Chapter 38 [SIDE A] / Wayward Bystander
Their destination hadn't been too far off.
At the rate that Sakura had been pulling the cart, they were able to reach the specified territory a few hours past noon. She didn't take a single moment's worth of rest, due to how long it must have felt to be pulling the cart after staying idle at the manor, except for when her passengers needed the break. Sakura didn't even show a speck of tiredness unlike the rest of the group. If anything, it was as if she was getting energized as she went along and could probably still go half a day's worth of pulling.
There was a town in the distance protected by a decently-sized wall, but Motoyasu had Sakura stop the cart within the forest. From their angle, they had a good perspective on the entrance while the shrubs and greenery helped in hiding their position. For an average territory, the security detail looked bulky compared to the expected number.
"Is this really the place?" Rishia poked her head out the side while yawning. The stress of the situation mostly kept her up the entire night, compared to the others. "The shadows told us to come here?"
"Berflach Territory." As he stepped down from the back, Itsuki repeated the name the shadows gave him. "This is where Motoyasu's former companion should be located. They didn't say anything further than that. They apparently needed to get confirmation from the Queen as to the information they would disclose, so we'll be getting a redacted report from whoever is supposed to meet us here."
Itsuki dramatically provided one panning scout of the area.
"Yeah, I don't see anybody here."
"Governor Reichnott did say that she was very particular about providing information," Rishia nodded. "It's consistent at the very least."
"Maybe the masked people are playing hide-and-seek again?" Sakura tilted her head. "Those weird people are good at popping in and out."
"You've got a point there," Itsuki groaned. "Nothing's better than having your informants showing up out of thin air and all, but it would hurt them to approach normally?"
"I, uh, don't think that's in their job description…" Rishia whimpered. "Shadows are very secretive to begin with as far as I can tell, but I don't think that they would even want to stick around if it has to do with this territory of all places."
"Do you know this place?" Motoyasu asked.
"To some degree, th-though I wouldn't know any recent information about it." Rishia glanced back to the town in question. "I heard from my parents a while back that Governor Berflach takes pride in creating a place of safety for his people. Crime rates within his territory are next to zero percent, thanks to his security measures. I-I mean, he was a merchant before a governor, so it makes sense he knows what should be done to lower crime rate against shops and otherwise."
"Not what I want to hear," Itsuki sighed. "We can't exactly move around freely if we've got an actual governor doing his job in protecting his people a little too well. Chances are that this Berflach guy is having his guards be on the wary lookout for us because of our infamy."
"That does sound like something that would happen…"
"What do you propose we do about that?" Motoyasu pondered.
Itsuki shrugged. "We can't do much investigating on our end in that case, so we really do have to depend on the shadows to pull in some of the work there. Speaking of which, where the hell are they?"
Some rustling from the bushes caused Itsuki and Rishia to glance over.
"Yeah, you guys aren't surprising me this time."
A few footsteps pressed up against the ground audibly as the visitors showed themselves. Behind their masks, three familiar-looking shadows presented themselves, though all shadows they encountered so far were technically familiar-looking. It was very difficult to differentiate between them.
"Sir Bow Hero. We've received instructions from the Queen. I do not think it needs to be said as to how displeased she is with your actions, but given that she is still tied up with her diplomacy, she had no time to consider the alternatives."
After their bow, one of them presented a folder with paperwork in it.
"This is what she sent back. This is part of the reports that she was using to keep track of the situation, but there have been some parts that were omitted. All that is in there is all that you need to know to cooperate with the shadows in this operation."
Itsuki took the folder and opened it up. He narrowed his eyes at the contents as he was slowly humming a nonsensical tune. After another few seconds of silence though, Itsuki grunted as he gave the folder to Rishia, but he immediately turned back to Motoyasu and Sakura.
"Don't say anything! There were big words in there, alright!? I was able to read about half of it!"
"I was about to say," Motoyasu wryly chuckled, "if you were skipping your language lessons…"
"Lord Itsuki is enveloping his language skills relatively steadily. He hasn't learned some of the more complex writing schemes that the Queen appears to be using here. It doesn't help that some context is lost because of all the details that were removed."
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure having Itsuki as a student is a lot to handle."
"Hey. I'm right here, you know."
Rishia sheepishly laughed, not understanding if she should or not, but she trailed off in order to actually read what was written down in the report. She was able to go through the number of pages, not simply because she was reading through it quickly, but each page was redacted enough that only a third of it remained. Despite that, it was still as the shadows said it was.
"Rino is being held within one of the larger manors of the territory. The building is owned by a wealthy merchant. The Queen redacted their identity."
"She's not even giving us information on the enemy?"
"This operation is not one where someone must be defeated," the shadow emphasized. "Do not forget the reason you wanted to push forward with this. If you do so, we will actively remind you every step of the way. You are here to rescue a person. That is it."
"In that case, they've got a point," Rishia said, nervously glancing over to Itsuki. "If our plan is to rescue her, we… don't need to know who we're dealing with."
To Rishia, it sounded like the shadows were planning for an in-and-out strategy to avoid all possible contact. That was the type of plan that Rishia would support whole-heartedly.
"C'mon, that surely can't be enough." Itsuki looked over his shoulder. "Don't you want to know what bastard captured your former party member, Motoyasu?"
Motoyau hesitated, but Sakura sensed his anxiety. She pushed up her head against Motoyasu, as if to shake him out of his fear. Managing to break out a chuckle, Motoyasu shook his head in response.
"No, it's fine. That's not what I came here to do."
Motoyasu's hand reached out to pet Sakura.
"I'm here for answers. Knowing who is holding Rino captive isn't going to get me closer to that."
Itsuki was silent for a bit, but shrugged. "If you say so. You're the one who wants to save her, so I'll leave those things up to you."
"Considering how little remains of the report," Rishia continued, "can I assume that the shadows already have something in mind? P-Please tell me you have something in mind."
The shadows quietly glanced at each other.
"Unfortunately, this is why this kind of operation was not advised to be done so immediately. While we will be able to create and execute a plan within the time period that Governor Reichnott has set for you, we are still in the process of scouting the building for openings."
"You don't know how to get in?" Itsuki raised his eyebrow.
Motoyasu laughed. "I'm sure they wouldn't be able to waltz right up the stairs without being detected. If the governor likes his security, it's probably not easy to gain information."
"It is as you anticipate," the shadow continued. "We must also add in the fact that there was no plan for this to happen under eighteen hours ago, so the shadows are working tirelessly to uncover the possible entry points that you will be able to use. We will continue to do so and we will likely reconvene at night when all possibilities are to be exhausted on our end."
"Then it sounds like you want us to stay at the inn and wait around," Itsuki sighed.
"Not at an inn. Too many variables that would need to be accounted for in a short amount of time. We have already made arrangements for your temporary stay. The queen had to touch bases with a contact to ensure things would not go awry."
"Didn't she learn of this last night?" Motoyasu whistled. "She sure works quick, but you guys probably work even quicker."
"Rarely does this happen, but I speak for the rest of the shadows involved in pulling these strings together for the queen when I say it was very, very, troublesome. Do not act outside of the Queen's intentions again. You will not be so lucky that things worked out this time."
The shadow extended a paper to Itsuki with directions on it, who then automatically passed it on to Rishia in a continuous movement. She panicked a bit, almost dropping the documents in the process.
"With that matter set aside," the shadow continued, "we would like for you to keep the cart within the forest here. Your intrusion in Riyute has marked your filolial as a standout ally of the Cardinal Heroes. It is a good assumption that there are people on the lookout for your filolial in that form, so it is best that you enter with her in her human appearance."
"Huh!? Sakura doesn't want to leave the cart here!" She waved her wings up and down, kicking up a gust of wind to rustle the trees and bushes around. "Sakura doesn't want to!"
"It's for our safety, Sakura. Don't worry about it too much," Motoyasu chuckled. "I'm sure they're going to take good care of the cart while its here."
Motoyasu leered over to the shadows with a smile. Although their faces couldn't be seen, it felt like they were sweating beneath the mask. "Of course. Your cart shall be kept in pristine condition. You will find it the same as the moment you left it here."
"If that's the case…" Sakura hummed a bit before transforming, jumping onto Motoyasu's back. "That's okay. The weird people have to keep their promise though. Sakura likes her cart."
"We will do so to our best abilities," they responded, unphased by the description. "If you need anything, do not look for us. We will come to you."
"Wait, how will you know when we'll—"
In an instant, the shadows retreated back into the forest. None of them could react quick enough to stop them, not that anyone would have wanted to. However, it did mean that Motoyasu's question went unanswered, but considering how the shadows were quick to stand in their way before, something told him that they would always have a constant eye on them.
"I'm sure they'll know…"
"Does the report say anything else?" Itsuki asked Rishia. "I'm not doubting you, but surely, the Queen didn't leave us with crumbs of information."
"I can look a bit more to see if it's… Ah?"
Rishia glanced down to her hands to see that the folder disappeared along with the shadows.
"Figures," Itsuki sighed. "They probably took the report back with them. They can't even leave us with the redacted documents…"
"F-Fuee… S-Sorry, Lord Itsuki…"
"Nothing we can do about it," Motoyasu said, patting Rishia's back. "We should head over to the inn already and get ourselves settled down. If they said that they'll return to us at night, we're going to need to figure out how to pass the next twelve or so hours."
After using some branches and shrubs to hide the cart a bit better upon Sakura's request to make sure no one was going to take it, the group headed into the town after the heroes threw on their hoods.
-/IV/-
"This is the place? It doesn't look like it would be a safe hideout."
"It's where we were directed to…"
Upon Itsuki's comment, Rishia checked the instructions once more, only to conclude that there had been no error. A furrowed brow came from Itsuki as Motoyasu pondered on it.
"There's the saying that the best hiding spots are the ones that are in plain sight. I mean, look at the both of us casually walking through the streets with our hoods on. Do you think any of the guards would think that the criminals they're looking for would be on a peaceful stroll in front of them?"
The building itself was right in the middle of the town. While it didn't give them any easy way to escape if they were to be discovered at the location, the inns hadn't been any better. None of them had been close to the perimeter, so it shouldn't have made much of a difference. That being said, they wouldn't need to worry about such a thing if they weren't discovered to begin with, so the queen must have confidence that this was the best location.
Regardless, this building was still a shop, though one of the larger ones. The sign on the front said it was closed and it didn't take much deductive reasoning to figure out that this was an irregularity. Even some passersby showed their intentions on coming in, only to be dismissed by the locked door. Considering how many people came by in the span that they were waiting around, it must have been a popular store. By asking a few questions to deterred customers, the group found out the sudden state of the shop wasn't known by any customers.
They likely had the right location, but standing around wasn't going to do the group any favors. Knocking on the door didn't give any response though, but through the busybody crowd of the streets, a voice reached out to them.
"Oh, you must be the people that were sent my way."
The group turned to see a middle-aged woman.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. I had to finish up a few morning errands."
"Are you the owner of this building?" Rishia asked.
"Right you are. Come on in and make yourself at home."
The owner unlocked the front for them and they entered the building. Judging from the shelves, it looked as if they were a general store, but the inventory and selection had been considerable. It had a better focus on things that adventurers might need like food or potions, but disregarded anything too specific like armor and weapons.
"Are we intruding on your hours?" Rishia asked.
"Don't worry about it," the owner sighed. "I don't know if you were the ones that made the call, but I have a feeling you didn't get much of a say in whatever circumstances you're in now."
Itsuki raised his eyebrow.
Although it may be an attempt to be vague about it to avoid any troubles, her tone didn't suggest it as such. Was it possible that the Queen acted the same way and only gave the owner as little information as possible to keep things going forwards? If that was the case, Itsuki felt a little bad about how the owner was being tricked into housing the country's criminals.
—Maybe that was the point. To make sure they didn't do anything extreme that pulled an innocent person into their mess. Itsuki couldn't really know it with the Queen anymore.
"Are you sure about this?" Motoyasu chimed in. "Hopefully, the Queen is subsiding the revenue you're losing by closing things down for the day."
"A bit, but my husband owes her some favors. Although I would gladly cooperate with whatever the Queen asks of me, I'm rather displeased as to how much of a short notice it was. This isn't like her, from what I know, so something must have happened."
"I guess you can say that," Motoyasu laughed. "It's a bit of a long story."
"That's not any of my concern right now." The owner walked over to the counter where there had been a briefcase. She opened it up to a stack of papers and started reviewing them one more time. "Besides, I won't even be here to have it in mind."
"Wait, what? You're leaving?"
"This was an incident that was made on a short notice. I had a business trip planned for far longer." Despite the large quantity, the owner managed to check off all the papers she needed and closed the briefcase. "I can offer my roof, but the Queen didn't say I had to be here to supervise you. I'm sure all of you are responsible to make sure nothing breaks."
"Does that work out for us or not?" Itsuki pondered. "I can't even tell."
Rishia frowned. "So that means we'll be by ourselves here?"
"Effectively, but technically, I've assigned my daughter to look after you folks."
"A daughter? How old is she?"
Itsuki groaned. "Only you would have such a reaction to that…"
"Hey, I'm curious for curiosity's sake!"
"She's old enough to take care of herself and make an attempt to be an adventurer, but not old enough to take responsibility for herself. She would rather spend her days being a lazy excuse of a daughter. It's to the point where I'm wondering if I should leave the keys with you folks, just in case you get locked out of the building and she's off somewhere because she felt like it."
Rishia noticed that the owner picked up a fancy envelope in all of her sorting.
"And I thought I told her to throw this out…"
The owner set the briefcase aside and walked towards the back as she threw away the envelope into the nearby trash can. The red seal on the flap had remained untouched, making it look like some kind of invitation. Rishia thought it was a little strange, but it wasn't her business to dive into.
"In any case, I should probably call her out to meet you folks before I leave."
As the owner left, Itsuki leaned against the counter, trying to waste a few minutes thinking about their situation. The setup here couldn't have been entirely intentional by the Queen, so she had a few strokes of luck where things aligned to where both physically and morally, they were right where she wanted, despite trying to break out of her former instructions.
"Now that I think about it, the Queen is doing everything she can to have control over every last variable she could touch. Whether or not I agree with her actions, I still have to admit it's impressive."
"I heard from Eclair that the Queen was excellent in her capabilities to plan things out," Rishia commented. "The comparison she specifically used was as if every situation was a new chessboard to her. She's methodically moving forwards to find her desired objective."
"If that's the case, why hasn't she done anything about our situation and reputation?" Itsuki grimaced. "She clearly has the power to do so. One formal decree from her and it would all be over. Melromarc is a matriarchy, not to mention the amount of favors she apparently has over people. If she's got Reichnott and the owner here under her wraps, who's to say that she doesn't have countless more?"
"I know that my parents would support the Queen in her decisions…"
"I mean, if you were to put it like that…"
Motoyasu crossed his arms.
"Maybe she's waiting for something."
"Waiting for something…?" Itsuki repeated. "Like what?"
"Something like an opportunity to clear our names. I wouldn't know what that would be, but I'm throwing it out there as an idea. If Eclair compared it to a chess board, you can't exactly have the queen go for checkmate when there are pieces still blocking the way. Maybe it's the same way here."
It was food for thought, something he didn't expect to come out from Motoyasu's mouth, but the more he pondered on it, the more he felt aggravated by the unclear conditions that the Queen was keeping to herself. Was it a matter of trust or efficiency? And who was she to string them along like this? Doesn't she realize that they were more than pieces on a board?
A pink color bobbed herself over to some of the fruits stationed in the crates.
"Uhh, let's put this conversation on hold." Itsuki glanced over, immediately seeing her drool leaking out. "You should make sure Sakura doesn't start eating things that don't belong to her."
"H-Hey, Sakura!"
Motoyasu turned on a dime and rushed over to the filolial. Any wasted second and Sakura would have likely eaten a handful of fruits already. She faced her father with her mouth detracting from the fruit.
"If you're hungry, tell me. I can go ahead and make you something without having you eat people's food like that."
"We aren't staying here? Sakura thought it was all for us because this is where we're staying."
"Hold on," Itsuki said, looking bemused. "She was about to eat the entire stock, wasn't she?"
"But Sakura is hungry…"
"There's a food stand right across the street," Rishia pointed out. They could even see it through the window. "There shouldn't be any problems in quickly going over with Sakura while we wait. I'm not sure how much longer the owner will be taking."
"She's only going to get her daughter," Itsuki furrowed her brows. "It shouldn't be taking too long, but considering how poorly she was talking about her, maybe it could take some time…?"
"I was feeling a little peckish too," Motoyasu said. "I'll grab you guys some of that for breakfast. Sounds good?"
Itsuki and Rishia nodded, letting Motoyasu and Sakura head out.
It took a few minutes for the owner to return. Seeing the missing two, Itsuki and Rishia explained their brief excursion, but the owner gave permission for them to take some of the inventory within reason. If they weren't going to pay for it, the least they could do would be to mark it down, so she could charge the Queen afterwards. Although, the owner appreciated them for holding off.
"Sorry about that. My daughter thought it was a good idea to sleep in because she heard that we were closing for the entire day. That lazy girl always wants to run at her own pace when the world doesn't wait for people like her to move."
"She doesn't want to help out?"
"It's more like she doesn't want to put in the energy to. That girl…" The owner shook her head with a sigh. "She came back from the capital after all of that commotion last month and despite nearly being in the thick of it, she hasn't decided to change her attitude."
Itsuki repeated that in his head. If it was about a month ago, that would place the timeline to when the heroes escaped from the castle. If there was another commotion in the capital within the month, he hadn't heard of it, but there wasn't a good chance for him to hear about it if so.
There was no point in asking more about that, just to be safe, but the owner rambled on.
"I kept telling her that it's not worth the trouble to follow in her father's old footsteps as an adventurer. I kept telling her that it's better if she takes up the family business, but she won't listen to me. I only want the best for her, but she doesn't want to put in the effort. How can someone live a comfortable life if they don't work towards it?"
A frustrated groan escaped from her as she grabbed her briefcase.
"And she had the gall to say that she was already mooching off that Cardinal Hero rather effectively. She said that if that guy hadn't ended up in that situation, she would still have been cruising along easily in life, so she thought she didn't do anything wrong. If she relied less on luck and more on knowledge, she wouldn't need to mooch off someone."
Itsuki and Rishia flinched, but because the owner was turned away, she didn't see them.
"L-Lord Itsuki…" Rishia whispered. "Did she say what I think she said…?"
"I've got a bad feeling about this…"
The owner turned to the back, but she shouted out this time.
"I told you to hurry it up! You need to introduce yourself!"
"Yeah, I heard you already…"
A tired voice came down from the stairs and into the main room.
Through the door, a young woman showed herself to Itsuki and Rishia, looking exactly how she sounded, but that didn't stop her from catching a few more lines from her book. She closed it up and setted it aside on the counter before lazily looking at them.
"... I thought you said there were four of them," she said. "Ah, well, I'm not complaining. Less people around means less problems to worry about. Introductions will be shorter too."
Itsuki attempted to stand inconspicuously behind Rishia, but it didn't look like the woman remembered his face enough to call it out. It was entirely possible that the woman didn't really care about knowing the faces of other people other than the ones in her party.
She didn't belong to Itsuki's party. Kojeel was the only woman there. Naofumi didn't have any party members, other than Raphtalia. And it was impossible to imagine Ren allowing someone, especially a stranger, to mooch off of him, even if they're pulling their own weight.
"A pleasure to meet you."
That left the obvious answer as to who she might remember the most.
The front door opened.
"My name is—"
"—Huh? E-Elena…?"
-/IV/-
Silence covered the room. A frozen breath brushed against his cheek. Motoyasu thought going through a door should take a second on average, but that single second felt rather long this time around. As the door creaked itself to a close, Sakura thought nothing of the atmosphere and pushed the door back to lock it. That clicking noise managed to snap Motoyasu back, but he was stammering.
"U-Uhm… That's… You're… Is that really…?"
"Oh? You two know each other already? That's excellent news!" The owner laughed it off, not noticing Motoyasu's distress. "Maybe there will be some motivation left in Elena for her to actually supervise you folks in my place after all! Did you two meet in the capital by chance?"
Motoyasu gazed towards Elena who merely returned the gaze. Both of them were awfully confused, but one had been significantly better at hiding it than the other. None of them were answering, so Itsuki had to be the one to spit it out, even if it was random nonsense.
"O-Only for a few moments. It wasn't for long though, since it was the occasion to chatter at the adventurer's guild. I'd say she's more of an acquaintance if anything, but we're definitely more satisfied in being hosted by someone we know than a stranger. Isn't that right?"
Itsuki bumped Motoyasu's shoulder to reel him back in.
"Yeah…"
"Daddy? Is there something—"
Itsuki silently apologized to Sakura as he pulled her away. She was good at blatantly pointing out Motoyasu's current emotions, but there was not one of those times where leaving it on the table was good.
"If that is all, I'll be heading off on my business trip."
Motoyasu moved aside for the owner to walk by with her briefcase.
"Elena? Remember that we'll be back to normal operation hours tomorrow, so don't forget! They'll be here for three days, but that shouldn't be an excuse to be lazy and keep the store closed!"
"Don't shout. I can hear you from here."
The door closed with the atmosphere returning right back to where it started between Motoyasu and Elena. Rishia glanced back and forth, not knowing what was happening, but while Itsuki had the most answer, he couldn't find the words to intervene in the space.
Whatever was going on between those two, it needed to be left to them.
"... It's been a while, Elena."
"If it isn't the aforementioned Spear Hero."
After what felt like minutes, Motoyasu finally caught his composure back. In Itsuki's eyes, perhaps it was a little too forced on his behalf.
"Yeah, it has been a while, Elena!" he repeated, this time in a happy voice. "This is the last place I'd thought to see you again! How have you been doing? Are you holding up well?"
"Is that really the first thing you ask of me after whatever happened in the capital? Even with everything that happened to you, I see that you haven't changed."
"Elena?" Motoyasu sweated. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you feeling sick?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I mean, the way that you're speaking. It doesn't sound like the Elena I know. You must be feeling under the weather today because of the sudden turn of events pushed onto your plate. Sorry about all of that, but…"
"I'm surprised you're still kicking around like this." Elena walked herself to behind the counter where she pulled up a chair to sit down. "Don't you know that you're a wanted criminal in Melromarc? By this point, I thought the smartest move for you would be to escape the country, past the borders. I didn't expect you to hang around Melromarc."
"We've got our own circumstances," Motoyasu sheepishly laughed, "but to make a long story short, we're trying to have our names cleared, so uh, now that I've got the opportunity in the future, why don't we party up again once all of this blows over?"
"You seem confident. Does this invitation extend to Lesty and Myne as well?"
Motoyasu grimaced, but he quickly tucked that expression underneath another laugh. "S-Small steps here. I'll worry about the others when I meet them again…"
Suddenly, Sakura's foresight of Motoyasu's habit of hiding things away from others started to become obvious for Itsuki. He wasn't sure if it was because she pointed it out once for him to see the pattern or because he was starting to understand Motoyasu even more than before.
Never before has he seen someone who wanted to talk more to someone, but wanted to leave the conversation so badly at the same time. It was so jarring to see the paradox.
"What do you say, Elena? After all of this, we still have to go ahead and save the world."
"I'll pass, thanks."
Grabbing a book from under the counter, Elena flipped through the pages after her expressionless response. The stunned silence from Motoyasu was speaking more than whatever he could utter, so she decided to elaborate.
"I'm not sure if my mother had rambled to you already about this, but I'm being forced to take over the family business. After that little mishap in the capital, they don't want me to be putting myself out there in such a way again. Even though none of it was my fault and I did everything I set out to do, I'm still the one that gets punished for it."
Elena annoyingly clicked her tongue. "Things might have been looking bad for me as your former party member, but just because my father used his title and my mother used her reputation to bail me out, it doesn't mean they get to have free rein on how I live my life. Right now though, I'm too tired to consider doing anything about it, so I might as well see where this leads me…"
"Seriously, what's wrong? You really aren't acting the same way as before?"
Motoyasu was staring at the disinterested Elena, unable to fathom that this was the same person he knew. He always saw that she liked to read on her breaks, but this mannerism was completely different as if she stopped caring about pretenses.
"Have you considered the fact that she was only acting in a specific way to make you an easier target for her benefit?" Itsuki asked. "Her mother did say that she was mooching off a Cardinal Hero."
Thinking back, Motoyasu was the one spending his personal wallet for things for the girls and meals that they would eat together. He didn't think twice about doing all of it, wanting to make the girls happy while they accompanied him.
"That's not something I would mind. If she was happy, then it's fine."
Elena chuckled. "If I wasn't stuck here, that probably would have increased the chances of me coming back to your party. You know, setting aside the whole problem that you're criminals, of course."
"What? You're not even going to try to hide it?" Itsuki scoffed.
"Why would I hide, now that I know he was alright with it?"
"And you," he turned to Motoyasu, "at least show some level of anger. She was using you, for goodness' sake! How could you be fine with that!?"
"It's not a big deal, Itsuki."
"Frankly and truth be told, it was tiring being around him, so I'm glad there were benefits to putting up an act. Do you know how tiring it is to be hit on every so often, as well as having him hit on other girls as well?"
Itsuki pulled his glance away awkwardly. "Okay, that's a fair point. I can't defend Motoyasu on that, but that doesn't excuse the fact that you were using him for your own selfish agenda!"
"I said it's fine. It's not something that can be discussed anymore, especially if there's nothing that could be done about it anymore. I can already settle with the fact that Elena is safe and sound."
"And bored out of my mind. Don't forget that."
Itsuki felt frustrated about Motoyasu's dismissal, but he had a point.
"How about we relax for now?" he continued. "You're probably tired from traveling. I know I am, so we should rest up a little while we have the chance. Are there any rooms we can use?"
"Yeah, to the left. It used to be a storage room, but since my mother took some of the inventory out to bring with her to her trip, she was able to sort out a small quarters for you. Kitchens a little more down the hallway if you want to use that as well."
"That should be enough. Thanks."
"Hold on."
As Motoyasu, alongside Sakura and Rishia, were about to leave the front area to Elena, Itsuki stopped the entire group and glared back at their host.
"How do we know that she isn't going to rat us out? We were supposed to be entrusted to her mother, not Elena herself. Considering she knows our identities, who is to say that she isn't going to do something behind our backs like tell the guards?"
"Hey, Elena wouldn't do something like that!"
"Shut up for a bit, Motoyasu! I don't need your bias to be speaking for her!"
With how much Elena has already expressed how she wants an easy life, there's nothing easier than to have two of the biggest criminals in the country be arrested under her help. There was no doubt, especially from the wanted posters, that their capture would have provided a significant amount of money.
However, Elena shrugged.
"You fought your way through castle knights on a handicap and successfully escaped. You besieged the house of a governor and fought through all of his guards. I even heard new rumors that the holy knights surrounded you in Riyute, only for you to easily fend off against them. Believe me when I say it, but I'm not interested in being on your bad side."
"She's not even ashamed enough to hide it!"
"Can you at least trust Elena that she won't snitch on us now?"
"Strangely enough, I can probably take her at her word, but for all the wrong reasons…"
Elena didn't look all too bothered by his comments and was ready to dive right back to her book, but Itsuki wasn't finished yet. Her selfish nature towards Motoyasu rubbed him the wrong way and he didn't like how his friend was letting it happen.
Itsuki turned to Motoyasu.
"I'm still surprised that you're sticking up for Elena because considering what you told me, it definitely sounded like she did something to Rino alongside those other two!"
Motoyasu paused. Elena paused.
"How is that detail not reaching you yet!? You're the one who recounted it for me!"
Motoyasu tried breaking away from Itsuki's gaze, but Itsuki grabbed his shoulders and shook him a bit. He wasn't going to let his friend ignore the elephant in the room, even if it was something he wanted to ignore in the first place. Motoyasu might have already realized it, but simply decided to not pay attention to it. In that case, it was Itsuki's job to not let that happen.
"Hey! You said back at the manor that you wanted to find the truth for yourself! If this is how you react upon getting an opportunity to do so, I can't imagine how you would be able to keep your promise to yourself. I'll make sure you'll hold yourself to it as your friend."
Motoyasu was stammering, but Itsuki wasn't waiting for him to recollect himself. Without a moment's hesitation, Itsuki pushed Motoyasu back towards Elena who had her finger stuck on the corner of a page. She had clearly finished reading the chapter, but she couldn't advance as her fingers trembled.
Elena wasn't lazily looking at her book anymore.
She was trying her best to not look up to Motoyasu.
"Ask her," Itsuki sternly said. "Ask her already."
"U-Uhm, Lord Itsuki?" Rishia nervously raised her hand. "Is this really a good idea? We really shouldn't be doing anything that would anger the current caretaker of the building…"
"And I don't think she should be doing anything that would anger us either."
Rishia backed down when she realized Itsuki was making a threat to Elena. Something felt wrong about forcing her to do exactly as Itsuki demanded. The attitude almost reminded her of how he was acting during the confrontation in Errnthon. It honestly scared her, but it was this attitude that wanted a better justice for the people, so was she wrong to be afraid of this firmness?
"Elena…"
Motoyasu tried to calm himself down. Rationally speaking, Itsuki was in the right. There was something suspicious about Elena and her possible involvement about Rino that he needed to ask about, but the words wouldn't even escape from his chest. All he had to do was say the simple question and get his answer, but it was like he didn't want to know it. If there was no question, there was no answer and somewhere deep down, that was fine by him.
"I didn't do anything. I don't know what your friend is going on about, but I don't know what the hell happened to Rino. Didn't Lesty say that she needed to leave for a parental emergency?"
"That's… the thing." Motoyasu grimaced. Each word felt like a heavy rock he needed to lug over his shoulder before he threw it. "I found out that Rino's parents died before… before she came to the capital as an adventurer. A reason like that…"
Motoyasu's chest tightened along with the contradiction.
"It's impossible. It had to be a lie."
"That's news to me. Lesty told me that was the case. Maybe you should ask her for more details."
"Why would Lesty know any more than you? Didn't you four head to the spa together before Rino's sudden departure from the team? Shouldn't you all have been together?"
"I don't remember anything like that. I broke off from the group to do my own shopping and when I returned, Rino was gone. Lesty and Myne filled me in on what happened. That's all I've got."
"So you're telling me," Itsuki interrupted, "that you went off by yourself to buy your own things without using Motoyasu's money? Sounds suspicious for a leecher like you."
"Even I have things I want to buy without Motoyasu's help. What's your problem?" Elena had enough and closed her book, slamming it on the counter. "Are you really trying to make me look like a villain here? I'm sorry to say, but your assumptions are wrong. I've got nothing to do with whatever terrible thing happened to her."
"Who ever said it was terrible?" Itsuki spat. "You've got your own assumptions you're playing with here. Or perhaps, that wasn't an assumption to begin with. You did something bad to her! Admit it!"
"You're insane." Frustrated with Itsuki, she stood up from her seat and stomped her way over to him. "With the tone you're using, any rational person would expect whatever happened to Rino to be terrible. You're trying so hard to poke holes that you're not even using your ears to realize that I'm innocent. For your convenience, I'll repeat it one more time. I didn't do anything."
"Why would I believe someone like you!? You're nothing but a selfish fraud that was using Motoyasu for her own greed! You've already lied to Motoyasu with your act, so why shouldn't I believe that you wouldn't act once more!?"
"Is there an empty head up in there? All you're doing is repeating yourself! You remind me almost like the Three Heroes Church. Their entire deal of acting higher than the common folk annoys me and I'm starting to get the same kind of displeasure from talking to you!"
"What!? Me!? The same level as the Three Heroes Church!?"
Itsuki gritted his teeth. His thoughts went blank as his arm lunged to grab Elena's collar.
"You must be as blind as you are self-indulgent! There's no way that I could be like them!"
"Oh? You must have never seen yourself in a mirror before."
"Go on. Sprout out more bullshit. See how that works out for you."
"And you should look at yourself more, even now. Is this what a hero should be doing?"
"As if you have any moral standing to say anything!"
"P-Please stop fighting! F-Fuee!"
Rishia tried to separate them, but Itsuki's grip was too strong for her to stop him. Following her actions, Sakura tried to help out, sensing the agitation in the air as well, but it was Motoyasu that had the ability to stop their fighting.
"Stop it! Stop it!"
While he was surprised to hear Motoyasu raise his voice, it was his sight of Motoyasu that caused him to let go of Elena. With heavy panting and sweat suddenly dripping from his forehead, Motoyasu's face looked awfully pale. And his hand was instinctively covering his stomach for some reason.
As Elena stumbled backwards to catch her own breath, Rishia thought it might have been a good idea to stand in between the two parties to make sure they won't have another bad interaction.
"Motoyasu…?"
"Daddy, it'll be okay…" Sakura immediately rushed over to Motoyasu's side and reached out for his hand. His breathing started to return to normal as if he came back to his consciousness. "Daddy said that Daddy was tired, right? Daddy needs sleep."
"I… Yeah…"
"Come with Sakura. Sakura will help Daddy!"
Having his attitude soured, Itsuki stole one last glance at Elena. He counted her to be lucky that he worried more for his friend than he cared for her lies. The room would probably need to be sorted out to give Motoyasu a comfortable place to rest, so without another word, he left the room.
Feeling in his body hadn't returned to Motoyasu yet. When he spun around to see Itsuki and Elena fighting, he blacked out for a little while. He didn't know how long it lasted, but Sakura was now supporting him for their departure as well. Rishia rushed over to assist, but despite Sakura's size, there was little to believe that she needed the help.
Before he left, Motoyasu looked over to Elena.
A moment of silence came once more.
"Elena? If you know anything, please…" Motoyasu breathed in and out. "I want to know. I'm not trying to be angry at anyone. I want to simply help the people I care about if they're in need of help."
"... My answer hasn't changed."
"I see. Thanks. And sorry about that."
As Motoyasu slowly moved out of the room with Sakura and Rishia, Elena found herself with a relieved sigh. She slinked herself down onto the floorboards with an audible crash before another sigh left her. That time, it was much heavier than the first as she held her collar.
"Just when I thought I could leave that all behind…"
-/IV/-
The time that they spent had been rather peaceful, especially compared to how it all started. It likely had to do with Itsuki and Elena not coming across each other for the rest of the day, but for everyone's sake, that was the best course of action. Considering how they weren't kicked out yet, Rishia thought it was a blessing that nothing serious had happened.
They spent their time relaxing as much as they could, even having Motoyasu cook up their supper after he rested enough, before the sun started to fall and a knock came at their door. When it was answered, the shadows revealed themselves and entered to provide them with more information on the circumstances. Reasonably, they didn't understand why Itsuki was in a bad mood, but that was something that he decided to keep to himself, so that the shadows wouldn't get sidetracked.
With Sakura off sleeping on Motoyasu's lap, the rest of them listened in to the shadow's briefing.
"Tomorrow night, there will be a formal event at the manor of the aforementioned merchant. You are lucky to have this event land within the allotted time period that was provided for the operation."
"We're going to be using this formal event to sneak in?" Itsuki asked. "It sounds like it's straight out of an espionage movie."
"What will be our entry point?" Motoyasu asked.
"We are still figuring out the details on that," the shadow sighed. "The merchant has the governor as a benefactor, so the security of the formal event is just as tight, perhaps even more so, as the governor's standards. There is still space to work around, considering Governor Berflach is not currently in his own territory for there was some kind of business he needed to attend to for a couple of days."
"Maybe the security is tight because of that," Itsuki pondered. "If the Governor is responsible for upholding the security, it would make sense that he would delegate his forces to the upper limit for an ally if he wouldn't be around for adaptive decisions."
"That is not to say that the merchant is not daft when it comes to the way security is formed. If anything, it is highly likely that his attention to detail is greater than the governor's. It is merely likely that once the security is set up, the merchant will leave the routes alone unless something out-of-place is noticed. We must place our efforts into not alerting the merchant of our presence and our intentions."
Motoyasu sighed. "Sounds easier said than done."
"For now, the tentative entry point will be a rooftop access point, but even reaching that point would be very difficult, especially without detection. It would be far simpler if it were only the shadows, but we would still have a difficult time ourselves."
"If that's a vague way to try and push us off this operation," Itsuki scoffed, "then you can forget about it. All we need to hear is that it's possible."
"It is indeed possible, but we would not say there is a great success. In fact, considering how tight the security would be, there is little reason as to why this operation should proceed. The Queen ordered this operation to be absolutely quiet."
"And that would defeat the purpose of us coming here." Itsuki crossed his arms. "We're not leaving until we've given it a shot, three days or not. We were promised an attempt, so if you don't want to give us that, there's no reason for us to uphold our end of the deal either."
"What would be the perfect scenario for entry?" Rishia asked. "Maybe we should start from there and work our way down?"
"With everything aligned, we would say that it would be the front entrance."
"Hold up." Itsuki frowned. "If the rooftop entrance is going to be difficult, what makes the front entrance easier?"
"Under the ideal scenario, we would be able to disguise ourselves as attendants to the formal event. If we are able to do that, it will be far easier to navigate through the building without arousing much suspicion. In fact, if we were to successfully enter through the roof, the task would be to then switch into the same disguises for more liberty."
"Why don't we just knock out whatever security is on the rooftop then?"
"What part of having a quiet operation do you not understand, Sir Bow Hero?" A sourness to their voice couldn't help itself but to emerge. "That means that we cannot provide any evidence that someone was there, other than the fact that our target has been retrieved. Even then, it might take a while for them to notice."
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Motoyasu asked.
The shadow promptly ignored Motoyasu.
"In any case, it is impossible to enter through the front entrance because attendants will be asked to provide a special invitation and each individual invitation is marked with a unique number that corresponds to a specific guest. There is no possibility of forging an invitation."
Itsuki pondered on the circumstances. Considering how good they were at disguises, he could envision them being able to completely look like someone else, for instance like the invitation holder. However, they would have to figure out a way to make sure the real attendant wouldn't be going to the formal event anymore. Itsuki didn't want to be dragging an innocent person into all of this either.
"We'll have to hope for the best, unless the shadows can figure out something else," Motoyasu said. "Do we know how the patrol patterns and schedules are set up?"
"We're still in the middle of finding that out, but we should be able to have that information by the morning. In the meanwhile, we were able to create a floor plan of the entire building, barring the basement." The shadow took out a few pieces of wide paper and laid it out for Rishia and Itsuki to look at. It was obvious that these aren't the original copy, but it looked detailed enough.
Motoyasu did his best to peer over from the bed, trying to not wake Sakura up with sudden movements. "The basement is securely guarded," the shadow continued, "as well as the merchant being very firm to act as if it does not exist on paper, so we're unable to find any information on it."
"Then that has to be our objective," Itsuki suggested. "If Rino is supposed to be in a bad situation, according to what you guys said, then it only makes sense that she's probably not on one of the upper levels."
"I don't understand how else we're supposed to get through if that's guarded," Rishia said. "There's only one entrance to the basement on the first floor."
"We'll figure something out once we're there. It shouldn't be too difficult to make a distraction."
"That is all that we will be sharing with you for now." Just like the report, the shadows swept up the floor layout and tucked it away. They had to take precaution in leaving anything that could spur any loose ideas from Itsuki and he started to realize that. "And again, we shall return in the morning to finalize the operation."
The shadows left the room, keeping them at a perfect time for the group to follow Sakura's lead and sleep. Motoyasu got Sakura into a better position to sleep as he shared the bed with her. There were separate beds for Itsuki and Rishia too, but they were awfully small. They were good enough though.
"Motoyasu?" Itsuki called out to him before Motoyasu could turn off the lights. "Are you sure that you should be letting Elena get away with this?"
"I…" His hand held itself over the lamp. "I don't know… Do you mind I sleep this off for a bit and think about tomorrow? I don't think I'm in the right headspace to even consider tackling that problem, but I do know something. I really don't want to doubt her…"
"... Fine. I'll let you off for now."
Itsuki didn't like that they were letting Elena get away with hiding the truth from under their noses, but even he knew that surrendering their efforts was probably for the best. After all, if they really needed to know something, they could save the questions for Rino after they meet up with her.
He turned in for bed. "And don't go walking off again tonight, Motoyasu."
"Yeah, I know. Good night, Itsuki. Good night, Rishia."
"N-Night…"
After the lights went off though and everyone else went readily asleep, Rishia kept rolling around in her bed. The idea that she'll be involved in such an operation was getting on her nerves. So far, whether it was within Lerno or Riyute, it felt more like she was taking a step back from the action, being dragged along for the ride as the others had their roles written out for them.
Now that she was going to be an active part of their plans, she never wanted to back out of something so much before, but Naofumi did want her to go along with them to make himself feel at ease, whatever that meant. It sounded to her that Naofumi wanted her to keep an eye on things, but does that even matter when she couldn't even do anything in the first place?
With the shadows saying how much risk there was in the plan to enter by itself, without even regarding the actual investigation portion, Rishia was already praying that things didn't go south. If only they could have somehow guaranteed the entry to be as safe as possible, her jitters wouldn't be this severe.
What if she tripped somewhere and fell over? What if she was too slow and got spotted? What if she suddenly got spooked and cried out loud enough to accidentally pull the attention of guards? Forget about her own lack of confidence in movement; how was she going to get up to the rooftops along with the others? She couldn't move as well as Itsuki or Motoyasu, nor could she jump as high as Sakura.
If only the invitation method was easier to set up, then maybe—
"—An invitation…?"
Rishia remembered that there was a fancy envelope that Elena's mother had thrown out earlier today. She immediately raised herself from her bed out of realization. If that had been the invitation that the shadows were talking about, there was guarantee that it was on that they could use. Throwing it out meant that Elena or her mother had zero intentions to attend the formal event.
She looked around to Itsuki, Motoyasu and Sakura all sleeping peacefully. She didn't want to disturb them for something as trivial as checking the trash can and besides, that was something she could already do by herself. It shouldn't have been difficult to make sure that envelope really did have an invitation, so she lifted herself from the bed and slowly shuffled out of the room to not disturb the others.
"She should have thrown it out in the main general store area, but if it isn't there, it might already be in a trash can or dumpster out in the back…"
After hearing how lazy Elena was, she was desperately hoping that she hadn't taken out the trash yet. There shouldn't have been any large reason to do that today, since the store was closed and thus, produced little to no trash to be taken out. It didn't change the fact that Rishia wanted to be mentally prepared for the worse case scenario.
Lights were out, so it was hard to see where she was going.
After stumbling through the dark for a few minutes, she finally found the door and walked in. It was still as dark as it was before, so the stumbling continued onwards. With what memory she had of the layout, the trash can should have been close by and after shifting around for a bit longer, her foot collided with the target. She didn't expect the trash can to be so hard, so she winced in slight pain before recollecting herself.
"... I'm probably going to need to wash my hands after this," she whimpered as she peered into the seemingly-bottomless void. "Why didn't I go find gloves or something like that? Fuee…"
At this point, she was committed. That was what she told herself.
She stuck her arm inside the trash can, but her mood dramatically lightened when there hadn't been too many things in there. And then there came the panic that Elena might have actually emptied it out. Her emotions then whiplashed back once she felt some paper at the bottom of the void. She was lucky that no one had been around to witness the strange expressions bouncing back and forth.
She couldn't figure out which one the invitation could be, so she grabbed a handful of those that hadn't been crumpled up and brought them over to the counter. The thought of turning the lights on to help see better flickered in her mind, but she shook her head to it. If there was any possibility that there was anyone nearby, they would question why there was a random enlightening coming from the room.
—And yet, the light came on anyways.
"So who goes there?"
"F-Fue!?"
Rishia jolted her head towards the voice and stiffened her back. Elena had been standing there with her hand leaving from the nearby lamp on a table. She didn't know if she had been there from the beginning or if she had followed Rishia in. Nonetheless, her casual yawn made it seem like she had been sleeping herself not too long ago, but Rishia must have woken her up somehow.
"When I heard a clunk coming from here, I thought something fell over for a moment. This is something that I didn't expect at all, uh…" Elena pondered for a moment. "I forgot your name. You blended so well into the background that I almost forgot you existed."
"I-It's Rishia…"
So it was her foot stubbing into the trash can that caused her to wake up. She must have been sleeping in a nearby room for that to be possible or even worse, she might have dozed off within the same room. Considering how her book was on a nearby table, it was extremely possible.
"Anyways, what do you think you're doing? Don't you have better things to do than to go through other people's trash? I think someone who travels with the Cardinal Heroes would have a little more decency," Elena sighed, shrugging, "or maybe at least, act like such."
"I-I-I-I—!" Rishia sweated and stammered. "I can explain! Please let me explain!"
"Okay?" Elena raised her eyebrow, but her shoulders slumped with her arms lazily being crossed. No matter the explanation, it felt like she was the one stuck with her listening, rather than Rishia being the one stuck explaining. "I'm listening."
Silence came about the room, a familiar sight for it for today, but this one held a far more awkward atmosphere. And more one-sided in terms of that awkwardness. Rishia really didn't know what to say now that she had the spotlight, but now that there was a light giving her sight, she glanced over to the counter to see the red-sealed envelope that Elena's mother threw out.
"Th-This! I was looking for this!"
"That's… the invitation to that guy's party…?"
Elena walked up to Rishia, only to yank it out from her hands.
"W-Wait! Fuee! W-We need that!"
"What do you even need with this invitation? There's no point in keeping this around."
"I-If you're thinking about throwing it out, i-it might be better to just give it to us!"
"I don't know what you're trying to do, but personally for me and my mother, it would be best if this gets thrown out. And besides, I don't have any good reason to let you have it. Something tells me that letting you keep it would bring me more trouble than I bargained for, so I'll pass on that. Easier to keep this away until the party ends tomorrow. You would be best to stop trying and go back to sleep."
Elena tucked the invitation away and started walking away, but her words were firm confirmation that it was what they needed. If Rishia could somehow convince her to provide the invitation, the plan will be able to go more smoothly. The problem is being persuasive enough.
—It felt like a nigh-impossible task for Rishia.
"It's R-Rino. We're trying to help Rino."
"What…?" Elena paused and looked over her shoulder. Her eyes could be seen widening. "What are you babbling about? What does this invitation have to do with her?"
A little voice in her head told her that she said something that she probably wasn't supposed to say. "I-I meant, that's what, uhm, I, uh…! I didn't mean to say, uhm—! F-Fueeee!"
"Ah, no wonder you chose to blend into the background." Elena rolled her eyes with her interest fading away. Having her answers seemed to be not worth dealing with Rishia. "The moment you talk, you give everyone a headache, especially with that ridiculous noise of yours."
Rishia, however nervous she was, at least understood what made Elena stop. Perhaps it was best to lay down all her cards immediately in an honest attempt to get the invitation back.
"Th-That invitation…! It'll let us help Rino out more easily! We need to get into that formal event since she's in that building somewhere! That's why we came here!"
"Are you serious?" Elena raised her eyebrow. "You must be pulling my leg. There's no way that some Cardinal Heroes are here for such a trivial task."
"I-It's the truth. We heard that Rino was here and Motoyasu and Lord Itsuki came here to help."
Elena grimaced. "Considering the type of person Motoyasu is, I can't deny the possibility. And if Rino really is in there…" She turned away once again. "Huh."
"So please, you don't need to do anything! Giving us the invitation, so that we can enter is… is… uh, it should be fine for all you need to do! I'll make sure that we repay the favor some—Gah!"
While Rishia was frantically bowing while talking, she bit on her tongue.
"It doesn't work like that," Elena scoffed. "When I said that it would bring me trouble, I meant it. Invitations are individually assigned. While the invitation is broadly directed to the family business, that host is expecting one of my parents, or even me, to be the one handing the invitation back like an entry pass. If the guards catch you trying to hand off that letter without the intended recipient with you, not only will you be in trouble, but I'll get myself in hot water as well. After dodging what could have been a bad moment in the capital after the heroes' dramatic departure, I'm not trying to have a repeat event."
"S-So in the end, you're just… looking after yourself…"
Elena smirked. "What do you know? You aren't half-bad if you can at least understand that much. Far better than Motoyasu and that dumbass Bow Hero."
"Is that why you kept quiet as a bystander…?"
"—Huh?" Elena tried to keep her emotions held back as much as possible when dealing with Motoyasu and Itsuki, but when her defenses were lowered against a timid girl like Rishia, she couldn't help herself in being taken by surprise. "Hold on. What are you talking about?"
"When you were talking to Motoyasu and Lord Itsuki, it sounded like… you weren't talking about Rino's situation because you didn't want to. It felt like you weren't talking… because you couldn't." Rishia rolled her thumbs over each other while keeping her eyes on the ground. "It was as if you couldn't really do anything in your situation, so you just… repeated that… you didn't do anything…"
Rishia carefully looked up.
"B-But you know what happened, right?"
Elena held her silence.
"F-Fuee…! I'm sorry! It's just that… I couldn't help myself but to feel for your situation. Being powerless as someone else is making you go along with their plans is… not something I'd want to experience again." A sheepish laugh awkwardly emerged as her thumb-rolling became more methodical. "Ah, who am I kidding? That's kinda the situation I'm in right now, but at least it's not something I completely dislike compared to before. I came along with Lord Itsuki because I thought I could become strong and follow his sense of justice, but I don't think I've even changed at all since then…"
"Go along with their plans?" Elena narrowed her eyes. "Do you really think I don't want to talk because someone told me not to talk? You said it yourself that I'm self-interested."
"Does that mean you… really don't want Rino to be saved…? Don't you think if you two had switched places, Rino would do what she could to help you too?"
"... Leave already and head back to sleep. I'm not giving you the invitation. And I'm not interested in entertaining your conversation any further."
"I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to offend you. Fuee…"
Slumping her head down, she dragged herself out of the room with a dejected mood. Since she failed at something that was supposed to be easy to get, it wouldn't be surprising that her self-confidence took a heavy hit, but as Rishia left the room, Elena was left to stare at the invitation.
"Ugh," she groaned. "This is so bothersome. Why couldn't she simply leave me out of this?"
Elena was a woman who didn't want to do much in life, but that was enough for her. Being comfortable was a dream of itself and to cruise through without much effort would be to win in her scenario. And she really didn't care about those around her. If they ended up in bad situations, she had no obligations to help them, but this felt different.
This was as if someone provided her with the key to open up a bad ending for someone. That was to say, she could no longer say that she was innocent since she was actively doing something to condemn another. Back then, all she needed to do was look the other way and all would be just as fine, but it was impossible here. Why was that? She couldn't understand.
"... You know what? That Itsuki guy pisses me off a lot, but now that I think about it, there's someone else that pisses me off more than him. Someone who thinks she can swing her power and influence around and get an easy life that way. And I guess she might be too busy to even figure out that something like this had happened, right? We're all specks of dust on her shoulder anyways, so what's a few missing here and there?"
With a confident stride, Elena pocketed the invitation and headed back to her room.
"Acting around Motoyasu might have been tiring, but acting around Myne was far more exhausting. There's acting for benefits, and then there's acting to not end up like Rino, but now that I think about it, she's nowhere to be seen around these parts."
A sigh escaped from her as she convinced herself of her new agenda. She never did realize that Rishia's words might have pushed her along ever so slightly and that was enough to at least take a single step. "Might as well put a little effort into this, I suppose."
-/IV/-
The morning light parsed through the windows.
"So uh, what's wrong with Rishia?"
"Don't ask me. When I woke up this morning, she was already like that…"
Motoyasu's question was met with a bigger concern from Itsuki as Sakura tried to pat the sullen Rishia who was covered underneath the bed sheets. A lot of her usual sounds of stress could be heard seeping through the covers, but the strange and sudden sight of this morning event left the heroes agape.
"There, there, Rishia. Sakura don't understand what happening," the filolial peacefully smiled, "but Sakura doesn't want Rishia to be sad too. That'll make Daddy sad as well."
"Fuee… I can't believe I messed up that badly…"
"... Are you handling this or should I?" Motoyasu asked.
"I'm not even sure if we should say anything, considering that we have no idea what happened. Maybe she had a terrible dream and considering what she was murmuring to herself, maybe it was something about how she might have messed up during a mission."
"Well, words of condolence are always better than nothing at all."
Motoyasu went over to try and cheer Rishia up, but even with Sakura's efforts, Rishia wouldn't leave the bed sheets. At the very least, Motoyasu's words were able to soothe Sakura down a little bit, such that her moaning would cease, but without knowing what caused her mild depression, there wasn't much further Motoyasu could do.
The best he could consider was making breakfast and letting her leave by herself in that regard. Once she calmed down after a good meal though, they could figure out what was going on, but Motoyasu didn't think it was anything too serious. It might have been a bad dream, like Itsuki suggested.
"Hmm?"
A knock came at the door however, before Motoyasu could even consider what to make. He thought it was one of the shadows to make their report, but he was surprised to see Elena waiting on the other side. She welcomed herself in, but didn't walk in too far for her own safety. She could already feel the burning gaze from Itsuki, as if he could draw his weapon at any moment.
"Is that how you greet the person letting you stay here?"
"Depends on what you're here for."
Rishia's shivering started to cycle through once again. Hearing Elena's voice meant only one thing in her mind. She was about to kick them out for what she did and what she said last night. Even Sakura was taken back by her sudden reignition.
"... I'm here to cut a deal."
Motoyasu burrowed his eyebrows. "A deal?"
"I heard from a little bird that you were here to help Rino. It makes some sense as to why you were blowing up yesterday about it, not that it was reasonable I might add. I also heard that in order to do that, you needed to gain access to the formal event held by one of the merchants here." Elena pulled out the invitation from her pocket. "A merchant by the name of Elgesich."
Rishia frowned at the name. It sounded rather familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it. It was not a name that she heard from her parents, but it was certainly from somewhere recently.
But from where? Her nervousness was purged by her curiosity.
Meanwhile, Itsuki flinched. "W-Wait, you're one of the invitees!?"
Confused by the turn of events, Rishia peeked out from underneath the covers. As she did, Elena's gaze met with her almost immediately with a strangely smug look in her eyes without betraying her emotions with his lips. She looked back to Motoyasu and Itsuki.
"Unfortunately, it doesn't come free. I'd like a favor in the future, flexible to what it can be. Now that I think about, having the Cardinal Heroes in my debt sounds like a pretty good deal."
"Forget it," Itsuki scoffed. "We don't need your help if that's your attitude."
Itsuki wanted to scream, but Motoyasu was the one who interrupted.
"Hold on. I think we should consider the option. We still don't have a guaranteed route into the formal event. Going by rooftops is already risky enough on top of needing to be undetected by anyone and if the shadows aren't confident in their own entry, it's probably a worst chance for us."
Motoyasu glanced at Elena. "As I said already, I don't mind if this is how Elena acts. In fact, now that I slept it off, I think I'd rather prefer people who wore their identity on their sleeves like that. It makes things easier to understand in the long run…"
Itsuki sighed. Motoyasu had a point he couldn't contest.
"So what? Are you going to ask for riches beyond your belief? All because we're with the queen?"
"Seeing how my mother and father bent backwards to accommodate the queen for her favor, I thought it would be nice if I had the same advantage. Don't worry, I'll keep the favor malleable, but I'm expecting it to be some kind… protection. Just as a back-up plan if things end up backfiring on me. I won't go too much into it, so just give me your word on this and the invitation is yours."
"You do this, but you won't answer our questions from yesterday?"
"Considering what you're planning to do, I don't think I need to waste my breath. I know some of the story, but in truth, I don't know all of it. If you're going to find Rino there, you'll find your all answers soon enough. I'm already doing more than I should be doing in the first place."
Itsuki grunted, but he wasn't the one with the final say. Glancing back to Motoyasu, his friend could tell what he was thinking, so he answered for them.
"Alright. If you need anything in the future, I'll be the one to answer your call," Motoyasu said. "You have my word, so we would like that invitation."
"Perfect. Then shall we get ready for the formal event?" Elena tucked the invitation back into her pocket and turned on her heel. "You obviously can't go in looking like that. Even I've got a nice dress tucked somewhere in my closet, though it's annoying to get in and out of."
"You're coming with us?" Itsuki gasped.
"The invitation won't work if I'm not there. You'll end up in more trouble if so."
"Well…" Motoyasu crossed his arms. "If we're getting an easy entry, then the group size wouldn't matter as much."
"And besides, I can talk our way in. It's not the first time I've been to Elgesich's building, but all the other times, my mother dragged me along for the experience of business handling. All of you have to make sure that you lay low the entire time. I'm putting myself at risk here and I don't want to get into trouble again because of something I didn't do."
Elena looked over her shoulder as she opened the door.
"That being said, I would suggest something drastic to make sure that laying low is a possibility. Someone like Elgesich and guards provided by the governor would probably know your faces by now. You can't go in, even looking like yourself, but Elgesich is… well, to put it frankly, a bit of a sexist guy. He doesn't think of women as someone that can pose a dangerous threat to him, so the order on security to keep an eye on the men is something to be expected. He thinks they're the ones capable of resisting and being a pain in his neck."
"Elgesich, Elgesich, Elgesich…" Rishia kept muttering the name under her breath to try and jog her memory. "That name… Where was it from…?"
Itsuki sweated. "What are you implying?"
Elena chuckled. She felt like this was justified revenge as sweet as it was necessary.
"How good are your cross-dressing skills?"
"What!? Cross-dressing!? There's no way we can do that! Isn't that right, Motoyasu!?"
"Oh, yeah. I can do that."
Itsuki froze. For that reaction of defeat alone, Elena found her help to be worth it.
"Just give us some time to get our dresses ready."
"I didn't think you would be so fine with that, but that's alright with me. There are dresses in the back if you want to check them out with some material if you want to make any changes to them." Elena stepped out. "We'll meet back up tonight, so I can bring you as my entourage."
"One more thing, Motoyasu."
Elena stopped, but she didn't look back.
"You should wash your hands from Myne and Lesty as soon as possible. Forget about them and don't trust a single thing they say. Your dream of the party reuniting together like those former days won't ever exist anymore. That is a truth I can share with you."
Elena started closing the door.
"If you don't understand what I mean, let me say it clearly. Don't trust them, no matter what they say."
Her ominous words ended with the click of the door, leaving Motoyasu hesitant on what he should feel about that. Itsuki, for one, was surprised to hear such a warning from Elena, but he still hasn't gotten over the fact that they would have to cross-dress. Sakura, as usual, was so separated from the actual conversation and she was simply excited that there were more dresses that she might be able to try out for Motoyasu to see.
Rishia, on the other hand…
"Elgesich…? Didn't I hear that name when I was being held captive by Errnthon…?"
[SKIT 143 : Berflach]
[Itsuki] : "You weren't kidding about the security in this city. No matter where I look, I feel like there's a guard around the corner. Even though we haven't been spotted yet, it doesn't make me any less anxious about this. Though, I suppose we can always blast our way through if we get caught."
[Motoyasu] : "How does this place feel like this has more security than Grenze? I would expect that a city near the border with a lot of knights in it would feel far heavier on surveillance compared to here. This is just a regular city, right? Nothing special about it?"
[Rishia] : "W-Well, I think a lot of people who do business stop here rather often. I think Governor Berflach always wanted to capitalize on that, so he likely ensured any businessman who wanted to stop here will be guaranteed safety among his streets."
[Itsuki] : "It's one thing hearing about it, but it's another to be essentially squished by it."
[Motoyasu] : "As long as we don't look suspicious, they won't notice us."
[Sakura] : "Daddy! Look! It's yummy food! Sakura wants it!"
[Motoyasu] : "Oh, you're hungry already? I'll get you some of those snacks then! You'll need to hold off on munching down too much before breakfast!"
[Sakura] : "Okayyy!"
[Itsuki] : "Don't look suspicious, huh…?"
[Rishia] : "I don't think there's anything suspicious about a father and a daughter spending time together."
[Itsuki] : "... Maybe I've been by Motoyasu's side for too long."
[SKIT 144 : Post-Encounter with Elena]
[Rishia] : "U-Uhm…"
[Motoyasu] : "..."
[Itsuki] : "..."
[Sakura] : "Everyone's so quiet…"
[Sakura] : "Hmph, Sakura doesn't like it."
[Rishia] : "Maybe that conversation with Elena could have gone, uh, better?"
[Rishia] : "I-I wouldn't worry about them, Sakura. I-I'm sure they'll be bouncing back before we meet back up with the shadows again. You wanted Motoyasu to get some rest, right?"
[Sakura] : "Yeppp. Sakura wanted to rest with Daddy too, but Sakura has this weird feeling that Daddy wants to be alone while he sleeps right now. Sakura can't explain it…"
[Rishia] : "M-Maybe that's for the best. You seem to know Motoyasu really well, so if there's something telling you that you should let Motoyasu rest alone, maybe that should be what you should do."
[Sakura] : "But then Sakura will be bored."
[Rishia] : "I-I'll spend time with you, Sakura. I don't think we've really done much bonding as, uh, teammates in the same group often. Unless you don't want to…"
[Sakura] : "Sakura is fine with that! Sakura thinks Rishia is nice, so Sakura doesn't mind!"
[Sakura] : "Sakura is a very nice person."
[Rishia] : "Oh, that's relieving. At least you see me in a positive light."
[Sakura] : "Okay, now carry Sakura like how Daddy carries me and run around the room!"
[Rishia] : "... Why do I speak when I always regret my decisions sometimes?"
[SKIT 145 : Cross-Dressing Problems]
[Itsuki] : "I understand why we have to do it since they might as well know our faces already, but this is still insane!"
[Itsuki] : "How are you so relaxed about dressing up like a girl!? There's no way we can handle that!"
[Itsuki] : " Have you spent so much time fooling around with girls that you can start thinking like one!?"
[Motoyasu] : "Oh, that? It's nothing too big."
[Motoyasu] : "I've cross-dressed before. For an entire academic year, actually."
[Itsuki] : "... I feel like there's a lot to unpack there."
[Itsuki] : "When the hell was this!? I've never heard about this before!"
[Motoyasu] : "No one asked. so it never came up."
[Itsuki] : "This isn't a conversation topic that casually comes up, Motoyasu!"
[Itsuki] : "... You know what? Save it for later. I'm still trying to cope with my own problems here."
[Motoyasu] : "Alright, no problem. By the way, do you have a preference for dresses? With the ones already in the store, I can redesign and fix them pretty easily to suit our liking. I think I saw a sewing machine around here, so it won't take too long to work on four dresses."
[Itsuki] : (... I feel like answering that question will stain my identity.)
[Itsuki] : "I'll, uh, trust your judgment. Go wild."
[Motoyasu] : "Oh, nice. Alright, after I get your measurements, we should be good to go."
[Itsuki] : "You are too professional about this."
[Author's Notes]
We're back. I think.
Took a bit longer to write this than I thought. I couldn't really nail the type of direction I wanted to bring to the table on this chapter and that mainly rested on how to execute Elena's character. I never actually thought about bringing Elena back, since in my mind, she was a one-and done deal character who might rather stay in the background, but when opportunity arises, things go awry in my plans and chapters need to be scrapped and remade to accommodate for that, as well as the future chapters, now that Elena is involved in this operation. I'm not even sure if this will be the right call to include Elena, but I thought it would honestly be more fun this way.
About the chapter number, that doesn't denote that this is the first half of Chapter 38. My hope is that this experimental way of chapters being named actually lines properly after the change of my plans. If it doesn't work out, I'll simply revert the chapter numbering to normal.
Anyways, I'm not trying to make this into a story that gets uploaded when I feel like it, but it's starting to feel like that. Maybe when life gets more stable and I get less lazy, I'll be able to sort something out for this. In the meantime, I'll settle for being pretty lazy.
