Much like the previous visit, Seiichirou stood some distance away from the experts as they geeked out. He was chatting with Orjef and Lars when he heard a sudden shout. The soprano pitch of a boy whose voice had not yet broken told him exactly who it was.
“What happened?” Lars demanded as he rushed over and peeled Luciano away from Sigma.
Seiichirou hurried over to Sigma’s side as well.
“What’s wrong, Luciano? This isn’t like you.” Lars gently grabbed Luciano by the wrist, halting his lunge at Sigma.
“I mean, he…he…!” Luciano was too emotional to be coherent.
“What happened?” Seiichirou asked Sigma quietly. The peasant boy’s face was devoid of color. Although he was diffident around people of higher status, it wasn’t a surprise that he would attract the ire of a pompous young foreigner like Luciano. Seiichirou didn’t suspect that Sigma had made some kind of intractable faux pas. “It’s okay,” Seiichirou assured him.
Sigma opened his mouth timidly. “He asked me about the magic tool from the day before yesterday, so I explained it again.”
By “the magic tool from the day before yesterday,” he had to be talking about the magic-measuring device. Seiichirou nodded, nudging Sigma to continue. The boy cast a glance at Luciano before turning back to Seiichirou.
“Then…he asked me how I came up with the idea,” he continued falteringly. “When I said Ist and I made it together, he got mad all of a sudden…”
“Huh…”
The only new thing Sigma had mentioned was Ist.
Which meant that… No, it can’t be…
“How can a nobody like you work with a master like him?!” yelled Luciano.
“Seriously?” Seiichirou’s reaction was too soft for anyone but Sigma to hear.
After they somehow managed to mollify Luciano and leave the disorderly Sorcery Department behind them, Seiichirou—well, more like everyone on the Romany side—clutched their heads in their hands.
“So…may I ask…is our Ist well-known in your country?” asked Zoltan nervously.
“Well, of course,” Donato replied crisply. “He’s discovered new magic, revived older magic, and simplified existing spells. With so many accomplishments under his belt, who wouldn’t know him?”
Seriously?
It finally sank in for Seiichirou. He knew that Ist was a talented sorcerer, which was how he’d climbed the ranks to assistant director despite his merchant family background. But from Romany’s perspective, Ist’s conduct was so uncontrollable that he was basically left to his own devices to stop him from making a public mess of things. This was partly because Romany was unconcerned about magic research outside the fields of offensive spells (for killing monsters) and barrier spells (for protecting the capital), which led to the Third Royal Order getting the lion’s share of the praise while the Sorcery Department got the short end of the stick. Magical knowledge hadn’t even spread far among the populace in general.
Yet because of the long leash he was given, Ist had managed to achieve a great deal on a shoestring budget. This had all come as a surprise to Seiichirou since magic was outside his area of expertise (sorry, Ist). He would have upped the funds straight away if he’d known.
“But, well, you see… We haven’t exactly been publicizing his results,” was Zoltan’s excuse for being blindsided.
“You don’t need to publicize it. Sorcerers know these things,” Donato pointed out bluntly.
He did have a point. Zoltan barely ever showed up at the Sorcery Department, and whenever Ist achieved something after holing himself up in his lab, he was generally quite pleased with himself and made no effort to hide it.
Wow, Ist can write a thesis? Seiichirou thought, rather rudely.
“Ist has marvelous insight and creativity,” Donato went on. “I assumed that these new movement spells are largely based on his research, so I was hoping that he would give a lecture…”
“Luciano is a particularly big fan. He asked to participate in this tour so that he could meet and talk with—” Lars began.
“Y-you don’t have to spell it all out!” a red-faced Luciano insisted, acting very much his age. “But I’m sure that a fellow of Ist’s standing has no time to meet with us…”
Actually, he’s under lock and key because he’s a liability in public.
“And so it appears that Luciano lost his composure after hearing that the boy collaborated with Ist,” said Lars. “I cannot apologize enough.”
Zoltan and Orjef were both flustered by the frank apology. They couldn’t brush away words that came from a prince’s mouth.
As the two nobles smoothed things over, Seiichirou and Qusta were on the sidelines exchanging glances.
What do we do?
What do we do, indeed?
“I apologize for making a request right after our rudeness, but would there be any way to get Luciano in touch with Ist?” asked Lars.
They couldn’t turn down a direct request from royalty.
“Um… Ist has business outside the capital at the moment…”
This was true. He, with other researchers, was away in a backwater region on an environmental survey. (He had been in a back room the day before yesterday, though.)
“Will he return within the duration of our stay?” Lars asked the obvious question.
The Romany tour guides gulped.
Sadly…Ist would be back the next day.
If they lied and got found out, it would cause a diplomatic issue. But letting them meet Ist would also cause a diplomatic issue.
Which was the lesser of the two evils? Seiichirou decided to give up and let Zoltan do all the thinking. It was up to the boss to take responsibility for their subordinates.
And so Ist ended up being included in the symposium at the Sorcery Department, scheduled for the day after tomorrow.
“I’m wiped…”
Seiichirou was surprised by his own words—it was the first time he’d said them in a while.
The Egorovan delegation was full of eccentrics, and they’d insisted that they would forgive any impoliteness. This was good enough for most people, but Ist wasn’t most people.
It’d be nice to have something over the Egorovan side for a worst-case scenario, Seiichirou thought as he opened the door to the mansion.
“I’m home…,” he muttered as he went inside.
Neither Valtom nor Milan were waiting for him like they usually did. Figuring that their hands were probably tied with something else, Seiichirou weighed the idea of heading straight to his room rather than hunting for them.
Then, he spotted someone on the stairs in the entrance hall—it wasn’t Valtom or Milan.
An unfamiliar woman descended toward him in elegant heels. With her blue-streaked black hair, her luscious pale skin, and her deep indigo-blue eyes, she had the look of a woman with confidence. Long eyelashes bordered her sharp eyes. She was, in other words, a beautiful woman. One could easily tell from the design of her dress that she belonged to the upper echelons of society.
As she stood on the landing and peered down at Seiichirou, the beautiful woman parted her red lips to say…
“You’re late.”
Given that this was Aresh’s mansion, it stood to reason that this woman was his guest, but Aresh himself was nowhere to be seen. Valtom or Milan would have told Seiichirou if Aresh was home. So the woman was probably in a position where she could invite herself in.
Just then, Valtom appeared behind her and soundlessly made his way to Seiichirou.
“This is Erene, Aresh’s older sister,” he whispered into Seiichirou’s ear.
Why…? Why won’t anyone let me do my job…?
✦ ✦ ✦
“Lufi, how long do you plan to be giddy?” Even Lars couldn’t help but make a glib remark when he slipped into his room and spotted Luciano humming.
Luciano looked back at him curiously, apparently oblivious to the humming.
“You’re grinning a little too much,” said Lars. “It’s obvious how eager you are to meet your idol.”
Luciano instantly turned red. “N-no way! Absolutely not!” The protests sounded feeble.
As the older brother, Lars thought it was rather endearing. Luciano normally had the calm and composed expression of someone years older.
“What about you, Elder Brother? You were talking to that accounting guy that whole time,” Luciano pointed out.
Lars smiled at this attempt to turn the tables. Luciano was quite right in saying that Lars had spoken solely to the man from the Accounting Department. “I enjoy his quick and astute responses to my questions.”
Lars thought that any conversation with a capable person was worthwhile. But… Lars eyed Luciano.
“This isn’t Egorova, so you have to compose yourself when you’re outside the room,” he warned.
Luciano deflated. “I can’t ease up in Egorova, either.”
Lars nodded. Luciano was right. No member of royalty could afford to let their guard down inside the royal palace. That was especially the case for people like Lars and Luciano, who stood out despite their low position in the line of succession. There were any number of people who would attempt to drag them down. Part of the reason Luciano had insisted on following Lars to Romany was for the opportunity to relax.
“But we have important things to do tomorrow, so pull yourself together,” said Lars.
“Fine,” said Luciano, after pouting for some time.
Tomorrow would be the one day on their seven-day excursion when they wouldn’t be accompanied by their guides.
Donato and Georgi said that they were planning on taking a stroll around town even though Lars and Luciano had other plans. In fact, it was no exaggeration to say that this was their real mission—the cultural exchange tour was just a pretext.
Lars personally was interested in other things, too, like the king’s bastard child. But…
“I think it’s very important to meet my sister’s future spouse,” he said.
“I…think so, too, Elder Brother.”
The smile on Luciano’s lips was like that of a meek young girl.