“I appreciate you coming on such short notice, Benno. Arno, clear the room.” The discussion was secretive enough that the High Priest cleared the room even of his attendants.
“Do you know why you’re here?”
“...To discuss Lady Rozemyne, I would think.”
“Word travels fast, I see. Who knows?”
There was no point in lying, so I decided to just tell the truth. Besides, the High Priest was the closest person to Rozemyne in the temple, and I didn’t want him distrusting me.
“Everyone who was there with me in the store when Myne’s family visited us—Mark, Lutz, and another leherl of mine, Leon. That should be everyone.” I informed him that Lutz and Otto had taken refuge in my home after the fight in the streets, and that Myne’s family had stopped by to get Lutz.
“That reminds me—Damuel did mention that Lutz had gotten wrapped up in this...” the High Priest murmured. He then began telling me about Rozemyne. She was the daughter of an archnoble who had been entrusted to the temple, and she had created the Rozemyne Workshop in order to save the orphanage. Her achievements were so great that the archduke elected to adopt her, and once she was baptized, she would take up the position of High Bishop.
“We can make the fact that she established a workshop before her baptism look less suspicious by embellishing her giving work and food to orphans. Benno, inform those who know of Myne and her workshop in as convincing of a manner as possible. Remember well that you can be purged at any time if deemed necessary.”
“Understood.” Gunther had told me the same thing, but the words carried a lot more weight when it was a noble like the High Priest saying it right to my face.
“I know that I am asking a lot of you, but the archduke is unfamiliar with lower city matters, and I do not wish for him to grow tired and simply begin to eliminate everyone who knew Rozemyne as a commoner one by one. That can still happen if we are not careful.”
I swallowed hard. It was simple for nobles to eliminate commoners who were inconveniencing them. The archduke protected his duchy, and there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that he’d pick a money-making revolutionary like Rozemyne over us. Controlling the spread of information about Myne and Rozemyne immediately shot up to be my absolute highest priority.
“Furthermore, have this. It is from the archduke.”
The High Priest handed me a directive from the archduke. It contained all the flowery prose of a noble, but among all that there were two broad instructions. The first was pretty much, “Hey pal, remember that plan for the printing business we discussed? Get going,” and second was, “I’m gonna come check out that eatery of yours once the Starbind Ceremony is over. Better finish up soon.”
...Can you imagine how terrified I was when the blue priest coming to tour the workshop turned out to be the archduke? At the time, I was more shocked than anything else, but now the thought just hurt my head. I was sure I had two years of leeway before the printing business took off, but now I had none. I could feel my head spinning, but now wasn’t the time to be reeling in shock; my life depended on carrying out these unreasonable orders.
“He said that he would be sending a merchant and a scholar-official to a nearby town’s orphanage. You will need to attend a meeting to discuss this ahead of time.”
“When will that be?”
A meeting with a scholar—in other words, a noble—wasn’t something I could trust to anyone else. I would need to keep my schedule absolutely open, and assuming that Mark would be coming with me, I needed to make sure the store was prepared to operate without us.
“I would imagine not immediately, since he will have to discuss matters with the scholar first.”
“May I ask that someone from the temple’s orphanage accompany us? Someone familiar with the orphanage both before and after the workshop was established would be ideal, if possible.” Nothing would get done if I was alone with the scholar; he would just view a merchant like me with contempt and suspicion, so having someone who both understood the temple orphanage and was close to Rozemyne, the future High Bishop and adopted daughter of the archduke, would make a big difference. I’d borrow as much authority as I could if doing so would keep myself and others protected.
“A fair suggestion. I will ask Rozemyne to send one of her attendants along with you.”
“It is much appreciated. And if I may, I would like to ask whether the archduke is, ahem, serious about this second matter.” Nobody would believe me if I said that the archduke was visiting a lower city eatery, not even if I showed them the directive.
The High Priest glared at the directive with a bitter frown, then gave a slow nod. “He said he would like to discuss your findings over a meal. His reasoning is that you would not be able to speak your mind in the audience chamber.”
...Hold on a second. So this isn’t just him dropping by for a meal—he’s telling me to give a full report on the other town’s orphanage and the printing business? Without holding anything back? No way.
“Erm, would I be right to think that this is him telling me to go on this inspection, compile my findings, and then report it to him at the Italian restaurant?”
“You would indeed.”
“And this is happening right after the Star Festival...?”
“...That would be correct.”
I swallowed the urge to shout “That’s impossible” and instead just rubbed my temples to ease my growing headache. The High Priest gave me the most sincere look of sympathy I had ever seen.
“You have no choice but to consider this a test of your abilities and endure,” he said, offering me barbed words of encouragement in a tone that sharply contrasted his
