Episode 10
“Pardon? Why am I with you, Young Lord…”
Ah, I thought to myself. Wasn’t that attitude far too impudent? Given Aidan’s personality, it felt like something he might take offense to.
“Indeed. Even in your own view, it must feel like more than you deserve. You are merely a low-level employee, after all.”
“Ha, ha-ha. That’s true.”
“You and I will be recorded as the initial discoverers. In truth, that was the case anyway, and the knights at the Central Neodymium will align their stories with ours as well.”
“In order to hide the fact that they failed to report it themselves?”
“Yes.”
Of course, since we would have to visit the Central Neodymiums in the east, west, south, and north to find clues about Dad, being formed into a special investigation team wasn’t a bad thing.
Besides, if I remained on the investigation team, I might even be able to cover it up later if it turns out to be Dad’s doing.
“Then understand it as such. I’ll give you a ride home, so let’s head back to the carriage.”
Aidan turned toward the carriage as if he had said all he needed to say.
On top of having obtained only confirmation that Dad was the culprit, the footsteps carrying the heavy burden of being thrust into a special investigation team were as heavy as lead. All I had wanted was to find my dad.
It was right at that moment.
Rumble~ A loud noise echoed from deep inside my stomach.
And of all times, it happened right when other knights were nearby as well.
“…”
The knights tried hard to avert their gazes, ignoring my hunger.
Kind people, educated people.
Indeed, true to gentlemen possessing chivalry, they pretended not to notice a lady’s embarrassment.
Aidan is also a person who possesses noble dignity, so he wouldn’t tease me about something like this, right?
I stole a glance at Aidan in front of me. Even amid all this, he was walking with his back straight and unperturbed.
Whenever I look at him, it’s a textbook-standard posture straight out of an etiquette manual. My own back slumps even when I’m standing up.
Straightening my posture for no reason, I quickly climbed into the carriage.
“…What hour do you think it is, that you haven’t even had a meal yet?”
“…Th-If you’re a gentleman, shouldn’t you pretend not to hear something like this?”
“When it was that loud, how could I pretend not to hear it?”
Was it really that loud? In my embarrassment, I wrapped my bag around my stomach for no reason.
“Originally, before going to the Central Neodymium, I was planning to buy a strawberry crepe and eat it on the way. I just didn’t know Young Lord would be waiting in front of my house.”
“…Are you saying it’s because of me?”
“Well, rather than blaming anyone…”
I’m just saying that’s how it was.
At that moment, feeling like my stomach was about to make another sound, I held my breath with all my strength and clutched my stomach, but the sound leaked out once again.
Without hiding his pathetic look, he clicked his tongue and turned his head away. No, really, feeling hungry is a natural physiological phenomenon—does he really have to look at me so pathetically like that?
I felt a little wronged, but at any rate, Aidan had come to pick me up out of his own consideration for me, so let’s just let it slide.
I should just go home and eat that dried-up slice of bread I bought a few days ago.
Just how long had we been riding like that?
“…Get down.”
“Ah, did we already arrive at my house?”
“That couldn’t be. Your house is further in from here.”
Then why is he telling me to get down?
Ah, ah, coming to pick me up was to save his own time, and now from here on out, since it would be a waste of his time, he must be telling me to go on my own.
“Yes, then I’ll see you when I report to work on Monday.”
Just as I bowed my head and turned to leave, a large hand grabbed my collar.
“What are you talking about? You said you were hungry.”
Aidan spoke, gesturing toward a shop with his chin.
“Strawberry crepe. Isn’t it this shop?”
At Aidan’s words, when I looked around, it really was the park where the crepe shop I frequented was located.
“Huh? How did you know?”
“When you’ve been carrying around crepe bags from this shop for all three years of the academy, how could I not know? I’m not an idiot.”
“It wasn’t for all three years, though.”
…Come to think of it, he might be right?
“At any rate, you worked hard over the weekend. And since you’ll continue to work hard in the future, I’ll buy it for you. Though it’s far too cheap to call it buying you something.”
Too cheap, you say! I saved and saved my tiny allowance just to buy and eat that.
“What are you doing? Are you not going to eat?”
“I’ll eat! Can I eat two?”
“…”
Aidan handed over 2 gold without a word.
***
As soon as Monday arrived, Aidan reported to the Emperor that the artifact guarding the Central Neodymium had vanished.
“A Special Audit Department?”
“Yes. Since the gem of the gate and the core made from it are secrets to the public, we can’t create a ‘Core Special Investigation Team’, can we?”
At Aidan’s words, I readily agreed.
“Since both of us belong to the Accounting Department, that certainly works better for nominal purposes.”
“That’s right. At any rate, because of that, we will be using this place starting today.”
Just like that, we received a separate vacant room.
The other departments seemed quite busy, perhaps having gone into an emergency state over the suddenly created Special Audit Department.
“The closest place is the Eastern Central Neodymium, so going there would be best, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, anything is fine with me. Are we leaving right away?”
“I intend to. Why?”
“Then on the way, could we stop by Robeang Village?”
“Why there again? It doesn’t seem like there’s anything more to look into.”
“The work log I brought last time. I have to return it.”
Of course it wasn’t the original, but I couldn’t keep holding onto it indefinitely.
“After all, it’s a large quantity to carry around all by myself.”
“Can’t you just send a parcel?”
This is why rich people are…
Does he even know how much money it would cost to send all those notebooks when he says that?
“It’s on the way anyway, isn’t it?”
“Are you saying you’re going to use my carriage as a transport vehicle now?”
“I don’t necessarily mean it like that. Returning it on the way saves time and saves money. It’s a gain in many ways.”
Aidan values efficiency above all else. The type who extremely dislikes wasting time. After pondering my words carefully, he ultimately nodded his head.
Great, I was wondering how to return all those work logs anyway, so I was glad to have gained a good means in Aidan.
“Ha, fine, well. It’s not difficult.”
In the end, following my plan, we headed toward Robeang Village.
“I’ll stay here, so just return it and come back.”
“Yep, I’ll be right back.”
Jingle. At the sound of the bell, the interior of the mercenary group, which hadn’t changed much at all, welcomed me.
“What’s this, is that Cynthia?”
Yawning and scratching her head, Helena stretched her arms up high.
“Did you come to return the work log?”
“That’s right. Thanks to you, I looked through it well.”
“Nothing special in it?”
“Yes, well…”
At my answer, Helena also nodded.
“There shouldn’t be another unfortunate incident where a gate occurs again; I’m worried.”
“Th-That’s right. By the way, the mercenary group is quiet today, isn’t it? Did everyone go out on assignments?”
“Ah, no. There’s Theodor in our mercenary group. This week is his daughter’s wedding. Saying he didn’t have a single suit to wear to the wedding, they all went together to the tailor shop across the street.”
Helena let out a chuckle and handed me a cup of tea.
“Since everyone does mercenary work, they only have comfortable clothes to move around in. Besides, it’s the first time among us that someone’s child is getting married, so it seems they want to go dressed up properly.”
“…The first time?”
“Yeah. Theodor married on the earlier side, to begin with.”
“No, not that… What about Theodor’s son?”
At my question, Helena tilted her head. Her uncombed, tangled brown hair tumbled down in a mess.
“A son for Theodor? He only has a daughter. An precious only daughter, at that.”
“I-I have to go.”
“Huh? Hey, finish your tea before you go!”
I heard Helena’s shout, but there was no time to explain.
“What is it, why are you running?”
“Just a moment, Dad’s diary is in here!”
I pulled the diary out from my bag left in the carriage and flipped through it.
[Theodor wore to his son Edward’s wedding…]
It clearly said his son Edward, didn’t it?
Theodor has only a daughter. It wasn’t that he wrote the name Theodor incorrectly, either.
“Could it be…”
Tearing out a blank page from the diary, I began writing down the names appearing from the very first page, one by one.
[Derick, Alisa, Damie, Gilbert, Owen, Elias, Seth, Bastian, Eden, Yohan, Oswald, Nathan, Dante, Thomas, Helena, Eric, Gabriel, Arthur, Theodore, Edward]
“What are you doing right now? Did you find out something?”
“Wait, just a moment.”
I felt like I was starting to realize something.
I stared intently at the names I had written down. There was no separate rule. What on earth was it? The reason Dad created a figure named Edward…
“Ah. Ah-ah!”
And soon, when I read the sentence Dad had hidden, I covered my mouth.
[Dad goes beyond the gate.]
My dad went beyond the gate.
