Turning Chapter 1328

‘A variable right from the start.’

It wouldn’t be all that strange for Glowe to come along since she originally got along well with Fay. But......

“Why did Elpokin come along? I haven’t received any report that he’s that close with Fay.”

Was it just a whim that occurred for no reason? While Yuder sank into thought, Kanna, watching his mood, opened her mouth.

“He’s not like that with Fay. But he is fairly close with Glowe.”

“Is that so?”

“Yesterday... just in case, I did pull a little move on Glowe. Maybe that changed how things turned out.”

“What kind of move.”

“Even if we’re here, the one most likely to end up in danger is still Fay, right? So I advised Glowe not to hesitate to use her ability and to try it a lot around her.......”

Glowe had known for days that Fay was going to meet friends who’d come from far away. If, after hearing the advice to try using her ability, she tried to bestow a blessing on someone, there would have been no more suitable target than Fay.

Even if she didn’t use it, fine; if she did, even better. Kanna said she only thought of it at just about that level and gave the advice, but judging by the result now, perhaps......

‘Glowe heard Kanna’s advice and used her blessing card-divination ability on Fay, and the result made the risk look far higher than expected.’

If so, it would have made sense that she wanted to follow out of concern. It was also understandable that she roped Elpokin in as well.

‘Among the current rookies, Elpokin has the best scores in physical training. On top of that, he’s from the fight ring, so he’s good at brawling.’

The reason Elpokin survived so long in that hellish place is that he has that much battle sense. Even if his personality is gentle, the things he learned back then haven’t gone anywhere.

If Glowe truly thought Fay might be in danger and went to find a helper, Elpokin wasn’t a bad choice among them.

‘They don’t even know how dangerous the people they’re going to meet are, and they probably didn’t think it was big enough to report up the chain. They must’ve thought this was the best they could do.’

How the other side would take this variable, he didn’t know.

‘Well... it doesn’t seem bad.’

Yuder gave Kanna a small nod to say she could relax.

“We’ve identified the cause, so that’s enough. If anything, it’ll help, not worsen things. The Commander will judge it the same way, so move to where you were originally supposed to be.”

“Mm. See you later, Yuder.”

Some of the dark tension that had pooled in Kanna’s eyes eased a little. She hadn’t said it, but she’d been keyed up to the extreme, worried that what she did might, like in the South, boomerang back as an unforeseen bad variable.

‘That’s probably the aftereffect Kanna picked up.’

But if you do nothing because you’re scared a bad result might come, you end up achieving nothing. Whether a choice is good or bad, once it’s made, you can only try to work the outcome out to your maximum advantage.

Kanna knew that, which was why she wore that look of bracing her heart.

Watching the trace of Kanna’s presence recede stealthily, Yuder quietly spoke.

“-Would you say I didn’t misconstrue the Commander’s intent and answer on my own.”

“What a needless thing to say. Who could be more of one mind with me than my aide.”

The answer came from above Yuder’s head. A man who had erased his presence so perfectly that even Kanna hadn’t noticed him, sitting on the roof, lightly leaped down.

In truth, he had been there from the beginning. The members participating in today’s operation had already been informed that Kishiar and Nathan Zuckerman were present, but Yuder alone knew their exact positions. More precisely, it would be closer to say that Yuder was about the only one with the skill to sense their positions immediately.

Today, Kishiar was using a magic tool that altered his appearance and wore the blue Imperial Guard uniform. He did have his new sword at his waist, but with cloth wrapped around the scabbard, it would be extremely hard to recognize him.

‘Even I, who know who he is, would, judging by the exterior alone, just feel like he was an ordinary Imperial Guardsman passing by.......’

The reason Kishiar disguised himself as an Imperial Guardsman was simple.

‘Because it’s fun.’

Well, that’s what he said, but that couldn’t be all. The meeting place, District 7, is where both the Imperial Guard and the Cavalry headquarters are located. In other words, in District 7, the Imperial Guardsman is the profession that can most confidently walk around with a sword at his hip. If that were the only reason, he could have disguised himself as an ordinary Cavalryman, but then wouldn’t that arouse needless suspicion from Fay’s friends?

For the same reason, everyone except Kishiar wore plain clothes instead of uniforms today. In addition, Yuder had thrown a hooded cloak over himself to hide his face and hair, just in case there was someone who might recognize him.

“It would have been nice if my aide had worn the same clothes as I did. The weather is so fine that it’s a fresh shame.”

Coming up beside him, Kishiar sighed as if regretful. His voice was no different from usual, yet judging by his actions alone, he looked every bit like some Imperial Guard layabout picking a quarrel.

“What does the weather have to do with clothes.”

“If we wore the same clothes, there’d have been the advantage that even if we sat outside at a café fooling around, we’d look like perfectly ordinary Imperial Guardsmen. That place right there is a spot Imperial Guardsmen frequent. The coffee is of quite decent quality.”

It was a fact he hadn’t known even after living two lives. He’d never cared where Imperial Guardsmen went, so of course not.

“...Be satisfied with having Sir Zuckerman wear it, and go drink some together.”

Indeed. Right now, Nathan Zuckerman, who would be hiding himself on the opposite side over there, was also wearing the same Imperial Guard uniform as Kishiar. He, too, like Kishiar, had on a magic tool that blurred his hair color and features, concealing his striking looks.

“Mm. That would be difficult. There’s only one person here I’d like to invite. You wouldn’t tell me to drink with someone else even though you know, would you?”

Kishiar, answering in a tone cold enough that one might believe he truly was an Imperial Guardsman, saw Yuder’s expression and laughed. Even though his features had grown indistinct, making it hard to infer his original face, Yuder could, from that laugh, easily sketch Kishiar’s smiling face in his mind as he knew it.

“......”

Somehow, for the first time, that blue guard uniform he’d always thought detestable looked a little okay. Serious case.

“At any rate, it delights me to no end that the rookies’ camaraderie seems to have grown far more quickly than I thought. I do hope our enemies popping out today feel that well, too.”

Lightly making a joke as he stroked his scabbard, Kishiar spoke. Yuder nodded without taking his eyes off the fountain where countless people were bustling about.

“...Yes. They’ll feel it whether they like it or not. Soon.”

If today wrapped up well, there’d be no reason he couldn’t go to that popular Imperial Guard café or whatever with Kishiar. Thinking so to himself, he gently eased a bit of the tension for the mission about to begin.

***

“Is this the meeting place?”

At last, the fountain near the eastern market. Watching the water stream handsomely from beneath the statue of a knight holding a sword high, Elpokin asked cautiously. Fay, busy darting his eyes around, answered that a beat late.

“......If I go by the message I received, yeah.”

“There are too many people. I don’t think it’ll be easy to spot them.”

Glowe voiced her concern, but fortunately, that didn’t happen.

“Fay? It’s you, right?”

“Ah.......”

They spotted Fay first from that side. Fay’s face lit up bright.

“Matten.”

“Long time no see. To think we’d really meet again like this in the capital! I’m glad you look healthy.”

The man Fay called Matten had extremely ordinary looks. His dark hair had a strong bluish cast that made one wonder if he had Southern blood, but it wasn’t conspicuous enough to stand out much.

Fay tried to timidly offer a handshake to this Matten, but when the other cheerfully hugged him tight, he flustered and didn’t know what to do, blushing.

“M-Ma-Matten....... But why are you here alone......?”

The meeting counterpart was clearly supposed to be three or more, yet Matten was alone. At Fay’s question, Matten answered with a bright smile.

“There are too many people here. So the others decided to grab a table at a restaurant and wait. ...By the way, who are the people with you? Judging by the Cavalry uniforms, your colleagues?”

The look in Matten’s eyes as he saw Glowe and Elpokin looked very good-natured. He did seem a little taken aback that Fay had brought extra friends without notice, but that wasn’t all that strange.

“Ah, yeah. They’re peers I got close to in the Cavalry... When I said I was going to meet friends who’d helped me out, they said they wanted to come along....... I-Is that... not a problem?”

“Haha. I was a little surprised. In your letters you made it sound like you hadn’t gotten close to anyone, and yet you’ve already made this many friends?”

“Ah....... Mm.”

Fay, embarrassed, ducked his head deep. Seizing that moment, Glowe caught a certain emotion that flickered across Matten’s eyes.

‘......Cold.’

What do you think is the most important point when playing fortune-teller?

It is to swiftly grasp the other party’s emotions.

Glowe’s instincts, honed by long years of telling fortunes, spoke. The man called Matten in front of her was smiling, but he was looking at Fay with real coldness.