Chapter 17. Suspicion

I felt dizzy, as if everything around me was spinning.

"Eek!"

"...Be careful."

Is this what it feels like to cross a dimensional gate?

If General Paul hadn't caught me, I might have fallen.

"Thank you, Gene..."

"Miss Erika Bauman. Her Majesty is calling for you."

"Ah."

Before I could thank General Paul properly, a maid wearing a golden dragon badge signifying she was directly under the Empress approached and whispered.

"Yes. I'll go right away."

I expected this.

Father's letter included the delivery of the order to use Phlegethon along with some information about Her Majesty's recent condition.

It said that information gathering on Viktor was still ongoing, and that Her Majesty's bedroom light hadn't been turned off for days.

It seems he has high expectations for him.

I had guessed since he specifically mentioned it when the kingdom proposed the ceasefire negotiations, but staying up for days is unusual even considering Her Majesty's usual behavior.

Although Her Majesty often stays up late, if Father, who knows this, specifically mentioned it, it must be quite severe.

I nodded once to General Paul and Viktor and left the room.

"How is Her Majesty?"

"Ah, well... She seemed to be expecting a lot."

"...? I see."

The maid's somewhat subdued reaction was a bit strange, but I wasn't too worried.

Since she's calling me separately like this, it's right to assume that Viktor has already been placed on the list of employment candidates.

As I walked down the corridor, I organized in my mind what to say to Her Majesty.

If possible, I want to work with Viktor, so I plan to speak as positively as possible without distorting the content.

I'm curious to see what Viktor will show as a member of the empire, not just a prisoner from the kingdom.

Can he be called a hero in the empire as he was in the Rus Kingdom?

I occasionally checked the notebook I had prepared for the report and recalled what to say to Her Majesty as I walked, and soon arrived at where Her Majesty was.

Usually, when receiving my reports, she used one of the many guest rooms, but today's destination was Her Majesty's lounge.

It was a room I had never entered before, and hadn't even attempted to enter, so the tension was greater than usual.

-Knock, knock.

"Your Majesty. Miss Erika Bauman..."

"She may enter."

Her Majesty's voice was heard from inside before the maid could finish speaking.

It was the usual majestic voice, but it seemed a bit exciting.

The maid opened the door, and I took a deep breath and entered the lounge.

The interior of the lounge was extremely luxurious.

The furniture was decorated with rubies, sparkling red, and the carpet on the floor and wallpaper were vastly different from those in the guest rooms.

Her Majesty the Empress was sitting comfortably in a chair with her legs crossed, with refreshments prepared on the table.

"I come before Your Majesty."

As soon as I entered and closed the door, I was about to kneel and pay my respects, but,

"Stand up and raise your head."

"Understood."

Her Majesty ordered me to rise before my knees could even touch the floor.

"Answer briefly and concisely. Do you think the story will be long?"

"Yes."

The corners of Her Majesty's mouth visibly rose at my answer.

Then, unlike usual,

"Come and sit."

She said.

Come and sit?

The only chair in this room is the one opposite Her Majesty.

"...Yes."

It's extremely burdensome, but I can't refuse.

Following her gesture, I pulled the chair with slightly trembling hands and sat opposite Her Majesty.

Up close, Her Majesty's appearance was even more fatal.

Although I had steeled myself, when I met those half-closed red eyes, I felt my words catch in my throat.

"So, how was it?"

As I froze in the chair, Her Majesty naturally extended her right hand towards me.

Usually, my reports were submitted in the form of a written notebook.

Because I became intimidated just standing before Her Majesty, it was difficult to report verbally.

I heard that not just me, but others also preferred written reports.

Here, I gathered my courage.

"May I... speak directly?"

"Oh ho."

"...Eek."

The moment I said I would speak directly, Her Majesty's eyes seemed to open fully for a very brief moment along with an exclamation.

Somehow, as soon as I met eyes that were different from usual, I felt an inexplicable fear and hurriedly averted my gaze.

"Haha. I won't eat you, so raise your head."

"...I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize."

As I cautiously raised my head, she had a faint smile on her lips and her eyes were half-closed like before.

Did I see wrong?

It seemed like there was something strange about the shape of her eyes.

"Speaking directly means that writing isn't sufficient, right?"

Without time to recall the scene I had just seen, I racked my brain to answer Her Majesty's question.

"Y-yes, that's right."

Requesting something from Her Majesty was only the second time since I asked to be sent for this negotiation.

I was afraid, but I really wanted to convey Viktor's appearance directly through words.

She seemed to be in thought, tapping her finger on the table.

After a while.

"Alright. Go ahead and speak. It can be long, so don't leave anything out."

"...Yes!"

I was able to get the opportunity to report directly.

"First, regarding the progress of the negotiations..."

"Did it proceed as planned?"

"Yes, it did."

"Then, move on to when you first saw Viktor."

Certainly, Her Majesty was more concerned about Viktor than the negotiations.

I gained a little confidence.

"Yes. I first saw him in the main hall of the palace, which was the negotiation venue. He opened the huge doors with his own hands and appeared in full uniform."

"Hmm, hmm."

I started speaking slowly from the beginning.

I tried to describe what I saw as accurately as possible, so that you could feel as if you were seeing the scene I witnessed.

There's no need for exaggeration.

Even if I just tell it as it is, Viktor is a sufficiently excellent person.

Her Majesty is sensitive to exaggeration anyway.

"...Thus, some of the kingdom's nobles even wet themselves on the spot..."

"Hahaha! How interesting!"

I was worried that Her Majesty might get bored with my lengthy story, but fortunately, she listened happily, occasionally giving interjections and reactions.

Her Majesty laughed loudly when he heard about what happened at the palace,

"...When the Battle of Angelkorod was mentioned, he softly recited names. They were the names of 13 out of 100 men in the unit he commanded who died in that battle."

"Is that so?"

She also showed interest when I talked about the conversation in the carriage.

I told her everything, including how Paul came to protect him and the slightly personal conversation we had at night.

"...That's all."

"Hmm... Erika."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"What do you think? About him."

After hearing the whole story, Her Majesty asked me.

"In my eyes, he is... I can say he's a talent that's hard to come by again."

"A talent, you say."

"It was almost regrettable to meet him as a prisoner."

"You seem quite confident. I don't think you'd say that much even if asked to praise yourself."

"...Yes."

...Seeing her speak like that, it seems my personal feelings did come through, even though I tried to be careful.

"That was interesting. You may rest now."

"Yes."

"Would you hand over your notebook? The explanation wasn't lacking, but I'm curious about its contents."

"Here it is."

I placed the copy of the negotiation contract and the notebook, which I had kept hidden close to my chest, on the table and left the reception room.

-Thud.

"Hah..."

I slumped down as if melting after closing the door.

It was really such a nerve-wracking meeting.

I don't even remember well how I spoke from the middle.

Still, I hope Viktor gets to work in the empire.

Since I tried my best to speak well, wouldn't Her Majesty consider it positively?

---

Many humans questioned sending Erika Bauman to such an important position as negotiations.

Saying she was still inexperienced and young.

From my perspective, humans all seem young anyway, so I didn't care much about age or experience.

Frankly, I don't care about national prestige or such things.

There was also Erika's request, but.

The reason I specifically asked Erika to bring Viktor among many others was because her reports were the most concise.

Especially if there was even a slight problem with character, she never missed pointing it out.

Until now, I highly valued her objectivity as I couldn't find any personal bias in the reports she submitted.

"Hmm..."

This report she submitted was missing something very important.

Wondering if it might be written in the notebook, I brought the notebook placed on the desk and opened it.

"...It's not here."

I read it several times, but it wasn't in the notebook either.

It seems they didn't have many conversations to begin with, as there wasn't much content itself.

But that wasn't the important thing.

"There are no flaws at all."

As if all the content was written from a neutral or favorable perspective.

Like records of those called heroes that don't reveal their flaws.

The flaws that should naturally exist in a human were not written at all.

After being greatly disappointed several times by humans I had expectations for.

I emphasized several times to write down even the flaws they had when reporting information about new humans.

I trusted Erika in that regard.

If this report is all true, it means Viktor is a perfect human without any flaws.

Proven ability, integrity, loyalty, and even humanity that's hard for soldiers to have.

"A perfect talent with both skill and character..."

Clearly what I received was a report, but after reading it all, it feels like I've appreciated a well-crafted story.

"That can't be."

I cross-checked with information I had collected about him separately and looked through the notebook for traces of edits, but couldn't find anything.

It's suspicious.

Even a dragon who looks down on the world doesn't dare to say they're perfect.

...Surely, is he really not human?

"That can't be, but..."

It's strange for such a human to suddenly appear, and it's incomprehensible that there's a country that would just throw away such a human to an enemy country.

It's more understandable to assume that sending Viktor to the empire is the kingdom's strategy.

The elders always said.

What looks good to me looks good to others too, and if it's given to me without cost, it's a scam.

"...I'll know when I see him directly."

Or maybe he just deceived Erika well.

They were only together for a few days, and he set the mood well from their first meeting, so it probably wasn't difficult to deceive her if he wanted to.

In my experience, such people are often disappointing when met directly.

Most were just wearing masks well or had personal connections with the human who submitted the report, and all of them couldn't deceive my eyes and revealed their shallow true nature.

I'll know when I meet him directly.

Whether a talent close to perfection has luckily fallen into our laps, or if Erika was just deceived by an empty con artist.

I hope it's the former.

That's the kind of human I've been looking for all this time.

If he can even deceive me completely, I'm willing to be deceived at that point.

Acting or bluffing that can deceive my 'eyes' has quite a few places where it can be useful.

If he turns out to be nothing special?

-Grind.

I'll have to punish him for trampling on my expectations.

It seems the noble faction of humans hate him a lot, so it might not be bad to throw him to them.