Night Raid

The four of us returned to my house, gathered around the living-room table, and decided to check the recording on the voice recorder. Marie and Catherine were also there at home, watching with interest.

“Alright, I’m going to play it.”

Since I’d transported it by drone after pressing record, the beginning was nothing but noise—wind, motor whirring, and the sound of setting it near the window. But once it was in place, the voices came through clearly.

“…Goya. How’s the plan going?”

“Yes, everything is in perfect order. We set fire to the Bakers’ Guild warehouse and burned all the flour, and the bakeries that ran out of stock are shutting down one after another.”

“I see, I see. Excellent. Now all that’s left is to sell the flour at a high price.”

“We’ve already shipped flour to two bakeries through merchants under our control. And we also hired thugs to wreck the one bakery that had its own supply route.”

The conversation was only recorded from the middle, but it was more than enough to understand what I needed. Their voices were loud, which helped—if they’d whispered, the recording would have failed.

“And what about that bakery—the biggest nuisance?”

“They had more ingredients than expected, so it took a little time, but just as we planned, they ran out and have been closed since yesterday.”

“I see, I see. They must be panicking. How delightful—ha ha ha! But your place sells bread that uses ingredients from that bakery, doesn’t it? If they’re closed, how are you obtaining them?”

“There’s no lapse on that front. Tonight, we’ll send thieves to that damned Marie’s bakery and strip it clean of every last bit of those ingredients.”

“Ha ha ha! You’re quite the villain yourself, Etsigoya.”

“Not compared to you, my lord.”

““Ha ha ha!””

Their nauseating laughter was the last thing on the recording.

In short: they’d set fire to the Bakers’ Guild warehouse so they could sell a huge supply of flour secretly produced in the baron’s territory at inflated prices; they’d attacked the one bakery with an independent supply route so it couldn’t operate; and they were using merchants under their influence to sell flour at gouging prices to other bakeries that couldn’t get it through the Guild.

And on top of that, they were planning to steal jam and margarine—the ingredients for sweet breads—from Marie’s bakery. Everyone looked shocked when we realized that.

“That bakery… it’s Etsigoya’s bakery. They’ve always been hated within the Guild. They used their influence to forcibly change our operating days, and if they didn’t like something, they’d harass other shops… but I never thought they’d even plan to steal our goods…”

Marie said that with a stunned expression.

“Kent-san, what will you do?”

Josette asked me, but I was struggling to come up with a response.

“From what they said, it sounds like it’s happening tonight, so we don’t have time.”

“The truth is, we produce the sweet-bread ingredients as needed, so we don’t keep much stock. So even if they stole some, it wouldn’t hurt us that much… but we can’t ignore the shop being vandalized.”

“If you’d like, shall I send several of the soldiers assigned to my household security?”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. This shop is connected to the ducal house, so we’ll treat this as a provocation against us and respond accordingly.”

Fired up, Josette relayed orders to the guards waiting outside.

“Big brother, I’m going out for a bit.”

“Then I’ll go make tea.”

Rachel left the house and went somewhere. Caro took Catherine with her and headed to the kitchen to prepare tea.

After a little while, Rachel came back.

“Welcome back, Akane. Where did you go?”

“Um… my old boyfriend’s place?”

She answered like it was a question. Even though it was in the past, just learning she’d had a boyfriend made me feel oddly lonely.

“Alright, let’s hold a strategy meeting—”

I was about to say that, when I sensed a large number of people outside.

“Don’t tell me they’re here already?”

Thinking the thieves had arrived, I blurted it out.

“It’s all right.”

Josette said that, opened the front door, and called out to the people outside.

“Thank you for coming. I trust you’ve heard the situation—please take care of it.”

“““““Yes, ma’am!”””””

They were soldiers assigned to Josette’s security. And then, as if following behind them, another organized group arrived in formation.

“So this is the place. Josette-sama… I never expected to meet you in a place like this. It has been some time.”

“Oh—members of the knight order. What brings you here today?”

From Josette’s tone, it sounded like this group was indeed the knight order.

“We received an order from the commander to guard that bakery tonight, and so we have come.”

“I see. Thank you for your efforts. Then you will be acting together with my household guards, so please cooperate.”

“Yes, understood.”

We had the ducal guards and the knight order wait in my backyard until the planning was finished. Caro and Catherine went back into the kitchen again to prepare warm tea for the soldiers.

“Then… let’s begin the strategy meeting.”

That was how we refined our countermeasures and prepared for a long night.

Late at night, when everyone else in the area had gone to sleep, several figures headed toward Marie’s bakery. They pressed themselves to the entrance door and tried to pick the lock by sliding in a wire. The door looked old, but it was actually a metal, antique-style door with a complex double-lock mechanism—picking it with a wire was basically impossible. Giving up, the thieves smashed a window and climbed inside.

All of it was being monitored from the screen in my house through the security cameras installed around the shop.

“Incredible. The shop should be pitch-dark, but I can see everything clearly.”

Josette said in amazement while watching the monitor.

“That’s because the cameras have infrared night vision. When did big brother even install these?”

Rachel didn’t seem surprised by security cameras in general, but she clearly hadn’t known the shop had them until now. Caro, Marie, and Catherine watched the footage anxiously as well. Emily, who couldn’t leave the shop, was waiting in her room.

The thieves had apparently scoped the place out already. Without hesitation, they grabbed containers of jam and margarine lined on the shelves and stuffed them into their bags one after another. I’d predicted that, so I’d stocked the shelves more heavily than usual to buy time. While they were busy, we had the knight order take their positions outside.

“That’s far enough!”

Once I confirmed everyone was in place, I shouted and used a remote to turn on every light inside the shop. The thieves froze in shock at the sudden brightness, and the guards waiting in the kitchen rushed them all at once. If we’d fought in darkness, we might have had injuries on our side, but in a well-lit space the ducal guards were elite—there was no way they would lose.

Several thieves were restrained on the spot. The ones farther away panicked and dove out through the broken window. But the instant they hit the outside, powerful lights snapped onto them, turning the area bright. They realized, too late, that they’d already been surrounded.

The shop was completely encircled by fully armed knights. Unable to resist, every thief was restrained.

Drawn by the commotion, nearby residents came out in groups to see what was happening. With those residents watching, the restrained thieves were marched away by the knight order. The ducal guards also returned to the ducal house, leaving only a few behind.

The residents, satisfied that the disturbance was over, went back home as well. The area, so noisy moments ago, fell into complete silence.

We went into the shop and started cleaning up the mess.

“Kent-san, thank you. Thanks to you, the damage was kept to a minimum.”

Marie said that with obvious relief.

“No, the ones you should thank are Josette for lending the guards, and Akane for bringing in the knight order.”

“I-I merely did what was natural.”

“Big brother, you knew?”

The one who had brought in the knight order was Rachel. I could easily imagine she’d spoken through Mark, the knight commander’s son. Lately, I’d been distant from Mark, so I prayed this wouldn’t trigger some kind of unwanted development.

“Now then… since they hit us, we have to hit back. We’ll pay them back double.”

I said that with anger in my voice.

“I won’t be satisfied unless we do it four times over, big brother.”

Rachel was angry too.

“We will not forgive anyone who harms our shop.”

“That bastard baron—I’ll crush him.”

Caro’s sharp edge from her old attendant days had returned, and Josette was furious as well.

“Big brother… big sisters… you’re scary…”

Catherine seemed more frightened of us than of the thieves.

And so the long night deepened.