Chapter 43

“What are you doing here, brother?”

I asked quietly after making sure that there was no one nearby.

“Surprised, aren’t you?”

“Of course, I’m surprised. I did think that I might meet you in the city, since Mister Dordof said you’d be here. But why are you working in this store?”

He said that he had intended to surprise me.

Well, he succeeded!

“The owner who used to run this store had a back injury, and so he retired.”

“Really?”

“Someone else was hired temporarily during the school break. But as they couldn’t restock or manage the products, I have a lot of work to do now. After all, only people with permission are allowed in here.”

“Huh. I didn’t know that.”

Well, it was on private property, so I doubted people who were completely unrelated were allowed to enter.

“Yes, there are even magic barriers in place. Anyone with the Dragon Mark is allowed to enter. So you just never noticed it.”

“I see.”

“Why do you think they have the opening ceremony in the Royal Academy? It’s because they can’t call all of those guests here.”

Aside from those with the Dragon Mark, the only people who were allowed to enter were teachers and staff.

So even if your family visited, they would not be allowed to come inside.

Of course, that included people who wanted to be Patrons.

“I didn’t know that.”

“Well, that’s how it is. And since there was no one else, I was asked to come in. By the way, it was also an order from Her Majesty.”

“Ah, that makes sense. You must be the linker. But what about Sol?”

“There are other Right Feet over there. And my father can run the store. We never needed that many people working there at once in the first place.”

“Does that mean you’re not going to call my sister?”

“Well, you’re only going to be here for two years, and I’ll go back once in a while. It’s not like we can work together anyway.”

It was apparently very difficult to obtain permission to enter.

Christan then told me that he was currently living in a room that was in the back of the store.

And as they had fixed supplies, he did not need to go around and buy products to restock the shelves.

“I heard that you’re working as a Right Hand here as well? That’s quite bold of you. The Dragon Master stuff should be keeping you busy enough.”

“I don’t know how often I’ll be getting orders, and I doubt Her Majesty will give me anything that’s too difficult.”

But I did decrease her number of Right Hands, so I suppose I had to make up for it.

“I see. While I’m in charge of you now, Siluru will continue to watch you as well.”

“Siluru?”

“So, you don’t know her name? I’m talking about the Right Foot that you’ve been working with recently.”

“Ah, that lady. Her name is Siluru, huh?”

That was the first time I had heard her name.

“It sounds like you don’t…”

Before he could finish, a surprised voice rang from behind me.

When I turned around, I saw a female student who was holding a bouquet of flowers and looking very embarrassed.

“…What happened?”

“Well, it’s the day after the opening ceremony, you know? Someone she met there must have sent her those flowers. And by the look of things, it was someone important. A noble or merchant.”

“A Patron candidate. They must have had those flowers preordered.”

They sure moved fast.

As the tea party yesterday had apparently gone on until the evening, you would have had to order in advance if you wanted flowers to be delivered the following morning.

She was one of the new First-Year students. Was the Patron candidate a man?

I didn’t know how many rivals there would be for each person. But speed would be key if you wanted to beat the others.

“Hmm? Someone is coming towards us?”

The florist who handed the student the flowers was walking towards us.

She wore a plain apron and carried an empty bucket that had been used to hold the flowers.

“Hey.”

Christan greeted her. They were apparently acquaintances.

I started to step to the side as to not get in their way, when our eyes met.

“I am in charge of a lot of people, but will continue to look after you as well, Leon.”

The florist said with a wink. That’s when I realized that I knew her.

“Your eyes… It’s you.”

Yes. It was that lady in black who threatened me the other day. Her Majesty’s Right Foot was a florist now?

“My name is Siluru Vera. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I just told you. Only people with special permission are allowed inside. And so Siluru is the only one who can deliver flowers to the students.”

He had said that.

“You can order flowers at any store that you like, but I am still the only one who can deliver them. That’s why I can enter the dormitory gardens. I can visit any night that I chose.”

Now that I thought about it, she had been entering into places that were restricted.

It would only be possible for people with permission or who were especially skilled with magic.

“Is this a coincidence? Or…”

“It’s a coincidence. After all, we need at least one Right Foot in the Dragon Academy at all times. Of course, that resulted in me being put in charge of you…”

Siluru sounded like she thought I was going to be a handful.

So, I was the problem child now? Why was that?

“It’s hard to keep up if you’re not used to being around him. Even I lose track of where he is once he dives into the shadows.”

“I expect you to help me then, Christan.”

“Well, don’t get your hopes up too high.”

“Yes, yes. We must work together to overcome this.”

“Together… Why do I feel like I’m being trapped.”

Maybe I wouldn’t be getting much work as a Right Hand after all.

“I’m counting on you. …Now, you must excuse me. See you later, Leon.”

She said cooly and then left.

“People seem to be much closer than I thought. Or is it that this city is smaller?”

Of course, that wasn’t the case. But it was hard to not think like that.

If this meant that Foul Eater was also close by… The thought gave me a headache.

Ahhh, I wanted to bake some bread. Maybe I could sneak out once before class started.