Rudell and his party, stumbling around the streets until late at night, finally managed to find a decent lodging.
With half-dazed appearances, they approached the counter…
“Any rooms available?”
“Only one left. A six-person suite.”
The innkeeper, adjusting his glasses, answered curtly to Rudell’s question.
“What do you want to do? Is that okay?”
Even among the same party, sharing a room with members of the opposite gender might feel burdensome.
With that thought, Rudell looked at his party members and asked, but…
“I just want to rest quickly…”
“Me too…”
“I’m in favor…”
“I don’t mind.”
“Well, that settles it.”
Everyone looked tired, and there weren’t any complaints.
Nodding, Rudell pulled out a few gold coins from his wallet.
“How much is it?”
“Five gold.”
“Here you go.”
“Go to the third floor, all the way down the hallway.”
The innkeeper handed a golden-decorated key to Rudell, and he and his party, dragging their weary bodies, headed up the stairs.
A moment later, Rudell arrived at the guest room and opened the door…
“Finally…!!”
“You really wore me out…!!”
“Soft, soft… The bed is the best…!!”
As soon as the door opened, Leje, Silphy, and Eleor threw themselves onto the bed.
Naturally, after being trapped in a tiny room all day, stuck on a makeshift army bed, such reactions were expected.
But then, it was just for a moment…
“Sniff sniff… sniff sniff…”
“Ah, I think we should wash up first…”
“We haven’t showered for over a day…”
Without even thinking about who would go first, the three of them started sniffing the air and got up.
As daughters of noble families and a saint with a notable status in the church, they couldn’t help but be sensitive about hygiene.
“We’ll wash up first, is that okay?”
“I don’t mind. How about you?”
“I don’t care either.”
At Rudell’s question, Kurt nodded, and the women headed towards the shower room.
“Just so you know, if you peek, I’ll kill you.”
“Don’t worry, I have no intention of doing so.”
Rudell chuckled at Leje’s remark, looking amused.
Even though he often played pranks on Leje, he was well aware of the seriousness of his own life.
Thus, as the women headed to the shower room…
“Well, let’s tidy up our stuff.”
“Sounds good.”
Nodding at Rudell’s words, Kurt began to organize the scattered bags.
Meanwhile, from inside the shower room, sounds of water flowing and squealing began to be heard.
“Ah, youth.”
“Where’s that coming from?”
“Nothing.”
When Rudell muttered that, Kurt shot him a puzzled look.
With Kurt’s emotionally dull nature, he couldn’t grasp the sentiment.
Seeing his reaction, Rudell gave a slight smile and continued organizing the bags, and a little more time passed.
“Ah… all done.”
“Good job.”
Rudell beamed with pride at the neatly organized room.
Now, once Leje and the others come out, they could wash up and get some sleep.
Just as Rudell was stretching his stiff waist while thinking that…
“Rudell.”
“Huh? What?”
At Kurt’s sudden call, he turned his head.
And then…
“Someone’s there.”
“There’s someone?”
Rudell tilted his head at the sight of Kurt, who was now looking outside with an axe drawn.
And then it happened.
Clang!!
“What the…!?”
As the window shattered, something rolled in, and seeing what it stopped at his feet, Rudell held his breath.
It was a metallic sphere the size of a fist, with a burning fuse crackling.
“Danger…!!”
Just as Rudell realized what it was and was about to channel his magic…
Whoooosh!!
“What, what!? Cough!”
Cough!! Cough!!
With the sound of air escaping, a thick smoke began to pour out of the sphere, and Rudell and Kurt coughed as they felt a sharp tickle in their throats from inhaling the smoke.
In that moment, a dark figure emerged from the smoke and lunged at Rudell, pinning him against the wall.
“Gah!?”
“Rudell!?”
Rudell’s body collided with the wall, and a low groan escaped his lips.
Kurt, seeing that, tried to charge at the shadowy figure with his axe, but…
“Don’t move.”
“What!?”
An unknown figure had appeared, pressing a dagger to Kurt’s throat.
Kurt’s eyes trembled, clearly startled that he hadn’t sensed the intruder’s presence.
After watching him for a moment, the mysterious figure let out a short sigh and sheathed the dagger at his waist.
“That’s enough. Release him.”
At his command, the one pinning Rudell let go, and Rudell could finally feel his feet on the ground again after taking a short sigh.
Regaining his breath, he looked up…
“You are…?”
“You’re from the homeland, correct?”
In response to Rudell’s question, the leader of the group replied while pulling something from within his clothing.
It was a seal emblazoned with the emblem of the Prucel Kingdom’s royal family.
“My name is Aitri. I am an operative from the kingdom’s intelligence agency.”
With that, Aitri lightly bowed his head towards Rudell and Kurt.
And then, at that moment…
Creek.
“We’re all done washing! Now it’s your turn to get in…!”
As the door to the shower room opened, and with a cloud of thick steam, Leje and the women stepped out.
And then…
“What the…?”
“W-What is this…?”
“What on earth is going on?”
Seeing the chaos before them, the women exclaimed in confusion.
*
“So that’s why you arrived earlier than scheduled.”
“Indeed… getting involved with the imperial army isn’t ideal, but it’s unavoidable…”
Nodding at Rudell’s explanation of what had transpired, Aitri looked thoughtful.
They were essentially spies from the kingdom infiltrating the empire, so being entangled with the imperial army was obviously not good.
However, without their assistance, it was impossible to know how much longer it would have taken to reach Pensburg.
They couldn’t simply reject their goodwill.
“By the way, how did you know we were here?”
“That’s classified information, I’m afraid.”
“Hmm…”
In intelligence missions, security is paramount.
It was entirely understandable for her to evade that question.
Just then…
“So, what was your purpose in coming to find us? If this commotion was caused without reason, you will need to apologize.”
A sharp voice came from Leje, who had been quietly listening.
In a way, her point was valid.
No matter how much they were the kingdom’s undercover agents, and crucial collaborators in this mission, Rudell and his party were also dispatched under Jade’s secret orders.
They weren’t in a position to tolerate impudent behavior from the other side.
“I apologize regarding that. However, we needed to verify your identities as well…”
“I’ll formally lodge a complaint about this later. You have no objections, right?”
“Understood.”
At her insistence, Aitri nodded.
Considering Rudell and the party’s status, Aitri causing this kind of uproar was indeed an issue.
It was a stroke of luck that they were letting it go this easily.
“Then let’s wrap this up for now, and you have another matter, right?”
“Indeed.”
As Aitri answered her next question, he reached into his sleeve.
Then, pulling something out, he handed it to Leje.
“What’s this…?”
It was a small piece of parchment with what seemed to be a map drawn on it, complete with an address.
“Please come to this location tomorrow morning.”
“…”
“Now that our business here is done, we will take our leave.”
Bowing slightly towards Leje, Aitri stood up.
At the same time, his subordinates began to move towards the exit.
“Wait a moment!!”
“Do you have more matters?”
In that instant, Rudell called out to Aitri, who was about to leave, with a frantic voice.
Aitri stopped and turned his head, and Rudell pointed at the shards of glass scattered across the floor.
“You’ll need to compensate for this.”
“…”
At that moment, Aitri’s expression, which could be seen under the hood, crumpled.
