"Is this your first ti seeing sothing like this?"
Cordelia asked in return.
"I thought there would be a lot at Avondale mansion. I thought automatons would cook, clean, and tend the garden. Between us, there were even rumors that Lord Avondale himself might be an automaton."
"I don't know about him, but all the housework is done by people."
"Really? At our house, automatons do simple things too. Like sorting letters. And bringing letters to the study. It's convenient. Oh, look over there! That's supposedly new."
An automaton sitting at a grand piano plays a famous folk song. The automaton dressed like a gentleman had a large spring attached to its back, which seed to turn automatically without anyone winding it.
When the performance ended, the automaton creakily stood up and creakily bowed, then returned to the display stand where the spring stopped. The gauge on the display stand also pointed to 0.
"Amazing! Though the performance wasn't great."
The display stand where the automaton stood had an explanation along with a price tag, listing about ten songs it could play. And the number of zeros on the price tag was.......
"Expensive. Who would buy sothing like this?"
"People who want to see an automaton performing rather than good music would buy it."
And there were many such people. Esperanza pointed to the long reservation line. There were many people who wanted to buy new automatons even if they had to cut other spending.
"Over there are probably machines used in kitchens. The Humphrey mansion also has a refrigerator? Freezer that makes flower-shaped ice."
It seed refrigerators had begun to be comrcialized from this ti.
There were many others besides that. All kinds of ho appliances, of course, convenience items like magic bags and magic file folders, typewriters and fax machines, fountain pens, etc., were classified by function.
Automatons with only body parts that could be used as prosthetic arms or legs were being sold at special prices for retired soldiers. It was marketing called the so-called 'Symbol of Heroes.'
"This was made by Lord Avondale."
She had thought that person's na would inevitably co up in this store.
In areas with many young children, there were wind-up dolls precisely modeled after insects, animals, and steam carriages. It was a store where even common stuffed animals naturally waved their arms.
Esperanza roughly looked over items marked with stickers saying they were new products. She would have to tell Cider later that such things existed when he asked.
"Esperanza, how about this?"
What Cordelia was looking at intently was a cara. It had a brass body with a long protruding lens and complex dials attached. Though she didn't know for sure, the operation thod seed quite complex.
"It's newly released. It's a cara that even captures colors as they are!"
There was indeed an advertisent board next to it.
The skill of condemning all the caras they had made so far as scraps that took dead pictures was impressive.
"Do you know? The person who made this is an inventor nad Dr. Rustin, and he goes around saying he's Dr. Claiborne's rival. Haven't you heard anything from Lord Avondale?"
"......A rival?"
Cider Claiborne had such a thing? That supre being who was the only one in heaven and earth?
"This is news to ."
"Ah, I knew it would be! Actually, you can't compare to Lord Avondale with just a color cara. Lord Avondale is the person who first created automatons."
"Ah, is that so?"
"Oh my. Is this your first ti hearing about it? You might not know since you were in Paolun, but doesn't Lord Avondale tell you?"
"We're not really close enough to talk about ourselves in detail......"
"What a joke. Oh, look at that!"
Just monts before she had been ready to buy the cara, but her interest quickly shifted again. While Esperanza was bewildered, Cordelia bought several records for the phonograph. And also a flying ship-shaped ornant.
'Won't she talk more about automatons?'
Esperanza bought the cara that Cordelia had lost interest in. When she gave Avondale's na, the clerks brightened and said they would deliver it to the mansion. She wasn't particularly interested in caras, but since she had co to such a place, it seed good to buy sothing.
"Isn't that Lady Cordelia?"
Around the ti they were finishing paynt and coming out, a gentleman who had just entered and was looking around brightened and approached. Cordelia turned her eyes slightly away with an uncomfortable expression. As if she hadn't seen or heard.
"Do you know him?"
Cordelia covered her face in disgust.
"Ah, I really hate it."
"Then let's go that way."
Esperanza linked arms with Cordelia and turned her body in a completely different direction. Cordelia looked up at Esperanza with sparkling eyes.
When she slightly bent her knees to lower her height, their figures were soon hidden by the crowd. It had been stranger that he recognized them from that distance in the first place. How persistent must he be.
Cordelia followed Esperanza as if floating in mid-air. Even though there were so many people, penetrating through the crowd in cumberso dresses wasn't difficult at all. Esperanza carved a path as if there were no people, and she just had to follow behind. Had following soone ever been so natural?
'Amazing......'
"Esperanza, over there. There's a cafe over there."
Esperanza turned the corner in the direction Cordelia pointed. The gentleman called Cordelia's na while searching, then soon gave up and disappeared.
"I was originally planning to go to this cafe anyway, but sohow we ended up entering earlier. It's the most famous cafe in Mayton Hall."
"I can see why. You can see outside at a glance."
Sitting by the window on the third floor, they could see the transparent tiles covering the floor, the terraced levels, and the red tram operating inside Mayton Hall. Instead of large signs, the characteristic of shops inside Mayton Hall was hanging green flags painted with the goods they sold and the store's logo. It was spectacular looking down from above.
It was truly a crystallization of Osdern and Nine Holder's wealth and technological prowess.
"Do you know what's most amazing here?"
When Esperanza turned her head, a tall waiter bowed. Cordelia spread her arms like a child showing off toys.
"All the staff are automatons."
It was truly a luxury that only the royal palace could afford.
'No, that's not right.'
The royal palace, the ultimate in conservatism, wouldn't do such a thing. It was royal protocol to strictly use real people for everything, even more rigidly than Avondale mansion. They showed off wealth and power by using people even for jobs that didn't require people.
She didn't know which was better compared to the side that used automatons even for useless tasks, but both were equally annoying.
"What would you like to drink?"
"Anything you recomnd. How do you use this?"
The automaton stood perfectly still after bowing and raising its head. The cast shadow was sowhat burdenso.
"It's nothing special. They don't make drink recomndations, um......"
Cordelia turned the dial on the brass-bound nu board. About twenty drinks mainly tea varieties and desserts with grandiose nas were densely packed. The thod was to turn the dial attached to nas to indicate quantities.
"You do it like this, then return the nu board. Then they'll bring it."
"So that waiter is just for bringing the nu board? Useless."
Cordelia giggled.
"That's exactly the charm of luxury. Using useless things at uselessly expensive prices."
Cynicism could be felt in her words.
"People who do that well are excellent upper class. That's why stores like this do well too. Of course, I think this store isn't bad. It's worth visiting once. Especially since most people can't even think of having automatons at ho, but here you can see them just by paying for drinks."
Except that those drink prices were about the cost of a day's als for ordinary people. Esperanza unhesitatingly charged it to Avondale's na. The amount of bills Esperanza had was limited, so she couldn't waste them on such places.
The conversation stopped when the drinks arrived. The quiet waiter set up the drinks, greeted, and disappeared. Esperanza, who had swallowed drinks that weren't bad but weren't worth paying this price for, asked.
"You said you'd invite
to Mabelwood? Is it okay during social season?"
It surely wasn't an invitation after the season ended. It said 'in the near future.' And Cordelia was quite impatient. Though she should leisurely make appointnts like a noble, sending 'Let's et tomorrow!' made it obvious.
"Yes, grandmother said I seed to be having too hard a ti, so it's okay to rest this season."
"Hmm."
That's a lie.
If she delayed one season, she'd have to age another year without much gain in the next season, so they wouldn't let that happen. Moreover, suddenly returning to the territory in the middle of the season would be good fodder for gossip.
"So you're saying let's go together on the way?"
"Yes. Lord Avondale will co too, right?"
Esperanza, who was about to reflexively answer 'Why him?', coughed. She seed to rember him showing interest at that ti too.
"Probably? I'll have to ask though. He has parliantary work and all."
"Parliantary work? Everyone in Nine Holder knows that he doesn't do parliantary work."
The master's irresponsibility seed to be a story everyone knew. It wasn't particularly surprising. An eccentric isn't an eccentric if they're only eccentric inside the house.
"Well......"
"Do you know? Lady Claudia Riphaely, Count Riphaely's second daughter, liking Lord Avondale is quite a famous story among our age group."
Our age group. What was that ominous nuance about?
"But Lord Avondale isn't Cordelia's age group, is he?"
"It's not even a ten-year difference, and above all, he's a Count with territory, so what would that matter?"
"Ah, the disadvantages get offset?"
Cordelia stared at Esperanza as if she had heard sothing strange, then soon paid no mind and continued speaking.
"Anyway, Lady Claudia was badmouthing you, Esperanza."
"Because I'm a ward?"
"Because you obviously didn't seem like a simple ward. Moreover, the ward system...... and your age......"
Cordelia, who had trailed off mid-sentence, smiled broadly. It was a smile that said 'You know everything, right?'
Reviews
All reviews (0)