—This world placed mana above all else.
If I had to put it into words, that seemed like the most accurate description. The strength of a person’s mana was enormously important to nobles and yakuza alike.
Even in the myths drilled into children from a young age, the hero who defeated the Demon King and reclaimed the continent for humanity and the king who united the world were both Special grade.
One major reason nobles held power was that they “protected humanity from vicious monsters and demons.”
Considering the history of my previous world, people would probably rule over other people even without mana. But in this world, it was also true that few would conceive of granting authority to someone with feeble mana.
So I understood why the girl before me was so upset.
“I ain’t accepting this! Everyone knows the young miss is supposed to marry some handsome noble with super-strong mana. A filthy commoner like you—someone who’s completely ordinary no matter which way you slice him—better stop sticking his obnoxious face where it doesn’t belong!”
The furious girl shaking her pink twin-tails was Chief Administrator Serge’s granddaughter, ten-year-old Penne.
I supposed her outfit qualified as punk fashion. She wore a leather jacket, a collar-like choker, a short plaid skirt, and tall boots. In her right hand, she held a hatchet—and yes, surely the hatchet was part of the fashion too. It had to be.
With the headquarters already short-staffed, it had no personnel to spare for supporting the newly appointed candidate for next underboss—that being me.
Furthermore, we still hadn’t identified the mastermind who had put compound magical poison in the boss’s and Resina’s dishes, so the number of people we could trust was limited.
Given all those circumstances, Mr. Serge had apparently decided to call in his granddaughter, who worked at a branch office.
The advance description claimed she was a kind, sweet-natured girl.
“Um, Penne?”
“Don’t shorten it! I told you my name’s Pennerotisia Banksia! Want me to split your skull open?”
“Calm down. Let’s lower the hatchet first. Yes, good girl. For now… you seem to be laboring under a few misunderstandings, so I’d like to clear those up. Would you sit in that chair? I’ll make tea.”
At my words, Penne carefully returned the hatchet to the holder at her waist and sat obediently in the chair.
Oh, she really was a good girl.
At the very least, she seemed more willing to listen than anyone else I’d spoken with since arriving at the estate.
Now, to prepare the tea. A fearsome-looking senior attendant had aggressively taught me how to brew a delicious cup, so my skill had improved a little recently. Eventually, I wanted to turn those tricks into a magic tool as well.
Penne sat quietly and obediently until I served the tea. Even the way she accepted the cup and stirred in milk was subdued, and she drank with remarkable manners. Perhaps she really was a good girl. Thinking that, I began explaining myself slowly.
“First of all, the idea that I’m going to become Resina’s husband is a misunderstanding.”
“It is?”
“Yeah. She’s a dear friend, but we haven’t promised each other a future together. Naturally, we aren’t involved as a man and woman. No one thinks our positions are mismatched more strongly than I do.”
As I spoke, she nodded.
What an honestly good girl.
My mood had been growing a little bloodthirsty lately. Why did every last yakuza refuse to listen to a single word I said?
Even after the boss personally announced that he was nominating me as a candidate for next underboss, my official position remained Resina’s personal attendant. My salary still came from her purse, and I hadn’t exchanged sake cups as anyone’s parent, child, or brother. On the surface, nothing should have changed.
And yet, Mr. Serge had begun treating me a little more politely, some members stiffened with nervousness when I passed, and others subjected me to appraising looks.
While complaining about everything that had happened to Penne, who was surprisingly good at listening, I piled a large platter high with cookies and presented them to her. Thanks for hearing me out.
“I want to go to the frontier… My dream is a slow life. So how did this happen?”
“I see. You’ve got it rough too.”
“Sure, Resina’s mana doesn’t scare me. But that’s all—I’m just an ordinary boy… Well, I know a little alchemy, so I treated Resina and the boss one after the other. Those treatments happened to go well. But even so… all I want is a peaceful, uneventful slow life on the frontier. How did that turn into me joining a fight over who’ll inherit a yakuza family? It makes absolutely no sense.”
As I refilled her cup, I seized the opportunity to pour out all the stagnation in my heart. I’d wondered what was going to happen when she pointed a hatchet at me during our first meeting, but Penne was an incredibly good girl.
“I understand now, Crow. Leave it to me.”
“Oh, could it be…?”
“Yeah. I’ll give both the young miss and Gramps a piece of my mind. We might be outcasts from society, but that’s exactly why we mustn’t drag a damn ordinary, weak civilian like you into our world. That’s an ironclad rule.”
Penne sprang energetically to her feet.
How dependable… Although in terms of mana, she didn’t seem capable of beating either Resina or Mr. Serge. She was only around Intermediate grade. Still, I was delighted simply to have someone listen to me and actually take action. Thank you.
“I’m off… The tea was good.”
“Penne.”
Like a soldier marching toward certain death, Penne turned her back, raised one hand, and walked away.
I could feel ample determination in the mana cloaking her body… Ah, what a good girl. My chest grew hot with emotion. I was moved.
—Several minutes later, Penne returned looking utterly dejected.
“A moment, if you please. I am Pennerotisia Banksia, granddaughter of Serge Edrahl Banksia, chief administrator of the Cineraria Family. I have come to provide support to Crow Amaryllis, candidate for next underboss. I humbly place myself in your care.”
“Oh, right… When no one else is around, you can speak the way you did before, Penne. There’s still tea and cookies.”
Afterward, I fed my homemade baked treats to a Penne who had become considerably less talkative, and we grew a little closer. Apparently, she liked dried persimmons, so I’d make plenty next time. What a good girl.
And so the tumultuous autumn passed, and winter drew near.
◆ ◆ ◆
We still hadn’t found the mastermind behind the poisoning, but the boss had completely recovered. Lately, I’d also begun assisting Resina during the day.
My image of the yakuza had been of a dangerous group that extorted and robbed people every day, collecting bloodstained money. But as I followed Resina and visited various places, that shallow view gradually began to change.
Resina intimidated everyone present with a stern expression.
“—Now then. The cause of this dispute and the events leading to it have been established. We’ve also reached an agreement governing matters from this point forward. Neither side has any objection to these terms, correct?”
Today, we had come to a meeting intended to resolve a conflict between two trading companies over their commercial rights.
Flumen, the city where the Cineraria Family maintained its headquarters, was the largest and most prosperous metropolis in the western Azukai Empire. Its population was roughly five hundred thousand. Back when the surrounding region was still a kingdom, the city had apparently flourished as its royal capital. The enormous castle towering over it was now used as the fief castle of Marquis Saintpaulia.
Several roads and rivers intersected here, so merchants had come and gone in great numbers since ancient times. Mediating their disputes was one of the Cineraria Family’s important duties.
“Prepare the cups.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
At Resina’s instruction, the family members hurriedly brought out the “make-friends set.” Of course, “make-friends set” was only the name I’d privately given it. They always brought the same things whenever people reconciled. Everyone divided the work, placing sake cups on individual trays and filling them with liquor. Their teamwork was excellent.
One side in today’s settlement was a large trading company that dealt mainly in wooden products, while the other was a small company specializing in toys. They’d fought bitterly over which one had the right to sell “carved wooden toys,” and the conflict had nearly led to bloodshed.
They could have asked the nobles who administered the city to intervene, but that often made matters drag on or blow out of proportion. In the worst cases, the judgment depended entirely on which side could pile up more gold coins. Choosing the right mediator required careful thought.
The dispute had initially been handled by low-ranking members, but they couldn’t bring it under control and apparently escalated it to Resina.
“—Now exchange cups to seal the settlement.”
Under the intimidation of a ten-year-old girl, the presidents of both companies raised cups toward one another, drained them in a gulp, and produced stiff smiles. What horrendous workplace bullying.
It would have been an unusual sight in my previous world. Then again, if you intended to settle a dispute through sheer authority, perhaps mana as powerful as Resina’s really was necessary.
Once the banquet began, the yakuza’s role was over. The rest would be left to the parties themselves, who would probably finish the day drinking together amicably. If they damaged the reputation of their mediator, Resina, a terrifying future awaited them.
“…Resina, I’m going over there for a moment.”
“Yes. I’ll leave it to you.”
I quietly approached an executive of the Lignum Trading Company, the business dealing in wooden products. Lignum used the rivers flowing through the western empire to transport enormous quantities of timber across the region. It was one of the foremost trading companies in Flumen.
However, the agreement had classified the disputed “carved wooden toys” as toys from now on, so Lignum had lost and must have felt extremely frustrated. My role was to smooth over that resentment.
“Good work today. Please, have a drink.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
“…We were able to reach a settlement because Lignum graciously accepted the painful end of the bargain. Resina was troubled by the position it placed you in.”
That was the official story.
Resina had immediately decided that “a carved wooden toy is obviously a toy,” without agonizing for even a moment. Their defeat had been certain from the beginning. Lignum’s main business was wooden furniture and riverboats, so trying to extend its rights into toys had been unreasonable in the first place.
Even so, allowing a major trading company to develop a negative view of the Cineraria Family would bring nothing but harm, so I’d made Resina a proposal.
“We forced Lignum to draw the short straw this time… Calling it compensation might be too strong, but we’d like to offer you a job.”
“Oh? A job?”
“A highly profitable one. You aren’t obligated to accept, of course. We also agreed that it wouldn’t be right for Lignum alone to bear the loss… Today is a banquet, so please come to the estate later for the details. Give them this letter, and the person in charge will meet with you.”
I quietly handed him the letter I’d prepared in advance.
We already had a job involving timber that needed to be done, so I’d decided to present it as a favor to them. Naturally, I intended to add enough to the payment for them to feel they had profited.
Ah, this must be how society became entangled in vested interests. It wasn’t a world I’d particularly wanted to learn about.
When I’d discussed this plan with Mr. Serge beforehand, he had praised me. Apparently, people with exceptionally powerful mana, like Resina, tended to force their opinions through even if it required some aggression. Yes, I knew that very well.
He’d said that making a move like this, one that considered the feelings of everyone involved, was important. But Mr. Serge had developed a habit of overestimating me, so I couldn’t take much pleasure in his praise… I did give him credit for recruiting Penne, though.
After leaving the banquet, we finally relaxed in the carriage carrying us back to the estate.
“Crow, that was all of today’s work, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. That was tiring… I’ll make tea later.”
“Hehehe. Please do. Oh, that’s right—”
Resina’s sharp eyes softened with faint amusement, and the corner of her mouth curled into a grin.
“Every year around this time, we have plans to visit the frontier… You love the frontier, Crow, so naturally, you’ll come with us, won’t you?”