Night; suddenly feeling thirsty, Valeria woke up. Even though such a thing didn"t happen very much normally, in this particular case of today, it might be because fatigue had been acc.u.mulating as expected that she slept poorly.

Although she was together with Karin and Petra in a room that was given to them at a corner of the town hall, both of them didn"t notice Valeria slipping out of her bed and were sleeping soundly.

Putting on her gown, Valeria carried the empty pitcher and went out the room.

「—Oi」

「Hi!?」

Valeria, who had tried to walk slowly and quietly in the dark corridor where there was only starlight shining in from the windows, was called to a halt before carving the first three steps and looked back with clumsy movement.

「…What are you doing in the middle of a night like this?」

Opening the door of the opposite room, a half-naked Dimitar showed his face. While scratching his dark grey hair roughly, he stared at Valeria fixedly. No, he might not be staring, but because of his expression that seemed to be displeasure from waking up, it only appeared like she was being stared at.

「T, that… I"m slightly thirsty」

Valeria held the pitcher up and showed a forced smile. Thereupon, Dimitar grabbed his sword and shirt from inside the room and came out.

「W, what is it?」

「…Sigibert was abducted from the tabard inn in Klutoreto, you know? Is there any guarantee that this place is perfectly safe?」

Dimitar muttered with a sulky face and began walking while b.u.t.toning up the shirt that he had put on. He seemed to be saying that he"d accompany her to the kitchen.

「Even if you don"t do that much for me in particular—」

「Or rather, do you know the location of the kitchen in the first place?」

「Ah」

Now that he mentioned it, Valeria didn"t know where the kitchen was. On the contrary, the astute Dimitar, having decided to stay here for one night, might have immediately wandered around, roughly investigating what was where and from where they could go in and out.

「…I"m also hungry. I might as well guide you」

「Eh? Even though you ate that much without limit?」

Today"s dinner was a lively one, with not just Sigibert, Clotilde and Malena, but also the mayor and his wife joining in. The fact that Dimitar should also have been at the dinner that was satisfactory in not just the flavour, but also in terms of quant.i.ty, and yet was already hungry was in no way comprehensible.

「My body is probably trying to recover the blood that I had shed」

Stroking the back of his neck, Dimitar muttered in a way of speaking that one couldn"t tell was in all seriousness or in jest.

「—I hear that it"s good for anaemic people if they eat liver. In today"s dinner menu, the stewed pig liver cream was especially delicious」

「I don"t like liver very much though—」

「I didn"t say that you"ve to eat it in particular」

Picking up the candlestick that was hanging on the wall at the end of the long corridor, Dimitar descended the stairs.

「…?」

When they had descended to the first floor, Dimitar suddenly stopped his feet.

「What"s the matter?」

「The other side of the door ahead of here should be the kitchen… but look, there"s light. It seems that someone is there」

「…There"s also a pleasant smell somehow. Isn"t someone cooking?」

「At this time?」

「Isn"t it just nice; you want something to eat, right?」

「That"s true though」

Shrugging his shoulders, Dimitar pushed the kitchen"s door open without even knocking in particular.

「—Eh?」

Valeria, who had stepped inside the kitchen after Dimitar, saw a figure shaking left and right in front of a big oven and opened her eyes wide in surprise.

Perhaps noticing the voice that had unintentionally leaked out, she stiffened just as she looked back at Valeria.

「—」

In a pose where she was about to move a skewer which was grilled with an open fire to her mouth, Malena Puyol stared at Valeria and Dimitar. Soon, beads of sweat oozed out with a “futsu futsu (flowing out)” on that chubby glossy white skin.

「E, errr—」

「T, this is terrible!」

When Valeria softly called out to her, Malena suddenly made a face which seemed to be crying and started bowing many times.

「—I"m sorry, I"m sorry! Please keep this matter a secret! Especially from Clotilde-geika; please…!」

「…Rather, won"t it be exposed immediately if you loudly make noise like that?」

「Auah!?」

Pointed out by Dimitar, Malena hurriedly held her mouth down.

「…There"s a visitor who came earlier than us, huh. That"s certainly convenient」

Dimitar, who had snorted “fufun”, showed a smile that seemed wicked and started wandering inside the dim kitchen, where speaking of illumination, was just the flame of the oven.

「Oi, Chubby」

「Ha!?」

「It"s you, Puyol-geika. As one would expect, calling you “Chubby” is too rude, huh. I also want something to eat though?」

Looking into the pots which were placed on the wide table in turns, Dimitar asked rudely. Not even a tiny amount of the awareness to pay respect to Malena could be felt anymore.

「There"s something, right? Anything is fine even if it"s something similar to what you"re eating」

「Eh? —Ah, ha, hai! In here…」

Malena moved a big ceramic plate which had been put in the oven onto the table.

「I think that this is the meal of the chefs, but whether or not it"ll suit your taste is…」

「Garbage Pie, huh」

「…What"s that?」

Valeria, who had quenched her thirst for the present with the water of a water jug, looked at the pie-like thing that remained on the plate and knitted her eyebrows. Although it was a food that she was seeing for the first time, it somehow smelled of animal and her appet.i.te wouldn"t come forth.

「This surely won"t suit your taste, I think. …It"s a pie that was stuffed with internal organs, waste meat and the like which n.o.ble-samas hardly eat and then baked」

When Dimitar had searched for a fork from somewhere and come back, he started eating the pie of entrails without hesitating. Although having even such an imagination was unpleasant, Valeria wouldn"t want to kiss a man who would reach his hand out to a food like this without hesitation no matter how much he wanted to eat liver even if she die.

「…By the way, you」

While holding the plate in his arms and eating the garbage pie with a “musha musha (munching)”, Dimitar spoke.

「Ha, hai?」

「Do you not have a relative or something in Amaddo? Around Seriba?」

「Ha…? N, no, as much as I know, there isn"t—」

Seeming to want to say that she couldn"t understand why such a thing was asked, Malena showed an indescribable smile and tilted her head to the side.

「Is that so? I"ve asked you something trivial. Forget it」

「Haa…」

「L, leaving that aside, why is Puyol-geika in such a place at such a time?」

Trying to change the delicate atmosphere, Valeria asked unnaturally.

「Are you an idiot? It must be because she was hungry, right? If not, there"s no way that she"d be grilling meat with the oven while shaking her bottom with humming mixed in」

「P, please don"t say it! Please don"t mention that anymore!」

「Even though you said that, you"re steadily eating meat」

Looking at Malena who was stuffing her mouth with grilled skewers with a “moshari”, Dimitar raised his lips.

「—Ma, all the surrounding people probably know that you"re such a person, so there"s no need to keep up appearances now, is there?」

「B, but, the truth is, I"m strictly ordered by Clotilde-geika to abstain from eating between meals…」

「Ah—…」

If her figure changed greatly, her magic crests would be distorted and she wouldn"t be able to use magic well—recalling the conversation that she was made to hear from Dimitar, Valeria nodded vaguely. After all, she felt that it"d be rude if she clapped her hands together saying 「I see!」.

「If I"m dismissed because my ability isn"t enough, though disgraceful, I"ll still accept it. But…, if I"ve to stop being a Dominas due to my figure of all things! In regard to my parents, siblings and my whole clan, I won"t be able to save my face! They"ll think “Don"t you have that much self-restraint?”!」

「Even though you said that, you"re steadily eating the next meat…」

「U, uuu… but, this is delicious! My stomach which can eat anything deliciously is detestable!」

Tears spilled over and fell in large drops on Malena"s glossy and tender cheeks. Although, to the people, it might be a very silly worry, to almost unconsciously cry in sympathy might be because of Malena"s cuteness that gave one the impression of a small animal.

Dimitar put a small frying pan into the oven and threw lard into it. Furthermore, while he was heating up the frying pan, he carried a lump of cheese out from a shelf, placed it onto the table and sliced it with his favourite sword.

「…In any case, a type like you probably can"t move your body to maintain your figure. If you move your body, the outcome will be you becoming all the more hungry and the amount of your meals increasing more and more」

「I, I experienced that already…!」

「If that"s the case, do intensive training of magic. That seems to unexpectedly make one lose weight. It might be because one will get mentally tired」

「Is, is that true!?」

「…Maa, in your case, I think that it"s also better to decrease the amount that you eat a little though」

When the lard had gone round the frying pan, he put the sliced cheese in one by one. The cheese began to dissolve quickly with a “jyupu jyupu”, and started to waft an appetising aroma.

「—By the way, the town that was occupied by the enemy, what kind of place is it?」

「Do you mean Luberuteiyu?」

「That one. I heard that it was a port city」

「Even if it"s called a port city, it doesn"t face the sea」

「Come to think of it, you did say that it"s at a place where one have to go fairly upstream along the river」

Before they knew it, Valeria and Malena were standing on both sides of Dimitar and peering in at his hands" movement. They shouldn"t have been so hungry, and yet the smell of the cheese which began to burn fragrantly had an attraction that was in no way easy to oppose.

「Though it"s an important stopover when transporting things, which had crossed the sea and were carried here, to various places using land routes and the river, the scale itself isn"t very big」

「What"s the enemy"s number?」

「Saa… according to the testimony of the people who had escaped from the town, it seems that they slipped into the storm and the darkness of the night, landed suddenly and occupied the town in one breath, but unfortunately, their numbers are… however, I think that since the number of their cavalry doesn"t seem to be many, aren"t infantry and archers their main const.i.tuent?」

「Ma, if they try to transport not only soldiers, but even warhorses in the thousands, it might be quite troublesome. —Then, how far is the distance from Luberuteiyu to Aurillac?」

「That too, the exact number is difficult to know, but I think that perhaps it"s 1000 leagues or so in a straight-line distance?」

「Fumu」

When Dimitar had sprinkled salt on the crisply-toasted cheese, turned the frying pan over and transferred it to the plate, he held it out in front of Malena. Looking at that plate and Dimitar"s face alternately, Malena"s throat made a gulping sound.

「Eh? M, may I!?」

「Don"t worry about it」

「I"ll gratefully receive it!」

Malena started eating the crisply-toasted cheese immediately. Dimitar roughly wiped the blade of his sword, stored it in the scabbard and leaned it against a pillar that had a gloss like it was smoked black.

「—If the enemy has started advancing southwards from Luberuteiyu, can they arrive at Aurillac smoothly?」

「No, that"s… in addition to there being innumerable branches of the Rübel River in the south of Luberuteiyu, it"s a vast area of lakes and marshes… nmu, so a route where large-scale military force can be a.s.sembled and advance on is very… hamu, l, limited」

「If we gain control of that route, we can restrain the enemy from proceeding southwards, huh」

「You can say so…? After all, there"s a town that can also be called a defence position on that route…」

「Defence position?」

「Hai. It"s a town called Delbrück」

Malena who had eaten the cheese up in the blink of an eye wiped her mouth and smiled cheerfully. Even though she was making a face like it was the end of this world until a little while ago and saying 「Please keep this a secret!」, she was surprisingly self-interested.

「How much is the population?」

「Eto, if I remember correctly, I think that it"s about 20,000? As peat can be collected at that area, the population seems to be numerous as it is since the olden days」

「If the town"s population is 20,000, let"s see, its standing army"s number is 7, 8,000 at the most, huh. Though we don"t know how much is the enemy"s military force, judging from them having advanced their army to the inland areas in a bold manner, it shouldn"t be few to the extent that we can temporise. If things remain as they are, I might feel slightly anxious」

「Sigibert-kakka also said that previously」

Deliciously drinking up the water of a beer mug that Dimitar had held out, Malena took a breath with a “puha”.

「—According to His Excellency and Diaghilev-geika"s conversation, it seems that they"ll most likely concentrate the war potentials from various places at Delbrück, reorganise, and engage the enemy army that will come closing in from Luberuteiyu」

「I see」

「However, the rebel army"s general is most likely Archduke Euchemard Duevre… that"s what His Excellency is most cautious of」

「Euchemard…?」

「Archduke Euchemard is the younger brother of Arthur Duevre, who arbitrarily claims to be Yururogu"s king, and a person who is holding the two appointments of prime minister and supreme commander of the army concurrently. He"s old, but it seems that he"s known for being very proficient at war… ah, of course, I haven"t seen that person myself though」

Although she was speaking ill of Yururogu"s king by using the expression “arbitrarily claims to be”, the people of Haiderota most likely had no choice but to acknowledge the ability of Euchemard as a soldier. That was well understood from Malena"s way of speaking. He seemed to be quite a strong enemy.

While pouring the water which was drawn from the water jug into the pitcher, Valeria tried asking somehow.

「Did something like this also happen before?」

「No, if it"s a national border violation from mounted bandits" plundering, then it has happened to the extent of countless, but it seems to be the first time that a rebel army of this scale has suddenly stepped into the inland areas. That"s why the situation this time seems to be clearly different from usual」

「Is that so? —I"ve more or less understood」

「—Eh?」

「Iya, thank you for this useful conversation」

「D, did I perhaps… s, say something that I mustn"t say!? Like a state secret or something!?」

「It probably isn"t anything exaggerated like that. It"s merely something that we"ll know eventually」

Extinguishing the oven"s fire, Dimitar patted the girl"s shoulder. Showing a beaming smile which he absolutely wouldn"t show usually was, on the contrary, scary.

「—Ma, I"ll keep the fact that you ate between meals here a secret for you, so you should also forget about tonight, obediently return to your room and sleep early」

「No, no way…!」

Leaving Malena who had received a shock there alone, Dimitar quickly left the kitchen.

「H, hey, Dimitar!」

Running after Dimitar with short steps, Valeria secretly asked.

「What?」

「To have asked thoroughly to that extent, what on earth did you know?」

「I don"t know anything」

「Ha?」

「I don"t know anything, but it"ll be a factor for the time when we decide something from now on. Even if we asked the other Her Eminence, she most likely won"t reveal her own country"s information easily like that. Our luck is good that there"s a gluttonous and loose-tongued Her Eminence」

When she had thought why was he keeping company with the gluttonous Malena, was it because he was thinking of such a thing; Valeria was struck with admiration now.

「—Tomorrow will be a long trip from the early morning too. Rest well, all right?」

Curtly saying so, Dimitar then withdrew into his room.

「—」

When Valeria had quietly opened the door and entered the room, she returned to the bed after locking the door securely. Fortunately, Karin and Petra were sound asleep. They probably didn"t notice that she had slipped out of bed in the middle of the night and done this and that with Dimitar.

Although Karin was also like that, Petra in particular would often tease Valeria with such things.

Things like what Petra was antic.i.p.ating would never happen between them.

Nodding many times in the dark, Valeria pulled the blanket over her head.

♦♦♦