“...Even so, an intruder got in—how can it not be a big deal.”
Leonardo, whose eyes had momentarily met the other man’s, flinched, but pretended to rest his chin on his hand as he turned his gaze and head away. He thought he’d handled it naturally, but he wasn’t sure how it looked from the outside. He could only hope they’d take it for an unconscious glance.
“Was the barrier deactivated, or did someone deliberately break through it?”
“The latter is more likely.”
“What kind of bastard would...”
However, contrary to Leonardo’s wishes, an uncomfortable gaze followed him in the window where the train’s interior was faintly reflected.
“Shouldn’t we seal off the entire territory and issue a wanted notice?”
“Normally, yes. Since there’s a possibility of an assassination attempt.”
“I heard it might be the work of someone familiar—”
“Let’s lower our voices a bit.”
The man whose eyes had met Leonardo’s cut his companion off mid-sentence and added:
“So it doesn’t cause harm.”
He then tipped his chin toward the passenger sitting alone by the window. The intent was caution, but his eyes clearly held wariness.
As soon as the instruction was given, a sudden silence fell among the four sturdy men. Eight eyes fixed at once on the window opposite them. Leonardo, pulling his cap lower, felt as if sweat were trickling down the back of his head. The invisible stares burned.
Isn’t it basically intimidation—telling someone not to eavesdrop when you suddenly stop talking and stare, right after saying you should lower your voices so you don’t cause harm? Leonardo, out of habit, pulled his face mask up to just below his eyes, tinting them an ambiguous shade between gold and brown.
In truth, there shouldn’t have been any problem with simply looking toward the adjacent seats, but he felt needlessly guilty because the “intruder” they were talking about might be him. And they were most likely His Grace’s knights—people tied to him, in a region completely opposite from the vicinity of Agrizendro territory.
“――.”
“――.”
Leonardo found the continuing whispers deeply uncomfortable. He couldn’t precisely tell the direction of the gazes in the reflection, but it was clear their heads were turned this way.
Wondering why they were staring so hard, he belatedly remembered that Signe’s beret was prominently placed on the table under his resting arm.
‘Ah... damn it.’
Those who seemed to be looking for active military personnel couldn’t have missed it. Worse, Signe’s military gear would be filling one of the overhead luggage racks.
The fact that they were deliberately wearing civilian clothes meant they were doing something in secret, not on an official order. Naturally, they’d be wary of information reaching military personnel. He could only hope they wouldn’t decide, unnecessarily, to treat him as someone to watch.
Leonardo kept his chin propped on his hand and looked only out the window. Soon, the train pulled out from the station, and most passengers took seats in the empty spaces.
Just as time passed and the attention from the adjacent seats seemed about to fade, an unhelpful voice cut in.
“Did you guard the luggage well?”
Signe, just back from the bathroom, passed through the men’s line of sight and plopped down opposite Leonardo. It was the moment the dying embers of interest flared back to life.
“The bathroom was really dirty—I barely washed my hands. Oh, you cleaned up the table already?”
She picked up the lone beret and put it back on, securing it firmly with a pin. Her clothes were a military uniform too, a style that drew attention on its own. If he kept talking with Signe like before, it felt like the other side would be the ones eavesdropping on them.
Having fulfilled his duty of watching the luggage, Leonardo rose from his seat.
“I’m going to smoke a cigarette.”
“Huh?”
He turned awkwardly and headed down the corridor, the way Signe had come.
“Wait, Teo—”
His pace was too fast for Signe to catch him.
There shouldn’t be any space over there... she muttered under her breath and hesitated, half-rising. But uneasy about leaving both seats unattended, she glanced up at the military gear in the overhead rack. As she looked around naturally, she spotted the reliable, sturdy men in the adjacent seats and approached them.
“Excuse me, could you watch my luggage for a moment? There are occasionally pickpockets on the train.”
The four men stared blankly at her cheerful smile. Then they exchanged glances, and the man seated on the aisle replied simply:
“Yes, sure.”
“Thank you.”
With that answer, Signe followed after Leonardo. Just then, two passengers from the rear seats walked that way as well, quickly obscuring her from view.
The men stayed silent for about ten seconds. Then one of them spoke.
“Do you think they heard?”
“The man is a civilian, and the woman doesn’t have a nameplate. Judging by that bulging military gear, she looks like a recruit, so it’s fine. Just the names.”
“Still, to have the Imperial Army next to us... We should refrain from conversation. Didn’t you see the military gear when they came in? I noticed the hat, but since it didn’t have rank insignia, I thought it was just a regular hat.”
“Who checks the overhead rack first? You check the person first. But what’s that guy doing with his girlfriend enlisting?”
“Is that important right now?”
“What should we do about organizing the list? We won’t have time after we get off.”
“If we do it in the window seat, it won’t be visible from the corridor.”
While the three men continued, the one who had answered Signe kept staring at the door at the end of the corridor as it opened and closed. He was the same man who’d made eye contact with Leonardo—and the highest-ranking among them.
The knight beside him rolled his eyes, studying the leader’s expression.
“Senior, what’s wrong?”
The leader glanced at his companions.
“The man isn’t a civilian either.”
“Pardon?”
“The muscles and joints on the back of his hand were prominent. Calluses, too. Those are hands that have used a lot of strength.”
The words stiffened the atmosphere again. The knight who had asked spoke, rolling his eyes eerily.
“I’ll go check it out.”
“No. Don’t do anything conspicuous. It’s our responsibility for being careless. Besides, it seems like they have their own complicated circumstances...”
He trailed off, muttering something incomprehensible.
‘But why does he look familiar?’
The knight who had boarded last glanced around cautiously and rose from his seat.
“I’ll check briefly while I buy some snacks from the next car. Do you need anything?”
The leader gave him a look that said do as you see fit. Then he paused, raised a hand, and added:
“Ah. Get a napkin, or a small memo pad, if there’s one.”
“A napkin or memo pad... Understood. I’ll leave the communication device here, so if there’s any contact from the main castle, please answer it for me.”
“All right. Go ahead.”
One knight headed into the next car. The remaining three kept quiet for a moment. The knight who’d mentioned organizing the list took several papers from the briefcase he’d brought.
Lowering his voice, he muttered:
“Hah... On top of the petition case being a headache, now an intruder in the main castle? Honestly, I’m deeply concerned that unfortunate incidents keep following His Lordship since the explosion. The orders we’ve received are basically no different from digging into the Imperial Army’s internal affairs, aren’t they?”
“.......”
“No matter how careful we are, if we keep stirring things up, information will leak somewhere. If that happens, His Lordship will only gain more enemies, and I keep wondering why he’s taking such risks for others.”
“Valens. Didn’t I tell ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) you? Don’t doubt.”
“As a faithful knight and servant, I’m only concerned for the master’s well-being.”
At the knight’s reply—scratching at the paper with the nib of his fountain pen—the leader gave him a colder look, one that resembled his master’s. After a small sigh, he added:
“The one we serve has a mission to set right what doesn’t make sense. Ironically, those who walk the right path have always had many enemies. All of us, myself included, are here because we respect and honor his will. So, as faithful knights and his sword, we simply fulfill our assigned duties to prevent information from leaking.”
“.......”
“Though I’m worried about the incident at the main castle, that too will be resolved. We focus on Leonardo Blaine’s petition.”
“Understood.”
Reluctantly, the knight making notes answered. He left a mark indicating additional confirmation was needed for the names of the two soldiers mentioned earlier.
Giovanni Ambrose
Margo Penret
These were the names written on the bundle of petitions secretly airlifted from Fidele Territory. All they could do was hope those individuals would reveal the inside story of the Leonardo Blaine insubordination case they’d been tracking for several months.
