Chapter 99
"So many of them. If you hadn't helped me, I'd have been caught by now. Thanks, Sonia."
Rebecca was looking out from an inn in the Imperial Capital when she spoke to Sonia, who had come inside with her.
Sonia removed her hood and smiled.
"Don't worry about it. They say we should help each other in times of trouble. Besides, I had business in the Imperial Capital too."
Sonia was a beautiful young woman.
She had snow-white skin, light purple hair trimmed evenly at shoulder length, and reddish-purple eyes that shone with a mysterious light.
Sonia's ears were pointed, though they were not as long as an elf's.
She was a half-elf.
Neither elf nor human, half-elves were regarded as incomplete beings and deeply disliked outside the Empire.
Yet Sonia wore a bright, cheerful smile that gave no hint of the prejudice half-elves faced.
"Since I let them see you in the outer district during the day, the pursuers will probably search there for a while. That will buy us some time, but it won't solve the fundamental problem."
"You're right... We need to get to the palace quickly."
"The lord who looked after you asked you to deliver a letter?"
"Yes. I have to deliver it to His Majesty... Then his death will not have been in vain..."
Rebecca lowered her eyes sadly.
On the way to the Imperial Capital, she had heard about what had happened in the south from merchants.
A demon had appeared, Bassau had become a battlefield, and Leo, Lieselotte, and the adventurers had resolved the crisis.
When Rebecca heard that, she gave up hope that Dennis was still alive.
Even if it had been a battle between humans, she might have believed Dennis had survived. But she could not believe he was still alive in such a chaotic situation, with demons appearing.
Even so, Rebecca never stopped walking. It would have been easy to stop, crushed by grief. But then what would Dennis have died for?
"I'll deliver this letter to His Majesty and expose the southern nobles' corruption. The lord was threatened and forced to participate, but he still tried to do the right thing in the end. I have to make sure people know that, or the trouble in the south will be blamed on him."
"You loved him, didn't you? The lord?"
Rebecca quietly nodded at Sonia's question.
She had thought of him as her real father. She had become a knight because she wanted to do something for Dennis.
But in the end, she had not even been able to die alongside him.
"I... will avenge the lord. And I'll make the southern nobles who threatened and drove him to the brink pay."
"...I'm not going to tell you what to do, Rebecca, but for now, you should focus on reaching the palace safely."
Sonia said that and turned her gaze outside.
Assassins were moving through the Imperial Capital, which was shrouded in darkness.
The struggle for the imperial throne was the Empire's most important political conflict, and every faction wanted Rebecca's letter badly enough to give anything for it.
Until now, only a few pursuers had been after them; Rebecca and Sonia had either driven them off together or managed to avoid them. But now that they were in the Imperial Capital, things would not be so simple.
"We need some kind of plan. By the way, are there any princes we can trust?"
"I don't know the details, but I've heard that Prince Leonart is a man of integrity."
"The famed Hero Prince. But directly contacting him won't be easy. He is the inspector sent to investigate the south—the prince Rebecca is most likely to approach. The pursuers will be watching him too. If you approach him, they'll probably notice immediately."
Sonia pondered as she analyzed the situation.
She had familiarized herself with the state of the succession struggle as much as possible. It had been necessary for her.
As she considered which factions were connected to which dukes and what each of them was doing, Sonia let out a sigh.
"For now, we have no choice but to keep running. Prince Leonart must be searching for Rebecca too."
"I hope so..."
"All these opposing factions are making such conspicuous moves that there's no doubt about it. The question is what they're doing and how many skilled operatives they can mobilize. The Imperial Capital is crawling with assassins right now. If they find us, we could be assassinated on the spot."
"So the question is whether Prince Leonart has enough power to protect us."
"Exactly. Anyway, to determine that, we'll have to keep running for a few more days. As a last resort, I have a trump card, but it would lead to an outcome you wouldn't want, Rebecca, so we'd better not use it."
Rebecca tilted her head at Sonia's words.
Sonia, whom Rebecca had met on the road to the Imperial Capital, was shrouded in mystery, but she had always helped Rebecca.
She had supported Rebecca with magic, outmaneuvered the pursuers with her wits, and brought her all the way to the Imperial Capital. It was hard for Rebecca to believe that Sonia's trump card could lead to an outcome she would find unacceptable.
Rebecca opened her mouth to ask for details, but Sonia gave a small smile and cut the conversation short.
"For now, shall we get some sleep? Who'll take first watch?"
"Huh? Oh, then I'll go first."
"Okay. Then I'll leave it to you."
With that, Sonia lay down on the bed and closed her eyes.
Soon, the sound of her even breathing could be heard. The ability to fall asleep quickly when necessary was an essential skill for soldiers and adventurers.
However, Rebecca could not see Sonia as either a soldier or an adventurer. Sonia often spoke as though she was well versed in tactics and strategy, but Rebecca could not figure out her true identity.
Even so, there was no doubt that Sonia was an ally.
"I trust you."
With that, Rebecca began standing watch, keeping an eye on her surroundings.
■■■
"――Prince! Prince Arnolt!"
"Hm? Oh, sorry."
Al apologized, his head still foggy.
Standing before Al was Count Langheim, who was organizing the nobles in the Imperial Capital for Leo's faction.
He was young, only in his early thirties. He admired Leo's character and was trying to put Leo on the throne together with General Dominic.
He was a young nobleman who wore glasses, and his moderately trained physique made him look more rugged than the other nobles. Al's assessment was that he was not a bad person, nor was he incompetent. His one flaw was that he was too inflexible.
"Honestly, pull yourself together. Prince Leonart has gone searching for Rebecca, you know? Dozing off is disgraceful. At least listen properly to the reports."
"Sorry, sorry."
Facing Count Langheim's displeased expression, Al tried to brush it off with a wry smile while rubbing his sleepy eyes.
It had already been three days since they began searching for Rebecca. None of the factions had even managed to determine her whereabouts.
The reason was obvious. The scattered sightings they received were troublesome.
The few scraps of information attracted large crowds, so battles broke out instead of searches being conducted.
In the end, they could not even search for Rebecca properly.
Al suspected that the sporadic sightings were decoys. Rebecca was deliberately allowing herself to be seen so that no one could narrow down her hiding place.
To deal with that, Al stayed up at night giving Sebas and Zeke instructions. As a result, he was suffering from sleep deprivation.
"Baron Bormann, whom we've been trying to win over, isn't yielding. He originally acted because Prince Gordon paid him a huge sum, so we'll probably need to offer him even more."
"I see."
"Sigh... Is that all you have to say?"
Disappointment showed in Count Langheim's eyes as he sighed.
Even if you say so, Al muttered to himself. He had no decision-making authority, and it was not his place to interfere in the matter.
Count Langheim then asked Al a question.
"Prince Arnolt. Then allow me to ask you a question."
"What?"
"How do you think we should win over Baron Bormann? Just tell me what you think."
Just what I think, huh? Al muttered inwardly.
There was clear irritation in Count Langheim's eyes. It was a look Al knew well.
It was the look of someone who could not contain his irritation and was about to vent it. That irritation was usually directed at Al.
Al sighed inwardly, thinking that anything he said would be rejected and used as an outlet for Langheim's frustration. The troublesome part was that Langheim himself was unaware of it.
"Wouldn't simply offering him more money be enough?"
"Sigh... Try using your head for once."
After a pointed sigh, Count Langheim went into lecture mode.
Thinking how tiresome this was, Al merely pretended to listen.
"Listen. Our financial resources differ from those of Prince Gordon's faction. We have different numbers of merchant houses backing us. We can't win a simple money game. Understand that much, at least. You are Prince Leonart's twin brother. When Prince Leonart is absent, you become the faction's leader, even if only nominally."
"Sorry, sorry. I'll be more careful from now on."
"I wonder if you really understand... Your sleep deprivation is probably because you've been out playing, too, isn't it? Stop living so carelessly, and start properly supporting your younger brother."
With that, Count Langheim bowed and left the room.
However, the moment he stepped outside, Count Langheim took a spectacular tumble.
There was nothing for him to trip over, but Count Langheim rose irritably with a question mark hovering over his head and walked away.
"Zeke, don't play pranks."
Al admonished Zeke, who had entered the room.
Zeke climbed onto the desk and replied without the slightest sign of remorse.
"Don't say that. I could hear that guy's snide remarks even outside the room, you know? A little payback is fine, right?"
Zeke had entered the room just as Count Langheim was leaving. He had taken the opportunity to make Langheim trip.
"Good grief," Al muttered.
"You're part of our faction, so being seen wouldn't be a major problem, but don't draw too much attention."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be careful. So? Have you thought of our next move?"
"I'll decide after hearing today's sightings. Rebecca definitely isn't near any of the reported locations. We'll work backward from there."
"Must be rough. Your little brother gets praised for honestly combing through the Imperial Capital with his men, while you're only mocked even when you use your head. Tough break."
"Leo needs to search too. Since the clues are unreliable, that's one way to look for her. And if Rebecca knows that Leo himself is searching, it will be easier for her to contact him."
Leo was not an idiot either.
He knew exactly how best to act.
Doing things behind the scenes is my job, Al told himself, giving himself a mental shake.
"We need to find her soon. It wouldn't be fair to the two of them if they kept fighting pointless battles forever."
"Yeah, count on it. Looks like the young lady we're searching for is good at hide-and-seek. Narrow it down enough, and we'll find her."
Al nodded at Zeke's words and took a map of the Imperial Capital from the desk.
It showed all the sightings of Rebecca so far. They had been skillfully scattered without any discernible pattern.
"It looks like Rebecca has an excellent military strategist with her, but I never thought we'd be the ones being led around by the nose as well."
Thinking what a headache this was, Al began zeroing in on places where Rebecca might hide.