She’d wanted to introduce Astrid to Firth as a potential business partner for her future inventions. Now that Astrid thought about it, the way that Nina had immediately agreed to Firth coming with them after it came out that they wanted to use the recording device for questionable purposes had been unlike her. She’d probably thought it would give Firth and Astrid more time to get to know each other.
In other words, Nina had done all of this for Astrid. Not for Firth.
What was I thinking... Just like that, all of her ill feelings evaporated. She still wasn’t quite sure where her violent dislike for Firth had come from, but for some reason, she felt like all the weight had lifted from her chest.
“You’re right. I’ll apologize to Firth later for laying into him like that.”
“Oh, no—I didn’t mean you had to apologize...!” Nina stammered.
“There’s just one thing I’d like to clear up.”
“To...clear up?”
“Right.” Astrid smiled. “I appreciate that you were thinking about my career as an inventor. But right now, I’m not an inventor—I’m a member of Maid & Co. We only just formed this party! I don’t want to think about what happens after I leave it.”
“Oh...”
“I want to be with you, Nina.”
Nina’s eyes went wide. She blushed and shuffled her feet awkwardly.
At this point, Tien butted in. “Astrid, you were altering the magic device.”
“Aaand the moment’s gone.” Astrid sighed.
“Emily is waiting. She clapped twice.”
“Oh, whoops.”
Astrid’s ears hadn’t picked up anything, but Tien had apparently heard the claps loud and clear. She pulled a magical circuit modifying tool from her pocket. Tien watched her intently.
Like a dog possessive of its owner, Astrid thought with a wry smile.
Holding the magic lamp in her mouth, she removed the cover on the recording device to expose the circuitry with a practiced air. Once she’d deciphered it, she got to work making alterations. She was done in a matter of moments.
“Right, that should do it.”
“Wh-What? Already? Amazing!”
“Nina,” Astrid said with a grin, “any inventor could do the same.” She tidied up her tools, then turned to Tien. “So where can we hear them from?”
“Over here.”
Astrid and Nina followed Tien a little farther down the alleyway. Astrid took the hose-like appendage that hung off the device and pressed the suction up on the end to the wall of the building. The three of them started at the voices that emerged from the device.
—Lemme buy you another drink.
—Ah ha ha. No, you’ve already been too kind.
“That’s Kett, isn’t it?” said Nina. Astrid nodded and turned on the record function.
Emily stepped through the tavern door into a cheerful but relaxed babble of voices.
She had plenty of experience in the kinds of taverns her fellow adventurers patronized, and had even been to fancy restaurants. This sort of calm atmosphere, however, was a first for her. The interior made copious use of natural wood, which was a contrast to the perfectly ordered streets. The lighting was subdued, and there was a generous amount of space between tables. There was even mezzanine seating.
The clientele was probably predominantly merchants—everyone was smartly dressed. There might have even been some nobles among them.
It’s a good thing I’m with Firth. Astrid and I would stand out like a sore thumb.
Emily took care with how she dressed, but she was attired to set off on a journey or an adventure at a moment’s notice. Her clothes were nothing like what these merchants wore.
A male waiter approached them. “Is this your first time here?” he asked.
“It is,” Firth replied. “I’m from the Vick Merchant House.”
“The Vick Merchant House! I don’t hear that often.”
A customer at a nearby table looked up at the name “Vick,” but no one farther away appeared to have heard them.
The Vick Merchant House really was well-known.
“Two of you, is it? The counter is free.”
“Actually, I think we’d like a table. Do you mind if we choose our own? I’d like some quiet.” Firth pressed a silver coin into the man’s hand.
“By all means,” the man said. He examined the coin with a look that said he was impressed by the Vicks’ generosity, then disappeared off into the back of the tavern.
“You can bill us for that later,” Emily said, expecting him to insist otherwise. Instead, Firth winked at her.
“Oh, I will. I am a merchant after all.”
He’s handsome enough to pull that off, Emily thought.
“Right, where shall we sit?” said Firth.
The tavern was about half full, so there were empty tables to choose from. The two of them walked through the dimly lit room when—
“Uh?” Emily spun around as someone grabbed her hand. “Hey, what’s the big—”
“Shh!” Firth pulled her away deeper into the tavern. “I just saw the Rondat Merchant House’s deputy manager,” he said. Emily gasped.
“He knows my face, so I don’t want him to see me. He was alone, though...”
Just then, a man stepped out from the back of the room and right into Emily and Firth’s path. They collided in front of the toilet.
“Huh?” The man eyed them suspiciously, his face flushed from drinking. He was ruggedly handsome and had a beard.
“I do apologize,” Firth said. “My friend here was just looking for the bathroom.”
“Oh, I see.” The man moved past them, then went to the table where the Rondat deputy manager was sitting.
“Do you think that was him...?”
“Yes, that must have been Kett.”
The man matched the description Astrid had given them. There was no doubt about it. Emily was fervently grateful that no one Kett would recognize had come.
She and Firth took the table next to the Rondat deputy manager and sat so that Firth had his back to them. Then, Emily clapped twice.
The waiter from earlier came over to them. “Ma’am, there’s a bell,” he said. “I’m not a dog who comes when you clap.”
“Oops, sorry! Bring us some drinks, would you?”
The man looked at Firth as though he didn’t think Emily should be drinking, but Firth just grinned. As he walked off with an air of resignation, they sat back to listen to the conversation at the next table.
“Lemme buy you another drink.”
“Ah ha ha. No, you’ve already been too kind.”
The pair were chatting good-naturedly about the recent goings-on in the Rondat Merchant House. For some reason, Kett seemed to know all the Rondats’ staff by name. This went on for a while until the waiter came back with a copper tankard of wine mixed with fruit juice. Firth’s drink was strong liquor—the man had probably decided a young girl like Emily would prefer something sweet. She picked it up with the air of a seasoned drinker and took a hearty gulp. He frowned at her, then left.
“Hey, Firth. How long does that magic device run for?”
“It should last an hour...” he said. “But do you really think they heard you?” He seemed highly skeptical that Nina, Tien, and Astrid were really out there with the recording device on the other side of the stone wall.
“Oh, they heard me.” Emily, on the other hand, didn’t doubt it for a second.
Firth sighed. “Well, so long as Nina isn’t in any danger... You seem awfully sure, though.”
“Yeah, well. In their own way, Astrid and Tien are the same as Nina.”
“Really? I suppose the nonhuman girl did seem to be stupendously strong, but that inventor—”
He broke off as the Rondat deputy manager said, “That Clare woman sure is stubborn, huh? I wanna get this business with the Goldings over with.”
“Mm, she...certainly isn’t one to quit.”
“She doesn’t suspect you, right?”
“Not at all. Like I said, she’s convinced that someone planted a bug. She even hired an inventor to come and look for it.”
“Hmph. Maybe we should have planted a bug for her to find. It’d make the shock even bigger when we release yet another product ahead of her just when she thought she was safe.” He chortled. “That’d be the nail in the coffin for her and the Golding Merchant House. Then we Rondats will be free to snap up her meat business.”
“Ha ha... That’s very devious. I can see how you got to be deputy manager.”
Firth, noticing how Emily’s hand trembled as she gripped her tankard, muttered, “Stay calm.”
“That no-good, slimy piece of—”
“Don’t do anything to draw attention to us.”