We all went upstairs to the second floor of Camilo's store.

"Are you all right?

　I asked Anne. She had been huddled in the back of the truck with a cloth over her head for a not-so-short time. It must have been pretty hard.

Yes. I'm used to not moving.

　Contrary to my imagination, Anne smiled back at me. If you ask me, as the seventh princess, there are times when you have to stay still for several hours. And that too with a smile plastered on her face.
　In fact, she must be used to it, but I felt a little uncomfortable that she was used to it, and I could only reply, "That's great.

　Camilo's is a big store, but it still takes less than five minutes from the back to the business meeting room on the second floor (as I call it). I got there and opened the door.

"Oh, there you are.

　When I entered the room, I found the usual cheerful bearded man waiting for me. And there were two others.

"Count, it's been a long time.

　The first person I saw was Marius, dressed in rather simple clothes. If there were no one else, I would have called him "Marius". I did not do so, partly because of Anne.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you, Marquis.

　The other person with Marius was the Marquis, who was dressed as plainly as Marius. There was no way he was going to call Marius out in front of the Marquis. I bowed my head in greeting, and they both nodded their heads in reply.
　Now, I was wondering what I should do about Anne.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Annemarie Christine Wiesner, the Seventh Imperial Princess. Count of Amur and Marquis of Menzel, at your service.

　He introduced himself with a graceful bow. I can't help but stare blankly at him.

I can only stare blankly at the man next to me, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness. I am Gregor Wilhelm Menzel, Marquis of the Realm.
"And Marius Albert Amur, Count of the Realm.

　The two men knelt down, hung their heads, and greeted each other.

"Thank you for your kindness.

　At Anne's words, they stood up. We all took our seats.

"Well, that's enough of this 'going out' for now. Your Highness.

　"Your Highness," says the Marquis in a low, clear voice, sitting in his chair. From this point on, your position is irrelevant and you may not speak. Anne nodded her head in agreement.

I'd like to say that the problem started with Eizo ......, but it was my request that caused the problem in the first place. I'm sorry.

　I'm sorry," said the Marquis, bowing easily. I'm not sure if you've seen this before, but I'm sure you have. He is the minister of this country and a marquis.

No, please raise your head. I should have considered the possibility of this happening.

　I said with a wave of my hand. There was a good chance that by the time our product had made its way around the kingdom, it would have made its way to the empire and they would have tried to contact us. There was also the irregularity that it was my real product that was seen, but it was only a matter of whether it was late or early.
　The Marquis said, "Hmm," and raised his head. This time, Marius continued.

"You have heard that people from the kingdom are involved?
"Yes.

　I heard about it from Katerina on the way back from the last delivery. I heard from Katerina on the way back from a previous delivery that someone from the kingdom is involved, but they don't know anything more.

We checked him out after that, and he turned tail earlier than we thought. I guess he found out that he failed and ate his own froth. He had people in the empire.
So that's what we fought off.
Yeah. He had a guy from the Empire on his payroll. I'm sure it's none of your business who the target was, so I'll keep it to myself.

　I glanced at Anne. There was no apparent change in expression. She said it could be her brother. .......

So, I'm trying to end this at my place.
"We are basically just caught up in the mess of the Empire," he said. It seems that His Excellency the Marquis has taken advantage of the situation.
"Oh, come on, I've been on the receiving end of quite a bit of trouble myself this time.
I know.

　Marius and the Marquis go at each other as if they were practicing with invisible swords. It's a good idea to have a good idea of what's going on in your life.

I'm not sure what to do. What are you going to do?
It's a mess in the empire, so it's basically up to the empire to clean it up. I'm sure you'll be able to find something that will help you out.

　Marius broke off at that point. He hesitates whether to continue or not. He knows that I'm already involved in this, but he still doesn't want to involve me further.


　I didn't say a word, but I nodded to encourage him to continue.

"Eizo, I need you to do something for me. I need you to make me a weapon, and a first-class one at that.