Chapter 5.3

“……I’m bored”

With a thud, I lay down on the bed at the inn.

I could hear voices coming from outside the window.

Maybe it was because this inn is located in the middle of town, so I could hear the noise of the bustling street very well.

“I’ve brought you some tea. Yuuki-sama”

“Martha. Can I open the curtains?”

“If that’s your wish, Yuuki-sama. I will take full responsibility if someone finds out, so don’t worry”

“I’m sorry. I won’t bring it up anymore”

I have to be patient here.

Because I’m sure Martha would love to open the curtains as much as I do.

A princess visit is a once-in-a-lifetime event after all. I’m sure Martha would really love to see the princess, too.

Today is the day before Xellos nii-sama takes the exam to join the ‘Magic Guild’.

I’m supposed to wait here at the town inn while Her Royal Highness comes to visit the Baron’s territory for the exam.

My maid, Martha, and two servants from the mansion came with me to the inn.

I have told the other two, “Think of it as a vacation”, so they’re probably relaxing in their rooms by now.

In the end, it was decided that Xellos nii-sama’s exam was to be held as planned.

Nobody said anything about Clara-san and Barnes-san.

I don’t know about the royal family nor the ‘Magic Guild’…but perhaps after the exam, they will announce tutor Kachel’s mistake and punish him.

As far as I’m concerned, as long as Xellos nii-sama’s exam goes well, that’s all that matters to me.

“…I’ll behave. After all, it’s not like I want to see Her Royal Highness”

I sipped the tea Martha had brewed for me.

It had the usual temperature and taste. As expected of Martha.

“Would you like to join me for tea, Martha?”

“Yes, I would love to join you. I’ll go get a cup then”

“I’ll wait. Also, I won’t open the curtains even when I’m alone”

“I believe in you. Yuuki-sama”

Martha left the room and came back with a cup in her hand.

When I offer her a chair, she obediently sits down.

This is not the mansion. She doesn’t have to follow the rules of nobility, too.

“Since you’re bored, would you like to read a book? Yuuki-sama”

“The books that Kachel-sensei prepared for me?”

“‘The Magnificent Magic Guild’, ‘The Importance of the Class System’ ── there are five similar books in total”

“I don’t want to read them”

When I sighed, Martha smiled wryly.

This makes me think that being locked up in the inn isn’t so bad either.

Besides…being outside makes me want to experiment with magic.

The girl I met in the mountains was using the fire element ‘Ancient Magic’. I memorized the movements of her finger. If I draw the same crest, I should be able to use the same magic, too. What would happen if I drew it on Dick’s body…?

“…I have to study this more in-depth”

This is what makes a mage addicted to magic.

When you learn magic, you can do more. And that results in you wanting to learn more.

Sooner or later, the goal increasingly becomes about what you can do and not about what you do. In the end, it becomes about a life of research.

I’ve seen such people in my previous life. It wasn’t a very good one.

“Come to think of it, Martha, do you ever think about the future?”

“Yuuki-sama is wise, so I think you should become a politician in this country”

“No, no, this is not about me”

“You told me about the ‘Lydala Flower’ that is good for coughs, didn’t you? Thanks to you, my mother’s condition has improved, you know!? Where did you learn about that!?”

“From some merchant. I met him when I snuck out of the mansion and went into town”

“Yuuki-sama is really amazing…”

Martha’s mother is chronically ill.

Every time I go visit her, I would use my ‘Purification’ skill on her, but the treatment takes time.

That’s why I brought her some flowers to help with her coughs. If it’s placed at her bedside, it can ease the irritation in her throat a little.

I told Martha that I had heard it from a merchant from the East.

It was true, of course. Although I did meet that merchant in my previous life.

“I wish Yuuki-sama could take the ‘Magic Guild’ exam, too”

“It’s troublesome, so no thanks”

“Did you know? I’ve heard that the exam is now to be held in ‘Kitral’s Forest’”

“The mountain and the swamp were no good?”

“There were three proposed sites. It is said that the mountain behind the mansion is absolutely no good and the swamp was a no-go because of its mysterious nature”

“I guessed as much”

I suppose the girl, Clara, and the old warrior, Barnes, had judged so.

After all, they were attacked by ‘Dark Bears’ in the mountains where tutor Kachel had reported that it was super safe and secure, so his words no longer have any credibility.

When it comes to the swamp, it is no good as well, because it’s hard to move around there.

The only other place where magic can be used without being seen is ‘Kitral’s Forest’.

The princess should be in the territory by now.

I wonder if Clara-san and the old man, Barnes, will also be accompanying her.

The girl ── Clara-san, she looks exactly like Lyle’s daughter, Alice….

“Martha, let’s say…”

“What is it, Yuuki-sama?”

“I have a few questions…but before that, I need a little more honey in my tea”

“Please remember to brush your teeth before you go to bed, okay?”

“I know”

“More than 20 minutes?”

“I’m not a child. By the way, Martha is the only child, right?”

“Yes”

“This is just an example, but let’s say if there’s a girl who is a little older than you, and she looks exactly like your mother, Melissa, would you suspect your blood relations?” 

“Yuuki-sama, do you think there’s something wrong with my family background?”

“This is just an example. It’s about someone that I know”

“Someone that you know, huh?”

“For example, if there is a girl who looks a lot like the daughter of someone I thought of as my son, should I suspect her blood relations?”

“I heard that there are three people who resemble one another in the world”

“Yeah”

“So I wouldn’t judge by the face alone, but by something else”

“Something else?”

“My mother is very good at baking apple pies. Her pies are very delicious”

“I know. Melissa’s pies are my favorite, too”

“But I heard that Mother learned it from my grandmother. And my grandmother learned it from my great-grandmother. That’s why everyone in my family loves apple pie”

“In other words, you’re saying that I can judge by her favorite food?”

“Hmm. But that’s a trait that doesn’t get passed down unless you lived in the same family”

“No, that’s enough”

It’s unlikely that I’ll meet Clara-san again in the first place.

I probably won’t even have the chance to ask her what her favorite food is.

It is also unknown whether Alice’s favorite food, ‘Spicy Venison Thin Crust Pie’, is still around in this era. 

“It was very helpful. Thank you, Martha”

“I’m glad to be of help”

“I appreciate it. If I had to leave the mansion, I wish Martha would follow me”

“If it’s a passionate invitation, I’ll consider it”

“That will be after my coming of age…when I turn 15 years old”

“Well then, once that time comes, I’ll get back to you about that”

Martha and I sipped our tea together.

“Come to think of it, there was a package delivered to my house when I was away”

“A package?”

“It was ‘Dark Bear’ claws. They were charred, but they made good money”

“I didn’t know there was such a nice person”

“I wonder who it could be. Mother was smiling with a handkerchief she had sewn for Yuuki-sama though”

“Beats me”

Martha and I sipped our tea together again.

This is not bad either.

It would be nice if Martha and I could spend time together like this.

…If I go to the ‘Magic Guild’, I wonder…if there is ‘Ancient Magic’ that can do that, too?

“…A delusion. That is just a delusion”

“What kind of delusion? Yuuki-sama”

“I can’t tell Martha that”

“It might come true if it’s a passionate invitation though?”

“…I think you’re misunderstanding something here”

“Well, let’s make sure of that when I wash your hair next time”

Please stop smiling so boldly while grabbing the bust of your maid uniform, Martha. 

“Yuuki-sama! Is Yuuki-sama here!?”

Suddenly there was the sound of footsteps and the door to the room opened.

The person who came in was a maid sent from the mansion.

“I’m here. After all, Martha will get angry at me if I got out”

“You make it sound like you’d run off if I’m not here”

“I think I’d at least try to avoid being noticed”

“I’m doing great. A good role model for the maids”

“Well done-well done. Oh, pass me the honey”

“You’re adding too much. Yuuki-sama”

As she said that, Martha brought the honey pot to me ──

“Now’s not the time for that! Yuuki-sama and Martha, too”

“Help me put the honey pot back”

“…Baron-sama has asked for Yuuki-sama to return to the mansion”

……Huh?

“It seems that we have received a notice from Her Royal Highness’s envoy to have all the family members of the Grossalia family to greet her. Please return to the mansion at once. Yuuki-sama!”