Florencia (2)

In recognition of the valuable information Franklurt had provided about Gorbel's inner workings, Rudek agreed to vouch for Franklurt.

Considering the various ramifications, it was decided that Franklurt would stay under supervision at a fortress near the royal capital for a while and be summoned if anything happened involving Gorbel.

While discussions about Franklurt's treatment were underway, I spent several days completely occupied with preparing the report on our recent mission involving the Empire.

Wickhart, Frein, Ryuzel, and the others offered to help, but I gratefully declined. Military reports often diverged from the information civil officials needed. Omissions were especially common when it came to expenses and the like.

That did not necessarily mean civil officials were right about every detail, but whenever information was missing, they had to make the trip themselves.

It was quite a hassle. One could not simply call in the person who had written the report just because doing so was troublesome. Military officers who compiled reports were usually people of considerable standing.

I had gone through the same trouble when I was a civil official, so I knew exactly what information civil officials wanted.

Moreover, when it came to paperwork, I was exceptionally fast. Wickhart and the others were always helping me out, so I took everything on myself, telling them to leave it to me and take a break.

Once the report was finally complete, I carried it to Raiz-sama's room and found him alone, which was unusual. "You came at just the right time," Raiz-sama said. I wondered what it was—another troublesome matter?—but he said, "I've figured out why Florencia became Drew."

Since the matter had ultimately ended without ever being properly understood, I was very interested myself. Thus, quite unexpectedly, I found myself hearing the results of Raiz-sama's investigation.

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Roa probably has a general grasp of this, but as the underlying premise, let me explain how Florencia came to be where she is now.

Florencia left the Bexter Trading Company practically disowned and was hired as a civil official in the royal capital thanks to her natural intelligence.

She was later assigned to the navy, but spent her days engrossed in making whatever inventions she pleased and was sent back to the capital.

After she had spent some time languishing in the capital, I heard there was a strange girl among the civil officials and took her in. That brings us to the present. So far, so good?

"Yes." I said. Once he had confirmed it, Raiz-sama continued.

First, when she was hired in the royal capital, Drew was properly recorded as Florencia Drew. Once she was assigned to the navy, her documents were transferred there, while the capital's records were treated as processed and buried.

The navy that received them was, as Roa knows, made up of easygoing people who did not concern themselves with minor details. Apparently, the same was true of its administrative staff.

...I have a slight objection to that. I only recently learned that Northvel-sama, who leads the navy, is more thoughtful than one might expect, despite his unusual way of speaking and appearance. Still, the others may well be as Raiz-sama says, so I kept quiet. Raiz-sama continued.

Apparently, this was when Florencia began calling herself Drew. The navy did not think much of it, registered Florencia Drew under the name Drew, and everyone called her that.

As Roa can probably tell, the name Drew is not particularly strange as either a family name or a given name. Thus, without giving it much thought, the navy too came to treat Florencia Drew as Drew.

...That, I can understand. Drew is somewhat unusual as a given name, but not strange enough to raise questions. So without giving it any thought, Drew was simply Drew.

Then Drew was sent back to the royal capital. The name listed in the paperwork sent by the navy was Drew.

The civil servant who processed those documents would have noticed the contradiction by checking the old records, but Drew had been branded "unsuitable" by the navy and sent back. The official who received her apparently assumed she would quit before long and processed the documents without looking too deeply into the matter.

This may sound like an excuse on my part, but the fact that Drew's family operated the Bexter Trading Company also played a role. I had simply assumed Drew was a Bexter.

When I asked Florencia about it again, she said Bexter was apparently her great-grandfather's name—the founder of the trading company. Incidentally, when Bexter expanded its business into a neighboring country, one branch of the family put down roots in Gorbel. Franklurt Drew is one of its members.

Thus, by the time Florencia Drew was brought back to the royal capital, her name had changed to Drew, and so it remained to this day.

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"Um... may I ask one question—no, two?"

"You may."

"To begin with, why did Drew—or rather, why did Florencia Drew—take the name Drew?"

"I asked her that myself. Apparently, she said, 'I'm not really the Florencia type.' But she thought she might forget a completely false name, so she adopted a familiar family name instead."

In every way, that was the most Drew-like answer imaginable.

"Then one more thing: will Florencia Drew become Florencia?"

At my question, Raiz-sama's lips curled up slightly in amusement, and he asked in return, "What do you mean?"

"I was wondering whether changing from Drew to Florencia would cause a lot of trouble. People who learn that we have been calling her by her family name alone will not take it well in all sorts of ways, and if the information does not circulate properly, people will not know whom we are talking about and it will cause confusion. When you consider the effort of issuing such a notice despite taking on those risks..."

"You mean it has no value?"

"Yes. To put it bluntly."

That was my honest feeling. As a commoner, family names and such did not matter to me. I simply felt that the effort of notifying everyone in various places if Drew became Florencia would be a waste.

"Indeed. You are right, Roa. So I sounded out the Bexter Trading Company."

"What was the result?"

"Since Drew has left the family, they said she could use it however she liked as a personal alias."

"Then..."

"Yes. From now on, we will continue to treat Drew as Drew. That is the most efficient arrangement. Drew has no connection to the Drew family; it is merely a personal alias."

Thus, by a rather forceful interpretation, Florencia Drew would continue to be Drew from then on.