Chapter 86: A Spectacular Outing (2)
In my previous life, I lived in the middle of hell–the battlefield. So, I figured that nothing would make me uneasy in this life.
That was my mistake.
“Who are you? Where did you come from? And you bought this sofa?”
“Yes.” Leila clashed with three noble ladies.
Ah, it occurred to me.
At one point, my eldest sister and second sister had been fighting as if they were going to kill each other. I was probably six years old. The scene where my two elder sisters, who returned to the count’s castle during their vacation from the academy, fought with magic and summoning respectively was just…
“D-Dane? Shouldn’t we stop her?”
I didn’t think I needed to step forward.
“Wait.”
After all, it seemed like Leila would figure it out on her own.
As if he had sensed my emotions, Karnas moved in my arms. I wondered if the little one, who had been strangely quiet since coming out to the capital, sensed something.
“I bought this sofa. And the shelf that the lady over there was just about to look at.” Leila paid no attention to the chilling gazes of the three women standing in front of her. “It would be best if you gave up now. Do you know who I am?”
When the noblewoman in the front who seemed to be the leader of the group shouted angrily, another woman next to her stepped forward.
“This is Countess Somers, a noble lady of a prestigious family in the capital! Pay your respects immediately!”
At this moment, I remembered two mistakes made by those noble ladies.
First, she started yelling and threatening us first.
“Oh, my ears hurt.” Leila grimaced and tapped her ear. “I already knew, Baroness Angre.”
“What…”
Second, the fact that they didn’t wonder about who Leila, who was standing in front of them and speaking so confidently, could be.
That was their biggest ‘mistake’.
“You must be Countess Somers, seeing as you are wearing the Somers crest.”
“…You know me?”
“Yes. Oh, it must have been last year. I think I saw you once at the celebration party held when I won the Dantère Cup.”
For a moment, Countess Somers tilted her head. “Celebration… party?”
“I think you complimented my hair. Don’t you remember?”
Countess Somers’ mouth slowly opened. She seemed to remember now.
“I-it can’t be…”
I clicked my tongue inwardly. Leila probably stepped forward to save an employee she knew from trouble, but that countess made things worse. If she had recognized Leila, she would have backed off and saved face, but she didn’t.
“Miss… Leila… Thermion…”
“Yes. How have you been?”
“You’ve… grown so much… I didn’t recognize you…”
She probably wasn’t doing very well.
“…M-my lady.”
“What should we do…?”
The other noble ladies next to her were frozen in place. The countess was their leader, so the two of them must come from houses of lower standing than her. Even the countess was in such a situation, so the two of them wouldn’t even think of interfering.
The ranks of nobility, indeed.
First, Leila was from the Thermion Duchy.
“Leila is so cool,” Ernest whispered beside him, and Karnas squirmed in agreement.
I also nodded in agreement.
“Let me say this again. I bought the sofa, and I also bought the shelf you’re looking at over there. In fact, I probably bought or plan to buy all of the furniture you’re thinking of buying today. Do you know what I mean?”
Leila landed the finishing blow.
“Apologize to Giel here.”
“…Wh-what do you mean by that?”
“Don’t you remember yelling and insulting him?”
The countess was visibly embarrassed, perhaps even more so than when Leila’s identity was revealed.
Just as Countess Somers was mumbling…
“Just so you know, he is an employee I like and cherish very much. I plan to continue to do so.” Leila continued speaking slowly, stating each word clearly.
Countess Somers hesitated and hesitated, unable to do anything, until finally…
“…I… am sorry,” she apologized to Giel.
Giel pretended to be surprised, but like any employee here, he responded wisely, “No, ma’am. I’m sorry I couldn’t serve you better.”
Giel bowed his head politely. “Next time, we will serve you with better furniture that you will like.”
When this happened, Countess Somers seemed to have nothing more to say.
“Alright, that’s it. Well, I guess you’ll have to look at other furniture.”
“It… seems so.”
Their faces were something else. That must have been a huge insult to the nobles.
In the meantime…
“By the way, Giel.”
“Yes, miss.”
Leila landed a decisive blow. “Can you help me find a top-of-the-line workbench that my friend Dane Sogres would be able to use?”
We finally left the furniture store after purchasing close to ten pieces of furniture.
Of course, I paid for everything.
It was a total of 78 Gold Crowns.
Perhaps because it was a luxury furniture store, unlike the exploration equipment store, but they didn’t give us the slightest discount.
Instead, I registered as a customer.
“They’ll be in the club room in about a week. I hope they come sooner.”
“I know.”
I ended up adding a workbench unexpectedly, but it turned out to be a good thing. I had a feeling that both Ernest and I would be using the workbench quite often.
“Dane, is it really okay for you to pay for all of this?”
“Yes. After all, I’m the president. Anyway, I didn’t use my family’s money.”
“That’s true, but…”
Ernest seemed to be concerned that he hadn’t spent a single penny of his own money today, neither at the exploration equipment shop nor in Ellebore.
Fortunately, I didn’t use my family’s money. Given his personality, if we had even tried to take money from our families, Ernest would have been even more depressed.
“I told you that we’d pay for it with our own funds. So, if we go on an expedition and find treasure, we can use the money from that to buy things next time.”
Ernest nodded at my answer and said, “I’ll try to help too.”
“You’re already helping more than enough. Don’t worry.”
“Yeah!”
In the midst of this, I looked at Leila and briefly mentioned what had happened earlier. “About what happened earlier, will it be alright?”
“Oh, it’s fine. Countess Somers probably won’t be able to go back there again.”
“Why?”
“Because she’ll be too embarrassed. She was humiliated, and word travels fast among nobles. The two ladies next to her will probably spread the rumor as soon as they leave.”
In fact, if you thought about it, Leila didn’t do anything overtly insulting to Countess Somers. She just asked her to apologize to the furniture store employee.
“She’ll probably find it humiliating to have apologized to someone she thought was beneath her, and in front of other women, at that. Probably.” Leila then added, “Not to mention, you were also there.”
That was true. I clearly saw the look of despair on Countess Somers’ face the moment Leila mentioned my name.
“In some ways, you’re really great.”
“Well, if you go to a party or a social gathering, you can see what’s going on. But I don’t like that kind of thing. It’s annoying, complicated, and petty.”
“She didn’t recognize you right away because you don’t go out often.”
Of course, there was a crucial reason that I didn’t know about.
“And I hate Countess Somers,” Leila stated.
“What?”
“When we first met, she started talking about marriage so openly and was really annoying.”
“…Ah.”
“Plus, she gathers other noblewomen together and creates strange rumors.”
There was also a personal reason.
Well, as Leila said, Countess Somers likely wouldn’t be able to show her face in public for a while.
“Oh, let’s stop by here.”
Now there was only one place left. It was a store that sold liquor.
“…You have such a hobby?”
“I heard that Southerners drink very well.”
I chuckled at their reactions.
Honestly, I did think about having a drink or two, but since I wasn’t on a battlefield like back then, I wasn’t really interested. I just came to buy a gift.
“Welcome… Kids? Academy students?”
The liquor store owner tilted his head when he saw us in our school uniforms, but didn’t try to kick us out.
“Did you come to buy a gift?”
“Yes. It’s a gift for a professor.”
“Hmm. What kind of alcohol are you looking for? If it’s a gift, let’s see… This would be good.”
I looked at the display case the owner pointed to. 10-year-old Altimar, 7-year-old Demewald. Not bad wines.
But I wanted something else.
“Do you have a 30-year-old Royal Estur?”
“…A 30-year-old Royal Estur?”
The owner asked again, as if to make sure, and I nodded.
“Yes. Because he is a special person,” I stated.
“Please wait a moment!”
The owner hurried inside.
Meanwhile, Leila asked, “It must be a really expensive drink.”
“Yes. That’s true, and it’s also very strong.”
Royal Estur. A drink that was perceived as stronger than other drinks of the same alcohol content. However, its unique flavor captivated people, so those who could, only drank it.
By the way, I also had the opportunity to drink it every once in a while as I started to make a name for myself on the battlefield, and I remembered that it tasted excellent.
I wanted to have a drink, but I needed to hold back.
“Here it is.”
Meanwhile, the owner brought out a blue bottle of wine with gorgeous gold trimming, and I cautiously accepted it and paid for it.
“That will be 5 Gold Crowns.”
Ernest’s mouth dropped open at those words.
“F-five Gold Crowns…”
I made 100 Gold Crowns by selling one Mana Stone, but in fact, one gold coin was a huge amount of money. It was understandable that Ernest would be shocked at the price.
“Please come again!”
After carefully putting the 30-year-old Royal Estur into my subspace, we confirmed that there was still some time left until sunset.
“Should we play a little longer and then go in? A tart shop, if possible?”
“Fine with me. What about you, Ernest?”
“Me, too! Oh, I heard there’s a huge cathedral here—the Imperial Church Cathedral. Should we go see it?”
“That’s good, too.”
It might be different for Leila, but Ernest and I didn’t know much about the capital, so it seemed like a good idea to take a look around while we were out.
Just then…
“Make way for the Imperial Investigation Team! Make way!”
There was a commotion and the people on the street dispersed like the tide, and a huge procession came down on the opened road.
A golden flag and red crest.
The Imperial Family of the Altheon Empire.
“Imperial Investigation Team? Why is the Imperial Investigation Team suddenly coming?”
“Shh! Be quiet! If you make eye contact, you’ll be in big trouble, so get down quickly!”
We also stepped aside. A knight in thick armor was at the front, followed by a dozen or so men on horseback.
What on earth?
I sensed a strange aura. It came from one of the members of the investigation team, and although I couldn’t pinpoint it, they felt unique and different from anything else I had ever felt before.
Hmm… What exactly was it?
First, I focused a little more on the words ‘investigation team’.
“Investigation team, huh?”
If you went down this road, you would arrive at the academy.
That meant…
“St, Aimar’s Hall.”
We liberated the undead there, and the academy was turned upside down.
Were they going to investigate there?
