In the deepest recesses of the detached palace lay the classified archives.
I brought Gigi inside with me.
The door to the room was roughly three times as thick as an ordinary one, secured from top to bottom with a row of five heavy locks.
Unlocking all five myself, I pushed open the heavy door and stepped inside with Gigi.
"Where... is this place?"
"This is where the documents I have signed since ascending the throne are kept. You could call it the living record of Emperor Noah I's journey."
"I-I see!"
"For example, this is something I signed right after my enthronement... Ah, designating that palace as the symbol of supreme authority."
Pulling a document from a shelf, I read the text aloud before handing it to Gigi.
Gigi took it and looked over the pages, an apologetic look settling over her face.
"I'm sorry, Master... I, um..."
"You can't read it, can you?"
"No..."
"Don't worry about it. I already accounted for that."
"Should I learn how to read and write?"
"What I just read aloud—I'm putting it right here."
Taking the document back from Gigi's hands, I returned it to its original spot on the shelf.
Then, I looked at her.
"If I explain the contents of a document to you aloud, can you remember that it belongs in this exact spot?"
"Yes! I will never forget anything you say, Master!"
"Then that is more than enough. Whether you can read and write is nothing more than a trivial detail."
"Huh...?"
"What is it?"
"I just took it for granted that I'd have to study reading and writing. Ah! But if it's for you, Master, I'll gladly do it!"
"Do you know why children are taught to read and write?"
"Eh? That's... Why, I wonder? To get ahead in life...?"
"Heh, that's not wrong."
I let out a soft chuckle and gently rested my hand on Gigi's head.
"To put it more broadly, it's to expand their future possibilities. Being literate increases the breadth of knowledge they can acquire, which widens the choices available for their future."
"I see!"
"To put it plainly, that is simply not where your strengths lie."
"My strengths?"
"A memory capable of linking my spoken words to the exact location of these documents makes you an irreplaceable, one-of-a-kind talent even if I were to search the entire empire. That is your strength. There is no need to discard your greatest asset just to force progress on your weaknesses."
"My strength... One of a kind..."
"Though if you want to learn as a hobby, I won't stop you."
"No! I won't! I will devote myself entirely to your service, Master!"
"I'm counting on you. Hold onto this as well."
"This is... the key to this room?"
Gigi's eyes and mouth fell wide open in shock.
She stared in disbelief at the ring of keys resting in her palm, which I had just handed to her.
"Yes. You keep it."
"I-Is that really all right? Isn't this an extremely important item?"
"I trust you. I'm placing it in your care."
"You... trust me?"
Gigi was even more stunned. Then, clutching the ring of keys tightly to her chest, she held it as if it were the most precious treasure in the world.
"Even someone like me... You're amazing, Master. Understood! I won't lose it, even if it costs me my life!"
"Good."
I placed my hand on Gigi's head once more, patting her hair.
Stay alive and be of use to me—I figured there was no need to pour cold water on her enthusiasm while she was looking so overjoyed.
I decided to find an opportunity to tell her that someday, keeping the thought to myself for now.
☆
In the front section of the detached palace—the area dedicated to the Emperor's official duties.
Inside the office, I sat facing Don.
I was seated behind the executive desk, while Gigi waited in the corner of the room, standing slightly apart from me.
Don stood on the other side of the desk.
He seemed mildly curious about Gigi, but since it was obvious I had deliberately placed her by my side, he refrained from prying.
"Here is the report that arrived from Lady Jessica."
"An official document, and—is this Huwawa's Box?"
"Yes. They were dispatched through different routes so that they would arrive at roughly the same time."
"Hm."
Nodding, I first unsealed the official dispatch and scanned through it.
"How does it look?"
"A splinter force declared independence from Tulbaif's army, and she succeeded in subjugating it... did she?"
"That is, how should I put it... rather petty and transparent of them."
"'It was merely my subordinates acting out of line and had nothing to do with me'—a classic trick. Not bad."
I smirked.
It was a standard maneuver in situations like this.
There was no doubt that Tulbaif harbored rebellious intent toward the empire.
At the same time, he was still hesitant to clash with the empire in an open conflict.
That was likely why he had a faction of his subordinates 'declare independence,' staging the incident as though they had gone rogue entirely on their own.
It was a scenario seen all too often, not just between nations, but in power struggles of every kind.
"Still, a victory is a victory. If Tulbaif was merely 'testing the waters,' this should serve as an effective deterrent."
"..."
Without a word, I tapped my index finger against Huwawa's Box.
I pointed toward the second report from Jessica that had arrived alongside the first.
Realization struck Don.
"I see. If the situation were truly that simple, there would be no need to go through the trouble of sending a top-secret report like this."
"Precisely—Huwawa."
Releasing a fraction of Huwawa's power from my ring, I unsealed the box.
The container instantly collapsed into loose, disjointed slats of wood.
There was no glue, no interlocking joints, no nails, nor any screws; it broke down into nothing more than enigmatic pieces of wood, making it impossible to fathom how it had held its form until now.
Nestled among the scattered slats lay a single letter.
Picking it up, I pulled out the contents and read through them.
"...I see."
"What did it say?"
"A different story entirely. She clashed with Tulbaif's detached unit and claimed fifteen hundred enemy heads."
"That sounds largely the same, aside from containing specific numbers."
"Our own casualties were around thirteen hundred."
"Mgh..."
Don's brow furrowed.
The secretly delivered report contained the exact casualty figures.
Thirteen hundred losses on our side against fifteen hundred on the enemy's.
With numbers like that...
"We can hardly call this... a victory. Considering the superior quality of the Imperial Guard Army and our numerical advantage as a theater army, suffering comparable losses means..."
"A defeat on points, essentially."
"Indeed."
Don nodded in agreement.
He was right.
"How shall we proceed?"
With that, Don laid the classified report on the desk.
Arranging the two documents side by side, he awaited my judgment.
"First, we commend her."
I tapped my finger against the public report as I spoke.
Don nodded firmly.
"Naturally. The fact remains that the enemy was wiped out, and the official report submitted to the throne is one of victory. It is only fitting that we confer a formal commendation."
We were in complete accord on that point.
Next, I tapped my finger against the classified report—the second sheet—and continued.
"We commend this one as well."
"This one as well...?"
"Haven't you ever thought about how wonderful it would be if the subordinate entrusted with commanding an entire theater were an honest person?"
"...I have. I think that all the time."
"That is all there is to it."
"I see your point."
"Therefore—praise her honesty, and tell her to put any thoughts of punishment out of her mind for now, as we will settle the score all at once when she returns to the capital. How does that sound?"
"Brilliant, Your Majesty. That is truly the best response imaginable."
"Then that is what we shall do."
I nodded, took up a fresh sheet of paper, and set my pen to work.
Drafting two replies, I sealed one with the imperial crest and placed the other back inside Huwawa's Box.
Then, I handed both over to Don.
Don accepted them and turned to leave.
"...Wait."
I called out to halt him.
Don stopped in his tracks and turned back toward me.
"What is it, sire?"
"Send the classified reply back immediately. As for the official one—hold it for about a week before dispatching it."
"Why do that?"
Don tilted his head in bewilderment.
I pointed first to the formal document in his hands.
"I am not in the imperial capital."
Then, I pointed to Huwawa's Box containing the classified message.
"I am in the imperial capital."
"—! Ah, of course!"
Don gasped as the realization hit him.
"Exactly. It would be unnatural for an official imperial response to be returned immediately when I am supposed to be away from the imperial capital."
"Incredible, Your Majesty! Forgive me for failing to see that far ahead."
"I'm counting on you."
"By your will!"
With a deep bow, Don finally stepped out of the room.
After adding a few annotations in red ink to the two reports Jessica had sent, I turned to Gigi.
"Go put these away. The keyword is 'Test for Jessica.'"
I handed them over along with the keyword.
Gigi took them, a puzzled look crossing her features.
"What's the matter? Can you not remember it?"
"Ah! No! I will definitely never forget! It's not that, but..."
"Hm? Speak your mind. I'll answer whatever I can."
"Ah, yes. Um... What kind of test is it?"
"It's simple. It is a test to see if she can deduce whether I am currently present in the imperial capital based on the difference in delivery times between the public and classified replies."
"Ah, I see! You're incredible, Master, thinking through all of that in a split second."
"I can already give her a score of ninety as it stands, but if she manages to deduce that, she gets a full hundred."
Jessica's loyalty was beyond question after receiving these two reports.
On top of that, I hoped to see her display even greater competence.
I knew it was greedy of me, but that was what I truly wished for.