Omae! Become My Comrade, I Do Declare!
“Omae!” I declared. “Become my nakama!”
……………
“This way!”
Bielka gestured and pointed to a narrow passage tucked between buildings—a gap where bricks had been stacked haphazardly, the kind of space any ordinary person would dismiss as nothing more than an architectural mistake.
“You're sure about this place…?”
When Hildegard asked doubtfully, Bielka answered with complete confidence. “Don't worry. Last time and again today, this is the route we used to leave the citadel with Lady Katerina.”
We wedged ourselves into the narrow crack, and a dark space opened up between the buildings. The armor made it harder than usual for me—I had to twist my shoulders sideways to squeeze through at all.
“Ngh… ugh…”
Only our footsteps echoed in the cramped passage. The damp stone of the close walls brushed against my armor, and the smell of moss and old, earthy masonry stung my nose. After several minutes of feeling our way through the dark, a faint light appeared ahead. Bielka took the lead and advanced carefully toward it.
“We must be careful from here on, we do. We're about to come out behind the kitchens, and by this hour the servants will be bustling about preparing dinner.”
“In that case, a noble lady in full armor would stand out the most. And the rest of us as well.”
Hildegard's point was dead on.
As it stood, our little party consisted of a knight gleaming in Empire-style armor, the Grand Duke's daughter's maid, and a suspicious woman mercenary with a woldo strapped to her back.
Show up in front of the kitchen servants with this lineup, and we would look absurd beyond all reason.
And needless to say, the moment they laid eyes on us, there was no chance they would simply look the other way. Rumors travel faster than feet. We were all but guaranteed to get a full-frontal assault of 'I saw it with my very own two eyes, m'lady' from every direction.
'Servants are, for all practical purposes, living CCTV cameras. Once that kind of gossip starts spreading, it'll reach Mother's ears before long.'
That was an outcome I wanted to avoid at absolutely any cost. Which was why I had already worked out a solution in my head.
“Bielka, wait in the little storeroom behind the left corner, if you please. I'll go ahead and send you a signal.”
Bielka nodded.
When we reached the end of the passage, the back yard of the citadel kitchen came into view through a small gap in the wall. I could see the servants hard at work—trimming vegetables, hauling firewood, lugging water pails.
We hid ourselves in the shadow of the wall and waited for the right moment.
“Now!”
At Bielka's small whisper, we darted across the yard and into a small storage building during the brief window when the servants were away from their posts. Opening the storeroom door released a smell of dust and revealed a jumble of old cloths and crates.
“Wait here for a moment. I shall return shortly, I do promise.”
“Where are you going?”
“Worry not, if you please. I'll shed this disguise, go inside the citadel, and bring Eliza back with me.”
After calming Hildegard, whose eyes were sweeping the surroundings with naked wariness, I quickly scanned the area and headed for the citadel's back entrance.
Granted, the non-northern-style armor I was wearing made me rather conspicuous—but among the knights coming and going from the citadel, it was hardly rare to find someone clad in custom-made plate far more expensive than their station could reasonably justify. Thanks to that, I was able to walk right past without drawing any particular suspicion.
The moment I stepped inside the citadel, the familiar coolness of the stone corridors washed over me. I followed the hallway to my private chamber, where Eliza was already preparing tea.
“You've returned, my lady.”
Eliza turned her head as she spoke, and her gaze settled on my armor.
“Your opponent in the duel… you didn't seriously wound him, I trust? And… where is Bielka? What happened?”
“An unexpected situation has arisen, I fear. Eliza—the armor.”
With Eliza's help, I began stripping off my armor in haste as I explained.
“Eliza, there are two people hiding in the storeroom right now. Bielka and Hildegard Pechter. You must bring them safely to my room—without a single soul seeing them.”
A slightly grave look crossed Eliza's face.
“So this Pechter is the Empire-born mercenary you spoke of before. What has happened with her?”
“There's no time for a long explanation, I fear. Hildegard is being hunted by some faction of the Empire, and I've decided to help her.”
Eliza studied me for a moment, then gave a faint smile and nodded. “Understood, my lady. As always, this humble maid shall assist you in whatever way she can.”
There was a subtle note of reproach tucked into the tail end of her words, but she asked nothing further and moved straight to action.
This was the thing about Eliza I was always grateful for. Questions could wait; action came first.
Once Eliza left the room, I shed the full plate armor entirely and hid the shield beneath the bed. After changing back into my usual dress, I checked my appearance in the mirror.
Golden drill ringlets and ruby-red eyes gazed back at me. I had returned, flawlessly, to my everyday self: the desuwa lady, Katerina Eisenmark.
'No one in the citadel would ever imagine, even in their wildest dreams, that I was the armored knight from earlier.'
About ten minutes later, the door opened carefully and Eliza ushered in Bielka and Hildegard.
Bielka entered my room with the ease of familiarity, but Hildegard hesitated at the threshold. Her eyes swept quickly around the chamber—the bed, the red velvet curtains, the thick books and documents stacked on the desk, the swords and shields mounted on the walls.
“Welcome to my room, Lady Pechter, I do say.”
At my courteous words, Hildegard limped into the room on her sore ankle. Only now did the tension seem to drain from her face. She stopped in the middle of the room and let out a long, deep breath.
“Please, call me Hildegard, my lady. For what you have done for me… I thank you, sincerely. If it weren't for you, I would be…”
“Say no more. Eliza—her treatment, if you please.”
Before I had even finished speaking, Eliza stepped up to Hildegard and examined her injured ankle.
“A simple sprain. My healing arts will mend it in no time.”
A soft green light welled up from Eliza's fingertips and wrapped itself around Hildegard's ankle. A moment later, Hildegard experimentally moved her foot, stared in astonishment, and nodded.
“Remarkable. The pain is almost entirely gone. This is the first time I've ever seen a mage up close like this.”
'Well, naturally.'
Mages were the sort of beings one normally only encountered in the courts of the great nobility—a count's household and above, at minimum.
Hildegard had said she'd been caught up in a territorial dispute between noble houses in the eastern Empire, but in the end she was merely a mercenary. She would never have crossed paths with a mage in her line of work.
And my maid Eliza was, even among mages, something exceptionally rare.
Ordinarily, even the most gifted mages resonated with two magical forces at most. Eliza, by my own knowledge, resonated with at least three—guardian resonance, healing resonance, and elemental resonance.
And a mage of that caliber was currently working as my self-proclaimed maid. Why, I couldn't say even after racking my memory of Katerina's past. That secret likely belonged to Eliza alone.
Just then, Bielka went to the window and peered out through a gap in the curtains.
“Um—there are armed men talking at the citadel gate!”
We all crowded to the window. Just as Bielka said, a group clad in Empire-style armor was speaking with Woldin, captain of the royal guard.
Even from a distance, Woldin looked to be in a thoroughly foul mood, shaking his head in flat refusal and barking at them more than once.
'Woldin is far above the station of a mere legal officer to begin with—he'd never negotiate with one directly. But since it happens to be Empire scum, I suppose he had no choice…'
“Worry not, if you please. They will never set foot inside the citadel. Captain Woldin admits no one without my direct order, he does not.”
I spoke with complete confidence.
“And this is the Eisenmark Grand Duchy. Even an imperial legal officer has no authority whatsoever here.”
Truthfully, I didn't know every clause of the treaties with the Empire by heart—but between an imperial legal officer and Katerina Eisenmark, daughter of the Grand Duke, there existed a gulf of rank that could never, under any circumstances, be crossed. If I chose to stand on my dignity, there was nothing those wretches could do about it.
Laika sighed, sat down in a chair, and leaned back.
“I know I'm saying this only now, but… this was not a pleasant meeting, my lady. You've been dragged into all of this trouble because of me…”
I smiled at her.
“On the contrary, I found it quite enjoyable, I do say. And my desire for you remains as strong as ever. Become my retainer, if you please. Then I shall defend you from the Empire with every ounce of power I possess.”
Laika fell silent for a moment, then ran a hand through her blue hair and gave a wry laugh.
“Truly… you do make an offer a person cannot refuse.”
Looking out the window, I saw the group in Empire-style armor being driven away from the citadel gates. Along with them, the sun was beginning to sink, drawing long shadows across the city.
'The day I gained a new subordinate—and friend, I do declare… it is.'
I asked Eliza to prepare tea and refreshments. A long conversation awaited us.