Sword, Magic and Academic Society

Following my question, Mimosa started explaining the order of events.

Her story started around a decade ago.

Mimosa's elder sister fell in love at first sight with Count Serdos who had come to inspect Solcoast at that time. Her sister was their tour guide and well, the spark of their love was the illegitimate child that was born between them.

The Count, however, already had a legal wife of noble origin and a second de facto wife so he couldn't bring her to his estate and pass her the child support.

Well, while they might not have been accepted, her sister and her nephew, Daniel-kun, were not in the least bit bothered. Her maternal home was already blessed with wealth to some extent as the owner of the Serene Wind Co., and it just so happened that all the kids at that time happened to be girls so the birth of a boy was warmly welcomed.

Daniel-kun was raised and pampered by everyone--- especially by his doting mother, along with the predecessor of the Serene Wind, and its manservant. Having been raised in a port town with the dockyard being his playground, he aspired to be a sailor in the future and grew up as a little rascal.

On the other hand, his aunt, Mimosa, would often tell him about how he wouldn't be able to make it as a successful sailor if he didn't take his studies seriously. So while pampered, he was also a young man who knew the value of hard work.

But as they say, fate is a fickle mistress. Daniel-kun's talent far eclipsed others. He would always stand out among his peers in the regional elementary school by a long shot and his talent in magic also blossomed. In short, he apparently could qualify for the 'Royal Academy' as well.

The Count, who hadn't seen Daniel-kun except when he was born, flipped his stance when the possibility was all but confirmed. How could he not? The result might be embellished by half a point but his talent was unmistakable. It wouldn't have been impossible to even adopt a person with such talent, let alone someone with his own blood.

His talent was truly staggering, at least compared to the legitimate lineage of the Count family. Despite being an influential noble, reality was harsh to them as they could never produce a talent that could enter the Royal Academy. 

'It's the order of the lord', there was just that phrase given as a reason before the Count's men took Daniel-kun, whom he had never approved of until then, along with his mother without regard for anyone's feelings. The Count made Mimosa's sister his third de facto wife while Daniel-kun gained the title of a legitimate child.

Everything from there was a simple story. Count Serdos gathered the best private tutors within his capability who thoroughly trained Daniel-kun from the age of 10 and three years later, he achieved the glorified title of Royal Academy student.

So this birthday party was also a celebration of his achievement. However, the only ones invited to the party so far were the Marquis and other influential nobles. Mimosa might be his aunt but it was impossible for her to visit as a commoner.

Meanwhile, the Count was seemingly intent on snuffing out any rumors about Daniel-kun being raised as a commoner and hence forbade him from meeting anyone he was related to until then.

Mimosa intended to somehow get the chance to meet Daniel-kun, compliment him for his hard work, and congratulate him for the glory he had grasped with his own hands.

The Count had arranged a competition for the main dish of the party and she wanted to somehow win it and get the ticket to enter the estate. Apparently, the Count wanted to take this chance to showcase their specialty, the seafood, to the bigwigs attending the party.

However, she just couldn't join the competition with the strict background check at play. In that case, the only option left was to sneak in as a staff member of the winning party.

To begin with, she originally wanted to bring Ginkgo under her command either way, but unlike before, where she had wanted to take her sweet time showing her 'qualities' and get the boss to acknowledge her, she could no longer take it easy.

She might or might not get a similar chance ever again and that was unacceptable for her. She at least wanted the predecessor of Serene Wind, Gondo --- who had completely lost his will after the apple of his eye was taken and thus retired while giving the rope of command to Mimosa --- to see his grandchild's face before he died.

This was where she decided to use some high-handed method to get the Gingko even if that may foil her original plan.

This was the long story short of Mimosa.

◆◆◆

"......He truly is an idiot. I had been wondering why Gondo hasn't been showing up lately... What a worthless reason to grieve over."

The boss shook his head in dismay.

"Well, don't say that. It might look like a luxurious concern compared to suddenly losing a child like you had but, the loneliness of being unable to meet your kid when he's right beside you hollows you out.

Father (predecessor) isn't hoping to take back this child after so long. No, he's actually grateful that the Count has taken him. We are simply not cut out to give that child the wings he deserves. After all, he was smart but no one had ever thought he also had the caliber to enter the Royal Academy. I just... want to meet him one more time, and tell him--- you did your best. You are our pride."

'Please, lend me your strength just this once,' Mimosa muttered and bowed her head to the boss.

She had been properly dispelling her intoxication with mana after she told her story so she could hold a conversation now.

"Sheesh~. You could have just been honest from the start."

The boss said while scratching his head.

"It's a secret that Daniel was the illegitimate child of the Count and that he was raised as a commoner in this town after all. I wanted to refrain from revealing everything. I did think you might nod along to my request but it isn't my character to show my weak side and bow head."

"You know, you're an idiot too... but alright. I have also been helped by Gondo so many times in the past. But keep in mind that I would have no connection with your company if I heard you did something unsavory."

It sounded like they had reached an agreement. Nice, I should be able to get my fill of superb dishes tomorrow.

So far, so good. But---

"I am glad that the boss would have no more trouble stocking up on materials. So, mind telling me what you want from me? I doubt you're so casual as to reveal this secret to others at the drop of a hat. Also, tell me what's in it for me. And before you think I would gladly jump on the bandwagon readily, no, I don't like noble parties either."

Mimosa's expression dimmed when I asked her.

"Ah, right. I have a request I want you to take on as an explorer. I heard about your archery skills and your fame as a super-rookie in the Royal Capital. I don't know what the market price is, but you shouldn't be that expensive to be called for a request, right?

Honestly, I wanted to see if I could seduce you and get you to do the work for cheap. Well, admittedly, it was the rumors about you that made my heart skip a beat, so I thought 'I wouldn't mind going along with that idea'.

Anyway, your reward would be Ginkgo's prepared 'Ruby of the Sea' Deareise. Daniel is a huge fan of this magical fish, which he gets from the Count's navy once a year.

Its taste is so heavenly you wouldn't be able to eat normal fish ever again."

...'Ruby of the Sea'?

You know what? Considered me sold. I didn't care about the money but I definitely wanted to try that.

I nodded without a second thought, but the boss apparently had something else to say.

"......Hold your high horses for a moment. Do you want to fish out a Deareise from that Corrinda Strait with a private ship? Are you sane!? It's the area infested with swarms of sea falcons!"

"I know the absurdity of my plan. However, even if I have to pay a fortune, I just want Ren to take on this request. Now that he's in the Royal Academy, the path of our life would probably never cross again. This is our final gift to him from us, Serene Wind, before his journey to another height. I won't be stingy on this matter. Alright, tell me what's your price. 50,000 rea or maybe 100,000 rea?"

The boss was dumbfounded when he heard Mimosa casually bringing up an absurd amount to the table of negotiation.

Still, hot damn, 100,000 rea...?

I rummaged through my memory and shook my head while recalling some details from the Canardial Monster Encyclopedia. First of all, I'm sure I would lose my sense of money if I took this job.

"I presume you want me to protect the ship from the sea falcons, right? Honestly, it's an easy matter for me to handle, but I'm on vacation. No amount of money is enough to make me break my bones when I'm planning to take it easy."

Sea Falcon builds their nests on the steep cliffs running alongside the coast and are the natural enemies of sailors. They often destroy the ship's sails in their charge attacks which pushes sailors into a perilous state.

Mimosa and Gatx opened their mouths to say something but ultimately swallowed their words with vexed expressions.

"But I guess I can't deny it outright when you bring the boss's culinary skill to the table. Now I really want to try the 'Ruby of the Sea' prepared by him. I expect the ship to pay for my arrows."

Mimosa was flabbergasted for a moment before breaking into a teary smile.

"Ahaha! Are you sure you are that 'Mad Hound'?! You truly are too... sweet for your own good. But since you don't want the money, alright, I forfeit my body. Do whatever you want."

Mimosa clobbered on once again under the influence of alcohol, having stopped dispelling her intoxication midway, and opened the top two buttons of her shirt.

"L-L-L-Like hell I would!"