Volume 6 Chapter 27 I Want To Hear The Story In Detail, But...
It's been several days since I took Rouza to the casino.
During that time, Rouza's royal capital sightseeing tour has continued, and he seems to be enjoying himself. As for me, I'm just relieved that there haven't been any major problems (trouble).
However, I've been worried about something that's been bothering me.
"It's hard to just leave things as they are, isn't it?"
After finishing today's sightseeing tour, I returned to the clinic and slumped against the back of the table seat, letting out a sigh.
"If we could just wrap things up with a simple 'yes' or 'no', then they wouldn't have come all the way to Arcus, would they?"
"My apologies for the trouble I've caused."
Kyunei's words, mixed with a hint of annoyance, reached me, but Mikage was already bowing her head in response before I could even react. Kyunei's eyes widened in surprise, and she hastily added,
"I'm not saying it's Mikage's fault, but... it's hard to deny that, isn't it? I'm not blaming you, so please understand."
"Thank you for your concern."
Kyunei, who rarely showed her anxiety, and Mikage, who looked like she was about to apologize for everything, were a familiar sight since Rouza arrived. Aina and I couldn't help but let out a small sigh.
It goes without saying that our concern is about the purpose of Rouza's group coming to the royal capital for sightseeing.
We've already heard the story from Mikage, and I've also shared what Rouza told me. We've all discussed it together, and it's clear that they came to Arcus to take Mikage back to Sanmoto.
It's obvious that we need to convince Rouza to give up on Mikage and let him return to Sanmoto. But for some reason, we haven't made any progress in the past few days.
"It's all about the timing of when to bring it up, isn't it?"
"I haven't been able to talk to my brother much since then. When we go out to crowded places, we have to be on guard, so we don't have a chance to talk."
"The last chance to ask questions was when we went to the casino, wasn't it?"
That guy Rouza, even after we had that conversation, he still went all out to enjoy the sightseeing today. If I hadn't heard it from Mikage, I would've thought I must have misheard it. It's not like it's a topic that comes up in conversation, but it's not like we can just brush it off either.
"How about we take him to the casino again and see if we can get him to loosen up?"
I knew from Kyunei that there's a casino in the royal capital, aside from the one we visited yesterday. If we can get him in a good mood, we might be able to have a decent conversation.
"That's a bit tricky, though."
Kyunei looked troubled at my words, rubbing her temples.
"Those people, after they're done with their daytime sightseeing, they separate from Yukina-kun and friends every night and go around to different casinos in the royal capital."
"What are they doing?!"
"Seriously?"
Kyunei shrugged, looking frustrated. It's like our whole facade of being their bodyguards is crumbling down.
"Well, I'm sure you can guess, but they're still winning big at every casino they go to. Thanks to that, Rouza-kun's face is getting known all over the place, and soon he might get banned from all sorts of shops."
The casino's profit comes from the house edge. In other words, the more customers play, the more money flows into the casino. However, there are games where the house and customers compete, and if the customer wins big, the casino's revenue decreases. It's only logical, but...
"How many times do one has to win before they get banned?"
"Rouza-sama, in Sanmoto, he even bankrupted a shady casino by winning too much. In the end, the enraged gangsters pulled out their knives, and we had to fight back. It was a huge mess, but we managed to settle it in the end. ──That was really tough, though."
"I'm getting a bit curious about that story. Tell me more."
"Yukina-kun, you're getting off topic..."
Mikage's story had sparked my interest, but Kyunei seemed skeptical.
Looking back, it was clear that we couldn't use the casino as a conversation starter.
"...Could it be that he's trying to bluff us by making a scene at the casino?"
"I can't say for sure that he didn't, but...it's hard to read his thoughts, even when I was with him in Sanmoto. It's probably the same with my brother, who's with him now."
Was it just a whim or a calculated move? Either way, it seemed like a bluff to me, a diversion to distract us from the real issue.
'Stop thinking about it since it's pointless, partner. As for me, it's half bluff and half just having fun.'
That's true. Either way, it's a waste of time to think about it.
By the way, I noticed that Aina had been quiet for a while.
When I looked at her, she had her eyes closed and her hand on her chin.
Whenever she did this, it meant she was getting close to the core of the issue. Mikage and Kyunei seemed to notice it too, and they waited silently for Aina to speak up.
After a while, Aina opened her eyes.
"...Why did Rouza-san bring Mikage-san back now?"
"That's because Mikage is engaged to him, I suppose. It's a family matter."
"Even so, it doesn't make sense to me."
Aina turned to Mikage.
"You ran away from home 3 years ago, didn't you, Mikage?"
"Yes, that's right. I became a mercenary in a port town across the sea and earned my travel expenses, and then I came to the royal capital 2 years ago."
"I see...so that's how it is. But why now? It's already been 3 years since you left your hometown, Mikage-san. There should have been pursuers from Sanmoto during that time, but I've never heard you mention it. You would have definitely talked about it if it happened."
"That's...true."
Aina's words made Mikage flinch. At the very least, it was proof that there had been no contact with Sanmoto during these 3 years, according to Mikage's memories.
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