Disclaimer: I do not guarantee a 100% accurate translation. Do kindly notify me if you see any mistake.

His Excellency"s Agony

Haiderota"s Gale Chivalric OrderRorudor Rafuale was an organisation that was established at the same time as Sigibert Duevre being inaugurated as the military vice-minister, and was allowed to act freely on its own judgement as an independent force under the direct control of the king.

Sigibert who commanded it was backbitten that he had used his position of the king"s cousin and younger brother-in-law and gotten his current status. However, if the real him wasn"t shameless to that extent, then he wasn"t a bad person either.

However, Sigibert, who possessed an arrogance that was common and conspicuous in youths of n.o.ble birth, often lost his freedom of action as a result of his own actions due to that degree of pride and also tended to make fruitless effort because of too much sense of duty.

The one who had been skilfully a.s.sisting him was the “White Rose of Steel”—Clotilde Diaghilev.

More than a whole day had pa.s.sed since that morning when the bridge was dropped, and it was the afternoon of that day when the Gale Chivalric OrderRorudor Rafuale who had been intently galloping horses towards Aurillac finally and slowly arrived at a town which seemed that they could rest in.

Due to having kept running throughout a whole day and night without resting, the members were at the peak of fatigue. Although they came here while managing with spare horses and glossing over it, it might already be their limit. To begin with, the horses probably wouldn"t last any longer. In fact, even though there were 60 hors.e.m.e.n at the time of re-departure, several people had already dropped out as their horses had become unable to run. One should probably say that just by being able to arrive here without falling below 50 hors.e.m.e.n was splendid.

Their uniforms, which were new articles when they had departed from Aurillac, were also covered with mud because of this forced march. They had to remove the dirt and fatigue of their journey tonight and depart towards Aurillac tomorrow again.

Trying not to show her fatigue as much as possible, Clotilde lightly dismounted from her horse and called out to Sigibert who was completely exhausted on his horse.

「Are you all right, Your Excellency?」

「It"s not all right… not all right. It"s not, but—」

No matter how one looked at it, the totally exhausted Sigibert was nevertheless smiling while wiping the mud that had splashed onto his cheeks with a handkerchief and arranging his disordered hair by using his fingers as a comb. One couldn"t argue that it wasn"t simply enduring something out of pride, but to a person who was in a position where he must encourage his subordinates, one might be able to say that it was a very important talent.

「—Nevertheless, we can"t be flurried in this serious affair, right?」

「That"s a splendid mental att.i.tude, Your Excellency」

「Iyaa, what, as a royalty, that"s natural. Aha, ahahahaha—」

Sigibert, who had tried to get off his horse together with a dry loud laughter, missed stepping on the stirrup and fell down ungracefully.

「Your Excellency!」

「I, I"m all right. I just hit my waist a little. Yes, I"m all right—ow ow ow…!」

The town"s inhabitants were surrounding Sigibert, who had held his bottom down rather than his waist and stood up, at a distance and gazing at him. If it was the usual, he should send in a messenger beforehand and order the governor of that place the preparation to meet them, but there wasn"t even leeway of that extent this time. Thus, perhaps to them, it must be inconceivable that this slightly dirty group was unexpectedly the Gale Chivalric Order—the combat group that comprised two Dominas whom their motherland was proud of and the military vice-minister.

Sigibert, who had borrowed Arushanbor"s shoulder and stood up, put his hand against his temple and sighed.

「First… let"s see, we have to tell the mayor of this place about us arriving here, I guess. After all, we are a large household of 50 people, and even just preparing tonight"s beds and meals might be a task. Besides, the preparations of the horses also—」

Sigibert"s words paused there. When she unintentionally looked at him, he was stiffening as he looked diagonally upwards for some reason.

「Your Excellency…?」

Clotilde, who was lured in by that and chased Sigibert"s gaze, also stopped her movement suddenly and opened her eyes wide. Malena and Arushanbor too, were similarly looking diagonally upwards and stiffening like they were frozen.

「Well, well… you really arrived early」

From a window on the second floor of an inn a short distance away, Valeria Costacurta"s exclusive Hiera Glaphicos—that astute young man called “Dimitar Richternach” was looking down at Clotilde"s party.

「W, why are you here—!?」

「Ah, please wait a moment. I"ll go there」

When Dimitar temporarily retracted his face, following the footsteps of “dota dota”, Valeria"s party came out from the inside of the inn. They were Valeria Costacurta, Karin Rudbeck and their respective Hiera Glaphicos, and the remaining one was that girl who wore pink armour and helmet—in short, the party of important people from Amaddo, excluding the maids.

「What…?」

Even though he thought that they had surely turned back to Klutoreto like that and were returning to their country about this time, why did they arrive before them?

「Thanks for your hard work, Sigibert-kakka」

「Ah, iya, that—」

Receiving Valeria and Karin"s greetings, Sigibert hurriedly pushed Arushanbor away. As the Gale Chivalric Order"s leader and the military vice-minister of a country, he might not have wanted the figure of him standing up holding on to a person"s shoulder to be seen. Although to the other party that was Valeria and the others who knew the full particulars of the kidnapping drama on the day before yesterday, he felt that it was meaningless no matter how he fixed something, Sigibert was a person who would become broken unless he did so. He was a man who encouraged himself by continuing to put on airs and lived using self-respect for nourishment.

Fixing the tie on his collar at this late hour, Sigibert cleared his throat lightly and asked.

「Ah—… um, why is everyone here? Or rather, how did you come here?」

「Even if you ask me “how”… eeto, we came here normally by horses—」

Valeria replied apologetically in some respects.

「I don"t mean it like that—」

「It can"t be that you cross that river…?」

「Hai」

Dimitar answered promptly instead of Valeria.

「Since it was once decided that we"ll go towards Aurillac, we must go there at all costs—that"s Costacurtgeika"s thought. After all, in Roma, it"s even said that Her Eminence"s consent has the weight of a castle」

Clotilde, who had alternately looked at Dimitar who had spoken profoundly and Valeria who had nodded so and so next to him, bit her lips, thinking that troublesome people had come out to the front stage in her heart.

If it was just simply magic being her forte—even if she was the once-in-10-years talented woman Valeria—they could oppose her with Clotilde"s power. However, this young man, Clotilde particularly regarded him as their weak point, who was accompanying Valeria was a possessor of a strategist-type talent that couldn"t be dealt with by ordinary means.

Crown Prince Jeffren Isaac and this Dimitar Richternach; it somehow felt like many capable people like these had appeared in this world in Amaddo. And then—aside from whether it was a good or bad thing—most of the senior statesmen with a strong right to speak in Haiderota"s royal court were nothing but military people who were weak in Machiavellianism, truly typical of the military superpower Haiderota. It was still fine now, but when the change of generation of capable people eventually advanced, Amaddo might greatly open up a big lead over them in strategy battles.

In any case, now wasn"t the time to be thinking about that sort of future matter. Since Valeria"s party had come here like this, they couldn"t treat them coldly. Clotilde calmed her mind and spoke to Sigibert.

「—At any rate, we can"t leave our guests from Amaddo at an inn like this. Let"s prepare rooms at the town hall, Your Excellency」

「Ah? U, umu, that"s right. It"s as Diaghilev-geika says. Let"s arrange it with the mayor of this town immediately. I"m sorry that it"s cramped, but I"d like both Her Eminences to wait at this inn a little longer until then」

「I"m greatly obliged to you for your consideration」

Karin courteously bowed her head.

「—Well then, see you again later」

When she had placed several members of security roles in front of that inn and she herself had straddled the horse again, Clotilde went towards the town hall together with Sigibert and Malena.

Making sure to push aside the people who were crowding on the main street, a group of men and horses marched in an orderly manner towards the town hall. Sigibert, who was moving at the front, asked Clotilde in a whisper.

「Nevertheless, this has turned into a troublesome matter. Why didn"t they return to their country, I wonder? It can"t be that they were given some detailed instructions by Isaac-kun and came here with the intention of making trouble for us, can it…」

「I can"t a.s.sert that that possibility is completely non-existent, but since they intentionally remained in our country which Yururogu might open hostilities with, this can"t be done unless they have an appropriate resolution and objective. Rather, it might be a contrivance of selling a favour to our country in some sort of way」

「N, now that you mention it…! If it"s Isaac, it seems that he"d really do it; he"s liable to do it, he"s liable to do it!」

Bending the riding crop with a “giri giri”, Sigibert ground his teeth. Naturally, so that they wouldn"t do strange things, they had secretly ordered the members who were left behind under the pretext of security not to be negligent in their surveillance.

「W, what should we do? What are we going to do, Diaghilev-geika? If they follow us to Aurillac as it is, then…」

「Certainly, no matter what their objective is, them moving around in this situation now is not amusing…」

In the first place, Haiderota finding fault with Amaddo, saying “introduce your new Dominas”, was the cause of this matter. As a result of the king being overcame by the courtiers of the hard-line faction who were obsessed with a sense of rivalry against Amaddo, Valeria and Karin"s foreign travel to Haiderota turned into a reality.

They couldn"t tell them to return to their country now, and before that, only the authority of making such a diplomatic decision wasn"t given to Sigibert or Clotilde. Even if they sent Valeria"s party away, Amaddo might not accept it unless the king apologise at least.

They couldn"t send them back to their country immediately. And if they couldn"t, then coming up with the very best move among them was what Clotilde"s party ought to do now.

「It can"t be helped. We"ve reached a situation about which nothing can be done; we can do nothing but to escort them to Aurillac, I guess. …However, though you might receive a scolding from His Majesty in the distant future, it doesn"t mean that there"s no plan that can make this situation into a plus to some extent」

「What!? W, what"s that—?」

「It"s to dispatch horses in every direction immediately and make Amaddo"s Dominas" intention of visiting Aurillac as planned known to every place」

「B, but, when you think about security matters, I feel that spreading around news like that isn"t very good…」

「No, it"ll be fine with this. At least for the short term」

Clotilde declared so with confidence. If the commander of Yururogu was capable and vigilant, there should be an effect.

「I"ll explain in detail when you"ve calmed down. …More importantly, if we don"t secure an inn and the horses in preparation for tomorrow"s departure」

「Ah, un, that"s right, as one would expect of Your Eminence! Of course, I"ve also noticed that matter though, un」

Sigibert, who had smiled awkwardly, ordered Arushanbor in a hurry and made him head for the purchasing of horses.

Sigibert who almost put on airs reflexively even towards members of the same organisation seemed irresistibly cute to Clotilde.

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