Chapter 99
The story continues off the page
The Last Dance Before Midnight
A masked dragon asks the lanternwright for one slow dance
Winter raged on, with a chill that seemed capable of freezing everything.
Hestia Village was immersed in construction work as usual.
Hanson, who had worked there since the beginning of the village's construction, had been promoted from foreman to superintendent.
Among the commoner-born technicians who managed the foremen, he had risen the highest.
“Give us some more meat! How are we supposed to find the strength to work when you feed us so stingily?”
“Meat is distributed only according to the allotted portions.”
“What do you mean, allotted portions? That meat over there looks bigger. Someone else is going to get more of that, aren't they? Is that your idea of an allotted portion?”
“Good grief, now that you're a superintendent, you should buy some ham from the people around here and hand it out. The supplementary rations are still a complete mess, and it's irritating.”
“If I buy things like that, when am I supposed to save any money!? Just give me some more of that meat.”
After a quarrel, they managed to obtain a sizeable chunk of meat.
Hanson left the serving station with a satisfied smile.
“Superintendent Hanson! Come over here! I've saved you a seat!”
He sat down at a spot a reasonable distance from the campfire.
“Wow. Even after becoming superintendent, you still eat in a place like this?”
“Do I have the standing to eat with the big shots? While they sit around twiddling their thumbs, everyone else does all the work!”
“Where did that knight go?”
Hanson shrugged.
“How would I know? I've gotten used to it, so I just assume it's normal when he suddenly disappears. He doesn't eat anyway, so let's just enjoy our meal in peace.”
A short while later, one of the foremen approached, nervously glancing around.
“Are you eating?”
“Of course I'm eating. What is it, are you being chased by your wife?”
“It's similar to that. I don't want to run into him. Here, hurry up and take it.”
He took an object from inside his clothes.
It was ham.
“Oh! Where did you get that ham?”
“I heard there was a problem with the supplies.”
“What do you think? I quietly took one from the people from Halim.”
The man openly bragged about stealing.
Instead of scolding him, the men busied themselves praising him as a hero.
“Then why didn't you bring a bigger one?”
“This is the biggest one.”
“Well, what a big one. The rations seem a little short on meat anyway, so it'll put some grease on our stomachs. Take out a knife.”
“Mine's dirty. Let me use yours.”
“Mine's dirty too. Just give it here.”
“Won't heating it over the fire disinfect it?”
“Then we'll heat yours over the fire and use it.”
They were still bickering over whose knife to use when it happened.
“Hey, you guys.”
“That bastard's here! Hide it!”
The men sprang into action at the young man's voice.
They began scooping stew as though nothing had happened.
The young man approaching them was wearing half-plate armor, carrying a sword, and wearing an armband labeled ‘Chief of Security.’
It was William.
The chief of security, whose voice alone conveyed his rigid honesty, asked them,
“The people from Halim say their supplementary rations have gone missing. Do you know anything about it?”
“Who knows? Do you?”
“I don't know either. Maybe that desert minor god turned into a ghost and stole it?”
The man casually scanned his surroundings.
An absurdly large bulge caught his eye.
“Please take out what's in your trousers.”
“Good grief, man! While I'm eating, you want me to expose my crotch?”
“I'm asking because it looks suspicious. Hurry up and take it out.”
“This thing's naturally a big one.”
“……Please, let's not embarrass each other like this.”
With no choice, he pulled the ham hidden in his trousers.
William let out a sigh.
“This is plainly theft. Why are you all doing this, honestly?”
“Hey, those people did the same thing! They took some of our materials, then denied it and claimed they hadn't done it!”
“Exactly! If they can use us, why can't we use them?”
The workers shouted that the situation was even on both sides and insisted on their ownership of the ham.
But none of it made the slightest impression on the chief of security.
“I have a duty to protect the peace of this village. Please, let's not do things that make us turn against each other.”
“I told you, they did it too. You're not going to lock poor people like us up over something like this, are you?”
“Consider returning what you rubbed against your crotch revenge on them. If this happens again, I'll handle it according to the law.”
“That doesn't sound so bad. Your crotch stinks, after all.”
“What? You stink worse, you bastard! You haven't washed in a week!”
While the workers fought over whose offense was worse, the chief of security picked up the ham like garbage and disappeared.
The workers watching his back each muttered a comment.
“Damn. That refugee bastard rose through the ranks the moment he arrived.”
“What sort of place did that guy crawl out of?”
“I don't know. His name is William, and apparently he's just a refugee. Wasn't he a refugee, yet the administrator told him to become chief of security the moment he saw him?”
“How can they entrust an important position like chief of security to a refugee?”
“Did he bring some treasure from a noble and quietly slip it to the administrator?”
“Why would a dragonspawn have any greed?”
“But doesn't it suit him, looking at the way he acts? He's so stiff he might as well be a knight.”
“That's true.”
They did not want to admit it, but it was true.
He had never once done anything that would bring shame to the badge of chief of security.
Then a thought suddenly occurred to one of them, presenting a new topic of conversation.
“Come to think of it, why haven't they thought of giving our knight an official position?”
All the foremen nodded in agreement.
Considering his monstrous strength, it was strange that he was still working as a laborer.
“I naturally thought the chief of security would become an armored knight.”
“They say they didn't even make him an offer. When I asked the administrator whether we shouldn't give our knight a position, he only said he was considering it!”
“So they are thinking about it. Can't we just wait?”
“Thinking, my foot! Isn't he planning to work him to the bone and then throw him away? There's no more greedy, corrupt official than him.”
The foremen felt their blood run cold at those words.
“The administrator is a dragon, isn't he?”
“Not a dragon, a dragonspawn.”
“To people like us, it's the same thing. They're the sort who fold your spine in half when they get angry. Is it really all right to speak carelessly about them?”
“……I mean, that's just what I'm saying.”
Hanson lowered his tail and muttered.
Hanson knew his life was precious too, so he lacked the nerve to get angry on their behalf.
There had long been a saying among commoners that they should beware of anything with horns on its head.
Demons, dragonspawn, and dragons.
They all possessed abilities beyond those of humans.
“Huh?”
“Why?”
“Isn't that our knight?”
“They say even a tiger comes when you talk about it. Here he is.”
A man dressed in armor ill-suited to a construction site entered.
“Knight, over here!”
Hanson waved his hand broadly to attract his attention.
The armored knight spotted someone he knew and came trotting over.
“The way he runs, he looks like some woman.”
“With a height and build like that, he can't be a woman, though……”
They assumed it was some incomprehensible knightly etiquette and paid it no mind.
More than anything, he was a person who could lift eleven logs with his bare hands.
It was only natural to feel that his behavior was feminine.
Because the person inside was none other than the woman Waldrova.
“Goodness, Knight. Have you eaten?”
Nod, nod.
“Then rest here for a moment. We were just talking about something.”
She tilted her head, and a question mark appeared above it.
“We were saying it was a shame that our knight, who has earned so many merits here, hasn't been given an official position.”
“?”
“I mean, considering how much you've done in building this city, isn't it disappointing that they haven't given you anything?”
Hanson pressed the matter forcefully.
His reason for doing so was genuine regret, but it was also to secure his own share.
There was no better source of power than having someone you knew seated in an important position.
Hanson wanted to sit in the knight's shadow and benefit from her influence.
Of course, Waldrova could not see through even such a shallow scheme.
‘I'm enjoying what I'm doing enough.’
More than anything, Waldrova was satisfied with her current work.
She wanted to build things rather than become something like a knight.
Even though she was paid little, she could not hide the sense of fulfillment she felt whenever a building was completed.
She preferred remaining in a place like this to becoming a knight.
Just as the meal was nearly over, someone let out a furious shout.
“You fucking……!”
Everyone's attention naturally turned in that direction.
A group of armed men was holding a young girl.
And a somewhat older girl who appeared to be the younger girl's guardian was trembling in fear.
“Can't you keep track of your little sister properly!? Why did you let her carry something like that around? Your sister got my clothes dirty!”
“I'm sorry, Adventurer. I'll wash them for you, so please, your clothes……”
“Can't you take your filthy hands off me? Do you know how much this costs? Three shillings!”
“Oh, I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry for dirtying such expensive clothes……”
“Words won't pay for it. Hurry up and compensate me.”
“Yes, yes??”
“Are your ears plugged?! Hand over three shillings!”
The girl's face turned pale.
There was no way she could not be flustered.
She was already worried about where her meal for tomorrow would come from. Where could she possibly get three shillings?
The workers watched and threw in their comments.
“There have been a lot more bastards like that lately.”
“Isn't this place originally for adventurers? It's only natural for adventurers to gather here.”
“Aren't there plenty of adventurers in the Empire too? I've never seen anyone act so rudely there.”
“If they were that sort, they would've been driven out long ago. They're all bark and no substance. Isn't that why they remain Bronze or Silver rank?”
The foremen clicked their tongues while gossiping behind the adventurers' backs.
But they lacked the nerve to confront the adventurers.
“I-I'll pay you back. I'm staying here, so I'll save up the money little by little……”
“When are you ever going to earn three shillings that way? I'll be old and dead first.”
“I know how this big brother can help you earn three shillings quickly. Want me to teach you?”
“What does that……?”
A lecherous hand reached toward the girl.
The girl instinctively sensed what was about to happen and shrank back.
“Those filthy bastards—!”
Just as the foremen were about to stand, unable to bear it any longer, someone sprang to her feet a moment faster.
It was the armored knight.
The plate armor was heavy enough that simply standing up made the foremen's feet freeze in place.
She strode toward them.
Although it was smaller than her original armor, it was still exceptionally large.
And that size made the thuggish adventurers tense.
“Y-you! What are you?”
“……”
“You fucking bastard! Do you think I'll be scared just because you keep your mouth shut?!”
Waldrova raised her fist.
The thugs flinched, thinking she was about to attack, but the fist opened.
Inside were three silver coins.
Three shillings.
She was paying the price in their place.
The thugs, who had been thoroughly cowed, belatedly tried to save face as they said,
“You want us to take this and get lost? Fine, we'll do that! Hey, brat, count yourself lucky!”
The thugs who had been extorting them accepted the money and released the girl as though throwing her aside.
The young girl fell into Waldrova's arms.
The little girl remained nestled securely in that embrace.
Waldrova looked as though she did not know what to do, embracing empty air for a moment before lowering her hands.
Then the girl's older sister approached.
“Th-thank you for saving us, Knight.”
“……”
“I will repay you somehow, no matter what. So please, my little sister……”
The girl looked as though she might cry.
The hand holding the basket was still trembling in terror.
Waldrova handed the little girl back.
The older sister wiped away her tears and dragged her sister away somewhere.
Waldrova stared blankly at their retreating figures.
“Why did you give them money? You should've hit those bastards once and sent them flying!!”
“……”
Hanson tried to argue, but Waldrova simply looked at him.
Hanson remembered that she possessed the monstrous strength to lift eleven logs and lowered his voice.
“Since the knight is also an adventurer and seems to have her own reasons, it would be pointless for a humble man like me to argue.”
Waldrova vaguely understood that it had not been the right choice.
Seeing them holding on to the little girl had made anger surge within her.
Her fist had tightened, and she had wanted to hit them hard enough to make them bawl.
But she could not let it turn into violence.
Waldrova knew that well.
‘If I use my strength…… someone will die.’
Death led to sorrow for some people, and fear for others.
It was something she had felt and experienced over decades and centuries.
‘I don't like that.’
So if possible, she wanted to defuse such situations and move on.
For now, money was the best means available.
So she had placed the money in the adventurer's hand, just as he wanted.
The situation had ended there.
Without anything happening.
Waldrova was satisfied with that.
She wished everything in the world could be settled so easily.
That was when it happened.
Clang, clang, clang!
The sound of an alarm bell suddenly rang loudly through the village.
“What is that sound?”
“It sounds like it's coming from the center of the village.”
No one knew exactly what the bell meant.
But they could tell that it was announcing danger.
The problem was whether the bell really was warning them of danger.
While everyone stood frozen, the chief of security drew his sword and ran toward them.
“This is a real situation! Everyone except those who can fight, evacuate into the buildings! Monsters are approaching!”
“M-monsters?”
“Good grief! They say the East is the East for a reason!”
“Foremen, hurry and spread the information to the workers and evacuate them! This is a real situation!”
The foremen hurriedly shouted instructions and evacuated the workers.
Waldrova stood there motionless.
‘Monsters…….’
Her mind seemed to turn completely white.
With monsters approaching, she could not make any choice at all.
“You're the armored knight, right?”
“……”
“We need a hand right now. If you can, will you fight for the sake of this city?”
“……”
When she showed no reaction, William tried to persuade her again.
“The chief of security alone can't stop them! Everyone is in danger! Hestia Village could collapse at any moment. Everything we've built could vanish like an illusion. We need the knight's cooperation!”
After William's earnest appeal, Waldrova finally came to her senses.
She nodded and followed him.
Following him, she saw the city thrown into chaos.
Everyone was moving about in terror, clutching bundles of belongings.
The security forces, wearing armor and carrying spears, came running clumsily toward William.
“Reporting! The evacuation is about seventy percent complete! Shall we finish clearing the rest?”
“No, that's enough! Security force! Form a phalanx in front of me!”
The spearmen stood on the road with their spears raised.
They were an army of soldiers in name only, none of whom had received proper training.
That was why they desperately needed the adventurers' help.
-Chief of Security.
Isabella's telepathic voice reached him.
-We expect wolf monsters to enter through an alley in the west. Could you send adventurers there?
“Understood!”
William quickly swept his gaze around.
He spotted a familiar group of adventurers and shouted.
“Adventurers! Defend the western alley…… Where are you going!? Hurry and join the battle—.”
“What, are you crazy? Do you think I became an adventurer to throw my life away here?”
“Didn't I tell you that adventurers would be mobilized in an emergency!?”
“Who cares! I'm not participating!”
“Protect the place yourselves, like a security force should!”
“I didn't see anything. I didn't see a thing.”
They had come with nothing but the determination to make a profit, but the immediate terror drove them to run away with their tails between their legs.
Rather than helping, they even left behind a huge turd that gnawed away at everyone's morale.
‘Those damn bastards.’
William felt as though his blood pressure was about to kill him.
He had thought they would at least help at the decisive moment, even if they disrupted public order, but even that hope had failed.
In the end, all he could rely on were a handful of conscientious adventurers and the security force.
‘The superhuman armored knight.’
She was the only person he could trust right now.
Her help was desperately needed if the security force was to block the main road safely.
William made his choice.
“Knight.”
“?”
“They say troops are needed in the western alley. A monster is entering there, and we have to stop it.”
“……”
“Can you manage it alone? If you can't, we can send about four people with you—.”
Waldrova cut him off.
It was a signal that they were not needed and should handle things themselves.
Then she moved without a word.
Toward the east.
“K-Knight? Not that way……”
Oh, right.
The west is over there.
That was how she filled the empty position.
The main force had lost a considerable amount of strength, but William had no choice.
A short while later, the culprit behind the loudly ringing alarm bell appeared.
It burst out of the forest and entered the village.
-Grrr!
There were fifteen wolf monsters, each twice the size of an ordinary wolf.
Three of them appeared on the main road.
William raised his sword and shouted.
“Hold your spears straight! Advance one step!”
They moved little by little at his command.
What lay before them was death.
Who could boldly walk toward death?
At least for poorly trained soldiers like them, it was difficult.
The wolves tasted the inexperienced soldiers' fear and licked their lips.
Their instincts knew it.
They knew that the formation would collapse if they pushed just a little deeper,
-Grr!
“Huh? D-don't come! I said don't come!”
One wolf monster pushed through the spear shafts and entered the formation.
The infantry panicked and fell beneath the force of the monster charging in without fear.
“Aaaagh!”
Just as they thought they were going to be eaten,
A red blade aura struck the wolf monster sharply in the head.
-Yelp!
The wolf monster staggered backward with its head mangled.
The one who had dealt the critical blow was none other than William.
He helped the fallen security soldier to his feet and shouted.
“Stand up! Hold your spears straight! If you want to live, brace your spears firmly and lower your center of gravity!! All you have to do is impede their movements!”
William struck his own chest.
The plate armor rang like an iron bell.
“I'll take responsibility for your lives!”