PDCOO Chapter 20

Erich absorbed the instruction dutifully. Franz was Bertram's friend, after all—there was no reason to doubt him.

"I'll remember! His Highness's social ability is catastrophic. His Highness dislikes noise..."

In front of the murmuring Erich, Franz let out a small laugh.

"Diligent as always, Erich."

"I... I'll give everything my full effort!"

"Don't push yourself too hard. Part of why I brought you—inexperienced as you are—was to show a soldier with potential what the wider world looks like."

"Even someone as... weak as me has potential?"

"You can think, and you know how to listen. Those are qualities rarely found in arrogant new recruits."

At Franz's warm smile, Erich's face went somewhat soft around the edges.

The other soldiers smiled dryly. To get hooked by such an obvious carrot—how innocent could one person be.

Just as a deeply moved Erich was on the verge of running out to find Bertram immediately —

Someone knocked at the inn door.

"Excuse me—is Erich here?"

A woman's voice. Franz and the soldiers exchanged glances. Erich looked equally baffled—but as the woman haltingly continued, his eyes went wide.

"Is this the room of the Erich who was looking for someone named Bertram last night?"

"Yes! I'm here!"

Erich opened the door.

Lara's eyes went wide at the enormous inn room, then she recognized Erich's gentle face and broke into a smile.

"Hello! Oh my, are you staying in such a large room all by yourself?"

"By myself?"

Erich turned around.

Franz and the remaining three soldiers had, in the intervening seconds, arranged themselves into a crouch in the far corner of the room. Franz communicated via lip movements and emphatic gesturing.

Pack of men will be frightening. Take the testimony alone. I trust you.

Erich accepted his role with something approaching solemnity.

"My lady. What information did you bring?"

"Hehe, 'my lady' again. I heard something about the large, black-haired, unkempt man you described!"

"Where is he?"

"There's a pig festival in the city today, isn't there? It seems he's taking advantage of all the commotion to target a flock of sheep at a ranch to the southeast of the city!"

"Sheep?"

Confusion spread across the faces of Erich and everyone in the corner.

Bertram, with no money and nothing to eat, would sooner chew on rocks than target someone else's livestock. That was simply not the man.

"Are you certain you heard this? You're not perhaps confusing him with someone else?"

"I'm only telling you what I heard. Hmph. If you're going to dismiss me, I don't see why you asked for information in the first place."

"Then where did you hear it? The person I know would genuinely never target livestock—"

"I don't know."

Lara's words became increasingly pointed.

"I didn't come here expecting payment, but you're being very dismissive. Fine. Whether to believe me is entirely your choice."

"I apologize! I didn't mean—"

"I expected someone brave, given that you're a knight. Very disappointing."

Lara left the corridor with deliberate, emphatic footsteps. Bang. Bang.

She had delivered the false information as Bertram had asked. Her task was done.

Meanwhile, the soldiers emerged one by one from the corner of the room, with the dazed Erich at their center.

"It's difficult to believe His Highness would target a flock of sheep. But we have no other leads at present, so we should investigate."

"Indeed. If we catch a sheep thief instead, that's not nothing—we'd have the guards indebted to us, and could put them to work. So then. Erich."

Erich looked at Franz, deflated.

Franz let out a small laugh.

"Well done. You've obtained useful intelligence."

"Th... Thank you!"

Erich's eyes lit up with joy—briefly.

Franz's eyes narrowed.

"But what was that Sir Knight the young lady kept using? Don't tell me you claimed to be a knight."

"...Ah. About that, you see—"

While a sudden and entirely unexpected round of new recruit education was being conducted—

Bertram and Anna made their way to the festival.

The young men hoping to enter the competition had no attention to spare for anything other than sizing up each other's arms. But Bertram's gaze had fixed on today's prize.

The pig was impressively large. Very round.

"We're returning to impose on her hospitality again," Bertram said. "I should bring a gift. Do you think Karlah would like a pig?"

"Absolutely. One look at that pig and she'll be grinning for a week.."

But right now, the brightest smile belonged to Anna.

Just imagining the image of Bertram walking back into the village with a pig on his back—a present for Karlah—was enough to make laughter keep escaping her, unbidden.

The main street had filled with stalls. Enticing smells came from every direction.

Anna pressed a piece of hard candy into Lara's hand. Lara's eyes went wide.

"This cost as much as a whole bag of sugar!"

"Never mind that. Just enjoy it. I can't let you go home with nothing but bad memories of this place."

"...I appreciate the thought, but I'm not a child."

But the moment the candy reached her tongue, orange bloomed outward, sweet and bright. Lara abandoned her dignity and tucked the candy fully into her cheek.

Anna grinned and moved to the next stall. Sausages.

"Sausage is fine, right, Bertram?"

But Bertram had more pressing matters.

"Is it all right that we haven't done more to convince the village chief?"

That morning, the village chief had heard Anna's declaration of I'm taking Bertram back with me! and fled somewhere, insisting he absolutely could not give any kind of answer.

But Anna looked entirely unconcerned. She shrugged.

"Don't worry about it. He's definitely gone off to use this as an excuse to drink."

"An excuse?"

"Yes. The chief will go back to the village and claim, 'I was drunk and had absolutely no idea Bertram was following us! I certainly didn't bring him on purpose!' He's a terribly transparent old man."

"So we don't need to get his formal approval?"

"If he truly wanted to stop you, he'd have put us in the cart and left already, festival be damned. So what we need to worry about is not the village chief's permission—"

Anna pulled out her coin purse with decisive energy.

"I'm preparing a good gift so I don't get thrown out by your mother. You can bring back a nice plump pig, can't you?"

"I suppose I'll have to try."

"Yes, so—mister, one sausage please."

Before Bertram could even ask about the connection between those two sentences, Anna had slathered mustard generously over the sausage and was holding it out to him.

"Eat this, get your strength up, and win!"

"...And what about you, Miss Anna."

"Ha! You don't actually think of me as someone who'd give up a good snack because she's short on money, do you?"

"I did think that."

"Ugh. That may be true! But you just have to bring back the pig."

"..."

"Take it quickly! I want to fatten you up—do you not want me eating meat?"

It was clearly sophistry.

But Anna's words, however pointed, came with a mischievous curl at the corner of her mouth, and Bertram found he had no inclination to argue.

He took the sausage.

When he bit into it, warm fat spread through his mouth.

He couldn't tell what it tasted like.

But just looking at Anna's face, he could tell it was something worth savoring.

From somewhere in the distance came the call: "Pig festival participants, this way, please!"

Bertram swallowed the last of the sausage quickly and said, "I'll be back. I'll bring the meat—please make something delicious with it."

"Of course!"

Bertram headed toward the gathering point, and Anna and Lara made their way unhurriedly toward the competition grounds.

The spring crop had been harvested and the empty plot pressed into service as a venue. Poles that had served as trellises now stood in as obstacles. The ground, roughened during harvest, would be smoothed out by the rampaging boars and the feet of everyone chasing them.

"Economical festival, in every respect."

"Oh, Sis! Look over there! I can see Bertram!"

"What? Oh... I can see him! I can see him too!"

Anna was overjoyed.

Short as she was, Anna had suffered the indignity of other people's shoulders blocking her view at every public event she'd attended. Even now, the other men at the starting line were barely visible above the tops of their heads.

But Bertram, by virtue of his exceptional height, was visible to Anna all the way up to his jawline.

This had never happened before.

Lara smiled warmly, not knowing the real reason.

"Sis. You really like him, don't you?"

"What?"

"I was genuinely surprised at first. I never thought our village would produce a couple straight out of a romance novel... When did you two confirm your feelings? Haven't you only known each other a week?"

"Lara. What are you talking about? Who confirmed feelings with who?"

"What? I meant... you and Bertram."

Only then did Anna recall the previous night.

After Lara had rushed out declaring she'd give them time alone together, Anna had fully intended to clear up the misunderstanding later. But Lara had walked back in on her reaching for Bertram's chest, and then the worry about his pursuers had stolen every chance she might have had to explain.

"Lara. I have absolutely no feelings for Bertram! What happened in the bedroom—well, it takes some explaining. Anyway, don't misunderstand. We're just a worker and a shop owner."

Anna cut the words off firmly to demonstrate older-sisterly composure, and turned her head away.

But the moment wild boars were let loose at the competition grounds and began to run, her composure lasted approximately three seconds.

"Wait, I forgot to say something important!"

"What?"

"I should have told him not to get hurt! What do I do?"

"Sis..."