Let's Think About the Unit Flag

"Ugh... what am I going to do...?"

Once the king had let me go, I was in a corner of a plaza near the Tenth Knight Order's headquarters.

I was sighing over Roa's unit flag. I had to decide on one and tell Nelfia today. Honestly, it was a far more difficult problem than the exercise with Prince Ural.

At first, I'd been staring at a white sheet of paper in my room, but nothing came to me at all, so I'd come outside.

Beside me, Lufa was using a stick lying nearby to draw all sorts of pictures on the ground. I didn't think drawing in the dirt could still make Lufa happy at this age, but it seemed some sort of switch had flipped, and Lufa was now drawing one picture after another with total concentration.

So far, so good. Lufa's drawings were actually quite helpful. They might give me some inspiration.

Yes, up to this point, everything was fine.

"Prince Zelando... what are you doing?"

As Lufa and I sat at the edge of the training ground, groaning as we racked our brains, Prince Zelando showed up, having somehow sniffed us out.

He was gazing with great interest at the pictures Master Artist Lufa was drawing one after another on the ground.

"I made sure to get Father's permission! He said I could have the rest of the day off!"

Right. Good for you. There were probably more fun things you could be doing, but I couldn't exactly say that.

Lufa paid Prince Zelando no attention, continuing to draw on the ground in silence. What was going on here?

No, I couldn't afford to get distracted by Prince Zelando. I had to think about the unit flag.

Among Lufa's drawings was one with three stars and a bull. It was the crest of Zackhart-sama's Rodel family, which had adopted Lufa. Zackhart-sama used a design with one star removed from that crest as his unit flag.

Apparently, when a family had a crest, it was common to alter it slightly. Another standard approach was to feature a favorite weapon or combine a favorite animal with a plant.

"Roa-dono, how about using the four-eyed lion?"

Prince Zelando innocently made that suggestion, but that was absolutely one we couldn't use, okay? It was the royal family's crest. I wouldn't get away with just being scolded!

"I see... Still, unit flags are cooler with an animal on them."

"An animal... I suppose so. I don't have a weapon I'm particularly good with, and I don't come from a family with a crest, so that does seem like the safest choice..."

So, what animal would be best? That was the hard part.

As for animals I'm familiar with... right now, without a doubt, it would be a horse. I had Arrow, after all, and Roa's unit was a cavalry unit to begin with. It felt like the most obvious choice. At the same time, it also felt like the choice most likely to cause an argument.

After all, the two commanders in this company were both deeply devoted to horses. They would surely agree to a horse for the unit flag right away, but after that, they would definitely start weighing in, and it was obvious we would never reach a conclusion. Rudek might fall before we settled on a flag.

Then what about a familiar animal from my homeland...? There were plenty of fish. And gulls, too. But you don't see gulls inland, so somehow that didn't feel quite right.

Lufa's doodles also included cats, rabbits, and piglets. Rabbits were out since they would overlap with Rapiria-sama. A cat wasn't a bad idea, but it seemed a little too cute.

"What's this?" Prince Zelando showed interest in an unfamiliar animal among the doodles.

"A mole." Lufa, absorbed in the doodle, gave him a fairly curt response. Even so, Prince Zelando cheerfully asked, "What sort of creature is a mole?"

...Hmm? Lufa seemed to have become quite a favorite with Prince Zelando.

Well, whatever. More importantly, the unit flag.

Just then, Lufa's hand, which had been moving all this time, suddenly stopped. Lufa turned toward me and said, "Roa, I think Roa's unit should have a bird."

There wasn't a single bird at Lufa's feet. What had brought that on all of a sudden?

When I asked what Lufa meant, the answer was, "Just because." I see. Just because, huh.

"I see. A bird? That's a good idea!" Prince Zelando agreed, but you'd probably be happy with anything Lufa picked, wouldn't you?

"A bird... A bird, huh...? Since it's winter, perhaps a swan or a duck?"

"Roa-dono, you can see starlings around here, too."

As Prince Zelando and I listed birds we saw in winter, Lufa looked puzzled.

"Wouldn't swallows count as winter birds?"

"Swallows? Aren't those birds of the warmer seasons? You know, they usually raise their young around summer, don't they?"

At my words, Lufa tilted their head again.

After comparing notes, we found out that swallows apparently spent winter on the southern continent and summer on the northern continent. It was true that I'd never seen one in winter.

Swallows... Hmm, swallows. Come to think of it, wasn't there a superstition that a house where swallows built nests was lucky? Something about them building their nests in safe places?

Yeah, that didn't seem like a bad idea.

"...How about a swallow?" I said aloud.

"I like it!" If Lufa liked it, then we didn't need Prince Zelando's opinion anymore.

"A swallow alone feels a little lonely. Since we're making one anyway, why not add a plant as well? How about an olive, a symbol of wisdom?"

Prince Zelando had a point, but a symbol of wisdom felt embarrassing.

"It's not a bad idea, but..."

"...How about the moon?" Lufa pointed at the picture of the three stars and bull.

The moon... The moon and a swallow. They seemed like an unrelated combination, but it might be interesting.

"A full moon or a crescent moon?" Prince Zelando asked Lufa.

"Which do you think would be better?" Zelando thought for a moment after being asked the question in return,

"...A crescent moon, I suppose? Something like a swallow flying inside a crescent?"

Prince Zelando, that's the one.

Once we had a rough design, I figured Nelfia would take care of the details.

And so, Roa's unit flag was decided upon: 'A Swallow in a Crescent Moon.'