The Meeting Begins

The Meeting Begins

The Meeting Begins

As the gray priests left the room, Arno pushed a cart-like thing toward the table. He then began pouring tea — presumably the High Priest’s preferred kind — into a thick glass. Once it started to brew, Arno looked up and began taking out various tea-filled glass bottles while explaining what they were and what region they came from.

“Sister Myne, what would you like to drink?”

...To be honest, I had no idea. I just pointed at one at random, saying “This one please,” which prompted questions on which kind of milk I would like to use. Again, I had no idea. But my status was such that if I didn’t answer, the conversation wouldn’t move forward. I couldn’t just say “I’ll have what Benno’s having.”

Even just drinking tea is an ordeal for nobles, I thought while turning to look at Fran. It was time again for me to unleash the technique I had learned today: throwing problems onto someone else.

“Fran, what kind of milk do you think will suit this tea the best?”

“Hm... Milk from a three-year old grauvache from Holger will have a light sweetness that should suit your tastes well.”

“I see. In that case, I would like grauvache milk from Holger.” My drink for the meeting was teegabt with Holger grauvache. Honestly, it was hard to believe we were still speaking the same language.

As Arno asked Benno for his preferences, all the other gray priests finished leaving the room. Then, — “Your tea, Sister Myne” — he silently and gracefully placed a glass tea cup in front of me, which I picked up and took a sip from. The blended tea had mellow milk in it and spread a gentle sweetness through my mouth. Both the ingredients and the preparation were top of the line. It was so good I could feel my heart flutter.

Once everyone had their tea, Arno pushed the cart away somewhere. Just as I lost sight of him, he returned and shut the door. I couldn’t help but blink in awe at how purposeful every move he made was. The moment he returned to standing behind his master, the High Priest spoke.

“Benno, I have received reports that you are the perceptive man who first took Myne under his wing. What kind of person does Myne appear to be to your keen eyes? In the temple, she is known as a dangerous individual whose mana will rampage at the drop of a hat. I would like to know what you think of her, as someone who has spent such a long time watching over her.”

“Rampaging mana, huh...? Very interesting.” Benno glanced at me with a frighteningly hostile look in his eyes. If not for the High Priest being here, he no doubt would have yelled at me for not telling him about that. I casually looked away from him and brought my cup to my lips. “I am but a mere merchant. Mana is therefore beyond me, but I can discuss my personal experience with Myne.”

“Yes, please do.” The High Priest leaned slightly forward, urging Benno on. I felt kind of awkward, like a kid watching their parent talk about them to a teacher at a conference. Despite maintaining a demure expression, I was basically screaming Please stop! At least do this when I’m not around! on the inside, barely holding back the urge to run out of the room.

“Sister Myne is a prodigy, exclusively when it comes to inventing new products. She can come up with the concepts, but not create them herself. At the moment, an apprentice in my store assists her in the creation process of the products. Myne is not entirely self-aware of her genius and has consistently shown herself to be the owner of a generous, naive personality.”

It seemed that Benno’s description of me changed from “thoughtless idiot with no sense of self-preservation” to “generous and naive” when reworded for a noble’s sensibilities. I had honestly never expected Benno to say something like that. Phrasing was everything, it seemed.

“Wait just a moment. Naive I can understand, but generous?” The High Priest looked at Benno with an incredibly dubious expression, likely finding his assessment hard to believe. I couldn’t blame him. I was famous among the priests for letting my mana go on a rampage and knocking the High Bishop unconscious. The High Priest should also know from Fran’s report that I briefly let my mana loose just because Gil was getting in the way of my reading. From his perspective, I was far from a generous person. I was a dangerous, emotional person who got mad constantly.

“There are some things which she values beyond words: Her family, her friends, and indeed, books. If these are not involved, Sister Myne is generous to a fault. She trusts others almost immediately and continues to do so despite being deceived multiple times. Perhaps ‘apathetic’ or ‘indifferent’ would describe her better, to use the words of the aforementioned apprentice, who knows her even better than I do.”

“Apathetic. I see,” murmured Fran from behind me. I thought back to how I had acted this morning and realized I had no room for argument there.

The High Priest frowned in thought, looked at me, then frowned again. “Anything else? Please state anything that might cause your mana to go berserk, outside of your family, friends, and books.”

“I can’t think of anything important to me other than those three things,” I answered, and the High Priest nodded in reply, seeming relieved.

Benno looked up slightly in thought, then looked between Fran and the High Priest. “Speaking of which. I believe it is necessary that I report to you just how abnormally weak Myne is.”

“How weak she is? Yes, I recall that she needs someone to manage her health.” The High Priest looked this way and I felt Fran waver a bit behind me. He was probably remembering what Benno had said to him in the hallway.

“Myne is shockingly lacking in strength and endurance. If you do not carefully observe her expression, tone, walking speed, and how much she has moved in a given day, she will fall unconscious and collapse without warning despite appearing otherwise healthy. She will then be bedridden for several days with a fever. As of the current moment, only the apprentice in my store can manage her health.”

“That apprentice is the boy named Lutz, yes? Fran. Can you manage her health?” said the High Priest, leading to everyone’s eyes falling on Fran. His deep brown eyes wavered briefly, then he lowered his eyes and spoke in a tone dripping with regret.

“No, not yet... Forgive me.” I turned my head a little and saw Fran’s fist, which was at eye level with me, trembling a little. It was clear as day that he felt enormous frustration at himself for failing to meet the High Priest’s expectations.

“Fran just became my attendant this morning. It would be unreasonable for him to learn to manage my health so soon. It took Lutz a very long time to memorize the signs himself.”

“We do not have that time.” Despite my attempt to back Fran up, everything fell apart with the High Priest’s harsh words. “The Knight’s Order might call upon us for assistance again in the fall. Learn to manage Myne’s health before then. Understood, Fran?” The High Priest gave Fran a firm look, who sucked in air and then nodded.

“...Understood. I will not fail.” Just as his efforts by the entrance and his knowledge of tea showed, Fran was an individual who would work immensely hard for the sake of the High Priest. I could imagine that with the High Priest directly ordering him to learn to manage my health, he would be taking it very seriously from now on. Personally, I was glad for him to have a source of positive motivation.

Benno, seeing my relief, lowered his eyes with worry. “High Priest, Myne is an extremely intelligent child considering her age. But she has little life experience, and is far removed from both the culture of the temple and noble society itself.”

“Yes, I know. That is why I have assigned Fran to her. He is one of the best attendants I have. She may ask him any question that comes to mind. Of course, I intend to help educate Myne as well.”

I heard Fran gasp behind me. I turned around and saw that he was looking at the High Priest with eyes wide in disbelief. ...Wait. Did Fran think he was assigned to be my attendant due to not working hard enough or something? If that’s the case, maybe it’ll be easy to get him on my side just by saying “Let’s work together to help out the High Priest.” As I sipped my tea and thought of a plan to get Fran on my side, the High Priest looked between Benno and me with narrowed eyes.

“By the way, Benno. I hear some say that Myne is the Goddess of Water to you. What is the meaning behind that?”

“What?!” yelled Benno, so shocked that he dropped his cup with a clatter. Benno’s blatant shock seemed to have deepened the High Priest’s suspicion. He sighed and crossed his legs.

“I would like to know exactly what eyes you are looking at Myne with.”

“I understand your curiosity, but... I myself do not understand why those around me say that.” Benno faltering and making excuses was so unlike him that I wanted to laugh, but to tell the truth, I didn’t know what the High Priest had meant with that Goddess of Water stuff. I tilted my head in confusion, remembering how mad Benno had gotten when Otto said the same thing.

“Um, excuse me for interrupting, but what implication does the Goddess of Water have?” I looked around, but everyone avoided making eye contact with me. It was clear nobody wanted to be the one to tell me. That was pretty awkward. I blinked in confusion and Benno passed me a note that said Be quiet. Apparently I had asked a question best asked quietly, so I whispered it to Fran.

“...It’s important for me to know about the gods, isn’t it? I would like for you to explain this to me, Fran.”

“Ah, well, that is...” Fran looked at the High Priest for help. Benno, hand on his forehead, let out a sigh and the High Priest reluctantly spoke.

“Paramour, lover, one who moves the heart. The Goddess of Water is often used as a metaphor for these things.”

Um, lover? Paramour? No way, no way. Benno’s dedicated to his dead fiancée and is going to live his life as a bachelor. And even if he wasn’t, why would anyone think that about Benno and me? It just doesn’t make sense.

“That’s ridiculous. Benno is old enough to be my father, you know.” I held back the urge to laugh and flatly made it clear that there was nothing between Benno and me.

“It is as Sister Myne says. The very idea is ridiculous.”

“So you say, but it is not uncommon for relationships to form between those with similar age gaps,” said the High Priest, looking at Benno in such a way that made it clear that he was still doubtful.

I had heard of such relationships in the entertainment industry back in Japan, but I hadn’t heard of anything like that since becoming Myne. After all, if you were remarrying with someone young enough to be your kid, you were probably old enough for your own kids to be supporting you, and the kids making money wouldn’t want more dependents in the family. Marrying someone that young first, rather than remarrying, wasn’t an option at all. The life of a commoner wasn’t easy enough for only the older member of the couple to be out there working and making money.

“I have never heard of such a thing... Oh, speaking of which, I suppose relationships with large age gaps are not rare in the temple? One of my attendants wishes to form a relationship with the High Bishop, after all. But I’m afraid the same cannot be said for commoners. It is out of the question. It’s understandable that you do not understand what life is like for us commoners, High Priest, given how sheltered this temple is.”

I was backing Benno up, but for some reason, an awkward silence followed. Benno passed another note, this one saying Please. Shut up. It seemed my backup wasn’t appreciated.

I zipped my lips as requested, but now nobody was talking. A lengthy, heavy silence filled the room. Everyone was sipping their tea and observing each other, rather than saying anything. Awkward. Being here felt so, so awkward.

“...High Priest, although I am but a humble servant, I would like to request permission to speak, if I may.” The savior who broke the awkward silence was none other than Mark.

I looked up in surprise, and it was written on the High Priest’s face that he wanted someone, anyone to fix this. Thus he immediately granted permission, practically applauding as he did so. “You may speak.”

“I will make this clear for the sake of my master’s honor, but in this case the Goddess of Water is being used to mean something else entirely. As you surely know, Sister Myne’s series of inventions has led my master to starting an entirely new business. The Gilberta Company dealt with only clothes and such for its entire history, but now thanks to Myne, we are blossoming into something greater than ever before. She is, indeed, the Goddess of Water to our store.”

“Hm, I see. I can understand and agree with that interpretation. In which case, as my final question, I would like to ask about the Myne Workshop.” It looked clear that he didn’t actually agree with that interpretation, but the High Priest changed the subject without pursuing the matter further. “Just how much profit is the workshop earning? I permitted its continued operation under the condition that a portion of that profit is given to the temple, if you recall.”

Benno nodded and pretended to think, while in reality within his large sleeve he was ripping a chunk off a piece of paper that had a bunch of messages already written on it. Suddenly, it hit me that the scraps of paper Benno had been handing me all came from the piece of paper that Mark had been writing on in the carriage. I flinched.

...Wha, Mark?! It was Mark who wrote “idiot” on that note?! No way! I believed in him being a wonderful gentleman! I can’t believe that every note he wrote ahead of time is so harsh! I knew that he had written “idiot,” “shut up,” and so on in Benno’s place, but it was still shocking to me. I wished he wouldn’t have written those notes with his usual smile.

Benno handed me another note while I sunk down, depressed. It had Don’t say anything written on it.

“...The profit depends on the product. As you are aware, no business maintains a steady level of profit across the board. And as we are in the process of starting a new business, we are actually losing more money on investments than we are earning in revenue. Considering the costs of maintaining the workshop and preparing for this new business, I believe one tenth of the net profit is a fair sum,” Benno suggested, which made the High Priest grimace.

“One tenth is fairly low, is it not?”

“...If you will forgive my rudeness, it is so large as to be nigh unreasonable. I cannot pay the workers less, nor can I afford to lose money that could be spent purchasing the necessary materials and paying for their import costs.”

“However...”

“I understand that in business, one must at times shave off profit in order to sell more. But if the Myne Workshop goes into the red, I cannot expect for you to provide financial support, correct?”

The High Priest fell silent. Naturally, he wouldn’t be able to provide any such support. The temple was already in the red itself. And on top of that, it was difficult for the High Priest to argue from his position. The temple received free labor from orphans in the form of gray priests, and operated with donations given by the families of blue robes and the Archduke. The temple’s source of income and whatnot was entirely different from that of a store doing business. It was likely that the High Priest did not have a strong grasp on the organization of a store, nor how workers were paid.

“Sister Myne is free to donate her personal share of the profits to the temple as she wishes, but the workshop as a whole cannot afford to donate so much money that it is forced to cease operating.”

“...I see. Ten percent, then.”

Benno took the lead of the conversation with solid argument after solid argument, and in the end secured the donation amount he wanted. Benno himself was casually taking thirty percent of our profits in the form of handling fees, but he minimized donations to the temple to only ten percent.

As I sat there in awe at Benno’s skill, Mark took out sheets of contract paper and lined them up along the table. Once the deal was made, one must immediately solidify it in the form of a contract. Mark’s action seemed plain in comparison to Benno’s deft negotiation, but he was still completely on top of things. To be honest, it felt like Mark was just as good of an attendant as those the noble blue robes had.

As this was a contract between commoners and the concentrated of mass of nobles that was the temple, the pieces of contract paper were indeed magic. We wrote the contract stating that the temple would receive one tenth of the Myne Workshop’s profits, then we signed them in turn. First the High Priest, as representative of the temple; then me, as the forewoman of the Myne Workshop; then finally Benno, as my guardian and the one who would be managing the financial affairs in the first place.

...Blood, again?! I... I hate magic contracts.

“What are you waiting for, Myne? It is your turn.”

Although it was just a knife pricking the tip of a finger, I still hadn’t gotten used to a blade being pointed my way. I grabbed the knife with a trembling hand at the High Priest’s urging. But before I could do anything, Fran reached out from the side and took it from me.

“Please close your eyes, Sister Myne.” I squeezed my eyes shut tight and felt a jolt of pain from a finger. I opened my eyes and saw blood puckering out. Fran held out a sheet of contract paper, which I pressed my finger against. It disappeared in bright flames just like magic contracts always did.

“Those are all the questions I had. This meeting was a very productive use of time. You have my thanks, Benno.”

“Your gratitude is much appreciated, my lord.”

As Benno and the High Priest exchanged goodbyes, Mark cleaned up the tools used to write the magic contract, Fran collected the teacups, and Arno prepared the carpet.

“Now, let us pray to and thank the gods for guiding us toward this meeting,” said the High Priest while gesturing me and Benno toward the carpet. I looked up at Benno and Mark on the way there and barely held back the urge to laugh.

...Does this mean I’m going to see Benno and Mark making that goofy praying pose?! I can’t wait! I wanna see that so much! But I’m gonna lose my sides again! As I put a hand over my mouth to stifle the immense destructive power carried by the mental image of Benno and Mark striking the praying pose, I suddenly felt all the strength drain from my body. I accidentally let out a very non-regal “bwuh?!” as my knees collapsed and my body fell forward, carried by the weight of my head.

“Sister Myne?!” Fran let out a cry of surprise from behind me and everyone looked around. The High Priest gave an exasperated sigh at the sight of me collapsed.

“Myne, stand back up already. You look disgraceful.” Of course, I had already tried standing back up on my own, but my hands just weren’t moving. I couldn’t lift my head either.

“Um, my body’s being weird. I can’t move at all. It doesn’t feel like I have a fever, though. My hands are actually kinda cold. Mr. Benno, what’s happening?”

“Like I know! Don’t ask me!” Benno picked me up as he yelled, but I couldn’t grab onto his shirt for support like I usually did. My arms felt so heavy it was like they didn’t even belong to me.

“Honorable High Priest, I sincerely apologize for this trouble. I would like to request that formal goodbyes be omitted so that we may depart immediately.”

“C-Certainly, I do not mind. I will leave Myne in your care.”

Benno, still carrying me, asked the High Priest to leave with a pale expression. As he did so, I didn’t feel the signs of heat swelling inside of me like I usually would. I still felt relatively cool, and honestly, it felt like my body was getting increasingly cold despite it still being the start of summer.

Mark hurriedly prepared to leave and Arno opened the door for Benno as he hastily walked out of the room with long strides. Unlike what normally happened when I collapsed, I didn’t fall unconscious, and my hanging limbs felt weird. As I felt the heavy weight of my limp head, a wave of regret washed over me. I had missed Benno and Mark striking the praying pose.

“Master Benno, please wait!” From my hanging head I could see Fran’s chest and part of his jaw. But Benno ignored him and kept striding away at a rapid pace. He was going so fast that my head was bouncing, and it kind of felt like my brain was being stirred up. I would like it if he walked a bit slower so I wouldn’t bounce, I thought while hearing Fran call out to Benno from a step behind him again.