Brother Trau

I teleported to a room some distance from the one where Christa and the others were. There, I dispelled my illusion and returned to Arnold.

I immediately opened a hidden passage. It led to the room where Christa and the others were.

I hurried through it and emerged inside the large wardrobe in Christa and the others' room.

Then.

"Dufufu... Three little girls... a delicate little girl, an energetic little girl, and a Lolif! Precious! Precious! This alone makes me feel like I could do anything!"

A pervert was peering at Christa and the others in the room through a gap in the wardrobe, muttering to himself.

For some reason, he was doing push-ups, too.

Was he breathing heavily because he was tired, or because he was excited?

He was disgusting, so I stomped on him for the moment.

"Hey, what are you doing in a situation like this?"

"Hogeh!? Th-that voice is Arnold's!? What do you mean, trampling your brother in an emergency!? I don't remember raising you to be like this!"

"I don't remember being raised by you, either. Besides, Brother Trau, I'm trampling you because this is such a serious emergency. We're on the verge of having a criminal among the brothers."

"That's right! Gordon is rebelling! We have to stop him!"

"No, it's not just Gordon. You're a criminal too, Brother Trau."

"M-me too!? That's outrageous! What about me says 'criminal'!?"

Brother Trau shouted as though he truly found that outrageous.

I shot back just as forcefully.

"Every bit of you! From head to toe, all I sense is criminality!"

"A complete denial!? What are you saying I did!? Is merely watching little girls a crime!?"

"You're right on the edge! Besides, you were breathing heavily while watching them!"

"That was because I was doing push-ups!"

"Why are you doing them in a wardrobe!?"

"To protect the little girls when the time comes! I picked up a sword for the first time in ages, and it felt heavy!"

"You're training now!? Isn't it too late already!?"

"It's never too late for anything!"

Saying that, Brother Trau resumed his push-ups.

All that would do was tire him out. He wouldn't build any muscle in such a short time.

As I thought that, the wardrobe opened.

Christa had opened it.

"Brother Trau, you're being noisy."

"M-my apologies... Miss Christa... B-but it's because Arnold came..."

"Don't blame others. Wendy will get scared if you raise your voice, so be quiet."

"Yes... My apologies... Ah, but I got to speak with Miss Christa! Heh heh! Aren't you jealous, Arnold!?"

The power dynamic couldn't be any clearer.

I looked at Brother Trau with pity, then Christa took me by the arm.

"Brother Al, you're here... Come over here."

"Th-then I'll come too..."

"Brother Trau, stay there. You'll scare Wendy."

"Yes..."

At Christa's words, Brother Trau closed the wardrobe as instructed.

He must have done something for her to tell him not to come any farther.

Thinking that, I was led to the middle of the room.

Wendy and Rita had spread out tea and snacks there and were having a little party.

"Brother Al! You're here!"

"I'm glad you're safe, Your Highness."

As usual, Rita greeted me energetically, while Wendy bowed her head modestly.

Somehow... they're awfully calm.

They're completely different from Rupert.

Well, all three of them had been through very different kinds of life-and-death situations.

Both Christa and Rita had faced threats to their lives, while Wendy had been forced to travel with dark elves until quite recently.

Compared to that, this situation must still seem pretty manageable to them.

"I'm glad all three of you are safe. Was it Christa who helped Lady Wendy?"

"Yeah... If I stayed in the room the whole time, I'd get caught."

"I'm sorry... I threw your plans off because of me..."

"Don't worry about it. You're safe because Wendy's using illusion magic to keep us from being noticed."

With that, Christa smiled at Wendy.

That said, Christa was expressionless as usual.

It was only a slight change, no more than a smile, but Wendy must be a dear friend to Christa for even that much.

If sharing a secret was what brought them together, perhaps their relationship was similar to mine and Fiene's.

"Brother Al, what was the castle like?"

"The Imperial Guard Commander has the throne room secured. Other than that, it's mostly soldiers. There aren't many on the upper levels yet, but they'll be coming up before long."

The Rainbow Orb we want is in the throne room, after all.

If Gordon hadn't prepared even one Rainbow Orb in advance, taking control of the throne room would be essential.

If he'd prepared one, that would leave three Rainbow Orbs unaccounted for.

Considering preparations for the Holy Sword as well, Gordon would want to proceed with four. That's why he'd want to obtain one more of the remaining three.

Two are in the throne room, and I don't know where the other is.

Knowing the chancellor, he'd probably moved it from its original location.

He'd have hidden it somewhere difficult to find, so in the end, we'd still have to move to seize the throne room.

However, there was one more hidden in the castle, and if we found it, we wouldn't have to deal with Arida.

That's why we weren't going all-out toward the throne room—and couldn't.

What a nasty countermeasure.

He probably understood how the enemy thought, which was why he hadn't concentrated his forces in one place but dispersed them. It would also minimize the damage if there were a betrayal.

Well, perhaps the chancellor hadn't considered it that important. All he had to do was station a trusted Imperial Guard captain there.

The problem was that the trusted captain had betrayed him.

"Brother Trau, can you hear me?"

"What is it? I'm busy doing push-ups."

"Just listen while you do them. Is there any benefit to Gordon from having the Imperial Guard captain join his side?"

"Almost none. If the Imperial Guard captain betrayed him, we should assume that he either hated Father very much or had some other objective."

"So he didn't swear loyalty to Gordon?"

"What would be the point of swearing loyalty to Gordon, who favors the military? If he wanted to advance through the military, he wouldn't have become an Imperial Guard knight in the first place, and Gordon's rebellion is far too risky. At best, its odds of success are fifty-fifty."

"Exactly. Even if he killed Father, the lords in the various regions would never recognize Gordon."

"Indeed. In that case, the regional lords would surely raise up a different emperor. The only people capable of opposing Gordon are Leonart and Erich. That said, Leonart is outside the Imperial Capital. A prince who wasn't at the emperor's side in his hour of crisis would be seen as unreliable."

Apparently Brother Trau's thinking was the same as mine.

In this incident, a pitch-black darkness was probably writhing behind the dazzling light of Gordon's rebellion.

I had a feeling that was what made the situation so complicated.

I could see the threads of the conspiracy at work. But following them wouldn't lead me to the culprit.

No matter how far we pursued them, it would only be speculation, and we didn't have time to follow them carefully.

We had to deal with Gordon.

"So Gordon is a convenient smokescreen?"

"I think that's part of it. I don't know what he himself thinks, though."

He probably wouldn't care even if he realized it.

He probably thinks no one could control him.

As I was thinking that, soldiers' shouts began echoing on our floor.

It seemed our long-awaited escort had arrived.

"Everyone, prepare to move. Brother Trau, it seems they've arrived."

"So it seems."

Saying that, Brother Trau emerged from the wardrobe, drenched in sweat.

At the sight of him, Wendy let out a tiny squeak and hid behind Rita.

"That hurts..."

"It's Brother Trau's fault. You started asking Wendy all sorts of questions out of nowhere."

"You did that?"

"I couldn't contain my excitement when I saw the Lolif... It was a lapse in judgment."

Trau seemed to regret it, as if asking himself how he could have done such a thing.

Honestly, he'd be a good person if not for things like this.

Christa said Wendy's illusion was keeping us from being noticed, but the real reason we hadn't been found was that the illusion had been cast over this inconspicuous room.

Brother Trau must have been the one who decided to flee into this room.

In his own quiet way, he had done a good job.

"Brother Trau, you smell like sweat."

"Gasp! My sister says I stink!?"

Christa showed Brother Trau no mercy.

That was because of Sister Liese.

It was also Sister Liese's instruction that Christa not call Brother Trau 'Big Brother.'

In a sense, Sister Liese might be the most wary of Brother Trau.

Brother Trau had looked deeply dejected, but suddenly turned his gaze toward the door.

Then he announced in a dignified voice.

"You may enter, my brother's two wings."

Once he gave permission, the door opened.