Guardians of the Prince

[side Idine]

Lahzt’s eyes told me he’d realized the same thing I had. Not half bad.

“So that’s how it is, huh. If the criminal is a noble, there’s a possibility they know all about the discord between the Crown Prince’s faction and the Second Queen’s faction.”

“Yeah. In other words, their goal isn’t to liberate Kikage.”

As I spoke, a small orange-colored bird circled around Lahzt, and landed on his anpy’s head. A postey delivery.

Lahzt took the letter from the tube on the postey’s leg, and ran his eyes over it.

“It’s from Lord Fatido. He’s uncovered a couple of suspicious characters on the guest list, and it seems he’s come to the same conclusion.”

He offered the letter to me, and I took it. The name of a suspect that had surfaced from the guest list was written there.

I couldn’t stop an utterly evil smile from flashing across my face.

“In that case, why don’t we ignore all these trivial details. No need to go through all the trouble of negotiating.”

Lahzt nodded. “Yeah. Handing down judgment on the criminal comes only after you rescue the princess.”

Beside me, Endie flung off his overcoat, and Kahzam’s joints snapped as he cracked them.

◇ ◇ ◇

Behind the mansion, traders and anpys pulling carts were coming and going busily through the back gates. The gatekeeper was checking their permits, and almost universally denying them entry.

Shiino were originally used to assist with certain mechanical forces. With Lahzt and I using the Arts, and Endie and Kahzam utilized their practiced strength, the raid was easy.

Lightly hopping over the wall in an area out of the public gaze, and sending a guard who was on patrol to sleep, we broke the lock on a side staff entrance without a sound and slipped in. A number of doors with numbers one them lined either side of a dim pathway. They seemed to be storerooms.

Lahzt had brought a postey with a letter on which was written the seal of Kohme’s name, and we let it fly. The postey landed directly at a certain point down the hall, and tottled over to hop up and down in front of one of the doors.

It started to knock on the door with its beak, but Kahzam quietly stopped it. So this is the door, huh.

The lock wasn’t giving. We kicked it in with one blow, and spotted black hair in between stacks of wooden crates and jute bags.

It was Kohme. She was sitting with her arms tied behind her and a blindfold over her eyes.

Beside her, a well-built man wearing an expensive suit that didn’t fit him turned around, opened his eyes wide and said something, apparently without thinking.

“That was fast–”

Bit careless, aren’t you? I mean, okay, a few hours had passed since the actual kidnapping, but still.

[side Lahzt]

“Kohme–”

A few people spoke at the same time, as we opened the door, and she popped her head up, her eyes still covered. Her forehead was swollen and red… They’d done something to her?

The worry and bloodlust that had been oozing from Kahzam and Endie had finally calmed down when they spotted Kohme alive, but I felt it all fire up again beside me in an instant. Not that I was any different! Idine and I expanded our Circle Arts simultaneously.

It turned into a brawl with a bunch of nobodies who happened to be in there too.

I mean, maybe these jackasses weren’t just somebody’s underlings, but compared to Kahzam and Endie, there was no other word to describe them with. Kahzam’s bare hands were decisive, and then Endie’s elbow strikes got into the act, and their opponents were reduced to rolling around and moaning on the floor.

Shiino wasn’t very useful for offense, but it could be used for defense and protection. Idine and I devoted ourselves to support roles. To be honest, I wanted to wallop directly them with my own fists.

And these small fry seemed to just be playing for time. A guy in a suit stood up and started dragging Kohme off – Don’t you touch her, you bastard! – hoisting her over his shoulder like a sack and retreating further into the storeroom.

A rectangle was cut into the interior wall and collapsed towards the outside. It formed its own loading ramp. Was that an exit?

But the instant the man tried to leave, something swung at him from above, and struck him right in the temple.

The man held his head and staggered back, where Endie flew towards him and caught Kohme before she could hit the ground.

A man wearing a hat and work overalls popped his face in from the loading entrance. In his hand was a stick used to attach luggage to anpys.

“Lord Fatido!? What are you doing here?”

Kahzam rushed over, and Lord Fatido in his overalls waved an ID hanging around his neck.

“I got in the normal way. I did some investigating, and it turned out we’d had dealings with them before.”

And then, completely ignoring the man Kahzam now had restrained and groaning, he announced sarcastically, “Guess we’ll be putting an end to our business relationship with them.”

Endie set Kohme down and we undid the ropes around her arms and took off the blindfold. She did seem a little exhausted, but she flashed us her usual smile.

“Thank you, everyone!”

“Here, Kohme.”

I gently touched her forehead, and smiled when she pulled a bit of a grimace. “Ah, I resisted a bit, and sorta headbutted one of them.”

Unexpectedly brave wasn’t she, for a nanny.

“But why… What is this…” she asked, looking all five of us in the face in turn.

“You don’t know? Did you really doubt us, once all of us acted together?”

Idine smiled. Jerk, what the hell is that sweet smile… Show her the black grin you had on your face a few minutes ago, why don’t you.

I healed Kohme’s forehead with my arts, and smiled wryly.

“The criminals didn’t expect it either. That the five of us would end up working together.”

“It’s pretty well known that the Crown Prince’s faction doesn’t think much of the Second Queen’s faction. With that in the background, they abducted you and demanded the release of an extremist leader. Apparently they mistook you for the Crown Prince’s nanny somehow, and that’s why they kidnapped you,” I explained briefly, and then asked Kohme, “So, what do you think the Crown Prince’s faction would normally do? Would they actually release a criminal for Ouji’s nanny?”

[side Idine]

“… I think… they wouldn’t… right?”

I gently took her arm, and checked out the marks left from where she’d been bound. She did have some scratches. She didn’t offer any resistance, and I continued with the explanation.

“Exactly. It’s an extremist group that’s been laying waste to areas under the Crown Prince’s control. So we don’t release him, and if we can, we keep the incident under wraps. And once the Second Queen’s faction learns of it, when they rummaged around behind the scenes?”

“Oh. They’d think the Crown Prince was abandoning the hostage to her fate, and the relationship between the two factions would get really bad…?”

Kohme really seemed to be thinking hard about it, and Endie started speaking.

“Who profits most from the relationship between our factions going sour?”

Kohme now looked at Endie. What was going on with these two… It kinda felt like some kind of intimate atmosphere had sprung up between them, but what the heck had happened between them?

“Hm, some influential noble? Whoever’s next in line, after the Crown Prince and Ouji?”

Lord Fatido nodded. “There was just such an influential noble among the guests at the hunting party, someone who went home before the event was over. This man.”

He lightly poked the guy passed out at his feet with his toes.

The man moaned, and Kohme pulled back for a moment. Kahzam gently cuddled her from behind. Hmph.

Lahzt continued. “Well, he was working for his own gain, getting our two camps to snarl at each other like that. But it was kidnapping Kohme that was their big mistake.”

“Wait, me?”

Kohme looked around at us. The way she rolled her eyes was cute, and I let out a laugh without meaning to.

“Exactly. If it’s to rescue Kohme, we don’t mind teaming up with people who would normally be our rivals! They never expected that, did they?”

“You say all that pretty easy,” Lahzt said, a bit dumbfounded.

“It doesn’t mean we have to keep up the charming conversation. Instead, let me dispense with this criminal’s punishment right here.”

I exchanged glances with Endie, and grinned.

Kohme let out a shout. “Oh no, the prince! He must be worried, I’ve gotta go see him, quick.”

Ah jeez, her head is already full of that boy with the complicated upbringing.

“Oh, Ouji would make the sixth guy who adores Kohme, wouldn’t he? Well, I’m sure he’ll play a role in any future incidents.”

Lord Fatido’s words were more profound than they sounded. More than he likely realized.

Maybe this wouldn’t be the end of it.

The criminal had inadvertently mistaken her for the Crown Prince’s nanny and kidnapped His Highness Ouji’s nanny, and then realized their mistake along the way and just dropped her in the forest with the blindfold still over her eyes. Kohme hadn’t even seen the criminals. Endie and I had located and rescued her, but the next incident might not be so clear cut, is what he was saying.

After he made that clear, despite himself, the whole party thought the same thing, and all of us, no matter which side we supported, breathed in the sweet nectar of a troubling incident coming to a close. How obnoxious.

Well, we did capture the man in the end, so we could get some firm information out of him, and consign the principal offender to the darkness in secret.

That kind of work wasn’t necessarily in my character, but the crime of laying hands on Kohme was a heavy one.

[side Lahzt]

“Koume!”

When we got back to the tent, Ouji ran straight to Kohme and flew into her arms.

“Ouji, I’m so sorry! I’m safe now.”

Kohme crouched down and hugged him, stroking his silky golden hair.

Of course the maid Lauren rushed over too, and Kohme explained that she just got mixed up in a fight with some strange people but that she was fine now, it was okay.

To sum up a kidnapping as ‘getting mixed up’ in something, this woman was so strong. Even the wound on her forehead was almost invisible thanks to my arts, so probably no one would know the difference.

Kahzam, Lord Fatido, and I looked on at the scene, finally feeling calm.

Suddenly, there was a commotion on the other side of us, and I turned around.

The Crown Prince, accompanied by Idine and Endie, was walking towards us. Kohme gently separated herself from the prince, set him down, and waited.

“Ouji. It’s been a long time.”

His Highness came to a stop and spoke to Ouji without bending down. Ouji bowed politely, showing his respects toward a senior royal.

“You seem to be studying hard, doing your best.”

The way His Highness spoke, it was obvious he was just being polite.

But His Highness hardly ever spoke to Ouji at all, and the fact that he’d struck up a conversation now? Surely he had realized something after this latest incident. That the antagonism between their factions left gaps that could be taken advantage of.

So he’d struck up a conversation with Ouji so they could be seen talking… That was the impression I got, anyway.

Ouji grinned and responded. “Yep, I am doing my best! Once I grow up, I’m gonna be a big help to you, big brother!”

His Highness heard that, and the corners of his mouth lifted just slightly. “Is that right. I look forward to it. Now, you’ll have to excuse me.”

He left and didn’t look back. Idine and Endie glanced in our direction, and then followed him.

Lord Fatido came up to Ouji, and ruffled his hair. “Good job, Ouji.”

Ouji seemed a little confused, but Kohme ruffled his hair too, and he grinned happily.

If Kohme could continue to raise such a gentle child, just as she was doing, incidents like this one that used the discord between the factions, would be a thing of the past. I was sure of it.

And I think Ouji would protect those who were important to him.

“Alright, shall we head home?” she said, holding Ouji’s hand. “To Shiz Cagna.”

[Six men and a nanny – end]