A Blue-Haired Poster Girl?

While waiting for Princess Tianis's reply, I spent several days showing Orleans around Kassad.

Azu had eagerly volunteered for the task.

Azu had been living in this city for quite some time now.

The area around the shop was practically her backyard.

She seemed to know several food stalls well, and the number of people she exchanged greetings with had grown considerably.

Her being an adventurer aside, she was a young woman of marriageable age.

She wasn't wearing anything that marked her as a slave, so this was a natural progression.

Orleans seemed to be enjoying herself as well.

Part of the reason she had come alone was probably because not much was expected of her.

But there might also be an element of needing a break.

Orleans's position was unique.

She was the banner of the estate's reforms, and the duke didn't treat her dismissively.

But subordinates wouldn't look favorably on that, as is typical in organizations.

I could imagine small harassments happening behind the duke's back.

The troublesome thing was that the more the duke tried to stop it, the worse the situation would become.

Orleans's competence only added fuel to the fire.

I spoke with Orleans several times while she stayed, and it was hard to believe she had once been a serf who knew nothing.

I had always had the impression she was quick-witted, but now even I was blown away.

Her arithmetic was especially fast.

Since she felt bad doing nothing while being looked after, I had her help at the shop, and she mastered the work immediately. When manning the counter, she could calculate even large purchases mentally on the spot.

Even Mina, Kaimol's sister, was amazed.

She had gotten used to the job quickly herself, but it had still taken her longer than Orleans.

"Y-Yohane-san. I'm not going to be fired, am I?"

Her face had gone a bit pale as she approached and whispered.

"Calm down. She's just a bored guest I had help out. Besides, we don't fire people who do their job properly."

She looked relieved at my wry smile and went back to work.

She was a girl without hidden sides, for better or worse.

Kaimol was a bit more shrewd, probably due to his experience.

Orleans's appearance had also become a topic of conversation, and young male customers started coming just to catch a glimpse of her.

I could see what looked like rookie adventurers among them.

Such customers didn't buy much and just tried to chat up Orleans, so I had to keep an eye on things.

That caused work to pile up, but with Orleans's help, it was cleared up easily.

"Can you read the Kingdom's language too?"

"Yes. It's only slightly different from the Imperial language."

The Imperial and Kingdom languages were quite similar given their shared history.

Especially linguistically, they were almost identical.

The writing wasn't as simple as Orleans made it sound, but she seemed able to read it completely.

She might even be faster than me at simple clerical work.

"Is that everything?"

"Yes. You've been a great help. Let's have some tea."

"I caused the work to pile up, so it's only right that I help."

Orleans said this and puffed out her chest slightly.

A commendable attitude.

… Those who found Orleans an eyesore must have found even this irritating.

"Sir, is something wrong?"

Orleans asked curiously as I indulged in unsolicited sympathy.

Perhaps I was speculating too much.

Reflecting on this, I had tea and snacks with Azu and Alexia back at home.

I crave sweet things when I'm tired.

As I was nibbling on sugar-coated dried fruit, a bell announced a visitor.

It was at the back door.

"I'll go."

Azu volunteered, opened the door, and hurried off toward the entrance.

It was nearly sunset.

Visitors at this hour were unusual, I thought, when I heard footsteps.

They were quick and purposeful, not Azu's.

The door swung open forcefully, and it wasn't Azu who entered, but Kanon.

Her displeasure was written plainly on her face.

She was still a noble who couldn't hide her emotions, I thought, while feeling somewhat surprised.

As Princess Tianis's close aide, she had always looked down on merchants.

Though she had reluctantly come at first on the princess's orders, I had thought she wouldn't come herself anymore.

Azu came hurrying after her.

She had probably tried to stop her but couldn't.

It couldn't be helped. She had her position to maintain.

"Welcome, Kanon-sama."

I rose from my chair to greet Kanon.

With a click of her tongue, Kanon struck the floor with her staff.

She seemed to be restraining her irritation.

I thought idly of how different her click of the tongue was from Finn's.

"Setting aside us contacting you, for a merchant to request to see the princess shows a complete lack of understanding of your place."

"Hardly. I wouldn't do this if nothing were wrong. I judged that failing to report would be to Princess Tianis's detriment."

"Hmm…"

Kanon's weakness was Princess Tianis herself.

If I implied that Tianis would suffer for this, she couldn't say no.

The proof that I had conveyed that implication was that Kanon herself had come.

"Then say it here."

"No, this needs to be reported directly."

"Are you saying I'm not good enough!?"

She shouted. What a waste of a beautiful face.

She seemed to think people would just obey if she pushed with her noble status.

That wasn't entirely wrong, but blindly following nobles would only lead to ruin.

Nobles didn't care what happened to commoners because of their actions.

I had met nobles who weren't like that, but people like Kanon were still the majority.

"Who I speak to is for me to decide. And I believe this is not information to be judged through intermediaries."

"… If you're going that far, it had better be valuable information."

"I believe it is."

A temporary silence fell over the room.

After a moment of tense stillness, Kanon relented first.

"I look forward to it. If it isn't, I'll make you regret taking the royal family lightly."

"That won't be necessary."

"Hmph."

Kanon snorted dismissively, gave me a time for the meeting, and left.

She could have just sent a messenger for this kind of errand. Had she just wanted to complain?

"Want me to deal with her?"

Finn had appeared behind me at some point and whispered in my ear.

"Please don't. People like her are actually easier to handle."

"Is that so."

Finn clicked her tongue as she said this.

Hers was definitely cuter.