Chapter 84 - <6>
Anna awoke to the cool sensation of a cloth on her forehead. Someone was placing a damp, wrung-out cloth on her head. When she quietly opened her eyes, a girl who looked a little older than her was leaning over her.
Her blurry vision gradually focused, and she met the girl's gaze. She had a familiar face.
"Looks like you're alive."
As Anna regained consciousness, the girl said this with a smile.
"...Where am I? What time is it?"
Her voice was hoarse, and she coughed a few times. She must have been unconscious for a long time. It was strangely cold, too. And her head hurt. Right, I was hit, wasn't I?
"You don't have to force yourself to talk."
The girl tossed the cloth, which had slipped off when Anna coughed, into a washbasin. As Anna reeled in confusion, the girl nonchalantly sat down beside her.
"This is a dungeon. You're being held captive here. As for the time, it's about breakfast."
For one of her captors, the girl was oddly cheerful. She didn't look like a bad person at all.
"Well, you're a hostage, so no breakfast for you, though."
The girl shrugged as she said it.
"...Oh, right..."
Not getting breakfast was a problem. But on second thought, the girl was tending to her, so she could probably consider the immediate danger to have passed.
Anna let out a long sigh. She savored the profound joy of being alive. As long as you're alive, there's always a chance.
But she couldn't move her body. Her legs moved, somehow, but her hands were completely bound behind her back, sealed away.
"You're a spirit user, right? Sorry, but we had to tie your hands so you can't use spirits."
"Yeah. It can't be helped."
If there was a large amount of water here, she could summon the Water Dragon even with her hands bound, but it seemed things wouldn't be that easy. She'd always been confident in her luck, but it looked like that wasn't always the case.
"Do your wounds hurt?"
The girl asked, tilting her head slightly. She didn't sound worried, more like she was asking out of curiosity, but her words did contain a proper hint of concern.
"Yeah. They hurt."
When she answered honestly, the girl smiled and gave Anna a knowing nod.
"I bet they do. That woman is so rough."
It seemed this girl didn't like that middle-aged maid. Are they not on the same side? While Anna was pondering this, the girl deftly finished putting away the medicine box that had been beside her.
"I'm done treating your wounds, for now. Though I only disinfected them."
"Thank you."
"It's fine. I'm the lowest on the totem pole. This is my job."
"I see."
As she talked with the girl, Anna glanced around and finally understood her current situation.
She was lying on a hard bed. Or rather, it might be better to call it a wooden platform. The surrounding walls were all made of cold stone, and the only light came from a single lamp mounted on the wall.
There were no windows. Of course not, it's a dungeon. At any rate, she decided to ask the girl a few things. She might be able to find out something she didn't know.
"I'm Anna. And you are?"
When she introduced herself with her usual smile, the girl tilted her head in exasperation.
"...Aren't you scared? Of your situation?"
"I am. But it's scarier if I just stay quiet."
"That's true, I guess."
Nodding as if convinced, the girl leaned over the still-prone Anna.
"I'm Jinny. I was Cynthia-sama before you."
The girl replied with a slightly mischievous expression. For her, it seemed playing the role of Cynthia wasn't as distressing as it had been for Anna.
But that wasn't what surprised her. Anna stared at the girl intently, as if trying to bore a hole through her. The room was dark, so it had been hard to tell, but the girl's hair was indeed red. And because she wore it tied up high in a single ponytail, Anna hadn't realized how long it was.
"Dan's older sister?"
When Anna asked, Jinny let out a startled cry, then quickly covered her mouth and whispered her question.
"How do you know that?"
Her wide-open eyes were the spitting image of Dan's. Anna answered honestly.
"Dan asked me to come find you."
"No way!"
She cried out in surprise, but Jinny quickly covered her mouth again. There was a presence outside the door, so she was probably being careful. Anna instinctively lowered her voice as well.
"It's not a lie. Joe and I were looking into it together."
"...With Joe?"
Once again, the girl's face showed she'd heard an unexpected name, and she kept her voice low.
"Yeah. Joe's my friend."
When Anna said that, Jinny thought for a moment before muttering in a dark voice.
"...Right. Joe was adopted by a rich family, wasn't she?"
"The Clayton Family isn't rich."
Seeing Jinny's complicated expression, Anna felt the need to correct her.
The Clayton Family was by no means wealthy. After all, the house was currently in Ritz's name, its former master Evans Clayton was a priest at the Main Temple of Light, and his wife was a maid and a ghost. By any common standard, that could not be called wealthy.
Jinny fell silent, and Anna waited quietly for her to speak. The cold, still air in the basement was so quiet you could hear each other's breath.
After a while, Jinny looked up. The friendly emotion from before was completely gone.
"...Why did you come looking for me?"
"Huh?"
Anna was at a loss for words at the unexpected question.
"I've been sending money home, right? Why would Dan be looking for me?"
"..."
As Anna remained speechless, Jinny glared at her.
"That doesn't make any sense. I'm supposed to be working here, right? And I'm sending money as proof. Doesn't that mean I'm doing fine?"
"That's..."
Jinny's words were beyond Anna's comprehension. She couldn't understand the idea that 'sending money is proof of being well'.
"That's weird."
"What is?"
"Saying you're fine just because you're sending money... that's weird."
Still lying on the floor, Anna looked up at Jinny. The moment their eyes met, Jinny quickly looked away.
"It's not weird. It's normal, isn't it?"
"It is weird. It's not normal."
What should I do? Her common sense was not this girl's common sense. How can I get her to understand how I feel? Unsure, Anna fell silent.
"Didn't Joe say so? Or has she completely forgotten about life in the slums and started acting like a little lady?"
With Anna completely silent, Jinny turned her back and spoke.
"That's not true. Joe's doing her best."
"I doubt it. I bet she's living it up like that old lady's Cynthia, isn't she?"
"She is not."
"Lies. I bet her rich life has made her an airhead. That's why she's lost all common sense."
"Stop making fun of Joe!"
She couldn't let someone mock her friend. Anna found herself shouting.
"What's with the yelling?"
"Joe's not like that! You know that, don't you, Jinny?"
"...I don't know anything about that."
"It's not a lie. Joe said you were her friend. There's no way you don't understand!"
"I said I don't know!"
Jinny was looking down, sulking. Anna spoke to her back.
"Dan was worried. He said he couldn't get in touch with you."
"..."
"Dan loves you, Jinny. No matter how much money you send, he'd never think that's enough."
At the mention of Dan, Anna could see Jinny's shoulders tremble slightly. She must have been worried about him.
"Hey, you... you said your name was Anna, right?"
"Yeah."
Jinny finally turned around. Her eyes were still cold.
"You're a rich kid, aren't you, Anna?"
All Anna could do was tilt her head at the sudden question.
"Huh?"
"The kind of kid who doesn't have to dream of being rich, like me?"
She didn't know why the conversation was heading in this direction, but Anna listened silently to Jinny's words.
"That's why you can play the part of Lady Cynthia without resenting the people who can live like this, right?"
"...I'm not a rich kid."
"You're lying."
"It's true. I grew up in an orphanage in a small village called Vishnu, way to the north of here."
At the word "orphanage," Jinny's eyes widened in surprise. That, in turn, flustered Anna.
"Well, it was an orphanage at the church. The priest raised me as his adopted daughter. So maybe I'm not technically an orphan?"
"...Hmph."
Jinny turned away, looking bored. Left with no choice, Anna continued her story.
"I set out on a journey because I wanted to find my parents. I made money for the trip by selling vegetables grown in the village."
"By yourself?"
"Nope, I have two companions. I couldn't have made it this far without them."
Anna suddenly found it funny. She remembered Franz's incredibly bewildered face when they first met. Today was a day for remembering the start of her journey.
"And one of those companions has a mansion in a high-class residential district?"
"...I guess you could put it that way?"
It wasn't wrong, exactly. Even if it was payment for getting rid of a ghost.
"And that companion has connections to the Military Police."
"Well, the Military Police, or rather..."
She swallowed the words, he's a minister of the Yuresla Kingdom, just in the nick of time. Whoops, can't say that. Right now, Anna was posing as a subordinate of Altman from the Military Police. The girl must have interpreted Anna's desperate silence in her own way, because she spat out her next words.
"You sure are lucky."
"Huh?"
"There are no orphans like you in the slums. Everyone's just desperately trying to survive at the bottom, where they aren't even treated like people."
"..."
"I'm sure that to you, my desperate struggle to survive at the bottom must look pathetic."
"That's not true!"
"Were you an orphan who caught the eye of a church priest? Did you sweet-talk some rich traveler into buying you a mansion and showering you with money?"
"I didn't do any of that!"
"Whatever the case, you've had an easy life. You're lucky. I bet you can't even begin to understand what it's like for me, desperately trying to crawl my way out from the bottom."
Anna couldn't find any words. She supposed if you called it luck, then she was lucky. Her adoptive father doted on her like a daughter, and Ritz protected her. But did that mean she wasn't living desperately?
What did this girl mean by 'living desperately'? Was it different from treasuring each day and living one day at a time?
To begin with, Anna didn't have a sense of what hardship was. She might use the word jokingly, but she had been taught that hardships were trials from the Goddess, things that would make her grow.
Hardship was an important element that helped one grow. So all you had to do was smile and overcome each day. That was a lesson from her adoptive father.
But Jinny would probably never understand Anna's way of life. Just as Anna couldn't imagine what a happy life would be for Jinny.
Oblivious to Anna's thoughts, Jinny continued.
"It would've been better if you had grown up like me—poor, idolizing the rich, envying them, suffering!"
"Jinny..."
She had no idea how to make her understand. This girl and she were fundamentally different in their ways of thinking. Too different.
She had never once dreamed of being rich. Anna had only ever done her best with what she had. She had been taught that admiring someone or envying something wouldn't bring her happiness. And even now, Anna believed that was right.
But maybe that was just because she was lucky. If their positions were reversed, if she had been born and raised in the slums like Jinny, would she be the one thinking this way?
If Father Anton hadn't raised her, if she hadn't met Ritz, if she hadn't met Franz, would this have been her?
Luck...
Was that the decisive difference between her and Jinny? But Joe, who had been in the slums, was living an upright life. Unlike Jinny, she had no parents or siblings.
As Anna pondered, Jinny's small, regret-filled voice reached her ears. When she looked, Jinny was hanging her head.
"If I'd had a happy upbringing like you, Anna, I'm sure things wouldn't have turned out this way."
"This way?"
When Anna asked, Jinny raised her head.
"...While I was playing Cynthia, I started to feel jealous. Of Mrs. Russell. I mean, she can live a wealthy life even though she's gone senile, right? Hiring a girl just because she wants to believe her daughter is still alive."
She'd never thought of it as jealous-making. She had only felt that the woman was pitiful. That's why she wanted to help her.
"While I was working my fingers to the bone doing laundry, getting chapped skin and chilblains, that Mrs. Russell was having tea and chatting with the ghost of a daughter who isn't even here. It's not fair, is it?"
That's not true... She wanted to say it. But if she did, she felt the conversation would end, so Anna listened in silence.
"So... I stole some jewels from Cynthia's closet."
"You can't..."
She was speechless. Stealing jewels because it was unfair and made you jealous was unthinkable in Anna's world. But Jinny had done it.
"Thinking back on it now, it must have been a trap. The moment I stole the jewels, that man—the butler—caught me."
Anna remembered that man with the nasty look in his eyes. That shady, malicious face... Jinny continued.
"I thought he was going to kill me, but he didn't. He asked me if I wanted to get rich. If I wanted to get my hands on something even more valuable than those jewels..."
Jinny explained in detail. He said he would keep quiet about her attempting to take the jewels, but in return, she had to help him.
...With their plan to tunnel from this basement and raid the castle's underground treasury...
That mountain of dirt piled up in the garden was from digging the tunnel. And the hammering sound Anna had heard was the sound of them digging.
Even as Anna turned pale with understanding, Jinny's story continued.
The red-haired maid was necessary for Mrs. Russell's sake. But the reason they chose her from the slums was to recruit more people for their plan. After hearing the butler's story, the previous maids had helped gather more accomplices. They chose and introduced people from among their own friends who seemed suitable.
When there was talk of making money, it wasn't hard to gather people. And the remaining maids were still in the basement, taking care of the men. They had no intention of leaving until they got their share.
"They said the tunnel will reach the castle's underground treasury this evening. Then tomorrow, they'll go in, take the treasure, and run."
"But that's a terrible crime, you know?"
When she looked straight at Jinny and told her this, Jinny turned away. Jinny knew. But she also knew that if the plan succeeded, she would get a lot of money. That's why Jinny wouldn't try to escape.
"...They said we'd escape to the neighboring country by ship right away. I'm going to do that, too."
"You can't do that! What about Dan?"
Jinny bit her lip and fell silent.
"If you have a dream, you should work to achieve it. Joe is learning how to use a sword from my companion right now. She says she wants to be a soldier or a mercenary."
"A mercenary? Joe?"
Jinny looked at Anna with a surprised expression. Anna desperately continued.
"Yeah, she's amazing. She practices by herself for hours every single day. And she helps with the housework and comes shopping with me, too."
Anna looked straight at Jinny, pleading with her. Joe was trying to give form to her dream. No matter what form it took, she wanted Jinny to understand what an amazing thing that was.
"..."
"Raiding the treasury is a serious crime, you know? Please. Committing a crime will never lead to happiness!"
But Jinny just slowly shook her head.
"Jinny, please..."
As Anna continued to press her, Jinny turned back and glared at her weakly.
"Don't look at me with such pity."
"I'm not pitying you."
"Then don't feel sorry for me. I've already made up my mind. I can't go back."
Jinny slowly walked towards the sturdy-looking door. Still bound, Anna dragged her body towards Jinny, but she couldn't move well. In her limited field of vision, Jinny slowly turned back to look at Anna.
"Tomorrow morning, the women are getting on a ship in the port. Once the treasure from the treasury is loaded, we're leaving this country for good. Goodbye, Anna. If you make it out of here alive, tell Joe and Dan I said hello. And that I'm going to find my happiness."
"Jinny!"
Without answering Anna's cry, Jinny closed the sturdy door. She could hear the sound of a key turning in the lock from the outside. Strength drained from her entire body. The rope digging into her arms hurt. She hadn't noticed before because she'd been so focused, but the back of her head was throbbing. Her body ached all over, too. She must have gotten bruises from being kicked.
If her hands were free, she could cast healing magic, but that wasn't an option.
"What should I do...? A robbery at the treasury..."
She knew she had to tell someone, but there was nothing she could do.
After agonizing for a while, Anna decided to just sleep for the time being. If there was nothing she could do, then conserving her energy was the most important thing. Unfortunately, it seemed there would be no food, so falling asleep was the best option.
When she closed her eyes, perhaps due to the pain, Anna drifted off to sleep as if being quietly pulled under.
Meanwhile, at the Clayton Residence, things were also beginning to move. It was early in the morning, five days after Anna had left, just before breakfast.
For the past few days, Ritz had been living a regular life, not going out at night, and had become an early riser. He was sitting at the desk in his room, cheek propped on his hand, back hunched as he stared out the window, lost in thought.
It was a little cloudy outside. It was quite cold, so it might even snow.
It was too much trouble to light the fireplace, so Ritz had draped himself in the cold-weather cloak issued to him by the military, which he had since made his own.
"It's cold..."
The room itself was barren. This room, which had likely been used by the former master of the house, was a two-room suite, with the bedroom in the back. Where he was now, there was a large, heavy study desk, a bookshelf, a reception set, and a glass sideboard for displaying liquor and art. It was, of course, empty inside.
The only thing filling the space, just barely, were a few bottles of distilled spirits. He rarely drank at home, so they were mostly full. This was a temporary lodging, so he had no intention of filling the barren landscape. The bedroom in the back was more than enough.
In Ritz's hands were the letter Anna had written to Joe and the letter he himself had written to Altman. Putting Anna's letters together, there were several clues that might reveal what was happening at the Russell Residence where she had infiltrated.
To investigate some of them, Ritz had been snooping around the Russell Residence, pretending to go to work. He had told Shasta that he had too much paperwork to finish and would be working from home.
One clue was the construction work happening nearby. Anna had written in her letter that the butler was letting someone use the garden to store dirt, and that it was terrible.
After walking around the area by himself for the past few days, he had found no sign of any construction happening in the vicinity. This meant the source of the dirt was currently unknown. Unknown, but there was no doubt the butler of this house knew. Could it be related to the sounds she heard at night?
Next, if some crime was being committed, there would be no need to hire a maid for a senile woman. To put it bluntly, if they killed the woman and buried her, they could commit as many crimes as they wanted in that house. So there must be a reason why they were deliberately doing this.
One possibility was in Ritz's mind, but he wouldn't know for sure without actually going there. When he actually asked around, he heard that Mrs. Russell had always been a sharp woman.
And another thing: there were too few employees. The Russell Residence was far larger than Ritz's Clayton Residence. Mrs. Russell was probably a noble of some sort. For a house like that, two maids, one butler, and his one nephew was far too few. Whether to run the house or to commit a crime that required enough construction to create a large pile of dirt...
If that was the case, wasn't it possible that there was a room somewhere, unknown to Anna, that could house the construction workers?
From watching the house all day from the outside, there was almost no one coming or going. The only people who occasionally went out were the man said to be the butler's nephew and the middle-aged woman.
However, when he caught and spoke to the contractor who delivered daily necessities to the house in bulk, he learned that the order volume was considerably large. There was no way a household of only five people could account for that quantity.
This had started about a year ago. And the volume had been gradually increasing. The disappearing maids, and the proportionally increasing daily necessities.
In other words, since this suspicious incident began, the number of people involved in the crime has been gradually increasing... It was safe to assume so.
Ritz stretched wide and stood up. It was probably time for breakfast.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch..."
His back creaked. Ritz slapped the area around his lower back hard with his right hand. It was pretty stiff.
"Come on, don't start hurting from just this..."
To investigate the Russell Residence, Ritz had been hunched over every day, with this cold-weather cloak pulled completely over his head, wandering around or sitting down in the guise of a beggar.
Because of that, his back hurt a little when he got up in the morning. But it couldn't be helped; due to his appearance, he drew a lot of attention unless he disguised himself.
"That Anna... this is going to cost you."
At the very least, he'd have to get her to massage his back, or it wouldn't be worth it. Secretly smiling wryly at his old-man-like thought, Ritz was about to reach for the door, but just before he did, it was flung open by someone. He dodged back a step just in time to avoid being hit.
"Whoa, that was close..."
He muttered as he exhaled the breath he'd been holding, at the same time the culprit who had opened the door shouted.
"Master! There was no letter!"
It was Joe who had burst in. She was considerably panicked and pale.
"...Did you check the whole area?"
"I did! I looked, but it wasn't there!"
So it's finally happened. Ritz sighed softly. It seemed Anna's job as a maid had only lasted five days. Or perhaps, given her personality, it was more accurate to say it was amazing she'd lasted five days while investigating the enemy.
"What about Anna? What's happened to Anna?!"
"...Who knows."
He couldn't imagine what kind of situation Anna was in right now. Whether she was alive, or had been killed...
However, from the fact that the number of criminals increased each time a maid disappeared, Ritz surmised that the probability of Anna being killed was low.
Besides, there was no way the abnormally lucky Anna would die in a place like this. Ritz firmly believed that.
...What else could he do in this situation, in this place, but believe? To hide his impatience, Ritz clenched his fists tightly.
He mustn't make Joe too anxious. If she sensed his agitation, Joe might feel an overwhelming sense of responsibility for Anna and do something reckless. After all, this whole affair started with the disappearance of Joe's friend.
"For now, let's eat."
"How can you be so calm?!"
When Ritz calmly suggested this, Joe snapped at him. But now that it had come to this, panicking wouldn't change the outcome.
"It's okay. I'm ready."
"But..."
"I said it's okay, didn't I?"
"Even if you say that..."
To the still-reluctant Joe, Ritz offered a smile.
"A student should listen to what her master says."
Ritz knew well that Joe was weak to those words.
"That's not fair, saying it like that."
To the pouting Joe, Ritz pressed on.
"Well? Your answer?"
"Yes..."
"Then go on downstairs. I'll get ready and be right down."
As he headed for the back room, taking off his cold-weather cloak, Joe muttered softly behind him as she left.
"I'll get breakfast ready..."
Silently, Ritz took the unranked military uniform issued to him by the king from the closet and changed into it from his usual clothes.
The impact on the criminals would be stronger if the Military Police stormed in, rather than a civilian. This time, he would use that effect. It would probably be effective in crushing the enemy's fighting spirit.
As luck would have it, Franz wasn't here today. Since he was going to infiltrate a place with an unknown number of enemies by himself, it was probably okay to put on a bit of a bluff. After all, Ritz now had a promise with Anna. He couldn't just cut everyone down without a second thought.
He shoved the letter addressed to Altman that had been on his desk into his breast pocket.
"Please, just be alive, Anna."
Muttering a prayer, Ritz took his greatsword in his right hand and his cloak in his left, and left the room.
When he went down to the dining hall, there was a strange atmosphere. A large man he had never seen before was sitting in a chair, making himself small. Evans was sitting next to him, but the large man was frozen as if in tension. Even Joe, who should have been in a hurry, was completely frozen with tension. The air was frozen, unmoving.
It was the large man who noticed Ritz first. He leaped up from his chair with an agility that belied his size and bowed his head to Ritz.
"Good morning, Your Excellency."
The man, who was as tall as Ritz, had broader shoulders, was more muscular, and looked extremely strong. On top of that, in this cold, he was lightly dressed in a jacket over a shirt.
And he had large, furry, pointed ears, and equally large fangs. He generally gave off a scary impression, but his eyes were gentle, giving him a friendly air.
"You're... Lef?"
"Yes."
The large man broke into a happy smile. If he had a tail, he would probably be wagging it frantically from side to side.
"...Right, it was today. I forgot."
Yes, this was undoubtedly Lef, the beastman who had been confined by that drug cartel. He looked quite different from the impression he had given at that time.
They had met in the darkness, so it was natural for his impression to change, but for some reason, he felt that Lef was even more attached to him than at that time. He had only met Lef on that day and once more on the day it was decided he would look after him for a while. So why was this...
"I've heard a lot from everyone who looked after me. They say you're an amazing person, Your Excellency."
What in the world have they been telling him... He didn't want to imagine.
"For now... let's eat."
When Ritz said that, the people in the dining hall finally started to move. With breakfast mostly set out, Ritz sat down in his seat.
"Sorry, I'm busy today. I'm leaving right away, but..."
As he reached for a piece of bread, Ritz suddenly realized something.
"...Lef, are you free today?"
"Yes, Your Excellency."
"No, Ritz is fine."
"Yes, Ritz."
He was so dutiful. They say beastmen are honest and straightforward, but Lef might be one of the most honest among them.
"Can you use a sword?"
At Ritz's sudden question, Lef tilted his head.
"I cannot."
"I see..."
So it's impossible to take him to the Russell Residence, where a fight is about to break out... Just as he thought that, Lef continued in a leisurely tone.
"We beastmen don't need weapons."
Right, that was true. Ritz let out a faint smile, realizing his question had been off the mark. He should have been well aware of that fact from their time in that basement.
"Ritz, are you in trouble? I have some skill in martial arts, so I can help."
To the worried-looking Lef, who was tilting his head, Ritz turned his face. He looked straight into his eyes.
"Help me. A friend of mine has been taken captive."
"...! Captive?"
"Yeah. A girl."
"A girl! That won't do. Let's rescue her right away. I'll help."
"Then let's just eat. We're leaving right after."
"Yes."
Ritz began to wolf down the breakfast in front of him. Joe and the others, while looking at Lef curiously, also took their seats.
Lef, perhaps feeling a little uncomfortable, was fidgeting in his large body, tearing off pieces of bread Ritz had handed him. When he had finished about half his meal, Ritz looked up.
"This is Lef. As you can see, he's a beastman. He'll be living in this house for a while from today, so be nice to him. Annie, we had an unused room, right?"
'Yes, we do.'
"Then, could you get it ready by the time we get back?"
'Understood.'
Annie vanished in a wisp. She could move anywhere in the house like that. And since she didn't need to eat, being a ghost was a surprisingly convenient state.
"Evans, Lef knows nothing about this country. I'm taking him out today, but I'd like you to teach him various things."
"Understood."
Evans smiled at Lef.
"A pleasure to meet you, Lef-kun. I am Evans Clayton. I am a priest at the Main Temple of Light."
"I'm Lef. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Perhaps finally starting to relax, Lef moved next to Evans as he was called.
Evans was... well, perhaps it was always the case with priests of the temple... but as could be seen from his taking in Joe, he was extremely fond of taking care of others.
In this harmonious atmosphere, only Joe was gloomy. Since Ritz and Joe were the only ones here who knew Anna's situation, it couldn't be helped.
So as not to worry Annie and Evans, they had lied and said that Anna had gone to the castle for a few days to help the queen with an overnight stay. So they probably wouldn't dream that Ritz's attire was related to Anna being in danger.
"Joe, it's okay. Leave it to me."
After finishing most of his breakfast, Ritz confirmed that Evans and Lef were awkwardly talking, and then said that to Joe.
"...I want to go, too."
It was a determined statement, but Ritz had expected Joe to say that. So he answered calmly.
"No."
"But if I hadn't said anything, Anna wouldn't have..."
"I know. But I can't take you."
Joe looked up at Ritz resentfully.
"You're saying I'm not strong enough, aren't you?"
"...If you know that, then don't ask."
Ritz said to Joe with a wry smile. It was a pity, but he couldn't take her yet. Even Franz would be in danger, so there was no way he could take Joe.
"But there might be something I can do to help, you know?"
To the still-persistent Joe, Ritz handed her the letter he had put in his breast pocket.
"This is how you'll help. Give this to the guards at the castle gate. I've already arranged for them to take you straight to Altman if you show them this."
Realizing that the arrangements had been made without her knowledge, Joe pouted.
"What's this? You never had any intention of taking me from the start, did you?"
Ritz nodded and popped the last of his fried egg into his mouth. He smiled at the dissatisfied-looking Joe.
"My bad."
Still pouting, Joe turned away. Ritz spoke to her profile.
"To be honest, I'm not in my right mind right now. I might look calm to you, but I'm actually quite panicked."
At Ritz's words, Joe fell silent with a serious expression.
"If something happens to Anna, I'll probably lose it. I have a responsibility to look after her, you know. If that happens, I won't have the luxury of protecting you from the enemy."
"...I get it. You're right, Master always goes all out for Anna."
"...Do I?"
He felt like he'd been told something unexpected. Had he really been like that?
"Yeah. The first time you and I met, Anna, you were delirious with a high fever, weren't you, Master? But you still fought the Ward Family for Anna's sake."
"..."
As he remained silent, Joe muttered with a sigh.
"Listening to Anna talk, I'm jealous. Master can properly protect the things he wants to protect. I can't even protect a single friend."
Ritz stood up and placed a hand on the dejected Joe's head.
"It's okay. You'll be able to protect them, too. I'm sure of it."
Looking away shyly, Joe answered softly.
"Only because you're such a good master, right?"
"Exactly."
Ritz then stood up from his seat.
"Lef, you done eating?"
"Yes."
"Alright, let's go then."
Ritz slung his greatsword over his back and wrapped himself in his cold-weather cloak.