Chapter 107
After leaving Brituang's office, I headed first to the room assigned to . Seeing the room would tell just how far my standing had risen.
On paper, I was still an apprentice, but I was also the Young Lady's Attending Secretary, so things were bound to be sowhat different.
Brituang had pointed out that I was still an apprentice, but the fact that he had arranged my lodgings near the Young Lady's quarters made it clear that he had taken considerable care with the matter.
And when I arrived at my room, the person standing guard outside it was soone I had never expected.
"What are you doing here?"
"......"
Arthas let out a sigh and shook his head. Judging by how silent he was, he seed a little embarrassed.
Surely not.
"Did they order you to guard my room? Hahahaha. This is priceless! An apprentice knight who was doing quite well back at the main house, reduced to guarding the quarters of an apprentice butler. If Rohan heard this, he would laugh himself sick."
"Please, just quietly walk past and let it go......"
"Hahahaha!"
The whole thing was so unexpected that I burst into laughter. Then again, since he was participating in this mission as my lieutenant, it was not so strange that he had been assigned to guard my room.
It was exactly the sort of duty Arthas's pride would never tolerate, but the knight order here had its own rules, and he would have had no choice but to obey.
"Stay strong, my friend."
Patting the dejected Arthas on the shoulder, I went inside.
The room slled pleasant. It had that soft scent of freshly laundered cloth, like clean cotton. There were curtains on the windows, and a round table where guests could be received.
"This is nice."
I looked around the room with satisfaction.
When I turned my head, I saw that instead of a narrow, uncomfortable bed, there was a clean, spacious one. There was even a large mirror for dressing.
"Hm? What is that?"
But there was another door inside the room.
It was a small door. Was there another room beyond it? Curious, I opened it.
"So it is a bath chamber."
There was a wooden tub inside. Beside it stood a basket filled with flower petals.
At a glance, this was clearly not the sort of place ant for a re butler apprentice. It seed more like a room reserved for receiving guests, and sohow it had been given to .
I was no noble, and no one would be heating water for , but that was a simple problem to solve with Mana. In fact, because the weather had been rather hot lately, I had already been secretly cooling water with Mana before drinking it.
Naturally, heating water to a boil was possible as well. If one used Mana in daily life, it made for an astonishingly comfortable existence.
"This is nice. It almost feels like I have checked into a hotel."
I stepped back outside.
My luggage was arranged neatly off to one side. A quick inspection told that nothing seed to be missing.
I had not brought all that much with to begin with. Most of my luggage consisted of bullets. It would not be easy to manufacture ammunition fitted to my gun's specifications here in the Royal Capital.
Just then, the door opened and Arwen ca in.
"Did you check your things?"
"Everything seems in order. Were you the one who moved them?"
"No. I asked soone else to do it. I was too busy taking care of the Young Lady. Still, the people here were very helpful, so that was fortunate."
"And the Young Lady?"
"She is asleep."
I nodded. The journey here had not been easy. For soone as thoroughly hobound as Young Lady Sapiela, enduring it must have been rather difficult.
Since Arwen was here, there was sothing I wanted to ask.
"Which room is the Young Lady's?"
At my question, Arwen beckoned outside. The room she pointed to seed to be the one the Young Lady was using.
It was exactly two rooms away from mine. That was quite close. If only my quarters back at the main house were that near the Young Lady's residence.
"What are you planning to do now?"
"Nothing in particular. We have free ti until dinner, so I was thinking of heading out for a bit."
"Ah, can I co with you? I was thinking of going out too."
Arwen asked with a bright smile. In contrast, I looked at her sternly.
"And what do you intend to do if the Young Lady asks for you while you are out?"
"The Young Lady told to rest well today. Still, I thought I might go out and look around a little, but since it is my first ti here, I am a bit scared......"
"Is that so?"
"Co with . Please?"
She was asking for help. In the Royal Capital, I was the only person she could truly rely on right now.
That put in a difficult position.
It was not easy to refuse her request. Usually I was the one asking her for help when I needed sothing, so telling her no now, when she was the one asking, felt uncomfortable. It would have made seem completely selfish.
But it would be a problem if Arwen got involved in what I needed to do after going out. It had to do with tis. I had not brought the Face Mask all the way here just for show.
Since there was no Gate or Teleport I could use, I needed to stay in regular contact with my subordinates.
That was why, before leaving the territory, I had secured a way to use ssenger Pigeons.
This world had an established ssenger Pigeon service for delivering letters, and so long as one paid the proper fee, it was possible to use routes traveling between Adeline Territory and the Royal Capital.
It could not compare to using a phone or sending a ssage, but it was still far better than having nothing at all.
So I had planned to send off one ssage saying that I had arrived safely in the Royal Capital, and to check whether any letters had co for as well.
Soone as thorough as Eluna would surely have sent a letter ahead of ti.
It had taken dozens of days to reach the Royal Capital. In all that ti, sothing must have happened. My intuition was sounding the alarm sharply.
Then, all at once, a good idea occurred to .
"That might work."
I turned and looked at Arthas, who was standing guard by the door. The instant our eyes t, he deliberately turned his gaze away as if pretending not to notice.
I could not help laughing. At tis like this, there really were monts when he resembled Rohan.
"Arthas."
"What?"
"What exactly is your assignnt? To guard , or to guard my room?"
"Are you making fun of ?"
He ran a hand over his sword. At this rate, it felt less like he was guarding and more like he intended to kill .
"Do not misunderstand . I am asking seriously."
"......Obviously my assignnt is to guard you. I was told to carry out my duties as your lieutenant properly. If you go out, I am supposed to follow."
"Then take Arwen out with you for a while."
"Out?"
"Get so air, buy a few things. Arwen says she wants to go out, but I do not feel entirely comfortable sending her alone. What do you say? That sounds better than standing guard here, does it not?"
When I glanced at Arwen, she smiled and nodded enthusiastically. She truly ant it. Apparently, it did not particularly matter to her whether it was or soone else.
Since the two of them were still sowhat awkward with one another, Arthas asked carefully,
"That would be better for , sure, but would it really be all right for to leave my post so casually?"
"I am going out too, so it should be fine. We can smooth things over with the higher-ups well enough. For now, let us all leave the mansion together."
"All right, then let us go!"
Each of us had a different purpose in mind, but just like that we joined forces and headed for the front gate together.
It was easy enough to leave the mansion. At the main house, one needed a permit to go out or stay overnight elsewhere, but we were here on active duty, so we were free to co and go.
More than anything, the people at the branch residence were favorably disposed toward . That was thanks to the sheer physical distance from the main house. By the ti rumors traveled all the way here, they had already grown badly distorted.
I had briefly had a chance to speak with a few people, and the guess they had arrived at was that although I appeared to be only a butler apprentice, my true identity was actually a secret operative of the house.
Well, if one looked only at the facts, I was intelligent and strong, so it was not exactly wrong.
"Are you heading out?"
"Does it not look like it?"
"Would you perhaps require a guide? The Royal Capital is extrely large, and you might lose your way......"
"Do I look like this is my first ti in the Royal Capital? Do not take lightly!"
"M-my apologies. I am sorry."
That was part of a conversation Arthas had with so soldier right before we passed through the front gate. He really does take his frustrations out on people. I should count myself fortunate that Arthas is not my superior.
Once we were out the front gate, we entered an alley lined with tightly packed houses. We paused there for a mont and finished making our plan.
"We will have to co back together, so let us et outside at a fixed ti. What ti would be good?"
"How about seven? Arwen will probably need at least that much ti to be satisfied."
At Arthas's suggestion, Arwen nodded vigorously. I could practically hear her heart beating from here. Her mind was already halfway to the comrcial district.
"All right. Then when the seven o'clock bell rings, we et in this alley. Sorry to repeat myself, but take good care of Arwen."
"Do not worry about that. But where are you going?"
"Just out for so air."
I raised a hand and slipped out of the alley into another one nearby. Once I had checked my surroundings and confird there was no one around, I put on the Face Mask.
Now it was ti to do what I had to do, not as Dilen, but as Suhyeon.
***
The people of the Royal Capital were kind. The city was so vast and the streets so tangled that it had not been easy to find the post office, but I had finally managed to track it down by asking around.
There was a signboard plaque hanging out front, engraved with the image of a pigeon carrying a letter in its beak, so this had to be the ssenger Pigeon Center.
I opened the door and went inside.
There were three people standing behind the counter. Two n and one woman. Since they were wearing uniforms, they seed to be reception clerks. There were not many custors.
The one who received was the man standing farthest to the left.
"Welco. How may I assist you?"
"I would like to confirm my ssenger Pigeon activation. My na is Suhyeon of the tis Trading Company."
"Mr. Suhyeon, it is a pleasure to et you. Please wait just a mont. Once I confirm the record, I will proceed with the activation process."
He was remarkably courteous. He opened a large drawer behind him and began sorting through docunts separated by color.
After so ti, he pulled out one file and examined it carefully.
With a pleasant smile, he ca back to the counter.
"Thank you for waiting. Mr. Suhyeon, I have confird your application. You selected the route connecting Saint Lucia and Adelaina. The fee was paid in advance as well. If you would sign here, you may begin using the service imdiately."
He held out a pen and ink. I dipped the pen and signed with practiced elegance.
At least within the Alphrost Kingdom, most contracts were concluded by signature. There were cases where seals were used instead, but those were quite limited.
That was why I had created a handso signature and practiced it. Thanks to that, I could now sign my na with style.
"Your service has now been activated. Shall I also check whether any new ssenger Pigeons have arrived for you?"
"Yes."
"It may take a little ti. Please sit and wait comfortably. Would you like to prepare sothing for you to drink?"
"That will not be necessary."
I took a seat and waited. Now and then people ca in to use the ssenger Pigeon service, though not many. Most of them were dressed rather well.
The service was fairly expensive, and anyone without serious business had no reason to use ssenger Pigeons in the first place.
If ti did not matter too much, it was far better to use a hand-carried courier, which cost much less.
"Thank you for waiting. There are two new docunts for you. Please confirm receipt."
I signed for both docunts, then stepped outside carrying the two notes. There happened to be a bench nearby, so I sat down comfortably and crossed my legs.
When I opened the notes, nothing was written on them. They were clearly from Eluna.
I let Mana flow into them.
VMMMM.
Across the blank notes, black writing slowly began to appear, as though a curtain were being drawn back.
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