The drawing made with a single pen had no sound, and thus the woman in the picture also appeared rely quiet and peaceful, but nonetheless the eyes filled with black ink intensely captured one's gaze.
It was just a sketch, one drawn intermittently with a fountain pen on letter paper at that. Yet even from such a drawing, affection could emanate. Down to the smallest details.
The look in her eyes, her lips, her posture and the loosely captured folds of her clothing, the fingertips supporting her chin...
Esperanza stared at that drawing for a long while, then slowly, deliberately wrote her reply. As if she had felt nothing at all. As if she had never even seen such a drawing. For so reason, the tone of Esperanza in the letter felt a bit stiffer than usual, but that was the best she could do.
"Have you written a reply?"
The waiting Millen asked. Esperanza shook her head. She wouldn't send this one.
"No reply."
"Pardon?"
Esperanza shrugged and put the paper with her written reply and Cider's drawing into an envelope right before Millen's eyes.
She stood up and walked toward the window. The cold outside air coming in made her complicated mind feel a bit refreshed. Esperanza said to Millen, who was still standing in the sa spot:
"Annie isn't here today. She said she'd sleep over at her brother's house."
She must have been so happy to see her nephews that she'd abandon this fine hotel to sleep in that crowded house. Millen frowned.
"What does Miss Tate's whereabouts have to do with ?"
"You two seed close."
"It's better for senior employees to be on friendly terms. Miss Tate has experience serving noble ladies but ca in as a maid, so she's likely to face jealousy from others."
So he was expressing friendship to maintain discipline. How touching, really.
She had no intention of insisting when he said it wasn't so. Instead, Esperanza beckoned Millen closer with a gesture. When Millen obediently bowed his head, Esperanza grabbed Millen's collar and pulled. Passersby glanced over, but she paid no mind and whispered quickly in a lowered voice:
"When Cider finishes his commission, both of you co straight to this hotel together. And take Cordelia and Annie and get out of Sterling."
"Is this sothing agreed upon with his lordship?"
This was exactly the aspect for which she had to highly evaluate Millen as an employee. Esperanza smiled briefly and answered:
"Yes. Sothing very dangerous is going to happen. It won't affect the mainland, but your master has many people targeting him, so it's better to be careful."
Millen didn't add any further words and simply nodded. After Millen left, Esperanza went up to her room and took out the letter again. When she was reading it for the third ti, Cordelia finally erged from her room, pulling her robe closed as if just waking up.
"Are you going out today too?"
"No. I already went to the shooting range. Oh, just in case, keep a weapon with you."
Esperanza took out a pistol from her inventory and placed it in Cordelia's hands. It was one she herself had used well in the old days. Though she hadn't used pistols often. She took out an identical pistol to give to Annie later. Esperanza put out several spare guns for Alastair to use when he ca, then closed her inventory.
Cordelia carefully held the pistol. The sensation wrapping around her hand felt unfamiliar.
"Just in case. You should be safe if you stay on land, but I don't know how far the aftereffects will reach, and other unexpected dangers might co. So know that you might have to shoot people if necessary."
"People..."
"It would be best if it doesn't co to that, but if it does, there won't be ti to hesitate."
Esperanza's face was resolute as she said this.
Cordelia was a bright girl. Being bright, she had much she wanted to say. But after moving her lips several tis, she only presented the most refined question:
"Esperanza. You're not from Paolun, are you?"
Her head whipped around. eting her surprised eyes, Cordelia smiled broadly. Resting her chin on the armrest, she whispered as if dreaming:
"I'm not that slow to catch on."
Esperanza's eyes widened as she unconsciously pulled the letter in her hand toward herself. Cordelia winked.
"High society is where people gather, you know. Officers who served in the Paolun colonial war, rchants... You haven't seen them yet, but you can often see Paolun nobles too. None of them were like you."
Though she muttered "What did I do wrong?" with an embarrassed face, Esperanza thought she understood.
"I haven't seen them, Paolun people."
"You hardly participated in social activities. The events Lord Avondale brought you to weren't the kind those people would frequent."
Even after quite a long ti learning about this world, she didn't know their detailed rules. She still wasn't interested, but at least she could tell that Cider had been more careful in this aspect than Esperanza had thought.
"I gradually started noticing those things. You rarely talked about Paolun, and strangely, you seed familiar with Sterling despite supposedly never having been there. And you know a dungeon will appear in Sterling. That's completely different from knowing the disaster at Mabelwood was a dungeon."
Cordelia, with her hand on her waist, grinned wickedly.
"Right?"
Since it was conviction rather than speculation, Esperanza didn't deny it.
"I think I believed it at first. Mysterious martial arts learned in Paolun... It was nonsense, but since you believed it, I let my guard down."
"Ugh, the one who deceived is at fault!"
Believing that was embarrassing even thinking back on it. Cordelia, who had been laughing confidently, blushed and shook her head vigorously.
"I believed it at first. Until the party, anyway. But when that incident happened at Mabelwood... how could I not know after seeing that? I imagined many things. I thought about so much."
The imaginations Cordelia laid out with an embarrassed face were quite cute. And those cute imaginations weren't entirely wrong either. After laughing for a while, Esperanza said:
"I can't tell you the details, but... I have no bad intentions."
"Of course! Who do you think would worry about that? If that were the case, you wouldn't have saved us at Mabelwood."
"Right, I'll do the sa this ti."
Eyes filled with admiration sparkled toward Esperanza.
She had no bad intentions. But she couldn't guarantee there would be no bad results. Esperanza wasn't absolutely advantaged in this fight.
Esperanza fondled the letter in her hand.
"I can't promise to save everyone. But I'll do my best."
Tomorrow would bring conclusions. The dungeon, the fight with Daria, the problems that had brought Cider all the way to this distant Dunbarton. And perhaps, Cider's rejection too.
The unknown was frightening.
While hoping tomorrow would co a little faster, she also hoped it would never co.
??????°??☆????°??????
It was an exceptionally bright and clear day. Wind from outside the window opened to release steam gently scattered his hair.
Cider Claiborne tightened the last screw and removed his hands.
Since he had used the existing automaton fra as-is, it had many shortcomings compared to his latest inventions. But thanks to adjusting the structure a bit in his spare ti, it operated much more smoothly than the original machine.
He looked through the telescope section. The view beyond the lens was clear. A satisfied smile played at the corners of Cider's mouth.
It was completed two days earlier than the promised date.
He cut off the automaton's magic power and called Millen to finish the packaging.
A faint tension swept down his spine. Once he delivered this to the navy, everything would begin. The reconnaissance ship would depart, the dungeon would occur, and Esperanza would leap into the midst of it all.
Into the center of that danger. Not saying a single word of worry was just stubbornness. His fingertips trembled slightly. He habitually reached for a cigarette, then lowered his hand with a sigh.
It would be fine. Esperanza was skilled and had much dungeon experience. She was sufficiently prepared, so it wouldn't be dangerous. He just needed to worry about what kind of face he should show Esperanza when this long day was over.
Actually, that was the bigger problem. When facing her directly, he wasn't confident he could pretend to be calm like in letters. The first mont would probably be fine. But if they kept facing each other, eventually the ti would co to reach a conclusion about the problems he'd postponed.
A conclusion, a conclusion...
Cider gritted his teeth and forced a smile toward himself.
He didn't want to think about it from now.
"It's finished."
Millen loaded the packaged automaton into the steam carriage. Cider climbed into the carriage with slow steps.
The carriage carrying the servant, automaton, and magical engineer puffed steam from its chimney as it ran to the naval base. It was a short distance of only about 5 minutes by carriage. Cider clenched his hand holding the cane.
The carriage passed through the base's massive gate. Following the military's guidance, they passed chanical devices where gears shed ceaselessly and brass pipe systems filled the walls. After a long while, they arrived at a bay where warships were endlessly docked. Of course, there had been no prior briefing at all. The military was as arbitrary as always. Cider sighed and got out of the carriage.
Commodore Rustin lit his pipe while facing the sea breeze. The veteran's relaxed face briefly contorted upon spotting Cider. That old general didn't particularly like him. Naturally, Cider didn't like him either.
The Commodore, puffing smoke, said bluntly:
"You'll do the installation too."
Cider looked back at the carriage Millen had brought. Calculating the ti it would take to install and return, his tone naturally beca stiff.
"That wasn't in the contract."
"Don't you have pride in your work? No craftsmanship spirit?"
Cider smiled crookedly. Since it's a hobby, not work, if he answered sincerely, it really seed like the conversation would drag on. If they expected that, they should have written it in the contract from the start. Taking out his pocket watch to check, he shook his head.
"If you put a gun to the back of my head and force , I'd do it."
Wrinkles ford on the Commodore's tanned face. His frowning face under his uniform cap kept puffing smoke.
"Fine! I should have entrusted it to my son from the start. Captain Duke!"
Captain Duke, who had been standing by, quickly approached. After responding energetically to the Commodore's order and turning around, he didn't forget to show Cider an awkward smile. Soldiers sward over to transport the automaton to the ship.
"Then I'll be going now."
"What nonsense! Even if you won't install it directly, shouldn't you confirm it's installed properly? You made it earlier than expected, and how can I trust you're not trying to hastily finish and leave?"
Maintaining a smile wasn't easy. Cider sighed and looked around. The soldiers who would board the ship, officers standing around the Commodore, and Millen. Since he wasn't Esperanza, there was no way to break through all these people and escape.
Commodore Rustin was an authoritative and obstinate character. Once he thought sothing was right, he never backed down. At first glance, he might seem like just a stubborn and upright person, but such characteristics couldn't only be applied to good things.
"If sothing goes wrong, I'll send the bill to Avondale mansion..."
Just as Cider was sighing and opening his mouth.
Bang! With an explosive sound, black smoke rose from the ship's side.
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