Lucifal

"If I'm not mistaken, you're Roa?"

A few days after my exchange with Drew, Wickhart, Rufa, and I were walking through the royal palace when someone called out to me from behind.

When I turned, I found the worst possible person standing there: Lucifal Velas, commander of the First Knight Order.

Three subordinates stood behind Lucifal, all watching us with sharp looks.

"Ah... Lucifal-sama. Hello." I gave him a small bow, and Lucifal approached with long strides and held out his hand.

"I heard about the Battle of Haksha the other day! You performed marvelously!"

I stood there, blinking in confusion at his guileless smile, when Lucifal said, "It's a handshake," and continued waiting with his hand extended.

To be honest, I wanted to refuse, but I didn't want to leave some bizarre grudge behind by doing so here... I reluctantly shook his hand, affecting an outwardly nervous air as I said, "Ah, thank you very much." He withdrew his hand with a fresh, satisfied smile.

"Forgive me for saying so, but when the king took an interest in a civil official with no particular accomplishments, I wondered if there was something going on behind the scenes... But I see now that the king and Rays had a discerning eye. It is a pleasure to see a promising commander emerge in our army."

Lucifal showered me with praise. If I hadn't known what the future held, I would probably have been thrilled to hear such words from the hero of this country and its most popular general. But I couldn't shake the feeling that there was some ulterior motive behind it all.

"In fact, I'd like to have you in the First Knight Order! What do you say? Would you transfer even now? We'd be delighted to have you!"

He suddenly threw that at me.

"What!? No, I'm sorry, but..."

"It was a joke. Well, not the part about welcoming you, but Rays would resent me if I forcibly poached you!" he declared.

"Lucifal-sama, your appointment with the envoy from Rifrea is about to begin..."

Prompted by his aide,

"Ah, yes. My apologies, but I have to receive an envoy from our allied nation now. I'd like to hear more from you another time, when we both have a moment. Until then."

With that, he swiftly turned away.

I didn't miss the intensely dark look in his eyes as he glanced our way in that brief instant.

"Let's go, too," I told the other two. After turning my back on Lucifal, I still felt a gaze boring into my back, so I looked over my shoulder and saw a knight glaring at us.

When I turned to look, he turned on his heel as if nothing had happened. I recognized him.

That man was... if I remember correctly...

"That man was glaring at me. Let's leave him alone," Wickhart said. Ah, I see, I thought.

The knight who continued glaring at us to the very end was named Hinov. He prided himself on his archery, even within the First Knight Order.

However, he wasn't counted among the continent's Ten Bows. Yet this man was glaring at Azure Bow, Wickhart. So that's what this was.

"He's highly competitive and a real nuisance," Wickhart said, looking thoroughly fed up. They must have had some sort of history.

Just when I was wondering why Rufa was being so quiet, I saw that she was walking with her head slightly bowed, clutching the hem of my clothes.

"What's wrong? Are you all right?"

"I... don't like those people..."

What a coincidence. Neither do I.

Still, an envoy from the Rifrea Holy Nation...

As an allied nation, a visit from its envoy was perfectly normal, and the First Knight Order, as the king's personal guard, would naturally be responsible for their reception. Even so, my heart stirred uneasily.

The reason the Rifrea Holy Nation attacked our country, despite being our ally—that was something I never really understood, even in the future.

If we knew the cause, we might be able to do something about it, but... That may be difficult. If only the Tenth Knight Order were in charge of welcoming them...

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The First Knight Order's office.

A thin man in clerical robes sat in Lucifal's usual chair.

Lucifal and his aides, all senior officers, knelt on the floor and looked up at the man in robes.

"Lucifal, it has been a long time."

"Yes."

"Is everything proceeding according to plan?"

"There have been some changes, but for the most part, everything is proceeding smoothly."

"...Then all is well. For the sake of our ideals, I need you to continue working hard for a little while longer. I am counting on you."

"Yes. Your words humble me."

Anyone unaware of the true circumstances would have taken them for a master and his servants, and nothing more.

〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜

When we returned to the storage room for bottled goods, Dick came running up to us.

"What's wrong, Dick?"

"I've been looking all over for you! Rays-sama wants to see you!"

"Rays-sama? All right, I'll be right there. Rufa, please take care of managing the bottled goods."

"No, that's not it!"

"Not what? What do you mean?"

"Rufa's been summoned too!"

"Rufa too? I wonder what happened?"

In any case, the three of us, Wickhart included, hurried to Rays-sama's office.