Chapter 97: Chapter 2, Episode 22
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
Then the sun rose soon after.
For now, we took a temporary truce until we could meet up with the Gran Kingdom group, and once there, we returned to our hut to get ready. For someone who doubted me, I don’t really know how he thinks, because his clothes were properly prepared for me.
「Absolutely not. There is no way this little girl is Marshallie Gracis.」
「Shut up, Keith. You need to shut your mouth for God’s sake.」
He is still mumbling to himself or just being sarcastic, as his stock in me has plummeted to the point where I no longer want to call him Keith『-dono.』I wish he would refrain a little, but he really don’t want to admit it.
「Don’t you think so yourself? Marshallie Gracis is a Viscountess and the First Lady-in-waiting to Queen Myra of Gran Kingdom. There’s no way you could treat the kind of injuries I’m having right now. And there’s no way you could keep a pouch like that on hand at all times.」
I knew you were a spook or something, you know. And well, you can say whatever you want. Indeed, now I am tending to Keith, who is injured. I did it using the wound dressing that I kept in a pouch given to me by Douglas-sama as a parting gift. I think I deserve a little gratitude. Even if the injury was caused by a trap I set.
「Yes, yes. But I’m sorry. Marshallie Gracis is smart enough to take care of your injuries, and her foresight makes her a calm, observant and brilliant woman who is never unprepared for such an event.」
This is an excerpt from Keith’s compliment with sarcasm. I feel like I’m being made into some kind of incomprehensible superhuman, but the fact that I am able to make allowances was cultivated during the 10 years I spent with Myra-sama, and the pouch is a credit to Douglas-sama rather than to me. I am truly grateful.
「My own Miss Marshallie Gracis would never talk so cheekily.」
「…When did I become Keith’s?」
「It’s not you. It’s the real and genuine Miss Marshallie Gracis.」
「How silly.」
“Hah!”? I snicker. The real and genuine Marshallie Gracis is me. At best, he can make up a fantasy version of me. In any case, once we meet up with the Gran Kingdom group, his fantasy will be shattered.
「Now, let’s put the nonsense to rest. Now we just have to accomplish our original goal. Don’t you agree?」
「Right. You’ll realize how stupid you are when you meet the real Miss Marshallie Gracis anyway.」
Don’t worry, that will never happen. Idiot.
「So, can you tell me? What are your thoughts on the process from here?」
「Very well. A woman as bright as Miss Marshallie Gracis would understand instantly without me going out of my way to tell her, but you are not her, so it can’t be helped. Listen to me carefully.」
「Okay, okay.」
I don’t care what you say, just say it quickly.
「First things first. The distance from the place where Gran Kingdom’s group was attacked by bandits to here is roughly three days on foot.」
「That much?」
「Yeah, it inevitably takes that long because you have to go around on the mountain roads. And since there will have been some casualties in the raid, it may take longer than that to get them to join up, given the number of days it takes to get them in order.」
「…I, see.」
The word “casualties” made my blood run cold. I didn’t want to think about it, but it was impossible for me to be unscathed in that attack. I wondered if the foreign students were safe. I wonder if Ciel was properly protected after that. I hope that Noah-sama, the diplomatic secretary, and the other knights are all safe and sound. I prayed in my heart.
「You don’t need to worry so much. The attack was under control before I chased after the wagon you were riding in. There shouldn’t be that many casualties.」
「Eh, is that true?」
「Yeah, it’s true. I wouldn’t lie about something like this. I’d venture to say you’re the one who’s suffered the most.」
I was relieved at his words. I had my doubts for a moment, but there was no reason to lie. I would honestly believe him.
「Yeah, it’s strange you should say you’re an interloper when you think about it like that.」
It’s too late to notice. How could I be mistaken for an interloper when I was originally in the Gran Kingdom group, as I usually think of it.
「Which means.」
Oh, could this be a trend that makes him think I’m real instead of fake?
「You, maybe you’re a double. With that in mind, I wouldn’t be surprised if you have the same sunflower-colored hair and eyes as my Marshallie Gracis.」
「………」
「That’s the woman I’ve always admired.」
I’m sorry to be so pleased, but I don’t understand your incomprehensible thought process, so may I open my head and take a look at it? I think that would help me understand a little better. Maybe I’m definitely imagining it, though!
「………Tch!」
I was a fool to expect it. I was a fool to get my hopes up. He’s really stubborn.
「The Lady does not hold her tongue. My guess is I’m right.」
You go ahead and say it. Keith will be the one to cry later, and I’ll consider it better that I am no longer regarded as an enemy because I am now recognized as a spook and a double. And let’s definitely not get my hopes up until we join the Gran Kingdom group.
「Let’s get back to the story. Anyway, I understand the distance from here to the place of the attack. Let’s decide what to do with it. Do we go back? Or do we go ahead and meet up with them in Royal Capital?」
Either way, if bandits are after the life of the Special Goodwill Ambassador, which is me, the danger will be unavoidable. Then what is the best thing to do? Now that we have no way to contact them, it is impossible for us to join them if we don’t move. I must abandon the naive idea that they will come for me.
「No, neither. We’re headed to an abandoned village near the mouth of the river.」
「Are we going to meet up with them in that town?」
「No, Gran’s group will enter the Royal Capital as scheduled.」
「Eh?」
Then how can we join them?
「We will be joined not by the Gran’s group, but by the Kingsguard led by me.」
「What do you mean by that?」
When I questioned him suspiciously, Keith snorted and laughed.
「That’s not a good guess. Well, I guess that’s just as well. You’re not the brightest or the most intelligent of women.」
I don’t want Keith to tell me that. It would be an impossible task to guess at this point when there is so little material to judge from.
「Okay. Listen up. The bandits are attacking the Gran Kingdom’s group with pinpoint accuracy. And they are targeting the Special Goodwill Ambassador in whose carriages they don’t know which ones. It would be natural to suspect the existence of an inside man, wouldn’t it?」
「Yeah, right. No bandit damage other than ours?」
Since they are bandits, I think it is not surprising that they have been victimized by other peoples. But if they were really targeting our group, then they are not bandits.
「No reports have come up. Only the Gran Kingdom group was attacked. It is impossible for bandits to appear in that place.」
That’s right. There is no way the allies are not organizing the security of the places they are passing through. The Quanda Kingsguard assures us that it was not bandits. Then, it was not bandits, after all.
「But under the circumstances, how are you going to tell the Kingsguard to meet us at the abandoned village?」
When I said this, Keith looked proud.
「I have already informed the troops of the strategy in several patterns. No problem.」
That would mean that they expected this might happen.
「So there is something in Quanda that we, the Gran Kingdom’s group, have not been informed about. Something that is targeting the Special Goodwill Ambassador…」
It makes sense if you think of it that way. The fact that there was talk of the knights of Quanda going out of their way to join the knights of Gran before they entered the royal capital, even though I was accompanied by escort knights from Gran, suggests that there is some reason in Quanda that necessitates a crack in the alliance between the two countries.
「…I stand corrected when I said you are not very perceptive. You’re pretty good.」
That would be implicitly saying that I am right.
「Thanks for that. So, in essence, we need the fact that the Gran Kingdom’s delegation entered the royal capital of Quanda as scheduled.」
With or without me there. Keith nodded deeply.
「We absolutely cannot let the alliance between our two kingdoms fall apart.」
I see.
「So you’re asking me to take the bait, after all.」
Working on the assumption that I am a double, the best way to get the real Special Goodwill Ambassador to enter the Royal Capital safely is for me, the fake, to act as bait. He probably thinks it will be easy to fool him, since they are aware that the Special Goodwill Ambassador has fallen down the cliff with Keith, even from the insiders. But,
「That’s problematic.」
The problem is not that I am a decoy. The problem is that I will not be entering the Royal Capital. After all, I am the real Marshallie Gracis and the Special Goodwill Ambassador.
「I thought you would say that. But I’m asking you to press on there. It’s for the good of both our countries.」
I understand that much.
「You’re not going to tell me something that Quanda is hiding from me.」
Keith did not deny that, but he did not tell me anything about it.
「Sorry, I can’t talk right now.」
So that’s what the circumstances are.
「I’ve said it many times, but I am the Special Goodwill Ambassador. Even if the Gran Kingdom’s delegation enters the Royal Capital, it will be a problem if there is no Special Goodwill Ambassador to be seen. If we are going to join the Kingsguard at the abandoned village, let me come to the Royal Capital before the ceremony. I’ll take care of it if you can.」
「Then let’s move as if you were the real Marshallie Gracis. We’ll be in the Royal Capital by the worst-case scenario.」
「I believe in you.」
「Yeah. In the name of Her Majesty the Queen.」
To stake one’s life on the name of Her Majesty the Queen is equivalent to risking one’s life. Then I have no choice but to comply with his wish.
「Ok. Let’s go to an abandoned village near the mouth of the river. As bait.」
I was prepared. I had no choice but not to take the bait, since I couldn’t do it alone either way.
「Then, from now on, you and I are destined to be together. Do me a favor, buddy.」
Keith said this and thrust his fist at me. It was hard to believe that he was the same person who had put a sword to my neck just an hour before.
「Partner? I feel like there’s something I can’t explain, but oh well. I’ll accept you as my partner just for now.」
He seems like a troublesome partner, but I need someone to protect me now.
「You’re so high and mighty, who do you think you are?」
He’s the one who should reflect on his own conduct before he tells me what to do.
「The Gran Kingdom’s Special Goodwill Ambassador, Marshallie Gracis, you know?」
You said with your mouth that you were going to move with the intention of saying it was real. I’m surprised at the speed of the withdrawal, which hasn’t even dried up on my tongue yet.
「You’ve got to protect me, partner.」
Because Keith is the one who holds my life in his hands, in a different way than when he was holding the sword against me an hour ago.
We put our fists together with a knack for that thought.
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