Chapter 84: Kitchen Door
The poor in the royal capital have good access to money.
From the viewpoint of the rulers, it’s just a small movement of pennies. Even if the slum dwellers who live deep in the slums where even tax collectors don’t go, or beggars who claim the only possession they have is the mat they spread on the street, have one more copper coin than usual, who among the rich would notice.
Maybe a small shop in the slum or a sister at a charity hospital might notice. For example, there were fewer people who died of cold on the street this winter.
And the poor people know it well. It’s because the simple Magic Appraisal Office of A&V Co. was distributing candy to the children.
It’s because the Peltra couple is showing mercy to the poor.
One evening, a ragged old man bows his head at the kitchen door at the back of the house. His one sleeve was empty, and it swayed powerlessly when he bowed his head.
“I beg the master and madam of this magnificent house to have mercy on this poor beggar…”
Hearing that, the maid in livery nodded and offered the metal handle.
“Yes, our master will not abandon you. Touch here and pray.”
The man knelt down and, with his remaining hand, grasped the handle and prayed.
“May the blessings of the gods be upon the master and the madam, and may we express our gratitude to all the servants…
The sound of a clear, dry voice can be heard.
“Good, please go ahead.”
A few copper coins are dropped into the bowl that the man holds out, and on top of that are placed hard-baked bread and a piece of sweet that are being distributed to the children.
The man is surprised by the weight.
There are not many nobles who are so generous to beggars like them. Even if there are, it’s only on special days like the church’s Thanksgiving.
He says the words of gratitude at that time.
“Thank you for your great mercy, I will not come until next year…”
However, the servant shakes his head.
“Is that what you used to say? I heard the madam say this. She said, ‘Please come again next week.”
The man carefully holds the dish and leaves the place.
Soon another man dressed in rags comes.
This time it seems to be a young man. The maid’s mouth is curved.
“Ara, are you a little beggar too?”
***
While I was keeping the ledger in my office, I received a call from a servant that Jurremi had arrived.
“Ara, what was he going to do if he got caught by someone?”
“He disguised himself in rags and came in through the back door.”
I headed to the reception room while laughing.
“Ara, greetings Lord Latuma.”
He must have changed already. Jurremi stands wearing plain clothes.
He furrowed his brow.
“Mrs. Peltra… May I call you Big Sister?”
“Yes, Jurremi. It’s okay within this mansion.”
We exchanged greetings and sat in chairs.
The maids making tea and the guards all smile and bow to Jurremi. Afterall, It was Jurremi who had employed them until I took possession of the house.
“Well, why did you go to the trouble of disguising yourself and come here?”
“It’s about the Commercial Guild. Is that the Big Sister’s doing?”
“Jurremi, what do you know?”
He thinks for a while.
“Big Sister and the others created A&V company., which provides a free Magic Appraisal Office service, the scale of the service has expanded in terms of the number of shops and employees, they have purchased a mansion and hired servants, and the daughter of a noble family who was a friend of Big Sister and the Central Bank of the Capital is a supporter. Even if the appraiser is a groundbreaking invention, it’s not enough to earn money by selling information on magic users to magic schools. No matter how you think about it, it doesn’t make sense.”
He mutters while spilling milk into his tea.
“Big Sister may dress modestly when she goes out, but this porcelain is not out of place in the Duke’s household, right?”
He takes a sip from the cup.
“Yes. Continue?”
“A&V Company has dispatched many researchers to the Periknen Territory, they’ve created a simple Magic Appraisal Office in the ducal capital, and researchers and adventurers frequently come and go there. Father is now in a dilemma because he’s not paying attention to this movement.”
He says with a sigh.
“Ara, really?”
“Well, maybe it’s Father, or maybe it’s the deputy. I searched the reports from last year, but almost nothing was recorded. So, since important adventurers have been recruited, it’s not worth mentioning.”
“They don’t find any value in adventurers.”
Jurremi nods his head.
“Maybe. And the information that has been confirmed is that Big Sister went to a neighboring country and returned immediately, and also went to the Patent Department of the Commercial Guild. Was it a magic stone production device?”
“Yes, it was made by my husband.”
“Mr. Alex Peltra. I don’t know if I can call him my brother-in-law.”
As a brother-in-law means a legal brother in law, since I was expelled from Periknen, legally speaking, Jurremi and I are not siblings. For Jurremi, Lex being his brother-in-law is not established.
“I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear that.”
He is not here now because he is at the laboratory.
“…Yeah. Anyway, I got to see the contents of Alex-san’s patent, but his inventions aren’t like that. Isn’t it?”
I feel my mouth corners rise.
“Why do you think that?”
“Big Sisters’ flamboyance, the Patent Department head went missing just after Big Sister went to the commercial guild, the price of magic stone has already fallen by 10% in the market, we received contact that they would only buy it at 80% of the official standard price from the commercial guild.”
Having said that, Jurremi furrowed his brow and tapped the armrest of his chair with his finger.
“I know it sounds paranoid, but… Pope Namadrius IV is coming to this country this year, and a few days after Big Sister left the country, the central jewel in Pope Namadrius IV’s crown changed into a huge magic stone.”
Fufu, he’s a smart child.
“It’s all our doing.”
Jurremi stood up and raised his voice.
“Did you meet His Holiness, Pope Namadrius IV?!”
And then he sat down in the chair as if he could not put strength into his legs and leaned his weight on the backrest.
“It’s bad manners.”
“Yeah, that’s true, but… a 100-carat magic stone…”
