“What I want to know…” I murmured. “I want to know why you are together with a young lord alone? I found that quite interesting.” I formed a small smile. As far as I knew, they should be enemies. You wouldn’t want to be alone with someone like that. Anything could happen, you know.

  It was then that the mood dropped, and Miyako lowered her head. The sadness she was trying to hide while my crew was present was finally laid bare. It just made me more curious as to why she would be this sad for that guy. You don’t typically grieve for someone you were not close to. I just sensed there was something more to this.

  “... Yuki… was a good man.”

  “A good man…?”

  “We were heading to his greenhouse when it all happened. After every assembly meeting, we would head straight there.”

  What the fuck?

  Why was she acting close to an enemy of theirs? But there was something that struck my curiosity.

  “Greenhouse? They have a greenhouse?” I never expected that. What plant would you even cultivate in this shitty ass place?

  Miyako nodded with a small smile, as if remembering it brought her a little joy. “They nurtured plants not from this place, and they were growing, Estelia. Green and beautiful.”

  “Huh, so that’s possible?”

  “Yes, Yuki was the one taking care of them. He showed it all to me. That place was so wonderful. And he told me his ambition to restore the land, for green plants to grow on this dead land.”

  Quite an overly ambitious lad then… But impressive.

  “And you shared his ambition…”

  “Yes, I too want to see a beautiful Shinoroa. However, I also wanted something more. I remembered what you said.”

  “What I said?”

  Uh oh, I think I might have caused something bad…

  I sort of didn’t want to hear it. But alas, there was no escaping this. But surely it wasn’t a big deal, right?

  “If I want change, then I should be the beginning of that change.”

  Ah shit…

  Ah, yep, it was a big deal. Dammit.

  I remembered that very well. But I never thought she would do it now! While I was here! Fuck. Stupid Estelia, and your stupid mouth. I shouldn’t have said something like that — no, what I said was right. But Miyako really didn’t have to do all that while I was here. Shit. And it all got fucked somehow.

  “I see…” That was all I could say.

  “And so, I invited Yuki to join me. To bring unity to our islands.”

  I leaned back in my chair. Quite a noble goal indeed. “He accepted, I presume?”

  “Yes, he did. I wanted to start by having him convince his father to sign a trade partnership with us. But that went nowhere.”

  “... Your goal for unity has only made it crucial for the demons to disrupt your actions.”

  “... I think they’ve been planning that for a while now. Starting from my ambush and attempted assassination.”

  The timing just couldn’t be more perfect for the demons. As one would imagine, the demons were already behind or beside those with the seat of power.

  “And because you two shared common goals, you two became closely acquainted.” That was why she went along with this Yuki without her bodyguard.

  If only she hadn’t gotten close to that young lord, perhaps she could have avoided all this trouble.

  If only you had taken my advice to heart, Miyako.

  You probably didn’t have to suffer like this.

  I stood up and let out a sigh. “You two should stay in this inn for the time being until things cool off, or until we figure out how to get out of here safely.” They were also supposed to be our transport out of this island to the next, but well, I guess we had to figure out another way as well. “I’ll get a room for each of you.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  I left the room and made my way to the front desk. I picked the rooms that were next to each other. How lucky there were still plenty of spare rooms. But then again, this was not exactly a place for poor people. And besides, how many people would need a room at an inn? Barely any tourists.

  Once I got the rooms, I led Miyako and Satomi to their rooms and handed them the keys.

  “Get a proper rest. We’ll have our dinner later tonight. But given that you two are wanted, I’ll bring you your food. Oh, and make sure your windows are closed at all times.”

  “Thank you, Estelia,” Miyako said with a small smile. “I’m glad to have you as a friend.”

  A friend…

  I nodded. With that, Miyako entered her room. I was leaving when Satomi suddenly caught up with me.

  “Miss Estelia.”

  “Yes?” I stopped in my tracks and slowly turned towards her.

  “Lady Miyako is currently in grief, and I thank you so much for being here with her.”

  “In grief, huh?”

  “Lady Miyako and Lord Yuki… had a special relationship growing. I believe…” She glanced back at her lady’s room before leaning in to whisper to me. “I believe she was in love with him.”

  As I thought. Man, love is hard. Sometimes it causes you all kinds of trouble.

  “Falling in love with an enemy…”

  “Lord Yuki may belong to the enemy’s side, but in person, he is no enemy at all.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Still an enemy, and I sense that you think the same.”

  Satomi lowered her gaze. “Yes.”

  Even if one person was good amongst enemies, he would still have no choice but to swim with the tide. And even if he was a good person, what about his surroundings, his allies? You wouldn’t know what they might do to you. Furthermore, anyone can be ‘good’ but still be your enemy.

  “I told you not to get close to anyone in enemy territory. I was sure you heard that.”

  “Y-Yes. But… It’s Lady Miyako’s love… I didn’t think I should intervene and get in her way.”

  I shook my head. “Servants are supposed to help prevent their masters from doing anything foolish. Because we masters are human in the end. We make mistakes, or do something that shouldn’t be done.”

  “So I should have…”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t think she would agree if I did that.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Speak your mind. Convince her as much as you can.”

  This is why you shouldn’t surround yourself with a bunch of yes-men.

  They should have kept their distance from that young lord.

  “Aren’t servants supposed to help their masters in what they strive for?”

  “Still, speak your mind. It might help. Unity is a noble goal, but where you started, it was quite risky. Perhaps you forgot, it’s only you two. You’re vulnerable.”

  Satomi sighed. “I should have been adamant.”

  “Perhaps. But what’s done is done. Just be there with your master when she needs you.”

  “... Thank you, Miss Estelia.”

  I nodded. “Now you, you also need to rest.”

  With that, she left and entered her room. Letting out a short sigh, I made my way to the lobby. Everyone was outside, sitting at a table. I sat down on the nearby chair and let out a sigh of frustration.

  “Nice new friends, by the way,” Taneva said.

  I scowled at him. “Not like everything is completely under their control. Perhaps they were always doomed.”

  “How much time do we have before we need to move out?” Velar asked.

  “... I don’t know, a day?” I answered. “It might take some time before they start checking every building.” I raised my head and turned to Hartwin. “How did things go after we left?” I asked him about what had happened after the funeral.

  Hartwin smiled. “Everything went well. Everyone has returned to the compound. Apparently, they’ve been assigned jobs. They should start working by next week.”

  “Hm, at least that’s good news.”

  “For my friends, yes, but it would seem yours are not very good.”

  I placed my elbow on the table and my hand on my forehead. “They were supposed to be our way out of this island. Now we have to find a boat or something. But with the conflict between the two islands, the sea in between would be… hard to get through. I doubt we can commute.”

  “Why don’t the Cursed Children just fly us there?” Hartwin casually asked.

  At that, Nira quickly shook her head.

  Taneva chuckled and patted Nira’s head. “That’s a vast water they have to fly over, and there’s more of us than them.”

  “And there’s no way I’m flying that far.” I waved my hand, dismissing the idea. Using my wind to fly across the vast water would be my demise.

  Velar crossed his arms. “So, we need a ship while going past the armed forces. If they have not started the war yet when we arrive.”

  “One letter is all it would take for it to start,” I sighed again. If the war begins, sea battles will be first. And when that happens, it might be impossible to find someone willing to take us to the other side. We could steal some ships from their navy, but that might mean getting attacked by the other side. Also, we would need a big boat that could take all of us and be comfortable.

  Taneva tapped his hand on the table. “... Perhaps there’s a way.”

  “Oh?”

  “Maybe we can peacefully get a ship to get to the other shore.”

  “How?”

  “There are criminal organizations in the shadows. Maybe we can strike a deal with them. They always smuggle all kinds of stuff between islands. I’m sure they have a path to sneak through the secure perimeter on the waters. One that will get us to Nishinoa.”

  “Is that safe?”

  “Well, as long as we can pay.”

  Well, we certainly have the money.

  “Huh. Good. But how do we do that? How do we even find the right people?”

  “I know where.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “How?”

  He grinned. “What? You think I was only out drinking whenever I left the inn?”

  I frowned. “What were you doing exactly?”

  “Well, there was drinking. But, I was just looking for entertainment and got to beat some criminals on the way. With my curiosity, I got some information that might be of interest to us. If there’s one thing nice about this place, it’s that we can beat just about anyone without consequences, and interrogate them while we’re at it.”

  “You have one weird hobby.”

  “Don’t want to hear that from someone who is weirdly overly attached to her daggers.”

  “You… there’s nothing weird about that!”

  “Sure, sure…”

  “Ugh…”

  I wanna punch him right now!

  “Whatever, at least we have somewhere to go. Let’s look into it tomorrow.” So it was time to resort to getting the criminals’ help. That was fine, it certainly beats the alternatives. I turned to Hartwin. “And Hartwin, you should say your farewells to your friends tomorrow as well. There’s no telling when we’re heading out.”

  It could be sudden.

  “I understand, Princess.”

  I stood up. “Now then, I need to take my rest and sleep. This has been a tiring day.” Although, I might be sleeping a little better this time. Killing all those ninjas, it somehow put me in a somewhat good mood.