A few days have passed since the start of the mist golem investigation.
An unexpected trend has emerged from the golem’s behavioral data.
Since that is the case, I would like to consult Harold after all.
“But at this time, he wouldn’t be in the workshop building but over there instead……”
‘There’ is the student council room which is currently bustling with preparation for All Souls’ Day.
I don’t want to show my face there, but it’s inevitable since I want to meet Harold.
So after the after-school chat, I went to the student council room to look for my partner.
☆
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There was a large and heavy long table in the middle of the student council room.
The shelves alongside the wall were filled with documents and materials.
Five or six students who seem to be members of the student council, for some reason, were either looking for something or writing.
And Auguste was sitting at the head of the long table.
He appeared to be silently looking through the documents.
“Thank you for your hard work, everyone.”
I went to the back of the student council room while greeting the student council members lightly.
“Greetings, Auguste-sama.”
“Oh, are you observing the work for All Souls’ Day, Erica? I’m glad you came.”
Auguste has a carefree smile on his face.
He seems to be busy, but as far as I can see, he has a lively atmosphere as usual.
“There seems to be a lot of work for the All Souls’ Day, huh.”
“Oh well~”
I put my hand on the pile of documents in front of Auguste.
I’m guessing the height is about 15 cm from the top of the desk..
“I just check the contents and sign my approval, so I don’t work that much.”
“Is that so? By the looks of it, there seems to be a terrible amount of them though.”
From the height of the documents, it is clear that a considerable number of work remains.
Some papers are in Auguste’s handwriting, even though he said he only needed to sign.
“It’s a preparation for a city-wide festival. What kinds of documents are there?”
“Let’s see~ There are permission for the golem parade, an order for the decor, permission for stalls, permission for the tents and their arrangement, I guess? And then, arranging the dragons to breathe out flames at night, the dragon knights’ overtime allowance, the arrangement of the flying golem launching site, the invitation for famous singers and the arrangement of the musicians. In addition, checking the installation plan for fireworks and bonefires, arrange the city guards, and adjust the schedule for temporary employees……”
Auguste was unable to stop while reciting from memory.
Oh, his eyes look a little vacant.
“Oops, I forgot to allocate more people for the corn maze……”
“Auguste-sama, you don’t look like it, but are you tired?”
“Hah! Certainly, I do feel a little tired……”
This person, is he not aware of his own fatigue?
It seems that the job as a coordinator is very exhausting and stressful.
I took out a small box of sweets and placed it in front of Auguste.
“Right, Auguste-sama. If you’re tired, please eat this chocolate.”
This chocolate is an orangette made by dipping candied orange slices into chocolate.
Auguste should have a preference towards this sort of refreshing and sweet flavor.
“Ooh, this is delicious~”
“There are also twice-baked sweets. When you are doing a stressful job, sweets are the answer.”
A small box of twice-baked sweets with plenty of walnuts and orange peels was also placed in front of him.
Sugar is the nutrition for brain.
Auguste, who has a weakness for sweets, took a break from his work and started to eat the sweets I took out gratefully.
“Aah~~~ I feel peaceful, somehow.”
“It’s still a month away, so please don’t overexert yourself, Auguste-sama.”
“Yes, yes, thank you.”
Auguste laughed.
I’d like him to remember to take it easy since he has a tendency to overexert himself.
“You guys, don’t smudge important documents with confectionery.”
A familiar voice was heard from behind and I turned around.
There was Klaus with arms full of letters.
“Oh, do you also want some, Klaus?”
Auguste, who just finished eating the last one, licked his lips.
Klaus raised one eyebrow and pointed an irritated gaze towards me.
“Not really……Erica, just when I thought it was commendable that you’ve come to help, you’re feeding Auguste—”
“Klaus-sama, you must be tired too, please have some.”
“Are you bribing me?”
“Isn’t that fine, Klaus-sama? If you do me a favor, I will pay you back someday.”
I passed the chocolate in hand to him just like Echigoya bribing the evil governor1.
Klaus also has a sweet tooth that is not at all inferior to that of Auguste.
After hesitating for a couple of seconds, Klaus gently put the chocolate in his mouth.
“……!”
Suddenly Klaus’ sullen face softened.
It is a victory for sweets.
“This has a quite elegant taste.”
“Thank you. It’s a sweet made from carefully selected ingredients.”
The cacao used for these chocolates is the highest quality one harvested from the south-western archipelago2.
The oranges used were also quality goods produced in the western part of Ignitia.
“So, Erica, are you going to help?”
Klaus smiled suggestively.
I can’t let things proceed as is, or I’ll be dragged into doing the student council’s work.
“I really wanted to help, but alas right now I’m terribly busy with many golem-related things.”
I shook my head while making an expression as if it was truly regretful.
“Such a meek attitude doesn’t suit you. Hmm, then, you’re here because you need Harold, huh?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Actually, I only need him to make a minor decision, it’s nothing serious.
But, to borrow Harold from the busy student council, I need to exaggerate it a little bit.
“If I don’t rely on Harold’s insight, problems are likely to arise.”
“Today he should be negotiating with suppliers to reduce prices. He should be returning to the school around sunset.”
“Sunset, is it……”
If that’s the case, I should wait here for Harold’s return.
Maybe I can wait while helping them just a little.
Just then, Auguste, who had been listening to the conversation between me and Klaus, opened his mouth in realization.
“No, no, Klaus. Today Harold is in charge of the fungal walkers. The price cut negotiations were changed to tomorrow.”
“I see, so Harold was in charge of that, huh. Then, you should probably return soon, baby-sitting the fungal walkers and storing them might take up all night.”
So he’s working late to store the fungal walkers, huh.
An image of Harold pacifying fungal walkers as big as an infant and storing them carefully came to mind.
That seems quite difficult.
“Well, then I guess I should give up for today.”
The golem isn’t urgent anyhow, so I should come again tomorrow.
I suddenly noticed something worrisome.
Wasn’t Actorius-sensei supposed to be the one to prepare the fungal walkers?
“Eh, but, isn’t it the responsibility of Actorius-sensei to procure the fungal walkers, Auguste-sama?”
“He wasn’t feeling well, so the task was delegated to Harold hastily.”
Oh my, I wonder if something happened.
That’s really worrisome.
The injury from the incident six years ago has not completely healed, so I hope it’s anything but that.
“Will he be fine?”
“It’s not to a degree that he couldn’t get up or anything, so you shouldn’t worry too much.”
I wonder if I should visit Actorius-sensei.
I wouldn’t be able to meet Harold today anyway.
“Is Actorius-sensei in the medical office? I’ll go visit him a little bit.”
“No, he’s in Brad Clochydd’s private room. He’s examining him.”
Oh, it’s unusual that a mage would deal with this instead of a healer.
I wonder if it’s not an injury and something else instead.
“That person has quite a wide set of skills and can give special medical treatment.”
“Wide set of skills?”
“He’s familiar with the ancient magic used in Karkinos, the research about angels and the ancient magic transmitted in Hafan.”
Auguste gave additional information to me lightly.
I see.
So he’s able to handle special medical treatments different from those of the healers, huh.
Thanking the two people who had generously informed me of things even while they were busy, I headed to Brad Clochydd’s room.
☆
I knocked on the door of Brad’s room in the Central Dormitory.
After a while, the door opened slightly.
“Erica Aurelia. It’s you. What do you want?”
Brad greeted me with a sullen face as usual.
“I heard that Actorius-sensei is here, so I came to visit him.”
“I see……come in. His treatment has already been completed. He seems to have recovered considerably.”
Treatment, huh.
I wonder what kind of treatment it is.
But, I should not venture too deep into it.
The room which I visited for the first time is quite interesting.
By the looks of it, the books inside the installed bookshelves are all rare books.
They have some similarity to the books on the sixth floor of the Magic Library, so lots of them are probably about Karkinos.
On the couch, Actorius-sensei was sleeping peacefully.
His face with the glasses removed looks quite ephemeral.
“Elric, you seem to have a cute visitor.”
Brad made the sarcastic-sounding ‘cute’ part resonate and called out to Actorius-sensei.
Actorius-sensei slowly opened his eyes and softly smiled when he noticed me.
“Are you alright, Actorius-sensei?”
“I made you worry, huh……I’ve been seriously injured several times, so sometimes my condition gets worse.”
I wonder if there was something other than the incident in the north-western area six years ago.
As an exiled noble, it’s not strange if anything happened during the time he was in Karkinos.
“The reason why I decided to rely on Brad this time is because I needed an adjustment by means that doesn’t exist on this continent.”
“……An adjustment, huh.”
It’s an adjustment, not a treatment.
That sounds disturbing for some reason.
“Thank you, I appreciate it, Brad.”
“If you retain this condition, you should be able to be reinstated tomorrow.”
Brad averted his gaze while replying.
“You know that it’s possible to lift that inconvenience, but you don’t want it, Elric.”
“Aah, this is also proof of my origin, so I can’t throw it away that easily.”
I wonder if that means his body received some medical treatment by means of magic that can prove his identity.
That seems serious.
As expected, I feel like I shouldn’t venture too deep.
“But, since a long time ago, you’ve always been very kind……no, I guess I should say that you’re a good-natured person, huh.”
Hearing Actorius-sensei’s words, Brad’s face stiffened.
Instead of replying, Brad sat down on the swivel chair with an irritated expression.
Oh, are these two old friends?
Speaking of which, my brother and Brad seem to have a long relationship.
When I was thinking about that, Actorius-sensei asked me.
“By the way, what happened to Eduard?”
“My brother seems to be unwell and is being treated while being preached by the healer in the medical office.”
“That’s typical of Eduard. He must have ran away, huh~”
Actorius-sensei nodded in understanding.
It seems that he can imagine my brother running away.
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“Oh, do you know what happened to the fungal walkers that were planned to be picked up today?”
“It seems Harold Nibelheim did it on your behalf.”
“I feel bad……it seems I should handle the work from now on.”
Ooh, what a strong sense of responsibility.
But I think he shouldn’t overexert himself.
“Aren’t you still unwell, sensei?”
“It’s difficult to handle that magical beast, so if he’s not used to it, he’ll end up staying up all night.”
Actorius-sensei began to prepare himself quickly.
“Well then, I’ll go now!”
“Take care of yourself. Please don’t overdo it, sensei~~!”
And so, Actorius-sensei left Brad’s room like a wind.
“Good grief, he’s a man with a strong sense of responsibility, that guy……”
Brad whispered bitterly.
Brad’s room without Actorius-sensei feels quite uncomfortable.
I should leave as soon as possible.
“T-then, I’ll excuse myself as well.”
“Erica Aurelia.”
Just as I was going to withdraw in a hurry, I was stopped by Brad.
“Hii, w-what is it……!?”
“Never trust that man called Jack Citrouille.”
I suppressed the word ‘why’ that I was about to say.
In the back of my mind, Citrouille’s frivolous and seemingly harmless smile emerged.
Certainly, he is suspicious.
“Yes, I understand.”
“Alright. That’s all I wanted to say. Go.”
But, I wonder why this person bothered telling me this.
Brad is more of a worrywart than I thought.
This person is scary and his scolding is bothersome, but he’s somewhat a good person.
The crease between his brows feels more trustworthy than the radiant smile akin to the blue sky of Citrouille.
With that in mind, I left Brad’s office.
1 This is referring to a popular governor-merchant trope in samurai drama in Japan, which was made popular by a TV commercial. It was about a dishonest merchant Echigoya who bribed the evil governor with a box of cake with a bunch of glistening gold coins inside.
2 In case you forgot, the south-western archipelago mentioned here is the same one as the one inherited by Eduard from Frederica.
So, more info about Elric! What kind of treatment did he receive? And what is Elric’s true identity?
Changes made: Changed ‘from few days’ to ‘soon’ in ch 135 as it wasn’t a few days but a month away.
