Noel Nexia was fretting.
“I wanted to meet Lord Aizen…”
As a member of a ducal house related by blood to the royal family, Noel knew of the deal between Aizen and the palace.
She had her own personal desires as well, and on the day of the entrance ceremony, partly to make herself known, she had helped Aizen when he was dragged off by the professors…
Naturally, Aizen had not appeared before Noel since then.
According to rumor, he caused incidents so often that the professors had sealed him away somewhere, but when she checked, that was not the case.
He attended every class without fail, but the moment class ended, he vanished faster than anyone else.
At times, he was engaged in a breathless chase with Professor Reina, and at some point, Professor Rodelini and Professor Iserina had joined the pursuit as well.
‘The fact that a chase with professors can even happen means he’s definitely not ordinary.’
It was something Noel could not even dream of doing.
She was naturally frail, to the point that she had to walk with a cane.
If she used magic, there was no problem, but it consumed a great deal and had a time limit.
That was why Noel wanted to talk with Aizen.
“…Legs.”
The golem Aizen had ridden.
If she got into that golem, perhaps she could feel as though she were walking too.
It was not as though there were no political reasons, but in the end, that was why Noel cared about Aizen’s movements and wanted to grow closer to him.
However, while Aizen was easy to spot, he was hard to meet, and recently she had heard that the young Lady Christa had been sticking close to him.
“The Saintess…”
As Noel remembered her, she was a kind person.
At the same time, she was a difficult person.
She always spoke with a smile, but never revealed her true feelings.
Still, Noel had liked that she did not seem greedy for money, unlike what one might expect from a merchant family…
‘For some reason, though, that side of her felt slightly off-putting.’
They had only exchanged words twice, but that was the impression Noel had of Mina.
Afterward, she had made sure to avoid her somewhat…
Why was that person staying close to Aizen?
The Saras Order held great influence, but not enough to know about the royal family’s secret deal.
Pure goodwill? That did not seem likely. Surely there was some compensation—
‘…Now that I think about it, I sound terribly vulgar!’
She did not actually do it because of her cane, but in her heart she patted her own cheeks.
After finishing that bit of self-reproach, Noel looked at the basket she was holding in her other hand.
‘Will he like them…?’
It occurred to her only now, but she was the daughter of a ducal house, while Aizen, though a noble, was the son of an untitled family.
She had helped smooth over the entrance ceremony commotion, so her invitation to have tea must have been an enormous burden to Aizen.
So she had prepared sweets in order to create a more comfortable meeting.
‘They’re chocolates said to be good for fatigue!’
They were top-class sweets, one box of which cost a commoner household’s monthly living expenses, but at this level, Aizen should not feel burdened either.
After all, if one was a noble, it was only natural that one could eat this much.
Yes, Noel Nexia had completed all her preparations!
‘Then…!’
In front of the warehouse Aizen was said to frequent, Noel took a deep breath for this day and reached out her hand.
—Knock, knock, knock.
A cheerful knocking sound rang out, but there was no answer.
Just as she was wondering whether he might not be there and considering opening the door—
—KWA-BOOM!!
Startled by the terrifying explosion, Noel fell backward just like that.
“Uh… u-uhhh…?”
She had protected the sweets and her cane, but because she had rolled on the ground, her clothes were covered in dirt.
Through the strands of hair that had fallen from where they had been neatly swept back, she saw the door flung open by the shock.
“Kh, cough! Wow, that’s strong. So the problem really was that I’d been doing things too safely until now!”
“If you intended to kill me, you should have announced it in advance!”
Inside, she saw Mina hiding behind an iron plate and Aizen coughing.
****
In the laboratory that had finally been put back in order, there were three people in a complete mess.
Me, who had thought the output was insufficient and tried to check the maximum explosion power of highly concentrated mana water.
The investor, who had egged me on from the side and was now calculating the damages while saying she had almost died.
And a guest.
“Uh… you’re Lady Nexia… right?”
“Yes, I am Noel Nexia of House Nexia… I apologize for showing you such an unseemly appearance…”
If anything, I was the one who should have apologized, but Lady Nexia apologized as though it were her own fault.
Honestly, the only guest who ever came here was my dear investor, so I had not paid any attention to entertaining visitors. I never imagined she would get caught up in it today, and at the exact moment she was in front of the door.
On top of that, this was not a good place to receive guests, since there was not even a single snack here.
Still, I could not just leave her standing, and we at least had juice, so I spread a mat in one corner of the warehouse and offered it to her while we sat down. Fortunately, she did not seem displeased.
“This is a place for research, isn’t it? It is not a salon for noble ladies, and I am the one who came to a place where it would be difficult to properly receive guests. If you are treating me even like this, I should be the one thanking you.”
Unlike a certain investor, she was an extremely gentle and kind person.
Perhaps she had saved me when I was being interrogated by the professors last time because she had a good personality.
And Mina, who had suddenly become docile and whose expression had softened a while ago, smiled at Noel and said,
“Still, I’m glad you’re safe, Lady Noel. If you happen to be hurt anywhere, please tell me. I will use healing arts for you.”
Mina with the Saintess mask, which I had only seen briefly at the beginning.
It seemed right to play along here.
“Mina’s healing arts are quite expensive, so you should be careful.”
“Lord Aizen. That joke is going too far.”
A shadow settled within her bright smile.
Looks like she might fire a Saintess Death Beam at me later.
Wait, a beam?
“If you can shoot something like a beam, give me a demonstration later, Mina.”
“The Saintess has no such function.”
As I exchanged our usual banter with Mina, Noel’s expression turned slightly strange.
And soon, Noel looked at me and said,
“Um… Lord Aizen? The Saintess is famous for being uninterested in money, so that is rather rude…”
It seemed that when dealing with Noel, Mina had worn a mask of someone uninterested in money.
And jokes at this level were within Mina’s range of tolerance.
If there were a real problem, Mina would have thrown a punch at me.
It was hard to imagine since the face she showed to the public was so varied, but for some reason, she was unreserved with me.
She seemed to think there was no need to wear a mask with me.
‘Wait, is that why she says she’s comfortable here and comes every day?’
I considered the possibility for a moment, but decided on my own that it was not the case.
We were not yet close enough to know each other’s innermost thoughts that clearly.
Amid that, Mina picked up one of the sweets Noel had brought and smiled.
“Now, enough useless talk. Let’s eat the sweets. These are from a famous shop in the capital. They’re hard to get and expensive.”
“How expensive, specifically?”
Mina thought for a moment, then smiled and said,
“If we apply Aizen-style unit conversion, it would be enough to fill one small warehouse with potatoes.”
“So about one month of living expenses for a commoner family of four. That’s insane.”
“Um, what kind of calculation method is that?”
Noel asked in bewilderment, but unfortunately, there was no one to answer her.
In any case, it was certain that these were insanely priced sweets, so I reverently lifted one with both hands and put it in my mouth.
The harmony of chocolate and flour was quite exquisite, making it delicious and rather to my liking, but…
‘…It feels like eating it just once doesn’t make the cost worth it…’
When I thought that with one of these I could hold a potato party for an entire month, it was regrettable after all.
More importantly, eating only steamed potatoes was getting old, so it was about time to try other dishes…
“So, may I ask why you came here, my lady?”
Only at Mina’s voice did I remember that, all this time, I had been talking about random topics with Noel sitting right in front of me.
I hurriedly looked at Noel.
“Ah, I’m sorry. You must have had a reason for coming, but I’ve been rudely doing nothing but evaluating the sweets.”
“Ah, no… I’m grateful that you enjoyed them, but, well…”
Noel’s expression sharpened ever so slightly.
“Pardon me, but I would like to ask why Saintess Christa is here. If you do not have a direct relationship with Lord Aizen, could I ask you to give us just a brief moment?”
At Noel’s words, Mina’s expression changed ever so slightly.
It was a kind face, but one tinged with wariness.
“Lord Aizen and I have formed a personal friendship, and I am in a position to offer help and advice to him, as he is somewhat lacking in noble common sense. The Saras Order is a place that extends a helping hand to those in need, after all.”
“Even so, surely you cannot involve yourself in everything he does? Even if the two of you are, um, lovers…”
Noel spoke with great caution.
Mina’s eyes widened as she said,
“Are you insane? Dating this golem maniac? When I almost died just now? Lady Noel. We have a deeper and more tightly knit relationship than that, but we are absolutely not in such a suspicious relationship.”
“That last part sounds even more suspicious.”
I said this while stopping Mina, who was very flustered, but Noel’s expression was anything but ordinary.
Embarrassment, tremendous curiosity, and a reddened face.
If I did not correct this quickly, Mina would smack me in the back of the head with her coin purse.
“We are employer and employee.”
“Yes. That’s the relationship. It is that kind of relationship, but…”
Mina’s gaze toward me was slightly cold.
That was the wrong answer?
“I-I see. That is a relief…”
However, Noel seemed to have calmed down, and she let out a sigh.
Then, as though she had made up her mind, she opened her mouth.
“Um, well. I think I should tell you the purpose of my visit now.”
“Yes. Please go ahead.”
When I answered quietly, Noel took a deep breath and slowly said,
“The truth is, I wanted to ask you to form a group with me for the next dungeon class. Last time, I was not feeling well and could not participate, so this time I truly wanted to join…”
“A group? With me?”
A ducal lady with a titleless scrap of nobility from a rural estate?
Mina also looked surprised.
“Pardon me, my lady, but do you not have prepared employees, or members of vassal families…”
“I don’t want to receive their help. I…”
Somewhat agitated, Noel took a moment to catch her breath.
Her gaze briefly touched her cane.
Honestly, while talking, my attention had wandered for a moment, but both its appearance and material were those of a luxurious cane.
It was clearly metal, yet it was beautifully crafted, and a delicate-looking young lady like Noel did not seem to find the metal cane heavy at all…
‘No way.’
Now that I thought about it, Mina had said she had not yet been able to obtain mana metal.
Then perhaps the metal used in that cane was…
‘I need it…!’
The smelting and craftsmanship used in that cane.
And the metal that was presumed to be mana metal.
I swallowed slightly.
In the meantime, the voice I had missed for a moment reached my ears.
“…So if it would not be a burden, I was hoping we could form a group together…”
“Sure.”
Noel stopped speaking.
With a shadow beneath her gentle smile, Mina said,
“…Two-timing?”
“What are you talking about?”
When I looked back at Noel, she seemed surprised that I had agreed so easily.
Looking at Noel, I said,
“Of course, it won’t be free.”
With the faint humming of the engine sample placed behind me as background noise, I stated the terms of the deal.
It did not take long for Noel to nod.