Gather Divine Coins and Gacha! - Chapter 62

 There is a lady named Oriana, the old man’s wife—in other words, Seriana’s grandmother.

When I consulted Seriana about what to do with Lord Brams request, she told me she was uneasy about sending me alone to meet a noble I’d never met before.

I agreed.

That said, given the circumstances, I couldn’t bring myself to refuse, and thinking about the future, I wanted to accept it.

If only we had more time before the deadline, Seriana could have arranged her schedule, but… while I was still wavering over that, Oriana appeared and said that, in that case, she would go herself.

Perhaps it’s because they’re important, but it seems nobles have it rough. Not only outside the home, but inside as well, they can’t really let their guard down—relationships with the first and second wives, the question of an heir, factional issues lurking behind the servants, and so on.

Apparently it’s so common that even at gatherings of the ladies in the royal capital, those complaints make up the main topic.

In that environment, even though I’m directly under Seriana, I don’t have ties to anyone else—so to her, I was someone she could interact with comfortably.

Every so often she’d ask me to run an errand, and as thanks she’d treat me to tea and sweets, and then, as a bonus, she’d ask me about dungeons and adventurers.

Because of that, my relationship with Oriana is a good one.

“The mansion of House Feld is across from that house with the big tree over there.”

Sitting beside me, Oriana points through the carriage window as she tells me.

I brought the 【Floating Orb】 too, but today I’m also traveling by carriage.

After finishing our discussion the night Lord Brams came, I went to deliver a written reply saying I’d accept, and he told me, “Starting from tomorrow, by all means!”

Since Oriana would be accompanying me, it seems proper etiquette to at least leave a day, but… I can’t tell if he was simply desperate, or if House Müller is just too kindhearted.

◇

“Thank you very much for taking the trouble to come today.”

The moment we enter the Feld residence, we’re immediately shown to the room of Elmeria, Lord Brams's wife, and the couple both bow their heads.

Well, not to me—only to Oriana—but that’s not something to worry about.

Yeah… well… yeah.

I do think she’s a beautiful woman.

She has presence, too.

But… she’s expanded.

I can’t help thinking she should have felt a sense of crisis a little sooner…

“Sera, how will you proceed?”

Once everyone takes their seats, Oriana throws the question to me.

“Right… I’m thinking we’ll do it in five days, in the order of both arms, torso, head, and then one leg at a time.”

“Five days⁉ Can’t you make it a little faster⁉”

Well, even counting today, there are only nine days left until the ceremony, so I understand how she feels…

“Honestly, I haven’t tested ‘slimming down’ much, so I want to proceed carefully. Better than failing, right?”

“…You’re right. No—five days is more than enough. Please take care of it.”

“Sure, sure.”

She’s a surprisingly reasonable older lady.

I had Oriana come along today just in case, but at this rate, it might be fine even without her starting tomorrow.

“Alright then, let’s get started. Please have a seat.”

I pull a timer from my pocket and prompt Elmeria to sit down.

It isn’t mechanical but magical, yet this world does have clocks.

I don’t know if the length matches Earth’s, but a day is 24 hours.

One rotation is 12 hours, and two rotations means a full day has passed.

In the royal capital, of course, and in most domain capitals as well, there are clock towers, and everyone lives their lives by them.

Naturally, miniaturization has progressed too, and while they’re ultra-luxury items, there are wall clocks and pocket watches.

This timer is a simplified version of those.

Even so, it’s still expensive—apparently it costs five gold coins.

It takes one hour to make a full rotation, and when it completes, an alarm goes pon.

I haven’t gone since my nails still haven’t healed, but Seriana had Luban and the others prepare it as an apology to me, telling them to make it something I could use as a guideline for when to return during dungeon exploration.

I never imagined the first time I’d use it wouldn’t be in a dungeon, but as a pseudo-spa timer in a noble’s mansion—still, since I have it, I might as well put it to good use.

“We’ll start with your left arm. Please feel free to chat about anything.”

It’s unlikely, but just in case, I’m going to proceed carefully so she doesn’t end up gaining weight instead!

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Sera・【Hideout】【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】・【Floating Orb】【Shadow Sword】【Scarlet Bee Needle】・0 cards

Seriana・【Area Identification】・【】・16 cards

Elena・【】・【Green Fang】・0 cards

Alec・【】・【Red Shield】・1 card