Chapter 199
"The smell! Serena. Let's eat here!"
Philomatur, sniffing the air, pointed at a restaurant and said.
With its gleaming, well-polished glass, luxurious signboards, and stationed guards, it clearly looked like a high-end restaurant.
It seemed to be a place where only noblewomen holding parasols or men of noble families dressed in sharp suits frequented.
"Is this place okay?"
"My outstanding sense of smell is telling me so. How about it, Pupi? Doesn't your nose say the same?"
"Yes. The smell is quite wonderful. What about you, Aldu?"
"Haha, meat is always welcome!"
Unlike in the North, they were able to rest freely in Caladi. Thus, they were traveling in a group and enjoying the sights.
"Uh, isn't that Ovarna?"
"It is. What's he doing over there?"
"Tsk. I guess guys who only know how to fight have zero tact. What else could it be but a date? You should tell just by looking!"
The building was made of full-length glass, allowing them to see inside, where Ovarna and a white-haired man were enjoying a meal together.
"None of my business."
"They look like they're having fun, so we should just eat quietly and leave."
Philo said dismissively, and Pupi nodded in reply.
"Huh? Over there, that. Isn't that the Saintesses and Callis?"
"Right. Callis dressed up in a suit is completely unrecognizable! Not as handsome as a dwarf, but still quite good-looking."
"What are you talking about? Dwarves look like they've been stepped on by a giant once."
"S-Stepped on by a giant! How can you say such harsh things to my face!"
"Kyahahaha! That's true! Yep! Absolutely! Kyahaha!"
Aldu was startled by the sharp factual strike, while Philo laughed heartily, feeling satisfied.
As they were making quite a racket, a guard approached, waving his hands and issuing a ban.
"You can't do this here."
"We're customers too. Let's go in now."
"Shall we go in~"
However, the guards blocked their way.
After scanning them up and down once, they spread their hands as if telling them to get lost.
"What? We have plenty of money too!"
"This is a place where only those with noble titles may enter."
"I'm a noble in my country too."
Philo had even been a chieftain.
He was somewhat of a noble.
Within his tribe, that is.
"Please show your proof."
"Hah, I guess I have to show this again."
Philo put his hand into his waistband and took something out.
"This, you see, is called the Rainbow Scale, given only to the past chieftains. A scale bestowed by the ancient Dragon God... Why are you pushing me!"
"That does not serve as proof. I'm sorry, but please leave, guests."
"Ugh."
"Let's not cause unnecessary trouble. Callis seems to be having an important conversation, so let's go eat somewhere else."
"Tch."
"Let's do that. This isn't the only restaurant around. Let's go."
Aldu suggested, and Philo clicked his tongue.
Pupi, still wearing his helmet, poured out gentle words and turned his steps elsewhere.
However, Serena stood there for a long time, looking at Callias, before disappearing.
* * *
"Hmm."
"Is something wrong?"
"No, it's nothing."
Looking at the delicacies laid out on the table, Callias picked up his knife.
His gaze was fixed solely on the food. Though he had a beauty on each arm, Callias was extremely uncomfortable with the current situation.
'It's obvious when I think about it.'
Having the Saintesses of an enemy nation at the same dining table, it was only natural for there to be a subtle war of nerves.
Callias decided to give up thinking.
And focused on the food.
"The taste is good."
"It is. The quality of the meat and the sauce are excellent. The accompanying spices and salad offset the smell and greasiness of the meat. The chef's skill is quite remarkable, isn't it?"
Ailey also put the lamb rib steak in her mouth and expressed her refined impressions.
"It suits my taste as well. But the fork is a bit uncomfortable. Ah, no, maybe it's because of the ring on my hand..."
"...."
Holding a fork in her left hand and a knife in her right, Esther overtly displayed her left ring finger, showing off the red ring.
The ruby of Hestia that Callias had given her.
'Why did she put that on her ring finger.'
Unlike Callias, who briefly pondered it before deciding to ignore it.
Ailey's eyes narrowed.
"What a beautiful ring. I recall Count Zervan having that on his hand as well... is that correct?"
"Ah, yes. I was leaving on a long journey... the Count handed this to me."
It was a statement that implied many things.
Although Esther hadn't said it, it was naturally assumed to be a token passed between lovers parting on a long journey.
"I see."
Ailey's gaze, subtly glancing at Callias, was sharp. It seemed to rebuke him for giving such a thing.
However, Callias simply looked back with eyes that said 'so what?' without a word.
"Count."
"What is it. Ailey."
"Would Emily have departed by now? I wonder if we're making her do something unnecessarily difficult, sending her alone to the North."
"An unnecessary worry. Shunip is a famous horse that runs a thousand li in an instant. A journey of a month or two will only take three days."
It wasn't that dangerous, either.
As he answered and cut his meat, Esther, narrowing her eyes at Callias's wine glass, was subtly reflected in it.
Callias decided to ignore it.
"You seem to know Emily well."
"Yes. We've gotten a bit close recently. Perhaps because we have many similarities, we couldn't help but become fast friends. As if connected by something invisible."
Ailey's expression and tone, subtly implying something.
Watching her swirl the wine glass in her hand brought to mind blood.
Esther naturally felt uneasy.
"I... see."
Emily and Ailey.
The story of the two was one of the rumors that spread instantly even in Caladi.
Their faces were identical.
Their names were similar. Looking at the two, people said they were as affectionate and beautiful as a mother and daughter.
It was the very reason gossipers were so busy chattering about Callias and Ailey's relationship.
Esther had known that for a long time as well.
"Now that you mention it, there are rumors going around that the Saintess and Emily look so alike and have such similar names that they must be mother and daughter. It's such an absurd rumor that I just laughed it off when I heard it. The Sword of Carpe and the Saintess of the Empire, a married couple? Even a passing dog wouldn't believe that."
"...."
Unlike Esther, who spoke with a scoffing laugh, Ailey's expression was somewhat meaningful.
The smile vanished instantly from Esther's face.
"What exactly is the relationship between you two...?"
Then, Ailey looked at Callias and didn't answer.
As if expecting him to answer.
But Callias didn't answer.
He was only interested in the newly arriving dish.
"What is this?"
"Our chef said that since such esteemed guests have arrived, he'd like you to evaluate the new menu item... Of course, there is no charge for the dish."
"Oh ho."
At Callias's exclamation, Ailey and Esther's eyes turned cold.
He had worn a sullen expression the entire time he was talking with them, but the moment a single dish came out, he showered it with such admiration.
"Excellent. Is this goose liver?"
"You guessed it correctly."
The goose liver was coated in flour, giving the feeling of eating bread and liver together.
Added to that, the chef's special sauce seeped into the bread and liver, removing any unpleasant odor and leaving a fresh, clean, and savory taste lingering on the tongue.
"It's to my liking. The name?"
"It is Brugra."
"Good."
The chef's skill is very good.
So much so that I want to recruit him.
"Count."
"What is it?"
"You still haven't answered my question."
"You're asking something useless. Is that important?"
"It is important to me."
"Why is that?"
"Because I cannot stand by and watch a noble colluding with the Saintess of the Empire."
"...That's true."
Colluding. Callias couldn't just silently ignore that word. Soon, he sliced the Brugra in half with his knife.
Callias, who had been savoring it in small bites, seemed like he was going to split it and share it, but he didn't.
Along with the halved Brugra, he looked at Ailey and answered.
"It's merely a relationship between the victor and the vanquished."
Color returned to Esther's face at once.
Because it was no different from saying she was just a prisoner of an enemy nation.
However, Ailey was a bit different; a flush crept onto her face.
The moment he thought, 'Why?'.
"It's a night with a bright moon."
Esther's expression violently crumpled at Ailey's murmured words.
Night. Victor and vanquished.
A grown woman would have no way of not knowing what that implied.
"Y-You...! Vile...!!"
"It seems the Sword Saintess has quite the vivid imagination. Your face is turning red and blue all on its own, very colorful."
"How can someone who calls herself a Saintess!!"
"My, whatever were you thinking to say such a thing? It seems you must have had some lewd imaginings."
Bang!
She slammed her fist onto the table.
The table, split exactly in half, collapsed, and the food spilled.
"Ah."
Callias froze, holding tableware in both hands.
"Are you insulting the Sword Saintess of Carpe right now?"
"Well. Why is that an insult? Saintess. Don't be ashamed of your excellent imagination. It's just a natural instinct."
"You're insulting me to the very end."
Swoosh. Thud.
Esther threw the knife she was holding at Ailey's feet.
"Pick it up."
"It seems in Carpe, this is how you request a duel."
"Yes. If you take hold of the knife I threw, you and I will engage in an honorable duel under the watchful eyes of the gods."
"Fine. Shall we go right now?"
"Very well."
Callias, who had been looking dumbfounded at the spilled food caused by them, had his eyes shine terrifyingly cold.
"...Count?"
"Callias. What's wrong? If it's because of the food, I will pay for it."
"Ah, I ruined the meal. I'm sorry."
Even while the two women apologized, Callias's expression did not change.
Rather, his brow furrowed as if deeply sunken, and the heavy pressure flowing from his body began to engulf the surroundings.
One might think he could go this far just because he couldn't eat some food.
But he was serious.
Seeing those eyes, which seemed to brim with killing intent, Esther hurriedly called the employee.
"Could you make that Brugra again? I will pay for it."
"Ah, well, that's... he made it as a test piece, so there are no ingredients left."
Callias's eyes began to narrow coldly.
Whoosh-!
At the even more intensely blooming killing intent, cold sweat dripped down Esther and Ailey's backs.
Just as they thought he was more serious about food than they'd imagined and were about to call the chef.
An unexpected word spilled from his mouth.
"I sense an aura of corruption."
What he was looking at was not the food dropped on the floor, but something deeper beneath it.
The Abyssal Labyrinth.
The tomb that would be beneath Caladi.
The Catacombs of Veria.