The day after the meeting with the old man, the Duchess’s work in the royal capital began.

Her main duty was meetings with people in the capital, but her counterparts weren’t limited to just nobles—there was a variety.

First, as a continuation of Seriana’s rehabilitation, they started with meetings with trade association heads and the headquarters chiefs of various guilds located in the capital. But given who the counterparts were, the atmosphere was undeniably businesslike.

As decided during the previous meeting with the old man, either the old man or Oriana-san would stay at our royal capital residence during the day.

However, that was only to strengthen the residence’s security and not for the purpose of doing anything specific there.

Both the old man and Oriana-san would usually hole up in separate rooms, working on tasks they brought along or reading books to pass the time.

I was Seriana’s escort, so I couldn’t leave her side, which meant I couldn’t entertain them, and I did feel a little bad about that. But unexpectedly, they seemed to be enjoying their time peacefully.

If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to relax in someone else’s house… Maybe they’re just used to it?

Anyway, while it was different with the trade association heads, the old man also participated in the meetings with the various guild headquarters chiefs.

◇

Putting aside other nations, the structure of the guilds in the Mesaria Kingdom wasn’t such that the headquarters oversaw the regional branches. Instead, the branches located in the capitals of each territory held the top position.

From there, personnel would be dispatched throughout the territory—this was how the operation functioned.

The headquarters and branches were independent and worked together on equal footing.

Still, since the headquarters was located where the population concentrated most, it naturally gathered information from all regions.

Because of that, the headquarters served as a hub for compiling various information.

Now, while the trade association meetings mostly focused on Riana’s transactions, the meetings with guild headquarters chiefs involved exchanging the latest regional information and sharing updates about Riana in return.

The old man also joined those discussions, and they held detailed talks together.

In Riana’s territory, the Adventurer Guild branch chief is also a member of the Knight Order—and of course, that’s true in the capital as well.

Adventurers, after all, handle combat.

On the other hand, the chiefs of other guilds were usually officials dispatched from the ranks of civil servants.

The idea was to gain external information from multiple perspectives.

The point is, the headquarters chiefs were all people of official status, and not even the old man could meet them at his own convenience without considering their schedules.

Not that they were ignoring the old man—they were simply busy and couldn’t make time to meet him.

So, with Seriana’s visit as a good opportunity, they all gathered together and decided to have the discussions now.

The old man and the others sat down together with serious expressions on their faces…

Of course it was going to feel like a business meeting.

I was present too… but I wasn’t particularly drawn to anything that was said.

Well, maybe it’s just that the only topics I could fully grasp were those involving adventurers in the royal capital.

Apparently, over the past year, a minor incident resulted in casualties in the capital’s dungeon, but the retrieval efforts were successful and there was nothing particularly problematic.

The hunting grounds outside were said to be relatively safe to begin with, and there were patrol soldiers present, so not even regular civilians, let alone adventurers, were harmed by monsters.

Peaceful, and that’s the best kind of news.

As for the other guilds, it’s not like I didn’t understand anything—but if I couldn’t match the geography and names, there wasn’t much I could do…

Zelkis, for instance, would now shift focus away from developing the untamed lands and toward strengthening his own territory. Riana, needless to say, remained fully committed to development.

If I just understood that much, it was probably enough.

◇

After the meeting with the middle-aged men, it was time for a new gathering—this time with ladies living in the royal capital, selected by Oriana-san.

As usual, I was in attendance too, but this one was more of a casual get-together.

These weren’t high-ranking noblewomen like countesses or marchionesses, nor women from landholding families.

Following on from the meeting with the old man, this was probably another form of rehabilitation, supervised by Oriana-san.

I still don’t quite get it, but if Seriana slipped up and said something careless, someone could immediately step in to cover for her.

And Oriana-san wasn’t the only one playing that role.

Today, I wasn’t just sitting there—I was properly doing my job too.

“You’ve done well, Sera.”

“Not at all. I was just sitting here, you know.”

She replied to Oriana-san’s words of appreciation with a small wave of her hand.

“You seem to have gotten more comfortable handling blessings than when you used to stay at our house, or even during your visit for the wedding.”

“At Riana’s estate, she uses them regularly in daily life. She’s grown a little, at least.”

Oriana-san gave a wry smile at Seriana’s sharp words, answering in my stead.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

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】 ・ 3 cards

Seriana ・ 【Area Detection】 ・ 【】 ・ 0 cards

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

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