“Starting tomorrow, I’ll be coming home in the evening for a while. I won’t be at the guild either.”
Then Emily’s eyes widened as she met his gaze.
“Why? Are you going somewhere far?”
“It’s not that, I took on a request.”
The guard period specified in the request form he’d seen during the day was one month. With good luck, they might catch the suspicious person quickly, but since the primary task was close protection of the client, it was right to assume they’d fill the entire given period.
“Don’t go outside the house after sunset. And if a stranger comes, absolutely don’t open the door.”
At those words, Emily burst out laughing.
“What am I, a child?”
“You are a child.”
It was an answer without a moment’s hesitation. Emily ended up shaking her head. Anyway, everything was good except for her overprotective brother.
“Is there anything you want to eat for dinner, brother?”
“Anything is fine.”
“I thought you’d say that. Then let’s eat grilled fish with sage sauce.”
“I’m grilling the fish again?”
“Oh my, you caught me.”
Just like on the way there, the two siblings walked intimately while chatting sweetly.
***
The next morning, Diego left the house and drove his horse not to the guild but to an unfamiliar mansion. As he waited under a nearby tree, the sound of hoofbeats echoed from afar shortly after. Diego was the first to greet Martin, who had slowed down and stopped.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning. Have you been waiting long?”
“No, I just got here.”
“Then let’s go in.”
The two soon headed toward the mansion entrance side by side. When they identified their affiliation to a servant dressed in servant’s attire, he guided the guests to the reception room on the first floor.
The spacious reception room was splendidly yet classically well-decorated, but a strangely bleak atmosphere pervaded it. Regardless, Martin calmly tilted his teacup while looking around.
“You said this is your first protection request?”
“Yes. It’s my first at Fohens Guild.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve worked cooperatively too, so my expectations are high. Let’s do well together.”
His tone was calm but felt trustworthy. Recalling Roman’s words that his skills were certain, Diego carefully spoke.
“How long have you been working at the guild, Martin?”
“Me? I think it’s the 12th or 13th year this year.”
Diego was inwardly surprised at the longer time than expected.
“That’s a long time.”
“Right. I may not look it, but I’m a founding guild member. Haha.”
The gap between himself and the man before him felt immeasurably vast.
‘Twelve years… Will I be able to continue until then?’
As he imagined something he couldn’t promise, the reception room door opened and two women entered. They were the client, Viscountess Rood, and her daughter.
Martin and Diego hurriedly stood up and offered polite greetings.
“I’m Martin from Fohens Guild.”
“I’m Diego.”
A gaze filled with scrutiny slowly swept over the two of them. The Viscountess, who gave passing marks for their outward conditions, belatedly invited them to sit again. Then she got to the point.
“I assume you know what kind of request this is.”
“Of course.”
“As you come from a guild with such a great reputation, I trust you’ll show satisfactory results. And if you happen to catch or identify the person spying on Grace, I’ll pay an additional reward equal to the compensation.”
“Yes. We’ll do our best.”
“Then please take care of it.”
Having finished what she had to say, Lady Rood was the first to leave. Once only three people remained, Grace, the Viscountess’s daughter, looked at Martin with a smiling face.
“You look like you have something you want to say.”
It was as she guessed. Since basic information gathering was necessary before full-scale task performance, Martin spoke in a calm tone.
“May I ask a few things?”
“If they’re questions I can answer.”
“Since when have you felt like someone was watching you?”
While Martin skillfully led the conversation, Diego recalled the request form he’d seen yesterday. It stated that someone seemed to be secretly following her daughter, so please protect her safely.
“I don’t remember exactly, but from what I can tell, it seems to have been about a week.”
“Then around that time, did you visit places you don’t usually go, or meet any strangers?”
“No.”
Grace answered in a firm voice.
“I run a small dress shop, so except for Sundays, I go out every day. Most of the customers are people I know well too.”
Realizing she was indirectly saying she hadn’t been to unfamiliar places, Martin nodded.
“If it’s a dress shop, there must be male customers too.”
“Most are female customers. I sell women’s dresses and accessories. Do you have any other questions?”
“No, this is sufficient. If I think of anything else, I’ll mention it then.”
“Please do.”
This time Grace asked a question.
“May I ask how you two plan to move?”
“Diego here will accompany you closely, and I plan to watch mainly from afar.”
“Won’t it be noticeable if he travels with me?”
“I’m thinking of accompanying you for a while, then separating to target the gap. Of course, even then I’ll be continuously around you, my lady, so you don’t need to worry about safety.”
“Good. I look forward to working with you.”
Soon the three of them left the mansion together. As Diego followed the carriage carrying the Viscount’s daughter while maintaining a constant distance, Martin, who was driving his horse alongside him, spoke to him.
“She’s a more spirited young lady than she looks.”
“Yes.”
Realizing he was referring to Grace, Diego briefly agreed. With his gaze fixed on the rear of the carriage, Martin added a few words.
“And she seems quite diligent. Usually nobles just hold ownership and leave the management to others—it’s rare for them to manage directly.”
“…I see.”
Likewise keeping his gaze fixed on the brown carriage ahead, Diego fell into thought.
Saying ‘most are customers she knows’ meant there were also those who weren’t. Also, since she said it felt like someone was secretly peeping or following rather than openly causing harm, he thought it might take quite a long time to find clear evidence and identify the culprit.
***
The guild office door opened with the sound of someone’s presence. Seeing Emily, Hubert greeted her with a welcoming smile.
“Welcome.”
“Hello, Uncle Hubert.”
“I’ve been counting down the hours waiting for you to come since morning, Emily. Haha.”
A pleasant smile appeared on Emily’s face. She knew full well it was just a polite remark, but when someone said nice things, there was no reason to feel bad.
Emily soon handed Hubert the basket containing cookies and bread she’d made herself yesterday evening.
“This is for Roman, and this is for the guild members to eat. I made some bread too, but it gets hard, so it’s better to eat it quickly.”
“If I put it in the break room, it’ll all disappear before it gets hard.”
Answering with a smiling voice, Hubert opened a drawer under the counter. He handed Emily a small envelope from inside.
“Thank you as always. We’ll enjoy these deliciously again this time.”
“Thank you.”
Emily firmly tucked the envelope into her small handbag. Normally, at this point she would have turned around after saying goodbye, but today she had one more matter to attend to. So uncharacteristically hesitating, she carefully spoke.
“Um…”
“Hm?”
Hubert soon caught on to Emily’s intention and smiled once more.
“You want to see your brother before you go? But what to do. Diego won’t be at the guild at this time for a while.”
“I know. My brother told me yesterday.”
Then Emily brought up what she wanted to say.
“Is Roman at the guild right now by any chance?”
