2
Imperial territory. Easternmost Altoria jurisdiction.
Nata City.
Travelers taking the highway used this town as a stopover for the night. Much like Ain, it was filled with many charming historic structures. Here, tourists could leisurely pass the time away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
At the moment, however, there was one person who was the polar opposite of relaxed.
“Miss Rin! You’re too close to my back, and even if I was okay with you latching onto my shoulders like that, you’re gripping so tight it hurts!”
“…I—I can’t help it!”
It was a weekday evening. Unit 907 stood out among the large crowd. Or rather, Rin stood out.
“I need to do this so I can keep watch. Please cooperate with me, Commander Mismis!”
Despite being taller than Mismis, Rin had latched onto the woman’s back and was restlessly observing her surroundings. She would take a step, then stop, then take another before halting again. On top of that, since she was openly glaring at the businesspeople and tourists passing by, everyone else was putting more and more distance between themselves and Iska’s group.
“So all the people walking down this road are Imperial subjects, I presume?” Rin said. “I cannot allow any of them to know my identity!”
“They’re going to think you’re suspicious because you’re acting jumpy!”
“Hng?! They’re…moving away from me? What is the meaning of this, Commander?”
“It’s because you’re staring, Miss Rin!”
For once, Commander Mismis was doing the teasing. This was absolutely priceless for Iska and the rest of the unit.
“Hey, Iska, Nene.” Jhin, who was at the edge of the road, motioned for them to move closer. “You guys come over here. If we’re near those two, we’ll start looking suspicious, too.”
“Really, Jhin?!” Mismis complained.
“…Oh, c’mon. And you were saying that being in the countryside was a letdown?” He sighed. “If you’re quivering in your boots out in the sticks, you wouldn’t be able to even walk down a road in the capital. You’d look so suspicious that the military police would ask to check your ID right then and there, and it would all be over.”
“Jhin Big Bro, she’s kind of like one of those puppies that’ll howl themselves hoarse in a cage but cower as soon as you let them out…”
“Wh-what did you say?!” Rin quickly scowled when she caught Jhin and Nene whispering to each other. “Did you compare me to a frightened little whelp? Nonsense!”
“Please don’t shout while you’re right behind me!”
“Guh…h-hey, you there!” Rin was looking at Iska. She had promised earlier not to call him Imperial swordsman in town. “I-Isk……”
But for whatever reason, Rin had trouble saying his name even when she was staring directly at him. Even making good eye contact with him was proving difficult, and her face was turning a deeper and deeper shade of red, almost as though she was holding her breath.
“…I feel an odd resistance to addressing you by your name in public,” she said.
“Huh? Why’s that?”
“You, with the black hair!”
“That’s even worse!” Iska moaned.
“Sh-shut up. I simply find it vexing to utter your name…” Rin breathed out. “How deep into this place are you planning on taking me? We have almost walked the entirety of the main street.”
“We’re headed to Restaurant Row up ahead. According to this pamphlet, they recommend—”
“What?! …Do you intend to disgrace me by taking me to somewhere no one finds popular?! You freak!”
“Could you listen to me?!” Iska shouted.
This was futile. Iska’s shoulders drooped as he realized Rin’s first excursion to the Empire was making her too anxious to listen.
They headed to the café terrace of Albireo, a chain that boasted many locations throughout the Empire. There were several in the Imperial capital, so Iska would often go there for a quick bite to eat.
“It’s an interesting restaurant. They call themselves a café even though their tea and coffee aren’t great, but their stews and curries are good enough to make up for that. I go there for lunch a lot, too, and—”
They were inside the establishment, which was bustling during the dinnertime rush.
At the six-seat table, Commander Mismis opened the menu with familiar ease. She propped up the menu so Rin could see it from across from her.
“This egg sandwich is really fluffy, and they use top-grade shrimp stock to give the au gratin some extra oomph. And don’t even get me started about the pancakes! Oh, and I can’t forget to mention that they’re staunch about only cooking once an order has been put in.”
“…”
“Restaurant Row has some of the Empire’s older eateries, but we thought it’d be easier for you to have dinner here, Miss Rin. I also recommend the cream soda. They heap the whipped cream on top and… Miss Rin?”
A river of sweat broke out on Rin’s forehead before Mismis’s eyes.
“…Whew…whew…get it together,” she muttered to herself.
Just like when she’d been out in the main street, it seemed Rin didn’t have the capacity to wipe her sweat away while in this restaurant, either. She was preoccupied with observing the movements of the other guests around her and the waitstaff rather than the menu.
“Nene, or whoever you are, you were saying that you’re good with machines, correct?” Rin asked.
“Hmm? Well, I guess you could say that.”
“What is that surveillance camera over there?” she surreptitiously whispered into Nene’s ear, gazing at the camera on the ceiling. “Does the Empire even have surveillance in restaurants like this?”
“That’s just a normal security camera. I think it’s there to discourage people from robbing them.”
“…But what if…?” Rin almost got right under the device and stared up at it. “Are you sure it’s not there specifically to keep an eye on me? What if the Empire has caught wind of my incursion, and they are employing the pursuit systems they had installed already…?”
“You’re overthinking things! You’ll be fine, so please calm down!”
“B-but,” Rin started to object. She faltered as Nene began shaking her shoulders. “I would personally feel much safer if we could destroy the thing…”
“You’d be arrested for destruction of private property!”
“I—I would?”
“You don’t have to be so scared about being out in the open, Miss Rin. We’ll hold up our promise,” Nene assured her. “None of us would betray you, okay? Here, take the entrée menu.”
“……I see.”
She stared intently at Nene, who was offering her one of the menus. Rin nodded weakly.
“That’s true. In some ways, I’ve become overly sensitive because I am carrying the weight of such a hefty mission. I must act more natural.”
“That’s right! Act more like a tourist!”
“Mm-hmm.” Rin seemed to have finally gotten over her nerves.
Or rather, right before she was able to relax, she heard the clack of an unfamiliar footfall come from behind her.
“Are you ready to order—?”
“I feel someone behind me!” Rin leaped out of her seat. “Has the enemy finally arrived?!”
Iska didn’t even have the time to stop her as she unleashed an explosive roundhouse kick behind her.
Thunk.
Rin’s heel made a pleasing sound as it connected directly with the waiter’s head.
“Oh……”
The man she had kicked wore a name tag that read, EMPLOYEE SUPERVISOR.
“Oh, oh no! I moved on reflex!”
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
Iska quickly caught the employee, who had collapsed, half unconscious.
“Nene, fix this quick.”
“Uh-uh-huh! But other people around us saw…”
“…No, it’s fine. The kick was so fast, they couldn’t have caught it. We can cover this up!” Iska asserted just as another waitress came over from the back in what had to have been the worst timing ever.
“Oh, Manager, you’re playing hooky and sitting in a customer’s seat? That’s sooo unfair.”
“No, no, nothing’s happening! I—I know him, and we haven’t spoken in a while, so I wanted to sit and catch up… Uh, ah-ha-ha…” Commander Mismis distracted the waitress.
Jhin followed up by slamming down all the water on the table.
“Anyway, we’re out of water. Could we get a refill?”
“Oh, yes. I’ll have it right away. Manager, if you keep sitting out of work for things like this, I’ll tattle on you to the execs.”
She grinned and left.
Just as Iska had anticipated, for better or worse, there apparently hadn’t been any witnesses.
“Phew. Somehow, we’ve managed to—”
“Don’t let your guard down, Iska.” Just as he was wiping away the cold sweat he had broken out in, Rin, the perpetrator herself, reminded him. “As long as I’m in the Empire, unforeseen events like what happened just now will continue to transpire over and over again. In fact, I’m positive I will stir up an incident to surpass this one.”
“Why are you positive about something so negative?!”
“Steel yourself for it!”
“Why’re you making it sound suave?!”
Iska looked from the defiant Rin to the unconscious manager, then stared back at the other members of his unit behind him.
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