Chapter 475 - Episode 2: A Close Call ②
The physical abilities of beastfolk are superior to those of ordinary people. Especially in terms of leg strength.
Because of this, Matilda, who had leaped from the second-floor window of the mansion, landed brilliantly without sustaining any injury.
"Whoa!?"
The one shocked to see this was the Captain of the Grand Ducal Family Guard of the Grand Duchy of Arqvist, Knight Bachelor Pence Schoenberg. Having come from the national army headquarters to the mansion for reporting duties, Pence let out a cry upon seeing Matilda suddenly descend before his eyes.
"Wha—what, it's Matilda. Why did you suddenly—"
"...A Long-eared Squirrel intruded into Noein-sama's office through the mansion window and fled with documents placed on the desk in its mouth. It is heading toward the city center. They are documents with content that would be problematic if seen by the subjects."
"..."
Hearing this, Pence tightened his expression and immediately dashed toward the city center along with Matilda.
"What kind of content is it that would be problematic if seen by the subjects?"
"...It is a personal letter addressed to Clara-sama for the upcoming wedding anniversary, written by Noein-sama. It contains very candid details."
Noein's memoirs were not something he intended to let even his subordinates read. Therefore, Matilda lied on impulse.
"I see, that is indeed a problem. The subjects should not know the detailed inner thoughts of their sovereign. We have to recover them quickly..."
The two of them entered the city center, weaving through the crowds on the street. The subjects, as well as merchants and travelers visiting from abroad, cast strange looks at the two people sprinting through the town.
Upon reaching the central plaza of the capital, the two looked around to search for the Long-eared Squirrel.
"Wait, what's wrong with you two? Did something happen that requires such haste?"
The one who called out to them was the head of the Grand Duchy Women's Association, Baroness Mai Granat, who seemed to have just happened to be passing through the plaza.
"Mai. Actually—"
As Pence quickly explained the situation, Mai's expression tightened just as his had.
"I did see a Long-eared Squirrel with something in its mouth. It ran toward the west."
"Let's pursue it!"
With Mai joining them, the three ran from the plaza toward the western main street.
They ran while avoiding pedestrians, and after proceeding for a while, Pence shouted.
"There it is! To the left!"
When Matilda and Mai looked in that direction, the Long-eared Squirrel holding the bundle of papers was at the entrance of an alley, atop the roof of a house.
The fact that it was in such a place and still held the bundle of papers meant that the content had likely not been seen by anyone yet.
"!"
Utilizing her leg strength, Matilda sprinted ahead of the other two. Perhaps sensing her spirit, the Long-eared Squirrel fled further into the alley along the rooftops.
Matilda, who had closed in right behind the Long-eared Squirrel—kicked the wall of a house, used the recoil, and landed on the roof of the house next to the one she had kicked.
She reached out for the Long-eared Squirrel, but it slipped through her fingers by a hair's breadth and jumped down to the ground. It then scurried away, escaping to the roof of a house on the opposite side of the alley.
"Pence-sama!"
"You think I can do that!?"
Pence retorted to Matilda, who had shouted while pointing at the Long-eared Squirrel on the roof. Kicking a wall to leap onto a roof in one breath was not a feat an ordinary person could perform. It was an acrobatic act possible only with the leg strength of a beastfolk.
"We'll pursue it normally! It's the alley one over!"
Pence ran through the gaps between the houses, followed by Mai and Matilda, who had jumped down from the roof.
The Long-eared Squirrel continued to flee right and left through the streets, and the futile chase between the three and the Long-eared Squirrel continued.
"...Oh?"
And then, the pursuit drama came to an abrupt end in an unexpected manner.
At the place where the three had run chasing the Long-eared Squirrel, the creature had stopped. There, the heir to the sovereign's house—Eleos, who was on his way home from school—was crouching on the ground, playing with the Long-eared Squirrel.
"Ahaha, you're so cute. Where did you come from?"
Eleos was petting the head of the Long-eared Squirrel, which was clutching the crumpled bundle of papers, with a gentle smile. Standing behind him was the heir to the house of Baronet Yakov Granat, who served as the overseer when Eleos went out.
Yakov was the one to notice the out-of-breath Pence and Mai, and the not-out-of-breath Matilda.
"Huh? Mother. And even Lord Schoenberg and Matilda-sama. What has happened?"
Hearing Yakov's words, Eleos also looked up.
"Matilda."
"Eleos-sama... how were you able to catch the Long-eared Squirrel?"
"I didn't really catch it. This little one was running through the alley, so when I beckoned, it came over. It's cute, isn't it?"
Saying so, Eleos scooped up the Long-eared Squirrel. The Long-eared Squirrel allowed itself to be held without resistance.
Matilda discreetly took the bundle of papers the Long-eared Squirrel had been gripping. Perhaps it no longer felt an attachment to them, as the Long-eared Squirrel let go of the papers easily.
"Matilda, those papers?"
"This Long-eared Squirrel stole these documents from Noein-sama's office and fled. With the cooperation of Pence-sama and Mai, I pursued it to this point."
"Hmm."
Hearing the conversation between the two, Yakov let out a wry smile, as if instinctively.
"...No wonder Mother and Lord Schoenberg look so exhausted."
"That's exactly it. Honestly, to be troubled this much by a mere Long-eared Squirrel."
"I wonder when the last time was that I ran at full speed like this,"
Pence said while resting his hands on his knees and breathing heavily, and Mai laughed as she sat plop down on the ground.
"But I'm glad those documents? were recovered safely... Well then, shall we go home? You should go back to our house too."
When Eleos set it down, the Long-eared Squirrel scurried toward the west—toward the depths of the forest.
Then, it stopped once and looked back at them.
"Kyuun."
"Ahaha, bye-bye."
Seen off by Eleos, the Long-eared Squirrel finally returned to the forest.
This strange commotion, which in one sense became the greatest crisis for Noein, thus concluded safely.
.....
"—I see. Eleos stopped the Long-eared Squirrel. Thank you, Eleos. You did a great job."
"I didn't really work hard at anything specifically... but I'm glad I could be of use to Father."
Eleos, who had returned home with Matilda, looked quite pleased as Noein patted his head.
"...By the way, Eleos. Did you see what was written in the bundle of papers?"
"No, I didn't. The Long-eared Squirrel had it crumpled up and gripped tight, so at first I thought it was just some trash it had picked up from somewhere. I didn't pay any particular attention to it."
"Right, then it's fine..."
Feeling relief from the bottom of his heart, Noein spoke.
He intended to leave the memoirs for Eleos and let him read them, but that was a story for much further in the future. It would be far too embarrassing to have his young child read this now. For now, it was fine for Eleos not to know what was written on these papers.
"Oh, Eleos. I heard Rosetta baked cookies for a snack. Go and eat some."
"! Cookies! I'm going!"
Watching Eleos stand up from the sofa and dash toward the dining room, Noein and Matilda looked at each other and exchanged faint, wry smiles.
"For now, I'll have to transcribe the part I wrote here onto another clean sheet of paper... Also, from now on when I write the memoirs, I'll make sure to close the office window. That Long-eared Squirrel might come again, and I can't put Matilda through this kind of trouble repeatedly."
Applying this lesson, Noein began to handle the drafts of his memoirs more cautiously.
After that, no further crises occurred where the contents of the memoirs leaked externally, and the completed memoirs came to be handled with great care for hundreds of years as the greatest secret of the Arqvist Grand Ducal Family.
[Author's Note]
Volume 3 of the book version "The Happiness Tale of the Twisted Lord" was released on February 25, 2023.
Finally, Clara appears this time, and both heroines are now present.
I would be very happy if you could pick up this new development delivered with significant additions.
Thank you very much.