Rouge and the Rogue (Knuxouge)

Night Excursion

Antione escorted the Princess back to her inn in the early morning. She made it in without being seen. The guard that had been posted to her room was asleep, and apparently hadn't bothered to check if she was actually in the room before performing his duties. Though that was a stroke of luck for her. She snuck back into her bed, but quickly grew bored of just lying there, so she got dressed and read one of the books she'd brought along. Eventually the room guard knocked on her door.

"I'm awake. What is it?" Rouge called, setting down her book.

"Please prepare for the day, your majesty," the guard had an unexpectedly soft voice.

"I'm already prepared too. Why don't you come in?"

Obviously surprised by the Princess's invitation to enter her personal room, the guard hesitated for a few moments before letting himself in tentatively. Rouge nodded encouragingly at him.

"I have a few questions that I'm hoping you can answer," Rouge started. She got up and set a simple wood chair in front of the soldier, which he took. She set up another chair for herself and sat facing him. He looked incredibly nervous.

"I will do my best to answer for you, Princess," he said. The interrogation could begin. Rouge was still thinking of her conversation with Midnight the previous day. She was determined to learn more about the head of guard and the bandits' role in the disappearing funds. But what to ask first? How to phrase exactly what she wanted to know?

"Do you usually accompany the head of guard to collect the monthly taxes? How long have you been in this job?"

"Me? I have been a soldier, employed by the King, for five years now. I am usually on the expeditions to collect taxes, though I did miss a few when I was a rookie." He proved to be a loose-lipped and honest man. He wouldn't question the Princess on her motives for this information. Of course he wouldn't; normal soldiers heeded her authority as the Princess.

"How often do you run into the Sonic gang? At what points on the route do they appear?"

"Those scoundrels! Please excuse my language, Princess...They are always at the beginning and end of the route. Because our journey starts and ends at the castle, they camp nearby and attack at night."

"And you have personally seen them at both the beginning and end?"

"I see them all the time at the beginning. By the end, we regular soldiers are too tired to keep watch over the tax money at night, so Edge is the one who defends it."

"Edge?"

"Apologies! Sir Edgar Stone, the head of guard. We all call him Edge because we think he is so sharp and cool."

"Really? Why do you think he's so cool?"

"He is always ready to defend our country! He offers to guard the taxes even at night, and he can face the Sonic gang all alone and get barely any injuries! He is a great boss," the soldier's expression became excited with a big smile.

"Really... Interesting," Rouge frowned. 'Edgar' got more suspicious with every new thing she learned about him, but the Soldiers obviously held him in astronomically high regard. She might not be able to turn the troops against him, if that was ever needed.

The soldier continued gushing about his boss. "Sir Edgar personally trained a lot of us soldiers. He's the toughest of any of us. If the Sonic gang didn't outnumber him by so many, he would have cleaned this kingdom of them years ago! He'll do it one of these days even with their dirty tactics. And once he's defeated them, this kingdom will be able to progress again. I'll be able to see my family and have vacations and we won't have to all come along to guard the tax money anymore. Sir Edgar is our best hope for the future."