Volume 1 – Following the Maze Drawn With Lines of Blood
Ami quickly received medical care.
Mary picked her up, and they were taken to the doctor’s office by Tinny again.
Ami’s small body was laid on the bed, and a woman in white robes began examining her.
Jaysam was supposed to come here as well, but he received an important message and thus returned to his own room for the time being.
Mary lined up next to Tinny, and looked around the room while also observing Ami’s condition.
The medical equipment here was by no means inferior to those in hospitals outside.
(This organization is definitely backed by nobility. Furthermore, they have quite a lot of power.)
Then, Tinny looked at Mary before asking her a question.
“Are you curious?”
“Yes…… Because the scale here is way too large.”
“Indeed, I was surprised too at the start. The Liberta Liberation Front’s sponsor seems to be an aristocrat who opposes Dugan. Further, our leader is also a former aristocrat.”
“Him?”
“He threw away all his riches to fight along with the people.”
“Perhaps he is the one who contacted the sponsor.”
“Who knows…..? I didn’t ask him. All I know is that he calls the sponsor ‘Mr. Q’ when he’s with us.”
“Mister..…. Q……”
“Ahaha, strange name, isn’t it? He uses a voice changer when he talks, so no one has heard his real voice.”
“Not his face either, then?”
“Nope. There are rumors that even our leader doesn’t know what he looks like, actually.”
“How can you trust him?”
“I don’t. Aristocrats can easily abandon the people. But, this is the only way we can fight.”
Tinny sounded sad when she said that.
In for a penny, in for a pound, as they say.
If the aristocrat was using them, then they would also use him as far as they could. That was the idea.
“But, those soldiers we fight are probably also pawns being used by some big-wigs too, right?”
“There’s no end to it if you start talking about those people.”
“I suppose that’s how it is when you become a princess, right?”
“No. People like me with no power, and nothing except the title of princess, are just people who get used up. My marriage with Lord Romeo was the same.”
Tinny looked a little surprised after Mary lightly belittled herself.
“……It’s difficult, isn’t it? In the end, that’s how things are for princesses too. Maybe you can do whatever you want if you become a king, or at least a duke?”
“Who knows…..? Surprisingly, they may be controlled by some invisible powers as well.”
Mary said that jokingly.
Tinny hugged herself, saying, ‘scary’, and Mary bitterly smiled.
Perhaps because she finally managed to get Ami taken care of, she also seemed to be more at ease.
Right then, Jaysam entered the medical room.
“Sorry, I made you wait.”
“That was fast. Is the call over already?”
“When I told the other party about you, they said they wanted to speak to you as well. Sorry, but could you do that?”
“With a group member? Or do you mean this sponsor named Mr. Q or whatever?”
“Tinny, did you tell her about him?”
“Was that wrong?”
“No, you saved me the effort. That Mr. Q wants to speak with you.”
There was no reason for Mary to refuse.
She nodded and left the room with Jaysam.
◇◇◇
Mary was taken by Jaysam towards the meeting room.
The hideout was still new, so there was no real filth around, but it did have somewhat of a unique smell.
“It’s a fine thing, isn’t it? I bet even Dugan doesn’t think we have a hideout like this in Captis.”
“I’m impressed you can stay hidden.”
“There’s a lot of people in the shopping district who hold a grudge towards the nobility, for many reasons. Even if they had an idea of where the hideout was, they can’t step into it.”
Mary was distant to this culture, so this wasn’t easy to understand for her.
However, most of the people working in the business district were commoners, which meant that there were people there who were sold out by the nobility.
Well, the true darkness went deeper, but such things would be too harsh for Mary to hear of.
“Let me know if there’s anything else on your mind.”
“Even if it’s something trifling?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Aren’t there a lot of clocks in this hideout?”
Mary stopped, and said so while looking at a clock on the wall of the corridor.
Jaysam looked at it, and laughed while shaking his shoulders.
“Haha, I think so too. There are some nervous people here. Since Tinny brought you here, you might have met some of them yourself.”
“You mean that unit’s members?”
“The man named Indi, he’s the captain. He’s an overly serious man from his appearance to his personality, so he’s very strict with time.”
“He did look like a serious person, but this is……”
“He’s pretty overwhelming, isn’t he? Some of the members actually requested his demotion. But Indi would get mad if I told him that.”
“It must be hard to be an organization’s leader.”
“Even your sympathy is enough to make me feel better, Princess.”
They continued walking as they idly chatted, and arrived at their destination.
A big monitor was set up by the meeting room, which showed the back side of a man.
“Mr. Q, I’ve brought the Princess.”
“Good work, you may leave.”
“Understood. Well then, Princess, I’ll be waiting outside, so let me know when it’s over.”
Jaysam left the room, and Mary sat down on a random chair.
“Nice to meet you, Princess Mary. I’m Mr. Q.”
The voice she heard belonged to a man.
Just as Tinny told her, however, it was clearly a made up voice.
“I can’t reveal my name for various reasons, and I can’t show my face. You may think this is rude, but I have my reasons. Please pardon me.”
“I don’t mind, I’ll find out immediately anyhow.”
“What do you mean?”
“There are very few aristocrats who can support terrorists on such a large scale.”
“Haha, I do think I went too far as well. But this is for the sake of the Slava Territory’s, no, the world’s future, so please try to understand.”
Mary continued glaring at the man as he said some dubious words.
“Are you displeased, Princess Lady?”
“You can see me?”
“Yeah, I can clearly see your beautiful face. You look better than I imagined. Completely different from what I used to have in mind.”
“I can’t be that person any longer, so.”
“That’s a shame, is it not?”
“By the way, Mr. Q, you sound like you actually know me.”
Mary calmly pointed this out, which made Mr. Q hesitate for a moment.
He then laughed in a mean-spirited way.
“You look surprisingly terrifying, I suppose you do have royal blood in you after all.”
“Please don’t change the subject.”
“You’re right, I’m an aristocrat. It’s no strange thing that I’ve met the Princess at least once.”
“I see. By the way, Mr. Q.”
“What is it?”
“What would you do if I told you that I already know your identity, and that I’m testing you on top of that?”
“……That’s worrying. As I said, I’ve only met you once. I don’t even think you remember my name.”
“But, this is what you’re thinking right now, is it not? That both me and my sister are annoying girls?”
Mr. Q went silent.
“I see.”
Mary glared at the monitor while squinting her eyes, and heard a sigh from the speaker: ‘Aaah… hah.’
The image on the monitor then switched, and displayed a woman with blonde twintails.
She faced Mary, and spoke in a regretful voice:
“I thought you wouldn’t notice. You grew up way too well since we last met, Mary.”
“You definitely have not changed. It’s been a long time, Miss. Cutie.”
It was Cutie Majoram.
She was the executive director of Majoram Technologies, and was supposed to be an ally of the Duke of Slava.