Reincarnated Into A Dead Woman's Body In Another World-Chapter 248: Arc 4, Act II, - 93: Tells

"I hear beer was passed out last night through the radio, alongside the news of success," the Division General welcomed them back at the break of dawn.

The remaining soldiers stationed in Division Six all peered and gawked. Some hollered and hooted in joy, only making Daiyu’s wave that much more enthusiastic.

"The cargo containing beer would only be opened after some form of victory," Feyan replied, getting off the horse.

"There’s lots left to go too!" Daiyu exclaimed. "We got one. We’re one step closer! Keep fighting, your efforts aren’t in vain!" The soldiers cheered alongside, giving a loud shout in unison.

"Calm it down there princess," Jotou leaned in.

"They gotta have motivation," she grinned back.

Arabella went towards the cart behind a horse. She took her silverish armour made up of snake-scale-like patterns; even the pauldron was dented to hell. Arabella turned and signalled to the Division General.

"I realize I have no high-ranking station here, but I don’t believe there’s anyone capable of mending armour in our ranks?" Feyan translated.

"No. Our firearm management units know bits of metalwork, but this goes beyond their limits. You could ask if any of them have any proficiency, especially the non-Cravoltan soldiers, we don’t have their entire backgrounds."

"If that goes nowhere, do I have permission to request my armour to be taken to Galuvit Town for some repairs? This is urgent, we may not know when the next elite arrives," Feyan once again relayed her words.

"Perhaps; we’ll look into our scheduling and see if we can expedite our next supply run. Also, I think there may be a matter that interests you your majesty," the Division General told.

_

Arabella had departed to get a change of clothes from her belongings while the rest entered a small tent with tables and chairs, one of which skidded back upon the opening of the flap.

The mere sight of the tiara had him get up, "Your majesty," a familiar face bowed down, "I wished to speak to you; you may not remember me." The other four stood back, watching the conversation unfold.

"He arrived last night," the Division General relayed.

Daiyu half-closed her right eye, "Greetings, it is fine there is no need to bow, this isn’t the time," she dismissed. She whispered to Feyan, "Who’s this again?"

"Uh, the son of the lesser noble that gave us the letter."

The young man was dressed in a soldier’s uniform as he rose his head, "Only a moment of your time your highness. I heard of your victory- A-all of your victory and congratulations I must say."

"Remember the name Fumeko Namora, the one who defeated the Encircling Gale," Fumeko placed hands on her hips. Jotou poked her in the side of the head, causing her to lean to one side before she glared to the blonde.

"Uhm, of course."

"Yes, yes, thank you. Lord...dah... Dani-"

"-Calish."

"-Calish, Lord Calish of course. How fares your mother?" Daiyu queried with Feyan’s correction before starting to tap her foot.

"Thulani Calish your majesty and she fares well..." his eyes averted. "I only repeat my name for there is no reason for ’lord’... I was, ostracized by my parents’ order... for the honesty I showed..." he exhaled.

"Hell. You were kicked out cause you did something they didn’t like?" Daiyu tightened her lips, her eye half-closed... "Well, I’ll just have to go knocking on their door then."

Thulani’s eyes bubbled, "No, no, no! I beg of you princess; I did not come to you seeking some sort of vengeance. Nor for you to take pity."

Daiyu sighed, "I’ve heard the threat of being kicked out a million times... They never actually did it..." she reminisced. "Alright fine, it’s not my place to interfere. Why did you want to talk to me then?"

Thulani stared, the Undying Princess’s demeanour was not what he had recalled. He stood tall and took a deep breath, "I left my estate, and what little connections my family had were of no use to me any longer.

I didn’t have too many places to turn to. However, after seeing your efforts for this last stand, what you provide your soldiers, not simply gracious food and drink, but also hope and determination.

I could not help but turn in this direction; that perhaps I will pursue this path. For this country I shall fight, the same as any other here. I was merely late to arrive, I do apologize.

And I do have one request." He set his fist to his heart, staring Daiyu in the eye, "So, I’m merely being direct and honest. I have multiple skills that can be of use.

In exploring all my options, I had to choose one. After this battle is won, I wish to aid in the palace as one of your scribes. I have the academic qualifications I assure you-"

Daiyu sighed, "I didn’t need your whole backstory."

He went silent, a nervous sweat formed at the side of his brow.

The princess smirked, "I’ll give ya points for being straightforward. And sure. I can’t promise a position yet, but when we win, I’ll see what I can do."

Thulani’s lips curled.

"Another recordkeeper would do no harm," Feyan sided.

"Especially with the all the changes you wanna make," Hotaru replied.

"I, thank you! This is all I could ask for," he bowed again. "I will fulfil my next orders."

"Company Four has already requested more troops from our reserve, we’ll be sending you there," the general told. With another bow and a round of thank yous, he departed in haste with a bright smile.

_

The night had come along once more, no battle requiring their immediate attention, no problems arising throughout the day. One could only twist and turn in their beds—waiting, worrying, when the next elite would come.

The second night after an exhausting task always felt better than the first. "Jotou?" a whisper. Back in their shared tent, Jotou could feel her consciousness coming back as she softly moaned out a breath.

"Jotou," another whisper.

The blonde’s eyelashes unfastened from each other, leaving a blurry darkness to stare into. She groaned a little and opened her mouth wide for a yawn.

"Jotou, wake up."

"Wha... What... What do you... want, detective...?" groggily she muttered, her eyes yet to fully open.

"Finally," Fumeko was on the other side of her, waiting. Her brown hair in a mess, but in her usual, or rather, adventuring attire. "I wanna talk to you. Outside."

Jotou whined a little, "What time is it?"

"It’s four, I’ve had enough sleep, come on; before the others wake up."

"Why...?"

"Cause I want to talk to you paranoiac, will you just come already?" she furrowed her brows.

"Ai, ai... ai, alright, alright," Jotou forced herself awake and nearly stumbled out of the bed. She stretched, limb by limb before she cracked each of her knuckles.

"I’ll wait outside, put yourself together," Fumeko blinked to the tent flaps and exited.

"Yeah, no problem, screw up my sleep and ask me to put myself together," she grumbled as she went to the wash basin. She gathered her blonde hair ending in blacks as she walked out, hair tie in her lips.

"It’s getting longer again; you prefer that, right?"

Jotou had to turn to find Fumeko by some rocks of orange and plants—the wind howled a siren’s melody past both their locks. "Yeah," Jotou tied it together and walked towards her. "But hair gets in the way while fighting."

"But you refuse to cut it. You’re just that stubborn," Fumeko held a smirk. Some soldiers were simply keeping guard, far enough out of earshot at least.

"That I am. I can also say that for you detective," Jotou smiled back. "Now, what’s this about?"

"Are you really, really stubborn? If you have a secret, would you be so stubborn you wouldn’t even tell anyone if it meant it could help them?" Fumeko looked away, her voice in a hush.

Jotou’s eyes narrowed, "I think you know the answer to that. It depends on the situation..."

"Even if it meant keeping it from someone you care very deeply for?" Fumeko peered back, then shook her head. "What am I asking; you’ve done it before.

You always have a reason though. For Daiyu, I could see why you’d tell us and not her about the countess," she kept an eye out for eavesdroppers.

They were far enough from the tent and Hotaru’s hearing as well. The soldiers that would maybe glance over would just see two friends talking. "I’m just having trouble piecing this one together."

"Piece what exactly?" Jotou’s brows knitted. ’She couldn’t’ve possibly caught me talking with Frost, could she? What else is this about?’

"You know more about the elite soldiers than you’re letting on," she glowered—no escaping her now.

’She knows then.’ "What makes you say that?" she was neither appalled or surprised.

"That night, after we fought the Encircling Gale. How did you know the Poison Feather’s a ’she’? You said it so blatantly—like you knew," it was as if a red string was pinned to Jotou by her gaze.

’Oh crap...’ "I’m not allowed to assume?" her arms crossed.

"You’re not that stupid. Stupid enough to let it slip maybe. But we basically didn’t know any of the elites, not even a first name. You even referred to Gale as ’they’ the entire time till you got a better look.

So, I assume you have some missing pieces of information. Or you at least know the Poison Feather. Were you hoping to figure it out all by yourself before telling us? From personal experience, I’m pretty sure that isn’t the best thing to do."

"The latter maybe," Jotou faced her directly. "You remember the time loops? In one of those loops, all three of you, well... There’s a reason I told Hotaru it was a good idea to learn a spell to heal poisons besides the name Poison Feather."

"Wouldn’t’ve helped against the countess’s poison, we wouldn’t even know if we were poisoned till we slept. In one of those loops, three of us..." Fumeko pondered, "We all got poisoned while trying to escape. But I don’t remember you mentioning a ’Poison Feather’."

"I didn’t." She put a hand out, "The poison used to kill all of you was extremely fast, Asobi didn’t even make a sound. The only reason you held on for so long I’d bet is because of your metabolism from your affinity."

"Wouldn’t that make the poison go faster through my body?" she squinted.

"It’s my best guess, maybe it was giving you more adrenaline to survive, I don’t know and that isn’t the issue. Point is it was too fast.

I wasn’t in the best of states either, but I do remember the soldier mentioning ’her’ poison being able to kill anyone quickly when I interrogated the one.

I didn’t think much of it back then, could’ve been some chemist, I didn’t care. But now that there’s more pieces to the puzzle, can’t I connect the line between the two?

A fast-acting poison from ’her’ in the hands of Trailonian soldiers. Then we hear of a Poison Feather, one of the elites."

Fumeko held a hand to her chin, "Hm... Yeah, that makes sense. That info doesn’t really help a lot, even if we know the poison is fast-acting, we should’ve already assumed that. Knowing her gender wouldn’t be too useful either."

The winds murmured past, some of the soldiers seemed to look over to the base. The brunette looked up and sighed, "Thanks for telling me. I can almost believe you."

"You still think I’m lying?"

Fumeko tightened her lips, a bittersweet smile, "I know you’re lying. When you lie, you look at the other person directly and act like you’re thinking about the details.

You don’t lie like someone normal. You add in bits of the truth, your hands don’t know where to go or you think that if people focus on the hands, the less attention they give to your face while you lie.

You say everything without a doubt because you’ve already convinced yourself it’s the truth with a whole story, enough to even pick up or make up any little detail on the go. You’re just that paranoid.

I know you too well Jotou. I thought if I called you out on it you’d at least be truthful to me. But I guess that’s a bit unfair to ask," she sneered.

Jotou exhaled and crossed her arms, looking to the stars.

"So, are you gonna tell me or should I tell Hotaru about this huh? Or does she already know? Since I’m just the third wheel of a bicycle at this point," she seethed, feeling a headache coming in.

"No, she doesn’t," the blonde breathed, facing the sky still. "Nobody knows except me." ’...I care for her.’ Jotou beamed softly, "Nice work detective; it’s not like you haven’t done impressive things before," she put on an accent.

Fumeko held her glare together, though she blushed, "Don’t think you can get away by using that voice."

"I wasn’t. I do have an informant, but I can’t tell you who. There was just no way I could say certain things I know about the elites without that coming into question.

The informant has given me bits of information and I’ve steered us the best I can with our predictions about the elites. As much as I would love to tell all of you, I think you’re smart enough to know why I haven’t."

Fumeko took a moment to glance at the ground, connecting the dots, "You’re worried they’re keeping an eye on you or can get enough information through spying to know if you leaked that information or not.

Giving us too much information would force you to tell that you have an informant and you’d be put in a place where you either have to trust us or protect the informant’s identity.

The only reason you’d want to protect their identity instead of letting us work with them too, would be that this informant is someone we’d find suspicious or even an enemy.

Or maybe they have some other information they can give you down the line. Could the information really be something I couldn’t figure out, if you instead told me what you wanted to know?"

"It’s nothing personal and maybe my reasoning for my choice isn’t the best either. It’s not any important question, just bits of info I didn’t know I needed. It doesn’t mean I question any of your skills or intelligence Meko.

I know you can come to your own conclusions and maybe even guess who it could be. I haven’t said a word of who they are and I won’t confirm nor deny any of your theories. I’m still playing it safe. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

I honestly don’t know if my choice is right or wrong. Do I still have their trust? Should I put one over the other? Do I really need any more intel?

If I’m caught, I’ll tell all of you. In an emergency, the same applies, but there’s not much to say anyway. If I’m getting the chance to keep my loyalty to this informant, I’m sticking by it.

So..." Jotou faced her, not scowling, not smiling, "Are you gonna tell everyone?"

That decision. That choice. The weight it carries... It could really cause a lot of trouble or it could simply die out in a week if she did tell the others.

Fumeko held her forehead, parting her bangs in thought, as the blonde merely blinked and stared, awaiting a response... "Why’s this feel so existential?"

"You tell me detective." Many of the soldiers began to walk towards the centre of the camp, seemingly perturbed by something.

The brunette peered to Jotou, watching the browns of her eyes, blonde strands ending in black that drifted with the winds. Fumeko’s shoulders relaxed and she pouted, "I’m always on your side."

"You don’t have to be."

"I know. I still trust your judgement."

Jotou’s lips curled up slowly, "...Thanks."

Fumeko’s lips did the same, "Oh and uh," Fumeko fished for something out of her pocket. She pulled out, "I found this before coming to dinner that night."

She handed the yellow headband that Jotou had lost in the fight back. Jotou gawped and snickered, "You really went looking for this?"

"It’s a gift!" she huffed.

Jotou adjusted it back onto her head, "Then I’ll just have to take better care of this I guess."

"You guess? You better..."

"I’m not scared of you detective~"

"Thundering Blade!" a soldier ran from behind and saluted. Jotou and Fumeko looked to him. "There’ve been strange occurrences at one of Division Four’s current battles. They suspect it might be potent magic."