“Let’s see… Well, first off, he’s not interested in other people. If you try to tell him something, it won’t get through right away. You have to repeat yourself a few times.” This was generally because he had other things on the brain. Either he didn’t hear what you said, or it didn’t register in his mind. “Oh, and he’s very chatty about the things he’s interested in. He’ll forget the right way to address people when he’s excited. That, and…ah, yes, he feels like a five-year-old in a grown man’s body.”
“A five-year-old…”
He basically had no capacity for looking after himself. He was always getting his things dirty and then using them anyway. In that sense, he was very much like one of Seiichirou’s cousins back in Japan.
“And yet he’s a genius sorcerer and the assistant director?” said Orjef.
“Yes. He is a genius sorcerer and the assistant director.”
For all his antics, he was still the assistant director.
“He’s not very brawny, but he also doesn’t have much mental control. He can tap into a surprisingly deep well of strength when he spots something that catches his interest. I ask that you restrain him by force during those times.”
“O…kay…,” said Orjef, sounding thoroughly weirded out, but just when Seiichirou was breathing a sigh of relief about securing the vice commander’s assistance, Orjef squinted at Seiichirou’s face. “Hey, by the way, you’ve got this awful pallor. You all right?”
“This is how I always look,” Seiichirou gave his usual response. He was very used to people telling him that he looked unwell.
But Orjef cocked his head. “Nah, you seem more listless than usual… I mean, you always look unusually bad, but…”
Was he trying to pick a fight?
“Well, anyway, try and lighten up for me, would you? You’re a real help, and I’m scared of how Aresh would react if something were to happen to you.”
“…I will endeavor to try.”
As they were talking, they spotted a well-dressed group approaching from the other end of the hallway—it was Lars and the Egorovan cohort. Zoltan and Qusta were serving as their guides.
“Good morning.” Seiichirou put a hand to his lower chest, the formal greeting in Romany.
“A good morning to you, too, Seichiro.” Lars unexpectedly referred to him by his first name, his usual dazzling smile on his lips.
Luciano, meanwhile, was glowering. It was a far cry from the other day’s jubilation about meeting Ist.
Orjef noticed it, too. “Is something the matter, Lord Luciano? Are you feeling unwell?” he asked.
Luciano lifted his head and shot a slightly uncertain look in Lars’s direction.
“There was something of a small disappointment… Ah, yes. Seichirou, may I ask you for some advice?” Lars said as they walked to the Sorcery Department.
“Me?” Seiichirou looked back over his shoulder.
“Yes. You are engaged to a member of the nobility in this country, yes? I heard about it. Yesterday, we visited a noble to issue a marriage proposal, but we were turned down.”
“Scandalous! Which house would have the nerve to turn down a proposal from Egorovan royalty?!” Zoltan fumed. He had no idea, evidently.
“It was the son of Marquess Indolark,” said Lars.
“What?” Orjef glanced furtively at Seiichirou.
“Excuse me?” Qusta turned his head as well.
Marquess Indolark had just one unmarried son: Aresh.
Seiichirou kept his face blank, even as he inwardly winced at the piercing stares.
“He said something about getting engaged recently, but we are very keen on having a man with his talents… And so, given that I’ve heard that you have won the affection of a member of this country’s nobility, may I ask how you achieved it?”
As everyone turned to look at Seiichirou, each with their own worldly concerns, the man in question chose emptiness.
Today’s job was to prevent the unruly Ist from acting up in front of foreign royalty, which was hard enough to begin with, but Seiichirou was exhausted before it had even started. He warded off Lars’s question with a half-baked “It depends on the person, so I’m afraid I cannot be of much help.”
Then Zoltan fumed: “Prince Lars asked you a question! Answer it seriously!”
Qusta rushed in to mollify the director while Orjef spoke up to minimize the awkwardness. As much as Seiichirou could see they were looking out for him, he frankly found their stares more piercing than Lars’s or Zoltan’s.
“Did you propose the marriage on behalf of another member of the royal family?” Orjef asked Lars in an attempt to change the topic.
“Ah, yes!” Zoltan chimed in, evidently eager to hear the details.
“Yes, for my younger sister, the fourth-born princess. Given that we foresee a long-term relationship with Romany, I believe marriage ties are inevitable.”
“The fourth princess! Now that is indeed an honor! Would you care for me to introduce you to eligible high-ranking members of our nobility?” Zoltan suggested eagerly.
“The fourth princess…?” Seiichirou wondered aloud.
Zoltan’s reaction made sense—by playing matchmaker to a marriage involving foreign royalty, he would be serving a valuable diplomatic role, even if it meant shouldering long-term responsibility as a go-between.
“That is a fine idea, but can you find anyone more suitable than Commander Indolark?” Luciano pointed out, quite rightly. With his sterling reputation, abundance of money, and status as an unmarried man, the commander of the Third Royal Order seemed like almost too perfect a match.
Lars and Luciano were evidently unwilling to give up on Aresh. Seiichirou could feel Orjef and Qusta’s eyes burning holes through his head.
Ugh, can I just go to bed already?
Just as Seiichirou was beginning to get fed up, the group finally arrived at the Sorcery Department.
Unlike the previous impromptu visit, the department was fairly tidy this time, thanks to the heads-up they received beforehand. The sorcerers who came out to greet them had also cleaned themselves up a bit, which made Seiichirou and Zoltan sigh in relief.
“So, um…what about Ist?” Luciano looked around restlessly. His face had been pale before, but now his cheeks were flushed pink.
“Isn’t there something to do first, Luciano?” said Lars.
“Oh…right. Sorry. Would you allow me to apologize to the boy from the other day?”
By “the boy from the other day,” he had to be talking about Sigma. Luciano had done a bit of growing up in his own way after that incident, it seemed.
“Oh, you needn’t go out of your way to apologize…” Zoltan began.
“No, I want to. Please let me,” Luciano answered firmly.
Unfortunately, neither Sigma nor Ist were anywhere to be seen. In Sigma’s case, it was because he was simply an ordinary civilian who was allowed to drop by according to his own schedule. He wasn’t always at the Sorcery Department. In fact, he might have been told to stay away today after the ire he drew last time. Judging by Zoltan’s flustered conversation with a subordinate, Seiichirou suspected that this might indeed have been the case.
But the real issue was that Ist wasn’t there.
“Wh-what is the meaning of this?! You told him to be on time, didn’t you?!”
“Y-yes, of course!”
But there was no one to blame other than the absent sorcerer himself.
Zoltan normally had a deft hand at handling Ist, but he seemed to have been too preoccupied with his guide duties to take on the mantle. If Seiichirou had been in his shoes, he would have tied up Ist ahead of time and thrown him somewhere within easy reach.
Bam!
The door abruptly opened with a crash. The Egorovan guards tensed and readied themselves.
All eyes were on the door as it swung open without any delicacy whatsoever. Then a familiar pair of peridot eyes fell on Seiichirou.
“There you are!” the person shouted cheerfully. “Hey, Kondo! Give me money!!”
With a conversation opener highly reminiscent of his first meeting with Seiichirou, Ist made his debut before the Egorovan delegation.