365 - Side Story Leonardo's Perspective - The End of Childhood 2
This chapter contains mildly gory scenes for some readers.
As if the festival day was not busy enough with festival security added to regular duties, today the Grenore Fortress was dying from the workload thanks to the former Second Prince. Between cleaning up after the runaway carriage, confirming and assessing the damage, transporting the injured, and the unexpected noble's stay in the city, the work kept piling up. There was not even a chance to go buy a replacement for the Three Crows Tavern's plate-baked dish that Tina had supposedly ruined.
"We have confirmed Prince Anselm's stay at the inn."
The Black Knight who had been sent as a messenger to the inn returned, having confirmed Anselm's presence just as Chadwick had testified. There was a silver-white knight attending Anselm, but we could not leave a prince staying at an inn with hardly any security worth mentioning, so we had moved him to the more secure fortress for now. Once his disposition was decided after questioning, he would probably be staying in the guest room of either the Fortress Lord's Residence or Alf's residence.
Fortunately, Anselm had not met Tina since arriving in Grenore. Since he had not broken the rule against contacting Tina without permission, we could handle him however we pleased. He had been used nicely and had successfully brought Chadwick to Grenore, but that was all Anselm had done.
"I had thought we needed to be careful since he is too attached to that person, but..."
As a member of the royal family without a position and with relatively free time, Chadwick had probably been a good playmate for Anselm. Among his same-sex siblings, Chadwick was the only one who could join in Anselm's games. Alfred worked as a Royal Peerage, and Elvis also worked as a Royal Peerage while assisting Christoph. There were other older sisters without Royal Peerages, but being of the same sex, Anselm had probably grown more attached to Chadwick. According to the Black Knight who had directly questioned Anselm, he claimed to have obtained permission to meet Tina of his own volition, but since Anselm's words were reported as-is, Alf's impression upon hearing this was "He has been masterfully led." Anselm seemed to think he had acted on his own will following Chadwick's guidance, but from Alf's perspective, he had apparently been used quite neatly. Alf made a pained face, saying the youngest prince seemed a bit lacking in education.
"Is it because those around him were too lenient, since he is the youngest?"
"But thanks to him obediently waiting at the inn, Prince Anselm has not met Tina. We can send him back to the capital as if nothing happened."
"That is the only saving grace."
We decided to send a letter to Anselm's birth mother, Jocelyne, urging her to tighten his educational environment, and temporarily set aside the matter of Anselm. In any case, too much work had piled up to spend time on individual matters.
"Has the transportation of the injured finished?"
"Those injured in the carriage runaway were sent to the Sedovara Church. Those whose injuries were not severe enough to warrant the church had their names recorded and were sent home."
"The Sedovara Church has it rough too, having this happen on a festival day. What about the calculation of treatment costs and damages?"
"Neither can be done right away. With night falling, we cannot see the state of the streets, and the damage is extensive since it was caused by a moving carriage in the first place."
The treatment costs for the Sedovara Church, compensation money for the injured, and the city's repair costs would probably be covered by selling off the furniture and such used by the Second Prince in the capital. A king's child who shows no interest in obtaining a Royal Peerage is treated as the king's property. This does not apply to minor royals who are still children in the truest sense, but there is no wasteful taxpayer money to spend on a child who does not work even after reaching adulthood. Everything a royal wears and eats is carved out of their birth mother's budget. Therefore, a king's child judged unable to obtain a Royal Peerage quickly finds a husband or wife and moves out of their mother's detached palace. Chadwick remaining in his birth mother's detached palace as he approached forty was extremely unusual.
I listened to the stream of reports, dealing with each one steadily. Before I knew it, it was time for lanterns to be brought into the tent. Already that late? I poked my head out of the tent and looked up at the sky, which was already approaching indigo.
...I should take a break soon and go pick up Tina.
I was thinking about taking a break in turns with Alf and going to pick up Tina during that time. As I surveyed the sky, I felt that only the northern sky seemed oddly bright.
...No, rather than bright... red? I think I can see some dark shadows too, but...
Something was wrong. I narrowed my eyes and glared at the northern sky. Since today was the Harvest Festival, there were probably shops open late. But this brightness in the sky was not from the city lights.
...Position-wise, around the northern pier...?
Something was strange. By the time I thought that, I had already started giving orders to the Black Knights around me. I had confidence in my instincts at times like this. If I felt something was wrong, then something was happening in the north of the city.
"Alf, go check on Tina at the Sedovara Church. I told her to wait until I came to get her, so she should still be at the Sedovara Church."
"If you said you would go pick her up, you should go yourself."
I ignored Alf, who shrugged and said Tina was waiting. My gut said it was the north of the city. Not the Sedovara Church.
"I have a strange premonition. I am heading over there, so you go confirm Tina's safety."
When I pointed at the discolored sky, Alf seemed to realize something abnormal was happening. The teasing tone quickly retreated, and he started preparing horses while issuing orders to the Black Knights.
"Those with energy to spare, come with me!"
The sky was colored differently from a sunset. Beneath that sky, there was a possibility of a fire.
Sensing the abnormality in my voice, the expressions of the Black Knights around me changed. They all began moving at once to grasp the situation, splitting into those looking up at the sky and those waiting for my instructions. After that, the elite Black Knights were quick to act. They began working efficiently, some gathering horses, others collecting tools needed in case of fire. I left the tool-gathering instructions to Pearl and led the Black Knights who prided themselves on their stamina and strength, who had their horses ready. Then I just rode north through the city.
A river flowed north of Grenore. Its source was in the Erath mountain range, passing right next to Grenore, flowing to the city of Lagarette, then continuing to the city of Tior beyond that, and joining the sea. Whether bringing goods from outside the city or shipping them out, the first place cargo was gathered was the pier in the north of the city.
Passing through the city gate, I headed straight for the pier. As soon as I exited the gate, a faint smell of something burning came on the wind. An unpleasant premonition crawled up my spine, and my grip on the reins tightened.
"What are the warehouse keepers doing?! Someone, check the situation! The rest of you, work on extinguishing the fire!!"
When I arrived at the pier, flames were indeed rising. Fire was shooting out from the building at the far end of the nine warehouses, and the fire had already spread to the adjacent warehouse. I looked around to see if anyone was there, why no one had come to the city for help, but there was no one other than the Black Knights.
...Something is wrong.
I thought that, but first I had to put out the fire. Investigating what was wrong came after putting out the fire.
"Commander, we found the warehouse keepers and the pier manager murdered."
Just as I was trying to minimize damage to other buildings by demolishing the burning building and the adjacent warehouse, a Black Knight who had gone to check the pier's management hut returned. With the report that both the warehouse keepers and the manager had been killed, I knew this fire had been deliberately set. If someone had set fire to the warehouse, there was probably something inside they wanted to destroy badly enough to burn.
...But at this rate, there is no way to check what is inside.
I desperately tried to put out the fire without damaging the contents, but by the time the fire was finally out, dawn was beginning to break pale and white. In the end, even if I could think of effective methods for the blazing warehouse, I could not use them, and the only thing I could do was prevent the fire from spreading to the surroundings.
...What about Alf?
I had sent him to check on Tina, but Alf had not come to report the results. If he was commanding the Black Knights in Grenore, that would make sense, but even so, it felt unnatural that he had not sent a substitute to report.
...What is happening?
I felt anxious, but I forcibly suppressed it. Nothing good ever came from panicking. If anything happened, it would only be because I overlooked something important in my panic and had the ground pulled out from under me.
Waiting for the area to brighten, I began clearing the burned warehouse that still retained some heat. I left the investigation of the murdered warehouse keepers to the other Black Knights. I could not shake the feeling about this warehouse.
The roof had completely burned and collapsed, but that also made it lighter and easier to break apart. Using horses and manpower to remove what little remained of the structure, I began to understand what had been inside the warehouse.
What appeared after clearing away the roof were the jet-black burned bodies of several men and a woman. Some bodies had limbs detached and lying in strange places, so I could not immediately count them, but when I did, there were four bodies in total.
...No children's bodies.
Unconsciously searching for Tina's figure, I slowly shook my head. I had left Tina at the Sedovara Church, so there was no way she would be a burned corpse here.
...One woman. Only the men have detached limbs.
Several things stood out as I examined the bodies. The ones with detached limbs were the men's bodies, scattered here and there throughout the warehouse. But the woman's body was crouched in the back of the warehouse, having breathed her last there. Only the woman's body was in a different state from the others.
...That is strange?
I knelt beside the woman's body and peered at her face. Her skin was charred black and her hair was gone, but something about her face bothered me.
...I see, her mouth is closed.
Bodies that die caught in a fire often have their mouths wide open, with agonized expressions. But this woman's body was curled up in a ball, her mouth tightly shut.
"Kalisa, what are you hiding?"
The name that naturally came out of my mouth sent unpleasant sweat running down my spine. It was the charred, unrecognizable burned corpse of a woman. And yet, the name that came out of my mouth naturally was hers. The name of a girl who had absolutely no reason to be in a place like this.
Unable to take back the name I had let slip, I silently placed my hand on the corpse's mouth. Feeling something hidden behind the tightly closed mouth's bulge, I probed, and the jaw muscles, burned through, opened, spilling out blood and a man's finger with a gold ring still on it.
"...Is the owner of this finger the one who caused this fire?"
Knowing there was no way I would get an answer, I spoke to the corpse. If this body really was Kalisa's, I could not leave her curled up forever, so I turned her over and lifted her up. As I did, her arm fell to the ground.
"This is..."
Because she had been curled up protecting it, her abdomen was not carbonized. Still, her bright red, burned and blistered belly had no remnants of clothing, not even traces of having worn underwear. I thought my eyes would go to her exposed breasts and abdomen, but there was something far more concerning attached to the corpse's belly. Noticing that, I saw the same thing was attached to both hands, which had not carbonized because they had been on the ground.
"Is this... Tina's hair?"
It was just short black hair. A large amount of it had come out from under the woman's body. I told myself it was just that, but I could not help thinking this body was Kalisa's, and the hair looked like Tina's black hair.
Kalisa had been protecting Tina in the flames.
"Send messengers to the city, Lugmilama, and Restham immediately! There is a possibility a thirteen-year-old girl has been abducted disguised as a boy! Thoroughly check everyone trying to leave the country!!"
And so, the "Heartful (Beaten)" mentioned in the story summary's note is here. Since it is from Leonardo's perspective, it only shows the results, making it considerably milder.
This concludes Chapter 9. Next is Chapter 10, but there will be about ten days off for a plot check break that happens every three chapters. The next update is scheduled for December 5th.