「Did you enjoy your train trip?」
When they entered the office, Mira headed straight to the couch and let her body sink in it, while Solomon slowly sat on his chair while asking with a lively voice.
「Yes. The scenery looked almost still, but with time it would slowly change and it looked amazing. The people I would meet randomly also were all lively and I could tell they were living through the same moments as me. Traveling is truly an incredible thing.」
As Mira recalled the different moments, she related them straight away. If she considered traveling time alone, flying in a straight line with Pegasus was the fastest option, but going by train had much more charm to it. That was another of the reasons why she felt it was much more different from traveling at full speed between the floating islands she used before.
「I see, I see. That’s good, as long as you fully enjoyed it.」
Remembering how bewildered she was at the sudden changes of being away for thirty years, Solomon felt happy seeing that she was now enjoying the world he had been living in for so many years, though there was a slight hint of loneliness in his voice as well.
「But that aside, were you able to check out the thing we spoke about?」
Because of that, he wanted to protect his home even more. That was Solomon’s most important goal, and for it, he would let even his best friend work hard. In exchange for that, he was ready to give her anything she might ever need.
「Yes, I found it. Though it was quite different from how I imagined it.」
And understanding all that, Mira occupied herself with it all the more.
Mira stood up from the couch and took out the leather bag with the archaic wood shavings she had gathered during her mission, placing the bag in a small spot empty from documents on the desk.
After peeking into it, Solomon took out a pinch of the woodshavings, which while covered in moss, still had a lot of fresh contrast in the grain.
「I see. They certainly look different from how I imagined them. I would believe it if I was told they were cut just moments ago. But I guess that’s the sacred tree for you.」
「Do you think they’ll be useful?」
「Probably. My scientists are good at what they do.」
Solomon returned the shavings into the bag and closed it. Then replied to Mira with a boastful look as he pictured the talented people working under him.
Either way, Mira had fully accomplished the mission he had entrusted to her, so the rest would be handled by other people.
「Oh right, that reminds me. Since I went all the way to Alis I decided to buy a few gifts before returning.」
「Oh, did you now? Show me, I want to see what you got me.」
With the short mission report done, the two quickly returned to their friendly chatter. There was not enough space for more items on the desk, so Mira lined up the things she bought on the table in front of the couch. Solomon stood up allured by them and gazed at the table with deep interest.
「Pure-white peaches, huh. That’s their staple product after all. But you also bought a lot of other stuff.」
There were pure-white cookies and jam, candy, juice, steamed buns, tarts, and many preserved foods in sugar.
But they were not all edible products. Mira took one of those and gave it to Solomon.
「This one’s for you.」
「Hehh. So they even sell these as souvenirs. Thank you, I’ll take good care of it.」
His gift was a bonsai of the holy trees, Grimwoods, that grew in Alispharius. Solomon took the pot and placed it on the table, rotating it and looking at it from all sides, seeing how the branches grew.
「There were a lot there, but there were only two which caught my eye.」
As she said that, she held another bonsai in her hands. She ceremoniously placed it on the table and looked at it just like Solomon did with his. Then the two continued talking about bonsais.
It was said that each flowerpot built its own little world. The two friends held a deep interest in that, and from time to time they bonded over that. Spending time like that, unaware of the flow of time around him, made him remember with nostalgia the long gone past.
Eventually the happenings from half a year ago made their way into the conversation and bonsais fell out of the topic. Then Mira piled up a bunch of the gifts she bought.
「Could you give all of these sweets to the people who worked to make my clothes?」
「I see, I was starting to wonder what you’d do with so many of them, but that’s what they were for. I wouldn’t mind, but I think they’d be happier if you delivered them personally.」
「Hmmm, is that so…」
「If you go to the maids’ chambers, you can probably round up all the people involved with your clothes one after another.」
「…The way you said that bothers me a bit, but well, that makes sense. I’ll give it to them personally.」
The maids’ chambers, a forbidden garden only women could enter. Mira had started to get used to the…privileges of her body, and when she heard Solomon’s suggestion she began feeling like going there herself.
「But ah, I was also involved so I can take one, right?」
Before he had finished his sentence, Solomon had already taken one of the boxes, opened it and stuffed his cheeks with a pure-white peach bun. After all, almost all the expenses for the materials used in Mira’s clothes had come from Solomon and Luminaria’s pockets.
「Talking about gifts from other lands, there was another story I wanted to tell you.」
「Another story? Outside of your mission?」
「Pretty much yes.」
After speaking with Solomon about her travels, she recalled one encounter she had. Mira took one bun and sat on the couch again.
「I met a fan of yours in one of the inns I stayed at.」
「A fan? Now that’s flattering. Was it a girl?」
「Yes, and quite the well equipped one at that.」
「Well equipped, huh. Oh the hardships of being a popular man!」
Mira reminisced of those overwhelming and fascinating lumps of meat that filled her vision, which tied in with the mental image Solomon formed from her words. Their thoughts were consumed by that symbol of motherhood no men would ever resist.
It did not matter whether they were large or small, there was a meaning to them all. That was the philosophy of the two of them, both could fulfill their dreams regardless of size. Though they did clash with Luminaria plenty of times when it came to that topic.
「I think she said her name was Aselia. She said her yearning for you drove her to becoming a holy knight.」
「Hehh, now that’s an honor.」
Solomon spoke happily, seating on the couch with Mira as he extended his arm to the box with buns.
「But there was a slight problem. She kept imitating your current style, it did not look all that holy knight-esque to me.」
「My current style…you said. Now that’s a problem alright. I’m not really one to talk, but I’m definitely not a good sample of a holy knight.」
「I think the same. I tried telling her some stories of your beginnings, but she seemed to like you to quite an extent. She was really lively as she said she would start over by learning how to use her shield properly.」
「I see, I see, but really, thank you. To think a moment would come to my life where I attract women, not too shabby if I say so myself.」
After that they both continued eating their buns.
They were the perfect size to stuff one in a mouth, and they had a nice springy texture. The pure-white peach inside was sweet and seemed to melt in their mouths, which combined perfectly with the bean jam’s taste and texture. One could go on eating one after another without noticing.
As they continued chatting while eating those buns, they heard a knock on the office doors.
「Enter.」
Washing down the buns with pure-white peach juice, Solomon said once he could speak.
The ones behind the door were Suleyman and Luminaria, who finished the interrogation.
「That was quick. And so, what happened?」
「Their reactions were quite tame. The two underlings also didn’t seem to have a strong sense of duty, as they spilled literally everything related to the attack on Mira.」
