"C-Captain?"
"What is it, Captain?"
"What happened?"
As Iwama came to a stop, the four guards behind him were halted at the doorway as well. Almost instinctively, they began asking questions.
"No, it's nothing!"
Iwama reacted quickly. Though the terror of feeling like a puppet on strings still lingered in his heart, he had already started walking forward as he spoke.
Seeing their captain walk inside as usual, the guards did not think much of it and simply followed him in.
"You should all turn in early today. There's no need to stand guard either. I took a look yesterday—the Konoha ninja are only guarding the outer walls. They haven't placed any lookouts inside them. Tomorrow is the preliminary negotiation for the Peace Alliance. Even if it's only a pretext, we cannot afford to be careless. Dismissed for today. Return to your rooms and rest. Without orders, no one is to leave their room."
However, before the guards had taken more than a few steps, their captain, who had already turned a corner and headed toward a small table in the inner hall, gave the order to dismiss and rest.
"Yes!"
The guards exchanged puzzled glances, but quickly answered crisply.
By then, they had seen their captain sit opposite Lord Rando. Clearly, the two had something to discuss.
As guards, they only needed to obey orders.
They had no reason to ask why.
Other than that affirmative response, they did not need to say anything else.
After answering, they swiftly returned to their rooms.
"It seems you understand now."
Once the guards had all returned to their rooms, Rando looked at Iwama, who had sat down across from him. He poured himself a cup of tea, then casually poured one for Iwama as well and handed it over.
"So people