Chapter 67

Benito Vogel came from a well-known family of scholars in Eraadan. His parents, and his siblings too, were all university professors or researchers. Benito's second-oldest sister even worked as a researcher at the Royal Academy of Alharn.

The credentials Benito had submitted, the background Mattheus had verified, and what Harold had learned separately through Grisha — none of it contradicted anything else.

Harold caught himself being disappointed by that and was startled.

Since his brother had backed the place, he'd been half hoping something suspicious would turn up. The way that report had, out of the desk. And weren't the institute's researchers based in the west, too? Marberg and Katelburg were western cities as well.

...Of course, the west was large, and unlike Marberg and Katelburg, which were close to the south, the magic institute was up near the north. Nowhere near either — most people in the kingdom probably wouldn't even know those small towns existed.

"Hmm, mm-hmm."

Harold looked at Edwin. Except for the day the magic lessons had first come up, Edwin had acted as if he didn't much care, but now that the first day was here he was humming.

"Uncle, can we bring Nabi?"

"No. Nabi will stay home."

"Won't he get bored at home? Nabi might want to learn magic too."

"Woof."

"See? Nabi says so too."

Harold laughed and ruffled Edwin's hair thoroughly. When Edwin cracked up, Nabi slipped in beside them. Harold ruffled the big sheepdog's head too, and both of them grinned back at him with the same face.

But something was still missing. Harold caught Edgar, who'd been standing off to one side, and stroked his head as well.

"You don't have to do that for me..."

For all that he said, Edgar didn't try to slip away — he settled quietly under Harold's hand.

"Do you want to come, Nabi?"

Seizing the moment, Edwin leaned in to whisper to Nabi again.

"Edwin, I said Nabi's not coming."

"Aw..."

Edwin stuck his lip out and looked disappointed, but he got over it quickly.

"Then I'll ask the teacher! If he says yes, it's fine, right?"

Better warn Benito in advance that he didn't have to give in to everything the boys asked for. Without answering, Harold pulled Edwin's hat down over his head.

Edgar put his own hat on neatly and smiled up at Harold.

The carriage ride to Mattheus's office was noisy even without Nabi. Every so often Harold had to stop one of the boys from standing up and risking a fall.

"Look, I even wrote down my questions."

Harold had wondered what Edwin was fussing with before they left — turned out he'd pulled a notebook from the bag Linda had packed for him and was showing it to Edgar.

"And I brought the thing you left behind, Edgar."

"Huh?"

"Here — the bear."

"Edwin..."

"Nabi's not with us, so I thought you might need it. If you do, tell me, okay?"

Edgar glared at Edwin. Edwin didn't even pretend to be scared. He hummed and paged through the notebook he'd brought.

Harold, sitting across from them, could see the notebook too. For a boy Edwin's age, the handwriting was startlingly grown-up. It even looked a bit like his brother's. Since that was the hand they'd been taught from, it made sense they'd pick it up. If it struck an adult as a small work of art, imagine how it must have looked to a child.

"Why would you need that? And what's this question?"

"Hm?"

Edgar looked at Edwin's notebook and frowned.

"'Where do you think the Eshan Empire's capital was'... what's that got to do with magic?"

"Of course it's related! Haven't you looked at history books, Edgar?"

"History of magic?"

"Just history! You can't leave magic out of human history!"

Watching Edwin talk like that, Harold could see his sister-in-law in him too.

Every time Harold caught a glimpse of his brother or his sister-in-law in his nephews, joy and sorrow rose in him at once. Even if the time in these boys' lives without his brother and sister-in-law grew longer than the time with them, the days when they had existed would never disappear entirely.

"Look, Edgar. There's a legend. When the Eshan Empire fell, they say it left behind an enormous legacy. Aren't you curious what that legacy was?"

"A legend is a legend, Edwin."

"Edgar, you have no imagination!"

"Edgar, Edwin. I told you it's dangerous to stand up in the carriage, didn't I?"

"Yes, Uncle."

"We'll sit still!"

They answered well enough.

Harold knew that even now, meek as they were pretending to be, they'd be at it again in no time, and he shrugged and smiled to himself.

There was more to keep track of now, but seeing the boys enjoying themselves, he was glad he'd taken them out. Right — they couldn't just be kept tucked away.

Harold looked out the window. As they cleared the woods, the roof of the First Prince's palace showed itself in the distance. Blue glass roofs shone dazzlingly in the sunlight, waves of light rolling across them like the sea.

It felt like something he shouldn't have seen, and Harold drew the curtain, using the sun as his excuse.

---

The investigation into Benito Vogel hadn't been done in a day. Harold's request had amounted to double-checking work Intelligence had already done.

No one could even approach Albrecht Bertholdt's body because of the magic on it. As a result, however directly his brother had backed the institute and requested their help, they still ended up under investigation.

Just how hard Intelligence had gone at it back then, he couldn't begin to imagine. Anne had ground her teeth every time she'd mentioned the magic institute. What was it she'd said? That the researchers had only kept repeating that since the magic belonged to the Bertholdt family, it couldn't be lifted without the late count's permission or a proxy document.

For Harold there was some gratitude in that, but for the investigators it must have been infuriating.

"Hello, Sir Bertholdt."

Leona Bleiss came out to greet them as they stepped down from the carriage.

"Have the young masters been well?"

"Hello, Leona."

"...Hello."

Günter's niece Leona hadn't gone back to the domain — she'd stayed on in the capital to help Mattheus.

Effectively the Bertholdt domain had no lord at the moment. Even when something important came up, there were steps Harold had to go through before he could deal with it. Albrecht's death and the trouble with Günter had come one on top of the other, and Harold hadn't been able to go down and sort out the resulting mess, which had complicated things further.

Fortunately the people of the domain had been understanding, and to help settle things Leona was staying in the capital for the time being. Harold had been a little worried about how Edwin would react, but he'd told him in advance, so Edwin only shyly ducked behind Harold and barely managed a hello.

It was still nothing like Edgar's warmth toward Leona, but it was progress.

"Edgar, Edwin."

Then he spotted Benito, standing a little way off looking awkward.

Harold gave him a small nod in greeting and turned his nephews' attention.

"This is Benito Vogel, one of the researchers."

"Benito Vogel."

"..."

"Hello!"

This time Edwin darted forward with a greeting, and Edgar tucked himself behind Harold.

The difference was so extreme it was actually funny. He couldn't work out what accounted for it, but apparently the people Edgar and Edwin took to were different. Those little heads had put serious thought into it and come to their own conclusions.

Once the boys relaxed a little more, they'd tell him what they'd been thinking.

"Um... this would be...?"

"Ah, this is Edwin. And Edgar... say hello?"

"...Hello."

"Yes, I look forward to working with you."

"I'm the one who looks forward to it! Edgar, Edgar. Come on, Edgar."

"..."

"All right, Edwin. Let's head up to the office first."

Even without Harold's explanation, it was obvious which of the boys was interested in magic.

"Is Grandpa Mattheus here?"

"Mr. Mattheus is out today, young master."

"...Okay."

At Leona's answer, Edwin flinched, surprised. Then he glanced quietly up at Harold and answered in a small voice.

Hm.

Harold stroked his chin and realized this wasn't something he could solve on the spot.

At least Edwin wasn't ignoring Leona outright, unlike last time... they'd just have to get him used to her gradually. She'd have had every reason to be hurt by Edwin's attitude, but Leona didn't seem to mind.

He'd apologize to Leona properly later.

"Let me introduce myself properly again. I'm Benito Vogel, of the western magic institute of Alharn. I studied magic at Eraadan National University."

"Eraadan?"

"I know! It's an island country, isn't it?"

"Yes. An island country east of Alharn, out across the sea."

Benito's tone was gentle and unhurried.

Harold had told Benito he didn't have to limit the lessons to magic. He didn't even need to think of them as lessons.

Really, it was less magic than a private tutor's job. Though with Edwin coming in this eager, there was no way magic wouldn't come up.

"Magic plays a fairly important role in Eraadan. Every year, before summer begins, we hold a rite at the sea to keep the typhoons from causing damage."

"A rite? Why is that magic?"

"That rite activates an ancient piece of magic, and the magic wards off the typhoons."

Edgar, who'd looked entirely uninterested, raised his head.

"Really?"

"Well. Many people in Eraadan do believe it is."

"What... so that means it isn't clear whether it actually works."

"But many records do note that magic left by the Eshan Empire was activated. There are records too that its effectiveness has slowly faded over time. That's why the study of magic is fairly active in Eraadan."

And Benito had a way with people, too. Sitting on the couch watching the three of them, Harold felt honest admiration.

He hadn't expected an introduction that started with "I'm from Eraadan" to steer straight into magic. Was Benito thinking the more interested Edwin got in magic, the more the patronage funds might grow?

"You're trying to restore the magic?"

"Yes. Typhoon damage is getting worse every year."

Not out of the realm of possibility... and if that at least gave them a clear motive, and they were putting in genuine effort, Harold wasn't going to stand in the way.

Was there any cause in the world more simple and dependable than money? Better than clinging to something as murky as power.

Yes — a certain prince came to mind. The one who, just two days ago, had again been drunk and disorderly and hauled home by the city watch.

Harold gave his head a small shake. Startled by Harold's sudden movement, Leona quietly held a few pages out to him.

"The renewed contracts from the domain, Sir Bertholdt."

"Grazing land?"

"No. Roadworks. Some stretches are old enough now that they need repair."

Harold turned the pages.

"Are they only just starting the road project now?"

"It's been in the works since last year, but..."

Leona glanced at the boys, absorbed in Benito's talk.

"...My uncle instructed me to double-check anything the previous man had been involved in. I understand the word came from you, Sir Bertholdt."

He'd decided it while going through the documents that had Adrien Renard's and Nicola Rowell's names on them. Only now did Harold remember, and he nodded.

So much had happened in between that it felt like ages ago.

"Right. I've been away too long to have a good grasp of what's going on down there... anything besides this?"

"The road repairs were the most urgent, and — here, and here too, if you'd sign, please."

"But surely the mainland has far more Eshan Empire ruins than an island country like Eraadan? That's exactly why I came to Alharn's magic institute — to see those ruins with my own eyes."

"But there aren't many ruins in Alharn."

"What are you talking about! Why do you think there aren't? There are some right here in the capital."

"Really? Where?"

There was still plenty to worry about.

But watching the boys' faces light up in a way they never did at home, Harold couldn't bring himself to have any regrets.

He smiled to himself and worked his way through the documents Leona was handing him.