Celebration

For the celebration, we had the inn bring food up to the room.

The table was loaded with dishes, quite the spread.

Everything was finger food, chosen for ease of eating.

Once I'd confirmed everyone had their drinks, I raised mine.

"Well then, to a successful completion of the duke's commission. Cheers."

"Cheers!"

Elza's booming voice followed mine.

The others chimed in a beat later, each murmuring their own toast.

Everyone but Azu had wine in their glasses.

"So you can drink too, Finn?"

"Of course. Though unless it's something extreme, I won't get drunk thanks to training. Just enough to feel a little warm."

"That's a thing you train for?"

"When people get drunk, their guard drops completely. Makes them perfect targets for assassination."

"Now you're ruining my drink."

"Ahaha! Relax, I'm not going to assassinate you."

Finn drained her wine in one go, grabbed a bone-in piece of fried chicken, and bit into it.

The crunch was loud enough to reach me, so I picked one up too.

A satisfying crackle of crispy skin, bursting with the flavor of a well-seasoned sauce.

The chicken inside was perfectly juicy. Damn good.

Deep-frying used a lot of oil, so it wasn't something I'd done much, but this might be worth adding to the repertoire.

Finn ate fast. And neatly, at that.

Next she picked up a slice of cheese and bacon pizza and nibbled at it. The cheese was perfectly melted.

"I don't usually eat food like this, so it's a nice change."

"That so? I guess a lot of it is pretty labor-intensive."

"That's not it. If I eat too much meat or greasy food, it changes my body odor. Like I said, I don't have any jobs lined up, so I'm eating… but if you try to sniff me, I'll rip your nose off."

I'd been about to lean in out of curiosity, and she nailed me with that preemptive warning.

Close call.

That would've been a lack of tact, fair enough.

After chatting with Finn a while longer, I moved on.

Elza was eating skewered grilled small fish, so I grabbed the same thing.

Watching her, I noticed she held her hair back with her left hand and took small, dainty bites of the fish.

My eyes were drawn to her lips without thinking.

"Hey, what are you looking at? It's embarrassing when you stare."

"Just thinking you look like you're really enjoying it."

Elza noticed my gaze and covered her mouth with her left hand.

She seemed a touch self-conscious.

I bit into my own skewer of fish.

The salt-grilled fish must've been in season, as the fat was rich, and each bite only sharpened my appetite.

With all the Church of the Sun God business lately, I'd been a little worried about her.

But she was eating well and seemed perfectly healthy.

"Heh, are you worried about me?"

"It's a master's duty. Keeping all of you in top condition."

"Talk like that won't exactly motivate me."

Elza said this and turned her face away to the right. She wore a prim expression.

Then she glanced back at me from the corner of her left eye.

It was a look full of expectation.

I see.

"You're important to me. I was worried."

"Hmm, passing marks, I suppose. If you're going to spoil us, at least do it properly and let us dream a little."

"Got it. I'll do my best."

"Then we're good."

After saying that, Elza turned back to face me.

Her mood had improved. Or rather, the whole thing had probably been an act.

Women were a mystery.

But I understood that the right words could make all the difference in their motivation.

Come to think of it, I hadn't thought I was spoiling them.

Leaving Elza, I headed over to Alexia, who was eating bread.

The bread was packed with all manner of fillings, the colors vivid.

Alexia was mid-sip of wine when she noticed me approaching.

She drained her glass and poured a refill.

Mine was empty too, and without a word, she filled it as well.

"Well, you've come my way."

"Yeah. Things were getting a bit greasy, so I thought I'd grab some bread."

"Eating like this every day would make you fat. Rich food is best enjoyed once in a while."

"I'd be in trouble if you put on weight. It'd affect survival rates."

I looked Alexia over from head to toe. She was the biggest eater in the party.

She was so slender you'd wonder where all that energy came from.

She was toned enough that "delicate" wasn't quite the word, but she had a decidedly feminine figure.

Even if she gained a little, it would probably just add some curves.

"Sizing up a woman so blatantly is in rather poor taste."

That's what she said, but Alexia made no move to cover herself. She simply placed both hands on her hips and stood tall.

As if to say: go ahead and look.

That kind of boldness was one of her strengths.

She was so headstrong that sometimes I genuinely forgot she was a slave.

The slacking from her early days was long gone, and that forcefulness was an asset, too.

So I took my time looking.

Lithe limbs, and the open neckline of her battle dress.

… If Anatia was the sheltered young lady, then Alexia was the spirited heiress.

Biased as I might be, she held her own in both looks and figure.

If the chance arose, I'd love to dress her up and have her on my arm.

The Empire had let go of a real gem.

I must have stared too long, because Alexia turned away.

Pity.

"Come now, you came for the food, didn't you? This one and this one are particularly good."

She served me two selections: bread stuffed with an egg filling, and bread with fried white fish.

I tried them. She was right, they were good.

"Delicious."

"Aren't they?"

Alexia wore a smug little grin.

Her mental state had stabilized considerably since the trip to Aquarius.

The root of her troubles hadn't been resolved, but being able to help set things right in the city she was supposed to have governed must have meant a great deal.