The originally lengthy and complicated procedures for departure were made remarkably quick and simple with the presence of Soled, the representative councilor of the Elder Council.
Once aboard the aircraft, the councilors of the Elder Council stood up as if waiting for him, greeting Soled.
“Soled representative councilor, we have been waiting for you.”
“Good morning, councilor.”
Soled lightly smiled and nodded in response to the greetings from the councilors, exuding a relaxed demeanor before an important meeting.
The girl in a school uniform standing beside Soled shared a similar atmosphere.
“Is that the girl you mentioned in advance?”
The girl maintained a natural expression amidst the older adults without showing any signs of awkwardness.
This was certainly quite unusual, as children typically regard unfamiliar adults with caution and discomfort.
However, the girl wore a smile that seemed to ease the hearts of those around her.
“Ah, yes. Please say hello. You’ll be with us for a short while, after all.”
Nodding slightly toward Soled, the girl conducted a very neat and graceful greeting while speaking.
-Bow.
“Nice to meet you. I am Luke Irushi, a second-year student from Tigr Academy. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Luke deliberately refrained from using an adult tone and opted for a greeting appropriate for a child.
Soled paid little mind to their speaking styles, but not every adult would share that perspective.
Especially in politics, individuals often tend to make issues out of the subtleties in tones, and Luke did not wish to get entangled in troublesome situations over merely the tone of a greeting.
Politicians tend to believe that nuances in speech are “extremely” important.
Thus, putting in some effort to speak a bit more gently for a comfortable flight would not be an unreasonable endeavor.
Whether Luke’s effort had any effect, the councilors all greeted him with bright smiles in response.
“Yes, nice to meet you, kid.”
“Hmm, what a bright child you are.”
“Such a cute kid. What’s the relationship with the councilor?”
Soled slightly advanced Luke’s introduction.
“This is a school friend of my grandson. She will be participating in the International Academy Magic Contest, and since I had business in Beriton, I decided to give her a seat on the plane. She, like me, cannot take regular flights due to her circumstances.”
“Is that so?”
“Ah, then she also represents Aires like you, Soled councilor!”
“Hahaha, that seems to be the case.”
“Participating in the International Academy Magic Contest at such a young age; that’s truly impressive. She is a very clever child.”
With the addition of one cute girl, the atmosphere became noticeably cheerful.
Everyone who appeared to only know how to smile stiffly was perhaps hiding this side of themselves.
Soled marveled at the unfamiliar sight of long-term colleagues but felt delight.
“Now, please take your seats quickly. It’s almost time for departure.”
“Ah, yes. We should depart. Now, let’s sit down, Luke.”
Luke nodded and responded.
“Excuse me.”
——
The doll maker, Merlin, operates Merlin’s Doll Shop.
On the surface, it may seem like a simple shop selling handcrafted dolls, but a closer look reveals a scene beyond the imagination of ordinary people.
The doll shop is merely a façade, just a hobby of hers.
Everyone who knows her is aware that her true profession is raising “assassins.”
Her skills can be fully reflected simply by the fact that her shop is named “Merlin’s Doll Shop.”
Had she lacked skills, she would not have dared to display her name openly.
Merlin is no ordinary celebrity.
Even Third, whose memories are mostly unstable, cannot forget her.
The reason being…
Most of the assassination techniques that Third mastered were her creations.
“Mm!”
Luke suddenly startled, hastily swallowing the frappe he was enjoying and pulling the straw from his mouth as he asked a question.
“What? You learned under her?”
“Yes, that’s correct. Although I didn’t train for a long time.”
“Why?”
“I had considerable talent, so I started working quickly.”
Third reminisced about the days spent learning techniques from the dollmaker.
While fleeing from darkness, he met her on a rainy day, rummaging for food in an alley while she held an umbrella.
Then, he followed her into the “doll shop.”
She did not inquire deeply about his story.
It wasn’t any kind of consideration; she simply found it bothersome to ask.
Given her profession of creating “dolls,” there were many street children just like him in the shop.
Her methods had no backdoor.
It was a skill that meant you either kill or be killed.
She taught techniques suited for pawns, which were used once or twice before being discarded.
However, skilled at sensing danger, Third found those techniques fit him better than anyone else, allowing him to begin working the quickest.
“Is that so?”
“Is that strange?”
Seeing the astonished expression on Luke’s face, Third raised an eyebrow in wonder.
Assassins and the shop that raises assassins.
If one were to know the true nature of Merlin’s Doll Shop, there’s no reason why one wouldn’t associate themselves or their experiences with it.
After all, it’s one of those well-known forces.
He had thought that she would assume he simply learned from the ‘dollmaker,’ but…
“No, perhaps…”
His master might not imagine that someone with his level of skill had learned from that “dollmaker.”
Thinking this way somewhat explained the puzzling expression his master wore.
“…….”
With that thought, he felt a slight unease in his heart.
His once elevated self-esteem, which he believed was due to having some talent, now felt as if it were shattered and embedded into the ground.
Seeing Third’s sad expression, Luke quickly shook his head and replied.
“No, it’s not like that…”
Luke was merely surprised by the fact that Third had learned skills at the doll shop.
To him, Third and dolls were not words that matched well, and he never imagined he would have a refined hobby like manipulating dolls.
However, upon further reflection, Luke began to adjust his thoughts.
“Wait, thinking about it, that doesn’t seem so strange.”
Recalling their first meeting, Third must have lived a life lacking money.
Furthermore, with inadequate education and being young, Third wouldn’t have been able to find a normal, stable job.
Thus, sewing doll eyes or stuffing cotton into fabrics were surprisingly fitting jobs for Third.
And if he earned money that way, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, right?
Luke spoke in an attempt to reassure the saddened Third.
“I was just a bit surprised… But it’s not strange that you worked hard to earn money. You’ve lived diligently. I’m very proud of you.”
“…Yes.”
Third felt a small touch of emotion at Luke’s acknowledgment of his past.
“Indeed, my master…!”
Third thought this and smiled.
However, Luke, observing Third’s smiling face, quickly felt the need to change the subject.
For to an average person, Third’s smile would look rather frightening.
“More than that, it’s good to hear that you were Merlin’s disciple! Are you still in contact with her?”
“Contact?”
Having successfully diverted the conversation before they were expelled from the café, Luke secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Though he and Third shared a truly wholesome master-disciple relationship, on the surface, it would look like a conversation between a young girl and a rugged boy. If any keen citizens in the café saw Third’s suspicious smile and thought it looked like “intimidation,” it would definitely create a troublesome situation.
“Well, it would be a relief if Siena came along.”
Having already met Third once, Dark Elf officer Siena would likely not cause trouble, but that would be a very lucky occurrence.
Usually, one would be subjected to inquiries during such conversations.
“Do you know her phone number or home address? I have no way of contacting her.”
“Well, I don’t have any immediate means of contact, but if my master wishes, I will look for a way to reach her.”
“I’d really appreciate that.”
“Yes, understood. I will contact you as soon as I find out.”
—–
“Luke, what are you thinking that you’re grinning like that?”
“Ah.”
While looking out at the sky and recalling the events at the café, Luke turned his head toward Soled’s question from the adjacent seat.
“Was I smiling?”
Could it be that I failed to control my expression again?
Recently, managing my expression has been quite challenging.
However, Soled merely thought that the child was so happy that he didn’t even notice he was smiling and smiled gently instead.
“Yes, you look very happy. Is there something you’re looking forward to?”
“Something to look forward to…”
Nodding in reply, Luke answered.
“I was thinking about buying the doll I wanted if I win a prize in this contest. I had given up thinking I wouldn’t be able to buy it, but now I have a way.”
The prize money for this Academy Magic Contest was quite substantial.
It was enough to buy all the dolls Luke aimed for.
“Should that come to pass, many more things will become possible.”
The cultivation of plants in the pocket dimension would be achievable on a much larger scale, facilitating the management of Arinseia.
Additionally, increasing the number of somes beyond a certain volume would be manageable easily.
The possibility of creating dolls from other dolls and golems from golems would become real.
In theory, it could lead to infinite multiplication.
Thus, many worries could be alleviated.
In theory, Luke could sufficiently contend with Sigarmata.
Though it was premised that all dolls required a respective amount of mana to operate, using Arinseia might make it far from impossible.
Not only that.
More labor effectively translates into money.
And money means more magical materials.
Thinking this, it felt as though an endless future unfolded right before Luke’s eyes.
Thus, he couldn’t help but smile.
“Dolls, huh? Hahaha, that sounds wonderful! That must be exciting.”
However, Soled, unaware of what was on Luke’s mind, could only picture a single cheerful little girl excited to buy dolls with the prize money.
After sharing a hearty laugh, Soled began to take an eye mask from her inner pocket and bring it to her face.
While the distance between Aires and Beriton was not vast, a slight time difference could certainly be felt.
To avoid showing signs of fatigue during the meeting, some sleep was necessary.
Noticing this, Luke suddenly asked Soled.
“Soled, are you perhaps tired? Are you going to sleep?”
“Hahaha, not really. I can’t show fatigue due to the meeting, you know.”
In response to Soled’s reply, Luke clapped his hands as if it were a timely advancement and casually pulled out a thermos to offer it.
“Great! In that case, would you like to try this tea?”
“Huh? What is that?”
At Soled’s question, Luke created a natural smile resembling that of a salesman as he replied.
“It’s a tea I made that’s great for recovering from fatigue. Please give it a try.”
“Really? Then how about just one cup?”
Despite Luke’s somewhat forced cheerfulness, his skill in maintaining a natural expression didn’t raise any suspicions.
Moreover, there was no reason for an adult to inherently distrust the behavior of a cute young girl.
Utilizing this psychological effect, Luke easily set the first steps towards initiating his tea business with Soled.
“Mmm, this has a really pleasant aroma. It has a bit of a refreshing flavor. I really feel like my fatigue is lessening.”
Soled was internally surprised as she hadn’t anticipated that a tea with a child’s touch could provide such meaningful effects.
Whether it genuinely revived her from fatigue, or if the scenario of drinking tea offered to her by a cute young girl was what alleviated her fatigue, she couldn’t say for certain.
As Soled began savoring the tea, Luke quickly continued his explanation.
“You see, I added a bit of lemon. Depending on the fruits used, it can create a variety of fruity flavors! Orange, mango, watermelon; there are many different tastes.”
“Oh, really? That’s wonderful.”
“What do you think? Would this be good enough to sell in cans?”
“Hahaha, sure. That sounds good.”
With Soled’s response, Luke smiled brightly, exuberantly asking again.
“Really? Then it should sell quite well at Serena’s department store, shouldn’t it?”
Luke intended to imprint the ‘product value’ in Soled’s mind through his description of his tea, but Soled merely regarded it as harmless bragging from a child.
Thus, she responded lightly, as if jesting.
“Yes, that would be nice.”
However, Soled remained unaware that Luke’s words were not mere jokes, but hints of an impending business plan…
“If I acquire the dolls, I could match the demand for tea leaves. Then…”
Having already thought that he had received permission, Luke couldn’t contain his anticipation for the day he would procure the dolls, feeling a surge of excitement.
