Chapter 9
"The formal orders will come a little later, but Roa's assignment to the Tenth Knight Order has been officially decided."
At lunchtime, Rays-sama made the announcement in the dining hall at the Tenth Knight Order's headquarters, and a tremendous cheer erupted.
"Good for you!"
"Welcome aboard!"
"No more treating you like a guest!"
The soldiers of the Tenth Knight Order greeted me one after another. There were about three hundred soldiers on duty here. The forceful heat of their jubilant energy sent shivers down my spine.
"I look forward to working with you." I returned the greeting each time someone addressed me.
When the commotion finally began to die down, Rays-sama cleared his throat, and everyone's eyes immediately turned toward him.
"For the time being, you'll continue living in the civil servants' dormitory. Roa will serve as my aide. Also, drawing on his experience as a civil servant, I'll have him take charge of weapons management and supply-line coordination, which Glantz has been laboring over until now. Glantz, see to the handover."
"Y-yes, sir. Understood."
"Also, assign her to Roa. Have her work with him on weapons management and the like."
"Y-yes... Is that all right?"
"Yes. We can't keep treating her as a guest forever, either. She can't be a soldier, but under Roa, there should be something she can do."
"Y-yes, sir. Understood."
The conversation continued in a way that piqued my curiosity. Who was this "her" they were talking about? Rapilia-sama was an exception, but the knight order was basically a gathering of men. Looking around, the only women I could see were the servers.
Rays-sama glanced at my face and narrowed his eyes slightly. Seeing that, I gave up, figuring he probably wasn't going to tell me. Compared with how I used to be, when I could only gaze at the hero from afar, my impression of Rays-sama had changed astonishingly.
Perhaps it was partly because he always wore black, but our country's hero had an intensely intimidating, almost razor-sharp air that kept people at a distance. Even being questioned by him could inspire a hint of fear.
Lately, I had gradually come to understand what he was really like. This man was much fonder of pranks—or rather, of surprising people—than I would have expected. In the office, Glantz-sama and Rapilia-sama often scolded him.
He never let his stern demeanor slip in public, of course, but the people of the Tenth Knight Order seemed to understand Rays-sama's personality. I didn't dislike this atmosphere.
In any case, once I finished eating, I went with Glantz-sama to the armory.
"Here. I'd like you to arrange repairs for damaged weapons and manage them, among other things. Can you do that?"
"Yes. I've mostly done that sort of work until now, so it's actually one of my strengths." When I answered, he nodded with satisfaction.
"Our knight order is among the very best when it comes to combat, but we're rather poor at this sort of administrative work. Since it wasn't my specialty either, frankly, this is a great help."
Glantz-sama sure had it rough, I thought as I looked over the weapons. They were well maintained, gleaming in the light streaming through the doorway. Looking at them, I thought, "Huh?"
A little while later, I murmured, "Oh, I see."
"Did you notice something?" Glantz-sama asked. "Ah, no, it's nothing," I hurriedly replied, trying to play it off.
"I see. Next, we'll go to the food stores. This place mainly holds preserved rations for expeditions. We have to replace them regularly and use them in our daily meals before they spoil. It's quite a nuisance."
"I see... That sounds like a hassle. All right. Do you have an inventory list?"
"An inventory list? No, we don't have one."
"You don't? Then how do you keep track of them?"
"The oldest food is at the very front. When we make new preserved rations, we move everything at the back toward the front and put the new ones at the very back."
"Isn't that quite a lot of work?"
A considerable amount of portable rations was stored here. It might sound easy to move them, but doing so was actually quite labor-intensive.
"That's right! It always took a full day with a crew!" he said with a laugh.
I casually asked whether the other knight orders did things the same way, but apparently they were surprisingly well organized. It seemed to be a problem unique to the Tenth Knight Order.
"For now, let's make an inventory. Then we'll number the shelves and consume the rations in numerical order. Wouldn't that eliminate the arduous job of rearranging everything?" I suggested. Glantz-sama opened his mouth wide as if scales had fallen from his eyes, then exclaimed, "Brilliant! Why didn't we think of that?"
The Tenth Knight Order's behind-the-scenes logistics were far more serious than I'd imagined.
Still, I was relieved to feel that I had found a place where I could contribute. Things had gone well last time, but that didn't guarantee they would continue to do so.
To avoid the future in which the nation was destroyed, it was crucial that I secure the help of Rays-sama and the Tenth Knight Order. I had to make sure they didn't throw me out anytime soon.
"I see, making a list... Then Rufa could do that too."
"Rufa? Ah, do you mean the woman you mentioned earlier?"
"Yes. I'll fetch her, so wait here. If you come up with another good idea like that, feel free to change things as you see fit."
"Huh? Don't we need to report it to Rays-sama?"
"The armory is one thing, but I've never reported anything about the food stores. Rays-sama said there was no need, after all. Oh, and only tell me when you want to make new preserved rations. I'll provide the budget."
"I see. Understood."
I remained in the food stores for a while. I racked my brain over how to make them easier to manage.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!"
Before I knew it, Glantz-sama was standing at the entrance. I must have become so absorbed that time had passed without my noticing.
"Rufa, this is Roa, the man who will be your superior. Say hello to him, too."
A girl who looked slightly younger than me, with features that clearly marked her as being from the Southern Continent, peeked out from behind the large-framed Glantz-sama.