Chapter 239: Finally, The Messenger Has Arrived

After Elle left, I called Rudolf over and handed him the bag of gold coins. He went completely still. His face turned red, then blue, then red again. Finally he managed to croak:

"W-where on earth did this money come from?"

"This is the payment for the medicine I received from Her Grace the Duchess. It’s clean money—no shame in using it to repay the debt. You can use it however you like, but don’t think this is something that comes in every month. It’s just a temporary sum."

"Medicine? I haven’t heard anything about that, but is it truly all right?"

"What do you mean?"

"This money is from Lord Robin, isn’t it? Then it should be used by Lord Robin himself, right?"

There was a clear dilemma in his voice—If I use the money the boss earned, is that okay?

"No, you may use it freely. Prioritize repaying the debt as much as possible. Or spend it on something expensive. Repair the house if you need to. Anything, as long as it helps the debt be paid off sooner."

I said it, and Rudolf was trembling.

"Y-yes, understood. I’ll take it... With this, we can finally hold that dinner party for the new ambassador’s arrival... Uuuu... finally..."

"Dinner party? What dinner party?"

"W-with two hundred gold coins we could hold a truly splendid dinner party. Adding the forty from last time and these one hundred forty today gives us one hundred eighty. That’s enough for a modest welcome party for Lord Robin as the new ambassador from the Marie Kingdom!"

Huh...? Who needs that much money?! I thought. Aren’t there parties or receptions that cost money when the boss changes? But I didn’t say it out loud.

"Rudolf, after the dinner party, is there another big expense coming up?"

"If we wanted to, we could spend as much as we like. But since the embassy has no money, one dinner party should be enough. When our guests see this young ambassador who owes a mountain of debt, I’m sure they’ll look at him with pity. That’s why the dinner party is the only thing we need right now. Lord Robin, thank you so much!!"

Rudolf bowed deeply and left the room with the bag clutched to his chest. Why did such a huge amount of money suddenly appear...? I wondered, but I was blinded by the sight and couldn’t even form the suspicious thought.

"Is it all right to give everything to Rudolf-san?" Lily asked.

"It’s fine. Rudolf handles the embassy’s gold every month—three hundred gold coins’ worth. Even if I handed him a bag like this, he wouldn’t be in trouble. Besides, if we’re throwing a dinner party, we have to trust him. I’ll find other ways to earn money from now on, so the debt can be cleared faster. Also... I don’t think I’ll be able to return to the Marie Kingdom until the debt is paid off."

"That’s true. Maybe that’s why the Prime Minister sent Lord Robin here?"

"I don’t think so, though?"

But that’s exactly what happened. If it was true, what on earth was he expecting from me? Just the debt repayment? Or would he keep throwing new impossible tasks at me once the debt was cleared?

After that we went around greeting people as usual.

When we returned to the embassy, a magnificent royal carriage was parked in the courtyard, horses peacefully grazing. The garden hadn’t been mowed, so they could eat as much as they wanted. Who the hell was going to clean up the mountain of horse dung they’d left?

"Rudolf, whose carriage is that?"

"Th-that... is it the royal carriage? Y-yes, it has the royal crest. So... it’s the ambassador sent by His Majesty the King? No, wait—have we been waiting? This is a problem! Quickly, we should go greet him!"

Rudolf said it, but his tone was far from panicked.

"It’s not that urgent, is it?"

I asked.

"It’s bad to arrive without notice. We have to act like we’re in a hurry for appearances. That’s all. The messenger understands that."

Rudolf whispered. Yeah, when you put it like that, it makes sense.

Once inside, I changed into formal attire and stood at the entrance. The royal carriage slowly moved forward and stopped right in front of us.

A middle-aged man stepped down. His clothes were splendid, so he was clearly a high-ranking noble.

"I am here on His Majesty’s orders. Please, come in."

I bowed. He lifted his chin and snorted through his nose.

"No need. I only need to hand over the royal letter and receive your reply. Right here is fine. Read it and give me your answer."

He spoke with supreme arrogance. I was about to introduce myself when I remembered—

"Thank you for bringing the letter. Forgive me, but may I ask your name?"

The man rolled his eyes.

"Me? Ah, I’m Ralph Hutter. (Rudolf whispered from the side, ’He is the head of the Royal Magic Division.’) See? Some people already know me! Ah, it stinks! It stinks! Hurry up and answer! Don’t keep the messenger waiting!"

He snapped. Magic users... they really are cranky weirdos, I thought (from my experience in the Marie Kingdom), and it looks like that’s the same here.

Rudolf peeled the seal and showed him the letter. It was shockingly short: "Come to the palace in ten days."

"No problem. I’ll let him know you’re coming."

"Understood. Then I’ll be going."

Hutter turned and left without another word.

I turned to Rudolf.

"Rudolf, are magic users normally like that?"

Rudolf shrugged.

"I don’t know. I’ve never met anyone like that before either. Magic users are rare to begin with, so I’ve never seen what one usually looks like. I’ve only met two magic users in my life—Lord Robin and Miss Lily. This man is the third."

Wait, I’m not a magic user! And neither is Lily! I wanted to protest, but I knew the world’s real magic users would get furious if they heard me. Because magic users were people who made a living from magic! Lily and I could only stuff things into our mana bags. That was it.

"By the way... magic and magic are different, right?"

I asked.

"I have no idea. I can’t use magic at all, so I don’t know. Besides, Lord Robin probably knows better."

"No, I just thought about it now."

"Then we can ask next time we meet."

"Agreed. But do we even have a chance to meet again? I’ve heard he rarely appears in public."

"Huh... but he came as the king’s envoy?"

"It’s really strange."

"Can I learn magic from that person?"

"Probably not."

"Why not?"

"People who can use magic are basically weapons or extremely useful tools. Teaching them to foreigners would be seen as a threat to this country’s defense. I’ve heard they only teach their own people, and even then they’re very selective."

What happened to the magic schools and universities from the isekai novels?! I wondered. In this world they were in some neighboring country ruled by incredibly powerful and independent mages. Kids from all over the world came there to train, with dungeons and monsters in the nearby forests. That was the difference between my old world and this one.

"I heard there’s a magic school in the Marie Kingdom, though?"

I’d caught a glimpse of it there.

"There is one, but entrance is probably very difficult."

"Oh... so I can’t go either?"

"You can’t say it’s completely impossible, but I’ve heard they require a contract and enormous tuition."

How cruel! Breaking an innocent child’s secret dream! I thought.

"I see. Well... could you look into it for me anyway? I’ll be disappointed if I don’t even try."

Rudolf said he’d look into it, but the way he was acting made it clear we probably wouldn’t be able to enroll.

"Understood."

Rudolf left to investigate, but I could already feel the disappointment.

"Lord Robin? Lord Robin?"

Rudolf’s voice brought me back from my fantasy.

"By the way... that guy called me smelly, didn’t he?"

"Probably ’country bumpkin’ is what he meant."

Rudolf’s tone was very reluctant.

"Country bumpkin...?"

It hit me too hard. No words came out. It felt exactly like when I went back to my hometown after a month in Tokyo and saw high-school girls again.

"I’ve been called that many times, and even the previous ambassador was."

"So Her Grace the Duchess called you that too?"

"Probably. She must have been through a lot."

So the previous ambassador caused all this trouble and made things worse... I thought. The ten or twenty white hairs were probably his fault. If there were any.

After that we finished our round of greetings as usual.