Chapter 48
Elschnein shook her head as if to say that was absolutely not the case.
“Not at all. I’m probably the first person among the people here on the boulevard to start wearing a mask. I had my own reasons for it.”
It was the plain truth, with not a speck of falsehood, so she spoke confidently.
At her sincere tone, the wizard’s gaze grew warm again, and he sidled closer.
“Ahem! Is that so? I almost misunderstood you. For some reason, from the moment I saw you from afar, you felt so familiar, as if I had known you for a very long time! Haha! I almost felt a little hurt!”
“Ahaha, I see.”
Apparently satisfied with verifying her stance, the wizard pointed somewhere with his index finger.
“Since it’s fate to meet someone with the same views, how about we have a coffee and chat for a while?”
Following the finger he pointed, she saw a moderately sized café.
Elschnein gave a faint smile and agreed.
“All right.”
She glanced over to where Mikhail was — he was absorbed at a coin stand.
“Since the Gourmet Nation is taking so much of our money, we might as well kill some time. Don’t you agree?”
They took seats at an outdoor table. The wizard leaned in and whispered.
Elschnein feigned ignorance and asked,
“Our money? What do you mean?”
“Huh, you’re quite naïve. Do you know how much profit the Gourmet Nation is making right now? And who do you think is generating all that money?”
He stroked his long mustache and quickly continued,
“Us teleportation wizards! Yes! From the Magic Tower! We’re the ones making it happen! Ahem!”
Elschnein clasped her hands and leaned closer to the table as if she had just realized.
“I see!”
“Exactly! Our wizards study magic all day and don’t understand how society runs. I was so frustrated I stormed out of the Tower to spread the word myself!”
He thumped his chest with his fist like his heart might burst from frustration.
Elschnein subtly steadied the trembling coffee cup and asked,
“You must have talked to a lot of other wizards, then?”
“Of course! I’m a self-proclaimed activist of the Tower, holding an important position too! Though, since most Tower mages aren’t interested in public matters, they don’t know me well. You seem the same. Ahem.”
He boasted proudly and slurped his iced coffee. As she watched the drink drop by half in one gulp, Elschnein gave a flat, perfunctory reply.
“Wow, that’s impressive.”
“Indeed. Which brings me to this—”
After boasting for some time, he lowered his head slightly, glanced around, and spoke in a sly tone.
“Would you be interested in joining us?”
“Joining… in what?”
“Our motto: ten steps by one person become one step by ten people! If we unite, even the mighty Gourmet Nation can be brought down at once!”
Ten steps by one person become one step by ten people.
It did sound poetic.
“How exactly would we bring them down? And what would we gain?”
“Hm, you’re quite curious. That’s a good sign!”
He grinned at her like a proud grandfather at a beloved grandchild.
“First, higher wages!”
“Oh?”
“—And not just that! We’ll get a share of the profits.”
“The profits?”
“Exactly! We are the core of the Gourmet Nation’s business. But the portion we get is tiny! At this rate, we’ll all end up beggars.”
It was a ridiculous claim.
Hmm. The teleportation wizards working for Gourmet Nation are already earning triple their average monthly wage.
Indeed, they were the core of the operation. That was why Elschnein had ensured they were paid accordingly from the start, which was why so many wizards were eager to sign contracts.
Guess people change once they’ve gotten in the door.
It finally clicked why he looked familiar — she had personally handled his contract.
“Really? You’re offering this much salary?”
“Yes. Sign here if you agree. And if you have any additional requests, let me know.”
“Oh no, nothing like that! These terms are unheard of anywhere in the Empire. I just wonder if you’ll have anything left for yourself.”
She remembered thinking, as he rubbed his hands together under his drooping mustache, that he seemed rather like a sycophant.
And now, it seems he’s grown greedy.
Suppressing the cold smirk rising inside her, Elschnein asked,
“So, what do we do next?”
The wizard answered in a low, serious tone, as if revealing a great secret.
“We go on strike.”
“A strike?”
“Yes. All the teleportation wizards stop working at once. White Mask won’t have a choice then. Without us, who will deliver the food? Hahaha!”
Well now, that was some thinking.
Elschnein stared blandly at the mustached wizard giggling in front of her, then gave a light clap.
“Wow. Amazing. Truly amazing.”
Her tone was as flat as reading from a textbook, but the wizard, lost in his rosy daydreams, didn’t notice.
After a long, self-satisfied chuckle, he pulled a square slip of paper from his robe and handed it to her.
“This is the date of our action. We all strike then!”
Just as he said, the paper had their planned strike date written on it.
“From then on, it’s an indefinite strike — until White Mask accepts our terms!”
“Ah, I see.”
Declaring that, since he’d given her valuable information, she should pay for the coffee, he left first.
Elschnein stared blankly at his retreating back, then called softly,
“Mikhail!”
Before long, Mikhail came rushing over with a flustered face.
“Yes! Elsch—”
“Shh! You planning to broadcast my name? Kylian will chew you out.”
“Ack!”
Already a conspicuous figure thanks to his large frame, he was about to shout her name loud enough for the whole street to hear, so she quickly clamped his mouth shut.
Elschnein pointed behind her with her index finger.
“We need to go there. Right now.”
“Huh?”
Mikhail’s eyes widened when he looked where she pointed.
“That’s where the black wizards are camped! Eek.”
His face paled as if he’d heard something terrifying, and he stumbled back, clutching his chest as though to keep his heart from bursting out.
“They say there are ghosts there… sniff.”
“…”
Seeing tears well up in his gentle eyes, Elschnein let out an exasperated sigh.
What a coward.
Come to think of it, he had always hidden behind Kael as a child. She had been surprised when he announced he wanted to become a knight.
Shrugging, Elschnein grabbed his collar and began striding forward. Mikhail trailed after her with a whimper.
After Elschnein left the mansion, the Hounbert estate grew quiet.
Standing before the man anyone in the Empire would name first if asked for its most famous person, Kael thought to himself,
You seem to be in a good mood today.
Having served as his aide for a long time, Kael could roughly gauge Kylian’s moods.
His eyebrows are tilted exactly 30 degrees, the curve is about 15 degrees, and the corners of his mouth are raised about 10 degrees…
By his measure, this was about the same level of happiness as when Kylian had the special Choco-Choco-Vanilla-Whipped-Cream Parfait from the Scheffen region — now available through Gourmet Nation — set in front of him.
Did something happen with Lady Elschnein?
Though they had never met, Kael knew of her — and that her memory had been erased. He also knew Kylian’s mood had been consistently low until now.
Hmm. I wonder what she’s thinking…
He normally didn’t care about others, but with Elschnein it was different. She was the one who had saved both him and Mikhail.
“No leads on the tail yet?”
“None. If they infiltrated the Order to eliminate her, their backing must be formidable.”
“Hmm.”
Kylian slowly stroked his chin.
“Even if we dig further, I doubt we’ll find anything.”
He stood from his seat.
“Let’s end the investigation here. And take the rest of the day off.”
“What?”
Kael blinked, unsure he’d heard right.
Did he just tell me to take the day off?
In all his life, he had never heard such words from his lord — the man who had always made him work without rest.
For those words to come from his mouth now…
Something definitely happened! And it must have been something good!
Noticing Kylian cautiously running a hand over his black hair, Kael thought,
Has Lady Elschnein regained her memory?
Whatever the case, it was Kael’s lucky day.
I’d better hurry and order that special parfait from Gourmet Nation!
He rushed out of the Hounbert estate, his steps as light as feathers.
