Kays Translations

Chapter 452: Surprising New Facts

“I wish Julius could remain in the royal capital until the end of the social season.”

“That isn’t possible. Rosalia is in the Heine Margraviate, and so is Brother Alex. I also need to deliver goods to the Heine Trading Company. There—the shower magic tool is working perfectly.”

“Thank you. I’d like to do something to repay you…”

Axel scratched his cheek awkwardly. There was really no need to feel indebted. In a sense, the shower magic tool was something I had forced on him, so maintaining it was only natural. Besides, I was inspecting the magic tools at Ijidol’s home as well. I might as well check both.

“Don’t worry about it. If I accepted something from you, I’d have to accept something from Ijidol too. If you really insist, write to me occasionally and tell me what is happening in the royal capital.”

“All right. I’ll do that.”

Perfect. That would give me news from the royal capital even while I was in the Heine Margraviate. Information from the capital was especially scarce between the end of the social season and the spring thaw, so having a source during that period would be extremely helpful.

I inspected the magic tools at Ijidol’s home and arranged for him to send me letters as well. Good—now I had another perspective from which to gather information. Afterwards, I wrote to Commander Giovanni and sent the letter.

I did not have the courage to march into the royal castle unannounced. A letter sent from the capital should reach him quickly enough.

“Fabienne, let’s continue looking around the royal capital. We leave for the Heine Margraviate tomorrow.”

“Yes. Mira looked as though they wanted to come with us…”

“It can’t be helped. Taking Mira into the city would attract far too much attention.”

Poor Mira, but they would have to remain at the townhouse. Brother Cain and Sister-in-law Meeka would take good care of them, so there was nothing to worry about.

Fabienne and I browsed the shops together. Perhaps I should buy souvenirs for Rosalia and Brother Alex.

“Oh, they have glass pens. As expected of the capital, the designs are lovely. The rounded handles look easy to hold, and the colour gradients are beautiful.”

“They really are… Wait. Julius-sama, this is a Heine Trading Company product.”

“What?! Really? When did they learn to make something like this?”

The product tag Fabienne indicated unmistakably bore the name of the Heine Trading Company. The listed craftsman was, of course, one of our own employees. I had not expected results this quickly. My judgement had been correct after all.

“They’ll be delighted when they learn their work is being sold in the royal capital. I must tell them when we return.”

“Indeed. It is truly beautiful.”

We were not the only ones captivated by the glass pens. They were certain to sell even better in the future, and competitors would probably emerge as well. We needed to establish the brand quickly and strengthen its position. I would have to report this to Brother Alex.

The next day, we left the royal capital with the same party that had accompanied us on the outward journey, including Lionel and the territorial knights.

Would the Heine Margraviate’s defences be all right while so many of its knights were away? I was beginning to worry. We needed to return without making any unnecessary detours.

Even so, there was one place we had to visit. When we reached the hot-spring town, we went to the spring to greet the Spirit of the Lake. Thanks to the spirit, I had received the Forest Spirit’s blessing. Offering my thanks was only proper.

“I heard what happened, Julius. You helped save the forest and even raised the World Tree. Everyone was overjoyed. Thank you for all you have done.”

“I only did what I could. There’s no need to thank me.”

The Spirit of the Lake also told me about the other spirits. Their environments were gradually improving thanks to the sustained mana-restoration potions I had supplied. However, many places still lacked the faith of the people living there.

The World Tree, on the other hand, had begun gathering people’s faith. Because it had appeared overnight, people were worshipping it as a “miracle of the gods”, almost as though a deity dwelt within it.

Sorry, gods. This only happened because I used a plant nutrient for convenience…

Still, according to the spirit, that was not a bad thing. The more faith people offered, the stronger the spirits became. The Spirit of the Lake said it was still nowhere near enough, though. I had never heard anything like that before.

After learning all this, we left the hot-spring town and travelled straight towards the Heine Margraviate without stopping again.

“Julius-sama, I can see the Heine Margraviate.”

“You’re right. Heine Margraviate, I’m home!”

“Julius-sama, don’t you think that was a little dramatic?”

Fabienne giggled, and everyone else laughed with her. At last, it truly felt as though we had returned. Now the only question was what sort of expression Rosalia would greet us with.

I had warned her that we might not return before the social season began, but I had not expected the journey to take this long. She might be sulking. I was a little afraid to face her.

The carriage entered the territorial capital and headed straight for the House Heine estate. The mansion’s great gates came into view, with everyone lined up outside to welcome us.

Brother Alex and Sister-in-law Daniela were there as well. They had returned to the Heine estate ahead of us.

And beside Rosalia was… Sir Edward? Since when had those two become so close? No one had told me about this!

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter