Chapter 163
At the royal family’s private resort, where ordinary people were forbidden, the “Let’s grill and eat the fish we caught” gathering that began at noon quickly turned into a drinking party, thanks to the liquor Northvel-sama had brought.
The naval personnel in particular were having a grand time.
Wanting a moment to myself, I slipped away from the din, and Nelfia followed after me.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I thought I’d take a breather, too.”
The two of us walked across the sand to one of the rest shelters.
“Did you have a good vacation, Nelfia?”
“Yes, thanks to you.”
“You haven’t been able to take time off at all—is that partly because of the bottling plant? If so, I’m sorry for piling more work on you.”
At my words, Nelfia’s eyes widened just a little before she chuckled.
“No, bottling isn’t that much of a burden. Even without that, my liege finds one thing or another to make me do.”
My liege... She means King Zeuracia, right?
It occurred to me that this might be the right time to ask.
...Maybe I should ask.
“Nelfia... are you with the Eighth Knight Order?”
In response to my question, Nelfia simply...
“That’s right,” she said.
I’d been almost certain, but Nelfia really was part of the Eighth Knight Order, the intelligence unit. But she admitted it so casually that I was a little taken aback.
We sat side by side on a bench in the rest shelter. After a short silence, I spoke.
“I know I asked, but... isn’t that something you should keep secret?”
Since she’d gone out of her way to emphasize that she was the “King’s Scribe,” I’d thought that being in the Eighth Knight Order was her secret identity.
“Of course. Under normal circumstances, everyone in the Eighth Knight Order is obligated to keep their affiliation secret.”
“Then...”
“However, you’re an exception, Roa-sama. The king gave me permission to tell you if you asked. Of course, sharing it with anyone else is punishable by severe penalties, so be careful.”
“Of course I won’t tell anyone, but... why?”
“I imagine the things I’ve reported to the king have played a part, but the biggest factor was probably you becoming Prince Zerand’s direct retainer.”
...I see. That makes sense.
“Huh? But if that’s the case, you only got permission fairly recently, right? This may sound strange, but both you and Sazaby seemed like you weren’t trying very hard to hide it, even a while ago.”
“You noticed?” Nelfia smiled as though she’d been caught playing a prank.
“Well... I became certain during the Great War of Zetta. Sazaby took charge of spreading rumors, and he pulled it off perfectly. That went way beyond a scribe’s job...”
“I see. Well, I’d told him to act as he pleased.”
“So you were okay with people knowing before you had the king’s permission?”
“That’s right.”
“Wouldn’t that violate the Knight Order’s rules? Isn’t there some kind of punishment?”
“Who knows... There are all sorts of loopholes in this world.” Seeing Nelfia smile, I suspected there were plenty of loopholes.
“Can I ask why?”
“...Well... in this case, it was on the assumption that you might figure it out, Roa-sama, but it’s actually not that unusual for someone to reveal they’re part of the Eighth Knight Order at their own discretion.”
The Eighth Knight Order’s rules were pretty lax.
“Just to clarify, it’s not because the Eighth Knight Order’s rules are lax. Espionage and covert operations are often difficult to carry out alone. In those situations, revealing one’s identity to someone you judge trustworthy is tacitly permitted to some extent. However, if that person betrays you, you have to ‘eliminate’ them yourself.”
She’d slipped something rather frightening in there at the end.
“So I passed your test, then.”
“Something like that. Originally, I planned to leave Sazaby in charge once the time was right and move on to other work, but you were hard to take my eyes off. You seemed like you were going to do something big... So...”
“So you wanted to keep a firm rein on me, since you never knew what I might do?”
“That’s right. But, of course, the fact that I like you and your squad is important, too.”
I didn’t think Nelfia was calculating. After all, I was trying to use everyone in the same way. To prevent Rudek’s destruction, I’d use anything I could.
Thinking about it that way, after our conversation paused for a moment, something occurred to me.
“...You just said you’d leave things to Sazaby once the time was right, didn’t you? And you’re Zodia’s point of contact, too. Come to think of it, whenever something important happened, you were usually the one serving as King Zeuracia’s scribe. Could it be that you’re a high-ranking member of the Eighth Knight Order?”
“I like how perceptive you are, Roa-sama.”
Saying that, Nelfia stood up from the bench.
The sun was beginning to set, tinting the sea crimson.
Backlit, Nelfia’s expression was hard to make out as she turned to face me.
“I’ve taken far too long to introduce myself. I am Menoa Nelfia, Commander of the Eighth Knight Order. I hope you’ll remember me.”
Her words melted into the sea along with the setting sun.