161 - Side Story: Leonardo's Perspective The Ring's Whereabouts 1
It seems Tina has decided to gradually change her behavior now that she's turned ten. She declared that carrying her around or having her sit on my lap like before is forbidden. But my little sister is still so cute that I keep forgetting this declaration and try to put her on my knee, only to get my nose slapped. At least she didn't use her fist, so my little sister is kind.
"Leo! ...I mean. Big Brother Leonardo, Alf-san is here."
When I look up from my documents at the sound of a knock, Tina is peeking her face in through the office door. If she waited for my reply before opening the door, it would be perfect, but perhaps because she's too conscious of changing her words and actions, she can't even do what she used to be able to. Calling me "Leo" first and then correcting herself to "Big Brother Leonardo" is also proof that she's forcing herself.
...I don't think she needs to force herself to change all at once.
She seems to think there's a big difference between single-digit and double-digit ages, but from an adult's perspective, ten is still a child. There's no need for Tina to rush into being an adult.
After seeing off Tina who guided Alf in and then left, Alf enters the room. In his hands, as always, is a bundle of documents and reports.
"Additional reports, and here are the Recollection Festival proposal, estimate, security arrangements and consultations, interview requests for costume consultations for the new Spirit's Favored Child, an investigation report on winter intruders from Lugmilama Fortress, and regarding the disposition of the kidnappers from Lagarette."
Listing the overview of the documents, Alf arranges the bundles of paper on the desk in order of priority. From urgent matters to postponable items like the interview requests for Tina's costume consultation, it's quite varied.
"And also, this is a verbal report, but..."
With that preface, Alf lowers his voice by a level. Tina's not the kind of child to eavesdrop, but it's not something we'd want her to overhear either.
"Lord Bertrand, who is staying at our residence, has been moving around quite energetically."
According to reports from the servants, Bertrand has been calling people to the residence to investigate something. The first person called was the secondhand goods dealer who runs a shop in the back alley, and the dealer came carrying a small box with a ring inside. It seems they had made arrangements beforehand, as Bertrand just checked the ring briefly and then gave the dealer some money. Most of the residence servants were personally arranged by Alf, but Bertrand apparently didn't think the exchange with the dealer needed to be particularly hidden. Alf's steward was allowed to be present as usual and heard all of the conversation on the spot.
"It seems he was doing something similar to what I did to catch Tina's former governess's crime. Apparently a ring matching the wanted notices Lord Bertrand had put out was brought to a secondhand goods dealer in this city of Grenore."
"...That sounds familiar."
"What a coincidence. It sounds familiar to me too."
Considering Tina's age, I can't tell how many years ago the wanted notices were issued. But there's no doubt that the notices had already been distributed years before Jean-Jacques tried to sell the ring.
"It seems the story about Jean-Jacques's ring having been sold was a lie."
They probably sent word to Bertrand right away when the ring was brought to the shop. The fact that the ring is surfacing in Grenore now means that when Jean-Jacques reflected on his actions and rushed to buy it back, it must still have been in the shop.
"Thanks to the dealer's testimony, Lord Bertrand already knows that a Black Knight came to sell that ring."
Since I'm basically always stationed at the residence, I didn't know, but it seems Bertrand has been showing his face at Grenore Fortress almost every day lately. He's probably conducting his own inquiries there, searching for the Black Knight who sold the ring.
"...It's only a matter of time before Lord Bertrand reaches Jean-Jacques."
"The dealer also mentioned that when someone came to buy it back, another Black Knight and someone from the Sedovara Church were there. It would be unnatural to hide it clumsily, so if asked, I plan to answer honestly."
That I am the Black Knight who went to the dealer along with Jean-Jacques. He has no intention of saying anything more than that, but hiding things poorly would just create holes. So he'll answer honestly within what he can say.
"Jean-Jacques is a Black Knight belonging to Grenore Fortress. Since he's your subordinate, Lord Bertrand will come to you too."
"Be prepared," Alf said and returned to the fortress. As I find myself unable to immediately return to work, Tina's surprised voice echoes from the first floor. The Black Dog must have come again. It was supposed to have been taken back by its owner, but that dog comes to Tina almost every day.
"...It really does come every day."
Tina tries to push the Black Dog out the entrance, but Oscar is one step ahead. If she tries to push him out, he licks her hand to defuse her momentum, and if she pretends to go out to shut him out, he slips through another door or window and takes up position behind her again. I think he's an excellent guard dog. If he really were a dog assigned as a guard, that is.
"But he does obey when I say 'no second floor,' you know?"
Other than that, he doesn't listen to Tina at all. He unilaterally sticks to Tina and follows her around, waits on the stairs while she's in her room, and follows behind her when she goes to the first floor or to the Menhishumi Church.
...Should I think that Oscar has realized Tina is Lord Saromon's daughter?
Humans can't understand it, but a dog's sense of smell is sharp. With canine sensibilities, some kind of scent discrimination must be happening. And since Oscar is a dog, he can't speak human language. Even if he's realized whose granddaughter Tina is, there's no way to report that to his owner.
Thanks to Tina's reports, Bertrand comes to the residence almost daily to pick up the Black Dog. But since Bertrand never makes any mention regarding Tina, he must only be searching for the ring's owner because of that matter. Or perhaps he simply doesn't know yet that Saromon had a daughter.
"Tina and Lord Bertrand, they get along quite well, or rather... they seem to have a good rapport."
It feels like it took quite a while for her to warm up to me, but Tina is totally attached to Bertrand. He has many anecdotes from his prime, and it seems Nils has been teaching her all sorts of things. She asks about the truth of his tales and her eyes sparkle at Bertrand's heroic legends. Once, to compete with Bertrand, I told her about the time I cut an enemy general in half along with his horse, but she just gave me a cold look and said I was exaggerating. Even though it's not a lie.
"Even if they seem to get along now, be cautious."
If Tina wishes it, it would be fine to let her meet her grandfather, but don't listen to what Bertrand wants, Alf warns me. When I replied asking if there was something behind his meaningful words, he advised me that while Bertrand seems fine now treating her as someone else's child, as a family man he has a different side to him.
"Lord Bertrand as a father is, in a word, harsh."
He had three children, all sons. Because he himself achieved merit as a Black Knight and earned a title, he demanded loyalty to the country from his sons as well. And the method Bertrand chose for this was for them to serve the country as Black Knights like himself, but none of his sons had enough talent to become Black Knights. If they lacked talent, they should compensate with effort, he forced his sons into extremely harsh training, and while the eldest and third sons somehow became White Knights, the second son's body gave out and the path to knighthood was closed to him. Even so, his desire to serve the country seemed to have been inherited, and the second son pursued a path as a civil official. The timing of the third son, Tina's father, running away is unknown, but the eldest son died in a previous war, and the second son, who didn't go to war as a civil official, became the heir. That second son adopted the eldest son's child, but died of illness three years ago. His wife was sent back to her family home. There were three grandsons, but two died in a plague. The last remaining grandson escaped harm because he didn't go out due to his weak constitution, but he's sickly to begin with and unreliable as an heir.
"...What should I say, is he cursed? It's nothing but misfortune."
"Setting aside the deaths from illness, the problem is that he becomes a demon for the sake of the country. He trains even his sons until their bodies break, you know. Tina couldn't handle that."
Right now he just thinks she's someone else's child, so he's only doting on her, but if he tried to discipline her as family, there's no telling what Bertrand would do to Tina. The fact that Tina is his granddaughter is better left unreported for Tina's sake.