Third Arc: Forty-First Chapter

"Sorry to interrupt while you're busy, this one is, but..."

"Hwuah?!"

Ngh! A sudden whisper from the dark made a strange sound come out of me. The silence that had wrapped us, feeling both like an instant and like forever, was broken by an unfamiliar voice.

But a young lady must not lose her composure just because a strange voice comes out of the dark. Therefore, I did not make a strange sound. I did not, and that is that.

"Wh-what, good day!"

"A good day to you, so it is. Sorry for the fright, this one is. But that was a mighty peculiar scream, so it was."

"You could just let it slide!"

Looking again toward the voice, I saw a man dressed all in black, thoroughly ninja-looking, crouched at the bedside near the pillow.

...In a formal kneel.

Yes, this is.

"Hi! Hattori! Good day YO!"

"You're awfully chipper?!"

"Good day YO, so it is. Forgive this one for intruding, but this one's legs are going numb before long, so they are."

"A cool comeback! Wait, one of those 'how long have you been there' types?!"

"From the very start, so it was."

"Aaargh!!"

I clutched my head and shook it before I could stop myself.

E-embarrassing!

Even I, whom Sissi so often scolds for being dense, can grasp that what just happened was a love scene.

But Hattori-ku... no, Master Hattori breezily ignored my open turmoil and stood... could not.

"Hattori?!"

"I've been sitting so long, ah, my legs... numb..."

"Even though you're a ninja?!"

"Hmph. Poke"

"Awawawawa"

"Michael, you're merciless too?!"

After that, Master Hattori spent a while clutching his legs and groaning. While all this went on, Anje, who'd gone to find water, came back.

"Wh-who are you...! M-Master Hattori?!"

"Mm. Just so, so it is."

"Eeee! I'm a fan! Please shake my hand!"

"Mm. Of course... awawawawa. Still numb..."

"That numbness won't quit!"

And so we managed our reunion, of a sort, with this rather pathetic ninja.

"So then, after you passed the medicine to Anje through the gap in the door, you came straight to this room and hid?"

"Just so, so it is. In detail, this one opened the window, went out along the wall, set foot on the ledge twenty centimeters over, then the one fifty-five centimeters over..."

"You sound very thorough, so there's no need to tell me. Save that sort of thing for Michael alone, later."

"No, I don't want to hear it either!"

It seemed that when Anje came to the bedroom door, Master Hattori had opened it just a crack and passed the medicine through. And after that, he slipped out of the bedroom and hid in this room.

"Wait. If you were going to join up, wouldn't it have been simpler for Master Hattori to hand the medicine straight to Michael from the start?"

"Hah?!"

Master Hattori reeled back at my point.

Oi.

"Now that you mention it, yeah. Why?"

"Mm. Because it was uncertain whether this one could join up, so it was. So this one split the medicine, so he did."

"I see. You gave some to Anje and kept some yourself. If you had a reason, then why reel back?"

"Went with the flow, so it was."

"Ngh...!"

What is with this ninja?! My retorts can't keep up! Holding down my own arm, itching to punch him, grinding my teeth, I was the opposite of Michael, who handled all of it calmly, used to the flow.

"That's my Hattori! Oh, right, does it look like we can get out of here?"

"Mm. This one alone could manage, but carrying His Majesty makes it hard, so it does."

"Eh. I don't think I'm that fat."

"His Majesty is big, so he is."

"That much is certainly true."

Anje and Michael, deep in thought, hmm. Also, Anje's fitting in fast too.

"It's all right, so it is. Lord Elliot is heading here now, so he is."

"Elliot is? Then we're safe."

"Elliot is!... But even if the King is being held, we're trespassers too. Is it really all right?"

I don't know how Lumelica's laws work, but we are plainly trespassing. And King Michael is one thing, but Anje and I even snuck in under false names.

Watching me fret, Michael smiled gently to set me at ease.

"It's fine. That's what Elliot's for. Did you forget? This is Elliot's family home, so to speak."

"Oh, right..."

Even if Elliot enters this mansion, it isn't trespassing. And Lyonetta's side can't very well arrest Elliot, so he must be a very awkward opponent for them.

"By the way... did you get the evidence?"

"Of course, so it is."

"That's my Hattori!"

"It took time to dig up, but it's all here, so it is. Sneaking into the bedroom so suddenly gave this one a fright, but thanks to the young ladies stirring things up, it moved along fast, so it did."

"Wha! I-I was of use to Master Hattori...! Hafuu."

Cheeks reddening, Anje swooned dreamily, and I propped her up while asking about a phrase that had caught my ear.

"Evidence?"

"Evidence of the plot to assassinate the king. Truth is, Hattori's been scouting Lyonetta's mansion for a while. I didn't think you two would sneak in, though. Honestly, throwing caution to the wind. Reckless beyond measure."

"Th-that, I'm sorry..."

At Michael's little jab, Anje and I felt awkward and looked down a bit.

"It's fine. Though I did think you could have just told me. You had some reason you couldn't, right? Well, I only came round and heard the details yesterday, so I panicked."

Michael had managed to come round thanks to the medicine Elliot scraped together, and hearing from the scouting Master Hattori that we'd slipped in, he'd hurried here in a fluster. He used a secret passage of his own, apparently. The palace must be in an uproar now over the king's disappearance. So Michael slipped out of the castle, got more from Remias, whom he met again in the city, and ordered Master Hattori to obtain the antidote.

Ah. It's no use regretting it now, but maybe I should have told him everything from the start. In the end I only stirred things up and was no help at all. As if to cheer us, drooping weakly, Michael laughed brightly.

"Haha! It all worked out, so it's fine! Did you forget? Hattori's the finest ninja in all Lumelica!"

Cheered by Michael's voice, I pulled myself together, lifted my face, and matched his tone with a light jab.

"More that I'm only just realizing it than forgetting. You're surprisingly impressive, Master Hattori."

"Mm. The radiant sunshine honey Cosette is sharp-tongued, so she is."

"Grroo!"

Th-this ninja...! He's rather good! As I reeled, Anje tilted her head and asked a question. A-Anje, not flustered by that nickname. You're rather steady-nerved.

"You'd been scouting for a while?"

"Yeah. I had him marked. Not as the culprit behind my assassination, but I always thought he'd do something like this one day. Even so, evidence of petty crimes wasn't enough to crush him."

"Crush..."

At the faintly ominous word, I found myself gulping without meaning to. Noticing, Michael lowered his brows a little, apologetic.

"Sorry. Being king, you can't get by on fine words alone. You have to crush the troublemakers."

"But, Elliot's... no, sorry. It's nothing."

He must have known what I was about to say, but Michael only lowered his brows and said nothing.

That Michael trusts and dotes on Elliot came through clearly even to me, only a few days with him. But his mother Lyonetta is someone who would go so far as to try to assassinate Michael. The mother of the brother he trusts. Crime or no crime, condemning such a person must be a painful choice for Michael too.

"Sorry, Cosette."

"It's not me you should apologize to. I'm the one who's sorry."

Michael gently took the hand of me, brows drawn, looking down. As if to reassure me, it's all right. A warm sense of ease spread slowly through me.

"This is love, so it is..."

"To reach this point, a surprise Michael route?!"

"Mm."

Watching us, Anje and Hattori muttered to each other.