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 3

Chapter 3: An Old Country Bumpkin Strikes Down the Hand of Evil

I was walking through the daytime streets of Baltrain. My excursion was a little unexpected, given the hour. The town was in the middle of a festival, but huge waves of commotion were still rippling through the crowd due to the recent assassination attempt. As I listened to the voices of passersby, I heard multiple people spreading mixtures of fact and fiction.

It was human nature to love rumors. Any gossip or sensational topics were sure to be hot on everyone’s tongues. After such a public uproar, there was no point trying to hush things up. There’d been far too many eyewitnesses for that.

Among the conversations I heard, some were praising the Liberion Order and seeing our efforts in a positive light. The knights’ usual behavior, which was viewed favorably by many in Baltrain, probably contributed to this rosy outlook. I also considered that the optimistic viewpoint might be the result of some grassroots movement. After all, there was no telling what would happen if you criticized the knights at a time like this.

Also, many of the conversations alluded to Allusia. That was the way it should be. She really was tremendously popular. It would be ridiculous for them to be focusing on an old man like me.

“Maybe I’ll buy something on the way home... Or not. Maybe I shouldn’t bring home a treat, given the circumstances...”

I had more free time than I’d expected, so I’d considered dropping by a shop on the way back, but the news I had to pass to Mui was pretty serious. I gave up on getting anything and decided to head straight back.

As I pondered over how to broach this topic, my feet took me home. Before I knew it, I was opening the front door. Crap, I still haven’t worked things out.

“I’m back,” I announced.

“Mm. Welcome home.”

“Yo, pardon the intrusion.”

“Hm?”

I was greeted by one familiar voice and one that shouldn’t have been there. It was weird—the tone of the second voice gave me a bad feeling. Still, I hurried to the living room. Sitting on a chair and propping her chin up on both hands was someone even smaller than Mui.

“Oh, hey, Lucy.”

This was none other than the commander of Liberis’s magic corps, Lucy Diamond. She straightened herself up as I entered and waved to me.

“What’re you doing here?” I asked.

“Can’t you guess?” she said. “The word is all over the streets.”

“News travels fast.”

She apparently had something to discuss regarding this afternoon’s attack. I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about the topic, but I couldn’t ignore it either. I sighed inwardly, then took a seat across from Lucy. Not that it really mattered, but I was glad we had enough chairs. Mui and I were normally the only ones here, so I hadn’t gotten things ready to receive guests yet.

“Hang on,” I said. “Well, it’s a little late to ask, but...”

Lucy tilted her head. “Hm? What is it?”

It wasn’t strange for the magic corps’s commander to know about the incident. However, a fundamental question about the delegation came to mind.

“Why weren’t you—or the magic corps as a whole—called in as escorts?” I asked her.

The magic corps was Liberis’s pride—a military force that rivaled the Liberion Order. There was no way they’d be overlooked during a big diplomatic affair like a delegation from Sphenedyardvania. Now wasn’t the time for the corps’s leader, Lucy, to be lounging around over here.

“Wizards aren’t suited for escort duty,” Lucy explained, scratching her head. “We specialize in extermination missions.”

“Aaah... I guess that makes sense.”

I barely managed to hold back the quip “I’m pretty sure you’re the only one who specializes in extermination.” Lucy was the only wizard I’d ever fought, but considering the nature of magic, it was likely unsuitable for the protection of others. Even during our bout, Lucy had restricted herself from using magic that covered a wider area. If she had let loose, she would’ve damaged the surrounding buildings and potentially harmed people. Wizards were liable to burn their escort targets while attempting to protect them. They were, without a doubt, strong, but their use had to be carefully considered.

“And even if you disregard that fact, the magic corps can’t really act publicly in this case,” Lucy added.

“Hm? Really? Why’s that?”

Lucy was a pure wizard, but practitioners of sword magic like Ficelle who were capable in close-quarters could definitely be used. It turned out things weren’t that simple, though.

“Why...?” Lucy asked in astonishment. “Have you already forgotten what that country believes in?”

“Oh...”

The Church of Sphene was Sphenedyardvania’s state religion. Their creed saw the miracles of Sphene—another name for magic that healed wounds and fatigue—as the greatest gift from their god. That was how Ibroy had explained it to me. In contrast, the magic corps didn’t make any distinction between miracles and magic. This meant the two didn’t really get along.

Sure sounds like a pain. Good thing his old man doesn’t have to associate with that stuff.

“Sounds like you have it rough,” I said.

“I’m used to it. We have our own ways of associating.”

“Is that how it works?”

“It is.”

It didn’t really make sense to me, but Lucy probably knew what she was talking about. I decided not to delve any deeper. It really had nothing to do with me, after all.

“Sorry to suddenly change the subject, but didn’t you say you had some business with me?” I asked. Since I’d been the one to derail the conversation, I tried getting it back on track.

“Oh, right.” Lucy clapped her hands, then cut to the chase with a deadly serious expression. “There was an incident today, yes?”

“Yeah, there sure was.”

It hadn’t happened that long ago, but Lucy already knew about it. She’d gotten wind fast enough for me to question whether she’d observed the royal sightseeing tour on a pleasure jaunt. She couldn’t possibly have that much free time, though.

“What incident?” Mui asked.

I turned to her, brow furrowed. “Oh, you don’t know about it yet?”

There had been quite an uproar because of the attack, but because we were in the middle of a festival, the town was already abuzz. She wouldn’t have been able to find out about what was going on from inside the house.

“You know how I was tagging along as an escort for the princess? Well...we were attacked.”

“Huh? Is everything okay?” Mui asked, her eyes as wide as saucers. It was an understandable reaction. I’d been pretty shocked by it too.

“Yeah. The prince and princess are both safe, at least.”

“Well, you’re super strong and all.”

“Ha ha ha.” I grinned at her. “You honor me with your praise.”

How highly did I sit in Mui’s internal rankings? I was pretty sure the only time she’d seen me wield a sword was against those Twilight bandits.

“About that...” Lucy cut in. “I was thinking of sharing some information with you.”

“Hmmm...”

Since I’d been directly involved in this incident, I felt like I knew the most about it. If there was any other information on it, it’d have to be about the circumstances behind the attack rather than the attack itself.

Dammit. I really don’t wanna hear this. Don’t drag me into international problems. I know it’s inevitable after getting as involved as I have, but still.

“The ones who launched the attack...were probably from Sphenedyardvania’s side,” Lucy said.

“Seriously?”

“I did say probably. But the information comes from a relatively reliable source.”

This was Lucy talking, so I doubted she was totally off the mark, but I was curious as to how she’d come to this conclusion.

“Mind if I ask who the source is?”

“Ibroy.”

“Aaah...”

So, that old man’s involved? Goddammit, I’ve got a horrible feeling about this now.

“Now that I think about it... Did you see Ibroy during all this?” Lucy asked.

“Hmmm...” I thought back on the events of the day. “Nope, I didn’t.”

His attire and features made him recognizable at a glance, but he’d never shown up in my daily life apart from our meetings.

“At most, I’m just a bodyguard for the princess...” I said. “That title was pretty much forced on me too.”

“I suppose that’s how things go when you have nothing to do with the government,” Lucy remarked.

“I wasn’t allowed in the palace or anything either.”

“That makes sense.” Lucy sighed.

Without access to the palace, I obviously hadn’t been present at the meeting between all the higher-ups. Allusia or Henbrits might’ve met Ibroy, but I’d only accompanied the prince and princess outside the palace.

“So, what did Ibroy say?” I asked.

“Right, according to him—”

“H-Hey, hang on a sec,” Mui said, cutting Lucy off in a panic.

I turned to her, confused. “What’s wrong?”

“Um... Should I be listening to this?”

“Oh...”

She had a point. Ibroy had already told Lucy that the information didn’t need to be fully concealed, but that didn’t mean we could spread it around willy-nilly. My new life with Mui had become such a matter of course that I hadn’t paid her presence any attention. Actually, she deserved praise for pointing it out herself. This was one of Mui’s virtues.

“How about it, Lucy?” I asked.

“Hmm... True, we can’t really allow this to spread,” Lucy said, confirming my suspicions.

“Then I’ll go outside and kill some time.” Mui stood up without being prompted to and made for the door.

“Hmmm... Sorry, Mui,” I told her. It was awkward to have such a young child be considerate of me.

“It’s fine,” Mui replied as if it was no big deal. “This is work, right?”

She really was a good girl. I mean, disregarding her pickpocketing past... But she truly had a pure heart.

“I’ll go shopping while I’m out,” Mui said.

“Sure thing.”

“Sorry, Mui,” Lucy apologized as the girl left.

Two people remained in the room: a middle-aged man and a girl who looked like a little child but was actually his senior.

“Right then, let’s cut to the chase,” Lucy said, getting us back on track.

“Mm-hmm.” I straightened my posture. This definitely wasn’t a topic I could listen to half-heartedly.

“Let’s start with a preamble,” Lucy continued. “Sphenedyardvania is currently in a bit of a civil war.”

“What?” I almost shouted in shock.

Isn’t this a little heavy right off the bat? Prince Glenn hadn’t hinted at this at all, but that made sense—it would be problematic if someone of his stature acted in a way that allowed foreigners to see his internal thoughts.

“That said, there’s no actual war going on,” Lucy corrected, stifling a yawn. “I suppose it’s more of a political power struggle.”

It really threw me off every time Lucy touched on a heavy subject in such a carefree manner. I had no idea how to react.

“A power struggle?” I asked. “Isn’t Sphenedyardvania a religious state?”

In Sphenedyardvania, the church’s top dog—probably the pope or something—sat above all others. If there was internal conflict, did that mean people had clashing interpretations of their scriptures or something?

“I don’t know the full details myself, but it seems to be a conflict between two factions: the papists and royalists,” Lucy explained. “It’s apparently been getting a lot worse lately.”

“Hmmm...”

Was this common for a nation? My world was so small that I had nothing I could compare this scenario to.

“Hang on a sec,” I interrupted. “Who’s got more power? The pope or the king?”

Lucy let out the biggest sigh of the day. “We have to start from there...?”

I was ignorant of the world—how was I supposed to know anything about politics, national affairs, and religion? It would be ridiculous for me to be able to make any predictions about those things. I didn’t even know how old Sphenedyardvania was as a nation. I didn’t need to know that stuff to live a life in Liberis.

“The pope has more authority,” Lucy explained. “However, the king holds all actual political power. It’s just that, by national creed, the king is a follower of the Church of Sphene, so he can’t ignore the pope.”

“I see...”

It was starting to feel like a history lesson. That much made sense to me. The king, or rather, the royalists, held real political power. However, as a religious state, the entire royal family had to be followers of the Church of Sphene, so the Pope had authority over them.

Hmmm, that’s pretty complicated. I’m bad at this stuff. Still, I could at least tell who would be the most bothered by a power struggle—the populace. Crap from squabbling higher-ups was sure to fall down on those beneath them.

So, getting back to current events, the royalists and papists were in conflict, and someone had just tried to assassinate the prince. In that case, the culprit was evident.

“You mean the papists are trying to weaken the royalists?” I asked.

“In all likelihood,” Lucy confirmed. “He’s the first prince, after all. That makes him the obvious heir.”

That made sense, but it still didn’t feel like enough.

“Even if they’d succeeded, wouldn’t the second prince just become the heir and leave them in the same situation?” I asked.

“The second prince... Well, His Highness Prince Falx is an especially devout follower of the Church of Sphene.”

“Hmmm...”

I was starting to get the big picture. Prince Glenn was set to be the king in the near future. That would be inconvenient for the papists. In that case, it would be preferable to murder the first prince and have the particularly devout Prince Falx take his place. That would leave the papists in a stronger position. Their ultimate goal was probably to run a puppet government with the second prince as their public figurehead.

I had no idea what direction the big shots of Sphenedyardvania wanted to take their country in. I didn’t even know about the internal affairs of Liberis. For all I knew, the citizens of Liberis could be moving toward a democracy.

Regardless, I couldn’t shut my eyes to such nefarious plots, especially if I was in a position to stop them. Something still didn’t make sense to me, though.

“But...why go out of the way to launch the attack in Liberis?”

If all they’d wanted to do was kill the prince, it would’ve been far easier to do so before he reached the Liberion Order. If they’d had to, they could’ve done it within Sphenedyardvania’s borders before any other nation could get involved at all. That would’ve worked in their favor for future diplomatic relations too.

“I’m just guessing here...” Lucy said. “Perhaps having the royal sightseeing tour canceled partway through was one of their objectives.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that the first prince is close to inheriting the crown.”

“Hmmm...”

Sphenedyardvania’s delegation was an annual event. This was my first time experiencing it, but I’d been told it was customary for a member of the royal family to accompany the delegation on their visit. Royalty basically never left their castles. No matter how many amazing assassins you hired, it would be difficult to get to them, and the core of any nation was obviously the most well-defended spot.

Considering all this, it was far simpler to cause an uproar during a major event and get it canceled than it was to murder royalty. If the assassins got lucky and pulled off the kill, then that was a bonus. If they didn’t, they were okay with simply causing an incident. From that perspective, launching an attack in the middle of the tour made sense. But if that was the case...

“If this incident isn’t enough to cancel it...there could be other attacks,” I concluded.

“That’s highly likely,” Lucy agreed.

If the papists were willing to go so far, they weren’t going to give up after one attempt. They were sure to try again. And if Lucy and I were capable of coming to this conclusion, Prince Glenn and his delegation were surely aware.

“From what I’ve heard, canceling it would be for the best,” I said.

“We’re not the ones who get to decide that, though,” Lucy said, propping her chin on her hands and resting her elbows on the table.

She was right. My advice would never move a nation. My title put me in a position with little authority to make decisions, and now that I knew all these details, having no power whatsoever made me feel anxious.

Just then, Mui came back from her outing. She had perfect timing.

“I’m home.”

“W-Welcome back,” I said, shifting my gaze her way.

“Done?” she asked.

“Yeah, we just finished up.” I glanced down at her hands. “What’s that?”

“Kebabs. A stall outside was selling them.”

“You sure do love meat.”

“Shut up.”

She’d come back with enough kebabs for everyone. Despite her youth, she’d bought some for me and Lucy without anyone even asking. Perhaps her troubled past had fostered such sensibilities within her. I was just starting to get hungry anyway, and this made for the perfect snack.

Kids who eat well and sleep well grow well.

◇

“Listen closely, everyone.”

The next day, Allusia’s dignified voice resounded through the order’s office. This was a familiar scene by now, but her voice seemed to be lacking some of the ambition or strength it usually had. I wondered why that was. By the looks of it, she wasn’t in poor health, so it was safe to assume that some kind of inevitable situation had arisen.

“I’ll get straight to the point. Prince Glenn’s royal sightseeing tour will continue as planned.”

“Huh?”

Seriously? I unintentionally made a shocked sound. The knights were also astir. After yesterday’s guard duty ended, Allusia and Gatoga were supposed to have attended a meeting. I’d gone home by then, so I had no idea what they’d actually discussed. However, we’d thought that the whole thing would most likely be canceled. How could they have possibly concluded that it was all right to continue?

“You all know what happened yesterday. Remain even more vigilant and carry out your duties.”

“Yes ma’am!”

The knights replied with the same vigor they’d had on the first day of guard duty. If their escort targets were hurt or even killed in an attack, it would be because the Liberion Order wasn’t up to the task. Their pride in the order fueled their determination—they couldn’t afford to lose to some measly assassination attempt. These emotions were clearly evident in their reassuring response, and it was a good thing that everyone saw their job as worthwhile.

So, yes, morale was high, but I could tell from the mood in the room that the knights were itching to ask the question. Everyone here was strong in a fight, but simple strength alone wasn’t enough if one wanted to be a knight. The knights of the order had good heads on their shoulders, and since they were all intelligent, it was only right for them to question why such a decision had been made.

“Move out!”

There was a slight murmuring, but Allusia’s voice restored order. The knights immediately got to work like they always did.

“Allusia,” I called out without really thinking about it.

A part of me simply wanted to know the details of the situation. Given how Lucy had explained Sphenedyardvania’s circumstances yesterday, this decision didn’t make sense.

“It was Prince Glenn’s request,” Allusia explained. “I can’t say more than that.”

“I see... Got it.”

She has no intention of elaborating. So, it was Prince Glenn who requested that the sightseeing tour continue...

I gave some thought as to why he was being so obstinate. From an outsider’s perspective, there was no reason to continue the tour after an attempt had been made on his life. Regardless of any political implications, anyone would cherish their own neck over the success of some event—especially a member of royalty.

In other words, Prince Glenn was being willfully stubborn. I wasn’t sure how Princess Salacia might’ve felt about having to go along with Prince Glenn’s request, but that didn’t really matter—it was the order’s duty to make sure that no harm came to her or any member of the royal family.

But still... Why would Prince Glenn insist on continuing the sightseeing tour? I couldn’t come up with an answer with what little knowledge I possessed.

What Lucy had told me the other day bothered me. She’d predicted that Prince Glenn would soon inherit the crown. The royal sightseeing tour was set to take place over several days, but the Liberion Order was only scheduled to serve as escorts until the second to last day—we weren’t required for the last one because the delegation wouldn’t be spending any time outside. Apparently, all the events for the day would be within the palace, but I didn’t know any details beyond that.

Knowing this, it was clear that they were going to be concluding the visit by attending to some kind of political matter. This was consistent with Lucy’s prediction, and it also explained why Prince Glenn was forcing everyone to continue. I couldn’t think of any other explanation. It couldn’t possibly be because he wanted to look good in front of Princess Salacia—if that were the case, someone would’ve stopped him, and he didn’t seem like that kind of imbecile to me. He was still young, but he looked like the kind of man who knew how to properly consider his surroundings.

So, if his motivation wasn’t personal, then he’d made his choice with international matters in mind. Yup, I hate it. I was going to accomplish the duty that I’d been entrusted with, but I still didn’t understand what went through the higher-ups’ heads. If I’d been from Sphenedyardvania’s delegation, I would’ve run back to my own country with my tail between my legs. Anyone would prioritize their own life. There was no point in taking risks when you knew someone was after you.

Wait, hang on a sec. If Lucy and I were right, Prince Glenn would still be targeted in his own nation. Did that mean it was relatively safer to have the Liberion Order around to guard him? Hmmm, that still doesn’t sound right. My train of thought was predicated on Prince Glenn being the target. It would be a different story if Princess Salacia was the target and the prince was still pushing for the sightseeing tour.

Nope. I just don’t get it. I can’t figure out what’s what. I’m not smart enough for this. Let’s just focus on carrying out the orders given to me.

“Master?” Allusia asked. Her voice brought me back from my random musings.

“Oh, sorry. I was just lost in thought.”

It was a bad habit of mine to lose myself in contemplation. Nothing is really gonna change if this old man thinks things through. Time to get to work.

“Now then, what’ll happen today?” I muttered.

“It would be ideal if nothing happened,” Allusia said. “Even if something does, we must put a stop to it.”

“You’re exactly right.”

After an incident like that, it would be wonderful if we could see this royal sightseeing tour to its end without further trouble. We couldn’t hope for more than that. But if something did happen, it would be up to us to deal with it. And according to our predictions, it was extremely likely that trouble would find us.

◇

“I’d rather not get dragged into another headache,” I murmured, my voice vanishing into the clear skies.

Completely ignoring the political turmoil, it was a nice day—the weather was as great as ever, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The sun was pouring down on us splendidly. It would’ve been perfect if nothing had been going on.

“I’ll be in your care again today,” said Princess Salacia.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

We were now in front of the palace. Like yesterday, we greeted Princess Salacia and Prince Glenn. However, in contrast to yesterday, their expressions were somewhat gloomier. They weren’t stupid enough to smile without a care in the world when they knew someone was after their lives. Frankly, I still thought they could’ve trashed the entire schedule if they were scared.

“Gardinant.”

“Hm? Aah, Gatoga.”

Starting today, I would be joining the others outside. This wasn’t the time to kick back and relax in a carriage. I’d been musing inappropriately about how walking was better for my health when Gatoga addressed me. His expression was considerably different today too—much worse than the prince’s and princess’s.

“I need your ear for a second,” he said.

“Hm?”

He lowered his voice, trying not to be overheard. If that’s his intent, he could’ve picked a better place for this. That said, we had nowhere else to talk.

“I’m just guessing,” he began hesitantly, “but yesterday’s assailant was probably my former buddy.”

“Hmm. You mean Hinnis?”

“That’s right. The man who served as my lieutenant before Rose.”

After overhearing his muttering yesterday, this conclusion was in line with my expectations. But what was going on with the world for the former lieutenant commander of the Holy Order to be under suspicion of an attempted assassination? There wasn’t much point in questioning Gatoga about it now, though. In a sense, knowing the culprit’s name didn’t really help with our security detail.

“If he shows up, I’ll accept responsibility and take him down,” Gatoga said. “I just thought I should tell you.”

“Understood.”

His stance probably had to do with a knight’s pride and public recognition. These things had nothing to do with me, but I could understand what he was getting at.

“Does Allusia know this too?” I asked.

“Yeah, she does. We talked yesterday.”

Well, if she already knew, then it wasn’t my place to interfere. The two knight commanders were in agreement, so I simply had to go along with their plan. And I did understand his desire to clean up his old subordinate’s mess with his own hands.

As we finished talking, Prince Glenn and Princess Salacia boarded their carriage. We were now ready to depart. I wasn’t quite sure of Gatoga’s circumstances, but I couldn’t let my guard down either. There was no way to tell where a potential attacker could come flying in from.

Time to get to work.

◇

“Good work today, Allusia.”

“You too, Master.”

The sun had started to set. We’d been guarding the prince and princess for a few days now with no problems, and after today’s uneventful conclusion, we were back in the order’s office. After thanking everyone for their work, it was just about time for us to call it a day.

“Anyway... It was awfully quiet again today.”

“Yes, eerily so,” Allusia agreed.

Yet again, nothing out of the ordinary had taken place. That was a good thing, but considering the attack on the second day, it was also somewhat mysterious. Absolutely nothing had happened—I hadn’t even sensed any disturbing gazes. Despite the initial incident, the royal sightseeing was still a huge event, so there’d been a ton of curious onlookers. However, even among those crowds, I hadn’t noticed even the slightest hint of malice like I’d encountered on that first day. This was a shock to me and all the knights. It was almost anticlimactic. We’d honestly been spending the last few days questioning what the purpose of the attack had even been.

“Well, I guess an uneventful day is the best outcome...” I said.

We all obviously preferred a calm day over one marked by an assassination attempt on royalty. However, after being attacked once, the likelihood of another incident was so high that we couldn’t help but feel let down by the past few days of nothingness.

On a side note, everyone had been on their guard ever since that second day, but none as much as Gatoga. He’d spent the days glaring in every direction. That, combined with his looks, had been seriously intimidating. I could almost be convinced that nobody had attacked us because of Gatoga’s fierce countenance. In contrast, Rose had acted like always—smiling and carefree. Well, that was who she was by nature, so I knew she wasn’t slacking off or anything.

“To think we didn’t get any worthwhile information...” I muttered.

Allusia’s expression darkened a little. “I can’t deny that we were somewhat negligent, but for us to get so little...”

Our conversation was in reference to our current captives—the men we’d taken in alive after the assassination attempt. Much like in Reveos’s case, they’d been locked up in the order’s basement. We’d expected to extract information about why they were targeting royalty, what their objectives were, and their backgrounds. However, every single captive had committed suicide at almost the same time.

This had been quite a shock for the order. From what I’d heard afterward, they hadn’t got any information whatsoever, leaving the entire incident shrouded in darkness. So, without any clue as to what their objective was, we’d had no choice but to put even more effort into protecting the ongoing royal sightseeing tour. We did consider the possibility that the attackers from the other day made up their entire force. But either way, Gatoga had let one go, so we couldn’t be careless.

There was only one more day left of the royal sightseeing tour, so a part of me felt relieved that I was going to be released from all this tension soon.

“Tomorrow’s the last day for us, huh?”

“Yes. There will be no guards on the final day of the delegation’s visit,” Allusia confirmed.

It was strange for nothing to have happened during these last few days—if anything was going to go down, it would have to be tomorrow. We would all prefer it if there was no conflict, but I sincerely doubted that they’d give up after launching themselves at us with such bloodlust and determination.

Well, there was no point brooding over things any more than I already had. Whether something happened or not, it wasn’t my choice—I didn’t really need to worry myself over all the details. I just had to deal with whatever came at us. A quiet day would be worth celebrating.

“Okay, guess I’ll go home,” I said.

“Very well. Thank you for your hard work.”

The reports each squad had turned in for the day hadn’t noted any problems, so there wasn’t much else to talk about. At most, that accessory shop Prince Glenn had visited on the first day was still prospering, so security around it had to be maintained. All that was left now was to go home, have dinner, and sleep.

Well, there was one other thing—I had the important mission of asking Mui about her day. I had to find out whether anything about her school life was lacking or disappointing. Mui was still shy, so she wasn’t the type to open up about that stuff, but I was patiently working at developing that line of communication. It was fun in its own way. I was used to handling children from my days at the dojo, so I was hoping to slowly close the distance between us.

I stepped out of the order’s office and found that Baltrain’s central district was as noisy as ever—in a good way. The festival was still ongoing, so it was lively from morning to night. Things had gotten boisterous on the day of the attack, but that negative uproar had settled down over the last few peaceful days.

I prayed for an uneventful tomorrow and made my way back home.

“I’ll be in your care again today.”

“Your Highness.”

The following day, we were once again greeting Prince Glenn and Princess Salacia in front of the palace. It was nice to see their expressions looking somewhat brighter. The incident had been a shock at first, but it seemed the effects had faded little by little.

By contrast, the members of the Holy Order didn’t look great, especially Gatoga. One of their own was suspected of being the assassin, so they hadn’t had time to relax. The Holy Order’s knights had plenty of muscle and stamina, but their fatigue was apparent.

“Gatoga, you doing all right?” I asked.

“Hm...? Yeah, not a problem,” he replied reassuringly. “Just a few days left. I’ll weather it.”

His tone did nothing to assuage my concerns. Unlike the Liberion Order, the Holy Order’s mission wasn’t ending today. Even after the prince’s sightseeing tour was over, they still had to escort him back to Sphenedyardvania. If anything, the long road home posed far more of a risk than being in the city with the Liberion Order. Just maybe, the ones who’d attacked us the other day had given up on attacking Prince Glenn in Baltrain—perhaps they were waiting for his return trip. But if Princess Salacia were the target, the possibility of an attack on either of them would drop drastically after today.

“We’re departing.”

Now, could we get through the last day safely? As I pondered this question, the carriage’s driver informed us that we were moving. Today’s schedule would take us all the way to the southern district to get a look at Baltrain’s great agricultural lands. This wasn’t a flashy destination, but agriculture was what supported an entire nation. Liberis was particularly blessed in this regard, so it was a significant thing for Sphenedyardvania to witness...probably. Countries differed in climate and landmass, and I wasn’t sure how much Liberis’s agricultural planning could be used as a reference.

Ah, there’s no point in me picking at the royal sightseeing plan...

“Wow... It’s so vast and beautiful,” remarked Prince Glenn.

“Hee hee, isn’t it?” The princess smiled. “This agricultural region is Liberis’s pride and joy.”

Now in Baltrain’s southern district, everything was green, green, and green as far as the eye could see. Lines of fields stretched so far into the distance that I wondered if they continued over the horizon.

“What a view,” the prince murmured.

This was my first time in the southern district too. Everything about it was different from Beaden. It would be absurd to compare the cozy fields we had at home to the enormous plots of developed land supporting the capital city. I agreed with Prince Glenn entirely. It was beautiful—pastoral enough for me to think it would be a great place for a picnic. Beaden had its own charms, but it felt more elegant to gaze at the vast fields of this huge city. If not for the current situation, I would’ve been thoroughly pleased.

However, I couldn’t drop my guard. Unlike the central and western districts, there were no tall buildings around. And all the crops meant that there were a ton of blind spots. The fields sprawled out widely, so we had to keep an eye out in every direction. Even though we’d stationed knights to form an outer perimeter, there was no guessing where an assassin could be hiding.

I hadn’t sensed anything suspicious yet. Still, if there was going to be an attack, it was going to happen when the prince and princess were outside of their carriage like this. Considering today’s schedule, now was the only opportunity. Nothing else was planned except a return trip to the palace.

Just as I was shifting my attention from the scenery back to my immediate surroundings, I heard a shout.

“Who’s there?!”

Gatoga had suddenly yelled out, tension clear in his voice. At the same time, a thicket in the fields rustled and swayed.

Suddenly...

A tiny rabbit with fluffy white fur leaped out. Perhaps surprised by Gatoga’s voice, it bounced away and buried itself into the thicket again.

“It’s...a rabbit,” I said.

“Sorry...”

Gatoga’s awkward look left quite the impression. He’d been so wary of his surroundings—his response was only natural.

Princess Salacia giggled at the sight. “Hee hee hee.”

The tension in the air vanished, ushering in a lighter atmosphere. This feeling was transmitted to the knights too—quiet laughs came from guards all around us. Well, this feels better than everyone being stiff with tension. Loosening the shoulders a little meant that they could take swifter action in the event of an attack. Besides, as far as I could tell, there were no threats in the area. Most of the buildings here were small, so we didn’t have to pay much attention to the space above us.

“Shall we head back?” asked the princess.

Prince Glenn nodded. “Yes, I’ve enjoyed this sight greatly.”

Satisfied with their visit to the agricultural zone, the prince and princess turned on their heels to head back to their carriage. The carriage hadn’t been able to bring them all the way into the field, so they needed to walk a little way to get back.

“Wait! Stop right... Ugh?!”

Suddenly, as we were making our way to the carriage, one of the knights on the periphery roared. The prince and princess jolted. It seemed the other day’s incident had developed into a slight trauma for them.

“Haaah...”

So, it’s happening. It’s really happening. I figured it would, but still...

I sighed and turned to see several figures in black breaking through the knights’ outer perimeter. They were dressed the same as last time, which ensured that they couldn’t be identified at a glance. However, it wasn’t an ambush this time. We were ready for it, and they couldn’t descend on us from the rooftops.

If these assailants were of the same skill level as the ones from the other day, we could drive them back. I drew my sword—made out of the sturdy materials from Zeno Grable—and held it at the ready.

All right, time to do some work. Let’s take it carefully and fulfill our role.

The assassins forced their way past the circle of knights. There were more of them than last time. Was this because there was nowhere for us to hide? Or were they trying to secure an overwhelming victory after their earlier defeat? It looked like more and more of them were pushing through.

Hang on! Do your damn jobs out there! Why are so many of them getting through?! This wasn’t just a handful of assassins—enough were pouring in to surround us if we weren’t careful.

“Hmph!”

“Gah!”

I cut down the first man in black to burst through the perimeter. Unfortunately for him, there were too many of them for me to hold anything back. A certain thought crossed my mind as I easily tore through his flesh.

These guys are way weaker than the last batch. They had the advantage of numbers, but the individual assailants were far less skilled compared to the previous attempt. Not all of them were necessarily small fry, but the men involved in the first attack had been considerably harder to take down. Perhaps our foes hadn’t been able to secure quality this time and were instead relying on quantity. That would be a welcome miscalculation on their part...but I questioned whether that was the case.

“Prince Glenn! Princess Salacia! Keep your heads down!” I yelled.

“R-Right!”

It would be hard for us to evacuate, but there was also nowhere to hide. Thus, it was best for them to stay low and try not to catch a stray hit. In such an open space, even a single projectile could prove fatal. Last time there had been a melee in the middle of town, which had been troublesome in its own way, but relatively easygoing. It’d been nice not needing to worry about anything beyond my reach.

But this time, we were dealing with a huge open space. This, combined with cover, made it very difficult to protect our VIPs. It won’t be a problem if our opponents are armed only with blades, but any archers will be pretty hard to handle. We had to keep an eye out for such possibilities, so we couldn’t step away from the prince and princess.

Having come to the same conclusion, Allusia and Henbrits also hardened our defensive circle around the prince and princess. However, we couldn’t quite form an airtight wall because in order to effectively tackle our assailants, we had to take the fight a small distance away from the royals.

This situation was looking pretty good for the attacking side, and it was a serious pain in the ass for us.

“Whoa there!” I yelled, reflexively knocking down a whistling projectile.

Goddammit! They actually brought archers! Fortunately, they weren’t great shots, but it was pretty bad that they had a means of attacking from a distance. This made things exponentially more difficult.

“Ugh! They have archers! Be careful of arrows!” Gatoga yelled, coming to the same realization.

Knowing of this danger didn’t make things much better. It was pretty unreasonable to physically knock every single arrow out of the air. If we didn’t deal with the archers soon, it was entirely possible for an arrow to slip by our guard and pierce the prince or princess.

“Hinnis can use both a sword and bow!” bellowed Gatoga. “That bastard!”

Apparently, the former lieutenant commander also excelled with a bow. In that case, he was likely commanding the archers. He’d been forced to escape during his fight with Gatoga the other day, so perhaps he’d deemed himself at a disadvantage in close combat.

“Gatoga!” I shouted.

“What?!”

At this rate, our situation was going to deteriorate. With assassins pouring down on us like an avalanche and archers added to the mix, we would soon reach our limit. Our guard detail was a gathering of elites, but we only had so much stamina and willpower.

“Go take down the archers!” I yelled. “We can take care of things here!”

“Fuck!”

One of the flying arrows plunged into the back of a black-clad figure, sending him tumbling to the ground. These guys aren’t even bothering to distinguish friend from foe. They’re just saturating the area with arrows and hoping for a lucky hit.

Things were looking bad for us. We were just barely holding back the tide of incoming assassins. We needed to either move somewhere else or take down the archers before they could correct their aim. If we didn’t, the prince and princess were going to get hit.

“Fine! I’ll leave this to you!” Gatoga shouted.

Judging that there was no time to wait, Gatoga roared and charged into the front line. This was for the better—he had Hinnis to deal with. Even if such personal reasons weren’t at play, this deadlock was never going to break without someone diving directly into the fray.

Now, we just had to believe in Gatoga’s skills—I could only trust in his title as knight commander of the Holy Order. We couldn’t split up our forces any more than this. If we did, the prince and princess would die. It was up to Allusia, Henbrits, and I to protect the royals. There was more than enough skill between the three of us, but we lacked numbers.

Not that we have any choice but to hang in there! Huh? Wait, where’s Rose? Where’d she go?

She’d been close by when Prince Glenn and Princess Salacia had been enjoying the view, but without anyone noticing, she’d left the group. She was a serious person at heart, so I doubted she’d abandoned her duty at the eleventh hour.

“Ah.”

Found her. She was stationed near the front of our group, facing the assassins as a vanguard. Well, there was a limit to what we could accomplish by simply surrounding the royals. Considering the space we needed to fight, now wasn’t the time to drag things into a hectic melee. In that sense, her judgment wasn’t wrong...as long as she could properly hold back the assassins, that is.

“Hah!”

“Ugh...!”

I gutted another assassin who’d gotten past Rose. She was one of the pupils who’d attended my dojo, even if only for a short time, so I knew her abilities very well. Her style focused on defense and counterattacking, so she was suited to exactly this type of defensive battle. Rose’s techniques would never fall behind against these lowly assassins, even in a many-against-one situation. She’d even finished off the skilled assassin during the last attack.

So, how are such weak opponents—ones I can easily cut down—slipping by her?

“Take this!”

Another down. I repelled the incoming shortsword and slashed him from shoulder to waist on the return stroke. The man in black collapsed in a pool of blood without even a groan.

Yeah... It was weird for so many of these assassins to be getting past the knights’ perimeter. I could understand the assailants from the other day doing so—even from the perspective of a trained swordsman, they’d possessed considerable skill. What was more, they’d jumped from the rooftops where no guards had been stationed and attacked us directly.

However, these guys were different. They were leagues below the skilled attackers from the other day. The only advantage they had was their numbers.

Only four people were protecting the royals up close—well, without Rose, three—but knights of both the Liberion Order and the Holy Order were supposed to be all around us. There was no way the Liberion Order would do such a shoddy job. It was preposterous for a knight to refuse to put their body on the line to hold back such insolent assassins. If any of the knights were like that, Allusia or Henbrits would’ve had their eyes on them long ago. Such members would’ve been expelled.

“Ugh... There’s so many of them!” Allusia muttered as she took down an incoming assassin with a single thrust.

Now really wasn’t the time to try to take anyone alive. If we spent the extra effort to capture one, the next assassin could be at our throats. We had to deal with them as quickly as possible.

“What’s the defensive perimeter doing?!” Henbrits roared.

His complaint was reasonable. A few assassins getting through would be one thing, but this was sheer negligence on the part of the perimeter—such an onslaught of poorly trained ruffians should’ve never been able to force their way through.

One idea came to mind: the Holy Order.

They were letting the assassins through. They were yielding the way.

There were so many assassins that it seemed natural to assume so. Against my will, I was reminded of the incident with Reveos and my conversation with Lucy. The royalist and papist factions were feuding in Sphenedyardvania. Naturally, that had to have trickled down into the Holy Order.

Say this series of events was the papists at work. Someone who’d obtained the title of lieutenant commander in the Holy Order had risen in revolt. It wouldn’t be strange for him to have troops hiding within the Holy Order to assist with Prince Glenn’s murder.

Also, if Rose is one among them...it all makes sense.

“Hup!”

I struck down a suspicious glimmer that caught the sunlight as it flew toward me. A throwing dagger. Judging that close combat was going poorly, they were resorting to throwing weapons too. If I’d been a second late, that dagger would be sticking out of the prince or princess by now. Thanks to Gatoga, no arrows were flying in anymore, but we weren’t going to get anywhere at this rate.

They couldn’t have infinite personnel. Eventually, this offensive would slow down. However, it was somewhat dubious whether the three of us would be able to endure until then. I was pretty sure we would be ultimately victorious, but could Prince Glenn and Princess Salacia get out of this unharmed?

“Allusia!” I yelled as I repelled more incoming daggers.

“What is it?!”

This was a lousy bet, but it was better than getting surrounded here. Besides, even if we couldn’t trust the Holy Order, we could trust our own knights. If my trust was unfounded, this whole mission was bound to fail no matter what we did.

“Take the prince and princess and run to the knights of the Liberion Order! I’ll take over here!”

“What?! But—”

“Just do it! We’ll get surrounded at this rate! We have to break out somewhere!”

If we got surrounded on all sides by assassins and flying daggers, I didn’t see a future where things would take a turn for victory. It was better to gather the Liberion Order knights who were spread out along the perimeter, form a group we could trust, and take our VIPs all the way back to the palace.

“Prince Glenn! Princess Salacia! Please follow Allusia and Henbrits! Don’t forget to keep your heads down!”

“U-Understood!”

This was do or die, but the two royals nodded back at me. It would be problematic if they lost their nerve here, so I needed them to muster their courage and get moving.

“Ugh... Henbrits, we’re moving!” shouted Allusia.

“Ma’am!”

Accepting my proposal, Allusia and Henbrits started moving away from me. They didn’t have the time to get on the carriage. A carriage wasn’t a fast mode of transport anyway—someone could easily overtake one on foot. So, the only choice was to run while linking up with the knights of the Liberion Order. This was going to push the prince and princess, but they had to put up with it if they wanted to survive.

“Hah!”

“Guh...!”

Now that I had nobody to protect, I could finally move as I wanted. Nothing else was weighing down my mind, so I didn’t intend to be forced into a hard fight.

Sorry, I don’t have the time to consider sparing any villains today. I’ll be cutting you all down.

“Hmph!”

I couldn’t let any assassins get past me, so I was basically reduced to something akin to a mad swordsman who was testing his new blade by cutting down all passersby indiscriminately. It made me feel like the bad guy. Well, they’re definitely the actual bad guys, but still...

I continued swinging my sword all over the place. A short while later, the agricultural zone had transformed into a hell of blood and gore.

“Phew...”

The human tidal wave had finally come to a stop. I took a breath and wondered whether the prince and princess had gotten away. I couldn’t know—I’d just have to trust in Allusia and Henbrits’s skill. I had no idea how many people I’d killed, just that I’d faced a ridiculous number of assassins. I was astonished that my blade hadn’t lost its cutting edge after slashing so many people. A normal longsword would’ve probably broken.

“Now, we can finally talk.” I turned to the knight in full plate who stood before me.

She didn’t move. Even after Prince Glenn and Princess Salacia had escaped, she’d kept up appearances. However, considering her abilities, I’d noticed the abnormality immediately. It was basically guaranteed now, but I didn’t have enough information to understand her true motives.

“How ’bout you tell me your reasons for this, Rose?”

As expected, Rose smiled like she always did.

“You really are strong, Master.”

She spoke with carefree ease—almost like she was out on a stroll. The scenery around us was far from tranquil, though. The new clothes I’d bought for this occasion were in a horrible state thanks to all the blood splatter. I wondered whether laundering them would even get it all out.

“Well, against opponents of this level, I suppose I am.”

Even the likes of me had managed against such numbers without difficulty. Their skill was pitiful—they really had only focused on quantity. As I spoke, I flicked the blood off my sword. I feel like my blade is a little too sharp to turn against a familiar face. It’s not guaranteed that this will end in a fight...but I have a bad premonition.

“Why did you let the assassins through?”

That was the first question out of my mouth. But what did I hope to gain by asking? Did I want Rose to deny it? Circumstantial evidence had already made the truth very clear.

“Tee hee, what are you talking about? I fought properly.”

Rose’s attitude remained unwavering. She maintained her usual smile. Still, I doubted that she truly believed her excuse would work. She had a carefree personality, but she wasn’t stupid or anything. Rose’s splendid armor was solemn and beautiful, befitting of her status as the lieutenant commander of the Holy Order—and there wasn’t a single dent or drop of blood on it. This, above all else, was proof that she hadn’t fought seriously.

“Even though your armor is untouched and perfectly clean?”

She blinked in confusion and then looked down. It was like she’d only realized that fact after I’d pointed it out.

“Oh, I sent it all flying away with my shield,” she replied childishly.

“I see.”

I thought things over. To reiterate, Rose had a carefree personality, but she wasn’t stupid. In fact, she was smarter than average, and she was also good at observing people. If she’d been deficient in any of these respects, she wouldn’t have risen to the rank of lieutenant commander in the first place.

And yet here she was, making a string of poor excuses despite the obvious truth. Anyone would be able to tell that she hadn’t been taking her guard duty seriously. Was she being withholding because she couldn’t tell anyone her reasoning? Or was it because she didn’t want to tell me specifically? Was it selfish to want to know her true motive?

“Well, despite using your shield, you let a whole lot of them past you,” I said.

“I just happened to have a bad day. I’m sure you have them sometimes too.”

Rose had her estoc drawn, but this too was perfectly clean—there wasn’t a drop of blood on it. In other words, she hadn’t seriously taken on any of the assassins.

I wasn’t getting anywhere with this line of questioning, so I brought up the information Lucy had given me.

“Will it be that bad for you if Prince Glenn inherits the crown?”

Rose’s smile vanished suddenly.

“I see that you’re not only strong, but well-informed,” she said.

“Well, I just so happened to learn that through hearsay.”

I didn’t know exactly what was going on in Sphenedyardvania, and I had no idea whether the royalists or papists were right. Frankly, I didn’t even know what each side stood for. Maybe (just maybe) the papists had a great cause that I knew nothing about. However, even taking that into consideration, I couldn’t shut my eyes to a brazen attempt on the prince’s life.

“I figured they weren’t going to be enough to get past you...” Rose murmured. Her expression changed, perhaps because she’d decided that playing dumb wasn’t going to get her anywhere.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

My opponents hadn’t had anything going for them except numbers. Also, Allusia and Henbrits had been guarding the prince and princess, so I’d had nothing to worry about on that front. Given those factors, I wasn’t senile enough to lose against ruffians like the ones who’d attacked us today. However, there was no telling what would’ve happened if we’d been ambushed by skilled assassins like we had been the first time.

“Master...”

“Hm?”

Rose’s tone was a little different now.

“If your homeland found itself in a dilemma, what would you do?” she asked.

That was a difficult question for an old man from the sticks. I knew nothing about politics. Even if I was in a position to become a king or some kind of ruler, I had no confidence whatsoever that I’d be able to manage a nation.

“I’m just an old country bumpkin...” I answered. “Politics don’t make sense to me.”

This question was likely what had Rose at a loss. So, even if my opinion was completely offbeat, I had to present it as her instructor.

“First...shouldn’t you ask the populace what’s bothering them?” I asked.

That was just the first thing that came to mind. After learning about the problems that citizens were facing, leaders could think of solutions and clear the issues one by one. That was about all I could come up with.

“Yup, maybe that’s what a good statesman would do.” Rose’s smile vanished once more. “However, what if the statesmen are ignoring the populace and fighting among themselves? What if the nation is impoverished by years of power struggles? If the country is continuously deteriorating? What if there is an imminent need to purify the heart of the state as soon as possible? If all the higher-ups are only thinking about who gets to sit on the throne and are squabbling over it like rats...? What would you do, Master?”

Her expression was filled with anguish.

“I wonder... As you know, I’m not particularly clever,” I told her.

In all likelihood, my words weren’t going to be enough. I wouldn’t get her to open her heart to me—not in her current state. A terrible resolve was hidden behind her smile, and that was what had led to this situation.

Just as Lucy had predicted, the papists were trying to solve things by murdering the prince. There was no guarantee that this would bring order to the country, but perhaps some people were claiming that it was better to have a sudden fall than to let things gradually deteriorate. Rose apparently agreed with that proposal. I had no way of knowing how much anguish and conflict she’d gone through to reach this conclusion, though I doubted that she’d made her decision lightly. Her tortured, conflicted expression spoke volumes.

Even if this was a conclusion she reached after worrying, and worrying, and worrying some more—

“All of that may be true...but you’re still my former pupil, and I can’t look away when you’re marching off the proper path.”

—there’s no way I can just watch her pull off a coup d’état.

“I see... You really are a good person, Master.”

Rose was smiling again, but if I wasn’t imagining things, she looked like a child who was desperately keeping herself from crying.

“I think you’re one of those ‘good people’ too,” I said.

“Hee hee. I wonder about that.”

Back at the dojo, Rose had looked after and worried about the smaller children all the time. She’d been very good at taking care of others in an entirely different way than Allusia. The dojo had taught a lot of children, so Rose had really been like a big sister to all of them. My pupils at the time had seemed to adore her.

“I was under the impression that I taught you how to use a sword to protect others,” I chided.

This wasn’t a matter of swordplay or a school style. This was a matter of spirit. A sword was a weapon—it existed to kill others. I’d just killed a ton of people myself, and I had no intention of claiming that my sword was free of blood. However, I was never going to misplace my reasons for wielding a sword. A certain level of strength had to be accompanied by an even higher level of responsibility. That was the kind of swordsmanship I taught.

“This, too, is a sword meant to protect a great many people,” Rose insisted. It seemed the answer she’d derived from her time at my dojo was somewhat different from what I’d expected. “Blood will flow. Many people will surely die. But this is salvation.”

“You’ve got it wrong, Rose.”

As mentioned, I knew nothing about politics. I wasn’t interested, frankly. As long as my sword, my pupils’ swords, and all those in my narrow surroundings were happy, I was fine. But even as ignorant as I was, I did understand one thing.

“A true revolution can’t be built on a mountain of blood.”

An assassin’s dagger would always leave a grudge. I endeavored to choose when and where to wield my sword to avoid such things. A master swordsman would be no more than a murderer otherwise.

“Something else is bothering me,” I said.

“And what’s that?”

Rose was trying to achieve some form of salvation, and she’d even gone as far as committing inhuman acts. The specifics of this—and the circumstances of her country that had led her to such a decision—worried me, but I had something even more concerning on my mind.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Like I said, I’m distressed over the current state of—”

I cut her off. “No, I mean after that.”

I understood that she was upset over the state of her country. I could even understand that this assassination attempt on the heir to the throne was a means to resolving things, though I didn’t agree with her methods.

However, I didn’t understand what came after. Say they succeeded in assassinating Prince Glenn, and the papists grasped full control over the nation. What next? Maybe Rose would be uplifted as the knight of salvation. Maybe she would obtain far more authority than she currently possessed. Or maybe she would be executed as the rebel who’d caused so much bloodshed.

“What encouraged you to take things this far?” I asked. “Do you want power as the knight who brought salvation? Or is it a simple matter of committing massacres? None of those reasons seem like they fit your motivation.”

I couldn’t imagine the future that would follow in the wake of her actions. It was admirable to have a great cause to fight for—I didn’t really have anything of the sort. In some instances, it was wonderful to strive for one’s own knightly ideals, even if it meant resorting to any means necessary. Even so...

“Rose, I believe it’s splendid to have a cause as grand as salvation. But that’s only a means—it’s not the objective. What happiness are you trying to find by saving your country?”

What was beyond this great cause? Frankly, I couldn’t see Rose being happy in that future. Perhaps she sought to die as a loyal knight in the line of duty—but she wasn’t really that type of person. This was my opinion, but I strongly believed it to be true, and she’d reinforced this idea during our conversation the other day. Even joining the Holy Order had seemed like a choice she’d made only because Gatoga had told her to.

“Master... Will you hear me out?” she asked, hesitation clear in her voice.

“Of course.”

“You see...I love children.”

“Yeah, I know.”

I’d learned of Rose’s fondness for children during her days at the dojo. She was a mother hen who was good at looking after others. There had to be no small number of children who’d been saved by her devotion to taking care of people.

“Children are dying of starvation and cold every day in Sphenedyardvania,” she said.

“I see...”

To save all of its citizens—that was the ideal for any nation. But that ideal was no more than a pipe dream. Even I knew it wasn’t realistic. No matter what was done, there were those who fell out of the nation’s protective umbrella. Mui was one such example.

Rose held my gaze. “His Holiness told me that if control of the nation is turned over to him, he will establish order and people will be freed from suffering. He told me that no more children will die before my eyes.”

“And you believe that?”

It was simple to conclude that she was being used as a tool. However, pointing that out now wouldn’t be enough to stop Rose. It looked like she knew full well that this was the case.

“What else can I believe in?” Rose asked. “I’m faithful to the Church of Sphene.”

“There should be a way forward without bloodshed. You could’ve seized power to that end.”

What she was trying to accomplish was too rushed. Changing a nation wasn’t so simple—one needed a good amount of time to carry out a plan. Even if this civil war was stopped temporarily through force, true peace would still be far in the future.

And that peace will only be possible if the person who comes out on top after the war is virtuous. I doubt that anyone who could come up with this assassination plan will be able to form a fair and just government.

“Unless we do something drastic, we won’t make it in time...” Rose said with a smile. “We can’t sit back and take it easy. Even as we speak, the disparity of wealth in Sphenedyardvania is just getting worse. More and more people are dying.”

“So you’ll overthrow the royalists and force the entire system to change?”

“Yup.”

There were so many holes in her logic. Even I could see that, so Rose had to have noticed already. She’d probably worried and anguished over this before coming to her bitter conclusion.

“Even I can tell that your plan is nothing more than a dream,” I said. “How are you going to look after children with such bloody hands? I still believe you’re making a mistake.”

Despite her determination, I held my resolve. She was wrong, and she needed to know.

“But...” Rose started to speak, but she cut herself off. “No. I suppose there’s no point.”

“I’ll hear the rest in a more appropriate place,” I said, taking a step closer.

She faced me, not even trying to flee. She simply held her estoc and kite shield in a listless combat stance.

“Tee hee. And what if I say I don’t want to go anywhere with you?”

Her expression vanished for a moment but was back to normal in the next instant. She spoke in a cheerful voice with her usual smile.

“Sorry, but there’s no other way,” I said.

I held my sword at the ready. If she wasn’t going to stop after all this, it meant that talking was just a waste of time. Rose wasn’t going to change of her own volition. In that case, there was no choice but to stop her madness myself.

My sword made from Zeno Grable’s materials still retained its red brilliance under the sun, even after all the dull blood that had soaked it.

I’m going to cut down a former pupil. If I could avoid it, I didn’t want to resort to that. I honestly wasn’t sure whether I could do it. After all, Rose had attended my dojo, even if only for a short one and a half years. She’d always been a devout believer in the Church of Sphene, and whenever she’d found the time, she had prayed to her god. I couldn’t count the number of times I’d made a bitter face at her zealous preaching. Yet even if those times had been hectic, I had overall good memories of this always-smiling girl.

However, that was all in the past now.

“Hee hee... Then I’ll be resisting with all my might.”

I took in my opponent. She was armored in full plate, so at maximum speed, I was going to be faster. Rose understood that. She’d taken up a low stance, covering half her body with her kite shield and lowering the point of her estoc. Back at the dojo, she hadn’t used a shield. Still, recalling our training sessions, she’d excelled at defending and counterattacking. I was sure that she’d polished her skills even more since then. And with a shield by her side, her defense was definitely sturdier than before.

Now then, was my strength enough to get past her defenses? Was I even capable of wielding my sword properly against her? I’d had plenty of sparring matches with my pupils using a wooden sword but had never experienced swinging a real sword against one. I wanted to stop her, but when I thought of killing a pupil who was still so full of potential, my determination wavered.

“Hah!”

And with the answer still unclear to me, Rose stepped in, sparking off the beginning of the fight.

“Hup!”

I deflected her thrust to the side. Rose specialized at defending, but that didn’t mean she was bad on the offense. She had more than enough skill to take the initiative if she wanted to. In fact, her lunge was far sharper than what I’d expected, given her heavy armor.

“Hyoo!”

Rose didn’t resist the force repelling her estoc—instead, she used her wrist to skillfully chain her thrust into a horizontal slash. Her peculiar exhalations resounded in the air as her estoc struck again and again.

“Guh!”

I started the never-ending work of fending off her slender blade. Goddammit! I already knew this, but she’s definitely strong! Her blows were unimaginably fast and heavy coming from someone in full plate. I’d witnessed this kind of strength in a recent battle too. Her swordplay was similar to Spur’s—the man I’d fought before capturing Reveos. Without putting her full weight behind her attacks, she was cleverly using the rotation of her shoulders and hips to quickly unleash strikes. Though I was capable of defending myself, it was hard to repel her blade.

So, to overcome this situation, my only choice was to go on the offense.

Perhaps realizing that I hadn’t mentally prepared myself for this battle yet, Rose raised her voice in exaltation. “Hee hee! What’s the matter, Master?!” She continued swinging her estoc at me.

“Ugh!”

Both Rose and I specialized in defense. Strictly speaking, I was the type to ward off and return blows, while Rose had a tendency to completely block everything. Either way, neither of us was the type to proactively go on the offense.

However, the Rose I’d taught had concentrated too much on defending and hadn’t spent enough time attacking. Her strikes had also been rather rough around the edges. That was why I’d primarily taught her things like how to go on the attack and how to move her lower body. She was making the best of my teachings right here and now—Rose’s skills had improved enough for me to believe that.

“Are you not going to fight, Master?!”

I wasn’t capable of attacking because of my wavering emotions. Rose had nothing left to lose, so she was going on the offensive. It was a strange situation. Our bouts at the dojo had been so much more peaceful and elegant.

“I’ve steeled my resolve to come to this point!” she declared.

I parried the broad swing of her estoc. This was the perfect chance for a counterattack. If I swing now, I can deal her a blow that won’t be fatal.

However, my sword refused to make the move.

“Aren’t you going to stop me?!”

Rose’s attacks kept coming. Her swordplay was beautiful, but this offensive was very different from the technique of the Rose I knew.

“If you can stop me, then do it! Show me what you’ve got, Master!”

She swung her estoc downward with a shout. I parried it to the side, stopping Rose’s momentum. Taking that opportunity, I took two steps back.

“Rose, are you—”

“Tee hee... It seems I got a little too excited.”

Rose, are you hesitating? I’d been about to ask her this, but Rose’s cheerful response had cut me off. She wouldn’t answer me honestly even if I asked. If I had been capable of convincing her to back down, this fight would’ve never started.

Battle excited the spirit. It wasn’t that unusual for your true feelings to come out in such situations. Even during my bouts with Henbrits and Selna, they’d shouted their inner thoughts and admiration in the middle of combat.

Just maybe, Rose wants me to stop her. This could be a convenient hope on my part. Could be a misunderstanding too. However, the Rose I know would never raise her voice like that, no matter what kind of match she’s in.

“Hee hee... You’re awfully strong, Master. I don’t feel like I can beat you.”

Despite her intense offensive, her breathing was steady. She still had plenty of stamina. It was impossible to maintain such a level of endurance without constant training—this battle was proof that she hadn’t slacked off in her daily devotion to her craft. I was happy to see that, but I didn’t like to see her using that strength for such a purpose.

“Then will you surrender to me?” I asked, just in case she’d changed her mind.

It would’ve been great if my influence had been enough to get her to yield. Perhaps this would end with neither of us getting hurt—the other knights and I could take our time convincing her to change her ideology afterward.

“I can’t do that,” she answered clearly, dashing my hopes. “I simply can’t, Master... I’m sure I can’t beat you. Crossing blades with you has proved that to me.”

“Then—”

“But I can’t stop. I can’t stop after coming this far.” Rose smiled like she always did. “If I fail here, the children they’re holding hostage will die.”

“Wha...?”

“I bet His Holiness is hoping for a certain victory,” she added, her expression clear. “Not that I was going to hold back even if he hadn’t resorted to this...”

What scum. Those words crawled up my throat, but I held them down somehow. The situation wouldn’t change even if I voiced my disdain. I had a clear picture of the situation in my mind—she was acting this way because children had been taken hostage. I knew she truly wanted to save her country, but this was still too much. I didn’t give a damn what Sphenedyardvania’s internal situation was, but I couldn’t turn a blind eye when my cute former pupil had been forced down such an inhuman path. I finally understood why she refused to yield.

“Master.”

“What...?”

“Please stop me,” she said cheerfully. “Please scold your lousy pupil.”

With a tragic determination in her eyes, she readied her estoc once more.

“Haaaaaah...”

I let out a long, long sigh. The situation wasn’t going to improve if I continued hesitating. I couldn’t let this fight drag on any longer than this. I steeled myself.

“Rose.”

“Yes?”

I held my sword straight forward and returned her gaze directly.

“I’m going to kill you.”

Rose didn’t say anything. She just smiled like she always did and held her shield up.

I had no idea what kind of life she’d led after leaving the dojo. Likewise, she had no idea how I’d lived these last few years. My strength had essentially plateaued—at my age, even if I spent years swinging my sword, I couldn’t expect any drastic growth. However, there was one thing I possessed now that I hadn’t back then.

“Hmph!”

I took two steps forward and held my sword up high. I wasn’t particularly good at an advancing strike. I was pretty confident in my reaction speed, but in terms of simple physical strength, I was far inferior to the likes of Allusia or Henbrits. At best, I was just a bit stronger than the average man my age.

Having spent time with me, Rose naturally knew this. So, she didn’t take evasive action and instead chose to defend with her shield. Rose excelled at defending. It was impossible to overcome her shield with my strength. I knew this better than anyone, and she was well aware of it too.

She was planning to block my attack, which would put her in the perfect position to launch a counterblow. That was the correct decision to make. Considering her skill, this would be a guaranteed win for her in any normal match. However, even though I was well within the skill level of a “normal” opponent, Rose knew nothing about the blade in my hands.

“Huh...?”

Rose’s smile, backed by her absolute confidence in her defense, suddenly vanished. My sword maintained its momentum, easily cutting through Rose’s kite shield. Her heavy, full-plate armor also gave in without resistance. I carved a straight line across her chest—one that would never fade away.

“Gah!”

Rose stumbled backward from the unexpected slash and fell to her knees. Fresh blood spilled down her chest. This time, her smile was completely gone, replaced by a look of shock and unease. She’d probably never imagined that her beloved shield and sturdy armor could break from a single slash. She wasn’t coughing up blood, so for better or worse, my sword hadn’t reached her lungs. Nonetheless, it was clear that her wound was severe—continuing this fight would be impossible for her. She was at risk of dying if she didn’t stop the bleeding soon.

“That’s my win...”

I hadn’t held back—I’d struck with no consideration for her survival. I’d needed to give it my all against a skilled opponent who was ready to kill royalty. At this point, I understood how Gatoga felt, at least a little. Rose wasn’t my subordinate, but as her former instructor, I held a clear responsibility.

I had to stop her misconduct.

“Guh...!”

Rose groaned and tried to get to her feet. I looked down at her. I wondered what kind of face I was making. Did I look sad? I couldn’t tell.

“It’s over, Rose.”

I was shocked at how cold my voice sounded.

“Haah... Haaah...!”

Clutching her wounded chest, Rose continued to try and force herself to her feet.

“You better not move too much. If you disturb the wound any more, you won’t be able to stop the bleeding.”

Rose was barely maintaining consciousness. Anyone could see how severe her injury was. She was going to die unless she got specialized treatment immediately. I’d been the one to hurt her, so a part of me felt like it wasn’t really my place to say anything. Still, even after striking with lethal intent, it wasn’t like I’d cleanly settled my emotions regarding my former pupil. Was it selfish of me to want her to survive?

“Hee... Hee hee... I lost...”

She eventually gave up on standing and fell onto her back with a clang. She was smiling but pale. She’d clearly lost too much blood.

“What’s with that sword...? It’s unfair...”

“It’s the ace up my sleeve.”

Having felt it with her own body, she must’ve known how unsporting this sword’s sharp edge was. Even I found it somewhat unexpected that it’d torn through both her shield and armor. Well, I fired myself up to attempt that exact feat, but still. What was more, even after basically abusing this sword, the blade wasn’t chipped at all. It was a ridiculous masterwork.

“I probably won’t get any stronger than I am, but this is another form of strength,” I told her.

“It really is...unfair...”

“Ha ha ha.”

This definitely wasn’t a situation to laugh at, but I couldn’t help myself. I wasn’t sneering at Rose or anything. Just as I’d said, I’d practically plateaued. All that was left was for age to weaken me. However, strength as a whole wasn’t all about skill. I was now being forced to realize this, albeit a little late in my life. Even though I’d just taught the knights how to use their bodies to gain the upper hand in a fight, I hadn’t learned my own lesson. I hope to be forgiven for my craftiness. The sword was too good for me, but since a strange twist of fate had brought it to me, it would be a waste not to use it.

There was no further movement in Baltrain’s southern district. Only the faint sound of the wind and Rose’s labored breathing could be heard. Neither of us knew what to say anymore, so a strange silence dominated the area.

“Norad...” Rose suddenly muttered from the ground.

“Hm?”

“Eline, Sandra, Harvis, Gill, Kennedy, Chilcott, Mary, Horzon... They all died.”

I didn’t know any of these names. Allusia and Henbrits surely hadn’t known them either, though Gatoga might’ve. These were probably people who’d shared Rose’s motives. Regardless of whether they’d been right, they’d possessed the same passion.

Had I killed some of them? Or perhaps it’d been Allusia or Henbrits? They’d committed the heavy crime of attempted assassination on royalty, so I didn’t feel much guilt. The hollowness I felt was simply the result of having stolen many lives.

“Hak! Gah...”

“Rose! You okay?”

Judging by her pale complexion, her lungs were indeed bleeding. It seemed my slash had damaged them. Maybe it was a little strange for me to be worrying about her, considering I’d been the one to hurt her, but I still wondered what I should do. If left alone, she would surely die, but I knew nothing about medicine. It would’ve been a different matter if I’d had a potion on hand, but unfortunately, I hadn’t brought any.

“M-Master...” Rose said feebly between wheezing breaths and coughs of blood. “Please...kill me. I want to die...by your hand.”

I could see tears welling up in her eyes. I doubted this was from the pain.

“I can’t do that,” I told her.

“Master...?”

There was no need to debate the matter. She had committed a crime—a severe one. A simple apology wasn’t going to cut it. She’d played a part in a genuine attempted coup d’état. I didn’t know how she would ultimately be charged, but an acquittal was probably out of the question. She could even be sentenced to the death penalty.

However, when I recalled the words she’d let slip right before I’d cut her down, I decided not to wash my hands of this matter—I wouldn’t pass judgment on Rose. And, even if she hadn’t revealed her reasoning, I refused to kill my former pupil with one final blow. Perhaps that’s selfish...but I won’t do it.

“You should live and face your crimes,” I told her. “Besides...”

I was physiologically opposed to the idea. Even my body was reluctant to cause her any more harm. Rose felt responsibility for her actions, but I didn’t like the idea of settling it with her death. After all, her plan had failed. There were also the captured children to consider. Now that I knew about them, it would be a lousy choice to simply turn a blind eye to the real problem—both for me and for Rose.

“It seems there are still things I haven’t taught you,” I said.

“Tee hee... Is that so?”

Seriously, I’d meant to teach her to wield her sword to protect others. How had she become a person willing to participate in a bloody revolution? I could only lament my failure as a teacher. I would probably never be in a position to provide her with guidance again. However, I was made keenly aware that being an instructor was about more than simply teaching a student how to swing a sword.

“Hak!”

“Whoa there... Now then, what to do about this?”

Rose coughed up blood again. Despite deciding not to deliver a coup de grâce, treating her was beyond my abilities.

The wound was far deeper than I’d first thought. Rose was going to die at this rate.

“Hey! Gardinant! Huh?! The heck happened here?”

“Gatoga...”

That was when the knight commander of the Holy Order came over to us with noisy footsteps. His full plate armor was covered in blood and scratches, but the man in question seemed perfectly healthy. It looked like he’d cleaned up all the archers. He also had a man slung over his shoulder.

“Where did Prince Glenn go?” Gatoga asked. “Actually, wait, did someone beat Rose? Who was it?”

“Well, about that...”

I wasn’t quite sure how to answer his rapid-fire questions. Thinking about it calmly, the special instructor of the Liberion Order had just cut down the lieutenant commander of the Holy Order of the Church of Sphene. This would probably work out if Rose confessed, but if she put in one last struggle and tried to pin the crime on me, it would be pretty hard to get out of this. I doubted that was going to happen, but regardless, I didn’t know how to explain things to Gatoga.

“Hak! Commander, I just screwed up a bit...”

“If you say so... Oh, just gimme a sec.”

Screwed up, huh? She wasn’t technically wrong. It wasn’t a lie. Gatoga haphazardly tossed the man he was carrying onto the ground, then rushed over to Rose. Who is that guy, anyway? Gatoga had chucked him down like a sack of potatoes, but it seemed like he was just unconscious. He had short brown hair and was somewhat skinny. He also looked a bit younger than me. Judging by his black clothing, he’d likely been part of the attack on the prince. Maybe this is Hinnis.

“It’s awfully deep...” Gatoga said as he put a hand to Rose’s wound. “I can’t do much, but here—this should ease the pain.”

Shortly after, a pale light faintly enveloped Rose’s body.

“Is that a miracle?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Gatoga answered. “It’s not really my specialty, though.”

Now that I thought of it, the knights of the Holy Order could use miracles. I’d seen the knights who’d protected Reveos use magic to enhance their bodies.

“Rose, you can’t use any?” I asked.

“I can’t...use magic...”

“Don’t talk,” Gatoga cut in. “Your wound won’t seal properly.”

“Oh... Sorry, I made her talk.”

I had never seen Rose use magic. When she’d casually dropped by my dojo, she’d introduced herself only as a swordswoman. It seemed not all knights of the Holy Order could use magic. Or maybe Rose was an exception.

Strangely, I’d found myself without anything to do, so I turned to Gatoga. “Hm? You don’t need to chant?” The knights I’d fought had all chanted some kind of spell to enhance their bodies. Gatoga hadn’t done anything more than place a hand on Rose.

“A chant is no more than a prayer. You can use miracles without saying anything. The zealots insist on chanting whenever the hell they can, though.”

So, miracles could be used in silence. According to Lucy, miracles were just a type of magic, and she never chanted anything whenever she used magic. So, knowing this, Gatoga’s silent miracle made perfect sense.

“Phew... I somehow managed to stop the bleeding...”

After putting pressure on the wound for a while, Gatoga sighed, lifted his hands, and wiped his brow. Being somewhat ignorant of both magic and medicine, I didn’t really know what state Rose was in now that she wasn’t bleeding. I could tell her situation was bad, but I didn’t know how much Gatoga’s miracle had helped.

“So? What happened, Gardinant?”

It was probably safe to assume that Rose was stable—for now, at least. As proof of that, Gatoga turned his eyes away from her and threw me a pointed look.

“Allusia took the prince and princess away,” I explained. “As for Rose... To get straight to the point, I cut her down.”

“What...?”

The mood in the air was as sharp as a drawn blade to my throat.

“I strongly suspect Rose of being complicit in the attempted assassination.”

Gatoga was silent for a long time.

“Is that true, Rose?”

He had known Rose far longer than he’d known me. However, his faith in the loyalty of the Holy Order had already been shaken by Hinnis’s betrayal. He also had to know about the papists and royalists being in conflict, so he couldn’t simply dismiss my words as nonsense.

Perhaps realizing that she couldn’t escape, Rose answered honestly. “Tee hee... Yup, it’s the truth.”

“I see...” Gatoga once again sank into silence.

“But in the end...she wavered,” I said.

“I’m well aware how patriotic she is...” Gatoga muttered.

With that, the conversation was apparently over. Gatoga hefted Rose up, and then, almost as an afterthought, he picked up the unconscious man too. He was handling her rather roughly, but he had no choice but to use both shoulders to carry two adults around.

“Um, Rose—”

“Normally, there’d be no escaping the death penalty,” Gatoga said, cutting off my explanation. “That’s the seriousness of the crime they’ve committed.”

That made sense. I wouldn’t expect her to be acquitted after an attempted assassination of royalty. Just as Gatoga had said, her actions would normally be a direct path to execution. The Holy Order had no reason to leave dangerous threats to national security at large—especially if the nation wasn’t particularly stable.

Still, even if their approach to the problem hadn’t been great, they truly lamented the state of their country. I would’ve liked for such extenuating circumstances to be taken into consideration, but reality was a harsh mistress. That said, it wasn’t like the whole ordeal would be over even if the perpetrators were all punished for treason.

“It seems Rose was forced into this by the pope,” I said. “Kids were apparently taken hostage.”

“What...?”

If she’d been forced to obey, things could go differently. I doubted Rose had lied at the eleventh hour. She wasn’t free of all guilt, of course, but if they were going to conduct a proper investigation, an immediate death sentence was probably avoidable.

“Rose, what’s going on?” Gatoga asked.

“No comment...” she murmured. “Well, that’s what I’d like to say, but I guess I lost, so... It’s the orphans.”

“Tch.”

How much did Gatoga know? He was very likely aware of Sphenedyardvania’s power struggles, but what about the movements of the papists and royalists? My information had come from Ibroy and Lucy, but it was hard to imagine that the commander of the Holy Order was less informed than those two on these matters.

“We’ll have to start with an investigation...” Gatoga mumbled. “As for Rose, well, I’ll do what I can.”

“That’s...”

I was personally grateful, but wasn’t that a poor move for the knight commander? If he tried to defend her, it could affect his public image. In the worst case, Gatoga could be suspected of treason and executed with the rest of them.

“I can’t make any guarantees, of course,” Gatoga added.

“I guess not...”

At any rate, I couldn’t intervene in anything that came after this. The investigation and ultimate verdict were all going to be handled in another country by people far higher up the chain. I wondered how it was all going to end. The crimes they’d committed weren’t light in any sense of the word. However, Rose was one of my former pupils, so I had mixed feelings about everything.

“Let’s head back,” Gatoga suggested. “Anyway, I’m surprised you beat Rose so handily. I guess that’s why she considered you to be her esteemed master.”

“Well, I had a trick up my sleeve.”

“Ain’t that a scary thought.”

Baltrain’s southern district had been transformed into a charnel house. A somewhat inappropriate thought crossed my mind. Cleaning all of this up is going to be a huge pain.

I started walking toward the central district.

“What exactly do you plan on doing?” I asked Gatoga on the way.

“Hm? Let’s see...”

Gatoga was already a huge man, so with both Rose and who I assumed was Hinnis on his shoulders, he had a ridiculously large silhouette. Just walking by his side was pretty intimidating. Any civilian would probably be rooted to the spot in fear if he threatened them.

“Commander. Please let me down,” Rose objected.

“No. The bleeding’s stopped, but you’re still seriously wounded.”

“Awww...”

I agreed with Gatoga. She didn’t exactly look dignified up there, but she was badly wounded. It was best for her just to accept it. Though, considering that I’d been the one to inflict the wound...well, I had no room to talk.

“Besides, if I let you down, you might run away.”

“I...wouldn’t do that.”

“Why the pause?”

A whole lot of people would probably be in trouble if Rose ran away now, so Gatoga couldn’t let her down. At this point, the main concern was how Rose was going to be punished.

Just as Gatoga had mentioned earlier, a death sentence would normally be inevitable. It was practically impossible to vouch for her too. I had at least a vague understanding of how serious treason against the crown was, and in the worst case, it was entirely possible for Rose’s entire family to be executed. But there were also the hostages to consider. If that issue was made public, it could affect the severity of her punishment.

Unfortunately, I thought that outcome was pretty unlikely. If information about the hostages was released to the public, it could shake the very foundation of Sphenedyardvania. Nobody wanted that to happen. After all, civilians always suffered the most in an unstable nation.

“First, we’ll have to find the children and secure their safety,” Gatoga said. “Nothing can start until then.”

“Sounds about right,” I agreed. “Not that I can be of any help...”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “This is the Holy Order’s problem. There’s no need for you to join in.”

If Rose was speaking the truth, then some very high-ranking people were a part of this, so there was nothing I could do as an individual. It would be pretty bad for a foreigner to get involved anyway—that could create a whole different set of problems.

“Rose, got any idea where the brats are?” Gatoga asked.

“I wasn’t told the details... They’ve probably been moved under the pretense of being given shelter.”

“Man, this is gonna be a lotta work,” Gatoga grumbled.

I’d predicted this, but it seemed things weren’t going to be straightforward. There was no telling whether the pope or one of his close associates was behind all this. I didn’t know much about Sphenedyardvania, so I was an outsider when it came to this stuff. At most, I just wanted to do something to help Rose survive.

“So, about what we’ll do with you,” Gatoga said, shifting his focus to Rose.

The air froze for a moment. No matter the circumstances, that attempt on the prince’s life wasn’t going to be forgiven. The knight commander of the Holy Order couldn’t ignore her confession either.

“For now...the ringleader was Hinnis. Rose, you got caught up in things, fought him, and lost. We’ll go with that.”

“Huh? But that’s...” I muttered involuntarily.

In other words, he was planning to partially conceal the truth. Is that really okay? I’m pretty sure it’s not.

“Commander?”

Even Rose had clear disapproval in her voice. She’d hesitated to reach this point, but she’d steeled herself for it. She understood the heavy consequences of her actions, and she’d surely known that her life would be forfeit if she failed.

So, even if Gatoga managed to conceal the truth, could Rose accept it? Considering her personality, I thought she might turn herself in or potentially commit suicide. After all, she felt enough responsibility that she’d asked me to kill her earlier. From the moment she’d decided to back this coup d’état, she’d been ready to throw her life away—all in exchange for the lives of the children who’d been taken hostage.

However, that wasn’t really what bothered me.

“Why go that far?” I asked Gatoga.

Frankly, I didn’t understand why he would cover for Rose. She was his current lieutenant, but he was treating his former lieutenant with far less care. He’d said he would definitely take Hinnis down with his own hands, and there’d been no room for forgiveness in that statement. Even though Rose had the same title and had committed the same crime, he was trying to get her out of it. It didn’t make any sense.

“She’s my sister...” Gatoga murmured.

“Huh?”

“Rose is my little sister,” he repeated. “Not by blood, mind you. But I’ve known her since we were little.”

What, seriously? It’s been nothing but surprises lately. Rose and Gatoga are siblings? I wouldn’t have known. She never even mentioned it.

“I-Is that true, Rose?” I asked.

“Yup... Sure is...” she answered awkwardly.

Well, she had technically plotted against her older brother. I could understand her feeling bad about that. Things were beginning to make sense now. If Gatoga didn’t pull Rose out of this maelstrom, his status could be in danger too—as I mentioned before, it was possible that Rose’s entire family could be executed for her treason. In that case, Gatoga could get dragged into it too, even if he wasn’t a blood relative.

“But I might do something like this again, you know?” Rose said.

“Hey, let your brother trust you, dammit,” Gatoga grumbled.

In other words, Rose had gone as far as making an enemy of her own family to pull this off. Her determination was terrifying. I only knew what Lucy had told me regarding Sphenedyardvania’s civil war, but it seemed things over there were pretty bad. They had to be—no one would attempt a coup d’état if things were relatively good.

“Rose,” I said.

“Yes?”

However, even if Rose got out of this, the haze over her heart would remain. I didn’t know whether my words would get through to her, but I wanted to provide what guidance I could as an instructor.

“Even if it would’ve taken time, there had to have been other ways,” I said. “You should’ve focused your energy in a more positive direction. That’s the kind of swordsmanship I taught you.”

“Yup... If you say so, Master. You’re probably right.”

My words felt pretty empty, but I didn’t know anything about politics, so this was about all I could say. Still, I wanted her to know that the methods she’d resorted to were wrong.

“Before you mentioned those brats, I was moments away from killing you myself,” Gatoga cut in coldly.

“I was prepared for that too,” Rose said.

“H-Ha ha ha...”

I couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh. Well, I’d cut her down myself, so I wasn’t really one to talk.

“Anyway, isn’t it possible Hinnis there shares her circumstances?” I asked.

It was unlikely that the mastermind behind this plan—the one who’d taken children hostage—had only coerced Rose. There could be others in her situation.

“Rose?” Gatoga asked.

“Hinnis and I were allies, but we weren’t coordinating or anything,” she answered. “Those who were told the same things as me...are probably all dead.”

“I see...”

Rose had muttered several names after I had cut her down. Those were surely the people who’d worked directly with her—probably other knights. Though, I had no way of checking that information now. Does that mean Hinnis supported the pope due to his own ideologies? If so, he was probably going straight to the gallows. He was a complete stranger to me, so I felt no inclination to cover for him.

“We’ll have to do a total scrub of the order too. What a pain...” Gatoga grumbled.

“I feel for you...” I said with a wry smile.

He had a lot of work ahead of him. It was now confirmed that he had many enemies both in and out of the Holy Order. It was only natural for me to feel some sympathy.

Suddenly, I realized something.

“Oh yeah...”

“Hm? What’s up?” Gatoga asked.

Can I really ask this? Well, let’s just do it. He won’t answer me if he can’t.

“Gatoga, do you support the pope or the king?”

“I’m neutral... Or, so I’d like to say. Personally, I’d like Prince Glenn to give it his best. I’ve known him since he was little.”

So, he supports the king... One wrong step on his part could’ve meant crossing blades with Rose.

“Still, we’re knights meant to protect the country,” he continued. “Ideologies are secondary. People come first. That’s my personal opinion.”

“An admirable stance,” I said.

Judging by Gatoga’s personality, he really would’ve killed his little sister to achieve that. Was that also the path of a devoted knight? I couldn’t see myself being able to do that.

“So, that means I gotta protect the brats too,” Gatoga added. “They’re our nation’s treasures.”

“Yup. Please do...” Rose said feebly.

Her wound was deep. Even with healing magic, she wasn’t going to be fighting anytime soon and was likely going to require a long recuperation period. She couldn’t be counted on to take part in exposing the papists’ plot. Considering the failed assassination, there wasn’t much time to act.

Gatoga has to hurry and gather trustworthy people if he wants to save the kids. He’s definitely in for a ton of work.

Part of me really wanted to help, but a foreigner couldn’t participate in any of this. They had to move secretly and swiftly, meaning they had to know the lay of the land. There was nothing I could do to help—I could only pray for the children’s safety. I didn’t want to believe that the pope, one of the most influential people in their entire country, had personally come up with this idea, but there was no telling what the truth was until they peeled back the curtain.

“Well, there are plenty of idiots who’ll come crawling out if you dangle political power in front of them,” Gatoga said. “If I think of this as a chance to clean house, it ain’t all that bad.”

He had a point. This coup had been hastily and crudely planned, and the papists had to be in a panic. It would be easy to catch their tails. Though, considering the amount of blood that had already been spilled—and the blood that was yet to be spilled—I definitely couldn’t view this strife as a positive thing.

Politics, huh? Political power... None of that had anything to do with me, so I’d never really given it any thought. It was, however, a pretty common story—good people suddenly changed once they had a taste of political power.

I thought about my own situation. I had recently settled into this inexplicable position of special instructor. Though I didn’t feel the need to adjust any of my behaviors or take heed of others’ mistakes, I wanted to be aware of the responsibility I carried—I didn’t want to end up as just another power-hungry person.

“Still...I can’t trust the current king,” Rose mumbled. “Bishop Reveos was very recently unjustly punished by him...”

“Hmm?”

Hang on a sec. Did I really hear that name?

“By Reveos, do you mean Bishop Reveos Sarleon?” I asked.

“That’s right,” Rose confirmed. “You know about him, Master?”

“Hmmm...?”

It felt like I was starting to connect the dots. The unexpected mention of that name had my thoughts in turmoil.

“What’s up, Gardinant?” Gatoga asked.

“Well... That bishop was punished, right?”

I had to confirm this. Honestly, I had no idea what had happened to Reveos after Ficelle and I had captured him. Lucy, Allusia, and Ibroy had probably put in some work to conceal it, so who knew where he’d gone or what had happened to him.

“Well, yeah,” Gatoga said. “He was charged with making arbitrary interpretations of the scriptures, brainwashing the masses, and committing taboos. There was pretty big opposition to the whole affair too.”

How bad were those crimes by Sphenedyardvania’s standards? I didn’t really know. But if there’d been huge opposition to that decision, it meant that Reveos had many supporters. What was going on across the border?

“I believe it’s a plot by the royalists to bring down the Pope’s authority,” Rose asserted.

“No... Reveos was punished correctly,” I countered.

“Huh?”

How had this information gotten so twisted? The truth was exactly the opposite of what Rose was saying. The royalists hadn’t manipulated information to weaken the papists—they’d passed proper judgment in the face of the papists’ opposition.

“You’re talking like you know something about this,” Gatoga remarked.

“I do,” I confirmed. “I’m the one who arrested Reveos.”

“What...?”

Gatoga and Rose both stiffened at my confession. Well, to be exact, Ficelle had arrested him, but those details didn’t really matter now.

“Reveos was heading a human trafficking ring to try and recreate the miracle of resurrection,” I explained.

“That...can’t be...”

Rose was speechless. The righteousness she’d believed in had been partially shattered, so her shock was understandable.

“The miracle of resurrection can’t be recreated. I assume you see it this way too, Gatoga?” I asked.

“Yeah... Some guys out there believe in it, but it’s no more than a legend. Normally, you’d just see it as a dramatization.”

Gatoga clearly shared Ibroy’s beliefs in this regard. Honestly, I still found it weird for the faithful to be calling their scriptures a dramatization. Maybe it made sense to come to that realization when you thought it over pragmatically. Speaking of Ibroy, he’d mentioned Reveos being from Sphenedyardvania. If Gatoga and Rose knew about him, that meant Reveos had originally been posted there.

“Still, human trafficking?” Gatoga mused. “I get it. That’s why he came to Liberis.”

“That’s not all,” I said. “He even made use of some half-assed resurrection spell. But all he really accomplished was manipulating some corpses like puppets.”

“Ugh. The piece of shit...”

After I said that, I pondered whether it was all right for me to mention those details. It’s a little late for that now, though. I’ve already blabbed. Whatever. Let’s just trust these two. Yup. Not my problem.

“Then... What His Holiness said was...”

The important part right now wasn’t Reveos’s fate. Information should’ve been passed from Liberis to Sphenedyardvania, but there was an inconsistency. Had someone tampered with the intel?

I didn’t even need to wonder. The answer was pretty clear at this point.

“I don’t know what exactly the pope was told,” I said. “But considering this whole plan and the fact that he took hostages, I think it’s dangerous to take his words at face value.”

I wasn’t planning to pick a fight with Sphenedyardvania over this or anything. In that respect, I didn’t really care. I was nothing more than an old man and a citizen of Liberis—I had no intention of sticking my neck out that far. However, the course of events had caused my former pupil to walk the wrong path, so things were now a little different.

“So he says. That really hits home, huh, Rose?” Gatoga said.

“Yup...”

With those last words, silence hung around us. We continued walking for a while. Baltrain’s southern district had become quite the battleground, even beyond where I’d fought. We could see fallen figures in black scattered here and there, though not in huge numbers. Among them were a rare few in full plate armor. It was a saving grace that I didn’t see any of the fallen wearing the armor of the Liberion Order.

I had no way of knowing how exactly these knights had been killed. Perhaps they’d raised their swords in desperation against Prince Glenn and had died by Allusia or Henbrits’s blades. It was also possible there’d been a falling-out between papist and royalist knights. It wasn’t my job to figure that out, though. It wasn’t even Liberis’s job.

This disastrous scene created by another country’s problems stretched out around us for a while longer. After a long while of walking in silence, Rose muttered something. There was determination in her voice.

“I...can’t die yet.”

“Hm?”

“To be specific, I can’t die anymore,” she said. “Not until I see true justice with my own eyes.”

“It sounds a lot less impressive when you say it while slung over someone’s shoulder,” Gatoga quipped.

It seemed as though Rose had recovered from her somewhat stupefied state. Her crimes weren’t going to vanish, of course. Still, I felt like it was best if she tried to make amends, and one had to be alive to do so. Maybe it was Sphenedyardvania’s creed to kill and be done with it, but personally, I believed there was room to consider her extenuating circumstances. There were signs of underhanded factional strife at play too.

“Still, you’re not gonna be able to do anything from inside our borders,” Gatoga said.

“I know, but there is surely something I can do,” Rose insisted.

It would be inconvenient for the papists if Rose was allowed to live. The royalists would also have a poor impression of her because of the attempted assassination. Furthermore, Liberis was likely going to investigate her for exposing Princess Salacia to danger. I could imagine only one surefire way of resolving this—abandon everything and flee the country. Was she seriously going to do that?

“That’s the gist of it,” Gatoga said, turning to me. “Seems like you’re gonna hafta keep your mouth shut about Rose.”

“Guess I’ll have to.”

It would be meaningless for me to spread word of what Rose had done. My only choice was to keep my silence. I definitely didn’t want her to die...but by making this choice and going with the flow, I’d become an accomplice in a cover-up.

“So? What’re your plans from here?” I asked.

It didn’t seem like there was anything I could do to help, but I at least wanted to hear what they were planning to do next. It was also important for us to get our stories straight.

“For now, I’ll say she was injured in the battle against the attackers and send her back home. Either way, she’s not gonna be moving around with this wound. After that...well, I’ll work things out one way or another.”

Hmm, in that case, there really is nothing I can do. I just have to be careful not to let the truth slip.

“Sorry, I can’t do much after that point,” he said to Rose. “Figure it out yourself.”

“Hee hee... Understood.”

If Gatoga got too involved, then this could be traced back to him. It was best not to leave any tracks. Gatoga and Rose were very unlikely to meet again after this—perhaps this was their final farewell. Nonetheless, I didn’t sense any sorrow from them. As far as relatives went, all I had were my mom and dad...oh, and Mui now too. If I was told I would never see them again, I doubted I could remain so calm. In that sense, these two were strong.

“Master...” Rose said as she was shaken about on Gatoga’s shoulder.

“Hm? What is it?”

“Thank you very much. I’ll definitely pay back this debt one day.”

Rose’s words rode the wind, and her voice contained a torrent of emotions. She had brought a huge bother to my doorstep and had thrown me into an outrageous situation—nothing was resolved yet either. Still, I felt a faint satisfaction stirring in my heart. Part of me was convinced that I’d barely saved one of my pupils from the brink of destruction.

“Ha ha ha. You don’t have to worry about that,” I told her. “It’s an instructor’s duty to cover for a pupil’s ineptitude.”

That was all I had to say on the matter.

And just like that, accepting Rose’s somewhat clumsy gratitude, I left the southern district behind.

◇

“Things have really calmed down, huh?”

“They certainly have.”

One afternoon, I found myself out on patrol around Baltrain with Allusia. The festival was over, so the city was now back to normal. You could still hear people talking about the failed assassination every now and then, but by and large, the atmosphere on the streets had settled. Incidentally, I’d spent the morning training with everyone as usual. Baltrain was back to normal, and so was our training schedule. This huge assassination kerfuffle really reinforced how wonderful peace was. There’s nothing better than being free from the strife of missions or incidents.

“Has the southern district been cleaned up?” I asked.

“To an extent. Though it’ll be a while longer before they can get back to farming safely.”

Under the Liberion Order’s initiative, they and the royal garrison had been cleaning up the ghastly scene of the southern district. I couldn’t really comment since I’d killed a ridiculous number of people there, but it seemed they would need more time to get things up and running again. Rotting corpses were breeding grounds for disease, and they needed to ensure that an epidemic or the like wouldn’t break out because of a hasty cleanup effort. That would be seriously frightening—so many people lived close together in Baltrain (it was the capital city, after all), so an endemic disease could be fatal for the whole populace.

In that respect, the magic corps was taking a leading role. The garrison was physically removing the bodies, and magic was apparently best for disposing of the dead and preventing the spread of disease. I wondered how they were handling so many corpses. Baltrain surely had a cemetery, but I had no idea how big it was. Maybe they were simply burning the bodies with magic.

Now that I thought of it, Mui had mentioned that things seemed really busy at the magic institute. Maybe the teachers were being sent out to help too. Even just taking a stroll around town, I could see wizards every now and then. Most of them wore robes like Ficelle’s, so they were easy to spot. I knew that Baltrain had a lot of wizards because of the institute, but it was curiously impressive to see so many of them around.

At any rate, the thought of Lucy complaining to me after all the work was done was a little scary. She basically went wherever she wanted whenever she wanted, so it was entirely possible that she would barge into my house again.

“Seems like our internal affairs will be settled,” I muttered.

“Yes,” Allusia agreed. “All that’s left is negotiating the incident with Sphenedyardvania.”

This situation was a little complicated. It had all happened within Liberis’s borders, but its principal offenders were from Sphenedyardvania. What’s more, their authorities were split into two groups, and while the papists were under suspicion, the government itself was run by the royalists.

Sphenedyardvania was, of course, liable for all this, but it was difficult to find a point of compromise. The royalists hadn’t known that the papists were concocting this entire plot, but they nonetheless had to bear the full brunt of the repercussions. I didn’t know how Liberis was planning to pursue the matter, but it had to be a huge pain to deal with.

Either way, Liberis itself had no fault in this incident. It was practically inevitable that Sphenedyardvania needed to pay some sort of reparations, especially since their dissidents had exposed Princess Salacia to danger. The leaders across the border were probably agonizing over what to do. It was best to settle things as cleanly as possible, but there was no telling how the dice would fall. Someone like me would have no bearing on the outcome of international negotiations, so I had it relatively easy.

“I wonder if Lady Mabelhart is all right,” Allusia said.

“Yeah... I hope she’s okay.”

Our conversation naturally shifted to the core of the incident. In this respect, things weren’t easy for me. Rose was one of the key culprits behind the attempted assassination, though nobody aside from Gatoga and I knew this. I hadn’t even told Allusia. By the time Prince Glenn’s scheduled visit to the palace had concluded, Rose had already vanished. Gatoga had told everyone that she’d been sent back to Sphenedyardvania due to her injuries. Since she really was wounded, nobody had really questioned it.

“I suppose we just have to put our hopes in Sphenedyardvania’s medical system,” I remarked.

“Indeed. They have healing magic there too.”

Allusia was rather worried about her. Perhaps this was simply because they were acquainted now, or because Rose was a lieutenant commander, or even because she was a fellow former pupil of my dojo. I was happy to see that she cared, but it made it really hard to find the right words to say—I couldn’t let the truth slip. Gatoga had told me he’d work something out, but there were no guarantees, so I was worried too.

“Well...she’s strong,” I said. “Let’s pray she makes it.”

“Yes, let’s...”

I was speaking of more than just Rose recovering from her injuries, but I wasn’t stupid enough to make that implication clear. I felt like I was tricking everyone—actually, that was exactly what I was doing—but this was all for Rose’s sake. I had no choice but to keep my silence. It’ll be a while before this painful churning in my stomach lets up. I doubted that Rose would come up too much in conversation, but I still didn’t like keeping secrets.

“Shall we head back?” I asked.

“Yes... Don’t work yourself too hard, Master.”

“Ha ha ha, thanks for the consideration.”

Hmm, now Allusia is worried about me. She probably sees my anxiety as an instructor showing concern for a former pupil. She’s not wrong, but not exactly right either. Man, my stomach is really starting to hurt.

We turned and headed back to the office, and I decided to change the subject.

“Anyway, I’m glad Prince Glenn and Princess Salacia weren’t hurt.”

Allusia nodded. “You can say that again. It’s all thanks to you taking over back there.”

“Is that so?”

“It is.”

Allusia and Henbrits had successfully escorted Prince Glenn and Princess Salacia all the way back to the palace while I’d stayed back to fight. They’d gone on a forced march, gathering knights of the Liberion Order along the way. The two royals had shown more guts than I’d anticipated. Maybe that was to be expected of people who were one day going to bear the weight of entire nations on their shoulders. Once a decision was made, they steeled themselves for the worst far faster than normal civilians and showed more willpower too.

“I’m sure your stock has gone up,” Allusia added.

“Cut that out.”

I evaded Allusia’s attempts to hold me up on a pedestal every time she had the chance. Seriously, I’m just an old country bumpkin. How did it end up like this? I wasn’t unhappy with my current lifestyle, but I couldn’t come to grips with my name becoming known by society at large.

“Commander Allusia!”

“Evans? What’s the matter?”

After greeting the guards at the gate, we passed through and were immediately hailed by Evans, one of the knights of the order. He always seemed to be in a hurry. He was young, but still a knight, so I felt like he could act with a little more composure. At least, that was the somewhat parental opinion I had when watching him.

“A letter was delivered from the palace,” he said. “It’s addressed to you.”

“Understood and received.” Allusia accepted the letter Evans had pulled out of his pocket. “You may stand down.”

“Ma’am!”

The wax seal was that of the royal family—it matched the one I’d seen on my appointment letter. Allusia glanced at the letter, then smoothly broke the seal.

“A summons?” I asked.

A sealed letter coming at such a time had to have something to do with the recent incident. Princess Salacia had been exposed to danger, even if she’d been escorted out of there safely. It would be a bit of a bummer if the letter was to criticize Allusia for that.

“Yes,” Allusia answered. “It contains words of praise for our recent work and an invitation to a banquet.”

“Hmm. Isn’t that nice? Just go ahead and accept.”

It seemed Princess Salacia had no intention of criticizing the Liberion Order. On the contrary, it was quite the honor to receive praise from royalty, even if only through a letter. Allusia’s expression softened as she read it.

Yup, good work deserves proper praise. I’m glad Liberis is an upstanding country. I was wondering what I would do if Allusia got punished. Well, I probably wouldn’t actually do anything about it.

A banquet with royalty had to involve delicious food, but I didn’t want any part of it. Eating a meal with Mui suits someone of my standing far more than some stuffy banquet. As such thoughts crossed my mind, Allusia continued reading the letter with a wonderful smile.

“Your name is written on the invitation too, Master.”

“Huh...?”

Why?

◇

“Lady Allusia Sitrus and Master Beryl Gardinant, correct? We’ve been expecting you.”

Yup, and now I’m actually at the royal palace. Well, technically, I’d been here during escort duty, but we’d met Prince Glenn and Princess Salacia outside the gate. I hadn’t even been allowed through the gate into the garden, let alone escorted brazenly into the palace itself. I felt tremendously out of place.

“Yes. Have we kept you waiting?”

“Not at all. There is still some time before the appointed hour.”

Allusia spoke to what appeared to be a guide waiting for us at the entrance. I didn’t know what proper the procedure was, so I had no choice but to follow Allusia. I was left curling into myself, feeling restless inside my still unfamiliar clothes—wearing my casual clothes to the palace would’ve been insanity. I’d checked my appearance countless times, making sure I didn’t look or smell bad, so at the very least, I didn’t believe I was being rude. I’d also had Allusia and Henbrits double-check for me, so I was pretty sure my appearance was just fine.

“Master, shall we?”

“S-Sure.”

Following Allusia and the guide, I stepped foot inside the palace. I was nervous whenever I entered an unfamiliar building for the first time, but the palace was on a whole different level. Was it really fine to walk through here with my shoes on? Everything was polished to a shine. Now that I thought of it, I’d bought fancy clothes, but not fancy shoes. Was I being rude?

The order’s office and the adventurer’s guild were both fairly vast, but the palace was enormous. The ceiling was so high that reaching it would be a chore, and the corridors were so clean there wasn’t a speck of dust to be seen. This really was the domain of heaven’s chosen. It made me utterly restless to be walking its halls.

The guide let out a chuckle at my gawking. “So, how do you like the palace?”

“It really is splendid... Sorry for ogling at everything.”

I mean, can you blame me? I never thought I’d have the opportunity to come here.

After walking for a while, we reached a door that was solid and resplendent. So...where is this? It doesn’t look like the center of the palace, so I don’t think it’s a dining hall.

“Over here,” the guide said, opening the door.

“Thank you for showing us the way.” Allusia nodded before following him inside.

Whoa, it’s huge. It was over twice the size of the lobby in the adventurer’s guild. Lights hanging on the wall illuminated the room, and in the center was an extremely long table flanked by luxurious seats.

This place was probably used when many nobles were invited over for a meal. I had no idea how many people would be gathering today, but I was already as nervous as possible at the thought of sharing a meal with royalty. Actually, it’s a little late to ask, but shouldn’t Henbrits be here? I feel sorry for leaving out the lieutenant commander and having some random old man here. Can’t he trade places with me?

“Lady Allusia, over here, please. Master Beryl, please sit here.”

“R-Right.”

Huh. They actually have a seating chart... I carefully pulled back the expensive chair so that I didn’t damage it, then sat down. The head of the table was probably for the king. Allusia and I were seated across from each other just two seats down from the head.

The warm glow of evening filled the room. The sun was about to set, but it was hard to get a grip on the passage of time inside such a glittery space. This feeling was amplified since we were waiting for some real big shots to show up.

“Announcing His Majesty King Gladio, His Highness Prince Fasmatio, and Her Highness Princess Salacia.”

After waiting idly for a short while, I heard the guide’s voice resonate through the room ceremoniously. I turned to look at the door. A king in the prime of his life, a prince who appeared to be in his late twenties, and a somewhat familiar princess entered.

Wait. Hang on. Do I remain seated? Crap! I don’t know any of the etiquette...

Much like when I first met Princess Salacia, the aura coming from the royalty felt daunting—my brain was unable to function properly.

Soon, a voice called out to us like a deity descending from the heavens.

“Hmm, have we kept you waiting?”

“Not at all,” Allusia responded fluently. I was only capable of bowing my head. “I thank you for the honor of inviting us for such an occasion.”

“Ha ha, we’re here to thank you today. Please take it easy and enjoy yourselves.”

It seemed King Gladio was in a terrific mood. His deeply creased and austere face softened with a gentle expression as he broke into a smile.

“Allusia, Beryl, I’m glad you accepted our invitation,” Princess Salacia said. She seemed to be in an equally good mood, and she wore the same cheerful smile she’d shown us during our escort mission.

“P-Please... Your words are more than we deserve,” I responded.

Even if they told us to take it easy, all I felt was tension. Am I even going to be able to taste the food? I’m pretty sure I won’t.

“I’m Fasmatio Ashford el Liberis. Thank you very much for saving my little sister from her recent predicament.”

“Y-You honor us with your praise, sir.”

We got even more recognition from the first prince. He had a manly brow, which gave off a truly princely impression. However, there was a grace to him that was entirely different from Sphenedyardvania’s Prince Glenn. While Prince Glenn was gentle and serene, Prince Fasmatio was crisp and smart. I felt like the tension around me was destroying my vocabulary.

“Get things ready.”

“Sire.”

At the king’s quick command, the guide left the room. He was probably going to get the food.

“Now then, you’ve both done well,” the king said to us. “It’s precisely because of your efforts that Salacia was returned to us safely. I must thank you again.”

“You’re very welcome,” Allusia responded. “I simply fulfilled my duty as a knight. However, I am deeply remorseful for exposing her to danger in the first place.”

“Don’t be,” the king replied. “Though I can’t say it’s all in the past quite yet, let us celebrate her safety today.”

I wasn’t sure whether to join in or keep my silence. I decided to remain quiet unless they addressed me. I was scared of opening my mouth and letting something unnecessary out.

“Excuse me.”

A short time after the guide left, waiters entered the room one after the other. They placed a plate of food and a glass in front of each of us, and they filled the glasses with wine. I only ever drank ale, so this was a fresh experience in its own way. That is, if I can appreciate the taste.

On the topic of seating, King Gladio was at the head of the table, Prince Fasmatio was to his left, and Princess Salacia was to his right. Allusia was seated next to the prince, while I was next to the princess. Aren’t Allusia and I in the wrong places? Is this okay?

“The food we have here today is thanks to the hard work of the citizens of our nation,” the king said, holding up his glass of wine. “We must be grateful to them at all times.”

“I’m sure the people will be overjoyed simply to hear such words,” Allusia said.

I’d never had the opportunity to interact with royalty before all this, but judging by his behavior, the king seemed to be a good person. At the very least, he didn’t act like a tyrant or despot. Even back in Beaden, my life had been good, so I was sure he was a good ruler who cared about Liberis.

“Then shall we?”

At the king’s urging, everyone raised their glasses. I did so in a fluster. I was truly ignorant of what manners to use in the presence of royalty, so for now, I decided to copy everything Allusia did. After waiting for everyone to take a sip, I tried the wine.

“Mm... This is great.”

It started with a slightly sour tang, but a sweetness seized my tongue shortly after. I didn’t know much about wine, but I could tell that it was delicious. It was an entirely different flavor from ale.

“Tee hee hee, I’m glad it suits your tastes,” Princess Salacia said. She put a hand to her mouth and giggled as she watched my reaction.

“Oh, um... Ha ha... How embarrassing.”

Oh man, that’s got me blushing. I’m stupid nervous here.

“Beryl, I received reports that you played an especially large role,” the king said. “It seems you put in some splendid work for us.”

“No, um... You honor me.”

I was happy, of course, but I had no idea how to react. I’m lower middle class here—cut me some slack.

“Father, Beryl was truly amazing,” Princess Salacia said, pouring on the praise. “He took on a wave of enemy soldiers one after the other. I felt fear...but also relief. I believed things would be fine with him there.”

“Ah, well, h-ha ha...”

Please stop. You’ll kill this old man. What’s with the mysterious push from the princess, anyway? I did work hard back there, but Allusia and Henbrits were the ones who saw her all the way back to the palace.

“I heard the story, but didn’t hear such details of your skill,” Prince Fasmatio said. “Perhaps I should request a training bout too.”

“Hee hee, I do believe you’ll be flattened on the ground in no time, brother.”

“How rude. You may not believe it, but I’ve actually trained a fair bit, my dear sister.”

“H-Ha ha ha...”

Is this what’s considered a royal joke? I don’t know how to react. Even if I did provide Prince Fasmatio with training, I had no idea whether it was correct etiquette to beat him. Save me, Allusia.

“It seems we made the correct choice for a special instructor,” the king said.

“Yes. I can’t thank you enough for your decision, Your Majesty,” Allusia responded.

Ah, right. My appointment letter had come with the royal seal. That meant the decision had passed through the king himself. And that also explains why the princess knew about me when we first met. I would’ve preferred to stay unknown. I was satisfied as long as I could teach swordsmanship in peace.

As I was in the middle of sipping my wine and quietly savoring the cooking before me, King Gladio raised his voice a little.

“This hasn’t been made official yet, but it has been decided that Salacia will be married to Sphenedyardvania’s Prince Glenn.”

“Is that so?”

That would explain why they’d gotten along so well. Prince Glenn seemed to have a good opinion of Princess Salacia, so it probably wasn’t a bad thing. I suppose it could also just be a political marriage of convenience. Politics really make no sense to me.

“However, I’m a little concerned about sending her away to another country.”

That made sense too. This was especially true considering Sphenedyardvania’s ongoing civil war. There was no telling when the conflict between royalists and papists was going to end. It was only proper to feel anxiety as a king, let alone as a father.

“And so, we’ve decided to establish Salacia’s own royal guard.”

“Jeez, you’re such a worrywart, father.”

The Liberion Order was dedicated to the protection of the nation, but a royal guard would be focused entirely on protecting Princess Salacia herself. That would make them a gathering of elites. Could they send her to Sphenedyardvania with her own private army, though? Was that even a thing? Well, as long as the other country accepted it, there was no problem.

“It’s being formed with select elites of the royal garrison at its core, but...” King Gladio paused, a clear glint in his eyes highlighting his gentle features. “Beryl—if you so desire, I don’t mind recommending you a place in her royal guard.”

“Huh...?”

My brain stopped completely. I forgot all about my nervousness and bewilderment. What? Me? Princess Salacia? Royal guard? No! No way! Absolutely not! I can’t take such an important post!

“Your Majesty, with all due respect, I so humbly believe that Mr. Gardinant’s continued support is essential to the Liberion Order’s future development, not to mention the prosperity of Liberis itself.”

During my brief brain freeze, Allusia did her best to suppress her usual rapid-fire talking habit—while still talking somewhat fast—and refused on my behalf. I was grateful, but for some reason, Allusia sure looked desperate. She didn’t have to worry. I couldn’t fulfill such a duty, and frankly, the title of special instructor already felt heavy. I didn’t want anything that placed an even heavier burden on my shoulders.

Also, what’s with the overexaggerated refusal? What do you mean by Liberis’s prosperity? Don’t put so much weight behind my tiny title, especially when I can’t interject and say something about it...

“Hmm. If the commander and instructor of our knights says so, then I suppose I must concede,” the king replied, backing down with unexpected ease.

Princess Salacia puffed out her cheeks. “Aww. How unfortunate.”

She was awfully cute like that, but having this old man working for her would be a bit of a bother. Really dodged a close one there... I don’t want to go swinging my sword in another country surrounded by VIPs.

“Then, Beryl, I expect even more from you for the sake of Liberis’s future development.”

“Yes, sire...”

Since Allusia had refused my recommendation to the royal guard, I needed to sincerely show my commitment to the king’s words. But...Liberis’s future development, huh? I doubt I can play any role in that.

The king smiled gently. “Now then, I see we’ve all stopped eating. Please, enjoy your meal.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Doing as King Gladio said, I took a bite of my meat.

“Say, Beryl, have you been wielding a sword for long?”

“Yes, well... I’ve been fooling around with a wooden sword since I was little.”

An invitation to Liberis’s palace to enjoy a luxurious meal was supposed to be something worth celebrating. However, with Princess Salacia constantly barraging me with questions, the anxiety and tension in my heart prevented me from tasting any of the food—even the meat.

“Ha ha ha! It seems Salacia has taken a liking to you.” King Gladio’s cheerful laughter resounded through the room.

“H-Ha ha... I’m honored...”

Haaah... I wanna go get a drink at my favorite tavern. Once this is over, I’ll do just that. So, with thoughts of the snug little tavern in my mind, I endured the tremendously awkward luxury banquet.