The banquet had ended quietly before it got late at night.
There was no one in the village who would get drunk enough to not be able walk. And so all of them walked back to their houses.
And naturally, golems, holding light, were dispatched to all the important points of the village.
Lishia and Pascaud were invited into guest rooms on the second floor by Jin himself.
“Uwah, so this is how they do it in your country, huh, Mr. Jin?”
Lishia was impressed by the tatamis.
“Mmm! They have this nice smell!”
It seemed like Lishia also liked the soft rush smell.
On the other hand, Pascaud was guided into a room with wooden floor and a bed so he didn’t particularly feel anything but he was surprised by the magi, silk futon.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Everyone, good work.”
After finally settling down a bit, Jin said to Elsa and Mine, who helped around a lot.
“No, I didn’t help much.”
“Mr. Jin, I am hired to do this, so it’s fine.”
Elsa and Mine said while shaking their head.
On the other hand, Hanna was sleeping peacefully.
“Jin, it would be sad to wake her up like this so could you let her stay here for the night?”
Martha said. Jin also accepted and told Ruby 101 to lay out futons for two people in his room on the 5th floor.
“Understood.”
Ruby 101 answered and went to lay out the futons.
“Ah, right, Belle.”
Jin called to stop Belle as she was returning after cleaning up.
“You two should also stay here from now on.”
Till now, it kind of felt like they were renting a room at Jin’s house which was weird so Jin made rooms for both of them here.
“The rooms are on the second floor. There’s a room for both of you.”
“…Eh? We get a whole room?”
Being considerate of Hanna as she was sleeping, Belle asked in a low, surprised voice.
“Yeah. Ask Butler B about it. Butler B, I leave it to you.”
“Understood.”
“Ah, Barou just came back too.”
And like this, Belle and Barou were lead to the second floor by Butler B.
“……”
Amongst all that, Jin noticed that Elsa was looking like she had something to say.
“Hmm? Elsa, what happened?”
“…Jin-nii, I want to try staying here once too.”
Elsa loved the combination of futon on a tatami mat. As Jin knew that, he smiled and nodded.
“Yea, that’s fine. Then I will prepare a Japanese-style room for you.”
“No, I will be fine with Hanna.”
“With Hanna… that would be my room, though.”
“Ah.”
Realizing that, Elsa’s cheeks turned red.
“Got it. I will prepare the living room on the 5th floor for Hanna and you.”
“Thanks.”
Having her wish granted, Elsa happily went to tell her mother that she was staying the night.
“Mother, I will be staying here for the night.”
“Yes, yes, alright… Then Jin, I leave them to you.”
After a simple conversation, Mine also said OK. That’s probably how much she trusts Jin.
“Then let’s go.”
“Mm.”
Jin made Reiko carry Hanna and started climbing the stairs with Elsa.
There are quite a lot of stairs till the 5th floor but Elsa wasn’t tired. On the other hand, Jin got a bit tired.
(It was right of them to install a hidden elevator……)
Although he can’t use it out in public but still Jin had thanked Laojun in his head for installing the emergency elevator inside the center pillar.
“Master Jin. Ms. Elsa will be staying as well?”
Ruby 101 had just finished laying out the futons.
“Sorry about this. Elsa will be staying as well so lay out 2 futons in the living room and 1 in mine.”
“Yes, understood.”
He grabbed both ends of the laid out futon and carried it to the living room.
Reiko gently put Hanna on it. And then Ruby 101 started laying out one more for Elsa.
“Good job. You can go and standby for the day.”
“Yes, good night.”
Ruby 101 replied and went down the stairs.
“Butler C, you can also standby downstairs today. Reiko is here today, after all.”
“Yes.”
“Well then, Elsa, look after Hanna, alright? The washroom is on the north side.”
“Mm. Got it.”
“Reiko, take care of them.”
“Yes, father.”
Although Hanna won’t probably be wetting her bed anymore but it might be troublesome if they didn’t know where the washroom was and started going down the stairs, so Jin informed her.
Jin was worried as they also drank a lot of juice.
The living room and Jin’s room was separated by a sliding door, completely Japanese-style.
“…Ah, right, Elsa. Can you come up with me awhile before sleeping?”
“?”
Jin called Elsa and went upstairs to the 6th floor.
After climbing a narrow staircase, they had reached the 6th floor, in other words, the top most floor of the Nidou Castle. It was a square room with 10 meter sides and had a fat round pillar in the middle.
But more importantly, on all four sides, windows were set up from top to bottom, making it kind of a terrace.
“Waah.”
It was completely dark outside, making the starry sky visible. Looking down, they could see lights at places around the village.
“It would be a great view when it’s bright.”
“Yeah. Try coming here in the morning, as well.”
Jin stopped talking there for awhile. And silence continued.
“……”
And then Jin started talking again.
“……I met with the Empress.”
“!”
Elsa’s shoulder shook a bit in surprise. Jin continued.
“She talked to me really kindly. She even showed me around the documents room by herself.”
“……I see.”
Elsa answered shortly while staring at the starry sky.
“……Do you want to go back?’
And then, Jin asked something which he thought he must ask.
“……Eh?”
Hearing that, Elsa looked at Jin. And Jin looked like he was smiling but seemed sad at the same time.
“…I also met with Ms. Belche, you know. Seemed like she gets along really well with Reinhart.”
“………”
Elsa stayed silent while looking down, like she was thinking about something.
“This is a really nice place……… Everyone’s so kind. I am also with my mother.”
After a bit of silence, Elsa started talking bit by bit.
“…But I was raised in Shouro empire…Our actual house is there as well…”
Again, looking at the sky, Elsa spoke slowly, as if she was telling herself.
“My house. My room. I can’t say I don’t feel homesick.”
Then Elsa looked at Jin again. Her eyes were holding back tears.
“Although I don’t get along well with father…… I even had a few friends…… If I said I never felt like going back it would…… be a lie.”
As Elsa stopped after saying that, Jin just gently stroked her head.
“……Jin, nii?”
Having her head patted by Jin, Elsa’s cheeks reddened a bit as she looked surprised at Jin.
“Ah, sorry, unconsciously.”
Jin apologized and continued,
“I will make it so that you can surely go back one day, with your head held high.”
“……Hmmm.”