Sugar Apple Fairytale - Volume 5 - Chapter 5.1

Chapter 5

ALL HANDS ON DECK

King, Orlando, Valentine, and Nadir had all gone back to Millsfield to retrieve the stone hand mills.

Challe had volunteered to escort them, so Anne felt confident leaving the task to them. However, the round trip would take one full day.

While they were gone, Elliott, Anne, and Mithril Lid Pod carried all the available firewood to the second floor of the east wing. Danna and Hal also lent a hand in their spare moments between chores.

They piled as much firewood as they could in the hearth of the room where the silver sugar was stored, and they lit a fire. Then they gathered up some iron buckets, placed hot coals in each of them, and set them here and there around the space.

The room grew stiflingly hot, and the air dried out. In the midst of the furious rain, a dense plume of smoke rose from the chimney in the roof of the castle’s east wing.

Hugh came around again that afternoon. He had returned to Lewiston and had been receiving breathless reports one after another since that morning.

He’d heard from Harrington Province, which included Lewiston, and from neighboring Charmae Province, from Sant Province, and from the north of Rockwell Province. At all the workshops in those regions, their silver sugar had hardened in the same way.

After hearing about the Paige Workshop’s response to the situation and seeing their work in person, Hugh asked just one question.

“Will you make it?”

“We will,” Elliott promised him.

Late that night, the wagon returned, stacked with stone hand mills.

They set up the mills—five in total—in one of the rooms on the second floor. Naturally, after making the round trip between Lewiston and Millsfield and then carrying five mills up to the second floor, the candy crafters were totally exhausted. Elliott saw this and let the four of them go to bed early.

Elliott and Anne stayed up, throwing wood on the fire, topping up the charcoal, and keeping an eye on the transformation of the silver sugar.

They had placed thick fabric across the entire floor of the stiflingly hot room, and on top of the fabric, they spread out the solidified silver sugar. The silver sugar, which had formed clumps as large as a person’s head, made craggy little hills where they piled it. Due to the number of barrels, it was enough to fill the whole room.

After being in the heat for more than half a day, Anne and Elliott were getting dizzy.

At just past midnight, Anne sighed deeply and plopped herself down at the end of the hallway. Somehow or other, the silver sugar was drying out as planned.

From atop Anne’s shoulder, Mithril asked with concern, “Anne, do you need water? Should I go get some?”

“Yes, please. Thanks.”

She had been running around all day carrying wood, moving the silver sugar, and making sure the fire didn’t go out. She hadn’t had time for meals, and she was so worn out that she didn’t feel like eating anyway.

But the room was incredibly hot, and she was desperately thirsty.

Mithril immediately went to the kitchen to get water. Just as he left, Elliott came out of the room where they were drying the silver sugar.

He took a seat next to Anne, wiping the sweat from his brow and letting out a long breath. He leaned back against the wall.

Then suddenly, he spoke.

“Ah…the rain. It stopped.”

Now that he mentioned it, Anne didn’t hear it anymore. She halfway rose to her feet and glanced through the window at the sky. From time to time, a thin sliver of the moon peeked out through the gaps between the dark, drifting clouds.

“So it did.” Anne sat again, somewhat relieved.

“But the silver sugar is already hard, so we’ve got to get it back to normal…”

“Even so, if it had continued raining, then the stuff we dried and remilled would just go bad again. The humidity will decrease in two or three days, so it shouldn’t spoil a second time. If we can keep it drying overnight, we’ll have enough to mill a portion of it in the morning.”

“You’re right. For now, that’s good news.”

The stone floor of the hallway where they were sitting was quite chilly, but at the moment, it felt good to Anne.

“We can’t let the fire go out, so I’ll keep watch,” Elliott said. “You go get some sleep, Anne. There’s not much time before morning.”

“I can’t let you do that.”

“Running a girl ragged feels wrong, though.”

“But I am the head candy crafter.”

Elliott laughed jovially at her answer. “You’re a stubborn one, all right! Fine, then we’ll take shifts, okay?”

“Okay.”

Anne felt like it was the right time to ask about something that had been bothering her the whole day, brewing in the depths of her heart. Right now, the two of them were alone. Elliott might tell her the truth.

“Mr. Collins?” she began.

“What is it? You’re making a frightfully serious face. Is this a love confession or something?”

“No way! Nothing like that. It’s about the First Holy Festival… Will we finish in time?”

Elliott looked up at the ceiling and sighed.

“We can expect drying the silver sugar and remilling it to take a week. That’s what the Silver Sugar Viscount said. But frankly, I’m not so confident. At any rate, we don’t have enough candy crafters. We’re working with a tight deadline and a skeleton crew. A loss of seven days is huge. And since we aren’t going to get any more time, I really wish we had two or three more able crafters. We might make it, but…”

“Couldn’t we call in anyone from some of the Paige Workshop’s smaller branches?”

“Our subsidiaries are scattered throughout the whole kingdom, so they’re not exactly at hand. Just getting them here would take over two months. There are a couple of workshops nearby, for what it’s worth, but they’re not on good terms with one another. And what’s more, each of them has quarreled with the main workshop before. We can’t rely on them. But just think about it—think about the work that we’re doing here. Even if we called in help, if they weren’t skilled candy crafters, we’d be lucky if they could help with kneading the sugar dough. I doubt they would add much to our capabilities.”

If the Paige Workshop had been the head of a larger faction, they probably wouldn’t have been in such a bind. They could have had their branch workshops in regions unaffected by the humidity send them extra silver sugar. But their branches were few in number and scattered far and wide, so just getting together their silver sugar would easily take two months.

The Mercury Workshop, which was preparing the reserve statues for the festival, commanded a much larger faction. Apparently, they were indeed gathering up silver sugar from their branch workshops at that very moment.

Hugh had said that, with the authority of the Silver Sugar Viscount, it was possible for him to issue orders to either the Radcliffe or the Mercury Workshop and make them lend silver sugar to the Paige Workshop. But if they accepted his help, they were sure to be at a disadvantage in the following year’s Selection.

The ability to obtain silver sugar was one measure of a workshop’s strength. The state church wouldn’t knowingly select a workshop that couldn’t secure enough of it. Supposing it was a close choice between several excellent sculptures, the workshop that had a history of trouble obtaining silver sugar, even if it had only happened once, would be rejected first.

“What about Keith?” asked Anne. “He would probably come. And he’s quite skilled.”

“That won’t work. Even if he wanted to, Master Radcliffe wouldn’t allow it. That’s just how the factions are.”

“So then we need someone skilled who’s not in a faction…”

Suddenly, Elliott’s eyes lit up. “That’s it! Him!” He leaned forward, put both hands on Anne’s shoulders, and shook her. “We can get him to work with us. He has no connection to any faction, and his shop never gets any business, so we don’t have to feel bad about pulling him away. Plus, he’s undeniably skilled! Kat’s the one, Anne!”

“Kat?”

Certainly, Kat would be the most reliable help they could ask for.

“Right now, I believe he’s set up shop in Southcent. You can get there in half a day from Lewiston. Anne, I want you to go fetch him. If you make the request, he may well agree to hear you out.”

The look in Elliott’s eyes was uncharacteristically earnest. He knew that as things stood, there was absolutely no way they would finish on time. But with Kat’s help, they would have a chance.

Anne nodded. “Got it. I’ll go get Kat!”

The following morning, before the sun had even risen in the sky, a dapple-gray horse belonging to the Paige Workshop was led out into the courtyard. This horse was their youngest and fastest, and he was accustomed to Challe.

The candy crafters needed to continue their work, so Challe was going to take Anne with him and ride to Southcent.

Elliott and the other four candy crafters, plus Mithril Lid Pod and even Danna and Hal, had come out into the courtyard to see them off.

The dead grass, inundated with rainwater, was frozen and crunchy. When the rain stopped, the temperature suddenly dropped; beads of moisture remained frozen, dangling from the tips of blades of grass and tree branches.

But the sunlight was back.

Perhaps because it had been washed clean by the rain, the forest—with its tangled ivy and thorny shrubs—looked somehow refreshed. The frozen raindrops reflected the sunlight, and the cold castle garden was incredibly bright.

“Go with confidence. We will do the work properly,” Orlando said coolly.

The other three nodded vigorously.

Mithril, who was standing on Elliott’s shoulder, threw out his chest. “The great Mithril Lid Pod is here, so don’t you worry!”

“We’re counting on you, Anne,” Elliott said.

“I’ll bring him back with me,” she promised. “I won’t fail.”

Then after looking at each of the four candy crafters’ faces, Anne walked toward the dapple-gray horse. Challe was already straddling the saddle. He took Anne’s hand, pulled her up, and set her in front of him. She sat protected between Challe’s arms, but the horse was taller than she’d expected, and it was a little scary.

“Please look after Noah, okay? Danna, Hal.” She made the request from atop the horse.

Danna and Hal both said they would.

Noah was still in Anne’s bed, refusing to even look at the food they brought him. The day before, as busy as she had been, Anne had nevertheless gone to visit Noah’s bedside numerous times during her breaks. But it had been of no use. Now Anne was anxious about leaving his side. As head candy crafter, however, this was a time when Anne had to fulfill her own duties.

“Let’s go,” Challe said brusquely, then kicked the horse’s sides.

The horse started walking, and Anne looked back toward the west wing of the castle. She could see Glen’s figure in the window of the third-floor hallway. He was staring down at her. She was sure that Elliott had told him of the situation.

She bowed silently to Glen, who appeared like he had something to say.

Then when she turned her gaze back ahead, she spotted Bridget standing at the top of the hill. The other girl panicked and rushed to hide behind a tree. She seemed to think that she hadn’t been noticed, so for her sake, Anne pretended not to know she was there. But she glanced at her out of the corner of her eye.

Bridget was watching Anne and Challe leave, and she seemed anxious about it.

I wonder if she’s worried about Challe? Or maybe she’s concerned about whether we’ll finish in time for the First Holy Festival? Or could it be both?

They descended the hill, dodging briars and fallen trees. Then from behind her, Challe informed Anne, “We’re going to speed up now. Are you ready?”

He closed his arms around Anne’s body, as if to protect her, and leaned forward slightly. Her heart started pounding at the sensation of Challe embracing her from behind. She was glad that she had her back to him, so he wouldn’t notice that her face was red.

“Yeah. Ready,” she answered, and Challe kicked the horse’s sides hard.

It was unusually cool for late autumn. Anne was wearing a winter dress with a high collar and had several coats layered on top. Under her skirt, she wore woolen pants, and topping it all off, she had the cape Kat had given her draped over her shoulders.

Even so, she was still cold. The wind blew up her skirt and chilled her. The air was frosty enough to cut into her cheeks.

The horse’s hooves kicked the beads of ice that had formed at the tip of each blade of grass up into the air.

Bridget watched Anne and Challe mount their horse and descend the hill.

I hope Kat comes back with them.

She couldn’t help wishing for their success.

The candy crafters’ movements had been hectic since the previous morning. Bridget was naturally curious about what was going on, but the candy crafters wouldn’t tell her. And so she had eavesdropped when Elliott went to Glen’s room to make his report. That was how she found out about the silver sugar.

Glen and the candy crafters had been ignoring her, but she wasn’t hoping for them to fail. The Paige Workshop was a source of pride for Bridget. If it became a laughingstock, she wouldn’t be able to bear it.

Just as the horse that Challe and Anne were riding disappeared from her field of vision—

“Bridget.”

—someone gently embraced her shoulders from behind. It was Gladys. Startled, Bridget looked back over her shoulder.

“Gladys. How did you know I was here?”

“I couldn’t find you, so I searched for you from the windows on the third floor.”

Gladys’s words were tender and pleasant. But strangely, when he wasn’t in sight, that pleasantness didn’t linger in her mind at all.

And yet Challe’s words, when he had gently told her to wise up, were stuck in her mind like a thorn forever. She would be happy, she thought, if only Gladys’s pleasant words would remain with her, leaving her always feeling satisfied. The fact that they didn’t frustrated her.

“You’re worried about the Paige Workshop, aren’t you?” Gladys whispered into Bridget’s ear. “But the candy crafters are cold to you. They don’t understand you at all. Even though you’re so kind.”

“It’s always been that way. I’m used to it.”

“You’re so cute, Bridget. I love you.”

Gladys smiled. He put his arms gently around Bridget’s waist and hugged her tight.

“I’m so glad that you are my mistress.”

Bridget was happy about Gladys’s attitude—relieved, even. She touched one of his hands, which had wrapped itself around her waist, and found that it was cold.

Challe’s hands were cold, too.

The memory struck her suddenly, and she became irritated with herself for recalling it. She wondered why she couldn’t just fill her mind up with thoughts of Gladys holding her like this. Gladys was so beautiful and kind. And yet his kindness stemmed from the fact that she was in possession of his wing. She was well aware of that.

Even so, this is much better than Challe, who was cold and harsh even when I had his wing.

As she thought this, something whispered in the depths of her heart, asking, Are you sure?

The royal capital of Lewiston was located in Harrington Province, and at the province’s southernmost tip was a port town called Southcent. The town sat at the end of a small peninsula with a warm current flowing offshore. Thanks to that, even in the depths of winter, hardly any snow ever accumulated there.

It didn’t look like any rain had fallen in Southcent. There were no traces of rainwater carving grooves into the soil, and the air was moderately dry.

The town was centered on the port, built on terrain shaped like one-half of a bowl. Stone houses with low eaves covered the slopes, which spread gently upward from the bowl’s bottom.

“Do you know where I can find the shop of the Silver Sugar Master Alph Hingley?”

A little past midday, Anne and Challe arrived at what seemed to be the center of Southcent—a marketplace that stretched along the port. Just as they’d heard from their resident walking encyclopedia, Valentine, the town was quite warm. Warm enough that Anne felt perfectly comfortable removing her cape and one coat.

Beside the marketplace was a wharf. The waves splashed gently against it, and the smell of salt water was strong.

The goods lined up along the wharf beneath oilcloth tents included freshly caught fish, shellfish, and seaweed. It was exciting just to look at the unusual foodstuffs. But they didn’t have time for leisurely sightseeing.

Because she was with Challe, Anne stood out quite a bit.

The frank people of the port town were openly surprised by Challe’s appearance, and the pair attracted a lot of interest. Anne stopped anyone who looked their way and asked about Kat, but every one of them seemed puzzled by the question.

Eventually, Anne found a housewife with a good-natured look about her, and yet again, she posed the question she had already repeated countless times.

“Do you know where I can find the shop of the Silver Sugar Master Alph Hingley?”

“A Silver Sugar Master named Hingley? We don’t have anyone as impressive as that here. I’ve never heard of him.”

The housewife gave Anne the same answer as all the others. And just as they had, she kept glancing at Challe, who was standing silently behind Anne.

“I see… Thank you very much,” said Anne.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t help.”

“Oh, no, it’s all right.”

The housewife turned to walk away, and Anne’s shoulders drooped.

“I wonder if Kat is really living here. Is it possible he moved again?”

At this, the housewife stopped abruptly. She turned around, looking surprised. “Kat? The sugar candy maker?”

“You know him?!” Anne ran over to her.

“If you’re talking about Kat the candy maker, I know him. If you go straight up that hill, there’s a house. Was there a sign…? Now I can’t remember. The house has a red roof. It’s in between a clothing shop and a liquor store.”

“Thank you so much! That’s a huge help. Let’s go, Challe.”

Anne was about to take off running when the housewife called out to stop her.

“Wait, young lady! Do you mean to tell me that this ‘Silver Sugar Master Alph Hingley’ of yours is our Kat?!”

“That’s right.”

“You mean that man is as splendid a crafter as all that?! He’s a Silver Sugar Master?!”

Anne left behind the shocked, flustered housewife, and together with Challe, she ascended the hill the woman had pointed out to them.

The road leading up the hill was roughly paved with stones, and it was uneven and bumpy. Slender houses stood densely packed on both sides, their eaves all in a row. It might have been Southcent’s main shopping district, but the road was still narrow. Anne and Challe had to leave their horse with someone at the bottom.

After walking up the road for a while, they found a house with a red roof sandwiched between a clothier and a liquor store. There was no sign out. The window glass was filthy, and they couldn’t see inside the shop. The door seemed to be a poor fit for its frame and was standing slightly open because it wouldn’t close all the way. The place looked like it had already gone under. In a word, it was shabby.

“Oh, Kat…,” Anne mumbled. “As always, you can’t tell if he wants to do business or not…”

Beside her, Challe was looking over the exterior of the house. “It’s a little bit better than the last one.”

“Yeah, I suppose…”

The name Alph Hingley was widely known among candy crafters. He was said to possess skills on par with the Silver Sugar Viscount, and he was famous enough that Anne had known his name for a long time.

Despite that, very few people had ever gotten Kat to make any sugar candy for them. That was because, sometimes, he wouldn’t make anything even when someone asked. He was determined to do work for only those he wanted to do work for.

What’s more, he took the financial standing of his customers into account and sold his pieces for very little, no matter how complex the creations were.

As a result, despite being a magnificently skilled Silver Sugar Master, Kat lived in poverty.

He had previously set up shop in Lewiston, but his dwelling at the time had been terribly dilapidated. He had hung his sign out in front of the ramshackle candy shop, but the appearance of the place had likely discouraged many potential customers.

Challe was right—compared with before, Kat’s current residence was an improvement. But he had no sign outside.

“Kat?”

Anne opened the door and peeked in. The gloomy interior of the shop was deserted. There was a counter in the back, but that was all. Aside from the counter, there was nothing there. It looked more like an empty storehouse than a shop.

There was a little fairy sitting on top of the counter. It was Benjamin, with his soft green ringlets, nodding off drowsily. He seemed to be minding the shop, but he wasn’t doing a very good job. Not that the shop really needed minding anyway.

“Benjamin, hello.”

Once they were inside, Anne spoke quietly to the fairy on the counter.

Benjamin blearily opened his eyes. “What’s this? You kind of look like Anne…”

“I am Anne, Benjamin. It’s nice to see you.”

“You are? Oh, so you are. And Challe is here, too. What a surprise. What are you doing in a place like this?”

Benjamin giggled and stood up. He didn’t look surprised at all. His pink cheeks were adorable, like a little girl’s.

“We came because we have a request for Kat,” said Anne. “Is he in?”

“Yep, he’s here. Oh, Kaaat! We have a lovely customer!”

Benjamin had turned to a door behind the counter leading to the back of the shop and called out. Then they heard a clattering noise, and the door opened.

“A customer?”

Kat emerged wearing a sullen expression. As always, his slim body was clad in clean and stylish clothes decorated with embroidery at the collar and wrists. His features were aristocratic and a little cold. His glossy, silvery-gray hair reminded Anne of a graceful cat with a long, elegant tail.

His eyes, the color of a clear blue sky, reflected the figures of Anne and Challe.

“Oh… It’s you guys.” Kat looked back and forth between Anne and Challe, and his slanted, catlike eyes turned uncharacteristically affectionate. “So you got ’im back, huh? Challe, I mean.”

“Yes. Sorry for causing you so much worry. I’m really grateful to you, Kat.” Anne bobbed her head in a bow.

“That’s great news, shrimp. No need for thanks, though. I didn’t do a thing. So what’s up? You come to report his recapture to me or somethin’?”

“No, I have a favor to ask.”

Kat raised his thin eyebrows slightly. “A favor?”

“All sorts of things have happened, and now I’m working as the head candy crafter at the Paige Workshop.”

“Wow, head candy crafter?” said Benjamin with a buoyant smile. “That’s amazing, Anne. Congratulations!”

Anne offered only a bitter smile in return.

“Well, I’m not sure how much I’m actually helping them. But at the recent Selection, the Paige Workshop was chosen to create the sugar candy sculptures for the First Holy Festival. We’re currently renting a castle near Lewiston and are in the middle of making our sculptures there. But we’ve run into trouble because our silver sugar solidified, and we’ve fallen behind schedule. With the number of candy crafters we have now, it seems like we might not finish in time. We need help. So, Kat, I’m asking for your assistance. Will you come with us to Lewiston and lend us a hand?”

Kat crossed his arms. He looked annoyed.

“Sorry, but I don’t do those kinds of favors. I only make candy for people I want to make it for. And I’m not makin’ any for His Majesty the King or the clergy of the state church. I’ve got an order from the old lady who works at the mill. Her birthday’s comin’ up just after the New Year. She’s more of a priority for me than the king or the church.”

Kat didn’t make candy for just anyone. Now that Anne thought about it, he didn’t seem likely to agree to work for the king or the church. And if she asked him to do it for the sake of the Paige Workshop, he’d probably say, Why should I care?

Kat had his own convictions, and she was basically asking him to leave those behind.

What should I do…? I can’t just give up.

Anne recalled the faces of Elliott and the other candy crafters. She knew they were working frantically, trying to get the silver sugar into a usable state as quickly as possible.

“You won’t do it, no matter what?” asked Anne.

“I won’t.”

“But we need you, Kat.”

“I said I won’t do it, and that’s final.”

Anne thought for a minute, but the only words she could manage were hopelessly simple.

“Umm, are you really saying no?”

“Answer’s no. I won’t do it.”

For a while, Challe silently listened to the two of them endlessly repeating the same question and answer. Then all of a sudden, he called Kat’s name.

“Hey, Mr. Kat.”

Anne almost screamed.

Did he just call him Mr. Kat?! At a time like this—?!

“You trying to pick a fight now?” Kat glared sharply at Challe. “I know I taught you not to stick ‘Mister’ in front of my nickname, so don’t try an’ tell me you forgot!”

“Oh, I remember,” the fairy replied.

“So you meant to do that?!”

“I meant it.”

Kat brushed Anne aside and pressed in on Challe. He stuck his finger out and pointed it right at the tip of Challe’s nose.

“Why you…! So that other young lady couldn’t bully the attitude outta ya after all, eh?!”

Challe weathered Kat’s shouting with an unruffled expression.

“There’s no need to change my attitude,” Challe countered.

“Shameless!”

“By the way, I heard about this from Anne, but it sounds like you’re in the Silver Sugar Viscount’s debt.”

At Challe’s words, Kat looked alarmed.

“Debt?! What the heck’re you talkin’ about? That’s no debt! In the end, that dim-witted bastard never did anything about it anyway. That was just a little…mistake! A slipup!”

“And as a result of that mistake, did the Silver Sugar Viscount demand anything of you?”

A cold sweat started to bead on Kat’s forehead. “Uh, w-well……”

“And did you finish what was demanded of you?”

“Why should I tell you somethin’ like that?!”

“Was it something that would be awkward to speak of?”

“Of course not! I didn’t get it done yet, but I’m gonna! What’s this about anyway? You workin’ as the dim-witted bastard’s minion now?!”

“No. I’m merely asking questions.”

“Dammit, quit messin’ around! If I thought I could get away without doin’ it, I’d dance naked in the streets. But I promised, so there’s nothin’ I can do! I just gotta get it over with!!”

Kat cursed the absent Hugh as he ruffled his own bangs.

Anne was flabbergasted by Kat’s extreme agitation.

What exactly is being demanded of him…?

Apparently, Hugh asked Kat to do something that he hated even more than the idea of dancing around naked. Hugh had stated once that tormenting Kat had been his hobby for the past fifteen years. Anne didn’t know whether to be surprised by how well it was working or not.

But why was Challe suddenly asking about such a thing? He couldn’t simply be amusing himself. Not at a time like this.

“…Ah…!”