Chapter 104 - <11>
Despite the dead of night, Anna was roused by the sound of someone moving.
Slowly, she sat up in bed and scanned the room, noticing a figure trying to sneak out. She called out to the tall silhouette.
"Where are you going?"
Ritz, whose hand was on the door, froze mid-movement and turned around.
"Sorry, did I wake you?"
"No, it's okay. I went to bed early."
As she spoke, she took a closer look. The way Ritz was dressed practically screamed that something was about to happen.
Though it was the middle of the night, the ever-glowing salamander lamp kept the room relatively bright. The figure illuminated within was fully dressed in a jacket with his greatsword strapped to his back.
To be dressed like this at this hour… it was probably related to the drug syndicate.
"I'm coming too! Wait right there, I'll get changed now."
"You're coming?"
"Uh-huh."
"This isn't a field trip, you know."
With Ritz's half-exasperated voice at her back, she scrambled out from under the covers and hastily changed from her nightclothes into her everyday wear.
She had helped find the drugs; she wouldn't stand for being left behind now.
"Wait for me, okay? Don't leave without me."
"…Good grief."
To make sure he didn't sneak away, she occasionally stole glances at Ritz, who was still standing by the door. He remained motionless, facing the doorway.
He must have given up on sneaking out. Relieved, she let out a sigh and gave her messy hair a quick, rough combing with a brush before tying it back into a single tail.
There was no time to braid it.
"…Not that it matters, but what do you think you're doing, changing so brazenly while I'm in the room?"
Ritz's voice held a hint of reproach. He was right. No matter how close they were, a situation like this had never happened before.
Lately, for some reason, she had felt herself growing incredibly close to Ritz psychologically, so she hadn't even thought about it.
But maybe from Ritz's perspective… did she seem impudent? Brazen? Something like that?
"Um, is it… unpleasant?"
"That's not the issue. I'm a man, and you're, well, a woman, aren't you?"
For once, Ritz seemed to be showing her some consideration. He always treated her like a child, so she'd never dreamed he thought of her as a woman.
She felt a little ticklish, a little happy.
Still, she was glad he didn't think she was being brazen. Relieved, she explained why she had started changing while he was still there.
"Because if I asked you to leave the room, you'd just leave me behind."
"Well… you're not wrong about that."
Apparently, she'd hit the nail on the head. It was a good thing she'd made him stay.
As Ritz sighed behind her, Anna, now almost fully dressed, stood before her spirit bow.
She glanced at the spirit staff placed next to it, hesitated for a moment, then picked up the staff. The small and convenient spirit magic was certainly good for traveling, but this would be better for honing her skills for the future.
"Ritz, is the staff okay? Or do you need the bow, too?"
She asked and turned around, but Ritz replied without looking back, still facing the door as before.
"Whichever you prefer is fine."
"Okay!"
If Ritz said so, then it must be fine. Anna ran up to Ritz, who still had his back to her.
"I'm ready. Let's go!"
She grabbed his arm and looked up at him with a smile. Ritz smiled back with a troubled expression. It didn't look like he was troubled by her coming along; it seemed more serious than that.
"What's wrong?"
She asked, her gaze fixed on his dark brown eyes. Ritz looked somewhat hesitant to speak before calling her name.
"Anna."
"What is it?"
Confused by his strange demeanor, she tilted her head. After a moment of silence, Ritz spoke in a quiet mumble.
"…I'm sorry."
"Huh? For what?"
"At the restaurant… I'm sorry for yelling at you."
She immediately remembered their argument after dinner.
She had been worried about Ritz after he'd stormed out, but she'd been so full and still so sleep-deprived that an overwhelming drowsiness had taken over, and she'd fallen asleep.
So this was the first time she'd seen him since then. Ritz was acting so normal that she had completely forgotten about it.
"I don't mind. I'm sorry, too. For telling your secret."
She was the one who had blabbed a secret he had asked her to keep. She was the one who should be apologizing.
"It's fine. For someone who hates keeping secrets, you kept quiet for a pretty long time."
Ritz chuckled with a mix of wryness and resignation, punctuated by a sigh. For some reason, that felt worse than being scolded.
"But… a promise is a promise."
On top of that, she had been so happy about him teaching her to waltz, just like at the ball, but she'd ruined it herself. The disappointment was unbearable.
If, by some miracle, Patricia took her to another party, she had wanted to try dancing.
Perhaps sensing her thoughts, Ritz placed a hand on her head.
"Don't worry. I'll still teach you the waltz."
She looked up at Ritz's face, far above her own, and met his eyes. He was wearing one of his rare, gentle smiles.
"That said, it's not like I'm that great of a dancer, you know?"
"I don't care!"
Overjoyed, she smiled back, and he ruffled her freshly tied hair with his big hand.
"Hey! I just tied it up!"
She hurriedly held her hair down and looked up at him with pleading eyes, which made Ritz burst out laughing. Still chuckling, he asked.
"In this situation, it seems leaving you behind would just cause more trouble, wouldn't it?"
"Yup. I'll just follow you on my own. And I might get lost."
When she answered with full confidence, Ritz, a smile still on his face, let out an exaggerated sigh and put his hand on the doorknob.
"Alright then, shall we?"
"Yeah!"
She followed Ritz as he opened the door and stepped out first, only to run face-first into his back. He had stopped right outside.
"What are you all doing?"
Ritz's disgruntled voice, tinged with resignation, was met by a familiar reply.
"Isn't it obvious?"
It was Edward. Peeking out from behind Ritz's shadow, she saw him, and her eyes met Franz's, who looked sleep-deprived.
Behind them stood Lef, who was even taller than Ritz. All three were dressed and armed, ready to leave at a moment's notice.
"Huh? You're all awake? What's going on?"
She looked around at everyone and asked, and Franz's sullen eyes turned to her.
"…And what are you doing here, Anna?"
"I'm going with Ritz. For the drug…"
Before she could finish, Ritz covered her mouth. She looked up and he whispered.
"Don't go around saying 'drugs' so casually when we don't know where the enemy might be hiding."
Unable to speak with his hand over her mouth, she nodded, and he finally let go.
"Damn… I was planning to go alone."
Ritz said with a half-exasperated look, and Edward chuckled knowingly.
"How naive. As long as Lef is rooming with us, we won't let you two have all the fun by yourselves."
"Lef?"
Ritz furrowed his brow at the strange remark. Edward answered with a grin still on his face.
"That's right. Lef's hearing is several times better than yours."
"…You were listening in on our room, weren't you?"
"I was."
So that's it, Anna understood. From the next room, Lef had been able to distinguish the sounds from inside their room.
That's how he'd realized the two of them were awake and about to head out.
"Lef, your hearing is amazing!"
When she expressed her simple admiration, Franz shot her a look that wordlessly screamed are you an idiot?, so she silently protested by puffing out her cheeks.
"Even so, for a former king to personally deploy on a mission… you're certainly putting a lot of effort into this, Ed."
Ritz said reproachfully, but Edward, ignoring the admonition as if it were a gentle breeze, puffed out his chest.
"I won't let you have all the fun. I want to participate in the event, too."
Edward was a man who loved festivities. Especially festivities that involved incidents and commotions like this.
She'd started to realize that recently. Come to think of it, on the day they met Joe, he had boldly announced his name and joined the fray just like this.
But from Anna's perspective, Ritz was pretty similar to Edward. He was always the first to get involved in things.
As she was thinking such thoughts while conveniently ignoring her own tendencies, the earnest Lef quietly stepped between Ritz and Edward.
"I may be of some assistance. If this is about that incident, I was directly involved."
"Yeah, but you were a victim, right?"
"Yes. And that is precisely why I wish to help."
"But… it'll bring back all sorts of memories, won't it?"
She had heard before that Lef was in a terrible state when he was rescued. For him to want to get involved in this case took a lot of courage. That's what Anna thought.
But Lef's next words were unexpected.
"I don't mind. Besides, this is my country, Ritz. I don't want such dangerous things being spread around my home."
This incident, which Ritz and Edward were meddling in out of sheer curiosity, was a serious matter for Lef. It was the first time she had realized that.
"…You're right."
Ritz said, lightly casting his eyes down.
Watching the exchange between the two, Anna truly felt it. This wasn't the Yuresla Kingdom; it was the Luciana Kingdom Federation, Lef's homeland.
Being in a country that wasn't her own felt strange, now that she thought about it. She was with her usual companions, and only a day had passed, so it hadn't sunk in yet, but this was already not her country.
"I understand."
With that, Ritz sighed and scratched the back of his head. Anna knew this was a habit Ritz had when he was troubled or had given up trying to persuade someone.
"Altman should be waiting for us at the entrance to this inn."
"So, we're all going together, then?"
She chirped excitedly, and Ritz and Franz both turned to stare at her at almost the same time.
"Huh? Did I say something weird?"
She didn't understand why they were looking at her like that, so she asked. Franz shrugged with an exasperated look, while Ritz, after an exaggerated sigh, muttered, "Is this a school trip?" and hung his head in defeat.
Quietly, so as not to wake the other guests, they left the inn. Waiting there were Kenny and his adjutant.
Staring down at the two of them, Ritz offered a sarcastic smile.
"Well, well, if it isn't the military policeman."
"Please don't tease me, Your Excellency."
Kenny replied with a sigh.
"Kenny-san, why are you here?"
Anna asked, looking up at Kenny. He turned to her with a grim expression.
"Because if I don't stick with the Military Police, I can't stop His Majesty and His Excellency from doing something reckless."
"…Serving the court must be difficult."
For some reason, Franz murmured this to Kenny.
"Haha… it's all part of the job."
It felt like Franz had become much more of a worrywart lately compared to before.
Anna figured it was probably because of being dragged around the royal palace by Prince Greig, but she didn't know for sure.
"Well then, Kenny, let's have you do your job."
Completely ignoring the heavy atmosphere of their exchange, Edward said with a smile.
Edward's smile sometimes took the shape of a smile but was actually an order. She'd never been on the receiving end of such a look, but she couldn't help but think that Kenny and the others had it rough.
She thought it, but she couldn't say anything.
"Still, this is quite a large group. We'll stand out. I was under the impression it would only be His Majesty and His Excellency…"
As Kenny pondered with a troubled look, Ritz cut in nonchalantly.
"If you have two guides, we can just split into two groups. Kenny, Edward, Lef, and Franz as one team, and me, Anna, and Gordon as the other."
"Isn't that the same as our room assignments?"
Thinking he had just thrown it out there, she asked. Franz and Lef, like Anna, stared at Ritz.
Perhaps noticing, Ritz gave a slight shrug and explained.
"Kenny can't leave Edward's side, can he?"
Ritz asked Kenny, who seemed to understand, and Kenny gave a wry smile.
"It's my mission."
After hearing Kenny's reply, Ritz immediately continued.
"And we can't have Edward dying on us just yet. In a situation where anything can happen, Lef's explosive speed is crucial as a fighting force. If danger still threatens, Franz's ability to attack from a distance is indispensable."
"I see."
Franz muttered in understanding, and Lef nodded.
"I can handle myself just fine. As for Anna…"
Here, Ritz paused for a moment and looked at her.
"What about me?"
She asked excitedly, wondering what role she would play, but Ritz answered with a sigh.
"I'll manage her somehow."
For some reason, Edward, who heard this, burst out laughing. Ritz glared at him.
"That's so mean! You make me sound like dead weight…"
Ignoring the two of them, she pouted and complained, and Franz muttered with a deadpan expression.
"…Well, you're not entirely wrong."
"Franz, you too!"
As she sulked, Ritz placed a hand on her head.
"I have to keep you by my side, or there's no telling what you'll do."
He probably meant that if she were teamed up with Edward's group, Ritz wouldn't be able to back her up.
She knew that she sometimes did things she wasn't supposed to. She knew, but…
"I'm still not convinced…"
While she was grumbling, the plan was quickly decided by Kenny, Ritz, and Edward.
Apparently, they would approach the warehouse where the drugs were stored from completely different directions, splitting their forces to guard two separate locations.
Not quite understanding what she was hearing, Anna turned to Franz, who was similarly quiet and stifling a yawn.
"Do you think this will work?"
"…It'll be a huge problem if it doesn't. We can't interfere with the case Altman and his team were pursuing and end up ruining everything."
"…You're right."
If they caused this to fail just by being here, it would be more than just a huge problem. She mentally steeled herself, shedding the field trip mood she'd been in.
"Alright, let's go, Anna."
She realized that Ritz and Kenny's adjutant were looking at her. Kenny and Edward were calling for Lef and Franz as well.
"See you at the warehouse, then."
Edward said with a slight wave and quickly departed. She couldn't help but be oddly impressed by his dashing demeanor.
"Let us be on our way as well, Your Excellency."
Said Gordon, Kenny's adjutant, who seemed a bit older than Kenny.
"Right. Let's hurry. We need to infiltrate while it's still dark."
Urged on by Gordon, Ritz and Anna also began walking in the opposite direction from where the other three had gone.