Chapter 246: This Matter

I climbed onto the roof and immediately understood everything.

The houses on both sides of the embassy were lit up like it was noon. Lights were on across the street too. Everyone was watching what was happening on our grounds. Were they just curious, or were they waiting for the fight to end? Or... were they staying out of it because this was foreign territory?

I didn’t care anymore. It was time to finish this.

One of the men on the road was swinging a sword around wildly. I took aim at his shoulder and loosed the arrow. It missed by a hair and punched into his gut instead.

He doubled over, clutching his belly, and rolled across the ground.

Did I break the arrow?! The tip was stuck in him now—definitely not coming out easy.

I shot again. The arrow sank deep into his back with a sickening thud. It wasn’t a fatal wound, but it stopped him dead. The rest of the men suddenly started climbing down from the wall. They were pretending to help the wounded one, but really they were running away.

That was their signal.

The group that had been watching from across the street came charging in. They surrounded the thieves in seconds and dragged them away like it was nothing. Wait... what the hell just happened? They simply vanished. It was like the whole thing never occurred.

A man on the roof caught my eye. He stared straight at me for a long moment, as if trying to decide whether to attack. Then he turned and walked away without a word.

From the ground, Rudolf and Lily stood over the bodies. Lily’s opponent had been slashed across the neck—blood everywhere. Rudolf’s opponents were still twitching, barely breathing. They hadn’t killed them. Good.

Rudolf cupped his hands and shouted up to the roof:

"It’s over! Everyone, relax!"

The embassy staff were already out, staring up at me in shock. They didn’t know I was up there? I thought. I arrived like a hero in a dramatic entrance. A little credit?

"Lord Robin, thank you. This will have to be reported to the security force."

"They won’t tell us anything anyway," I said. "If we torture them they’ll just lie. We’ll leave it to the guards."

I jumped down from the roof. A collective "Whoa..." rose from the staff. They’d all been watching me through the window—some of them had even started cheering. I climbed onto the roof like a demon with arrows. I look cool, right?

Lily approached, waving her short sword. A single drop of blood flicked off the blade.

"Robbie, you were amazing!"

The maids let out little gasps of awe.

Carla-san appeared, holding a damp towel out to me.

"Please let us handle the cleanup. You should rest."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Really? You don’t seem the least bit rattled. You’ve seen worse before, haven’t you?"

Carla smiled gently.

"Nothing like this has ever happened on the grounds before. The previous ambassador’s time was perfectly peaceful. We only had to deal with those loud drunkards who kept demanding their money back."

So you’ve seen this kind of thing before. I’d have run or hidden the first time I saw it.

Carla patted my shoulder.

"And Lily was wonderful too—covered in blood and all. Please, wash it off. I’ll take care of everything."

She gently steered me back inside.

I wasn’t even tired. Adrenaline was still pumping through me like crazy. The security force showed up a little later, and suddenly the whole embassy was lit up like daylight. I leaned against the window and watched them talk.

My gut told me Baron von Kirchhoff was behind this. Directly? Or did he order someone else? He definitely wouldn’t have gotten his hands dirty himself. I was only selling medicine to his wife, so this had to be payback. Great. From now on I had to be careful.

Tonight was lucky—the attack happened after Rudolf came back. If it had happened while he was gone, Lily and I would have had to handle it alone. More dangerous people might come next. If this was the end, fine. But if they kept coming... I’d have to think of something.

It was pure goodwill—I just wanted the baroness to look young and beautiful. This was terrible. I should report everything to the Duchess tomorrow morning. She might give me advice. Even if she couldn’t help, having her backing me would be nice. The Duke looked unreliable, but the Duchess... she was the Queen’s younger sister from the Marie Kingdom. She was probably sharp.

I’d go first thing tomorrow. Even if I showed up unannounced, all I had to do was bring the medicine. She’d welcome me with open arms.

—-

I was halfway through breakfast when Rudolf came to tell me the security captain had arrived. Of course, it was about last night’s attack.

I showed him into the reception room. As soon as I walked in, the captain shot to his feet and bowed so deeply his forehead nearly touched the floor. His face was the perfect picture of exhaustion—dark circles, puffy eyes, the whole nine yards. I felt a pang of sympathy. Poor guy probably got only two hours of sleep after hearing about the break-in.

"Ambassador Marie, I am deeply sorry! You’ve only just arrived and this already happens. On behalf of the entire nation, I offer our deepest apologies."

He bowed again.

No, seriously. The security captain apologizing on behalf of the whole country? But I could tell he was sincere. I figured the Internal Ministry handled this, and the high-ranking officials would probably give me the cold shoulder even if they recognized me. You smell like alcohol, sir. And you’re the only one who was here last night, right? I didn’t say it out loud, but his bleary eyes and swollen eyelids made it obvious.

"Actually, since no one was hurt, I’ll skip the formal apology. What I really need is to know who ordered the thieves and where they came from. You’re already investigating, right? Tell me now!"

The captain’s face went stiff the instant I raised my voice.