"Which one do you think?

　I finished cleaning up and asked Helen. About the identity of the assassin. If they were after Helen, you'd think they were Imperial.
　But it was Anne who was the target. Regardless of how she learned of the Seventh Princess's arrival in the Kingdom, the usual guess would be that she was working for someone in the Kingdom, but there was also the possibility that it was the Empire.
　Helen shrugs her shoulders and replies.

I don't know. I think it could be either. Empire or kingdom. Even if it's the Empire, it could be both, considering the risk.
"What about the Republic?
Not necessarily. But if they find out, they'll have both the Empire and the Kingdom against them.
You wouldn't want a two against one situation?
I do.
After the three-on-one you just gave me?
That's because I had to do it.
I see.

　It's not that Helen is stupid, it's just that she hasn't had a proper education because of her background - she's not the illegitimate daughter of a marquis, she's the daughter of a saddler. She can read.
　No matter how good you are, and no matter how low your opponent is, there is no need to put yourself at a disadvantage.

"What if it's both?

　Samija looked at me strangely. In the society of beastmen, this is not really necessary. From what she told me, she's only the head of a gathering, or in other words, the head of a small town's merchants association, so she's probably not familiar with this and that of the nobility.

In other words, the remnants of the imperial revolutionaries, the aristocracy ...... or someone from the imperial family, if they get their hands on the kingdom directly and it gets out, it will be a problem between the kingdom and the empire. Then it's better to ask someone in the kingdom to do it for you.
The imperial family of the empire, you mean Anne's brothers and sisters?
Yes.
It must be hard being a princess.
I think so, too.
And Diana?
Deanna, you know, she's the one who got us into this mess in the first place.
Oh, yeah?
I'm pretty sure that was the big one, the one that got the rest of the world involved.
"I see. ......

　I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that.

Wait, if you want to cause problems between the Kingdom and the Empire, could it be the Republic?
I don't think so.

　Helen denied my random thought.

If you want to do that, just assassinate Anne. Then, if you want to assassinate her, just take her by surprise and run. If there were five of us, one of us would have gotten away. If you didn't do that, it means you want to keep Anne alive.
"I see.

　Now it was my turn to nod. But we don't have enough material at the moment. It's a good idea to have a plan for the future, even if it involves Camilo, Marius and maybe even the Marquis.

So let's talk about the future. Let's catch up with the others first.

　When I said that, both Samija and Helen nodded loudly and walked quickly through the rainy forest.