A strange incident that occurred just as we felt a sense of crisis
A fair amount of time had passed since she received secret orders from King Regula, got engaged to Kyelse, and started living together with him.
At first, some people who knew about Mitina and Kyelse’s engagement thought it was some kind of joke. After all, the two of them quarreled every time they met at the royal castle, and they certainly didn’t look like a couple about to get married.
Perhaps because of that, there was almost no opposition from the Silver Knights who admired Kyelse. They thought she was just being forced to go along with King Regula’s unreasonable demands again.
However, recently, something had changed for the Black Iron Knights.
“…………”
Mitina clearly noticed that the gazes directed towards her had changed.
Conversations are somewhat awkward, and she is rarely invited out to eat or drink like she used to. Everyone keeps their distance from Mitina, and looks at her with strange and suspicious eyes from afar.
What could be the cause of this? When I wondered about it, the first thing that came to my mind was that phrase.
–So the rumors were true after all…?
(Rumors… I have no idea what they’re all about. Captain Zeffen doesn’t seem to have any idea either… But the situation doesn’t seem very good…)
If possible, I would like to find out the truth behind these rumors, and somehow clear up what is surely a misunderstanding.
What should she do first to achieve that? While thinking about this on her way to the training ground, she ended up meeting her fiancé.
“Hey”
“Kyelse. Is there something I can help you with?”
“I came to complain about Zeffen’s poor paperwork.”
Kyelse had come just to complain, just like always, and she sighed heavily. She wondered if the captain of the Silver Knights had the time for something like this.
“It’s true that I have been carefully examining the Captain’s documents, so any oversights are my responsibility. But I have told you before to stop complaining to me about the Captain’s messy handwriting. Why have you had to do it so many times… Do you have time on your hands? You sure have time on your hands, don’t you?”
“I thought that if I came in person, the seriousness of the situation would be conveyed.”
“Hmm… so you’re saying that you’ve come here to use your authority to put pressure on us?”
“What did you say…?”
They glared at each other sharply. No matter how you looked at it, their atmosphere could not be described as friendly, and the man who had been watching their argument from the shadows gasped softly.
The two of them argued for a while, but stopped before deciding who won. It was probably because they had to stop their pointless quarrel soon, otherwise their work would be affected. The two were serious by nature, and they would never be late for a pointless argument.
“Well then. This time, I won’t hear any more complaints about your handwriting, Captain.”
“Hmmph… Ah, stop for a moment.”
“What is it?”
Mitina stopped in her tracks, a puzzled look on her face as Kyelse called out to her. Then his hands came into contact with her hair, neatly smoothing her slightly loose bangs.
“I told you to pay attention to your appearance… I do it every morning.”
“Oh, sorry. Captain Zeffen just patted me on the head.”
“teeth?”
While she was touching Mitina’s hair, Kyelse’s mouth had relaxed slightly with a look of happiness, but the moment she heard Zeffen’s name, she frowned in a sulky mood. She then roughly stroked her bangs, which she had just arranged, messing them up, before turning on her heels.
“Hey! What are you doing…where are you going?!”
“At Zeffen’s!”
“Yeah……?”
Seeing Kyelse quickly leave, Mitina hung her head, confused. As always, Kyelse’s motives were difficult to understand.
As they were thinking this, a man who had been watching the two of them from the shadows appeared. It was Vite, who, like Mitina, was on his way to the training grounds.
“Good morning, Mitina.”
“Ah, good morning. Perhaps I was blocking traffic?”
“Well, I guess that’s true, but…”
Mitina looked suspicious at Vite’s strangely hesitant behavior. This man, who basically lacked tact, rarely showed such a reserved attitude.
“That face, it looks like you’re trying to say something.”
“…………”
A look of doubt was clearly written on Vite’s face, as if he was genuinely wondering if Mitina was out of her mind.
“Recently, it’s become a rumor among everyone…”
“rumor……”
Mitina narrowed her eyes at the words she had just heard the other day. She didn’t remember doing anything strange that would spark rumors, but if even Vite, who wasn’t particularly interested in rumors, knew about it, then it must have been something serious.
Having made up her mind, Mitina told him to tell her. Vite also answered, her face turning slightly pale.
“Mitina-san…”
“what?”
“Is it true that you’re going to marry Kyelse Beusen?”
“teeth……?”
She couldn’t believe her ears and grimaced as she tilted her head.
“Please don’t say it again.”
“Is it true that you’re going to marry Kyelse Beusen――”
“No. That doesn’t make sense. Wait. Where on earth did you hear that rumor?”
The sudden turn of events gave Mitina a headache and she held her head, her strength weakening as she listened to the details.
“Even people who don’t know about the engagement have been talking about it. Recently, Mitina and Kirche Beusen have been getting along well.”
“You saw the fight just now. What do you think is friendly about that?”
“Indeed, when I saw the atmosphere between the two of you earlier, I thought that probably wasn’t the case! But…”
“but?”
“When I was getting my hair done earlier, the atmosphere was really nice… They say the closer you are, the more you fight, and, and… I mean, Kyelse and Mitina smell the same…”
Mitina was stunned, furrowing her brows.
Mitina had no intention of getting along with Kyelse in any particular way. No, in order to protect the king’s orders, she was trying to make herself disliked by Kyelse, even though she owed her a great favour.
But, if he looked at his situation objectively, he could see why rumors about him marrying Kyelse were spreading.
“Indeed… my obsession with cleanliness has improved, and I feel like I’m well on my way to being with Lady Istaria… but as for whether she hates me… she takes good care of me… right…?”
“Eh, care?”
“Ah, no, I’m talking about this. That is… even from your perspective, we looked like we were good friends, right?”
When I asked him again, Vite puffed out his chest as if he was confident. To be honest, I wondered if I should believe Vite’s reputation, but on the other hand, even a dull man like him could think that way.
(This is really bad. If they seem to be so close that rumors are spreading, then Lady Istaria might find out… and then the mission will be a failure, and so will the special reward… and the support money…!)
“But judging from Mitina’s reaction, it was a misunderstanding… wasn’t it?”
“There’s no misunderstanding here. There’s no way I’m going to marry Kyelse-dono…!!”
For now, the most likely rumor is that Kyelse will marry Istaria. Mitina is merely a mediator to ensure a smooth relationship between the two. There is no way they will get married.
“What exactly am I missing? Should I attack more strongly? No, it’s not like I want to hurt you, Kyelse-dono…”
“Hmm, I suppose so.”
As Mitina was deep in thought, Vite joined in. After pondering for a while with a serious look on his face, he told Mitina with a look as if to say that this was the only option.
“As expected, Mitina’s true strength lies in her insensitive, sharp provocations!”
(W-Am I really that insensitive…?)
“I understand that I owe Kyelse Beusen a lot of gratitude, such as for saving my life and for putting an end to my magical accident. But now, I need to repay her kindness with evil…!”
“You’ll have to repay the mistakes you’ve made with good deeds.”
She gave a cold look to Vite, who spoke as if it was none of her business. Of course, the incident with the monster subjugation was entirely Mitina’s mistake, but Vite was the one who started the magic accident in the first place.
“But, you’re right… I’ve been listening to Kyelse-dono’s selfishness for a while now, so maybe it’s time for you to regain your previous aggressiveness.”
“Yes!”
“Thanks to Vita. Thanks to you, I know what I need to do.”
When I honestly expressed my gratitude, Vite smiled. It was probably a very valuable experience for him, as Mitina rarely thanks him.
“As a thank you, I’ll look after you even more diligently during your training.”
“Wh, why, I cooperated with you…!”
“That’s a different story. Come on, hurry up and walk.”
Dragging Vite along, Mitina trained him as planned.
And afterwards, while she was busy with various tasks, she decided to resume her offensive against Kyelse, and returned to the mansion with renewed resolve.
She thought to herself, “I’ll start a fight right away,” but once again, as she opened the front door and the man came into view, she instinctively braced herself.
“you”
As usual, without calling Mitina by name, Kyelse handed the document she was holding to her. Giving in to the momentum, she took it, and her expression twitched as she read the words written on it.
“Enter the Silver Knight.”
“…I’m sure I clearly refused before.”
“That time things were left unresolved, but this time I will absolutely not back down. The Black Iron Knights are too much for you to handle. So obediently join the Silver Knights and become my subordinate.”
Kyelse’s refusal to accept her own opinion made her sigh deeply. Come to think of it, the last time she had said it, it had just slipped away during an argument.
“My answer remains the same: No.”
“Why don’t you like it?”
“That’s why the Silver Knights don’t suit me. They’re all aristocrats, and they’re all very flashy, and their personalities don’t suit me either.”
“At least, now that I’m taking care of you, you won’t stand out because of your appearance. As for the personality discrepancies, once you become the assistant captain, the only person you’ll be dealing with will be me, so it won’t be a problem.”
“Huh…? I don’t want to have to face you all the time even while I’m working.”
“N-no…!?”
When he said clearly that he didn’t want to, Kyelse reacted as if she was extremely shocked for some reason. However, this time he didn’t give up and continued to press on.
“In that case, I’ll share my workplace with you! Just by working there, you’ll get all the money you want, and you won’t get hurt doing reckless suicide attacks. It’s your calling!”
“I don’t want to do that because it will slow down my skills.”
“In that case, I’ll personally train you! If necessary, I can even supervise your magical studies! I achieved excellent results at the magic academy, so you’ll be receiving direct instruction from me; you won’t find better treatment anywhere else!”
As Kyelse kept clinging to her, Mitina sighed again. The plan she had decided on with Vite had completely escaped her mind, and she no longer felt like it would be a bother to politely persuade Kyelse. She spoke without thinking.
“Anyway, I don’t want to, no matter what you say, I don’t want to, I will never join the Silver Knights!”
“…!”
She handed the document back to Kyelse, who gasped for a moment and glared at Mitina resentfully.
“You made me say all this and now you say no…?! What a greedy and arrogant woman!”
“You can say whatever you want. I have no intention of quitting the Black Iron Knights.”
“…………”
Kyelse bit her lip tightly and looked down, but then quickly raised her head. She emotionally tore up the documents she had brought with her and spoke in a quiet voice.
“If that’s what you mean, then that’s fine.”
(It finally gave in…)
“In that case, there’s only one other option left…”
Mitina was stunned by his words.
Naturally, Kirill Beusen was not going to give up so easily at this point. He had declared from the beginning that he would never back down.
“If you absolutely don’t want to join the Silver Knights… then I’ll join the Black Iron Knights!”
“Huh?!”
“Then I will overthrow Zeffen and become the captain of the Black Iron Knights! Be prepared!”
Kyelse declared loudly while pointing at Mitina.
This was such an unexpected turn of events that Mitina was stunned and unable to move for a while.
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