「Then we’ll head out first.」
「Take care, Company Commander.」
Captain Yugi stepped outside with Corporal Decott, both in the white uniforms of the Guards.
I and Second Lieutenant Crimine, disguised as a semi-noble couple—in other words, wealthy merchants and wife—waited a little before leaving the shop. Shoulder to shoulder, we strolled down the cobblestoned street.
The Legitimate Empire’s clothing standards were about on par with the nineteenth century, so the wealthy wore fine garments indeed.
Meanwhile, industry and medicine hadn’t even clearly reached eighteenth-century standards. So even the wealthy lived inconveniently, filth everywhere, and people dropped dead of illness easily. Honestly, I preferred modern Japan.
But anyway.
「Lieutenant, do you see anyone tailing us? The one I spotted was an old man with white hair in a brown jacket.」
「The problem is, there are too many fitting that description.」
「Yeah, figures.」
Commoners in this world rarely had the means to wash clothes, so they preferred colors that hid dirt. Bright dyes were expensive. So ordinary people ended up in brown or gray.
Or rather, as they wore clothes, they naturally became brown or gray.
「If someone’s tailing Captain and Corporal, it’s probably him…」
Then Crimine muttered in a low voice.
「That old man—he’s heading the same way.」
Ah, that one. Sure enough, it looked like he’d been trailing Yugi and Decott.
But I shook my head.
「Look closely at the elbows of his jacket.」
「His elbows?」
「The worn, shiny patches line up exactly with the elbows. That’s a jacket he’s actually been wearing for years. Not a disguise.」
Maybe a very thorough tail could prepare such a naturally aged garment—but anyone that skilled wouldn’t be following in such an obvious way.
Crimine looked impressed.
「As expected of someone called ‘Laundry Man.’」
「It’s not like I wash clothes because I want to.」
Underclothes had to be changed daily or I’d feel gross. On days off, I washed and dried several sets.
I wouldn’t stop no matter how suspicious it looked. That was a matter of dignity.
I scanned the surroundings with just my eyes. No suspicious figures.
「Once they vanish into the crowd, it’s impossible to tell. Let’s give up tail-hunting and go visit First Lieutenant Meinen’s grave.」
「Understood.」
Crimine nodded, tugging up the front of her borrowed dress.
「What is it?」
「It’s a bit loose.」
「Ah.」
I nodded lightly.
「The Company Commander’s more solidly built than she looks. For you it’s probably too—」
Her sharp glare cut me off instantly.
What the hell!?
Her face looked like it had gathered all the unhappiness in the world.
「So I’m just a flat plank, is that it.」
「Huh? No, I didn’t mean that. The Commander’s more muscular than she looks, so the dress was made with extra room.」
My flustered explanation surprised her.
「Eh!? …M-my apologies!」
「No, I’m the one at fault.」
Awkward silence.
So much pointless stress outside of duty.
In the end, we never found anyone tailing Yugi and Decott, and abandoned the counter-tail.
「Looks like the Commander and Corporal are headed back toward Battalion HQ. It’s over. Second Lieutenant Crimine, can you walk to the Army’s Joint Cemetery in that outfit?」
「No problem with the boots, but the chest keeps slipping.」
「Tie off the spare fabric with a belt, make do.」
Just as we started walking, a young woman’s voice cut through the crowd.
「You’re the one who killed ‘Yuoh Nevilnel,’ aren’t you?」
I froze, but didn’t turn around. We were in disguise.
Naturally, Crimine ignored it completely too—though I saw her lips tremble faintly.
Inside, I panicked. After ten more steps I risked a glance using a tailor’s shop window. The voice’s owner was gone.
I couldn’t just dart my head around here. They knew that, which was why they spoke up like that. Infuriating.
「Let’s go.」
「Y-yes.」
Apparently we’d stepped into more dangerous territory than we realized.
＊ ＊
「More than just ‘a little.’」
The next day, Second Lieutenant Crimine and I were summoned to the Battalion Commander’s office.
「You two have stepped into considerable danger.」
The blonde, bespectacled Commander sighed, then fixed her gaze on us.
「Forgive me. It’s my fault, assigning you nothing but risky missions. I hurried to investigate.」
She piled a thick stack of documents on the desk.
「I looked into ‘Yuoh Nevilnel.’ She was a real person, about thirty years ago.」
「What!?」
The person I supposedly executed in Kavallaf had actually existed—that was bad.
But the Commander gave a bitter smile.
「Don’t worry. She’s already dead. A notorious criminal executed for attempting to assassinate the Emperor.」
What a troublesome figure.
She took one document and read aloud.
「Yuoh Nevilnel was the fourth daughter of the minor southern lord Nevilnel. She served as lady-in-waiting to the Empress, but was executed for plotting the Emperor’s assassination.」
Second Lieutenant Crimine, eyes gleaming with curiosity, asked:
「Did she really try?」
The Commander lowered her gaze and shook her head.
「Unclear. It might have been a plot to topple the Nevilnel house. The entire family was arrested, children included, and executed.」
I sighed inside. My least favorite type of story. Innocent children dragged in and killed.
「The incident was quietly buried. Almost no records remain. Probably only old folk in Nevilnel lands or Imperial veterans remember.」
The Commander glanced at me.
「And now, someone resurrected ‘Yuoh Nevilnel’ on paper. Only to be executed by the Ceremonial Battalion’s elite—First Lieutenant Fonkt.」
Ah… so I might have crushed someone’s scheme without knowing it.
The Commander looked straight at me.
「I don’t know how far word has reached His Majesty, but if a traitor resurrected, that would justify such an edict.」
Wait. That means—
A chill ran down my spine. The Commander smiled.
「But since you arrested a young woman, the matter was settled as ‘this Yuoh Nevilnel was a different person with the same name.’ Not such a rare name across the Empire.」
I’d been walking a thinner tightrope than I thought. One misstep and I’d be done.
I wiped my forehead, then voiced the obvious question.
「So yesterday’s tail was a warning?」
「Perhaps. If they only told you that, they’re not planning to kill you right away. Ah, that reminds me.」
The Commander added as if in passing:
「Lord Grien, whom you executed, was appointed to the Emperor’s inner circle after the Nevilnel purge. He dispatched a fleet before the edict even arrived, preventing the family’s escape or resistance. As if he’d prepared in advance.」
So even he’s tied up in this? I was sinking deeper than I thought.
Without noticing, my career had become too politically stained. It needed ‘laundering,’ but there was nothing I could do.
The Commander scratched her head and slumped into her chair.
「Of all the orders handed down, I send any suspicious ones to the Third Company. And since you’re the most competent there, you’ve ended up neck-deep in intrigue.」
「No kidding. What do you expect me to do?」
「I only realized later. If I’d known from the start, I’d have spread the missions around.」
She looked sulky.
「But it’s really your fault. Whatever you’re told to do, you just handle it calmly.」
「Don’t blame this officer for that.」
I complained, and Second Lieutenant Crimine backed me up.
「Exactly. First Lieutenant is blameless. The guilty party is you, Battalion Commander.」
Two against one. The Commander pouted.
「Fine, fine. I’ll pull strings so he doesn’t get killed. Stop worrying.」
「Please do. If I end up in Hell now, my only friend there will be Meinen.」
Hell would be fine, but if I got reincarnated into another world again, that’d be trouble. Starting over in another language and culture is a real pain.
And even this second life had already become way too much of a pain…