Chapter 102 - 9
After the Viola docked, Franz and the others in the cabin were made to wait for a considerable amount of time.
Slightly irritated by the delay, Edward explained to Franz with a wry smile that cargo-passenger ships likely had various complicated procedures.
More than an hour after docking, after their travel permits and entry documents were checked by a Valerie port official who came to their cabin, Franz and the others finally set foot in the neighboring country of Luciana.
"Well, finally."
Edward said in his usual nonchalant tone. The way he was stretching and patting his lower back suggested it had grown quite tired.
Though he couldn't say it out loud, Edward was getting old. It couldn't be helped. In the first place, it was a mistake for Edward to have come this far.
But even if he said that, it was highly unlikely Edward would return to his home country. Franz was not one to engage in futile efforts.
"Now then, you two, could you accompany me a little longer?"
Having finished stretching, Edward turned to them with an unchanging, bright smile. Seeing that expression, it was impossible to refuse.
"Of course, Edward."
Lef, looking energetic and completely unfazed by a day on the ship, replied with a smile. Franz, having no intention of opposing, simply nodded silently.
"Our ride should be here soon, but…"
Even as he said this, Edward had already begun to walk slowly.
As Franz wondered if it was okay to move when they were supposed to be meeting someone, Edward, perhaps noticing his dubious expression, casually glanced towards the ship and gave a small lift of his chin.
Following his gaze, Franz saw a crewman watching them. It seemed they were wary of something. With narcotics on board, it was only natural for them to be on high alert.
To avoid suspicion, he slowly returned his gaze to Edward, who gave a slight nod and started walking again. His ability to naturally walk to a position out of sight of the crew from the ship they had just been on was impressive.
As he followed silently, Edward sat down at a table in a cafe on the corner of the port without a moment's hesitation. The hedge there would serve as a perfect screen, making it difficult for them to be seen from the ship.
On the other hand, peeking through the gaps, they could see the other side clearly.
"Alright, this should be good. Looks like we can stay for a while."
Raising his hand like an actor to call a waiter, Edward promptly ordered his coffee.
"What about you, Lef and Franz?"
Asked with a smile despite not fully understanding the situation, Franz was inwardly exasperated, but since he was implicitly being told to order, he had no choice.
He pulled out a chair and ordered as he sat down.
"I'll have… tea."
He said with a sigh and looked at Lef sitting next to him. Lef, unaccustomed to places like cafes, was sitting with his large frame shrunk down small.
"Lef?"
He asked the nervous Lef, who looked down at Franz with the eyes of an abandoned puppy and answered.
"Oh, I'll have hot milk."
The waiter, who had frozen for a moment, gave a slight bow as if nothing had happened and left. Seeing the large Lef, hot milk was certainly unexpected.
"By the way, Your Majesty…"
As Franz began to speak, Edward rested both elbows on the stylish round table, linked his fingers, and looked at Franz.
"'Your Majesty'… is not good."
His light blue eyes, tinged with a faint teasing expression, narrowed at Franz. As expected, Edward had no intention of letting this issue slide.
"Edward-san."
"That's too formal as well."
"…"
"Let's be a bit more casual and friendly. We are companions on this journey, after all."
You're the one who decided to become a companion. I haven't accepted you, were the words he swallowed. He knew that for every one word he retorted, he would get ten back.
"What should I call you?"
When he asked with a hint of sarcasm, Edward smiled pleasantly.
"Ed is fine. Or will you call me Edy, like Patty does?"
To use the same nickname as Ritz or the Grand Duchess was too presumptuous, thank you very much. The honor would give him a headache. Couldn't he at least be allowed to address him like Shasta did?
"How about Edward-sama?"
"…Are you… Shasta?"
He had no choice but to resign himself.
"Understood, Ed-san. Please be satisfied with this."
"Hmm, I shall be satisfied."
He let out a deep sigh, thinking that if Greig found out about this, he would be furious.
To call the Grand Duke he so deeply respected by name, and a shortened one at that, would get him cut down if he did it in front of Greig. Not that he intended to let himself be quietly cut down.
"So what are we doing here?"
Franz asked, resting his cheek on his hand at the table. It was unlikely they had come to a cafe just to have tea.
Especially not a man like Edward.
Glancing sideways at Lef, he saw he was still tense. It seemed Franz would have to be the one to find out.
"Isn't it obvious? We're going to see where they're taking the drugs."
That's what he thought. Edward was a person who much preferred to act himself rather than sit back and give orders. It was a wonder he had managed to be king for so long.
Thinking that, he remembered. That's right, this man recognized himself as Edward Baldia, Minister of the Yuresla Kingdom.
He didn't think of himself as King Edward IV. In other words, even until now, when he could have just sat on the throne as king, he had been deliberately issuing travel orders to his ministerial self.
And secretly at that.
That's why he left Shasta behind and went out into the country. It was impossible to tell a person like this to do nothing.
"…What's the plan?"
"The person we're meeting should be here any minute now."
With that, Edward fell silent. Their drinks had arrived.
Some time after the waiter had left, as the three of them were silently sipping their drinks, three men appeared before them. Edward gave a slight wave of his hand.
A familiar person was there in an unfamiliar outfit. One of the unfamiliar outfits was a military uniform, but it wasn't from the Yuresla Kingdom.
He had met this man in uniform several times when he visited the Clayton Residence. If he remembered correctly, it was Lieutenant Altman of the Military Police.
The other two were figures much more familiar to Franz. As he had heard they would be here, it was Kenny and his adjutant.
But their attire was even stranger than Altman's. They were dressed quite casually in light coats and shirts. Having never seen them in anything but military uniforms, it was quite jarring.
Seen like this, Kenny and his subordinate looked like ordinary young men, albeit with slightly sharp gazes.
"Good work."
With those brief words, Edward gestured to a chair. But Altman didn't sit; instead, Kenny and the other man sat down.
"I thought you and Kenny would come in Lucianan military uniforms, but this is a surprise."
To Edward's teasing words, Kenny replied earnestly.
"We had no choice but to wear them when we went to pick up the former Minister, but we are a special unit of the Yuresla Kingdom Army, directly under the King. We cannot continue to wear the uniform of another country."
"…That's a shame."
Edward gave a wry smile at the overly serious reply. Franz could understand how Kenny felt.
In short, having such a demanding superior was a pain.
"I have relayed the details to Major Fort, so please ask him. I will be returning to my post."
Altman said this without breaking his stiff expression and turned on his heel. He was quite close with Ritz, but he was formal with the king.
Being a military man, that was to be expected.
"Altman-san. Shall I help?"
Lef, who was equally uncomfortable in this situation, started to stand up, but Altman stopped him with a smile.
"It's alright, Lef. You just enjoy your trip."
"…Yes."
With words that were hard to tell if they were kind or not, Altman left the scene. As everyone fell silent, the waiter came to take their order.
"Two coffees."
After ordering simply, Kenny turned to face Edward.
"I will report."
"Go ahead."
With those brief words, Edward linked his fingers on the table again and closed his eyes.
"First, regarding your primary concern. Ritz-san and Anna-chan have been safely escorted to the inn. They said they hadn't slept, so they are resting."
"…I see. That's good."
Edward said this with his eyes still closed, as if it were of little interest to him.
Franz wasn't worried about those two either. What need was there to worry about two people who seemed to have stamina, spirit, and luck all on their side?
"I'm glad to hear that."
Lef, the only one who had been worried, let out a deep sigh of relief. Kenny smiled back at him.
Perhaps the only sane ones here were Kenny, Lef, and Kenny's adjutant.
"I want to hear the other report."
"…Yes."
After waiting for the waiter to leave, Kenny began to speak in a low voice.
"There are two large boxes of narcotics, apparently. For camouflage, sacks of soybeans are placed around the boxes, and in the center, there are a large number of drug bottles, also in sacks. Lieutenant Altman predicts they will be the last to be unloaded."
Pausing, Kenny brought his coffee to his lips. He had been trying to maintain the expression of a merchant so as not to arouse the waiter's suspicion.
From the waiter's perspective, it would likely just look like merchants having a business discussion.
As expected of an inspector.
As for himself, he was originally the son of a merchant. For some reason, he sometimes looked like a merchant without even trying, so there was nothing for him to pretend to be.
In contrast to them, Edward was no different from his usual self.
And yet, he exuded a presence completely different from when he was acting as king, which was strange.
"…I see."
After a moment of silence, Edward muttered this and looked past Franz towards the hedge. Naturally, Franz's gaze followed.
From there, he could see the cargo-passenger ship, where the unloading of cargo had begun. As he watched, it seemed they were unloading the small boxes first, and the large ones had not yet started.
"Altman and the first platoon are all monitoring the ship in this vicinity, disguised as merchants or sailors."
When Kenny said that, everyone around seemed to look like military police. He couldn't distinguish between who was military police and who was a civilian at all.
It seemed he had no knack for seeing through people in disguise or on undercover operations.
With his past lack of interest in others, it was impossible for him to spot someone whose demeanor had changed.
While Franz was engaged in this futile effort, Kenny's story continued. Giving up on scanning the surroundings, Franz once again listened to Kenny's words.
"Lieutenant Altman should have boarded the cargo ship by now, under the pretext of inquiring about the disposition of the stowaways."
"I see."
"The former Minister said he wedged a handkerchief in the corner when sealing the box. Also, there are two scorch marks made with a crowbar on the side. We are waiting for that to be unloaded… that is the current situation."
Having finished speaking, Kenny fell silent and stared intently at Edward. He was likely waiting for instructions.
As for Edward, he was squinting and staring at the cargo ship they had been on.
"What shall we do, Your Majesty?"
After a while, perhaps growing impatient, Kenny quietly asked Edward.
"I'd like to at least see where that crate is being taken."
"But Your Majesty…"
Ignoring Kenny's look of disapproval, Edward smiled serenely.
"It wouldn't be any fun if it were too easy, now would it?"
"…Your Majesty…"
Kenny's face showed clear disappointment. He was likely thinking he wanted to somehow restrain Edward and shove him into the inn.
As always, he felt sorry for Kenny. If Franz could, he too would tie Edward up and toss him onto a ship bound for the Royal Capital Sears.
He just didn't do it because he knew it was impossible.
Since it was like that for Franz, Kenny's desire must be even stronger. But Kenny was earnest and loyal to his orders, so he would never do such a thing.
Each of them was lost in their own thoughts as they silently drank their tea. Five men gathered together, silently sipping tea—from the shop's perspective, it must have been a strange sight.
Resigned, Franz sat sideways to the table and watched the ship being unloaded. There was nothing else to look at.
After some time had passed and Franz was starting to feel sleepy, a rather large wooden crate was unloaded from the ship.
Before Franz could stand, Edward was on his feet.
"I'm going ahead."
After giving this brief instruction to everyone, Edward shouldered his pack and stood up.
"Then we shall also…"
As Kenny rose to match Edward, Edward quietly commanded him.
"You and your men stay back a bit. We'll be less suspicious on our own."
"…Yes."
With only those words, Edward quickly left the shop. Franz was about to follow, but the moment he saw that Edward hadn't paid, he reflexively opened his bag.
"We need to pay the bill."
On their journey, Franz was the one who managed the travel expenses for Ritz, Anna, and himself.
This time, with the unexpected presence of Edward, and Lef having been accounted for, the payment would fall to Franz. But Kenny stopped his hand.
"We'll get this."
"But…"
Was it okay to accept? True, their budget for the upcoming journey was tight, but thanks to Ritz's salary, they were in a much better position than when they were heading to Sears.
"It's fine. It's a military expense."
Somehow that made him feel even more apologetic, but he decided to accept their generosity for now. On a journey of unknown length, saving money was important.
"I'm sorry. Thank you for the treat."
After bowing his head to Kenny, he followed Edward's figure with his eyes.
He was walking towards the ship with a slow pace, and behind him, Lef was also walking with a relaxed gait.
Perhaps being composed like that was less suspicious than panicking like Franz tended to do.
Shouldering his pack again and not forgetting to hang Sara-chan's lamp from it, Franz took a deep breath, left the shop, and followed them.
He finally caught up to them where Edward and Lef were hiding behind some previously unloaded cargo, checking the crates.
He silently fell in behind Edward, who, sensing his presence, spoke without turning.
"The crate in question hasn't come out yet. But given the size of the ship, this should be the limit for its cargo capacity."
"So, you mean it will be unloaded soon?"
"…Yes, it should be any moment now."
Turning his gaze to the ship, Franz also estimated the cargo volume of the hold. He was relatively good at this sort of thing.
Franz's calculations matched Edward's. For a ship of this size, this amount of cargo was likely the limit.
As he stared intently at the cargo, the clattering sound of a cart's wheels on the stone pavement came from somewhere.
Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw a handcart, the kind that requires two people to pull, heading towards them.
"What are you doing!"
Startled by the sudden voice, Franz flinched.
Looking in the direction the voice came from, he saw a man who appeared to be a crewman standing on top of some cargo, looking down at them.
Distracted by the handcart, he hadn't noticed him at all.
"I asked what you're doing."
The man questioned them again in an irritated voice. Unsure of what to do, Franz reflexively found himself staring at the back of Edward's head.
Lef, too, was silently staring at Edward's profile.
After a moment of silence, Edward spoke.
"My, my, what a lot of cargo you have."
His somewhat leisurely tone was that of a retired shopkeeper. The crewman, taken aback by the unexpected response, looked exasperated.
"Looking at this, ships are quite convenient things, aren't they? You two, watch carefully."
With the tone and smile of a kindly old man, Edward turned to Franz and Lef and leisurely admonished them.
It seemed he had decided to play the roles of a retired merchant and his apprentice companions.
"…Yes, sir."
With Lef not quite understanding what was going on, Franz had no choice but to reply.
If Ritz were here, he would probably have made a fine apprentice merchant, but unfortunately, he was the only one here now.
Still, why did it always have to be like this?
"Are you one of the ship's crew?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Is that so? Then I should very much like to ask you about the ship. It would surely be useful in many ways."
At Edward's friendly words, which sounded like he was about to start rubbing his hands together, the crewman clicked his tongue. He probably thought he had gotten himself into something troublesome.
"Sorry, old man, but I don't have time for that. Get in my way and I won't go easy on you, even if you are an old geezer."
The crewman said this all in one breath and glared at Edward. It seemed they wouldn't be able to stick around here any longer.
"Master, let's go now."
When he called out from behind, Edward turned to look at him. His eyes were sharp, a far cry from those of a kindly old retired master.
He was probably thinking of something, but Franz couldn't even begin to imagine what it was.
"…How about we knock him out?"
At the quiet murmur, Franz could only sigh. If they took down this man on top of the cargo, they'd be in plain sight of the ship.
"What are you saying, Your Majesty?"
He deliberately used the title. Edward shrugged slightly and turned back to the front. Edward surely knew that much.
He just understood that he hated to give up. Since all three of them had been on that ship, their faces were known. Entrusting this to the military police was the best option.
In the first place, it was hard to believe that a man like Edward was suited for covert operations. The same went for Ritz. Both of them, for better or worse, stood out too much.
"Mister crewman, can't we just watch the cargo? I'd like to show my young ones here, for their education."
While Franz was thinking things over, Edward was still pestering the crewman.
Edward, playing the part of a stubborn old man, persisted, but the crewman steadfastly refused.
"If you don't want to get hurt, get lost."
The crewman's words, spat out like that, offered no room for negotiation.
"It's no use anymore."
When Franz patted Edward's shoulder with a sigh, Edward turned around. Contrary to his expectations, Edward smiled slightly and gestured with his chin towards the front.
Reflexively, his eyes followed. A large wooden crate was being unloaded. It had a piece of blue cloth on one corner and two strange, small heart-shaped brands on its surface.
There was no doubt, it was the crate said to contain the drugs.
Seeing that Franz and Lef had confirmed the crate, Edward promptly told the crewman.
"Well then, it can't be helped. Come, let's go home."
So Edward had been buying time by being difficult. For Franz, who would have suggested giving up immediately, it was an act that required patience.
Prompted by Edward, the two left the spot. Edward, who had been walking while looking back several times, spoke to them when they were far enough away that the crewman couldn't hear.
"They've loaded that crate onto the cart. The cart is being pulled by two men. There might be a guard with them, but it should be easy to follow."
In other words, from here on, they were to secretly follow the cart without being seen.
To be honest, Franz, who hadn't slept well on the ship, just wanted to go to the inn. He wanted to sleep. But he couldn't just leave His Highness the Grand Duke here.
Lef was with him, but Lef was from this country, the Luciana Kingdom Federation. It wouldn't be right to push this trouble onto him. It would be better for someone from the kingdom to accompany him.
"Once the cart starts moving, Lef, you walk ahead of it. Can you track its position by sound without looking back?"
"Yes."
"Then go on ahead."
At Edward's instruction, Lef walked ahead to the first street corner. From there, he could get ahead of the cart no matter which way it turned.
"Let's us follow leisurely from behind."
"But that's clearly suspicious. Walking behind a cart like that."
He said with a sigh, but Edward brushed it off with a light laugh.
"It should be fine. If we're caught, we can just say a grandfather and his grandson, lost, decided to follow a cart that seemed to be heading somewhere open."
"…Right."
At times like these, Franz wished from the bottom of his heart that Ritz were here.
If he were, while Franz was sleeping at the inn without a care in the world, the two best friends would probably do something reckless and solve the problem.
But unexpectedly, this plan succeeded.
After Edward and Franz were discovered by the guard perched on the crate and, despite some persistence, were driven away, Lef properly located the building where the crate was taken.
"…So from the beginning, His Majesty and I were just decoys, weren't we?"
When Franz asked this over lunch after they had reached the inn, Edward, with his arms crossed on the table, replied with a confident smile.
"Of course. You didn't think we could just trail behind the cart, did you?"
"…"
Franz, who had thought they could do just that, slumped his shoulders in dejection. If only he had said so from the beginning…
"You didn't really think you could just follow it, did you?"
Dealt a malicious finishing blow, a deep sigh escaped him. This person was utterly exhausting.
"…I'm going to sleep now."
Stumbling, Franz rose from his seat. He truly wished that Ritz and Edward would handle this kind of trickery on their own.
He questioned the sanity of Ritz, who could be this man's best friend. No, being Ritz's best friend also seemed difficult. He wouldn't want to be caught between these two, not even if he were to die.
In any case, the sleep-deprived Franz staggered towards his assigned room.
Ritz would be there when he next woke up. The thought that he wouldn't have to deal with Edward anymore brought Franz a small sense of relief.