From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone - Volume 3 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: An Old Country Bumpkin Meets Royalty

Three days had passed since I’d gone shopping with Allusia and bought that black jacket. Today was Mui’s first day attending the magic institute. This was just the right occasion for formal attire, but unfortunately, the jacket hadn’t been tailored in time. It was currently being adjusted to fit my size, but that was going to take two weeks or so to finish. At least it would be completed in time for the arrival of Sphenedyardvania’s delegation.

“Okay, shall we?”

“Why’re you so giddy, old guy?”

After having breakfast, I left the house with Mui, who was a little more dressed up than usual. She chided me for being so excited, but how could I not be? My daughter— Wait, is it right to call her that? Whatever. My daughter was about to have her big moment.

“Ha ha ha. That’s just how parental affection works.”

“Hmph.”

Mui wasn’t wearing her usual outfit. Instead, I’d chosen something suitable from the clothes Ibroy had sent us. They’d been a gift, so I was going to make the best of them. She was wearing an unassuming white shirt and somewhat tightly cut black pants. Her usual outfit exposed a lot of her skin, so this was better suited for the occasion. It wasn’t particularly flashy or cutesy, so Mui hadn’t really objected either—her opinion had played a big role in my decision.

“The pants are really tight on my legs...”

“You’ll have to get used to clothes like this.”

She wasn’t opposed to the color or style, but she apparently had resistance to pants that covered the entire length of her legs. She was just the tiniest bit dissatisfied, but she had no choice but to get used to them. I wasn’t really one to talk though—I prioritized clothes that were easy to move in too.

According to Kinera, there were approximately six hundred students currently attending the magic institute. They varied greatly in age, ranging from kids who were even younger than Mui to those who’d enrolled at around Allusia and Selna’s age. The male-to-female ratio was pretty even. This made sense since the factors that triggered magic ability in a person seemed to ignore one’s age, gender, and lineage.

Was it selfish of me to hope that Mui might make friends with girls her age? I was pretty confident I would look cynically at any boy she brought over and introduced to me as a friend. I wasn’t going to just hand over my daughter...though I didn’t know when or if Mui would start to feel such things.

“Anyway, I heard the rumors, but the entrance fee is definitely fair,” I said.

“It’s not exactly cheap...”

“For you, it’s a small price to pay.”

“Hmph.”

Even without my income as a special instructor, I had more than enough savings—paying the school’s entrance fee wouldn’t be a problem for me. If Mui had been more talented, the fee would’ve been waived entirely, but it would be unfair on her to hope for that.

The only thing Mui could use right now was fire magic. If she were truly a genius, she apparently would’ve been able to use all sorts of magic from the very beginning—Lucy was a prime example of such a talent. She really is more than just a title. I should revise my somewhat rude perception of her.

“Hup.”

Gazing at the waves of people walking through Baltrain on this lively morning, I boarded a carriage. It was as packed as always. Baltrain sure is a nice city. Its prosperity was only natural, considering it was Liberis’s capital, but the scale and convenience here was on a different level from Beaden. Carriages for traveling around town didn’t even exist out in the sticks.

“You’re just gonna leave once we get there,” Mui said.

“Well, that’s true, but this is a pretty big moment, isn’t it?”

“Whatever...”

This was Mui’s first day, but there wasn’t going to be an entrance ceremony or anything. According to Kinera, the magic institute was always searching for budding wizards, so they took new applicants at any time of the year. It would be difficult to enroll new students every day, so they did so every month instead—Mui would enter with the other new students for the month. Without a ceremony to attend, I didn’t really have anything to do there as her guardian. I was just seeing her to the institute. Still, it was a parent’s nature to want to go with her. Maybe I was being overprotective, but there was a certain precarious nature to Mui’s circumstances that compelled me to feel that way...by my standards, at least.

We got off the carriage at a stop and walked for a while. As we approached the gate to the magnificent magic institute, we were greeted by the teacher who’d provided us with all manner of details the other day, Kinera Fyne.

“Mr. Beryl, Mui, we’ve been awaiting your arrival.”

“Hm? Mrs. Kinera, good morning.”

“Good morning,” she said, smiling. “Today is your first day, so I’ll be guiding you.”

“I see, that really helps.”

It was a relief that she would be Mui’s guide. Being led by an acquaintance instead of a stranger made the transition easier on my daughter...and on me.

“C’mon, Mui, make sure to greet her back,” I urged.

“Mm. G-Good morning...” Mui said awkwardly. She was still unsure of how to interact with people who weren’t close to her like Lucy and I were.

“Good morning,” Kinera replied cheerfully. “I’ll be taking Mui into my care.”

“Yes, please do,” I said.

Mui had been complaining about me coming along, but now that we were here, she was really nervous. Adorable.

Now that I’d dropped her off, my job was complete. I hadn’t taken the day off, so I had to get back to the carriage stop and head to the office. I could ask Mui about how her enrollment went after she got home. Not that I believed she would honestly talk about her school life...but I had to get her used to such conversations little by little. I wasn’t just giving her shelter—my goal was to make her capable of living independently.

“Okay, then...”

Now that my companion was gone, I was left wandering around the northern district on my own. The clear weather gave me the perfect view of the royal palace’s spires. The palace itself was a short walk away, but I didn’t really have any business there. Besides, I was probably going to visit it when escorting Sphenedyardvania’s delegation, so I figured I could enjoy some sightseeing then.

Also, the chapel of the Church of Sphene was here in the northern district. I didn’t really have fond memories of the place. They’d completed the cleanup after the incident, so it was apparently back to normal, but I didn’t really want to return there. In the end, I had no idea how many of the men I’d cut down were still alive. Since I wasn’t being charged with any crimes, someone like Allusia or Lucy had probably pulled some strings.

Because of all this, I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about the northern district. I decided to hurry back to the office.

“Morning... Ooh, they’re really going at it.”

The corners of my mind were prickling with restlessness as I entered the order’s training hall. Just as always, many knights were busy devoting themselves to their art.

Allusia greeted me the moment I entered.

“Master, good morning.”

“Morning.”

She wasn’t wearing her usual armor but was instead dressed for training. She was the knights’ primary instructor, so it wasn’t strange to see her putting her skills on display. However, something about her today seemed...too cheerful? Why was she so happy to be here providing instruction?

“Master, I have a request,” she said.

“Hm? What is it?”

It was pretty rare for her to ask for anything. Back in her days at the dojo, she hadn’t been the selfish type, and here in Baltrain, she hadn’t really made any demands of me. Well, forcing me to become a special instructor had been extraordinarily selfish, but that was different.

“May I ask for a match?” She held her wooden sword at the ready, and her clear eyes stared right into mine.

“Hm... Hm? I don’t really mind, but what brought this on?”

Allusia was both the order’s commander and its instructor, but before all that, she was a knight. Of course she desired to not just teach and lead, but to train her own skills as well. Still, I wondered why she suddenly wanted to spar.

“I was just thinking—with the Sphenedyardvania delegation’s coming visit, I should also practice my swordplay.”

“I see.”

Her attitude remained unwavering—in a good way. She smiled gently. Her face was so beautiful that it looked like a famous statue had come to life. It was almost unfair that such a beauty was also the most skilled knight in Liberis. It made me feel like the heavens had granted a single person multiple gifts.

“Shall we get right to it?” I asked.

“Yes, as long as you’re fine with it.”

With that, she handed me a wooden sword. Now then, how many years had it been since I’d faced off against Allusia? The last time had been during her days at our dojo. She’d been talented and strong, but that had been a long time ago. Since then, she’d definitely polished her skills—a weak knight would’ve never been appointed commander of the Liberion Order.

“Henbrits. Take care of the starting signal.”

“M-Ma’am!”

We stood facing each other at the center of the training hall, our wooden swords at the ready. Before I knew it, all the knights around us had stopped training and were staring. Well, their two instructors were having a match—I understood the desire to watch. I was half looking forward to this and half nervous. Though I was curious about Allusia’s growth, I was also scared of appearing inadequate as her opponent. How much had she improved since her dojo days? I’d never seen her fight, so I couldn’t make a judgment.

I’ll need to concentrate more than usual.

“Are both of you ready?” Henbrits asked.

“Ready,” Allusia replied.

“Yeah, anytime.”

We kept our eyes fixed on one another. Strangely enough, we both used the exact same middle stance—it was an orthodox stance that was suitable for offense and defense.

“Then...”

The activity in the training hall had been so noisy, but now the only sound in the room was Henbrits’s voice. I loved this unique sense of tension. Even if this was only sparring, it was rare to experience such a stinging chill. It would give me a glimpse of Allusia’s skill.

“Begin!”

Henbrits gave the signal. Allusia held her wooden sword in the same position and kept an eye on me, analyzing what I would do.

Before I knew it, her blade was right in front of my eyes.

“Whoa?!”

I repelled it in a panic. Hang on, hang on, hang on a damn minute! How did she even move just now? Seriously? An unpleasant sweat ran down my back. I’d barely seen a thing. She’d had her sword at the ready, and in the next instant, her sword had been about to hit me.

“As I would expect,” Allusia muttered. “I wanted to take a point with that...”

“Well, you know, I figured I wouldn’t give you one so easily!”

I somehow managed to reply to her, but my heart was pounding. She wasn’t so fast that I suspected her of using magic or a trick, but her speed had been incredibly unexpected. I had no idea where her sword had flown in from—all I’d done was repel the block of wood that had suddenly manifested before my eyes.

“Whoa?!”

Again, Allusia was standing at the ready, and in the blink of an eye, her sword came flying at me. I repelled the horizontal slash, then took a couple of steps back, flustered.

“Phew!”

This is weird. She doesn’t telegraph anything about her impending attack. If someone had told me her sword had grown out of thin air, I might’ve believed them—that was how crazy fast she was. How is this happening?

“Hee hee,” Allusia tittered. “That’s the first time someone’s blocked me twice.”

“What an honor...!”

Her speed was seriously no joke. I couldn’t let this drag on. Frankly, I wasn’t confident that I could continue dodging her ridiculous swordplay. Blocking twice had practically been a miracle.

“Shhh!”

“Hah!”

So, my only choice was to go on the offensive. From my middle stance, I slashed upward, then followed through with a downward slash. The dry sound of wood clacking against wood echoed through the training hall. Allusia had moved minimally—just enough to knock aside my attacks.

“Hmph!”

I followed those strikes up by spinning on the spot into a horizontal slash, then a thrust. The former was repelled and the latter dodged by taking two steps out of range. Dammit. I feel like I’ve been forced to go on the attack a lot lately.

“Hee hee... Master, are you aware of what the public calls me?”

“No... I’m not very well-informed.”

With some distance between us, Allusia struck up a conversation. Now that I thought about it, Selna was called the Twin Dragonblade. Did Allusia have a similar nickname?

“They refer to me as Godspeed,” she declared. “I find it to be somewhat of an exaggeration, though.”

“Well, it certainly seems like you live up to it... Hup!”

I was back on the defense as Allusia charged in with a chain of rapid attacks.

She’d come at me from a little farther away this time, so I’d somehow managed to repel her blows. In order to close the distance, she’d taken two steps forward—it was very impressive to get so close in the blink of an eye, and even more so when the movement looked as natural to her as breathing.

I get it now. Unlike our first exchange of blows, I’d had some time to observe her due to the distance. I’d figured out a little about how she worked. In terms of weight, her strikes were far lighter than Henbrits’s. Also, in terms of pure speed, Selna was probably faster.

However, Allusia’s attacks were different from theirs. She controlled every movement of her muscles beyond every extreme—her limbs accelerating her in an instant from a neutral state. Therefore, her ability to reach her peak speed in a short time surpassed all others.

What made that possible were her thoroughly trained legs, especially her knees—they were outstandingly flexible. Because she was capable of flexing the muscles around them so well, she was able to spring forward while showing nearly no signs of her intent. That was why it looked like she moved in an instant.

She also excelled at defense, making her difficult to manage. Her good eyes and agility allowed her to choose the best way to deal with any incoming attack. I was at a loss. I couldn’t see an opening. My style was also very poorly matched against hers. In terms of pure swordsmanship, you could say she’d perfected her art.

If this had been a private match just between us, I would’ve been fine with losing to her. However, the other knights were watching. Also, from an outsider’s perspective, I was the special instructor Allusia had personally brought in. If I was seen as weaker than her, then her position could become tenuous...along with my own. That was a result neither of us wanted.

Okay, let’s go with that.

“Hoh!”

I suddenly stepped forward, unleashing a downward slash followed by a thrust. I held my hilt one-handed in a short grip, aiming for a close-up fight. Allusia handled my sword splendidly, blocking every stroke. The sound of wood clacking together echoed countless times around us. This much I’d expected—such half-hearted attacks weren’t going to graze her, let alone hit her.

“Hup.”

“Huh?”

By textbook definitions, her swordplay was everywhere at once, practically omnipotent. That was only going by the textbook, though. This was a fight. I used my empty left hand to grab Allusia by her clothes. She stiffened for an instant—I took advantage of that and I pulled her in hard. Allusia stumbled due to the unexpected force yanking on her.

I tapped the hilt of my wooden sword against her head as I pulled her in.

“That’s one.”

“Augh...” Allusia groaned. “You really got me...”

“This is another way of fighting,” I told her. “Keep that in mind.”

Allusia smiled bitterly, as if she found this to be unexpected, but it didn’t look like she considered my tactics to be unfair or crafty. As one who lived on the battlefield, she was well aware of the factors involved in a real fight. This was a good thing. Nobody in this training hall would look down on a fighter using their empty hand. In a formal match, it might have garnered some disdain, but the knights’ motto was to always conduct themselves as if they were on the battlefield. Selna wasn’t a knight, but she was very familiar with battle and had also made use of kicks during our bout.

“The commander...lost?”

“Seriously...? Mr. Beryl really is amazing...”

I could hear the knights murmuring. Well, their commander was the top of the whole order. Even if this was just a mock battle, it had to be shocking to see her lose...in a somewhat unfair manner. I had to admit that, even if I’d been the one to take her down.

“This is my first time witnessing anyone get a hit on the commander...” Henbrits remarked.

“Ha ha ha. You should also learn to use more than just your sword,” I told him. “It might not seem that stylish for a swordsman, though.”

“I’ll take that advice to heart.”

Naturally, people became better fighters when they could use their own bodies as weapons. Henbrits had good instincts, so I wanted him to absorb all kinds of techniques and get even stronger than he was now.

“Mrgh. Master... Since we’ve been apart, you’ve picked up some nasty habits,” Allusia complained childishly.

“What a mean way to put it,” I said. “Allusia, your swordplay is beautiful, but also a little too beautiful.”

There was no guarantee an opponent would fight fair and square. You never knew what kind of underhanded methods they could resort to. Against the average opponent, Allusia could overwhelm them with her technique, but it was a big world.

Conversely, my prospects of victory had been so tiny that I’d had to make use of shortcomings in her technique. Beating her through pure swordplay would’ve been extremely difficult. Who was responsible for making her this strong? She hadn’t been like this back at the dojo, so it wasn’t me.

So, yes, perhaps she could best me in a contest of swordsmanship. However, taking all sorts of schemes into account, I could think of two or three other ways to beat her. And if I brought in some really dirty tricks, I could think of even more.

I couldn’t blame her for her immaculate swordplay—it seemed inevitable that someone who’d enlisted in the order would develop their skills this way. But she was a bit too accustomed to clean one-on-one fights, so I hoped she could come to grips with the dirtier side of combat and grow her skills even more.

“I believe there are countless avenues to strength beyond just the sword,” I said.

“Yes.” She nodded. “You have a point.”

This was my lesson for the day. I wanted the knights to expand their outlook beyond swordsmanship alone. If wielding a sword was all it took to get stronger, life would be so much easier.

“Please continue providing us with your guidance,” Allusia said.

“Yeah, I’ll do what I can.”

Now then, my body was nice and warmed up, and my nerves had been properly cooled, so it was time to get back to teaching everyone. I hoped to make another two or three Allusias out of these knights. Well, then again, maybe we were fine with just one of her—having multiple would probably make things spiral beyond my control.

“Is Commander Allusia present?!”

“Hm?”

Just as I was getting ready to begin my instruction, flustered footsteps approached from outside and the doors to the training hall were flung open.

“Evans, what is it?” Allusia asked.

It was one of the Liberion Order’s young knights, Evans Gene. He was around the same age as Kewlny. He was of average height and had a decent build. To put it plainly, he only had room to grow. His distinguishing features were his somewhat droopy eyes, his short hair, and his vigor. Like all the other knights, he had good instincts. Training such promising youths was something I hadn’t really gotten to experience much back at the dojo. We had enrolled a few like him, but for some reason, the majority of our pupils had been children. That was fun in its own way, though.

Anyway, Evans seemed to be flustered. I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on.

“Members of Sphenedyardvania’s Holy Order are here!” he exclaimed.

“Hmm. Do you know their ranks?” Allusia asked.

“A-Apparently, it’s the knight commander himself...”

“I see.”

Ooh, a big shot arrives out of nowhere.

“Where is he now?” Allusia asked, unperturbed by the news.

“W-Waiting at the gate.”

“Understood. Henbrits.”

“Ma’am!”

“Ah, hold up,” I interjected. “Isn’t it bad to make guests wait at the gate?”

I doubted the visitors were lying about their status—the people waiting at the gate definitely included the knight commander of the Holy Order. I questioned how Evans could leave someone with that rank just waiting in front of the office.

“True...” Allusia conceded after giving it some thought. “Evans, please guide them to the reception room.”

“A-At once!”

That sounded good to me too. Even if it were only for a short time, we couldn’t have them waiting outside, and I doubted we could talk in front of the gate. To receive guests in such an inadequate manner would certainly be grounds for reprimand. Evans had probably panicked at their sudden appearance. Allusia and Henbrits understood this, so they didn’t look like they were going to punish him or anything.

“We’re sweating quite a bit. Perhaps we should towel off before meeting them,” I suggested.

“Right... Forgive me, Master. I should know better.”

We were dealing with a foreign knight commander. Even though he had shown up without an appointment, we weren’t really presentable enough to engage with him—it would be rude to speak with guests while drenched in sweat.

So with that, Allusia, Henbrits, and I left the training hall. We quickly freshened up and then made our way to the reception room where the Holy Order’s commander was waiting for us.

“Does this happen often?” I asked on the way there.

“No, not often,” she answered. “The delegation will be coming soon, so I was under the impression that we would all meet up then.”

“Hmmm.”

It seemed that this sudden drop-in was out of the ordinary. That made sense. A knight commander was a real big shot. One showing up out of the blue—and a foreign one at that—would be problematic if it happened often.

“Oh yes, why did you ask to come along?” Allusia asked.

“Well, you know. I thought I should at least say hello.”

I didn’t really give her an answer, but this greeting was pretty much my goal.

Allusia had said that she was going to introduce me during the delegation’s visit. If possible, I wanted to avoid that. So, if I managed to make a connection here, then the order wouldn’t have to go out of its way to introduce me later. There’s nothing better than avoiding a stiff and formal introduction surrounded by VIPs. I would go through with that formality if making their acquaintance here wasn’t enough...but I wanted to reduce that possibility as much as I could. However, if I told Allusia this, I doubted she would agree. If anything, she wanted to forcefully drag me out onto center stage.

“Are you acquainted with the Holy Order’s commander?” I asked.

“Yes, we meet every year. As long as he hasn’t been replaced, at least.”

It wasn’t strange for them to know each other—after all, they were both involved in international affairs. I wasn’t supposed to have anything to do with this facet of the world, but here I was, suddenly thrown into the middle of it. I didn’t begrudge my position, but I still found all of this hard to come to terms with.

With such thoughts in mind and a few more words exchanged, we made our way to the reception room.

When I opened the door, I saw one big and one medium silhouette inside. It seemed we had two guests. They stood up from their seats as we entered.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Allusia said.

“Hm...? Yo, Sitrus! Long time no see.”

Attracted by the deep, loud, and cheerful voice, I adjusted my focus and spotted a huge man. That was pretty much the best way to describe him—he was even taller than Baldur, and a low estimate would put him at two meters or so. He wore somewhat familiar-looking plate armor, and his long, dark-brown hair was tied at his nape. His beard was nicely trimmed too. At a glance, he didn’t seem like a bad guy.

“I’m glad to see you as healthy as ever, Razwon,” Allusia said in greeting.

“Ha ha ha! Sorry for intruding so suddenly,” the man named Razwon replied, smiling grandly as he shook Allusia’s hand. “Been a while since I’ve seen you too, Drout.”

“Sir. About a year, I believe,” said Henbrits.

Due to Ibroy’s request involving the Church of Sphene, I hadn’t been quite sure how things would go here, but it seemed like the knight commanders got along fairly well. On a side note, I’d only just remembered that Henbrits’s family name was Drout. Nobody ever referred to him that way, so this was a fresh experience.

“And you...” the foreign commander turned to face me. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Gatoga Razwon. I’ve been entrusted with the command of Sphenedyardvania’s Holy Order of the Church of Sphene.”

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” I replied. “I’m Beryl Gardinant. I serve as the Liberion Order’s special instructor.”

Introductions were important. This was especially true considering my objective here, so I went with the formal phrasing I’d prepared beforehand. He stared at me with sharp eyes. Coupled with his build, this demeanor was truly frightening. I couldn’t falter here, though. It wasn’t like we were going to fight or anything.

When the woman standing next to Gatoga heard my introduction, she seemed a bit startled.

“Hmm... A special instructor,” Gatoga muttered.

“Yes. He’s very strong,” Allusia cut in.

“Ha ha ha ha! Splendid!”

Allusia, please stop trying to raise my stock every chance you get. It’s hard on this old man.

“By the way, where’s Hinnis?” Allusia asked. “I figured he would be accompanying you.”

“Aah...” Gatoga paused awkwardly and averted his eyes. “A bunch of stuff happened with Hinnis.” He turned to the woman next to him and slapped her on the back. “She’s the lieutenant commander now. My protégée.”

The woman protested for a moment but eventually gave up. She had blue hair so pale that it was practically transparent. Even as she sighed in exasperation, her features appeared gentle—she gave off a very ladylike impression. She was about the same height as Allusia and probably a little older. She didn’t have wrinkles or anything, but her voluptuous nature couldn’t be replicated by younger girls.

Her one other distinguishing feature was her somewhat slow and peculiar way of talking. Much like Gatoga, she wore full plate armor, but she also carried a pure white kite shield on her left arm. It was pretty rare to see someone wielding a shield. Also, excluding that white shield, absolutely everything about her resembled my one and only acquaintance who was a follower of the Church of Sphene.

Crap, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

“Let me introduce you,” Gatoga continued. “This is our new lieutenant commander, Rose.”

“Tee hee hee. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Rose Mabelhart.”

Rose cheerfully introduced herself, then shook hands with Allusia and Henbrits. When she held her hand out to me, her smile grew even brighter.

“L-Long time no see, Rose,” I stammered.

“Yup. It’s your favorite pupil, Rose Mabelhart.”

I wanna go home...

“Favorite...pupil?”

“Hm? Rose, you two are acquainted?”

Allusia and Gatoga each reacted in their own—very different—ways. The former was glaring at Rose as if looks could kill, while the latter was somewhat shocked. Allusia, you’re really scary right now. Smile. Smile...

“Umm... Well, we do know each other,” I said, trying not to dig this hole any deeper than it already was.

“Tee hee hee. He’s my esteemed master,” Rose added, trying to ruin all my efforts.

Cut that out, you idiot! Look how scary she is now! Allusia’s expression had turned even more grim.

“Is that so?!” Gatoga exclaimed, shock clearly plastered on his face. “I know you went out looking for a teacher and all, but this is the guy you found?!”

“Yup. Tee hee.”

In contrast to Allusia, Rose’s smile was unchanging. Incidentally, she still hadn’t let go of my hand. Isn’t the handshake over already? Wait, she told Gatoga about me? I’m a little curious about what she said but now doesn’t seem like the time to ask.

Allusia stared at our clasped hands. “Master...?”

“Ah, oh, yup, letting go. Letting go now.”

The pressure I felt from Allusia at my side was overwhelming. The fact that nobody was faltering showed the power of all those gathered in the room. Though, this isn’t how I wanted to find out how skilled they were...

“W-Well, how about taking a seat?” I suggested, unable to bear this atmosphere for much longer. Once seated, I would also have some physical distance from Rose.

“Right...”

On one sofa, there was me, Allusia, then Henbrits. Across the table sat Gatoga and Rose. A part of me had worried that Rose would casually take the seat next to me, but that’d ended up being needless anxiety. Though perhaps she’d been deterred because Allusia had taken that spot smoothly and with extreme alacrity.

“Okay then, ummm... Where to start?”

This meeting was supposed to be for some report or the like, but for some reason, I was now the center of attention. Goddammit.

Rose Mabelhart.

She’d referred to me as her “esteemed master.” Well, that wasn’t really wrong. In truth, she’d spent a period of time training at our dojo, but unlike Allusia and Selna, she’d come along relatively recently—she’d spent about a year and a half with us. At the time, it hadn’t been clear that she was a knight of the Holy Order, but according to her, she’d been traveling from place to place, expanding her outlook on the world.

I’d had no reason to refuse anyone who knocked on our doors, so I’d taught her a fair bit. Unlike many of my pupils, she hadn’t been an amateur. She’d shown up already possessing clear swordplay experience, so I’d given her lessons on the Gardinant style—the differences between the dojo’s style and her own—and had mainly focused on sparring. After a little over a year, she’d left fully satisfied.

I didn’t recall teaching her enough to be called her esteemed master, though. She’d already had her own style before coming to me. At the time, I’d known she was a follower of the Church of Sphene, but here she was, having climbed the ranks all the way to lieutenant commander of the Holy Order. I did recall her being awfully strong, so that made sense.

“That’s the gist of it,” I said after giving a brief explanation. “She spent some time at our dojo.”

“I see...” Allusia nodded, her eyes focused on Rose.

The whole time, Rose had maintained her relaxed smile. This expression remained exactly as I recalled—aloof, yet somehow composed. She’d always been like this. I couldn’t recall ever seeing her expression crumble. In contrast, Allusia kept cool most of the time, but her expression changed every now and then in drastic ways, which was pretty entertaining.

There was nothing entertaining about her current stormy look, though.

“Mr. Beryl truly is an excellent instructor,” Henbrits said.

“No, not at all,” I said, warding off the praise. “Everyone is just talented.”

Even if I did have some aptitude for teaching, how far someone polished their skills depended on their own efforts and talent. All I gave any of my students was a firm push forward. It wasn’t like I was capable of raising just anyone into a first-class swordsman.

“Hmm. For such an expert, I’ve never heard your name before,” Gatoga said, cocking his head curiously.

“My dojo is tucked away in the countryside, Sir Razwon.”

“Ha ha ha, Gatoga is fine. After all, there’s nothing better than having talented acquaintances.”

As mentioned, I’d spent my whole life in Beaden up until recently. Several of my pupils had become enormously successful in life, but I myself had only a reasonable amount of skill. At any rate, contrary to his hardy exterior, Gatoga was very sociable and easy to get along with.

“Tee hee hee, I’m so happy,” Rose said, all smiles and good cheer. “Meeting you here must be the guidance of Sphene, Master.”

“Ha ha ha...”

The air in the room was tremendously awkward. Allusia understood now that I’d explained, but judging by her expression, something within her wasn’t totally convinced.

“A-Anyway, the fact that you’ve gone out of your way to come here means you must have some sort of business to attend to, right?” I asked Gatoga, desperate to change the topic.

There had to be a reason the two top members of Sphenedyardvania’s Holy Order had come here today—it definitely wasn’t to introduce me and Rose. They’d had no way of knowing I would be here to begin with.

“Oops, you’re right,” Gatoga said. “Although, you can also say that we just kinda dropped by here while we were in the area.”

“Is that so?” Allusia asked.

That meant their main goal wasn’t to greet the Liberion Order. So, why were they in Liberis?

“The delegation will be here soon, right?” Gatoga continued. “Rose doesn’t really know Baltrain, so she’s here to prepare.”

“I see.”

“Yup,” Rose chimed in without a care in the world. “About all I know is that it’s a big and wonderful city.”

I didn’t really care about deployments and security and whatnot on the day of the delegation’s arrival, but Gatoga had a point—it would be somewhat concerning to have Rose perform her duty in a completely unfamiliar land. What was more, she had to protect some big shots. By coming early like this, they were probably trying to ease her into it, even if just a little.

“The plan is to stay for a few days and drill the rough geography into her head,” Gatoga explained.

“In that case, would you like some knights to escort you?” Allusia offered.

“Aaah, no. That won’t be necessary. We arranged for a local bishop to guide us.”

Well, Baltrain had plenty of tourist attractions and restaurants, so it was the perfect place to kill time. Not that killing time was the purpose here. Still, it was nicer to wander around in a field of flowers than a barren wasteland. Now that I thought of it, the bishop for the Church of Sphene in Liberis was Reveos. Was he still a bishop, even now? I doubted he’d been acquitted. This didn’t feel like the right place to ask about that though, so I kept my silence. If I ever get a chance, I’ll ask Lucy or Ibroy about how that went down.

“Given the opportunity, I’d rather have Master Beryl as my guide,” Rose said, clearly looking at me.

“Ha ha ha...”

I laughed it off, but Allusia was once more exuding a terrifying aura. I figured it’d be fine to help with some sightseeing, but I didn’t actually know Baltrain very well. I could identify some of the standout spots in the central district, but I was basically ignorant when it came to anywhere else. When it came to sightseeing, I could tell them that the palace was in the northern district, but that was practically all I knew, and I wouldn’t be able to show them the way there.

“Oh, right. This year’s visit will involve showing the city to His Highness the First Prince,” Gatoga explained. “An official notice should be coming soon. We’ll be in your care.”

“Understood.”

The first prince, huh? I’ve never really met a noble, let alone royalty. I wonder if he’s all sparkly? I’m a commoner, so that’s pretty much the only thought I’ve had about royals. Allusia, Henbrits, Gatoga, and Rose will probably be the ones showing them around anyway. It’d be best for me to just curl up in a corner somewhere where I won’t offend anyone.

“Well then, sorry for bothering you,” Gatoga said. “I’m glad to be able to see you two after all this time.”

“Likewise,” Allusia replied. “Until we meet again.”

Gatoga and Rose stood up. Their purpose here wasn’t to indulge in chatter, so they probably didn’t want to overstay their welcome. Their visit also hadn’t been expected by our side. We’d had to cut short the knights’ training to attend to them.

“Tee hee. Master, until next time.”

“Yeah. See you, Rose.”

She was the lieutenant commander of the Holy Order, so we’d see each other again when the delegation arrived. Thus, our greetings here ended in a very simple manner.

“Henbrits, see them off,” commanded Allusia.

“Ma’am.”

Gatoga gave a polite nod. “Sorry to take up your time.”

Henbrits saw Gatoga and Rose out of the room, leaving me and Allusia alone. Just as I was about to suggest going back to the training hall, Allusia spoke up.

“Master.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“What exactly did she mean by favorite pupil?”

You’re still hung up on that?

“Uhhh... R-Rose just decided that on her own,” I answered.

“Is that so?”

At the very least, I’d never called her that. She was, of course, one of the pupils who’d studied the sword under me, even if only for a year and a half, so I thought of her dearly. However, it would be difficult to decide if she was my favorite. I’d tried to express that implicitly, but Allusia seemed exquisitely displeased. Well, she’d had this aura around her for the last few minutes, so her attitude now wasn’t really any different.

Hmmm, what to do?

“There’s no picking favorites among pupils,” I stated. “You don’t do that with your knights, do you?”

“That’s...true.”

Those were my true feelings on the matter. Everyone was valuable to me—they were all my beloved students. If you told me to rank Allusia, Selna, Kewlny, and Ficelle in terms of who I liked best, I wouldn’t be able to do so. If forced to choose, I’d simply call them all my “favorites.”

“But I guess it’s worth mentioning. You’re among my precious pupils too, Allusia.”

“I see...”

This seemed to be enough for her. Unlike her fierce countenance from before, she faced me with a gentle smile. Yup, a smile better suits a beauty. Everyone prefers to see a lady smiling.

“Okay then, shall we go back to the training hall?” I suggested.

“Yes, let’s.”

Our guests had been unexpected, but we were instructors here. It was time to spend another day sweating it out with the knights.

◇

With the day’s instruction over, all that was left to do was go home. I was in the middle of debating whether to go straight there or drop by a restaurant on the way when a woman called out to me at the office’s gate.

“Hello, Master.”

“Rose...? What’s up?”

It was the Holy Order’s lieutenant commander—she was supposed to have left after our short meeting earlier. She wasn’t wearing her armor anymore and was instead dressed in a thin cardigan and a long skirt.

“Tee hee hee, I was dying to see you, so I came over.”

“Aaah, right...”

It turned out I was her reason for being here. Hmm, not that I have any plans or anything. As long as I’m not too late, Mui won’t complain.

“So? What do you need?” I asked.

“Oh, nothing really.”

“Huh?”

I’d been ready to hear her out, but here she was, saying that she didn’t have any business with me. So, why did you come here? This old man doesn’t have that much free ti— Well, with training over, I guess I have a bunch of free time. All that’s left is to go home, eat, and sleep.

“It’s been a while, so why don’t we have a chat?” Rose asked. “Also, I’d appreciate it if you could show me around town.”

“Yeah, yeah, all right. Just for a little bit.”

I had no problems with the former request, but I wasn’t too confident about the latter. I wasn’t familiar enough with the area to guide her around Baltrain. Well, I did probably know more than a foreign knight. There was no point in standing around, so I started walking. Without needing to say anything to her, Rose stuck right to my side.

It was awkward to walk in silence, so I got the conversation rolling.

“Anyway, it really has been a while,” I said. “Are you doing well?”

“Yup. I’ve been pretty good.”

Rose was definitely a beauty, but unlike Allusia and Selna, she was pretty much unknown in Liberis, so we didn’t really attract attention as we walked down the street. That was nice. Either way, I was still an old man walking around with a beautiful woman, so the situation wasn’t all that different. At least it was better than going around with Lucy, who looked like nothing more than a little girl—I didn’t have to worry about the garrison coming after me in this case.

“It was a huge shock to see you,” Rose said cheerfully. “I never thought you’d be here in Baltrain.”

“Ha ha ha, a lot happened...”

Yup, a whole lot... It was a bit too complicated to go over quickly. Or maybe not. I could sum it up in a sentence if I really wanted. Allusia had inexplicably recommended me as a special instructor—that was pretty much all there was to it. However, I felt reluctant to tell the story that way. Maybe it was a tiny spark of this old man’s vanity.

“Oh yeah, since when have you been a knight?” I asked.

“Since right after leaving your tutelage,” Rose answered. “‘How about you use your sword for your country already?’ That’s what I was told.”

“Ha ha ha, let me guess. Was it Gatoga?”

“You’ve got it. But all I wanted to do was take my time and continue my journey.”

Rose’s smile contained just the slightest hint of embarrassment. Unlike Allusia or Henbrits, she wasn’t the type to dedicate all she was to her nation. Of course, that was just my personal opinion—I didn’t mean to imply that she was irresponsible or anything. Rose was indeed earnest when it came to her sword and the Church of Sphene, however, because I saw Allusia as a model knight dedicated to Liberis, I couldn’t help but spot the differences.

“Well, this is also a valuable experience,” I told her.

“Jeez, you’re just saying that because this kind of thing has nothing to do with you.”

“I ended up taking a post with the order,” I countered. “It has plenty to do with me.”

I hadn’t been knighted, but as a special instructor for the Liberion Order, I wasn’t an ordinary civilian anymore. My appointment had come with a royal seal, so there were times when I could no longer claim to be a plain old man just to get out of things. Not that I’d ever believed I’d be stepping into such a new world at this age. Still, there was no stopping or turning back the hands of time, so all I could do was face forward and look to the future. I wasn’t as disgruntled as I let on, even though my situation still didn’t make much sense to me.

“Learning swordplay from you and offering prayers to Sphene... Those were the best times of my life,” Rose said.

“That’s good to hear.”

I’d had many pupils at the dojo. Despite being out in the sticks, we’d been relatively prosperous. But that didn’t mean everyone stuck with it all the way through. There’d been those who’d suddenly stopped showing up, and those who’d had to move and could no longer attend. I couldn’t say for certain that everyone was satisfied with the days they’d spent at our dojo. Having Rose state so plainly that she’d enjoyed her time there felt like more than I ever deserved.

“But now you’ve climbed the ranks all the way to lieutenant commander, haven’t you?” I asked.

“I’m just a replacement.”

More and more of my pupils seemed to be becoming big shots. I’d never even considered one rising to such heights beyond Liberis’s borders.

“It really was a huge shock...” Rose muttered with a fleeting smile.

“Rose?”

“Nothing.”

Well, I’d been pretty surprised by my own circumstances—it was understandable that one of my pupils had been moved by the events of her own life.

“Oh yes, has Mordea been doing well?” Rose asked.

“Yeah, he’s the same as ever. His lower back has been nagging him lately, though.”

“Oh dear. I suppose his age is catching up to him?”

“Looks like. Despite his behavior, he’s actually pretty old.”

We continued strolling aimlessly through Baltrain’s streets, chatting casually as we went. She wasn’t as meticulous as Allusia or as bold as Selna. She wasn’t innocent like Kewlny or quiet like Ficelle. There was an exquisite comfort to being around her because of her natural disposition. She always responded immediately to any conversation but wasn’t grating in any way. It really was nice.

Our conversation soon came to a pause, and Rose took the opportunity to stare at the scenery around us.

“What a beautiful city...” she remarked.

“Hm? I guess so. I don’t think it’s bad.”

Baltrain was a nice place. It was lively, and despite how many people there were, public order was well maintained. Perhaps that was because of the Liberion Order’s efforts. There were many conveniences here, and life was comfortable.

“Tee hee, it makes me want to immigrate,” Rose said.

“Hey now, you’ve got a duty to uphold.”

“Heh heh heh...”

Seeing her laugh it off, anyone would think she wasn’t acting her age. However, having known her for a time at the dojo (albeit a short period), I knew that Rose’s geniality came from such affable behavior. Like Kewlny, it was easy to get close to her, though the two women gave off altogether different impressions.

“Master.”

“Hm? What’s up?”

Our leisurely and aimless stroll had taken us a fair distance from the office. We were now in a somewhat empty street in Baltrain’s central district. With the relatively small buildings and sparse traffic as a backdrop, Rose stooped over a little, then raised her head in front of me.

“If I ever move, please come get me.”

“You’re awfully big for a lost child.”

In the unlikely event I ever ended up living with Rose, it felt like Mui would be tamed in an instant. What a frightening thought. Rose’s disposition made her extremely effective against children. No matter how rebellious the child was, they would capitulate to her in no time. During her days at the dojo, my pupils had adored her.

“Hee hee, then I’ll excuse myself here.”

“Sure. I’m glad we got to catch up.”

“Yup, same here.”

I hadn’t really shown her around Baltrain—we’d simply chatted while walking toward nowhere in particular. Had that been enough? Well, judging by her expression, she didn’t feel as though I’d wasted her time, so that was good at least.

“Until next time, Master. Thank you very much for today.”

“Sure thing. See you later.”

The next time we’d meet would probably be while escorting Sphenedyardvania’s first prince on his sightseeing trip. This was going to be work for both of us, so we likely weren’t going to be able to talk in private. In that sense, maybe it was a good thing we’d gotten to chat like this today.

“Okay, then... Guess I’ll head home.”

After parting ways with Rose, I gazed at the sun setting in the west. It was a little early to go home, but there also wasn’t quite enough time to drop by somewhere else. It was best to just go home and help Mui prepare dinner or something. Wondering what to do for tonight’s menu, I figured maybe I should drop by the western district to pick up some ingredients.

Once more, I walked along the streets of Baltrain.

After Gatoga and Rose’s sudden visit, time passed peacefully, with nothing in particular happening. It wasn’t like my life in Baltrain was filled with events to begin with. All I had to do was train the knights and continue my life with Mui, and I was just starting to get used to both of these things.

On that topic, for the first few days after Mui started attending the institute, she’d come home totally exhausted. It turned out there were just so many people there, and they’d all tried to talk to her and take her places. She’d mumbled, “I can’t take it anymore...” every now and then. I’d told her that she was taking her first steps on the path to living a proper life, so she just had to give it her all.

Still, some things had put Mui at ease. It turned out that the magic institute divided its students into classes like any other school. Kinera, who we’d become acquaintances with, had ended up being Mui’s homeroom teacher, and I was glad for that—she’d been the one to explain a whole lot about the institute to us. Mui had also looked relieved by this. Even now, I could clearly remember her shy yet happy expression as she talked about it over dinner. That was a memory I’d keep for perpetuity.

So, as for what I was up to now...

“It suits you.”

“D-Does it...? Ha ha ha.”

I was in a store trying on the new outfit I’d bought with Allusia. I’d picked it myself, but I still felt really out of place wearing it. Unlike my usual clothes, it was pretty tight around the chest. This attire was to be worn while meeting with big shots, so I’d been told that a tighter, more formal fit was only natural. I couldn’t really refute that, but it still felt constricting. Was this really tailored to my size?

I looked at myself in the mirror as the clerk complimented me. The black jacket was pretty much the exact opposite of what I normally wore. At least the white embroidery made for a nice accent. Still, to sum it up simply, I felt like the clothes made the man here. The jacket naturally gave me a more polished look than something baggy...but it felt more like the clothes were wearing me rather than the other way around.

Incidentally, I’d also bought a pair of matching pants—black slacks with no ornamentation. I would’ve looked ridiculous wearing a nice, tailored jacket with my usual pants. At any rate, it was hard for me to come to a conclusion based entirely on my own opinion. Allusia and the clerk seemed like they would give me unconditional praise too. Maybe it was best to ask—to put it rudely—the foulmouthed Mui for her opinion.

“That will be sixty-five thousand dalcs.”

“Ah, right.”

I paid the bill, including the cost of both the clothes and the custom fit. Hmmm, I already knew what the price would be, but it’s still a pretty tough pill to swallow. I’d never spent over ten thousand dalcs on clothes before, so I couldn’t help but pucker at the thought. Thanks to my salary as a special instructor and the sum I’d received from Ibroy, my wallet wasn’t in bad shape. Still, such a large expense was bad for my heart. If it had been for Mui’s sake, I would’ve paid without a second thought, though. I just couldn’t help but hesitate when it came to spending money on myself. Unfortunately, my outward appearance was important for this upcoming event, so there was no helping it.

“Thank you for your patronage.”

Now then, I’m done shopping, so maybe it’s time to go home. Since I was already wearing my new clothes, I figured I would try to get used to them by wearing them on the walk home. Maybe they stood out a bit too much for a stroll through town, but I was going to attract a crazy amount of attention on the day of the delegation, so I just had to put up with it.

My new clothes felt really tight, but perhaps thanks to the quality of the materials, they were unexpectedly easy to move in. It seemed I would be able to do just fine, even if an incident arose. I could only pray that nothing of the sort happened.

“It sure is crowded.”

The central district was always lively, but it’d seemed even busier than usual lately. According to what I’d been told, Sphenedyardvania’s annual delegation happened to line up with a small festival in Baltrain. To be precise, Baltrain held a festival at this time every year, and they’d arranged for a delegation from Sphenedyardvania to come at the same time as a means of improving relations.

Out in the countryside, I’d had nothing to do with festivals at all. However, the plan was to be an escort through this lively town, so I couldn’t let myself relax too much—I certainly couldn’t just sit back and enjoy the festival. Last year’s delegation escort went off without a hitch, so maybe there’s nothing to be worried about. After all, we had a huge gathering of skilled knights in Allusia, Henbrits, Gatoga, and Rose, so it would be difficult for anyone to start any kind of trouble.

On the topic of this sightseeing tour, Sphenedyardvania’s first prince was scheduled to come from abroad—he was going to be accompanied by Liberis’s third princess. I wasn’t familiar with the protocol, but when a foreign delegate was visiting, it was apparently common to have someone of similar status accompanying them. That was where the princess came into play. Allusia, Henbrits, and the knights of the Liberion order would be in charge of escorting the princess, whereas the Holy Order was to look after Sphenedyardvania’s prince.

My position hadn’t really been decided yet. The higher-ups were probably split on how a special instructor slotted into all the arrangements. I wanted nothing more than to take it easy—perhaps handle street security or something. However, the fact that I’d had to buy these clothes meant that it was extremely unlikely I’d be sidelined.

As I approached the front door to my house, I prayed to be assigned to some discreet corner. I turned the knob and stepped inside.

“I’m back,” I called out.

“Mm, welcome home,” replied Mui. She seemed somewhat accustomed to this interaction now. She looked me up and down, and her expression contorted quite clearly. “What’s with the getup?”

“A foreign delegation is coming soon, remember? I went to pick up the clothes for it. I just wore them on the way back.”

“Hmmm...”

Mui’s expression was now pretty hard to describe. It was kind of like she was thinking, “Wow...” in mental exasperation.

Did the outfit look that bad on me? The thought was a little depressing.

“Does it, perhaps...not suit me?” I asked hesitantly.

“Well, no. It’s fine,” she said after an awkward moment of silence. “It’s not bad.”

“I-I see.”

Her response was ambiguous. Why’d she pause like that? It bugged me. I wasn’t really thinking of saying, “Hey, doesn’t this look great on me?” but her reception was worse than expected. Her bland response was a bit of a shock, especially after I’d spent so much on these clothes.

“More importantly, dinner’s ready,” Mui said.

“R-Right. Got it.”

So dinner’s more important. How disheartening. At any rate, I couldn’t go dirtying my new clothes, so I decided to change before eating. I’d chosen black, so it didn’t matter if they got a little dirty, but it was best to keep them clean regardless.

“You really do look coolest in your usual outfit...” Mui muttered.

“Hm? You say something?”

“No, not really.”

I thought Mui mumbled something as I took off my jacket, but I couldn’t really hear her. Well, let’s just be happy she didn’t tell me flat out that it didn’t suit me...or tell me to strip it off. Allusia had called these clothes plain, but she hadn’t said that they looked bad on me. Since I couldn’t put any trust in my own fashion sense, I had no choice but to believe her.

“Thanks for waiting. Shall we eat?”

“Mm.”

Now dressed in my usual getup, we headed for the living room. This really was the most comfortable for me. Today’s dinner was, once more, stewed food. This time, we were using some of the smoked sausage I’d splurged on in the western district. It looked chunky and delicious. Still, it was about time to expand Mui’s cooking repertoire. Making stew was simple, but she wasn’t going to learn anything if this was all she cooked. At least she was cutting the vegetables and meat far better. I was delighted to see this kind of progress.

“Thanks for the meal,” I said.

“Mm. Thanks for the food.”

I shared a table with Mui and had dinner. Such were the events two days before Sphenedyardvania’s delegation arrived.

◇

“Everyone, listen closely!”

Allusia’s dignified voice resonated through the quiet central plaza of the Liberion Order’s office. Nobody here was uncouth enough to make even the slightest noise. They all understood the importance of their upcoming mission.

“As you are all aware, Sphenedyardvania’s delegation will be entering the kingdom today.”

It was finally time. The delegation was soon to arrive in Liberis. They were very likely on their way to the palace now, escorted by the Holy Order and the royal garrison.

“At ten o’clock this morning, they will be sightseeing through Baltrain with Her Highness the Third Princess.”

After this, we were to head to the palace to escort Liberis’s third princess and Sphenedyardvania’s first prince. Naturally, we couldn’t have the entire order clustered together around them. Only a select few knights were going all the way to the palace. The remaining majority were going to be coordinating with the royal garrison to police the streets.

That was far more than enough, in my opinion. Still, this job involved escorting people who were central to two nations, so things had to be right the first time—there would be no reviewing shortcomings after the fact. It was our job to set things up perfectly so that nothing bad happened.

At any rate, Allusia’s public-speaking voice really was awe-inspiring. She usually spoke with a gentle tone, so hearing her now made me even more aware of the gap between her usual self and the persona she adopted as the knight commander. It really emphasized her power and position. Truly, she had grown splendidly.

“Just as previously discussed, we will be splitting into five squads. Each will be assigned to escort duty or patrolling the planned route. The first squad will consist of myself, Henbrits, and Mr. Beryl. We will be accompanying Her Highness.”

Allusia went over the day’s deployment once more. The higher-ups had apparently hesitated over where to deploy me until the last second, but in the end, I was assigned to princess escort duty. I had no idea how they’d come to that conclusion.

“Next, the second squad...”

Officers were appointed to each squad, and the defense plan was laid out. Man, it sure sounds nice in those squads. Can I join them? I guess there’s no escaping my fate. I have to have an audience with the big shots. Life is rough.

After going over the squad composition, Allusia looked around the plaza at the knights.

“Are there any questions?”

None, apparently. Nobody raised their voice. Instead, everyone showed clear enthusiasm. This was ultimately no more than escort duty, but it was a rare opportunity to do so for royalty. The order’s efforts had a direct connection to their reputation with the royal family and with another nation, so the knights were all fired up for it. By contrast, I was less excited and more ready to fight for my life, in the figurative sense. Having an old man straight out of the sticks suddenly guarding royalty was skipping far too many steps.

“Move out!”

“Yes ma’am!”

Allusia ended her speech with that hearty command, and everyone started to split into groups.

“Good work, Allusia,” I said among the hustle and bustle.

“Our work is only just beginning,” she replied in a gentle tone. The time for her public-speaking voice was over, it seemed.

“Anyway... Do I really have to be attached to the princess?” I asked, just in case I could get out of this.

“It was decided based on ability... Is there anything wrong with that?”

“No, um... It’s fine. Sorry for the weird question.”

Allusia’s expression made it seem like she had no idea what I was saying. She didn’t doubt my abilities whatsoever—I wanted her to doubt them just a little. I wanted to complain about her forcing an old man onto the grand stage, but doing so wouldn’t accomplish anything. Ultimately, everything had been decided the moment I’d accepted my post as a special instructor. Where had my peaceful days as a teacher at a dojo gone?

“Well, what will be will be...” I muttered, my voice fading into the sky.

It was a cloudless day—the perfect weather for a royal sightseeing tour.

“Hello, Allusia. I’ll be in your care today.”

“Ma’am. By the pride of the Liberion Order, we shall ensure your safety.”

Sometime after the gathering at the office, I found myself facing a full array of royalty in front of the palace’s main gate. Allusia represented the three of us and spoke to our charge—the Liberis Kingdom’s third princess, Salacia Ashford el Liberis.

She looked to be in her midteens and was still very sweet. Her eyes were especially large and lovely, somewhat resembling Kewlny’s in a way. However, contrasting her cute appearance was a calm bearing and an aura that wasn’t in any way weakened by her youth. This was the power of royalty.

“Henbrits, I’ll be in your care too.”

“Ma’am! Please leave it to me!”

The princess addressed her escorts affectionately one by one. Henbrits probably hadn’t expected to be addressed at all. His reply was a little shrill. I understood his nervousness. My heart was pounding too.

“Ummm... And would you perhaps be the special instructor?”

Oops, figured I’d be next. Wait, hang on. Why do you know about me, Princess? Anyway, Allusia and Henbrits were wearing armor, so I was the only one who’d donned a jacket. It made me feel extremely out of place. Not that there was anything I could do about it at this point. I strengthened my resolve.

“It is an honor to make your acquaintance. My name is Beryl Gardinant. I’ve been appointed as the special instructor for the Liberion Order. I’ve been charged today with accompanying the knight commander and lieutenant commander to guard you.”

“Right, I’ll be in your care.”

Was that all right? Did I say it properly? Strengthening my resolve didn’t do anything about how tense I was. My first meeting with humanity’s very upper stratum had my heart beating like a hammer.

“Princess Salacia.”

And as such thoughts ran through my mind, I heard a gallant voice off to the side. I turned to see a young man who was also exuding an amazing aura. He looked like he was just on the cusp of being an adult. His prim blond hair caught the sun, appearing to sparkle under its brilliance. He had clear eyes like jades, giving me the impression of someone upright and honest. In all likelihood—no, without a doubt—this was Sphenedyardvania’s first prince.

“Prince Glenn, I’m looking forward to today’s tour.”

“Likewise. Baltrain is a beautiful city. It seems this will be a delightful day.”

The two royals shared a harmonious greeting and shook hands. This was the meeting between Sphenedyardvania’s first prince and Liberis’s third princess. It felt like flowers would suddenly start blooming around them or something. You sure this old man isn’t totally out of place here? Is this really okay?

Gatoga and Rose were also by Prince Glenn’s side. As to be expected, they’d been assigned as his personal escorts. The two of them noticed my gaze, and Rose smiled and gave me a discreet wave. Concentrate on your duty, dammit.

“Then shall we?” asked the princess. “There just happens to be a festival in Baltrain right now.”

Prince Glenn smiled. “Yes, I’ve heard about it. This truly is a lively and wonderful country.”

The two exchanged a few more words. It was good that they shared a solid rapport. Though...this delegation was supposed to be proof of the friendship between nations, so there was the public eye to consider. Even if they’d hated each other, they wouldn’t be foolish enough to let it show.

“At any rate, I’m glad we’re blessed with good weather today.”

“Truly... I-It allows the perfect view of your beauty, Princess Salacia.”

“Oh my...! Tee hee.”

Uh, Prince? Is that some kinda pickup line? I was close enough to hear their conversation, and I couldn’t help but notice the prince was making a very obvious move on her. He was embarrassed about it to boot. Don’t say it if you’re gonna blush about it. I wanted to toss out that quip, but that would’ve been extremely impolite. I didn’t want to do anything so rude. Instead, I watched over them with a smile. The princess didn’t seem displeased, so things were harmonious between them from beginning to end. I guess royalty goes with royalty? I don’t know anything about the world of high society.

“Princess Salacia, your hand please.”

“Thank you very much.”

The prince and princess boarded a magnificent carriage that had been standing ready before the gate. There were other carriages too—these were meant for the guards, and they would act as decoys in case something happened. The two royals were accompanied by a chamberlain each. I hadn’t spoken to them, but judging by their bearing, they weren’t just attendants but were likely capable of fighting. I was completely under the impression the prince and princess would be riding in different carriages. Was there some kind of motive behind this arrangement?

Not that it really mattered to me. Today’s plan was to go around the northern district, then the central district, take a break for lunch, and cap things off in the western district. According to the schedule, we would be back at the palace before evening, and if pushing it a little, right before sunset. I didn’t know what the plan was after that, but if I had to be involved, Allusia was sure to tell me.

At times like these, not being knighted while having the title of special instructor was great. I didn’t have to show up to knightly meetings or conferences or whatnot. Allusia loved to push me to the front for some reason, but my presence wouldn’t be welcome on certain stages. That was fine—things like meeting royalty were already too heavy a burden for this old man as it was. I wanted to avoid being dragged into anything else. It was already insane that the third princess now knew my name and face.

“We’re departing.”

As I boarded my carriage, the driver informed me that we were taking off. With that, the first prince’s sightseeing tour began without a hitch.

“Weather is awfully nice today.”

I took it easy and stared out the window as the carriage shook me about. There were a total of four carriages. The prince and princess were in the main carriage, and the rest were occupied by select guards. Those who’d missed out on being picked were following along on foot or had been stationed at points along our route. Incidentally, I was the only one in my carriage, aside from the driver. So, even though I was on escort duty, I took a break, simply directing my attention to the lively cityscape.

“Hwaaah... There sure is nothing to do.”

I stifled a yawn and muttered to myself. The prince and princess were mostly just rolling around town in their carriage. Naturally, they were going to get out for meals and when visiting specific shops, but looking at the trip as a whole, the majority of their time would be in the carriage. In other words, I got to spend surprisingly little time in the presence of royalty.

Allusia and Henbrits were walking outside to guard the carriages. For some reason, I’d ended up inside one to serve as a decoy. I had no idea what had led them to decide that. Still, it was far more relaxing to sit in a carriage than to be walking around out there. Maybe it had to do with me being the only guard who wasn’t wearing armor. Not that it bothered me. Still, I couldn’t look like I was bored in front of the public, so I planned to do my job properly when I had to.

Right now, I had nothing to do except ride in the carriage. I should be forgiven for some grumbling out of earshot.

The town was a lot livelier than usual. Just as Princess Salacia had mentioned, Baltrain was in the middle of a festival. I had no idea what the festival was for, but they apparently held it every year around this time, so it had to hold some level of historical significance. The northern district was mostly for the palace and affluent residences, so it had relatively fewer shops than the central and western districts. Nevertheless, the whole city was in a festive mood, so I could see all kinds of stalls lined up in front of the houses as we passed them.

Oh man, that meat over there looks delicious. With that thought in mind, I wondered where we were going to eat. We were escorts, so it was probably going to be the same place where the prince and princess were going to dine.

“Hm...?”

The carriage came to a stop. I took a peek outside. The other carriages had stopped too. The chamberlains then got out of the main carriage and were followed by their charges. Something weird was going on—this wasn’t on the schedule. However, if our escort targets were outside, I had to get out too. I opened the door in a hurry and saw all the other guards—Allusia, Henbrits, Gatoga, and Rose—gathered together.

“Is something the matter?” Allusia asked the princess as our representative.

The princess maintained her beautiful smile, whereas the prince wore a somewhat awkward and bashful one.

“No, it’s nothing serious,” Prince Glenn answered. “A hairpin in this shop caught my eye...”

“Yes, even from afar, it was truly beautiful,” Princess Salacia agreed.

It seemed these two had been gazing at the scenery and had spotted an accessory shop. They were talking about hairpins, so it probably wasn’t for him. In all likelihood, he wanted to buy the princess a present.

“Understood. Please leave your safety to us,” Allusia told them after a moment’s hesitation.

“Yes, we’re in your hands.”

We couldn’t defy royalty, so we obediently tagged along. I stood in front of the shop with Henbrits. Gatoga and Rose were eavesdropping curiously, but upon hearing the conversation, Gatoga grinned wryly and Rose flashed her usual smile. Well, these royals weren’t really people we could be telling, “Don’t change the damn schedule on your own, you dumbasses.” Nobody could say a thing when faced with the highest of authorities.

Nonetheless, Allusia maintained her tone and expression, doing her best to give them a gentle warning.

“Still, please refrain from doing this again, if possible,” Allusia said. “If you must, please tell your attendants beforehand and we’ll do what we can to accommodate.”

This was better than the royals being tyrants, but it still wasn’t a good idea to add unscheduled stops to the route. It was only right to caution them about it. If they acted at their own discretion, those protecting them wouldn’t be able to keep them safe.

Our surroundings weren’t entirely devoid of danger, but we did have knights packed around the area. It would be impossible to breach the perimeter without a significant battle. I probably wouldn’t have been able to force my way through either. In this one instance, we had no choice but to overlook their willful behavior.

“Oh my, it truly is pretty.”

“Yes. I think it suits you greatly, Princess.”

“Hee hee hee.”

Ignoring our fretfulness, the two were getting along splendidly. I glanced at Allusia, and she shrugged back at me. In short, “Don’t say anything—just protect them.” It wasn’t like there were any rumors of anyone being after the prince or princess. If there were, the whole sightseeing tour would’ve been canceled. So, while I couldn’t be negligent, it wasn’t necessary to exercise excessive caution either.

Taking a look around, I saw a crowd gathering and trying to catch a glimpse of the prince and princess. They were being held at a distance by the knights defending the perimeter. Hmmm, the effect of royalty visiting the streets is pretty huge. Baltrain was a large city and a tremendous gathering of Liberis’s citizens. At a glance, it looked like the knights were keeping up the perimeter, but with so much commotion, it was frightening to contemplate the weak points or consider where an opening might form.

“It really does suit you,” said the prince. “I’m glad we stopped the carriage here.”

“Hee hee. Thank you.”

It looked like they’d successfully acquired the accessory in question. Princess Salacia had put it on, received a compliment from Prince Glenn, and was now smiling back at him. Sure is getting hot over there. Their exchange was heartwarming and not very royal. I wondered if either of them were already engaged or something. Or perhaps they were acquainted and the prince had a thing for the princess. Not that there was any point thinking about such things, but considering the way they were acting, I couldn’t help it. I’ll just ask Allusia about it later.

“Your Highness, please leave it at that,” Gatoga requested rather candidly.

“Yes, forgive me. I’ll be sure not to do it again.”

Hmm. Prince Glenn seems a lot franker than I’d initially thought. It looked like the prince and the commander of the Holy Order were on friendly terms.

“Huh...?”

The crowd surged forward to catch a glimpse of royalty. Most of the gazes around us were filled with curiosity. However, for a single instant, I sensed a distorted emotion among them.

“Master? Is something the matter?” Allusia asked, noticing that my eyes were fixed on a single point.

I glanced her way. “Aaah, not really...” When I looked back at the crowd, the disturbing presence had vanished completely. “It’s probably my imagination. Don’t worry about it.”

“Is that so?”

It was very likely a misunderstanding. Maybe I was just highly strung from having to serve as an escort for royalty. It would do no good to disturb the situation when nothing had actually happened.

Seeing that the prince and princess were back in their carriage, I returned to mine as well. I hoped it was just a misconception on my part. It was possible someone among the crowd simply hated the royal family—it wouldn’t be weird for a caustic gaze to come from that sort. However, my experience told me that I’d felt something more extreme. Something like murderous intent.

“It must be my imagination,” I muttered from within the carriage. That was simply how fleeting the presence had been. We hadn’t been attacked or anything, so I figured I could just inform the others after the sightseeing tour was over.

I refocused myself and got back to my duty—which was to sit in the carriage and do nothing. It was a little late to ask...like, really late to ask, but was it really all right to do nothing more than this? I couldn’t say anything now and throw off the schedule, though. I just sat there obediently, letting the carriage shake me about as I stared at the scenery.

Our sightseeing tour had been thrown off a bit due to Prince Glenn’s unplanned stop, but after that, it continued smoothly.

“Mm, this is delicious.”

“Hee hee, I’m glad it suits your tastes.”

The prince was relishing the dishes of Liberis’s chefs—they’d put all of their skills into preparing today’s meal. Incidentally, we guards had our lunch at the same restaurant. The meat was exquisite.

“Hmmm, this might be my first time seeing such a variety of magical equipment.”

“There has been recent progress made in the mining of magicite,” explained Princess Salacia.

At a store in the western district, the prince raised his voice in admiration at the magical equipment on display. At the same time, I stared at the stuff in a daze, wondering what kind of reaction Ficelle would have if she were here.

Just like that, we went through our planned stops for the day without any problems. The disturbing gaze I’d sensed early on hadn’t reared its head again, so I was able to devote myself to guard duty with peace of mind. It was highly likely that the incident had been no more than a misunderstanding. Maybe I’d just been a little nervous.

“Princess Salacia, thank you very much for today.”

“You’re welcome. I enjoyed it too.”

So, after finishing our tour of town, we returned to the palace gates. After parting ways with Princess Salacia here, Prince Glenn was going to be staying at a noble’s villa in the northern district. Once safely delivered there, the Liberion Order’s mission on the first day would be complete. I’d spent the majority of the time riding a carriage, so I was less tired than I’d expected. And though I was feeling a certain amount of mental exhaustion, I was still energetic enough to go to a training session if I wanted. If anything, my butt hurt from sitting around too much.

“All righty, time for one last spurt of work,” Gatoga muttered, loosening his burly shoulder.

We were pretty much done at this point, but that didn’t mean it was okay to slack off. What was more, the sightseeing tour wasn’t a one-day event—it was going to continue tomorrow.

Having said his farewells to the princess, the prince boarded the carriage again. The sun was drifting into the west. At this rate, we would all be able to get home before sunset.

I just had to hang in there a little longer...sitting around inside a carriage.

Not too long after, we successfully saw the prince to the noble’s villa. He offered Allusia his thanks.

“Everyone, I truly appreciate your hard work today.”

Allusia bowed. “Your gratitude is more than we deserve.”

“I’ll be in your care again tomorrow.”

“Yes, I swear by our nation’s dignity that we will keep you safe.”

After that, they touched a little on tomorrow’s plan, and then we parted ways. Now I just need to get home. Setting aside his willful display in the beginning, the prince was a really honest and polite man. I’d thought royalty would be more egotistical or tyrannical, but from what I’d seen for myself, both Princess Salacia and Prince Glenn were good people. If they were all like that, would that make the country that much more prosperous? Or maybe a commoner like me couldn’t see the villainous and crafty schemes brewing beneath the surface. The world of royalty was so foreign to me.

“Okay then, see you tomorrow.”

“Yup. Have a good day, everyone.”

This was also where we parted ways with Gatoga, Rose, and the other knights of the Holy Order. I wondered where they were staying for the night. It was probably somewhere in the area. I certainly didn’t need to worry about it.

“Master, Henbrits, shall we head back as well?” asked Allusia.

“Ma’am.”

“Yeah, let’s.”

With that, we decided to make our way back to the order’s office. The plan was to quickly go over tomorrow’s plan and then call it a day. It was still too early to go to sleep, so as we walked back, I considered getting something to drink on my way home.

“As for tomorrow’s agenda...”

Back inside a room in the order’s office, Allusia, Henbrits, and I stayed behind briefly to review our plans. In her hand, she held a simple report from all the squad leaders. As for the other knights, they had been dismissed after gathering at the office. They’d spent the whole day serving as a wall between us and the populace, so they were more exhausted than we three—Allusia and Henbrits had escorted from up close without having to deal with the crowds, and I’d just sat in a carriage the whole time. The sightseeing tour wasn’t over yet, so they had to get some proper rest for tomorrow.

“We will start at ten o’clock again. The plan is to go around the central district with Princess Salacia, then attend a theater performance.”

“Hmmm...”

Theater, huh? I’ve never been. I guess that’s the kinda thing royalty enjoys? I know nothing about the arts, so I doubt I’ll understand even if I watch one.

“Will we be watching too?” I asked.

“That’s the idea,” Allusia answered. “It’s a matter of convenience while we’re serving as their guards.”

“I see...”

Hmm, I’m scared I’ll fall asleep halfway through. Since royalty was going to be watching, we were probably going to be in some VIP seating area. Dozing off in there would be really, really bad. Maybe I shouldn’t have that drink after this—I should go to sleep early instead.

“Also, starting tomorrow, we’ll be restructuring some of the squads,” Allusia added.

“Hm? Why’s that?” I asked. I didn’t think anything had gone wrong with today’s security.

“His Highness’s visit to that accessory shop received a tremendous reaction from the populace. We’re partly to blame for that, so we’re making some changes to our security layout.”

“Aaah...”

That did make sense. We hadn’t planned to drop by that store. Royalty showing up without any plans was sure to attract a huge amount of attention. It was like a hurricane manifesting out of nowhere. The shopkeeper was probably screaming in joy.

“Oh yeah...”

Since we were all here, I decided to discuss the discomfort I’d felt earlier in the day. I hadn’t said anything at the time because it could’ve made things more chaotic, but now, I had two experts with me. It would be best to share my anxieties with them.

“I sensed a disturbing gaze while I was on duty today. It was possibly...murderous intent.”

The two of them gulped. Our relaxing little meeting was now somewhat tense.

“Is that the reason you stiffened up earlier today, Master?” Allusia asked.

“Yeah. It vanished right away, so it might just be my imagination. Still, I figured I should at least mention it.”

There was no evident danger yet. It was very likely my misunderstanding. However, we had nothing to lose by being cautious. Our goal was to hypothesize every worst-case scenario and get through them safely.

“Understood,” Allusia said. “We’ll stay vigilant and keep that in mind for tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I think that’s for the best.”

Not that it really mattered, but Allusia and Henbrits hadn’t doubted me for a second. Their unconditional trust was a little embarrassing. Still, was a little bloodlust enough to break through both the Liberion Order and the Holy Order? If so, that was a problem. Among that gathering of select elites, this old man was ridiculously out of place. Maybe that was exactly why I’d been crammed into a carriage.

“I suppose those were the only worrying events of the day, yes?” Allusia asked.

“Let’s see... I don’t think there were any other problems,” I said. “But I did spend pretty much the whole time in the carriage.”

I hadn’t seen any issues with today’s security. Allusia and Henbrits were far more experienced on that front, so it’d be weird for me to spot any problems they couldn’t.

“Then we’ll call it a day here,” Allusia said.

“Yeah, good job today.”

So, having shared my knowledge of that disturbing gaze to cap things off, we parted ways. I prayed the delegation’s schedule would continue without any problems. It was, of course, our job to see it to its safe conclusion, but there was nothing better than a smooth escort mission where we didn’t really have to do anything.

“Okay, then...”

I pondered what to do next. I could go right back home and have dinner with Mui or drop by a tavern and have a drink. I knew the area around the office pretty well now, so I generally knew where the nearby shops were. It didn’t sound like a bad idea to go out and discover a new place, but it would be problematic if I got lost and ended up getting home late. If not for tomorrow’s plan, this would be fine, but I decided to go somewhere familiar and take it easy.

I wanted to experience the festival’s atmosphere for myself too, and having a drink after work was always terrific. So, to replenish my energy for tomorrow’s activities, I decided to get some ale in my belly.

◇

The next morning, we once more gathered early in the office’s central plaza.

“That’s the plan for today. Also, disturbing signs were detected yesterday. There’s no telling what will happen. Be sure to pay extra attention.”

“Yes ma’am!”

Allusia ended the meeting by touching upon what I’d sensed the other day, warning everyone to be on guard. Well, they were all sure to be cautious regardless, but saying so was enough to refocus their efforts. Nothing else in particular had happened yesterday, so this was the nudge they needed to help them concentrate.

“Move out!”

Following Allusia’s command, everyone got going. It was time to get back to escorting the prince and princess, though all I was going to be doing was sitting in an empty carriage. Not that I could complain about that in front of everyone. 

“I’ll be in your care again today.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Please leave it to us.”

We were once more in front of the palace gates, greeting Princess Salacia and Prince Glenn—as I’d noticed yesterday, they both possessed amazingly beautiful auras. Yesterday, we’d gone through the northern, central, and western districts. Today, the plan was to focus entirely on the central district. Also, unlike yesterday, we were planning to visit several shops, and after lunch, we were going to attend a theater performance.

Now that it was my second day doing this, I was getting used to it. I felt a lot more at ease. Naturally, I couldn’t ignore the bloodlust I’d sensed yesterday, so this wasn’t the time to be letting down my guard. Still, so long as nothing actually happened, there was no point in being overly cautious. As always, what will be will be.

“Alone again... Oh well.”

Much like yesterday, I boarded an empty carriage that had been prepared just for me. I couldn’t help but grumble about it as I got in.

“Tee hee. Master, want me to ride with you?” Rose asked with her usual smile.

“Rose, do your job properly,” I scolded.

“’Kaaay.”

Allusia was looking scary again. Actually...how had she heard us? Maybe it was best to keep my mumbling to a minimum. Still, doing so helped me reduce my excess tension. Staying rigid the whole time would’ve made me slow to react in an emergency. I could only pray that nothing dire happened.

“We’re departing.”

The driver got our carriage moving. The city was just as lively as yesterday. There wasn’t quite revelry on the streets, but as a whole, it was overflowing with enough energy that I could see it from inside my carriage. Even more people were out than yesterday. This was the second day, so information about the royal visit had likely gotten around. As to be expected, it wasn’t enough to block the carriages’ passage—people were still clamoring to see the prince and princess. The knights would handle the people before they got out of control, but it was still quite the crowd.

“I guess everyone is just curious...”

I didn’t feel any particular way about royalty being on the streets, but maybe that was because I was from the backcountry. Our positions were just so different that I didn’t see it as a blessing. Well, after meeting them face-to-face, I now knew about the aura they gave off, so maybe that was something to be experienced.

As such thoughts went through my mind, the carriage came to a halt. It seemed we were at one of the day’s stops. I quickly dismounted just as the chamberlains led the prince and princess out of their carriage.

“It truly is wonderful.”

“Hee hee, isn’t it?”

The two were currently looking at an ornaments shop. Much like the accessory shop from yesterday, Baltrain had many stores that handled such artistic goods. The country as a whole prospered on agriculture, but it had an abundance of artisan goods too. They weren’t magical, but the glittering decorations caught the eye. We obviously didn’t have any such shops in the countryside, so I was interested in checking them out too. The affable shopkeeper was very clearly nervous, which left quite the impression. I didn’t blame them though—even with the prior knowledge that royalty was visiting, anyone would be reduced to that state.

“Hm...?!”

And as I watched the harmonious scene play out, my body stiffened for an instant. I sensed the same gaze as yesterday. It was far stronger this time too.

“Allusia...”

“Yes? Master...do you mean?”

“Yeah. Better stay on guard.”

I passed the information to Allusia, who was standing watch at the front of the shop. I looked around. The crowd was the same as ever, and I couldn’t see anyone who might be ready to suddenly launch themselves at us. I could only sense a sharp and sticky hostility drifting our way. However, much like yesterday, the presence vanished within seconds. It was disturbing. I could only hope nothing happened.

“There was more than one...”

“You can sense it too, Allusia?”

Yes. The presence had come from more sources than yesterday. It seemed it wasn’t just an individual.

“Let’s get moving,” Allusia said.

I wondered whether we should inform Gatoga and Rose about it. As I did, the prince and princess got back into their carriages. At any rate, it really wasn’t that strange for hostile gazes to be directed at our entourage. Plenty of people surely had poor opinions of royalty. It was perfectly valid to believe that some were letting their discontent be known while remaining anonymous within the crowd.

Something about it still bugged me, but I couldn’t bring the sightseeing tour to a halt because of my hunch. For now, I just got back into my carriage. This was something I couldn’t solve by brooding over it.

The sun was sinking toward the western sky when we arrived at the theater, which was to be our last stop of the day. Several hours had passed since I’d sensed the disturbing presence. We’d stopped several times since, including to have lunch. On that note, the meal had been just as delicious as yesterday. The dishes made by top-class chefs really were on a different level. It had truly been exquisite.

“Today, we will be viewing a performance at this theater,” said the princess.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Yes, please enjoy the show.”

Descending from the carriage, the prince and princess were chatting harmoniously, their smiles as beautiful as ever. Riding a carriage on my own was pretty rough, but doing so as a fixed pair seemed equally hard to me. Had they managed to maintain the conversation the whole time?

“Hm...?”

Just as I was about to get back to escort duty, I heard a commotion. We were currently permitted to wield real swords, so we were perfectly capable of cutting people down. Naturally, we weren’t going to raise a hand against regular citizens, but it would be a different matter if we sensed the slightest hint of danger. Assuming the ones behind that gaze were finally revealing themselves, I felt tension surge through my veins.

“You there! Stop!”

My prediction seemed to be on the mark. Shadowy figures were ignoring the knights’ attempts to stop them.

They were closing in on us.

“Prince Glenn, please step back.”

Gatoga and Rose quickly secured the prince. The situation was unfolding abruptly, but nobody was panicking. The prince had Gatoga and Rose by his side, while the princess had Allusia and Henbrits. I was a small distance away from them next to my carriage. Without anyone saying a word, we’d all drawn our swords.

The men in black—three of them, from the looks of it—were making their way toward us while skillfully warding off the knights. At a glance, they didn’t appear to be armed with any dangerous weapons, but I figured they could’ve been wizards. For now, I decided to block their way with my body.

Still, something was weird. They’d gone out of their way to choose this exact time to launch an attack. It would be normal to sense clear bloodlust in the air, but I didn’t detect anything of the sort. The murderous intent I’d felt both today and yesterday wasn’t emanating from these figures in black. Indeed, the men closing in before my eyes gave off hardly any presence at all. The whiffs of them I sensed were so faint that I could almost mistake them for revelers who were charging our way in their excitement or average citizens who just so happened to be wearing black because of their personal tastes.

But if they’re coming at us, I have to stop them regardless.

“Hm?!”

And then, just as I shifted my position a little to cover the prince and princess, I finally sensed the violent emotions that I’d expected to feel from the start of this incident.

“Allusia! Rose! Above!”

These guys are decoys! The moment I yelled out, a group of figures in black jumped down from the rooftops.

“Shhh!”

The assassins’ daggers came down on us. There were five of them. I repelled a descending dagger to the side with all my might. A normal person would’ve let go of their weapon, but the figure in black used the momentum of the impact to flip in and air and land a short distance away.

This guy’s strong! I could tell how capable he was from our short exchange. This meant the assassination attempt was serious. I didn’t know who he was, but he had significant skill.

“Hah!”

The other guards fended off the four other descending blades. Allusia and Henbrits had done as I had, repelling the daggers with their longswords. Gatoga warded the blow to the side, and Rose caught a strike head-on with her kite shield. Good, looks like the prince and princess aren’t hurt. Still, we can’t take it easy.

“Your Highness! Get inside the theater!” Gatoga yelled.

“Don’t!” I shouted. “We can’t guarantee their safety in there!”

We were facing opponents who were ready to attack us in the open like this. There was no telling if there were more assassins inside.

“Strike back at them here!” I shouted. “Form a circle around the prince and princess!”

“Tch! Goddammit!” Gatoga cursed, holding his estoc at the ready.

I didn’t know how strong the two chamberlains were. It was possible that they were stronger than the assassins, but it could go the other way too. Considering all the unknowns, it was a bad idea to split up what forces we had. No, it was best to eradicate all the threats before us with certainty.

All the escorts formed a circle around the prince and princess. Shock was clearly plastered on their faces. I questioned whether the royals would even be able to run away. It looked like our only choice was to settle things with the attackers here and now.

“Hmph!”

After our brief reprieve, we started the work of repelling a rain of daggers. The guy facing me really was strong. It would’ve been nice to be able to knock his weapon out of his hand, but he knew very well how to turn with the blows. His swordplay was closer to that of an assassin than a swordsman. He was also very quick, in an altogether different way from Selna or Allusia. Unlike in training bouts, he mercilessly aimed for vital points, so a moment’s hesitation would lead to a lethal wound. Also, now that I saw his blade up close, I spotted a suspicious glimmer on the metal.

My opponent’s dagger was unnaturally wet. I hadn’t been hit yet, so it wasn’t blood. There were only a few reasons why a blade would be coated with liquid before an attack.

“Tch! It’s poison! Their blades are poisoned!” I yelled.

“Dammit!” Gatoga cursed. “What a pain in the ass!”

Man, this really sucks. I wasn’t wearing armor, so even the slightest scratch would be dangerous. The assassins were targeting royalty, so it was highly likely that the poison was a lethal one.

It’ll be pretty rough to defeat opponents of this level without getting hit at all. Well, it’s not like I have a choice. If we don’t strike them down, the prince and princess are going to die. I was appointed as a guard in this endeavor, so I have to go all out.

“You little!”

I unleashed a thrust into a gap between attacks, but my foe narrowly dodged it. I’d predicted this, but he’d evaded with even more agility than when he handled his blade. That was an assassin for you. It was going to be a lot of work to catch him. If possible, it would be nice to keep some of them alive for interrogation, but holding back could lead to death—especially considering the high likelihood that one graze was enough to kill. Winning without taking a single hit while also keeping my opponent alive... That was setting the hurdle a little too high.

It might’ve been possible to spare his life with a wooden sword, but all I had on me was a blade with a terrific edge. Perhaps I could’ve sheathed it and used it like a blunt object, but I didn’t have the time for that maneuver. Oh well, I don’t want to kill anyone, but you guys are gonna have to put up with some serious pain. I doubted that any of these assassins expected to get out of this alive anyway, especially after launching such a daring attack.

“Hah!”

I repelled a dagger thrust and used the momentum to spin on the spot. I’d definitely hit a physical plateau—I knew instinctively that I didn’t have much room left for growth. However, there was still plenty to learn about the sword. This revolving slash was one such example.

I put all my strength behind it. If you can block, go ahead and show me. As my arms swung around, I felt the clear sensation of my blade tearing through meat.

“Gyaaaaaah?!”

The assassin had maintained his silence from the very beginning, but now he was screaming in pain. He’d tried to stop my sword, but I’d cut everything clean off from his wrist down. I’d used the terrific edge of the sword made from Zeno Grable’s parts and had added the full centrifugal force of my spin behind it. A normal weapon wouldn’t be able to block such a strike. I would’ve never resorted to this if I’d been trying to capture my opponent unharmed, but this situation didn’t afford me such luxuries.

At any rate, I was done with my side of things. I looked over to see how the others were doing.

“Haaah!”

I turned as I heard a hearty roar—Henbrits was bringing down his sword with all his might. There were several scratches on his armor, but at a glance, he hadn’t taken any hits to his flesh. He didn’t have the leisure of taking prisoners either. His strike carved its way diagonally down from the enemy’s shoulder to his waist. The assassin sank to the floor in a pool of blood without even letting out a scream.

“Hmph!”

Allusia thrust her sword with all the swiftness of the Godspeed, planting it into an assassin’s shoulder. Taking a closer look, he already had stab wounds on his right thigh and left flank. Allusia was aiming precisely at nonvital points to try and take him alive. Her elegant swordplay was an exquisite technique that I couldn’t really replicate.

“G-Grrr!”

“Whoa there, you’re not getting away.”

Taking advantage of my brief distraction, the assassin I’d struck was holding down the stump of his arm and trying to escape. He was awfully lively for a man missing a hand—well, lively except for the tremendous amount of blood gushing from his body. I grabbed him as he turned on his heels. Since he was alive, I planned to stem his bleeding so that he could talk later.

“We’re done here too,” said a cheerful and slow voice.

I turned toward it. Rose was putting away her estoc, her kite shield dyed with a spray of blood. The assassin who’d attacked her was already dead with a hole in the crown of his head.

Hmm... With Rose’s skill and equipment, she should’ve been able to capture her opponent, even if not unharmed. A slightly inappropriate thought crossed my mind: perhaps she’d been nervous and that had thrown off her aim. Still, this was far better than her losing.

“Sorry, I didn’t have the chance to capture him...” Rose murmured, hanging her head as she watched me stem the flow from the captured assassin’s bleeding arm.

“It’s fine—they were strong,” I said. “There’s no helping that fact.”

These assassins were in no way small fry. It was perfectly reasonable to strike them dead to obtain victory. Maybe it’s best to praise her for winning a tough fight.

Henbrits had also killed his opponent. “It took everything I had just to win too...” he said. “I’m ashamed of my shortcomings.”

Hmm, we really should be pleased that we didn’t lose to the assassins. We protected the prince and princess, so that’s a win in itself.

“Princess Salacia, Prince Glenn, are you hurt?” Allusia asked.

“N-No. We’re fine. Thank you very much...”

Allusia was holding the assassin—the one she’d riddled with holes—down with his arm behind his back. The prince and princess hadn’t been able to react at all during the sudden attack, but they couldn’t have done anything more. Royalty was meant to be protected. It was the knight’s duty to shield them from an assassin’s blade.

However, now wasn’t the time to be enjoying a theater performance without a care in the world. We had to go over the whole schedule now. A failed assassination attempt was a solid reason to bring this whole sightseeing tour to a screeching halt.

We also couldn’t spend too much time sitting around here. The commotion from the citizens was getting out of hand. I’d been focusing on the assassins and hadn’t paid the crowd any attention during the attack, but now, I could hear some crazy screams and yelling from outside the security perimeter.

“Commander... Commander?”

Rose was calling out to Gatoga. Now that I thought of it, I wondered whether Gatoga had successfully repelled his assassin. He was still standing, so he clearly hadn’t lost, but I couldn’t see the figure in black he’d been facing. Had he let the assassin get away?

Gatoga stood there in a daze, present in body but not in mind. Rose’s words went in one ear and out the other. That was strange. I didn’t know him very well, but he didn’t seem like the kind of weakling who’d zone out because of something like this. His eyes were fixed on a single spot—an alley. The assassin had probably escaped that way.

Gatoga hadn’t given chase nor had he been struck down. He just stood frozen, estoc in one hand, eyes fixed far into the distance.

“Hinnis...?” Gatoga murmured.

I remembered hearing that name rather recently.

“Gatoga?” I called out.

“Ah!” Gatoga finally came back to his senses. “O-Oh... Sorry. He got away.”

The name he’d muttered bothered me, but now wasn’t the time to ask. For now, with everyone alive and the assassins repelled, we had to restore order.

I turned to our knight commander. “Allusia.”

“Yes, I know.”

She was accustomed to handling emergencies, so she had a proper grasp of the situation. We couldn’t just go ahead with our original schedule now. Securing the prince’s and princess’s safety was our top priority. Also, to restore order in the area, we had to get out of here as soon as possible. Allusia handed her captured assassin to another knight, then turned to the princess.

“Princess Salacia, given the situation, please return to the palace with Prince Glenn for now.”

“Yes... I understand.”

Liberis’s royal palace was the safest place in Baltrain. The order’s office was another candidate, but it was somewhat inconvenient to bring a foreign prince there. For now, it was best to go back to the palace and discuss what to do next.

“Henbrits. Take command here and restore order.”

“Ma’am!”

It seemed Henbrits was going to be staying behind to take charge while the rest of us continued our escort duty. Well, it wouldn’t make any sense to leave me behind. They needed an experienced hand here.

“Sitrus. We’ll continue guarding the prince,” Gatoga said.

“That was the plan,” Allusia responded. “Please do, Razwon.”

Gatoga was back to his usual self and seemed fired up to do something. Rose smiled like she always did. She never let her discomposure show, no matter the situation.

“We’ll return by the shortest route,” Allusia said. “Master, forgive me, but can I ask you to accompany us outside?”

“Yeah, of course.”

I couldn’t possibly kick back inside a carriage in this situation. It was a small mercy that the drivers and other civilians hadn’t been harmed—the assassins had been completely focused on their targets. There was no point to a decoy now anyway. All the skilled guards, excluding Henbrits, surrounded the carriage containing the prince and princess.

The two chamberlains were also inside the carriage. Anxiety and shock were clear on their faces. They knew how to fight, but when push came to shove, experience spoke volumes. From that point of view, they weren’t very reliable.

I waited by Allusia’s side as the carriages got moving.

“So, what was that about? Any ideas?” I asked her.

I, of course, had no clue who’d attacked us. I was dense about these things. My decades out in the sticks had seen to that fact...though that wasn’t something I was proud of.

“I can’t really say yet,” she answered.

“Yeah, guess not...”

Life would be so much easier if we were capable of making a prediction here. We really needed to secure somewhere safe where we could take our time and discuss things—hopefully as soon as possible.

Had this attack been after the prince or the princess? In other words, was this Liberis’s problem, or Sphenedyardvania’s? The assassins had been bold enough to attack our diplomatic retinue during broad daylight, so it had to have something to do with one of them. It was also possible that both royals had been targets, but that didn’t really sound right.

I didn’t know a lot in this regard, but Allusia, Gatoga, and Rose had to have some knowledge of the nations’ circumstances. If they didn’t come up with at least a conjecture, it could lead to diplomatic issues. Even I could tell that much, and I was ignorant when it came to international affairs.

Everyone was keeping an eye on their surroundings, but we all still seemed to be deep in thought. I wondered what kind of conversation the royals were having inside the carriage. Maybe the two of them were simply waiting in silence. It was possible the targets actually knew what was going on. Actually, after taking everything into consideration, that was the most likely possibility. That said, someone of my standing couldn’t just ask them, “Do you know who was trying to kill you?” Only the knight commanders would be allowed such a thing, and just barely. Not that we could discuss it out in the open like this. There was no telling who could be listening.

“I wonder what’s going to happen with the schedule...” Rose mumbled, her eyebrows drooping.

“It’ll probably all be canceled after an incident like that,” I said.

We had a few captured assassins, so the Liberion Order was going to be busy with the investigation. No one was really in a state to continue a sightseeing tour. It was a separate problem whether Prince Glenn would return to his country or stay here, but he was no longer in a situation where he could go around town without a care in the world. Regardless, that decision wasn’t going to be handled by the knights—it was up to the delegation. We were just going to be waiting for orders.

I felt a faint hope that I was going to be released from this stuffy job, but it was a bit imprudent to be thinking that. I wasn’t a knight and didn’t have tremendous loyalty to my nation, but as an upstanding citizen, I felt anxious with such trouble afoot.

After my brief conversation with Rose, we continued escorting the carriage in silence. I pondered over the attack on the way, but I didn’t possess the knowledge to come up with any answers. At most, I figured it was more likely that the princess had been the target. It would’ve been easier to target Prince Glenn before he came under the protection of the Liberion Order. I didn’t know what route the prince had taken from Sphenedyardvania to Liberis, but that time in transit would’ve been the best chance to attack. It couldn’t have been a flat and open road the whole way, so there had surely been a chance for an ambush. From that perspective, it made more sense that they’d aimed for the princess when she was out of the palace.

As long as they weren’t going out incognito, there were surprisingly few opportunities to spot any members of the royal family among the populace. As a villager in Beaden, I had obviously never seen royalty, but even after moving to Baltrain, I hadn’t seen them before this job.

However, Gatoga muttering the name Hinnis earlier bothered me. If my memory served me right, that was the Holy Order’s former lieutenant commander. If that was the case, the Holy Order, or Sphenedyardvania itself, was weathering some kind of circumstances. That much we could probably get out of the assassins we’d captured. Interrogation was going to be the fastest way to figure out what was going on.

A while passed as I walked and pondered such things. The sun was still high in the sky. It was far earlier than our original timeline for returning to the palace, but here we were, back in the northern district.

“Princess Salacia, Prince Glenn.”

Once we were at the palace gates, Allusia kept an eye on her surroundings and addressed the two in the carriage. After a short pause, the chamberlains came out cautiously—they were followed by the prince and princess. The latter was clearly frightened, while the former was doing his best to act resolute.

“Allusia, can you come with us?” asked the princess.

“Yes, of course.”

“Gatoga, I ask that you come too,” said the prince.

“Leave it to me.”

This was where we were supposed to part ways, but the prince and princess each appointed their knight commander to accompany them. I understood how they felt. After such an incident, it was only reasonable to want someone reliable by their side. The knight commanders were perfect for this role too. After all, they couldn’t allow regular citizens into the palace.

“Princess Salacia, please excuse me for a moment... Master.”

“Hm? What’s up?”

After getting permission from the princess, Allusia came over to me.

“In all likelihood, there will be a meeting shortly,” she said. “The escort mission is over, so please go back—don’t wait for me.”

“Aah, that. Got it.”

In other words, it was fine for me to go home. I considered waiting at the office, but there was no telling when Allusia or Henbrits were going to be back. I couldn’t exhaust myself for tomorrow either, so I decided to do as she said.

“Rose, you go back too. I’ll send out orders later.”

“Yup, understood.”

It seemed the Holy Order was of the same opinion. The two commanders ordered their knights to disperse and then vanished into the palace.

“Okay, then...”

I stretched under the sunlight. The day was half over, but after what’d happened, I was feeling tired. Allusia and Gatoga still had meetings to attend, but they were still young and wouldn’t tire that easily.

“I’ll excuse myself here,” said Rose.

“Yeah. Good work today.”

Considering her personality, I figured she might say something like, “We have the time now, so please show me around town,” but she wasn’t that irresponsible. The Holy Order was going to have to stay alert for quite a while. The same went for me, but her post was far more important than mine. It wasn’t really right to feel this way, but I was relieved that my title made things easy for me during times like these.

Now then, it looked like I was getting home earlier than usual. I wonder how I’m going to explain this to Mui.

With such thoughts in mind, I made my way back home.