In the morning, the stall staff I had brought with me began their return journey to Village Five and Shashato City.
I felt a responsibility to see them home personally since I was the one who had invited them, but I needed to encourage the auction caravan, so we said our farewells in the Royal Capital. I watched them go. It was a short trip if one used the Teleportation Gate, anyway. I left Donovan and his team in charge of handling any potential trouble during the transition.
Past noon.
I headed toward a large storehouse owned by the Dalfon Company—a council-style merchant union—to offer my support to the caravan promoting the auction. My companions were Malbit, Ruincia, and five other angels. Malbit and the rest had hidden their wings and were walking like ordinary people.
This was because the moment they had stepped off the academy grounds with their wings exposed earlier, it had triggered a skirmish with the Royal Capital residents, who mistakenly believed the angels were holding me captive. That sort of thing never happened in Village Five or Shashato City, but here, we had to be careful. In any case, we decided that my companions should keep their wings hidden to avoid attracting unnecessary trouble.
On the way, we met up with the group from the Goroun Company. I was surprised to find Michael-san among them. Apparently, he felt it would be unthinkable for him to be absent after inviting me to come and offer my encouragement. I understood his point. Oh, and I made sure to thank him for the various arrangements he had made for yesterday's festival. Alfred and the others had mentioned it had been a tremendous help.
"I am glad we could be of service," Michael-san replied. "By the way, regarding the matter of the alcohol..."
Alcohol? Had word of last night's conversation already reached him?
"Yes. I received a message from Randan-sama early this morning..."
He certainly moved fast. As expected of the head of the Four Heavenly Kings and the Minister of Internal Affairs.
"First of all, I wish to apologize for providing alcohol that resulted in such a situation," Michael-san said.
"Eh?"
"I had instructed our Royal Capital branch to prepare high-quality goods, but it seems they selected them based on price alone."
Michael-san seemed to be apologizing for providing wine that was expensive but tasted terrible. I told him not to let it bother him. I wasn't about to complain about something given as a gift. The only reason it had even become a topic of discussion was that Donovan had lamented the mediocre wine circulating in the Royal Capital.
"Donovan-dono surely knows that such wine exists. I believe he was taking issue with the fact that it was presented as a gift in the first place. I am truly sorry."
Was there really that much depth to it? I had assumed he was just venting about the quality of the wine in general.
"Regarding that..." Michael-san looked at me as if he had something more to say. "About the ranking... it would be a huge help if you could show a little mercy."
According to Michael-san, even with a weighted voting system, holding a joint election for nobles and commoners would be difficult. Furthermore, publicizing the ranking would be a massive undertaking. Since only those with financial leeway could afford to care about the flavor of their alcohol, the majority of commoners would likely react with hostility and cause unrest.
I see.
"Therefore, if you could allow the ranking to be for nobles only... No, I am well aware it is intended as a punishment, but there are significant hurdles to its implementation."
It wasn't a punishment. I didn't lead a grand enough life to go around punishing people. The ranking was just a sudden idea, so if it was impossible, that was fine. However, as for improving the taste of the wine... wait. Based on what Michael-san said, wasn't the wine in question meant to be a substitute for water?
"Yes. While there is alcohol used as a water substitute, it doesn't circulate much in the Royal Capital. If necessary, we can simply produce water with magic."
Now that he mentioned it, that made sense.
"Alcohol as a water substitute is mainly circulated within the military. They prefer to save their magic for combat."
I understood. So alcohol for water substitution was essentially treated as storable water. Water would rot quickly if left alone, after all. Hmm. Since the purposes were different, there was no point in trying to improve the flavor of wine meant as a water substitute. I heard that nobles were producing delicious wine for its own sake, but it didn't seem to circulate much. Still, I had heard that some places were indeed selling it.
The real problem was the wine that was expensive but mediocre. Was there a reason for it being high-priced despite the poor taste?
"Just between us... it is a matter of saving face for nobles who need to borrow money."
"?"
Apparently, it looked bad for a noble to be seen openly borrowing money from a commoner. To hide the debt, they made it appear as though the noble had made a profit through the wine trade. The amount being borrowed was simply tacked onto the sale price of the wine.
"Yes. And to maintain the record of the wine being purchased at a high price, we must keep the market price high for the time being."
That meant wine was being produced that didn't match its market value.
"Precisely. Most of it is left to sit in a storehouse, and then the labels are eventually swapped before it's sold at a proper price."
Well, how about that. Incidentally, nobles who didn't produce wine apparently did similar things with lumber or ore. Lumber and ore were easier to misrepresent in terms of origin, so it was rare for their prices to stay artificially high. People actually cared about where their wine came from.
Ah, wait—it was the other way around. Nobles who lacked resources like lumber or ore were forced to use wine for these schemes. In any case, this wasn't an area where I could interfere. I felt bad for Donovan, but he would have to give up on that front. As a gesture of good faith, I handed Michael-san some funds and asked him to support any nobles who might actually be capable of producing delicious wine.
"Then, regarding the ranking..."
"Is it acceptable if it remains for nobles only?"
"Yes. Beezel-sama and Hou-sama should be able to take the lead on it."
It would be ideal if the nobles competed to produce better wine.
"I'll leave it in your hands, then."
"Understood. Thank you! I will inform Randan-sama of this as well."
Michael-san looked like he was about to sprint off, but he hadn't forgotten our original reason for meeting. Right, the goal was to encourage the caravan promoting the auction. I asked if the large storehouse straight ahead was our destination. That was the place. They had rented out the entire building and were currently displaying the items to be put up for auction.
We still had a bit of distance to cover, but Kierbit—disguised as a demon—came trotting toward us from the storehouse. It seemed she had been waiting for us. Wait, no? Ah, she was waiting specifically for me. I wondered if something had happened.
"It’s nothing urgent," she said. "But Ridley from the Dalfon Company is looking for you. She wants to apologize for the wine that was provided."
Ridley? Ah, that name was in Tiselle's letter. She was Tiselle's friend who worked for the Dalfon Company. And if she wanted to apologize, was it for the same reason as Michael-san?
"She was clutching her head, saying that a ranking involving both nobles and commoners would be a nightmare to implement, even as a punishment."
It seemed the concern was universal. Lately, Kierbit had been working on strengthening relations with the Dalfon Company in place of Tiselle, who was occupied with nation-building. Because of that, she asked me to show some leniency. I told her I hadn't intended for the ranking to be a punishment. Furthermore, I mentioned I had already decided to limit the ranking to the nobility.
"Is that so? Ridley will be relieved. She’s currently gone to apologize to Tiselle, so she’ll probably be back here with her in a little while."
"To Tiselle's place?"
"Ridley has no prior acquaintance with you, right?"
I had sent letters asking her to look after Tiselle a few times, but Ridley and I had never met in person. Apparently, to meet me directly, she needed to be introduced by someone she knew. It was a bit of a hassle, but since the guarantee of identity relied on such introductions, it couldn't be helped. In this case, Tiselle had been chosen as the intermediary.
Personally, I wouldn't have suspected someone of being an impostor even without a formal introduction. Still, considering the risk of scams, caution was probably necessary.
Wait... was it not okay for Kierbit to introduce her?
"She was likely wary of relying on me since I'm a newcomer. Besides, in this outfit, my role is strictly that of Tiselle's collaborator."
I see. It was faster to go through my daughter.
"Exactly."
"Understood. I'll greet her when she arrives."
"Please do."
By the way, I had been curious about something.
"Is that way of speaking okay while you're in disguise?"
I had expected her to act more like a refined young noble lady.
"I thought suppressing my true self too much might cause issues, so I'm still adjusting."
Well, considering Kierbit's ultimate goal, it would be a problem if she focused so much on the disguise that she gave Torain a false impression of her personality.
"That's why I'm currently being taught the ropes by Hou-san."
"Heh."
Why Hou? I could understand if it were romantic advice, but did Hou have skills in things like disguise and behavioral adjustment?
"What? You can't tell me? I should ask her myself?"
"U-understood. I'll ask her the next time we meet."