Chapter 60
I, Zachary Townsend, Commander of the Sixth Knight Order, first saw Fia at the Knights’ entrance ceremony.
The ceremony was proceeding as usual when they suddenly announced that Commander-in-Chief Savis would be taking part in the demonstration match. I remember turning toward the emcee’s stand in surprise.
At first, I thought the emcee had misspoken, but when I saw the emcee staring at me with a deathly pale face, I realized it wasn’t a mistake. The Commander-in-Chief had set this up.
The Commander-in-Chief looks like the sort of adult who lives by the rules, but he often has moments of mischief.
However, when I saw the little girl knight step forward, I couldn’t help wondering if the Commander-in-Chief’s mischief had taken a strange turn.
...What does the Commander-in-Chief intend to test by having this girl knight face him?
She wouldn’t last a single strike against the Commander-in-Chief. For that matter, wouldn’t her legs give out and leave her unable to move?
Sure enough, the girl knight started walking in a bizarre manner, stepping forward with her right hand and right foot at the same time.
If one of my subordinates had done that, it would have drawn laughter. But seeing a girl knight do it while facing the Commander-in-Chief only made me feel sorry for her.
As I watched with sympathy, Ardio, famed as the “Ice Knight,” and his younger brother Leon hurried over to the girl knight and began speaking with her.
...Ah, that’s Dolf’s daughter.
Dolf, the Vice Commander of the Fourteenth Knight Order, has three children serving in the Knights.
Does that make her his fourth?
She’s small and thin for Dolf’s daughter. Unfortunately, it looks like she wasn’t blessed with a sturdy build.
She might have some sword skills, being from a knightly family, but... with that build, she won’t last a single strike against the Commander-in-Chief.
Getting to face the Commander-in-Chief is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I hoped she’d at least consider it a good memory.
As I watched, the girl knight—Fia Ludo—announced herself and ran toward the Commander-in-Chief.
...Well, it’s impressive that her legs didn’t give out.
As I admired her, Fia’s speed suddenly increased when she was about five meters from the Commander-in-Chief.
She drew her sword at an incredible speed and swung at the Commander-in-Chief.
There was a dull crack, and I could see the Commander-in-Chief’s whole body tense as he caught the blow.
―――What kind of sword is that?
That sword is incredibly heavy.
As I watched in amazement, Fia struck at the Commander-in-Chief again and again.
She kept gaining speed, and each blow sounded heavier than the last.
But the thing most worth noting was that Fia was focusing all her attacks on just one side of the Commander-in-Chief.
―――What is she aiming for?
I watched the fight, glaring as I tried to figure out Fia’s goal. Then it ended abruptly when her sword was knocked from her hands.
The knights cheered for the Commander-in-Chief’s victory, but my gaze was drawn to him as he bit down on his lip in frustration.
...What a thing to see. Commander-in-Chief Savis looks as if he thinks he lost.
The Commander-in-Chief then declared the match invalid.
Afterward, it came to light that the sword Fia had used was a magic sword imbued with an astonishing effect. But what mattered even more was why Fia had attacked only one side of the Commander-in-Chief.
Pressed by the Commander-in-Chief, Fia confessed that she had noticed his leg injury from the way he moved and attacked his weaker left side.
―――What an incredible rookie.
I shook my head slightly in disbelief, then took another look at Fia Ludo.
Only a little time had passed since the Commander-in-Chief entered the arena.
In that brief time, had Fia really spotted an old injury that no one else had noticed?
Even with a magic sword, had she really been able to face the Commander-in-Chief—who radiated such overwhelming strength—without fear?
Had she really been able to take the injury she’d just spotted into account and work it into her attacks? In that little time?
―――It was impossible.
But the most unbelievable thing of all was that Fia had targeted the Commander-in-Chief’s weakness, then looked him straight in the face and brazenly claimed, “It’s the spirit of chivalry.”
...She lied to the Commander-in-Chief’s face.
Incredible. She’s got nerves of steel.
That day, the Commander-in-Chief announced that he had memorized Fia Ludo’s name. It was deeply etched into my mind as well.
◇◇◇
The next time I met Fia was at a banquet.
That day, the knights of the Sixth Knight Order, which I commanded, had gone out to hunt monsters. We held an informal banquet, planning to have a meat festival with the monster meat they brought back.
But before the banquet began, I was summoned by Cyril, Commander of the First Knight Order.
It was true that we’d taken two rookies from the First Knight Order along for training that day, but had something gone wrong?
Unfortunately, I’d been out on other business until just before the banquet, so I hadn’t had time to hear a report from my subordinates. Without knowing what was going on, I headed to the dining hall with the First Knight Order knight who had come to fetch me.
When I arrived at the dining hall, I was led to a private room partitioned off from the rest of it.
I looked around. The Sixth Knight Order knights who had gone out hunting that day were standing at attention. Facing them were Cyril, wearing an ominous smile, and the unreadable Commander-in-Chief Savis.
...This is no ordinary matter. To put it plainly, it’s trouble.
Watching the expressions on my knights’ faces, I walked up in front of the Commander-in-Chief and Cyril.
Cyril wore a stiff smile as he looked straight at me.
“I apologize for summoning you. Today, your knights achieved splendid results in the monster hunt, so I’ve gathered everyone to praise their fine work.”
...That’s a lie.
As I watched Cyril’s rigid smile, I looked around at my subordinates.
...What did you do? The Commander of the First Knight Order is as furious as a person can get.
Before I could hear an answer, two knights entered through the door. One of them was Fia.
...I see. Fia was one of the rookie knights who accompanied our unit on today’s hunt.
Cyril had every knight present, Fia included, sit down.
Then he stood where he could look down at the seated knights, so I silently took up a position nearby.
The Commander-in-Chief had stepped back a little, apparently intending to watch how things unfolded.
With the Commander-in-Chief present, this was definitely no ordinary matter.
I folded my arms, faced the knights, and decided to see how things played out.
This was what Cyril had to say.
A monster from the Abyss had appeared during today’s hunt.
And yet, the knights had skillfully cornered the monster without a single fatality. It was an admirable feat, worthy of praise.
――――――But.
When Cyril happened to arrive, the hunt had not been led by the experienced knights of the Sixth Knight Order, but by Fia, a rookie from the First Knight Order. Why? What had they been thinking?
With a voice sharp as pointed ice and a smile so frozen it rivaled the Demon King’s, Cyril cornered my subordinates.
It was plain for everyone to see that Cyril was furious beyond measure.
I closed my eyes for a moment and let out a small breath, trying to calm myself.
Then I opened my eyes and glared at my subordinates.
...What did you people do?
But my sensible subordinates kept their silence and didn’t open their mouths, so I didn’t have enough information to say anything.
The only one who spoke was Fia, whom Cyril had singled out.
I’d been listening intently, trying to understand the situation, but I couldn’t make sense of a word Fia was saying.
Because Fia claimed she had led the hunt against a monster from the Abyss she’d never seen before, relying only on knowledge from an encyclopedia and experience she’d had in a dream.
―――There’s no way that could be possible.
She had calmly observed the movements of a monster she’d never encountered before, a species unique to that forest, and cornered it without making a single mistake despite being clearly outmatched?
―――That was absolutely impossible. If it were that easy, everyone would quickly become a capable commander, and the forest’s monsters would have been wiped out long ago.
While I stared in shock and disbelief at Fia’s outrageous claims, she went on to say that during the brief time she’d faced the monster, she had identified its traits and gauged its vitality and how much it had left.
Fia explained how she measured vitality, but... hahahaha, no one could learn to do that without hunting hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of monsters. That’s impossible.
What is this rookie knight?
There’s something abnormal mixed in with the knights.
But what shook me most was that Fia snapped back at Cyril.
As Cyril threatened the knights with a Demon King’s smile, everyone naturally went pale and stared at the floor in despair. But Fia held her head high, looked Cyril in the eye, and declared that her hands were meant to grab delicious meat and wine.
...This girl’s incredible.
She stood up to the Commander of the First Knight Order right in front of the Commander-in-Chief.
I found myself even more interested in Fia. But―――I think there are parts of that night I should forget as a knight.
The memory of Fia’s belly sticking out like a three-year-old’s.
She lamented that even though she trained as a knight every day, she never put on any muscle.
She asked me what she should do, and for the first time at a banquet, I was at a loss for an answer.
And I deeply reconsidered my own attitude.
―――Fia was right.
Complaining about having a four-pack was a sign of a privileged life. There were things in this world that couldn’t be helped, like Fia’s belly.
From that day on, I stopped lamenting my abdominal muscles.
At the same time, as someone walking the proper path of chivalry, I decided to forget the memory of Fia’s belly.