Chapter 240
“Uh… the privacy protection is very thorough.”
Beggar
The fact that the front and rear seats where the bodyguards sat could neither see nor hear the middle-tier seats we were riding in meant privacy was well maintained from our perspective, but conversely, since we could spy on what the bodyguards were doing from this side, wasn’t it excessively insidious?
Raver it wasn’t like some magic mirror used in a police interrogation room…
Alexandra Schneider shrugged at the sight of me looking around with an uncomfortable expression.
“It might be uncomfortable if you aren’t used to it yet. Shall I cover it? I can cover it if you want.”
Saying so, she waved her hand in front of her eyes, and in an instant, the translucent window was dyed black, making the front and rear invisible.
“Uh… thank you.”
Still, I thought I would feel more at ease once the sight of Team Leader Hank, who made me uncomfortable, and Ms. Kali, who made me feel guilty, disappeared, but what do you know? That wasn’t the case at all.
With the other seats out of sight, the space felt much narrower.
I was sitting all alone with the dazzlingly beautiful noble young Lady Alexandra Amadeus Schneider in the small room of the luxurious noble limousine.
That fact felt incredibly burdensome. What should I talk about? My back hurt from sitting so stiffly, too.
Can I look away? Am I not supposed to stare at her face so freely? I did that last time at The Consortium Club, but right now the atmosphere felt like I shouldn’t do that…
…I really felt like I was going to get indigestion. My stomach, which was already upset because of the Security Team 4, felt even worse.
Physiologically, this kind of awkward situation didn’t suit me.
It would have been a bit better if the other people were visible!
But it wasn’t like I could ask her to change it back. It wasn’t like someone like me could boss around a high-ranking noble young lady.
Fidgeting with my fingers, I forced my mouth open and spoke.
“Um, about taking me along with you. Um, by any chance, is it related to the Head of the Family―.”
“Of course it is!”
Whoa, that startled me!
Very suddenly, Young Lady Alexandra hopped across the space between us while still seated and got close to me. She wore an incredibly radiant and bright smile on her face.
“I must take care of my samurai, for who else would? And how could I leave behind the warrior who will protect me and dangerously go somewhere else alone!”
…Excuse me? A samurai?
Blinking as if bewitched for a moment by Alexandra Schneider’s refreshing smile, I realized that the noble young lady was under some massive misunderstanding.
Come to think of it, she had been like that to me since our first meeting.
“My name is Alexandra Amadeus Schneider. Become my exclusive samurai. I will make sure you are treated well.”
That recruitment offer had fizzled out after the Luddite Gang’s terrorism, but when we met at The Consortium Club, Young Lady Alexandra said she would repay the favor of saving her life, and by revealing that she hadn’t told her father about the sword - though Eugene Schneider somehow found out anyway - she showed me immense goodwill.
Also, from her perspective, seeing as she highly evaluated me for surviving the massive explosion that occurred during the killing of Ned Ludd - not because I was great, but because Sey saved me - she would be fully intent on hiring me as her samurai if she could.
She had wanted to make me her samurai from the start, and since I even played an active role by showing the bizarre ability of the activation of the Family’s Treasure Blade during the Luddite Gang’s terrorism. How could she not?
In that situation, coming in as a newcomer to Security Team 4, which was in charge of her, I caught her eye.
What would she think?
“Ah, Aaron Nakamura made a deal with my father, who noticed the use of Otto, and signed a contract to protect me just for today; so he inevitably ended up in this position!”
Would she think like this, or would she think, “Aaron Nakamura came all the way here to become my samurai!”?
No matter how I looked at it, it was the latter. The attitude she was actually showing proved it. Young Lady Alexandra firmly believed that I was going to be her exclusive samurai!
No wonder she seemed to speak much more comfortably than when I saw her at The Consortium Club; was it because she now considered me her person?
“No, come to think of it, you aren’t a samurai yet. You haven’t gone through a Regular appointment! Let’s consider it temporary for now. We can hold an appointment ceremony after this banquet is over, grand enough not to be pushed around by my older brothers…”
I squeezed my eyes shut at the sight of Alexandra freely spreading the wings of her imagination.
I had to tell her no, right now.
I had to shout confidently that “I had no intention of doing what she expected” to the young lady who was already counting her chickens before they hatched!
It was a cruel thing to say to a girl whose eyes were sparkling with a fluttering heart at the thought of having her own escort warrior, but I still had to say what needed to be said.
It wasn’t like I could really become her exclusive samurai!
Phew, I am taking a deep breath.
“No! Please listen to me for a moment. The truth is…”
As I forced my mouth open, which simply wouldn’t budge easily, and brought out the explanation, the expression of Young Lady Alexandra, who had been smiling brightly, gradually stiffened.
* * *
After hearing the full explanation of the situation, she understood.
“So that was it… I really thought you were going to be my samurai. How embarrassing.”
Young Lady Alexandra’s voice was truly gloomy as she said that.
Her cheeks were flushed bright red, showing that her embarrassment wasn’t just empty words. At a glance, she looked displeased.
I forced myself to ignore it and asked.
“…Then you’re saying you didn’t hear anything else from your father?”
“Yes. I did see my father before leaving, but he didn’t tell me anything about you. I only heard him tell me to have a good trip. My father is truly too much. If he had made such a promise with you, he should have at least let me know. Does it mean I am that untrustworthy…?”
I suspected as much, and I was right.
I wondered if she had heard something about my mission from her father, Eugene Schneider, but without any of that, Alexandra had just taken independent action, exclaiming “I found him, my samurai!” and recklessly putting me in the car to take me along.
I was thankful since it allowed me to carry out my mission, but somehow I felt guilty, like I had become a villain who used and threw away Young Lady Alexandra’s pure heart.
…I don’t know why I’m feeling doubly guilty so often today.
Even if I set aside lying to Ms. Kali, if you really think about it, I didn’t do anything wrong this time, and it was just Alexandra misunderstanding on her own, but somehow it felt like I had committed a huge mistake.
“It’s not too late yet, do you have no intention of changing your mind? If you become my exclusive samurai, I will treat you really well. I won’t make you work hard, I’ll give you lots of money, and I’ll give you the best room in my house at the castle.”
“…I cannot, Young Lady.”
Guilt was guilt, and what couldn’t be done couldn’t be done.
Lack of ability aside, to make me her exclusive samurai, she would have to get past my “Master”, the iron-blooded Isiho Chairman, first, as someone said.
No matter if she was Schneider’s youngest daughter, that was impossible. Even the Iron-faced Family Head Eugene Schneider would have to yield a step in front of our Chairman.
When I euphemistically beat around the bush to refuse, Alexandra’s complexion darkened even further.
Her despondent shoulders that had lost their previous vitality and her drooping ears naturally made me feel sorry for her.
I opened my mouth without realizing it.
“Um… this might not be enough, but… still, you may think of me as your exclusive samurai, for today at least.”
In fact, Eugene Schneider had also instructed me to prioritize Alexandra Schneider’s safety above all else in today’s mission.
If a dangerous situation arose, even if I wasn’t truly a samurai, I would do my best to protect her as much as I could.
When I looked at her with firm resolve in that thought, Alexandra Schneider met my eyes for a moment before puffing out her cheeks in dissatisfaction and turning her head away.
“Hmph… forget it. Don’t come asking me to take you back later when you change your mind. I will take in a much more competent talented person than you as my samurai. There’s no need for you to try in vain to protect me today. There are other bodyguards.”
“Ah, yes… understood.”
With that conversation as the last, an awkward silence lingered.
How much time had passed? Team Leader Hank’s voice was heard.
[Young Lady Alexandra, we will now enter the Meredith Family’s Private estate.]
There wasn’t much time left until we arrived at the destination. My wavering concentration sharpened once again.
I could see Alexandra Amadeus Schneider, who was looking only at the side window with her feelings hurt because of me.
‘There’s no need for you to try in vain to protect me. There are other bodyguards.’
She wasn’t wrong.
Schneider’s Bodyguards would be first-rate experts with the best skills to keep her safe anytime, anywhere. Normally, there wouldn’t even be room for me to intervene.
But if that were the case, there would be no reason for Eugene Schneider to send me all the way here.
There would definitely be a situation where I had to step up and do what needed to be done.