Chapter 17
Two days after my tea party—or meeting, or interrogation—with the king had ended.
When Rays-sama summoned me, I found two civil officials the king had arranged waiting for me.
"My name is Nelfia."
"I'm Sazaby."
They were a handsome man and a beautiful woman, attractive enough to make me wonder if they had been chosen for their looks. I especially recognized the woman who had introduced herself as Nelfia. She was the attendant who had been standing in the corner of the room during the tea party.
"Um, isn't Nelfia-san one of the king's attendants?" I asked, just to be sure.
"I was there as a scribe. I wasn't an attendant," she replied with a little laugh.
I wondered why the king's scribe had been sent, but then it immediately clicked. The bottling project was to remain top secret for the time being. Rays-sama had said he would send someone trustworthy. Anyone trusted enough to serve as the king's scribe would certainly fit the bill.
"Um, from now on, Roa-sama will be our superior, so please call us simply Nelfia and Sazaby, without honorifics."
"What? If you're the king's scribe, shouldn't you outrank me? Calling you by your names without honorifics... and having you address me with one..." As a low-ranking civil official for life, I was used to addressing people with honorifics, but not to calling people by name alone or having them use honorifics for me.
I sought help from Rays-sama with my eyes, but he simply said, "If you're going to assist me, you'll have to get used to it sooner or later."
In the end, I was pressured into accepting Nelfia and Sazaby as my subordinates.
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"Is this the bottling laboratory?"
"Ah, no. It's not exactly a laboratory; it's the Tenth Knight Order's food storeroom."
"Then it must be kept under lock and key."
"No? I've never even seen a lock here."
"...It's a military secret, you know?"
Sazaby's somewhat exasperated remark left me speechless.
"Should I ask Rays-sama to prepare a room...?" I puzzled over what I ought to do, but...
"No, on the contrary, I think it might be better to leave things as they are for now," Nelfia said.
"But shouldn't we hide it, as Sazaby suggested...?"
"The harder you try to hide something, the more likely it is to leak from somewhere. People start thinking, 'They're secretly doing something, but what is it?' When people become interested in something, they imagine all sorts of things. Until we find a suitable place, no one will pay attention if we simply work in a corner of this place."
"Oh, is that how it works?" I said, impressed.
"Yes. We can just act openly."
Nelfia's strangely persuasive words won Sazaby over as well.
"...You have a point. Then I suppose we should leave things as they are. I was being short-sighted."
"Ah, no. I'm not very good at noticing that sort of thing myself, so please tell me if anything concerns you."
"Understood."
Hmm. Somehow, I still can't relax.
It seemed I wasn't the only one feeling that way. Rufa and Dick, too, watched the situation uneasily. It wasn't that they disliked it; they simply seemed not to know what to do.
I could understand Rufa, but why Dick too? Generally speaking, aren't civil officials lower in status than soldiers?
But leaving things awkward like this wouldn't be good. I had to think of something...... That's it!
"Hey, everyone. Are you free tonight?"
"What brought this on all of a sudden?"
"We're going to be working together as the five of us from now on, so why don't we go into town for dinner? It can double as a chance to get acquainted."
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Thanks to the profits from trade, Rudectrad boasts one of the continent's liveliest downtown districts, and the city was bustling at dinnertime.
Various eateries called out loudly to draw customers in, which put me in a strangely cheerful mood.
"Rufa, do you not eat out much?"
Rufa gazed around at the streets, looking fascinated.
"We're not allowed out at night." Wait, was it a bad idea to bring her out?
She shook her head in response to my concern.
"Because the streets are dangerous at night." I see. Just an ordinary reason.
After asking everyone what they wanted to eat, Sazaby said, "I know a place with a wide selection, and the food is good," so we made our way through town with Sazaby leading us.
"Ah, here it is," he said, pointing to a small but tidy inn. Its first floor was a dining hall, and even non-guests could eat there. Lively voices already drifted from inside, along with delicious aromas.
The sign read "Tranza's Inn."
When the waitress saw Sazaby enter as though he were a regular, her face lit up. Handsome men really did have it easy.
"Sazaby-san! Welcome! Oh, are you here with a group today?"
"Yeah. Sule-chan, do you have a table?" Sazaby spoke to her far more casually than he did to us. We would have found it easier if he had spoken to us that way, too.
"Of course! Go ahead and take the table at the back!"
As soon as we sat down at the table we'd been shown to, fragrant flower tea was served. Its aroma soothed away the fatigue of the day.
"Now then, what would you like to drink?" asked the waitress called Sule.
"I'll start with something alcoholic—nothing too strong," I said.
"I'll have a proper drink," Sazaby said. He looked like he could really hold his liquor.
"Fruit water is fine for me. I want to focus on the food." That was a very Dick-like reason.
"I'll have just one glass, too," Nelfia said.
"Rufa, fruit water is fine for you, right?" I asked, and Rufa nodded.
"Sule-chan, bring us an assortment of dishes, too. Don't worry about the price!"
Since this involved classified information, I had reported to Rays-sama that I wanted to hold a get-together. To my surprise, he offered to pay for today's expenses. He did warn me, "Of course, don't discuss the bottling project outside," but I was extremely grateful.
And so, we raised our newly arrived glasses high and toasted.