Whole Over Slices

"This must be it."

He arrived at the room he'd been directed to.

The work was mostly done, so Evalin should definitely be inside… or so he'd been told.

He knocked on the door first to check.

No answer came after a short wait.

He tried knocking again with the same result.

He turned the doorknob. It was unlocked.

That was careless… then again, it was very like her.

Monster threats aside, she probably hadn't even had the concept of home security when she'd lived in the forest.

He opened the door and stepped inside.

"Evalin-san? Are you in here?"

He called out from just inside the entrance.

Something stirred on the bed, shifting under the covers.

She'd apparently been napping.

Evalin sat up with a slow, languid movement.

As she did, the blanket slipped away.

She was bare from the waist up.

Light streaming through the curtains caught her skin.

He hastily averted his eyes.

"Mm, who is it?"

"It's Yohane. You didn't answer, so I let myself in, but could you please put something on first?"

"Oh. It's you, Yohane."

Evalin showed no sign of embarrassment as she slid off the bed and pulled on a robe that had been draped over a chair. The soft rustle of fabric followed.

"I'm dressed now."

"Good."

He let out a breath of relief and looked back.

The robe was an improvement, but she was still lightly dressed.

"Barging in was my fault, but sleeping naked with the door unlocked… don't you think that's a bit much?"

"I sleep better this way. It's not like I have anything worth stealing."

"I was going to say you could be in danger… but then again, not many people could threaten you."

Anyone foolish enough to try would just get beaten right back.

She undoubtedly had some kind of magic running even in her sleep.

Whether it was the indifference of an elf, the confidence of a powerful being, or simply Evalin's personality…

Either way, she clearly didn't give it a second thought.

And he clearly wasn't even registering as a man to her.

The robe was short, leaving her legs exposed.

No matter what this woman wore, it was poison for the eyes.

"So what brings you here? Did something happen again?"

"No, nothing like that. I just came to say hello and invite you to a little tea party. Care to join us? There's cake."

"Sure. Cake is delicious, isn't it? Everything in the Royal Capital is delicious."

"Glad to hear it. Forest food has its merits, but cooked meals are pretty great too, right?"

Evalin seemed to have taken a liking to city cuisine.

Come to think of it, the image of her silently eating away at their last meal together was still vivid in his mind.

"I hear you've been making quite the contribution here, too. Apparently the court mages have had a much easier time since you arrived."

"It's just my area of expertise, so I'm pitching in a little. Barriers are all about how efficiently you circulate magical power. With the Thorn Staff augmenting me… Human mages have so little magical power, yet their technique is so wasteful. It's a shame."

"Please don't say that to the mages' faces."

"…? All right."

Compared to elves who'd lived for ages, the human mages never stood a chance.

The gap in raw magical power was one thing, but to have a gap in efficiency on top of that was practically cheating.

Then again, that was exactly why elves were said to rival dragons…

"Well then, shall we head over? Azu should be back by now."

"Has she been doing well since then?"

"Hm? Yes, Azu's doing fine."

"Then that's good."

He didn't voice the follow-up question.

The Apostle's Vessel or whatever it was called… there was no way she could be fine housing multiple Elementals, each a pure and formidable force, inside her body.

Even Yohane could see that.

The fact that she was living a normal life right now was probably nothing short of a miracle.

The sheer exhaustion she showed when she forced out that power was terrible.

Azu claimed she'd get used to it in time, but it didn't look that way.

And if the Church of the Sun God didn't exist, she'd never need to use that power in the first place.

He bundled Evalin into warmer clothes and brought her back to Queen Tianis's office.

Azu had returned from her errand.

"Good work. Thanks."

"It was nothing, really."

She puffed out her chest with pride… no, she just wanted her head patted.

He stroked her hair, and she beamed.

"It's been a while, Evalin-san."

"It has. Hello."

Incidentally, sitting on the desk was a whole cake.

"The shopkeeper said that if I was buying half a dozen shortcakes anyway, a whole cake was the better deal, so I went with that. It's a little cheaper."

"Makes sense. Good call."

"Oh, good. I was worried you'd be upset that I changed things on my own."

"I'm not that petty. On-the-spot decisions matter."

"Yes, sir!"

A single slice was roughly an eighth of the cake.

From the shop's perspective, selling a whole cake instead of half a dozen slices was preferable too.

Not having to portion and wrap each piece individually meant the whole cake was a better value than individual slices.

And the price difference wasn't much.

"I'll have a maid bring tea and plates, but who's cutting?"

"Allow me."

He borrowed a knife.

A solid silver piece with good heft.

Well, these were the queen's personal effects, so of course they'd be fine quality.

Five people present, but cutting it into exactly five even pieces was tricky.

But cutting it into eight — even setting three aside to take home — would still leave them one short.

Six was the best option: each person got one, and the last piece went to whoever wanted it.

He pressed the knife in.

Rich whipped cream topped with seasonal fruit, the sponge layered in multiple tiers.

Azu had picked a good one, just as Princess Yupe had wanted.

He carefully cut six slices and transferred them to plates.

"The extra piece is up for grabs."

He exhaled after the deed was done.

Being watched by everyone had made him needlessly tense.

"Is it really okay for me to have some too?"

"Of course. Just don't tell the others."

"Got it. Hehe, our little secret."

Even if the cake was meant as a gift, he wanted Azu to eat without holding back.

"Mm, yes. This is exactly what I wanted."

"So sweet and good… I could eat this for every meal."

It seemed to suit both Princess Yupe's and Queen Tianis's palates.

Every meal might be going a bit far, though.

"Delishush."

"Evalin-san, please swallow before you speak. I can't understand you."

"Mm. It's delicious. Whipped cream is so smooth and sweet…"

The last slice was contested in a round of rock-paper-scissors between the two royal sisters and Evalin.

Evalin won.

… She didn't use magic to cheat, did she?

After the cake was finished, a leisurely calm settled over the room.

With Queen Tianis's paperwork handled, she'd apparently decided to take it easy for the rest of the day.

"Your Majesty, have you ever heard of the Adventurer Insurance Association?"

"Hmm? What's that? You mean the Adventurer's Guild?"

"A subsidiary of it. Apparently the Finance Minister serves as its chairman."

"Ugh, that monster of an old man? Then it's definitely shady… Wait, isn't the Adventurer's Guild supposed to be neutral? They stay out of wars and disputes between nations. So how is a Finance Minister from our kingdom running one of their subsidiaries?"

Adventurers were free to participate in wars as mercenaries, but the Adventurer's Guild itself never took sides in conflicts.

That was precisely why such an enormous organization managed to avoid becoming a target for any nation.

By being no one's ally, they were no one's enemy.

A survival strategy, in a way.

"I think the reason it hasn't become an issue is that so few people know about it."

"I suppose. Honestly, I've got my hands full dealing with what's right in front of me."

"Not being known is the safest position, huh."

Princess Yupe was right.

The safest thing was to stay off everyone's radar.

… Though even knowing about it, it wasn't clear what they could do.