Chapter 3

Since we were inside the castle grounds, and Dorothy was supposedly the only spy here, this man had to be one of Kreutz’s people.

Whew.

The moment I slipped under the robe, it felt oddly cozy, like being inside a tent.

He’s taller than I expected.

Squirming into place between the man’s legs, I held the robe like a curtain and peeked out with only my eyes exposed.

Dorothy was standing at the entrance to the garden.

Having run without stopping, she looked furious enough for her face to burst. She resembled a bright red balloon gum demon from hell.

If I got caught, I was finished.

“...No outsider should be able to enter the garden. Who is it?”

I was trembling like a frightened meerkat, staring ahead, when a low voice from above cut through my ears.

I slowly lifted my head.

I still couldn’t see his face because of the hood, but judging by the way he spoke, he seemed to hold a fairly high position in the estate.

I had no idea who this tent man was, but I needed to make him take my side no matter what.

I poked my face out from under the robe and looked up at him.

“Excuse me, mister...”

“The gardener?”

At that moment, a large hand gently pushed my face back inside, and someone called out.

I stumbled backward and sat down, then grabbed the hem of his trousers to pull myself up as a familiar voice rang out from beyond.

“Forgive me for entering without permission, but since you were already in the garden... have you by any chance seen a small child run this way? A girl, about five years old.”

It was Dorothy.

So the man I had hidden under was a gardener.

That was unexpected. From the way he spoke, I had thought he might be some sort of senior aide.

“Why are you looking for her?”

“She’s a suspicious child. She claimed to know where the missing young lady is.”

“The missing young lady.”

Maybe it was because he was hiding me, but I felt a little safer listening to their conversation.

Though I tensed again when his voice suddenly dropped.

What was that? His voice changed a little.

My hand, still clutching his trouser leg, stiffened.

For the first time, a chill entered that calm, steady tone.

Maybe he was only a gardener, but perhaps he understood his master’s trauma better than most.

“W-well...”

Dorothy must have sensed the change too, because she faltered.

“I was planning to keep her with me until her request for an audience could be processed, but... she shook off my hand and ran.”

Damn it. If she put it that way, of course he’d hand me back to her.

I shrank down as quietly as possible, trying to erase my presence.

A heavy silence followed.

My heart started pounding.

If the gardener handed me over to Dorothy—

then I’d expose what she was.

Of course, that might reveal that I was a spy too, but at least I would still be helping the Kreutz side, so maybe they would show me some mercy.

Fine. If I go down, you’re coming with me.

I tightened my grip on his trouser leg and narrowed my eyes in determination—

“I haven’t seen any child.”

...He was hiding me?

“I see. Then forgive the disturbance.”

Tap.

Startled, I let go of the fabric I had been gripping.

My racing heart slowly calmed in time with Dorothy’s footsteps fading into the distance.

“You can come out now.”

“......”

“It’s all right. The maid is gone.”

As his low voice reached me, I finally crawled out from under the robe and bowed my head.

“Mister, thank you for helping me.”

“You said you know where the young lady is?”

The man bent one knee and lowered himself to meet my eyes.

“You understand that if this is a joke, it’s gone too far. How do you know where she is?”

With his face so much closer now, I could finally see part of him beneath the hood.

A firm, masculine jaw. Lips set in a straight line.

Even with most of his face hidden, he was obviously handsome.

...Is he really just an extra?

Caught off guard, I kept my thoughts to myself and answered calmly.

“I was in the same orphanage as the young lady.”

“...An orphanage?”

The line of his mouth twisted slightly.

“Yes. I got out because of my own circumstances, but she’s still there.”

Of course, that was a lie.

But since I had read the novel, I knew which orphanage she was in.

“...Where is this orphanage?”

His voice, so steady until now, seemed to tremble a little.

I ignored it and answered evenly.

“I can’t tell you that.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because I’m going to tell the Duke directly. Though only if he grants me one request.”

“...What request?”

He let out a quiet sigh and asked the question as if chewing the words.

He looked uneasy.

Of course he does. He’s hearing that I know where the young lady his master has desperately searched for is.

Duke Kreutz would be even more desperate.

So I had to ask for something big.

I took a breath, suppressing my nerves, and grabbed the edge of his robe tightly.

“Mister, are you unmarried by any chance?”

“...What?”

I couldn’t see his face clearly, but I could practically feel him frowning.

Apparently, being asked that by a five-year-old had not been on his list of expectations.

But I was desperate.

“If you’re unmarried, I was hoping you could become my legal guardian. It doesn’t have to be you specifically. Anyone from the Kreutz family would do. That’s what I’m going to ask the Duke for.”

Since he looked like he needed an explanation, I added one.

“If I tell you where the young lady is, and the bad people behind everything realize it, they might come after me. So I need someone who can protect me.”

He had fallen silent, as if at a loss for words.

Then he answered quietly.

“...The Kreutz family will protect you.”

“How long?”

“Until you are safe.”

“What exactly counts as safe?”

That stopped him.

I knew it.

He seemed blunt, but he was actually kind.

That was why he had protected a random child he could easily have ignored.

Someone like this wouldn’t throw away a child—even an adopted one—if that child was in danger.

So I had to ask someone like him for help.

“Duke Pose will hunt me down to the very end.”

As I clenched my small fist and said it, his gaze sharpened.

“Duke Pose? Don’t tell me Duke Pose kidnapped the young lady.”

“...I-I’m not sure about that, but... I do know the Pose family is vicious.”

I glanced off into the distance, pretending not to notice anything.

Then, worried that he might refuse, I hurriedly added,

“...Actually, my current life goal is to survive somehow, eat delicious desserts, make friends, and get a boyfriend.”

“You don’t have any friends?”

Wow. Brutal. To a child.

“No?”

“Really?”

“...I do have friends. Lots of them.”

“How many?”

“......”

I needed to change the subject.

I immediately called up what I knew from the novel.

This was a world where people possessed divine gifts.

The Kreutz family of the Frozen Kingdom wielded the power of ice. The Pose family of the Kingdom of Doctia wielded poison.

The two ducal houses maintained the balance of the world by competing through those powers.

That said, families without special powers could still rise to influence.

They trained in swordsmanship and became knights, or memorized formulas and became mages.

Good. I should try to sell myself in that direction.

“Ahem. Let me introduce myself properly.”

I cleared my throat and began.

“I’ve had a rough life since I was little, so I’m not asking much of you, Mister Gardener. I just need a place to sleep. I can take care of food myself.”

“What?”

“And unlike most five-year-olds, I already have the healthy habit of waking up at five in the morning. I’ve got good stamina too, so you’d be satisfied if you hired me as a garden worker.”

“...Hold on—”

“You’d only need to raise me until I’m legally an adult.”

The gardener opened his mouth as if to interrupt, but there was no way I was going to let him.

“And as for my life plan, I happen to be physically superior to the average child my age, so I’m thinking of becoming an S-class mercenary in one of the free states.”

“......”

“If I become an S-class mercenary, I’ll make a lot of money. Later, I can repay your kindness with a very generous allowance. So if you’re going to raise a child anyway, why not cultivate a golden seed, Mister Gardener?”

I pointed solemnly at myself.

“And that golden seed is me. So please raise me, Mister Gardener.”

Good.

What parent could resist a speech like that?

I was secretly pleased with myself as I stared at him with great seriousness—

“Ow.”

The man, who had been staring blankly for a moment, flicked me gently on the forehead.

“I refuse.”

“...What? Why?”

“Why? You’re asking me why?”

He tilted his head, then bent one knee again.

Then he leaned an elbow on it and looked down at me in a way that felt just a little dangerous.

I still couldn’t see his face because of the hood, but a large man taking that posture was intimidating enough.

“Do you even know who I am?”

I hesitated for a moment, then answered,

“I know you’re an adult who protects children.”

Then I quickly lifted my sleeve and proudly showed off my arm.

“Look. Impressive for an ordinary five-year-old, right?”

“That’s not a muscle. Isn’t that just a lump?”

“......”

I might have been a spy, but a lump?

My pride took a direct hit, and I stuck out my lip.

“It’s a giant lump.”

“?”

“A very firm one, and very strong...”

That was when—

“Forget the lump.”

“Huh?”

He stood up abruptly.

“If I keep talking to you, this conversation will never end. Just follow me for now.”

Sighing as though I were already a nuisance, he turned and started walking somewhere without even telling me where we were going.

There was no excitement in his indifferent voice.

No expectation for me at all.

Why not?

Were my credentials lacking?

“M-Mister! What if I become the King of Mercenaries instead of just an S-class one? Would that satisfy you?”

I hurried to upgrade my pitch, but it was useless.

“I don’t need that.”

“Then I’ll earn money and buy you a barony!”

I scampered after the man, who continued to ignore everything I said, and shouted,

“Please believe in my potential, Father!”