“Saarya, how was the train trip?”
“It was amazing! It runs even while you’re asleep, and even the dining car—you have to eat while it’s rocking!”
Swaying along in an ordinary (though, in truth, one meant for the upper class) carriage, the three of them chatted.
“It was rough. First, Saarya should stop trying to climb onto the roof.”
“But you can see better from high up!”
“W-wait, the roof... the train’s roof...?”
Their destination was the apartment where the three of them would be living from now on.
They’d been told the bare minimum of furniture was already installed, so their luggage was kept to a minimum.
Living expenses would be provided by Duke Silverhead. For the time being, what was expected of them was to get used to life in the royal capital, and on-the-job training at Duke Silverhead’s residence.
After riding in the carriage for about an hour from the station building, the three arrived at their destination residential district.
In other words, a high-end neighborhood. Public safety was good, and it was a sector where many officials working in government residences lived. Since this was, on paper, service at Duke Silverhead’s residence, they would be commuting from this neighborhood as well.
“All right—this is our home.”
“Wow, it’s tall!”
Saarya opened the front door and ran straight to the window.
It was the top floor of a three-story building. It was an unpopular unit because you had to climb the stairs, but in exchange, it had the largest floor plan.
There were three private rooms, a living room, and a water area, and even running water had been prepared.
Running water was a new technology that had spread over the past year or so, using a system where a pump was lowered down to the first floor and water was drawn up to the upper floors. Normally, a hand pump was installed at the water area.
Water was fed into a first-floor tank through water pipes, so fresh water was always flowing in.
As for facilities like these, it seemed the brain-trust led by Amajio Salmon had exerted tremendous influence, with substantial work already done at the city-planning stage. Technological upgrades had been progressing slowly, but now—thanks to the influx of <Paraiso> products—everything was undergoing explosive change.
“Oh! This is a stove! The latest model that uses tone mag!”
Peering into the kitchen space installed in the water area, Saarya let out a cheer.
“They told me they’d stocked a lot of the newest things... Ah! Could that be a <Paraiso> refrigeration box!?”
What Linanel had spotted was the refrigeration box set in the corner.
It was a machine imported from <Paraiso>. The mechanism was unknown, but if you flipped the switch, it conveniently cooled the inside. Because it dramatically extended how long ingredients could be stored, it was spreading explosively among the upper class.
According to Amajio Silverhead, someone had gone and put in something outrageous—but since he never told the truth of what it actually was, it had gained acceptance as a useful tool.
Of course, there were people who tried to take it apart and steal the mechanism, but unfortunately, no one had succeeded in reproducing it.
“A refrigeration box?”
“A machine that cools the inside. You can drink cold beverages anytime!”
“Huh...”
In Saarya’s village, they had something like a cold room that used well water, so the idea didn’t really land for her. She’d only understand how valuable this refrigeration box was after she’d lived in this city for a while.
In the royal capital, Moar, fresh water was supplied—but the only water you could get was what had gone lukewarm in the outside air.
“...An ordinary room. Nothing particularly suspicious, but the security is worrying.”
That was Ixia’s impression after walking through the rooms.
“Huh? But there are locks.”
“With those locks, a little work is enough to open them. We should replace them with something solid.”
Ixia didn’t like the door locks.
Even so, what was installed now was a latest-model cylinder lock. If they wanted more than that, they’d either have to pay a steep ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) fee to have a one-of-a-kind lock made—or bring in one of the much-talked-about <Paraiso> products.
“The fact that it’s three women living together will spread quickly. Once that happens, we can’t assume scum won’t come sniffing around. We need to be careful.”
“Ixia, you really have your head on straight.”
“Common sense.”
“That isn’t... common sense, exactly. Ixia, where did you even grow up...?”
When it came to what counted as “common sense” in the Kingdom of Lepuitari’s royal capital, Moar, Linanel was the most knowledgeable of the three.
She had grown up in a famous orphanage in Moar.
There were several orphanages, but the one she came from was run by Duke Silverhead. What’s more, she was also a graduate of a training school funded by Duke Silverhead, so her identity was guaranteed, and her knowledge exceeded a certain baseline.
It was an orphanage, yes, but it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it an elite training institution.
“Well, it makes sense that you’d worry. All right—let’s talk to our handler about security. Depending on the connections Amajio has, we might be able to get something <Paraiso>-made.”
“Understood.”
Ixia nodded, then turned her gaze to Saarya, who was switching the stove on and off.
“Saarya. Don’t waste it. The fuel stone it uses is Category 3. The average sale price is 300 grams. It should last about a year, but it’s not something you use meaninglessly.”
“W-wha...! I-it’s that expensive?”
“Haha. Well, technically, that’s part of the room’s fixtures, so as long as you don’t use it in some weird way, they’ll probably replace it properly.”
For now, they’d confirmed the apartment’s facilities well enough.
“All right. Let’s go to the living room. Oh—since we’re here, should I brew some tea? Wait a bit.”
Saarya obviously couldn’t brew tea, and it felt cruel to leave her waiting alone. Ixia decided to wait with Saarya in the living room.
Per the plan, managing the day-to-day details of life was Linanel’s role. Saarya was a housemate, but more like a guest. If she was going to inherit the Headman position someday, that meant she’d be joining the ranks of the nobility.
On the other hand, Linanel would be treated as a commoner no matter what.
Of course, if she worked in government residences and managed to gain a position there, it was possible to obtain power on par with the nobility. But for now, she had no connections into the government residences, and the most natural path was joining some kind of commercial guild.
Still, if she completed this request from Amajio Silverhead successfully, a recommendation for bureaucratic service would no longer be just a dream.
That was why Linanel was so fired up.
Meanwhile, Saarya had the excellent credential of being the Headman’s daughter from a village in Duke Silverhead’s direct domain—but Ixia hadn’t been told that.
All Linanel had received was a message saying Ixia’s identity was guaranteed.
And she’d also been told that if she could build a good relationship—in other words, if they became close—then she could continue introducing Ixia to work as a colleague in the future.
If that happened, Linanel might be able to secure a ticket into the bureaucracy. Those were Duke Silverhead’s own words.
“I put the kettle on the stove, so it should boil soon. Sorry, but we only have one kind of tea leaf. And for sweets... right now, I only have things that keep, so cut me some slack.”
“I don’t mind, Linanel. By the way, what about shopping...?”
As she took the contents out from a box holding the full tea set on the floor, Linanel answered.
“Usually, vendors deliver. If you place the order, that is. Around here, it seems like that’s the standard way. Commoners have to go to places like the morning market themselves, though.”
They confirmed their schedule going forward, and after that, time passed with cooking dinner, making the beds, and so on—until their first day of life in the royal capital, Moar, came to an end.
