I bumped into a man who claimed to be the next lord of the small frontier city of Urinacombe, Riknas, at the Central Agency Frontier Bureau.
　His age was younger than me... probably still in his teens.
　His somewhat petite body seemed to give him a strong impression.

　We just briefly dodged a greeting.
Now, Mr. Gossage, please go into this room.
Mr. Licnas, please join me in this room.
　I was ushered into a separate room.

'Then,'
Bye.
　We exchanged a brief greeting and Riknas and I each walked into the room we were led to.

　In front of me sat a young female employee.
'Thank you for your time today, Master Gossage,'
　The female staff member stood up from her seat and bowed reverently.
''Well, I will now go through the procedures for the frontier city training...''
　As soon as she said that, the female employee sat down and immediately asked Unja and I to be seated as well.

　As I sat down, the female employee told me
You'll need to sign this form first.
　After saying this, he handed me a sheet of paper.
　This paper was labeled "Consent to Participate in Frontier City Training Program" and it had a preprinted message to the effect that he would admit to participating in this training program.
　By signing this form, he was expressing his willingness to participate in the frontier city training program.

　After signing the first document
Oh, so this is what the process is all about.
　It wasn't long before I thought, "I'm not going to do this.
　The female staff member put the documents in front of me one after the other, one after the other, with a ridiculous amount of thickness.
　It's a lot of work just to look through them, but on top of that, they want me to decide on an elective course.
　I hadn't heard such a thing beforehand, so I was very confused.
Don't worry, everyone will listen to a thorough explanation before making a choice... that's why I'm here.
　That's what the female staff member said to me, and that finally calmed my impatient feelings a bit.

　After all, it was nearly five hours after I was sent to the room that I finished looking through all the relevant documents and signing all the papers.

Yes, that's all for now. Thank you for your hard work.
　The female employee smiled at me like she was used to, but as for me, I was in a state of exhaustion.

　Meanwhile, Unja, sitting next to me, has been sitting still with her eyes open, not moving, and she's dozing off.
　Well, Unja wasn't good at this kind of paperwork to begin with.......
　I kept wondering if I would have rather had them wait for me outside.

　When I finally got out of the room and was about to leave the frontier station
Mr. Gossage, I have a note for you.
　Then the woman at the reception desk handed me a piece of paper.

　It was from the next lord of Urinacombe, Riknas.

I'll tell you all about it.

　That's all it said.

　The lord of Urinacombe is always rumored to be the puppet of the dark winning voice, and I had heard that this is why it is difficult to be promoted to a frontier city, but the fact that the next lord of Urinacombe, Riknas, came to receive training in a frontier city like this, I was somewhat interested.

　........If you have the time, it might be good to listen to what he has to say.

　I thought so, but...
　I couldn't help thinking that they should at least write down the place to stay.


　By the way, I heard that Riknas finished all the procedures in about 10 minutes after the explanation started, and he was waiting for me to come out for a while.
　When I heard that story, I thought it was amazing that he finished going through that amount of paperwork in 10 minutes...
"Mr. Licnas didn't ask for any explanations, he just signed the papers and left.
　It seems to be that........what?　Is that what you want?

　The copies of all the documents you signed today have been handed to you, so you can check them later, but checking the contents after you sign them.......

　I couldn't help but chuckle as I put the pile of today's materials I had just received into the magic bag on my hip.


◇ ◇ ◇.

　If I had intended to, I would have gone to the Three Dragons Pavilion, a restaurant I've frequented since I lived in Wangdu, for lunch, but I was too busy at the Central Office Frontier Bureau to take my time and there was no time to relax.

　We had no choice but to give up on the meal at the Three Dragons Pavilion and found a bakery nearby and ran over to it.
Welcome. You don't look like you've never seen a customer, do you?　If you'd like, please continue to be my patron.
　The girl standing in front of the stall smiled at me.

　There wasn't much bread left in the stall, which was already getting ready to close, but it still smelled quite tasty.
　Even Una seemed to like the smell, sniffing and wagging her tail.

　Anyway, I bought one of the deep-fried bread-like items first, and Unja and I took a bite of it on the spot.

...Yes, this is quite good.

　Even though we were hungry, it's a very tasty bread, this one.
　I bought about six more loaves of bread at random.
Wow, I'm so glad you bought so much bread at this time.
　The girl is smiling happily as she says this.

　The girl puts the bread she bought in a paper bag in bulk.
I'm Coronea, and I run a bread stall here a couple of days a week, so keep up the good work.
　I smiled at that.

　I told the girl - Coronea that I'll be back, and I hurried down the street with Unja.

　After all, the time for the carriage appointment with Dengo is quite close.
　I was determined not to bother her suddenly from the first day, so Unja and I rode almost at a gallop down the street from the middle.

　Thanks to that, we somehow managed to get back to the Quinn Trading Company just in time for the appointment.
　Then Dengo.
Well, I don't think I'm that strict, so you can take it easy next time.
　He said to me, feeling horrified and breathing heavily on his shoulder.

　So, it was time to leave, and Wunya and I were waiting in the reception room in the Quinn Trading Company for a while.

　In fact, I heard that Quinn was supposed to ride with us on this carriage flight back to his residence, but he hasn't come back yet.
The young lady is probably having a long business meeting.
　Drinking tea in front of me, Dengo bobbed his head apologetically.
I'm really sorry that Lady Gossage rushed you into this.
　He told me so.
　I told him not to worry about it, that work was a priority for me.

　So.

　After all, we hadn't had lunch yet, and Unna and I were pretty hungry after all, having only eaten one piece of bread.
　Even though it was nearing dinner time, we couldn't help being hungry, so we asked Mr. Dengo
Please don't tell Mr. Menoko.
　With that said, we both started to eat the bread we had just bought at Coronea's store.

　Yes, it's still delicious.
　Unna too.
Hey, little girl, we hit the jackpot.
　He is enthusiastically munching on a piece of bread as he says this.

　Then Dengo-san.
'Mr. Gossage you would have to ask for a bribe to keep that snacking a secret from Menoko?　May I?
　He smiles and tries to reach for the bread.

　Apparently, we were eating so well that he wanted to have one himself.
　I told Dengo-san.
Now, take your pick and please don't tell anyone.
　I said that and smiled at him.
　Dengo smiled at me, too, and took a piece of seasoned bread and brought it to his mouth.
　Then Dengo-san
Mmm, I suppose I shouldn't tell anyone when I've been given such good bread.
　He said that and laughed out loud.
　Unja and I couldn't help but laugh at Dengo-san.

　Suddenly the reception room of the Quinn Company was filled with the sound of laughter.