I am Frieda, an eight-year-old apprentice at the commercial guild.
Before going to bed, while I was changing my clothes, I noticed that the color of the magic stone in my bracelet had changed slightly. The bracelet was lined with small black magic stones, but one of them had turned clear.
"Oh my, it's already that time of year."
As a Self-Eating who had formed a Contract with a noble, I had been given a Magical Tool by my contracting party to absorb my overflowing Magic Power. The changing color of that magic stone was a sign that quite a bit of Magic Power had accumulated. I needed to go to Lord
"Grandfather, please arrange an audience with Lord Henrik. The color of the magic stone has changed."
I made the request to my grandfather the following morning. Permission was required to enter the Noble District, and since I was a minor, I had to go together with my grandfather.
"Oh, it's that time already?"
"Yes. Should I bring quatre-quarts as a gift again this time?"
"Since the other party seems to enjoy them, that should be fine."
"Then this time, let me make them with Rumtopf mixed in."
The new winter quatre-quarts were made by finely chopping the Rumtopf I had learned to make from Mine and mixing it into the dough. We had many failed attempts while searching for just the right amount of Rumtopf to mix in, but thanks to Ilse's efforts, we were able to make them very delicious. This variety of quatre-quarts had a strong aroma of alcohol and had become quite popular among noble men.
However, since the Rumtopf itself was still experimental, we hadn't been able to make very many quatre-quarts. Ilse was fired up, planning to make more Rumtopf this summer.
"I suppose we'll need new products soon..."
As he said this, Grandfather cast a meaningful glance toward the kitchen. Ilse, who was probably in the kitchen, and I both wanted new products.
"The problem is, we can't get our hands on Mine."
Because
Despite being a member of the commercial guild, Mine was a Workshop Head who remarkably rarely showed her face at the guild.
And yet, her workshop was among the largest in town by revenue. Plant Paper and picture books, toys that had been crafted and sold as winter handicrafts.
The items coming out of Mine Workshop were few in number at first glance, but each and every one was expensive and highly profitable. The variety of new products being handled by the Gilberta Company were surely also things for which Mine had sold the rights.
"The Gilberta Company keeps rolling out new products one after another... including items that have absolutely nothing to do with clothing and textiles."
Rings, hair ornaments, and new-shaped hangers weren't too far removed from their original business, but Plant Paper, picture books, toys, and writing boards had absolutely no connection to a clothing shop.
"But Mine's involvement isn't limited to just products, is it?"
"No, it isn't."
Among the contracts brought to the commercial guild, those bearing Mine's name included: the contract with the ink association, large orders as patron of the blacksmith workshop, large orders for the woodworker's workshop, a joint investment in the restaurant Benno was planning to open—every single one involved massive sums of money.
"She said she'd entered the
Even though the quatre-quarts contract had expired, Mine hadn't shown her face here at all, nor had she sent any word. Could I keep exclusive rights to the quatre-quarts now? I had received no contact, so I intended to keep them exclusively.
About ten days after the magic stone's color began to change, the audience with Lord Henrik was approved. On the appointed day, after hearing the fifth bell, I would head to the Noble District with my grandfather.
"Shall we go, then?"
"Yes, Grandfather. Mother, I'm off."
I climbed into the carriage and sat beside Grandfather, and the door was shut with a clap. As the carriage rattled along, the bracelet on my wrist swayed back and forth, making its presence known.
"The color has changed quite a bit."
"I need to hand it over to Lord Henrik and have it emptied as soon as possible."
When I gave this bracelet to Lord Henrik, it would be returned to me in an emptied state. That was the extent of my business, but since emptying it took time, I was always invited to dinner.
"If only the invitation were for lunch, it would be a little less stressful..."
"An invitation to dinner means he is treating us as official guests."
"I know I cannot refuse."
Being invited to dinner naturally meant staying past the closing of the gates, so I would stay at Lord Henrik's mansion. And staying overnight meant having to take a bath.
"Since Mine told me to try to shorten my time in the bath, I've felt less unwell, but I still can't bring myself to enjoy the noble baths, which make me somewhat nauseous from the heat."
"...You'll just have to get used to it."
Grandfather chuckled softly at that. While I endured my lengthy bath, he conducted business negotiations with the butler. I puffed out my cheeks slightly to show my displeasure.
"I would much rather join the negotiations than take a bath, you know. I'm the one being patient here."
The carriage turned right at the end of the main road, in front of the Temple. A tall white wall made of the same material as the Temple stretched on and on. After traveling alongside the white wall that divided the Noble District from the lower town for a while, we reached the entrance to the Noble District.
"A few hundred years ago, only the Noble District was the town, right? I learned about it the other day."
"Yes, that's right. They say the town expanded when the current Lord's ancestor became Lord."
If an outside noble invaded and the Lord couldn't defend the town, the next Lord would typically be stronger than the previous one. And when that happened, the town would be expanded to match the new Lord's power.
"The town that had existed before was remade into the Noble District, and a town for commoners was built to the south, right?"
"That's right. Also, the lodging facility in front of the main gate that had been used to detain travelers for checkpoint inspections was converted into the Temple. Even now, nobles apparently use the so-called Noble Gate at the back of the Temple to come and go, but that has nothing to do with us."
Just as Grandfather said, we commoners used the North Gate—what had formerly been a small side gate for guards—to enter and exit the Noble District.
Standing at the North Gate were some soldiers from the lower town and a few knights from the minor nobility. After paying the toll, I handed several products to the knights as a courtesy gift. Then our permits were checked, and we were asked the purpose of our visit and our destination within the Noble District.
The knights' eyes looked down on commoners with undisguised contempt, which made my heart bristle, but if I let that bother me, I'd never be able to live here in the future. It didn't take me long to learn to smile through even those unpleasant stares.
"Good. Let's switch carriages, then."
"Understood."
The carriages used in the lower town were dirty, so at the North Gate we transferred to the carriages that ran within the Noble District. Then we rode through the immaculately beautiful white streets in a comfortable carriage that hardly swayed at all.
"I always think I'd like to use these carriages in the lower town too..."
"They apparently use Magical Tools to reduce the shaking. It would be difficult."
Lord Henrik, a minor noble, lived in a mansion relatively close to the North Gate. Perhaps the same was true in both the lower town and the Noble District—the closer you were to the gate, the cheaper things were.
"We have been expecting you, Lady Frieda."
The butler greeted us and led us to the parlor. It had a similar atmosphere to our own parlor because Grandfather had modeled our house on Lord Henrik's. Though unlike ours, theirs made routine use of Magical Tools, so despite looking similar, they were vastly different.
"I've kept you waiting."
Lord Henrik arrived.
He had been seventeen when he formed his Contract with me, so he must be twenty now. Just as his appearance suggested, he was a sincere and gentle nobleman. He had lost his father two years ago and, despite his youth, was working hard as the head of the household.
Lord Henrik had a wife and children, but no second wife, and when I—a commoner—came of age, my status would not be that of a wife but rather a kept woman. Economically, one could say he relied on my family.
Grandfather had said that Lord Henrik was a noble who was somewhat struggling with money, but fundamentally part of a diligent and mild-mannered family. He had been chosen as my Contract partner because, Grandfather said, he was not the type to carry guilt or to exploit commoners through force. It was precisely this character that had led to my being selected.
"By the healing of the Water Goddess
We exchanged the long-winded greetings customary among nobles. While we went through the tedious formality of reciting the appropriate deity for each season, the picture book I had bought from Mine flashed through my mind.
...Come to think of it, she said she was going to make a picture book about the divine retainers. I wonder if it's been completed.
What Mine had been making was a picture book whose cover could be redesigned as you pleased. It was black and white, but the gods were described in a very easy-to-understand way, and the illustrations were beautifully done. I planned to first collect all the divine-retainer picture books to go with the god picture book I had previously purchased, and then have a leather cover made.
"Lady Frieda, your hand, please..."
At Lord Henrik's voice, I snapped back to attention and extended my left hand, the one wearing the bracelet. With a shining rod he produced from somewhere, he lightly tapped the bracelet and murmured a small word. The bracelet then changed shape, becoming removable.
"Oh my, it's changed color quite a lot. You're not feeling any unwell?"
Looking at the removed bracelet, Lord Henrik furrowed his brow. Even though his Contract partner was a commoner, Lord Henrik rarely put on an arrogant air. It made him very easy to like.
"I'm quite well. Thank you for your concern."
"Then, we'll speak later at dinner."
"Understood."
Lord Henrik took the bracelet and left the room. After that, the butler entered and Grandfather began his business negotiations. Until dinner, I was summoned by the female Attendant, had to bathe before the meal, and straighten my appearance. The greatest ordeal of visiting this mansion was about to begin.
After enduring the bath that took forever and left me exhausted, the dinner conversation naturally turned to recent events in the lower town. I navigated safe topics about product distribution and my education, and then described the new flavors of quatre-quarts that Ilse was steadily developing.
"My younger brother, who recently came of age and left home, is quite fond of them. I'm not much for overly sweet pastries, but these have a strong aroma of alcohol and are just sweet enough to be pleasant."
It seemed Lord Henrik's knightly younger brother had more of a sweet tooth than Lord Henrik himself. That brother had been assigned to escort duty as a knight in the autumn but had made a serious blunder, requiring a fine to be paid. My family had fronted the money, but I had no idea what sort of person he was. I hadn't yet met him.
"Sir, might I have a word?"
The butler, looking somewhat pale, whispered something urgently to Lord Henrik. Lord Henrik rose immediately.
"My apologies, Lady Frieda. An urgent matter has come up. I'll have to take my leave here."
Lord Henrik left the dining hall mid-meal with the butler. It wouldn't be proper to pry into the matter, so Grandfather and I finished dinner with some harmless conversation about the food.
"Goodnight, Grandfather."
"Goodnight, my dear."
A male Attendant was assigned to Grandfather and a female Attendant to me, and we were led to our rooms. I was taken to the same parlor I always used—the same room where I had bathed.
"Right this way, Lady Frieda."
"...Oh my?"
My luggage should have been brought in and prepared during the bath, but I couldn't see it anywhere.
Tilting my head in puzzlement, I headed toward the bed. The female Attendant drew back the bed curtain.
"Then, if you would use this bed— eek?!"
The female Attendant screamed. There was a man lying on the bed I was supposed to use. He bore a strong resemblance to Lord Henrik, his brows were tightly furrowed, and he was groaning in apparent pain.
"Lord
Flustered, the Attendant turned on her heel and left the room.
Since my luggage had been moved, it must mean another room had been prepared for me, but the communication had broken down.
...This is troublesome. What should I do?
I couldn't chase after the Attendant and leave the room, and being left alone in a room with an unconscious man was awkward, so I let out a slow breath.
"I am terribly sorry, Lady Frieda."
The butler burst into the room, looking as though he'd seen a ghost.
Normally, Lord Henrik's younger brother lived in the knights' quarters, but during a mission with the knight order, he had been seriously injured and had been transported to the family home—the closest point to the Noble Gate—until someone capable of using healing magic could be brought in. Since the brother was unconscious, there hadn't been time to rearrange the room, and he had simply been carried into the room that was already prepared.
"We had prepared a separate room for you, Lady Frieda, but we were so flustered that communication broke down. I am deeply sorry."
"Your master's brother was brought in unconscious—it's only natural to be flustered. If another room is ready, I'll move there."
Just as the situation was explained and I let out a sigh of relief, a mass of light flew in through the window. It whirled around above Lord Damuel as he lay sleeping in the bed, scattering powder-like light. The sight of luminous powder spreading through the pitch-black room was a beautiful and fantastical scene.
"...Is this magic too? How lovely."
When I reached out my hand, the light powder seemed to have a will of its own, gently drifting out of reach.
As I watched the swirling motes of light, Damuel suddenly sat bolt upright.
"Are you safe, Shrine Maiden Apprentice?!"
"What?!"
He sat up, and in the same moment, a glowing rod appeared in his hand. With a fierce expression, Damuel looked around as though fighting something—then immediately wore a bewildered look.
"...Where am I?"
He must have been confusing this moment with when he had lost consciousness. As he furrowed his brow in confusion, the butler stepped forward.
"Lord Damuel, how are you feeling? You were brought to the mansion unconscious."
"My body feels fine. Judging from the remnants of light, healing must have been applied."
Damuel looked down at his arm, and the moment he said that, his face drained of color.
"I must return to the knight order immediately."
"Lord Damuel, perhaps you should let us check your condition a bit longer..."
Damuel moved with nothing like the sluggishness of someone who had been groaning without consciousness moments before. He slid off the bed, dashed to the balcony, and threw open the window wide.
"I was in the middle of an escort mission! If I fail the mission again, I'll—"
With a wave of Damuel's arm, a white horse with large wings appeared on the balcony. He swung himself onto it in one fluid motion, and with a grim expression, Damuel launched into the night sky. Against the darkened sky, great white wings could be seen beating.
From the moment the mass of light flew in to the moment Damuel took flight, everything happened in the blink of an eye. The butler and I, left behind, could only stand in a daze and watch him go.
"...Lady Frieda, let me show you to your room."
"Yes, please."
The butler, who hadn't been able to stop Damuel and had watched him leave, came back to his senses and guided me to the newly prepared room.
Once I had settled into bed, I turned Damuel's words over in my mind. "Are you safe, Shrine Maiden Apprentice?"—that was what he had said. The only Shrine Maiden Apprentice in the Temple right now should be Mine. If Damuel had been seriously injured during his escort mission, there was a high chance Mine had been caught up in something as well.
"What on earth happened?"
Even if I asked Lord Henrik, a noble would never explain the situation so easily. If I said I was Mine's friend, he might perhaps tell me, but depending on the circumstances surrounding Mine, it could put me in a difficult position. It would be safer not to reveal the relationship between Mine and me.
"At the very least, I need to confirm whether she's alive or dead..."
At the next morning's breakfast, Lord Henrik apologized for the commotion with Damuel the previous night.
"There was some confusion regarding my younger brother. I apologize for the discourtesy."
"Please, think nothing of it. It was my first time seeing the magic used by nobles up close. It was beautiful, wondrous, and I feel fortunate to have witnessed it."
After breakfast, I was given back the bracelet—all the magic stones now returned to black—and took my leave of Lord Henrik's mansion to return home.
"Grandfather, there's something I'd like to look into. Please lend me the key to the archive room in the back."
I changed clothes in a hurry and headed for the commercial guild.
In the room accessible only to those approved by the Guild Master, where documents related to Contract Magic were kept, I intended to find the contract documents between Mine and Benno. Unlike the public archive room, the contract documents stored here were supposed to undergo some kind of change if a contracting party died.
Since Contract Magic documents were rarely used, it wasn't particularly difficult to find the files related to Mine's contracts.
"...Rosemine?"
The document in my hands showed a contract between Benno,
If it were a Contract with a Self-Eating, there would have been no need to change her name. The fact that she had changed her name meant she had been taken in by nobility for certain. Just as I had once been approached with a proposal, Mine had most likely become a noble's adopted daughter.
There was a noble who had recognized the value in Mine's product knowledge. The influence of that wouldn't be limited to just this town.
I gripped the document and hurried to the Guild Master's office.
"I have something important to show you. Please, take a look."
Grandfather's eyes went wide when he saw the Contract Magic document with the name "Rosemine."
"...Mine contracted with a noble? Certainly, a Self-Eating girl could become a noble's adopted daughter, but Mine?"
Mine, who had insisted right up to the edge that she wouldn't contract with nobles because she wanted to stay with her family. Mine, who had said she would choose death over being separated from her family. She had become a noble's adopted daughter.
I hadn't wanted to become a noble—I had wanted to become a merchant. I wanted to spend my days doing accounts. I had told Grandfather as much, and he had arranged the optimal Contract for me.
Thanks to that, I could now one day open a shop in the Noble District, and I could spend time with my family until I came of age. I was satisfied with my choice. ...But what about Mine?
"Grandfather, please summon Benno. Benno must know something about what's going on."