Putting the Plan into Action—Night

On the way back from the plaza to Ronnie's house, a carriage was stopped where the main street opened onto a back alley, with Roger waiting beside it.

"Roger, you waited for us. Thanks."

"I am Leon-sama's attendant, so it is only natural. Shall I carry your luggage?"

"No, Ronnie and I will put the luggage away, so wait in the carriage, Roger."

"Understood."

After that, we parted from Roger for the time being and headed toward Ronnie's house.

"Leon, did you come to pick us up?"

"Yeah. I asked him to. Working at the stall and then walking all the way back to the ducal residence would be tough, right? Especially since we have to stand watch tonight too."

"I suppose you're right..."

"So we need to conserve our energy. You should ride in the carriage too, Ronnie."

"Yeah. I'll gratefully accept the ride."

After putting the luggage away at Ronnie's house, we traveled to the ducal residence by carriage.

When we arrived at the ducal residence and went to my room, Roger brought along the three soldiers who would help us that night.

"Leon-sama. These three soldiers will be participating in tonight's watch."

"Leon-sama, we look forward to working with you."

The three soldiers bowed deeply as they greeted me.

"Likewise. Have you heard about tonight's arrangements?"

"Yes. The head of the household told us about them."

"In that case, everything should be fine. Sorry to trouble you, but thank you in advance."

Several hours later, we left the ducal residence shortly before ten at night. Almost all the stalls closed by around ten. The taverns and other drinking establishments were still open, but the stalls in the plaza did not stay open late into the night.

We took a carriage from the ducal residence to a place near the plaza, then planned to walk the rest of the way so we would not attract attention. We were in the carriage now, but with Ronnie, Lucien, Jack-san, the three soldiers, and me all inside, it was a little cramped. No, with the soldiers being so broad-shouldered, it was extremely cramped.

After enduring the cramped carriage for a while, it finally came to a stop.

Phew, we could finally get out of the carriage. When I stepped out and looked around, I saw that we had stopped in an inconspicuous place about ten minutes on foot from the plaza.

Since we were still in the central district, there were a few streetlights along the roads, so it was not completely dark. Outside the central district, there were no streetlights at all, so anyone going out at night had to carry a light source such as a lantern. But there were at least a few streetlights here.

"Then let's split into three teams. Make absolutely sure they don't notice us, and be sure to catch them!"

"Understood."

Lucien said this with sparkling eyes and an expression of pure excitement, and we split into three teams. Lucien was really enjoying this...

One team consisted of Lucien and Jack-san, another of Ronnie, me, and one soldier, and the third of the remaining two soldiers. We had already found inconspicuous places from which we could watch the stall, so each team headed to its assigned position.

"Ronnie, what time do you think they'll come?"

"Probably around midnight. There won't be anyone in the plaza by then, but people will still be drinking in the taverns and other places, so it won't be completely silent. Since any noise we make won't stand out, I think that's when they're most likely to come."

"That makes sense. So we have two more hours... Maybe we should have come a little later."

"But people will start leaving the plaza around this time, so we should keep watch in case they come early."

"You're right. If we miss them, all our hard work will be for nothing."

Still, the wait was incredibly long... It had only just occurred to me, but standing watch meant doing nothing but staring, so it was boring. I wished there were something I could do while keeping watch.

The classic Japanese snacks for keeping watch are anpan and milk. But this world had no anpan, and milk was not something you could easily obtain... I suppose jam bread and water would be the equivalent here.

...That wasn't very inspiring. But I couldn't make anpan, could I? What was red bean paste made from, anyway? I thought it was... azuki beans, right? It had to be azuki beans, probably.

I wondered whether this world had azuki beans. I had never looked for them in the market, so I didn't know, but I did not think I had ever eaten them here.

Come to think of it, people in this country did not eat many beans, did they? They only really ate soybeans as they were.

Next time, I might look for azuki beans. If I found some, I could try making red bean paste and attempt some Japanese sweets. I liked wagashi quite a lot. My favorite was warabi mochi, but I also liked manju filled with red bean paste.

The problem, as always, was the recipe.

...I wanted a recipe book. I desperately wanted a recipe book. Actually, I wanted a smartphone with internet access.

There was no point thinking about impossible things like that. Think! Come on, me—you can do this!

If I remembered correctly... Wasn't making red bean paste just a matter of boiling azuki beans and adding sugar? But would simply boiling them really make red bean paste...? Did you reduce them, or boil them lightly and then mash them...?

I didn't know the exact process, but it seemed easier than making a cake. Maybe I should try it when I had some free time.

As I was thinking about that, I realized Ronnie was looking at me with a sidelong stare.

Oh no, I forgot to keep watch.

"Ronnie...?"

"Leon, you're definitely thinking about something right now, aren't you? You're not watching the stall, are you?"

"S-sorry. I got a little lost in thought. I'll keep watch properly."

"Make sure you do."

"Yeah. I'll do my best."

After that, I stopped thinking about anything unnecessary and kept watch with complete concentration. Two hours passed, and around midnight, the same group of five men from earlier finally appeared.

"Ronnie, they're here."

"Yeah."

We spoke in voices so soft they were barely audible.

"How much should we let them do before we move in and arrest them?"

"I think we should wait until they actually damage the stall. That should be best, right?"

Ronnie asked the soldier.

"Yes. We can't arrest them unless they've caused actual damage."

While we were talking, the five men approached our stall, and one of them finally kicked it. Two of the five were carrying swords, and they raised them over their heads as they prepared to swing at the stall.

Crash... Bang... Crack! Crack!...

Whoa... They were destroying the stall with incredible force. It was as if they held some deep grudge against it.

"Is this enough?"

"Yes. Let's go."

At the soldier's cue, Ronnie and I ran toward the stall. When I looked around, it seemed that everyone else had come out as well.

"What are you doing!"

"What!? Why are there soldiers here!?"

"R-run!"

"If you surrender peacefully, we won't use force."

"Like hell we're surrendering! Run!"

"No! There are soldiers over here too!"

The five men tried to flee when they heard the soldiers, but the soldiers had skillfully blocked their escape routes.

"No choice. Let's take them down! We've got the numbers. They're just soldiers and brats!"

"Yeah! Soldiers aren't scary!"

The men with swords readied them, while the man without a sword drew something like a knife and prepared to fight. Then they all charged at once.

"Take this!"

One of the men swung his sword down at a soldier with all his strength. The soldier dodged with minimal movement, then kicked the man's arm upward. The kick made the man drop his sword, and the soldier quickly picked it up.

These men were carrying swords, but it did not look like they had ever trained in swordsmanship. They seemed to be doing nothing but swinging their swords around with brute force.

The soldier had a sword too, though. Why wasn't he using it? Maybe he was trying to avoid injuring the men as much as possible. Perhaps he was doing that because I had said we wanted information about the mastermind behind this.

The man who had lost his sword looked frightened for a moment, but then he drew a knife and readied himself again. He charged straight at the soldier with the knife in hand.

The soldier easily blocked the attack with the sword he had just recovered. At that instant, another man carrying a sword came from behind the soldier and swung it horizontally at his neck.

"Look out!"

I shouted without thinking and instinctively tried to activate the barrier, but stopped at the last moment. The soldier had effortlessly blocked the sword of the man attacking from behind.

The soldier kicked the man with the knife in the stomach, sending him flying, then dealt with the man behind him.

After blocking the swordsman's attack, the soldier struck his wrist with the sword and incapacitated him.

By the time the soldier in front of us had defeated two men, the others had apparently all been taken down as well. The battle ended with our victory.

Wow, soldiers were really strong. That was so cool...!