Trouble

Just as I was about to set off from Nobleburg, Ren suddenly materialized in front of me.

"Yuri-sama, so you were here."

"Did something happen?" I asked.

"Yeah. I’ve brought a letter from Sasha-sama."

He handed me a bundle of paper far too thick to be called a mere letter. I gave it a cursory glance; the vast majority of it was filled with her anxieties regarding my relationship with Elu and frantic questions about whether I had added any more concubines to my retinue.

I’ll deal with that later.

I skipped the fluff and searched for the actual point of the message. I found it tucked away at the very end, written like a reluctant afterthought.

I heard a rumor that the Empire's First is targeting you, Big Brother. Please be careful.

It was largely what I had expected, but for the rumor to be caught in Sasha’s information network, they had to be searching for me quite aggressively.

"I’m going to write a quick reply to Sasha. Can you wait a moment?"

I pulled out a scrap of paper and scribbled a single line: Don’t worry about me. I handed it back to Ren.

"Sorry for making you run errands like this."

"Don't be. This is the fastest way, after all."

"Also, while I’m away, look after Sasha for me."

"Of course. Leave it to me." With that, Ren vanished using Teleportation Magic.

"Was someone here?" Fee asked, looking at me inquisitively.

"Yeah, Ren. He was giving me a situation report. It seems I might have been taking things a bit too slowly."

"Now that you mention it, what were you doing on your day off yesterday? You didn’t go on another rampage, did you?"

"I just went to observe the Mercenary Guild," I insisted. "I only took on a simple request as a bit of a trial run."

I wasn't lying. Not exactly. I had just... overdone it a little.

Fee fixed me with a skeptical, side-eyed glare. Once she realized I was technically telling the truth, she let out a long sigh.

"Fritz was watching over you, so I’ll believe you this time."

"Yes!"

"Wait... actually, I don't believe you."

"Why not?!"

I realized too late that my instinctive victory pose had been my downfall. In the end, she confiscated the Magic Stone I had been trying to hide.

"Uuugh... I ate too much. I feel sick, mee..."

Ram had been the one pulling our carriage until now, but she looked positively ghoulish today. I had Luna take over the heavy lifting instead. Since I was using two dolls to pull the carriage, I had to be careful with the balance of Magic Power, which meant our pace was slower than usual.

I had intended to casually apply some Enchantment Magic to speed us up, but I could feel Fee’s watchful gaze on me. It made it difficult to act, so I resigned myself to enjoying a leisurely journey.

"Hyahhaaaaa! We’re the Triple Digits! Even crying children go silent at the mention of our—guhaaaa!"

"Hm? Did you hear a voice just now?" I asked.

"We just ran over some garbage," Fee replied flatly.

"Well, it is the main highway. If it hasn't been cleaned recently, I suppose it’s only natural for trash to be lying around."

Still, it wasn't a good look. I made a mental note that the highway leading to my town needed better maintenance—regular patrols and cleaning crews were a must.

"No, no," Fritz said with a wry smile. "While it’s true a Thief’s behavior is no better than trash, you should at least treat them like human beings."

"If we... if we keep shaking like this, I’m going to hurl, mee..." Ram moaned, sticking her head out of the carriage window.

"Damn it! To think they’d pull a surprise attack! But we’re the Triple Digits! Our only merit is our sturdiness, and an Attack of that level won't—"

The men from before were chasing after us with desperate expressions. Unfortunately for them, Ram’s face was hanging right over the side.

"G-gyaaaaaa!"

Ram reached her limit and vomited. The projectile hit the men with pinpoint accuracy. Since she had spent yesterday gorging herself on Fee’s Cooking... well, the results were devastating.

"Did you hear a scream just now?" I asked.

"A bug, maybe?" Fee suggested.

No, that was definitely a human voice. Then again, maybe there were Monsters in this world that sounded like that.

"Now that I’ve cleared my stomach, I’m hungry again, mee."

Ram started getting noisy the moment she finished being sick. I caught myself wondering if I should just make her eat more of Fee’s Cooking to quiet her down.

The Empire's First listened to the report of Yuri’s actions in Nobleburg and couldn't help but smile.

"He installed a Cutting-edge Magic Tool in the Mercenary Guild, did he? To bring a concentrated mass of classified information into a hostile nation... he’s an interesting fellow."

"What could he possibly be thinking, My Lord? Perhaps he intends to place our country in his debt?"

"A man like him wouldn't care about that. Most likely, he simply made it because someone asked him to."

"But what merit is there in that?"

"If he were the type of man who moved only for merit, he never would have come to the Empire in the first place. He likely already knows I’m targeting him. The fact that he’s coming anyway means he either has absolute confidence in his skills, or he’s simply a fool. Either way, the conclusion should be entertaining."

The Empire's First stood up and reached for his sword.

"Are you going somewhere, My Lord?"

"He’s gone through the trouble of coming all this way. It would be poor hospitality not to welcome him, wouldn't it?"

In the next heartbeat, the Empire's First had vanished.