381 - Leonardo's Perspective - The Gold Pendant
"We found it in a town roughly halfway between Mail Fortress and Waiyakku Valley..."
The Black Knight who had been sent to Mail Fortress said this as he brought back a gold pendant I recognized. When I slid my nail into the groove on the side of the pendant's top and opened it, a cameo carved with my profile emerged from within.
"It's Tina's pendant. Where exactly did you find it?"
"In Blois. I spotted it being sold at a secondhand goods dealer, thought it suspicious that your face was carved into it, and brought it back."
Blois is a small town along the highway. It thrives as a post town conveniently situated distance-wise for merchants traveling by carriage. It has no particularly notable industry, but thanks to the money merchants leave behind as a post town, it's not as small as a village, nor quite large enough to be called a city.
"Did you get the acquisition route from the shopkeeper?"
"At first, the shopkeeper was reluctant, saying he couldn't disclose information about the person who sold it. But when I told him the pendant might not be a stolen item but rather the possession of a kidnapped girl, he gave us a statement."
The one who came to sell Tina's pendant was a boy living on the outskirts of town. Since a child had brought in a gold pendant, the shopkeeper apparently found it suspicious and asked about the circumstances. Whether that secondhand dealer intended to run a cleaner business than the one Jean-Jacques had previously used, or whether it was merely self-preservation, he had checked the acquisition route from the boy, wary of stolen goods.
"We found the boy himself right away and heard the story directly. Apparently, when the boy's mother was cooking a fish he'd caught in the river, she split open its belly, and the pendant came out of its stomach."
The boy judged that since it came from a fish's belly, it belonged to no one, and since it was a pretty pendant, he figured it would sell, so he brought it to the secondhand dealer. The boy had been boasting about catching a big fish, and since his family couldn't eat it all by themselves, they cut up the fish and distributed it to the neighbors. Several people who had come to see the fish before it was cut up also confirmed that the pendant had come from its belly.
"I had him take me to where he caught the fish, but I couldn't find anything else of note there. I wanted to allocate more personnel to the river and the area around Blois for further investigation, but..."
"That area is under the jurisdiction of the Restham Knight Order."
"Yes. So I sent word to Yurgen-dono at Mail Fortress."
Even though the same person is commander, the Grenore Knight Order and the Restham Knight Order have different jurisdictions. A Black Knight dispatched from Grenore Fortress cannot conduct detailed searches around Blois, nor can they use local soldiers or Black Knights. Although my answer was probably obvious, the Restham Knight Order needed to await instructions from me as their commander and the Restham Knight Order's vice-commander before conducting the investigation.
The report from the Restham Knight Order, who received the message and surveyed the area around Blois, arrived about ten days later. Traces of a campfire were discovered in a forest slightly upstream of the river. Close by, they found an unnatural patch of dug-up earth, and when they excavated it, they discovered a deformed button from a White Knight uniform. Since there was black soot on the earth, they likely burned the clothes they'd been wearing there.
"...It seems safe to assume Giselle is alive."
Incidentally, this also meant her clothes had probably been changed. Tina's pendant, which she never removed even when changing clothes, must have been taken from her and thrown into the river. A fish swallowed it, and the boy who sold the pendant caught it... when I thought about it that way, it was an incredible string of coincidences.
...No, in Tina's case, maybe it was the spirits' blessing?
Tina, who had incurred the spirits' wrath, said "I can no longer expect the spirits' blessing," but there were signs that the spirits had been healing Tina when she was injured. The spirits' affection for Tina probably hasn't completely faded away. They don't seem willing to help Tina directly, but they delivered information to us this way. This is the first clue to Tina's whereabouts since the ring bearing Kalisa's crest that she left behind. At the very least, the fact that the pendant Tina was wearing when she was taken from Grenore was found in the south means suspicion toward the Kingdom of Saenard can be all but dismissed. It seemed safe to focus the search for Tina on the Zugari Empire to the west.
A message arrived from Bart, whom I'd left in charge of managing the residence, saying that the furniture Tina had ordered right after returning from the capital had begun to arrive. It made me realize how much time had passed. Even though the furniture made especially for Tina had arrived, Tina herself, who was supposed to use it, wasn't here. Normally, I would replace the furniture that no longer fit her and put the new pieces in place, but I gave instructions to store the new furniture in a separate room. Until I get Tina back, I want to keep her room just as it is. When the time comes to rearrange Tina's room, I want to properly hear Tina's opinions on it.
...No, that's not it. I just don't want to disturb Tina's room and lose the sense of her presence.
To make sure everything is ready for Tina whenever she returns, the bed sheets are changed every day, and the room is aired out and cleaned. There's no way Tina's scent could still linger, but I feel that moving the furniture would erase even more of Tina, and I simply can't bring myself to do it.
...Don't rush. Even if I rushed out impulsively, I couldn't get Tina back. First, it's important to carefully gather information.
It's frustrating, but given that she was taken from the city of Grenore and then out of the Kingdom of Ivizia, it wouldn't accomplish anything for me to rush off alone. To get Tina back quickly and surely, all I can do now is quietly gather information.
...It's alright. Little by little, clues are being left behind. Tina's pendant came back to me, too.
I will definitely get Tina back, I thought, touching the pendant hanging around my neck. I had been wearing a cameo carved with Tina's profile for some time, but now I had two cameos hanging from my neck.
Aaron, who had been organizing reports with Arnold's help in the nap room, seemed pleased that the paralysis in his arms and legs had recently been receding, though his movements were still sluggish. His vision was still the same, and he couldn't move as nimbly as before, but he was walking around the nap room every day, holding onto the walls, trying to regain the strength he'd lost while bedridden. Concerned about how Aaron's recovery was going and worried about Kokumaro at the residence, I asked the gatekeeper about Kokumaro's condition, but got scolded by Alfred about it later. If I wanted to know how things were at my own home, I should walk the short distance and see for myself, he said. And then I should rest in a proper bed, he added.
...He's right, I've hardly been home at all.
I thought Mirshe was reliable enough to entrust Kokumaro to, but I'd done the same thing to Tina before. I'd used the excuse that she was a child more mature than her age, indulging my own busyness and leaving things to Tina. In the end, Tina was an unusual child with memories of a previous life, so she managed well with the servants even when her guardian (big brother) didn't return home, but I got scolded once things settled down at the fortress. Taking in and raising a child isn't just about giving them a place to sleep and food to eat, I was told.
...I'll go home to the residence tonight.
I was worried about Kokumaro's condition, and even though I'd bought her as a servant, Mirshe was still a child in need of a guardian. Bart and the others were surely looking after her, but as her employer and her current guardian, it would be best to check on her directly.
I made plans to sleep at the residence tonight, sent word to the residence, and finished up my work. When I said I was going home for the first time in a while, Alf took over several documents for me. It seemed I'd been worrying not just Alfred but Alf as well. When I contacted the residence to ask them to prepare dinner, Pearl brought word that Salisa had arrived at the residence. I'd sent a letter summoning her, but she seemed to have arrived quite early. It was almost as if she'd set out as soon as the letter reached her.
There were things I had to discuss with Salisa first, so I finished my work earlier than planned and returned to the residence. I'd heard she'd only just arrived, but when I got back to the residence, Salisa had already changed into the maid's uniform and was standing alongside Mirshe to greet me.
"Thank you for coming all this way, Salisa."
"I arrived safely in Grenore today. ...Kalisa's lack of ability allowed the young lady to be taken, and I hardly know how to apologize..."
I stopped Salisa with my hand as she tried to bow her head deeply. I hadn't called her here to do that, and I didn't think it was because Kalisa lacked ability.
"I believe Kalisa served her duty admirably. Thanks to her, we have clues to the culprit. In fact, I'm grateful to her for doing so well. Rather, I'm the one who should apologize for causing your sisters to be lost."
"...I believe Kalisa did everything she could."
And then she said she too would do everything she could, as Salisa raised her face. Her eyes wavered for only an instant. Perhaps she was pushing down her emotions, thinking there were many things she needed to do before grieving her sister's death. She smiled bravely, as if to say that if she cried before getting Tina back, Kalisa would be angry with her.
"Since you informed me that bobbin lace would be needed, I brought several pieces from the Mandez Residence. I've also received instructions from Alfred-sama, so half of them are arranged to be sent to the capital."
Since the purpose of use was explained in the letter, the large, visually impressive pieces are to be sent to Felicia in the capital. Alfred had made arrangements for Felicia to wear and advertise the bobbin lace, then pass it down to noble young ladies, spreading bobbin lace throughout the capital. The plan was to gradually spread bobbin lace during the winter, then have it spread across the capital all at once at Felicia's wedding in the spring. The bobbin lace brought to Grenore was all made for Tina, slightly smaller than what adult women would use. We'd asked them to gather smaller pieces, ones that merchants could somehow acquire as samples of bobbin lace.
"Would it be acceptable for my first job here in Grenore to be sorting through Aurelia-sama's bobbin lace and the pieces we made? Leave it to me. I remember what we made."
"Yeah. I'll leave the sorting to you, Salisa. ...Before you start work, do you want to go see Kalisa?"
Salisa said she would grieve later, but I thought she'd want to see Kalisa before starting work. I asked her about it, but her reaction was much the same as before. When she asked how Kalisa was now, I told her that the cremated remains had been placed at the shrine of Uaksu, the death god. I hesitated to further burn Kalisa, who had died in flames, but the damage to her body was severe, and there was no time to consult the family. As for a formal burial, I'm thinking it could be done in Grenore or in Mandez, depending on the family's wishes. Honestly, I want to let Tina properly say goodbye too, so my true wish is to hold the burial after we get Tina back, but on this matter, I intend to prioritize Kalisa's family's wishes. If they say they want to bury her soon, I'll retrieve her remains from Uaksu's shrine immediately.
"I am deeply grateful for your consideration, Leonardo-sama, but I too believe it would be better to hold Kalisa's burial after we retrieve Lady Tina."
That way Kalisa would be at peace, was Salisa's opinion. She said Alisa and Iridal would likely say the same, and so Kalisa's remains would remain at Uaksu's shrine for a while longer. Salisa seemed to have decided to first take care of the work that needed to be done, and then visit Uaksu's shrine properly afterwards.
Time is up. Will fix typos and errors at a later date.