What did the fight during the walk bring?
“Mitina”
As she quietly helps Zeffen with his paperwork, he calls her name in a gentle voice, and Mitina tilts her head slightly, glancing over at him, wondering if he needs a new cup of coffee.
“Let’s go for a little walk.”
Occasionally, Zeffen would invite Mitina out for a walk while he was at work. However, it wasn’t like he was slacking off, it was just a way to relax.
Checking the progress of the work, it seemed like it would be no problem to take a short break. Zeffen was terrible at paperwork, but thanks to Mitina keeping track of it, there hadn’t been any delays recently.
“That’s fine. Let’s get started then.”
Since she had no particular reason to refuse, she decided to go for a walk with Zeffen that day as well.
During our walks, we often talk about work, and Zeffen worries about whether I’m managing my private life properly. Of course, now I have the answer.
“The food Kyelse-dono makes is delicious.”
“I see. After all, it seems like you’re enjoying living with Kyelse.”
Hearing Zeffen say this with a smile, Mitina immediately frowned. This kind of foolish optimism was a flaw in Zeffen, who was often seen as a perfect person in a different sense to Kyelse.
“Cooking is the only thing I enjoy. And recently, if you don’t praise her cooking, she gets upset.”
“But you always praise me, right?”
“Well, since you made it for me, I’ll praise you.”
“I see.”
Once again, Zeffen smiled and relaxed his face. I didn’t like that so I glared at him, but of course it didn’t work on him.
“I haven’t had to work overtime recently, which makes me very happy. Mitina is finally able to live a normal life. It’s all thanks to Kyelse.”
“Please stop joking. It’s true that I have started coming home earlier so that I can have dinner, but other than that, Kyelse-dono has always been a nuisance to me. The other day, for example…”
“The other day?”
With that, Mitina went quiet. Then she remembered the time she met Istaria.
A childhood friend of Kyelse’s, she is also his future wife and understands his personality. After actually talking to her and breaking up with her, Mitina somehow begins to feel that maybe she isn’t needed anymore.
It’s true that Kyelse’s obsession with cleanliness is a problem, but at the moment, there are already signs of improvement.
Besides, Istaria would be well aware of her personality, and it doesn’t seem like he has high expectations for a marriage partner. In fact, he already seems to treat her as something special, being their childhood friend.
In that case, wouldn’t it be better to just end this troublesome cohabitation and engagement as soon as possible? That’s what I can’t help thinking.
“Ah… but it’s for a reward…”
Of course, considering the reward that would come with completing this mission, she had no choice but to carry out her duties until the king’s orders were complete, no matter how troublesome it may be. That was the kind of woman Mitina was.
Hearing her mutter, Zeffen’s smile faded slightly.
“I know you want a reward, but don’t overdo it. The Black Iron Knights have dangerous jobs like infiltration, but only experienced people can take on such jobs, so don’t get involved, Mitina.”
“I know. I wouldn’t do that.”
“Do you really understand?”
“Please stop making that face, I know that…!”
Seeing Zeffen’s sudden serious expression, Mitina’s face turned pale and she began trembling.
The training he underwent with Zeffen after returning from defeating the demonic beasts was truly hellish. He had to endure countless times not to puke up the breakfast Kyelse had made for him.
“Hey you errand knights!”
When they were having a casual conversation, the words were thrown out like a kind of deja vu. When Mitina was alone, the other Silver Knights would call her by that name, but as expected, that man was the only one who would call Zeffen by that name.
“You must be pretty lucky to skip work and go for a walk at this time of night!”
“Kyelse-san…”
“Hey, Kyelse. How are you?”
“Shut up, don’t open your mouth, Zeffen!”
Kyelse immediately glared at Zeven, then turned to Mitina. Since they hadn’t even gotten into an argument with Zeven, she had probably come to pick a fight with Mitina.
(Is this guy a child?)
One of Kyelse’s bad points was that she would sometimes show childish behavior. Although he was older than Mitina, she had never thought of him that way.
“The same can be said for Kyelse-dono, being out and about at this time of night. What did you come here for? Are you bored with your work in the internal affairs department and wanting some attention?
“I-I don’t want any attention from you! I’m not a child!”
“Oh, is that so? Can you tell me how old you are this year?”
“This woman…!”
When he spoke to her in a playful tone, as if she were talking to a child, Kyelse raised her eyebrows in irritation. It was obvious that she had the same low tolerance for provocation as always.
“Now now, let’s not fight. Mitina works too hard, so I’m letting her take a break like this every now and then.”
“Hmph! You still have a lot of self-control to show for it, you idiot knight!”
“You really do enjoy finding faults… but I’ve been able to get some rest, so there’s no problem.”
Mitina said this in a sulky manner while dodging Kyelse who was immediately trying to provoke her. This kind of nagging is a waste of time.
“But Mitina, you still have a lot of unused vacation days.”
“Isn’t that the same for the captain?”
“I’m fine because I have more stamina than the average person.”
“I’m confident in my physical strength.”
Although it was a rare exchange between them, from the outside the atmosphere between them, showing concern for one another, appeared to be friendly.
Seeing this conversation, Kyelse naturally felt left out and frowned. Then she took a step forward as if to get in between the two of them.
“Don’t enter their world! Don’t ignore me!”
“Eh, I’m not ignoring you or anything…”
While I was surprised by Kyelse’s sudden entrance, Zeffen, who was laughing happily for some reason, stabbed me sharply.
“Could it be that Kyelse has come to interfere with my relationship with Mitina?”
“Huh?!”
Kyelse, her face red and clearly shaken, shook her head in a panic. Then, as always, she looked down at Mitina and spat out a curse.
“I only came here to scold the odd-job knights who have a problem with their work attitude! Why would I want to interfere with your relationship with this plain, ugly girl? Of course I don’t care about her!”
“That’s true. But I think Mitina is just cute.”
“teeth!?”
Having received such an unexpected reply, Kyelse was once again at a loss for words. Zeffen didn’t pay him any attention and continued speaking at his own pace.
“I’ve only seen you dressed up once before, and you looked really beautiful.”
“what……”
“Please stop flattering me. The story from that time is actually pretty embarrassing.”
“I’m not just flattering you, you were truly beautiful. Why don’t you try arguing with me about your looks once in a while, Mitina?”
Zeffen asks in a calm tone if she should continue to be told that. He doesn’t seem to be angry, but is probably just worried about Mitina being called ugly over and over again.
“Well, compared to you, Kyelse-dono, who is so flashy that the crows will probably pester you, I guess I am rather plain and ugly. In that sense, it’s true, so I don’t particularly mind.”
“I see.”
Mitina answered calmly while cleverly insulting Kyelse. In the first place, Kyelse’s snide comments about her were like a cry. She had already gotten used to it.
Having been subjected to such harsh words, Kyelse was trembling. The two-against-one situation was unfavorable to him, but even so, retreating against these two was not an option. He continued to hang on.
“What’s with that hair?! The ends are damaged! You don’t take good care of your skin! Even your nails are crooked even though I got them trimmed the other day! Why are you so lazy!”
“yes?”
“If you are aware that you are inferior, then you should pay more attention to your appearance so that you can be at least a little on my side!”
Seeing Kyelse criticizing her appearance one by one, saying this isn’t right, that isn’t right, Mitina sighed deeply. Even though it was unavoidable due to the nature of the mission, she was still astonished by Kyelse’s way of speaking.
“I don’t like being told to be considerate. It’s too much hassle.”
“N-no…!?”
“Instead of wasting your time trying to convince me to care about your appearance, why don’t you just go find a beautiful wife instead?”
“Th-this…!!”
Kyelse opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but she took one look at Zeffen and quickly fell silent. Then, after spitting out a parting shot of him telling her to remember that, she walked off somewhere.
“Haa, he really is a noisy and annoying person.”
“We’ve really become good friends.”
“Where?”
Looking at their conversation earlier, what about them seemed like good friends? As usual, he was optimistic, or should I say, he was always being pushed around by Zeffen, who had a somewhat misaligned understanding.
However, Mitina smiled proudly, thinking that their conversation earlier had been perfect, considering the secret orders from King Regula. Kyelse hated Mitina, and she had managed to skillfully provoke her by telling her to find another partner if she wanted to break up with her.
“But well, the king’s orders are being carried out properly.”
Mitina declared with confidence that she was able to carry out her mission well.
However, when she finished her work and returned to the mansion at night, she found herself running into a wall.
“I’m back now~”
“You’re back, lazy woman.”
Once inside the mansion, she saw Kyelse standing with her arms around her. The scene gave Mitina a sense of déjà vu, and she immediately sensed a bad feeling, causing her to frown.
“What’s the matter? Have you come to challenge us to a rematch this afternoon?”
“No way, you idiot. I’ve decided not to argue with you anymore.”
“Well… I guess it would be helpful if you could do that for me too.”
Arguments with Kyelse usually end in a stalemate and never get resolved. Mitina hates to lose, and Kyelse is not one to back down easily against Mitina.
So if she wasn’t going to argue, why was she there? While Kyelse was still showing no signs of backing down, he declared to Mitina with a confident look on his face.
“From today onwards, I’ll be taking care of you. I’m going to spend my precious time on you, so be grateful!”
“……??”
What the hell is this girl suddenly saying? As she looked at him like that, Kyelse immediately became angry, perhaps irritated by Mitina’s poor reading comprehension.
“You’re the one who said you don’t want to take care of your beauty because it’s too much hassle! That’s why I said I’ll take care of it, so come here!”
“fart……?”
He grabbed Mitina’s arm and dragged her to the bathroom. She was surprised that he would touch her before she had even taken a bath, and Kyelse spoke proudly again, her cheeks turning red.
“Take it off.”
“teeth?”
“I’ll give you a good wash. Take your clothes off.”
“teeth……??”
Taken aback by the sudden remark, Mitina stiffened. However, once she realized this was reality, she quickly grabbed both her arms and looked at Kyelse with disdain.
“What’s with this sudden behavior? I don’t really like it, eh? Pervert…?”
“Why do you dislike it?! I’m not a pervert! In the first place, there’s no way I would be attracted to a skinny guy like you!”
“Well, even if that were the case, there are hardly any people who would take off their clothes when told to.”
While Kyelse was astonished at her incomprehensible thought process, wondering why she thought Mitina would be so happy to accept it, she clearly stated another reason why she didn’t want to show her naked body.
“Plus I have scars on my body and I don’t want to show them.”
Mitina’s body was covered in scars from the many times she had done reckless things on her missions up until now. She didn’t particularly regret having such a body, but she wondered if it would be rude to show it to Kyelse, who was a germaphobe.
However, Kyelse didn’t seem shaken by his words and replied with dignity.
“I saw the wounds on your body when you had a high fever from the poison of the demon beast and we embraced each other naked to cool you down.”
“Oh, is that so…huh?”
“I won’t be upset by the wounds on my body now. In the first place, it’s because you didn’t take good care of yourself that the wounds are so obvious… You’re not even qualified to be a Black Iron Knight.”
He muttered something, coughed, and put his hands on Mitina’s clothes. There was no escaping this situation, and Mitina swallowed.
“Don’t worry, you don’t have to do anything. I’ll take care of everything.”
It was truly a desperate situation.
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