A Rolling Stone (6)
A Rolling Stone (6)
"Mm......."
Sophia Bianchi deliberated for several seconds, then let out a long sigh.
"So it seems I was not caught. You knew from the very beginning."
That was true, but she was probably saying it out of confidence that she would never have been caught on her own.
I didn't bother to contradict her. Pointlessly interrupting would only waste time.
"In that case, there's no need to hide anything. Let's just exchange whatever information we each need."
Watching Sophia Bianchi continue speaking, I was a little surprised. No—thinking about it again, maybe it wasn't so surprising after all.
In the original work, she was a character who appeared in many scenes where she refused to answer the protagonist's questions with a high-handed attitude and only said what she wanted to say. But that was an attitude she could afford to take because she had that much confidence in her own skill.
Since I had beaten her once in a duel, she probably knew there was no point in putting on that kind of display in front of me.
"Yes, I am a person from the Holy State, just as Your Imperial Highness surmised."
She had even switched from addressing me as 'Miss Sylvia' to 'Your Imperial Highness.'
"The reason I came here...... was because of an order from the Holy State to gather information on Your Imperial Highness."
"And by 'information on me' you mean?"
"They would want to know more about your ability to turn the tide of an entire battlefield through your strength alone. To be honest, I do not know the details either. The cardinals are famous for issuing orders without explaining much."
"To prepare for the possibility that you might be discovered and detained?"
"Yes, well......."
At my question, a flicker of displeasure crossed Sophia Bianchi's face. Given her confidence in her skills, she must have imagined there was no possibility of being caught and detained in the first place.
"There's also the matter of Eliza."
Seeing her mention Berati by baptismal name, the Holy State must have grown more cautious since Berati was captured by the Empire. That much was mentioned in the original story.
"Is there any other reason?"
Sophia Bianchi shrugged her shoulders.
"The rest is information that can't be obtained unless one meets His Imperial Majesty face to face, rather than Your Imperial Highness. Fundamentally, my assigned mission is to investigate various things about Your Imperial Highness. Anything beyond that would be nice to know, but if not, so be it...... that sort of thing."
Sophia Bianchi's attitude wasn't entirely unchanged. Compared to how she presented herself in front of others, she'd become a little more relaxed. Especially her gestures.
"Why go to the trouble of monitoring me in particular? I'm hardly the only imperial princess or prince."
"Because Your Imperial Highness is uniquely full of peculiarities."
At my question, Sophia Bianchi answered as though it were obvious.
"Normally, a gun is something taken up by those who lack the talent for swordsmanship, so they can join combat as quickly as possible. A truly talented person can see the muzzle turning and avoid entering the bullet's trajectory altogether...... besides, wielding a gun doesn't really feel like honing your talent. Ah, I don't mean to disparage Your Imperial Highness."
Having hurriedly tacked on that last remark, Sophia quickly continued with the rest of her explanation.
"But when they see Your Imperial Highness's record, their thinking changes. Not every soldier can become like Your Imperial Highness, but if they could cultivate troops who could reach even a tenth of your skill...... well, you see. No matter how strong a soldier is, they can't exist on two battlefields at once. Even if you can hold one battlefield, if you lose everywhere else, the war is lost, isn't it? And it's not as though the Empire lacks skilled swordsmen."
"So, you're saying they were attempting to recruit me?"
"It was less recruitment and more an order to learn Your Imperial Highness's methods of movement by whatever means possible."
Sophia Bianchi spoke in a rather deflated-sounding voice.
In short, to summarize...... she'd been ordered to copy a combat method of mine that hadn't even been codified into a manual yet.
And having heard the story up to that point, I felt like I was starting to understand something.
My combat method was fundamentally the product of melting together my shallow military-enthusiast knowledge with as much of my real combat experience as possible. Normally, completing a combat method in such a short time would be difficult, but I'd been through so many battles it was hard to compare with anyone else. I'd actually been hit by bullets and shrapnel plenty of times.
I'd fought genuinely for survival, so it could be said that this combat method held corresponding value.
Huh.
I was a little flustered by the answer because I hadn't expected it.
It had never occurred to me that someone might approach me because there was something about me that held value.
"Well, and also......."
Sophia Bianchi shrugged her shoulders once more and added,
"Considering that the current Emperor is a meritocrat, isn't it possible that Your Imperial Highness could become the next emperor if things go well? They might have thought it prudent to place a friend of similar age near you in advance. Though I would not know whether their thinking went that far."
Ah, I see.
Berati was still detained in the Empire. In fact, she was currently in a coma and couldn't even hold a proper conversation.
No matter how advanced magic might be, long-distance communication was impossible, and the setting was one where wireless communication equipment hadn't yet properly developed.
What was it the original developers had said?
Radio technology was supposed to have just been introduced at the game's starting point, but because electrical technology itself hadn't been properly developed, radio technology using electromagnetic waves hadn't advanced either. They had fighter aircraft, but rather than radio communication, they expressed intent through hand signals from the co-pilot or by the light of built-in Mana Stones.
The information Berati had obtained hadn't been transmitted to the Holy State. So they must have wanted to insert a new operative using a somewhat safer method somehow.
"......."
It felt a little strange.
"So, Your Imperial Highness, wouldn't you like to be friends? If necessary, you could even make deals with the Holy State, couldn't you? In truth, even if we trained soldiers that way, there's no way we could fight the Empire and win."
I quietly regarded Sophia Bianchi as she tried to coax me a little, then opened my mouth.
"Are you aware that not long ago, an incident took place at the Imperial Palace?"
"...... There was something, wasn't there?"
At my words, Sophia Bianchi's eyes widened slightly.
"It was the incident in which Lucas stormed the palace. Quite a few knights and soldiers were killed or injured."
"Ah......."
"Lucas was wearing vestments and holding the Sword of Jericho in his hand. I presume he committed some act within the Holy State. What do you say? Did something happen in the Holy State?"
At my question, Sophia Bianchi stared at me blankly with her mouth half-open.
"Ah, if you suddenly give me high-grade information like that, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say......."
"......."
When I glared wordlessly at Sophia Bianchi, a somewhat bewildered expression crossed her face.
"The Holy State's leadership is a thoroughly secretive body. If they decide the person receiving orders doesn't need to know, they absolutely never provide information. I did hear that something had happened in the Holy State, but I know nothing beyond that. I only just learned from you that the one who infiltrated was an imperial prince."
Huh.
"I am originally from the Holy State, but I lived in Lutetia from a young age to build this identity. I'm confident in my skills, and the Holy State does trust me...... but beyond the knowledge I needed when I came here, I've never received anything else. My apologies."
I quietly studied Sophia Bianchi. When my gaze met her squarely, she fidgeted as if uncomfortable.
The atmosphere had completely reversed from just moments earlier, when she'd been staring straight at me and making me uncomfortable.
The thought crossed my mind that Sophia Bianchi might be hiding the truth from me...... but, well. Even in the original story, she consistently wore a composed expression out of confidence in her skills, but once she lost, she was a character who lacked the talent for concealing her emotions—to the point of being genuinely shocked into speechlessness.
She had been concealing her true attitude to some degree and revealed her genuine self during our conversation just now, but aside from behaving like she'd relaxed a little, nothing had really changed much either.
Right, no matter what kind of character she was, she was only fifteen right now. Even next year, the point of the main story's second installment, she'd only be sixteen.
An age when the ego is still overgrown and you think you're special.
Perhaps that self-assured attitude from the main story came about after she had solidly confirmed her own abilities.
...... Ah.
I let out a long breath.
Thinking about it that way brought on a wave of disillusionment.
A rolling stone, or whatever else. In the end, she was really no different from a child who'd just transferred in. Even the Holy State that had given her the mission seemed to know it.
Had I been the only one taking this too seriously?
Feeling pointlessly embarrassed for myself, I thought.
Again.