Chapter 13
The meal at the tavern recommended to us in Tarkdom was extremely satisfying. There was a wide variety of dishes, and I was reminded once again that we had finally escaped the nightmare of the poor harvest.
Last night, I heard from Sazaby that even Endaland-sama had visited this establishment.
Come to think of it, I remember that he once left the royal capital saying he was going to visit an old acquaintance. Racking my memory, I feel as though he said Tarkdom.
If he knew about such a delicious tavern, he could have told me about it. Then again, Endaland-sama is secretive by nature. Can't be helped.
"The food yesterday was delicious!"
"Rivote-taro, you enjoyed it too, right!"
The twins casually put an arm around each of my shoulders. They were always like this. They had no notion of showing respect to a foreign envoy. More to the point, I doubted they even knew the meaning of the word respect.
That aside, don't both of you put your arms around my shoulders so casually! We're on horseback!
"Enough, let go! I'm here to conduct an inspection this time! Food is beside the point!"
"Oh-ho, you said it."
"Then once we reach Kamnar, you'll get nothing but bread and water."
"What! ...Tch!"
"Come on, you two! Don't tease Rivote so much! Since we're here, let's all eat something delicious!"
Lufa came to my rescue like that. This girl really has promise. I hear Prince Zelando is quite taken with her, and I can hardly blame him. As far as I'm concerned, she's like a daughter to me, though.
Still, at times I can't help feeling that Lufa treats me like a younger brother who is no good at anything. She has even dropped the honorific and simply calls me Rivote now. No—she treats Prince Zelando the same way, so that probably isn't the case.
"If Lufa scolded you, there's no helping it."
"Rivote-taro, you'd better thank Lufa!"
Even so, the twins listen to what Lufa says fairly well. Could it be that people with all sorts of quirks are naturally drawn to that girl?
Honestly, someone sensible like me will have to help out to some extent. They do look after me in some ways, after all. The least I can do is return the favor.
After that, amid one commotion after another, we finally arrived at the town of Kamnar.
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―― As I had heard beforehand, the town of Kamnar truly is unusual. Most of its buildings are lodging facilities, and nearly all its residents are there solely to maintain those facilities.
The hospitality is indeed something to behold; if His Majesty were to stay here, I doubt there would be any serious complaints.
And then there was the Harodel beef. It is high-end meat that cannot be eaten at the palace unless it is served at a proper formal banquet. I have had it a few times as a guest, but here in its home region, it was truly rich and succulent, and I was able to savor thick cuts of Harodel beef.
The recently developed side dish of steamed and mashed Tutu was also delicious. Pouring warmed cheese over the Tutu made its flavor even richer.
I often ate Tutu myself during the food shortage, but its somewhat light flavor paired well with the intense savoriness of the Harodel beef, making me feel as though a new door had opened.――
"Hmm. That should do."
I set down my pen and rubbed my full stomach. It had been a satisfying dinner. I would go to bed now.
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"How does this arrangement sound?"
Ruveri-Obera, the lord of this city, was explaining the arrangements to Roa and Lapiria. Apparently acquainted with Roa, he was fired up, saying, "I will make absolutely sure it is a magnificent ceremony to repay the favor from back then!"
Everyone besides Roa and Lapiria was relatively idle, so I called out to Sazaby, who was keeping watch over the surroundings a little way off.
"What favor are you talking about?"
"Ah, a small group of bandits came to this town some time ago. Roa-dono drove them off in the blink of an eye." I could understand his gratitude.
For a while after that, I focused on getting Sazaby to tell me how it had all unfolded.
As expected of someone in the intelligence division, he did not tell me every detail, but he explained enough for casual conversation.
"What? You disguised the equipment as Greedle's?"
"That's right. Though they saw through it right away."
"That is unforgivable. Did things like that happen often in Rudek?"
"No. As far as I know, this was the only incident. Acquiring Imperial military equipment is difficult enough, and the risk is far too great."
"I suppose that's true. And what became of the noble who was pulling the strings?"
"The person responsible had already taken their own life by the time we entered. The rest of the family..."
The silence and that expression told me everything.
"I see. Well, that was only fitting. All the more so if they tried to rebel against the royal family."
While we were having that conversation, it seemed the preliminary meeting had come to an end.
"Rivote! Sazaby! Ruveri-sama says it's time for lunch! He says we're having Harodel beef sandwiches today! Come on, let's go!"
We responded to Lufa's cheerful call and all set off in that direction.
I was looking forward to today's meal as well.