Chapter 24
I am Cyril Sutherland, captain of the First Knight Order.
In addition, having inherited the dukedom from my father ten years ago, at the age of seventeen, I am also known as the Duke of Sutherland.
Because my father was the younger brother of the previous king, I too have a claim to the throne, ranking second after Commander-in-Chief Savis.
Perhaps because of that, Desmond, captain of the Second Knight Order, and I are sometimes called the “Dragon and Tiger of the Kingdom.” Individually, Desmond is the “Tiger of the Kingdom,” while I am the “Dragon of the Kingdom.” It is deeply unpleasant.
To begin with, the dragon is the royal family’s crest, and the king himself is sometimes called the Dragon.
No matter how high my place in the line of succession, this is utterly disrespectful.
Seeing my anger, Commander-in-Chief Savis said without changing his expression, “For example, if you became crown prince, there’d be nothing strange about people calling you the Dragon.”
There are some things in this world that simply cannot be helped.
No matter how capable you are, no matter how hard you try, some things simply cannot be helped.
Ten years ago, when the Commander-in-Chief lost his right eye and his emotions, I was made painfully aware of that.
Even though I had been right beside him, I could do nothing.
Since that day, I have been the Commander-in-Chief’s right eye.
As his right eye, I have seen what I must see and eliminated everything I must not see.
On the battlefield, I always stood to his right and served as his right eye.
I have devoted everything I have to the kingdom. There is nothing I would consider too precious to give up for this man, the next king.
◇◇◇
That day, I went with the Commander-in-Chief to a nearby forest in the afternoon.
Since it was a forest where monsters appeared, we brought fifty guards as a precaution.
The Commander-in-Chief regularly practices with his sword.
He swings his sword every day at the training grounds inside the royal castle, but separately from that, he periodically wishes to see real combat.
It seemed he might simply be venting his pent-up frustration by moving his body, or that he sought to become even stronger through more combat experience.
Or perhaps, when he had worries or doubts, swinging his sword helped him organize his thoughts.
That day, we defeated around ten monsters in two hours.
They were all C-rank or lower, and the Commander-in-Chief defeated nearly all of them by himself. As usual.
Watching the Commander-in-Chief lightly swing his sword to shake off the monster blood clinging to it, I hoped it would clear his mind, even a little.
That’s when we heard the sound of a rescue whistle nearby.
It was the whistle used exclusively by the Knight Orders, and this forest was supposed to be under the jurisdiction of the Sixth Knight Order.
If they were using a rescue whistle, had something unexpected happened...?
I restrained the Commander-in-Chief, who was about to rush ahead, and followed the whistle. As expected, we came across a platoon of the Sixth Knight Order.
...Now, what is this?
I took in the situation and, just for an instant, stood frozen. That was something that must never happen on a battlefield.
There was a Flowerhorn Deer. A B-rank monster that normally lived deep in the forest.
It was unusual, but that in itself was fine.
But what was a rookie from the First Knight Order doing sitting in the center of the scene, directing this fight...?
When I called out, that rookie was the first to turn around.
“Captain Cyril! It’s a Flowerhorn Deer. We’ve got it completely surrounded, so there’s no chance of it escaping for now. This one has 450 vitality, and its remaining vitality is at 85%. Its eyes will turn blue and the flames will go out in seven seconds!”
“Huh...”
Ever since I was young, I was strictly disciplined, and received repeated instruction especially regarding my speech.
I was taught to speak precisely so that listeners could understand me correctly, and I put that into practice.
I think that was the first time since I was old enough to know better that I’d ever said something so utterly inane...
...To begin with, the Flowerhorn Deer was endemic to this forest. Its traits shouldn’t be widely known, so why was Fia so knowledgeable?
Also, how could she quantify a monster’s vitality? This was the first I’d heard of measuring a monster’s vitality numerically, so I didn’t even know whether it was right or wrong. The same went for its remaining vitality.
Furthermore, wasn’t the hard part about fighting this monster that it was impossible to tell when it would switch between red and blue eyes? Had my knowledge been lacking?
“Fia... I’m so preoccupied with you now that I can’t think about the monster anymore.”
I spoke from the bottom of my heart, utterly drained, but the young knight before me just gave a delighted, goofy grin.
“Now that you’re here, Captain, everything’s all right. I’m completely absorbed in thoughts of such a wonderful captain, too!”
This is hopeless. She doesn’t understand...
Though I was feeling exhausted, I took my usual position to the right of where the Commander-in-Chief was expected to stand. At the same time, the Commander-in-Chief stepped in front of the monster.
“Huh? Commander-in-Chief?!”
Fia, who had only just noticed the Commander-in-Chief, cried out in surprise.
...How was I supposed to interpret this?
Was Desmond right, that she had top-tier battlefield awareness but was incredibly oblivious about everything else?
(...It should be impossible not to notice the Commander-in-Chief until someone as overwhelmingly imposing as him comes right up to you.)
Or was the right answer that she had realized no one else had noticed him, and so had intentionally failed to acknowledge the Commander-in-Chief (meaning her situational awareness was flawless)?
(...No, surely that was impossible.)
I shifted my focus and faced the monster.
The moment the monster extinguished its flames, the Commander-in-Chief swiftly drew his sword, easily dodged the charging monster, and cut off its head with a single slash from above.
“Incredible...”
“As expected of the Commander-in-Chief! He took it down in one stroke, even though the twenty of us could barely weaken it!”
The knights cried out in astonishment, but to me, it was a familiar sight. The Commander-in-Chief was strong.
Now, I’d leave the cleanup of the dead Flowerhorn Deer to the Sixth Knight Order. I still had work to do. More precisely, I should say I had a new task on my hands.
“Fia, come here for a moment.”
“Yes, Captain!”
Fabian, who knew what sort of interrogation awaited him, gave me a pitying look from behind. But Fia, the person in question, seemed completely unaware, approaching with a cheerful smile.
“Captain, thank you so much! You saved us.”
She thanked me with a beaming smile.
The Commander-in-Chief sighed at her carefree attitude, and Fia noticed and hurriedly turned to him.
“Ah, no, that’s not right! Captain, I mean, ‘Thank you for coming!’ ‘Thank you for defeating it!’ is for the Commander-in-Chief!”
Then she said something completely off the mark.
The Commander-in-Chief looked at me as if he had something to say, and raised one eyebrow.
...Yes, I understand. I failed to educate her properly.