Episode 79: The Position She Was Given
For an instant, Alexander’s eyes widened in surprise. But he quickly regained his composure.
“Why?”
“I-if I join the Magic Corps, I wouldn’t be able to act freely… I wouldn’t be able to keep running the ‘magic doll shop.’ I want to keep running the ‘magic doll shop.’”
At first, she hadn’t been keen on it at all.
She’d opened the shop reluctantly, going along with Yuria’s suggestion.
(But now… now, it’s different.)
Since opening the magic doll shop, she’d met all sorts of people.
(Everyone thanked me, but I think I received a great deal from them too.)
It was because of her experience at the magic doll shop that she’d been able to think of changing.
There must still be many people grieving for those they’d lost, and many who wanted to redo a farewell.
(I want to give those people even a slightly better “farewell.”)
Just a single day.
But that one day could save someone.
She hadn’t given up on fighting to save people. Thanks to what she’d experienced in Mond, she’d found the resolve to fight again.
But fighting to protect people and giving up the magic doll shop were different things.
Both mattered to her, so she wouldn’t let go of either. She would make her choice for that reason.
“So, I… I can’t join the Magic Corps.”
She wouldn’t have been surprised to be shouted at. Steeling herself, she looked steadily into Alexander’s eyes.
“…I see.”
But he only nodded, his expression unchanged.
“Ridwan.”
He turned and called the name of the dark-skinned man. Ridwan took a small, slender box from inside his coat.
Alexander took the box and stood up.
“Fellner.”
She received the box he held out.
As she wondered what it could be, Alexander told her to open it.
She opened the box carefully, so as not to break it.
Inside was a gold pocket watch, and on the lid the royal emblem was engraved.
“With that, you can pass through any checkpoint in the country, and use any facility.”
“…Y-yes.”
She understood that she’d been handed something remarkable. But she didn’t understand why she was being given this watch.
“I won’t force you to join the Magic Corps. But if you don’t join, you’ll become my direct subordinate.”
“H-His Majesty’s direct subordinate…!?”
“The precise title is… what was it? Ridwan.”
“Sir.”
Ridwan nodded and took a sheet of parchment from inside his coat.
“Inspector attached to the Royal Guard.”
“The R-Royal Guard? Inspector…?”
While she faltered at these words she’d never imagined, Alexander curved the corner of his mouth into a smile. His eyes, however, weren’t smiling.
“It means you become a piece I can move freely. Ordinarily you’re welcome to run your ‘magic doll shop,’ but in an emergency you’ll act on my orders. As inspector, your job will be auditing organisations, the Magic Corps first among them. Should whoever you’re investigating prove incompetent, you may, depending on the circumstances, have to resolve the problem yourself.”
From how fluently he explained it, he had probably anticipated from the start that Fiine might refuse to join the Magic Corps.
In fact, this plan may have been the real one all along.
(So, basically, I don’t have to belong to the Magic Corps, but I’ll have to move around on His Majesty’s orders for all sorts of things…?)
The Royal Guard was the king’s own guard unit.
It was a small, elite force, formed from only those people the king himself had chosen and trusted.
Its most distinguishing feature was that almost all of its members were commoners. In other words, none of them had a stake in the interests of other nobles.
“I’ll say this now: you have no right to refuse.”
(Of course not…)
He was the king. When he hadn’t forced her into the Magic Corps, she should have realised there was something behind it.
(Well, I can keep running the magic doll shop, and I agree with His Majesty’s reforms…)
It might even be the best offer for her at the moment.
“So, I’m counting on you, Fellner.”
Alexander gave a look, and Ridwan held out the parchment he’d been holding to Fiine. At the top, it said Letter of Appointment.
“From now on, I’m your direct superior. Remember that.”
Ridwan had a clear voice, the kind that would have everyone listening if he sang.
But because his features were so finely cut, it was frightening when he kept his face blank.
“Ridwan is the captain of the Royal Guard. Instructions to you will, as a rule, be given through Ridwan. Treat Ridwan’s words as mine.”
“Y-yes.”
She carefully tucked the letter of appointment, and the pocket watch she’d just been given, into her bodice.
“I have no further business. You may go. Since you’re here, enjoy the party before you leave.”
“Yes…”
Alexander and his attendants left the room before Fiine and Burkhardt did. After the footsteps had completely faded, Burkhardt slowly let out a breath.
“…Fiine.”
“Yes…”
“It will be hard going, but His Majesty is someone you can trust. If you do your duties properly, you won’t be treated unfairly. But be careful of that aide.”
“Lord Ridwan, you mean?”
“Yes. He’s said to use magic from a distant foreign land. I don’t know the details, but… he’s far less lenient than His Majesty. Anyone he judges an enemy of His Majesty, he kills without mercy.”
“Eek…”
She wouldn’t be afraid in a one-on-one fight.
But when it came to political struggles, Fiine was a complete outsider.
(And foreign magic, too… what kind of magic could that be?)
There seemed to be mountains of things to think about, but in truth, nothing she thought about would change anything.
She’d already been appointed inspector attached to the Royal Guard.
“Fiine. If anything happens, don’t hesitate to rely on me.”
“Yes…! Um, and, you can rely on me too…!”
“…Yes.”
They smiled at each other and left the room.
She had no idea what was coming, but for today, at least, she had to attend the party.
◆
At the party, the new inspector, Fiine Fellner, became something of a topic of conversation for eating an extraordinary amount of food, though she wouldn’t learn of it until a month later.