Ronnie's Plan

Several weeks passed, but our sweets research still wasn't going well. Yoan was still highly motivated, though, and I wasn't pessimistic at all. Even with my hints, it probably wasn't something they could make so quickly—and, to begin with, my hints hadn't really been hints at all...

Well, just knowing what ingredients to use was a considerable advantage! Assuming the ingredients were right, that is... They should be right... probably...

While we continued our sweets research, other matters were progressing in parallel as well. Apparently, they'd narrowed down a few possible locations for the shop, so I planned to go look at them with Ronnie and Yoan on the Recovery Day two weeks from now.

The last class on Earth Day had just ended. Tomorrow was a Recovery Day, so I had to go to the Daligard baron's household again. I wondered how much progress the research had made.

As I left the training grounds and walked with Ronnie, thinking about that, he addressed me with a somewhat serious look on his face.

"Leon, there's something I'd like to discuss with you..."

"Something you want to discuss? ...What is it?"

"It's about the stall."

"Did something happen?"

"Yeah. It's not like they've done anything to me physically, but I feel like they're causing us a lot of trouble..."

Judging by Ronnie's demeanor, it seemed fairly serious. In that case, I should take the time to listen properly.

Maybe I should skip the research group today and go to Ronnie's house.

"Ronnie, can I go to your house today? I'll hear you out there."

"I don't mind, but what about the research group?"

"The research group is optional. Besides, the problem with the stall is more important. You might even be in danger, Ronnie."

"I see. Thanks."

"It's not your fault, Ronnie! I'll go tell Lucien that I'm going home with you today. Could you wait for me at the front entrance? I'll be right there."

"Okay. The front entrance, right?"

I found Lucien and told him I would be going home with Ronnie today. When I mentioned that there seemed to be a problem involving the stall, he told me to report it if it was more than I could handle. Hearing that was really reassuring.

I quickly returned to the entrance, met up with Ronnie, and went to his house. We'd just reached his room.

"It's cramped, but come on in."

"Thanks. Can I sit here?"

"Sure."

Ronnie and I took seats on a wooden crate and the bed, settling in to talk.

"So what happened?"

"Since the day before yesterday, a lot of big, scary-looking men have been coming to the stall. They sit down in front of it and take up the space, or line up for no reason even though they aren't buying anything. It's caused the number of other customers to drop considerably. But they haven't actually done anything physical, so it doesn't feel right to call the soldiers..."

That could be... pretty troublesome. If they haven't actually done anything, there probably isn't much anyone can do besides warn them.

Hmm... What are you supposed to do in a situation like this? In Japan, I'd have gone to the police, but I doubt the soldiers at the guard post would do anything over something this minor.

"That is pretty troublesome."

"It is. But I've thought about it a lot since yesterday, and I've come up with a plan for now. Will you hear me out?"

"You have!?"

Ronnie was incredible... He really was smart. Was that intelligence useful not only in his studies but at times like this too? If intelligence was all that mattered, I'd probably lose to Ronnie someday. Actually, I might already have lost...

"Yeah. First, as for why this interference is happening, based on what I've seen, I think someone hired them to do it. About five of them are working together, and I've never seen any of them before. There'd be no point in doing something like this if they weren't being paid. So our goal should be to identify their employer and make sure they can't do this again."

"Right. That's important."

"Exactly. As for how to do that, I was thinking we'd provoke the enemy's sense of shame this time and get everyone else on our side to help us. Specifically, we could give away free crepes for one day only. If we limited it to one per person and made them about one-third the usual size, I think we could keep the costs down. Then, if we gave a crepe to everyone who lined up, we'd have to give one to the people interfering too, right?"

"Yes, we would... But what would that accomplish?"

"When we hand them their crepes, we'll loudly say, 'You always come here because you don't have the money to buy one, but you still want to smell them, right? I was so moved that I decided to give them away for free today. Thank you as always!' That would shame them by implying they're so poor they can't even afford a crepe. After that, it would probably be difficult for them to come to the stall and interfere without buying a crepe."

"That might actually be surprisingly effective..."

"And we'd get to let other people try crepes, so anyone who liked them would probably come back to buy one the next day. On top of that, everyone would start seeing the scary men who were always there as pitiful people with no money, so fewer people would be afraid to approach the stall. If that brought in more customers, then even if they tried to interfere, the other customers might get in their way and make them stop. A small group might not be able to stand up to them, but a large crowd could."

"Ronnie, you're amazing."

Ronnie was so amazing that all I could do was nod along. Ronnie was ten years old, wasn't he? A ten-year-old child had come up with this! That was completely unbelievable! Ronnie really was a genius!

Wait... To be honest, I hadn't realized he was this capable. He explained everything so clearly, too...

There were commoners like Ronnie in the world, so if someone like him were overlooked, that would be a real loss. It was incredibly reassuring to have Ronnie working at the shop.

"You're more amazing, Leon."

"Absolutely not. You're amazing, Ronnie."

"Hehe... Thanks. But there's more."

"There is!?"

It wasn't over yet. He really was too amazing.

"Yeah. Once the men could no longer interfere, where would they go? I think they'd probably go to their employer. From there, it depends on what kind of person the employer is, but someone who resorts to this kind of low-level interference will most likely try a physical attack next. They'd be caught immediately during the day, and it would draw far too much attention, so they might try to destroy the stall at night instead. That's just my prediction, though. So if we keep watch near the stall on the night after carrying out the plan I just described, I think the men will come."

"That might be true... Ronnie, you're really amazing."

"Thanks, but this is where the problem starts. From here on, I'll need your help, Leon... Do you think you could ask the ducal family to lend us a couple of soldiers? We need to catch the men in the act while they're destroying the stall and arrest them on the spot. If we report it afterward, they'll probably say we have no evidence. Once they're arrested in the act, I think we can get them to tell us who was behind it."

"That's true. If they deny everything, the fact that we saw them alone wouldn't be strong evidence."

It would be so much easier if this world had cameras. The lack of them was really inconvenient in situations like this. We needed an adult in a position of authority whose word people would trust.

"That's right. I wish I could have come up with a plan that we could carry out by ourselves, but... I still have a lot to learn. I need to study harder and keep working."

"No, no, you've done more than enough! I think this plan is really well thought out!"

"But in the end, we still had to rely on you..."

"You can rely on me as much as you want! Besides, you're hardly relying on me at all!"

I know I've said this repeatedly, but he's ten years old! He'd come up with a plan far beyond what a ten-year-old should be capable of, and he was still reflecting on what he could have done better. I'd already lost to him... And I probably wouldn't be able to beat him intellectually in the future, either.

"Thanks. So, what do you think of this plan?"

"I think it's good. It's definitely worth trying."

"I'm so relieved! This is the first time I've ever come up with a plan like this, so I was a little nervous about explaining it. Do you think we can borrow soldiers from the ducal family?"

"Hmm... I think we probably can. I'll ask them today."

If I asked the ducal family, I had a feeling the captain of the guard or someone like him might come. And Lucien would probably say he was coming along too... Well, with guards there, I didn't think anything dangerous would happen, but I wanted to make sure Lucien stayed behind if possible. The problem was, Lucien seemed like exactly the kind of person who would enjoy something like this.

"That's good, then! What should we do about the stall today?"

"Let's take the day off today. Tomorrow is a Recovery Day, right? It would be best to carry out the plan tomorrow during the day. I'll go to the stall too."

"You're right. The sooner, the better. Then I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Yeah! I'll come pick you up tomorrow, so wait for me at home."

"Huh? Can't we just meet at the plaza?"

"But you might get attacked or something... After hearing all this, I can't help worrying about you."

Ronnie had little magic power and no way to defend himself. Maybe I should think of some way to protect him. Even if this incident could be resolved with the current plan, Ronnie might still be exposed to danger in the future...

The best option would be to have someone guard him, but that wasn't possible. What else...? Could a barrier be made into a magic tool?

If it could, maybe I could give him a necklace or something with one built in and have him keep it on him at all times. Perhaps I could make the barrier transparent and have it activate constantly without being noticeable?

Hmm, but then it would probably drain his magic power quickly. And since it would be like wearing armor, he'd definitely notice it whenever he sat down.

In that case, instead of having it activate constantly, maybe I could attach a magic stone to a pendant and have him activate the barrier by pressing the stone in an emergency. Or perhaps it could activate when he touched it with a magic-iron ring. If I had the barrier slide outward from Ronnie's body, it could repel attackers too. And if I made it impossible for anyone to enter the area within about a meter of Ronnie, he would be safe afterward as well.

The barrier would give itself away once he used it, but Ronnie's safety was more important. I'd try making that magic tool sometime soon.

"Anyway, I'll come pick you up, so don't leave on your own, okay? Otherwise, we'll miss each other."

"Got it. You worry too much, Leon."

"It'll be too late once something happens!"

"All right, all right. I'll stay home."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow. I have things to do at the ducal household, so I'm going home now."

"Okay. See you tomorrow."

I hurried back to the ducal household while organizing in my head what I would tell Richard-sama.