Things Invisible from the Throne

When searching for that business-minded girl, the first thing I considered was the busy streets.

She would surely be there in the morning hours when people were heading to work.

The busiest street in the Royal Capital had many people moving about, and food stalls lined up to serve them as customers.

It seemed a small commercial zone had formed around this street alone.

Each stall had its own innovations to attract customers, making it an interesting sight just to observe.

I headed there with a yawning Princess Tianis in tow.

Azu and Elza came along just in case.

I thought it might be problematic to drag the busy Princess Tianis around too much, but Lady Anatia said she would cover the princess's duties for a while.

Her reasoning was that this would help the princess grow more than work at the castle would.

I owe her a great deal.

If anything happened to the princess on my watch, it would be a disaster. I need to be careful.

"What a crowd. I had no idea this many citizens lived in the Royal Capital."

"Looking at numbers on paper doesn't give you a real sense of it. That alone makes this trip worthwhile."

"True… but we have another purpose."

I held the princess's hand so we wouldn't get separated as we toured the stalls.

The breakfast menus were diverse, like a showcase of the kingdom's morning meals.

One stall sold thin flatbreads with meat and vegetables tucked inside, while another cut fresh fruit on the spot to make fruit punch.

Since we hadn't eaten breakfast, the smells alone made me hungry.

Princess Tianis seemed to feel the same way.

Even so, I endured and kept checking the stalls until I finally spotted our target girl at a stall a little ways off.

A small stall with a transparent container filled with liquid, and what appeared to be boiled eggs inside.

The girl was speaking with two soldiers, but her expression grew dejected as she reached into the box holding her earnings and tried to hand some coins to the soldiers.

The moment Princess Tianis saw this, she stepped forward to intervene.

"Soldiers there. Explain what you're doing."

"What?"

The two soldiers glared at us.

They were well-built from training and equipped as regular soldiers, giving them an intimidating presence.

But Princess Tianis didn't back down an inch.

"It looked like you were about to extort her earnings."

"Hey now, little miss, watch your mouth. We're soldiers protecting the capital's peace. We're just collecting our dues. Right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Our salary isn't enough, so we're just asking these stall vendors to chip in."

"That's strange. This country should be paying soldiers adequate wages."

Princess Tianis was technically looking up at the soldiers.

But facing a princess who wouldn't budge, the soldiers seemed somewhat flustered.

"Which unit do you belong to?"

"… What are you, little miss? Stick your nose in too far and you'll regret it."

"How amusing. Since when do soldiers of this nation threaten the roy—"

I judged that any further would be bad and covered her mouth.

Princess Tianis made muffled sounds and protested with her eyes.

I brushed it off with an awkward smile.

I understood her feelings, but causing a scene would interfere with the investigation.

Disciplining soldiers wasn't our current objective.

She started struggling to push my hand away.

What a spirited girl.

The soldiers looked at us with bewildered expressions.

Whether I'd taken the wind out of their sails or they'd simply lost interest, they walked away grumbling.

At least we managed to protect the girl's earnings.

"Ow!"

She finally bit me, so I let go. Princess Tianis was clearly displeased.

"Why did you stop me?! Those soldiers must be punished!"

"Because we'd attract attention. I understand your feelings, but don't forget our objective."

"Hmph."

She finally calmed down after remembering our main purpose.

Still, her strong sense of justice is admirable.

She might become a good ruler.

Composing myself, I approached the girl.

"Um, thank you so much!"

The girl bowed deeply several times.

Princess Tianis stopped her and asked a question.

"Does that happen often?"

"Not every day, but they come by regularly demanding a portion of my earnings as a 'location fee.' Usually it's one silver coin, but today they wanted more…"

"Demanding location fees in a place like this… The Royal Capital has no restrictions on food stalls as long as you follow the rules and pay taxes."

"So that's why there are so many stalls here."

Princess Tianis's anger was flaring up again.

I managed to calm her down while continuing the conversation.

We needed to finish this matter before we could move on.

Besides, I had thoughts of my own about this.

"Rumor has it they target people like me who can't fight back."

"Soldiers openly extorting people in the Royal Capital. Unbelievable. Did you not report this to the guards?"

"Some of us victims went together to report it, but they wouldn't listen. So really, thank you so much. I need money for my uncle's treatment, so losing that would have been devastating."

"That's nothing worth thanking me for. But I see, the guards turned a blind eye too. I had no idea things were like this while I sat idle…"

Princess Tianis clenched her fists tightly.

I gently took her hands and unclenched them so she wouldn't hurt herself.

"You've learned of it now. You're not an omniscient, omnipotent god—you're human. You can address it starting now."

"You're… right."

"Um, who are you all anyway? I remember some of you bought from my stall before."

"You remembered. Actually, we came here hoping to ask you some questions."

"Questions? I don't mind, but could you wait until I sell out?"

She pointed to the container on her stall.

"What is that?"

"Pickled boiled eggs. Apparently, the market got a huge shipment of eggs and they were having a big sale, so I bought a bunch, boiled them, peeled off the shells, and pickled them in vinegar."

"Lots of eggs, huh."

Eggs were definitely on the list for the soup kitchen supplies.

The quantities were substantial, and if they'd all been siphoned off onto the market at once, that would explain things.

Only about eight pickled eggs remained before she sold out.

"Then I'll buy the rest. Can you spare some time?"

"Really? You bought a lot last time too. Thank you so much!"

She sure thanks people a lot.

But it feels good. I'm sure many customers buy from her stall.