Volume 6 - CH 3.2

Posted on Oct 6, 2022

On the day following her arrival at Romarikku, Valeria Costacurta’s day began from a greeting to the citizens who had exuberantly welcomed her. Setting waving her hand from the balcony aside, expressing her thanks to the people, who had gathered at the plaza in front of the town hall and exceeded ten thousand, for the enormous donations that were sent to Roma whenever there was a taking over might be a self-torment for Valeria, who could by no means be called a smooth talker.

After lavishing radiant smiles, once in the morning and the afternoon each with lunch held in between, on close to a total of thirty thousand people, she then visited the soldiers stationed in Romarikku from the evening; it was after the day had completely grown dark that she came back to the guest house.

Valeria, who had finished having a meal together with the prefectural governor and his child and come back to her own room, sat down on the bed furnished with a canopy with a thump.

「Ah, I’m so tired」

「It wasn’t a big deal in particular. You didn’t move so much」

「It’s not an issue of moving distance!」

At the few cold words of her subordinate, Valeria, who had sighed exaggeratedly, glared at Dimitar.

「Appearing in front of such a great number of people and giving a speech, and the like, I’m still not accustomed to that sort of thing!」

「Then get accustomed to it. I’ve also said this before, but slightly difficult religious sermons, research of literature, and the like, those sorts of things are the domains of Babel-geika and Karin-sama; your role, however, is to speak of God in an easy-to-understand manner to the general public」

If he had to add on, then it also wasn’t unusual in Ahmad for Dominas to go to other countries as special diplomatic envoys. For Ahmad’s Dominas, the skill to give a speech fluently in front of the important people from other countries was also indispensable.

「Even if you tell me that…」

「Though you display inconsequential courage in inconsequential situations, you’re a timid person at this sort of thing. Don’t falter with your words and stumble over the pronunciation of the words like you did today during your speech on the day before returning to our country, all right? People will look at you pleasantly in the beginning only」

「Ah, yes yes yes」

Undoing her hair which was done and shaking her head, Valeria paid no special attention to Dimitar’s rebuke, seemingly irritated.

「—Nevertheless, from my impression of having spent a day in this way, it didn’t feel like the people of Romarikku have any animosity towards Ahmad」

Although Valeria paid a royal visit to Romarikku in accordance with the custom, one of the objectives was to pacify the citizens of Romarikku, who—she was told—were dissatisfied with the central government of Ahmad.

「Now that you mention it, that’s the case. Everyone was giving a warm welcome to Valeria-sama and waving the flags of Ahmad」

「That’s because our Eminence is Her Eminence」

「What does that mean?」

「To the people of this place, our Eminence is simply a Dominas whom they should worship, and not a person of Ahmad’s government. —In reality, when it comes to whether the military escorts from Roma that we had brought along here are being welcomed, the atmosphere doesn’t seem to be like that. There were also instructions from His Majesty to absolutely not let them go out into the town during our stay」

If the soldiers from Ahmad went out into the busy streets of Romarikku, and in the unlikely event that trouble broke out between the citizens of this place and them, the anti-Ahmad movement in Romarikku could flare up with that as a start. The fact that they could only bring soldiers numbering less than fifty along to guard Valeria, who was a shrine maiden on active service, at all was a last resort in order not to stir up the feelings of Romarikku’s citizens as much as possible.

Thial, who had gathered in Valeria’s bedroom together with Dimitar and Bettina, murmured in a mild-mannered tone while standing by the window, of which the curtains were drawn aside.

「…Certainly, we can fully tell that the townspeople love and respect Valeria-sama, but as far as what sort of feelings they have towards the central government—」

「But how should we investigate that kind of thing?」

「We’ll leave that to Thial」

「Acknowledged」

「Eh?」

Thial, who had replied matter-of-factly, bowed to Dimitar and the others, and then left the bedroom without any sound of footsteps.

Valeria half-rose to her feet and looked at the door, which was closed with a click, and then Dimitar’s face.

「W… eh? What do you mean by leaving it to Thial-san?」

「I mean exactly as stated though? I completely can’t understand what of the conversational exchange just now could you not understand」

「B, but… Thial-san is a maid from Lucius-sama’s house, right? As my attendant this time—」

「An attendant and guard official. …Though if we search for that sort of talented person, then there are others too. If there’s no some other special reason, there’s no way that I’ll intentionally include a maid from the House of Richternach in our party, right?」

「Y, you brought her along for this purpose?」

「It’s not for this purpose only. —There are also many merchants who cross the mountain and come from Bigelow’s side here. Thial, who can speak Bigelow’s language, will be of use at the critical moment; of course, she’s capable as your attendant too」

「But isn’t that dangerous…?」

「If it’s Thial, she’ll probably be all right」

Although Dimitar didn’t know where in the world Thial accumulated such training, she could handle a sword and a bow in her own way. Even if the worst-case scenario occurred, if her opponents were the drunks in the downtown area, then there was no way that she couldn’t run away without aggravating the matter at least.

「Anyway, Thial has Thial’s job, and you have your job. Go to sleep soon in preparation for tomorrow. …You too, Gacha Pink」

「Yes」

Dimitar went out into the corridor together with Bettina, who was polishing the relief on her stomach, and when he had stripped to his waist right after returning to his own room and slipped into the bed, he closed his eyes slowly.

If it was necessary for the mission, Dimitar could stay awake for at least three days without a wink of sleep; on the contrary, he could fall asleep unexpectedly at once if he closed his eyes. After all, it was also important to rest when he could during a gruelling mission.

And then, Dimitar woke up roughly three hours later and got up slowly.

「—」

Dimitar, who would almost certainly never be still half-asleep, got off the bed and changed into pitch-black clothes for both the top and bottom, then hung Jagielka from his waist.

It was a time that one might say was already the dead of night. The interior of the guest house had fallen completely silent, and there also weren’t any sounds worth mentioning. Since the people staying here were few despite its size, it was all the more quiet.

When Dimitar, who had adjusted his outfit, went out quietly to the balcony late at night, he closed the window behind him. There wasn’t anything moving in particular within Dimitar’s field of vision.

—When he was thinking so, noisy running sounds could be heard coming from Valeria’s adjacent room suddenly.

「!?」

Dimitar put his hand on the hilt of Jagielka reflexively and jumped to the adjacent balcony lightly; however, he didn’t draw his sword, and a deep crease was carved on his brow.

「Hey—ho, hora! Just as I thought! Just as I thought, it’s like that!」

On the other side of the window, of which the curtains were thrown open, Valeria, who had begun changing halfway, was raising her eyebrows and glaring at Dimitar.

「I, I thought it was strange!」

While wearing the tabard over her bustier hastily and arranging her dishevelled hair by using her fingers as a comb, Valeria opened the window and jumped out to the balcony.

「—Considering your character, it’s absolutely strange that you’d let Thial-san go and investigate this and that by herself while you yourself remain here and sleep in a carefree manner! Normally, you’d go by yourself, or even if that wasn’t the case, you’d have gone together with her!」

Wearing her hair up, Valeria poked Dimitar angrily in the chest while lowering her voice.

「That’s why I thought you intend to do something by yourself in the middle of the night, keeping it secret from me again!」

「…So you didn’t sleep but had been listening carefully?」

「E, exactly!」

「You dozed off many times halfway, right? There are traces of you drooling remaining, you know?」

「Eh!?」

「It’s a joke」

Dimitar averted his gaze from Valeria, who wiped her mouth hurriedly, then shook his head and sighed.

Even though he was thinking of slipping out of here quietly in the dead of night, it was beyond expectations that he was noticed by Valeria. He might have moved a little too carelessly, thinking he wouldn’t be suspected anyway.

「Though you’re usually slow-witted, your intuition works at unnecessary places…」

「Haa!? Slow‐witted? I’m not particularly slow-witted!」

「…Your voice is too loud」

Dimitar chided the girl, who had begun to flare up, then stroked the nape of his neck and heaved another sigh, and spoke to Valeria despite knowing that it’d be futile.

「…This is a top-secret mission that I’ve received directly from His Majesty and His Highness. At present, it has nothing to do with you. Return to your bed immediately」

「Top-secret mission!? Again!? I never heard about it!」

「That’s why it’s called top secret」

「That’s why, you say, isn’t it strange that it was kept secret from me as well! I’m your superior at the very least!」

「Isn’t it embarrassing to say “at the very least” yourself?」

「Be quiet! In the first place, speaking of His Majesty, on the occasion of the previous mission of guarding the queen as well—」

「Like I said, your voice is too loud. …If even Gacha Pink gets out of bed because of this, it’ll become more and more noisy, and then the mission will be out of the question」

Dimitar frowned and grabbed Valeria’s arm, then kicked the handrail of the balcony and jumped up to the top of the roof.

「U…」

Perhaps being exposed to the sudden acceleration in addition to just waking up had caused her eyes to spin lightly, Valeria sat down hard on the roof and pressed her temples. It’d have been better if only she didn’t inadvertently let out a loud scream.

「…S, so, what in the world is the top-secret mission that you received?」

「If you hear it, you’ll return to your bed obediently, all right?」

「Never mind that and tell me quickly! Otherwise, I shall stop you by brute force, you know?」

「Are you an idiot? There’s no way that you can stop me…」

Dimitar, who had raised his lips and smiled coldly, stared fixedly beyond the south and stiffened his expression.