Commendation
Commendation
After the self-destructing saintess's visit, another week flew by in an instant.
Not long after she came, my teacher gave me a heads-up about Esmue's visit schedule, and the biggest event was me playing dumb through that entire conversation—genuinely the smoothest, most uneventful week I'd had in ages.
The catch was that my body was screaming in agony the whole time.
"Uuugh, life..."
I woke up reflecting on a life so thoroughly shit-rolled that a week like this should've made me feel grateful. The weather was getting colder by the day, and I shuddered as I forced my body out of bed.
When I writhed upright through the horrific muscle pain, Laika, who'd been sleeping with me, glanced over, then flopped onto its side and squirmed out of my movement radius. I could only let out a hollow laugh at the sight—now not just a complete and utter dog, but one that'd leveled up into a damn trickster spirit on top of it.
Regardless, the sunlight streaming through the window was as brilliantly sharp as a morning could get.
The magic-stone stove I'd set on low with just a small amount of magic stone to maintain temperature all night had long since gone cold. As I changed clothes, I felt a strange freshness at the fact that Asilie wasn't there—she'd always half-woken and stumbled around whenever I got up.
That wasn't because Asilie had miraculously risen early, though. It was because I'd only opened my eyes when the sun was already high in the sky. This historically epic lie-in was the aftermath of staying late at the professor building yesterday, working on my Magic Organ using the advice Seneran had left behind and a method my teacher helped me adjust.
Tweaking efficiency rather than raising output—I'd dismissed the backlash as nothing. Absurdly enough, the fatigue and muscle pain hit worse than when I'd fought through those orc bastards in the great plains on an hour or two of catnaps. If I had to make a comparison, it felt like ripping up an entire asphalt road to replace the water pipe buried underneath, then repaving everything from scratch.
...Now that I thought about it, that was a damn good analogy. Because it felt like my bones and flesh were being separated.
I was mulling that over as I shuffled awkwardly down the stairs when Tie, who'd just finished brewing coffee with impeccable timing, greeted me lightly.
"You woke up late today."
"Yeah. Did Asilie go out?"
"She said she had business at the guild."
Asilie had gotten oddly diligent right when everyone else would be taking it easy. If I'd had my way, I would've liked to go watch something or other, but the late sleep had made that impossible.
Amid the disappointment, I sipped the coffee Tie handed me to get my head straight. She kept talking like a butler reporting the day's schedule.
"Your formal attire has been pressed in advance."
"...We had an iron in the house?"
"I bought one."
Tie answered with such utter confidence that all I could do was nod in approval. In the first place, unless you were a noble, dressing so formally as to press your clothes just didn't exist in the daily life of commoners, so it was something we'd naturally never purchased. But today was a day where it was absolutely necessary.
"The carriage sent by the imperial delegation will arrive at the designated location shortly, but might I suggest a light meal before you depart?"
"There won't be time to eat once I'm there, will there?"
"Not if standard protocol is observed."
Tie answered my question while producing what looked like a pseudo-sandwich, as if she'd anticipated it all along. I nodded again at her competence and silently finished the meal along with my coffee.
Esmue had crossed into Itisel leading the delegation two days ago. I couldn't tell why the visit had come sooner than planned, but judging by how cleanly the grand welcoming ceremony was pulled off, it all seemed prearranged.
I'd been at the academy when I heard the rumors and ended up dragged out sightseeing with Sheryl—and it was a spectacle. No fireworks going off or fanfares blaring, but it was a parade in and of itself: escorts moving in flawless formation without a hair's breadth of error, carriages, and behind them the Empire's national anthem played by the imperial military band—the kind of thing that made your chest swell with grandeur unbidden.
Except the carriage was an open-top, so everyone watching must've been freezing their asses off.
Twenty black knights in armor so heavy you could call it a powered suit without exaggeration—enough to make even the holy knights and the layers of protection magic deployed around them look tame—were standing guard, so assassination was completely out of the question. I wasn't worried. Still, I couldn't help feeling a pang of pity seeing the hamster wrapped in her fur cloak, staring rigidly ahead and maintaining her lofty dignity.
I'd come back satisfied that I'd gotten some decent entertainment out of it, and then yesterday an official letter arrived requesting I visit the residence where the imperial delegation was staying.
Esmue's signature was stamped under an invitation so meticulously arranged that they'd even offered to station the carriage elsewhere so things wouldn't get needlessly noisy around my house. So I'd decided to comply without a fuss.
Even though my whole body ached and I wanted to rest, I had no choice—not when I didn't know what would happen later if I bailed.
"Pouch... packed. Beads, packed. Needles, packed."
"You don't intend to bring the axe as well, surely?"
"Uh... mm. That thing doesn't really fit the look, so no."
I was trying to follow formalities as far as I could manage, so I decided to leave not just the axe but Laika behind too. The little brat that had refused to budge when I woke up because it couldn't be bothered suddenly acted deeply wronged when it heard it was being left, but quickly accepted the situation once I promised Tie would take it for a walk later.
With all preparations done, I left the house and reached the designated spot. As if they'd been waiting, a single simple carriage and four mercenary-looking types in light gear rode toward me on horseback. My gaze didn't linger on them—they had no discernible military discipline. That level was common enough in the capital.
I'd thought the same, watching without any particular thought, so I was slightly startled when they stopped in front of me and addressed me with perfect courtesy.
"It is an honor to meet the hero who saved the Empire's star."
It was only when I saw the attitude of the man—every gesture the picture of a slouching hired hand—shift abruptly into a formal, protocol-perfect salute that I realized they were knights. Whether they were some kind of special forces unit or what, the acting was so utterly natural. Without giving me time to be fully surprised, he politely opened the carriage door.
The interior, unlike the simple exterior, was extremely luxurious. A magic stone heater must have been running, because warm air met me the moment the door opened.
"It will take roughly twenty minutes. We shall ensure your comfort."
"Thank... you."
Sure, if they were imperial knights, showing courtesy to the person who'd saved the First Princess was only natural. But since I wasn't used to receiving that kind of treatment, it felt as awkward as when I'd first met the plain knight Bisquente back in the pioneer village near Raviel.
Still, fumbling around in awkward embarrassment might draw unnecessary attention, so I hurriedly climbed into the carriage. There, a figure seated in a space I hadn't been able to see from outside greeted me.
"Mm, you arrived at precisely the appointed time."
The sight of Esmue nodding in satisfaction robbed me of words. Whether I spoke or not, the carriage door closed and we began moving very slowly.
"You'll hurt yourself standing in such an ungainly posture."
"No, why are you here? Wait, then those knights outside...?"
I rolled my eyes furiously and sat down, and Esmue's lips spread into a deep smile as she watched me. As if she'd been expecting exactly this kind of shock.
"Mm. They were handpicked from my royal guard among those of proven skill. They claimed they could act ordinary with confidence—how was it?"
"They fooled me completely. Oh..."
I'd been about to say that maybe I could've told if I'd been able to see aura, but I shut my mouth when I remembered we were in a carriage. Esmue laughed brightly at that, then edged over to sit beside me and explained.
"Soundproof magic is in place as well. As you've likely noticed, this carriage was made for the purpose of secret meetings away from public eyes. So speaking at a normal volume poses no problem whatsoever."
"That's... a huge relief. Anyway, I don't know if seeing aura would've made a difference, but at least I didn't catch on until they saluted."
"Hmm, was it to that degree? Perhaps the talk of once harboring aspirations for the stage was not mere jest after all."
I had no idea how the hell an imperial royal guard could've once dreamed of being an actor, but one thing was clear: Esmue didn't have much interest in that detail. Instead, she wrapped her arms around my arm with complete naturalness, her face full of smiles, and started examining me with bright eyes. To the point where being under that gaze was making me embarrassed.
"Your arms seem to have thickened further in the meantime. Are you truly trying to become enormous like the warriors of the north?"
"Asilie says things like that whenever she's bored too..."
"I know. We talked about it when the three of us got together last time. She said you'd been getting bigger by the day, and it looks like that hasn't stopped."
I hadn't done any separate strength training lately—maybe it was from all the real combat. No plausible reason came to mind immediately, so I stayed quiet. Esmue, who'd been grinning foolishly, suddenly turned serious and switched topics.
"No, no! This is not why I came out to meet you, to the point of riding the carriage myself, unable to wait! Just what did you discuss with the saintess!"
Hmm. Honestly, I'd worried for a moment when her expression flipped so abruptly that maybe I'd screwed something up, but luckily this was a topic where I had just as much to say and ask as she did.
I was briefly stuck on how to start, but in the end the most fitting opener had already been decided. I spoke to Esmue with conviction.
"She's a completely insane bitch."
At that, Esmue's face started gathering question marks, like she'd just heard the last answer she'd ever expected.