Common Sense of a Warrior

The big reveal……!

"Yo, Gazelle."

"It"s been a while, Romel."

It was around the time that Romel who used to previously come to the Anderson Marquis House frequently stopped visiting, and I started to wonder what had happened to him.

Romel suddenly appeared at the Anderson Marquis House.

He acted familiarly, coming every day, and as always didn"t act very n.o.ble-like in his speech and conduct, but……to me, it felt more comfortable to have him act like that, so it was fine.

Even so… -I thought while involuntarily making a bitter smile.

Except during the night, it had been a while since I had last been home.

For him to have pinpointed this particular time on this particular day, it meant that he had perfectly grasped my schedule on top of predicting what I would be doing.

Romel was speaking and conducting himself casually, but……when I thought about that again, I felt a slight chill at his meticulousness.

"You"ve come at just the right time, I also have business with you."

As Romel sat in the chair in front of me, I spoke.

"……it"s about the details regarding that kidnapping case and the case where Parx was attacked, right?"

"That"s right."

As expected……-is what I thought internally, but I did not mouth those words.

It"s a bit too late to be saying it after all.

"Both of them had the same root. My apologies regarding Parx"s case. I was tentatively keeping an eye on the movements of the mercenaries, and had been capturing the guys that had flashy movements every now and then, but……well, I can"t exactly crack down on those who aren"t criminals without a justifiable reason."

"No, that"s fine. Because you gave us information about that matter beforehand, it didn"t end up becoming that serious a matter after all. And I also understand the reason that you stated. What I wanted to ask, wasn"t about that……"

"It"s about the background circ.u.mstances regarding the two cases, right?"

"That"s right. It"s vague, but somehow I have a bad premonition……or rather, I can"t help but have a strange feeling. It"s all just intuition though."

"……your intuition is like that of a wild beast"s."

Romel"s expression as he said that simply reflected his genuine praise for me.

"However, it"s a good intuition…….let"s see. Both of them have the same root that you expected."

"Just what is happening in this country?"

"Oi oi, it"s not by the country. It"s happening with the Anderson Marquis territory in the middle of it all. Well, in other words, you"re right in the middle of the maelstrom."

"Just what are you saying……?"

I dumbfounded questioned Romel"s words.

"The victims of the consecutive kidnapping cases were all girls around the same age as your daughter, right? In addition, they started happening ever since your daughter came to the Capital."

"……in other words, they were aiming at my daughter?"

"That was probably their ultimate goal. Well, they probably targeted girls of similar ages as a camouflage as well as provocation."

As Romel said that, the edges of his mouth contorted into a sneer.

"Just who is it? The b.a.s.t.a.r.d pulling the strings in the background."

"Oya……Count Rumel was caught. Rather, weren"t you the one who caught him? With that, shouldn"t the kidnapping case be resolved?"

"There"s no way that guy could be that crafty."

I cut into Romel"s words.

Romel didn"t refute my interruption at all, and remained silent.

I took that as an affirmation.

"Before I answer that question, would it be fine if we took care of my business first?"

In the midst of the heavy silence, Romel suddenly changed the topic.

"What, I"ll properly answer your question. Before that there"s something that I absolutely want to know."

"Ah, yeah……got it. So, today what business do you have……? Rather, it"s a little late to say this but your face looks quite tired."

"To be seen through by you……it"s true that I might be a bit tired. Leaving that aside, it"s quite rare for you to be in the mansion during the afternoon. What are you doing?"

"Just dealing with some territory matters. Normally I just leave it to others, but sometimes, you know."

"Oi oi……even though you"re busy as a General, you can"t just ignore your territory"s matters. Especially since good quality ores and such can be harvested from your place. You have to properly manage it in those areas."

The Anderson Marquis House was a family that had been obtaining military exploits ever since the founding of the nation.

From the beginning, the territory that the Anderson Marquis House governs had a lot of mountains from which ores could be harvested.

And amongst them, their iron ore was particularly famous.

They manufactured the iron ore obtained from their territory and turned them into weapons……the reason why there were more people learning the military arts in the territory compared to other territories from the olden days, was in part due to that environment.

"Even if you say that, originally I was a man who had no plans of becoming the family head, you know? Stuff like management is all gibberish to me."

"Your intuition is also limited to the battlefield, huh……..jeez, it was right to come here. Say, Gazelle. I think that I have at least obtained some of your trust."

"What, that"s unexpected. Don"t say such embarra.s.sing things with such a sober face."

"…….it"s fine, so just listen. That is why I dared to come here directly before having my people investigate. Say, Gazelle. Could you show me the recent data on the mines?"

Romel asked me with a serious tone of voice.

The contents of his question were something that would be immediately rejected if it were asked of a normal n.o.ble.

He was telling me to disclose my own a.s.sets after all.

Not only that, but it was to the man who was this country"s Prime Minister.

"Very well……..here."

But well……for me it wasn"t a problem so I easily handed the doc.u.ments over to Romel.

In contrast, Romel momentarily made a surprised expression.

"From what you"re saying, it"s something essential right? Well, I trust you. Not as a Prime Minister or whatnot, but you yourself. And, I"m pretty bad at using my head……so if you look at it, then I"m sure that something will come out of it."

"……geez. Then, I won"t hold back."

Romel muttered curtly in attempt to hide his embarra.s.sment, took the doc.u.ments and started to a.n.a.lyze them.

His speed was several times that of my own.

He was flipping through them at a speed that made it seem as if he were confirming the number of pages there were.

"Oi, Gazelle. When was the last time you went to inspect the mines?"

"About a month ago? It was just around the time I had some business in the territory."

"And the time before that?"

"…….who knows? Though I have been going at fixed intervals."

"Then, have you noticed if anything changed at the mines previously?"

"I didn"t."

"……well, of course. Ahh……my bad feeling was spot-on."

"……what happened?"

"The iron ore is being embezzled."

"…….how do you know that?"

"Even if you ask me why……if you look at these doc.u.ments together with the change in price over at your place here and compare it with the wages of your subordinates in charge of the business, it"s obvious. It would be better to trace it back to the smiths too. We should urgently collect evidence from the Merchant Guild."

"Just who would, for what purpose…….?"

"It"s the same guy we talked about earlier. And he"s also the guy pulling the wires that you"ve been chasing after."

"……say, Romel. Could you hurry up and tell me? The true ident.i.ty of the guy behind the scenes."

Gazelle glanced at Romel with a glare.

"Yeah, I"ll tell you. But only after we trace back this iron ore…….alright?"

"Why……!?"

"It"s for your sake."

"……what do you mean?"

"In the beginning, I thought about quickly telling you and putting things to an end. Or rather, the truth is……I was a bit suspicious about whether or not you were actually in on the conspiracy."

Bam, I swung Romel against the wall.

"Did you think I……forced Melilda to die!"

"Yeah, that"s right."

His face contorted in pain, but Romel responded in the affirmative.

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d…….-!"

Biting my lips tightly, I increased the strength in my hands gripping Romel"s collar.

"I said it……right? That there were a great number of people amongst the n.o.bles in the palace who were concealing strategies under a thick skin mask…….! Even if someone acts like and says that another is so, so beloved, there are plenty of cases where underneath that, they"re just using them."

"Don"t you dare insult Melilda and my feelings any more than that…….!"

"I already know! That you"re not like that!"

Romel screamed that.

Hearing those words, I loosened the strength in my hands just a little.

"…….I"ve been together with you long enough to know that. That thought quickly disappeared. Right now……like how you trust me, I also trust you."

"Then……tell me! Just who the h.e.l.l was the one who caused my Melilda to die!"

I shouted bitterly.

Since he came into contact with me, it was the first time we had ever been in such a state.

"Do you still not get it!? It"s someone who"s close enough to you that it would make me doubt whether or not you were in on the conspiracy in the beginning! It"s someone so precious to you that I couldn"t reveal it to you even after I got your trust! And it"s someone who can divert this iron ore into illegal channels……!"

"……don"t…tell me……"

I murmured in a dazed manner at Romel"s shout.

And then at the same time, the strength left my body and Romel was finally released by me.

Romel crouched down on the spot.

"You don"t need to say any more than that. Your idea was correct."

Staggering as I wandered about, I then collapsed into my chair.

And then I leaned forward, burying my face into my hands.

Seeing my state, Romel watched me with a pained gaze.

A heavy silence weighed down on the room.

The two of us did not open our mouths.

The far too enormous truth that burdened us caused me to shake unconsciously.

"……Please say it with your lips. I trust your words……"

Eventually, amidst the heavy silence, I issued such words from my lips.

At the same time, Romel let out a sigh.

"The one who spurred the bandits on, leading to the death of your beloved wife. The one who manipulated the strings of the guys who attacked your daughter and son. And then, the one who embezzled iron ore, who is thinking of causing a rebellion. That person is……your younger brother."

I shed tears at Romel"s words.