In the darkness, a lone man hid in the shadows.
The black attire he wore might have stood out during the day, but in the dead of night, it blended him completely into the background.
Combined with his honed skills, he was so thoroughly concealed that no one could have detected him without staring straight at him from point-blank range.
Focusing intently on suppressing his presence, the man pricked up his ears toward the tent before him, listening to every sound drifting from beyond the canvas.
"As expected of Your Majesty, what incredible drinking! Come now, have some more."
"Ahahaha! This time, Alice, you feed it to me."
"Geez! Really, Your Majesty. Please don't touch me in weird places."
"Why not? Where is the harm?"
"Geez! Not yet, you can't."
"Is that so? 'Not yet,' is it? Ahahahahaha! That's right, let me show you something good."
"Something good?"
What filtered through the tent matched his advance intelligence to the letter.
The Emperor of the Empire had brought his favorite concubine all the way to the battlefield, indulging in endless debauchery.
A powerful ruler bringing a woman to the front lines was not an entirely unheard-of tale, but given the nature of his work, the man had withheld judgment until confirming it with his own senses.
Now, listening to the drunken revelry beyond the tent, his suspicion hardened into absolute certainty.
His trained nose had yet to catch the scent of intimacy between a man and a woman, but he assumed that was solely due to the thick stench of alcohol continuously assaulting his nostrils.
The smell of liquor was potent enough to bleed right through the canvas—with that, the man was fully convinced he had verified the Emperor's wanton behavior, marking his mission half-complete.
"...Alright."
Now that he had confirmed what he came for, it was time to pull out.
He had worked as a scout for many years.
His foremost duty was to make it back alive with the intelligence.
That was why he took his time.
He dedicated every necessary moment simply to the act of "returning."
Carefully tracking the patrol routes, he bided his time for a safe, foolproof opportunity to slip away.
Eventually, an opening presented itself.
Seizing that momentary lapse, the man slipped out of the Imperial Army encampment and vanished into the pitch-black grassland.
...
......
.........
Two men watched his retreating figure intently from the shadows.
☆
"He has gone."
"Mm."
Once we confirmed that the enemy scout had departed, Henry and I stepped out from the shadows.
"He finally took the bait."
"Indeed. Combined with the rumors we planted, he will undoubtedly believe Your Majesty to be a foolish ruler."
"Mm."
The primary reason I had brought Alice along was to deceive the enemy army and lower their guard.
I had been leaking information to that effect through direct and indirect channels alike, anticipating that any reasonably competent commander on their side would dispatch a scout to verify the claims.
Tonight, that long-awaited scout had finally arrived and safely made off with the intelligence that I was lost in "debauchery."
With this, phase one was cleared.
"Under the circumstances, it worked out in our favor that I have never met Eiler Noufe."
"House Noufe is a branch family among branch families, after all."
"Mm."
"However—"
"Hm? What is it?"
Turning my head, I realized Henry was staring straight at me.
He wore a sour grimace, yet a hint of genuine admiration peeked through his expression.
"Your Majesty's art... I never imagined it could be used in such a manner."
"It is merely a minor application."
I chuckled softly.
What Henry referred to was that "presence diversion" technique.
For the scout's sake, I had subtly redirected the attention of everyone situated along his escape route.
Being cautious to a fault, the scout had slipped away by darting through the gaps whenever their attention drifted.
Thanks to my covert assistance, he had managed to escape unscathed.
Of course, I could tell at a glance that his ability to mask his presence and footsteps, as well as his infiltration and extraction techniques, were top-notch. He likely would have gotten away clean even without my intervention, but I supported him just to leave nothing to chance.
"To think it could be used on behalf of others as well."
"Its purpose was always to manipulate where others look; centering it on myself was never an absolute requirement."
"Remarkable as always... It seems there are countless ways to apply it."
I gave a faint smile.
Just as Henry said, it could be utilized across a wide variety of situations.
I had already conceived several applications and felt confident it would function flawlessly in anticipated scenarios—such as providing cover for that scout just now.
I had no doubt this technique would continue to prove invaluable moving forward.
"More importantly—Henry."
"Yes, Sire?"
"If things go too smoothly, the other side may grow suspicious. Stage a light pursuit."
"A pursuit...? But..."
Henry trailed off, casting his eyes toward the darkness where the scout had vanished.
I had facilitated the scout's escape almost flawlessly.
In this pitch-black darkness, finding him was impossible.
Giving chase now would look far more suspicious—that was what Henry was getting at.
"Now then, in order to win the favor of the woman I brought along, I shall launch fireworks despite being in the middle of a military camp. Fireworks spelling out her name, no less."
'Mm... That's right, let me show you something good.'
"...Ah."
Having stayed close by from the start to ensure the scout's safe retreat, Henry gasped as he recalled the words I had spoken inside the tent.
"Incredible... So that was what you meant..."
"Precisely."
"By your command!"
Henry bowed his head and hurriedly rushed off.
After watching him leave, I raised a hand toward the empty air.
"Bahamut," I called out.
Almost instantly, a small, translucent dragon materialized before me.
Though diminutive enough to rest on the palm of my hand, its flame-wreathed body radiated a majestic aura.
'Did you summon me?'
"Did you catch the conversation just now?"
'Every word.'
"Pardon me for asking you to play the part of a street performer. Can you manage it?"
'Without difficulty.'
The Flame Dragon Bahamut.
Remaining in his miniature form, he took to the sky.
Leaving my hand, he melted seamlessly into the moonless night.
A few moments later—
Fireworks shot into the heavens.
Bahamut, sovereign of flame, launched not infernal hellfire, but dazzling fireworks into the sky.
They burst in midair, blooming into massive, radiant blossoms of light.
From within the petals of fire, Alice's name surfaced.
The display spelling her name lit up the nocturnal sky.
It cast a crimson glow over the earth below, bright as day.
A stir rippled through the encampment the instant they detonated.
Immediately after, exasperated voices echoed from every corner of the grounds.
And a few seconds later:
"You there! Halt! Who goes there?!"
Henry's shout echoed from a distance.
With it came the sudden, clamorous rush of marching boots.
"That will do, Bahamut."
I spoke in a near whisper, yet the words reached Bahamut high above, and the fireworks abruptly ceased.
I waited in place for a short while.
A few minutes later, Henry returned.
"How did it go?"
"Sire, under Your Majesty's brilliant orchestration, we successfully lost sight of him."
"I see."
I chuckled softly.
It was night.
A moonless night so pitch-black that a scout could have easily slipped away on his own merits.
Once the fireworks died down, the shroud of darkness returned, making his flight all the simpler.
Humans are fascinating creatures.
Given the exact same prize, they invariably attach far greater value to what was won through sweat and struggle.
The intelligence that scout carried back would undoubtedly be treated as a prize of immense worth.
"That served as the final push. I caught a fleeting glimpse of the scout looking up at the sky with a sneer."
"Ahaha, so he looked down on me plenty, did he?"
I was glad the setup had gone off without a hitch.
Composing my expression, I turned my attention back to Henry.
"Now then, Henry."
"Yes, Sire."
"Starting tomorrow, tighten our security. Make sure not even a single mouse can slip through."
"Understood. I shall ensure they 'learn their lesson' so no one can ever infiltrate us again."
"However, our consumption of liquor and luxury goods will be increasing."
"As expected of Your Majesty. It shall be arranged."
"I will be absent for a while."
"Pardon?"
Henry, who had been answering each command without hesitation, stared at me in shock.
"Absent... Meaning what, exactly?"
"Precisely what it sounds like. Starting tomorrow, my carriage and tent will be empty. Do not let anyone realize I am gone."
"Where are you going?"
"Scouting."
"What?"
Henry stood rooted to the spot, his mouth hanging wide open in utter disbelief.
After freezing solid for nearly ten full seconds, my words finally seemed to register.
"You cannot! Your Majesty going in person—that is out of the question!" he protested vehemently.
"You saw the efficacy of my presence diversion firsthand, didn't you?"
"Even so, absolutely not! If something were to happen to Your Majesty—"
"I will be fine. More than that, I want raw intelligence."
"Raw intelligence..."
"I want to know how I am truly perceived. If possible, I'd like to slip all the way into Eiler Noufe's bedchamber. I could listen to his pillow talk."
I tossed out the last remark in jest, but Henry remained unyielding.
"However..."
"Henry."
Looking straight into his eyes with an unsmiling face, I cut through his protests by speaking his name.
Henry flinched slightly before straightening. "Yes, Sire."
"I could have simply vanished without a word. With that power, slipping away unnoticed would have been child's play. Wouldn't it?"
"Th-That is..."
"The only reason I am telling you this now is that I trust you."
"......Your Majesty is incredible... and truly wicked."
"Hm?"
"That is an entirely separate matter. Yet when you frame it like that, you leave me no choice but to comply."
"Is that so?"
I chuckled softly once more.
Henry was a sharp man.
My appeal to whether I trusted him was an undeniable deflection on my part.
Just because I trusted Henry did not lessen the danger of my undertaking in the slightest. It was hardly a valid reason for him to yield.
Recognizing that full well, Henry had conceded with a reluctant 'When you put it like that...'
It was precisely because Henry was like this that I could entrust everything to him with complete peace of mind.
☆
Watching Noah return to his tent, Henry saw him off with a conflicted expression.
A look of profound, genuine turmoil settled across his face.
In Henry's mind, the assessment of Noah he had shared with Oscar before departing for the campaign resurfaced.
'His Majesty is hardly human at all.'
"Your Majesty... you overestimate me... you overestimate humans far too much."
Murmured through his troubled grimace, the words were swallowed by the din of the encampment, reaching no one's ears.