Chapter 22

Yuui exhaled deeply. She hadn’t asked Ottou, either, of course, but she would have thought Morna would have been informed at least. How could it be this bad…? Ottou was staring at Nova. “What?” she asked with a tilt of her head. Instead of answering, the boy shifted his gaze straight ahead. Had the Obryle family really approved of their son coming to this shop? Regardless of the high quality of its product, from the outside, Morna’s store looked like a poor, run-down excuse for a business. When Yuui inquired about this in a roundabout way, Ix said there was a reason for it. Between what Elion said and what Ottou muttered at key points, Ix had concluded that Ottou was being raised as though he were illegitimate. His observational skills and memory may have far outstripped the norm, but he overdid it, so he couldn’t carry a normal conversation. This meant the family didn’t want to regard him as their own son. Few people outside the clan knew he existed, which was why Ottou hadn’t revealed who he was, either. Elion, the fourth son, was virtually the only one to interact with the boy at all, and he’d hid from the others the fact that Ottou was leaving the mansion. They normally kept him in a room deep within their estate, and no one went out of their way to go visit him. “However,” Elion had said, “to be honest, I don’t believe Father is clueless about what’s going on. I think it’s likely he is aware but chooses to overlook it. Even if something happened to Ottou, say, a kidnapping, it wouldn’t pose a threat to the family.” Elion was convinced that the Obryles even frowned on Ottou’s talents and that he wouldn’t be allowed to play a role in their business. That was why Elion was so grateful to Morna for accepting his brother. Normally, Elion had servants keep an eye on Ottou while he traveled to and from the shop, but they’d been so busy with preparations for the banquet the past few days that they couldn’t spare the manpower, so Ottou needed to stay put in the mansion. Yuui shook her head and gathered her thoughts. “The new head librarian was useless, as we expected. He was able to deliver our message, true, but the answer he got was that outsiders would be unable to meet her. It will be a real boon if we can meet Lady Mali at this banquet. I am amazed Elion has helped this much, even if it is because of Ottou…” “Though it seems he was interested in the witch as well,” noted Ix. “Why is that?” “Because of the two adventurers you captured.” He turned his eyes up. “The pair had a mountain of enedo teeth on them, right? Putting that much of a valuable product onto the market in one go would create chaos. And if the witch was aiming to destabilize the market, that could cause problems for merchants down the line.” “He even knew about that…?” Morna’s merchant contact was supposed to be slowly introducing that pile of enedo teeth into circulation. Perhaps you could expect a merchant from the clan who controlled the city to do as much. “But about this banquet…,” murmured Yuui. “It would be best if I don’t attend.” “You won’t leave the room,” said Ottou. “I know that, but there will be lots of people there. We can’t be certain no one will see my face.” What would happen if people realized there was an easterner in a place where some of the kingdom’s most influential people were gathered? Yuui didn’t have any trouble imagining it, but she couldn’t tell just how big a problem it would become. “If it’s merely to ask Lady Mali some questions, wouldn’t Ix be plenty by himself? Ah, actually, you are a terrible conversationalist… Perhaps Nova should go along with you.” “I need her to come along with me either way,” said Ix, which took Yuui off guard. “What is this about? Are you that anxious?” she asked. “Anxious?” asked Ix like he didn’t understand. “Seems people normally go to these party things as a couple. Obviously, we’ll be in a different room to talk to Mali, but we’ll have to head down there to start talking to her. I’d stand out too much if I was on my own. Elion said he couldn’t help me with that part.” “Ah, um…” Yuui searched for a response for a moment. “Clothes… Yes, what will you do about clothing? I’m sure you don’t have any high-end outfits.” “Elion’s going to lend me something. He can also give us women’s wear.” “Oh, well then…” “And we don’t really have any other options for this,” noted Ix flatly. “You can’t do it, Yuui, for the exact reason you just said yourself.” “Yes…” She would have to show her face and skin dressed like that. “And Morna—” “M-m-me?!” she gasped, furiously waving her hands. “Is an obvious no-go. So then—” “I’ll dress as a girl,” announced Ottou out of the blue. “Huh? That—” started Yuui. “Too large a difference in height and age. It’d be unnatural,” countered Ix, quickly shooting down that idea. “I don’t know if it would be that much of a problem…,” said Yuui. She tried imagining Morna with makeup and Ottou dressed as a girl. Ottou in feminine attire wouldn’t be a problem. She thought he would make an enchanting little girl. And Morna, with her hair done, makeup, and nice clothing… She wouldn’t look bad, either. Though her problems were on the inside, not the outside. If you threw her in a room with a bunch of strangers, she’d wind up doing more than just losing her lunch. What came after vomiting, you ask? Perhaps she would just explode. Anyway, pointless thought experiments aside…