Chapter 6: The Factory Began Running

Since Nascúte had accepted Rosalie, Halkara's labor shortage issues seemed to be nearly resolved as well.

"I've found ten people who'll work for me!"

Halkara made her report a week to the day after we'd taken Rosalie to town.

"In that case, the factory should open soon, right?"

"Yes! The Halkara Pharmaceuticals Nascúte Factory has a prospective start date!"

Halkara Pharmaceuticals… Was that what she'd named the company?

"Now I'll be able to start mass-producing Nutri-Spirits again! I'm going to do it!"

Nutri-Spirits was an energy drink Halkara had created that had been an explosive hit in another province.

It had "spirits" in the name, but it didn't have any alcohol in it.

For a long time, Halkara had been using her knowledge as an apothecary to make all sorts of products.

She'd always had a good head for business, and she'd made a huge success of her Nutri-Spirits.

After that, she'd gotten the mistaken impression that the powerful demon Beelzebub was after her and had shut down her local factory, and it had been closed ever since.

"Now I'll make money hand over fist! Naturally, I'll give the profits back to the town! First, I'll establish Halkara's Sublime Water Well so that townspeople and travelers can drink as much delicious water as they want! Then I'll build Halkara Hall and make regular stage plays a possibility! Fifty years from now, they'll have a copper statue of me, I bet!"

I don't think that copper statue is necessary, but if she's doing things that will benefit the town, I approve.

"By the way, do you have a business license?"

Halkara tended to be sloppy about such things, so it was a good idea to check.

"They say the aristocrat who governs the province of Nanterre is picky about money. He hasn't overcharged you or anything, has he?"

The area where we lived was a nice pastoral place, but it wasn't as if the whole province was like that. I hadn't heard many good rumors about its governor, either.

"Ahem! No worries there! I submitted it properly! I delivered it to a Nanterre bureaucrat! There are no problems whatsoever!"

Halkara puffed out her chest as she spoke. If she was acting like this, then she probably had submitted it.

"The only thing was, when I turned in the papers, they asked me an odd question. 'Don't you have a little more of a present?' or something like that…"

"Doesn't that mean they asked you for a bribe?"

"Ha-ha, I guess they do ask you for that sort of thing in this province, don't they?! I don't really understand all that myself, so for the moment, I sent them plenty of edible wild grasses."

Halkara sounded perfectly unconcerned.

"Wild grasses?"

"Yes. Where I used to live, there are certain times when you give each other wild grasses and fruits and things as a greeting. I treated this as something similar and sent about a week's worth."

"And the other party was satisfied with that? I mean, it would be exasperating to just meekly hand them a bribe, too, but…"

I was getting a bad feeling about this.

"Those grasses are delicious, so he'll probably be delighted to get them. They're bitter, but that's part of what makes them so good."

"Um, Halkara? If anything happens, tell us right away, okay?"

Halkara was steadily running up flags. I highly doubted things were going to keep progressing uneventfully.

"Oh, Madam Teacher! You're so overprotective. I'm a grown adult, and really, there won't be any trouble. Besides, we're quite well respected in the area around Flatta."

Yes, in Flatta and its vicinity.

Vitamei, the capital city of Nanterre, was pretty distant. Had the information gotten that far? Even if it had, did they believe that a powerful witch and company really existed?

Still, Halkara wasn't picking up on any danger, so for now, I let the matter lie.

Besides, if my fears were groundless, nothing would need to change.

A few days later, Halkara's factory opened for business.

She didn't have many sales outlets at first, so instead of making anything in bulk, she sold her products in Nascúte and the nearby areas and watched to see how it went.

Her product lineup consisted of Nutri-Spirits and other health drinks.

Lots of them had strange names, such as "So Young! Wellspring of Health" and "Sleepiness Smackdown Solution."

All the products made reliable sales.

Even though none of them were familiar, there must have been something about them that caught the eye.

Halkara really did have an incredible knack for marketing, thanks to her accurate grasp of buyers' feelings. One week after operations began, production had doubled.

According to Halkara, if the factory made smooth progress, she'd be doing well enough to build a second plant. She probably had fairly concrete plans for that as well.

As far as I was concerned, as long as Halkara was having fun working, I had no complaints.

As an aside, although Halkara was going to the factory and issuing directions, she eventually wanted to leave all the processes to her employees and become a full-time president.

She really was more of an administrator than an apothecary.

"You know, if this keeps up, buying an entire town may not be beyond the realm of possibility. We're growing quite nicely."

Every day, when Halkara came home, she cheerfully gave us the rundown.

"Here you go, Falfa and Shalsha. I brought you souvenirs. They're rare books; I had people search the province's bookstores to find them."

"Yaaay! You're the best, Big Sister Halkara!" "Thank you, Halkara."

The two of them were genuinely thrilled about getting books they hadn't been able to find.

"Madam Teacher and Laika, I have some people on the hunt for good liquors to give you right now. You celebrated with me earlier, and I intend to return the favor!"

"You're a pretty big spender, aren't you?"

"If you don't use what you earn, the economy stalls! This is proper economic activity!"

To all appearances, Halkara was in fine form.

***

However—a week later, it happened.

Laika returned one night in a panic.

"Hmm? Laika, you're back earlier than usual."

Laika usually transformed into a dragon to drop off Halkara and pick her up again, shuttling her back and forth between the highlands and the town.

"Terrible news, Lady Azusa! They say the aristocrat who governs the province has arrested Halkara! Apparently, she's suspected of a crime!"

"I did have a bad feeling about that. I knew it!"

We should probably head for the town right away.

I grabbed Falfa, Shalsha, and Rosalie, and we all left for Nascúte on Laika's back.

I would have felt uneasy about leaving my daughters home alone, and I also thought Shalsha might be quite knowledgeable about this country's history and trends.

Stern soldiers armed with spears had blockaded Halkara's factory. They seemed to have come from another city, possibly the provincial capital.

A young woman was eyeing the factory uneasily from a distance, so I struck up a conversation.

"Excuse me. Do you know anything about that factory?"

"Yes, I…I was an employee there."

We'd found a welcome source of information.

"We're Halkara's family. Can you tell us anything?"

The employee took us to her apartment and explained the situation to us there.

"We were operating as usual. Then, after noon, a group forced their way in, saying they'd come to arrest the president on orders from the provincial governor. They said the crime was selling medicine without a license or something…"

"Big Sister Halkara said she sent in an application. I can't believe she didn't have a license."

It was just as Falfa said. I'd heard about it from Halkara as well.

"There's no mistake. This is a conspiracy to arrest Halkara!" I shouted, unusually for me, and the young employee flinched. "I'm sorry. I've never dealt with anything like this before, either."

"No, I was afraid they'd hear us outside. The governor is probably here to oversee the soldiers."

What? In that case, we could negotiate with him directly.

We went to the town government office where the provincial governor was staying.

Even so, there were guards, and they wouldn't let us inside. But we didn't retreat immediately. If the governor came out, we'd be able to talk to him. We might at least be able to get Halkara released.

After a few minutes of wrangling with the guards—"Just let us talk to him for a minute." "No!"—we found the townspeople gathering behind us.

As a matter of fact, I'd hoped that would happen. Generally, the Witch of the Highlands, Halkara's factory, and Rosalie were all spoken of favorably in this town. In that case, we could get the will of the people on our side.

"It's rather noisy out here."

Finally, a man who seemed to be the provincial governor emerged. He had a striking mustache that flared out into an upside-down V.

"I'm Golder, the governor of the province. I'll have you arrested for attempting to release a criminal by force without going through the courts."

Shalsha took a step forward.

"In this case, there is no need to imprison the suspect on the spot. A review of the documents would be enough. Consequently, we request that you release Halkara."

That's my Shalsha! She knows a lot about litigation, too!

"The decision to imprison her was made on the authority of the provincial governor. We took these steps because we had sent a warning but received no response," Governor Golder announced in an arrogant voice.

"That can't be! Halkara wouldn't have continued to operate her factory after receiving a warning!"

Welling with indignation, Laika shouted. It was as if she was expressing my feelings for me.

"If you have any complaints, come settle the matter in court. We've merely followed the proper procedures! If you claim she's innocent, then bring proof of such!"

From behind us, the residents yelled: "Hey, you! You're forcibly arresting somebody who didn't send you a bribe, aren't you?!" "You know full well the courts are in on this with you!" "He's right, listen to him!"

Wow, talk about premodern… It looked like they hadn't separated their legal, administrative, and judicial powers.

Halkara had probably drawn their attention by not giving them that bribe.

"In any case, the inquiry will be conducted in court. Those are the rules. If you have documents that can prove her innocence, you may submit them. Although, even if you do, I'm sure we'll immediately discover that you forged them. Ha-ha-ha!"

Damn that man! He was roaring with laughter. If this was how it was, even if we ransacked Halkara's room and found documents related to that license, they'd probably be invalid and full of glaring problems. Then they'd say they were counterfeit and drive us away, and Halkara's crime would be an established fact.

"Long story short, we received no application. Well, if you donate several tens of millions of gold, we might discover that the document was simply temporarily lost in the shuffle."

So if we wanted to save Halkara, we had to cough up some money, hmm? He was completely underestimating us.

"Aah, I want to hold that trial right away. The factory was operating illegally, and the province will have to confiscate it!"

"No! Halkara poured her heart and soul into that factory! Confiscating it would be too cruel!"

By this point, Laika was so mad that she seemed about to breathe flames. Still, we couldn't use any more force. We'd put ourselves at a disadvantage.

"Governor, if you intend to pervert justice, I assume you're prepared for the consequences?"

I spoke quietly, without letting my emotions show.

"Oh, you're that swindler, the Witch of the Highlands or something like that. You must have amassed quite a lot of money after spreading those rumors that you're the strongest anywhere. I wager you have gold for when it's needed, correct?"

So he knew I existed, but he didn't believe in me. This was an era with no television or Internet, after all.

"Well? If you are 'the strongest,' do you want to try stealing the prisoner by force?"

"No, we'll prove justice in court. The surest victory is a victory by trial, you see."

I'd meant to give a dauntless smile, but in the end, I couldn't manage it. I just glared at the governor.

Smirking, Governor Golder disappeared into the building.

You just made enemies of a family you can't afford to fight.

Our overpowered abilities could be used for things besides combat.

My eyes went to Rosalie.

"Rosalie, I'd like to borrow your power."

"Huh? Me?"

Rosalie looked blank.

"Yes. With your abilities, I know we'll be able to win this trial."

***

In no time at all, the day of the trial arrived.

Our entire household went to court as witnesses. We were determined to win with an "innocent" verdict. No, we'd win more than that. We'd done what we needed to do to make it happen.

At last, it was time for the court to open.

The chief justice and four lay judges entered. The chief justice would direct the proceedings, and the results of the trial would be determined by a majority vote among the five of them. Many of these people had ties to the provincial governor. That meant that this wouldn't be anything close to fair.

By the way, we'd used Shalsha's connections to hire a pretty important person as our lawyer.

Governor Golder had also taken a seat. Apparently, he was planning to watch the proceedings.

We were about to teach him what happened to people who got on our bad side.

Suddenly, a lay judge who was presumably connected with Governor Golder stood up.

"Okay, so like, I…I mean, to my mind, she's innocent. After all, this makes zero sense! We can't go admitting things that make no sense! That's just logic! The sun sees all, you know!"

The lay judge wasn't talking like a lay judge, and a stir ran through the court.

Yes, that's right: that was Rosalie in there. I was pretty sure we wouldn't be losing this trial.

After all, we had Rosalie. She'd been able to sneak in and collect all the documents we wanted.

"I'll show you proof that this accusation makes no sense whatsoever! Get this: We found documents that show that the defendant, Halkara, actually did send a form to the governor! In other words, this ain't no crime!"

The elderly lay judge, possessed by Rosalie, brought out the document with a flourish.

The court was instantly plunged into chaos. It was likely that nobody had seen this development coming.

He really should have destroyed it beforehand. Our opponent had played a poor endgame.

"It's obviously a forgery! It can't really exist!" Governor Golder yelled.

After all, if this turned out to be the real thing, it would become an issue of liability on the governor's side. Of course he'd get desperate.

"Well, you see, we've already had thirty legal experts write testimonials stating that it's the real deal. That would be these!"

This time, the Rosalie lay judge whipped out the testimonials.

We'd used Shalsha's connections for those.

Shalsha was acquainted with several liberal arts university professors, and we'd had all of them write testimonials. Since it actually was a completely genuine, un-falsified document, everyone had answered "Yes, that's real" right away.

"Frankly, thanks to these, the truth is as plain as day! Halkara had a license to run her factory and to make medicine. There's no way that's a crime! If you think you can make it one, step up and give it your best shot! —And now I need to make a little trip to the john."

After a pause, we heard a sploosh from outside.

It was the sound of Rosalie diving into the pond in the courthouse garden. Now she should have been separated from the lay judge's body.

—Then she possessed the next one.

If she'd stayed inside one person the whole time, it would have seemed unnatural.

After a little while, the soaking wet and rather mystified lay judge resumed his seat.

Then the second lay judge launched into a monologue.

"Whoops, this lay judge has kept all sorts of records! Every one of them is proof of the governor taking a bribe! Well, if that don't beat all!"

Again, the mood in the court turned strange.

"Those are fabricated! It's some kind of conspiracy!"

Governor Golder screamed. His face had gone pale. He couldn't let something like this go.

"Except that those legal experts have also guaranteed these as documentary evidence. I'm not talking one or two people here. You can't get away with calling something a fake in the face of numbers like these!"

"When did you people steal those?!"

"Steal? You mean you had them? Are you saying you knew the documents existed but claimed they didn't?"

The governor wore an expression that said, Oops.

"The villain's shown his true colors. It looks like the jig is up, hmm?"

Just then, somebody made a hasty entrance. He was probably the governor's subordinate or something like that.

"Big news! We've just received a letter denouncing the governor, jointly signed by aristocrats and politicians!"

We'd sent the documents proving that Golder had taken bribes on a tour of his political enemies. Our enemy's enemies had indeed been our friends, and everyone had been delighted to cooperate.

With Laika's speed, we'd been able to collect signatures in a few days.

Since this was all based on clear proof, we could attack as much as we wanted. The lawyer and the prosecuting attorney had nothing to do.

The event had morphed into a Crush the Crooked Governor party.

"All right, defendant Halkara. I bet there's quite a lot you want to say, so let 'er rip!"

Halkara nodded slowly, then stood up. The words This is totally in the bag were written all over her face.

As a result, she seemed to have switched into battle mode, too.

"Ahem. I certainly did fill out the documents and turn them in. Then they asked me for a bribe of some sort. I don't really understand these things, you see, so I didn't send a proper one. Then, for some reason, I was suddenly arrested. Groundlessly. Wild herbs won't grow without ground, you know. We can't have that. However, the fact that the lay judges have shown flawless documents is a tremendous help. As far as I'm concerned, I hope the judgment of heaven will smite the wicked, and that's about the size of it. In addition, once I'm given permission to do business again, I intend to keep selling Nutri-Spirits and my other products, and I'd be honored to have your patronage. That's all I have to say."

That last bit was just advertising.

Either way, the matter was settled.

However, the finishing blow hadn't yet been struck. Someone else who seemed like a governor underling rushed in.

"I have an announcement! A crowd has gathered in front of the courthouse…and they're demanding fair trials and the governor's dismissal."

This was because we went to every related office and begged.

This crooked governor had made a lot of people angry. They'd only kept quiet because none of them had the strength to fight him alone.

And so we'd gathered a crowd that was big enough to let them speak.

The bulk of them were from the areas near where we lived, Flatta and Nascúte. Around here, if I made a request, it would go through almost unconditionally. The villagers and townspeople had worked to gather people from other areas to join the demonstration, too.

Our victory was complete.

The prosecuting attorney did say that the trial was in confusion and should be reconvened, but if you looked at it another way, that meant that reconvening was the only move he could think of.

Since the documentary evidence was perfect, the governor couldn't insist that it was all hooey, so he blurted out that he'd forgotten the documents. At that point, Halkara's innocence was confirmed.

Of course, that wasn't the end of it.

Golder declared then and there that he'd resign, but if speaking honestly was enough to get you forgiven, we wouldn't need the police, and he was arrested the moment he left the courthouse.

***

The incident had been safely resolved. Halkara was innocent, so she was released right away.

"Y-you saved me… That was so scary…"

As soon as she saw my face, Halkara teared up. She'd been toughing it out by herself for a long time. She must have been really anxious.

I patted Halkara's shoulders and hugged her.

"You don't have to worry anymore. The bad guy's gone."

"Thank you so much, Madam Teacher…"

Behind me, our other family members were watching Halkara and looking worried.

"You see, Halkara? It wasn't just me. We all worked together to help you."

This time, everyone had played a part. Shalsha had contacted scholars, while Laika had helped everyone get around by turning into a dragon. Rosalie had possessed the lay judges and exposed the governor's evil deeds, and Falfa had gone to visit with Halkara and encourage her.

This victory truly had been the result of family team play.

"Thank you, everyone, really. I've learned how harsh society can be…"

I'm not sure that's quite what that expression means.

This time, Halkara hugged Laika.

Ordinarily, Laika wasn't fond of physical contact, but apparently, this was a special case, and she accepted the hug meekly.

"Wickedness has been punished. No one will come after you now, Halkara."

"I love all of you! Family really is important, isn't it?"

She hugged Falfa and Shalsha, too, one in each arm.

"Big Sister Halkara, you did a good job!"

"Thank you, Falfa! Those pancakes you brought me were delicious!"

"I'm glad we were able to meet again without incident."

"Thank you for your help, too, Shalsha!"

Yes, very good. Uninterrupted family time. It had been hard, but now that it was all over, you could call it the perfect opportunity to prove our unity.

Then I sensed another presence.

"Sis Halkara… That must've been real rough."

An unknown old guy stood there.

Who's that? He looks like he's of fairly high rank, but… Oh, I guess he's one of the lay judges.

But what was that "Sis Halkara" business? Ah! …So that's what it was.

"Um…? And who might you be, sir?"

Halkara looked blank.

Rosalie was still possessing the old guy. That was the only possible explanation.

"I'm so glad you're safe! That's just great!"

Still in an old man's body, Rosalie went to hug Halkara.

"Argh! Wait just a minute, please! If a man is going to hug me, I need to prepare myself emotionally! Aaah, you smell…unique. And elderly…"

Because the body still belonged to the lay judge, yes.

"Rosalie, wait, wait! You're not out yet! That's someone else's body!"

Hastily, I tried to stop her, but Rosalie was too worked up to listen.

Actually, she might have been even quicker to tears than Halkara; her eyes were moist. The girl seemed very tenderhearted…

"I'm so glad we saved you… I caused you a lot of trouble just a bit ago, and I was so worried, really worried… I'm so glad!"

"Ouch, ouch! Your whiskers are scratchy! That hurts! What is this, a new type of mental attack?!"

True, having some strange old guy come up and cling to you would be traumatizing no matter what gender you were. Even if I were male, I wouldn't want that.

"Huh? That's weird… I'm starting to feel funny."

"Um, Rosalie, what's the matter?"

"Well… Hugging Sis Halkara like this is making my body go all warm. I'm getting real excited, if I gotta paint the full picture for you. It's almost like it's not my body."

That's because it isn't.

"Is this love? No, we're both women; that couldn't be it… I'd kinda like to hold you for hours, though."

"Because that's a male body! Those are male instincts! Please just get away from me, would you?!"

"Male? Oh, I'm still inside the judge… I'm so sorry, Sis Halkara!"

After that, Rosalie managed to get out by pouring well water over her head.

Halkara kept holding her cheeks for a while.

"Ugh… That scratchiness is a nightmare. Under torture like that, I think I'd confess to things I hadn't even done…"

"Sis Halkara, I'm so sorry. Deck me later!"

Ever picky about vertical relationships, Rosalie was bowing like mad.

"Well, you're a ghost for one thing, so I can't hit you, and even if I could, I wouldn't. You made an incredible contribution to this, too, Rosalie."

If the lay judges were in on the con, all we had to do was force them onto our team instead. Which was why we got some help from Rosalie.

"All right, let's say good-bye to this courthouse already, shall we? We're going home together."

We'd come all the way to Vitamei, the provincial capital, for the trial.

"Yes, let's. The bed in that prison was hard…"

As she recalled the awful environment, Halkara looked dejected.

"Still, you do need to say thank you one more time."

"To whom?"

"In a word, to 'everyone.'"

When we left the courthouse, lots of villagers and townspeople who'd rushed over for today's event were gathered outside.

Some people had even unfurled pieces of cloth with things like MISS HALKARA IS INNOCENT and THE GOVERNOR IS CORRUPT written on them.

"Our family members weren't our only allies. There were many more people who believed in us."

"Oh… Now that's a sight to move one to tears…"

Halkara seemed to regain her energy as she gazed at her supporters.

Then the crowd spoke in unison.

""Miss Halkara, you did your time like a true professional!""

"…I actually am innocent, all right? Please don't get the wrong idea!"

***

In part because the provincial governor had fallen from power, Halkara's incident became a pretty popular topic.

Of course, when I went to the village of Flatta, people flagged me down to offer condolences ("That must have been awful for you"). Apparently, people spoke to Halkara over and over in Nascúte, too. Well, that was the actual site of the factory, so it was probably to be expected.

In addition, people seemed to be sharing the incident all over the province.

I hadn't gone to confirm that, but Shalsha had connections to all sorts of scholars. If she said it was happening, it probably was.

It would be scary if this led someone to set their sights on "the Witch of the Highlands" again, but I hadn't used brute strength to resolve the issue. It wasn't as bad as it could have been.

If I'd retaken Halkara by force, this could have turned into an all-out war… What made this family terrifying was that we probably still could have won.

"Shalsha benefitted as well. There were professors I've been wanting to contact for a while, but I'd kept my distance because I was embarrassed. I sent letters to them, too, and now we have a connection."

"How about that! Shalsha, that's wonderful."

It didn't really show on her face, but as her mother, I could tell she was happy.

"Thanks to that, I got the opportunity to have them read my dissertation."

"Your dissertation?"

Shalsha set a sheaf of about thirty sheets of paper down on the table.

The top sheet had the words Theory of Slime Culture—Shalsha Aizawa written on it.

That "Aizawa" was there because my last name used to be Aizawa. However, since I came to this world, almost no one called me anything except "the great Witch of the Highlands" or "Lady Azusa," so I'd almost never been called by it.

"I've explained the culturally historic significance of slimes, point by point."

"That's incredible… Shalsha, you've been doing something like this? Imagine that. You don't just read books, you create them yourself…"

I had no idea whether the content was accurate or not, but it looked like a legitimate dissertation.

"It's grounded in the latest research trends, and I think it turned out well."

"Wow. By the way, about how many people are researching slimes?"

"From the angle of cultural history, there are two in the kingdom, including me."

"That field is beyond specialized!"

It didn't seem like it would bring in much money, and since you couldn't make a business out of it, maybe the people who could engage in it were limited.

"At present, the idea of bringing together the slime researchers in each field and holding a slime academic conference is gaining momentum. If held, it will be a big step in the history of slime research. Shalsha has high hopes for it as well."

"I see… Well, good luck."

People used to research all sorts of things in Japan, and that was true of this world as well.

I might end up attending an academic conference like that one as Shalsha's escort.

"Now then, Shalsha, I'm going to do a little cooking today. Would you come help me?"

It was almost time for lunch, and I should probably get to work.

"Help?"

"Yes, it's been two weeks since Halkara got out of jail, and I think it's about time we had a special meal to acknowledge what she went through."

Even though it had been for only a few days, Halkara had been torn from this house and probably suffered in the process. I wanted to hurry up and recolor the experience with good memories.

"That's a splendid idea. Shalsha would really like to help you with that."

"Good. I think I'll ask you to cut up the vegetables."

After we'd been doing prep work for a while, the guest I'd called arrived.

"I'm here."

Beelzebub was here with a big box on her back.

"What's in the box?"

"I stopped by Nascúte first and bought a crate of Nutri-Spirits."

"You're like a kid with the wallet of an adult! Talk about a heavy user!"

"This'll last me awhile. Although I'll be going back to buy more in three days or so. I'm glad that factory's switched over to mass production."

With such enthusiastic fans on its side, the factory probably wouldn't go under.

"It was commendable of you to call the biggest Nutri-Spirits lover among demonkind. If you'd summoned me when Halkara was arrested, as well, I would've torn that evil governor limb from limb in a jiffy."

"That's why I didn't."

It would have been a much bigger problem if we'd gone overboard and people started thinking, Demons are scary, and the witch who hangs around with them is scary. To make matters worse, Beelzebub was a Nutri-Spirits fiend, so I really doubted that she'd forgive anyone who'd falsified charges and stopped the factory.

"Since it's a special occasion, I'll make a demon dish for you. First, I'll steam these potatoes and mash 'em."

The preparations for the dinner party proceeded smoothly.

Laika and Falfa also joined us after we started, and Rosalie took up a knife and chopped vegetables. There were lots of stews and hot-pot dishes this time. We just stewed everything.

"The dish I'm making is demon home-style cooking. It's called 'hot pot from Hell.'"

There was nothing homey about that name, and it sounded spicy.

"It includes some rather hot ingredients, so it'll make your tongue go numb."

"What, so it actually is spicy?!"

"Eating this warms you right up, and it's good for your health. You get the runs the next day, though."

Don't make stuff like that in other people's houses.

As Beelzebub put the ingredients she'd brought along into the pot, its contents grew redder and redder.

If nobody eats this, things are going to get awkward, so I wish she'd made something more orthodox.

Though I had my misgivings, time passed, and then…

"Lady Azusa, it's time to pick her up, so I'll be going now."

It was time for Laika to go get Halkara.

"Yes, please do. The food's ready!"

Now all that was left was for our resident elf to experience the touching sight of all this food.

However…

Although we waited a long time, Halkara didn't come back.

The food gradually cooled. We'd reheat it, so that wasn't a problem.

"Hey, Azusa. You don't suppose she's been arrested again, do you?" Beelzebub asked.

"She can't have been. Not even Halkara would… Well, she is Halkara, so I can't swear it couldn't happen."

After all, "trouble" and "Halkara" did tend to go together.

I hoped she hadn't ended up with a major incident on her hands.

"Actually, your province's governor was fired. What's the new one like? If he was friends with the former governor, he might try to make an example of you."

I had very little interest in politics, and I hadn't even thought about the next governor.

"His predecessor was reckless enough to pin a crime on a friend of the Witch of the Highlands; he didn't know how scary you are. This one might well make the same mistake."

"What do I do?! What if Halkara's been killed or something?!"

"I'd love to say you're overthinking it, but…"

The delightful atmosphere was rapidly deteriorating into gloominess.

"Calm down, Mommy! Laika's gone to get her. If something's wrong, she'll come right back."

Falfa's words soothed me a little.

"You're right… Let's wait for Laika. Right now, that's all we can do."

That said, without the guest of honor, we didn't even feel like making idle small talk.

The overall mood was as heavy as lead.

Finally, it was two full hours past the time Halkara usually returned home.

"Aaaah… Halkara's late, huh."

Falfa had started to yawn. What should we do? She'd gotten sleepy…

"Um, why don't those of us who are here now just go ahead and eat? After all, there's plenty of food."

"Shalsha will wait."

My earnest younger daughter didn't agree.

"I want Halkara to eat her fill of my hot pot from Hell, so I'll wait, too."

If she filled up on that, wasn't it guaranteed to give her the runs…?

"The longer we wait, the more the spiciness soaks into the ingredients, so it's only going to get better. It's the type of dish that's tastier on the second day. There's no problem."

Halkara… Even if you do come home, Hell itself awaits you.

Then it was three hours past her usual return time.

"Zzzz…snkk…"

Falfa fell asleep.

There was no help for it, so I draped a terrycloth blanket over her.

I considered taking her to her room and putting her to bed, but if it made her late to the party and she wasn't able to participate, Falfa would be sad. I decided I'd wake her up when Halkara got home.

"Hmm, I dunno about this… Do you want me to go take a look?" Rosalie asked.

"But ghosts can't travel through this space at high speeds, can they? It wouldn't be good if you missed each other on the way."

"I'll go improve the hot pot from Hell. Actually, maybe I should call it "hot pot of perdition" now; they say that one's even more super-spicy."

On that note, Beelzebub headed for the kitchen. I give up. Go on, make it as hellish as you want.

Still, she really was far too late. If she didn't come back after another hour, we should probably at least check to make sure she was safe. I didn't think she'd lose any fights if Laika was there, but I had no proof that horrifying beings didn't exist in the world.

Just as I was thinking that…

I thought I heard the beating of dragon wings.

Hastily, I dashed outside.

It was Halkara, riding on dragon Laika!

"I'm late… I'm sorry…"

Shakily, Halkara got down from Laika's back.

"What on earth happened? You look exhausted."

"You remember that we have a new provincial governor, correct?"

Wait, had he actually retaliated somehow?

"Well, that new governor liked Nutri-Spirits and the rest, and when he took them to the kingdom, apparently His Majesty liked them as well, so… We received a formal order from the Crown."

"From the Crown?!"

"And then the meeting ran long… Since it was a request from the national government, we couldn't really tell them to come back tomorrow, so… We ended up working a lot of overtime."

"If I'd known we'd be delayed this long, I would have returned to the house temporarily, but I didn't know how late it would end up being. I apologize. I misjudged the situation."

Laika, who was in human form again, bowed her head. It hadn't been her fault at all, so I wasn't concerned about that.

"Oh. Well, then. Basically, this was a good problem to have."

I shouldn't have worried.

"Honestly, I'm dead on my feet. I don't need dinner tonight; I'd like to go straight to bed."

"No, we can't have that."

I took Halkara into the party venue.

All the food was laid out neatly.

"Hmm? What's this?"

"You've been through a lot, so we decided to hold an appreciation dinner for you. It's quite a bit later than we'd planned on, but…"

"Madam Teacher! Thank you so much!"

Halkara pulled me into a tight hug. I was getting used to it, but that chest of hers really was impressively resilient. It was one of those things men tended to like. Actually, it could make women pretty happy, too. At my all-girls high school, several of my classmates would just come up and squeeze your boobs.

"Hey, what cup size do you wear?"

"What do you mean by 'cup'?"

I see: There was no unit of measurement for bust size here. Although, even without one, it was immediately obvious that hers were big.

While I was talking with Halkara, Falfa woke up.

"Huh? Halkara, you're home?"

"We're all here! All right, in order to congratulate Halkara on surviving the trouble, and to pray for the further growth of her business, let's celebrate!"

We passed out glasses to everybody.

""Wonderful work, Halkara! Keep it up!""

Halkara's eyes were getting a little teary.

Her face was beautiful and mature, and she seemed a little different from the comic relief character I knew.

"Thanks to all of you, I'll be able to manage as president. Really and truly…thank you so much…"

"Go on, eat up! You are the president, so they'll forgive you if you commute like one tomorrow and get there late!"

"All right! I'll eat absolutely all of it! We just finished a big project, so this feels a bit like a wrap party!"

Just then, a seething, furiously roiling pot arrived.

"I took the spiciness up to level ten," Beelzebub said ominously.

"Um…Beelzebub? What might this dish be?"

"It's hot pot from Hell, demon home-style cooking. Do eat it—I insist. It's my present as a Nutri-Spirits fan."

Beelzebub spooned the deep-red hot pot into a dish.

"But isn't this spicy?"

"Don't you worry. It's not lethal."

That wasn't a word that should come up in connection with food.

Nervously, Halkara took a bite.

"Oh, it's not really all that ho— Aaah! It built up! It hit me something awful!"

"There's still lots and lots left. You said you'd eat all of it, and I was terribly pleased to hear it."

"Wait! I got caught up in the moment! I didn't know this was here!"

"You can't possibly be telling me that you can't eat my cooking, can you?"

Oh. I know where this is going, and I don't like it.

"I'm all full, and I think it's about time I called it a night…," I said.

"I as well," Laika added.

"I'm a ghost, so I can't eat. What a bummer."

"Falfa's sleepy, so I can't eat very much…"

"Shalsha was taught that it's best to avoid eating directly before bed."

"You're all casually attempting to escape, aren't you?! S-save me!"

The next day, Halkara had an upset stomach that kept her from going to the factory.

Still, when things were busy, it was important to rest properly and get your body back in working condition. By the way, because of that spicy food, Halkara had drunk an unusually small amount of liquor, and she didn't have a hangover at all. By and large, it had probably been good for her health.

"Haaah. Maybe I'll make a beverage that helps when you've eaten spicy things…"

Halkara drank a homemade medicinal blend of mushrooms and herbs, and sighed.