The moment Louis closed the door, his smile vanished, and he looked down at Eleanor.
"You waved at one of the mages earlier, didn't you. Try not to do anything unnecessary."
"What?"
The instant they arrived in the private room, this.
"The mages and mages here spend their days buried in research, and some of them hunger for romance. Please don't go around being overly friendly."
"But what am I supposed to do? Ignoring someone after our eyes meet would be rude."
It had been several days since Eleanor has been to the Chief's office, but it was still spotless.
The fine mahogany desk faced the large window, and what looked like paperwork was neatly gathered into a bundle. Not a speck of dust on the bookshelves either. She'd considered giving it a clean if it had been messy, but her concern had been needless.
"What are you going to do if they get the wrong idea about you?"
With that overprotective remark at her back, she drifted towards the window. She scanned the whole room, but the only work she could find for herself was to say "The air's a bit stale in here" and open the window to let fresh air in.
Gentle air flowed in, causing her hair to sway ever so slightly.
"Things like that have happened a few times before, and I've even chatted with some of them, but nobody's confessed to me or anything. It's like they're watching a stray cat from a distance and feeling warm about it. Besides, aren't you the one scattering charms around yourself? Am I really not allowed to be friendly?"
"The reason I carry myself 'this way' is because a scowl from the top doesn't give a good impression. You don't need to carry yourself the way I do."
"But a smile is the key to a smooth relationship."
"Do you have any idea how much I..... No, please pretend you didn't hear that."
Since Louis said nothing more, she sat down on the sofa without waiting to be offered it. The leather was soft and plush, and she liked it quite a bit.
"Mother is so proud that the little boy has reached such a high position. One of the perks of the job. I'd love to take this sofa home."
"Who are you calling Mother."
"Housekeeper, then."
"Either is fine. And there isn't space at home for that sofa."
She'd stretched both arms out to measure the width of the sofa, and earned herself the kind of exasperated look one reserves for a rotten apple. Louis's cold stare, a look reserved exclusively for Eleanor, grows more refined by the day.
Even so, getting used to it was only natural. As someone who lived under the same roof as him, she'd built up a fair tolerance too, and unless he was genuinely angry, she'd decided not to take it seriously either.
In the end, it was just harmless bantering for the two of them.
"Hurry up and eat. I'm taking the lunchbox back with me."
"Okay."
Louis sat down beside Eleanor.
As she watched him begin to unwrap the parcel on the table, she lay back using the armrest as a pillow.
The lunchbox is made out of wood. There's no plastic or resin, and in a world without the technology to process such materials, this is the best one can do. And since cafeteria use is the norm in this world, if you told someone you were carrying a lunch around with you, their reaction would be something like, "A picnic, perhaps?"
In Lumina's case, the moment she learned about packed lunches:
"The school cafeteria? Pay money for that pointlessly expensive menu? When I can enjoy Eleanor's cooking is right there? Shall we have the fifth sibling fight, then?"
...she had declared herself a packed-lunch advocate with a straight face.
Even now, she sits in the school cafeteria eating her fried chicken bento while surrounded by many friends.
"Oh, could I have a few strands of your hair again?"
"Again? You only just replaced your wand not that long ago. Are you making a potion or something?"
"I always need Rank A fairy materials. Even merchants struggle to get hold of them, and they're expensive, too."
The hair of a female fairy is used as a material in mages' wands, magic potions, and the like. It can amplify the power of spells, or harmonise between temperamental materials; a highly versatile ingredient. It's also used as a substitute for the thread in fouchi, a detection technique that uses a pendulum, or powdered and taken as-is; the higher the fairy's rank, however, the stronger its effect. [1]
"I'm almost tempted to start charging you for this."
"That would be a breach of contract."
"Come to think of it, it would... it would."
Mages, and mages especially, are creatures who keep their word. Even a simple verbal promise is no exception.
The more upstanding the practitioner, the stronger the attachment. It may be a trait stemming from the fact that a mage is someone capable of binding another's fate through contracts and conditions.
Eleanor sat up and turned her back to Louis. A signal meaning "take from wherever you like."
There were a few conditions attached to Eleanor becoming Louis's pet. One of them was providing him with the materials for experiments. Others included: blending in among humans, keeping an eye on Lumina's health, and so on. She had agreed to and compromised on various conditions, but in exchange she received the world's finest mana, which made it a bargain.
It'd be easier if he just plucked one out in a quick snap, but for some reason he never did.
Louis hooked Eleanor's hair on his fingers as though savouring the feel of it, gave it a light tug to tease her.
Even though she'd known him since he was a child, the person behind her was of the opposite sex. Height, shoulder width, everything about him was different from the "young Louis" Eleanor had looked after.
She understood that he was likely just touching her for observation's sake, or something like that without any meaning behind it. But as the one on the receiving end, Eleanor felt embarrassed and restless. She couldn't really look over her shoulder, so she couldn't tell what expression he was wearing.
"Come on, just do it in one go."
"... I suppose so."
The regret in his voice as he replied was probably just her imagination.
"Are you coming home today?"
"Yes."
"It's hard work, isn't it."
"Not really."
Monster activity has been picking up lately. The town is still peaceful, and the damage done by monsters feels like a problem that was happening far away, but there had been casualties. Up to now only adventurers had been among the dead and wounded, but there was no guarantee things would stay that way. This sense of tension had only spread among the upper echelons of the nation and those close to them.
"I'd like a light-element spell, the kind monsters are weak against, with more power than what I have now. But it's proving tricky. Light is the one element I'm bad at, so do you have any hints or anything?"
"For starters, try taking about ten more strands of my hair? Ah, plucking hurts, so use scissors or something. I'm fairly sure some of the light-element enhancement items used fairy parts."
"Such as?"
"I don't quite remember. For now, try mixing in everything from Laurel Droplets to Moonlight Crystals? My hair should pair well with them."
"I've already tried Laurel Droplets, actually. They didn't quite work... but well this is my job, so I'll just have to keep at it."
"Yeah, good luck."
--- A small chuckle.
Louis laughs softly. Eleanor turned around.
"What?"
"Nothing. I was just thinking you always talk about these things as if they had nothing to do with you."
"They're about human society, so for the most part they don't have anything to do with me."
"That detachment of yours is entertaining."
Weird, she thought.
But when he chuckled softly and gently like that, her heart would start to flutter. Unsettling. But since she didn't dislike this time with him either, Eleanor decided to stay silent.
Louis picked up the scissors and gathered a lock of her hair.
In the peaceful early afternoon, in the room where they were alone, time alone slipped away.
Outside, an oriental turtle dove was cooing coo-roo. From far off, the clamour of women's voices could be heard too.
An hour later. When Eleanor and Louis, who had come out to see her off, stepped out to the Institute's front entrance:
"I'm looking forward to dinner."
"Let me know if you're going to be late."
"I shall do my best."
It had become tradition for them to exchange conversation like a young married couple.