Close Friend
Alice was a member of the imperial family who commanded the full-throated support of the Ruthenia Empire’s people even in a society that heavily favored the rights of men.
A woman who harbored the lofty ambition of becoming emperor herself.
In Karen’s eyes, she was a ruthless woman steeped in venom, determined to seize her ambitions by any means necessary.
“I wondered why you’d bother coming, so I dropped by just in case—and look at that, I was right~”
Of course, in front of her closest friend, she was nothing more than a hopeless tomboy.
Alice’s lips curled upward as she latched onto Karen’s arm and dragged her along.
Knowing her friend’s temperament all too well, Karen simply allowed herself to be led down the corridor.
“Come on, come on. Sit. Sit~”
They arrived at a sunlit chamber perfectly suited for noble young ladies to hold their frivolous little gatherings.
Karen exhaled a quiet sigh and took the seat Alice indicated.
Clap. Clap.
At Alice’s double clap, dozens of varieties of tea cakes and confections were set upon the table.
Paying them no mind whatsoever, Alice drank in the sight of Karen.
“It’s been ages, hasn’t it? What was it—three years ago? I think the last time I saw you was at your father’s funeral. Do you have any idea how much I’ve missed you?”
“We exchanged letters whenever we had the time. That should have been enough. What good would seeing each other’s faces do? We’re both busy, and the distance from the capital to the Northern Continent is hardly trivial.”
With the advent of the steam locomotive, travel times had shortened dramatically compared to the old days of horses and carriages alone.
Even so, the journey between the capital—home to the Imperial Palace—and the Agnes Territory on the Northern Continent still took three to five days by train, depending on the weather.
For two women buried under daily official duties, setting aside three to five days was a crippling sacrifice.
Alice understood Karen’s point, yet a vague sense of hurt still made her lips poke out in a pout.
“What, so I was the only one who meant it? Can I cry now?”
“Why are you asking me? Do as you please.”
“Really? I’m gonna cry?”
“W-wait. Why are you suddenly clinging to me?! Get off!”
“Waaaaah!! I’m hurt!! Hug me!!”
“Disgusting!! Will you get away from me this instant?!”
Having endured this particular brand of nonsense countless times, Karen ruthlessly peeled her friend off.
“Aww, what a shame~”
Alice flashed a sly little smile, smacked her lips, and retreated.
Wearing an expression of pure exhaustion, Karen lifted her teacup and soothed her parched throat.
I wonder if the people of the empire have any idea that a princess destined to become one of the pillars of the nation behaves like this in private.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, Karen noticed Alice staring fixedly at her.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Oh, nothing. Just thinking you’ve had it pretty rough.”
So she was worried about her, as a friend ought to be.
“Ugh, look at those wrinkles. Whatever happened to the Karen Agnes who used to get marriage proposals with every step she took~”
Scratch that. As always, she was just needling her.
Knowing full well that rising to the bait would only leave her worse off, Karen composed herself and replied,
“Hmph. I’ve passed half a century. Growing old is only natural, is it not? You’re the same age as I am—it’ll be your turn soon enough.”
“Heh heh. That was a joke—and you actually believed it? So even the great Karen Agnes frets over her looks?”
“Think whatever you like.”
“No, I’m genuinely curious. How do you look exactly the same every time I see you? All smooth and soft-looking. Can I touch just once?”
Karen swatted away the hand creeping steadily closer and said,
“State your business first. You didn’t summon me here for this nonsense, did you?”
Both of them had been born into the nobility.
As children they could chatter happily about nothing at all, but once they had risen to a certain station, the true substance of their conversations always turned to work or the state of affairs.
Even if this was a reunion with a dear friend after three years, Alice would not have arranged such a meeting without reason.
“Aww, you’re no fun.”
“Understand. Like you, I am a busy woman. I already wasted time coming to the capital—I ought at least to return early.”
“Fair enough. Originally I should have been the one traveling all the way to the Northern Continent, so I suppose I’ll let it go out of consideration for my dear friend who came all this way.”
“Hm? What business would you have had on the Northern Continent?”
Alice slid a single sheet of paper across the table.
Attached to it was a blurry photograph of a man taken from a diagonal angle, along with a rough summary of information.
Curious, Karen picked up the document.
“I heard there’s someone living in seclusion in the forest outside your territory. Is that right?”
“Hmm. Now that you mention it, I do recall there was one such person.”
“Do you know what he’s been up to lately?”
“Mm… His trail went cold several years ago. I wouldn’t know.”
Visitors from outside were rare in the Agnes Territory, so as long as they caused no harm to the domain, their presence was tacitly permitted.
Outside the territory walls, however, was another matter entirely. To put it bluntly, it was madness.
“He was probably killed by magic beasts. Living beyond the great wall that spans the Northern Continent means precisely that.”
Alice was well aware that by “precisely that,” Karen meant suicide.
A dry chuckle escaped her.
“Take a look at this.”
“Hm?”
Alice produced another photograph.
Like the one attached to the document, it was blurry—yet the facial structure was unmistakably similar.
“That one was taken recently. The photo on the document is from about eight years ago.”
“Hmm. So the man in this photograph is that outsider from back then?”
“Probably?”
“So he was alive after all. He must have been hiding somewhere well.”
Karen fixed Alice with a sharp glare.
“More to the point—planting a spy in my territory. You’ve got quite the nerve.”
“Aww, ‘spy’ is such a harsh word~ Can’t you just call him an informant?”
“Hmph. Call it whatever you like—you sent him, did you not? How thoroughly underhanded.”
“You know how it is. For someone in the position of imperial princess, being without information is no different from being a corpse. Cut me some slack~ I haven’t actually caused you any harm~”
How very like her.
Karen already knew that Alice had informants planted across the entire empire.
She could only sigh at her own complacency for never imagining one might have been planted in her own territory as well.
“So? What is it you wish to say? Are you asking me to investigate this man?”
“Nope. We’ve already looked into him on our end, thank you very much~”
Alice produced yet another document.
Just how many papers did this woman have?
“And what is this supposed to be?”
“The magic beasts that outsider has hunted, I suppose? A merchant who regularly bought carcasses from him testified to it, so it’s probably accurate.”
So she had even conducted investigations inside Karen’s own territory.
Wearing an incredulous expression, Karen glanced over the document.
It listed photographs and information on bizarrely shaped magic beasts.
There had to be several dozen of them at least.
She had already known, years ago before his trail went cold, that the man had been hunting magic beasts.
That fact had been one of the reasons she had left him alone. After all, hunting magic beasts was beneficial to the people of the territory.
Karen’s impression upon reading the document was one of genuine surprise.
Had he truly slain this many beasts alone?
It was impressive, without question.
But that was all.
There were already quite a few people in the Agnes Territory capable of facing magic beasts alone, and with recent advances in technology, even ordinary commoners could easily take down beasts if handed a single magic tool.
“A formidable individual. But what of it? What exactly has this man done?”
By this point, curiosity had naturally taken hold.
On paper, he certainly appeared to be a remarkable talent.
Yet Alice was an imperial princess. Ordinary talent would never satisfy her.
For someone like her to go so far as to dig into his every movement…
Just what reason could she have?
“Why don’t you take a look at the last page?”
“Hm? This is…?”
It was a magic beast that had only recently begun to appear.
A creature wielding a massive axe well over two meters long.
Humanoid in form, yet with the head of a bull—a Minotaur.
A single impalement on those two sharp, enormous horns meant near-certain death, and one swing of its axe routinely sent a dozen men flying.
It was no exaggeration to say it had been the chief source of Karen’s recent headaches.
Alice added an explanation.
“That one’s from eight years ago.”
“What?”
“That outsider killed a Minotaur single-handedly—a full eight years ago.”
“…Are you telling me that every last one of these countless magic beasts was slain eight years ago?”
“Probably?”
Eight years ago was before even common firearms had been developed.
An era when groups of people had to struggle with long spears just to bring a single magic beast down.
And in such a time, he had slain a Minotaur capable of wiping out a dozen men—alone?
“You know I’ve been researching magic beasts, right? I think I started around then. That Minotaur was an enormous help to my research. So I secretly slipped him a reward without telling you—and after that, he just vanished.”
“So that’s why I never knew.”
“Ahaha. Anyway, I benefited quite a bit thanks to that outsider. Though I never expected him to disappear the moment I handed over the reward money.”
Alice drew a letter from her breast.
“Setting all that aside—this is the real matter at hand.”
Karen took the letter with a dubious expression.
But the moment she confirmed the sender, her eyes flew wide.
The letter had been sent by Alice’s mother—Empress Eileen Ruthenia of the empire.