House Ark Gate Dinner Party

I headed down the stairs with Emma-san toward the first floor of the manor.

“Thank you very much. Ojou-sama rarely opens her heart to others, and she won’t allow any of the servants into her room. But she seems to have opened up to you, Danna-sama, so you really helped us.”

“I see… I’m not really sure why she feels that way about me either…”

All I had done for Yuti-san was help her carry some books.

I didn’t think I had done anything particularly special.

I was still feeling a little puzzled as we reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Nova-oniisama!”

When I turned toward the familiar voice, Aurora-chan was running toward me from the hallway ahead.

Grace-san was behind her as well.

Aurora-chan ran straight up to me and smiled happily.

“Sorry I kept you waiting. I finally finished!”

“I see. Good work, Aurora-chan.”

“Ojou-sama, you mustn’t run in the hallway.”

Aurora-chan casually replied, “Okaaay,” to Grace-san’s warning after she caught up with her.

Perhaps she was quite a handful, because Grace-san let out an exasperated sigh.

“Ah, that reminds me, Danna-sama. The sun has already set, so if you would like, why not have dinner with us tonight? House Ark Gate will serve you its finest cuisine.”

“Grace, that’s a great idea!”

At Grace-san’s words, I glanced out the window and saw that, naturally enough, it was already completely dark.

It was getting late, I had worked up an appetite from training, and Aurora-chan looked delighted by the idea.

I was about to accept when the face of my personal maid crossed my mind.

“Ah… I don’t mind, but I need to let the people at my manor know.”

Despite how she might seem, Tanya was, thankfully, an extremely loyal maid.

If she didn’t hear from me, she would surely wait for me no matter how late it got.

When I said that, Aurora-chan energetically raised her hand.

“Then I’ll send Tanya-san a letter from my end. I gave her some stationery the last time I visited your manor, Nova-oniisama.”

“You did? Then could I ask you to do that?”

“Of course! I’ll just run up to my room for a moment!”

Aurora-chan bounded lightly up the stairs with the energy of a child.

Watching her go, I turned toward Emma-san.

“Should we invite Yuti-san too? I’m sure it would be more fun if she joined us.”

“What a wonderful idea!”

Emma-san clasped her hands together and nodded as though deeply moved.

Out of the corner of my eye, I also saw Grace-san smiling.

“Then shall we go to Yuti-san’s room? Judging from earlier, she probably won’t notice unless we call out to her a few times.”

“Yes! Let’s go!”

We climbed the stairs we had only just come down and headed back to Yuti-san’s room once more.

Several dozen minutes later, I had finished eating dinner in the House Ark Gate dining room.

Aurora-chan, Yuti-san, and Grace-san were there with me.

When we went to invite Yuti-san, she noticed us right away this time and happily agreed to join us for dinner.

Emma-san had been moved to tears beside us, though I thought that might have been a little excessive.

“So, Nova-oniisama? I’m sure it’s a little different from southern cuisine, but Norzampshon food was delicious, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it was so good that I was honestly surprised. I’m grateful to whoever cooked it.”

“I’ll pass that along. I’m sure the chef will be pleased.”

Grace-san, elegant as ever, said that before taking a sip of her after-dinner tea.

After one sip, she set the cup back on its saucer and began, “By the way.”

“Danna-sama, I heard that you can use the family head’s magic?”

“Um…”

For a moment, I wondered who had told her, but I quickly realized it was probably Aurora-chan.

“It’s not exactly that I can use it… How should I put it? It feels more like it strengthens me.”

“Strengthens you?”

“Yes. It’s like power starts overflowing from deep inside my body.”

“Hmm…”

Grace-san brought a fist to her chin and pondered my explanation.

“So rather than casting the spell itself, it enhances your physical abilities. Does that happen with every kind of magic?”

“We tested it with several spells Shia can use, so probably.”

Back at my manor, under the pretense of an experiment, I had Shia lightly cast various spells on me, and every one of them caused the same surge of power.

The manifestations differed—fire magic made my body feel a little hotter, while lightning magic caused currents to run over the surface of my skin—but Shia had concluded that none of those differences actually changed the overall effect.

“So it has nothing to do with the element, and you still can’t use it as actual magic.”

“But Nova-oniisama can receive mana from Onee-sama, so it definitely is Onee-sama’s magic.”

“This is only speculation, but perhaps what Nova-san can use is mana rather than magic itself.”

Yuti-san, who had quietly listened to our conversation until then, offered her own theory.

She took a sip of what appeared to be fruit wine and began speaking calmly.

“As you know, magic is born from mana. Nova-san cannot use magic, but perhaps he can manipulate mana better than anyone else. Ah, no, I mean specifically the family head’s mana.”

“…I see.”

Grace-san nodded in understanding.

“So that is how it works. If Danna-sama truly could use the family head’s magic, then I, Grace, would have devoted everything I had to teaching you the very essence of magic.”

“Lucky you, Nova-oniisama. You escaped lessons from Grace the demon teacher.”

“Aurora-ojou-sama?”

Aurora-chan, struck by Grace-san’s absolute-zero glare, hurriedly looked away and brought her after-dinner cocoa to her lips.

Since I was sitting beside her, I could tell she was only pretending to drink it. Quite the actress.

“Still, I would’ve liked to try using magic. It seems useful for all kinds of things.”

I had experienced firsthand how magic could be applied in many different ways, such as keeping this manor warm or creating Gates, unlike Haki.

That was why magic interested me.

“If they can reproduce Gate magic with a device, couldn’t you use other kinds of magic too?”

“? What do you mean?”

Yuti-san tilted her head at Aurora-chan’s words across from me.

Come to think of it, I realized I had never told her.

“Today, Shia, Aurora-chan, and I went to the research institute in the Royal Capital. There, Nata—… Natasha-san agreed to make a device that can activate Gate magic. There’s already a device that can store Shia’s mana, so apparently all they need to do is have another device substitute for the method of using Gate magic itself.”

“…………”

“Yuti-san?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. But in that case, while using a few spells may be possible, using a large number of them could be difficult. You would presumably need one device for each spell, so even carrying them all around would become troublesome.”

“Ah, I see.”

Yuti-san was right.

I would also need to carry the glass-tube device used to draw on Shia’s mana.

I would end up hauling around a mountain of equipment just to use magic, and it would also be a lot of work for Nata-san, who had to build the devices.

“I’m sure the family head understands that as well, so she’ll probably give you devices for spells that are easy to use. Even with only those, though, I think you’ll come to understand how fascinating magic can be.”

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”

When my conversation with Yuti-san reached a natural stopping point, Aurora-chan broke into a grin.

“But, but… I kind of like that Nova-oniisama is the only one who can do it. It’s sort of like… you two are destined for each other…”

“That’s a little embarrassing.”

Perhaps Aurora-chan was at just the age when such things fascinated her, because she often talked about Shia and me this way.

Still, it felt like she was sincerely happy for us, so I didn’t mind at all.

“Come to think of it—”

I suddenly remembered Tiara and almost mentioned her, but immediately recalled my promise to Aurora-chan and stopped myself.

Since my sentence had trailed off, I searched for another topic and settled on what had happened in the courtyard at dusk.

“Come to think of it… I met Laplace-san.”

For a moment, I wondered whether I should mention her either, but saying her name did not cause the atmosphere around the table to freeze.

“Ah, I see. Did she say anything?”

“Um… about Aurora-chan and Yuti-san… a little…”

“…I’m sure she has a lot on her mind as well.”

The mood had not frozen, but Yuti-san murmured those words with a somewhat lonely expression.

“Laplace-san has served as an aide to generations of family heads. But the current head is Onee-sama, right? There’s no way Onee-sama needs an aide, so apparently Laplace-san has more free time than she knows what to do with.”

“…I see.”

From everything I had seen so far, I already knew Shia was capable not only as a mage but also as the head of her family.

But that competence had apparently left people like Laplace-san without much to do.

“Ah, but I talk to her sometimes, and Laplace-san really is a good person. She tells me all sorts of things about magic, and we chat about everyday things too.”

“She definitely seemed like someone who knew a lot. Kind of like Yuti-san—she looked really smart.”

“…Thank you.”

When I honestly told her what I thought, Yuti-san abruptly turned her face away.

In truth, Grace-san gave me the impression of a warrior, while Laplace-san felt more like a strategist.

Remembering what happened after I met Laplace-san, I decided to mention that too.

“Come to think of it, I went to the training grounds afterward, and on the way there I met a woman with short black hair. She didn’t seem like an ordinary person…”

“Was she dressed differently from the maids?”

“Huh? Yes.”

I was a little taken aback when Yuti-san suddenly looked at me with a serious expression, but I answered honestly.

“Then that must have been Sisti. She is my cousin.”

“Your cousin?”

Then that meant she was related to Tiara too?

“Sisti Ark Gate.”

That was what I had been thinking, but Aurora-chan, sitting beside me, spoke first.

This time, she actually took a proper sip of her cocoa before setting it down.

“Her mother is Nocturne Ark Gate, and she’s someone Yuti-oneesama really admires.”

“That’s right. Sensei taught me many things. She is someone I deeply respect.”

“Nocturne…”

Apparently, there were other relatives besides Tiara.

Judging by Aurora-chan’s reaction, there did not seem to be any particularly serious conflict with this woman named Nocturne.

Yuti-san had even said she respected her.

“Sisti-san serves as Yuti-oneesama’s aide. So she probably came to report to Yuti-oneesama. She usually isn’t at the manor very often.”

“That’s right. I received her report at around that time. She is extremely capable and helps me greatly with my work.”

“I see.”

Still, having an aide help her with her work made Yuti-san seem almost like the head of a noble house herself.

And considering how many books and how much work she handled on top of that, it reminded me once again just how remarkable Yuti-san really was.

Though I wished she would take better care of her health.

“By the way, Nova-san, you’re going to have Aura help you return to your manor with Gate magic after this, correct? May I watch?”

“Yes, of course.”

There was no reason to refuse, so I agreed, and Aurora-chan suddenly spoke up.

“Hmm, but if that’s the case, why don’t you just stay the night?”

“Ojou-sama, we don’t have a room prepared. Well, technically we do have rooms, but they require preparation before anyone can stay in them.”

“Oh, then he can stay in my room.”

At the sudden bombshell she dropped, Yuti-san, Grace-san, and I all froze as though time itself had stopped.

I had no idea how I was supposed to respond.

“…Ojou-sama, surely that joke goes too far.”

“Shall I report this to the family head?”

“Wait! I was kidding! Kidding! It was just a joke!”

Once Shia was brought into it, even Aurora-chan hurriedly insisted that she had only been joking.

The sight was so funny that I burst out laughing.

“Hahaha! Aurora-chan, you might get lonely, but I’ll come visit again.”

“Don’t tell Onee-sama, okay? Ah, b-but it’s true that I want to spend more time with you, Nova-oniisama! It’s just… Onee-sama is kind of different, or…”

“I know… And when it comes to not telling Shia things, I’ve been keeping my promise properly, haven’t I?”

When I hinted at the matter involving Tiara, Aurora-chan blinked a few times.

But Aurora-chan was clever.

She quickly realized what I meant and nodded with a smile.