Chapter 9 (1/2)

“…and there you have it.”

A little later, after having breakfast — a fancy one, of course — with everyone, I brought the three of us to my room and gave them a simple explanation of my exchange and agreement with Leon.

“I understand. I’ll go with whatever you decide, Chris.”

I thought I might meet some kind of opposition, but Palmira nodded so easily it was kind of a letdown.

But the problem was the one burying her head in the bed in agony: Aira.

“Oi oi, Aira, did you hear everything I said?”

“I heard you, okay–!? Ahh, jeez, wuuuh–”

Like I thought, learning that her tale-spinning didn’t fool Leon in the least seemed to have dealt a blow to her delicate heart.

‘Should I keep quiet about that?’ I wondered, but since I couldn’t explain things well, I had to walk them through the whole thing. And this was the result.

She looked pitiful, honestly. How should I put it? Aira is who she is. Will she be alright if I bring her along on this job?

While I mulled it over, she suddenly got up from the bed and came over to me.

“Be that as it may, Big Sister, for lying to Lord Leon… I won’t get the death penalty for disrespecting him, will I? I’ll be okay, right?”

“Well, I think so. I’ve already gone way, way past disrespect, and Palmira didn’t address him properly either.”

‘We’ll all be dead together,’ I said as I gently comforted Aira. Even so, she seemed to have come to terms with it and sat on the bed without a word.

“So, Aira, are you alright with what I just said?”

“Y–Yes. To be honest, I hate the idea of becoming a slave again, but I want the money… Besides, I’m not Palmira, but you saved me, Big Sister. If that’s what you’ve decided, I’m fine with it.”

The sincerity in her words moved me, just a little.

Then, at the same time, I thought,

It’s heavy.

Should I leave both of them behind and go by myself after all?

–

–

“Well, I suppose if you went alone, it would work. However — ”

I asked Leon about it after lunch.

The two of us went out onto the balcony off the dining hall to talk.

Or rather, the dining hall changed depending on whether it was morning, noon, or evening. Lunch was served in a room that looked out onto a balcony. It, too, was s.p.a.cious. But of course.

I didn’t realize it at all, since we arrived by carriage in the night, but the estate was built on high ground. From the balcony, I had an unbroken view of the entire crescent-shaped city and the walls encircling it.

The empty s.p.a.ce in the crescent was the harbor, where two large s.h.i.+ps were docked, even now.

From there, sweeping my gaze across the view, I could see the ocean and the horizon.

Perhaps because of today’s clear weather, there was no haze, so I could see far into the distance.

…I came from the other side of that ocean.

Would I return there someday?

“Miss Chris?”

Although I was the one who’d asked to talk, I’d lost myself in the view. Leon’s voice brought me back to the present.

When I turned in a hurry, Leon was looking at me with a peculiar expression on his face.

“Ah, yeah. My bad.”

I apologized for my impoliteness. At which point,

it was Leon, his expression still odd, who stiffened for a moment before he quickly continued speaking. What was that?

“Let me see… about what I wanted to say. Those two agreed so readily to go with you. I wonder if it isn’t a little pitiful for their feelings to be set aside?”

‘I’m saying this as the requester, however,’ he added with a wry smile.

“Is it like that, I wonder.”

“Isn’t it? Then let me put it this way… Would it be fine for the two of them to go without you?”

“No way.”

Fl.u.s.tered, I quickly shot down his unexpected suggestion.

Leon smiled knowingly and said,

“Right? That’s what I mean.”

–

–

In the end, though I was still conflicted, I accepted for all three of us.

It’s not like I was provoked by Leon’s smooth talk, alright?

When I met with the other two later, they were full of a strange kind of fighting spirit, and I didn’t have the heart to tell them I would go alone.

Of course, if I had made up my mind, I would have told them clearly that I was going alone regardless of how they felt.

But I was conflicted.

And this, in particular, wasn’t because Leon’s words had influenced me.

This time, I felt quite intensely that I’d dragged them into it.

If I was going to go alone, I should never have spoken with them in the first place.

Looking back on it now, it seemed like a regretful mistake. The way I discussed it with them, it was vaguely like I was offering them a consultation. Carelessly, before coming to a decision myself.

Frankly, it wasn’t like me. I wasn’t the type who didn’t give a s.h.i.+t about taking responsibility.

But on the other hand, I’d be leaving behind two people who’d fought for their lives alongside me. If I went alone, my heart still wouldn’t stay quiet.

…It’s not particularly because of what Leon said.

That afternoon, an explanation of the strategy was presented at the army barracks.

–

–

Compared to the estate that was sickeningly opulent everywhere you looked, the barracks had an appropriate simplicity to their interior design. For some reason, I found it a relief.

Led by Leon, Aira, Palmira, and I pa.s.sed one by one through the foyer, followed by a hall that doubled as a training area. The soldiers engaged in mock swordfights, the soldiers silently training their muscles, practically every one of them was staring at us.

After we got past them, I whispered to Leon,

“Oi, no matter how you look at it, isn’t that rude? Even though you’re the one taking us,”