Volume 7 - CH 1

“Dear Seika-sama

The cold weather has settled down and we are now in the budding season. How are you doing, Seika-sama?

Please forgive me for taking so long to write to you. I had heard that you had safely entered Lakana, but unfortunately, I have been so occupied with various difficulties that I have not had a chance to write to you. I have never regretted so many days in my life.

However, thanks to my efforts, I have been able to get most of my problems taken care of, and I am now able to send letters. I am now able to put the joy of finally being able to write my thoughts into ink.

I’ll stop with the preamble and start with what I wanted to tell you the most.

Dear Seika. Thank you so much for saving Lakana.

I was aware of the possibility of a stampede. A few days after I sent you off, I began to see such a future.

However, I could not immediately prepare another place for everyone to stay, and even if I wanted to inform Seika-sama, I was in the middle of the turmoil and was under the watchful eyes of many factions, so it was difficult for me to write a letter to you. So I tried to change the future somehow, but …… in the end it didn’t work out and I ended up bothering Seika-sama.

My power is not all-powerful, and this kind of thing happens on rare occasions. I am sorry.

I apologize for the inconvenience, but I have enclosed a helpful piece of paper.

Please write down any number you like. Take it to one of the merchants on the list and they will quickly provide it for you.

I understand that you have started as an adventurer. When I heard that Chancellor Silas had thrown you out of town without much hospitality, I couldn’t help but cringe, but I am glad to hear that you are doing very well.

I would love to see you in the wild as an adventurer  …… someday.

Take care of yourself.

I will write to you again.

From your Fiona. 

I closed the letter quietly in my room at the inn I was staying at in Lakana.

As mentioned in the season’s greeting, the cold has eased up recently.

After a long winter, the country was about to welcome spring again.

In another month, it will have been a full year since I came to Lakana. Looking back, the days were very hectic.

Yuki, who had been sitting by the window, wakes up with a start.

“Oh. Is that a letter, Seika-sama?”

“Oh, yes. From Fiona.”

“Oh, from the princess child. I know it’s a little late for this, but what did she say ……?”

“Thanking me for doing something about the Stampede.”

“Mmm. …….”

“She said she found out about it after she sent me away, but couldn’t tell me for some reason.”

“Hmm, whatever it is… it’s a cover-up.”

Yuki said with an overtly suspicious look on her face.

“It goes without saying, isn’t this a lie? Could it be that Princess Seika knew everything about what would happen… and was using Seika-sama?”

“Certainly, not all of what is written is true.”

I say as I look down at the folded letter.

“She says she couldn’t write a letter because of the surveillance, …… but I don’t think Fiona was in such an inconvenient position, having shown the truth about that attack by completely covering it up. She could have written a letter or two as she wished.”

It is hard to imagine that she, who has the power of future vision and even the mighty violence of the holy knights in her hands, is in a situation where she cannot even manage that much.

Considering her position as an imperial princess and her power to scheme, she should have been in a position to actively manipulate the situation.

She was the only one who knew everything in advance of the attack on the Imperial Castle, which should have been a surprise to everyone, and she was the only one who acted as she wished.

Fiona was the only one in the court who knew the whereabouts of the hero and the villain who had let them escape.

But I say.

“But other than that, I think it’s mostly true. At least I don’t think it was malicious.”

“Well, how can you say that?”

“It would be very suspicious if a major disaster occurred in a city guided by a person who could see the future.”

“…? Yes. That’s why Yuki says so.”

“That’s why. If she knew everything, there’s no way that the Holy princess would do such a sloppy thing.”

It didn’t make sense to me that she wanted to get rid of me and Amiyu, or that she simply wanted Lakana to be saved.

“So really, I don’t think she knew when she sent me away. Fiona must have been in a hurry when this happened.”

“Mhm…… but that’s not the reason why she didn’t send a letter.”

“If she were to tell me, what would she say? I don’t think she could suddenly prepare a new place to escape to, so it’s hard to tell me to run away. On the other hand, there’s no way she could tell me to stay in the city. There’s a possibility that I can change the future. If so, wouldn’t she have no choice but to bet on it?”

“Isn’t it possible that she anticipated that Seika-sama would think so…?”

“Do you expect that kind of consideration from someone who suddenly destroys the imperial castle?”

“When you put it that way……, I can’t say anything.” 

Perhaps there must have been a lot of conflict on Fiona’s part.

She did not want to lose her supporter, Lakana, of course. At the same time, she didn’t want to cause distrust in me, a person of unknown power.

In that case, I had to handle everything by myself.

In the end, both Lakana and I were safe, but since the stampede had happened, she had failed. This letter would be like a defeatist tactic to put me in a good mood.

Somehow, I could imagine the hardships that the Holy Princess had gone through.

She is a human being before she is a politician.

And she sent me something that was more than enough to put me in a …… good mood.

I looked down at the piece of paper that came with the letter.

“Well, I believe her now. I even got this stuff from her.”

“……?　What is it?　That paper.

“A bill.”

The small rectangular piece of paper was the finest paper I had ever seen.

It had an intricate patterned border, the name of the bank, a statement about the payment, and Fiona’s signature, stamped with her seal.

The amount, however, was left blank.

She asked me to write down any amount I wanted.

“Well, what is a bill ……?”

“It’s a piece of paper that takes the place of money, so to speak. If you take it to the bank indicated here or to a branch of the Chamber of Commerce in which Fiona has invested, they will exchange it for money. By the way, the amount is up to me.”

“Oh!　Isn’t that a great thing, by any chance?　Does it mean that all the wealth of this world will belong to Seika-sama?”

“No, I can’t write such a ridiculous amount.”

“But even so… it looks like you’ll get a considerable amount of money.”

“Fortunately, I’m not worried about money anymore…  it’s not something I’m worried about. Maybe someday this will help me.”

“Good for you, Seika-sama.”

Yuki says again.

“It’s the same with getting the money… but the fact that Seika-sama can decide how much it’s worth is probably because she trusts you that much. There is nothing wrong with being trusted by a powerful ruler.”

Hearing that, I blinked my eyes and smiled wryly.

“No. In the end, I won’t be able to withdraw more than she has deposited in this bank, so I don’t think she will be ruined.”

“Ah, is that so…”

“But… that’s right. Shall I keep that in mind?”

When I said that with a small smile, I stood up and picked up my overcoat.

“Are you going out? Seika-sama”

“Oh, i’ll go buy some stationery. Maybe Fiona is a little worried about how I feel right now. I’ll get back to her as soon as possible. Just…”

I add there, frowning my brow.

“What to do with the content, but…”

“What are you worried about? 　Seika-sama likes to write, right?”

“That’s true, but …… this letter is written in a way that makes it sound like it’s being sent to a loved one. It says something like, “From your Fiona. ……”

“…………Hmm?”

“Well, this may be the art of living in the position of an imperial princess, but … I honestly don’t know much about the etiquette of the upper class here…”

“Um… Seika-sama. That’s probably not…”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“… No, it’s nothing. Even if Yuki says that, it can’t be helped.”

Said with a voice that sounded like she was sighing.

“However, I’ve been thinking about this since your previous life, but please be careful, Seika-sama.”

“So what is it?”

Yuki spoke in a tone that sounded like she was trying to persuade a useless man.

“Please don’t let a woman stab you in the back.”