DD 53: With the servants

“First and foremost, once again allow me to express my sincerest grat.i.tude. Saying thank you hardly seems enough now. Without everyone, I couldn’t imagine being able to return home in safety anyway.”

“Mind not, for what we bodyguards have done – as this guy said the day before – was a natural course of action given the circ.u.mstances. On the other hand, you appear to have slept quite soundly last night, princess.”

“Indeed, and you seem lively as well, Dida.”

The duo is in a better spirit today, and looks as though to have reverted to their usual expression – in the manner of how frequent Ryle giving Dida and his frivolous talk a dirty look. The fact that they managed to come back unscathed and currently stay in a safety zone with no imminent danger is something worth appreciating… Nevertheless, there is no greater feeling than seeing these guys have the chance to loosen up at long last.

“Well then, both of you. How about we move onto the main subject…?”

“You meant the background of those bandits from yesterday?”

“Apparently, yes. Frankly speaking, if that was Elria-sama pulling the strings from behind like Father had warned, I would deem it quite a harmless move though. Yet considering the timing of the attack, we cannot merely disregard the a.s.sailant as ordinary bandits.”

Elria-sama certainly can strike at me in her own ways without making use of those bandits. For example, she can effectively exploit her house’s political influence, or even abuse her position as the queen of the country.

Still, the timing was so peculiar that hardly anyone finds the attack completely unrelated. As far as I am concerned, this was more like pure rampage, rather than a calculated move orchestrated by a n.o.ble supportive of Elria-sama and her house.

“Regarding this matter, we have already launched the investigation with Tanya.”

“…With Tanya? It can’t be, since yesterday…?”

“That’s right. Last night, she gave directions to the servants in the mansion and try to look into the incident by herself, hence we also join in the investigation.”

When I recalled how quickly she retreated to her room the night before… surely you jest, she has been working non-stop ever since? Good grief, honestly when does that girl take a break, I wonder?

“I see… understood. Thank you for your continuous support.”

“Then, we will head back to work.”

As those two left, they went past Merida who was about to enter the room.

“Oh, Merida. It has been awhile.”

Because Merida was entrusted with the teahouse division of the Conglomerate, she has been keeping herself busy rushing from stores to stores all day, so it has been a long time since we last met at the mansion.

“I was informed that Milady had just gone through quite a troubling experience. Out of anxiety, I came to see you as quickly as I could.”

“Thank you. As you can see though, I am perfectly fine, don’t you think?”

“Indeed. Were you to get hurt, I would surely tear both Ryle and Dida apart.”

To such a Merida-esque remark, I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“And there’s one other thing. The new commodity Milady spoke of is now ready.”

“Oh, really? Did you bring it along by any chance?”

“Unfortunately, only the news for today. For I was hurried coming to the mansion and forget the item in question was fully my mistake. Next time, I will definitely show you when it is prepared.”

“I’m looking forward to that.”

The commodity I requested from Merida was a kind of dessert made using a type of vegetable gelatin, which can only be obtained through trading with nearby countries.

“And what about coffee? When will we begin serving that beverage at our stores?”

While I was at the royal capital, coffee has finally been created. Incidentally, this is dandelion coffee since coffee bean has yet been discovered. From the perspective of a coffee addict in the previous world, they are slightly different somehow though…

“Let’s hold back for now as we still have a lot to do such as advertising. ‘Till it can be served in stores, I would be grateful if you can come up with desserts using coffee.”

“Understood. Anyway, I was thinking of having a temporary stay at the mansion after a long absent period, and will focus on the discussed problems in the meantime.”

“I will leave that to you.”

“Speaking of which, how was the royal capital you haven’t seen for a while?”

“…Even though I sort of expecting to be filled up with various emotions, in the end I didn’t feel anything at all.”

“…Nothing, you say?”

“Nothing. Naturally, I was both nostalgic and delightful when meeting with my friends and family. However, it seems like I have little sentimental attachment to the place called royal capital.”

“You must have felt quite relieved, I suppose?”

Merida smiled happily.

“Rather than feeling relieved… I wonder if it was because that place was not where the old me belonged.”

When I was brought back to life, I was in the middle of that incident – and before I can develop some sort of attachments to the royal capital, (un)fortunately I already came to the fief. As far as I am concerned, due to the dispute between Miss Yuri and the me holding the t.i.tle of duke’s daughter, the royal capital was plainly a suffocating experience.

“Fuun, was that really so?”

“That was how it is… To me, this is my home, and you guys here are my precious family. For that reason, I am happy with this outcome.”

“Hahaha, it is our utmost honour to receive such a compliment.”

After exchanging a few more words, Merida also left the room.

Thus, I went back to the doc.u.ments.

…Tax revenue is excellent. Thanks to the increasing trade volume with foreign countries, the Conglomerate’s profit has gone up as well. Furthermore, it seems like the sales of commodities made by the high school division is rising at a favorable pace. In any case, with more jobs created, the individual income has also been improved.

The construction of middle school division is now underway. Next in the list would be the infrastructure development of rural areas… Though the infrastructure in the fief’s capital is so well-maintained that you wouldn’t feel inconvenient, in rural areas there are a lot of places without access to water and sewer services.

As I was checking on each task’s progress, signing, and making modifications as needed, there was another knock on the door.

“…Excuse me, there is something I forgot to report earlier. Since I’m going to leave today, can I have a moment of your time?”