At the Maypool branch’s warehouse, the intimidating yakuza unloaded the winter supplies we’d brought from Flumen, just as planned. Yes, yes. It looked like the work would be completed without incident.
Incidentally, if we used my Storage, we could transport everything without preparing a single carriage, but apparently, that would defeat the purpose of the tour.
What mattered was having a large number of black carriages travel conspicuously through the region, thereby raising the common people’s trust in and approval of the Cineraria Family. It was precisely because the Family conducted this sort of charitable work on such a grand scale that people were willing to overlook a certain amount of illegal activity the rest of the time.
For a moment, I thought it was a very yakuza-like method… Then I remembered that they were yakuza.
Once the work was done, tables were lined up throughout the office and a grand feast began. Preparing for winter must have kept everyone busy, yet an impressive variety of dishes had been laid out. We’d mostly eaten preserved foods during the journey, one way or another, so everything looked even more delicious.
While I was enjoying sweets with Resina and Penne, Branch Head Gaccha—now looking completely defanged—appeared with his family.
“Underboss Candidate, may I introduce my children?”
His demeanor was very different from when we first greeted one another, but perhaps he’d simply been tense during our first meeting. Despite his bold appearance, he might have been surprisingly shy around strangers.
“First is my eldest son, Galio. He’s fifteen and currently studying to become heir to the Gazania Family. My foolish son still has much to learn, but I humbly ask for your guidance.”
“…’Sup.”
Galio, the eldest son, was a tall, lanky boy who wore a copper-red suit magnificently. He possessed a dignity that couldn’t even be compared to my little-recital outfit.
The mana surrounding him was just barely strong enough to qualify as High-grade. He moved it in a rather rough, violent way too, giving him the unmistakable air of a yakuza member. Mana was strength, and strength was power. In other words, he was swaggering like mad. Also, he was glaring intensely at me. Why?
“Beside him is my eldest daughter, Garnet. She’s twelve and currently studying alchemy. I intend to have her devote her efforts to developing Maypool’s industries—”
“I-it’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Garnet. At the moment, I’m researching whether we can increase the amount of sugar refined from sugar beets. And, um, on another subject, I heard a rumor that you successfully treated and neutralized a compound magical poison, Underboss Candidate. Is that true? If so, it would revolutionize medical alchemy, and I would very much like to hear the details. I suppose there isn’t much time while you’re on tour, is there? If you don’t have any plans after the feast, would you care to discuss every aspect of alchemy with me? I’m not confident we could cover everything before morning, but even if we limited ourselves to examination techniques and medical magic tools—”
“Ha ha ha! As you can see, my eldest daughter Garnet is deeply devoted to alchemy… Now step back. No. You’ll trouble the Underboss Candidate.”
Garnet was also rather tall, and her young-leaf-green hair was tied up in a bun. She wore a beautiful dress, but… with bottle-bottom-thick glasses, speech as rapid as a raging torrent, and a back curved like a banana, those three features combined to make her overall impression just a little unfortunate. I didn’t dislike it, though.
Was the gemstone in the pendant hanging from her neck a green garnet? At first glance, it looked like an ordinary ornament, but… it was probably some kind of magic tool. No, perhaps it was an aid for her magic.
“It’s nice to meet you, Garnet. If our schedules line up while I’m here, let’s talk about alchemy. We seem to be kindred spirits.”
“Y-y-y-y-yes! Absolutely!”
Watching Garnet beam with delight as we shook hands filled me with an affectionate warmth.
Talking with her would surely be worthwhile. I’d been taught the fundamentals, but after that, I’d studied on my own. An opportunity to speak face-to-face with a practicing alchemist was valuable.
“Now then, last is my second son, Gatango. He’s ten, the same age as you, Underboss Candidate. Though still young, he shows promise when it comes to using his head, so I intend for him to support Galio in the future.”
“N-nice to meet you, Underboss Candidate.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Unlike his elder brother, the second son managed a proper greeting, so I shook his hand as well.
But… the instant we touched, his body jolted. I see, I see. You just probed my mana, didn’t you?
In this world, openly probing the mana inside someone’s body without permission upon first meeting them was generally taboo. That was precisely why shaking hands without attempting anything was one of the most basic customs imaginable—a gesture of friendship declaring that neither party intended to do such a thing.
So doing something at a moment like this would ordinarily amount to declaring, “I have no intention of getting along with you.”
“Gatango. I also believe that using one’s head is extremely important. So, after carefully considering whom the Gazania Family should support and whom it should make an enemy of… you decided this was the correct choice, is that right? Let me see… I’m having a little trouble deciding whether I should interpret this as a declaration of war from the Gazania Family against the Cineraria Family, or merely as an action Gatango took on his own.”
When I said that, the branch head frantically seized Gatango by the collar and hauled him up.
Well, surely this couldn’t represent the will of the entire family. He was only ten, so a stern warning would probably be enough. Just as I was thinking that—
“M-my… my brother told me to probe the Underboss Candidate’s mana…”
Gatango was shaken back and forth until Branch Head Gaccha choked him unconscious in no time at all. Meanwhile, the elder son whose name had come up stepped before me, his face bright red.
“I… I refuse to accept it!”
“Hmm?”
“This has nothing to do with either family. This is between you and me personally. There’s no way an ordinary, feeble man like you should be the young miss’s marriage partner… That’s absolutely wrong. If something ain’t right, I’ll beat it straight with my own fists. That’s how I live.”
Ah. Yes. First love, perhaps?
“I challenge you to a duel! If I win, withdraw from your marriage to the young miss!”
“Sure.”
“A weakling like you is obviously going to… Wait, sure?”
“Sure.”
And so, I suddenly found myself scheduled to duel Galio, the branch head’s eldest son.
The branch head had gone deathly pale, but he really ought to calm down. From the moment I was brought into the Cineraria Family, I’d expected that a situation like this would come sooner or later. Honestly, I was quite fortunate that my first opponent in a duel was a boy suffering from a badly complicated first love rather than a genuine assassin.
For now, trust me. I wouldn’t do anything too cruel.