Chapter 18.2
“Are you not being too modest by calling yourself a hindrance?”
“No way. Even the top soldiers in Verde would be mere foot soldiers in Acardi. Grose Baehr has been safe so far because they have never picked a fight with Acardi. They are a pure warrior race, after all.”
It’s lamentable that our top soldiers are considered mere foot soldiers there. . .but it’s true that while soldiers in Verde have been far from war and fighting for the past 30 years, Acardi has been constantly fighting against demon beast invasions. Even though the demon king who tried to destroy humanity long ago was defeated by heroes and saints, it seems difficult to completely eradicate all demon beasts. It’s like trying to get rid of all pests, it’s not easy to deal with all of them.
By the way, several decades ago, the previous emperor started a war with Acardi, and in the chaos, a dragon flew in and set several cities in Verde on fire. In the end, they had to ask Acardi for help to subjugate it. It’s because of this past that the current emperor has built a friendly relationship with Acardi and supports their defense budget, which is not insignificant.
I digress. In short,
“Sir Theodore and Lord Oberti are here, so it seems safe.”
“Yes. However, if anything happens to you, my head will roll, so please stay behind me.”
“. . .I have no choice.”
Since I couldn’t change the course of the battle by just watching, I obediently hid behind his back. Of course, if Esterize-sama were to support him, Theodore-sama’s power would be 100 times stronger with the power of love, but now he is next to Princess Dorothea.
Nevertheless, Theodore-sama managed to incapacitate the two members of Grose Baehr without any particular danger. . .Two people?
“Isn’t that a small number. . .?”
“Yes. . .I’ve heard that they always act together, no matter how simple the request is. . .”
Grose Baehr consists of seven members. Even for a task that could easily be accomplished by one person, their caution in operating as a group of seven is what makes them fail-proof and elusive. Especially on Princess Dorothea’s birthday celebration, it’s unlikely that they wouldn’t all be present.
In other words, there might still be five more lurking somewhere. Sylvester seems to have the same thought, as he takes my hand and leads me toward the wall. There are knights with swords along the wall, and if we go outside and get some distance, I can use magic.
. . .On the other hand, they may be outside.
At the moment when Theodore-sama declared victory by holding a blade to the throat of one of Grose Baehr’s members, the angry voices of the gentlemen echoed.
“Assassins, who are you targeting!”
The voice belonged to His Imperial Highness, the younger brother of the Emperor. He was angry, his face red, but since he had tried to kill Diark many times, I couldn’t help but think that this was also his doing. It’s mainly because of him that I can’t reveal my engagement to Diark. To be honest, I hate him. But of course, I couldn’t say such a thing to His Imperial Highness, who is much higher in status than me, so I just narrowed my eyes and looked at him.
“I came here to kill the princess.”
“Who ordered you to do it? Spit it out! If you do, your punishment might be lighter.”
I can’t believe that Dorothea, the princess, was the target. . .Unfortunately, in this country, the value of life is not equal. The severity of the crime differs between killing a commoner and killing a member of the imperial family. This applies to assassins as well, and it should cost a considerable amount of money to kill a member of the imperial family.
Why do I know this? I asked Grose Baehr how much it would cost to kill Diark. . .No, it’s not a suspicious story. I thought that if I gave them more money than that, they wouldn’t accept the request. But it was surprisingly expensive. It was not only beyond what I could afford, but also so expensive that even His Imperial Highness would be suspected of its purpose if he spent that much money. Killing the Crown Prince would shake the country, and above all, if that happened, they would do whatever it takes to accomplish the task of dismantling Grose Baehr, which is already struggling, even if they have to ask for Acardi’s cooperation.
“That’s why I assumed that even though there may be a difference in reward between the Crown Prince and the Third Princess, it’s certain that the client is a high-ranking noble.”
“. . .A veiled woman. You can understand from that much, can’t you?”
“What!?”
Are you saying it’s Esterize-sama? That’s impossible! It’s a serious misunderstanding. However, I do know that Grose Baehr only accepts requests from the person themselves. I don’t know how they distinguish between the person and their proxy, though. . .
Due to Grose Baehr’s statement, attention is drawn to Esterize-sama. While murmurs of “No way” and “Why” can be heard here and there, the people between Esterize-sama and the Crown Prince move aside.
“Is that woman over there?”
“. . .Yes, that’s her.”
“What! It’s lamentable that the princess of Acardi tried to kill the important princess of the Empire!”
I believe in Esterize-sama. It’s partly because I’m a fan of the ship, but also because even though he seems friendly, Diark, who has trust issues with people, trusts her.
However, setting aside the affected tone of the imperial prince, the Grose Bear member who has been captured and is biting his lip in frustration doesn’t seem like he’s lying. What on earth is going on… I unintentionally alternate my gaze between that man and Estelize-sama.
“Yes, I did request it.”
Esterize-sama straightened her posture and replied with a firm “yes” to the imperial prince’s words. I couldn’t help but blurt out,
“Why would you do such a thing, repaying Verde’s support for Acardi with enmity?”
“Well, that’s because. . .”
As the murmuring crowd waited for her next words, Esterize-sama suddenly reached for her face veil and removed it.
“Because you asked me to, Your Highness.”
