A Non-combat Magic Artifact Researcher ー Actually Was an Extroadinary S-rank Mage～ Though He Worked

Ch. 66: Dinner with my Sister

As I entered the main mansion, the butler was coming over to speak with me.

He greeted Lotte with a polite bow first, and then spoke to me.

“Sir Werner, would you like to bathe first? Or would you prefer dinner?” Werner: “I will have dinner eventually, but I have some business with my sister. Is she available?”

“The Rome Viscountーー”

But before the butler could finish what he was sayingーー

Bridget: “Werner, did you spend another 3 straight days in that lab of yours again?”

My sister appeared from down the room behind the butler.

Werner: “I’m sorry, sister. I had something urgent I had to complete. That’s whyーー”

Bridget: “We can have this discussion during dinner.” Werner: “Okay, I understand.”

And with Hati and Lotte, we head to the dining room.

The food they prepared looked very expensive.

Hati: “It’s so good! It’s so good!”

And Hati was enjoying herself as usual.

Seeing someone enjoy the food so much made the meal so much better.

Bridget: “So Werner, about that thing you wanted to talk about.”

Werner: “Yeah, I made a new Magecraft Artifact.”

And passing the Artifact to the butler, the butler took the Artifact to my sister.

Bridget: “There are two this time.”

Werner: “The two make one complete Artifact.”

I explained to my sister the effects of the Artifact and how to use it.

Bridget: “That is impressive.”

Werner: “You can use it to communicate inside or outside of the barrier, so I want you to carry one.”

Bridget: “Okay, thank you.”

Werner: “I thought we should send one to father.”

Bridget: “That would be good. I’ll send it to him.”

Werner: “Thank you. I also wanted to present this to the Emperor and his Imperial Highness.”

Bridget: “Yes, that sounds good.”

Werner: “Sister, could you present the gifts to them the next time you are in the palace.”

Bridget: “Okay, I will.” I handed over 4 complete sets of the artifact to my sister.

I know I have nothing to worry about since she’s taking care of the other 3.

Now, my business about the Artifacts is complete with this.

I decided to ask her something else that was bothering me.

Werner: “Sister, what about the people who attacked you? Did they find out more about the perpetrators?” Bridget: “We’re almost certain that it’s the Knights of Lumen.” Werner: “Are the Royal Magecraft Knights on the move?” Bridget: “Of course. But they found all the bases of the Knights of Lumen empty.”

Werner: “........so they got away….”

I wondered if they somehow caught wind of our investigation. Maybe there’s a mole? Recognizing the thoughts that were crossing my mind, my sister smiled kindly as she spoke.

Bridget: “I don’t think the information was leaked. After my assassination failed, they probably moved their bases right afterwards.”

Werner: “Well, I guess that relocating your base after a failed assassination makes sense.”

Not only did they fail to kill my sister, but the attacker also was wounded.

Since they left a trail of blood, they immediately got rid of their base of operation and went on the run. That was to be expected.

Werner: “What about the Gerald Merchant Group?” Bridget: “It was wiped out.”

Werner: “Wiped out? You mean, they completely crushed it?” Bridget: “The Royal Magecraft Knights coordinated with the local authorities, and they attacked both the main headquarters of the Gerald Group and their branch stores at the same time.”

Werner: “OーOh? That seems a little extreme.”

Bridget: “I’m sure that his Imperial Highness was upset about this incident involving both you and I getting attacked.”

Werner: “Did they find any evidence?” Bridget: “They began unraveling a connection starting from the former Academy President and Head of Research’s involvement with the group.”

Werner: “I see….” Bridget: “The President of the group was arrested with his family at his residence, and all the other executives were arrested as well.”

Werner: “Did no one try to escape?” Bridget: “There were some who tried to escape arrest, but they were killed.”

Hearing the news, I can’t help but feel his Imperial Highness’ anger at how things unfolded.

Bridget: “Unlike the former Academy President, the President of the Gerald Group’s memory wasn’t altered or erased, so they were able to extract a great deal of information from him.”

Werner: “About the Knights of Lumen’s bases or the involvement of the Galatea Empire?” Bridget: “Of course. All of the base of operations for the Knights of Lumen that Gerald knew of were all crushed. We have also been able to arrest many spies from the Galatea Empire.”

Werner: “Then that was a great success.”

Bridget: “Indeed. That’s why his Imperial Highness has been working non-stop with barely any sleep recently.”

Werner: “Well, I hope things will settle down after this.”

Bridget: “Yes, I hope so too.”

And my sister glanced at Lotte.

Bridget: “I’m sure this has set back the Galatea Empire’s plans to invade the Lamette Kingdom.”

Lotte: “Yes. If that is the case, I’m truly grateful.”

And Lotte smiled warmly at my sister as she spoke.

After dinner, my sister escorted Lotte back to the royal palace.

Hati: “My Lord’s elder sister is very busy indeed.”

Werner: “I’m sure she has her hands full with how to handle the Galatea Empire and the Knights of Lumen.”

I’m sure she’ll make sure that Lotte arrives safely at the palace and to deliver the Artifacts to the Imperial Family just fine.

Werner: “........now then, Hati.” Hati: “What is it?” Werner: “Let’s go take a bath.” Hati: “Hati will come too!”

And we headed for the bath area.

Some of the servants came along and offered to help clean my body, but I refused.

Hati and I both scrubbed ourselves clean before entering the bath area.

Hati: “The hot water feels so good～”

Werner: “Yes it does. By the way, Hatiーー”

Hati: “Hmm? What is the matter, my Lord?” Werner: “Do you remember the time when you undressed Lotte and placed her inside my bed with me?” Hati: “I do indeed!”

Werner: “You should not do that.”

Hati: “Why not?” Werner: “We had a similar discussion before, but unlike Dragons, who prefer to not wear clothes, human beings prefer to wear clothes normally.”

Hati: “Hati knows that.” Werner: “And human beings get embarrassed when they are without clothes. This is for both men and women.”

Hati: “Is that so? Hati will be more careful from now on.”

Werner: “That’s why I don’t want you to undress Lotte while she’s sleeping, and especially not put her in my bed without clothes from now on.”

Hati: “Hati understands!”

Looks like Hati learned another cultural habit of the human race.

<<<<>>>>

CHONKY TL LiT (Lost in Translation)

Japanese Bath Culture (sentou) (銭湯) ; (ofuro) (お風呂). As far as I know, it is a common practice of courtesy to completely clean your head and body before entering a bath. This is because bath water is precious and shared and draining the water in a bath tub after a single member bathes is considered a waste of water resources.

In a public bath, you will find a seat with a faucet and shower head (facilities shown on the bottom right corner of the photo). You use the faucet to fill the plastic tub to clean your wash cloth and rinse your body (try not to rely on just the shower to conserve water), and the shower head is for a quick hair rinsing. Once you are fully scrubbed and rinsed, you can enjoy the large bath facility at a sentou (public bath).

You will find the same amenities in most traditional Japanese houses. As an American, I find the Japanese bath to be...different. For one, heating in Japanese baths is electronically controlled (think of a thermostat for your bath tub water temperature control). This presents several problems for Americans like me. (1) I don't know what all the buttons do (even if I can read the words). (2) I don't know what Celsius means or what temperature bath water should be. Although it might be hilarious if you accidentally cook yourself from mistaking Fahrenheit with Celsius (comfortable bath water in Fahrenheit is slightly above body temperature - 100 degrees to 105 degrees F, whereas water boils at 100 degrees C so it should be set anywhere from 39 - 42 C), I'm sure that there is a maximum safe value set. The worst you can do forget to turn it on or forget to set the temperature, and you dive into freezing cold water (also a no-no because water floods out of the tub, and water is wasted).

In case you want to keep the bath water (because it's clean) for another day, you have boards or a cover to keep the water from evaporating after you are done. If you ask me wtf is that wooden handle on the window sill in the photo below, I would say it's what you use to bruise the peeping toms through the window, but I honestly don't know. Brownie points for anyone who makes a correct educated guess.

Oh, and if you're 6+ feet tall (180+ cm), good luck fitting in there. Also, you get to go last because by the time you're done, there won't be enough water left in the tub.