“A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Lars Eric Egorova, from Egorova. I thank you for your warm welcome today.”
Lars, who looked like a bisque doll Seiichirou had seen a long time ago on TV, smiled. It made Seiichirou a little uncomfortable—it was too composed, almost phony. Aresh had a nice face, too, but since he wore a permanent scowl, it was hard to liken him to a doll.
“Our nation of Egorova is cold and mountainous. Thus, we specialize in researching magic and magic tools. However, there is a limit to what we can achieve alone. Tales of the Romany Kingdom’s eye-opening advances have reached even our mountain-locked land. I hope that today’s cultural exchange can be fruitful for both our nations. As a member of the royal family, I came here because I thought it would be best to learn from you myself. Were I to gain even a fraction of your knowledge, I would consider it a great boon. Let us work together for our mutual benefit.”
Although he downplayed his own nation in favor of uplifting Romany, one could see his pride in Egorova between the lines. He’s good at this, Seiichirou thought.
Lars then introduced the two civil officials and the boy beside him. “This is Georgi Lepkin, our nation’s foremost magic tool expert. And this is Donato Abayev, a sorcerer.”
The brawny-looking official in his fifties was a technician, while the nervous-looking man next to him was apparently a sorcerer.
The crowd’s eyes then turned to the boy.
“This is Luciano Delidov, a distant relative of mine. Despite his youth, his knowledge of magic and magic tools is already exemplary. I brought him on this trip because I believe that he will be a key figure in our kingdom’s next generation. Please give him a warm welcome.”
“Thank you for having me,” the boy—Luciano—intoned. His voice was high-pitched; it had not yet broken. He did not bow.
When Lars mentioned that they were related, Seiichirou thought that he could see the resemblance. Although Luciano had neatly trimmed black hair, they shared the same green eyes and pale skin. Even the shape of their noses seemed quite similar. But it was the aura around him that evoked the strongest resemblance. If Luciano was a relative to royalty, he was probably the son of a distinguished member of the nobility.
He’s probably around the same age as Sigma, thought Seiichirou as he peered at the group from the farthest seat. Sigma, a boy whom Seiichirou had met downtown, was currently on a scholarship so he could one day join the Sorcery Department. He was twelve, if Seiichirou’s memory served him correctly.
Seiichirou was struck by how Luciano’s gaze swept over the people at the table, as if he was trying to categorize them. Seiichirou looked away, figuring that he would be introducing himself tomorrow.
Things followed a predictable flow after that. The food was brought in, and the conversations started. The upper-ranked people spoke only to their immediate neighbors. This was not the kind of party where people were free to move seats and mingle with whoever. Everyone stayed in their lane. Seiichirou, for one, was glad to be near Norbert and Qusta. It went without saying that Camile was in one of the better seats.
But there was a bigger problem…
“Hey, Sei. You good with the food? You know you can give me anything you can’t eat,” Norbert whispered into his ear.
Indeed, that was Seiichirou’s biggest problem. Although he had now built up a great deal of tolerance for this world’s food—or, more precisely, the magicules in them—thanks to the combined efforts of Aresh and his chef Pavel, that wasn’t exactly the case for the palace food.
The density of magicules in food dishes depended on how the ingredients were grown and prepared. A full course of rare and expensive cuisines made with the kingdom’s finest techniques was many times denser than the usual fare. For Seiichirou, it was outright dangerous.
Seiichirou restrained the urge to cradle his head in his hands.
“It’s not rude to leave food on my plate, right?”
“Uh, I think you should be fine…wait.” Norbert tilted his head as he peered at the appetizers. “Isn’t there something different about your food, specifically?” he said quietly.
Seiichirou looked carefully at his plate for the first time. Right there in the middle of the white and gold-patterned plate was a beautiful array of red-brown mushrooms and vegetables, with green sauce on top. Norbert’s plate had mushrooms, vegetables, and sauce as well, but of a different variety.
Seiichirou whipped his head around to look at the person who had just served him—a muscle-bound man in a black waiter uniform. He was on his way back to the kitchen, but just before he left, he turned around, smiled, and gave a thumbs-up.
“P-Pavel…”
The sight of those all-too-familiar muscles and that cheerful smile made Seiichirou feel like collapsing again, but fortunately, he was seated. Although he had no idea how Pavel had managed to worm his way into the function, it looked like Seiichirou would get through this dinner party intact.
This meant that there was nothing else tonight that he had to push through. Apparently, people would usually move to the salon next door to mingle after they had finished eating in the main hall, but out of consideration for the Egorovans who were tired from their journey, it wasn’t mandatory. The third prince and the young sorcerer seemed inclined to stick around, though.
“Are you okay to leave early, Sei?”
“I’m sure there are plenty of other people who’d like to make introductions. I’ll be seeing them tomorrow, anyway.” Not to mention that Seiichirou doubted that anyone would be calling for the guy in the lowest-ranked seat.
The nobles who were keen on making some sort of connection turned their attention toward the Egorovans, but Seiichirou’s job would begin the next day. Apologizing for his early departure, he stood from his seat.
“Are you leaving, too, Mr. Kondo?”
“Oh, Qusta.”
Qusta, who sat across from him diagonally, was also making motions to leave.
“I have things to prepare for tomorrow,” Seiichirou explained.
“Still planning on working, hm? Oh no, Mr. Kondo, you’ll get wrinkles if you work too hard,” said Qusta.
“No overdoing it, Sei!” Norbert piped up.
The documents for the tour were already in perfect order, so all Seiichirou really needed to do was interrogate Aresh about his accessories.
“It won’t take long,” Seiichirou insisted, looking back over his shoulder at Norbert.
It was then that he noticed an individual who should have been over by the upper-ranked seats standing directly behind Norbert. He froze on the spot.
“Sei?” Puzzled by Seiichirou’s gaze, Norbert looked back over his shoulder, too, only to jump at what he saw. “Whoa!”
“Ah…you must be Lord Luciano. To what do we owe this pleasure?” Qusta spoke for them as the highest-ranked person in their immediate circle.
The individual in question was Luciano, the young boy who was a relative of the Egorovan royalty.
Seeing him close up, his perfectly proportional features looked even more like a doll. Selio from the church was quite a good-looking youth, but Luciano exuded refinement. It had to come from the royal blood. He could not have looked more different from Romany’s lowest-ranked royalty, however, when he fixed Qusta with a haughty glare.
“I heard that you’re the guide for the Sorcery Department. Am I wrong?”
“You are quite correct. I am Qusta Rein of the Royal Sorcery Department, and I will be your guide tomorrow. A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” said Qusta, not batting an eye at the boy’s precocious attitude.
But Luciano’s immaculate eyebrows knitted into a frown.
“Why—?”
“Master Luciano, let us go.”
A bodyguard knight appeared seemingly out of nowhere just as the boy opened his mouth. Gently, he pushed Luciano’s back, prompting the boy to shuffle reluctantly out of the room.
“What was that all about?” Seiichirou cocked his head, mystified.
For his part, Qusta seemed to have an inkling, because he just shook his head slightly with a sheepish smile. He did not explain the reason behind the encounter.