A Shadow Before Departure
The full rainy season had arrived. With Mathias’s knight examination now only three days away, Odeliana’s mood had risen and fallen like a tide all day long as she reviewed his studies.
It wasn’t only the gloomy weather. The reply from Blair that she had been waiting for remained utterly silent. And as the moment to send Mathias off to the testing grounds drew near, her irritation grew in its own way.
“It’s tomorrow.”
“……”
“I hear the examination lasts a full month. That empty space is going to feel rather large.”
At some point Malena had become remarkably talkative. In her calm, measured voice she would pour out all sorts of trivial chatter. Whether Odeliana answered or not, the woman never stopped, radiating the brazen attitude of I’ll talk, so you just listen.
“Don’t worry. As I am a highly capable maid, I will look after you so well that you won’t even notice the empty spot. I’ll cover Mathias’s share as well.”
“You’re getting more shameless with every passing day.”
“And you, miss, are growing more generous toward me with every passing day.”
“…It isn’t generosity. I’ve simply given up on what to do with you. Even when I ignore you, you keep chattering away beside me—what am I supposed to do? Should I have sewn your mouth shut after all?”
“Yet it seems you secretly enjoy my chatter. After all, someone who once tore mouths apart has kindly left my free-spirited snout alone.”
Odeliana let out a deep sigh. Malena was an unexpectedly formidable opponent. Even the greatest chatterbox on the continent would be no match for her.
Still, she didn’t truly dislike the woman’s prattle. Though it was a little tiresome, it served perfectly to divert her thoughts.
If I had met her during my mercenary days, we might have become quite good friends… Wait. If it’s this girl, wouldn’t she know about the me who exists in this era?
The idea had come to her suddenly, born from their shared rarity as female mercenaries.
“How long were you a mercenary?”
“Quite a long time.”
“Are there many other female mercenaries besides you?”
“Almost none. It’s mostly men.”
“Have you ever heard of a mercenary named Lerusha? She was a female mercenary like you.”
“…I’ve never heard that name before.”
Blair had also said he would make inquiries about the mercenary Lerusha, yet he had found no information at all.
If she had become a knight, the name would be even more unforgettable. A prince keeping a female knight at his side had been the scandal of the century. She had asked on the off chance, but the answer was as expected.
The probability that the me of this era simply never existed is high…
While she wrestled with that confusion, Malena rose from her seat.
“I’d love to chatter more, but it’s time for me to withdraw.”
At the same moment the door opened. Mathias entered carrying Odeliana’s breakfast, and Malena left without so much as a backward glance.
She did not like Mathias. She never openly showed contempt, yet she refused to speak with him or remain in the same space.
“It seems she still holds a grudge because I assigned you to watch over me.”
Mathias gave a short snort.
“She’s quick-witted. She knows that staying near me would only bring her unpleasant sights.”
“You didn’t threaten her behind my back, did you?”
“If I had, would she still be lingering here?”
“True enough.”
Mathias, who had indeed done something close to threatening her that day, had wiped the incident cleanly from his memory and now behaved with perfect innocence. Privately, however, he seemed to regret that Malena—contrary to her tough appearance—remained stubbornly attached to her post.
“Tomorrow you leave. The thought of not seeing your face for a while leaves me feeling rather empty.”
“A month is certainly too long.”
“Yes, even I think the testing period is unnecessarily drawn out. It’s a system kept alive only for appearances, one whose original meaning faded long ago, yet they make such an absurd fuss over it.”
The chance of a commoner passing the knight examination and actually becoming a knight was, in truth, no better than finding a needle in a sand dune.
During the height of the conquest wars—a hundred years ago—knights died in such numbers that the system of recruiting capable individuals regardless of birth had functioned reasonably well at first. Back then, any commoner or even a lowly serf with true skill could rise to knighthood, and many mercenaries had successfully made that leap in status.
But in the current age, when great foreign wars had vanished, the regularly held knight examinations had devolved from a path for the talented into a tool for laundering status among the wealthy.
It had become a stepping stone for the children of rich merchant families who had not been born noble. Naturally, the hole through which commoners might rise had narrowed to the eye of a needle. In an era of peace, capable commoners were simply not needed.
“Not nervous?”
“Not particularly.”
“Good. If you simply show your true strength, the results will follow.”
In terms of pure skill, he had already been exceptional at this age. When she recalled how he had single-handedly shattered the enemy camp during the great barbarian subjugation, there was no doubt he would pass this examination.
Since Blair had handled all the formalities, Mathias would essentially enter under the banner of House Grusewald. He would not suffer open discrimination for his common birth. The examiners would simply assume he was a protégé sponsored by Blair.
“While your disciple is away, you must remain safe and well, Master.”
“Of course. What trouble could possibly find me?”
Odeliana smiled to reassure him, but Mathias’s expression remained shadowed.
“Don’t pay too much attention to my older brother. He seems very busy these days. After the commotion he caused, he’ll probably stay quiet for a while.”
She had tried to ease his mind, yet his face showed no sign of brightening. Throughout her entire meal Mathias remained lost in thought. Only after clearing the empty dishes did he rise.
“Then I must go prepare for my departure.”
“Yes. Eat well today, rest comfortably, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
It was only at dusk that she learned the man who had left to pack his belongings had not returned at all.
“Mathias still hasn’t come back?”
“No, miss. He’s nowhere to be seen.”
“…Surely nothing has happened to him.”
“I wonder.”
“He isn’t the sort to leave without a word.”
“True, but there’s no real need to worry, is there? He’s not someone who can be taken down easily.”
Malena was right. Worrying about Mathias’s safety was the most useless concern imaginable. In his previous life, the corpses of assassins who had tried to kill him could have been stacked into towers.
Yet he was absolutely not the kind of person to disappear without notice, so anxiety still gnawed at her. Had he run away after all?
“He must be busy preparing to be gone for an entire month. He kept me here today so you wouldn’t be inconvenienced, miss.”
“You?”
“Yes. He went over your detailed daily schedule and everything that needs to be attended to, one item at a time. He called it an explanation, but it was practically a half-threat…”
“A threat?”
Malena shuddered as she recalled those fiercely gleaming golden eyes.
“A threat to serve you well. He hounded me all morning and only left in the afternoon. He seemed deeply uneasy about vacating his position. I wondered why he was so particularly fussy today—it seems he was worried I might not look after you properly in his stead.”
“…I see. It’s because I’m so unreliable that he worries about me even before his exam.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“I know. I was simply venting.”
Though she had taken him as a squire only in name, Mathias was so faithful to the role that it bordered on obsession. He could never have served anyone in his long life, yet he was by far the most capable attendant in this annex.
At some point Odeliana had grown so accustomed to his meticulous, devoted care that she had simply let him do as he wished. Only now did she realize that living under his protection had become a fixed habit.
His care—treating her as if she were the most precious person in the world—was not entirely unpleasant. In both her previous life and this one, she had never received such utmost devotion. Having experienced it, she could almost understand why nobles clung so fiercely to their self-proclaimed nobility.
That child had come to occupy a rather large part of my daily life.
Malena was capable, but she could not completely fill the void Mathias would leave. His care had always carried a special quality that went beyond mere duty.
“When Mathias returns, send him to my room at once.”
“Yes, miss.”
Mathias, whose whereabouts had been a mystery all day, finally returned just as dinner time approached.
The man who had vanished without a trace throughout the afternoon had prepared Odeliana’s evening meal and come looking for her. The fact that he had returned at the exact hour of dinner revealed his stubborn insistence on handling that task himself.
“Where have you been all this time?”
“I had something to take care of and stepped out briefly. Were you looking for your disciple?”
“You left without a word… I was worried.”
“It was an urgent matter. I didn’t have time to report it.”
“I’m not scolding you. I was simply worried. You’ve returned safely, so that’s enough.”
Ever since that day, Odeliana had been watching Herman’s every move with sharp vigilance. She had lived in fear that he might storm the annex again and turn it upside down, or that he might secretly retaliate against Malena or Mathias. This incident was no different.
“I was afraid that damned bastard might have taken revenge on you.”
At her murmur, Mathias let out a small laugh. Unlike her anxious morning, she now looked somewhat refreshed.
“There will be no such incident for you to worry about, Master.”
Odeliana took his words to mean that Mathias would never be harmed by Herman’s hand, so there was no need for concern. Yet after dinner, as she prepared for bed, Malena—who had briefly stepped outside the annex—returned with unexpected news.
“…Big brother was attacked by ruffians and broke both his legs?”
“Yes. He urgently canceled his travel plans and returned home. Unfortunately both legs are broken, so he won’t be able to move until the bones knit together.”
“…Have they identified the assailant?”
“It happened so quickly… Despite the crowd of people nearby, no one seems to have seen the attacker’s face, so the investigation is struggling. He must have worn a mask.”
“……”
“They say full recovery will take about a month.”
Odeliana froze, a chill running down her spine, and let out a short sigh. She had instantly guessed the identity of the masked assailant for whom no witnesses could be found.