Chapter 58

A room in an inn, isolated from the hustle and bustle of the capital.

There, a leisurely time flowed after breakfast.

The only sounds heard were the cheerful conversations of Father Nord and Mother Elna.

As for me, I was relaxing on the top-tier sofa a bit away from them.

In my mind, I was thinking about what to do today and how to make use of the rotating magical device from yesterday.

Speaking of rotation, I could probably make a top without a magical device. I should be able to make one with just a string and wood. If I have some spare time in the future, I might try combining it with a rotating magical device to create a toy like the tops in Japan.

"Here, the famous tea of the capital is ready."

A teacup was offered to me, who was relaxing, with graceful movements.

"Ah, thank you, Mina."

When I thanked her, the maid Mina bowed and retreated to the wall.

If Sara had done it, I wouldn't have felt any discomfort.

Sara is a capable maid who would bring me tea when I was thirsty or wanted a break.

However, Mina doesn't have such skills.

She only goes to make tea after I ask, and even then, she suggests making sweets instead of putting sugar in the tea.

Today, she didn't say anything silly and remained composed.

But, after all, she's Mina. When she bowed, her gaze went to my pocket.

Her true nature couldn't be hidden.

Ever since Mina pulled a cookie out of her pocket, she's been like this.

I don't know how my stock has risen in her eyes, but I wonder how long this will last.

Well, Mina will probably revert to her old self soon.

While thinking about this, I sipped the tea.

"…It's delicious."

As I savored the tea from the capital, the voices of Father Nord and Mother Elna stopped, and the sound of teacups being placed was heard.

"Al, it's time to go?"

"Where to?"

"You know, to Grandpa's house, as I said yesterday."

Ah, that's right. He mentioned something like that before going to the magical device store.

But I didn't hear what we were going to do there.

"Okay, just a moment."

I took a cookie out of my pocket using spatial magic, took a bite, and washed it down with tea.

Mina, who witnessed this, had a gleam in her eyes and helped with the departure preparations even more enthusiastically.

The carriage rolled north from the inn for about twenty minutes.

The carriage stopped in a beautiful street. It wasn't as busy as the main street with carriages and people, and it had a calm and stylish atmosphere.

The clothes people wore were beautiful and of high quality, and their expressions looked happy.

There were also large, lush gardens where tea parties seemed to be held.

So this is the noble district, huh.

No wonder the buildings are generally larger and there are many small mansions lined up.

"Al, this way."

While I was admiring the scenery, Father Nord beckoned me.

In that direction was a two-story mansion with a wide garden. An iron fence surrounded it.

I had heard that Mother Elna's family was from a merchant lineage. They must have a large enough merchant guild to build a mansion like this.

Many flowers and plants were planted in the garden, but it seemed there were a lot of red flowers.

This must be Grandpa's hobby.

As we entered the grounds, a man who looked like a servant came out from the mansion to guide us.

From his build, he seemed to also serve as a guard.

He had an aura that suggested as much.

We were led to a room that looked like a living room, where a woman who looked to be in her thirties and a man who had just stood up from his chair were there.

These were Mother Elna's parents, but they looked very young.

Grandma had her chestnut hair tied up and looked very composed.

She didn't look old at all and seemed very youthful.

In this world, where adulthood starts at fifteen and early marriage is common, it's not strange, but it still feels too young to call her grandma, making it hard to call her that.

I might just call her mom.

Grandpa, on the other hand, had wrinkles around his eyes, but they gave him a mature and cool look.

His hair was brown and fluffy, and he still seemed energetic.

However, his first words were these.

"Where's Elinora?"

He shook his head loudly.

And when he didn't see her, he even came behind us to check.

"Grandpa, Elinora isn't here today."

"Don't call me grandpa!"

"Grandpa, calm down. Today's main guest is Alphred, remember?"

Grandma, who was trying to calm down Grandpa, who was lashing out at Father Nord.

Then she stood up from her chair and came over to me.

"Alphred, right? Nice to meet you, I'm Elina, Elna's mother."

Seeing her gentle smile, I could tell she was indeed Mother Elna's mother. They looked very similar.

"Nice to meet you, Grandma Elina."

I replied energetically, but Grandma Elina looked straight into my eyes and said, "Hmm."

"Yes, your eyes look a bit off, but you seem fine."

"Huh?"

What does "a bit off" mean? I'd like to know more about that.

"Even though you just arrived in the capital, you must be tired. Take it easy today. We can talk more later, okay?"

Grandma Elina patted my head and comforted me with a smile.

But I've been in the capital for four days and slept well last night.

Are my eyes really that tired…?

As everyone took their seats, I stood there in a daze.

Grandpa patted my head with his large hand, which seemed to be encouraging me to cheer up.

"By the way, Nord. Haven't you been coming to the capital less often lately? That's why Elinora doesn't come here. As a noble, it's important to maintain relationships, isn't it?"

Lazare, Mother Elna's father, said, folding his arms.

I think his concern is about 30% for Father Nord and 70% for Elinora.

Indeed, we are a baronial family, and our status among the nobles is low, so we need to curry favor with those above us. However, Father Nord rarely attends the parties hosted by the nobles in the capital. This is partly because our territory is far from the capital and other territories, but the world of nobles isn't that lenient.

Of course, he attends the exchange meetings with nearby nobles and important events, but I also think he spends too much time in our territory.

"Grandpa, and—"

"Don't call me grandpa!"

"Grandpa?"

"No."

"…Dad?"

"Hmm? You've become quite the joker, Nord, after not seeing you for so long."

I was surprised. Father Nord calling Grandpa "Dad"?

This exchange seems to be a regular thing, as Mother Elna and Grandma were having a warm conversation on the sofa like sisters.

But Father Nord is really being picked on by Grandpa.

"Alright, is everything fine with what I just said?"

"Yes, our territory is in the countryside, and I've tried to stay out of such matters. We do have some backing, but recently, there have been movements focusing on us…"

Father Nord glanced at me, and Grandpa followed his gaze.

Huh? We have indeed become prosperous and have some leeway, but Father Nord said it's still within the scope of a rural area, right?

"It's probably because of the entertainment devices he sold to that upstart merchant guild. Both commoners and nobles are obsessed with them."

That's disrespectful. I have a proper name, Alphred.

Father Nord officially sold them.

"What are you being so high and mighty about? You were the one who showed off the prototypes to everyone."

"Shut up!"

Grandma, who sounded exasperated, and Grandpa, who responded with a bit of a tantrum.

Grandma didn't seem to mind and returned to the conversation.

It's quite a warm atmosphere.

"Anyway, you should have contracted with our merchant guild."

"No, we had connections elsewhere."

"Well, they are straightforward, for better or worse. Not bad, though."

"I'm sorry."

To change the heavy atmosphere, Grandpa muttered.

"Haa, I wish Elinora would join the Knights soon. Then she could live in the capital and stay at my house."

"The Knights have a rule to stay in the barracks, so that's not possible."

"What!? Use the power of the baronial family!"

"We don't have that kind of power. Even if we did, interfering is impossible unless it's an emergency. Besides, she will have few holidays at first."

Grandpa, whose expectations were shattered, faceplanted on the table.

Hmm, joining the Knights means fewer holidays. That's good to know.

It means she won't be able to visit the distant Coirat village often.

This means a life free from my nemesis is promised.

When I return, I'll be a bit nicer to Elinora. And when the time comes, I'll send her off grandly. So much so that she'll be embarrassed to return.

We stayed at Grandpa's house for the second day, with two days left until the party.

Since the party lasts two days and we plan to stay for a while after it ends, there's no problem. I'm sure. Even if an emergency arises, I'll use the transfer magic to see it.

× × ×

"What are you doing, Al?"

Grandpa approached me while I was whittling wood in the garden.

He was wearing a white shirt with a blue vest-like garment and brown long pants.

He's surprisingly stylish.

"I'm making a top out of wood."

I answered and resumed shaping the top with the rotating magical device I had set up on the ground.

The grinding stone, powered by my magic, quickly smoothed out the top's rough edges, making a not-so-loud noise.

Father Nord and the others came over, probably drawn by the noise from the rough shaping.

I was doing a precise and dangerous task, so no one spoke, but their gazes made me a bit uncomfortable.

In this state, I roughly shaped the top and started carving the center.

I could finish it faster by fixing the top and pressing a blade against it, but I didn't have the right tools, so I used a carving knife like the one I got from Elman.

The gazes became more curious.

"By the way, what is this top for?"

Grandpa asked on behalf of everyone.

Do they think it's food?

"…Of course, it's for spinning and playing with."

When I answered, Grandma smiled happily, and the family members, including Mother Elna, looked exasperated.

Father Nord even held his head as if to suppress a headache.

It might not be perfectly symmetrical and might not spin well, but I'll give it a try.

I moved from the grass to the stone path and wound the string around the top.

Only Grandpa followed with interest.

Under his watchful eye, I released the string as if throwing it.

The dry wood and stone made a scraping sound, and the top rolled smoothly.

It made a clattering sound as it spun awkwardly, and I retrieved it.

It's embarrassing to fail on the first try.

"Is that all?"

"No, I just missed the throw a bit."

I carefully wound the string again and checked the throwing motion.

Yeah, the axis I stuck in the middle seems fine.

I pulled the string again.

The top was initially unstable but started spinning steadily.

"It's spinning!"

"Wow! It's spinning beautifully! It's fun!"

We were all excited, watching the spinning top.

"By the way, is that all it does? It's fun, but are there no other ways to play with it?"

"Another way is to have the tops collide in a small ring. Some people even pass the string to each other."

"They collide!? That sounds fun! Hey, bring out another one!"

"No, I only have one."

"Make another one, then. I want to see them collide."

This grandpa, what is he saying with a straight face? What did he see in the work I did just now?

Ah, if he wants to see them collide so badly, I'll make a makeshift one.

"Then, do you have thick paper like a card, a skewer, and scissors? You can make a makeshift top with those."

When I said that, Grandpa ran into the house and brought them out.

I cut the thick paper into a circle and stuck a shortened skewer into it.

"I'm done."

"Will this spin?"

Since it's a makeshift top, it's impossible to spin it on the stone path, so we moved to the table inside the house.

"Pinch this part and spin it like this… see?"

When I demonstrated, Grandpa spun it with a serious expression.

"Oh! Oh! It's spinning!"

"Go, go, go!"

"Hey! What are you doing to my top!"

"The point is to collide, right?"

"Damn! Next, I'll knock it away!"

"Hey, why is Al's top so sharp?"

"To win, of course."

That day, Grandpa spent the whole day spinning tops.

He tried to make the paper tops better to win. As for me, I made flower-shaped tops and painted them with bright colors, focusing on different aspects.

"Hey, sell these to us."

"Ah, sure. I'll just give them to you, so do what you want with them…."

Next time, the party.