Chapter 10 - The Promise and the Court Mage
Louis erased his smile the moment he closed the door and looked down at Elenoa.
"You waved at one of the mages earlier. Do not do unnecessary things."
"Eh—"
This was what awaited them the instant they arrived in the private room.
"The mages and sorcerers here are starved for color, spending their days immersed in research. Please do not casually distribute your friendliness."
"But it can't be helped. It's rude to ignore someone when you make eye contact."
The Chief's private office, which Elenoa had not seen for several days, was neatly tidied.
The high-quality mahogany desk faced a large window, and bundles of what appeared to be documents were tied together. Not a speck of dust could be found on the bookshelves. She had been thinking she might clean up if it were messy, but her worries seemed to have been unfounded.
"What if you are misunderstood in a strange way?"
With such overprotective remarks behind her, she moved toward the window. She looked around the room, but the only work she could find was to ventilate the space, remarking, "The air is a bit stuffy."
Gentle air flowed in, slightly swaying her hair.
"There have been times like that a few times before, and we've even had conversations, but I've never been confessed to. It's like finding peace in observing a stray cat from afar. Besides, you're the one distributing friendliness too, so is it wrong for me to be friendly?"
"The reason I act 'this way' is that if my superiors have a scowling face, it does not give a good impression. You do not need to be like me."
"But to smooth out human relationships, you must always smile."
"If only you knew how much I... No, please pretend you did not hear that."
Since Louis said nothing more, she sat down on the sofa without waiting for him to offer it. The leather was soft and plush, and it had become quite a favorite of hers.
"To think the boy who was once so small would attain such a good position. Mother is happy. It's a perk of the job. I want to take this sofa home."
"Who is 'Mother'?"
"Then, Housekeeper."
"Call me whatever you like. Also, there is no space to put that sofa in the house."
She stretched out her arms to measure the width of the sofa, and he looked at her with disdain, as if looking at a rotten apple. Louis's cold gaze was growing accustomed to Elenoa day by day.
Nevertheless, it was natural to get used to it. Living under the same roof, she had developed a certain tolerance, so unless he was truly angry, she made it a rule not to take it seriously herself.
After all, for the two of them, it was nothing more than playful banter.
"Eat your meal quickly. I will take the lunch box back."
"Haa..."
Louis sat down next to Elenoa.
Watching as the wrapping began to be undone on the table, she lay down, using the armrest as a pillow.
The lunch box was made of processed wood. In this world, where there were no plastics or resins, nor the technology to process such chemical substances, this was the best they could do. In a society where using the cafeteria was the norm, hearing that someone brought lunch made people think, "Oh, a picnic?" at most.
As an aside, in Lumina's case. As soon as she learned of the 'lunch box,'
'The school cafeteria? You expect me to pay for those unnecessarily expensive menus? When there is a way to taste Elenoa's cooking right there? Is this the start of the Fifth Sibling Quarrel?'
she had declared her allegiance to the lunch box faction with a straight face.
Even now, amidst many friends in the cafeteria, she was the only one stuffing her cheeks with a fried chicken lunch box.
"By the way, may I have a few more strands of your hair?"
"Again? You just got a new staff a while ago. Are you making some kind of potion?"
"Rank A Fairy materials are needed for various things. Even merchants have trouble obtaining them, and they are expensive."
Female Fairy hair is used as material for sorcerers' staffs, magic potions, and the like. It is a highly versatile material that amplifies the power of magic and harmonizes ingredients with conflicting properties. It is also used as a substitute for the thread in Hoochi—divination using a pendulum—or powdered and consumed directly, but its efficacy increases with the Fairy's rank.
"I'm starting to want to charge you money next time."
"That would be a breach of contract."
"Come to think of it, you're right... That's true."
Sorcerers—especially court mages—are creatures who keep their promises. Even simple verbal agreements are no exception.
The more proper the practitioner, the stronger this adherence. It might be an instinct stemming from the fact that mages can bind the fate of others through contracts and conditions.
Elenoa stood up and turned her back to Louis. It was a signal meaning, "Take from wherever you like."
There were several promises made when Elenoa agreed to be kept by Louis. One of them was the provision of experimental materials. Others included blending in with humans, paying attention to Lumina's health, and so on. She had swallowed various conditions and compromised, but if she could receive the world's highest level of magical power in exchange, it was a small price to pay.
He could have just plucked them out in one go, but for some reason, he did not.
Louis seemed to enjoy the sensation of Elenoa's hair, looping it around his fingers, pulling lightly, and thus teasing her.
No matter how long she had known him since childhood, he was a member of the opposite sex. His height, shoulder width, everything was different from the 'Louis the boy' she had looked after.
She understood that he was touching her for observation purposes or similar reasons, with no other intent. However, Elenoa, on the receiving end, felt embarrassed and unsettled inside. She could not look back too much, so she could not see his expression.
"Geez, just do it in one go."
"...Very well."
The disappointed tone in his voice of agreement was surely just Elenoa's imagination.
"Are you coming home today?"
"Yes."
"It's tough, isn't it?"
"Not really."
Recently, monster activity had been becoming more active. The city streets were still calm, and damage from monsters seemed like a fire on the opposite bank, but casualties had indeed occurred. So far, the victims had been only adventurers, but that might not remain the case in the future. This tension had spread only among the nation's upper echelons and those close to them.
"I want a magic spell with greater power than what I have now, using the Light attribute, which monsters dislike... but it is quite difficult. I am particularly weak with Light, so do you have any hints?"
"For now, why don't you take another ten or so strands of my hair? Ah, pulling hurts, so use scissors or something. I think I remember that some Light-attribute enhancement items use parts of a Fairy."
"Specifically?"
"I don't remember well. For now, why not try mixing everything from 'Laurel Dew' to 'Moonlight Crystal'? With my hair, I think you can blend them well."
"I have already tried 'Laurel Dew.' It was so-so... Well, investigating this is my job, so it can't be helped."
"Un, good luck."
—Chuckle.
Louis laughed softly. Elenoa turned around and asked,
"What?"
"No. I was just thinking that you always speak as if it were someone else's problem."
"Since it's about human society, it is mostly someone else's problem."
"That detachment is interesting."
She thought he was strange.
But when he laughed gently, chuckling, her heart did something strange. It felt unsettled. But since she did not dislike this time, Elenoa decided to remain silent.
Louis took the scissors and scooped up her hair.
In the calm afternoon, only time flowed away in the room shared by just the two of them.
Outside, a pheasant pigeon cooed. From afar, the noisy voices of women could also be heard.
An hour later. When Elenoa and Louis, who saw her off, appeared at the entrance of the Research Institute,
"I am looking forward to dinner."
"Contact me if you will be late."
"I will do my best."
and so on, it had become customary for them to have conversations like a young married couple.