Asund, the capital of the Kingdom of Egelea, is a fortified city. The walls rise 10 meters high and are magically hardened and reinforced, and the Magi Formula carved on the surface makes the city resistant to magic.

Unlike the Blue Lands, the interior is neatly divided into sections like a grid, more like Heian-kyo or an ancient Chinese capital.

The central avenue stretches from the south, and the Royal Castle stands at the end of the avenue.

"What an amazing city!"

Jin, who was looking out of the window, said in admiration,

"Yes. This is a city that was built after the magic war. I heard that it was built in a reasonable way.

Reinhard said.

When I asked him what he meant by "reasonably", he said that the city was first divided into lots, and each lot had its own address and the address was managed in a ledger.

This allows for accurate management of residents, population control, and identification of suspicious persons. It is a simple equivalent of the current family register or certificate of residence.

"Well, this is a very advanced country, isn't it?

Jin is impressed.

The carriage continues along the central street and stops just before the royal castle. There is a gate and a guard is standing guard.

The Duke of Bruu, the Marquis of Braun, the Count of Kuzma, and the Count of Galana identify themselves, and the occupants of each carriage are checked.

Reinhardt was a diplomat and guest of the Shoro Kingdom, and Jin and Bina presented their registration cards as magicians (magecraftsmen).

Reiko thought about having Reiko disappear in stealth to avoid any trouble, but she revealed herself as Jin's automata from the beginning to avoid any trouble later.

Since anyone with a background in magic would know that Reiko was an automaton upon closer examination, she was readily accepted, and the group was allowed to enter the castle.

After passing through the gate, they entered the area of the castle called the Outer Palace.

Passing through the well-maintained cobblestone plaza, we headed for the guesthouse on the left, instead of the royal palace in the front.

The carriage arrives at a slow speed, about half or even one-third of its previous speed.

The carriage arrives at the designated position, and the carriage doors are opened from the outside.

Standing there are four knights of the Kingsguard. They are among the finest warriors in the kingdom. They are monitoring the movements of the Duke of Breu and his party to make sure that no suspicious people enter the castle.

The ladies-in-waiting who work in the castle are there to greet them. They are the daughters of low-ranking nobles, or the daughters of powerful merchants, and they work here as apprentices.

The only thing they have in common is that their identities are secure. Here at the castle, we were on the lookout for spies and assassins from other countries who might be among those invited to the third prince's birthday party in two days' time.

"I will take care of all your weapons.

With these words, he entrusts Reiko's , the weapons of Reinhardt's guards, and the sword of Hermann, Erza's guard, to the custody of the prince. The butler Adberg's staff was not entrusted to them.

"This way, please."

The Duke of Bruu and his entourage were accompanied by ten ladies-in-waiting and ten servants, while the Marquis of Braun and his entourage were accompanied by seven ladies-in-waiting and seven servants.

Counts Kuzma and Galana each had five maids of honor and five servants, and Reinhardt had the same number of maids of honor and servants.

"This wing is at your service.

Reinhardt, Erza, Jin, and Bina were shown to a building that was connected to the others. For some reason, Hitoshi thinks of a one-story apartment building.

Reinhardt, the leader of the group, was in charge of assigning the rooms.

"Well then, I, Erza, Jin, and Bina will each have one room. The rest of you can assign the rooms to men and women as you see fit.

The last words were addressed to his butler. The servants' rooms were assigned by the butler.

Incidentally, all the golems participating in the garden party were transported to a designated warehouse with their movements stopped. This was also done to prevent sabotage.

"Well then, let's put our luggage in our rooms and relax. Elsa, Jin, Bina, let's have a cup of tea together in my room later.

Yes.

Okay.

Okay.

Then they go to their assigned rooms. One of the maidservants followed Jin.

"Well, what about you?"

Jin wondered as she tried to enter the room with him,

I am the maid of honor who will be taking care of your business!

She answered with some impatience. At a closer look, she seemed to be about 15 or 16 years old. She looks about the same age as Erza and Bina.

Her hair is chestnut-colored with a bob cut, and she wears a white brim on her head, a black dress and a white apron dress, so you can tell at a glance that she is a maid of honor.

She was a charming girl with round face and round brown eyes that moved frequently.

She had a round face and a charming face. I will take care of your father.

Reiko stood in front of the girl.

It was both cute and funny to see Reiko, who was 130 centimeters tall, standing tall with her chest out in front of a girl who was about 155 centimeters tall.

"Oh, um, am I not good enough?　Would a more experienced person be better?"

The lady-in-waiting asked impatiently, as if she thought the reason for my refusal was because she was inexperienced.

"No. "No. Whoever you are, there is no need.

Reiko quickly answered,

"No, Reiko, we don't know much about this country or this castle, and I think we can be of some help, don't you?

Jin said,

"......Yes, Father."

Reiko reluctantly agreed.

She put her luggage in her room and looked out the window. The only thing she could see outside was trees.

"The view is not so good.

Jin muttered to himself,

"Oh, um, excuse me!　The trees are planted as a blindfold so that you cannot see them from outside.

Jin heard that and understood.

"Well, let's go to Reinhardt's room.

With that, he left the room and was accompanied not only by Reiko but also by the maidens.

Erza was just coming to the room, and I saw that Meane had another maid of honor with her.

She was a little older than Erza and slender in appearance. She is a girl with chestnut hair and violet eyes.

"Hi, Elsa. Who's this?"

I asked,

"......, I'm the lady-in-waiting. And you, Jin?

"Yes, it seems so."

Then Bina came out of the room.

"Oh, Jin."

"Hi, Beena."

Bina was also accompanied by a redheaded maid.

The three of them went to Reinhardt's room.

There were, as expected, two maidens.

One was a glamorous beauty in her mid-twenties, blonde and blue-eyed. The other was a beautiful woman in her late teens, with unusually dark hair in a ponytail and steeple eyes.

Jin said, "I wonder why all the ladies-in-waiting in this castle are so beautiful.

Jin said,

"Oh, my guest, you're very good!

said a glamorous lady-in-waiting diagonally behind Reinhardt. Jin's lady-in-waiting turned her cheeks and Erza glared at him a little.

The glamour lady with Reinhardt said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

The tea made by Reinhardt's lady-in-waiting tasted like real tea.

"Hmm?　This tea tastes good.

Jin said,

"Thank you very much. It's called "Teaye" and is a specialty of our country.

"Really?"

Green tea, oolong tea, and black tea are all made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant.

The young leaves are plucked and dried, but the unusual thing about tea leaves is that if they are left to ferment, they will turn into black tea.

Green tea is steamed to stop this fermentation, while black tea is made by fermentation.

So the tea we drank here was definitely black tea.

"You like it, Jin? I'm going to buy some on my way home.

"Me too."

Reinhard and Elsa also seemed to like the tea. Bina is not sure what tea tastes like.

"Well,"

Reinhard opens his mouth. His face is in diplomat mode.

"You say you're our maidservants, and you're here to keep an eye on us, aren't you?"