Chapter 104
Ah... I cried. I haven't cried in ages.
By the time I passed through the 'Third Holy District,' my emotions had finally begun to settle. I took a handkerchief from my pocket and wiped my eyes, then realized, Ah, this is the one I used to wipe my lady's tears... That left me feeling strangely conflicted. I put the handkerchief away.
After entering the 'Fourth Ward' with the count's crest,
Zelly-san, you're there, aren't you?
Ah, you noticed? Young Master, you're so mean.
The one who emerged sinuously from the shadows was Zelly-san, the gambling-addicted cat beastkin who was also my travel companion.
It seemed Zelly-san had been keeping watch too, after everything that had happened since yesterday. Zelly-san wasn't the sort of person who would go to the trouble of monitoring me around the clock, so today must have been a truly special case.
The one doing the snooping is worse... Actually, doesn't that make your taste pretty bad? And how did you even get into the 'Third Holy District'?
This much is a piece of cake. I can slip in lickety-split. I wouldn't go as far as the 'Second Holy District,' though. That place is seriously dangerous.
The security's dangerous?
I mean it's dangerous if I get caught. Getting in is pretty easy, though...
...
Was this country's security really that full of holes? Or was Zelly-san simply amazing?
...What is it, Young Master?
Zelly-san tilted their head, looking puzzled. ...Hmm, yeah, it seemed more likely that this country's security was simply full of holes.
Were you just thinking something rude?
Whenever I'm thinking about you, Zelly-san, it's usually something rude.
What!? That's an outrage! Even though you just got your heart broken, Young Master!
W-what!? What do you mean, heartbroken?
You did get your heart broken! It's the kind of thing that appears in those painfully obvious love stories: burning with a doomed love across a difference in status, only to part ways in the end!
Sigh... That's not it. My lady is, how do I put it... someone to cherish and watch grow... She has to be free, untroubled by anyone, and, well, somehow saved... Alone, quiet, and prosperous...
...
Zelly-san looked utterly put off!?
I know I'm the one at fault for dropping a 'Solitary Gourmet' reference in this world, though.
Ahem. Anyway, that was a joke. In any case, it's not like that with my lady. We'll probably meet again somewhere.
Is that so? Still, Young Master, why do you push yourself so hard?
I don't think I've explained the circumstances to you very well...
They found out about your black hair and black eyes, and you ran away, didn't you?
...
How did they know? Woman's intuition?
Th-this seems to be a lot riskier than you think, Zelly-san. The Duke of Ebenyu even sent around a hundred men solely to capture me.
Yikes, seriously? Then I'm in trouble too, ain't I, since I'm with you?!
That's right. If I left you on your own, you'd end up unable to move because your debts had you pinned down, wouldn't you?
I'm fine! I'll win next time!
That's the mindset of a hopeless loser. What a piece of trash.
Even as I felt my strength draining away, I gave her a rough account of what had happened today.
Hmm... I mean, Young Master...
Yes?
There's something that's been bothering me... If you intended to send my lady home from the beginning, wouldn't it have been better not to bring her along in the first place?
Ah, I see. That's where you went with this.
I felt sorry for the count, listening to all that.
In fact, I thought he needed to be taught a painful lesson at least once... So I'm fine with that, in its own way.
Yikes. Young Master, you're a demon...
Zelly-san made a deeply disapproving face.
I do worry that I may have hurt my lady in the process... I do.
If you care that much about the count, maybe you should have stayed with the count's family, Young Master.
As I said earlier, the count's family can't stand up to the duke's. His Majesty the Holy King seemed to take my side, but black hair and black eyes are apparently a taboo among nobles far more than I'd realized—they even called me a 'Child of Calamity.' The count is so preoccupied with my lady that he apparently hadn't considered the risk I posed. If the Duke of Ebenyu reacted that violently, there are probably other houses that will follow suit.
Zelly-san herself had said it: 'The people with power are the scariest of all.'
She had been exactly right.
In that case, let's leave the country.
Right.
Zelly-san's tone was as light as ever. Perhaps being that unencumbered was the best way to survive in this world.
By the time we'd reached the 'Sixth Ward,' dawn was beginning to break. When we went to Zelly-san's inn, it was so disastrously messy that I asked the inn staff to clean it up and left them a fairly generous amount of money. I had no personal belongings at the count's mansion; everything I owned fit into a single backpack in this room. The only thing of mine at the mansion was the untouched pay the count had given me. I'd said I would 'return' it, so leaving it there was fine.
As for these clothes I'd been given for guard duty... I might as well dispose of them. They're a little frayed here and there from that battle.
By the way, do we have enough money to get started?
...Yeah, more or less.
I opened the leather pouch I'd received from the Berserker—or rather, the Margrave—and found four large gold coins and nearly ten regular gold coins inside. Did nobles really carry this much cash around with them all the time? And the leather pouch itself was so smooth and luxurious!
Four large gold coins and five gold coins were equal in value to one holy gold coin, so I'd been given a little extra.
The clothes I'd been wearing when I came to the Holy Kingdom had become too short for me, but I put them on anyway. I could always buy new clothes later.
I put on my cloak and shouldered my backpack. The short sword I'd received from the Margrave had a flashy scabbard, so I tucked it inside my cloak.
It feels as if I've gone back four years.
When I said that after leaving the inn, Zelly-san, who had been squinting in the morning sun, turned around and flashed a grin.
What are you talking about? Young Master, you've grown into quite the handsome man!
...Then could you please stop calling me 'Young Master' already?
You'll always be Young Master to me...
Zelly-san reached out and mussed up my hair.
Just you wait. Someday, I'll be taller than you.
Well then, Young Master. Are we leaving the Holy Capital just like this?
No. We'd get in trouble if we left like this.
I gave a wry smile and told Zelly-san our first destination.
The Silver Tangerine Pavilion Inn.
Even the Silver Balance party would still be asleep at this hour—the smoke from cooking fires was rising from houses all around us, and I could feel a new day beginning in the Holy Capital of Kurvagne.