I Won't Hurt You!
The Heigens delegation had at last crossed into the Empire.
Under ordinary circumstances, a grand reception would have awaited them. Unfortunately, their fellow elves of Luzens had seen fit to stir up no small amount of trouble, and so the welcome was kept to a modest affair.
The talks were to be held at Lake Verdant, a place of exceptional natural beauty. Protocol would normally have demanded that a summit of this importance be received in the guest chambers of the Imperial Palace — but the Empire had gone out of its way to accommodate the elves' affinity for the natural world.
And it was near that lake that Eloise found herself in conversation with the chief of the diplomatic mission.
"I've heard the news, Commander Eloise."
"I'm not a commander anymore, you know."
"What on earth were you thinking, pulling a stunt like that? And without a single word to your superiors."
"And what would talking it over with command have changed?"
"At the very least, you could have operated in the open."
"Hmph! I'm plenty open about it as it is! And I was not about to sit still while they broke the terms of the contract!"
That… well. Fair enough, honestly. Violating a contract was crossing a line.
He had heard about it himself. In the months Eloise had spent carrying out her mission, she had barely slept. On a good night she managed two hours. On a bad one, she didn't sleep at all.
Under circumstances like those, it would have been stranger if she hadn't gone sharp around the edges.
And this was Eloise — twice as peculiar as any of her own kind to begin with.
Manon, chief of the diplomatic mission, regarded the former commander of the Extermination Unit for a moment before speaking again.
"Are you truly intending to study at the Imperial Academy?"
"Yes, Chief. I've already quietly secured permission from the Empire."
"And they agreed just like that?"
"I've done my share of work on the Empire's behalf. I suppose that earned me some extra credit."
The Imperial Academy was hardly the sort of place that let just anyone in. Hmm.
"They didn't attach any other conditions?"
"Who knows? They just said I could keep an eye on all the elven exchange students, more or less."
Manon said nothing.
Of course. There had been a reason. The Empire was hardly some kindly fool of a nation, after all.
From the Empire's perspective, exchange students from the Kingdom — and from Heigens itself — were both a condition of the peace and potential spies who might, at any moment, begin operating from within. Surveillance was inevitable. But conduct it too openly, and you risked a diplomatic incident.
So if the single finest special-operations ace Heigens had to offer suddenly volunteered that she was willing to cooperate?
You'd throw her a student berth without a second thought. I would, too.
Manon let out a sigh and shook his head. That woman… was she even an elf?
The rest of their kind would go so far as to shield even those insufferable Luzens, simply because they were fellow elves. Eloise, time and again, had shown herself closer to humans than to her own people.
That was not a criticism. Given the Empire's complete upper hand at present, it was a useful quality. It was simply that, from an elf's point of view, such a disposition left one feeling a little… disappointed.
"Ah! Looks like they've arrived."
A stir of activity carried over from the Imperial tents on the opposite shore. The officials who would preside over the talks had just reached the summit grounds.
"If I asked what this summit is actually about, would you tell me?"
"Don't even dream of it. You have nothing to do with our affairs anymore."
"Tch. So prickly."
Leaving a grumbling Eloise behind him, Manon walked forward. From the other direction, the Empire's Minister of Foreign Affairs approached, and the two men clasped hands.
"A pleasure to see you again, Minister."
"And you as well, Chief. You haven't changed a bit."
"I could say the same of you, Minister."
Fortunately, the Foreign Minister he had dealt with before still held the post. Manon had been worried that a change in office might erase the personal rapport they had built over the years — at least one of his concerns could be set aside.
They were exchanging the usual pleasantries, about to move on toward the meeting site, when the Minister stopped him.
"Minister?"
"A moment."
A carriage drew up behind them. Imperial officers rushed forward at once. They opened the door, stepped back in unison, and snapped into a salute.
"Ranstark!!"
The honor guard followed suit, locking into attention and paying their respects.
It couldn't be. That man?
Manon glanced at the Minister beside him, and knew at once that his guess had been correct.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs oversaw one of the Empire's great departments; his authority rivaled that of a Marquis. Even if the man holding the office were a lesser noble, not even a Marquis would dare treat him lightly. Setting aside members of the Imperial family, he ranked among the top ten in the entire order of precedence.
And that Minister now stood ramrod-straight, gaze fixed in that direction — the posture one assumed before a superior. It was the sort of reaction one might expect if the Emperor or the Crown Prince himself had arrived.
But no such personage would ever make the journey here. And besides, Manon already knew who it was. Heigens had earnestly requested this man's presence at the table, after all.
"Welcome, Karl Adelheit."
"You honor me with such a reception, Your Excellency."
He was an extraordinarily young man — far too young even by human standards, to say nothing of elven ones. He had only just entered his twenties; from some vantage points, he might as well have been a fresh-faced novice still finding his footing in the world.
The two medals gleaming on his chest, however, demolished that impression outright.
The Imperial Medal of Honor. Proof of courage and sacrifice — a distinction that carved a man's name into the history of the Empire for as long as the Empire endured. Rumor had it that even the Emperor saluted first. Looking at the Foreign Minister standing there stiff as a board, Manon suspected the rumor had not been exaggerated.
At a glance, he looked like nothing more than a pleasant young man with an easy smile. But Manon's eyes saw further than that. The walk alone told him this was no ordinary person.
His bearing is remarkable. They said he'd been steeped in the battlefield — and it was no exaggeration.
Manon cleared his throat. He knew perfectly well why his superiors had summoned this particular young man.
"The one who killed the Luzens leader… it would appear to have been that human. Karl Adelheit."
"Officially, you will express our gratitude for his having twice thwarted acts of terror against the Empire. Unofficially, of course, you will also convey our thanks for sending off the man who dragged our people's name through the mud."
An extraordinary youth. Two Medals of Honor — and looking at him now, Manon could well understand why.
And so he extended his hand first, with all due courtesy, and offered a handshake.
"A pleasure to meet you, Sergeant Karl Adelheit. I am Manon Louisvire, chief of the diplomatic mission."
"Ah — yes. A pleasure to meet you as well. Karl Adelheit."
Perhaps a gathering of this sort still sat a little heavily on him. There was a faint stammer to the words. So even a great war hero could be like that. A thoroughly human quality — and, all of a sudden, Manon found him rather approachable.
That was the thought in his mind as his gaze drifted, just slightly, to one side.
A flash of light.
Something gleamed from within Karl's chest, throwing off a hard, glittering radiance. The moment Manon saw it, he quietly packed away the feeling that this young man seemed approachable and put it back where it belonged.
Within the chest of the Medal of Honor recipient sat a greatsword, radiating an aura that ran ice-cold down the spine.
Ah, damn it. This is mortifying as hell. Did they really have to put me through this?
I was embarrassed. Embarrassed enough to die. I could only imagine what the Heigens side was making of it.
The truth was, I had arrived near Lake Verdant ahead of the Heigens delegation. I had originally planned to travel with the Foreign Minister, but a prior engagement with my sister meant I had to come separately. I had moved with a little too much purpose, and so I got there earlier than agreed.
I had figured I might as well greet the Heigens party first. They were comrades-in-arms — worth a hello, at least.
The Foreign Ministry put a stop to that. There was something that absolutely had to be done, they said. They had been so urgently insistent about it that I went along — never imagining this was what they meant.
"We must show the Heigens delegation who you are. What kind of man you are in the Empire! We show them the stature of a Medal of Honor recipient — and in the same stroke, we show them the caliber of welcome such a man commands, so they understand just how vile Luzens' designs against the Empire truly were!"
"Hold on… it's not like Heigens was the one who carried out the terrorist attacks, right?"
"In diplomacy, what matters is seizing whatever pretext you can get your hands on. War is no different, and neither is diplomacy. Fail to seize the momentum, and you will be dragged along by the nose."
The official the Foreign Ministry had dispatched kept at it so relentlessly that I ended up nodding along. And the result of all that… well. Being saluted by hundreds of Imperial personnel, for a start.
They stuffed a man who had already arrived into a carriage just to fake a grand entrance, then had everyone snap to attention and salute. I thought my face was going to catch fire.
There was a story that when a Medal of Honor recipient appeared, even the Emperor saluted first. The Crown Prince had told me it was an unspoken rule. I had never particularly wanted to find out for myself. How to put it — it felt uncomfortably like walking around with a sandwich board that read, Behold, I have arrived.
At any rate, after that excruciating little performance, I finally managed to exchange greetings with the chief of the Heigens mission.
"A pleasure to meet you, Sergeant Karl Adelheit. I am Manon Louisvire, chief of the diplomatic mission."
An elf with a pleasant, easygoing look about him. No, wait. He was an elf, so I supposed I should say he looked like a pleasant elf.
He seemed to be on familiar terms with the Foreign Minister, too. The sociable type, by the look of it. I shook his hand as naturally as I could manage and returned the greeting.
…I was a little nervous, honestly. I still wasn't used to occasions like this.
And then Manon, who had just shaken my hand, gave a small flinch and quietly looked away.
What was that about all of a sudden? Ah — maybe the Medal of Honor made me feel like too much to deal with?
There's no need for that. I'm not a bad guy! I won't hurt you!