The Award Ceremony (1)
"Uh······."
"You're here, Hurtlocker?"
In the basement of Walter Bank, another hideout of the Intelligence Bureau. Hurtlocker stepped inside and froze with his mouth agape. Before his eyes hung a slab of meat drenched in blood, bound by chains. It looked so grotesque that one could easily mistake it for a corpse, yet it occasionally let out wheezing breaths.
"He's going to die like that."
"Don't worry. People don't die that easily. Don't you know I'm an expert in this field?"
"······Anyway. Did you find anything out?"
Hurtlocker turned his head away from the thing. He'd seen countless corpses on the battlefield, but this was the first time he'd witnessed a body so horrifically deformed. It made him feel nauseous.
"Plenty. The problem is that bastard's still spouting lies."
"What? Even in that state?"
"Yeah. He's going on about how Schlus Heinkel burned the documents and got rid of them."
Eric shook his head. If Schlus Heinkel had taken the Intelligence Bureau's information from him, there was no reason to destroy it. Handing it over to the Imperial Police would have made him a national hero and earned him an enormous reward. Even if he kept it without handing it over, it would serve as excellent leverage to blackmail the kingdom. And yet he supposedly burned it on the spot? There was no lie more obvious than that.
"But still······ Why would he keep lying even after being reduced to that state?"
"Who knows. I haven't gouged out his eyeballs yet. Let's ask again after I do that."
"It might not be a lie."
"What do you mean? That Schlus Heinkel really destroyed the documents?"
"No. At least, that guy believes it. Schlus Heinkel used magic to show him an illusion, and he thinks he burned the documents after seeing that."
"Ooh······. That does sound plausible."
When Eric clapped his hands, Hurtlocker let out a weary sigh. To think he hadn't come up with such a simple idea while reducing a man to that state. At this point, it seemed like he might have been deliberately ignoring it because he wanted to continue the torture.
"Ah. Sorry about that. If I'd thought of it a little sooner, I wouldn't have had to cut out his tongue."
"You can cut out someone's tongue and still keep them alive······?"
"Yeah. If you cauterize the cut surface right after, the blood vessels cook and seal up. Then the bleeding stops immediately······"
Hurtlocker let the information go in one ear and out the other. It was something he had no desire to know.
"Anyway. What are we going to do about Schlus Heinkel?"
"Haa······ That's the question······"
Eric and Hurtlocker both let out heavy sighs at the same time. Schlus Heinkel was in possession of the personal information of the Intelligence Bureau agents. The fact that the Imperial Police hadn't stormed this place yet suggested he hadn't reported it to them. That meant he wanted to make a deal with the Intelligence Bureau. While holding a weakness that could annihilate them.
"Shouldn't we eliminate him even now? I'll stake my life on it and assassinate him."
"No. Schlus Heinkel isn't an idiot. He's definitely arranged for the documents to be made public if he dies."
"That's······"
"There's no way to deal with him. All we can do now is wait and see what he demands."
"······"
Hurtlocker clenched his fists. Schlus literally held the Intelligence Bureau's lifeline in his hands. In effect, they were now in a position where they had no choice but to obey him. What on earth would he demand? Just imagining it sent chills down Eric and Hurtlocker's spines.
***
"Ha. Haha."
A hollow laugh kept escaping me. The sunlight was shining warmly down right now. The current time was 11 o'clock. And the award ceremony was set to begin at 1 o'clock. Even if I grabbed a carriage right now and raced to the imperial palace, I'd barely make it in time. But the problem was—
"Ehei. This is screwed."
My clothes were in no condition to be seen. Earlier, when Hurtlocker's sword had grazed me, the side had been torn open like a drum. How was I supposed to stand before the Emperor looking like this? Actually, maybe showing up like this would be better than not showing up at all. There was no helping it. I'd have to go even in this state.
Just as I was looking around the street, thinking I'd grab any carriage, I heard it.
"Huh?"
The sharp sound of hooves came from behind. The moment I turned around, a carriage screeched to a halt right in front of my nose. Literally right in front of my nose······ I nearly got flattened under the wheels and turned into jerky.
"Heinkel!"
At that moment, the carriage door opened and Emilia appeared. Had she come to pick me up? But how did she know I was here······?
"Emilia. How did you know I was—"
"How do you think?"
"······"
At the voice that came from behind Emilia, my mouth snapped shut. A girl in a nun's habit wearing the gentlest of smiles. It was Iris. She'd seen the future. I was grateful, but I didn't like constantly owing her favors like this. It felt like she'd demand something big later······
"What are you doing? Get in already. Or are you not going to ride?"
"······I'm riding."
Feeling thoroughly uncomfortable, I climbed into the carriage. The carriage carrying me immediately began racing down the street at full speed. Toward the imperial palace.
By the way, the carriage was extraordinarily luxurious. The interior was spacious enough for six people to ride comfortably, and it even had plush sofas. No matter how much the travel expenses were covered by the imperial family, the frugal Emilia would never have arranged for something like this. That narrowed down the owner of this carriage to one person.
"Is this the carriage from the Flechette family?"
"Oh my. I thought we'd removed the family crest. How did you know······"
"Thanks. I appreciate it."
"What did you say? I couldn't hear you."
"······"
Iris gave me a playful smile. She heard me perfectly well and was just pretending otherwise. Really, what was she thinking, constantly making me owe her favors so she could order me around later······ I couldn't figure out what went on in that head of hers.
"Really. Just as the Saintess was worried. It's a good thing I brought a spare set of clothes!"
Emilia looked at my torn side and pulled a shirt out of her bag. It seemed Iris had given her a heads-up. Just in case, bring an extra set of clothes······ something like that. She probably couldn't tell Emilia about her future sight.
"Thank you. I'd appreciate it if you both closed your eyes."
"Y-You're going to change right now?"
"We're short on time. I'll have to change while we're moving."
Iris gently closed her eyes, and Emilia hurriedly covered her face with both hands. I never thought I'd end up doing something this embarrassing in front of these two······ But given the situation, I had no other choice. I changed out of my torn shirt as quickly as possible. Though it seemed like Emilia's eyes were peeking through the gaps in her fingers—maybe it was just my imagination.
"I'm done now."
"Phew. Then can I ask now?"
"Ask what."
"Where exactly were you all night and what were you doing?"
"······"
Emilia's direct question left me speechless. I couldn't exactly say that I'd beaten her brother until every bone in his body was dislocated and then dunked him in sewage. But what was I supposed to do? She'd find out eventually when I made contact with the Intelligence Bureau agents later.
"It's a secret."
"Ah······"
Lying would get exposed anyway, so I decided to just brush it off. I was a little afraid of the aftermath when Emilia found out what happened today.
After riding for about another hour, the carriage came to a stop. When I pulled back the curtain and looked outside, we were already in front of the imperial palace. Surprisingly, we still had about thirty minutes to spare. I was thinking about going in early when—
"Heinkel. You forgot something."
"What is it?"
Emilia tugged on my sleeve. Leaving me confused, she rummaged through her bag and pulled out a box. When she opened it······ it was filled with makeup tools.
"Did you forget? You promised to let me do your makeup."
"Did I?"
"Yes. You did."
······Now I remembered. Why had I agreed to that? I must have been out of my mind back then. Well, if I was being generous, getting makeup done wasn't that big of a deal. But the problem was Iris, who was grinning from ear to ear right next to us. That was incredibly annoying.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing at all, hehe."
"······"
She had a real talent for saying things in the most irritating way possible. I had to suppress the urge to give her a good smack on the head. If I moved now, the makeup would get ruined. After about ten minutes—
"All done, Heinkel!"
Emilia wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled. She'd done something with a brush on my cheeks, touched my eyebrows, and applied something to my lips, but honestly, I had no idea what she'd actually done. But when I looked in the mirror she handed me—
"Hmm. Not bad."
"Right?"
I couldn't help but feel quite satisfied. Nothing had changed drastically. I didn't know much about makeup, but I could tell it had the effect of making my features stand out more clearly. Looking at it this way, Schlus's face seemed pretty handsome after all. I'd thought it was just an ordinary face.
"For men's makeup, just emphasizing the key points like this is enough. How about doing it every day? I'll do it for you."
"I'll have to decline that."
No matter what, doing it every day was a bit much······ Besides, it felt unpleasant, like Emilia was treating me as some kind of makeup doll.
"Then let's get out now."
"Wait a moment······"
Just as I was about to open the door, Emilia grabbed my sleeve again and pulled me back. When I turned around, Emilia was breathing heavily with her hand on her chest. At first, I thought she might be pretending to be nervous, but that thought gradually grew stronger. When Aria had come to visit last time, I hadn't noticed, but thinking about it now, Emilia's reaction had been too exaggerated to be acting. Who would pretend to be nervous and then deliberately spill tea on the crown prince? Maybe Emilia really did have trouble dealing with imperial family members.
"It's fine."
"······?"
"If you're really nervous, just look at me. Don't look anywhere else. You're here to assist me, after all."
"Yes······"
Before long, Emilia's trembling subsided and her breathing gradually steadied. It seemed her nervousness had eased.
"Shall we get out now?"
"Yes. Let's do that."
"Thanks for lending me the carriage. I appreciate it once again."
"Huh? Y-Yes······"
As I got out of the carriage, Iris's lukewarm reaction seemed strange. Normally, she would have made a big show of it and tried to make things difficult for me. Her eyes were wide, like she was a bit surprised. Why was that?
The answer to that question came quickly when I saw Emilia glancing at me.
'Ah.'
I realized what I'd just done. I'd patted Emilia on the head. Out of habit, unconsciously, naturally. And right in front of Iris, no less.
Wow. This was so damn embarrassing. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.