Chapter 28
“Then, let’s start with an easy question, Fia.”
Captain Cyril gave me a lovely smile and met my gaze.
Oh no. That look made it seem as if he could see right to the depths of my soul. He was going to corner me with everything he had.
I put on a giggling smile and looked back at the captain, but an incredible amount of sweat was running down my back.
“Why do you know so much about Flowerhorn Deer?”
“Huh? Oh, um, because I saw one in an encyclopedia.”
Th-thank goodness! I really did get an easy question!
“The Monster Encyclopedia lists every monster that’s been discovered, right? I saw it in there and thought it was such a pretty monster, with horns shaped like flowers, so I remembered it.”
“Huh? Didn’t you say you’d hunted one before?”
One of the Third Platoon knights muttered in surprise as he watched me speak so confidently.
“Of course I was bluffing. If I’d said I’d read about it in an encyclopedia, nobody would have thought to leave it to me, right? Heh heh, it’s all in how you put it.”
I grinned, satisfied that I’d fooled them completely.
Well, I’d defeated hundreds of Flowerhorn Deer in my previous life, but I wasn’t so shameless as to count that as experience in this life.
Besides, even if I insisted I’d defeated one, it’d be easy to find out that I’d never set foot outside our territory before joining the Knight Order. My lie would be exposed right away.
Experiences from my previous life… Hmm. I guess you could compare them to things you experience in a dream?
“Well, I have defeated them in my dreams, so I thought I might be able to handle one.”
“Y-you…”
The knights of the Third Platoon started opening and closing their mouths like fish.
“Y-you make it sound so simple, but there’s no way you can learn a monster’s traits from an encyclopedia and then deal with it in actual combat!”
“Besides, normally you’d forget the traits of a monster you’d only seen in an encyclopedia! We’d all studied the list at some point, but I only remembered that its eye color changed when you told us!”
“Even if you remembered that its eye color changed, there are way too many unknowns! You wouldn’t know when it changed or whether the color difference was obvious enough to see. You couldn’t just act!”
“Are you a genius?! Are you some kind of combat genius who can lead a hunt against a monster you’ve never even seen before?!”
“Eee, what do I do? I never expected such lavish praise…!!”
I was so happy that I pressed both hands to my blushing cheeks, and everyone there immediately called me out.
“No, that’s not it!!”
Huhhh? What kind of betrayal is this? I thought I was being praised, but now I’m being insulted!
Captain Cyril, who had stayed silent until then, asked as if confirming what he’d heard.
“So, despite having no experience hunting one, you claimed that you did and volunteered to lead the hunt against the Flowerhorn Deer? And your experience consisted of what you’d learned from an encyclopedia and what you’d experienced in a dream? …I see. You thought there was nothing wrong with calling that experience.”
…H-huh? This is starting to look ominous again.
Better keep quiet.
“……”
I kept my mouth shut and my eyes lowered, but after the silence stretched on for a while, I cautiously glanced at Captain Cyril. Somehow, Captain Desmond of the Second Knight Order was now standing beside him.
Captain Desmond silently shook his head, while Captain Cyril seemed lost in thought.
Hm? What are they doing?
“Then, Fia. My next question. How did you know when the Flowerhorn Deer’s red and blue eyes would switch? You said, ‘Its eyes will turn blue in seven seconds,’ and they turned blue exactly seven seconds later, didn’t they?”
“Huh? Because the color had already changed several times before you got here. That was plenty of time to learn its traits.”
I paused, but since he didn’t seem convinced, I added an explanation.
“Um, that one was the type whose flames go out in three stages. It took two-thirds as long to go from the second stage to the third as it did to go from the first to the second, so I calculated that its eyes would turn blue in seven seconds.”
Captain Desmond, standing beside Captain Cyril, shook his head again.
And Captain Cyril’s expression grew more and more strained…
“Then, my final question. You quantified that monster’s vitality and remaining vitality, didn’t you? How can you measure those accurately?”
“Um, with a Flowerhorn Deer, you can estimate its vitality from its size and the number of branches on its antlers, right? You can estimate its remaining vitality either from how much damage each knight has dealt or from the way the monster is standing and how much it’s sweating. Well, more than half of it is guesswork and intuition, so there’s some margin for error.”
Measuring a monster’s vitality and remaining vitality is basic knowledge for a Saint.
And in my previous life, I’d defeated more monsters than I could count, so I had plenty of examples to draw on. After defeating enough of them, you learn to estimate a monster’s vitality at a glance.
“…So, Fia, you’re saying you can estimate a monster’s vitality just by looking at it, and you can tell how much damage a single knight’s attack will deal?”
“Well, yes, that’s about right…”
After hearing my answer, Captain Desmond shook his head yet again.
What is he even doing? Seriously.
Here I was, getting a thorough lecture—or interrogation—from Captain Cyril, and the captain could just stand there shaking his head for fun. Must be nice to be a captain.
Ahhh, I’m already getting tired of this lecture.
“Fia. If what you’re saying is true, this is remarkable. We’ll need to consult with the Fourth Monster Knight Order, but as for the familiar… Fia, what’s wrong? If you have something to say, go ahead.”
“Even if you say that, you’ll get angry if I really say it.”
“I won’t get angry. I promise.”
“In that case! Why is this turning into a lecture instead of a meat festival, when today is supposed to be the meat festival?! My butt isn’t for sitting on this hard, uncomfortable chair! And my hands aren’t for gripping my uniform trousers while I break out in an unpleasant sweat during your lecture, Captain. These hands are for grabbing delicious meat and drinks!!”
“……”
My unexpected outburst seemed to take the wind out of him. Captain Cyril murmured an apology, then looked up at the Commander-in-Chief.
The Commander-in-Chief met my gaze and gave a single nod.
“Fia, come see me later. I’ll treat you to some good liquor.”
“Understood! I will never disobey an order!”
Then the Commander-in-Chief looked around at the knights of the Third Platoon and spoke.
“You lot seem to need a lesson in monsters. Write a report on the traits of Flowerhorn Deer and how to fight them, and submit it to Zachary.”
“Yes, Commander-in-Chief!! Understood!!!”
Captain Zachary of the Sixth Knight Order gazed at his subordinates with a stern expression, then opened his mouth.
“Thirty pages apiece.”
“Eeeeeeeek!”
A scream like a roar of outrage echoed throughout the hall.