Chapter 59
Imperial Sword Castle was vast.
Unless you were a member of the imperial family who lived there, you couldn't even move freely from place to place. Moreover, each emperor had added hidden rooms and passageways during their respective reigns, so even the emperor did not know the castle in its entirety.
The middle layer of that castle...
A girl had wandered into it.
"Hmm... I'm lost!"
The girl wore a troubled expression, but her voice sounded as if she wasn't troubled at all.
The upper layer was the Emperor's domain, while the middle layer belonged to the imperial family and senior officials. Reports that weren't important enough to be brought before the Emperor were handled there.
Al and Leo's rooms were also in this area. However, it was extremely dangerous for a girl of uncertain identity to wander into it.
If she were caught, she would be detained until her identity could be confirmed.
But the girl was carefree.
The girl had dull blond hair tied in a side ponytail. She was in her early teens, probably no older than eleven or twelve.
Anyone working in the castle could immediately tell from the wooden sword at her waist that she was a knight trainee or held a similar position.
However, most knight trainees never came this far.
"What am I gonna do, what am I gonna do...? What if someone eats my food...?"
Muttering something that would have made Al wonder if food was all she cared about, the girl raised her head and started walking.
She had recklessly decided that she would eventually find her way to somewhere familiar.
"Maybe going up those stairs was a mistake. I think the instructor said we weren't allowed to go up... Or maybe he didn't."
"Hey! You there, kid!"
The girl straightened up when someone called out to her.
Then, like a broken doll, she slowly turned her head around.
Two guards holding spears stood there. Both were eyeing the girl suspiciously.
"Who are you? How did you get in here?"
"Isn't she a child undergoing knight training? She must have come up here despite the rules. Anyone who can't follow the rules will never become a knight."
"Um, well..."
"You'll fail for sure. Come here! We'll hand you over to your instructor."
The guards reached out toward the girl as they spoke.
But just before they could, a black-haired man called out to her.
"Ah, there you are. You mustn't wander off from me."
"L-Leonart-sama!?"
"Ah, sorry about this. I called her here. She looked bored, so I thought I'd have her help carry some luggage. Would you two like to help as well?"
"N-no! We have our duties to attend to!"
"We didn't know she had been called by Leonart-sama. Please forgive us! We'll return to our duties!"
"I see. Then carry on."
Leo waved to the guards with a smile. After briefly scanning the surroundings and confirming that no one was left, he let out a small sigh and spoke.
"That was close."
"...I-I..."
"I?"
"Handsome! Big bro, you're handsome! Teacher said people like you are called handsome! Thanks for saving me!"
The girl gave him a bright, cheerful smile.
Leo's eyes widened at her overly familiar attitude, but he soon chuckled and beckoned her over.
"You're full of energy. Were you at knight training?"
"Yep!"
"I see. Then I'll go with you later. Your instructor probably won't be angry if I do. But you'll have to help me with my work, okay?"
"Oh! That's what you call a deal! Sounds good! I accept!"
"Then it's a deal. I'm Leonart. People close to me call me Leo. What's your name?"
"Rita's name is..."
"Right, your name is Rita."
"How'd you know!?"
"Ha-ha, what a funny girl."
With that, Leo took Rita to his room.
■■■
"Listen, Rita. This is an important mission. I'm counting on you, okay?"
"Y-yeah! I'll do my best!"
Leo placed a large amount of sweets in front of Rita.
They had all been gifts from noblewomen and women from the castle town. They had already been tested for poison, but there were simply too many of them.
Since returning from the south, Leo's popularity had soared, especially among women. Leo thought it was all his brother's fault.
Stories about how he had done everything he could for the people who had been stranded at sea had reached the Imperial Capital. In particular, the tales of him throwing himself into the sea and raising a white flag for the seriously injured had recently become the most popular heroic story in the capital.
Both of those things had actually been done by Al. Leo wanted to say that everything had been his brother's doing, but he obviously couldn't say that, so he had been eating the sweets that arrived every day.
However, even Leo was reaching his limit.
"I can eat all of them!?"
"Yes, you can. Eating them is your mission, after all."
"Roger! Rita will do her best!"
Rita opened the bags with shining eyes.
She gave a dazzling smile at the sweets she'd never seen before.
Seeing Rita like that, Leo felt a little guilty and looked away. He was flattering a little girl into doing something difficult for him. Somehow, it felt like the sort of underhanded trick a coward would use.
Even so, Leo couldn't eat any more, and he didn't think Al would eat them either. If the sweets couldn't be eaten and had to be thrown away, it was surely better to have someone eat them like this.
Having convinced himself of that, Leo made tea for Rita.
"Delicious! It's so delicious!"
"Good, I'm glad. Here, have some tea. Be careful, it's hot."
"Thanks, Leo-bro."
"Leo-bro?"
"Yep! Leonart big brother, shortened to Leo-bro! Is that okay?"
"Sure, that's fine. Call me whatever you like. I'm going to sort through some documents, and when I'm done, shall we go to your instructor?"
"Roger!!"
Leo found himself smiling as he watched the energetic Rita.
Rita's cheerful, unreserved manner was refreshing to Leo. Almost everyone in the castle treated him with deference.
Their smiles often seemed somewhat insincere, and he frequently felt stifled. That had become especially noticeable after he had achieved results in the south.
Against that backdrop, Rita's pure and cheerful attitude soothed Leo's heart like a breath of fresh air.
"Hey, Leo-bro. Are you an important person?"
"What makes you ask that all of a sudden?"
"Well, the person from before called you Leonart-sama. Teacher said people addressed with -sama are important."
"My father is an important person. That's why everyone calls me Leonart-sama. It doesn't mean I'm important. By the way, is this 'teacher' your instructor?"
"Nope. He's an adventurer big brother who taught me swordsmanship. I guess he's about the same age as you, Leo-bro. But Leo-bro is way cooler! Teacher's always getting bullied by the kids at the dojo, and he cries whenever a woman dumps him."
"He sounds like a fun person. You seem to like your teacher, too. I'd like to meet him sometime."
"Yeah! Rita loves Teacher! He was the one who asked for me to be allowed to train at the castle! So Rita's gonna become a fine knight or adventurer!"
With that, Rita bit into a fruit pie.
Leo wryly watched her eat with no regard for table manners, but he thought that whoever had made the pie couldn't possibly mind after seeing her smile.
After sorting through a fair amount of paperwork, Leo stood up.
By then, most of the sweets on the desk had been cleared away. Rita seemed to have reached her limit as well, and she was slumped over with a full stomach.
Even so, Rita slowly got to her feet and reached for the few remaining sweets.
"You don't have to push yourself."
"N-no, I can't... Rita's a woman who keeps her promises... I have to eat them all..."
"You're a good girl. In that case, eat the one you've picked up. I'll take care of the rest."
"R-roger... That's easy as pie..."
As she spoke, Rita put the last chocolate into her mouth.
While she did so, Leo polished off the few sweets that remained. However, he didn't rush her. He simply watched Rita eat, slowly but steadily.
And then...
"I ate them all!!"
"Excellent."
"Hee-hee!"
Leo patted Rita on the head. Rita accepted it with a radiant smile.
Afterward, Leo escorted Rita down to the lower layer.
"Hey, Leo-bro. Can I come visit you again?"
"Sure. Come whenever you like."
"Yeah! I'll come again!"
With that, Leo parted ways with Rita.
He told her instructor not to scold her and told the guards to let her through whenever they saw her.
After returning to his room, Leo cleaned up the scattered sweet wrappers and wondered if Rita might become good friends with Christa.