382 - Leonardo's Perspective: The Carriage's Whereabouts and Preparations for Infiltration
"Come to think of it, it's a good thing there was lace large enough for Felicia-sama to use. It would be far too big for one of Tina's."
"Because we were weaving it for Tina-sama's wedding dress. We have enough bobbin lace for up to two more people to present at a royal wedding."
"There's a limit to how early one can prepare."
Tina's wedding dress is still years away from being needed, but this time, that eagerness proved useful. In the short span of only half a year from spring to autumn, there was no way to weave new lace, so I thought we would have to reuse the bobbin lace from Felicia's wedding dress for Alfred's wedding as well, but it seems that concern was unfounded. It's for the best that Alfred's bride will be able to wear bobbin lace with a different design.
"What do you mean, 'up to two more'?"
"We have three sets of lace prepared. One made by Alisa, one made by me, and one made jointly by Iridal and Kalisa."
The bobbin lace sent to Felicia was apparently the one Alisa wove. The bobbin lace made in anticipation of an adult Tina all had different designs, it seems. The lace with the most mature pattern was Alisa's work. Salisa's lace emphasized showiness, while the one Iridal and Kalisa collaborated on apparently emphasized pattern and technique. For a lace refined in technique, I thought it should be sent to Alfred's bride, but since Kalisa made it, I also wanted to keep it for Tina. When I later consulted Alfred about what to do, he arranged to select the lace Salisa made and send it to his fiancee. When I asked him if it was really all right to send bobbin lace made with the highest current level of skill, his answer was simple.
"This lace suits my bride. That's all there is to it."
Whether that was just him being considerate of Tina or a love confession remains a mystery. He was supposed to be using it as a showcase to spread bobbin lace, but it seems Alfred chooses lace that best enhances his bride rather than the most technically refined. For Tina's sake, preparations for two sets of royal weddings are progressing at a pace normally unthinkable, but it seems Alfred also believes in providing the best possible within what can be prepared.
...I should apologize and thank Alfred's bride at some point.
For a woman whose once-in-a-lifetime wedding is being hurried along in this manner, she must have all sorts of grievances. When I thought so and consulted Alf about it, he dismissed me, saying that person is not the type to worry about such things. I had assumed she was a devoted woman who, caught up in the switch between Alfred and Alf, was subjected to heartless rumors about being a fiancee-betraying lady and then a princess whose engagement was broken by a prince, yet still waited faithfully for Alfred, but it seems she's not that kind of storybook heroine princess. Behind Alf, who said she's more of a formidable woman, Solana was nodding vigorously.
"A reply to the letter we entrusted to Cody has come."
A merchant can cross the border and slip into the Zugari Empire more easily than I or the Black Knights can. Alfred had entrusted a letter to Cody heading toward the Empire, and it seems contact has safely arrived from the person we're using as an information source. It appears to be with the cooperation of residents in towns and villages of what is now Zugari Empire territory, which was once our kingdom's land. For someone who can't casually enter the Empire, these are extremely reassuring allies.
"Remember that merchant's carriage Aaron said was suspicious before? I had him investigate that carriage."
By the time we had our eye on that carriage as suspicious, considerable time had passed since it crossed the border, and it was a carriage with no particular distinguishing features, so the search was extremely difficult, but it seems they managed to find information nonetheless. When I unfolded the small letter, it contained the trail of the merchant's carriage that had been transporting game boards as goods.
"No trace of having sold the goods immediately after crossing the border."
"Well, that much is within expectations. Right across the border there are only small towns and villages. There wouldn't be the kind of people who buy entertainment items like game boards. The problem is a bit further on."
"A bit further on... so, here."
The sightings of the carriage were written along the highway, and there was no sign of business in the towns and villages along the way. However, it seems there was a change in the party when they stopped at a post town. Apparently, a child at the inn where the party stayed found it strange and remembered it, and someone picked up what the child let slip outside as information.
"When they departed at dawn, the number of people boarding the carriage had increased by two, is it."
It seems they investigated this area in detail since it was only a child's testimony. The innkeeper initially hesitated to speak, not wanting to get involved with a man who, though pretending to be a merchant, was clearly a noble from his attire, but a bit of money loosened his tongue somewhat. The people who increased were placed in the carriage's hidden compartment and he was made to help carry them to the room during the night. One was a young woman wearing men's clothing, and the other was a child whose gender was unclear, apparently. You'd think you could tell at least the gender from their face, but the child was wrapped up in bandages and blankets, with only their mouth visible. Despite that, the man claiming to be a merchant explained that "they fell ill from the long journey and are sick."
"...If someone's wrapped in bandages, wouldn't you normally say they're 'injured'?"
"Normally you would think so, but the Empire is a country where the class divide between nobles and commoners is even sharper than in our kingdom. Even if you give a nonsense answer, commoners have no choice but to accept it as is."
Alfred's impression was that the answer was deliberately contradictory. Perhaps they were testing the innkeeper's discretion regarding guests. Whether he was the type to swallow whatever a noble said and accept it, or not. As a matter of fact, even just reading the objectively written report raises doubts for us, but the innkeeper seemed satisfied. Or rather, he likely feared incurring a noble's displeasure by pointing something out clumsily. No one wants to get involved in trouble if they can help it.
"It seems they couldn't track them any further than this... but I think we can consider it confirmed that Christina was taken to the Empire."
"All right, then let's storm into the Empire and..."
"We're preparing for that very thing, so don't rush."
Alfred says that all we've confirmed is the direction Tina was taken. Just knowing she was taken to the Empire doesn't tell us whether she might have passed through the Empire toward Quebia, or if she's staying within the Empire, where exactly in the vast imperial territory she is.
"Let me confirm one thing. Who's going to retrieve Christina..."
"Of course, I'm going. I have confidence in my legs and my stamina."
I'm going to retrieve my precious little sister. I'll borrow help from others as much as needed, but first, I want to move myself.
"...If you're going, we still need a lot more information. There are people in the Empire who know your face. If we knew where Christina is being held, we might be able to take minimal action and go there and back, but that's almost impossible."
The Empire's territory is too vast. Even just traveling while avoiding notice would take months. Even hidden travel would eventually catch someone's eye and become a rumor, and we'd need to secure food and interact with others for information. Perfectly hidden movement is impossible. Being spotted by ordinary villagers or children might not be a problem, but if they report it to soldiers and someone who knows my face shows up, that would be trouble.
"It seems difficult for me to go in as I am."
"That's what your uncle is for. Let's make full use of him."
If Rannvald, whose atmosphere resembles mine, is at Grenore Fortress, even if I'm found within the Empire, I can claim to be a different person on the grounds that it would be recognized that "the Black Knight Leonardo is inside the Kingdom of Ivizia" and there's no way I secretly crossed the border. I'm famous for valor domestically but infamous in neighboring countries. If they saw me secretly infiltrating the Empire, it would be considered a preemptive attack from the Kingdom of Ivizia against the Empire, potentially sparking a new war. We suspect the Empire took Tina, but we haven't determined whether the Empire as a whole abducted her or if it was someone within the Empire acting individually. We couldn't risk making a wrong move and starting a war.
...Truly, we still don't have enough information.
Tina was taken, infiltrating the Kingdom of Ivizia secretly and slipping out without anyone noticing. We need to act secretly as well and recover Tina before the kidnappers notice.
"But we've been leaning on the so-called Rann-sama quite a bit lately."
We had Tina draw a large number of sketches, and since she was involved in printing the guidebook in the capital, we've also enlisted the cooperation of the Menhishumi Church in Grenore. On top of that, having him act as my body double feels like we might be taking advantage a bit too much.
"Once everything is settled, let's give him something in return. ...Come to think of it, he was searching for something, wasn't he?"
Helping him search might be good. I simply thought so, but according to Tina, Rannvald's search item has "already reached the destination Rannvald wanted to send it to." Under normal circumstances, it seems there's no longer any need for Rannvald to continue searching.
"...Didn't you say the other day that when you held back information the so-called Rann-sama wanted, he sulked?"
"I did say that."
"So you're withholding information you know he doesn't need to search for, and keeping him working..."
"I did withhold that information, but I've also dangled bait right in front of him, so there's no problem."
When Alfred continued that if I want to reward Rannvald for his efforts, I should do something that would make Tina happy, I tilted my head in confusion. I'm confident that if Tina smiled at me cutely and said "Thank you, Leonardo Big Brother," it would blow away all my fatigue, but Rannvald probably wouldn't be happy if I said "Thank you, Rannvald Big Brother" to him. I don't have Tina's charm, nor the special feeling of being comforted by family.
...Family, huh.
Something that had fleetingly crossed my mind before came back to me. I thought Rannvald must be connected to one of my parents. If Alfred is saying that, then Alfred must know there's something between Rannvald and me.
...Hmm? That would mean Rannvald-sama's search is for me?
If I think of it that way, "the bait dangled right in front of him" would also be me. The fact that Alfred told me to seduce Rannvald suggests that, from the information Alfred gathered, he knew I would be effective against Rannvald. I've met Rannvald several times since then, and he's always been favorably disposed toward me.
"Your uncle can be your body double, but... you need to change your appearance somewhat too."
"Then I'll just let my bangs down."
Within the meritocratic Black Knights, I had slicked my bangs back and exposed my forehead to look older when I became the youngest ever commander at such a young age. This worked well. At the time, people said I looked like I was in my late twenties, but I remember that Tina, when I first took her in, said my face was scary. After she was frightened by my face and started crying, Tina, out of embarrassment, ruffled my hair and pushed my bangs down. Like this, it's not scary, she said.
"Letting down your bangs would certainly change your impression, but... maybe grow your hair out a little."
He said that if I grew a beard on top of that, my features would change considerably, and I started thinking about who to take to the Empire. Just as I need to change my face, it would be better to choose people whose faces aren't known within the Empire. Since we can't stand out, the group we can bring will be a small elite force.
Since this is a continuation of yesterday's chapter, it's on the shorter side. Next will probably be Giselle's perspective.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date. I'll be taking a break from updates on the 8th. Actually, it seems updates will be irregular for a while.