“……There’s a lot again this year.”

Under Teresa’s direction, I sat on the sofa watching the luggage being brought into my room and let that comment slip out.

The servants were making multiple trips carrying what were apparently birthday presents for me—and there still seemed to be more to come.

By the way, the gifts were originally gathered in the main building’s lounge, which Elena was apparently overseeing.

“Just by the numbers, it looks like you’ve got more than me or Elena.”

“Right—”

Well… when it comes to sheer quantity, it’s probably because the bar for sending gifts to me is lower than for Seriana or Elena. But still—how many boxes are there?

Even though so much is happening this year in real time, it doesn’t seem to have had much of an effect.

Each year I’m grateful, but the presents don’t just come from this city—they arrive from other cities as well.

Due to logistics, they usually arrive at the local merchants before the rainy season, and those merchants then bring them to the estate at an appropriate time. It’s become a tradition.

It’s not exactly a formal agreement, but typically gifts from nobles would arrive first, followed by gifts from commoners… But this year, everything was bundled together and delivered to the estate before my birthday.

“They were delivered a bit earlier than usual this time. I wonder if there’s a reason? Did Lady Seria say anything?”

If I were living on my own, maybe there’d be reason to deliver them early. But I’m currently staying in the lord’s estate.

And while I’m not sure “guardian” is the right word, Seriana and Teresa are essentially backing me.

I doubt they’d go out of their way to alter the schedule just to save some hassle…

Thinking that, I looked up at Seriana, who was sitting next to me—and noticed a faint smile on her face.

So… was I right?

“Did I ever mention that your gifts are collected and managed in bulk by the Commerce Guild?”

“Hm? …Now that you mention it, I feel like I’ve heard that before…”

At some point, I’d heard that incoming packages for me from outside would first be gathered at the Commerce Guild.

“Until now, I’ve always left the timing up to Klaus, but this year, I told them they could start bringing things in today. While we’ve already informed the residents about the war, the church district situation hasn’t been officially announced yet, right?”

“You said it was communicated via the Commerce Guild.”

I nodded along with Seriana’s explanation.

“Yes. Of course, they’ll know the information came from the lord’s side, but the merchants would probably prefer to hear directly what’s going on. So I decided to take advantage of your birthday.”

Originally, the reason merchants used my birthday as an excuse to deliver gifts was to get the lord to remember their names.

In the past, that meant getting Liesel to remember them, so there was no need to rush. But this time, the purpose is a bit different.

The townspeople probably want accurate information as soon as possible, and since Klaus already has some level of control, dragging things out too long might backfire.

“I don’t mind at all…”

If my birthday could be of use for something, I really didn’t mind it being used like this.

“But in that case, is it okay for you to be here, Lady Seria? Not just you—Teresa and Elena are off duty too…”

Liesel and Commander August of the Knight Order weren’t in town either.

So the ones to stand in for them would naturally be Seriana and the others, but they’ve been here in this room since morning and can’t interact with the merchants…

If we’re going by rank, then the most likely candidate would be Rick, captain of the 1st squad of the Knight Order—but considering his personality, I don’t think he’s very well-suited to that.

Maybe Carlos, then…?

“It’s not a problem. The civil officials are handling it, and even if we were there, the merchants might find it hard to speak openly, don’t you think?”

“Mm… That’s true, yeah.”

If they were dealing with Seriana and the others, they’d probably just end up listening to whatever they were told.

That might not be a huge issue, but it’s probably not the best approach if we want to clear up any doubts among the townspeople.

“Ah… Teresa, bring that one over here, please.”

While I was sitting there, nodding in understanding, Seriana called out to Teresa, stopping her and instructing her to bring over a black box a servant was carrying.

The box she placed on the table was about 30 centimeters tall and one meter wide—a rectangular wooden box like the kind used for sending clothes. But its decorations were unusually elaborate.

Even the material didn’t seem like just plain white wood… What is this?

I mean, I’m sure it’s a gift for me, but I can’t think of who would send something this fancy-looking, especially just for clothing.

“Go ahead and open it.”

“Okay.”

Judging by the way she’s acting, this must be something Seriana picked out?

“Alright, here goes… Whoa?”

The lid was surprisingly heavy. When I finally got it open, the contents were wrapped in a thin white cloth, so I couldn’t tell what it was just yet—but the inside of the box was lined with red fabric.

Not just the outside—this box is lavish on the inside too…

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Sera・Blessing・【Hideout】+1【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】【Wind’s Garment】 Blessed Item・【Floating Orb】+1【Shadow Sword】+1【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy’s Eye】【Dragon’s Lung】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Serpent’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】【Red Sword】【Monkey’s Arm】・8 cards

Seriana・【Area Identification】・【】・0 cards

Elena・【】・【Green Fang】【Amber Sword】・4 cards

Alec・【Power Strike】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・10 cards