Can you do it?

I guess it's not a problem.

　All Aldis asked the girl to do was to gather information in the royal capital.

　Even though her face was hidden by a hood and her robe completely covered up to her ankles, it was still a risk for Aldis to wander around in the current royal capital.
　The girl would be able to move freely in that respect.
　There was also the idea that since she was originally a person in the backstreet business, she should have received a certain amount of instruction regarding such espionage activities as well.

　It is a complicated feeling for Ardis.
　You can't just walk around protecting children everywhere in the future, although you want to help them.
　But if the girl's presence can prove to be beneficial to Aldis, it's just an excuse to pull her hand up.
　In short, Aldis wants an excuse for herself to have this girl in her pocket.

　Fortunately, this girl, who is naive in a different way than the twins, is not tainted by the church's teachings that forbid twins, as their conversations so far have shown.
　If they are useful or necessary to themselves, they could consider taking them with them when they leave King's Landing.
　Aldis told himself that.

'How do the ordinary citizens, mercenaries, shop and innkeepers view this matter? I also want to know what the church is doing. Find out if there are any signs of sending a strike force again. But time is short, so there's no need to push yourself.

　To Ardis, who gave her instructions with one last unnecessary word, the girl who replied briefly, "Hmm, okay," disappeared into the city.
　Unlike the emaciated figure she was when they met, the girl, who had regained her healthy flesh through Aldis' feeding, quickly blended into the human wave.

　A few hours later.
　The girl came back to Aldis, who had been watching the stalls on the main street, which were beginning to close down here and there.

'How did it go?'

　Aldis, the first to open up, asks for results.

'There are a few mercenaries and shopkeepers who defend you. But most of them think of you as an infidel. Ordinary people are even worse. You're completely perceived as an evil man with fangs for the Church.

　A girl who is so eloquent that her usual taciturnity belies her status as a talkative person.
　I suppose she can be eloquent if her work requires it.

'What about the church?'

It had been decided to send a second strike force. This time it seems to be drawing reinforcements from churches outside the kingdom.

I knew it would be: ......

　As expected, Aldis decides to leave the capital quickly.

　Fortunately, it's safe to say that we have time to spare.
　If you are going to gather people from outside the country, it will take a reasonable amount of time.
　It's unlikely that there will be another raid today or tomorrow.

'Basically, the Church is moving in the direction of defeating them. There are only a few who are against it. The cherry-haired sisters have been scrambling to stop it, but no one has listened to them.

Who are you?　There are some crazy people out there.

'I don't know her name. It was a young sister, about twenty years old.

Maybe, if not, it would be Sorte .......

　It is the only person in the church with whom Aldis has any intimacy.
　The unhelpfulness of his belief in the goddess is the same as that of any other believer, but the temperament of the person himself is never unpleasant to Aldis.
　He appreciated it to the point where he would be willing to form an active friendship with her if she wasn't a church sister.

'Also, the priest who was in charge of the whole thing, a priest named Dorette or something like that, when he was alone in the room, he was mumbling some strange things.

　The girl continues to proceed with her report, despite Aldis' thoughts.

'Weird things?'

"He said, 'Well, it's an incidental thing, so let's take this opportunity to spend it all away.'

What's that?

I don't know. I was just mumbling.

　It seems to be a word that simply went into my ear.
　Aldis has no idea what it means.
　But at least he understands that the girl's infiltration skills seem to be high enough to infiltrate the interior of the church and sneak into a high-ranking priest mumbling to himself in his room.
　It was an achievement beyond what he could have imagined, and it gave Ardis enough reason to justify his actions.

'As promised, you can have all the dinner you want. Shall we go to the dinner shop?

　The girl gives a small shake of her head to Aldis, who asks, and points to a stall still operating in the main street.

'Are you sure it's a stall?　Well, as for me, it's better that way because I don't have to stay in the same place for a long time.

　Aldis accompanied the girl to the main street.
　She calls out to a stall that is about to close down, and buys all the unsold food she can find and hands it to the girl.
　The pace of the food disappearing as soon as he gave it to her slows down, and eventually, when the girl's stomach is full and she doesn't make any more demands, Ardis starts to talk.

'I will be leaving King's Landing in the coming days.

Where are you going?

'I don't know. We're going to head west for now, but the future is in flux.

...... When will you be back?

Maybe he won't come back.

　The girl did not say anything in response to Aldis' words.
　However, there was a slight movement on her face that revealed a feeling of 'annoyance'.

''Do you follow me?''

　When I asked that, the girl gave me a dubious look as she said, 'What are you talking about?

"The instructions you received are for me to keep an eye on you, right?　As far as I'm concerned, you can come with me if you want to. However, it is a prerequisite that you don't engage in any hostile action against me or my companion. If they show clear hostility, even if it's only surveillance, I'll cut them down without mercy.

　The organization that gave instructions to the girl had already been destroyed, and it was unlikely that she would take hostile action against Ardis now.
　But still, considering the existence of the twins, it would be better to put a good nail in the coffin now.

'What do we do?'

　He asks the girl, who shows the slightest hesitation.
　In her mind, the last order to watch Ardis remains supreme.
　Naturally, if Aldis, the target of the surveillance, leaves the royal capital, she cannot continue to carry out that order.

Go to .......

　There was only one conclusion from the beginning.

'Then it's settled. Get ready to go away before dawn tomorrow and wait outside the west gate. I'll come for you.

　Aldis put one hand on the girl's head and instead of an answer, she received a scowling look.





　The next morning, leaving the twins in charge of Nere and Rona, Aldis left the forest and headed alone to the gate on the west side of the outer wall of the royal capital.
　It was still dimly lit before the sun came up, and when they spotted a human response in a position off the street, they approached it, calling out so as not to startle the other party.

'Is that all you have to pack?'

　A small figure turned to me.
　Wearing only a backpack, the figure looked like a mercenary or explorer going out on a day's work.
　It's hard to believe that we're going to be traveling to a neighboring country, but Aldis is no different in terms of how little we're carrying.

Hmm.

　He knew from the scent or whatever it was that Aldis was approaching.
　The girl turned around without showing any agitation and nodded.

'Let's leave before the gates open and people come out. First, we'll meet up with my companion. As I said yesterday, don't mess with your companion. I won't say anything if you follow me quietly, and I'll even take care of your meals if you'll do me a favor from time to time.

I know.

All right, all right. Let's go.

　Nudging the girl, Aldis headed west along the street.
　The girl followed five steps behind her.

'Oh, yes,'

　After a few minutes of walking in silence, Aldis turned back as if remembering.

'You, do you have a name?'

......

　If we are going to act together from now on, we need a name to call out to each other.
　But of course the girl keeps her mouth shut.
　To her, Aldis is the object of her surveillance.
　Normally no one is stupid enough to introduce themselves to a surveillance target.

''I know you're called 'Red Osprey', but that's like a secret name or nickname that only works within the organization, right?

　The girl's eyes widen.
　For her part, she didn't think Aldis would know the name.

'Well, how could someone who grew up in an organization be given an individual name: ......

　Aldis, convinced by herself, thinks as she walks, wondering what's going on.

　This girl is also nameless in a sense, but it would be inconvenient not to have a name to call her when thinking about the future.
　But that doesn't mean that using the name Red Osprey, which was used by the organization, would only attract unwanted trouble.
　He would have a fake name or two for espionage purposes, but he couldn't expect the girl to tell him that on her own, and he didn't want her to use a name that made her feel that kind of past curse in the first place.

'Do you have a name or something you'd like to name yourself?'

　I asked that, but all I got from the girl was a questioning look.

'If you don't have any hope, we'll decide on our own over here. That's right: ......

　As we walked, Aldis let his thoughts run through his mind.
　At Nere's time, she decided on a random feeling, but this time things were different.
　After hesitating for a while between this and that, Aldis uttered one name.

''Char.''

　That's the name in the mythology of the world Aldis was on before, known as the Cloud Spirit.
　Clouds that flow freely, unbounded by anything or anyone.
　Ardis felt it was the perfect name for a girl who needed to be freed from the invisible cage of the organization.

I'm going to call you Char. I will introduce you to my companions as well.

...... Yeah.

　The girl responds to Aldis' declaration as if it doesn't matter.
　Seeing this, Aldis smiles and returns her gaze to the front.

　Far overhead, the night was narrowing, and the sky was beginning to turn white from the east as if to follow it.
　Dozens of sinewy clouds hovered westward in the still blue-black sky.
　The two on the ground walked in silence towards the border, underneath the free travelers who could not be bound by anything, drifting high in the sky.