Chapter 188 - 12
Early the next morning, the group boarded Touo’s ship and crossed over to the Trading Island for the first time. Most of the vessels belonging to the Tarnien Army flew the flag of the Naval Headquarters in the capital—a deep crimson with a gold emblem—but only Touo’s ship, which belonged to the Suien fleet, flew a flag divided diagonally, with opposing sections dyed blue and white.
Ritz explained that this was their way of showing that the Suien Unit did not approve of this operation.
The sea, which had been fantastical as the ship set sail with its large sails unfurled into the lingering twilight, had transformed into a refreshing early summer atmosphere by the time the sun rose. In this country, the end of June was still considered early summer.
For a bay, Suien had strong winds, and the sails, constantly filled with a full breeze, moved the massive ship forward surprisingly quickly. However, the light filtering in through the small windows was minimal, and the lamp from Sara that they had brought along just in case was proving to be a great help. A lamp was essential for reading even a short distance from the window.
Franz, who had been curiously exploring the military ship, which he was seeing for the first time, was given a surprisingly detailed explanation by Ritz. As a mercenary who often traveled to the frontline city on the border with Zeum, Ritz was accustomed to this ship. While impressed by the various explanations, what came to Franz’s mind was Anna, who would usually be excitedly running around in a situation like this.
Since leaving the inn this morning until now, Anna had been unusually quiet. Moreover, she had reached a state where she couldn’t even force a smile. Franz, who was usually quiet and expressionless himself, was surprised at how uncomfortable it made him to be on the receiving end of such a blank demeanor. This must be what they call “learning from the mistakes of others.” Not that he could easily change just because he thought about it.
He couldn’t help but think that it might have been a mistake to agree when Anna had asked to switch rooms last night, but what was done was done, so all he could do was fret.
Conversely, Ritz was frighteningly unchanged from his usual self. He cracked jokes, and when he was alone with Franz, the conversation was full of off-color humor and risqué topics, teasing Franz relentlessly. He spoke casually with the ship’s crew, and before long, he had secured a place for himself separate from Edward, Anna, and Franz, and had stopped returning to the cabin they had been assigned.
Usually, when something happened, it was Ritz who would sink to the depths of despair, and Anna who would be endlessly cheerful to pull him back up, but the situation was completely reversed. Moreover, unlike Anna, Ritz made no attempt to pull her up. Rather, the impression was that he was avoiding her.
When Anna stood up to go to the lavatory, Edward muttered with a sigh.
“This time, I may have left too much to them.”
“What do you mean?”
“I had thought that outside interference was unnecessary in matters of love, but with these two being so far off from common sense, a mediator may have been necessary.”
“...I agree.”
Ritz, whose morals were more skewed than average, and Anna, for whom justice and wholesomeness were everything. There was no way a conversation between just the two of them would go well. But he felt that there had certainly been a deep bond of trust between them. At Franz’s sigh, Edward laughed.
“No matter what others say, it won’t start, but the Ritz of now is probably a lost cause.”
“Why is that?”
“Because he has already come to a bad conclusion.”
“A bad conclusion?”
When he asked back, not understanding the meaning, Edward shook his head with a bitter smile.
“Kuchiba really had to say something unnecessary at an unnecessary time. With Anna, who had been by his side, enveloping him in her presence, now avoiding him, and him feeling down, wondering if he was a useless man after all, to be told ‘You are an outsider,’ anyone would normally be depressed, right?”
“Yes.”
“But Ritz must have accepted it. ‘So I am an outsider to everything, and it was a mistake to think I could be loved,’ he must have thought. In the first place, he has a hard time affirming his own existence, so conversely, if he is denied, he accepts it. Especially since his spirit was on the verge of breaking, thinking Anna had given up on him, it must have fit perfectly into his heart. That he was, indeed, an outsider.”
“Then why is he so cheerful?”
“...When you met Ritz, he was cheerful, wasn’t he?”
Being told that, he remembered. He certainly recalled thinking, what is this cheerful man? But the more he associated with him, the more he discovered his darker side, and after falling in love with Anna, his personality had become extremely unstable. Now that he mentioned it, he felt that Ritz had been more stable and cheerful when they first met.
As Franz fell silent, Edward smiled faintly and spoke with a lonely tone.
“He’s being reckless. Because he doesn’t try to look ahead, he doesn’t feel anxious about the future. Because he doesn’t think about the future, he doesn’t mind if he dies at any time, and he doesn’t care what happens tomorrow. That’s Ritz’s state right now.”
“…”
As Franz fell silent and let out a deep sigh, Edward gave a wry smile.
“Their misunderstanding of each other is simple, but for Ritz, it’s at his most painful point, and for Anna, it’s at her most disliked point.”
“What do you mean?”
“For Ritz, being disliked by Anna is the same as having his entire self-denied. It was only with Anna’s presence that he was beginning to be able to affirm his own existence. Ritz is now in a state where he cannot affirm his own existence again.”
Franz remembered Ritz in Roshozu. Ritz, who had been watching the flames while listening to Franz’s confession, had told him with a wry smile. That his once drifting self was beginning to put down roots, and that it was Anna who was holding him there for the first time. In other words, without Anna, Ritz would go back to drifting.
“And Anna is convinced that Ritz has someone he likes. Since she grew up in an orphanage, she can’t say she wants something she wants. If Ritz has someone he likes, she thinks she shouldn’t say anything that would trouble him. In reality, she wants Ritz to hold her and love her like before, but she can’t even say that.”
“...What a vicious cycle…”
The best solution would be for Anna to tell Ritz she liked him, but that was the one thing Anna couldn’t say, and Ritz thought he was disliked by Anna, so Ritz couldn’t correct Anna’s misunderstanding from his side.
He had thought he disliked standing between people, but if things were going to get any more complicated, he wanted to stand between them and say, “The one Ritz likes most is Anna. The one Anna likes most is Ritz. Got it!” But in the current situation, even if Franz said that, the two would surely give a wry smile and say, “You don’t have to comfort us, we’re fine.” It was nothing but a complete hassle.
If he ever fell in love in the future, he hoped for a simple love that would never become like this. No, if it was this much of a hassle, he hoped to live alone.
As he fell silent with a sullen expression, Anna returned with a vacant look on her face and crawled into the bed in the guest room. Edward had ordered her to stay there when they boarded the ship, as she looked unwell.
A short while later, the sound of soft breathing began. She had said she couldn’t sleep at all last night, so it would be better for her to sleep for the few hours until they reached the island. After exchanging a silent glance with Edward, Franz picked up the book he had brought with him. It would be a shame to wake her, so he decided to spend the time quietly.
Ritz, who would normally be stuck to Anna like glue in such a state, hadn’t returned once since guiding Franz around earlier. Unable to concentrate on the book he had started reading, Franz eventually closed it. Edward seemed to have been lost in thought without moving for some time.
“What do you think will happen with today’s negotiations?”
When Franz asked in a whisper, Edward shook his head with a difficult expression.
“The Soukai Clan is said to be a race of gentle disposition, but they are also a proud clan. It seems they will never hand over the pearls just because hostages have been taken. In other words, to protect both the pearls and the hostages, they will have no choice but to fight the army.”
“Will the negotiations drag on?”
“...If we were there, we might be able to prolong them, but that is uncertain.”
“Why is that?”
“There is no guarantee that we will be able to attend the negotiations. In fact, it seems even Touo has not been invited.”
“Eh?”
He cried out in surprise, and Edward gave a wry smile.
“You heard last night, didn’t you? ‘If you wish to follow, you are welcome to. Then you can realize there is nothing you can do and just suck your thumbs.’”
“Ah…”
“In other words, we are complete extras. And we will become witnesses.”
“Witnesses?”
“To what it means for humans and demi-humans to fight.”
“…”
He couldn’t help but swallow. He was reminded once again that this was a serious matter.
“What’s going to happen…”
He shivered just imagining it.
“It’s going to be terrifying. It’s an entire army of spirit users versus military force, you know?”
Interrupted by a suddenly light tone, Franz jumped. Unnoticed, Ritz had opened the door and was standing there. Ritz leisurely walked into the room and placed the tray he was holding on the table. A large number of rice balls. Then, without permission, he sat down in the chair next to Edward. Edward spoke to such a Ritz as if it were a matter of course.
“Who do you think has the advantage?”
“Advantage? If I were the Tarnien army, I’d get out of there as fast as I could. I know how dangerous it is to fight water spirit users on the sea. What about you, Ed?”
“I would do the same.”
“Right?”
At the two men nodding as if it were a matter of course, Franz tilted his head.
“If it’s common sense, then why doesn’t the Tarnien army consider it?”
Ritz, who had picked up a rice ball, looked at Franz as he took a delicious bite.
“In all of history, the Soukai Clan has never fought against the Tarnien army. There have been a few clashes when negotiations broke down or when deciding on the basic rules of commerce, but it seems there has never been a large-scale battle like this. Besides, the Soukai Clan is a very patient and persistent negotiating race, so it seems they have never initiated an attack before.”
Ritz rattled off the information as if he had seen it all himself, then picked up another rice ball and bit into it.
“You’re well-informed.”
“Yeah. I heard it from Touo. That Touo is furious about being kicked out of these negotiations too. But in the end, he’s a soldier. Even if the Coastal Defense Administration comes barging in, if it’s an order from the army’s commander-in-chief, there’s nothing he can do. I can’t understand it.”
The man who was once the head of all military personnel said that and picked up his third rice ball. What was he planning to do if his subordinates betrayed him when he was a minister? It was a mystery.
“Then why are they trying to fight when they know they have no chance of winning? I don’t understand.”
They negotiate to gain profit, and start wars. But if that’s the case, there’s no need to send out an army when they know it’s a losing battle. But they have actually come with warships, and even now they are heading for the Trading Island in formation with several warships.
“It’s obvious. They’re betting that the Soukai Clan won’t make a move if they say they’ll kill the hostages they left behind at the military port one by one, or that they’ll take their lives. In other words, they plan to win without fighting, using dirty tricks.”
“...How despicable…”
“That’s why Touo said it, right? This is blackmail diplomacy. Not something a decent nation would do.”
Not something a decent nation would do? Wasn’t this country supposed to be a decent one? Realizing that, he couldn’t help but fall silent, and Ritz, noticing, tilted his head.
“Is this story really coming from the heart of this country?”
Realizing the meaning behind Ritz’s muttered words, Edward answered before Franz could.
“I do not know. But I did feel that they were too focused on the pearls. This country has several other high-end exports.”
“High-end exports?”
Franz, who had thought pearls were everything, cried out in surprise. At the meeting, it had been said as if the presence or absence of pearls affected the national interest.
“Silk thread and other decorative items, perfumes and cosmetics, and plants used in medicines. You may recall, the scent of the Moonlight Cherry Blossom used in the Sears drug incident is also native to this country.”
Come to think of it, Greig had said that the sleeping drug he had used on the guards when infiltrating the underground treasury was bought from an eastern country. In other words, it was from this country.
“The profit from pearls is certainly large. But if they don’t have them, they should be able to avoid any damage to the national interest by increasing the export of silk and aromatic woods, which they have restricted until now. Special medicines are also completely quantity-restricted, so they could just release them.”
“In other words, someone is behind the scenes, setting things up to be this way.”
Ritz, having finished his fourth, said that.
“Someone… you mean…”
“Yeah. That someone. It’s definitely my uncle.”
Ritz, who said that recklessly, put all the grains of rice on his hand into his mouth, then laughed lowly as if amused.
“What a pain… to think it’s a relative…”
At his smile, which even had a sense of menace, Franz drew back slightly. So this is what he meant by Ritz’s reckless attitude, he thought.
Ritz glanced at such a Franz. It seemed he had noticed that Franz had drawn back slightly, but without saying anything, Ritz pointed to the rice balls.
“The negotiations start in the afternoon, so eat up now. You never know what might happen, so they’re dropping us off on the island, but Touo and the others are going to leave immediately and watch from the sea.”
“Watch?”
“Yeah. To put it simply, they’re going to stand by to block the first wave from the Soukai Clan if the negotiations break down.”
“...So it’s unavoidable?”
“Probably.”
At the heavy words, Franz sighed. But he knew he wouldn’t have the stamina if he didn’t eat, so he grabbed a rice ball. Because whenever something happened, he wouldn’t be in a state to eat.
“I wonder why no one could stop this until now.”
When he couldn’t help but mutter that, Ritz and Edward exchanged glances, then smiled faintly. As veterans of war, they might understand something about it. As he stared at the two of them alternately, Ritz opened his mouth.
“Nations need a pretense. A pretense that makes it impossible for them to honestly say, ‘Our lives are getting harder, so please give us pearls.’”
“...A pretense…”
“That’s right. The pride of not wanting to be looked down on as a country gets in the way. If they were to plead, ‘We’re in trouble, so please give us pearls, please don’t stop the trade,’ even if they got the pearls, their position would be weaker in relation to the Soukai Clan, right?”
From a merchant’s standpoint, that made sense, so Franz, though he didn’t want to admit it, understood and nodded slightly.
“So they try to proceed on equal terms by saying things like, ‘We will not forgive those who violate our national interest,’ or ‘We have trade rules that must be protected.’ And that gives rise to war.”
“...I think I kind of get it.”
Franz had pride too, and he would hate to be pitied and given charity. After that, he would always be the weaker party. It was a logic that Franz, who grew up among merchants, understood well, but he learned for the first time that when that logic was magnified, it could give rise to war.
“If it were children, they could be selfish and say, ‘I want this, I want that,’ but unfortunately, international trade is an adult’s job. It’s difficult for adults to back down.”
“If both sides were children, would there be no war?”
“Maybe. There would probably be fights, though. Well, we who live by pretense can’t easily be children who want things either.”
Ritz glanced at Anna, then picked up a rice ball.
“...How many is that?”
“Hmm… five?”
“How many are you going to eat…”
“If I don’t eat now, who knows when I’ll get my next meal.”
Averting his eyes from Franz’s exasperated gaze, Ritz looked at Anna.
“Anna, you should eat something. The Trading Island is closed off now, so there are no shops or anything.”
The blanket rustled, and Anna sat up with a start. Her hair was still unbraided, her eyes were swollen… At her terrible state, Ritz gasped softly. So he does care, even while pretending not to, he thought, a perfectly ordinary thought.
Eventually, Ritz looked away from Anna, pretending to be uninterested. But Franz was surely not the only one who noticed his fist trembling slightly. When he glanced at Edward, their eyes met, and Edward gave a small shrug.
Ritz’s attitude right now, based on what they had just talked about, was probably that of an adult tied up in pretense, unable to say he wanted what he wanted. In the first place, if they had both just let their feelings out like children, things wouldn’t have gotten this bad.
“Sorry, I guess I don’t have an appetite…”
When Anna said that with a forced smile, Ritz nodded with a parental air.
“Then I’ll have some wrapped for you, so put it in your bag.”
“Okay.”
With that, Ritz smoothly stood up, but bumped his arm on the table. But he walked out as if nothing had happened. He seemed quite flustered. After Ritz left, Anna sighed.
“I’m such a child.”
As he was at a loss for words, Edward silently sat down on the bed where Anna had been sleeping.
“Why is that?”
“Because… I can easily want things. I can’t smile through a pretense.”
Anna hugged her knees.
“It belongs to someone else, so why do I want it? I can’t think of a clever pretense like an adult…”
With a long sigh, Anna got off the bed and stood up. Though she swayed slightly as if seasick, Anna skillfully tied her hair into a single ponytail higher than usual. Normally she would braid it from here, but it seemed she didn’t have the energy for that today.
Edward watched over such an Anna as if she were a grandchild or a child, lightly supporting her. He had watched them without feeling any sense of incongruity until now, but thinking about it carefully, it was a strange situation.
Edward and Ritz were best friends, with a brotherly relationship, yet their relationships with Anna were completely different. One was like a grandfather and granddaughter, the other, though complicated, could be said to be a romantic relationship. In other words, this was perhaps what it meant to witness the different flows of time firsthand.
“Thank you. I… I’m going to get some fresh air.”
“Will you be alright alone?”
“Yes.”
After watching Anna leave, stumbling as she went, Franz and Edward could only sigh wordlessly and sink into their seats.