Chapter 71
＊ Guard: Lelenoa ＊
Halflings had several distinctive traits, but their sense of color was surely one of the most obvious.
Mimino wore a robe with brilliantly orange cuffs, and the bag hanging from her shoulder was embroidered with silver and scarlet thread. Depicted on it was a large flower known as the "Netherworld-Calling Flower," which was said to have the power to resurrect the dead.
Her long, caramel-colored hair was tied up in an elaborate style, and her thick bangs were swept over her right eye. Her large blue eyes seemed to tell Lelenoa, who had not seen her in so long,
"Mimino hasn't changed a bit."
Lelenoa and Mimino moved to an open-air café not far from the Adventurer Guild. After ordering fruit water made with oranges, a specialty of the Kurvaan Holy Kingdom, they sat down across from each other again.
"You haven't changed either, Lelenoa, reckon. If anything, aren't you wearing the same clothes you had on when I saw you a few years ago...?"
"Th-that was supposed to stay unmentioned! They keep making me wear formal clothes all the time."
"Ah, your guard work."
"Yep."
"Are you free today?"
"Today, our young master is holding a tea party for some guests, so I'm free. I have to tag along whenever he goes out, though... He's made some close friends recently, so I've been out with him every day."
"That sounds rough."
"Your timing was perfect. I wouldn't have been able to move for the next three days. There's a Talent Gem presentation ceremony for our young master, and all the rehearsals and security checks have been such a fuss."
"A Talent Gem presentation? They hold something like that?"
"Well, yes... A lot's happened, reckon..."
Lelenoa gazed into the distance.
Her stay in the Holy Capital had dragged on, but only three days remained—until the Talent Gem presentation ceremony.
The juice they had ordered arrived. When Lelenoa took a sip, it seemed to contain several fruits in addition to oranges.
Glass cups did not exist here, so it came in a copper goblet. They must have chilled it in advance with some sort of magic tool; as the juice slid down Lelenoa's throat, its refreshing aroma wafted up through her nose. She liked it enough to think she would return.
Incidentally, this place was high-end for an ordinary establishment—and the prices were high, too. At a lower-grade establishment, the cup would be wooden, while anyone drinking at a street stall had to bring their own water bottle.
"I was surprised when I suddenly heard from you, reckon. Sorry my reply was late. I was in the Holy Capital on the young master's business, so it took a while for letters from the territory to be forwarded to me."
"No worries, reckon. The border was in turmoil on my end, too, so it took quite a few days to get to the Holy Capital."
"The border with the Kingdom of the Knights of Luminous Heaven? Did something happen?"
"Ah, no, I didn't come from that direction. I went all the way to the Lef Magical Empire on a guild commission."
"What? You went to a place like that?"
It was no wonder Lelenoa was surprised.
The country known as the Magical Empire was highly advanced in magical research—at the forefront of the world in such things as the magitech airship technology it supplied to other nations—but it was extremely isolationist. Its entire population consisted of the Lef Race, a reptile-based Beastkin species. They had green or brown skin and golden eyes that reflected light when struck by it.
It also had the unusual distinction of being unable to use Talent Gems, and it severely restricted entry into the country. It was a secretive nation where the places open to other Races were extremely limited.
"I'd never been there before, but it was a pretty interesting place, reckon. They used magic tools for everything—oh, and here's a souvenir."
"Oh."
What Mimino placed on the table was a metal cube. When Lelenoa picked it up to see what it was, she found that it was just large enough to fit neatly in her palm and surprisingly heavy.
As she wondered what it was, the cube began to vibrate with a low buzz.
"Eek!"
She hastily let go, and it rolled across the table with a clunk before coming to a stop.
"W-what is this!? Is it alive!?"
"Hahahaha, no, it isn't. Watch closely."
Still vibrating, the square object rolled along with a series of clunks. Eventually, it rose upright, balanced on a single point, and began to spin round and round and round.
"...What is this?"
"Yeah. It's a toy that only spins."
After a while, it toppled over onto the table with a clunk and fell silent.
"What do you use it for?"
"It's a toy that only spins. Apparently, it was a by-product of some magic-tool research—or maybe just a failure. That's why it was cheap."
"I-I see..."
Lelenoa reached out to it warily, but
"Hot!"
"Oh, sorry. It's gotten hot enough that you can't touch it for a while."
...
For a moment, Lelenoa wondered whether Mimino was playing a prank on her.
"Um... You didn't come here just to give me something like this, did you? Your letter said there was something you wanted to discuss."
"Ah, yeah—"
Mimino's smiling expression suddenly grew serious.
"Actually, I want you to find someone for me."
"Looking for someone?"
"Yes. I know you're busy, but whenever you have the time is fine."
"Well, I suppose I can help if it's a request from my cousin, but..."
Lelenoa was Mimino's cousin.
They came from the same village. Mimino had left the village as a traveling apothecary, while Lelenoa had been taken into service as a guard.
"But Mimino, something like that isn't really the sort of thing a guard like me can—"
"Actually..."
Mimino held up an open hand to stop Lelenoa and continued:
The person she was looking for belonged to the Human Race and had black hair and black eyes. He might also have received a specialized education—in other words, he might have entered noble circles. On the other hand, Mimino could investigate whether he was an adventurer, but she was completely out of her depth when it came to nobles, so she wanted to rely on someone else.
He had the talent to use magic without Talent Gems, and his movements were exceptionally skilled for a boy.
("...A boy who can use magic without Talent Gems?")
At that moment, the events of the "New Sprout and New Moon Banquet" flashed through Lelenoa's mind. About a month had passed since then.
The guard who had been there—the person guarding Eva Slyries—had crossed paths with Lelenoa at tea parties several times since then. However, guards did not usually talk to one another, so she had never learned his name. Apparently, the head of House Ebeigne had said, "I want that boy," but little information ever trickled down to Lelenoa, who was assigned to guard Etan.
("He certainly fits the conditions. His hair is blue, so the color is different, but... They say black hair and black eyes are persecuted in some lands, so it wouldn't be strange if he dyed his hair. He noticed poison even I failed to detect... I thought he might have a high-ranking Talent of the Observation or Insight type, or something like that, but...")
Then Lelenoa noticed Mimino staring intently at her.
"Lelenoa, do you perhaps have someone in mind?"
As Mimino leaned eagerly across the table toward her,
"Well, well...?"
"What's with that creepy look in your eyes, Lelenoa?"
"Don't call it creepy!? No, I mean, you're interested in that boy, aren't you? A one-sided crush?"
"Wha—!? It's not like that! Don't tease me!"
"You say that, but your face is bright red, reckon."
"I-it's n-not like that! Reiji-kun is smaller than me, you know!? He's more the sort I'd pat on the head and protect... though he did end up protecting me..."
"Oh, really?"
Lelenoa thought about it. Eva's guard had been fairly tall, and he should definitely have been taller than Mimino, who was nearly the same height as Lelenoa.
"Anyway, if you hear any information about someone like that, please tell me!"
"All right, all right. Calm down."
Looking at Mimino, whose cheeks were still red, Lelenoa let out a small sigh.
She had thought that late spring had finally come for her cousin, but apparently that was not the case. The person Mimino was looking for was an even littler boy—and her greatest mistake had been failing to mention that the information was from four years ago—which made Lelenoa worry about what lay ahead.
("Is she planning to become a mother before she ever falls in love?")
But before worrying about other people's love lives, Lelenoa should probably worry about her own, since she had no romantic prospects herself...
("...Wait, didn't the young lady of House Slyries call that guard Reiji...? Or was it...? What was it again?")
Since there was no point in raising Mimino's hopes with uncertain information, Lelenoa decided to ask some of her fellow guards later.