The young Count Avondale occupied an entire first-class train compartnt by himself and shut the door. Millen, who had been setting up the table, quietly turned his head and clicked his tongue.
"You know I can hear you, right?"
"Of course."
Newspapers bought at the station and reports sent by Nine Holder's aide were piled high. Cider sat down with troubled eyes. His long fingers picked up the edge of the newspaper with his fingertips as if touching sothing dirty.
Large letters were embedded in the yellowed newspaper.
In smaller print, it read: 'Concerns that the Great Paolun trade route will be blockaded.'
That was exactly the problem.
"This country really doesn't have anything self-sufficient."
Cider, expressing mild regret about an issue he had never cared about before, quickly flipped through the newspaper. The political section continued with various influential figures debating this situation. The economic section listed in detail which trading companies had been damaged by Paolun pirates and how many ships had sunk.
Ships were units. Units of profit that entrepreneurs returning from satisfactory deals in colonies would gain, units of pride that soldiers possessed, or just units. There was only one column of articles that shed light on the people aboard the ships.
Cider skimd over that article with a sidelong glance.
Thanks to arriving at the station early in the morning, he was able to receive both yesterday's and today's newspapers. Today's newspaper was filled with stories about what so Tempton cabinet official had said.
The gist was this: Due to the blockade of colonial trade routes, they would nationalize production facilities for several essential items among the many things experiencing supply disruptions. Well, it sounds good. Cider had no intention of interfering with such problems. If only magic stone mines weren't included in it.
A country that couldn't even be self-sufficient in magic stones, inefficiently pouring them into everything while promoting Osdern as a magical civilization at the cutting edge of technology—who were they blaming now? This type of conscription ca without proper compensation.
"Millen. The list of senators."
Cider picked out about ten people from the list with his fountain pen. The hesitating pen tip found three more and stopped.
Just thirteen people. However, if the situation dragged on, there was no telling what else would beco subject to requisition, so finding people to cast opposing votes wouldn't be too big a problem. If he rolled those idiots from the Magical Engineering University on a hamster wheel for about ten days, they might cough up ways to improve that poor efficiency. They're probably rolling hard even now.
Nevertheless, there were good reasons why magic stone mines had beco the first target...
When Cider's thoughts gradually organized, Millen suddenly asked.
"My lord, will you be staying at the Dunbarton ducal house?"
"I suppose I'll have to. I'd avoid it if I could."
"It would be better if you avoided it. When I ca in earlier, I saw the next compartnt, and in the next compartnt..."
The news Millen delivered at the right ti worsened Cider's mood even further. Without any thought of smoothing his furrowed face, he fixed his gaze on the gradually brightening outside.
Had Esperanza woken up by now? The thought that she might be pouring out anger toward Cider, who had disappeared without a word, made his rigid lips relax slightly.
The plan to go to Dunbarton had existed for several days. It was just that his relationship with Esperanza had soured at just the right ti, leaving no opportunity to ntion it. In the past, she would have naturally co along, but the situation had changed.
Cider rested his chin on his hand and sighed.
It wasn't sothing easily forgivable. From beginning to end. The deception that shook the very roots of their relationship, and the truth poured out without consideration. Setting aside the hope he had arbitrarily harbored and powerlessly abandoned, even looking at just the facts, it was extrely insulting.
However, what was more terrible was that he was desperately anxious to sohow forgive that insult. That was more than humiliation. It wasn't just a matter of broken pride. With just that one embrace, he had tried to forgive everything and let even the anger at being deceived flow away with tears mourning his father.
'That shouldn't happen.'
The mont he realized that fact, he understood where his heart stood. The edge of a cliff right above an abyss. One step forward and it would be over.
He couldn't even grasp how or when he had beco like this. However, like all other fools, he too had only realized it when it was all too late.
That was why.
This was self-defense. Self-defensive escape, perhaps. Either way, it was unseemly behavior just the sa. Therefore, although he had written sothing like 'I hope you'll think of
a lot' in his letter, he hoped as much as possible that Esperanza wouldn't dwell on his actions.
"Millen. Go to the dining car."
Cider opened the window. When cold wind ca in, Millen wrinkled his forehead.
"It's really a shortcut to an early death."
"My life probably isn't that long anyway."
When Millen left the compartnt, Cider took out a cigarette from his chest and lit it. Eyes showing fatigue scanned the reports again.
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A week's worth of newspapers was piled on the floor. Esperanza, who had placed the last newspaper from the table on top of them, slumped her body.
"I've read them all... I'm tired."
Since she didn't have the ability to morize entire newspapers like Cider, she had to scrap the parts that seed important one by one. Her notebook was packed with newspaper articles highlighted with yellow colored pencil.
Esperanza sat in Cider's study chair, just tilting her head back and blinking.
What exactly was 'important content'? She fell into the kind of worry she used to have in high school. Esperanza's scrapbook recorded without omission all the major events that had occurred throughout Osdern during this period.
Discussion of mariti trade blockades due to Paolun ard independence movent groups, Tempton cabinet tax policies, serial murder cases, farm worker labor disputes, attacks on factories by groups claiming magic power was demonic force, Nine Holder city construction.
She didn't have confidence to put all these many events in her head and run calculations. It was ti for selection and focus.
'What should I do now?'
The most urgent matter was, after all, figuring out Cider's location. Surprisingly, none of the people in this mansion knew where Cider was. If she believed he had gone because of business, then he would be wherever his business was.
If Cyrus's words were correct, if she could trust him even a fingernail's worth, then it would be safe for the ti being.
The next task was to find the 'Golden Claw' according to the original goal. That would naturally be resolved when Daria appeared, but Cyrus would know when she would appear. If there were no variables.
Then among all this information, what seed imdiately related to Cider's 'business' was, as a lord, issues related to farm worker labor disputes. But Cider's territory was in Avondale City. Even if this problem troubled him, there was no reason to take a train to other regions. He wouldn't have co to Nine Holder, so setting aside the city construction.
'Factory attacks?'
This side seed to have possibilities. Though she didn't know if it was urgent business.
Then, sothing flashed through her mind. Esperanza tilted her head for a mont.
'Why am I investigating all this one by one?'
She could just get it from soone who had the information.
Of course, she had already been to the information broker. Soone else was already sitting in that old house. Judging by the sll of rotting corpses, perhaps an undertaker? Now that Jack, who knew every corner of the slums, was gone, she couldn't break in a new information broker either.
However, it wasn't that she didn't know how to find an information broker. Since she hadn't received the reward for Duke Galliston's life yet, she could try to solve this with that.
Esperanza got up from her seat, having been about to send a letter to Duke Galliston's mansion. It didn't seem likely that a letter would properly reach a duke who was under such surveillance that he needed to send coded ssages. And it was also uncertain whether the thod through Duchess Shawbury would be effective again, or when she could receive an answer.
"Oh my, are you going out?"
Annie, who discovered Esperanza leaning out the window, asked with wide eyes. Esperanza placed her index finger to her lips.
"Don't worry. What about dinner?"
When she nodded, Annie put down the embroidery fra she was holding and headed to the dining room. Esperanza pulled her hood down deep.
Her steps toward Duke Galliston's palace, Pinent House, gradually quickened.
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Security was tight. Though it didn't show much, there were eyes hiding everywhere, and employees who seed to be doing ordinary work but whose movents were unusual.
How had it co to this?
Despite having no good feelings toward the duke, it was pitiful. What kind of palace was this? It was a prison.
Esperanza, who had turned on a small map at one corner of her vision, excluded in her mind all places estimated not to be the duke's room. First, both wings wouldn't be it. The first floor wouldn't be either. Among those, rooms already colored beige from previous visits weren't it either.
If it was the duke's room, it would be in a position where he could see both the outside and garden, so a suitable room would be...
Esperanza, who quickly narrowed down candidates, climbed over the wall without hesitation. The tall fence definitely had sothing like a security sensor attached that the duke hadn't installed. Though they called it a security sensor, it was closer to a hideous mousetrap.
Crossing the wide, open garden was the biggest problem. Finding no other way, Esperanza just stepped between trees and climbed onto the palace roof.
Coming down to the third floor and moving from balcony to balcony, she listened in little by little, but heard no sounds. Surely Daria hadn't given the duke permission to go out? Esperanza prayed that the enemy was a more thorough person and jumped over the balcony railing.
And finally, when she arrived at the room located in the center, she heard faint voices.
"Once more... life... please be careful."
"I understand."
It was a powerless voice as if his soul had left him. The unmistakably low, resonant voice was definitely that of Duke Galliston Edmund, but for a mont it felt like a different person.
The other party seed to be a guard. Though the content of sentences couldn't be guessed due to intermittent breaks, a high-handed attitude could be felt. Even after finishing what he had to say, the guard didn't seem to have any intention of leaving the room. It appeared he was watching every move from within the room from the beginning. In that case, to have a private eting with the duke, she would need to eliminate the guard.
After a mont's consideration, Esperanza went over to the balcony on the opposite side of the corridor and slipped sothing into the room. Soon after, an explosion sound ca from inside the room. While the guard temporarily disappeared due to the sudden explosion, Esperanza knocked on the balcony door.
Duke Galliston Edmund showed no sign of surprise at this sudden visit. As if welcoming a visitor he had invited himself, he walked to the window, opened the balcony, and guided Esperanza into the dark room. Not even a single lamp was lit.
"It's been a long ti."
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