Chapter 260: Am I Liked by Eccentrics?

[A/N: I added Milestones Chapter. There you can see the milestones for bonus Chapters!]

The audience itself ended without incident, yet something lingered—an aftertaste, or perhaps residual tension. It must have shown on my face.

"Ambassador Marie, are you all right?"

The Duke asked in a tone that was more amused than genuinely concerned.

"I’m just... so tired..."

I had done nothing at all, yet the tension had been so intense that the moment it ended, exhaustion crashed over me. I trudged along behind the Duke like a wilted plant. Today I only wanted to return to the embassy and sleep. Rudolf, thoughtfully, had left the entire day free of appointments. The last time I had been this nervous was probably the executive interview for my first job back in the old world.

As I walked with heavy steps, a voice called from behind.

"Ambassador Marie, wait."

It was a voice I recognized—arrogant and high-handed. I had a bad feeling, but since I had been stopped I turned around. There stood Hütter, the head of the Royal Magic Division. Beside me the Duke clicked his tongue. He actually clicked his tongue! Was a duke allowed to do that in public? His face was painted with open displeasure.

"Is there something you need, Lord Hütter?"

This division head’s face was unpleasant. First of all, those eyes—please stop glaring at people like that. Even children know it’s rude to stare so openly. At least he didn’t have the stereotypical unshaven stubble...

"Ambassador Marie, come to my room."

Just like that—come. No explanation, only an order. Not even an honorific. Why did he radiate such a small-fry aura? If someone called me a brat I couldn’t really argue, but still.

"I see. Then I shall return. Ambassador Marie, feel free to stop by Division Head Hütter’s room on your way."

The Duke’s voice was ice-cold. Why? When I reached for his arm he brushed it away!

"Ask Division Head Hütter to arrange a carriage for your return. I myself am busy, so I will take my leave. Ambassador Marie, good day."

The Duke performed a crisp about-face and walked off without another word. Left behind were only Hütter and me. What am I supposed to do now?

"Follow me."

Hütter turned his back and started walking. I had no choice but to trail after him.

I trotted along like a puppy following its master on a walk.

"U-um..."

I tried calling out, but he did not turn.

"What?"

"What business do you have with me? You once called me smelly. Won’t inviting me into your room make your room smell?"

"Hoh. I didn’t expect you to care about that."

He snorted through his nose.

"Well... normally one would care. If someone tells you that you smell, you feel you should do something about it."

"Hahaha!"

Hütter finally stopped, turned, and fixed me with that glare of his. Or perhaps that was simply his normal expression. His face was frightening, but he might not actually be in a bad mood.

"That’s right—you stink so badly I can hardly stand it! The smell was obvious from the moment you crossed the border. It’s been a long time since I met anyone this foul! So I wanted to see what kind of person you were. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a child. Having someone this smelly in the capital is distracting! That’s why I called you—to suppress the smell. Got a problem with that?"

I still didn’t fully understand, but... my smell had already been noticeable when I crossed the border? Exactly how good was this man’s nose? Was there a magic that improved one’s sense of smell? If so, being forced to smell a fart while using it would probably kill a person.

"You think ’smell’ means body odor, don’t you?"

Hütter asked, clearly holding back laughter. So it wasn’t that?

"I did think that, yes."

"Hahaha! You idiot! What an idiot!"

Everyone passing through the corridor turned to stare at us with puzzled faces. The embarrassment was unbearable. Now that I was closer I realized he smelled too—sweat mixed with something like dried hay. It wasn’t a full-blown stench, but it was definitely an odd odor. Strong potions and elixirs often came with heavy drawbacks like foul smells or bitterness. My own medicine was the same.

"Anyway, follow me!"

"...Yes."

The room he led me to was not the classic magician’s chamber piled high with moldy books and unidentifiable herbs. It was an ordinary, neatly organized room. The large sofa at the back, however, had a blanket carelessly thrown over it—probably doubling as a temporary bed. I preferred to believe that sofa was used differently from mine!

"Sit."

He jerked his chin toward a chair. I sat on the clean, dust-free seat. Hütter sprawled into his own chair as if he owned the world.

"So... what exactly do you want me to do?"

Regardless of the room, I did not want to stay with this man. Something about him felt creepy.

"I’m going to suppress that smell of yours."

"Huh? With magic or something?"

"That’s right. You possess an abnormal amount of mana, and you don’t know how to suppress it. That’s why you reek of mana. So this great me is going to personally teach you how to keep it under control. Normally I’d charge for it, but I hear you’re buried in debt, so this once I’ll do it for free. Teaching a brat like you is an extra-special favor, so be properly grateful!"

His language grew steadily rougher. Still, I should thank him.

"Thank you very much. No one has ever taught me magic before, so this will be my first time receiving instruction."

That was a complete lie, but I hoped saying it would make him feel better. Instead:

"Heeh—so no one’s ever taught you? That’s a shame. If you were from this country I’d take you as my disciple and drill it into you. Well, if you paid me I could still teach you, hehehe."

This man had absolutely no connection to refinement or restraint. I now fully understood why the Duke kept his distance.

"If I were to learn magic from you... how much would I need to pay?"

It seemed unlikely, but I asked anyway.

"Let’s see... about one hundred gold coins per spell? Hahaa, how about it? Can you pay?"

It sounded completely false. The conversation had suddenly turned shady.

"I’m sorry, but I’m drowning in debt. I don’t even have ten gold coins to spare."

"Is that so? Even with debt, an ambassador should have some money."

"No. Right now I only have about one gold coin on me."

"Hoh? Is that so? Then I’ll suppress the mana leakage for that one gold coin."

"No—if I give you that I’ll be completely empty..."

I slipped my hand into my mana bag and gripped the single precious gold coin I kept as a last resort.

"What are you talking about?! An ambassador doesn’t need money!"

Hütter strode over, thrust his hand into my mana bag, and seized my hand! He forced my fingers open and the gold coin—my gold coin—was snatched away!!

"Eh?! W-what? Wh-why? How?!"

"Wondering how I can reach into your mana bag, are you? As long as the mouth is open, it can be entered. You didn’t know? Not just anyone can do it, but some people can, so be careful—ahahaha!"

Laughing heartily he kneaded my hand, extracted the coin, and transferred it to his own.

"It’s only one gold coin, but I’ll take it as tuition! Be careful from now on! Don’t go opening your mana bag just anywhere!"

Hütter smoothly withdrew his hand and gave my head a light tonk.

"There. The mana leakage has stopped. You won’t smell of mana anymore. If anything else comes up, come see me—ahahaha!"

I could sense nothing about any "mana leakage." Yet my single gold coin had been taken... The price of learning that other people could reach into a mana bag was one gold coin... far too unreasonable... sniff.