283 - Oracle from Heaven
The meeting took a recess after about forty-five minutes. It felt a bit short to me, but apparently they schedule breaks at reasonable intervals so that discussing for too long doesn't tire them out and cloud their vision.
...Well, that makes sense? If everyone got too tired to make sound judgments and ended up passing strange resolutions, that would be a problem too.
I seemed to have been listening more intently than I realized, because the tension drained from my shoulders. I was only supposed to be observing the meeting from outside, but I suppose I got swept up in the serious atmosphere on the other side of the glass.
...Ah, our eyes met.
My eyes met Christoph's through the glass, and even though he shouldn't have been able to see me from his side, I found myself bowing my head. I think this is a sad trait of us Japanese. As the room on the other side of the glass began to empty for the recess, I tried to drink my tea, which had gone completely cold, but Kyuubee replaced it with warm tea.
...The new Kyuubee is capable, huh.
As I brought the perfectly warmed tea to my lips, there was a knock at the door. Huh, I wonder who that could be? I tilted my head, and Christoph, who should have been in the meeting room, entered along with Alfred.
"It has been a while, Your Majesty King Christoph. Thank you for allowing me to observe such an important meeting today."
"Indeed. I hope you haven't found it too boring, all that shouting over complicated matters."
"Boring? Not at all, Your Majesty. Everyone was discussing so passionately that I found myself tensing up along with them."
Since the King had entered for some reason, I got down from my chair and curtsied. Ethelbert had also risen from his seat when Christoph entered. Though a former king, the current king now held the higher station. While he was certainly still someone to respect as a former king and father, the power dynamic inevitably favored the current king.
Two chairs were hastily added, and Christoph and Ethelbert took their seats. For some reason, I found myself being escorted back into my chair by Alfred.
...But why is Christoph-sama here? Isn't this the meeting's break time?
My question seemed to show on my face, as usual. Christoph answered my question as if it were nothing.
"...I heard that Christina has some new cheesecake."
"Really, where does the information leak from?"
Both Ethelbert and Christoph were people I had no contact with unless summoned. Kalisa had only been working on improving the cheesecake for a short while, and during that time, I hadn't even seen Ethelbert. When I asked where he had heard about it, it turned out Alfred was the one who had leaked the cheesecake information to Christoph. Now that he mentioned it, Alfred frequently visited the detached palace and had eaten the cheesecake while it was still being improved. It seemed Christoph's source wasn't as mysterious as Ethelbert's. Relieved slightly, I asked Ethelbert as well.
"Ethelbert-sama, did you hear about it from Alfred-sama too?"
"No, in my case, I had my people hiding in the ceiling."
"I'll clean the detached palace's ceiling when I get back."
I thought that if there were suspicious people in the ceiling, the dogs would have reacted, but he explained that those hiding were 'my people,' not 'suspicious persons.' It seemed the people Ethelbert had hiding would also act as my guards in an emergency, so the dogs didn't recognize them as targets for removal. He also pointed out that no matter how much I cleaned the ceiling, they could simply move somewhere else during the cleaning, so cleaning wouldn't serve as a countermeasure against spies.
"What did you think, watching the meeting?"
"...I thought, this really is going to take time."
Unlike the parliamentary broadcasts from my previous life, no one was trying to trip anyone else up. Everyone was seriously discussing which medicine to prioritize for revival.
I conveyed my thoughts as I felt them, but for some reason, Ethelbert handed me a package.
"What's this? Do I get a snack if I give the right answer?"
Was I going to get a reward of sweets if I gave an answer convenient for Christoph and the others? I opened the package to check what I'd received, and inside was a plate-grilled sweet.
"Since we're missing out on the Three Crows Tavern in Grenore this year, I had my chef make some plate-grilled sweets."
"There's plenty of bean paste too," he said with a wink, and at that point, there was nothing left for me but to be bribed. Pudding and cheesecake were delicious too, but I absolutely loved Japanese sweets on a whole different level. There was no Three Crows Tavern in the capital, so I'd thought I'd have to wait until I returned to Grenore for Japanese sweets, but I unexpectedly got to encounter red bean paste from an unexpected source.
"Just as Alfred planned."
"Alfred-sama's plan?"
"If you saw the actual meeting, you'd swallow your complaints about it being slow. ...Alfred suggested that, so I decided to let you observe this meeting."
"...Just as Alfred-sama predicted, indeed."
It was true that after seeing them meeting so earnestly, I couldn't entertain suspicions like 'It's too slow, not yet done?' or 'Are they deliberately dragging out the meeting to keep me tied to the capital?' If they were discussing that seriously, it was only natural that it would take time to reach a conclusion.
"I'll work on the transcription and wait patiently, so please discuss thoroughly and come to a satisfactory conclusion."
"...Then let's have Christina decide one of the disputed matters."
"Huh? I can decide?"
I'd just been shown a heated meeting and concluded I'd wait a bit longer, but Christoph was offering to let me choose one of the secret arts to revive. If this was decided, at least I'd be able to escape from the endless transcription work.
"If I choose, it'll be rather arbitrary, but is that alright? Everyone seemed to be discussing it quite seriously..."
"At this rate, it would take a year just to choose three. If we can at least decide on one, it'll light a fire under everyone and make progress."
I really don't want to wait a year, I thought, swallowing the words that almost escaped, as Christoph began writing a list on a piece of paper. Peeking from the side, I saw the same characters as part of the list I had submitted.
"These are the ones that were excluded in the previous meeting as 'acceptable to postpone.'"
Christoph handed me the list, saying I could choose freely from among them. But was it really okay to choose from among things he said were excluded? When I asked out of curiosity, he told me that because they were excluded, they hadn't even come up in the current meeting. And they weren't things that were unnecessary, just postponable.
"...Then I'll truly choose, quite arbitrarily. Let's do an Amida lottery. Leave it to fate."
When asked what an Amida lottery was, I explained it, and Alfred said with slight exasperation, "You really are leaving it to fate, aren't you." I insisted that since I'd be translating the other prescriptions eventually anyway, leaving it to fate now was fine, and started making the Amida lottery. I had Ethelbert assign numbers to the list, had Alfred draw the ladder rungs, had Christoph add a few more rungs, had Rebecca assign numbers at the bottom of the lines, and then had them roll up the paper so I couldn't see it.
"Now then, which one shall I choose?"
If I had a die, I could just roll it, but unfortunately, there was no die in the room. So what to do? I thought for a moment and chose the most orthodox method.
"Which one shall I pick? As heaven's god decrees."
...Huh? I feel like that was longer, but what was it?
My finger went around the lines about two times, but somehow it felt unsatisfying. I want to choose a bit more, I thought, and decided to continue with some random words.
"Leo, come back soon. Kokumaro is cute. Kalisa's boobs. Pudding love love I love you."
Even I had to admit the last part didn't make much sense, but the place where my finger stopped was my choice. I unrolled the paper and traced the line I had chosen downward with my finger.
"I pick this one. Um... Panto medicine?"
...Huh? Wasn't this?
If I wasn't mistaken, it was one of the queen's antidotes. The fact that it was on the excluded list meant Christoph truly did separate public and private affairs. When I stealthily glanced at Christoph's expression, I felt his eyes open slightly wider.
"I choose this one."
"You can pick again, you know."
"I decided with the Amida lottery, so Panto medicine is fine."
If I was allowed to re-pick, there was no difference from deciding in the meeting. I said I'd choose by fate, and fate landed on the queen's antidote, so I should just accept it honestly. No matter how much he cared about his people, his wife was important too.
I looked up at Christoph with reproach, as if to say "Please treasure your wife too," and Christoph made a slightly troubled face. Sensing something off, I dropped my gaze to the paper where the Amida lottery had been drawn, only to have Alfred snatch it away from the side.
...Huh?
Something's strange, I thought, looking up at Alfred, who smiled beautifully with the same face as Alf. I recognized that as Alf's face when he was plotting something, but I was the one who chose the medicine to revive with the Amida lottery. There was no room for Alfred to scheme anything.
"This is convenient for our side as well, so I believe Panto medicine is fine, Your Majesty."
"Indeed, Your Majesty. After all, it was none other than the young lady herself who chose Panto medicine. We haven't done anything."
The grandfather and grandson looked at each other and nodded, claiming they weren't at fault and hadn't done anything, which made me certain that I had apparently made a mistake. What's the problem? I tried to recall the description of Panto medicine, but nothing in particular jumped out at me.
"...What's the problem?"
Unable to find what my apparent mistake was on my own, I looked to Christoph for the answer. I felt like the grandfather and grandson exchanging glances would just brush me off with vague answers.
"Panto medicine requires ingredients that are not currently in stock, so we'll need to start from gathering materials. Since the seasons when the ingredients can be harvested also matter, we won't be able to begin work on it right away."
I'd thought he was avoiding Panto medicine, the queen's antidote, because he separated public and private affairs, but it turned out the problem was that it would take too much time. I tried choosing by fate, but the result was a complete loss.
"...Alfred-sama, what did you mean when you said it's 'convenient'?"
"Either way, I wanted to keep you away from the border for now. Having you choose a time-consuming secret art on your own is a huge help to us."
Without incurring any resentment, I'd ended up with a long-term stay in the capital by my own doing. Alfred said that being forced to extend one's stay with various reasons piled on would be harder to accept than making it your own responsibility.
"I've failed."
"It's the result of a fair lottery. Give up."
Out of the list of medicines that had been set aside for various reasons as okay to postpone, I'd just happened to pick the one that would take the most time.
"I should have said one more thing bad about Leo!"
Regretting it now was too late. I was the one who decided on the Amida lottery method, and I was the one who chose the line. I had no choice but to accept the lottery's result.
The title is just me jumping on the bandwagon.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.