5
The pleasant clink of glasses coming together rings throughout a small tavern near the castle.
““““Cheers!!””””
With the battle concluded, I’ve brought my squad members to the tavern to celebrate.
“Well, that was quite the outcome, eh, Six? You destroyed the giant golem and, regardless of how you did it, weakened one of the Elite Four and drove her off. I’ll never forget the look of despair on the faces of the Demon Lord’s Army when Heine ran away! And who made it all possible? Us!” Snow hums happily to herself before tipping her stein back and taking a swig.
“Lately, it feels like we’ve really been taking the fight to the demons! I mean, before the commander took over, I was getting killed at least once per battle! O Great Lord Zenarith, I thank you for your blessing in letting me wake on something other than the altar of resurrection!” Grimm, taking up quite a bit of space inside the cramped tavern with her wheelchair, offers prayers of thanks to her god.
“Ish sho ghood! Sho ghood! Effer shinsh Boff took ofer, I’fe eafen sho muff delifif fud!” Next to Grimm sits Rose, who happily shovels down food into her mouth as quickly as she can grab hold of it. The crybaby Chimera is clearly still at an age where food takes precedence over beer.
“Yes, that’s it! Don’t be shy! Sing my praises all you want; I can handle it! …You know, given how well we’ve been doing, surely some awesome rumors have started to spread about us by now! What should we do if people come up to us for autographs? Oh, whatever shall we dooo?”
I use my stein to mime the motions of an eager fan, before cheerfully draining the contents and slamming the empty container down on the table. After taking a few more little sips from her drink, Snow lets out a confident snort.
“This is how it should be! Our squadron has me, the youngest knight in the kingdom’s history. At this rate, I’ll be back in charge in no time!”
I’m about to remind Snow that she hasn’t exactly showered herself with glory while under my command, but a more important question bubbles up to the surface.
“You were the youngest knight once, sure, but that was ages ago, isn’t it? How old are you now anyway?”
“Mm? Oh, I’m seventeen. I was knighted at twelve.” Snow casually drops the bomb with the ease of someone who does that to conversations on a regular basis. She leisurely tips back her stein again.
“Wait, you’re younger than I am? Looking like that?! Between your arrogance and your assets, I figured you were at least a few years older than me!”
“Pffffbbbt!”
Snow does a spit take.
“AAAAAHHHH! M-my eyes! My eyes!”
The stream of alcohol nails Grimm right in the face. Screaming in agony, the archbishop clutches at her eyes and writhes her way out of her wheelchair.
Coughing, Snow wipes at the corner of her mouth with her hand and looks at me with a faint flush on her cheeks.
“I—I may be a knight, but I’m a woman, too, you ass! Consider my feelings! What do you mean by ‘looking like that’??”
“Shut it, you little brat! You’ve been talking to me like we’re equals, and it turns out that this whole time I outranked you AND I was older?! Screw that!”
I sit back in my chair, lounging with an insolent ease, and toss a few coins Snow’s way.
“Go buy me some bread. Chop-chop!”
“Not a chance! I’m not your squire; ask one of your servers to go instead! …You wanna be respected for being the oldest? Then stop acting like such a kid! It’s high time you got it together as our commander…”
Snow’s words are dripping with resentment, but Rose stops inhaling food just long enough to beam at the knight.
“Snow finally acknowledged Boss as the boss!”
“Wh-what?! No! I’m saying he needs to act more responsibly as our commander…”
“Someone get me a towel pleeeease!”
Our antics, while loud, don’t hold a candle to the rest of the tavern patrons. The citizens are aware of today’s victory, and everyone’s in the mood to celebrate.
Wrapped in the night’s festive atmosphere, we enjoy an evening of partying.
“Whew… Say, why isn’t Alice here tonight?” Grimm asks, her cheeks flushing a faint shade of red as she empties her umpteenth stein. I can’t exactly tell them that androids don’t eat or drink, so…
“Alice? I sent her home early. Keeping her out at taverns past bedtime sets a bad example.”
Snow continues nursing her drink, nodding along with the faintest look of approval. “Feels a little late to worry about bad examples when you’re dragging her off to war. That girl’s got a nasty mouth on her, but she’s got a lot of potential. How do I put this? She’s brilliant. Just the other day, I heard a ridiculous story about how she’d read every book in the castle archive in one day.”
“I actually saw Miss Alice negotiating with a bunch of merchants at the market.”
“Glug, glug… Aah! I’ve seen Alice delivering packages to various healers’ clinics around town.”
Huh. Seems the android’s been keeping herself busy when I’m not looking.
“Merchants and healers? Hey, Six, I’ve heard a few rumors around town. An increase in the quality of arms and armor. Merchants throwing around money from selling better goods. New medicines no one’s heard of… Do you think Alice might be involved with any of that?”
“No clue.”
Contrary to my answer, I can see Alice’s fingerprints all over these stories. Snow looks a little skeptical about my answer and takes another tiny sip. Well, it was less of a sip and more like she merely touched her tongue to the liquid.
“…Hrmph! Honestly, I don’t care where you’re from. You and Alice are indispensable members of our squadron. But don’t let that go to your head. I still don’t trust you! And you’re still not my commander!”
“Listen closely, Rose. Snow is what you’d call a tsundere. She might act like she hates me, but in truth, she’s actually head over heels for me.”
“Huh! So the reason Miss Snow is always bugging you is because she likes you, Boss? Interesting!”
“I really will kill you, you know. Don’t think I won’t. I swear, from the moment I met you…”
“Hey, you! Hot guy tending the bar! Another round!”
They say time flies when you’re having fun. This night’s flying by so quickly I’m starting to get dizzy…
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