"See you later, then!"
"I booked a ticket to meet Her Majesty the Queen!"
As security personnel, Fujino and Hakuba naturally would not be walking together with Aoko and Kaito.
Nakamori Aoko cheerfully waved goodbye to them.
The two of them then joined Nakamori Ginzo and the police security team, following the guards onto the Royal Express.
"These close-protection guards are really infuriating. They actually won't let us get near that Queen's room."
In the private VIP carriage near the front of the Royal Express, Nakamori Ginzo stood in the connecting compartment with his hands in his pockets, grumbling displeasedly. "What if Kaito Kid breaks into the room through the window and steals the jewel? I really don't know what those amateurs are thinking, ordering around a professional like me!"
"There's nothing we can do about that."
Fujino also had his hands in his pockets as he looked out the compartment window. "Functionally speaking, they're royal guard agents who serve the royal family. We're in a foreign country—how could they possibly hand security over to us?"
Hakuba Saguru chimed in from the side. "Our actual job is to protect the jewel. Protecting the Queen is incidental. If it weren't for Kaito Kid's notice, this sort of job normally wouldn't have fallen to us."
At that moment, a refined and gentle-looking man in a black suit came from the carriage ahead into their compartment. "Protecting the Queen is one matter, and protecting the jewel is another. Protecting the Queen is our fundamental duty, while protecting the jewel is to preserve the dignity of our country and government. You were selected precisely for that reason. If Her Majesty Serisa Elizabeth's jewel is stolen here, our country and government will lose all face."
Fujino gave a meaningful "Oh."
He had originally planned to