“Tell me, Eve…”
“What is it, Your Highness?”
“What do you think of our cute mastermind? I mean, she pinned these guys almost right away, didn’t she?” I asked my maid while clearing my blades on one of the newly-made rags around. “She got their hideouts and an estimate of enemies inside just by playing with numbers. That can’t be normal…”
“I don’t know, Your Highness… I’m ashamed to say, but her explanation was a little beyond me.” The quiet dark-haired maid answered while breaking the locks of the safe boxes in the area with her bare hands. “But I’m sure Lady Illia would say it was nothing. And calling her cute would somehow get her in a giggly mood for the day…”
“It’s funny to observe. Hells, staying close to that girl is the most interesting job I ever had.”
To be honest, I thought Dad got me a rotten hand at first, but damn, now I was almost thanking him.
After staying close to my so-called pseudo-hero for some weeks, I could say for sure that I still had no idea how she worked. Illia acted almost as if on different parameters than anyone else. In a moment, she would be blushing and pretending not to, getting scared of everything and everyone, and acting small for no reason, but at the next…
It got a little obvious when she somehow managed to sneak away from Eve and how she made half the castle cover up for her while doing so, but it got even better when I finally saw her.
She was so weird I couldn’t avoid getting interested. Not only because she was exactly where I had already looked for her before too.
That girl was like a ghost who wore the most stupidly eye-catching clothes it could find. No one would ever be able to explain how she could vanish like that. She even managed to flee from me while wearing a skirt and frills, only to end exactly where I wanted her to go!
She could go from scared cat to crazed schemer in a heartbeat and act as if that wasn’t more than normal. This whole crackdown and the negotiations with the nobles were already something, but the way she went crazy in the throne room…
And getting to see her magic made my interest go even higher.
All in all, very funny to be close by. The funniest, maybe. Even having to clear these small fries for her didn’t feel too boring when I thought of what she would do later.
“The second and third floors are clear, Your Highness. No casualties on our side.” Another maid of the royal guard called out by poking her head on the stairs leading to us. It seemed that their work up there was done too, so it was time for cleanup.
“Okay then, pack everything with value, and let’s light this place up. I have more interesting things to do…”
“Yes, Your Highness!” She nodded at my orders and left as swiftly as she came.
Eve was already carrying a huge load of shiny items and papers by my side, so she was ready too. Some seemed dirtied by the blood on her brass knuckles, but that should be fine. It was a little more than I expected anyway, so losing a little wasn’t a problem.
Even if this place was the headquarters of the smugglers working for the local marquis, she was holding a lot of gold. It almost made me interested in what they had in their proper warehouses, but that was Sis’ job, not mine.
Mine was dealing with the not-so-obvious criminals and the hideouts that looked legal. Many of them.
Almost made me sad that the guy who set this whole mess now had to deal with Illia in her berserk state... He should’ve enjoyed this a little more. And these guys should’ve surrendered when I told them to… Illia even told me to let them take some money and flee if they did, so that’s unlucky of them.
It’s almost in either case. Caring about these lowlifes is way too much for me anyway, and they made their choice.
“Such a waste... These guys were quite well organized, weren’t they?” I asked while taking the papers in Eve’s hands and giving them a cursory glance. “Anything more to take?”
“The basement seems clear, but I’m not as good as you at noticing hidden passages, Your Highness, so you may want to take a second look.”
She always says so, but we were trained by the same person. A little hard to think our skills are so different when the same weirdo got them imprinted on us, but whatever.
Been a while since I visited master, now that I think about it… It’d be a little hard to reach her considering all the mess we’re into right now, but I’m sure she would like to meet Illia. Maybe we’ll meet if things go to hell for sure or if we go for a Divine Judgement…
Being a big shot in that place full of priests should be a pain.
“Oh! I almost forgot…” I went back to the files I was almost storing away and started to look for the numbers. ”How far was the prediction this time…? It’s saying nine hundred crowns last month, so…”
“Something close to ten percent, Your Highness,” Eve answered as she noticed that I didn’t remember the number Illia mentioned in her papers. “This one was very honest with his bribes.”
“Hehe, an honest smuggler it is. Funny…”
“We should be going, Your Highness. The water mages will be here soon.”
Starting some fires inside the city was already dangerous, but it would be worse if we were found inside. Having to call the firefighters beforehand was such a pain... We couldn't let them get here too soon too, or not everything would burn, but taking too long was bad too.
But well…
“Lead the way, Eve,” I ordered the maid and went to the glowing orange bottle at my belt as I saw her moving to the stairs. Not exactly the safest way of carrying alchemic fire (the thing was probably the worst thing you would want thrown in you), but it was more convenient than having a bag of bottles close by.
A weakness of a speed-based fight style, as Illia would call it. Some weird way of putting it, but the idea was growing on me lately...
Either way, I threw the bottle over my shoulders and rushed outside before the sudden burst of flames. Killing these fires would be a pain, but the guys coming to deal with it should’ve been warned. At least I hope they won't just throw water over it and mess up even more...
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That was for them to worry, though, for I was already moving away…
Not much went on after that, or not much that I cared anyway. Looting was fun and all, but it wasn’t as if I needed the money or would use it, the maids and the palace’s coffers were more interested in it. What I wanted was to see what the weirdo waiting back at home would do next already.
And she better not disappoint me...
*****
“Apprehend everyone and collect the goods!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The five knights of my unit charged into the marked warehouse and started to hold down anyone in their path. Seeing them was a little hard since I wasn’t used to acting at night like my sister, but the surprise was enough to even the field. It was still worrying, but only slightly.
So, I marched forward with my guard up, but it seemed I was too paranoid. Everyone I could see was either an ally or knocked out by now, so it seemed that the surprise assault worked once more. It was getting a little tiring after rushing from waystone-to-waystone busting hideouts, but how easy everything was made all seem wrong.
Only following the simple outline Ms. Illia gave me somehow worked with very few adjustments. It made me worry about the other teams, but if all was this easy...
The number of predictions the papers had and how they always went so close was also something else. From the number of guards and goods the warehouses would have, to how much gold would be stashed away, she had predictions on everything.
This shouldn’t be normal, but her explanations made sense. And I was only seeing the easier targets. Eleonora was the one with the dangerous or sneakier ones.
I had to study more still. Maybe have her teach me some time…
“Ma’am, we have a runner!” One of the knights shouted right as I saw a figure dashing to the exit on my back. A very young-looking figure who shouldn't even understand the situation that well. Not a smart choice…
With a simple motion, I pointed my blade in his direction and went to my simplest spell.
In a moment, the whole area around the dashing figure became a mass of darkness, and soon after, the noise of something hitting the floor followed. All I had to do then was walk closer to him and dispel my spell.
“I recommend you sur…” But before I could finish my phrase, the young person dashed towards me with a small blade in hand. A small blade that could be dangerous if his aim wasn’t so off... The dagger only bounced on my armor as I recovered from the surprise and bashed the kid with my shield. “You’re lucky this place wasn’t under my sister’s jurisdiction, kid. She’s not as lenient as I am… Now, sleep.”
I went with an armored punch to get the disoriented attacker down for good while sighing at the thought of such a young person being a criminal. He didn’t seem to be anything more than twelve years old, and by the small bag on his side, he was indeed a runner working for the people here.
It always felt bad when I had to deal with these, but at least he was still alive. His punishment wouldn't be that harsh considering the sneaky way he was arrested too, so I didn't feel that bad. All I could hope was that my sister didn’t cross anyone like this…
“Sorry about this, ma’am.” The knight who called earlier came to apologize, but it was something so minor I couldn’t see any reason to admonish him. This whole situation was, no matter what, outside of their area of expertise.
“Don’t worry about it. Is everything else cleared?”
“All targets are down, ma’am.”
“There were hidden goods as expected, but I don’t think we can carry them right away.
“We found some papers that seem relevant too.”
“Good,” I answered the multiple reports in the same tone as usual and then started moving as I felt my maid approaching. “Get everyone roped up and leave it to the city guards. We have more work to do…”
I could already smell it, and I knew beforehand, but it never felt good to see Eleonora's maids working. Not that I had anything against them, but I couldn’t avoid it...
Dori was always a good maid and I could say we were close to friends even. A little lazy sometimes and too laidback, but a good maid. If she wasn't part of my sister’s maid corps, then I'm sure she would be the sweetest person.
Leaving her to act alone was usually the best choice for me, though, so I got used to knowing when she was back to report.
“I’m back, Your Highness.” The smiling redhead came walking from the shadows of the docks while dragging a person on her shoulders. “The overseer was easy to find and he explained everything almost right away… That blondie got it right again.”
I could see that she was missing some daggers from the belt on her thighs and there was red on her maid outfit and the guy, but I wouldn’t think about it. I had more to think about anyway and she was efficient. Even if using these methods to get proof felt bad…
“Leave this one with the others and get going. We have two more to go tonight…”
“You’re accepting this plan easily, aren’t you, Your Highness?” Dori asked with her head cocked to the side a little. “I thought you would be more against it. Giving all that power to an unknown…”
“Both father and Eleonora trust that girl, so I don’t have a reason to not, even if I don’t like her methods.” I sighed while pushing back my discontent as a ruler should. “No matter what, I’m not a schemer, but a schemer is what we need now. Complaining about it without having a better plan would be dumb… And it wouldn't help Mr. Hayato at all…”
Being a ruler isn’t only about being righteous no matter how idealistic I want to be. Mother always taught me such. It didn't feel good, but I could accept this much without a problem.
All I hoped was that our real hero could see it too. The thought of seeing his disgusted face if he heard about this the wrong way...
“Heheh… All for Hayato, is it? He’d be very happy to hear it… Or he wouldn’t get the idea at all and end up scolded.”
“You know very well it would be the second option there… But that doesn’t matter." I cut off the useless thoughts again and turned to the dock's exit. "We’re moving.”
I started to walk while hearing my knights follow behind a few moments later but never looked back. And on the back of my mind, I was a little curious as to what the faker back at the palace would be doing after this…
*****
“That kid is crazy, dear. I cannot believe you’re allowing her to do all this…”
“Crazy is indeed a way to describe her, but is that relevant? An unexpected result or not, she IS someone that could solve our problems.” I sipped at the tea prepared by our head butler while watching Caitlyin worry. Having someone this serious when the whole situation was so complicated helped keep me in check, but more than that, her worried expression was nice.
Few would expect a princess bred for marriage to be as strong-willed and, in all honesty, belligerent as she was, and that was very much my alley.
If the odds weren’t so against us, I’m sure she would be the first to advocate for total war. That was how Caitlyn was. And it was interesting to see how close, but still so far, was Valiria’s way of thinking. They were almost copies of each other in many ways, but somehow the daughter became an idealistic pacifist.
The world is a funny place.
I’m sure she would be a good queen in the future, but neither of them could see the hidden capabilities of the ‘accidental’ hero we got. Both were failing to see beneath the lack of presence and the scared facade she had. And more, they were failing to see how dangerous that girl could be if she got cornered...
If it went bad enough, she could be the worst villain of them all.
Only Eleonora seemed to understand it, just like I expected her to. She was much closer to me in almost every way than her sister, even if her tastes were aimed at less… orthodox paths.
“Even if it is a way to solve our problems, giving that no one nobility and power is…”
“It’s no danger, Cait, of that I can assure you. That girl will never turn on us no matter how much power she has unless we do so first… It’s simply not worth it in her eyes.”
“How can you be so sure, dear? Leaving someone the chance of being a ruler will surely…”
“Not to her. I have no idea as to why or how she ended like this, but that girl will never wish power for herself. It’s possible that she would give everything back in exchange for a reasonable supply of food and someone safe to talk with… Or at least I hope it’s so.”
“See? You are unsure if it’s safe. Risking this much in for territories we could avenge later…”
It seemed that my words went off wrong to my queen.
What I meant was, even if not fully safe, that worrying about the Illia Without a Surname made no sense. She was no danger unless pushed towards it. The only worry I had about her wasn't related to power abuse or anything of the like... The only way she could be a problem was if her facade broke.
But that was something I could only deal with in the same way that girl was dealing with keeping her friend in this world. The only way of dealing with someone who didn’t want to survive was to create a reason for them, right? And as long as this reason was strong enough, she would be the best weapon this kingdom could have.
Either that, or she would eventually doom us all... A very interesting gamble if you ask me.