Episode 15
“Ugh…”
Even with my eyes closed, it was blindingly bright. Instinctively pulling up the blanket, I turned my head in the opposite direction before snapping my eyes open.
What time was it? I had slept deeply for the first time in a very long while. Rubbing my eyes, I looked at the clock hanging on the wall.
“Gasp, has time gotten this late already?”
Although I had fallen asleep later than usual last night, still, to think I couldn’t wake up until the sun was high in the sky.
Was it because the bed was excessively soft, or had fatigue accumulated in my body from traveling by carriage?
Why on earth hadn’t anyone woken me? If it were Aidan, it was an hour by which he would have long since woken up and then some.
Raking my messy hair roughly with my hand, I tied it into a single ponytail. Set upon a narrow table were the clothes covered in dirt and dust from yesterday, freshly laundered and wafting a pleasant scent.
“They should have woken me when bringing these.”
At any rate, it was obvious I would get a storm of nagging from Aidan starting first thing in the morning. Getting nagged while eating leads to indigestion, but since I brought it on myself, it couldn’t be helped.
“Ah, you have awoken?”
“Ah, yes.”
Although I had luckily received a noble title thanks to my dad, I still couldn’t get used to servants using extreme honorifics with me. After all, I only held the title in name alone.
A small cottage on a hill in a village. The only people living together were my dad and me. Naturally, there was no one who would treat me as a noble lady, and that was comfortable for me as well.
Even though it was general practice at the academy for students not to care about status among nobles and speak informally to one another, there were those who told me to address them with honorifics.
Of course, I ignored every single one of them, though.
“Our Young Lord is waiting in the dining hall.”
“Ah, yep.”
“I shall guide you; this way, please.”
Walking behind the maid, structures I hadn’t been able to see last night due to fatigue came into view.
The Wis region, which held the most popularity for embracing a beautiful beach even in the South, famous as the Empire’s greatest tourist city.
The Winslow family villa situated on this prime real estate looked down over the sea at a single glance.
Not only in its geographical location, but looking merely at the design of the building and the materials used, it possessed a scale that paled in no way when compared to the Imperial Palace.
How wonderful would it be to have a villa in a place like this? Coming here with Dad on summer vacation for a holiday.
Just thinking about it was nice. But in reality, I still have the loan on the house in the capital…
Faced with practical problems, my mouth felt bitter. Having traveled around to find Dad, I had barely lived in that house, yet it was filled only with debt to pay back.
“Young Lord, Miss Cynthia has arrived.”
At the end of a wide, straight hallway, before a gorgeously decorated door, the maid announced politely.
“Tell her to enter.”
Aidan’s voice carried from beyond the door. Checking my clothes for wrinkles for no reason, I dusted them once with my hand.
What was this feeling? I was even more nervous than when coming to submit an assignment to a professor.
Aidan was sitting at a dining table wider than ten of our dining tables at home put together, his expression rigidly set. In truth, Aidan’s expression was always like that anyway, but feeling guilty that he might be in a bad mood because I woke up too late, I hung my head low for no reason.
The fact that Aidan disliked wasting time was something I had learned painfully well while working together.
He’s definitely going to nag, right?
He would surely look at me sarcastically, saying things like, ‘To keep a person waiting this long. How lacking in dignity,’ or, ‘Do you not know basic etiquette? Sleeping so soundly in someone else’s house.’
“I started the investigation as you suggested yesterday.”
Yet words completely unexpected came out.
“…Ah, yes.”
Thanks to that, my reaction was a bit slow, but unbothered, Aidan held out a map.
“I asked my father, and he conducted a swift investigation for us.”
On the map, the Central Neodymium was marked with a circle, and right beside the region where we currently were, there was a mark drawn with an X.
“First, the closest place is the Seg River nearby. A fisherman who was fishing discovered it.”
“A fisherman?”
“Yes, ah. Sit down first.”
At Aidan’s words, I realized I was still standing at the entrance. Right on cue, the maid who had guided me here was in the middle of bringing a tray with steaming hot food.
At the news that a clue had been caught, my hunger had vanished long ago, but seeing food right before my eyes, my stomach churned without a grain of tact.
“Shall we talk after eating?”
“A-Ah, no. Please go ahead and tell me.”
At my urging, he too nodded his head and continued his explanation.
“The fisherman who was fishing saw that the fish’s belly was bulging and cut it open, discovering a red gem inside. At first, thinking it was a ruby, he went to a jeweler, but naturally, it wasn’t a ruby.”
If it’s red, is it the Southern core?
“Even so, it wasn’t without value. They say that because it was as clear and sparkling as a ruby—no, even more so—it held ample value as a gem, so the jeweler offered to pay a price for it.”
“Then is it at the jeweler’s right now?”
“No. His wife wanted to sell it on the spot right then and there, but they say the fisherman suggested returning home first. Whether he thought stringing them along a bit would raise its value more than selling it right away, or whether he intended to ask for prices at other jewelers as well, I don’t know.”
“That could be.”
It was understandable. In a state where one normally didn’t know much about gems, it would be difficult to sell readily while trusting only that person’s words. There would also be people who said such things to buy it at a bargain price using the fact that one didn’t know well to their advantage.
“However, as a result, they agreed to sell it to a jeweler who visited the village. The jeweler paid a large down payment first, and they contracted to hand over the item formally the next day. Yet that night, the gem vanished into thin air.”
“It vanished, you say?”
“That’s right. So right now, that fisherman is locked up in the local lord’s dungeon.”
“Could those Aclo bastards have sneaked off with it?”
“We can’t know that. However, recalling the words of the Aclo we met yesterday, didn’t it seem like they didn’t know where the core was either?”
I fell deep into thought, fiddling with the silverware.
They received a down payment, yet it vanished? In the first place, while paying a large down payment, why did he try to take the gem the next day?
Normally, wouldn’t one pay the down payment and receive the item right away?
“At any rate, even if it’s not a gem, if it looks like a gem, there’s a high probability it’s a core. The color is also the red of the South.”
“It seems worth investigating, doesn’t it?”
I nodded my head.
“Even if we go to the Central Neodymium anyway, there are no clues other than sword marks. Just as you said, tracking down things that suddenly appeared seems like it’ll be faster. So let’s eat heartily first and set off.”
“Yes.”
We had to hurry. Because if Aclo happened to hear rumors about this mineral as well, they were bound to move right away.
I stuffed a mouthful of stew into my mouth. Although it had cooled a bit, the delicious stew felt as though it would melt the moment it touched my tongue. My suppressed appetite rushed in only then.
Even while shoving freshly baked bread into my mouth, I examined the map and documents Aidan held out.
****
“Excuse me, pardon me.”
At my voice, with a sharp friction sound of creeeak, the door opened.
It was a haggard-looking woman. Probably the fisherman’s wife. Sun-tanned skin, a face full of blemishes.
Amidst that, as if she hadn’t been able to sleep properly, her eyes were hollow and she looked gaunt.
“Who…”
“I came because I have a few things to ask.”
I smiled softly to appeal as non-hostile as possible. However, the gaunt woman’s pupils were still trembling finely with vigilance and fear.
“We are from the Imperial Special Audit Department. We came to check a few things regarding the red mineral said to have been discovered in the Seg River.”
To the point of making my consideration pale in comparison, Aidan, standing behind me, pulled out an identification card stamped with the Imperial seal with a flick.
When the magnificent golden pattern flashed in the sunlight, the woman’s face turned ash-gray in an instant.
“We are wronged! We are truly wronged!”
The woman fell to her knees and burst into tears.
