Chapter 76 - The Carmen Collection

"Hey, can't you hear me? You, with the reddish-brown hair."

Jaxon ignored him again. Watching him, Encrid felt grateful all over again that he had brought Jaxon along. What if it had been Rem?

"Is that thing talking to me?"

They would have been lucky if an axe hadn't followed those words. Jaxon merely ignored him. What a relief. Though the person being ignored certainly wouldn't appreciate it. "You little shit. I'm Polid Roquefried!"

So what?

Jaxon's eyes said it for him. Fortunately, Leona came downstairs before things escalated. Accompanied by her nurse, she smiled brightly.

"I'm late."

"Late? What the hell is that guard you brought supposed to—"

"You sent them, didn't you?" 'Hm?'

Leona walked lightly toward the blustering Polid and cut him off with her question. He tilted his head, wondering what she meant.

Her hand swept through the air. SMACK! 'Wow.'

Encrid marveled inwardly. Without the slightest warning, Leona had slapped him across the face. A brisk swing and a resounding hit. It left the man speechless for a while.

With his head still turned by the blow, Polid moved only his eyes to look at her. "You did it, you crazy bastard."

Leona's clear, lovely voice rang out.

Encrid thought he ought to revise his answer to Krais. This woman was prickly. With other people. SHING! SHING! SHING! Several people drew swords and other weapons. One slap had turned the atmosphere murderous.

Encrid stood behind Leona without drawing his weapon. Jaxon stood beside him, while the Fairy Company Commander silently remained where she was. "Y-you, you, you crazy bitch. You really want to die?"

Only then did Polid speak, clutching his fleshy, spiteful cheek.

"You're the one who's going to die. Do you have any idea where you are, throwing money and troops around like that? Did you think no one would find out?" Encrid watched, wondering what this was all about. Things were taking quite an interesting turn.

Border Guard's inns also served as meeting places for trading companies. The base had no guest quarters, which had allowed the inn business to flourish. That was why these people had gathered here. The innkeeper, watching over the hall, stared wide-eyed. An abrupt slap, and now everyone was pointing weapons at one another. Even after all he had seen, he looked at a loss.

His eyes darted about a few times before he made up his mind and turned toward the kitchen. He was giving up. A wise man. He could neither stop them nor intervene anyway. Fortunately, the Roquefried trading company had pledged to compensate him for all damage incurred here. That was what allowed him to take it so easily.

Still, on his way into the kitchen, he cast Encrid a discreet look.

'Nothing too serious will happen, will it? It'll be all right?' Encrid was casually acquainted with Allen, the innkeeper. He gave him a nod that the others wouldn't notice.

Leona wasn't stupid. She wouldn't create a situation that would end in bloodshed here. However menacing the atmosphere, this was as far as the commotion would go. "That stupidity is exactly why the previous head didn't leave you the company."

Leona spoke as though she had no concern for the other side's resistance or force of arms. Her entire bearing said that, whatever happened, they wouldn't dare lay a hand on her. Encrid felt something peculiar, purely because of the attitude she displayed.

'She's bold.'

What should he call it? A knack for cutting off any chance the other person had to protest or speak. "Tell me where we are. Right now."

She barked the words through clenched teeth. Cowed, Polid answered before he could help himself.

"B-Border Guard."

"That's right, you imbecile. This is Border Guard. And you went and hired some guild that preys on back-alley vagrants? Knowing I had an escort from Border Guard's standing army?"

"... Saying I did it, no, I never, I only found out about the Border Guard escort after..." She'd overwhelmed him. Polid wasn't just babbling nonsense; his hands were trembling, too. SHING. CLICK! At Polid's babbling, the man behind him drew his sword a thumb joint's length, then sheathed it again. The sound seemed to snap Polid back to his senses, and he changed his tune.

"I-it wasn't me. How dare you accuse me!" A rough picture of the situation was emerging.

'They must have prepared his denials before coming here.'

Even so, swept up by the atmosphere, he had nearly spilled everything. "Tch."

Leona clicked her tongue, then dragged out a chair and sat. Crossing her leather-clad legs, she took a cigarette from inside her clothes and put it between her lips.

"A light."

Her nurse lifted a candlestick and lit it for her. "Sit down. Aren't we going to discuss the succession?"

This from the woman who had made both sides draw weapons and face off. She blew out a puff of tobacco smoke.

Polid yanked out a chair and sat down as well. Who would be at a disadvantage if swords crossed here? Where did he think the two squads guarding the outside had come from?

Soon, the two began talking, trading the arguments each had prepared for the succession. In other words, a stream of things Encrid couldn't understand. "You can't even decipher the trade route map, and you want to inherit the company? Have you memorized all the company's code words? Have you?"

"Th-the steward can handle things like that! More importantly, I'm the legitimate heir. Some girl who came crawling in off the streets—"

"The previous head recognized my right to inherit the company. You're going to overturn that? Your claim as the legitimate heir rests on sharing his blood, doesn't it? So you refuse to acknowledge his public declaration, and you have no ability, but you want the company because you inherited his blood? I'm sure everyone will be delighted to accept that." Encrid listened with half an ear and let it wash over him. Whether in argument or in control of the room, Leona seemed to be winning on every front.

'So he tried assassination as one last toss of the coin.'

And there had happened to be a group in Border Guard willing to take the job. Should he call that resourceful? Or idiotic? They went on talking for quite a while. To Encrid, it sounded as though Leona had come to this meeting simply to mock her opponent.

"Are you really the previous head's son? I can't see any resemblance. It makes me wonder."

"You fucking... What? What did you say? Are you saying my mother took some other man's s-seed?!"

Spiteful-cheeked Polid was so angry he stammered. BANG! He slammed the table, venting his fury, but...

"Whew. I suppose it does amount to that. That wasn't what I meant, though."

Leona remained in control, blowing tobacco smoke. But had she always been like this? Hadn't she been quiet and demure?

He couldn't say. He had only known her for two days, after all, and they had exchanged fewer than fifty remarks at most. Everyone had different sides; people weren't simple. "You fucking bitch!"

"Watch your mouth, you ugly bastard."

"You bitch!"

The man who had held back even when his mother was insulted reached for the shortsword at his waist at the single word 'ugly.' Seeing that, Encrid discreetly took hold of his sword grip. Border Guard escorts were on duty here. They couldn't simply stand by and allow people to draw swords and fight.

One reason the city of Border Guard had grown in value was that trading companies and nobles alike could settle their disputes here with their tongues, not their blades. Of course, they still used blades and assassins behind the scenes. But drawing a sword on someone openly like this? That was asking to be killed. Jaxon stood to my right, and the Company Commander a step behind, as though watching a spectacle. With my hand on the grip, I brought Polid's guard within my sword's range.

'Left on the first step.'

Draw the sword and bring it down in a cut to the crown. There would be no time to settle into a proper stance. The cut would have to come with the draw. The swordsman on Polid's side reacted as he came within range, letting his arms hang a little lower.

What kind of swordsmanship would he use?

For an instant, Encrid wanted the man to attack. Rationally, he knew it would never happen. Still, he wanted it. 'What kind of blade do you wield?'

How fast was he? Faster than Rem's axe? Even faster than the mixed-blood Fairy's whistle daggers?

He wanted to experience it. To face it. To fight it.

It was his competitive spirit. He simply wanted to test his skill. A sudden surge of heat warmed his body.

If the man attacked, he would cut him down. A peculiar tension formed between them. Caught between the two, Polid broke out in a cold sweat.

Could he draw his sword here? Wouldn't he look scared if he didn't?

All sorts of thoughts ran through his mind. Leona despised him for it. Either draw the sword or talk his way out. If he could do neither, he should never have started.

As she'd thought, he was someone she would never have dealt with but for the previous head's final wishes. As the strange standoff continued, the inn fell silent.

Then it happened. THUD. The inn door swung open, the thick wooden slab striking the wall. The person who had shoved it open brought the wider scene back into Encrid's awareness.

His opponent relaxed his stance as well. By unspoken agreement, both stepped half a pace back. 'Honestly.'

He wasn't Rem, yet he had nearly drawn his sword, so mad for a fight that he had forgotten the situation.

Encrid sighed inwardly and turned his head. He saw a familiar face: Torres of the Border Guard. Five others in similar clothing followed him.

Over their tunics they wore brown leather armor with a lattice pattern, topped by chestnut coats with eagle-emblazoned epaulets on the shoulders. "We are the Border Guard, under the King's direct command. We've come to arrest the person who instigated this disturbance by hiring a unit of Aspen spies."

"Eek."

Polid let out a foolish whimper. His guard moved closer and gripped his shoulder. Encrid wondered about their relationship. They didn't look like mere employer and employee.

"You brought Aspen's dogs into a succession dispute?"

Polid went pale at Torres's words, but Leona remained composed. 'Who called in the Border Guard?'

Encrid watched events unfold, wondering.

"You're all under arrest."

It was neither Polid nor Leona who responded to Torres. "You intend to detain people without evidence? This man is to inherit the Roquefried trading company. Surely the other side hasn't been greasing your palms?"

A plainly dressed, brown-haired man stepped forward from behind Polid. By greasing palms, he meant bribery. Torres frowned at the man's words, then gave a short smirk and replied.

"... Aren't you a funny little son of a bitch."

He made no attempt to hide his displeasure. Still, the man had a point. Why did major trading companies hold meetings in Border Guard to discuss succession? Because Border Guard's standing army always remained neutral.

It was a given that the standing army would intervene if trouble arose within the city. But they had pledged neutrality in all matters. Arresting someone without evidence would invite all sorts of misunderstandings, which effectively meant they couldn't make the arrest. 'Was that what they were counting on?'

The other side had done some thinking of its own. Torres knew it too, which was why he couldn't simply cut the funny little son of a bitch's head off.

A brief, tense silence fell. Leona broke it. "Bribes? Of course not."

First, she denied the funny little son of a bitch's allegation.

"Though someone from the company may have brought in Aspen spies."

That was what she added next. "Hm?"

Startled again by Leona's words, Polid gaped, then closed his mouth when he noticed everyone watching.

Even Encrid nearly sighed at the sight. Honestly, the man might as well have announced that he'd done it. "We don't know yet. That's why I called them. The Border Guard."

Who had called them? That surprised even Encrid.

Leona continued.

"I request that both heirs be detained until this matter is resolved. Then you can find the evidence." She looked around the room. Her knack for changing the course of events with a few words stood out.

"I hear one of the ringleaders escaped. Capture him alive and make him confess."

That was her gambit, leaving no way out. In chess terms, checkmate. There was nowhere to run. Would the fugitive hold out if they captured and tortured him?

Encrid had heard the prisoners already taken had been brought to the base, but none knew who was behind the attack. All of them had said their leader knew everything. And that leader would be the man who had escaped. "Very well, Lady Leona. But what if he never turns up?"

The unassuming brown-haired man turned to her as he asked.

"Then it would no longer be a matter for the Border Guard," Leona replied.

"After that, it would be for the company to discuss. The proper course would be to return to our home city and ask the company's principal members who is qualified to succeed."

The brown-haired man finished with a smile in his eyes. He had gone straight to the heart of it. 'Once they leave the city...'

Could Leona stand against Polid's escort force? It didn't seem likely. "I'm a merchant. I don't ask people to work without compensation. Whoever finds him and brings him in first will receive this."

As she spoke, Leona took out a dagger and placed it on the table. Its long, narrow blade was covered by a black leather sheath: a stiletto. "The Carmen Collection?"

Someone recognized it.

Encrid saw Jaxon step forward beside him. A man unruffled by almost anything was moving at the sight of a single dagger? Granted, it was a weapon worth that much.

'That's unexpected.' Carmen was a famous assassin who had worked with weapons he made himself, though he had been a better weaponsmith than assassin.

The weapons he made were called the Carmen Collection, and the one she had just produced was one of them. A master craftsman's dagger, said to emerge without a drop of blood on it even after stabbing someone. "Hey, who said you could give that away?"

"It's mine. The previous head gave it to me."

Ignoring Polid's protests, Leona made her promise clear.

"It's yours. Bring him in." And so a bounty had been posted. Encrid thought things were taking a curious turn.

'I've already told someone to catch him.'

Even as he thought that, he found himself newly impressed by Leona's resourcefulness.

'Call in the Border Guard to buy time, then offer a bounty to get what she wants.'

She had created a favorable situation for everyone. Except Polid. In any case, whoever caught the man stood to earn more than hundreds of thousands of Krona. No wonder everyone's eyes were burning with greed.

"I'll bring him in."

Unexpectedly, someone readily stepped forward to show his determination.

"I'll go myself."

It was Jaxon. And he wasn't merely talking; he looked confident. Encrid looked at him and nodded. It was the first time Jaxon had shown such initiative.

'He must really want it.'

That was the impression it gave him. It wouldn't be difficult. Who controlled the night and back alleys of this city, Border Guard?

The Gilfin Guild. And Krais, that guild's owner, was currently a member of Encrid's squad. Besides, the matter had already been on Encrid's mind, and he had told Krais to find the man and hold him.

In other words, the dagger was already halfway into their hands.