Chapter 14: Now That Things Have Come This Far, Let's Eat First

The rest of the conversation did not last long.

Roland showed Audemeyer the pendant Kalia had been escorting, but the other man could not identify its purpose either.

After all, he was merely a fifth-circle melee brute, with no understanding of the convoluted methods used by mages.

Roland had expected as much, but Audemeyer assured him that he would have reliable people gather information on the matter.

He also gave Roland a small box capable of suppressing magical fluctuations, so Kalia no longer needed to keep the pendant wrapped in her cloak.

In return, Roland handed the miniature map to Audemeyer, hoping he would investigate the abnormalities it revealed.

Everything seemed to be developing in a favorable direction.

“Things went pretty smoothly. Why do you look so gloomy?”

In a coffee shop not far from the City Defense Army headquarters, Kalia took small sips of coffee while gazing at Roland, who sat across from her with his brows tightly furrowed.

She was rarely this relaxed. Audemeyer had just issued another curfew order and begun searching for the group of men in black.

“Don’t celebrate too soon. Audemeyer is still hiding something from us.”

“Really? He seemed quite sincere to me. He told us everything he was supposed to, didn’t he? Surely he couldn’t have been lying to us.”

“Besides, you didn’t tell him everything either. You never mentioned the communicator to the colonel.”

Roland shook his head. “The information he revealed to us is certainly true, but he’s still withholding something.”

“He trusts us enough to believe we’re reliable, but he’s also afraid that someone might pry the most crucial information out of us.”

“And besides… the Chaos Brotherhood. Wherever those people appear, things are never peaceful.”

“As for the communicator, I modified it for another purpose. It concerns a plan between Colonel Audemeyer and me.”

Kalia tilted her head, somewhat unable to follow Roland’s meaning.

From her perspective, everything had gone smoothly, and the matter was nearly resolved.

She had no idea what was troubling Roland.

In truth, Roland had not suspected Audemeyer before leaving the headquarters.

For one thing, he trusted the old colonel’s character. For another, he could tell that both sides had been completely sincere during their conversation.

But clearly, the older and wiser fox still had the advantage. Despite having lived two lifetimes, Roland was still younger than Audemeyer, and he had failed to outmaneuver the old schemer.

He had nearly overlooked a crucial point.

Rats.

If he had not seen one scurry past them at the entrance to the City Defense Army headquarters—and then watched a patrol soldier dispatch it with practiced ease—he might have forgotten the reward the system had issued the previous night.

And judging by how skilled the soldiers were, by their expressions of weary familiarity, by the irritation of men who seemed to have killed countless rats before…

Roland felt he had found the key to the problem.

The fragmented clues finally seemed to have an answer.

He took out the map he had copied in advance and studied the five locations marked upon it: the Governor’s Office, the City Defense Army headquarters, the water-supply center, the port, and the magitech railway transfer hub.

Roland looked up at Kalia, who was preparing to enjoy a slice of cake.

“I have something to take care of, so I’ll leave first. You eat, then go home afterward. Here’s the key.”

As he spoke, Roland pulled the key to their lodging from his pocket and placed it on the table before rising to leave.

“Wait!”

Kalia’s tone suddenly turned unusually serious. She frowned and reached out to grab Roland by the arm.

“You can’t leave!”

“Huh?”

Why couldn’t he leave?

But seeing the expression on Kalia’s face, Roland began to wonder.

Could she be hiding something as well?

No wonder the system had designated her the Evil Witch. She was not as dim-witted as she appeared! Could she finally be preparing to reveal her true objective?!

Still holding Roland’s arm, Kalia said with utmost seriousness, “You haven’t paid the bill yet.”

Roland replied calmly, “It’s already been paid. The coffee and your chocolate cake were both included.”

“Oh, right. Actually…”

The seriousness on Kalia’s face instantly gave way to embarrassment.

“Actually, I noticed that this shop had far more desserts than I expected, and there were so many I’d never tried!”

“As expected of the Empire’s famous commercial capital! There’s so much more good food here than in that impoverished backwater, Blackthorn Territory!”

“I just couldn’t help myself, and… accidentally ordered a little extra.”

As she spoke, Kalia stuck out her tongue and indicated a tiny amount with her fingers.

Roland fell silent. He stopped in his tracks, then quietly sat back down.

Before long, a server approached with a large tray and methodically arranged the pastries, cakes, and other delicacies upon the table.

There were so many varieties, and such an abundance of food, that Roland felt the table now held one of everything the coffee shop had to offer.

Kalia lowered her head, occasionally stealing a glance at Roland’s reaction.

When she saw that he did not seem especially angry, she finally found the courage to speak.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t order any of the expensive pastries.”

“…Forget it. I haven’t eaten anything all morning anyway. I might as well have something.”

At this point, they might as well eat first.

Roland decided to follow the mysterious wisdom of the ancient East. Besides, he genuinely needed some time to think through their next move.

He had just received five hundred gold eagles for the commission, so he could afford one meal.

With that, Roland picked up his fork and began eating a piece of cream bread that looked wonderfully soft.

Although everything was exquisitely presented, Kalia had not lied. She truly had not ordered anything expensive. Most of it consisted of cakes, bread, small biscuits, and similar items.

They were, after all, precisely the sort of light fare commonly found in a coffee shop.

Seeing that Roland was not angry, Kalia began to apologize.

“Sorry. I’ll bring my own money next time.”

“It’s fine. It’s only one meal. Unless something unexpected happens, we’ll only be spending a few days together anyway.” Roland did not seem to care much. “As long as you follow orders and don’t go wandering off, that’s enough.”

“Don’t you find it strange that your teacher, Lady Frum, didn’t come in person to retrieve the necklace?”

At the mention of her teacher, Kalia seized the opportunity to vent.

“Exactly! If she knew someone would come after it, why didn’t she come get it herself? A round trip between the royal capital and Blackthorn Territory wouldn’t even take her half a day!”

“Have you realized it now? That is the strangest part of the entire affair.”

Roland finished the piece of cream bread and rapped his knuckles against the table.

“But it isn’t what we need to consider at the moment. All that matters is making sure those lunatics from the Chaos Brotherhood don’t get the pendant.”

Kalia seemed to realize that something was wrong as well. If her teacher had not embedded a special magical password in the message sent through the communication spell, she would have suspected that the message had come from some other old woman entirely.

At that moment, Kalia was also curious about something.

“By the way, why are you and Colonel Audemeyer both so certain that it’s the Chaos Brotherhood, rather than some other faction?”

“The reasoning is actually quite simple. Just eliminate everyone who might care about information concerning the Ulcerous Madonna…”

Roland was about to say more when the portable communicator he had modified, hidden in his pocket, suddenly began emitting a series of rapid warning beeps.

“Beep beep beep beep beep beep!”

“Look out!”

Kalia reacted a step faster than Roland. Before the communicator’s alarm had even finished sounding, she spotted the man in a suit behind Roland. He had just entered the shop, drawn a revolver, and aimed it at Roland.

Before the man’s finger could pull the trigger, several shadow spears erupted from his own shadow and pierced straight through him. His corpse was lifted into the air, impaled and suspended by the spears.

The revolver clattered to the floor beside the man’s body.

At the same time, screams filled the once-quiet coffee shop.