Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Fry Some Meat for Me - 2
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After taking over Balrog's lair, I spent my days doing a set amount of training and eating set meals every day.
Since regression had given me more time, I had to use it diligently to turn it into 'profit'. There wasn't a single moment to waste.
"Long time no see~ Tohihi~"
"Long time no see. Chew. No, that was a slip."
Anyway, we sat amiably around the round table where the executive knights used to hold their meetings and began our conference.
An organization thrives when its executives communicate well with each other.
Elfriede Dice never communicated with her executives except to issue orders. I planned to do the exact opposite.
Just as I was about to throw out the agenda—So, how should we smash the Clover Knights' and Diamond Knights' heads?—
Balrog appeared, pulling a food cart. In her underwear.
Invisible question marks popped up over everyone's heads except Balrog's.
I wanted to shoo her out of there as quickly as possible. So I raised my hand to grab the food on the cart.
"H-Hiiiik! D-Don't hit me!"
Balrog wrapped her arms around her head and cried out.
The executives' gazes turned to me, filled with the meaning: How hard did you beat her? I was so baffled that I asked her myself.
"Just drop off the food and go."
"Y-You're not going to hit me...?"
"No."
"What about night service...?"
"I don't need it."
Even after my firm explanation, the executives' dubious stares didn't let up.
"Boss... No, wow... If you're going to beat her black and blue, it would've been kinder to just kill her."
"Her head looks like it took some hits too. She doesn't seem all there."
"Night service?! Niiiight serviiiice?! Master? You made her do night service too? With me right here?!"
I quietly gripped Trivi. The executives immediately bowed their heads and shut their mouths.
I let out a deep sigh and moved the food from the cart to the round table.
As Balrog had said, she surprisingly had a knack for cooking. You could tell just by looking at the appetizing meat.
And it wasn't just the meat. She'd properly garnished it with vegetables too, which pleased me greatly as the one who'd given the order.
But...
There was one thing that nagged at me.
It wasn't strange that Balrog trembled whenever I raised my hand. She'd spent years getting beaten by Queen of Hearts.
But what's this about night service?
Was she saying she'd offered her body too all this time?
But she could only have offered it to Queen of Hearts. Did our noble Queen of Hearts have a taste for women too?
I had to ask. Balrog had said it so naturally.
"Have you ever done night service before?"
"Y-Yes, yes, yes... I've done Queen of Hearts' night service many times..."
"What did it involve?"
Every gaze, from the executives to mine, focused on Balrog.
No one could help but wonder just how harsh Queen of Hearts had been to such a delicate girl.
Balrog hemmed and hawed a few times before finally speaking.
"I had to wash her feet... Wipe her body with a wet cloth... Shampoo her hair... Apply skin lotions... Trim her nails..."
Was this good news or bad? At least it wasn't all bad. Thankfully, Queen of Hearts hadn't demanded anything sexual.
But Balrog kept going. Queen of Hearts was no ordinary madwoman.
"Read her fairy tales... Polish her cricket bat until it shone... Massage her shoulders... That kind of thing..."
I let out a deep sigh. Everyone sighed at Queen of Hearts—except the rabbit, who sighed in relief.
Suddenly acting like some damsel on a white horse, Lady of Revelry Ellis seized Balrog's hands.
"You don't have to worry about that anymore."
"Y-Yes?"
"I'll handle Florian's night service and take care of his lust too. I'll take on all the hard stuff, so never even think about doing that again."
Was taking on the hard stuff really what she was doing? Her eyes were sparkling even now...
"H-Huh... Th-Thank you..."
Balrog nodded repeatedly and scurried away.
"...That crazy bitch."
"She's lost it, nyang."
"She's really insane... Chew."
After we each tossed a word at Lady of Revelry Ellis, the meeting finally began.
The meeting content was nothing special.
-The boss steps in and crushes them, right?
-You're gonna do whatever you want anyway.
-Tohihi.
No, it was nothing special, but in a way, it was a brilliant conclusion. There was nothing to nitpick about the decision itself.
But what we all agreed on was: Don't kill the lower knights—let's use them as Elbalom members.
So I assembled all the Kalimans.
No more knights hiding behind armor like Balrog. A true knight must unleash peak power with just a single sword in hand.
Come to think of it, one of the Shadows was like that. An old memory.
Training alone gets boring anyway.
I planned to force these guys into training too. I had no use for the weak ones—they could die or go back home.
Would anyone who can't even survive training be useful in real combat? Absolutely not.
"From today, train without armor. You don't need armor to be a knight. You'll shed your armor, but you'll become even tougher."
The Kalimans began removing their helmets and the rest of their armor piece by piece.
The armor was so heavy it took them a while to strip it off.
What caught me off guard was how many female knights there were—way more than expected.
"...What is this, a ladies' knight order?"
I muttered without thinking. In hindsight, it was astonishing that only male knights had come to our mansion.
The Spade Knights' armor was black. But out came women with pale skin. What could I even say?
Still, that didn't mean I'd excuse them from training. Not even a little.
"I have zero intention of making you do night service or anything like that. But I do expect you to train properly. Got it? Or not?"
"Yes—!" came a resounding reply.
It was loud, but since it was women's voices, it felt weirdly off... Hard to explain.
"Everyone, draw your swords."
They all drew their swords.
"Begin ten thousand swings."
I clearly said 'begin', but no one swung. They must've thought I was exaggerating to scare them.
I snapped my fingers, and Cheshire Cat appeared beside me, hammer in hand.
"If your form slips even once, Cheshire Cat will smash your shoulders with that hammer. Swing carefully, every time."
Knights who couldn't even swing a sword properly? If you're going to swing like a brute, at least make it 'overwhelmingly powerful'.
And how do you get that overwhelming power?
By swinging until you drop, obviously.
"We're changing the knightly spirit starting today. As you swing, repeat after me."
I continued while watching these amateurs swing so clumsily.
"One, my life is my top priority."
"One! My life is my top priority!"
You grow stronger by loving yourself first, cherishing yourself above all, then extending the same to others equally.
Well, this was just the opposite of Elfriede Dice's 'Elfriede always comes first' mantra.
Either way, these guys becoming able to handle their own bodies properly was a gain for me now too.
"Hah...!"
"Heuk!"
"Hya! Hya!"
As the female knights started panting, some embarrassing sounds came out.
"Make weird noises and I'll kill you all!"
But Lady of Revelry Ellis glared murderously, and they shut up and kept swinging. Women know how to handle women, it seems.
Of course, women understand other women better than men do.
And finally.
"Cr, cr, cr, Clover Knight has come...! Mr. Florian...!"
A Clover Knight had come looking for me.