“My dad used to be like that man from earlier, back in the day.”
“Was your father a piece of work too?”
“That’s not it.”
Pepper, who had been chewing on her lips, pulled a caramel from her pocket. She popped one into her own mouth and shared them with me and Arden as well.
I received two.
“Bark, bark, bark.”
“Woof, woof, woof.”
Up ahead, Collie and Dubu were conversing enthusiastically.
We had left the Grand Temple and were walking along the riverside toward Ophtal Street, where Pepper’s house was.
Pepper spoke, wiggling her fingers.
“Dad wasn’t like that before. He used to call Mom and me princess every day. He’d call Collie his youngest daughter, too.”
He’d brush Collie’s teeth and give her baths, and give her kisses before bed…….
“He was unconditionally on our side.”
“And then?”
“Starting from the time before-before-before last that he came home.”
‘The old man’s finally home, but what the hell kind of state is this house in!’
He’d just shout and throw tantrums.
‘You damn mutt! If only I didn’t have to waste money feeding this thing!’
“He kept saying to throw Collie away. To sell her to a house Dad knows well.”
He wasn’t like that until we got home. But when we woke up, Dad was different, Pepper said.
“He changed after you went to sleep and woke up?”
Mine and Arden’s expressions turned grave at the same time.
Hmm.
“Pepper. Does your father drink a lot?”
Was he an alcoholic? At my questioning look, Pepper shook her head.
“Dad doesn’t drink much. He eats a lot of snacks.”
“…….”
“When Dad’s home, we can’t even feed Collie and have to hide her. Once, he tried to secretly take Collie out while I was sleeping, and Mom screamed.”
“What was your father’s reaction then?”
“He got angry, left the house, and didn’t come back that day.”
“…….”
“…….”
It was then that I exchanged glances with Arden in silence.
“Woof!”
Collie, who was walking ahead, suddenly barked toward the front.
“Woof! Woof!”
“It’s Dad!”
“Dad?”
“That flag! It’s the ship Dad works on!”
“…The Temeren.”
Arden muttered after checking the flag of the ship entering the distant dock.
“A ship you know?”
“It’s a trade vessel funded by the sailors’ union. It’s famous for generating high profits despite not being owned by a great noble or a massive merchant company. It imports tea and tobacco from the Eastern Empire, and the tea leaves in particular are…….”
“We have to go!”
Pepper, her face pale, ran off without a word. Woof! Collie looked back at us and followed Pepper.
“…….”
“…….”
On the path with the river wind blowing, only Arden and I remained.
Before us was the bridge of Sandrin III, said to be the most beautiful bridge in the capital.
In the far distance, the Temeren flying its flag.
A trade ship operated by commoner sailors pooling their funds, yet said to earn as much as a great merchant company’s vessel.
I asked Arden.
“Doesn’t something seem strange?”
A ship like that wouldn’t hire random nobodies as sailors.
Would someone who’d been working just fine suddenly change like that?
“Suspicious.”
But Arden said something completely different.
“What about the atelier?”
“The atelier?”
“Yes, isn’t it time to work now?”
“Ah, it’s lunch break right now.”
“You should eat lunch during lunch break. Why did you go to the Grand Temple?”
“Because I’m quite devout.”
“I’ve never seen you donate even a single gold.”
“Faith doesn’t have to be proven with money.”
“I’ve never seen you pray for even a single second.”
“…….”
Do you just stare at me all day?
“Arden, what were you doing at the Grand Temple?”
“I went to hear the temple’s stance on the Magic Saint.”
“The Magic Saint?”
“Yes. Since she’s claiming to be a saint, after all.”
Arden added that he had gone to ascertain whether she had any connection to the temple.
“Working hard.”
“I have to work hard. She might be a prospective criminal. A prospective criminal desperate for attention.”
At those words, Dubu, who was walking ahead, glanced back at me.
He stuck out his tongue brightly, mouth open, as if smiling. I felt a little choked up.
“You’re not investigating because you’re interested in the Magic Saint?”
“I don’t think she’s someone worth my interest.”
“So full of yourself.”
“Why are you suddenly angry?”
“No, it’s nothing!”
Hmph!
“So, what did the temple say?”
“I couldn’t hear. The high priest was absent.”
“Oh dear.”
“It’s fine. That man is never at his post anyway. I’ll come again later.”
“…Arden, we’re near the Grand Temple. You shouldn’t call the high priest ‘that man.’”
Unless you’re royalty, you’ll get arrested.
“If I do get arrested, can you tell them you don’t know me?”
You’re already done for, but I have to survive. I lowered my voice and asked.
Without answering my earnest request, Arden changed the subject.
“Are you keeping that dog in the end?”
“As if. I met him by chance at the temple.”
“Does a dog owner let their dog wander around alone like that? He looks clean, like someone’s pet.”
“I guess he’s a smart dog who goes out alone.”
“That dog called Collie earlier seemed smart, too. She got fur on my pants.”
“Oh no. Why don’t you take them off and throw them away?”
“…….”
Arden fell silent.
Afraid that the tight-lipped Arden might actually take his pants off, I quickly grabbed his sleeve.
“What do you think?”
“…About what?”
Arden answered a beat late, his gaze fixed on the sleeve I was holding.
“Even a dad who shouts, throws tantrums, and yells at you to throw away your only friend—do you think it’s better to have him than not?”
Where exactly was the line for “but he’s still my dad”?
“……There are fathers better off absent.”
“Yeah…….”
“What do you think, Senior?”
“I don’t really know. I don’t have a dad.”
“…Ah.”
Arden’s arm that I was holding flinched.
“I’m sorry. I spoke without thinking.”
“Yeah, to think you’d hurt my fragile heart. Make it up to me.”
“How….”
“Apologize by wearing those fur-covered pants for ten days… pfft.”
“Senior!”
Only then realizing he was being teased, he protested with flushed cheeks.
Seeing his dopey… looking expression, as much as Dubu’s, I burst out laughing.
9 PM that same night. The atelier.
“So I understand the situation.”
A dad who was originally kind suddenly changed one day.
“But how can the Magic Saint help with this?”
It’s not like I’m a doctor.
“Send him to His Highness the Crown Prince’s psychiatric hospital for treatment……. No, maybe he wouldn’t go because he’s afraid of losing his job.”
I sat down on the floor, chin in hand, and put a pen in my mouth.
Business was slowly wrapping up for the day, so I was organizing the storage room on the second floor. Dubu, resting his chin on my knee, spoke.
“But there’s something strange, arf.”
“What?”
“The time before-before-before last that Pepper’s dad came home, he brought a box of cookies that smelled strange, arf. He said he received them as a gift from a big merchant company they trade with.”
“Cookies?”
“Yeah. When Pepper tried to eat one, Collie pawed at her hand because it was strange, and in the end, Pepper’s dad ate all the cookies by himself, arf.”
He tried to stop Pepper’s dad from eating them too, but Dad was tall so Collie couldn’t paw at his hand to stop him.
“And after that, he changed?”
“That’s right, arf. He had originally saved half for Mom to eat when she got back from work.”
“He saved them?”
“But when they woke up at dawn, Pepper’s dad was eating the cookies alone in the dark without even turning on the lights, arf.”
“Alone?”
“Yeah. Without chewing, frantically.”
“What was Pepper’s dad’s reaction after eating them all?”
“He became quiet, arf. Like he was drunk.”
“What the hell…….”
‘When we woke up, Dad was different.’
Was there something in the cookies?
If there was, what?
…Drugs?
I felt like I’d heard there were medicinal herbs that caused those symptoms…….
“……For now.”
“For now?”
“I need to find out if there are sailors on the Temeren showing the same symptoms as Pepper’s dad.”
Since the Temeren arrived in the capital today, they’ll probably want to grab a drink at a tavern they frequent, right?
“I’ll stop by after work.”
Ever since the atelier changed owners, all the employees get off work early. We even get days off.
I have plenty of time to snoop around at a tavern after work.
The problem is figuring out which tavern the Temeren sailors gather at.
“I saw the Temeren docked at Pier 3, so near there, a tavern that sailors would visit in groups….”
“Near Pier 3, the White Whale and Bubbles are famous.”
“Eek.”
I looked up while still sitting on the floor.
A man leaning against the open storeroom door smiled crookedly when his eyes met mine.
It was him.
The silver-haired man.
“If you ask where the White Whale and Bubbles are near Pier 3, everyone will know.”
“Why are you here at this hour?”
I guarded myself, hiding Dubu behind me.
Despite my obvious wariness, the silver-haired man was nonchalant.
He came into the storeroom and naturally petted Dubu once and scratched between his brows. (Dubu didn’t avoid him. Traitor!)
“They said the tea leaves ran out.”
“You’re delivering that at 9 PM?”
“You’re organizing the storeroom at 9 PM too.”
“…….”
“Anyway, it’s true that the White Whale and Bubbles are the most famous.”
“…….”
“Believe it or not.”
The silver-haired man shrugged and left the room. Dubu wagged his tail toward the silver-haired man disappearing down the stairs.
I looked back and forth between the silver-haired man and the traitor dog before opening my mouth.
“Dubu.”
“Hm?”
“You’ll expense the money I spend at the tavern later, right?”
I’ll take a carriage to the tavern, so put that on expenses too.
“Can’t spend money to uphold justice, after all☆”
♡☆♧Yes, I’m exhausted♧☆♡
Magic Saint Seraphina