The Traitor (1)
The Imperial Palace. At the head of the procession carrying a coffin on their shoulders, the Imperial Grandson knelt on one knee and bowed her head.
“Grandfather. I have recovered Henderson’s body.”
“Well done.”
The elderly man with a long beard and white hair waved his hand and let out a low hum. Gustav Friedrich von Freyja. He was the Emperor who had led the Freya Empire through its golden age for the past forty years.
Gustav gazed down at the coffin for a moment. It was an ironclad rule of the Imperial Police never to release the body of a criminal, yet this was Henderson’s corpse that the Imperial Grandson had managed to retrieve through difficult negotiations.
“Would you like to open it?”
“No need. I don’t even want to look at it.”
“Shall we burn it, or dismember the limbs and feed them to wild beasts?”
“Do as you please.”
“······.”
At Gustav’s indifferent reply, Aria pursed her lips slightly. This was the corpse of the man who had brutally murdered the Emperor’s son. She had expected a strong reaction upon seeing the body… but apparently not. Suppressing a faint sense of disappointment, the Imperial Grandson spoke again.
“And I met Schluss Heinkel.”
“Schluss Heinkel….”
Only now, when a topic of interest finally appeared, did Gustav’s eyes widen. Schluss Heinkel. The commoner who had suddenly appeared like a comet, entered the Imperial Academy at the top of his class, prevented a massive terrorist attack, and even captured Henderson… He was a man who kept doing things that naturally drew attention.
“Tell me what kind of person he is.”
“I wish to speak with you alone.”
“······Come inside.”
At the Emperor’s approval, the ministers began to stir. They had heard that the Imperial Grandson had met face-to-face with Schluss Heinkel. They were extremely curious about her evaluation of him. Yet she wanted to speak with the Emperor alone. Could there be some highly classified information involved?
The ministers could only watch with barely contained curiosity as the Emperor and the Imperial Grandson retreated into the chamber.
“Can I stretch my legs, Grandpa?”
“Go ahead.”
“Can I lie down?”
“Do whatever you want.”
“Aaaahhh…!”
Only after confirming the door was firmly shut did the Imperial Grandson let out a languid groan and flop onto the floor. It was an undignified sight she had never shown to anyone except her grandfather. Nevertheless, Gustav simply rested his chin on his hand and looked at his granddaughter with a pleased expression. He figured it wouldn’t hurt to let her relax and unwind once in a while.
“Wow. I walked so much today, Grandpa. It felt like a hundred thousand steps.”
“Did you? Good work.”
“I met with the Imperial Police, then the Great Forest ambassador… Ugh, I was so busy.”
“Rest now. Take your time and tell me about that commoner.”
“Okay. Mmmph!”
The Imperial Grandson stretched and organized her thoughts. Where should she begin? In truth, there was nothing she needed to hide from the ministers. She simply didn’t want them to see her acting this casually. Imagining the ministers jumping to wild conclusions about some top-secret information made her want to laugh.
“About Schluss Heinkel. That guy is a total lunatic.”
“A lunatic?”
“Yes. He treats imperial authority like it’s nothing.”
“······.”
Gustav’s expression hardened. Not because of the profanity flowing so naturally from his granddaughter’s lips, but because of her assessment of the commoner he planned to personally award a medal.
“The nobles were right. He was incredibly arrogant and completely lacking in any sense of dignity.”
“Hmm….”
Gustav let out a troubled sigh. He intended to summon the man to the palace and present the medal before a crowd of onlookers. If that fellow caused any trouble there, the dignity of the imperial family would surely be damaged.
“In short, you’re saying he has no manners.”
“No. He actually observed basic etiquette quite well.”
“What?”
“He has manners, but only the bare minimum. Put negatively, he’s rude. Put positively, he’s confident.”
Gustav listened quietly, then fell into thought. Come to think of it, his granddaughter had been famous since childhood for her fiery temper. There was no way she would have left the limbs of a commoner who disrespected her intact. In other words, the man had never crossed the line.
He spoke without restraint, yet never crossed the line. To the Emperor’s ears, Schluss Heinkel sounded like someone who refused to be crushed by imperial authority and simply said what he wanted. He was the complete opposite of the sycophants who groveled the moment the word “imperial” was mentioned—the type the Imperial Grandson despised most.
“You seem to like him quite a bit.”
“Huh? How did you know?”
“It’s written all over your face.”
The Imperial Grandson had been grinning the entire time she spoke about Schluss Heinkel. Given how openly her emotions showed on her face, it was obvious. She was looking forward to seeing him again.
“So, what title did you decide to grant him?”
“I told him to name anything, and he demanded a dukedom.”
“A-a dukedom!”
Gustav cleared his throat. A dukedom? Handing that out recklessly could easily spark a civil war. …Though they were already on the brink of one.
“Absolutely not! That’s impossible!”
“That’s what I told him. Then he asked for something else.”
“And what was that?”
“The treasury beneath the imperial palace. He said he would choose a treasure from within.”
“I… I see….”
Gustav stroked his beard with a serious expression. The underground treasury. It was a place where they stored priceless treasures, even if most were useless. But among them was one item—something so precious it could not be traded for anything else….
“I told him he could take whatever he wanted. That should be fine, right?”
“Ah, yes. Probably.”
There was no way he would choose that. It wasn’t something a mere commoner could even recognize the true value of. Besides, it was tucked away deep inside. He would likely be distracted by the dazzling treasures on the way in and never reach that far. There was no chance he would ask for it.
With that conviction, Gustav answered casually. Yet for some reason, an uneasy feeling kept nagging at him.
“Your Majesty! Urgent news!”
“······!”
At that moment, a minister’s loud shout came from outside the door. The Imperial Grandson’s eyes widened like saucers as she instantly rose and knelt in a proper posture. By the time the door slid open, she had already transformed into the picture of a respectful granddaughter reporting to the Emperor.
“How rude. To barge in without permission.”
“Please forgive this disloyalty. There is something urgent I must report….”
“Speak.”
“A riot led by beastkin has broken out in the south. One fortress is on the verge of being seized.”
“Hah. So the beasts have finally gone mad.”
The Emperor’s brow furrowed. The situation was growing far more serious than expected. It truly felt like civil war could erupt at any moment.
“Mister Heinkel. Here.”
“······?”
When I returned from class, Emilia held out an envelope to me with both hands. It was heavily decorated with gleaming gold. I didn’t even need to open it to know where it had come from.
“From the imperial family?”
“Yes. A person who appeared to be a court mage delivered it.”
The moment I roughly broke the seal and pulled out the letter—
“······.”
“······.”
My eyes met Emilia’s as she held the letter opener. Feeling a bit embarrassed, I cleared my throat and handed her the poorly torn envelope. Then I began reading the letter from the top.
For preventing casualties on the Day of Magic and eliminating threats to the Empire, and for successfully intercepting the Empire’s enemy, the Crow Henderson, the imperial family hereby recognizes your distinguished service…
It was so long and tedious that I started skimming halfway through. The gist was that I had done well and would therefore be awarded a medal. They could have said it in one sentence, but they dragged it out forever….
Anyway, the most important part was at the very end: the date and time of the award ceremony.
“Hah.”
“What is it?”
“The award ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow at the imperial palace.”
“Tomorrow… That’s really soon.”
Emilia flinched, looking slightly surprised—or rather, pretending to be surprised. Notifying me only one day in advance was quite rude. There was no way Aria or the Emperor would have been so petty. It was far more likely that whoever was responsible for delivering the message had intentionally delayed it.
In that case, I would have to go tomorrow and throw a proper tantrum. I needed to make it clear that I was not someone who could be treated lightly.
“Then while you’re out tomorrow, I’ll clean the mansion.”
“No. You’ll be coming with me.”
“Pardon? To the imperial palace?”
“Yes. To the imperial palace. You know proper etiquette far better than I do, Miss Emilia. Please stay by my side and make sure I don’t make any mistakes.”
“If that’s the case… Understood. I shall obey your command.”
Emilia bowed her head slightly as she answered. Oh. Hearing that line really made me feel like I had a maid. Even though she was actually a watcher who could kill me at any moment.
“Should I buy you a new outfit?”
“Pardon? You want me to wear civilian clothes?”
“Is there a problem?”
“Of course there is. I’m attending as your attendant. I have no choice but to wear a maid uniform.”
“I see.”
Huh. I hadn’t expected that. That meant Emilia in a maid outfit would be walking around the streets behind me. That was going to be a little embarrassing. Though the people on the street probably wouldn’t think anything of it.
“Tomorrow morning is going to be busy.”
“You mean with makeup? It must be hard being a woman.”
“Not me. An attendant can’t overdress.”
“Then surely you don’t mean—”
“Yes. Mister Heinkel will have to do my makeup.”
“I refuse.”
I rejected her firmly. …Or at least I thought I did.
“This is a meeting with His Imperial Majesty the Emperor. Shouldn’t you look your absolute best?”
“No, I’m fine as I am….”
“Don’t worry. I’m perfectly skilled at doing men’s makeup too!”
“······.”
Emilia wasn’t even listening to me anymore. She was already burning with enthusiasm. I could see the determination in her eyes—she was going to put makeup on me no matter what I said.
“······Fine. I’m in your hands.”
“Hehe. I’ll do my very best!”
If I couldn’t avoid it, I might as well enjoy it. When else would I ever get to wear makeup? I decided to just give up.
The press still hadn’t reported anything about Henderson or me. It seemed they planned to release all the information together with the award ceremony. Even the attention I was getting now was already overwhelming. I shuddered to think what would happen once the articles came out. The more I thought about it, the more I sighed.
So I stopped by a café to change my mood, but…
“What the hell is this?”
The café looked strange. The windows were cracked, and the door was ragged as if it had been attacked. Had Eric failed at security and gotten caught by the counterintelligence agency already?
“Our shop is open for business. Please come in.”
Just as I was thinking that, Eric staggered out and guided me inside. The interior was surprisingly intact, except for one completely emptied display cabinet. It looked like they had cleaned up the debris after some kind of commotion.
“Did something happen?”
“Hahaha. A drunk customer caused a bit of a ruckus. Don’t worry. He won’t be coming back.”
“······.”
A drunk customer? There was no way someone like that would have even gotten inside. Eric would have subdued him before he could cause any real trouble and thrown him out. Even in his old age, he still had more than enough skill to overpower an ordinary person.
So what had really happened?
‘No way.’
I think I knew who it was. The one who caused the disturbance was undoubtedly an agent from the Kingdom’s intelligence bureau. The traitor who had tried to run away with the bureau’s documents. It had happened a little earlier than in the original story, but it was definitely him.
‘I let my guard down.’
I had been too focused on the events happening inside the Imperial Academy and had completely forgotten about the events taking place in the shadows. This was an event that could decide the fate of the intelligence bureau. The documents that traitor possessed contained the personal information of every agent dispatched to the Empire.
If I had to make an excuse for forgetting such an important event… it was simply because it hadn’t been a very significant episode in the original story. It was a short scene that passed by without any real sense of crisis. In the original, the traitor had been caught by Hurtlocker before he could even escape with the documents and got beaten to a pulp.
But how had this guy managed to run away with the documents…?
‘Ah.’
It was because of me. Hurtlocker had been seen by me. That meant he couldn’t come to this café that I frequented. Even if he did, it would only be early in the morning or late at night. As a result, unlike in the original story, Hurtlocker hadn’t been at the café at the exact moment the traitor tried to escape with the documents….
This was driving me crazy. If I let that guy get away, the intelligence bureau would be destroyed. Most of the agents would be captured and killed or forced to flee to the distant frontiers. That would be a problem. I would need both Hurtlocker and the power of the intelligence bureau to reach the ending.
Having made my decision, I stood up abruptly.
“Your order…?”
“It’s too chaotic today. I’m not really in the mood to drink. I’ll come again next time.”
“Ah, I see… Though next time, we might already be out of business.”
“No way. I guarantee it. The master will keep running this place for a long time.”
“······Thank you for the kind words.”
I left the café and walked quickly. If I missed him now, it would lead to a catastrophe. Hurtlocker and the intelligence bureau agents were probably searching for the traitor as well, but finding someone who was deliberately hiding would be difficult.
“You’re dead, you rat bastard.”
That was why I would cut off his escape route from the very beginning.