Ice cream really isn't much. What could secretly eating two cups of it accomplish? At most, soone shaking their head saying you'll get a stomachache.
But even with the smallest secrets, sharing them creates intimacy between people.
"Here. Want to take another scoop?"
"Yes, give
more. Chocolate."
Sylvia took a spoonful of the cup filled with ice cream and her eyes lit up.
"Goodness, this seems even better than what I had at Mayton Hall!"
"That good?"
"Of course!"
Esperanza, who knew that ice cream shop, thought it honestly wasn't quite that good, but now wasn't the ti for such talk.
"When you marry and co to Riton, you'll be able to eat it more often."
Sylvia smiled wanly.
"I suppose so."
"Well, engagents don't necessarily have to lead to marriage. How is Baronet Powell?"
The clear air of late morning and the cool breeze. The sweetness of ice cream scooped in secret from others. It was the right environnt for letting one's guard down.
"I'm not sure. We're not that close."
"How did the engagent co about in the first place? I an, Baronet Powell proposed, right? You two must have danced together."
Sylvia smiled bitterly.
"That's right. But Sir Arthur, well, he talks a lot about his interests. I don't know much about them."
Ah, the antisocial eccentric type. The more she heard, the more he seed like that bastard.
"Lord Avondale doesn't do that, does he?"
"We mostly talk about silly things. I can't understand what he tells
anyway, and even if I could, it wouldn't be interesting."
When she winked one eye, Sylvia also nodded vigorously.
"Right. Sir Arthur was like that too. I didn't know what to say in response. He was talking about buying monster corpses, not just animals..."
Sylvia, who had spoken that far, shut her mouth tight, then glanced at Esperanza and quickly added:
"I an, it's a bit boring."
It wasn't a proper excuse. She was visibly flustered, unable to collect the genuine feelings that had suddenly spilled out. It was pitiful.
"You know."
Should she ask directly? Should she ask indirectly? Esperanza wasn't confident at interrogation. She didn't have the technique to extract information while the other person was unaware of what they'd been through.
Would it be better to just storm into Baronet Powell's house?
'Ah, I'm tempted.'
That was the most comfortable thod. She was confident she could do it well. If evidence ca out, it ca out; if not, so be it. It would be perfect to stop by there first on the way to the mine.
"Esperanza?"
"Ah, so what I an is."
Esperanza bit the cold spoon to buy ti. However, the words that ca out the next mont were crude, making the ti she'd bought aningless.
"Don't you want to get married?"
"Pardon?"
Sylvia, who had hesitated, burst into cascading laughter. Her usually demure eyes were fiercely upturned.
"Esperanza, what are you trying to say? Are you asking if I don't want to get married at all, or..."
"I'm asking if you don't want to marry that person called Baron Powell."
"He's the best husband I can get. He has a title, and he's young and wealthy anyway. I don't know why you're suddenly interfering."
"No matter how I think about it, that person seems a bit strange."
Sylvia beca confused. She had expected the obvious talk. That such marriages aren't happy, or that she could find a better person. The naive stories that easily co from the mouths of those who've had happier marriages than others.
But now she couldn't even tell what was being said. Sylvia knew Arthur Powell was strange too. But it didn't seem like it was simply that kind of talk.
"What do you an by that all of a sudden?"
Would it be okay to tell the truth? Wouldn't she try to defend her fiancé? It wouldn't be a story she'd want others to hear. Esperanza hesitated for a mont. As if reading that hesitation, Sylvia shot back coldly:
"Esperanza, you're being very rude to
right now. So stop beating around the bush and speak properly."
Everything from here on was speculation. And shoddy speculation at that, forcing the few clues to fit the conclusion. She couldn't persuade Sylvia with such things.
"Sylvia, normal pharmacologists don't buy things like monster corpses."
Sylvia had sothing to say about that too.
"But you collected them too. Aren't they for Lord Avondale's research?"
"We threw away the corpses. What we collected were byproducts. Things like horns, teeth, or poison. These are much easier to obtain. Properly extracting corpses from dungeons is really difficult work."
When countless mages were active, obtaining corpses was easy, but in this place where Esperanza was the only mage, even such simple work required trendous effort and skill. Accordingly, prices had skyrocketed.
"Of course there are people who need corpses. But that wouldn't be pharmacologists. Maybe magical biologists. They're extrely difficult to handle, and in many ways it's not sothing to be done at an individual level."
Sylvia, who had turned pale, was even pitiful. Esperanza added in a rush:
"And the places that buy and sell such things couldn't be ordinary markets."
"So! What are you trying to say?"
"That person is probably doing different research than what you think. And the possibility that it's legal is very low."
A vague certainty settled in. Evidence was still lacking, but a pharmacologist collecting monster corpses? There were too many suspicious aspects to dismiss as eccentricity. And if he was conducting 'that kind' of research, he would need more technology. Very innovative technology.
Innovation requires inspiration. Genius, or luck. If he lacked the forr, he had no choice but to aim for the latter.
'Rare magic stones.'
It wasn't impossible. A scholar living near Riton could have obtained information that rare magic stones were found in Count Avondale's mine. A nobleman living near Riton would also know that the Count had no interest in his own property.
Esperanza took the trembling Sylvia to her room and called for Cider. Cider assigned Frederick Gordon the role of entertaining the two guests and slipped out of the drawing room.
"Did you get so results?"
Cider, looking down at the half-eaten ice cream cup, laughed briefly. Esperanza scooped up a large spoonful of ice cream and pushed it into Cider's mouth while deliberately rolling her eyes.
When the cold substance entered his mouth, Cider frowned. Finally, a smile returned to Esperanza's lips. Cider imdiately took the spoon and ice cream cup from Esperanza's hands and set them on the cabinet.
"Baronet Powell bought monster corpses. It seems like he's probably doing chira research. Maybe even human trafficking..."
"Should we ransack Powell's place before the mine?"
Cider, who had barely swallowed the ice cream, threw out just the conclusion without any interdiate process.
"Right."
"Good. Tonight?"
"The sooner the better."
"Oh my."
At the sudden sound, both people turned their heads in unison. Mrs. Humphrey, standing at the door, covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes were suspiciously sparkling, whatever she was thinking.
"These kids these days."
Mrs. Humphrey muttered to herself. Then, realizing that sounded rather old-fashioned, she quietly corrected herself:
"Young people these days."
That also sounded rather aged. Mrs. Humphrey grimaced, but couldn't think of other words. The noblewoman, who snorted lightly, lowered her hand as if she hadn't said anything.
"You two look so good together. I already knew this would happen when you first ca to our party."
It was a good statent for changing the subject appropriately. Only then did Esperanza release her hand that had been around Cider's waist and push his shoulder lightly.
"Did you now? We had no idea."
"We live for the pleasure of pairing gentlen and ladies together. Oh, speaking of which, have you heard the story about a lady that Viscount Poulsbury has been chasing lately?"
Co to think of it, hadn't that man still not gotten married? A pitiful result compared to his ambition.
"No. This is the first I'm hearing of it."
Mrs. Humphrey linked arms with Esperanza and launched into heavily seasoned society gossip. Cider stepped back. Frederick Gordon was looking at him resentfully, but he didn't care.
??????°??☆????°??????
After dinner, Mrs. Humphrey declared she would go to Baronet Powell's house tomorrow. Sylvia's face turned blue.
Reviews
All reviews (0)