Gilbert-san didn’t move even though he was having a visitor.
Then I heard the sound of a lock being opened. Is it someone who lives in this house because they have the key? Then, why bother knocking? Though Gilbert-san seems to know who has come.
The visitor enters the house and walks toward us while I think about everything.
“It seems we have a guest. He and I are going to talk. I’m sorry, but I will ask you to leave.”
“Alright.”
Is he someone I can meet without being told to hide? If I don’t leave, we will run into each other.
Not that we will know each other either.
Then, the guest showed up. He was someone I had assured myself didn’t exist before this meal, a mutual acquaintance of mine and Gilbert-san.
“Good evening, Gilbert-san is here….”
He and I looked at each other and froze.
“Why are you here?!”
“Linus-san… right?”
His name is Linus, an intelligence agent for Remrest Kingdom.
This is the third time I have met him.
He was working for Remrest Kingdom. When I was a student at the academy, he asked me to switch sides. If I did, he offered me anything I wanted, but I wasn’t the type to accept such an offer. His superiors back home pressed him, but he didn’t think I would accept his offer.
We met next when I went to the Ashbaton frontier. He was an intelligence agent related to the national army, and at that time, he was assigned to be the field commander.
Ryuu and I landed in the middle of the two troops in a standoff, and Remrest’s army collapsed instantly. The general commander, Remrest’s second prince, and his officers had fled. Linus was negotiating the ceasefire with the frontier count.
And now, for the third time.
Not only does he know my face, he is probably the only person in Remrest with whom I have ever had a conversation. Of all people, I can’t believe I’m running into him.
I shouldn’t be here. Linus is surprised and tries to call my name.
“Why D—”
“It’s Eleanora!”
“Huh?”
“It’s been a long time. My name is Eleanora.”
I pressured him that if he said Count Dolknes, he wouldn’t get away with it.
Then Linus nodded repeatedly without saying a word. He’s likely figured out that it’s a fake name, and I hope he doesn’t mention the name Yumiela Dolknes.
Linus then looks at Gilbert and says, as if to check the situation.
“How should I address you?”
“Gilbert is fine as usual. But I didn’t know you knew Eleanora.”
“Okay, Gilbert-sama. …Why is one of you using a fake name?”
Ah, he told him it was a fake name. It is good that Gilbert-san already knows that Eleanora is an alias, but Linus shouldn’t know that. I thought he was the kind of person who wouldn’t poke around.
Gilbert-san had the same sentiments as I did.
“I know her name isn’t Elanora… but why did you say that?”
“Eh…? Ahaha… I’m sorry?”
Linus apologies in passing, still looking unconvinced. Then he turns to face me, looking uncertain.
“Eleanora-sama, right? How did you get here?”
“I ran away from home.”
“You ran away… but why did you come here?”
“It was an accident. I didn’t mean to come here.”
From his perspective, who knows how I think to some extent? He probably finds it strange that Yumiela is in Remrest. It can’t be helped; I fell from the atmosphere.
Linus tilted his head in confusion.
“But Eleanora-sama must not know about this place, right?”
I assume he means this house and not the Remrest’s capital by ‘this place.’ There was no prior information about the mysterious private house in the neighboring kingdom.
Then Gilbert-san chimes in.
“She came here by accident. She went crashing through the roof.”
“Ah, she fell from the sky?”
“The sky? I heard she was traveling through the roof and went through the roof?”
Usually, when you hear that someone went through the roof, you think they stepped through it. Linus immediately thought about falling from the sky, which shows his impression of me.
“People can’t just fall from the sky, can they? If that happened, a serious injury wouldn’t suffice.”
Linus, who would have thought a fall from a height wouldn’t hurt me, swallowed his words and nodded vaguely.
Still unfamiliar with my presence, Linus wanders his gaze and turns to Gilbert-san.
“How did you feel when you met her? I had prejudice about her, but when I walked to her, she was normal. And I never thought she’d run away and accidentally meet her…”
It was now Gilbert-san’s turn to tilt his head. I couldn’t even understand what Linus was trying to say.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Gilbert-sama, this is your first time meeting with Yu—Eleanora-sama, isn’t it?”
“Not that I know her, but what’s the connection between you and her?”
“Huh? I told you before, didn’t I? You asked me a question before.”
Seeing the two men looking at each other, I guess they aren’t on the same wavelength.
After silence and contemplation, Gilbert-san cleared his throat and dropped the conversation.
“Forget about her. You’re early for your appointment. Do you have some pressing matters to attend to?”
“I was so surprised that I forgot about it. There’s—”
“Wait, don’t forget we have an outsider here.”
Gilbert-san’s voice is small but sharp.
Does that mean I have to leave? Let’s get out of our seats before they ask. I try to get up, but Linus’ voice stops me.
“Eh? Shouldn’t she be here too?”
Nah, I don’t want to get involved. Based on Linus’ occupation and the suspicious nature of this house, Gilbert-san is a spy-like person in the Remrest kingdom. Huh? What’s the point of hiding in a safe house in your own Kingdom?
Many things confuse me, but I’m sure I’m an outsider. The only thing I can do is not ask for information I don’t need to hear.
Gilbert-san looks skeptical and doesn’t want to be questioned.
“She’s an outsider.”
“This information concerns Eleanora-sama as well.”
“If you say so.”
While Gilbert-san looked unimpressed, he seemed to prioritize getting the information.
Unable to find the right moment to walk away, I got caught up in a secret meeting.
“I will report straightforwardly. The army is on the move.”
“Are you sure? The troops that were here moved to the relay base?”
“There is no doubt that all the troops have started to advance. I got a message from my men in Tetania, where the main troops were occupying.”
Somehow, I could see the picture.
Remrest is moving its army. Maybe they’re heading to the Balshine Kingdom. This would also explain why Linus wanted me in the room.
Not being able to participate in the conversation, I reasoned in silence.
“You’re fast. I heard you were ready to depart soon but must be far from fully prepared.”
“That is correct. We are still investigating the reason for the advanced plans.”
Linus came to report the movements in his kingdom. Gilbert-san is working secretly in Remrest’s capital.
These two things indicate that Gilbert-san is an intelligence agent sent to Remrest from Balshine.
Then Linus betrays Remrest by passing information about his kingdom to an agent from the neighboring kingdom.
Huh? Am I being incredibly brilliant today?
Now, I would have noticed anything. Plus, I realized that Gilbert-san was from the Balshine Kingdom. Hm? Gilbert… Gilbert… Gilbert from the Balshine Kingdom… Where did I hear that?
Suddenly, I’m starting to get worried. What a great shame if my boastful observations are misguided and mistaken.
Let’s not act on our assumptions. I will confirm my speculation. Gilbert-san was thinking while resting his chin on his hand when I asked Linus.
“Um, am I correct in assuming that Linus-san is a traitor?”
After saying it, it occurred to me that I had done it. Being accused of being a traitor isn’t something good for people to hear. What about shifting or changing teams?
The word ‘traitor’ doesn’t sound good, he replies with an uncomfortable chuckle.
“I guess you could say that. If you’re thinking about Remrest… I apologize for involving you in the struggle for our kingdom’s succession.”
“Are you part of the first prince’s faction?”
“Right. The location and the faction were a coincidence, though.”
I thought he had completely switched to the Balshine side. Since he is from the first prince’s faction, perhaps the second prince’s faction sent out the army this time. He’s trying to spread information about his political opponents and stand in their way.
However, I’m worried about Linus-san. Should this fact come to light, the Second Prince’s faction would not tolerate him, and he could be cut off from his faction.
“You don’t have to risk that much….”
“I’m not interested in the succession or any political struggle, but the second prince faction insists that the first arsenal be closed down. We don’t want that to happen for Remrest’s sake.”
“For future research, you mean.”
“How did you know? I’m surprised.”
“I heard about it from a magic tool shop owner.”
Now I understood what was going on. It seems that my speculation wasn’t wrong.
One last check just to be sure.
“The ones who are sending out the troops now are from the second prince’s faction, are they not?”
“No, it’s the first prince faction.”
Huh? Linus belongs to the first prince’s faction and wants the first prince to win for his kingdom’s magical tools and technology sake, but he is leaking information to the enemy kingdom…
The more I know, the more I can’t figure it out. Was I wrong to assume that Gilbert-san is from Balshine?
“Gilbert-san is from Balshine, right?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Linus nodded his head in agreement. Right.
I have learned a lot, but one mystery has been added.
When I thought Linus would answer me again when I asked about his intentions, Gilbert-san, who had been silent, opened his mouth.
“The plan remains the same.”
“But—”
“They should have heard about the plan by now. I’ll never recognize it if that thing doesn’t arrive in time. That’s it.”
“Eh?! No, I can’t make them in time….”
Linus’s words trailed off as a sharp gaze pierced him.
The Remrest army, led by the first prince, left earlier than planned, and it seems their plan has been compromised.
I don’t have much to do with it.
Gilbert then proceeded to issue a string of instructions.
“Linus will be in charge of monitoring the main army troops. We will send out a contact person, but you will send a message as soon as you find out why the schedule has been moved up. I’m fine with my parent’s house.”
“I understand. Where are you?”
“I’ll go ahead to the planned battlefield.”
“Would it be okay for Dol—Eleanora-sama to accompany you?”
Linus needs to get used to my pseudonym soon. Whenever I’m called Eleanora, I thought, “Huh? She’s here?” though I can’t blame Eleanora for it.
It makes less sense to disguise my identity now that I know Gilbert-san is from Balshine.
Do I have anything to do with it? Why don’t we leave it here? I would have liked to join Ashbaton’s army.
“You want me to take her?”
“No, no, it’s not good for me to be there.”
Gilbert-san and I both insisted that we didn’t have to stay together.
Linus was surprised to hear that the idea had been rejected, but after a moment’s deliberation, he seemed to have come up with something.
“Surely you don’t mean to say that. Have you not been informed of our plans?!”
While saying that, his gaze is directed at me.
I wasn’t informed about anything because I’m an uninvolved outsider.
Linus then turns to Gilbert-san and says,
“Don’t tell me you haven’t told her about our plan?”
“I haven’t… but do I need to?”
Hearing the answer, Linus expresses impatience.
He is beyond frustrated, bordering on anger. His answer, which had remained low, is said fiercely.
“Gilbert-sama, you must give her a complete rundown of your plans! If you don’t, we won’t be able to start talking!”
“But—”
“After that, you can discuss and decide how she will move forward. Is that clear?”
While Gilbert-san is pressured, Linus says what he wants to say and walks away.
“Do you understand? Tell her all about your plans. I’m going back! We don’t have much time.”
He bowed angrily but respectfully, turned his back, and walked out quickly out of the house.
It wasn’t until we heard the front door close that we regained our composure.
“…He’s gone.”
“What was that? I didn’t know Linus had so much to say….”
Please don’t blame him.
Normally, we would have already introduced ourselves to each other.
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thanks for the chapter
Thank you for the new chapter! The suspense really tickles my testicles.