One way or another, four days had passed since the New Tanikaze incident. In that time, the master's workshop had been shut down for a few days (because the wrestling match had devolved into an out-of-ring brawl and caused trouble for the neighborhood), I'd been endlessly frustrated by my inability to find where the Tanikaze had been tampered with, and Branca and Amur had resumed their chase.
Branca had tied Amur up even more securely than before, but Amur had spotted an opening, escaped the apartment while still wrapped up like a herring in a straw mat, and cut through the rope with a stone she'd found lying on the road before making her getaway. When Amur made her escape, Branca had been in the bath—it was a jailbreak that had taken place in the span of roughly five minutes.
I'd told Branca that there was a high chance Amur was hiding in a dungeon (which she actually was, but since I was keeping my Detection ability secret, I'd been vague about it), and I'd even told her the location of the goblin nest, but they still hadn't found her as of today.
And then, just a little while ago, Ted had returned from the Royal Capital carrying the King's reply. Well, it hadn't been handed over directly—it seemed the exchange had gone through Chris—but since Chris had handed it to us in person, the letter had to be the real deal.
"So the King really is interested in Amy, huh."
"Tenma, the way you put it makes Alex sound like a pervert... which isn't entirely wrong, but it's not very flattering."
To put the contents of the letter simply: "If something interesting looks like it's about to happen on Crown land, I'll come check it out!"
"That sounds just like him, but everyone around him is definitely going to try to stop him. If that's the case, the one who'll end up coming is either that idiot or the third prince, that's for sure."
Setting Ernest aside, Lyle was supposed to be fairly busy—but since his personality most closely resembled the King's, and he apparently wasn't quite as busy as the King, he'd probably end up finding some excuse or other to come after all.
As I was discussing all this with Grandpa, the street outside started to grow noisy. My carriage was parked inside the apartment grounds, so there was a bit of distance from the road—but if I could hear the commotion all the way over here, something rather unusual might be happening.
"Say, Tenma... I've got a really bad feeling about this..."
"What a coincidence, Grandpa... Although, for me it's not really a bad feeling—more like a certainty..."
The commotion was steadily drawing closer to the apartment, accompanied by the sound of multiple horses' hooves. More than that, though, I already knew exactly who was behind it all thanks to my Detection.
"Tenma, I'm here! Come on out!"
The voice calling from outside while banging on the carriage door was a woman's voice I recognized.
"You're already here, Chris?"
Standing in front of the door, just as I'd expected, was Chris. I could have figured this much out without using Detection—there were only a handful of young women who'd be this forward with me.
"That Ted... he set me up."
The fact that she'd arrived so quickly could only mean one thing—she and Ted had probably come together as far as the outskirts of Seigen, and then Ted alone had gone on ahead from some convenient spot. It wasn't Ted's fault, really (after all,
Ordinary Person
...but there was no way anyone could refuse when asked by royalty) — and yet, I still felt like airing at least a few grievances. Because the royal who had come to Seigen was...
"Lady Maria, Tenma is here."
That was precisely why. If it had been the King or Lyle who came, there would have been nothing to worry about, but I always ended up a little nervous around Lady Maria, so a surprise visit like this was hard on the heart.
"Good work. It's been a while, Tenma. I hear you've been as active as ever. By the way, if you'd come to the Royal Capital, the least you could've done was show your face."
Lady Maria was referring to the time I'd gone gathering materials for Tanikaze. She seemed somewhat displeased about it.
"Hi, big brother! Where's Solomon?"
"Say hello properly, Luna! Hello, Tenma. It's been a while."
Getting down from the carriage after Lady Maria were the usual Luna, and Tida scolding her for it. After being scolded by Tida, Luna apologized — then spotted Solomon and charged at him. Solomon lightly dodged Luna's charge and ran around aimlessly. Given that he wasn't really trying to escape, he was probably enjoying himself in his own way.
"It's been a while. I'm sorry about last time. I was in a real rush, so..."
I really had been in a rush, with no time to stop by the royal castle, and I hadn't wanted to cause any unnecessary commotion. Lady Maria seemed to know about that — especially the culprit behind the latter half of the incident — so she didn't press any further.
For the time being, I called Amy over to the carriage to explain in detail what I needed the King's help with, but that was when something completely unexpected happened. It was something neither my grandfather nor I had foreseen, and not even Lady Maria had predicted it — an incident that hinted at all sorts of trouble to come. What happened was...
"Tenma, who is that girl?"
It seemed Tida had fallen for Amy at first sight. Her cheeks flushed red as she tugged at my sleeve, trying to worm information about Amy out of me. Even Lady Maria was dumbfounded by Tida's behavior, unsure how to react.
Meanwhile, Amy — who had no idea why she'd been called over — just stared at us with a bewildered expression.
"Chris, take Tida to our carriage. We won't get anywhere like this."
"Understood. Lady Tida, shall we step out for a moment?"
"Huh? W-wait, hold on!"
Chris, without any room for argument, gave Tida a push in the back and escorted her outside the carriage. Tida tried to hold her ground, but she was no match for Chris's strength and was easily pushed out.
"At any rate, now we can talk. Tida was completely unexpected, though... So, Tenma — does that girl have something to do with this?"
When Amy, startled by Lady Maria's gaze, hid behind me and Lady Maria looked slightly disappointed because of it, I endured by pinching my own side — I had no idea what she might say if I laughed.
"Um, this is Amy. She's the granddaughter of this apartment's landlady. And, well, various things happened, but she's essentially become like my student."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Amy."
I then recounted everything that had happened so far — how I had, on a whim, had Amy tame a rare Monster, and that I wanted the royal family to back her. Lady Maria held her head in her hands and let out a long sigh.
"Tenma, you really are Ricardo's son and Merlin's grandson. The way you act is just like the two of them... in the worst way..."
Lady Maria was muttering this under her breath, but Gramps, who had been sitting quietly nearby, looked incredibly pleased.
"Well, I don't mind being her backer. After all, this all started in Seigen, so there's no issue from the perspective of preventing future trouble either... But you do understand that this will be taken as you definitively joining our faction, correct?"
"That's fine... or rather, that's already a done deal, isn't it? At this point."
With the King and Lyle visiting Gramps's mansion freely and without hesitation, the fact that I belonged to the Royalist Faction had already become a topic of discussion among the residents of the Royal Capital.
"You're right. In that case, it would cause too much of a stir to say that Tenma's student is under royal protection, so we'll spread a rumor that she's receiving the Grand Duke's patronage. I'll add that I'm personally interested in her as well."
And so, the finer details were settled one by one. Amy, the subject of the entire conversation, didn't seem to understand what was going on, so I would need to explain everything to her in detail later.
"Now, changing the subject... Amy, are you interested in the academy in the Royal Capital?"
Amy didn't seem to understand what Lady Maria was saying with this sudden question.
"If we're spreading the word about the Grand Duke's patronage, the quickest way is for her to enroll in the academy. There are many students there who follow their parents' orders, so they'll spread the rumor on their own. Besides, the students know Tenma well, so it will also convey that Tenma is taking an interest in her. And if anything comes up, it will be easier for us to act as well."
Enrolling now would mean joining mid-term, and the entrance exam would apparently be somewhat strict, but they planned to use the Grand Duke's authority to force it through. It sounded blatantly corrupt, but apparently this was common in the world of nobility, and as long as a student wasn't catastrophically stupid, they would pass. The most common reason nobles used their power to push through mid-term enrollment was when an illegitimate child was discovered. There were also cases involving adopted children and the like, so Amy's reason was in the minority, but there was precedent.
"So, how is Amy's academic ability?"
Seigen did have something like a school, but it wasn't as well-established as the academy in the Royal Capital — it only taught the basics. If you requested it, they would teach at a slightly higher level, but apparently fewer than one in ten students did so. Amy had learned the basics at school and additionally received instruction from various members of the Tamer's Guild, so while it was my personal opinion, I believed she was at least at the academy's average level.
"Then there shouldn't be any problem. The only thing left is Amy's own feelings, but I think she should discuss that with her parents. At the very least, it wouldn't be right for me to decide."
Seeing that Amy couldn't follow the conversation, Lady Maria decided to have Amy consult with her family first. I explained everything to Amy in simple terms — something along the lines of "You might be able to enroll in the academy in the Royal Capital, what do you think?" — and told her to discuss it with her family and make her decision. Incidentally, Amy appeared to think of Lady Maria as a high-ranking noblewoman and didn't seem to realize she was the Queen.
As a side note, when Arie and Karina heard about Lady Maria's proposal from Amy, they immediately seemed to realize who Lady Maria really was. They tidied up their appearances and came to pay their respects, completely out of breath. After much discussion, Amy's enrollment in the academy was decided. It seemed Lady Maria intended to admit Amy regardless of her exam results, and she had said something like, "I'll be borrowing both your name and your grandfather's as well, right?" That was a little terrifying, so Gramps and I nodded without a moment's hesitation. Tida, who had returned to the carriage, was overjoyed, while Luna didn't seem to fully understand what had happened.
The detailed discussion was pushed to tomorrow, and Amy and the others headed home.
"So, I heard quite a lot happened. How was it?"
Lady Maria wanted to hear about Seigen, so I told her about everything — how we ended up fighting a Bicorn during the commission, and though we managed to defeat it, Tanikaze got taken out; how we went to a floor with a lake to gather materials in the dungeon, fought an octopus Monster, and that Monster ended up being officially classified as a new species. Lady Maria and Tida, along with Chris, were eager to hear my impressions of the battles, but Luna was the only one who asked what the defeated Bicorn and octopus tasted like.
"The timing's just right — shall we try having them for lunch?"
No one raised any objections to my suggestion.
I hadn't decided what to make yet, but the ingredients were already set, so I went with whatever came to mind from there.
"For the Bicorn, I'm thinking hamburg steak. As for the octopus — fried chicken, or maybe takoyaki?"
The Bicorn was decided on easily, but I hesitated a bit over the octopus. In the end, though, I realized I was missing one crucial item, so I went with the fried chicken that was simple to prepare.
"I'd love to make takoyaki, but I don't have a takoyaki pan, so I guess that's that."
Since I didn't have anything that could substitute for a takoyaki pan either, I settled on fried chicken for the octopus. However, hamburg steak and fried food together might be a bit heavy for lunch. So I kept the fried chicken seasoning minimal — just salt and pepper for the marinade, letting people adjust the taste with lemon to their preference. For the hamburg steak, I used the lean portions of both Bicorn and White-furred wild ox, trimming away as much fat as possible. The seasoning was salt, pepper, ginger juice, several kinds of spices, and sautéed onions, shaped into flat oval patties smaller than a palm to make as many as quickly as possible. The sauce was made in the same pan after grilling, using sugar, fish sauce, wine, and crushed peeled tomatoes — something people could add to taste. All that was left was to prepare some salad and bread, and we were done.
I was able to cook everything in batches, so it wasn't overly labor-intensive, but with the number of people involved — three members of the royal family plus the escort of ten Royal Guards including Chris — it ended up taking longer than I expected.
Once everything was ready, I first had Chris taste-test (poison-check) the food before bringing it out to Lady Maria and the others. Lady Maria's portion, Tida's, Luna's, and Chris's were all plated individually, but the Royal Guards' servings were piled onto a large platter and handed over. The plating was rough, and since most of the Guards were of noble birth, I figured this wasn't exactly their style of dining. But I couldn't exactly fit everyone inside the carriage, and at the same time I couldn't very well ask Lady Maria and the others to step outside, so I had the Guards — all except Chris — serve themselves from the platter.
"This is delicious."
"I've never eaten anything this good before."
"Can I have another helping of the meat, please?"
Lady Maria was surprised, but she ate with impeccable manners. That said, her pace of eating the hamburg steak was surprisingly fast.
Tida was just as surprised as Lady Maria, though she ate at a more measured pace.
Luna was… getting her face messy while already demanding seconds on the hamburg steak.
All three had different eating styles and speeds, but they all clearly loved the hamburg steak. In the end, everyone went back for seconds, and the extra hamburg steak I'd prepared was completely devoured.
The fried octopus ended up somewhat overshadowed by the hamburg steak, but it still received praise for being tasty and easy to eat. The one who ate the most hamburg steak was Luna, followed by Chris. Luna seemed to be the type who fixated on eating the things she liked, and Chris, being the most active, apparently needed the extra fuel.
In contrast, the one who ate the least was Tida, and I came in second after her. Unlike Luna, Tida was the type to slowly savor her favorite foods, and as for me, I'd simply missed out while busy fulfilling everyone's requests for seconds.
"Well then, it's about time we headed back to the manor."
By "manor," Maria meant the building that the royal family used whenever they visited Seigen. Even though it didn't get much use, it was a building maintained for the royals, so while the structure itself was slightly smaller than Grandpa's manor back in the Royal Capital, the grounds made up for it with a much larger garden. That was a necessity, since it had to be big enough to accommodate the carriages of guards and invited nobles. Apparently it could also serve as an emergency evacuation site in case of earthquakes or similar disasters, so while it was equipped with defensive fences, walls, and moats, no flowers were planted there.
After seeing Maria and the others off, Amy and her group arrived right on cue. It seemed they genuinely wanted to hear about enrolling at the academy in the Royal Capital.
So, after apologizing for having already moved forward with the discussion on my own, I decided to give them the full story. Well, "full story" might be overselling it — Maria had said she would go over the details tomorrow, so really I was just answering the questions Amy and the others had raised.
What Amy and her family were worried about was money (tuition), housing, and a guardian. They were naturally concerned about leaving Amy to live alone in the Royal Capital. As for tuition, we settled on the understanding that I would cover it if it came to worst, but I told them not to worry about housing or a guardian.
First, regarding housing — the academy had dormitories for students, so with a royal recommendation, Amy would almost certainly be able to get in. Even if that somehow fell through, she could commute from Grandpa's manor (in which case I'd ask Jeanne and Aura to look after her), or I could introduce her to Uncle Mark and the others. Knowing those guys, the moment they heard she was my disciple, they'd take a shine to her right away.
As for a guardian, since Maria had taken the matter up personally, someone from the royal family — most likely Maria or Ernest, based on my guess — would probably step into the role.
When I told them all this, Amy and her family were grateful. At that point, I ended up throwing a bit of cold water on things by apologizing for the fact that she would almost certainly get dragged into the political power struggles, but they told me it was too late for that now. Apparently, starting around the time I won the martial arts tournament, Amy had started attracting attention too, and several nobles had already approached with offers to employ her. Since their motives were painfully obvious, she had turned them all down, but at this rate, there was a real possibility that nobles would come along whose offers would be difficult to refuse. Before that happened, she had been planning to approach Marquis Samons through her Tamer's Guild connection and ask him to be her backer. So this whole conversation with us had come at just the right time.
Just looking at the backer situation alone, it might sound like we were underestimating Marquis Samons, but according to Grandpa, they were in the same political faction, and the Marquis had a good relationship with the royal family, so there was no issue there. In fact, if the Marquis heard about this arrangement, he might even collaborate with the royal family and serve as Amy's co-guardian.
"From the Marquis's perspective, it's a chance to build a relationship with Tenma by helping Amy. From the royal family's perspective, it strengthens their ties with the Marquis's house. It's a deal where both sides come out ahead. Tenma, you really ought to recognize your own worth a bit more."
When Grandpa wrapped things up like that, Arie and the others nodded in agreement. Incidentally, what came to light the next day was that there was absolutely no need to worry about the finances either. The reason was that from now on, Ku-chan's silk would be sold to the royal family, and that revenue would cover tuition, living expenses (including an allowance). However, since we didn't know yet how much silk of what quality Ku-chan would produce, the initial plan was to take out a loan from the royal family (with me as the joint guarantor on paper). But since enrollment through a recommendation meant tuition was almost entirely waived (full to partial exemption depending on grades), even a small amount of silk would be more than enough.
I'd caused quite a bit of commotion for Amy and her family, but it looked like things were heading in a positive direction in the end, so I felt relieved as well. Incidentally, the other thing I'd been worried about:
the fugitive
and
the pursuers
— according to Branca, he was on the verge of catching them, so I figured it was only a matter of time before Amour was secured.