Chapter 3: The Hidden Boss Crashes into the Neighboring Kingdom
“Who are you?” the gray-haired young man repeated. Presumably, he was a resident of the house into which I had so unceremoniously crashed.
“Don’t think about it too deeply...” I pasted on a winning smile. “Just pretend you’ve suddenly gained a younger sister.”
“So you must be in some kind of trouble.” The young man shook his head. “I have a younger brother, but I don’t have a younger sister, nor do I want one.”
I guess my plan didn’t work. I thought it was a genius plan, one that tapped into the psychology of men, since it’s a well-known fact that all men would be thrilled to suddenly gain a younger sister.
Judging from his tone, this person seemed to have an unusually guarded personality. A normal man would’ve been chanting, “Yay, I got a sister, she’s so cute” by now. Even though his disinterest in a surprise bonus sibling meant that the conversation was ultimately meaningless, I decided to continue it in order to buy myself time and think about what to do next.
First of all, how is he going to respond to this situation? He’ll probably make me pay to fix the roof and furniture, but he might also turn me in to the local guards. Also, where am I? Am I somewhere in Valschein? It would suck if I ended up in a different kingdom altogether. I’m a countess, so suddenly appearing in a foreign state could turn into a diplomatic crisis.
“So you don’t need a younger sister...” I replied as these various thoughts swirled in my mind. “Feel free to think of me as your older sister, then.”
The man sighed and ignored my statement. “Why were you on top of my roof?”
I groped for a lie. “I wasn’t specifically on your roof. I was walking around, going from rooftop to rooftop, when I suddenly ended up here. I don’t even know where I am.”
“That’s so dangerous... It’s a miracle that you don’t have any injuries. Well, allow me to aid you in orienting yourself. You must know of the bell near the vendors on the western end of the main thoroughfare. If you keep going west from there, and then turn right on the second street, this house is located along that alley... Does that make sense?” He hadn’t used any names to describe where we were—he couldn’t have expected that I had actually come down from out of the atmosphere and didn’t even know the name of the town we were in.
Even if he told me the name of the town, there’s a chance that I still won’t know what kingdom we’re in. It would also be incredibly suspicious to ask what kingdom this is, so I’d like to avoid that. I’ll try to get some information out of him as naturally as possible.
“Um, I’m sorry. It’s my first time in this area, so I didn’t really follow that.”
“I see. Which part of the Royal Capital are you more familiar with?”
The Royal Capital? Did he just say we’re in the Royal Capital? From what I could see from the sky, this isn’t the Royal Capital in Valschein.
That meant that this was the Royal Capital of a different kingdom. This was bad. It would be even worse if it was one of the kingdoms neighboring Valschein. Yumiella Dolkness was a name known to many even in the neighboring kingdoms, so the higher-ups of this place might start panicking if they knew I had suddenly appeared.
Honestly, I would prefer this to be a different continent altogether so they just go “Yumiella? Who’s that?” It would be harder to get home, though.
The worst-case scenario would be that this was the Kingdom of Lemlaesta. When we had visited Patrick’s home in the Ashbatten Mark, we had gotten into a little scuffle with their army.
“It’s my first time in the Royal Capital,” I said, being careful to keep my flustered thoughts from showing on my face. I wanted to keep gathering information. “I came from pretty far away.”
“Far away? You don’t mean you’ve come from outside of Lemlaesta, do you?”
“Of course not. I’ve never left this kingdom since the day I was born,” I fibbed boldly.
Why is it always the worst-case scenario that comes true?
This was Lemlaesta after all. To top it off, we were right in the Royal Capital.
This is really bad. Maybe I should brute force my way back through the border in the dark of the night. If I keep running without taking breaks, I should be able to make it back to my home in Dolkness.
The man seemed to be unsure as to what he should do with me, the obviously suspicious stranger in his home. He stared at me silently, lost in thought.
If it comes to it, I can use that move where you karate chop someone on the back of their neck and make them unconscious, and then I can escape. I haven’t done that move before, though, so I don’t know how hard I should hit him. If I use too much force, I’ll kill him; but if I don’t use enough, he won’t fall asleep. How does that move even work? You hit the back of the neck, so...maybe it’s stimulating some nerves? Wouldn’t that cause some negative side effects?
It wasn’t like I had to render him unconscious to escape, so I decided to save that chop to the back of the neck for another time. I was too scared of what might happen if I failed.
As I pondered the various ways I could make my escape, a different voice rang out. It sounded like it was coming from outside the house.
“Are you all right?! There was a really loud noise!” It must be a neighbor coming by to check on the man after hearing me crash loudly through his roof.
I don’t want too many people seeing me here. He’s probably going to tell the neighbor that a strange person fell through the ceiling, and then they might report me to the guards and throw me into a jail cell.
I was curious about getting to experience wearing a black-and-white-striped prisoner outfit one day, but it probably wasn’t good for a member of the Valschein nobility to be imprisoned by her home kingdom’s potential enemy.
The gray-haired man let out a long-suffering sigh before whispering, “Don’t move and stay quiet.” He looked irritated as he turned and left the room.
I could hear his footsteps as he headed downstairs, the sound of a stubborn door being forced open, and the man and his neighbor speaking.
“Oh, I’m glad you’re all right,” the neighbor said.
“I apologize for all the commotion in the middle of the night. I was carrying something heavy and I dropped it down the stairs.”
“I’m just glad to see you’re not hurt... But you shouldn’t be doing hard labor like that at night,” the neighbor’s voice scolded.
“I apologize. I’d like to properly make amends tomorrow.”
“No, no, there’s no need for anything like that. But what excellent manners for such a young man!”
“Even if it’s only for a short time, I’m still responsible for my uncle’s home while I’m here. I can’t be causing trouble for his neighbors.”
I decided to make my escape while the man and the neighbor were talking. I got ready to jump up through the hole in the ceiling and climb back onto the roof, but while doing so, I couldn’t help but listen in on their conversation.
This guy’s so affable that it’s kind of scary. It’s normal for people to change how they act depending on who they’re talking to, but I don’t know what happened to the high-strung, irritated young man I was interacting with just moments ago. If I only heard this conversation, he’d seem like a pleasant man and a model citizen. Not only that, but he lied to hide that I’m here. Why? What benefit does he gain from helping me?
Even setting aside the fact that he was concealing my presence for some reason, it didn’t feel right to destroy someone’s home and then just flee. I could escape anytime I wanted to. For now, I wanted to stay and apologize to him from the bottom of my heart.
It seemed like everything with the neighbor was going to be fine. They were speaking in whispers, perhaps so as not to disturb the others in the neighborhood. Their conversation probably wasn’t audible to anyone else.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Just let me know if you need anything,” the neighbor said.
“I truly appreciate your concern, thank you. Good night.”
“Good night. All there is to do when it’s dark is sleep. Make sure you rest too, buddy.”
The door shut, the neighbor left, and the young man sucked his teeth.
Wow... What was that innocent act with the neighbor? I’m sure that neighbor would start to distrust people if he knew that the seemingly pleasant young man he’d just spoken to immediately sucked his teeth like that the minute they left.
I wanted to apologize, but I was starting to feel a little afraid. It was a bit embarrassing to admit this, but I was someone who tended to cope with serious situations by goofing off. Whenever I thought of doing something off-the-wall, this thought would be followed up with another about how it would probably be better if I didn’t do whatever weird thing my brain had come up with, but I always found myself doing it anyway.
Even just now, I was thinking about how apologizing with your entire body prone on the ground might be considered a rank above groveling on your knees, but I wondered if I could take that even further and do a handstand, which would therefore be the highest form of showing one’s respect. That was today’s ridiculous thought appearing in my mind.
If I were operating as usual, I probably would have just done the handstand apology. I would’ve positioned myself while I was still waiting for him to come back, so that he would return to me already doing a handstand. But in the end, I decided that I shouldn’t do that today and that I should maybe act serious for once.
Though I found this young man to be terrifying, I wasn’t paralyzed with fear or anything like that. I knew that if it came to a fistfight, I would definitely win—that confidence kept me from being nervous in most situations.
I’m not sure why, but my instincts—which are famous for being incredibly off—are telling me that I can’t let him think I’m a weirdo, despite the fact that he’s a stranger from the neighboring kingdom that I’ll probably never see again after this.
I could hear him making his way upstairs. The way that his footsteps resonated made it clear that he was moving at speed.
The door opened quickly but quietly. For a split second as he stood in the doorway, the gray-haired man almost looked like Patrick, but when he sucked his teeth again, looking at me, the resemblance faded at once. He appeared to be irritated that I was still here. I would’ve expected him to be relieved that I hadn’t escaped, but his teeth-sucking was definitely in response to seeing me.
In ordinary circumstances, you’d think that he’d want to make me pay for everything I destroyed, but he seems like he would actually prefer it if I just disappeared.
“You’re still here?” he asked, voicing the obvious.
“I’m sorry, I wanted to talk about paying for everything I destroyed...”
“There’s no need for that. What you can do for me is to leave at once.”
“I can’t just leave without paying you back...”
“You can, in fact. Leave and don’t ever return.”
He’s not even going to yell at me for breaking so many things in his home? Things are suspiciously working out in my favor.
There was no way that he was just that altruistic of a person, so there had to be an ulterior motive, but...I wasn’t interested in investigating what it was.
I guess I’ll just make my escape before he changes his mind.
I bowed deeply to him—no groveling on my knees or apologizing with a handstand.
“I’m truly sorry for the trouble I’ve caused. I’ll be taking my leave, then.”
I straightened back up and started making my way to the door. I tried to slip past him, but he blocked the doorway with his arm.
“Wait, do you have somewhere to go?”
“I’ll be fine,” I insisted, projecting what I hoped was an air of confidence. “Whatever will be, will be.”
“So you don’t...” He sighed. “It would be annoying if you got mixed up in some accident because you were walking around by yourself at night. Let’s see... Just for tonight, I’ll allow you to stay here.”
“Thank you...?”
Why is he suddenly so concerned for my well-being? I thought. I was confused, but I thanked him anyway.
His actions weren’t very consistent. First he hid my existence, then he pressured me to leave while refusing any payment for damages, and then he suddenly decided I should stay the night because he was worried I’d run into danger. Until he invited me to stay, I’d thought he was treating me like some bad omen that would only cause him trouble—that maybe he thought I was someone on the run from a mysterious organization, or something complicated like that.
No one would enjoy getting caught up in some stranger’s potentially dangerous drama. I’d thought that was why he had hidden the fact that I was here before trying to rush me out. I’d assumed he wanted me to disappear with as little fuss as possible and have nothing to do with me ever again, which was why he didn’t want me to pay for the roof and the furniture I’d broken.
My theory worked for everything he’d done up to his very last offer, when he suddenly became worried about me walking around at night. I had thought that he’d wanted me out of here so badly that he’d lied to his neighbor and given up on collecting funds for what would surely be expensive repairs. I had tried to leave without incident, and he should’ve just let me go.
I don’t understand. What kind of person is this guy?
Though I was curious, it would be a huge problem if he figured out who I was, so I decided to not dig too deeply into it.
It would probably be for the best if I just fled back to my home kingdom right away, but after traveling to space, I was a little tired. Being able to rest here would be nice.
“I’ll be in your care, then,” I agreed. “As for our discussion earlier...”
“About repaying me? Like I said, don’t worry about it,” he said, waving my offer away once again.
I still think I should pay for it. I’m sure patching up a Yumiella-sized hole in the ceiling isn’t an easy job. There’s also the furniture. Some items just got knocked down, but the shelf I used as a landing pad is completely destroyed. I’m sure if you add up all the little things like that, it’ll be quite the sum.
Though I was a very wealthy woman, I’d headed to the moon without any specific plans, so I didn’t have much money on me. I did have a little pocket change, but this was the money I always kept on me in case I wanted to buy a little snack while I was out. It was just a few silver and bronze pieces—nowhere near what it would cost to repair and replace everything.
It was embarrassing that I didn’t actually have the ability to pay him back, even though I was the one insisting that I wanted to do so. He probably wouldn’t be too happy if I said I’d come back another day to repay him, nor did I want to do something as risky as sneaking across the border more than once. I could ask a merchant who traveled between the kingdoms to serve as an intermediary...but that also sounded dangerous.
“I don’t actually have money on me right now...” I admitted.
“You really don’t listen, do you? I’ve said countless times that I don’t want any money from you.”
I turned my attention to my body and took a mental inventory of what I was wearing to see if I had anything that I could exchange for money.
On my left hand was a ring filled with wind-type magical energy. It was a precious gift from Patrick, and it was proof of our engagement. There was no way I could sell it.
I continued looking, but I couldn’t find anything else. It was the first time in my life that I wished I was the kind of countess who wore jewels on a regular basis.
I just don’t usually have anything valuable on me most of the time... Oh, wait, I do! This is worth money, and I’d be okay with selling it. I don’t really want to get rid of it, but I don’t really have a choice. It’s too bad that this is the backup, because I don’t have a second backup for this one.
I pulled out the level-assessment crystal. I carried it with me so I could assess my level whenever I wanted to.
“I won’t be satisfied if I don’t repay you, so please accept this instead,” I said, handing him the crystal. “The money you get from selling this should cover at least the cost of repairing the roof.”
The young man blinked in confusion. “Where were you hiding that...? Where did you pull it from?”
“Don’t worry about the details,” I said.
“Also, what is this...?”
“It’s a magical instrument that can assess your level. Most shops dealing in magical instruments should know its value, and they’ll buy it off of you,” I explained, assuming that a layman wouldn’t be able to immediately identify the crystal for what it was, but he shook his head because I’d misunderstood his question.
“I know what it is. It’s a level-assessment crystal. What I meant was: why are you walking around with this? Do you have some bizarre obsession with your level...?” His eyes widened. “And that black hair of yours... Could it be that you’re...?!”
Uh-oh. Something completely unexpected is about to reveal my identity.
Since he hadn’t said anything about my black hair until now, I thought that as long as I didn’t have any other slipups, he wouldn’t realize who I was. I never thought that bringing out a magical instrument as compensation for payment would reveal my identity.
“Um, well...” As I wondered how I was going to salvage this situation, I mindlessly rolled the crystal around in my hands.
“13...?” the man wondered aloud.
I wasn’t sure what number it was that he had suddenly brought up, but a second later, it clicked—the magical instrument had activated while I was touching it, and it was displaying the last two digits of my level for the world to see.
There’s only one way to make it seem like I’m not Yumiella here.
“Oh, this?” I said. “Your level appears on the crystal if you touch it like this. I’m level 13. Pretty high, right?”
“It’s impressive for a girl your age to be level 13...” He nodded. “I see, so you’re not...”
The Yumiella he’d heard of would surely have vociferously defended the fact that she was level 99, but I held back from doing so. If anyone who knew me well had heard what I’d just so casually said, they’d probably think I was a fake.
Though, if his reaction was like “13 is so weak LMAO,” then I might’ve lost all sense of reason. I’m so glad that didn’t happen.
Though he muttered something about how he must be mistaken, the gray-haired man still didn’t seem satisfied. I decided to push forwards and really hammer home the message that there was no way that I could be Yumiella.
“Oh brother, you must’ve thought I was Countess Dolkness. It’s okay, it happens pretty often. Especially with my hair color.”
“I apologize. It must feel terrible to be compared to that.”
“It’s not that bad... I feel bad tricking people into thinking I’m someone so incredible.”
“Incredible?” he echoed. “Don’t you mean dangerous? From what I’ve heard, Yumiella Dolkness isn’t right in the head. She was born and raised in a dungeon, she only thinks about fighting, and she has an evil pet dragon... The more I hear about her, the crazier she sounds.”
I struggled to keep my expression neutral.
Huh? Am I that horrible of a person? What the heck have the people in neighboring kingdoms been saying about me?
It was a lie that I was born in a dungeon, but I supposed that saying I was “raised” in one wasn’t too far off from the truth, and it wasn’t wrong that I thought about fighting a lot. The main inaccuracy was that Ryuu’s status points were all thrown into being adorable, and he didn’t have a single ounce of evil in him.
Overall, it seems like everything about me has been a bit exaggerated.
“B-But I’ve heard she’s working hard as the lord of her county,” I said, striving to sound casual. “I don’t think she’s as bad as she’s rumored to be.”
“The people around her must be the ones with all the skills. She probably hasn’t done anything all that impressive on her own. I’m not so foolish that I would just believe everything I hear. There are some ridiculous stories about her too, like one about a second Yumiella appearing, or that she’s actually from a different world, and other far-fetched things like that.”
It’s true that there was another Yumiella, but now 2 has gone back to her world. It’s also true that I’m from a different world, or at least my soul is. It’s also true that the people around me help me with my work as a lord. It’s all true.
Upon realizing that even the “far-fetched” rumors about me were true, I was speechless. It was better to have baseless rumors make people think poorly of me for no reason than to have ridiculous rumors that turned out to be true.
As I, the dangerous person for whom no one would ever want to be mistaken, stood there silently, the man before me abruptly changed the subject.
“Also, don’t call me ‘brother.’ I’m not your brother.”
“I’m sorry. What should I call you, then?”
“Gilbert is fine.”
Gilbert seemed to be touchy about matters related to siblings.
Wait, Gilbert...? I feel like I’ve heard that name before. I began searching through the memory files in my brain, filtering out the people close to me and people from the Kingdom of Valschein. He’s not a member of the royal family of Lemlaesta, and I don’t know most of the aristocrats here. I definitely don’t know any regular citizens here either... I guess I was just imagining things.
Since he’d given me his name, now I had to give him mine. I clearly could not admit to being named Yumiella, so I had to come up with an alias. The first one that came to mind was someone close to me.
“Very well, Gilbert. I’m...Eleanora.”
“I didn’t ask for your name.”
This guy is so prickly. Did I do something to upset him? ...Yes. I did, I destroyed his home. I guess I can forgive some prickliness because it honestly wouldn’t be surprising for him to just yell at me.
I wasn’t confident that I’d be able to respond to the name Eleanora, so it was actually good that he seemed to be planning on referring to me as “you.”
Well, no matter how he was planning on addressing me, I needed to get things back on track. “I apologize once again for making a mess of your house. Going back to our earlier discussion, please use this crystal to fund the repairs.”
“I’ve said that I don’t need you to pay for the roof. After tonight, I just want you to leave, and don’t ever come by again.” Gilbert was stubborn about not accepting payment, but I really wanted him to take it.
Maybe I should just leave the crystal here when I head out.
“Come with me,” he said, turning away. I silently followed him out of the room I’d trashed and down the hallway. He stopped in front of the room next door. “This is...a guest room. It’s clean, so use it as you’d like.”
“Thank you very much.”
Why does he already have a room ready? Does he frequently have guests over? I feel like this house is sort of weird too. There’s something suspicious about it.
Gilbert opened the door and urged me inside. I did as instructed and stepped over the threshold, and he suddenly shut the door behind me.
“You better leave in the morning,” he said through the door, and I heard him walk away before I could respond. I still couldn’t tell if he was a kind or strict person.
I scanned the room. There was a bed made up with clean sheets, a table with one chair, and thick curtains. There was nothing else in the room, and it was unnaturally empty. It felt less lived-in than a room in a business hotel.
Most people don’t have a room like this in their house, do they?
This room seemed like it only anticipated someone going to bed and waking up in it. I couldn’t tell what kind of person would use this room regularly, which only deepened the mystery of this house.
It was a bit frightening to dig too deep into things right now, so I decided to rest instead.
I sat on the bed and let out a sigh. Between wondering about this strange house and worrying about having to cross the border tomorrow, there were too many things on my mind, and I didn’t feel like I’d be able to sleep.
Even if I can’t sleep, I should lie down and rest my body, I thought. I lay down on the bed, and...
“Mnn... It’s morning?”
It was now morning, and I had totally fallen asleep. I’d slept like a log in a suspicious stranger’s house, in a foreign kingdom that wasn’t on great terms with mine.
I hadn’t shut the curtains, so the sun was shining right in my face. I sat up and stretched.
All right, time for me to get going. I need to get back to Dolkness County and report that I wasn’t able to reach the moon, and that we’ll be having the wedding after all... No, I don’t want that. I don’t want to go back home. I don’t mind the idea of having the wedding because my resolve was worn down, but it’s embarrassing that I declared I was going to the moon and then didn’t actually do it.
In the Cold War, the side that couldn’t get to the moon lost, so giving up on my trip to the lunar surface was basically the same thing as admitting defeat. Even if I arrived back at home today and told everyone that I went to the moon, no one would believe me because I had just left last night. At the very least, I wanted to wait to go home till after three days had passed.
Time for Operation Prince Ishitsukuri.
In the Japanese folktale “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter,” five noblemen asked for Princess Kaguya’s hand in marriage. As she didn’t care to marry them, she gave them each an impossible task to accomplish. Prince Ishitsukuri, one of the suitors, was told to bring her the Buddha’s stone begging bowl, but instead of traveling all the way to Tianzhu where it was located, he hid out in the countryside for three years before reappearing before the princess with a random bowl.
They found out that he lied about the bowl, but I wanted to highlight the part of the story where he waited three years to return. In order to make it seem like he’d actually traveled to Tianzhu, he hid out for three years—similarly, I wanted to wait three days before going home to make everyone think that I’d actually gone to the moon.
If I returned to wait in Valschein, word might reach Patrick that I was holed up somewhere. On the other hand, it was probably dangerous to stay in Lemlaesta and go to an inn somewhere around here.
Isn’t there a kind person out there who would just give me a place to sleep and hide me from others?
As if in response to my thoughts, I heard footsteps headed my way. They surely belonged to a kind person who would provide me shelter.
The first knock had barely sounded when I opened the door, and just as I expected, Gilbert was standing there. It was only morning, but he already seemed exhausted.
“Get up already and—”
I cut him off with a chipper “Good morning.”
“You’re awake. Hurry up and leave already.”
“I have a favor to ask you,” I said. “Would it be possible for me to stay for three days? I don’t need anything else, just the room.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The truth is, I ran away from home, and it just wouldn’t look good for me to return so soon.”
“Why should I help you with that? I could just turn you in to the guards instead.”
That gave me exactly the opening I needed. “I wonder who would really be in trouble if the authorities were to end up snooping around this particular house...”
I felt the atmosphere in the room instantly change.
I mean, I would also be in big trouble if the Kingdom of Lemlaesta found out I was here, but all of the evidence points to him being in some kind of special situation too.
I’d been thinking about the reasons that he refused any payment, told me to leave right away, and hid me from his neighbor. I kept thinking it had to do with me, but if I instead assumed that Gilbert himself was caught up in something, it all made sense. He likely had some reason for not wanting to stand out too much.
He didn’t want to attract notice, which was why he wanted me to disappear, why he faked being a pleasant man to that neighbor, and why he wanted to avoid sending a woman out alone late at night. I thought I’d had only about a twenty percent chance of being right, but it looked like I’d hit the jackpot.
Gilbert’s gaze sharpened into a glare, and he seemed to be bracing himself. He didn’t have any weapons on him, but he took a stance that I could tell would allow him to restrain me if necessary. I wasn’t very versed in those kinds of martial arts, but it was similar to how Patrick braced himself around me sometimes, so I recognized it right away.
“What do you know?” he asked flatly, his guard completely up.
“I don’t know anything,” I admitted. “All I know is that you don’t want to attract attention.”
“You said you ran away from home? Even if that’s the truth, you’re clearly not running from a normal family situation. You’re the one who would be in trouble if someone came here to investigate. Just leave.”
“The truth is, I would be in trouble if you called the guards over, but the same goes for you, right? The fact that you’re trying to convince me to leave proves that.”
I decided to be honest about the fact that I was in a special situation myself. I didn’t want to threaten him—I just wanted to make it clear that we both had our own reasons for wanting to lay low. I wanted to establish that things wouldn’t end well if either of us tried to get rid of the other.
Gilbert moved his right hand into a slightly different position and loosened the muscles in his left shoulder. He was settling into a stance to throw a backfist. I’d learned about such things when Patrick was teaching me the basics of hand-to-hand combat. I didn’t want him to think I was knowledgeable about fighting, though, so I pretended to not notice.
“What do you want from me?” he finally asked.
“Just what I said earlier. I just want to stay for three days, that’s all.”
“I’ll also admit to the fact that I have some things that I would prefer to remain unknown. I need you to stay quiet, and while I’d rather you left as soon as possible... Well, dead men tell no tales, nor do they have to return to their homes.”
Wow, a death threat. I guess whatever he’s dealing with is much bigger than I thought. Still... If he really wanted to kill me, he would’ve just done it already instead of threatening me. I feel like this guy is especially strict about following those kinds of rules in combat.
The fact that Gilbert had threatened me verbally probably meant that he had no intention of actually harming me. It would be strange if I didn’t react at all, though, so I pulled out my incredible acting skills to appear scared.
“Oh no, I’m so scared,” I said woodenly.
“Are you mocking me?” he said and sucked his teeth loudly.
He’d probably be just as annoyed if I didn’t react at all, wouldn’t he?
I felt like I was pretty close to securing lodging. If my being here could benefit him somehow that would be great, but the thing he wanted most was for me to leave... I decided to try bringing up the disadvantages of me leaving.
“If I were to leave as you’re asking me to, I might just leak information about you to someone else. It would be best to keep me here in order to keep such information from spreading.”
“That’s a fallacious argument. Even if you stayed here for a few days, you would eventually leave. Nothing would change.”
“How I feel would change,” I pointed out. “If I were able to stay here for just three days, I’d leave here feeling quite cheerful.”
“Is that a threat?”
“No, I’m simply stating the fact that anyone wouldn’t feel too great about being kicked out. It’s just human psychology.”
“So you’re saying that after destroying my roof, you would feel bad if I were to kick you out?”
“Oh, well, um...” He had me there, but I pressed on. “I intend on paying for the damages, so... Oh, but I’m not saying that money solves everything... I’m sorry.”
I admit that all the destruction I caused is fully my fault. I suppose that if you add on the fact that I came crashing in from the sky, I’m basically breaking and entering, and now I’m trying to steal lodging from him.
Not satisfied with just destroying his home, I was now threatening him for a place to stay. These were truly the acts of a heinous criminal. There was no way for me to negotiate a deal benefiting us both when I had come to the bargaining table already branded as an outlaw. Truthfully, I was a bit embarrassed about having tried to act like some kind of negotiator in the first place.
Now that I recalled that I was the perpetrator here, I decided to just give up and leave. I’d get out of the city first, and then I could decide whether I wanted to go straight home or kill time somewhere else.
“My deepest apologies, I’ll leave right away. I won’t tell anyone else about you or the fact that I was here, so you have nothing to worry about. It’s better if I keep my distance moving forwards, right? If possible, I’d like you to keep quiet about me as well. I’ll be leaving the Royal Capital soon, though, so if someone asks, you can just tell them I was here.”
There’s nothing else for me to do here. I just need to apologize and get out. Okay then, I can tell general directions from the sun’s position, so I can use that to return to Valschein. Once I’ve crossed the border, it won’t matter if the people around me know who I am.
I bowed deeply to Gilbert before slipping past him and leaving the room. I headed down the stairs, and I was pleased to see that they led right to the entryway. I reached for the door.
“Hold on, Eleanora.”
“What? Lady Eleanora is here?” When the voice behind me spoke the name of my dear friend, I couldn’t help but look around for her.
There’s no way Eleanora would be somewhere like this... Oh, right. That was the fake name I gave him. I don’t think I can bluff my way out of this one. I guess it’s better than him calling me Yumiella and me responding, “Yes, what is it?”
Since I’d already admitted to being in a difficult situation, I didn’t think it would be too big a deal for him to find out that I’d given him a fake name. I was on my way out anyway.
Of course Gilbert had realized that my name wasn’t actually Eleanora, and he seemed exasperated as he observed, “You seem pretty sharp and you have good instincts, but you’re a terrible actor.”
“That seems to be the case,” I admitted.
“You could’ve just forgotten about the roof and kept pushing to stay here,” he pointed out.
“I can’t be that much of a villain.”
“If only that idiot were possessed with this kind of conscience and intelligence...” he muttered with a heavy sigh.
“That idiot” seemed to be referring to a person who lacked a conscience and wasn’t very smart. I gathered that he didn’t much like this person.
He refocused his attention on me. “Where are you headed? Last night you said you didn’t have anywhere to go, but you must be headed in some direction, right?”
“Um... I’m leaving the Royal Capital and heading east.”
“By east, do you mean towards Tytenia?” he asked, referring to some region I didn’t know. It was probably somewhere within Lemlaesta.
I was actually headed farther east, towards the Kingdom of Valschein, but adding on too many lies would make me suspicious. It seemed best to share what was basically the truth, with some details omitted.
“Farther east. Right around where the Ashbatten Mark is.”
“You shouldn’t go there...” Gilbert said immediately. He was clearly reacting to the idea that I might be headed towards the border.
It’s not like a war is going to break out soon or anything... Ashbatten is pretty peaceful, but maybe the area of Lemlaesta around the border isn’t very safe.
I would have to lie outright if he asked for details, since I was indeed planning to cross the border, so it seemed like it was definitely time to make a quick exit. I reached for the doorknob again.
“Wait,” he said, stopping me once more. He walked up close to me, and he tried to get past me in the narrow space. I stepped aside to let him through, and he grabbed the door, continuing to speak while he faced away from me. “I’ll allow you to stay here. You can stay in the same room and use the things in this house freely. You can have whatever food you’d like as well.”
What’s with the sudden change of heart?
Before I could ask any follow-up questions, he said, “I’ll be out for a bit,” and then left, shutting the door behind him. I stood in the entryway for a short while, staring at the door, completely frozen.
◆◆◆
After recovering from the acute shock of Gilbert’s abrupt departure, I returned to the room he’d instructed me to use, but I was bored out of my mind. I couldn’t stay in this room with nothing to do for three days. As I stared out the window, thoughts of Patrick came to mind.
He’s probably worried about me. Still, if I go home now and say I couldn’t get to the moon, he’ll probably be seriously upset with me, and then he’ll force me to agree to holding the wedding celebration as planned.
I needed to wait to go home for long enough that Patrick would get sad and think, “I should’ve just listened to Yumiella and agreed to cancel the wedding. I never wanted this to happen. Also, I should stop complaining about the weird things she buys. Also, I should record some clips of my soothing voice guiding her to sleep and give them to her as a gift.” Time was necessary for him to reflect on his actions.
Thinking back on it, my original goal hadn’t actually been to go to the moon. Since we had been arguing about the wedding, I had wanted both of us to have a chance to cool down. That’s why I’d said I would go home, but instead, I’d ended up breaking through the atmosphere and crashing into the Royal Capital of a neighboring kingdom.
That’s right, not only does Patrick need time to consider his actions, I ought to cool my head as well.
I needed to think about things calmly. Getting lost in thought in a quiet place like this could help me accept a different point of view.
I brought up some pretty unreasonable arguments for why we should cancel the wedding. I said I couldn’t eat foods like spaghetti while wearing my wedding dress, but all I have to do is not eat it. This world doesn’t have spaghetti anyway.
My other reasons for being reluctant are more understandable: I don’t want to appear in front of a bunch of other people, and I don’t want to see the king because he’ll stress me out so much on my big day. These concerns have to do with how I feel. You could say I’m just being selfish, but is that really the case?
A wedding ought to be a celebration for both members of the couple getting married, so if the bride didn’t want to have the wedding, it should be canceled immediately. However, if Patrick, the groom, wanted the wedding, then perhaps a half wedding should be held.
What would a half wedding even look like? You’d only have one member of the couple, which in this case would be Patrick. Half the relatives would be there, so only the members of the Ashbatten family would participate. We’d only have half the guests as well, and dividing by quality instead of quantity, we could have just the king and queen participate. You only get half the priest too. Since a priest is the middleman between gods and humans, you’d have to settle on just the god part or the human part... Let’s go with the god; that’s why we keep Lemn around.
This hypothetical celebration was starting to sound like a house party hosted by the Ashbattens, to which the king and queen were invited, along with the god of darkness, Lemn. Since this was meant to be the groom’s half wedding, this strange gathering of people would then be celebrated only by the men of Dolkness County.
Hm, that sounds pretty good. I guess I won’t be participating, so it doesn’t really matter what I think about it, though.
Because I was bored out of my mind, I was coming up with such cool ideas for compromise, even though I knew that Patrick would never agree to them.
Thinking about how to avoid the wedding is just going to make me sad. All right then, time to explore around the house.
Gilbert had said I was free to use whatever I wanted in the house, which meant I could legally snoop around.
I was a bit excited, like when I got to stay at a hotel and go through all the various drawers. It was also fun to get confused by trying to figure out how the alarm clocks and safes worked.
Let’s begin, then, I thought. I jumped out of bed, where I’d been lying around having all of my gloomy wedding thoughts, and then quietly stepped out of the room. Since the house was deserted and I wasn’t doing anything wrong, there was no reason for me to stay quiet, but it was part of the fun.
I walked down the hall and first checked the room next to mine. I considered the possibility of it being locked, and since I didn’t want to accidentally break the lock, I turned the doorknob with extra gentleness.
It opened easily, and I saw a destroyed room. Judging by the shape and color of the splintered pieces, the furniture hadn’t been that different from what was in the room I was staying in prior to its total obliteration.
Would a regular house have this many business-hotelesque guest rooms? Also, what’s with all this destruction here? Does some unfettered samurai stay here regularly or something?
It wasn’t just the furniture that was destroyed. There was also a hole in the ceiling, and I had a clear view of the blue sky above us...
“Oh, this is where I landed.”
I knew that I’d been led to a room adjacent to this one, but I had thought it was on the other side of me.
Your sense of direction just gets messed up in an unfamiliar house, I assured myself.
I, the unfettered guest, slowly closed the door. Just as I heard the quiet sound of the door latching shut, a louder sound echoed from farther away. It was the sound of the door in the entryway.
Maybe it’s a trick house, like those places where closing a drawer opens something somewhere else, or...
“He’s home,” I said, finishing my thought out loud. It was definitely the latter.
Roughly an hour had passed since Gilbert had departed. Because I’d spent so much time lost in thought, I had barely had a chance to explore the house. I scampered back to my room and sat in the chair, acting like I’d never even thought of leaving my little room. All I had to do was stare out the window, and my ruse was complete.
I heard his footsteps head upstairs at once. Soon after the sound of his ascent, there was a knock on my door.
“Yes, come in.”
“You’re still here...” he observed, cracking open the door. “I was hoping you’d be gone.”
“I’m planning to stay for three whole days. I’ll be in your care.”
Gilbert sighed, muttering something about me being annoying. Unlike his previous attitude, though, it seemed more like a “guess it can’t be helped” statement, rather than one of genuine annoyance. I could tell, because it had a similar tone to the kinds of comments that Patrick often made.
“Did you eat? I assume you haven’t had anything since last night.”
“I haven’t. I’ll take some food.”
“We have some preserved things stocked, so take whatever you want.”
It didn’t seem like there was anyone else here, nor did Gilbert seem like the type to cook for himself. Perhaps he was just eating food from the pantry.
In this world, most foods that were preserved or easy to eat were disgusting, so I was starting to feel a little worried about his diet.
All right then, why don’t I repay him by preparing him a home-cooked meal?
“If you’d like, I can make us something. Cooking for two isn’t too different from cooking for one.”
“Don’t do anything unnecessary. I don’t plan on eating anything prepared by someone else, and it would just be troublesome if you caused a fire.”
I’m pretty good at cooking now... What a waste.
The last time I cooked, it had turned into a huge commotion because people thought that I’d created some poison gas, but I’d grown since then. I was banned from the kitchen at the estate, so I hadn’t had any opportunities to cook again, but I knew that I would be able to make delicious dishes now. (I had no evidence to support this.)
Also, a fire...? I wouldn’t be making anything that crazy. I’m pretty sure that those clumsy main characters who burn everything they cook to a crisp don’t exist IRL.
Perhaps he felt he’d been a bit harsh with me, because he averted his gaze from mine and added, “Also, we only have cooking utensils for outdoor use.”
Outdoor cooking utensils? Why is that all he has?
It didn’t seem like he would be happy if I kept pushing for this, so I decided to give up on cooking.
Darn, I was hoping to use it as something to kill time with... I guess I should just go sightseeing or something.
“Understood. I have something else I’d like to ask. Do you have any issues with me going out?”
“What?” He seemed genuinely confused. “I thought you were going to stay inside for three days.”
“I just wanted to take a look around, I’d be back right away. You know, um, it’s my first time in the Royal Capital, so...”
“Aren’t you a runaway?”
“No one is searching for me here. I’m not sure if anyone’s even looking for me at all.”
Hm... I wouldn’t want Patrick and the others to be searching for me too desperately, but I’d also feel disappointed if they weren’t at least a little worried about me. No one ever thinks I could be in danger, but I could see them looking for me because they don’t want me to cause trouble for other people.
Gilbert, the person who I was currently troubling, thought silently for a moment.
“There’s no problem. It’s common for a variety of people to go in and out of this house. The fact that you’re a stranger wouldn’t make you stand out, but...” As Gilbert spoke, his gaze turned to my head.
Oh, right, my black hair would make me stand out.
Unlike the Kingdom of Valschein, Lemlaesta didn’t have any legends of black-haired Demon Lords to inspire discrimination. Still, it was rare to have black hair, so I would still end up drawing attention to myself.
“I guess I would stand out after all,” I admitted.
“Of course. Especially here in the Royal Capital. If you’re unlucky, someone might report you to a guard.”
Huh? Even people in Valschein wouldn’t report someone for having black hair. I wonder if there is a different legend of the Demon Lord in Lemlaesta.
“I would be reported?”
“People in the Royal Capital are really sensitive to rumors. They’d mistake you for Yumiella Dolkness.”
Oh, that’s what he meant. Sorry, Demon Lord. This has nothing to do with your evildoings. So it’s my fault. If they think I’m me, they’ll report me. Of course they would, after seeing someone who’s the same gender, age, and hair color as the neighboring kingdom’s ultimate weapon.
“I guess there isn’t much I can do about people mistaking me for that crazy countess...”
Come on, look at the way I’m naturally slipping in the fact that I’m not Yumiella. I’m an actor after all.
Gilbert was perhaps moved by my portrayal of a wistful, dainty maiden, because his tone suddenly softened. “I don’t think you’re that Yumiella girl. Don’t get so upset. You’ve never tried to burn Lemlaesta to the ground, have you?”
Um, I’m not upset. I’m confused. I thought I was acting sad, like this was my poor self’s destiny... Also, the real Yumiella has never tried to burn Lemlaesta to the ground either.
“You’ll probably be fine if you wear a hat,” he continued. “I think I have just the thing.” He motioned for me to follow him, and we headed downstairs.
Would a hat of his fit me? It’s hard to hide your hair in men’s hats.
Though I was slightly worried, I followed him obediently enough, and we arrived at a room near the entryway on the first floor.
Gilbert stopped, seeming to consider for a moment before he said, “This is a private room, so you—”
“I understand. I’ll wait over there,” I said before he could finish. I retreated a little down the hallway and kept my distance. It would be bad if I got too curious so that he refused to lend me the hat.
Gilbert pulled out a key from his pocket and entered the secret room.
I guess he said I could use the stuff here freely because the important stuff is behind a locked door. Don’t people just accidentally sometimes break locks, though? No, stop that line of thought at once! That was close... I almost showed my Yumiella side for a moment. Right now, I’m not Yumiella. I couldn’t do something barbaric like destroying the lock on a door, which is a thing Yumiella totally would do.
Gilbert exited the room soon after, locking the door behind him. Assuming it was fine for me to come closer, I did so, and that’s when I got a good look at the hat in his hand. It was a white hat with a wide brim...
It was very clearly a woman’s hat.
“Oh, so that’s what you meant by private... No, I’m not judging you. You’re free to wear whatever you like.”
People had different kinds of interests. Even if Gilbert were to dress up as Gilberta, well... Regardless of whether he’d look good or not, it wasn’t my place to judge him about it.
As I imagined him wearing a magnificent white hat and running along the beach, his bare legs peeking out from under a skirt, I noticed that Gilbert was glaring daggers at me.
“What kind of misunderstanding is your brain manufacturing now?” he asked, clearly peeved. “This room belongs to a woman. She’s away for a bit, so I think you can use this without asking.”
Oh, that’s what he meant. I don’t understand the family makeup of this household, but let’s set that aside for now, because going on this little excursion is currently my top priority.
Gilbert handed me the hat, and I put it on, pulling it quite low on my face. All I had to do was tuck the long ends of my hair inside my clothes, and it was perfect.
“Thank you very much!” I said happily, and then added, “Oh, and sorry for thinking you’re a cross-dresser!”
Gilbert saw me off with a terribly sour look on his face as I headed out the door and into the Royal Capital of Lemlaesta.
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