There is no happy ending

*** The councillor

Despite what Rayman had said about the council house, it didn’t look much different from a normal house.

One wall was whitewashed, unlike the other buildings, but to Bianca, who was born and raised in the capital, it looked the same. The architecture is unique to Banoque.

Rayman pulled the door to the council house open, but it was firmly closed. Bianca looked at him without saying a word. Then he blushed and banged on the door.

‘Mr Guppa! I know you’re in there! Are you doing guts business in broad daylight?’

It was pretty loud. When there was no answer from inside, the man turned to face Bianca, not daring to look her in the face.

Bianca was about to tell him that he could leave when the door opened. The man, ‘Mr. Kupa,’ as he called himself, looked more like a white laborer than a councilor.

A broad-shouldered, well-built man with grey hair came out and said.

‘A man might close the door to nap, what’s the big deal?’

‘You’re talking about that!’

‘Just try to pretend it’s not a big deal. You’ll never come to my house again!’

Bianca frowned out of the corner of her eye as she watched them talk. Guppa’s voice was too loud.

Bianca didn’t like loud voices. It took all her patience not to cover her ears.

Rayman gave her a look of disbelief, then glanced at Bianca and said.

‘It’s not me, it’s him, he’s injured, his knee is badly busted, I need you to take care of him.’

Guppa looked at Bianca. It was a rude look and gesture. But then Bianca remembered that Guppa was an acquaintance of Rayman’s. There was no need to be offended. Bianca rolled her eyes.

Guppa asked.

‘How did you get hurt?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘I’m guessing it was that Rei guy.’

Just because there was no need to be angry didn’t mean there was no reason to be nice. Bianca replied moderately.

Eing, she clicked her tongue. Guppa’s prediction was spot on. Neither Rayman nor Bianca said anything else.

Bianca walked inside and sat on a chair as Guppa led the way. A glance up her skirt revealed that her knee was worse than she had realized.

‘This…… might be ugly.’

Kufa muttered softly as he looked at the wound. Rayman, who was standing with his back to Bianca so that he couldn’t see her bare leg, exclaimed angrily.

‘What? You’re not supposed to do that!’

‘So who said you had to do anything?’

Rayman lowered his head. For a moment, Bianca thought he looked like a rain-soaked puppy. Although she’d never seen a red-coated dog before.

‘I suppose it can’t be helped, then.’

‘Yeah, everybody’s bound to have a scar or two.’

‘That’s not what I meant.’

With that short reply, Guppa pushed himself to his feet and strode out of the room, returning a moment later with a clean cloth and water to sit Preceded by Bianca.

He seemed very skillful at wetting the cloth.

It was just a scraped knee. It didn’t look like it would take long to heal. But…… it was oddly disappointing to leave after just being treated. Bianca turned her head to look at the back of Rayman’s head.

‘Do I not have to bring my books?’

‘What?’

‘You left it behind, the book. Isn’t it important?’

Rayman turned his head in surprise as if he’d remembered the book. His large, round eyes met Bianca’s again.

Bianca’s index finger, which had been resting gently on her thigh, flicked in the air and then sank. Bianca said.

‘Bring it back. Don’t look so worried about losing it.’

‘…… May I?’

‘Why not?’

Rayman scratched the back of his head. But he didn’t seem inclined to turn it down. What was just a book to Bianca was quite important to him.

It wasn’t long before his complexion visibly brightened. Bianca couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.

‘Mr Gufa, I’ll be back soon, so don’t talk nonsense to him!’ Rayman left the building in a huff. After he left, Gufa asked.

‘Are you Rayman’s friend?’

‘Do I look like it?’

‘You don’t look like you’d have anything to do with him.’

‘It’s not that bad.’

As they made small talk, Guppa used a clean, damp cloth to clean the gash on Bianca’s knee. It stung.

One of Bianca’s eyes squinted, but she didn’t show any sign of pain.

‘You’re patient.’

‘No broken bones, no screaming in pain.’

‘That’s true.’

Bianca’s moderation made Guppa laugh, a gurgling, grotesque laugh. It was the first time she had ever heard such a laugh.

Bannog was a strange place indeed. Things kept happening to her that hadn’t happened to Bianca since she’d left the Marquisate and Weierk. What about Volona, Bianca thought for a moment.

Guppa cleaned the wound meticulously, then brought her a strange-smelling potion. Bianca tried to stop her, thinking that if you put that on the skin, it might rot, but she wouldn’t listen.

She carefully applied the medicine to her knee and then bandaged it up. After knotting the bandage in a pretty ribbon that didn’t belong, she asked, ‘Where are you from?

‘Where are you from, Bayern? You look like a northerner…… Hanonberia?’

‘From Bayern. My ancestors were northerners.’

‘I see. You look neither Eastern nor Western. Let’s see……. If northern is the root, is it Heman? Or Eloise?’

Various noble surnames flew out of Guppa’s mouth.

‘Morning?’

One of Bianca’s eyebrows rose. Guffa saw the look on her face and nodded slowly.

‘Morning. I wasn’t expecting such a big shot.’

Guppa nodded, smugly announcing that I had made it big. Bianca’s mood was…… ridiculous.

‘So,’ Bianca asked, not bothering to hide her trepidation.

‘Did he know I was a nobleman?’

‘Anyone with eyes and ears would know. The silk you’re wearing is stamped with the Grom’s distinctive pattern, and it’s not for nothing. Your accent is noble, and your words are short.’

‘……You know he’s a noble, and yet you treat him so rudely?’

‘What does it matter, you’re my guest.’

Bianca realized that she had met a lot of unusual people in her time in Banog – Rayman, for one, and this old man in front of her.

And at the same time, she realized again that she was completely out of the capital.

What…… Guppa wasn’t wrong, at least not by Bianca’s standards. Bianca had never been kind to her guests, all the more so because she had never been kind to herself. Bianca nodded.

‘You’re right.’

There was a subtle silence after the treatment ended. Kufa was a surprisingly quiet person, and Bianca was not much different.

Kufa clicked his tongue in acknowledgment. It was an awkward silence, even for an old man.

After a while, their savior arrived. It was Reiman.

He came in with books stacked like a tower. He carried them without staggering and without stumbling. I thought he was dirty, but he had surprising stamina.

After setting the books down on one side of Guppa’s house without permission, Rayman looked at Bianca and asked.

‘Didn’t Mr Guppa say anything strange?’

‘Like what?’

‘Just…… swearing at me or something.’

It was a strange question. The kind of question where even the person asking the question knew it was weird. Rayman’s eyes narrowed. Bianca gave a small laugh.

‘I did.’

At that, Reiman pressed his hand to his forehead and sighed. Is there truly no morality in this land…….

What the hell is that supposed to mean, I thought. Rayman had a funny way with words. Now Bianca’s first impression of him had faded from her mind.

Her eyes flicked to the book she’d set down and she spoke.

‘The book, was it still in its place?’

‘There is no decency in this land, but there is humanity. I was worried about the 17 volumes, but they were all there.’

Reiman said proudly as he patted the book I had put down. Guppa and Bianca’s expressions became strange when they heard that.

Noticing the change in their expressions, Reiman asked.

‘What’s wrong with your faces?’

‘……Rayman. Can’t you count?’

Guppa asked the bewildered Rayman. The question was genuinely concerned. Bianca nodded slowly and opened her mouth.

‘No matter how I look at it, it only looks like 16 books.’

There were indeed 16 books. Bianca hadn’t miscounted. The heir to House Moening could not possibly be a counting fool.

The Moening’s educated their heirs from the time they were crawling. It was a way of thinking of them as heirs rather than human beings.