Chapter 5
The Male Lead Went Crazy for the Troublesome Villainess — Episode 5
At the emperor's gesture, Kael stepped forward. As he raised his sword, golden aura blazed up along the blade.
"Waaaaaah!"
The enormous roar that shook the square sent the knights' morale soaring in an instant. Kael knew that, and he was deliberately stoking their fervor. It was a performance meant to lift the knights' spirits.
"Do not be afraid! We will surely return victorious!"
The elite troops lined up at the front behind Kael raised their weapons as well. Spears and bows, swords and axes. Aura flared from weapons of every kind. It was not as strong as Kael's, but it shone like brilliant sunlight, as if lighting the way to hope.
"Waaaaaah!"
The roar rang out once more.
The young lady beside me was also streaming tears as she raised the sword she had been issued for the expedition with her bone-thin hands. I glanced around, then raised my sword too.
The expedition members raised their weapons as well.
"Golden Lily Expedition! Hope of the Empire! We march now!"
When the emperor's declaration ended, the expedition formed ranks and began to march. Leaving the square, they advanced toward the imperial palace gates. The crowd scattered flower petals to send them off.
I walked in the ranks too. Every time I moved, the hidden pouches jingled.
Oops. I clutched the pouch tight. Actually, I had also slipped a hand into the duke's safe. The lock was flimsier than I expected, and after a few good pulls the metal bent. I had been so nervous at dawn, afraid it might make a sound. I couldn't get caught here.
As the column passed through the gates, an old woman cried out through her tears.
"Please come back alive!"
The crowd scattered flowers along our path. They were golden petals. The Golden Lily, blooming year-round. It was the symbol of the empire, and the symbol of hope.
I smiled brightly as I stepped on those petals.
Inside my pouch, gold coins and jewels clinked and knocked against one another. Right now, that was my only hope.
Ah, what a shame.
I could have brought more.
* * *
It was the second day since the expedition had set out. After arriving at Rainford, the first stopover, a camp was set up on a wide open lot near the village.
Many of them had never walked this long before. The young lady who had raised her sword with bone-thin arms was drenched in sweat and dragging her feet.
"Hah, haah!"
"Are you all right?"
"I-I-I'm all right."
She did not look all right at all. Her face had gone pale, and she looked like she might topple forward at any moment. When I handed her some water, the woman gulped it down.
Judging by the fact that her face was not one from Rosana's memories, she had most likely come up from the provinces.
"What's your name?"
"I-I-I'm...... I'm Vanessa. I came as the representative of House Keston."
Ah, House Keston.
So she was a woman they had brought in with money after all. It seemed they had paid to bring in the daughter of a fallen lower noble family. Her speech and bearing still had a noble air, but her rough hands and repeatedly mended clothes plainly showed long-standing poverty. I remembered House Keston as having only a son. They had clearly adopted her into the family as a sacrificial stand-in.
The woman rubbed her forehead with a trembling hand. Then she gave me a faint smile.
"A-are you all right, my lady?"
"Me? I'm fine."
Aside from the dress getting in the way, I really was fine. All that chicken breast I had eaten over the past month to build muscle had paid off.
"Still, they say we're camping here, so rest a bit in the meantime. Hmm, you'll be pretty sore, so taking this before you sleep should help."
The safe and the dressing room were not the only places I had cleaned out before leaving. A noble house of ducal rank was bound to keep at least one dedicated physician. Naturally, I had not passed up the dispensary either. I had taken every medicine there was, and among them was one that worked well for muscle soreness.
When I untied one of the many pouches hanging under my skirt and handed over the medicine, Vanessa looked surprised.
"Thank you."
I smiled faintly as I watched Vanessa take the medicine and swallow it without hesitation.
You'd better get a good night's sleep.
As long as we shared a tent, she needed to be sound asleep if I was going to slip out secretly.
Because at dawn tomorrow, there was somewhere I absolutely had to go.
Sleep well.
* * *
The next day, at dawn.
Kael entered Rainford with two escort knights.
A market opened in Rainford every dawn, and this was just the hour when it was getting started.
The black market.
It was a market said to sell just about anything. He had obtained word that the item he was looking for had appeared there.
He had heard that the black market mainly dealt with mercenaries, so dangerous types ran the place. Moreover, in times like these, prohibited goods and stolen items of dubious origin showed up regularly.
The sword rumored to be appearing this time was the same.
The expedition was a complete mess, full of people who could not even march properly. On top of that, there was a woman mixed in wearing a dress like a wedding cake.
His former fiancée, whom Duke Ardena had forced into the expedition.
He did not want to look at her, did not even want to think of her, yet the woman kept drawing his eye. With a splendid dress utterly unsuited to marching.
But was Rosana the only problem?
The expedition was little better than a rabble. He had to make this expedition succeed while leading people who could not even hold a sword properly. They were not a force that would help; rather, they were baggage he had to protect.
Before reaching the first destination, Kael intended to find a way to reassign about half of them to rear-support roles. Once the unnecessary people were weeded out, he would also be able to clearly determine who among the rest was actually useful.
Kael planned to invest the resources freed up by cutting unnecessary personnel in better weapons and equipment.
In chaotic times like these, all sorts of things poured into the black market. Among them were legendary weapons. That was because many people were selling off everything valuable in order to leave for safer places.
Right now, Kael was on his way to obtain those items that had sat hidden in deep vaults before making their way onto the market.
The moment Kael arrived at the market entrance and was about to step inside.
He spotted a familiar hem of a dress.
'Rosana?'
Kael frowned. Why in the world was that woman here? Had she come to buy jewels? At a time like this? In this situation? It was absurd.
Kael clenched his teeth. That woman was included among the baggage he absolutely had to protect. He was, damnably, the crown prince of the empire, a man with a duty to protect all imperial citizens.
Kael gradually closed the distance between himself and Rosana. At this rate, he would catch up soon. But the moment he rounded a corner into an alley, Rosana vanished from sight without a trace.
Kael stopped and looked around. She had definitely headed this way, yet not even a trace remained.
He blinked, grasping at empty air.
What was that just now?
* * *
A decorative dagger that was pretty and nothing more could not even block a monster's claws. I needed a real, usable weapon.
I pulled my hood down low and headed for the back alleys of the village. According to the information from the original novel, Rainford was near the border, so a great deal of smuggled goods were traded there. Naturally, I should be able to get a good weapon too.
Besides, this was where Kael would encounter the greatest weapon of his life. That one I would leave for him, since he needed it to save the world. I had to find a different decent weapon.
When I stepped into the black market, it was crowded with visitors despite the early hour.
They haven't taken all the good stuff, have they?
After buying a weapon, I also needed to get clothes to wear on the expedition. We had departed in such a rush that I had not even prepared proper spare clothes. The expedition would set out as soon as breakfast was over, so I had to get back before then.
I passed through alley after alley and went into the deepest part. I remembered how the original novel had described it: "the Hersen Weapon Shop, at the very back of the black market, in a dead-end alley." I had thought it couldn't be real, but there it actually was.
At the end of an alley where no one set foot, there stood a shabby smithy without even a sign. On the frame of the firmly shut door, only a small sword emblem was faintly carved.
Hersen Weapon Shop.
According to the original novel, every weapon in the Hersen Weapon Shop was decent. Kael had bought several weapons here too. I remembered that he had kept one for himself and distributed the rest to his closest subordinates.
On the outside it looked like a closed smithy, but in reality it was a place that secretly handled weapons of unverifiable origin and arms whose trade was prohibited in the empire.
"What are you looking for?"
The shabby weapon shop owner asked. I lowered my voice as much as I could and answered.
"For actual combat. Something sturdy and light. I'm mainly looking at daggers."
Even before, I had mainly used guns or daggers, so daggers were more comfortable for me. As I said what I wanted, I showed a gold coin. I was demonstrating that I had enough to pay even for a rare item.
The owner's eyes gleamed.
"In troubled times, you need a dagger more than a dress. This way."
I followed the owner deeper into the shop, and the various weapons hanging on the walls came into view all at once. I slowly scanned them, then stopped in front of one dagger.
This is it.
It was about the length of a forearm, but its balance was perfect. The elegant blade with a faint blue sheen looked more than capable of slicing through a monster's hide. I swallowed hard.
My soul was telling me one thing: I absolutely had to buy this.