Chapter 22
Ariel's crystal-clear answer made me smile brightly for the first time in a long while.
"Ahaha. Yes, that's right. There couldn't possibly be a reason needed to save someone."
It was truly a wise answer to a foolish question.
"Ah, wait."
As Ariel watched me laugh so pleasantly, she took something out as she spoke.
It was a small wooden box that might have looked like a ring case at a glance.
"Since I answered your question, I have something to ask of you as well."
"Hm? Ask?"
"Yes."
Click.
At my words, Ariel lightly nodded and opened the wooden box.
"Are these mana cores?"
They were the material the Nostra Family had prepared when I accepted the commission concerning this drug crisis.
They were the most essential components for operating magitech machines. A matching pair of small mana cores lay neatly inside the box.
"Do you happen to know about the latest typewriter released by the Magic Tower a month ago?"
The typewriter Ariel mentioned was, simply put, what one might think of as an old-fashioned typewriter.
The one where paper rose with a distinctive ping as letters were written onto it.
"No, I can't say I've had any interest in that sort of thing."
"How curious. The newspapers made quite a fuss, calling it a revolution."
As she said this, Ariel looked at me as though she were looking at someone genuinely curious.
I could only give an awkward smile beneath her gaze.
It was revolutionary in this world, but when it came to machines rather than magic, my memories of my past life meant I already knew about more advanced machines, so I had nothing to say.
"With the latest model, if certain conditions are met, you can exchange letters one-on-one with someone far away."
"Hmm?"
Ariel explained it as follows.
If a pair of mana cores engraved with specific magical imprints were installed in the latest typewriters, people could exchange messages in real time, no matter how far apart they were.
"Oh..."
I let out a small exclamation of admiration.
It was a unique form of progress that could only exist in a world where magic had developed alongside science.
"Then these are the mana cores engraved with those magical imprints?"
"Yes."
Ariel readily confirmed it.
I took one of the pair of mana cores from the wooden box in her hands and spoke somewhat playfully.
Half of it was a joke.
Simply put, half of it was a slightly mischievous joke because I wanted to see Ariel flustered.
"Then I'll accept it gratefully. Wow, the Saintess is seducing me. I've lived long enough to see this day."
"Pardon...?"
The other half was to discover her true intentions.
When people deliberately say something false or absurd, they instinctively correct and deny it.
It was a technique often used when interrogating criminals.
It was a technique I had used in my previous life, and it had proven quite useful.
"Hm? No? I was sure you were seducing me."
Saying it with such a brazenly nonchalant expression only made the effect stronger.
As if my guess had hit home, Ariel's previously serene expression began to crumble.
"Se... seducing you?"
She looked extremely flustered, as though she had no experience with men.
Except for the hand holding the box of mana cores, she waved her other hand and desperately denied it.
"No! It's not like that!"
"Hm? Then why did you give me this? Isn't this the sort of thing most appropriate to give between fiancés or married couples?"
"No, I... I just thought it would be convenient... to communicate when taking on a commission or something..."
Her words gradually slowed, perhaps because even she thought it was a rather feeble excuse.
By the end, she lowered her head deeply.
"Hmm?"
"Ugh..."
The confident Saintess from moments ago was long gone. The woman before me was doing nothing but blush and squirm like an untouched maiden.
'As I thought.'
I had found it strange.
From her perspective, I was merely the duke's illegitimate child, nothing more and nothing less.
Moreover, though I had insisted on speaking informally from our first meeting until now, she had never objected to it.
She had known my name ever since she sent the letter proposing an alliance.
Finally, there was her reaction when I unknowingly took charge of the meeting near its end.
All of these circumstances were loudly proclaiming that she was hiding something.
'But I can't put my finger on what, huh?'
Had I had some connection with her in the past? No.
Then was I connected to the people around her? That was a little ambiguous, but no.
No matter how much I was treated like an organization in the underworld, there was no reason I would have known the Saintess.
'But does it really matter?'
She didn't seem to have any good way to make a move on me,
and although she seemed to have a secret she couldn't tell me, who lived their entire life honestly?
"You should have just said so."
"...Huh?"
"If it means forging a connection with the Saintess, I'm the one who welcomes it. Don't worry about the little details."
As I said this, I moved half a step closer and held out my hand to her.
If she had been ordinary—in other words, one of those protagonists with her head in the clouds—I would never have gone near her.
After all, incidents naturally occurred whenever one stood beside the protagonist.
But she was different.
A capable client was certainly worth taking care of properly.
And I liked her thoughts and convictions, so I was willing to maintain our connection.
"I look forward to working with you."
***
Ariel stared blankly at Abel, who was holding her hand.
What in the world was this man?
He had been treating her slickly until moments ago, yet he had changed his attitude so quickly.
"All right. Then we'll be going now. Oh, and I'll buy that latest typewriter as soon as this case is over, so it'll take a little time."
"Ah, yes..."
Abel left the building with the woman who appeared to be his maid, chatting with her as they went.
"Ah, Mist. Let's talk."
"You wish to speak with me?"
"Yes."
Once the two of them disappeared, Ariel finally let out the breath she had been holding.
"Phew..."
It wasn't the first time she had spoken with a man.
Perhaps it was because she had returned through the holy relic.
After naturally awakening her divine power, she had spoken with many people in order to become the Saintess.
But she had never met anyone who toyed with her as thoroughly as Abel.
She had only wanted to maintain a connection with Abel, who seemed to be an irregularity, but she had never expected things to turn out this way.
'Se... seduction.'
Flush.
Remembering Abel's words once again, heat rushed into her face, and she began fanning her burning cheeks with her hand.
She continued that way until the priest who had come to escort her arrived.
***
Back home, I immediately mixed some liquor I had bought on the way with ice and began making a light cocktail.
Clink, clink.
The clear sound of ice colliding and the rhythmic movements of my hands keeping time with it.
They were the sounds coming from the shaker I had brought with me before coming here.
Once I had shaken the shaker until it reached the temperature I wanted, I used a strainer to filter out the broken ice and poured my cocktail into a glass.
"Here, you said you liked the last one, so give it a try."
It was a vividly golden cocktail.
"You really do make cocktails?"
"Ha. I wouldn't say I'm skilled enough to call it making one."
As I prepared the cocktail I was about to drink, I watched Mist, who had begun drinking.
She held a sip of the cocktail in her mouth and savored it, then slowly opened her eyes and spoke.
"May I ask the name of this cocktail?"
"The cocktail's name? It doesn't have one. I just make them according to whatever feels right."
I merely mixed things according to my mood and added ingredients other than liquor. It was nothing more than a makeshift concoction.
There was no way such a cocktail could have a name.
At my words, Mist let out a small sigh.
"Is that so...? What a shame. It's a pretty good cocktail."
"Hmm..."
Glug, glug.
This time, I poured the cocktail I was going to drink into a glass and took a sip.
If bitterness meant merely being bitter, it would be no different from torture.
So this nameless cocktail, made by adding orange zest and a little herb to liquor dominated by bitterness, wasn't bad at all.
After setting the cocktail I had sipped on the dining table, I sat down and watched Mist drink the cocktail I had made.
"Mist, [This is an order]."
At my words, Mist carefully set down her glass, rose from her seat, and bowed at the waist.
"Please give me your orders."
It was one of the conditions she had imposed to draw me into House Nebla.
A loyalty contract.
But I had never used this loyalty contract.
Since I could do everything myself and she had served me wholeheartedly, I simply hadn't felt the need for it.
"During this raid, go support the Nostra Family."
To be honest, compared to the other two forces—the Church of Light and House Nebla's execution squad, [White Shadow]—the Nostra Family was at a disadvantage in terms of fighting strength.
Of course, I meant a relative disadvantage.
Even the Nostra Family was, at its core, an organization specializing in information.
Naturally, it was understandable that they would be weak in an all-out war.
"And give it everything you've got while you're there."
Until now, Mist had never particularly tried to hide either her strength or her position within the duke's household.
During our first confrontation, she had maintained her composure under my pressure and shown her extraordinary abilities,
and even during the airship hijacking, she had offered to handle everything herself,
while Lena, a member of House Nebla's execution squad, [White Shadow], had treated her cautiously.
Yet she had never once displayed her full strength before me.
No, even before it came to showing her full strength, she had never made her presence known more than necessary.
As if someone had ordered her to do so.
'Well, it was probably simply an order from the duke.'
My rough guess was that it was something like, Don't use your full strength in front of me.
I didn't hold that against her. She wasn't my subordinate to begin with.
But it was unsettling to have such strength sitting idle.
"I won't be there. It's outside my detection range, so feel free to run wild."
As I said this, I lightly lifted the glass beaded with condensation and savored the cocktail.
Mist quietly watched me, then gathered the hem of her skirt with both hands, lifted it, and bowed her head like a dignified lady of high society.
"Yes, my master."