“We are Espion. Intelligence agents directly under His Majesty the King of Belfast.”
“The King’s?”
“Yes. Currently assigned to the princess’s close protection.”
I followed Lapis-san’s explanation. I’d thought it weird the king would just let his princess go off so freely — but this is the answer. They’d been protecting Yumina from the shadows.
Right — the noise in Silver Moon’s rafters… I’d thought rats, but maybe Lapis-san and the others. Espion — something between Edo-era covert agents and spies, maybe.
“Only the two of you on protection?”
“There are a few more~. All girls~.”
The other one — our other maid — answered in her drawn-out voice. Cécile-san, mask off, was smiling with no tension at all. All girls, huh. Hiding in rafters, considering changing clothes and privacy — makes sense.
“And you’ve been with us the whole way? From Belfast?”
“That is our duty.”
”…Come to think of it, when I [Gate]‘d home that once, you two weren’t there. Then Lime-san the butler’s in on it too.”
“He is~.”
Completely fooled. Asking further: their Maid Guild affiliation is genuine, supposedly. Necessary skill for undercover infiltration; almost every Espion female member is enrolled.
“Ah — when we fought the black dragon, the knife thrown into its eye, was that…”
“Cécile. She’s a master of thrown knives.”
“Eheheh~. Oh, it’s nothing~.”
Cécile-san blushed bashfully. This soft-soft one… People aren’t what they look.
“So what’s the plan from here?”
“We continue protecting Lady Yumina from the shadows… however, one request to you, Master…”
Lapis-san looked up, hesitant. Drop the Master, would you…
“Please keep our identities secret from the princess…”
Ahh — covert protection — getting unmasked is bad.
“If the princess found out she had escorts~, the king would get scolded by her~.”
That kind of reason, huh. Trusting his daughter and sending her off — admitting she had escorts says he didn’t trust her at all.
Fair enough — happy to keep it secret. Carry on as before, we agreed, and I parted with the two.
Kōhaku I told by mind-message; to Yumina and Linze I lied — they got away. (Briefly, they did get away thanks to the flash-vial.) I dodged their puzzled looks somehow, and we returned to the castle.
The next day, with the two kings meeting to discuss Belfast-Mismid alliance terms — the summit.
Some haggling over which king visited which, but ultimately the Belfast king would come to Mismid; we set the (supposed) transfer-mirror in the meeting room.
In the meeting room: Lyon-san, the Belfast knights we’d come with; Mismid side, the Beast-King, PM Glatz-san, and several warriors with Galun-san at the head.
I opened Gate atop the mirror; the king and his brother Duke Ortlinde stepped through.
The fact that people had emerged from the mirror couldn’t be hidden from astonishment — but only for an instant; the king of a country was received with proper deference.
“Welcome to Mismid, King of Belfast.”
“My thanks for the invitation, King of Mismid.”
They shook hands. From here, it’s kingdom-to-kingdom talk. Outsider me will excuse himself.
I bowed out and stepped into the corridor. All that’s left is to hope the talks go well.
Down the corridor came the bear plushie Paula, attendant, with Leen. Gothic-lolita black as ever.
“Looks like the king of Belfast arrived.”
“Yeah, just now. They’re in talks inside.”
I pointed at the door flanked by guards.
“And? Will you become my disciple?”
“As I said, no.”
She kept trying to make me her disciple. She’d even said just be a provisional disciple, then. Like a provisional club-member? That’s below disciple, isn’t it?
Paula beside her did a come on over! gesture.
“Paula’s lively for a plushie though. Like she’s alive.”
“That’s because I keep building [Program]s on her. Nearly two hundred years now, layering responses and behaviors. Humans cry when hit, get angry when mocked, right?”
Two hundred years. The accumulated [Program]s give her that naturalness.
Could I [Modeling] a human-shaped doll and [Program] a pseudo-android? — but two hundred years to get there… Could I copy-paste Paula’s [Program]?
Paula edged back, perhaps sensing my stare as suspicious. That kind of reaction is also programmed.
“By the way, Paula doesn’t look two hundred years old at all. Do you refurbish her?”
“No. My Null spell [Protection] is on her. A protection-magic — wards an object against various things to a degree. Paula’s protected from dirt, deterioration, moths, and so on.”
Protection magic. Holding two hundred years like this is impressive. Cast on clothes — they wouldn’t need washing? Cast on the body — no need to bathe…? That feels finished, somehow. Dirt doesn’t stick, but you’d still produce body wastes from metabolism.
“How many Null spells can you use, Leen? [Protection], [Program] — and Charlotte-san said you use [Transfer] too?”
“Fae-folk have high Null-spell aptitude. A fae-folk who can’t use even one is rare. That said — even I have only four.”
Four — when most can manage even one. Impressive. Not that I’m in a position to talk. Fae-folk being magic-specialized makes sense. Curious about her last Null spell.
“Lord Touya. His Majesty the King of Belfast is calling for you. This way.”
The meeting room door opened; PM Glatz-san looked out. Called in, I entered; the two kings turned my way.
“Hey, Lord Touya. Talks concluded smoothly — thank you.”
“Glad to hear it.”
I exhaled in relief at the Belfast king’s words. That’s basically my job done.
“We’ll return to Belfast now. We leave the rest to you. King of Mismid, excuse us.”
Quick farewells, and through the Gate I’d surreptitiously opened, the two vanished back through the mirror. After they were gone, I acted as planned. In front of everyone, I produced a hammer and smashed the mirror to pieces.
“L-Lord Touya!? What are you doing!?”
“Ah — it’s fine. Watch.”
Turning my back on the panicked Glatz-san, I gathered mana over the shards and the wooden frame.
“Modeling.”
The shards and frame reshaped into several small horizontal mirrors — about 2cm by 15cm with wooden frames. I quietly enchanted one of them with [Gate].
“These mirrors connect to Belfast. For any important communications, insert a letter here and send it across. Of course, both sides should use official documents to confirm authenticity.”
“I see. Correspondence that takes twenty days round-trip — in an instant. Truly convenient. We will make great use of this for the two nations’ relations.”
The Beast-King received the small mirror and smiled. Now my job is truly finished.
Right — time to head home. We barely lived in the house we’d been gifted. Want to take it easy a while.