Gangs of Roma (4): I Believe You
When I even dragged my master’s honor into it, the young lady—whether she was a noble madam or something else—believed me at once. It was almost too easy. I actually felt a sting of guilt for lying.
“But, my lady.”
“Be quiet. I was the one who acted rashly. No one will hold you responsible.”
The knightess fell silent again. She didn’t seem entirely reassured that the matter of blame had been settled, but at least she stopped talking. The archer slung her bow across her back and spoke.
“Warrior from a distant land. May I ask your name?”
“Yesugei.”
“Yesugei… I will remember it.”
No, you really don’t have to. In fact, I’d prefer you forgot it entirely.
“Will you come with us? It’s possible that you and our group could cooperate, Yesugei.”
“Cooperate, huh.”
I answered calmly on the surface, but inside I was breaking into a cold sweat. Fuck, did I go too far with the bullshit? The throwaway line I’d used to get out of the situation might have started an avalanche. It was already late at night. Was it really a good idea to keep flirting with a strange man? While I stood here, my wives were probably waiting for me, thinking I’d just tossed some chicken to the birds and come straight back.
This isn’t good. Time to bail.
This was the limit of what I could handle on my own. At this point, we could all just pretend we’d never met and go our separate ways without any hard feelings. But if I followed these people? I’d have to choose between cooperating or keeping my mouth shut.
“…It’s already late for a new encounter.”
So I answered by gazing meaningfully at the moon. I had squeezed every last drop of rhetorical flourish I’d learned from Korean college entrance exam literature passages. Take that, mood shift!
“Hm? What does the hour have to do with anything?”
The archer tilted her head. Damn, that didn’t work. It’s probably because this mask is hiding my handsome yellow face. If I’d shown my real face, it would’ve worked for sure.
“Ahem… Surely a person of your station has companions, young lady? In my homeland, someone addressed as ‘my lady’ would never travel alone. Is Romania different?”
“…Of course I have attendants who serve me in public, but the only ones I can properly introduce to you, Yesugei, are three in number.”
So if things go south it’s five-on-one? Thanks, but I’m not crazy enough to follow you there.
I raised my palm toward the archer before she could continue. It was the rock-solid refusal signal I had perfected against the aunties handing out flyers on Earth. Stop right there, solicitor.
“That is not a good idea. Though it was unavoidable, I have already wounded you. If I were a retainer you trusted, it would be difficult to suddenly join forces with a stranger who attacked you.”
“If I explain the situation—”
“Hear me a little longer. I am not saying I refuse. Would it not be better to arrange another meeting later? Speak with your companions first, then send for me. I will leave the method of contact to you.”
Of course I had no intention of showing up. My creativity was already at its limit, throbbing like thighs the day after squats. If I kept spouting any more improvised nonsense, even the Yesugei persona would start to contradict itself.
The archer had nothing to say once I put it that way.
Shit, not being able to see her face is seriously stressful.
What now? Should I just shut up and run? But if she really was nobility, she could easily spread rumors that I had attacked her and get me blacklisted. If a bounty went up, I’d be in deep trouble. Yesugei was one step away from becoming the bandit king. This damn mouth of mine really was my worst enemy.
“…If that is how you feel, I understand.”
Fortunately, the scenario where Yesugei became infamous as a master who had eaten the Magma-Magma Fruit never came to pass. The archer spoke in a reluctant but accepting tone.
“We will clean up the fallen mafia. That is what we came here to do in the first place. And for you, Yesugei, please take this.”
“…A seal?”
It was a chunk of metal about the size of a phone charger. Some kind of crest was engraved on it. This couldn’t possibly be her family’s emblem, could it?
“It is something we give to guests of our house. It does not prove identity, but I offer it so we may meet again.”
Fuck, it really is. I was slightly dumbfounded. Weren’t you people on a secret operation? And you’re carrying around a ring with your family crest on it? Are you all just really bad at this?
Wait, but I’m hardly one to talk.
If I died, the transformation magic would come undone. If someone found my corpse and traced it back to Norde the master’s-degree archaeologist graduate of Carmine University, it would only be a matter of time before they reached my wives. The thought sent a chill down my spine.
Activated. Magical trace detected. The seal contains a cleverly concealed tracking spell. If they have the means to follow it, they could locate my lodgings. They don’t fully trust me after all.
I rolled the seal between my fingers and asked, “Where should I go?”
“Three days from now, deliver it to the owner of the tavern ‘Midday Moon’ on the outer street of the third block by the north gate. We will decide the meeting place and time by then.”
“Understood. If I do not appear, assume I am dead.”
With that, I leapt and landed on the windowsill. I didn’t want to hear their reply, and my liberal-arts bullshit energy was struggling to maintain the concept any longer. Fuck. If I’d known this world was coming, I really would have studied liberal arts. Who could have predicted a place where treating pets was just a flash of light and a quick fix?
Click.
When I tested the frame, the window opened just as I expected. I should leave the same way they did. I couldn’t expose the secret art of stealth infiltration—the Snake Sage Mode—in front of others.
It was shit meeting you. Let’s never see each other again.
I muttered to myself and was about to bolt when I decided it would be better to ask one last thing. I turned back to them.
“May I ask what manner of people you are, young ladies?”
“I will tell you when we meet again.”
Ah, yes. Of course. How very thorough.
I’ll have to ask the birds to find that detective uncle and figure out which family this crest belongs to.
The seal itself held no value. Rather, she had thrown it at me as an invitation to investigate her identity. Even if I went crazy and tried to blackmail them with it, they could simply claim it was fake or that I had stolen it. It would be useless.
“Until next time, warrior of Mongolia.”
The archer pressed a hand to her stomach, let out a long breath, and gave a graceful bow.
“And one correction. The term ‘young lady’ is not usually used for married women.”
“…My studies were insufficient. I have learned something.”
I wasn’t sure exactly how the Romanian language had interpreted the word I’d used for “young lady,” but if a native speaker said so, then so it was. I gave a vague bow and left the warehouse. Naturally, once I had put some distance between us, I destroyed the magic on the seal.
Crack!
The shattered spell turned the seal into nothing more than a simple metal ornament. Since we would probably never meet again, and even if we did I could just play dumb, there was no problem. Only a psychopath would attach a GPS to a gift and then complain when the recipient removed it.
I moved through deserted alleys while checking my mana reserves. I still needed to recharge the imperial seal, but I had fought way too much today. After thoroughly confirming the area was safe, I released the transformation and returned from Yesugei to Norde.
Still… a noble attacking the mafia. And judging by the way they called her “my lady,” she must be quite high-ranking.
Her skills weren’t all that impressive, so there had to be a reason she was working in the field herself. If we met again and I heard the full story, I’d understand what was going on. But since this encounter was a side branch to my main objective, it wasn’t worth investing extra time.
That thought lasted only until the next morning.
“It’s the crest of the Armaals family. Where did you get this?”
The detective who was still in Lucregens gave me that answer the day after I had given my wives a thorough night of affection.
“…Armaals?”
In the same tavern where we had met before, I repeated the name. The detective uncle nodded.
“Indeed. ‘Arma’ is the shared surname of the families that founded Romania’s first senate. I doubt they’re all blood relatives, so I would deduce it is a name they adopted to strengthen their bond.”
“I see…”
I frowned at the staff engraved on the seal. Tirsi’s family name was Arma Shunas, yet the “my lady” I had met belonged to the Armaals family.
They can’t be unrelated.
Maybe it was like the Seven Princesses of my mother’s generation—similar roots even if the dignity differed. I hadn’t paid much attention because surnames often contained proper nouns, but if they shared an origin, ignoring the connection would be far stranger.
We ended our short reunion with the detective and left the tavern. Larilura, who had been staring wide-eyed at the adult space like it was a wonderland, followed me out. Once we reached a place with no prying eyes, she transformed. I wrapped around her neck in snake form.
“Senior? Do you think that lady is looking for Sister Tirsi?”
Larilura asked while loosely uncoiling my body from her. She didn’t even look thirty yet, but calling her “auntie” felt a bit harsh. I gave a bitter smile after a moment of thought.
“I don’t know. I was planning to avoid her, but now that it’s come to this, I can’t just ignore it. We’ll need to meet again in three days.”
“Then I’ll come with you.”
“…You want to change your identity again? No. It would be worse if they found out there’s someone capable of transformation. Let’s go together from the start with our faces hidden.”
Showing a face that resembled Tirsi was dangerous, and so was revealing that there was someone who could disguise themselves with transformation magic. Rather than going alone and risking disaster, it would be better to bring a miniaturized Ringling No. 4 created by shrinking Larilura with transformation magic. As for my face, I could either claim I was an illegitimate child or simply keep it covered. If it was a trap meant to kill us, we could just counter-attack. If not, we could handle things appropriately and leave.
Larilura shrugged her shoulders as if delighted by my words.
“Huuung~♡? You’re not telling me not to follow~? Haven’t you been caring less about your junior lately? I’m so sad~”
“Sad my ass. I know your personality. If I said I was going alone, you’d just say ‘Sure, go ahead~’ and follow me anyway.”
“Ah, as expected of Senior~♡ Thorough preparation and review of your junior’s personality! I’ll award you twenty junior points!”
“That sounds fucking useless. What do those points even do?”
“They can be exchanged for shoulder massages or white-hair-plucking tickets☆!”
“Why the hell are you trying to be filial? I’m not even thirty yet, you know?”
It was like an early Father’s Day present. I didn’t have any white hairs, right? Probably not. And even if I did, I could believe that Franc would pull them out for me.
“Anyway, if it becomes five-on-one against that knightess and others of similar skill, even I’m not confident I can win unscathed. If a fight breaks out, lend me your strength too.”
There is no such thing as one hundred percent in combat. With three opponents using unknown martial arts, how could I be certain I wouldn’t get hurt? I needed to take out insurance to avoid injury while acting tough. Larilura Silver Insurance.
“…Huuung~? Heeeeng~? I see~.”
At my words, Larilura gently tickled my snake scales. The face visible beneath her hood twitched as if she were holding back laughter. The corners of her mouth vibrated like a singer hitting a high note.
“What? Why are you acting like that?”
“It’s nothing~ Nothing at all~? It’s not like I was thinking ‘I always felt like I was being left out whenever you discovered something, but you still trusted me~’ and got excited or anything~?”
Larilura spoke while failing to hide her loose smile. Even with a different face, that smile was unmistakably hers. It was the mischievous grin she always showed when teasing me, now reflected on a fake face that resembled Tirsi.
“…Stop messing around and control your expression. We’re heading to the broker who got beaten up by the Wolhyang Family. If you go in there giggling, he’ll think you’re crazy.”
“Eheeng~♡ Are you saying that because you have nothing else to say~?”
She had been well-behaved for a few days, but now she was acting up again. When I glared at her with snake eyes, Larilura winked.
“Well, it’s fine, right? Today this generous junior will overlook it! Professional at work! Cute in private! Isn’t that my charming point?”
“You really do deserve a thorough beating. Are you hinting that you want your neck squeezed?”
We continued our comedy routine as we headed down to the tavern where the broker for the underworld mercenaries operated. The moment I observed the interior, however, I felt a slightly ominous premonition. It wasn’t as if the illegal mercenaries in this area worked on a strict schedule, yet the broker’s tavern was strangely empty.
Tsk.
From my experience in Sargadis, this usually meant some big job had come in that had everyone moving at once.
“Oh, who do we have here? If it isn’t our new Gold Class lady.”
The broker, who had been resting his chin in boredom, smiled slyly.
“Welcome. A rather interesting request has come in. Care to take a look?”
“Payment first. What kind of job makes even the broker recommend it personally?”
Larilura slipped back into her cool career-woman act and sat at the counter. The broker set down a leather pouch he had prepared and spoke.
The broker lowered his voice with a grin.
“Have you heard of the Armaals family? The three great families have put a price on that family’s madam.”
Wow. Just what the hell is going on here?