If You're a Knight, You Protect the One You Love
"Ed!"
"Ed!"
"Young Master!"
Thud.
Ah.
Her master had lost consciousness and collapsed.
She had sworn to protect him no matter what. She had pledged her loyalty — and everything beyond it. Watching what was unfolding before her eyes, Grace, the knight sworn to guard him, could only burn with rage.
"Hyeonwoo!"
The garbage responsible for all of this was calling her master by some strange name that was not his own.
This insane woman was pouring out a woman's killing intent, her raw energy, without a second thought — at a man. How could the Young Master, with his frail male body, possibly withstand that?
She would never forgive this.
Grace's hand found the scabbard at her hip, and she opened her mouth.
"Cut."
Clang!
"Ugh!"
Ah. I'm still so green.
Without another moment's hesitation she had drawn her blade and swung, meaning to cut down that hateful madwoman they called the Hero — but steel met steel, and the cut failed.
To think I couldn't cut down trash like this in a single stroke.
She had drawn up her Aura intending to kill in one blow, yet the Hero's sword was wreathed in Aura of roughly the same magnitude as her own.
"Hero, please calm yourself! And you, knight of House Frigid — you must not attack the Hero!"
"Shut up, Your Holiness! My little brother is down! Grace, cut her down already!"
"That's right! Ed's bodyguard — finish her!"
"If Grace won't do it, I will!"
Tenesa rushed to restrain Grace, while the other women around them only egged her on harder. But Grace cared nothing for the stares or the shouting.
She simply—
"Cut."
—meant to cut down the hateful woman who, for reasons Grace did not fully understand, had made the boy her master feared collapse.
Clang!
"Ugh—!!"
This strike was harder to block than the last; the Hero struggled under it.
Clang!
"Ugh… hah…"
Even after three attacks, the Hero was hard-pressed — yet she still managed to turn Grace's blade aside.
Is this really all you've got, Grace?!
She berated herself inwardly for still failing to cut her enemy down.
Sharper. Stronger!
This time for certain.
"Cut."
Thuck!
"Kyaaaaah!!"
Sharper and stronger than any of the previous strokes — this time the damned woman calling herself the Hero failed to block properly and screamed.
Too shallow.
She had swung meaning to sever the arm clean off. The woman was bleeding heavily, but the arm was still attached. Grace could only think how shallow the cut had been.
"Ah — you mustn't!! Any further and it will be truly dangerous! Your Majesty!! Your Grace the Grand Duchess!!"
Realizing Grace's true intent, Tenesa urgently called for help from the Empress and the Grand Duchess.
"Ahem. That should serve as warning enough. Grand Duchess."
"…Yes, Your Majesty. Grace—!"
Elizabeth, seeing that the Hero's momentum had broken, made the request of the Grand Duchess. Camilla accepted and was about to give the order when—
"Cut."
Thuuuuck!!
"Kyaaaaah!!"
This time, at last, she severed the Hero's arm clean through.
"No! Retrieve it at once! It can still be reattached!"
At Tenesa's command, the church personnel scrambled to secure the arm that had been cut free and was rolling across the floor.
"Grace! That's enough!"
Once more Camilla issued the order to stop her — but—
"Cut."
Whether Grace truly could not hear her, or simply chose to ignore her, she did not release her sword. She was already preparing the next stroke, the one that would take the neck.
"Stop! Ed wouldn't want this either!"
"!!"
Grace, who until that moment had been filled with nothing but the intent to kill the hateful woman before her, finally halted when her master's name reached her ears.
"M-Master…?"
She normally called him Young Master — but from their first meeting Edward had already taken his place as her master, and so without thinking she always addressed him as Master when she spoke of him.
"Yes! Do you think your master Edward would enjoy the sight of blood?!"
"…"
No. Of course he wouldn't.
He was kinder and warmer than anyone.
"Do you think he would like seeing you like this?!"
"Seeing me…?"
At those words, Grace looked down at herself.
She was filthy with the hateful woman's blood.
Ah. If he saw her like this, he would fear her the same way he feared that woman.
"You've protected Ed well enough. That's enough now."
"…"
But accepting it was still too hard.
That woman would clearly come after her master again later. There was no doubt.
"I know what you're thinking. But you'll be there to protect him, won't you?"
"Ah."
The answer was simple.
Yes. If that woman dared pull something this insane again, Grace would simply kill her then.
Of course her kind, gentle master would grieve it and hate it.
She truly did not want to be hated — but more important to her than that was her master's safety.
No matter how much he hated her, no matter how much he disliked it — there would be no next time.
"Yes. I understand, Your Grace."
"Haa…"
Having reached her own conclusion, Grace finally sheathed her sword. Camilla let out a breath of relief at the sight, and so did Pope Tenesa and the rest of the church personnel.
"Th-thank you! Quickly — bring the Hero's arm here!"
Tenesa offered her thanks and hurried to begin the Hero's treatment.
And so, for the moment, the situation was settled.
If she ever threatens Master again, next time I'll cut her down no matter who tries to stop me.
Grace swore it to herself.
Loyalty — and everything beyond it…
No.
If you're a knight, you protect the one you love.
She was always ready to cut down anything for that.
Because of the chaos that had erupted, the debutante was brought to an end then and there.
In one of the countless guest rooms of the Frigid Grand Ducal Castle—
"Haa… Fortunately it was a clean cut, so we were able to reattach it without issue."
"…"
Tenesa had finally managed to wrap up the situation and complete the treatment of the Hero, Lee Hye-yeong.
She had been horrified at first when she saw the right arm go flying, but thankfully her own holy power had been enough to heal Lee Hye-yeong's arm completely.
Thank goodness. If our precious Hero had lost her right arm…
Hero or not, there was no way she could face the Demon King as a one-armed woman.
Tenesa knew full well that Lee Hye-yeong engaged in bizarre behavior and was not a person of normal temperament — but she was still the Hero chosen by the Goddess and sent into this world.
Because she had originally come from another dimension entirely, Tenesa had reasoned that differences in habits and personality were only to be expected.
But this situation… she simply could not understand it.
"Hero… have you managed to calm down a little…?"
"…"
Lee Hye-yeong's face was still deeply shaken.
"E-even so, that was remarkable. You exchanged three blows with one of the Empire's foremost powerhouses."
"…Is she that strong?"
"Y-yes! She is!"
Indeed.
The Empire had no shortage of powerful fighters, but among those who could be counted among the very best was Grace, bodyguard knight to the second son of House Frigid.
Even with the Goddess's blessing and the Hero's protection upon her, Lee Hye-yeong's performance had been genuinely impressive.
She had only recently been summoned to this world, and still needed proper training to grow into her full strength.
Tenesa knew which world Lee Hye-yeong had come from.
A place with no mana, nothing even resembling it — and yet she had supposedly slaughtered dozens of enemies with pure physical force alone, and brought down nearly a hundred more. At first Tenesa had not believed it. After what she had witnessed in the banquet hall today, she could.
Of course the whole situation had been caused by incomprehensible antics — but Lee Hye-yeong had not even properly listened when the holy knights tried to teach her Aura techniques, had not studied them at all, and yet she had awakened to them on her own.
She had wrapped her body in Aura of a vivid color and enormous scale, and sheathed her sword in it just as firmly. The color had been dark, which made it look ominous — but Tenesa told herself that was only natural for someone from another dimension.
That was why, even though she had lost to a powerhouse like Grace, Tenesa could not help but hold high expectations for a Lee Hye-yeong who had still managed to trade three blows with her.
If the Grand Duchess had not intervened and a Hero of such outstanding talent had simply died there, it would have been a true catastrophe for the world — and how could Tenesa ever face the Goddess again?
"I'm truly glad it turned out this way."
"There's nothing glad or good about any of this!!"
Lee Hye-yeong, who Tenesa had hoped might finally listen, shouted in fury.
"Please, I beg you to calm yourself."
Tenesa did her utmost to soothe her gently.
There had to be a reason.
Surely…
"Hero, there must be a reason you suddenly did this. Was it because of Edward, the second son of House Frigid?"
"Frigid…? Edward…?"
Tenesa explained it to Lee Hye-yeong, who was looking at her as if she had no idea what she was talking about.
"Yes. The man I was casting a spell upon — the man you spoke to — his name is Edward."
"E-Edward… No. Hyeonwoo. Choi Hyeonwoo… Hyeonwoo…"
"…You'll need to explain if I'm to help you properly."
"R-really?"
"Yes."
Had the Hero finally decided to talk?
Looking at Lee Hye-yeong, who at last seemed interested in her words, Tenesa was just about to feel a flicker of relief when—
"You'll definitely help me?"
"Pardon?"
Tenesa could not help but startle at the expression of pure madness on Lee Hye-yeong's face as she spoke.
"You'll definitely help me?"
"Ah — yes. I understand."
"Then I'll tell you. Hyeonwoo, you see…"
Tenesa had agreed for now — but she could not shake an ominous feeling.
And then—
Goddess… is this person truly the Hero?
It was the first day she had ever found herself questioning the Goddess she had believed in without a single doubt.