"Huh? We did make it small!" Emil replied, staring at me in puzzlement. "See, the fish is small, and we gave you a little less salad."
Well, now that you mention it, I can tell you gave me a little less, but I would have been fine with less than half of what you prepared.
"Um…p-perhaps it really is too much…? If you can't finish it, please feel free to leave some behind…"
"..."
I was silenced before I could say anything.
Standing next to Nino, Emil was glaring at me. And his eyes said,
"Don't you dare leave any behind."
I ate it. I cleaned my plate, in fact. It truly was a very delicious meal, but I only tasted the first few bites. After that, it became a chore of cramming the remaining amount into my stomach. What a waste.
"Thanks for the meal! That was really delicious, Nino."
"Th-thank you…very much." Nino gave an embarrassed little bow.
"I'll clean up the dishes…" She stood up and gathered the plates and glasses. Emil lent a hand, as if it was a matter of course.
In that case, I'll help, too. I started to stand up, but again Emil turned to me with a smile and said, "Oh, you're fine, miss."
As the two of them headed for the kitchen, I posed a question to the village chief. "Where did you meet Miss Nino?"
After draining the rest of the water in his glass, the village chief answered me. "I bought her in the Orient," he said, as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.
Bought. In other words… "She's a slave?"
"Mm. I got her several years ago. My wife left us, and for a while, I couldn't handle all the housework."
"..."
There was plenty that I wanted to say, but I refrained. Silently, I prompted him to continue.
"Back in those days, I traveled to the East from time to time for work, and that's where I found her. The price was a little higher than I would have preferred, but she was adequate at housework, and more importantly, she had a nice face and looked like she would grow up to be a beautiful woman. I bought her without a second thought, and it was a good decision. She's made a fine maid."
The chief let out a vulgar laugh.
"Does Emil know?"
"I think I told him, but he doesn't seem to mind much that his playmate is a slave."
Emil had said the village chief had "found" Nino, so he might not have realized she was a slave.
But even if Nino had been bought, I had a feeling that Emil wouldn't change his behavior toward her at all. He seemed to treat everyone the same.
Nino returned quietly from the kitchen the moment our conversation broke off, glanced at our glasses to make sure they were empty, and then cleared them one by one from the table. She kept her head down the whole time. I think she had overheard our conversation.
"Hey, Nino, where should I put this big plate, again?"
"Eek…!"
There was an ear-splitting crash.
Emil had suddenly come out of the kitchen, and Nino had collided with him on her way back in, dropping the glasses in her hands.
Shards of all sizes were scattered around their feet.
"What the hell are you doing?!" the chief roared from across the table. He stood up in a rage and grabbed the stupefied Nino by the lapels of her apron. "Clean this up immediately, you worthless girl!
How long will I have to wait before you can complete all of your tasks perfectly?!"
"I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"
"Stop it, Father! That was my fault, wasn't it?! Don't just blame Nino—"
"Shut your mouth, boy!" Emil shuddered and hung his head.
Apparently deciding he had yelled enough, the chief let go of Nino and jerked his chin toward the glass. "Clean that up."
With tears welling in her eyes, Nino nodded and bowed over and over to the two of them and to me. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…," she repeated, as if the words were a spell to protect her.
This is extremely unpleasant. Really, this is so uncomfortable. I pushed back my chair, crouched over the wreckage of the glasses, and pulled out my wand. "This isn't bad at all. As long as you have all the pieces, you don't need to clean it up."
I used a convenient time-reversing spell designed to fix wounds and repair things. A white mist-like substance brushed the transparent shards. As time reversed, the pieces gathered together, then returned to their original form.
I handed the restored glasses to Nino. "Next time, be careful not to drop them, okay?"
I could tell she had no idea what had just happened.
"Oh, thank you. You fixed the glasses even after witnessing that disgrace," the village chief interjected from beside me in a calm voice. "Hey, you thank her, too."
Wait, you shouldn't force people to say thank you.
"…I'm sorry." What's more, Nino had missed the point and said the wrong thing. She was bowing deeply.
"Don't apologize, say thank you, Nino," I said.
Nino raised her head and choked out the words in a tearful voice.
"Thank you…very much."