A Vintage to Remember Me

Seven Months Since Entering

Jerome Lafette studied the finished report that had been handed to him by his subordinate. He wanted to snarl at the man because he didn't like what he was seeing, but the professional soldier in him knew better. "And that's your final conclusion?"

"Positive, mi' lord," the spy replied. "The Bozes capital estate never has fewer than ten armed men in and around the perimeter, all highly trained and dedicated. The house also has a dedicated staff of servants who won't go quietly, I'm sure. Furthermore, the estate itself is deep in the noble district of the city; there are no fewer than three royal guard stations within two to three blocks. Any serious conflict, and you'll have no less than twenty more heavily armed men surrounding the estate in minutes. Kidnapping the girl while she's in the mansion is nothing short of impossible. Trying to kill her might be possible, but it'd be a suicide mission to anyone who tries and the counter-response you would provoke would bring all the fires of hell down upon whoever was responsible."

Jerome sighed; he suspected this would be the case when he started having Michiko scouted ever since Daniel inadvertently revealed her connection to the dreaded Lightning ArchPriestess, but he had to try. "What about when she leaves?" Surely someone with Count Bozes' reputation of congeniality wouldn't keep the girl prisoner in his home indefinitely, he thought.

"Never fewer than two armed escorts, and she hasn't left the noble district this past month, so again, you'll have royal guard stations in fairly close proximity. Sometimes she's been to the market for produce shopping, but more often than not, she's meeting with noble families at their homes or officials at some of the workshops, who of course have their own armed escorts."

Jerome shook his head; so direct action was out of the question. Clearly the Pasteur's ball last month was a missed opportunity. He smiled; but not necessarily a lost lesson , he thought. Daniel had clearly taken a shine to the girl, and if he was to be believed, it shouldn't take much for her to be convinced to meet my handsome son again , he thought with a smile. Perhaps the Count wouldn't deny the girl a chance at young love... and he would have to be a cad to have armed guards on a romantic date. That would be their chance... to take advantage of the weaknesses of the heart.

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Michiko finished her normal morning routine before heading downstairs. Although Count Bozes had convinced her to not worry about running Mitsuha's shop, she had finally gotten him to accede to a single quick trip for her to grab the last of her remaining personal possessions, along with a handful of items off the store's shelves, like makeup, toothpaste, bodywash and 2-in-1 shampoo. I'll pay you back when you come pick me up... she thought, with what she hoped would be optimistic promises , and no, I'm not paying what you're charging these people... you'll get the Y100 per item you paid when you bought them from that discount store!

The mirror revealed how long her hair had grown since coming here; no wonder people were confusing me for Mitsuha , she thought. Michiko normally wore her hair short to just below her neck in a bob cut style, but since arriving here, between her non-stop situations and inability to find a barber, it was now down below her shoulders, much like how Mitsuha wore her's. Since she and I were the only two Japanese in a city full of Caucasians, I guess we just look the same to them, minor height differences aside.

Down in the dining area, the rest of the family were getting ready to depart after a quick bite of breakfast. Count Bozes had asked Michiko to stop worrying about cooking for the family outside of special occasions and just concentrate on her work on both improving her literacy and translating the materials provided by Marquis Eibinger, so breakfast was already waiting earlier. To their credit, the rest of the Bozes house chefs had made dramatic leaps in picking up several of Michiko's recipes and techniques which led to significant improvements in the quality of breakfasts overall.

"Michiko, where did you get that dagger?" Theodore asked as Michiko got ready to leave with Count Bozes on their trip to the Proving Grounds.

"This?" Michiko asked. She paused, then unstrapped the dagger Daniel had given her last month. She hadn't had the nerve to actually carry it until now and had left it in her room until this morning. "A serving boy I met at the Pasteur's ball last month gave it to me. He strongly suggested that I carry it, saying that I should have something to defend myself. Is there something wrong with it?" She handed the sheathed dagger to Theodore.

Theodore went over the hilt and sheath in fine detail, then pulled the blade to examine it carefully with a trained eye. He had always had a fascination for blades. "This an Aldar military dagger; typically carried by officers. This one in particular... the intricate design would suggest nobility."

Michiko was slightly taken aback. "You're saying... Daniel is an... Aldar military officer... or an Aldar noble? Then why would he be working at a ball as a server?"

"Well, not necessarily," Theodore admitted as he handed the dagger back to Michiko. "After the siege*, and during the aftermath, tons of these and other weapons and equipment were littering the ground for... well... obvious reasons. Lots of them ended up falling into the hands of bandits, merchants, and even our own soldiers. I suppose he could have picked one up from a local shop for all I know. All the same... how well do you know this... Daniel?"

*see Manga Chp32-33 /LN Chp14 / Anime Epi11-12

"Well... we just met that one night," Michiko admitted. "He seemed very nice and open and wasn't hiding anything."

'You're not... meeting him again, are you?" Alexis asked with concern.

"Well... I was thinking about it," Michiko said with mixed feelings. "Maybe once all this rebellion troubles are settled down...."

Theodore and Alexis both looked at each other with some degree of worry. Since her arrival, the boys had grown fond of Michiko, despite her commoner social status. Michiko shared a lot of Mitsuha's positive traits and lacked some of latter's aloofness, which gave the former an easy likeability. Unfortunately, both boys feared that same sweetness made her easy to exploit, since she lacked Mitsuha's natural defensiveness and could tell she had a more trusting nature. In the noble world of political machinations, that often didn't bode well. They both made a silent point that they would bring the matter up to their parents and see what they thought.

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Michiko flinched and protected her ears as a score of rifles fired powerful rounds downrange. In attendance with her was an entourage that included Count Bozes and his two sons, Marquis Eibinger and his aide-de-camp, along with several military officers and scholarly-looking people Michiko hadn't met before along with several groups of armed escorts and guards. They were all standing behind the firing line at the place designated "The Proving Grounds"; a place that Mitsuha was supposedly summoned to several months ago. This time, of course, there were plenty of guards, witnesses and broad daylight, so the likelihood of any kind of wrongdoing was near-zero, though the thought remained in Michiko's mind.

"Fire!" the broad-shouldered man commanded again, pulling a string. For safety reasons, the rifles were mounted on wooden harnesses, holding them in place, pointing downrange, with strings attached to their triggers. After each pull, individuals would attend to each rifle to reload them with powder, a Minié ball bullet, and a paper wad, then have them ready to fire again. After repeating the test ten times, the process was stopped, and the results were reviewed.

Downrange, several obsolete sets of armor were set up as targets to test for penetration and were now marked with holes. The first few holes were tightly grouped. However, the next few started to spread apart widely, which caused the broad-shouldered man, who now identified himself as Kunz to shake his head. He was one of the Kingdom's best carpenters, and a skilled workman in general.

"We're getting five... maybe seven good shots with each rifle," Kunz reported. "Then for some reason, they each begin to deteriorate. When we've broken them down, the chamber of the rifles all show damage only after those few rounds." He shook his head. "That's not a practical weapon in my eyes."

"Is it a problem with the design?" Eibinger asked. It would seem logical to him, if it was happening to all of them.

"The blueprints and designs are fine," Platidus corrected. He was one of the leading scientists from the capital city college, an alchemist by trade, who Michiko had been corresponding with on the project. "The problem is our metals; they're not holding up to the pressures generated by the repeated shooting." He turned to Michiko. "I believe in your last translated reports, you said something about this being the result of the modified design and materials."

All eyes turned to Michiko, who shirked slightly. The truth was, she felt like such a fraud standing there, trying to pretend she knew what she was talking about. Seven months ago, the only thing she knew about guns aside from video games and fiction came from the few times Tsuyoshi-sempai had dragged her and Mitsuha to a paintball combat ranch. We sucked at it too, she recalled; we both came home covered in paintball stains. She hadn't even been through any training like Mitsuha's regime at Wolf Fang, and here she was, trying to sound like some kind of expert, because she read about them in books and blueprints just a few weeks earlier. "Unlike the round ball smoothbore musket, the skirts on the Minié bullet are designed to expand under the pressure of the gunpowder, which creates a tighter seal between the bullet and allows it to grip the rifling of the barrel. This seal also maximizes the pressure given to the bullet to improve the range and accuracy. The rifling and the bullet designs are the key components of this weapon compared to the Vanel muskets; that's what changes it from a mass-firing weapon to a precision weapon. In the hands of a trained marksman, these rifles can strike a man out to 250 yards."

Platidus nodded, oblivious to Michiko's self-doubts. "We tested the Vanel muskets as well. Make no mistake; the Minié rifles are a substantial improvement. However, as Nakamura-san has correctly explained, the problem is the increased pressures generated by the design. Put simply, our current metals just can't handle the repeated detonations in the chamber. After five... ten at most, the distortions make the rifle unreliable, possibly even dangerous to use." He turned back to Michiko. "I understand however that you might have some ideas to fix this."

Before Michiko could answer, the sounds of another carriage interrupted her, and all eyes were redirected towards the Proving Grounds entrance. She noticed that everyone else came to immediate attention and that the carriage was particularly ornate. As the carriage opened, Princess Sabine was the first one to come bounding out and ran over towards Michiko to give her a welcoming hug. She was followed by a dignified older man that Michiko never met before, but judging from everyone else's reactions, it didn't take a genius to figure out who this must be.

"Y-y-your Majesty..." Michiko barely stuttered before managing a curtsy without fainting. I am so not dressed for this...!

"Please, everyone... " the King said with a smile and a gentle wave, "don't mind us. We simply wanted to see how the new weapons were coming along, given how important they were."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Platidus replied after a brief bow. "In fact, Nakamura-san was just about to explain possible solutions based on the ArchPriestess' reference materials on how we can solve our current issues with the designs."

Once again, all eyes went back to Michiko, who hadn't felt this much pressure since her first days of standing in front of an auditorium for junior high debate club. Back then, it was just a bunch of school kids and teachers, and she was talking about a debate topic she was at least reasonably familiar with. Getting it wrong then would have just meant a bad grade in her debate class. Now, she was about to deliver a lecture to senior government officials, members of the nobility, military officers, even a King of an entire nation, on advanced scientific subject matters that she herself didn't know, which forced her to read the material line-by-line, translate it into a language she was only still barely learning, hoping all the while she wasn't getting the context wrong, then presenting it as a means to affect a nation's fate in the months to come. If I ever needed Mitsuha's power to vanish into thin air, that'd be right about now...

She pulled up one of the textbooks; it was a thick one on metallurgical engineering. She closed her eyes, and almost succumbed to despair right in front of the entire crowd; I'm an economics major, damn it...! I have no business even reading this book, let alone trying to teach it to anyone...! Nonetheless, she took a breath, focused and opened to the chapters detailing the historical discussions of how steel was made during medieval times and what improvements could be implemented and started to read aloud. As she did so, the local metal smiths taking notes would occasionally interrupt her, asking for clarifications or details. This forced her to skip ahead or look for the answer elsewhere in the book, which made her feel even more like a phony. She had to stop once they reached past the point when electricity or advanced technology was required so fortunately, they could only go so far with this book. The metal smiths and Kunz thanked Michiko and promised they would get right to work on revising their processes, based on the theories she had provided them with. Inwardly, she was terrified that she might have messed something up and that either the metals that came out might end up even worse than the locally produced alloys, or even worse, that someone would get hurt with the flawed forge designs, but at this point, it was out of her hands.

Count Bozes came up to her after the discussion and quietly gave her a pat on the shoulder, along with a nod of approval, and Sabine beamed a smile of admiration, both of which helped Michiko some. Off to the side, Marquis Eibinger and the King were discussing something with Platidus and Kunz... hopefully they weren't talking about what a load of nonsense they thought I just said , Michiko thought.

"Michiko-oneesan," Sabine whispered to Michiko. "I need to talk to you and Count Bozes later. It's about those guys you overheard back at the party last month."

Michiko nodded; she had reported to Count Claus Bozes that she overheard Count Larsen mention he was working with Baron August Von Tomsen and his brother Burkhalt and their sisters. This caught Claus' attention, who then sent Alexis to do a quick check at the palace. He returned shortly to confirm that indeed, that the whole family was no longer in their cells, which made Claus fume at the state of affairs. That meant someone at the palace had quietly released the scoundrels Mitsuha had arrested for title fraud*, then doctored the records to hide the release. When he mentioned this to Michiko, she suggested reaching out to Sabine, who she had started working with months ago on the matter. Claus was taken aback at the idea of involving a child; the third princess no less. However, upon reflection, he knew there was absolutely no questioning her loyalty, so there was a certain logic to it, so as someone who knew her personally from nobles' schools, Beatrice reached out to Sabine to update her on the matter.

*see Manga Chp45 /LN Chp18

"How about we meet at Paradise Diner then? It's getting late enough where the dinner rush should be calming down, and we can get a quick bite right before they close," Michiko suggested. Despite being labeled a "common diner", Paradise was still considered a favorite among the nobility due to being one of the few places that served authentic "Yamano Cuisine". As a result, security was always very good due to all the escorts who did their best to hide themselves as the often-disguised nobles enjoyed their meals, and Michiko knew the place was a favorite of Sabine's.

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Daniel took a moment to examine his equipment for any damage as he finished his evening training session with his father's assigned trainers. Even though his family was no longer considered among the nobility class, Jerome had always told his son that he considered the family nobles, at least in their hearts. "Mark my words... we will be nobles again one day," he had vowed. As such, it fell on to Daniel to maintain his training as a nobleman's son until that day arrived.

"Daniel, a moment?" Jerome's voice came from behind.

Daniel turned around as he toweled off to face his father. Despite their differences, they were still father and son. Nothing could change that, so he nodded in acknowledgement. "Yes, how can I be of assistance?"

Jerome sighed. He was unsure how he would approach this next part of the plan until right this moment. "I... I'm glad to see that you're taking your training seriously. It's going to be needed in the months ahead. And... I just wanted you to know that... if I came across harsh to you the other night last month... " he trailed off before continuing. "I just wanted to let you know that I've had some time to think about the idea of you spending time with that girl... if that's what you choose."

"Father, I would never..." Daniel started before Jerome interrupted him.

"No, I'm sure you wouldn't," Jerome insisted as he put his hand on Daniel's shoulder. "You're a good son... and sometimes I forget that. Too often, I've allowed my anger, along with your mother's passing, to cloud my judgment. And I would be remiss if I forced you to miss any chance of happiness, on account of... my need for justice. I had my chance with your mother... and I see that now."

"Father, I... " Daniel paused to think about what he wanted to say next. "Michiko's just a chef... and a really good one, and she seems like a very sweet girl. She just misses her home. I'm sure she doesn't have anything to do with this coming battle..."

It took everything Jerome had not to smile. Oh, how very wrong you are, my son... she has everything to do with the coming battle... in fact, she could be the most important piece on the board... and if you play your part right, my son... you could be a vital part in luring her to our side... and to victory...

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Bernd looked around the dining area of Paradise diner and did a head count. It was late in the evening, and they were expecting to close pretty soon. The last few months had been good for Anel's apprenticeship; he was all but ready to promote him to a full sous chef, which meant he would be getting a raise and increased responsibilities and discretion to operate without supervision. He had wanted to move Aleena back to the front of the house where her strength in attracting the customers lies, but the inability to keep talented young chefs had forced him to split her duties as a prep-chef, while contracting wait staff to handle the busier time slots. Nonetheless, the restaurant had non-stop business ever since Mitsuha had solved their problems with the rival restaurant*; if anything, they were sometimes victims of their own success with customers nearly always lining out the door.

*see Manga Chp25-26 /LN Chp12 / Anime Epi9

Just then, the door chime rang, signaling new customers. Bernd glanced towards the door, then blanched. In came Princess Sabine, Count Bozes and his two sons, Michiko and their respective escorts. Inwardly, he groaned; so much for any chance at an early close. Outwardly, he put on his best professional demeanor, greeting the party despite the lateness of the hour. "Welcome back to Paradise Diner, my friends!" he managed with a smile.

"We shouldn't be too long," Count Bozes assured Bernd. "Just a round of teas, if you please."

Once they got seated, the servers brought them tea. Count Bozes turned to Michiko. "Well, I thought that went quite well," he said with a smile. "I had no idea you had experience in public speaking before."

Alexis nodded. "True. With all those people in the crowd, I would have been really nervous to be making such a presentation."

Michiko managed not to spill her tea despite her shaking hands. "Truthfully... I'm lucky I didn't faint up on that stage. Half of that stuff... I had no idea what I was saying. I was reading from a book... and honestly, even in my own language, just barely at that. Engineering isn't my field of study in school. I'm a... well... was an Economics major in college." I'm way past the deadline for submitting next semester's classes; officially I'm considered a college dropout by now.

This got Count Bozes' attention. "You studied Economics?"

"Sure," Michiko replied. "The last thing I did before I left to come here was to turn in a term paper where I presented a comparative analysis of tax structures between the Keynesian economy vs a Supply-Side model and how both affected small businesses." She waved dismissively. "It's boring stuff; I'm sure you wouldn't be interested in it. Besides, I was supposed to pick it up for evaluation and missed that deadline... months ago. For all I know, Takemori-sensei might have hated it and gave it a failing grade anyway," she shrugged resignedly.

And this is coming from a commoner? Count Bozes marveled. In our country, most commoners could barely read. This girl just gave a scientific presentation in a foreign language she only learned a few months ago before nobles, royals, and military officers, and apparently has studied advanced economic theory. And honestly, I seriously doubt you've ever presented a failing paper in your life, Michiko.

"Well, I think you were great!" Sabine beamed. "I just wish Saar-sama had made the trip. I'm sure he would have loved to hear what you presented!" She then turned to Count Bozes and lowered her voice. "Anyway, I followed up on those names Beatrice brought me and got some information out of Saar-sama's office. Once the Tomsen family were removed from the noble registry, any lands they owned under the name of the crown would have been seized and returned to the Kingdom. These are the lands that currently fall under Yamano County. But according to some holding records, the family also held some properties in the southern counties, under a different name." She handed over a slip of paper to Count Bozes.

Count Bozes read the sheet and frowned. "Does the King know about this?"

Sabine nodded. "With the Festival coming up soon, he wanted it kept quiet, so he sent Lionel-sama with a group of men-at-arms to investigate. It's a few days travel, then it will depend on what they find."

"Festival?" Michiko asked.

"The Festival of Lights," Count Bozes answered. "A few weeks from now, the Kingdom will begin the annual Festival that celebrates the harvest of the autumn produce and the transition to winter. Under normal circumstances, it's a time of peaceful gatherings, feasting, and remembrance. This year... " he sighed and shook his head. "Quite honestly, I was half-expecting his Royal Highness to cancel it."

Sabine shook her head. "Some of his advisors suggested that, but Father insisted otherwise. He said cancelling it would send the wrong message and that the Festival was for the people, no matter what troubles the nobles were squabbling about."

"That sounds a lot like the autumn festivals in Japan," Michiko mused. "In some cities, we light lanterns to celebrate unity in the fall festivals. Some of these draw visitors from all around the world. Back in high school, Mitsuha and I would go every year with some of our classmates to these festivals."

Count Bozes sighed. "You know, I've been meaning to ask you... when we first met you, Mitsuha implied that your visit was going to be just a one-time event. And yet, a few months later, we find you returned to our lands, presumably with Mitsuha, just before she vanished. Was there a reason for your return this time?"

"Well, the original reason was that Mitsuha wanted my help to improve the wineries in her province." When Count Bozes looked at her with curiosity, Michiko continued. "My father and I had recently paid a visit to some of Japan's best wineries so at the time, the knowledge was still fresh on my mind, so when she asked, I thought, 'why not' and decided a short break couldn't hurt." She sighed and shook her head at the irony. "How little did I know... Looking back though... if I'm being honest with myself? The truth is... the real reason I came here... was I wanted to be remembered."

There was a long pause as the members around the table went silent at Michiko's words. "You see... we had this conversation a while ago... and we both came to the realization that Destiny... or Fate... or whatever you call it... had decided that Mitsuha was meant for greater things... that our childhood dreams that we would always be together were... just not meant to be.*" She closed her eyes, took a long breath, then continued. "Mitsuha was needed to save this world and protect your people... while I was meant for an ordinary life," she said, with a twinge of regret. "I get it... not all of us get to be the hero. I just thought that... if I could build this one small winery in her county... leave my mark, even if a little... then the next time she saved your Kingdom from a big dragon or invading army or whatever comes along, then when it was time to celebrate your victory... it would be with the wine from that little winery. That way... maybe... she might still remember me... and I'll still be a part of her life, even if it's a world away."

*see The Ones We Leave Behind Epilogue

After a moment, Count Bozes gave Michiko a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I think I speak for all of us... regardless of the circumstances how it came to be... we're all happy that you're a part of our lives."

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Beatrice pouted as she stared at the nearly-completely black Reversi board as Iris did her best not to gloat. Well, at least not too much... Iris thought with a touch of satisfaction. A little adversity is how Beatrice would grow stronger, she told herself.

Just then, Rufus the butler came into the room. "My Lady, the guards outside inform me that we have a visitor."

Rather late for a visitor , Iris thought. Claus and the rest of his group should be back soon from the military demonstration, though they could have stopped somewhere for drinks afterwards, she speculated. "Did they give a name?"

"The guards say the young man's name is Daniel Lafette. He wants a word with Michiko Nakamura. Something about taking her to the Festival."

Iris' expression darkened at the news. Alexis and Theodore had brought their concerns to their parents earlier before they had left for the demonstration. Like the rest of the Bozes family, she had grown fond of Michiko in the past few months, commoner or not, and while she wasn't technically an orphan as Mitsuha was, until the latter returned, that was a distinction without a difference. In the end, she was still a child, just as alone in this world, which was how Iris saw her. A gifted one to be sure, but way too sweet and naive for her own good in this murky sea of plots and schemes among the nobility. She was tempted to have Rufus toss this young man back onto the street but decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Have him brought in," Iris said, with an outwardly sweet tone. Both Beatrice and Rufus, however, recognized the cold undertone just below the surface. Rufus smiled thinly as he headed towards the door, with a perhaps a hint of pity for the lad for what was to come. Beatrice put the game board away and put on her somber face for what she knew was to come. Despite her young age, she knew her mother enough to know when it was time to get serious about these matters.

"Mr. Daniel Lafette," Rufus announced, then stepped away. Unlike a more esteemed guest, Rufus didn't add any additional flourishes to the introduction, which said a great deal about what he thought about the situation.

Daniel walked into the foyer and looked around. He wasn't a bad-looking young man , Iris admitted to herself. I can see why Michiko would find him attractive... but it was important to find out this young man's intentions.

"Um... hello," Daniel started off. "I was hoping to speak with Michiko? I was told that she was employed here and wanted to invite her to come with me to the Festival?"

"Yes, well, Michiko is currently engaged elsewhere, but I'll certainly pass your invitation along," Iris assured him with a smile on her face. "I would like to know however, what your intentions to her would be."

Daniel was taken slightly aback by the question. "N-nothing improper, I assure you! I just thought I would take her to the lighting ceremony, then maybe have a drink at the town square toasting, then right back home. Nothing that would compromise her in any way," he swore.

Iris sized him up. If he was faking, he's a good actor. "As I said, we'll pass your message to her. It will be her choice if she accepts."