Chapter 3: The Signing Ceremony
1
What awaited me when I returned from the mithril mine was
Ayano’s resentful gaze as she was buried in paperwork in the office.
“This is an incredible situation, isn’t it…? Um, this is an orichalcum souvenir.”
“…This orichalcum ore is a surprisingly well-made fake. Which souvenir shop did you buy it from?”
“It looks like real orichalcum, that’s what Yuzuriha said.”
“There’s no way that’s possible. If an orichalcum ore this size was real, every nation on the continent would be in an uproar.”
“But I don’t think it’s a fake.”
After all, I picked it up from where the vein was exposed.
Judging from how flustered Yuzuriha was afterward and the rather excessive gag order, I can imagine it’s a rarer metal than mithril.
Though I don’t know the specifics of what it is.
“Also, is the white-haired little girl riding on your head your secret child, my lord?”
“Of course not!?”
Why does everyone suspect I have a secret child?
It baffles me.
“You see, I don’t really know about this kid…”
“What do you mean?”
I explained to Ayano
that after our battle with the wandering white-haired vampire resulted in a huge explosion of light, the wandering white-haired vampire disappeared and this little girl appeared instead.
Her white hair, red eyes and other features are identical to the wandering white-haired vampire.
As I continued, I could see Ayano’s expression becoming more and more perplexed.
“My lord? So this little girl is somehow related to the wandering white-haired vampire…?”
“I can’t say for certain…but in any case, I couldn’t just leave her in the mine, right? That’s why I brought her back.”
“…Goodness. You are either brazenly bold or just dimwitted, my lord…”
“That’s harsh!”
I can understand what Ayano is getting at.
Surely the solution would be to kill anything that seems even remotely related to the wandering white-haired vampire, at least from a ruler’s perspective.
But I just couldn’t do that.
If I had to choose, I would abandon my position as margrave and live with this child and Suzuha deep in some forest somewhere.
This child hasn’t done anything wrong. That’s a commoner’s spirit.
If it was confirmed that she was related to the wandering white-haired vampire, that would be different, but—
“So, what is this child’s name?”
“Unyu-ko.”
“…Pardon?”
“She only says ‘unyu’ no matter what we ask her. So Unyu-ko.”
“Unyu.”
“…I see your naming sense is completely lacking, my lord.”
That was quite the critique.
After that, agreeing with Ayano that Unyu-ko should start as a maid trainee for the time being, Unyu-ko became a child maid.
When I asked her “Is that ok?” she nodded and said “unyu,” so it’s probably fine.
“Then I’ll call your senior maid. Kana—”
“You called?”
Before I could finish, our excellent maid Kanade appeared.
I have no idea how she does that.
Kanade then stared intently at her new junior Unyu-ko and…
“…You’re typecasting.”
“Unyu?”
Well, they’re not that similar since one is a silver-haired girl and the other a white-haired child.
Then Kanade hugged Unyu-ko tightly to her chest.
“But my chest is bigger than yours.”
“Unyu!?”
“What are you two going on about!?”
As a result of being hugged so tightly against Kanade’s overly ample chest despite her small frame, Unyu-ko’s nose and mouth were covered, causing her to struggle.
It looked like playful teasing, but she legitimately couldn’t breathe.
“Kanade, let her go.”
“U..nyu…”
“I’ve established our ranks.”
After pulling Unyu-ko away from Kanade, Unyu-ko was teary-eyed while Kanade had a smug look for some reason.
Lording her bust size over a child is somehow both mature and childish at the same time, I can’t tell.
“From now on, as head maid, I’ll train you strictly.”
“Unyu.”
“The path of the maid is not walked in a day.”
“Unyu-u!”
They seem like they’ll get along, so I figured this was good.
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*
Once Unyu-ko’s situation was settled, I asked Ayano about something that was bothering me.
“By the way Ayano, why is there so much paperwork?”
There definitely wasn’t this much before I left for the mithril mine. Then she said:
“While you were away, Queen Toko informed me that a ceasefire agreement signing ceremony with the Uentas Principality has been scheduled. I’m incredibly busy with the preparations.”
“A ceasefire signing, huh? Where is it being held?”
“Here in this castle.”
“Eh?”
I was surprised, but after thinking about it, it made sense.
Since the Lohengrin Margraviate is located near the border of both countries, it’s more convenient than holding it in either capital.
Plus, with the former enemy commanders we’ve taken hostage still here, a ceasefire would allow them to be sent home, which would be helpful.
The more I thought about it, the more logical it seemed to hold it here.
But there was still one puzzling thing.
“Hmm…”
As capable as Ayano is, I’d think she could handle preparations that smoothly.
After all, Ayano the cheat bureaucrat always gets ahead and perfectly handles anything expected.
My doubts were dispelled by Ayano’s next words:
“Queen Toko will also be attending this signing ceremony. On top of that, guests from major nations will be invited as well.”
“Eh, Toko is coming too? And major nations?”
“It would be so much easier if it was just plenipotentiaries from the involved nations coming to sign…Calling guests from major nations to this frontier is unheard of under normal circumstances. Queen Toko’s aim is likely to show you off as well, my lord.”
“I don’t quite get this ‘show me off’ thing, but would guests from other nations really come all the way out here?”
“Normally no, but they will this time. After all, you are the hero who saved the continent from the abnormal orc proliferation.”
“That was just a coincidence though…?”
“If it was a coincidence that saved the world, that’s still quite something.”
I suppose that’s one way to look at it.
“The Amazoness were eager to attend as an entire tribe until Queen Toko managed to limit it to just representatives. After hearing about that, other nations started announcing attendance by their dignitaries to pay their respects to you.”
“Oh geez…”
“Well, this was likely part of Queen Toko’s calculations.”
Ah, so that’s why there are these huge stacks of documents.
It must have been quite taxing for Ayano too.
After all, having people from various nations gather is troublesome in itself.
Each nation has different dietary restrictions, taboos, customs and so on that require research beforehand.
“Queen Toko herself will be arriving here shortly as well.”
“It must be tough for Toko too. Though, is it okay for her to come here?”
“Under normal circumstances when the regime is still unstable, it would absolutely not be okay. But this occasion should be fine. After all, any political enemies have been thoroughly purged, and an unthinkable trump card lurks in this frontier.”
“That’s true, with Yuzuriha here, no one would dare attempt a coup.”
“There’s no doubt she is greatly feared…anyway.”
For some reason, Ayano gave me an exasperated look.
When I left the office, Yuzuriha, who seemed to be waiting, spoke to me.
“You could have had join too Yuzuriha.”
“I was going to, but I got scared when I glimpsed the stacks of documents…”
Since I couldn’t very well have Yuzuriha, a duchess, standing around chatting, I ushered her to the parlor.
She doesn’t normally care about formalities, but it is what it is.
As we sat in the parlor, the maid Kanade promptly served tea. Our maid is as reliable as ever.
I chose to ignore that Unyu-ko was riding on Kanade’s head.
“So what’s going on, Yuzuriha?”
“Well, about the timing of Toko’s arrival here, it will be sooner than Ayano’s prediction.”
“How so?”
“Since there’s the matter of Unyu-ko and the orichalcum, I sent a letter urging her to come here as soon as possible.”
“I see.”
“Though the schedule for the signing ceremony won’t change.”
As for me, I welcome Toko staying here for an extended period.
She must have been incredibly busy, so I hope she can take it easy here for a bit.
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