Chapter 58
“Talk to Zachary...? That's unusual. You wanting to hear what I have to say.”
Quentin was the first to speak.
Commander Quentin opened his mouth, eyeing Commander Zachary suspiciously, but a moment later, he seemed to imagine some scene, and his expression turned enraptured.
“Zachary, you saw it too, didn't you?! The divine figure of the Black Dragon King-sama! To have his dragon form ascend and evolve into such a beautiful ancient species!! Now that you've witnessed that sight, you have no choice but to kneel before the Black Dragon King-sama's utter magnificence!! That flawless, perfect...”
“All right, I get it! I get that you haven't understood a single word I've said, Quentin!”
Commander Zachary cut off Commander Quentin, who was trembling with some incomprehensible emotion, and turned to me.
“Fia, then I'll start with you! You have something to tell me, don't you?”
“I know what Commander Zachary wants to ask! But I categorically deny it!”
I looked Commander Zachary straight in the eye and declared it firmly, because this was important.
“Oh? After making your relationship so obvious, you're going to claim you're unrelated?”
Commander Zachary narrowed his eyes slightly and tightened his crossed arms.
“What relationship? That's completely baseless, Commander Zachary!”
“No, it isn't. Anyone could see how close you two were.”
“It's baseless! In fact, that bald, muscular instructor you mentioned and I aren't related at all! We're complete strangers!”
“Wait! What are you talking about?!”
Commander Zachary uncrossed his arms in spite of himself and asked in surprise. Determined not to lose, I continued with even more vigor.
“Of course I'm talking about the bald, muscular instructor!! Look veeeeery closely at my hair! It's thick and full! My father, Dolf, has a full head of hair too! Baldness doesn't run in our family! So I'm not related to that bald, muscular instructor you mentioned, and I have nothing to do with him!!”
“............................ All right, I get it! Neither of you has the slightest understanding of how serious this is! Both of you, straighten your backs!”
Commander Zachary was speechless for a moment, but quickly recovered and shouted.
Commander Quentin and I placed our hands on our knees, straightened our backs, and looked at Commander Zachary.
But then I realized something important and let out a cry.
“What is it, Fia?”
I hurriedly clung to Commander Zachary as he asked.
“C-Commander Zachary! I forgot, but I'm in an abnormal state!”
“Huh?”
“I'm delirious! You said so yourself, Commander Zachary! You said I was confused! ...Ah, so that's why I hallucinated that a tender fifteen-year-old maiden had been mistaken for a bald muscleman!! Oh no, being delirious is terrifying!”
“No, wait! For starters, I didn't mistake you for a bald muscleman, and that's not what I meant by being confused! I mean... no, wait. Why am I the only one trying so hard here? Hey, Quentin, you explain the rest!”
Commander Quentin's face twisted for a moment when the conversation was suddenly handed over to him, but true to his standing as a knight commander, he continued as if nothing had happened.
“In other words, Commander Zachary wishes to worship Fia-sama as a goddess in the heavens, since she commands the Black Dragon King-sama, whose splendor is enough to make one kneel.”
“That's enough!! ...Quentin, what's happened to you?! You used to be reasonably competent, so how did you end up like this?! The Commander-in-Chief was right! Talented knights go strange the moment they get involved with Fia!”
Commander Zachary objected to Quentin's words with lightning speed, but I was the one who objected to his.
“H-Hey, Commander Zachary! I demand a retraction! Commander Quentin has been completely strange from the moment I met him until now! There hasn't been a single moment when he wasn't strange! This isn't my fault; it's just Commander Quentin's innate nature, all right?”
“Hahaha, Fia-sama. Just as I see you as different from everyone else, do I appear different from everyone else to you? That is a tremendous honor.”
Quentin took my complaint in a completely different way and gave his usual, utterly off-the-mark response.
“See, Commander Zachary? You heard him, right?! Even though I've clearly insulted Commander Quentin, he takes it positively! That's not normal, is it?!”
Quentin and I both turned to Commander Zachary and argued our respective cases, but he stared at us with a sullen gaze and didn't speak for a while.
“...C-Commander Zachary?”
Worried, I called out to him, and Commander Zachary closed his eyes.
“I'm doing my utmost right now to figure out your level of common sense. I can't understand a single thing you two are saying. Amazing. To be able to carry on a conversation this incomprehensible to me... you two are seriously amazing.”
“R-Really? Being praised by you, Commander Zachary, makes me happy...”
When I grinned without meaning to at the praise, Commander Zachary's eyes flew open.
“All right, I was wrong! That was an indirect insult!! I was wrong to think you'd understand it! Fia, I wasn't praising you. It was an advanced technique where I made it sound like praise while expressing the exact opposite... Actually, please, don't make me explain something like this. I don't know what to do anymore!”
Quentin placed a hand on Commander Zachary's shoulder, who was clutching his head, and spoke as if to comfort him.
“Zachary, until now you've been insensitive, only accepting what you can see. But here, you'll take a great leap forward. Feel Fia-sama's greatness! And accept it! Then you'll be able to understand the world properly, just like me!!”
“Shut up! I already have no idea what you're talking about!! Just keep quiet!!”
In front of the two knight commanders arguing, I decided this wasn't working and made a constructive suggestion.
“Both of you, that's enough. ...At this point, all we can do is eat.”
“...Huh?”
Commander Zachary blinked repeatedly, apparently unable to understand what I meant, so I smiled at him.
“You're both hungry, so you're getting irritated over little things. Pfft, you're like children. Just wait a moment. I'll go get lunch for you commanders.”
“No, wait, Fia...!”
Commander Zachary shouted behind me, but I pretended not to hear and went to get food.
...Hehe, they do exist, people who get grumpy when they're hungry.
I never would have guessed Commander Zachary was one of them, though.
Commander Zachary is such a child, despite being a knight commander.
I found it amusing, but went over to the nearest knights, from Quentin's squad, and got lunch for three.
“Thank you! I'm sorry for coming to get food without helping with the preparations.”
After apologizing, the knights, who had been glancing at me with a wary look for some reason, began speaking with earnest enthusiasm.
“H-Hey, what are you talking about?! We're the ones who want to thank you. Fia, you... ...n-no, never mind. Anyway, that's it. Eat plenty!”
“R-Right. If that's not enough, come back for more. Don't you dare hold back!”
“Yes, thank you! Hehe, you knights are so kind.”
When I thanked the knights with a smile, they grimaced and muttered something in muffled voices.
“No, coming from you, that...”
“Ah, damn. This vow of silence is a pain. Can't even thank her.”
“Pardon? Did you say something?”
Since I hadn't heard clearly, I asked again, and they waved their hands frantically.
“N-No, nothing. Anyway, you need to learn to protect yourself first.”
“I am protecting myself, aren't I? That's why, to make sure I eat properly, I shamelessly came to ask for lunch even though I didn't help with the preparations.”
“...Sigh. Whatever. Just take lunch to the commanders. We ended up making it a day trip, but we prepared enough food for a week. Eat as much as you like, all right?”
“Yes, thank you!”
I was puzzled by how exhausted the knights suddenly seemed, but carrying lunch for three, I headed back to the commanders in high spirits. Then I noticed Commander Zachary standing right behind me.
“Oh, couldn't wait? Maybe you skipped breakfast?”
I asked, amused, and after a beat, he replied with exasperation.
“...You're carefree. I'm jealous.”
As he spoke, Commander Zachary took the lunch for three from me and carried it off ahead of me.
“W-Wait, don't! It's absolutely unthinkable to make a knight commander carry this. Don't take a rookie knight's job away!”
Without even turning around, Commander Zachary sighed theatrically.
“I can't decide whether I can even classify you as a rookie. Sometimes you're so composed I'd believe it if someone said you were on the verge of retirement.”
“H-Hey, Commander Zachary, why do you insist on categorizing me as a bald muscleman? Fine, bring it on!”
At my retort, Commander Zachary gave a slight shake of his head and slumped his shoulders.
“Sigh, Fia, leave the bald muscleman alone for a while. ...All right, food is important, sure. I feel like your brain is lacking nutrients. Eat my share too, and have a meal.”
He strode back to Commander Quentin with long steps, then noticed me standing still and shouted.
“Hurry up! I can't sit down until you sit!”
Well, well, Commander Zachary. That's the mark of a true knight, not sitting down until a lady has taken her seat.
Still, shouting from a distance like that is unbecoming.
I ran over to Commander Zachary, hopped just a little, and landed in a sitting position, saying, “Ta-daa!”
“How was that? A high-level technique where I pretend to jump, but land sitting down!”
“...I take it back. You're just a child.”
Commander Zachary hung his head with an exhausted look and handed me my lunch.
I opened the package he handed me and found my favorite white bread inside.
I was so happy that I ate it slowly with a big grin.
As I tossed small pieces of bread into my mouth, I met Commander Zachary's gaze. He was watching me.
“Why aren't you eating? I'm not such a big eater that I can eat two people's portions, so please eat. The knights were worried about having food left over since they prepared a week's worth but we're making a day trip. If you run out, I'll go get more.”
I tilted my head as I asked, and Commander Zachary sighed before opening his lunch.
He took a piece of white bread from inside and ate it in just two bites.
“My, Commander Zachary, what a big bite!”
I stared at him in surprise, and Commander Zachary let out a deep sigh.
“...Honestly, you're having fun with everything, and that's good for you. But I was just as short on brain nutrition. ...Fia.”
He called my name in a serious tone, so I straightened my back and answered, “Yes?”
Commander Zachary straightened his back too, placed both hands on his knees, and bowed deeply.
“I want to thank you.”
“...Huh?”
I was so startled that I swallowed the bread in my mouth whole.
Guh, glug, glug, gluuuuugh...
But Commander Zachary continued speaking, unaware of my distress.
“As a knight commander, I'm responsible for the lives of the knights. But today, with one monster after another appearing—Dreamgreen, Flowerhorn Deer, Violet Boar, and Blue Dragon—not a single person died thanks to you. As a knight commander, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Even as he spoke, Commander Zachary continued to bow deeply.
“N-No, cough, hack, cough, C-Commander Zachary! I didn't do anything. Zabi... the Black Dragon and the knights did all the work. ...Um, please, really, raise your head.”
At last, I managed to swallow the bread, but I was so flustered by the sight of Commander Zachary continuing to bow that I had no idea what to do.
While I was at a complete loss, Commander Zachary finally lifted his head and spoke with a serious expression.
“Fia, you used the power you've been hiding to protect the knights, didn't you?”
“Wha—?!”
Startled by Commander Zachary's words, I let out an involuntary cry.
“W-W-Wait, I... am I hiding, h-hiding something? A-And I used it?”
At Commander Zachary's sudden accusation, I stammered in a panic, and beside me Commander Quentin exclaimed in surprise.
“What?! Fia-sama was trying to hide her power? I thought it was admirable how you laid everything bare and made no effort to hide a single thing, but... huh? Which part were you trying to hide?”
Commander Quentin whispered that if I told him, he'd help me conceal my power, but of course his voice carried to Commander Zachary.
At a loss, I covered my face with both hands, saying, “Aaaaaah.”
Huh? What is this situation??
What does Commander Zachary know?
And is Commander Quentin on my side, or is he an enemy trying to get in my way?
As I kept covering my face with my hands, unable to figure out what to do, Commander Zachary's voice came down to me.
“You knew how to defeat Dreamgreen, knew the Flowerhorn Deer's traits, figured out from afar what kinds and how many monsters the other squads encountered, could control the other knights' familiars, and command a Black Dragon... No one but you could do any of that.”
“........................”
“But you'd never manifested any special powers until now, so I deduced you were hiding them. And yet this time, in every situation, you chose to save the knights instead of hiding your power. ...Fia, I respect the choice you made. And I won't let you suffer any disadvantage for making it.”
Faced with his powerful words, spoken with such resolve, I timidly raised my head and peered at Commander Zachary through the gaps between my fingers.
“Commander Zachary...?”
Commander Zachary looked back at me with an intensely serious expression, despite my bad manners in peeking through spread fingers.
“My very foundation is being a knight. And when I joined the Knights, I swore the 'Ten Commandments of the Knights.' If I harmed someone who saved my life, I'd be breaking those commandments. ...I wouldn't be a knight anymore.”
“........................”
“So, in the name of the Commander of the Black Dragon Knights of the Kingdom of Nav, I swear to you. I'll protect the secrets you wish to keep hidden, and I'll protect you.”
“...Commander Zachary.”
“It's a vow made in the name of a knight commander. The day I break it is the day I quit being a knight—in other words, the day I die. ...I'm sorry, Fia. I should have told you this first, before asking about your situation.”
Commander Zachary paused, then his expression softened just a little.
“Only say what you can talk about, and what you want to talk about. No matter what I hear, I won't tell anyone, and I'll protect you. But that doesn't mean you have to tell me everything.”
After putting weight behind each word, Commander Zachary fell silent.
Then he folded his arms and waited for me to speak.
...Faced with Commander Zachary's resolute gaze, my heart felt so full that for a while I couldn't speak.
...Commander Zachary, you're way too cool...