Chapter 17: The Creeping Shadow ④
“Well then, we’ll head out first.”
“Company Commander-dono, please be careful.”
Captain Yugi, along with Corporal Decott, dressed in the White Military Uniforms of Guard officers, exited the shop.
Lieutenant Krimine and I, disguised as quasi-nobles… that is, a wealthy couple, left the shop after a short delay. We walked side-by-side, strolling leisurely down the cobblestone path.
The Orthodox Empire has reached a 19th-century standard in terms of fashion, so the wealthy wear rather fine clothes.
Incidentally, it’s doubtful whether their industrial and medical standards have even reached the 18th century, so even for the wealthy, life is inconvenient, it’s unsanitary all over, and people die easily from diseases. I still prefer modern Japan.
Be that as it may.
“Lieutenant, see anyone who looks like a tail? The one I spotted was an old man with white hair wearing a brown jacket.”
“On the contrary, there are so many who fit that description, it’s causing a problem.”
“Yeah, figures.”
Commoners in this world can’t wash their clothes often, so they tend to prefer colors where dirt isn’t conspicuous. Bright dyes are also expensive. That’s why commoners mostly wear brown or gray.
Or rather, their clothes gradually turn brown or gray the more they’re worn.
“If anyone’s tailing the Company Commander and his group, it’s probably him, but…”
Then, Lieutenant Krimine said in a low voice,
“That old man, he’s going the same way.”
Ah, him. He certainly seems to be following Captain Yugi and his men.
But I shook my head.
“Look closely at the elbow of his jacket.”
“His elbow?”
“The part that’s worn down and shiny perfectly aligns with his elbow. Those are clothes he’s actually worn for years. It’s not a disguise.”
He might be a meticulous tail who prepared such well-worn clothes, but that kind of person wouldn’t engage in tailing so obvious he’d get caught.
Lieutenant Krimine looked impressed.
“As expected of the man called ‘The Launderer’.”
“It’s not like I enjoy doing laundry, though.”
It feels disgusting not to change my undergarments daily, so on my days off, I end up washing and drying several days’ worth of them.
This is the one thing I have no intention of stopping, no matter how suspicious it makes me seem. It’s a matter concerning my dignity.
I scanned our surroundings, moving only my eyes, confirming there were no suspicious individuals.
“Once they blend into the crowd, it’s impossible to tell anymore. Let’s give up the search for our tail at a suitable point and go visit Lieutenant Meinen’s grave.”
“Understood.”
Lieutenant Krimine nodded, then pulled up the bodice of her dress.
“What’s wrong?”
“No, it’s just a bit loose.”
“Ah.”
I gave a slight nod.
“The Company Commander, despite appearances, has a rather solid build. It might be a bit large for you, Lieu—”
A sharp glare cut me off, and I instantly clamped my mouth shut.
Eh, what was that for?!
Lieutenant Krimine wore an expression that seemed to have gathered all the ill-humor in the world.
“I’m just thin and flat, I suppose.”
“Eh? Ah, no… that’s not it. The Company Commander is more muscular than he appears, so the dress is made with a bit of room.”
As I explained falteringly, Lieutenant Krimine’s expression turned to one of surprise.
“Eh?! … M-my apologies!”
“No, I’m sorry too.”
An awkward silence followed. There are far too many worries unrelated to military duty.
In the end, we couldn’t find anyone tailing Captain Yugi and his group, so we decided to abandon our counter-surveillance.
“The Company Commander’s group has taken the route back to Battalion HQ. Looks like it’s over. Lieutenant Krimine, can you walk to the Army Joint Cemetery in that outfit?”
“My boots are fine, so that’s not an issue, but the chest of the dress feels like it’s going to slip down.”
“Try to manage by using your belt to hold down the excess fabric.”
Just as we started walking, a young woman’s voice cut through the bustle of the crowd.
“You’re the one who killed ‘Yuo Neville’, aren’t you?”
I was startled but didn’t turn around. I was in disguise, after all.
Of course, Lieutenant Krimine also completely ignored it, but her lips trembled slightly.
Feeling a sense of urgency inwardly, I walked about ten more paces before discreetly checking behind us in the reflection of a tailor’s shop window. The speaker was already gone.
I couldn’t just gawk around in a place like this, and they likely knew that, which is why they called out. What an infuriating person.
“Let’s go.”
“Y-yes.”
It seemed we had stepped into a rather dangerous domain.
＊ ＊
“Not just ‘somewhat’ dangerous, it seems.”
The next day, Lieutenant Krimine and I were summoned to the Battalion Commander’s office.
“It appears you two have stumbled into considerable danger.”
The blond, bespectacled Battalion Commander sighed, then stared intently at us.
“My apologies. It’s my fault for assigning you nothing but dangerous missions. I’ve hastily done everything in my power to investigate.”
Saying so, the Battalion Commander piled up a thick stack of documents.
“I looked into ‘Yuo Neville’. She was a real person who existed about thirty years ago.”
“What did you say?!”
For the person I (supposedly) executed in the Kavalaf Region to have been a real individual… that’s a bit troubling.
However, the Battalion Commander gave a wry smile.
“Don’t worry, she’s already deceased. She was an infamous villainess, executed for attempting to assassinate the Emperor.”
She sounds like quite the notorious figure.
The Battalion Commander picked up a document and read out the information written on it.
“Yuo Neville was the fourth daughter of the minor Lord Neville’s family in the south. She served as a lady-in-waiting to the Empress but was reportedly executed for plotting to assassinate the Emperor.”
Lieutenant Krimine asked, her interest clearly piqued.
“Did she truly attempt to assassinate him?”
The Battalion Commander lowered his gaze and shook his head.
“I don’t know. It might have been a conspiracy to bring about the downfall of House Neville. The entire clan was arrested, and everyone, down to the youngest children, was executed.”
I let out a heavy sigh internally. This was the kind of story I hated the most. It always made me sick how they’d kill even innocent children in these situations.
“The incident appears to have been handled internally, and hardly any records remain. The only ones who would remember are likely the elderly in the Neville domain or veteran officials of the Imperial household.”
Then, the Battalion Commander glanced at me.
“Now, someone, somewhere, has resurrected ‘Yuo Neville’ on paper. But she ended up being executed by Lieutenant Fonkt, an elite of the Imperial Ceremonial Battalion.”
Ah… Did I, perhaps, inadvertently crush someone’s conspiracy?
The Battalion Commander stared at me.
“I don’t know how far word of this matter has reached the Emperor’s ears, but if it means a traitor was resurrected, then that execution order makes sense.”
Wait a minute, does that mean…
Just as a chill ran down my spine, the Battalion Commander flashed a smile.
“However, since the person you arrested was a young woman, this matter has been settled with the explanation that ‘this Yuo Neville is a different person who happens to share the same name.’ It’s not an exceedingly rare name in the Empire, after all.”
It seems I’d been treading on much thinner ice than I’d realized. One wrong step, and it would have been all over.
Wiping my brow, a question suddenly occurred to me.
“In that case, was yesterday’s tailing a warning?”
“Perhaps. Since they went out of their way to say that to you, it doesn’t seem like they intend to kill you immediately. Ah, right.”
The Battalion Commander added, as if it were an afterthought.
“Regarding Lord Griem, whom you executed… he was appointed as one of the Emperor’s close aides for dispatching a fleet even before the imperial edict to subjugate House Neville was issued, thereby preventing the clan’s escape or resistance. His response was reportedly so swift, it was as if he had prepared for it in advance.”
So he’s tangled up in this too, huh? I feel like I’m in way deeper than I imagined.
Without my noticing, my service record has become far too politically stained. I need to “launder” it quickly, or things are going to get nasty, but there’s nothing I can do.
The Battalion Commander scratched his head, then threw himself back into his chair.
“Of all the orders that come down to our battalion, I’ve been diverting anything I find suspicious to the Third Company. And you, being the most capable man in the Third Company, have ended up right in the vortex of these conspiracies as a result.”
“Seriously. What are you going to do about this?”
“I only realized it later myself, so it can’t be helped! If I’d known from the beginning, I would have distributed the assignments more.”
The Battalion Commander pouted.
“It’s mostly your fault anyway. You handle everything I assign you so nonchalantly.”
“Please don’t blame that on this humble officer, sir.”
When I voiced my complaint, Lieutenant Krimine chimed in to support me.
“That’s right! Lieutenant-dono is not at fault at all. The one to blame is you, Battalion Commander-dono.”
Faced with criticism from both of us, the Battalion Commander grew sullen.
“Alright, alright, you’re noisy! I do feel responsible, so I’ll pull some strings to make sure this guy doesn’t get himself killed. Don’t you worry so much.”
“Please do. If I go to hell right now, about the only person I know there is Meinen.”
Hell would be one thing, but getting reincarnated into yet another different world would be a real pain. Having to restart life in a world with a different language and culture is just subtly, but incredibly, troublesome.
My second life has already become a royal pain, too…