Chapter 64
“Fia, you said that friends talk together, go out together, and even sleep together.”
Commander Cyril spoke in a cool, composed voice, but...
Wait, wait!
That last part was weird!
“C-Commander! I have no intention of meddling in your friendships, but I do not sleep with friends of the opposite sex!”
“That’s a relief. I was listening to you and thinking your ideas were rather too freewheeling, so I’m glad you corrected yourself.”
“Ugh...”
This is bad.
He’d made it sound like I was the one who said it.
If I couldn’t remember saying it, there was no way I could argue my case.
“S-So? I agree that friends share many things, but what would you like to share, Commander?”
So I tried changing the subject.
“...Let me see. ‘Memories,’ perhaps. I’d like to share my memories with you.”
“Memories?”
I asked again, feeling as though this might touch on Commander Cyril’s inner thoughts, and he smiled pleasantly at me.
“Yes. I have a place that holds many memories for me. Every year, I visit it so I won’t forget the things I’ve done in the past. I was wondering if you might accompany me.”
“...I-It sounds like a very personal matter, and I’m not sure I should come along, but if you say it’s all right, Commander, then I’ll join you. Where is it?”
“My domain.”
His domain! So he really is a noble, with a domain of his own!
I thought as much, then asked as casually as I could.
“By the way, what was your family name again, Commander Cyril?”
“...Fia, you’re asking as though you’ve simply forgotten, but you never knew my family name in the first place, did you? It’s Sutherland.”
“Sutherland?!”
How could this be?
That was the land that had once belonged to the ‘Blue Knight,’ my bodyguard in my previous life.
“C-Commander Cyril, are you a descendant of the ‘Blue Knight’?”
I asked in surprise, and Commander Cyril looked surprised in turn.
“Have you heard the legends of the ‘Blue Knight’? How on earth do you know about such an obscure knight?”
“Obscure? Based on the kingdom’s blue-and-white flag, weren’t the two finest knights in each generation chosen from among the orders to be the ‘Blue Knight’ and the ‘White Knight’? I thought they were the most famous and honored knights in the entire order!”
“...Fia, the kingdom’s flag was blue and white more than three hundred years ago. The flag of the Kingdom of Nav is now red, with a black dragon crest.”
...R-Right!
One of the things that had surprised me after my memories of my previous life came back was that the flag had changed.
The current royal family’s surname was Nav, too, so it seemed the dynasty hadn’t changed. I’d wondered why they’d changed the flag.
“Um, so does that mean the most famous knight nowadays is called the ‘Red Knight’?”
“...Fia. Red is a forbidden color. It isn’t permitted to be used.”
“Huh? I-Is that so?”
“Yes. Red belongs to the Great Saint. We returned ‘the Great Saint’s red’ to the Great Saint.”
The Great Saint’s red...?
My eyes widened at the unfamiliar phrase.
It was true that in my previous life, when I was called the Great Saint, I had the exact same red hair I had now. Was this somehow connected to that?
Or had several Great Saints appeared after my death, and had they done something related to the color red?
I tilted my head, puzzling over it, but there was no way I could know what had happened over the past three hundred years... And I had a bad feeling about continuing this conversation with the far-too-sharp Commander Cyril, so I changed the subject.
“I-I see. Come to think of it, you never see red clothes or curtains for sale. It makes sense if red is a forbidden color. S-So, Commander Cyril, are you a descendant of the ‘Blue Knight’?”
Even so, I was still curious whether Commander Cyril was connected to the ‘Blue Knight,’ so I asked again.
Commander Cyril gave a self-deprecating smile and tilted his head slightly.
“Are you really that curious? Unfortunately, I’m not a descendant of the ‘Blue Knight.’ You must mean the last ‘Blue Knight’ to bear the Sutherland name. He had no children to inherit his name, so after his generation, the Sutherland lands were taken back by the royal family for a time. They managed the land from then on, until my father was granted it about thirty years ago.”
“I-I see...”
It felt strange hearing about what had become of a former colleague I’d spent so much time with.
I wanted to ask if the ‘Blue Knight’ had remained well and lived a long life after my death, but I felt that I shouldn’t bring it up.
A little late, I found myself hoping that my death hadn’t unsettled him.
...Well, I am about three hundred years late.
“Understood, Commander. I’ll accompany you. When do we leave?”
―――A sudden loneliness came over me, and I wanted to see once more that beautiful land surrounded by blue skies and sea.
The ‘Blue Knight’ loved Sutherland.
His gravestone was surely in Sutherland.
I’d pay my respects while I was there with Commander Cyril.
“Let’s see. You’ll probably want a little time to rest, too, so we’ll leave in three days.”
I agreed with Commander Cyril, who smiled at me, then left his office.
I’d thought becoming friends with the commander was just a prelude to him making some unreasonable request of me, but it hadn’t been anything major after all... I thought as I closed the office door.
Yes, the commander really was a sensible knight after all...
◇◇◇
“Oh, Fia?”
I was walking down the hall after leaving the commander’s office when someone called out to me from behind.
When I turned around, a silver-haired prince was standing there.
It was Fabian.
“Oh, Fabian! We’ve barely seen each other, and you’ve become even more prince-like! How do you make that sparkly aura appear?”
I felt as though not only Fabian’s silver hair but the space around him was sparkling, and the words slipped out before I could stop them.
Fabian laughed, then came closer.
“You still say things no ordinary person could understand, Fia. That’s what makes you interesting, though. How was the Fourth Monster Knight Order?”
When he asked me directly, I wasn’t sure what to say.
“Well... Between you and me, I came back without accomplishing any of the things I’d originally been sent to do.”
“Really?”
“Commander Quentin of the Fourth Monster Knight Order was away for a long time, and Vice Commander Gidion was handling his duties. He didn’t seem to like me, so he assigned me other work. I couldn’t even start on the work Commander Cyril had asked me to do.”
“That’s unfortunate. I’ve heard the Fourth Monster Knight Order can be a bit exclusive, so perhaps they didn’t like that you were trying to help with their work while still belonging to the First Knight Order. You’ll have to accept it as part of their nature. ...Don’t worry. Everyone knows how hard you work, Fia. It wasn’t your fault you couldn’t accomplish what you’d set out to do.”
Seeing Fabian try to put me at ease with an easygoing smile, I thought, What a handsome man.
A handsome man inside and out—wasn’t that unbeatable?
“Thanks, Fabian. Commander Cyril didn’t scold me at all for failing to do my work, either. Knowing him, even if he’d received complaints, he’d probably take them on himself and smile as though nothing was wrong. I’m worried I might be causing trouble without realizing it.”
“Hehe. You’re a good person, Fia. Don’t worry. Commander Cyril doesn’t protect people indiscriminately. If he protects someone, there’s a reason for it.”
“Huh? ...Does that mean he thinks I’m so unreliable I can’t handle anything on my own?”
It was true that compared to Commander Cyril, who’d seen countless battles, I was like a little child, but...
I asked anxiously, and Fabian burst out laughing.
“Hehe, you always come up with the most interesting ideas, Fia. I have no way of knowing what happened in the Fourth Monster Knight Order, but anyone who isn’t a complete fool could tell from last night’s banquet that you accomplished something major. Commander Cyril and Commander Desmond aside, even Commander Quentin and Commander Zachary wouldn’t leave your side.”
“Huh? Um...”
“You don’t have to tell me. It seems there’s been a gag order on anything related to you, Fia. ...But this is interesting. They haven’t told you to keep quiet, though? Does that mean you’re free to talk about it?”
I blinked at Fabian, who murmured thoughtfully.
...Wait, what kind of observation skills are those?
I could understand the commanders noticing, since they were in charge of the knight orders, but even Fabian had figured it out.
The knights around me were so capable it was starting to bother me.
I gave Fabian an openly annoyed look, but he didn’t seem to mind and continued speaking.
“Come to think of it, Commander Cyril is apparently going to visit the Duchy of Sutherland soon as Prince Savis’s representative.”
“What...?”
...Did he just say Sutherland?
Sutherland was the place I was going to visit with Commander Cyril, wasn’t it?
Wait, Commander Cyril had made it sound like a private trip, but was it an official event?
And he was going as Prince Savis’s representative...?
“F-Fabian, did you say he’s going as Prince Savis’s representative, not the Commander-in-Chief’s?”
If he was representing the king’s younger brother, then this wasn’t a knightly matter—it was an official event on behalf of the kingdom.
If Commander Cyril was attending as his representative, then the visit to his domain was an important event for the entire kingdom!
I was so surprised I could barely get the words out, but Fabian confirmed it as if it were nothing.
“That’s right. That land became a battlefield ten years ago during a civil war called the ‘Sutherland Lament.’ Ever since, a member of the royal family has visited every year to mourn the dead.”
“I-I wasn’t told this was an official event! If they appointed a representative, does that mean Commander-in-Chief Savis is too busy to visit this time? B-But it’s amazing that Commander Cyril is representing the Commander-in-Chief... No, I mean His Highness the Prince. The authority of the kingdom’s foremost knight commander is boundless!”
“No, this time Commander Cyril’s position is as the Duke of Sutherland, who’s in the line of succession to the throne—”
“Fia.”
Someone called my name, cutting Fabian off.
When I turned, the Commander-in-Chief was standing there.
Well, I’d thought this morning was a day for running into one acquaintance after another, but now even the Commander-in-Chief had shown up.
An SS-rank VIP encounter!
Fabian and I turned to face the Commander-in-Chief and gave the knight’s salute.
The Commander-in-Chief strode over and looked down at me.
“Fia, I hear you’ll be visiting Sutherland with Cyril. ...I have something to discuss with you, so come see Cyril and me later.”
Well, being summoned personally by the Commander-in-Chief was certainly no ordinary matter.
...Commander Cyril, that settles it!
This visit to Sutherland is absolutely not going to be as carefree as you made it sound!!