnessing such a scene and finding out one of her coworkers had vanished.
“What happened there?”
“Nothing, according to the maid,” she said.
“I see. When was this?” I asked.
“About a month ago.”
“That’s quite recent.”
How disturbing. I should tell Van about this, I thought.
“Thank you for telling me,” I said.
I also handed her some money—both as thanks for the information and to keep her quiet. She seemed to have understood as she nodded solemnly.
Once the maid left, I let out a sigh. “There’s just one problem after another.”
Madeleine, having heard everything, advised me to inform Van as soon as I could. I thought the same, so we went to talk to him first.
I filled a bucket with water and threw in the water mirror communication scroll that Van had given to us earlier. Within moments, the water’s surface rippled and Van’s figure appeared.
Just as crystals could be used for communication, water mirror communication used water to contact the person you wanted to reach. Since Van usually had black tea in his office, we would be able to communicate with him this way.
“Van?” I called.
“Hm? Mille-Feuille, is that you?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
I heard the sound of water through the water mirror, and his voice echoed through it. Van’s bare upper half was reflected on the surface. Perhaps he was soaking in a bath. Madeleine averted her eyes and turned around. Parfeil, as my bodyguard, didn’t even flinch.
“I have something to tell you. Is this a good time?” I asked.
“Oh, sure, go ahead. What is it?”
“Well...”
I told Van about Fenetra’s unusual actions. Van brushed aside his hair and listened intently to my report.
“The fact that she punished a maid disproportionately, and that said maid went missing, are both highly concerning,” Van opined.
“Van, be careful around Fenetra.”
“I will.”
If Diamant were to become the next big tourist destination for the duchy, there was no way to avoid deepening our ties with House Noisette. But before we moved further, we had to clear all our doubts and suspicions regarding them.
“Okay, I will ask my knights to investigate her.”
“Thank you, Van.”
“It’s no big deal.”
It would be terrible if Van got dizzy from staying too long in the bath, so we cut our conversation short.
“And that’s that. Madeleine, you can turn around now.”
“A-All right.”
Madeleine looked flushed and embarrassed. She must not have expected Van to be half naked. I felt sorry for dragging her into our conversation.
“Sorry about that,” I said.
“It’s okay. I’ll forget about what I saw just now.”
I also drove the image of Van’s half naked body from my mind and got to work.
Analyzing the water from the hot springs was quite simple. I only needed to use my Evaluation Glasses that I had received from my mother as a child. Looking through the glasses would give me a great deal of information about the object being analyzed.
I put the glasses on and started looking at the water samples.
“This sample is bicarbonate water... Apparently, it can smooth calloused skin and make it firmer.”
“My, that sounds wonderful!” Madeleine exclaimed.
I recalled Van saying that the water was smooth and slippery to the touch. The spring water would be easily absorbed by the skin and smoothen it.