Chapter 15
Why is that here?”
I muttered blankly at the sudden appearance of the bird.
Perdi–whatever kept pecking at the glass furiously like a woodpecker.
Tap, tap—tap tap tap!
“Do you know that bird?”
Even Sion asked, sounding baffled.
“That thing belongs to the Noel merchant guild leader. It used to live in that cage.”
I pointed to the cage beside the bed.
Standing near the terrace door and observing the bird closely, Garen suddenly exclaimed,
“Ah! That must be a Perdic.”
“Perdic? What’s that?”
“It’s a carrier pigeon typically used by imperial nobles or wealthy magnates. They’re rare—extremely fast and intelligent, almost impossible to catch. Well-trained ones have an excellent homing instinct and can return to the cage they were raised in.”
“Then it must have come here looking for its cage.”
Just as Sion said, the bird’s gaze—flapping its wings—was fixed on the cage.
“What should we do, Young Master?”
“……”
Sion fell into thought for a moment.
“If someone sees the merchant guild’s carrier pigeon coming and going here, it could put you in an awkward position.”
Garen’s concern made sense.
I quickly flew over and landed on Garen’s head.
“Oof.”
Then I waved my hands toward the bird outside the glass.
“Shoo! Go away! Get lost!”
‘You little brat. Showing up out of nowhere and causing trouble for Sion. Now I have to worry because of you!’
“Hey, I said go!”
Tap tap tap! Tap tap tap tap!
Grabbing Garen’s brown hair, I said,
“Garen, don’t open the door no matter what!”
“Ow, yes, understood.”
Just as I was glaring at the bird in a standoff—
Something caught my eye.
“…Huh?”
A small message tube attached to its ankle.
“…That…”
“Now then, Ferdikeus. As trained, fly at once and deliver this to my aide.”
“No, it’s too early to relax. Until we retrieve the hidden goods without being discovered, it’s not over.”
“…!!!”
I yanked Garen’s hair and shouted urgently,
“Garen, open the door! Quickly!!!”
“What? But—”
“Hurry!!!”
Seeing my sudden change in attitude, Sion quickly gave the order.
“Garen, open it.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
A moment later—
Flap flap—!!
As the terrace door opened, the bird flew straight inside.
Naturally, it headed toward the cage.
But—
It stopped.
Chirp. Chirp chirp.
[…This can’t be. My home!]
Seeing the cage door blown off, the bird trembled.
Chirp! Chirp chirp! Screeech!!!
[My home… who did this?! Show yourself!]
“…Uh, hey.”
I approached it cautiously.
Standing next to it—it was bigger than me—I gently patted what I assumed was its shoulder.
“W-we found it like that. Sorry.”
[…What are you? Not human, not bird… something strange. Don’t tell me you’re the one who did this?]
‘…This little—’
I nearly snapped at its attitude, but held back. Getting that message tube was more important.
I forced a smile.
“Hey, what are you talking about? Of course not!”
[…]
“See that handsome guy over there? I live here with him. I’m a fairy. I’ve never even touched your cage.”
[…Really?]
“Of course! Come on, go rest inside. You must be tired from flying so far. We’ll fix the door, so don’t worry!”
I coaxed it while gently pushing it forward.
Reluctantly, it waddled into the cage.
[I flew dozens of kilometers in a day. I’m starving. Bring me food—fat, fresh centipedes.]
“Yeah, yeah, got it.”
At that moment, Sion—who had been silently watching—held something out.
It was the cage door I had blown off earlier.
‘Wow, nice timing!’
I flew onto Sion’s shoulder and whispered,
“Sion. That bird has a message tube from the merchant guild leader. We need to trap it and take it.”
“…!”
Understanding immediately, Sion fitted the door back onto the cage.
The bird was trapped again.
I dropped all pretense and called out bluntly,
“Hey.”
[…?]
“Hand it over.”
I pointed at the tube on its ankle.
The bird shrieked in shock.
[You—you were after this from the start! You coward!]
“Whatever. Just give it to me.”
[No! This is more important than my life! Only my master—]
“You don’t want to? Then starve.”
[…]
The bird fell silent.
* * *
“Let’s see…”
I opened the tube and unrolled the letter.
It was filled with hurried, messy handwriting.
Guild Master! I have received your earlier message and reply as quickly as possible.
First, please do not be alarmed.
As instructed, we hid approximately half the goods we diverted before entering the Grand Duchy in a secret location. We were waiting for your return after completing negotiations with the North.
However… due to a small disturbance nearby, the hiding place was at risk of being discovered, so we had no choice but to move the goods elsewhere.
As the situation was urgent, we acted without prior consultation. Please understand.
The new location of the goods is…
At the bottom was the exact location.
Some forest not far from the Grand Duke’s castle.
After reading it, Sion and I exchanged looks.
“I think… we just found where the goods are.”
“…Seems like it.”
“What? Is that true?!”
I handed the letter to Garen. His eyes widened as he read it.
“Young Master! This is—!”
Sion nodded.
“If we go to this location, we can recover the remaining goods.”
“Incredible…!”
The tension on their faces finally eased.
“Then we should report this immediately—”
“Wait!”
I quickly blocked Garen with both arms.
“Miss Rin? Why?”
“Sorry, but give that letter back.”
“What? But—”
“You’re about to tell everyone, right?”
“Yes. We need to act before the guild master leaves—”
“Nope. Wrong.”
I clicked my tongue.
“You naïve, simple-minded knight.”
“…What?”
I snatched the letter and tucked it under my arm.
“This is confiscated.”
“Miss Rin?!”
“This is a golden opportunity. We should use it properly.”
“What do you mean…?”
I slipped the letter into Sion’s front pocket.
“This is the perfect chance for Sion Luxior of the annex to shine.”
Sion raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.
“This isn’t something to joke about. People’s lives are at stake.”
“I’m not joking.”
I looked up at him and smiled confidently.
“Just hear me out. It’s actually a pretty solid plan.”
