Epilogue

"Here are the hundred gold trade coins as promised and the bond."

Upon looking at the contents of the leather pouch and nodding in

satisfaction, Arché's father signed the parchment offered to him with zero

hesitation. Then he stamped it with the family crest. His practiced motions

were evidence that he had performed similar transactions many times.

"Is that all right?"

The man looked at the parchment and nodded. If Hekkeran and Imina had

been there, they would have scowled. He was the one who had come to the

inn where Foresight was staying.

After looking it over a few times, he was satisfied there were no errors,

and once the ink had dried, he rolled it up and tossed it into a tube for

safekeeping.

"Yes, everything's in order." The man gestured at the leather pouch in

front of Arché's father and asked, "You don't want to check it?"

"It's no trouble if it's a gold off."

"If you say so." The man answered the generous reply with a nod.

He had made sure the amount was correct, of course. Still, it was pretty

bad for a family in these circumstances to not bother about a gold piece.

Well, they were probably doomed by simple virtue of having such an

irresponsible person heading their household.

The man didn't have a problem as long as he was a good customer.

"I trust we can agree to the same interest and payment period terms as

always?"

The master of the house replied with a benevolent—as expected—nod. He

seemed to have no inkling that he was in the inferior position in this

relationship.

The man nodded in acknowledgment.

"…By the way, is your daughter well?"

"Hmm?"

The man remembered there were three of them and added, "Miss Arché."

"Ahh, Arché. She's out on a job."

"…I see."

And while your daughter is out working, what are you doing?! he thought

but skillfully concealed the contempt deep in his eyes.

He began to pity the girl for having a father like this.

He wasn't heartless.

But the most important thing was that they pay him back with interest.

And that they borrow from him again and again. He wasn't keen on sticking

his nose into other people's domestic affairs.

"Yes, it's a bit impertinent of her to go off earning money, but what can

you do?"

The man frowned slightly at the father's grumble. If something happened,

it would be a problem if it affected repayment. And he was making quite a lot

on this household in interest. If possible, he wanted to keep this relationship

going for a long time. For that reason, he poked his nose somewhere he

normally wouldn't.

"Did something happen?"

"No, nothing serious. She's just a foolish girl who's forgotten how much

she owes her parents, trying to defy us all the time."

"Well, if that's all…"

"I really need to give her a good talking-to—about what it means to be a

noble."

The man didn't say what he was thinking. But he did want to say one

thing: "Must be tough."

"It truly is. That silly girl…" The man hadn't specified for whom, so

Arché's father grumbled, assuming it referred to his own suffering.

A hundred gold trade coins was a lot of money. And if things followed the

usual pattern, he would spend it all almost immediately. The man figured he

would probably be summoned again in that event, but he concluded it would

be better to not lend any more until the current balance was repaid.

At that point, he looked around the room.

Even to his eyes, the numerous furnishings filling the place were splendid.

They would be enough to get back at least what he was owed. And even if he

couldn't make it back with the furniture and whatnot…

He lowered his eyes to conceal the emotion that came into them.

"I think it's strange a daughter of the Furt family should have to do such

dirty work. Her friends seem like commoners, surely the despicable type."

"I wonder…," the man said thoughtfully, recalling the pair of them he had

met at the pub.

Arché's father must have read something in the tone of his voice, because

he hurriedly added an excuse. "I don't mean anything about commoners in

general. Just her friends are the adventuring type."

"Could be."

"Right? Maybe it was their influence that caused her to start rebelling. I

really need to give her a talking-to. A girl should listen to her father; that's

only reasonable. She's got a lot of living to do before she can talk back to

me."

With a glance at the offended father, the man stood up. "Well, I have

other clients to see, so I must be going now. I'll be expecting the repayment."

"When is Arché getting back again?"

"Pretty soon!"

There were two little girls in the room. They looked just like two peas in a

pod and were sitting side by side using the bed as a chair.

The blush of pink in their white cheeks was angelic. Their features, which

resembled their sister's, hinted at how beautiful they would be when they

grew up.

They wore matching, spotless white dresses with an abundance of frills.

The white legs stretching out from beneath them dangled over the side of the

bed.

"Really?"

"Really!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yup!"

"We're moving when she gets back, right?"

"Yup!"

They giggled. They hadn't given much thought to what "moving" actually

meant, but they knew one thing—that when it happened, their big sister,

whom they loved so much, would never go away somewhere ever again. That

made them happy.

Arché was away a lot. They didn't know what she did while she was

gone, but they knew it was very important in some way, so they made a point

of not complaining. Still, they wished they could play with her.

Yes, they loved Arché, their warm, kind big sister, who knew so many

things.

"She's not back yet, huh?"

"Not yet."

"It'll be great, won't it, Koudélika?"

"Sure will, Urélika."

"I'll have her read to me!"

"I'll have her sleep with me!"

"No fair, Koudélika!"

"You're not fair, either, Urélika!"

They looked at each other with the same giddy smile. Then they laughed,

their giggles sounding like jingling bells.

"Well, then you can read with us, Koudélika, with me and Arché."

"Okay, then you can sleep with us, Urélika, with me and Arché."

They smiled, dreaming of the wonderful time just ahead…