Little Pink Starfish

After nibbling a bit from Yanu’s meal, Eira immediately summoned Ginas and Gretel. The two, faces showing equal parts worry and exhaustion, brightened upon seeing Eira seemingly back to normal.

“My Lord! Have all the side effects passed now?”

“No, this is just illusion magic.”

Eira dispelled the spell and recast it again, and the smiles on their faces faded slightly. Still, they both seemed thankful that Eira could at least walk around normally. Ginas let out a sigh of relief.

“That’s a relief. The winter festival is just around the corner, after all.”

“Yeah. I might not be able to keep it up all day, but I should be able to maintain the spell during the day.”

At that, Gretel, with his soft pink eyes wide and pleading, raised a heartfelt request. As a skilled diplomat now, he had the ability to control his expressions as he pleased, and seeing his expression made Eira feel an overwhelming pang of guilt.

“My Lord, please… refrain from doing research during the winter festival, if you would. We would be deeply grateful.”

“Right, sorry. Back then, I was just… a bit too focused.”

Eira, unable to admit he’d gotten distracted by research again, mumbled vaguely. But his vassals were used to him by now, and they simply nodded as if it was to be expected.

“What’s the most urgent matter right now?”

“The lord from Logistaka requested an audience for vassalage several days ago.”

Ginas followed Gretel’s report without missing a beat.

“There are also a number of decisions to be made regarding the winter festival.”

Having spent the past few days asleep for over half the day each time, paperwork had piled up like a mountain. Eira found it odd—whether back when the territory was buried in debt, or when it began to flourish, and even now as it had grown to the scale of a great domain—work never decreased, only increased. Even though the number of vassals and capable people had grown beyond comparison to the beginning…

Just ten more years. Let’s endure just ten more years. Then I’ll live doing all the research I want in peace.

Muttering inwardly, Eira swiftly stamped through the documents. After roughly handling the administrative work, he changed into outerwear to deal with outside matters.

Thin underclothes, thick underclothes, a thick shirt over that, then a vest, padded trousers, a light coat, and then a thick outer coat… scarf and gloves neatly in place—Eira then wrapped a scarf around Yanu’s neck, which looked rather bare.

“Where should we eat lunch today?”

“Now that you mention it, I heard there’s a new place in the city selling seafood.”

“Oh? So we’re finally getting a seafood restaurant in our city? That’s great.”

For a region so deeply inland to have seafood cuisine meant distribution and logistics were thriving—and that made Eira genuinely happy. Back in the old days, the only winter foods in Solar had been dried-out pumpkins, radish, or heavily salted meat. The joy hit all the harder because of that memory.

Chattering idly with Yanu, Eira made his way to the audience chamber. Upon opening the door, the lord from Logistaka, who had been anxiously sipping tea, jumped to his feet upon seeing Eira enter. His gaze then shifted to Yanu—and his eyes widened.

Even without the little pebble, Eira could easily read what that expression meant. Eyes wide, mouth agape at the sight of Yanu usually translated to:

Is that… the red dragon?!

It was a look he’d seen hundreds of times on lords and envoys alike. Yanu, entering the room, promptly flopped onto the sofa and casually propped his feet—boots and all—on the table where the Logistaka lord had just been having tea. A teacup hit by his shoe clattered to the floor. The two attendants standing behind the sofa flinched and turned pale.

Eira didn’t stop Yanu. As expected, despite the extreme rudeness, the lord didn’t complain—he just swallowed dryly and smiled brightly.

“It’s truly an honour to meet you. I am, uh… Gastar Elsis, Lord of Logistaka.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Lord Elsis of Logistaka. I’m Eira, Lord of Solar.”

Eira smiled lightly and shook Elsis’s hand. When dealing with other territories, he usually brought Yanu along—for obvious reasons. The presence of a dragon alone was enough to render many humans speechless, overwhelmed by fear. That made negotiations far easier for Eira.

“I’ve been busy with work and delayed your audience a bit. I hope that’s alright?”

Elsis’s reply came a beat too late—because he’d made eye contact with Yanu, who was grinning while tapping his foot and staring holes into him.

“O-of course! Thanks to Lord Eira’s hospitality, I’ve been… warm, and, um, eating delicious food… and losing track of time… I’ve been doing well.”

He was so nervous that he didn’t even notice his formal speech had unconsciously shifted into humble language.

“I heard you collapsed recently. Are you feeling better now?”

“Th-thank you for your concern. I think I was just exhausted… maybe I saw things under the influence of alcohol…”

Managing to tear his gaze away from Yanu, Elsis stammered through a reply. While listening to Elsis praising Solar and the beauty of the castle, Eira quietly checked his stat window.

HP: 1,413
MP: 47
Physical Attack: 196
Magic Attack: 0
Affection: 24♡

Nothing particularly notable. Eira scrolled down to check the current thoughts. Now accustomed to mind-reading spells, his mana cost was far lower than ten years ago, and the output far more detailed.

Current Thoughts:
No way he’s going to eat me, right? Stay calm. I’ve never heard of anyone being eaten by a red dragon…
Calm down. Calm down! You’ve got this, Elsis. Remember the reason you came here!
…But why is that dragon staring at me like that?! Is he planning to kill me?!

Eira inwardly chuckled at Elsis’s mental screams. Still, for someone like him, he was holding up quite well in front of Yanu. Meanwhile, Yanu’s thoughts were as follows:

Current Thoughts:
Seafood dishes… Wonder if they’ll have crab? Or maybe clam shells have a nice texture too.

Yanu’s thoughts were generally incredibly simple. It was either about food or Eira. Sometimes, Eira felt like he was included as food, but anyway… Eira checked the stat windows of the other two individuals and then leisurely opened his mouth.

“So, you came to request vassalage, yes?”

“Y-yes! That’s right. There’s been a lot of magical beast attacks lately, so we came seeking aid… Ah, that’s right. I forgot to introduce these two.”

Finally regaining composure, Elsis forced a trembling smile and gestured. The handsome man and woman who had been quietly standing behind him stepped forward gracefully.

“This is Raga and Peril. They’re my adopted children, whom I cherish like my own. I brought them along to broaden their worldview. I hope you find them pleasing.”

As Eira glanced over, the two offered polite smiles. When he smiled in return, Elsis’s face lit up.

“Oh! And I brought a personal gift as well.”

At Elsis’s signal, a trembling attendant set a well-sealed box on the table. The box twitched slightly, and Eira’s eyes sparkled with interest.

“I heard the Lord had an interest in magical beasts, so I brought one…”

“This is…”

With a gentle wave, Eira lifted the box into the air. Even knowing Eira was a mage, Elsis nearly screamed when he saw the levitation but managed to keep his mouth shut. Eira broke the chains and undid the seal. From within emerged a massive, worm-like magical beast, glowing at each joint and squirming slowly. Elsis let out a faint scream at last. Eira ignored it and leaned in until his nose nearly touched the creature, observing it intently.

“Wow, its joints are glowing.”

“Yes, apparently it lives deep underground in Logistaka… How do you like it?”

“I love it. The glow is beautiful… Bioluminescent joints, incredible…”

Elsis laughed awkwardly and echoed, “Ha, ha, of course—yes, very pretty eyes indeed.” Eira, smiling brightly, returned the creature to its box. Seeing the positive reaction, Elsis beamed too.

“Thank you for the gift. If there’s anything you need during your stay, just say the word. The winter festival will begin soon, so enjoy yourself as much as you like.”

“Yes, Lord Eira!”

Raga and Peril also offered gentle thanks like chirping birds. Eira looked them over and nodded with a pleased expression before turning back to Elsis.

“Well then, shall we get into the details of the vassalage contract?”