An Explosion on the Boulevard

Having handed out the weekly wages to the servants and counted what remained, Nina fidgeted out on the balcony.

Is he still not recovered? And Gugu isn't around either...

Joel hadn't shown himself on the balcony since yesterday's visit. He'd promised to come find her with a harpoon gun once his body healed, but there was no telling when that might be.

Nina plucked at the rope connecting her to the ownerless balcony with her fingertips. The disappointment seeped into the fluttering, giddy excitement of having forged a bond with a neighbor for the very first time in her life.

It felt a little different from waiting for family members she hadn't even known existed back at the orphanage. This time, the hope of seeing someone simply by waiting mingled with the ache of missing them.

I shouldn't get gloomy. Things will be fine by the day I promised to help with his research.

If even a mere neighbor's absence made her lonely, how much worse would it be with family? Just thinking that after all the trouble of finding them, she might lose sight of even one of them brought tears pricking at her eyes.

No one gets to leave. I can't lock them up, so I'll just have to make them so happy and peaceful they won't want to go anywhere.

And so, for now, Nina resolved to focus on the family she already couldn't help adoring.

Come to think of it, what is everyone up to? I don't think I ran into a single person while walking around the house.

She closed the balcony's glass door and headed downstairs — only to find that the family members who'd been nowhere in sight moments ago had somehow gathered in the lobby, huddled together and whispering among themselves.

They stood close enough for conversation, but their expressions and the atmosphere suggested they might as well have been arguing. Not wanting to intrude, Nina approached quietly and saw that only Chayson and Natalisha were actually dressed to go out.

"Are you going somewhere?"

At Nina's curious question, all four of them whipped around in shock.

When did she get down here?

I didn't detect her approach at all.

As expected of Rikita's granddaughter...

I thought she was a ghost.

Clearing his throat with great ceremony, Chayson spoke first. "Natalisha and I were on our way to the theater. Your sister and brother were seeing us off."

"Oh my. You're going to the theater?"

As envy bloomed across Nina's face, Natalisha stepped closer. "The play Xixi and I had been waiting for is finally opening, so we decided to go out together. Tell me, Nina, do you enjoy the theater?"

"I'm embarrassed to say I've never been, so I couldn't rightly say."

"You've never once been to a theater?"

When Chayson asked with genuine gravity, Nina flushed. "I've waited near the theater while my lady and the young master attended performances, but I was never able to go inside."

"Then you're coming with us."

The entire family froze at Chayson's impulsive declaration.

"...Uncle Chayson?"

"Uncle...?"

Emergent situation.

Their outing today hadn't truly been about watching a play at all. They were scheduled to meet an informant secretly inside the theater — and now Chayson had suddenly decided to bring Nina along.

Chayson had been briefly flustered himself, but he showed no intention of reversing his decision.

"There ought to be days for going out with one's family, don't you think?"

"I don't mind at all."

Nina declined the offer, not wanting to put her family in a difficult position. But her pale pink eyes, for their part, sparkled without the slightest attempt to hide her hope.

In truth, Chayson sincerely wanted to take Nina to the theater. It wouldn't interfere with the mission in the least — if anything, *not* going out even once with the newest member of the family would have been far more suspicious.

Meeting an informant is child's play for agents this seasoned. They'll manage it discreetly on their own.

Natalisha, meanwhile, had concluded that something had gone badly wrong with Chayson.

He's finally gone soft with sympathy. I'll have to report that he should be removed from active duty before long.

Just as she was pondering how to leave Nina behind at the house, Katharina — having received a signal from one of the servants — stepped forward.

"Nina, why don't you come along, like your uncle says? You haven't had a chance to see Soltum properly yet."

"Well, that's true, but..."

Nina hesitated, then asked Natalisha carefully. "May I really come along?"

"...Of course you may, Nina."

Having read Katharina's hand signals, Natalisha eventually nodded too. And the moment she did, Nina broke into a radiant smile and stamped her feet in delight.

"Yay! I'm so excited! Going out with the family...!"

Letting out a happy sigh at this dream-come-true, Nina belatedly realized something and looked back and forth between Chayson and Natalisha. "Oh my. But were the two of you planning to go out without an escort?"

"An escort? What would we need one of those for? Soltum is a safe place."

At Natalisha's words, Nina shook her head gravely from side to side. "Look here. People who only see the world as beautiful, so much so that they can't even sense danger — it's simply too nerve-wracking when they go out."

"I can't tell which of us you're insulting."

"..."

Chayson pressed a hand to his forehead, thoroughly spent, while Natalisha fanned herself airily, the corners of her mouth curling upward.

"Having you with us does put my mind at ease, Nina."

"Have a wonderful time!"

As Katharina shooed the three of them out the door, Xixi shook her head slowly and retreated into the shadows.

This is a disaster.

"Riding out in a carriage together — I can hardly wait. Next time, I hope the whole family goes out together."

Stepping out through the front entrance, Nina clutched her cheeks, practically glowing with excitement.

"This is our first outing with you too, so I'm quite looking forward to deciding what to show you first. Now, where has the driver gotten to?"

Natalisha glanced around and waved a hand — and from out of nowhere, a coachman appeared mid-somersault. He, too, was a spy.

"Shall we depart at once?"

"Yes."

He stroked the mane of the horse dozing off on its feet and said gruffly, "Maximus! Wake up this instant!"

Snort! Eyes snapping open, Maximus neighed with heroic vigor.

"Hihiiiing!"

Ecstatic that his moment to shine had finally arrived, Maximus drove the carriage at a perfectly ordinary, unremarkable pace. So that no one would ever suspect what an extraordinary horse he truly was.

Nina watched the scenery drift lazily past the window, beaming. "The weather in Soltum is just lovely. The way the sunlight settles over the whole city and makes it glitter — it's so pretty."

The Kingdom of Ilite, where Nina had lived, was a cold land of deep snows. Its architecture was built entirely around withstanding the weight of the snow and the bitter chill, so the whole city had a bleak, dark cast to it. Soltum, by contrast, was a place where — true to its name — sunlight wrapped every building in warmth. Stained-glass windows in a riot of colors and the glazed tiles on the building walls shimmered beautifully in the sun, and the leafy shade of the broad trees lining the streets kept everything from being too glaring or too hot.

Seeing a cat lounging lazily in the shade, Nina giggled behind her hand. "I can see why Grandmother chose to settle down in Soltum."

"Indeed. It's warm, and the food is delicious."

"It's such a pleasant place to live that it draws plenty of immigrants, too."

Chayson and Natalisha also sank into reminiscence, recalling the first time they had each arrived in Soltum.

It was the day I blew an entire building sky-high to prevent a secret rendezvous. The smoke and flames rising up in a perfect tulip shape, just as planned — simply gorgeous.

It was the day I hit a target through four slits of a narrow window. I still remember the wind speed, the wind direction, the temperature, the humidity — all of it.

Amid the heartwarming mood, the carriage rolled to a stop along the boulevard. The coachman rapped twice on the carriage wall to signal their arrival, and Maximus let out a contented whinny.

Since the townhouse wasn't far from the city center, the trip had been quick.

"Oh my. How can a street be this lovely?"

Stepping down from the carriage, Nina sighed, cheeks flushing. As far as the eye could see, charming shops and cheerful crowds lined the road in an endless, festive row.

"The northern route is how one enters Soltum from Ilite, so I suppose you'd never had reason to pass through here. Most of Soltum's famous shops are gathered along this very street."

Natalisha guided Nina through the streets with the ease of someone who had lived in Soltum for years. "The theater is just over there, so let's walk from here and take in the sights."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Nina was too busy drinking in the street with her shining eyes to stand still. Chayson, who had been giving some instruction to the coachman, was just hurrying to rejoin the two of them when—

BOOM!

The theater at the end of the boulevard exploded.