I Won’t Let the Execution Battalion Die, ~Even If the Empire Falls, We Want to Survive~ - Chapter 17: Something Creeping Closer ④

“Well then, we’ll go out first.”

“Company Commander, please be careful.”

Captain Yugi left the shop with Sergeant Decoct, both wearing Imperial Guard officers’ white uniforms.

Lieutenant Crimine and I left the shop after waiting a bit, dressed as quasi-nobles, that is, a wealthy married couple. Walking side by side, we strolled leisurely down the cobblestone street.

The Orthodox Empire had reached nineteenth-century standards in fashion, so the wealthy wore quite good clothing.

However, with industrial and medical standards barely scraping eighteenth-century levels, even the wealthy lived in discomfort, sanitation was poor everywhere, and disease claimed lives with ease. I still preferred modern Japan.

But setting that aside.

“Second Lieutenant, do you see anyone who looks like our tail? When I spotted him, he was a white-haired old man in a brown jacket.”

“Actually, there are too many people matching that description—it’s troubling.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

Since common people in this world couldn’t wash their clothes much, they tended to wear colors that didn’t show dirt easily. Bright dyes were also expensive. So commoners generally ended up in brown or gray.

Or rather, their clothes gradually became brown or gray as they wore them.

“If someone is tailing the company commander and the others, that’s probably our man, but…”

Then Second Lieutenant Crimine said quietly:

“That old man is going the same direction.”

Ah, that person. He certainly seemed to be constantly following Captain Yugi and the others.

But I shook my head.

“Look carefully at the elbows of his jacket.”

“Elbows?”

“The worn, shiny parts match perfectly with his elbow positions. Those are clothes he’s actually worn for years. It’s not a disguise.”

He might be a thorough tail who had prepared such familiar clothing, but someone like that wouldn’t conduct such obvious surveillance.

Second Lieutenant Crimine was impressed.

“As expected of someone called the [Laundry Man].”

“It’s not like I enjoy doing laundry.”

Since it felt disgusting not to change underwear daily, I ended up washing and hanging several days’ worth of underwear on my days off.

I had no intention of stopping this no matter how suspicious it seemed. It was a matter of my dignity.

I moved only my eyes to scan the surroundings, confirming there were no suspicious individuals.

“Once we blend into the crowd, I really can’t tell anymore. Let’s give up looking for tails at some point and go visit Lieutenant Meinen’s grave.”

“Understood.”

Second Lieutenant Crimine nodded while pulling up the front of her dress.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just a bit loose.”

“Ah.”

I nodded lightly.

“The company commander has a good build despite how she looks, so it might be a bit big for you—”

She glared at me sharply, so I immediately shut my mouth.

Eh, what?!

Second Lieutenant Crimine’s face looked like it was made from all the world’s displeasure.

“I suppose I’m just thin and flat anyway.”

“Eh? Ah, no… it’s not that. The company commander is more muscular than she appears, so there’s some extra room built in.”

When I explained in a flustered manner, Second Lieutenant Crimine looked surprised.

“Eh?! I-I’m sorry!”

“No, I should apologize too.”

An awkward silence. So many troubles unrelated to military duties.

In the end, we couldn’t find anyone tailing Captain Yugi and the others, so we decided to abandon our reverse surveillance.

“The company commander and the others have entered the route back to battalion headquarters. Seems like it’s over. Second Lieutenant Crimine, can you walk to the army communal cemetery in that outfit?”

“These are boots, so no problem, but my chest feels like it’s slipping down.”

“Use your belt to hold down the excess fabric somehow.”

As we started walking, a young woman’s voice came from the crowd:

“You’re the one who killed ‘Yuo Nevilnel,’ aren’t you?”

I was startled but didn’t turn around. We were in disguise.

Of course, Second Lieutenant Crimine completely ignored it too, but her lips trembled slightly.

Feeling inwardly flustered, I walked about ten steps before carefully checking behind us through a tailor’s window glass. The voice’s owner seemed to have already disappeared.

We couldn’t look around obviously in such a place, and they probably called out knowing that. Annoying bastard.

“Let’s go.”

“Y-yes.”

It seemed we had stepped into somewhat dangerous territory.

* * *

“More than somewhat.”

The next day, Second Lieutenant Crimine and I were summoned to the battalion commander’s office.

“It seems you two have stepped into considerable danger.”

The blonde, bespectacled battalion commander sighed, then stared intently at us.

“I’m sorry. It’s because I kept assigning you dangerous missions. I’ve done everything I can to investigate urgently.”

Saying this, the battalion commander stacked up thick bundles of documents.

“I looked into ‘Yuo Nevilnel.’ This person actually existed about thirty years ago.”

“What?!”

The fact that the person I had executed (supposedly) in the Kavaraf region actually existed was quite problematic.

However, the battalion commander smiled wryly.

“Don’t worry, she’s already dead. She was a notorious villainess who was executed for attempting to assassinate the emperor.”

Quite the ominous figure.

The battalion commander took the documents and read aloud the information written there.

“Yuo Nevilnel was the fourth daughter of the minor southern lord, the Nevilnel family. She served as a lady-in-waiting to the empress but was executed for allegedly plotting the emperor’s assassination.”

Second Lieutenant Crimine asked with great interest:

“Did she really try to assassinate him?”

The battalion commander looked down and shook her head.

“I don’t know. It might have been a conspiracy to bring down the Nevilnel family. The entire clan was arrested and executed, down to the youngest children.”

I sighed heavily inwardly. This was the type of story I hated most. They killed even unrelated children at times like this, which made me sick.

“The incident seems to have been handled internally, with almost no records remaining. Only the old-timers from Nevilnel territory and veteran imperial court officials would remember.”

Then the battalion commander glanced at me.

“Now, someone somewhere has revived ‘Yuo Nevilnel’ on paper. But she was executed by the Imperial Ceremonial Battalion’s elite, Lieutenant Fonkt.”

Ah… Did I maybe crush someone’s conspiracy?

The battalion commander stared at me intently.

“I don’t know how much of this has reached the emperor’s ears, but if a traitor had been resurrected, that execution order would make sense.”

Wait, that means…

Just as I felt something cold run down my spine, the battalion commander smiled cheerfully.

“However, since the one you arrested was a young girl, this matter has been settled as ‘this Yuo Nevilnel was a different person with the same name.’ It’s not that uncommon a name empire-wide.”

It seemed I’d been walking a more dangerous tightrope than expected. If any one thing had gone wrong, it would have been over.

I wiped my forehead while voicing a question:

“In that case, was yesterday’s tail a warning?”

“It might have been. Since they bothered to say such a thing to you, they don’t seem to intend to kill you immediately. Ah, yes.”

The battalion commander added casually:

“Regarding Lord Grien whom you executed—he was promoted to the emperor’s inner circle for dispatching a fleet earlier than the decree to subjugate the Nevilnel family was issued, preventing the clan’s escape or resistance. His response was so quick it was as if he’d prepared in advance.”

That’s connected too. I felt like I was sinking deeper than I’d thought.

Before I knew it, my career had gained too much political coloring. I needed to “launder” it quickly or things would get troublesome, but there was nothing I could do.

The battalion commander scratched her head, then threw herself into her chair.

“Of all the orders coming down to our battalion, I’ve been sending everything I found suspicious to the Third Company. As the most capable person in the Third Company, you’ve ended up in the midst of conspiracies because of that.”

“Really, what are you going to do about it?”

“I only realized it afterward, so it can’t be helped. If I’d known from the beginning, I would have distributed the missions more.”

The battalion commander made a sulking face.

“It’s basically your fault anyway. You handle whatever I give you so calmly.”

“Don’t blame that on me.”

When I complained, Second Lieutenant Crimine came to my aid.

“That’s right, the lieutenant did nothing wrong. You’re the one at fault, Battalion Commander.”

Being criticized by both of us, the battalion commander became sulky.

“How annoying. I feel responsible too, so I’ll pull strings to keep this guy from being killed. Don’t worry so much.”

“Please do. If I went to hell now, Meinen would be about the only person I know there.”

Hell would still be fine, but it would be troublesome to reincarnate into another world again. Starting life over in a different world with different language and culture was subtly annoying.

My second life was already becoming quite troublesome too…