The Meeting (2)
“What are you doing out there? Please come inside so we can talk properly.”
“Oh~ My dear disciple, you’ve finally shown yourself.”
“What brings you here at this hour? And what happened with the business you left to handle?”
I ushered the two of them inside first, then fired off my questions immediately. Master, of course, started scolding me right away.
“You little brat. I haven’t even sat down yet and you’re already demanding I spit out the main point?”
“Ah, my apologies. Would you like some tea?”
“Make it something decent. A nice, refreshing cup of coffee.”
“Coffee at this time of night? That’s bad for your health. I’ll brew some lavender tea instead. Sister Melody prefers lemon tea, so shall I prepare that for you?”
“Yes.”
I flatly dismissed the ridiculous suggestion and brought out three cups of tea instead of coffee. Master accepted his cup obediently and took a sip before speaking.
“Seeing you invite a woman into your room at this late hour… I suppose you’re not completely hopeless after all.”
“Don’t say strange things.”
This sort of nonsense was nothing new, so I shut it down immediately. Once Master started acting like this, it became a real headache. The man was as slippery as an eel—if you let him get started, he’d torment you until he was satisfied. It was best to cut him off early and leave no room for mischief.
But to Sister Melody, my behavior must have looked disrespectful toward my master. She stared at me with a startled expression, and for some reason the clear disappointment in her eyes made my mood plummet.
“If I entertain his nonsense, he only gets worse.”
“He’s had a long journey. Couldn’t you at least indulge him a little?”
“Hehehe.”
Master looked at me with a sly, wicked grin. Just seeing that ominous expression was enough to sour my mood.
“You’re clearly planning something weird, aren’t you? Please, just stop.”
“What exactly did I do? You shouldn’t torment your poor old master like this. Just look at her. You’ve been so rude that she’s genuinely shocked.”
At Master’s pointed remark, Sister Melody shook her head and denied it, but it was obvious she had been taken aback by my attitude.
“No, that’s not it. I was simply surprised because your relationship seems far closer than I realized.”
She claimed otherwise, but the look in her eyes made it difficult to believe her words.
“Of course we’re close. He raised me like his own son, after all.”
“That’s right. I cherished you and raised you with utmost care.”
“…….”
Fortunately, Sister Melody’s misunderstanding seemed to clear up, and her expression returned to normal. Since we were family-like and didn’t stand on ceremony, there wasn’t much she could say. It looked like she had decided to stop interfering.
Master clicked his tongue in clear disappointment, as if he had read her thoughts. Honestly, at his age he should be acting more dignified, but it seemed he only grew more playful with time.
“I’m curious. Please tell me quickly—what happened? I’m talking about Prince Loras.”
I had things to say to the man myself, so I was eager to hear the news. Once Prince Loras’s name came up, even Master couldn’t keep joking around. His voice grew serious.
“I’m not sure if you’ve heard the rumors about Prince Loras’s recent activities.”
“Rumors? No, I haven’t.”
The only thing I knew was that he had mobilized his subordinates. Come to think of it, the fact that there were no major rumors despite his humiliating failure in the Labyrinth was strange in itself.
“You told me his subjugation attempt had failed.”
“Yes.”
“Well, it seems that failure has now been rewritten as a success.”
“Pardon?”
“It means Prince Loras supposedly earned an enormous amount of money inside the Labyrinth.”
“That’s odd. He wouldn’t have been in any state of mind to collect treasure, would he?”
There was no way it had actually succeeded. Wait… unless they searched the collapsed Ice Castle afterward? If they had gathered the items we had abandoned, it wouldn’t be strange for them to claim success. Given their smaller numbers, even if they had taken only the most valuable pieces, there would still be far more left behind than what they could carry.
Of course, this theory had many holes. He was supposedly so badly injured he barely escaped with his life.
Then a thought flashed through my mind.
“Ah! So that’s why!”
Slap—! The pieces clicked together perfectly.
“Hm? What is it?”
“It makes sense now. I couldn’t understand why he was kidnapping and killing soldiers, but now it all fits. He was eliminating the troops who wouldn’t go along with his plan so he could hide the fact that he had failed!”
I had suspected there was more to it than simple venting, given how large in scale the operation was. Now it felt as if a weight had been lifted from my chest.
“He kidnapped and killed soldiers? Prince Loras?”
“Yes. One of the kidnapped soldiers barely managed to escape and came to the temple seeking help. I asked the holy knights to locate their hideout.”
“I need to hear the full story.”
At his serious tone, I promptly recounted everything in detail.
“Where is this place? I should go see it myself.”
“Even though there were no traces of heretics?”
“There’s no time. Get up right now.”
“You want to go now?!”
“Is that a problem?”
“No, it’s not that, but it’s far too late. Can’t we go tomorrow instead?”
Going outside at this hour would mean stumbling around in complete darkness. But did I really expect my master to care about that?
“Are you saying a grown man is too scared of the dark to go out at night?”
The provocation nearly made me snap, but as always, practical reality held me back.
“Unlike you, Master, if I go out on a night like this I’ll be freezing and won’t be able to see a thing. Besides, the distance from here is considerable. Even if we walked all night, we probably wouldn’t arrive before dawn.”
“Ahem. In that case, go to bed early. We’ll set out as soon as it’s light, so skip the dawn prayer and come straight here.”
“Understood.”
It seemed even Master realized it was too late, because for once he actually listened to my request. I felt relieved, but knowing his idea of “dawn” was around four in the morning, I decided I had better hurry off to sleep.
“By the way, where will you be sleeping tonight?”
“Where else? Right here, of course.”
“Ah.”
I let out a deep sigh. I was used to waking up early, so that wasn’t the issue. What depressed me was the thought of giving Master the bed and spending the night cramped up in a chair.
Master woke up before four and immediately began hurrying me along. The sky was still dark, the sun not yet risen, but he declared that I had slept enough and it was time to leave. I had no choice but to comply.
“I’ll go change my clothes. Please wait a moment.”
“What about that woman you always keep at your side? Will you be bringing her today as well?”
“Why would I wake someone who’s exhausted and sleeping? You’re here, Master.”
“How old do you think I am that she still needs my protection? My back hurts and I don’t have the strength I used to.”
“You travel alone just fine.”
Besides, I had gone to bed early and still hadn’t heard the full story. There was no way he had only learned that Prince Loras was trying to cover up his failure. I thought I might as well hear the rest on the way since it would be boring otherwise, and stepped out of the room.
“Ack! Y-You startled me.”
Sister Melody was standing like a stone statue right outside the door, her face still carrying traces of sleepiness.
“What are you doing at this hour?”
“I came to accompany you.”
She looked at me as if stating the obvious, which left me flustered.
“Master is with me, so it’s safe.”
“Were you trying to leave without me?”
Something in her tone suggested she would be hurt if I said yes, so I couldn’t bring myself to admit it.
“No, it’s not that. I was just worried it would be too difficult for you.”
“It’s not difficult at all.”
“Oh my~ Perfect! To be honest, I was getting tired of this fellow always asking me to protect him. Haha! I approve. I’d like to see the skills of an active-duty junior while I’m at it.”
Master immediately welcomed Sister Melody’s participation. He had a habit of enthusiastically making use of straightforward people like her, but I had a feeling he had met his match this time. He’ll realize what kind of person she is after suffering a bit.
I wasn’t sure exactly what feats Master had accomplished in his youth, but I was curious whether she would still respect him after seeing his true nature.
“This is my first time going there as well, so I may get lost.”
“Of course. Getting lost is simply part of the journey, isn’t it?”
With his hands clasped behind his back, Master chuckled and strolled along, looking every bit the enlightened priest.
“Whoa.”
While walking through the dark night, I nearly tripped over a stone. Sister Melody caught me and kept me from falling.
“Thank you.”
“Please be careful.”
She moved the torch she was carrying a little closer to light my path. What surprised me was that Master had already arranged transportation in advance.
“You prepared a carriage?”
“Ah, this? It’s the one I arrived in.”
“I see.”
“Hurry and get in. You know how to drive one, right?”
“How would I know how to drive a carriage? I’ve never done it before.”
“Just do it roughly~ Roughly~ You’ll get the hang of it eventually.”
There was no way he could have called for a coachman at this early hour, so of course we needed someone to drive. The problem was that Master had no intention of doing it himself. And it would have been wrong to make the oldest person among us do the hard work.
I started to head toward the driver’s seat when Sister Melody stopped me.
“I’ll do it.”
She had pulled her robe hood over her head to guard against the dust. With that, she climbed nimbly into the driver’s seat in my place.
“What are you doing? Get in already.”
Master seemed to think anyone could handle the task and promptly climbed into the carriage. After a moment’s hesitation, I spoke up.
“I’ll sit up front as well.”
“Goodness, do as you like.”
“It’s cold at dawn. Please wait inside.”
When I sat down beside her, she told me to go inside.
“Could you teach me how to drive a carriage? I figured I should learn it eventually anyway.”
“Ah, if that’s the case.”
She finally understood why I had sat next to her and nodded readily.
“First, do you know how to ride a horse?”
“Of course.”
As I listened to her explain how to drive the carriage, I pulled my own robe hood over my head. The journey took longer than expected—probably because what we were doing wasn’t exactly aboveboard. Even after learning everything about driving the carriage, we had to keep going for quite a while before we finally arrived. The darkness had lifted, the sun had risen, and we could walk without constantly watching our feet.