53. Secret Mission Under the Moonlight
Under the dim sky, illuminated only by moonlight and starlight, Ricata sat hunched over her report, pen moving steadily across the paper.
When there were no night operations scheduled, she would occasionally write these reports on the current situation, just like this.
Once she delivered the information to the contact at the designated location, she would head back to the Empire.
“Can’t we just light a small fire and do it? Ricata? Otherwise, you’ll go blind. Eyes.”
Eloise, sprawled on the ground nearby, muttered this with a somewhat serious expression.
“No flint? Or shall I use light magic to brighten things up?”
“No need. If we do that, we’ll just end up revealing our position.”
At Ricata’s reply, Eloise tilted her head in confusion.
Wait, aren’t we currently hunting? Why worry about revealing our position?
Even today, we’ve already taken out dozens of Luzens remnants. Are there any left nearby?
The Gganf left behind are almost nonexistent because we’ve hunted them so thoroughly.
Thinking that this woman was truly extraordinary in every way, Eloise gazed at Ricata.
“Why, Eloise.”
Feeling her gaze, Ricata lifted her pen and spoke, lips parting.
It was strange. Even with moonlight, it was still quite dark, yet she had no trouble writing the report.
“Is there something you want to say?”
“It’s not so much that I have something to say… um, how should I put it? That you’re amazing? Or that you’re impressive? It’s not in a bad way. You should know that I don’t usually say things like this.”
“So it’s a compliment.”
With a soft sound, Ricata set the report aside and leaned forward slightly.
The woman’s figure, half-hidden in shadow, became clearer under the moonlight.
“Why the sudden change? Is this flattery? Or an attempt to improve our relationship?”
“First of all, there’s no reason to flatter you, and our relationship has already improved sufficiently, hasn’t it?”
“…”
For some reason, Ricata showed no particular reaction to the last remark.
As she had said, the relationship that had initially been somewhat awkward had improved considerably through the operations.
And the method was, of course, dealing with the common enemy—the so-called Gganf, the Luzens remnants.
“Um, but… Ricata, can I ask you something?”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“Um, what exactly is your relationship with Ruprecht Ragnar, the Crown Prince of the Baharot Empire, First Prince?”
“…That’s a rather sudden question. Why are you asking about His Highness the Crown Prince out of the blue?”
At that, Eloise scratched her head with a “Hehe!”
Should I say it? It should be fine. The upper management never told me not to speak.
Yeah, since they never said anything about it, it should be okay to mention!
If the upper management on the Heigens side had overheard Eloise’s inner thoughts, they would have clutched their heads.
It wasn’t that she had said anything; it was simply too obvious to mention, so it was normal to keep quiet.
“Since you joined our unit and up to yesterday, the upper management has been strongly indicating that we should cooperate properly with you, Ricata. So when I asked why they kept asking, they said it was a special request from the Empire’s Crown Prince.”
“…”
“At first, I thought it was just concern for sending a capable agent to a distant land, but even that should have an end, right? Yet they kept doing it daily, which is suspicious.”
That’s why the sharp-eyed Gganf… no, she’s an elf, right? Anyway, I don’t like sharp-eyed elves. It would be nice if she just quietly pretended not to notice and passed by.
With a short internal grumble, Ricata shrugged once and answered.
“Yes. It’s been two months since I started dating His Highness the Crown Prince. Now it’s three months.”
“…Wow.”
I never thought it was true. Could this be the future Crown Princess, the future Empress?
Yet this woman was seducing elves, playing with her sword, and gouging out eyeballs? Not long ago, she was even carrying a freshly sliced head around saying “Should I take this with me?”?!
‘Oh crap. Before I know it, the next Emperor might turn into a tyrant obsessed with elf blood…? There are no good elves in this world, and then… whoa. This is actually worrying me.’
Even Eloise, who normally didn’t have much affection for her own kind, was briefly concerned about the future of the elves. And it was quite serious.
“Well, we’re still getting to know each other. Honestly, I’m not sure if it will last.”
“Why don’t you have confidence?”
“My parents don’t know. His Highness the Crown Prince hasn’t revealed his feelings much, and even that might become a burden, so we decided to keep it secret.”
Revealing it at the last moment would be even more shocking.
As expected, the Empire was truly strange. Eloise couldn’t shake off those feelings.
“From my perspective, it looks quite hopeful, Ricata.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve always been so sharp, but when writing reports for the Crown Prince, you seemed a little more human-like. Like you’d brush it off if touched, or something. That sort of feeling?”
Of course, the most human-like moments were when talking about swords, but still.
Even yesterday, after praising the sword a little, she became all smiley.
It was such a dramatic change that I had to test it a few more times.
And the conclusion was that this woman loved her brother to an excessive degree.
Wait, no way. The Crown Prince isn’t secretly her younger brother, is he? Please, no. That’s not it, Ricata.
“Don’t misunderstand, Eloise.”
Realizing her inner thoughts, Ricata clicked her tongue.
“I love my sword. I love my brother. It’s just a slight extra sibling affection compared to others. If you misunderstand it that way, I’ll get hurt a lot.”
With a soft sound, Ricata secretly pulled a dagger from her bosom.
‘Whoa. Too much. She was being kind while blatantly threatening. And similar to other siblings? What older sister would mercilessly hunt down her younger brother for that?’
She immediately raised both hands in surrender.
She would never fight with you.
There was pressure from above, but most of all, Eloise had seen her properly fight on the first day.
From that sight, her conclusion was simple. She couldn’t win. No matter how confident she was, this woman was out of the ordinary. The movements she had seen at the Special Intelligence Agency were not even enough to be called children’s pranks.
Even though she called herself the Annihilation Force Commander, Ricata had surpassed that woman. How could a human move like that? She genuinely wanted to ask the gods.
‘Well, that level is necessary to explain Karl’s combat ability.’
As expected, family bloodlines were not just empty words.
I swear, both Ricata and Karl’s parents must be human weapons of that caliber!
“Let’s drop the Crown Prince talk. It’s an Empire matter, and it’s personal. I don’t want private conversations during operations, Eloise.”
“You were talking about Karl just fine, weren’t you?”
“Of course. Our Karl is precious to us.”
“…”
Whoa. How could she say something like that so casually?
She was beyond surprising now; she was at the level of inspiring respect. At the same time, she was amazed that Karl was following his older sister so well without straying.
Normally, after fighting like that, the other party would get annoyed and act worse, right? Yet Karl seemed to be treating his sister well, so she must have received excellent home education.
…Or, given that their lives were on the line, she had no choice but to be polite.
*
Annihilation Force Commander, Eloise Lohengrin. Report.
Ah, how boring. Really. Do I have to do this every time?
Our Heigens side operatives are usually guaranteed free movement.
We don’t interfere excessively. We only give orders and don’t interfere in the process.
That’s why I’ve been grumbling every day while staying here.
But since Ricata arrived, they’ve been insisting on daily formal reports.
They’re probably trying to show the Empire that “Our Heigens is working hard too!” Is this right?! The upper-ups are really something.
“Day 10 of the operation. Small-scale skirmish at dawn.”
[Casualties?]
“No allied casualties. 17 enemies killed. Ah, I have casualties. My watch.”
It was a watch I bought as a souvenir in the Empire, but it broke right before. I was so excited I hit it. If I had known, I would have taken it off before hitting.
[You can buy a new one with your salary.]
“Whoa. Too much. No compensation for damage during operations?”
[No special incidents. Continue the operation. It’s almost over.]
After saying that, the squirrel leaped with a “Dodo!” and disappeared into the branches.
Really, the elf who studied these squirrels as messengers should have their heads dissected.
I wanted to grab and shake them hard, but squirrels are cute. I can’t get angry in front of them, and venting would be even worse.
‘…I can’t stand it anymore. After this operation ends, I’ll just quit. No way.’
I had already planned everything. They were going to recruit the next Empire Academy exchange students.
Since I’m smart, I’ll easily pass the entrance exam and go there—
“Eloise.”
“Ah, yes. Ricata.”
“Once the report is done, we should start moving.”
She nodded and turned back to her spot to tidy up the blanket.
But there was something strange there.
“What is this…?”
“A gift.”
“A gift?”
“Yes. Yesterday, I saw that the watch you were wearing, Eloise, had broken.”
What? Did she see that at that moment? When? Exactly when?!
‘…Scary.’
Want to know another scary thing here? There’s a watch Ricata gave me to write with.
When I got closer, it wasn’t just the watch she brought. She had cut off the owner’s wrist and given it to me! Kyaaaak!!