Chapter 29: Digging a Hole

The warlords of the borderlands.

That’s what people often called the lords of the Diorsion territory.

Diorsion was not originally the land of humans.

It was a land pioneered by the hands of people who had migrated from the center for various reasons—noble sons who had been pushed out of succession, criminals who had left their hometowns, and tenant farmers who came seeking an opportunity, thinking they could claim their own land.

And even now, it was still being pioneered, little by little.

People filled with a dogged determination to better themselves.

Rough companions.

Those who lived while bickering with the dragonkin who, despite the passage of thousands of years, were still rooted in various places and refused to leave their homeland.

And what about the magical beasts that would multiply without knowing their place if not trampled down from time to time?

That is why the lords of the Diorsion territory were mostly people who had already served as the heads of a group and as their own lords even before they were officially appointed and became vassals of the emperor.

That is why—warlords.

The warlords of the borderlands. People called them that with hearts full of disdain.

“The best customers.” That was Therese’s assessment of the Diorsion lords.

They could not live without power.

That is why, even while pledging allegiance to the emperor and offering prayers to the Lord, they still worshipped power.

They were people who desired the faint smoke rising from the muzzle of a gun and a hole in a bad guy’s head more than a single blessing bestowed by a priest acting on behalf of the Lord.

“The reason we’ve never gone to sell things to those regulars of the borderlands is simple. It’s because there was no need for me to go.”
“A need, you say.”
“I’m a specialist in bad deeds, so to speak. Selling self-defense items to the citizens of the same empire is a good deed, so it’s not my job, but the job of my father—the head of the family and the chancellor of Eclisia—acting on behalf of the name of Eclisia. And it’s also a job that my younger brother will take over when he inherits the family in the future.”
“Ah….”
“Elsa may not know, but the Tareia family probably benefited quite a bit from Jurden-made weapons disguised as Eclisian weapons.”

After saying that much, Therese grinned.

Therese and I were now at the Imperial Capital Airport.

The Imperial Capital Airport was built on a very large tree.

It was the size of a mountain—the kind that is commonly called a world tree.

The sight of winged airships docked side by side on large branches was not just refreshing—it once again shattered my understanding of this world.

It’s fantasy, but it’s hard to adapt….

But why are we here?

“……This is bad, Cornelia. We have to go back.”
“Pardon?!”

Therese, who had been smiling, suddenly said that, with a very surprised expression.

She looked at me with a rather urgent face.

I went along with Therese, not overreacting too much.

“Let’s go back. Let’s contact those guys later, and for now, it’s better to go back.”
“My lady, the Tareia side must have had a hard time making contact—”

As if cutting off my words, Therese spread a small barrier spell.

It was a barrier Therese would naturally cast whenever she went outside, and it had various effects—protection, soundproofing, and prevention of magic interference.

It meant she cast it belatedly.

“Let’s go back.”
“I’m sorry, my lady.”

The play is over.

It’s true that Elsa Tareia made contact—of course, it was just a simple party invitation—and it’s also true that the Jurden family sold weapons to the warlords of the borderlands in a very legal way under the name of the Eclisian royal family.

Therese’s confession that she was a specialist in bad deeds was also something she had never explained in detail before, but the ones who were listening would probably believe it to be true.

“What do you think, Cornelia? Did they take the bait?”
“They seem quite busy.”

When I rolled my eyes slightly, the suspicious people I saw here and there at the airport weren’t letting their guard down around us. At the same time, they were scrambling to make various contacts.

Those friends seemed to have hidden themselves as best they could, and judging by their presence, they were inquisitors or police or something. They seemed to be elites—but why were they so easy for me to see—

There’s no need to think too hard.

They must be using stealth magic or presence-reduction spells or something, and it’s just that such things don’t work on me.

“Yes. That’s a relief.”
“But, my lady. If Orlevette himself doesn’t go to the Tareia territory to investigate, won’t it be meaningless in the end?”
“He won’t be able to not go. Even if they are the warlords of the borderlands, the marquis—hmm. No. In this case, it would be better to say the opposite: Even if he is a marquis, he is a warlord of the borderlands.”

Of course, Orlevette would want to investigate all the weapons that flowed into the Tareia territory.

In his eyes, the current situation would appear as: The Tareia territory tried to make contact with Therese to do something illegal, but failed due to Therese’s counter-espionage.

If he stupidly just charges in thinking he’s caught a big fish—that would be the best outcome.

Of course, even if it seemed contrived, they couldn’t just cover it up and move on.

They would have to confirm it, wouldn’t they?

Up to this point, it’s natural, but Therese’s next words carried a deeper meaning.

In order to make the warlords of the borderlands—who didn’t like them very much anyway—cooperate with the investigation, whether they liked it or not, Orlevette would have to send his subordinates to watch Therese, and he himself would have to go to Diorsion.

Even if he tried to investigate Therese by presenting a conversation recording or something here in the imperial capital of Drakilaina, she could simply deny it by saying, “What bad deeds?”

And since Elsa really didn’t know anything, she wouldn’t be able to give him the answer he wanted.

Of course, in my opinion, there’s a possibility that Orlevette would simply assert, “This is a futile act that Therese concocted to avoid my watch for a while,” and not budge.

Let’s trust the young lady.

Yes.

“When things seem to be going well, I get a bad feeling for no reason.”
“As expected of Cornelia. We’re on the same page. Actually, I also get anxious when things are solved too easily.”
“You’re always anxious, my lady.”
“It’s a truth with no falsehood, so I don’t know if you said it as a joke or not.”
“Ahaha. Please think of it as a cute gesture.”

Therese puffed out her cheeks.

Cute.

“What are you grinning about…”
“C—ahem. I’m sorry. I got too relaxed.”
“Cornelia always does well at the right time and place, so a little bit is fine. Just a little bit.”

Yes, just a little bit.

Three times.

Is she sulking?

Ah.

The smile won’t leave my face.

What should I do?

“Ah, really. Cornelia, you—”

The young lady was about to say something, but she stopped.

She pouted her lips slightly as if she didn’t like it, and her eyes trembled slightly, but in the end, she let out a long sigh.

“Never mind. You’ll be very busy this week, Cornelia, so I’ll forgive you for anything. Do as you please.”
“……Ah.”

She said that so easily, waving her arm at me.

Something… cooled down in an instant.

No, it’s true that she’s very lovely.

Well.

It is true.

“My lady.”
“Hmm?”
“You must never say that to anyone else but me.”
“Huh? Uh?”

When I came to my senses, I had taken both of the young lady’s hands in my own and was saying that.

I was surprised by the sudden forcefulness of my own body, so I wonder how the young lady felt.

“I-I won’t. What, so suddenly.”
“Forgiving everything, or letting me do as I please.”
“I’ll never do it. It was a slip of the tongue. Thinking about it again, it is a dangerous thing to say, as you said.”
“It’s okay to say it to me.”
“Something about the direction seems strange. You’re saying this because you’re worried about me, right, Cornelia?”
“You must never say it to anyone else!!”

Of course, I’m saying this because I’m worried about Therese.

To a young lady character, a line like that is the same as a female knight character’s Kuh, kill me.

The direction and method aside, it’s the same in that it’s a line said just before being conquered.

Anyway.

I wish she wouldn’t say it to anyone else.

“Then I have a promise I want from you too, Cornelia.”
“Pardon? If it’s your command, my lady—”
“It’s not a command, it’s a promise.”

Therese’s face took on a slightly serious expression.

I also wiped my expression to match hers and waited for her words.

“Don’t get hurt this time.”

That.

I don’t want to.

I don’t want to promise.

Therese had said that she would hurt others as much as she wanted, as long as she herself wasn’t hurt.

That was Therese’s honest selfishness, and I fell for it.

That’s how I decided to become a single blade thrust from the tip of the sword that Therese aims.

As Therese wishes, I will simply cut down her enemies.

Knowing that I am committing a wrong act, to give myself self-consolation, I entrusted my doubts, my conscience, my selfishness, my weakness—all of it—to Therese.

My pain must be Therese’s pain.

Just as Therese entrusted her pain to me, I also entrusted my guilt to her.

But, if Therese tries to avoid even that—

I…

“……I’ll try.”

“Are you promising me?”

“Come on, my lady. I don’t like being hurt either.” I couldn’t answer properly.