“Yes, Your Majesty! Understood!”
The slight tremble of Albedo’s shoulders after she received an order uttered in that powerful voice fitting for an absolute ruler must have been anxiety about this guest’s reckless challenge.
“Neia…Baraja. How about two years, then? You may still think it’s too long, but if the army in the south still stands, you can hold out, can’t you?”
Two years was still too long. But she could hardly take any more advantage of his kindness than she already had.
“Thank you, Your Majesty!”
Her gratitude came out earnestly because she felt that their chances of being saved were better than before.
Remedios bowed after her. “Thank you, Your Majesty! You have my deepest gratitude for granting my squire’s wish!”
“It’s fine. Commander Custodio, you have a valuable subordinate, there. A squire can’t petition a foreign king unless they truly love their country… And I’m not being sarcastic.”
“No, I’m sure she’s happy to hear you say that.”
“I see. Very well, I think we’re finished here? It was a fruitful meeting.”
“The King of Darkness will leave you now.”
At the sound of Albedo’s voice, Neia lowered her head.
She heard the same footsteps and clacking as when he had come in, but receding this time. Eventually there came the sound of a door closing. The King of Darkness must have left the room.
“His Majesty has gone.” When Neia looked up, Albedo was smiling, her cheeks slightly flushed. “All right, I’ll see you all out now.”
•
Neia had braced herself, and sure enough, when they arrived at the inn, the dressing down from Remedios began.
“What were you thinking, talking out of turn like that?!”
When she tried to come closer, red in the face, Gustav stood between them and spread his arms.
“Commander Custodio! Please wait! It’s true that Squire Bajara acted without permission, but as a result, the wait time was shortened by a year. Shouldn’t you be praising her?!”
“What are you saying?! The negotiations could have broken down entirely! And in the first place, how could we praise acting without permission?!”
“My humble apologies.” Neia bowed sincerely.
“Are you really conscious that what you did was wrong?! This time things turned out fine, but if they don’t next time, are you prepared to be held accountable?!”
“My humble apologies.”
“I’m asking you! Answer me! Could you have told the suffering people of the Sacred Kingdom that reinforcements didn’t come because of you?!”
“No, I wouldn’t have been able to take that responsibility.”
“Then why would you do something like that?! What were you thinking?!”
Neia raised her head and looked the commander in the eye. “I thought that if things went badly, you would take my life and offer it to the King of Darkness as an apology.”
Remedios’s eyes went wide. But immediately after, they narrowed in displeasure. Gustav next to her looked impressed.
“You think I’d allow that?! You think your little life would be enough to make things right?!”
“I don’t know. But I thought that you and Gustav would figure something out.”
“And what would you do if we couldn’t?!”
She had a point. It was definitely possible that the King of Darkness wouldn’t have been appeased by her death. But the reason she had spoken up anyway was because three years was simply too long.
Did she think three years was fine? Why should I have to be criticized by someone who did nothing? I understand it was a gamble. But I did it because one side of the balance is the lives of all the people in the Sacred Kingdom. I’m sure saying something there was the right thing to do…
Were the results all that mattered? Or was the method just as important? Probably no one could answer that conundrum.
Either way, she didn’t enjoy being condemned by someone who had taken no action.
But Neia had an idea what would happen to someone who voiced an opinion like that. So she said nothing and bowed her head.
“Commander, please leave it at that. Thanks to her, our wait will be one year shorter. I think we should balance our response between reward and punishment. Or at least praise her as much as we scold her.”
“………Tch.”
Remedios seemed like she had more to say, but instead she turned on her heel and walked away.
Phew, Gustav exhaled. Then he turned to Neia.
“Your resolve was magnificent. The commander may be harsh with you, but she recognizes what you’ve done.”
That’s definitely a lie. No one can hide a lie that big.
Maybe her thoughts showed on her face? Gustav winced. “Anyhow, I’ll talk to her. If you see her now, it’ll just be more trouble, so could you go out for a bit?”
“Understood. Thank you.”
Neia left the inn and set off for a stroll in the brisk air.
“Man…”
Sure, she could “go out,” but in this country, where to?
Neia dug in her breast pocket for a small pouch. Inside was what little money she possessed. It wasn’t much, but there were bronze and silver coins from the Sacred Kingdom. And if she couldn’t use that, she did have one gold trade coin. It would be enough to get a meal.
But can I really use the last allowance from my parents on this?
Neia gazed at the foreign land she was in.
“This is such a pain. Ugh…”
“That was an awfully heavy sigh.”
The voice came from so nearby, Neia jumped.
“Turn down that street. We stand out too much here.”
There was no way she would forget that voice so soon. She nearly called for help, but managed to stop herself. When she walked as directed, she sensed something following behind her. It wasn’t just a voice being projected—apparently its owner was there, but invisible to Neia.
Once they were on the other street, the voice said, “Turn left into that narrow alley.” Neia silently obeyed. It was cleaner than she expected, but there weren’t many people around.
After walking a few paces in, Neia turned around and addressed the voice.
“Your Majesty, why are you here? And are you using magic to make yourself invisible?”
“I see. I wondered why you were doing everything I said so trustingly, but you realized
