The Two Leaders

The way Nfirea had given the right answer with such calm mystified Enri, and what entered was a maid pushing a silver cart. She was a beautiful woman, dressed in sparkling clean and spotless clothes which even an amateur could recognize as a high-class maid outfit. A gentle, warm smile adorned her face. However, Enri was worried that at any moment it would twist into an angry expression as she exclaimed, “What are you two doing!”

“―The beverages are ready.”

“N-no need!”

The maid’s face displayed stunned confusion for a moment as she parsed Enri’s lightning-fast answer. Then she turned her gaze to Nfirea, and then back to Enri.

“…Ah, will this be all right?”

“Ah, yes.”

Perhaps she sensed how Enri was so tense that her body had frozen up, or Nfirea’s innate nervousness, but the maid smiled, genuine and unforced. She said a simple “My apologies”, and sat herself down beside Enri. Then she gently placed a hand on the petrified Enri’s shoulder.

“Emmot-sama, please do not be so tense. Emmot-sama and Bareare-sama are guests, all you need to do is be at ease and relax.”

“But, but… w-what if we break something in here…”

“Do not worry. Ainz-sama will not be bothered even if the objects in here are damaged.”

“But, but how? All the things in here are…”

Even thinking about the cost of the things she could see in a quick glance around the room made her head hurt. And to think, these items weren’t a big deal?

“Yes, Ainz-sama is extremely wealthy.”

“Tha-that I know.”

After all, he was the kind of man who would freely give out valuable and potent items such as those horns.

“Which is why, please be at ease. Deliberate damage aside, Ainz-sama will smile and forgive you for any accidents. And even if anything is damaged, it can be repaired with magic.”

“Even if you say that, that…”

“I understand. Then, please have a drink. That way, you’ll be able to relax.”

“But…”

Enri glanced at the tea service on the silver pushcart. They were made of exquisite porcelain, edged in gold, and the reverse side was a deep blue, patterned with intricate designs. And they looked fragile enough that Enri was worried that they would break the moment she touched them.

“Enri, have a drink. It would be rude to refuse further.”

“Ah, then, that one, thank you.”

“Understood… hm, I see. The fragrance and taste of herbal tea is an acquired taste. Would you rather have traditional black tea instead?”

“Yes, please, thank you.”

The smiling maid prepared the tea for them with flowing, elegant movements. After the cups were rinsed with hot water, in a mysterious and inexplicable way, she made the tea before the two of them. In addition, two different small sized cups were placed in front of them.

“Please add the desired amounts of milk and sugar to your tastes.”

Enri opened the sugar pot. What she saw were white solids that resembled nothing so much as powdered snow. The village girl mechanically deposited several sugar cubes into her cup, stirring them until they dissolved. After that, she added milk. Then, Enri took a sip, and felt like her face was going to melt.

“S-sweet!”

“Mm, I guess adding the sugar would do that. It’s not often that you get to taste sweet things in the village, and you don’t raise bees… if I’m not wrong, you only have something like syrup? I remember there was spice-making magic but that’s something else entirely…”

Forgetting where she was, Enri exclaimed loudly.

“Try your hardest to recall it.”

Before she could hear his noises of acknowledgement, Enri took another mouthful of the red tea, and the taste let her heart calm down.

“Really, it’s sweet and delicious.”

At this moment, several knocks resounded from the door. The maid moved quietly over and opened it.

“Ainz-sama and your little sister have returned.”

As the door opened, Nemu rushed in, all smiles. Ainz followed behind her.

“Nee-san! It’s amazing! It’s shiny and pretty and really amazing!”

As Nemu hugged her sister around the waist, Enri rose to bow to Ainz, all the while taking care to not let her little sister’s feet dirty the floor.

“Gown-sama! I apologize for my little sister’s rudeness!”

“Certainly not. Rather, I should apologize for keeping her for so long.”

“There’s no such thing. We’re very grateful.”

Ainz waved his hand to indicate that it wasn’t a problem.

“Then before I discuss matters with Nfirea-kun, let us eat.”

“Eh? We’re imposing too much―”

Facing the panicking Nfirea, Ainz replied with a calming gesture.

“This is to make sure the transaction with Nfirea-kun is profitable.”

“What do you mean by transaction?”

“…I’ll explain before we eat.”

Ainz sat on the other side of the sofa.

“To begin with, I have no intention to openly market the potion you make. Or rather, without the ingredients I provide, you can’t manufacture the purple potion. Do you agree?”

“That’s right. It’s been difficult to get this far, even when we’re using the material provided by Gown-sama. There’s still a lot of unknown factors, like how potent it is and what other effects it has.”