“Yes, my lady.”
“I told you not to call me that.”
The maid giggled quietly.
Though Almelia was, in fact, a lady, she was more often addressed as “Princess,” “Your Highness,” or “hero.” I wondered if being called lady would embarrass her, too.
“Right this way,” the servant said. She led me down a set of stairs, stealing glances at me, perhaps out of curiosity.
“Is something wrong?”
“Oh… How impolite of me. I’m sorry. After learning you’re the Master Roland, I just couldn’t help myself. Our lady has told us so much about you.”
“Is that right? And what has she said?”
“In broad terms, that she owes you her life and that you taught her to fight… Hee-hee-hee. I’m afraid I cannot tell you more.”
Apparently, Elvie was loved and adored by her staff.
After breakfast, I headed to the castle with Elvie.
“Only very few people within the palace know that His Majesty has passed,” Elvie explained.
“I understand. I won’t make any careless remarks.”
“Thank you.”
Once we arrived, Elvie headed to a room where the royal guards had gathered and ordered them to change shifts with those who’d worked all night.
Elvie went about her work without wasting time. She didn’t bother to introduce me, either. Several people eyed me suspiciously, but none of them asked questions.
“Commander, it seems that the senior officers plan to have a meeting in the council room… They’ve requested your presence,” stated a man who looked to be the assistant captain.
“All right. Thank you for informing me.”
He bowed, then left the room. We departed for the council chamber soon after.
“It’d be a great help if you were to attend as well, Roland.”
“I’ll chime in with an opinion as an expert on the subject matter, then.”
“I hope it’s a constructive meeting.” Elvie gave me a strained smile. “This makes the third one. We call them meetings, but they’re really just disputes between the various factions. Discussion is all about which of the many princes will succeed the king, and which person to back to protect personal interests—it’s all about vanity, power, and profits.”
Elvie sighed, seeming fed up with it all.
“It seems putting one’s personal interests first is a universal concept,” I remarked.
“And how,” Elvie muttered. She looked weary.
All seats in the conference chamber were taken save for one. The twenty or so gathered people, each an officer or civil official, looked at us when we arrived.
“I apologize for the delay.”
“Captain Haydence, who is this fellow?” questioned a mustached civil official for the group.
“He is very knowledgeable about assassinations and skills, and has won the hero’s respect. He’s…uhh… He’s a guild employee.”
The room almost burst into laughter at that.
I bowed slightly, then Elvie took her seat, and the man from earlier spoke again as though he represented the room. “Captain Haydence, we entrusted you with guarding His Majesty, yet the worst has come to pass. How do you think that affects us?”
“It…”
Pinning blame was common in meetings like this one.
“I plan to receive penalty or punishment, of course. But first, I’d like to come up with a countermeasure to make sure this never happens again.”
“You have fallen significantly since your glorious achievements while a member of the party of heroes,” someone mocked quietly.
“The marquis’s name has been dragged through the mud.”
Elvie bit her lip, yet stood strong against the barely whispered badmouthing.
“Captain Haydence, do you have anything to say for yourself?”
“I do not…”
Elvie was straightforward to the point of blunt frankness. She just wasn’t suited for a power struggle with everyone attempting to pull one another down.
“The same might happen after the new king takes the throne. Perhaps you should quietly resign?”
Before Elvie tried to reply, I patted her on the back.
This group had likely discussed ousting Elvie from her position prior to our arrival. And if I left things as they were, she’d accept that without a fight.
“Yes, Elvie does carry some responsibility for this.” As soon as I spoke, disgusted looks were cast my way. Were they that unhappy I’d ruined their plans for the meeting?
Elvie was the daughter of a marquis. The others at the meeting probably expected that removing her from her duty as royal guard captain opened a spot they could use to their advantage.
“However, she handled the situation perfectly. This would’ve occurred regardless of who led the guards.”
“Wait, Roland…”
Elvie looked at me, but I continued without minding her. “Are you familiar with the Siege of Castle Figoron? That was the battle where the party of heroes overcame the attack and protected Figoron right before it could fall.”
At the time, I was preparing to assassinate the enemy army’s commanding officer and was off on my own.
“Only about two hundred strong remained within the castle, and they held firm for two days while ten thousand set upon them in waves. Elvie commanded the defense during that time.”
“That has nothing to do with current matters!” bellowed an angry man.
Elvie hung her head, as though agreeing. Her behavior suggested that she’d already given up.
“This castle is similar to Figoron in construction. They were both made in the Houlton style, which is seen often on mountaintops. Although the king’s shelter and his guard differed, I doubt Elvie would make an error the second time when she didn’t on the first.”
Now that she had someone taking her side, Elvie nodded twice.
“She arranged the guards just as she did at Figoron Castle.”
A strange atmosphere filled the room as I spoke. Based on the looks the officials traded, it seemed they were bewildered by the unexpected state of affairs.
“Regardless, the reality is that she failed to protect His Majesty!”
“That’s right! And it’s because she didn’t do a good enough job!”
Their mouths opened and closed like gasping fish.
“Perhaps you were the one who laid a hand on His Majesty?” someone suggested.
“Is the marquis attempting a coup?”
The members of the conference laughed.
I couldn’t let that slide.
“Enough with your insults!” When I raised my voice, half the officials fell out of their seats.
“Roland…”
No matter what Elvie said, the rest of the room would claim she’d failed, hiding behind the excuse that the king was dead.
“She shoulders some responsibility for the king’s assassination, but not all of it. What kind of decent adults conspire to put a young lady through a witch hunt? Have you no shame?”
No one replied. They were too frightened, because some of my animosity had accidentally come through.
“Experts dedicate their lives to investigating these tragedies. Don’t try to force some misguided idea of what’s conventional on the situation.”
Demonstrating would be faster than explaining, so I invoked my skill and stole several glasses. I ended my little display by the wall on the far end of the room.
“With the right skill, a person could have done the deed without alerting anyone.”
A few of the gathered officials gasped in awe, while others stared at me with fear.
“You should focus on establishing a counterplan, not throwing blame around. Can we make this a more productive meeting?”
I returned the glasses and went back to Elvie’s side.
✦ ✦ ✦
“My head…”
Rila awoke to a horrible experience—faint nausea and a headache.
“I feel terrible…”
She considered going back to sleep, but the revulsion in her stomach kept her up. The sunlight entering through the drawn curtains seemed dreadfully bright.
It was already afternoon.
“…”
Roland wasn’t in the bed next to hers. He regularly disappeared the day after she drank too much, perhaps because he knew she was in no condition to go anywhere.
However, it left Rila feeling lonely. She expected him to look after her.
“Where did that knave go?”
Rila noticed a water jug and glass had been left on the bedside table, and partook.
“He is not here to rub my back…nor to allow me to rest my head on his lap… What a cold man… He should care for me like a beloved cat… That busy man…,” she grumbled while slowly trudging out of the room.
Rila passed servants who explained that Roland and Elvie had departed for the castle early in the morning.
“I believe they won’t return until dusk or later.”
Rila thanked the staff, deciding to return to bed.
“Hmm?”
To her surprise, Roland was waiting for her in the guest room. He looked around the room, unaware someone was watching him until he turned and saw Rila standing in the doorway.
“I did not know you had returned,” she said.
“…I have.”
There was no sign of the Goody Two-shoes, and Rila concluded that she and Roland split up.
“Did you learn anything about the incident?”
“Incident?”
Rila dropped her voice to a whisper. “Mm-hmm… About the king’s assassination.”
Roland laughed. Rila sensed something unusual the moment she saw him. However, it was challenging to pinpoint the exact cause.
“Of course I know about that… I was the one who did it.”
“Hmm? What do you—?”
Roland vanished.
“So you’re the demon lord,” said a voice at her back.
“Uh!”
Rila tried to move away, but her body was sluggish from drinking the night before. She couldn’t manage any spells in time, either.
A light smack on her neck, and her consciousness faded.
Before everything went dark, she realized what was wrong—this man had a right arm.