Chapter 112
Chapter 112
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: A Gift (5)
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It was sudden, to say the least.
Of course, I knew Gritta had long harbored a desire to become independent from the main Giftrang family.
She had told me so herself.
But to establish a knightly order instead of simply starting a new branch of the family?
And why a Relief Knight Order, of all things, instead of one named after herself? I couldn't fathom the reason.
I could only surmise that the process of bidding farewell to the main Giftrang family had not been entirely smooth.
The Giftrangs would not have been pleased with the independence of a branch family to whom they had permitted the use of their crest, even if only in part.
From that perspective, establishing the Relief Knight Order was not a bad choice.
The order's goal was relief work.
To help those in distress and aid those in need.
Interfering with their activities would inevitably draw public condemnation.
For the Giftrang family, aspiring to the ranks of the great houses, it would have been a burden to act directly against them, no matter how much they resented it.
There was no better justification than a Relief Knight Order for building a new power base while avoiding some friction with the main family.
The problem was that Gritta was a knight sworn to the star of Giftrang.
Her rank and authority as a knight all stemmed from the main Giftrang family.
No matter how plausible her pretext, having bid farewell to the family, she was bound to face some form of sanction.
And that sanction…
“Did Lady Gritta break her oath?”
…was commonly as harsh as forfeiting everything she had built as a knight.
“The 5-star knight, Gritta Giftrang, no longer exists.”
It was just as I had expected.
“A 4-star Wyvern Knight named Gritta, on the other hand…”
The only thing I hadn't anticipated was that she had obtained a new rank in less than half a year.
And it wasn't some trivial rank from a provincial knightly order, either.
“His Highness the Crown Prince personally summoned her and bestowed upon her the rank of Wyvern Knight.”
The six ranks that defined the Imperial Army.
『First Rank, Dragon Knight』
『Second Rank, Wyvern Knight』
『Third Rank, Horned Dragon Knight』
『Fourth Rank, Dragon Scale Knight』
『Fifth Rank, Dragon Fang Soldier』
『Sixth Rank, Dragon Guard』
Among them, the rank just below Dragon Knight was Wyvern Knight.
Nominally, it was below the Dragon Knights, but they belonged to a separate system directly under the Imperial Family.
It was safe to say that Wyvern Knight was the highest rank within the Imperial Army's command structure.
Indeed, the commanders overseeing the legions on the empire's eastern, western, southern, and northern borders also held the rank of Wyvern Knight.
Of course, this didn't mean Gritta was on par with the four border commanders of the empire.
Even within the same rank, there were clear differences in status.
But one thing was certain.
Even considering the drop from 5-star to 4-star, her new rank was higher in stature than her previous one, not lower.
“Ah.”
I found myself genuinely marveling at the Crown Prince's swift and decisive way of handling things.
I had asked if the Imperial Family could grant Gritta permission to establish herself in the mountains and exercise exclusive rights over passage, but I never imagined he would take her directly into the imperial fold.
At this point, the Giftrang family she had bid farewell to was no longer an issue.
No matter how much they resented Gritta, laying a hand on someone who had received a high rank in the Imperial Knighthood would be an act of madness.
Jamal Rudiger went on to tell me everything that had happened in the West.
How the Relief Knight Order had taken in a large number of orphans from Komlat, who had been created by the Blue Tower's recent attack.
How some of those they took in were made squires of the order.
How, thanks to the Relief Knight Order, the once-blocked flow between the Central and Western regions had been restored.
And how, as a result, Komlat, which had suffered greatly from the Blue Tower's attack, was not just recovering but rapidly growing into a gateway city.
“Thanks to all that, Her Majesty the Empress is in a foul mood.”
As the fame of the Relief Knight Order grew, it was only natural that the Crown Prince's reputation in the West would soar as well.
It was obvious that the Empress, hell-bent on ousting the Crown Prince to place her own flesh and blood on the throne, would not be pleased with this series of events.
I fully agreed with Jamal Rudiger's assessment that if these events hadn't been confined to the West, a region with virtually no influence in central politics, there would have been no escaping the Empress's wrath.
“How are the other regions?”
While I had him, I seized the opportunity to grasp the empire's current state of affairs.
Without a hint of annoyance, he explained in considerable detail how the world had been turning while I was cooped up in the Cradle.
He was certainly a strange one.
To hear him talk, he was a carpet knight who hadn't even set foot near the center of power, yet he knew an awful lot.
“It's the same principle as a rabbit having large ears.”
In short, he learned what he needed to survive.
“I think this is enough change for now.”
Clearing his throat once, Jamal Rudiger rose from his seat.
“As of today, the official interrogation of Cadet Yan is concluded.”
At his words, which hinted at a farewell, I also stood and straightened my posture.
“Am I being taken into custody now?”
“If you wish, I can arrange it. Shall I?”
“No, thank you.”
“There are no charges, and the subject himself does not wish it. I cannot take a cadet of the Cradle into custody under these circumstances.”
When I asked playfully, he answered just as playfully.
“I hope that this time, Sir Jamal, you will grasp not a thorny rope, but one that is simply sturdy and strong.”
“That remains to be seen, but at least I’ll have less to worry about this new rope strangling me.”
I gave a short bow to his seemingly relieved face.
“May you fare well.”
“After all that insolence.”
Acting all formal now, of all times.
Jamal Rudiger waved his hand dismissively.
My first impression of him hadn't been great, but after spending time with him, he wasn't an entirely bad person.
He was just a bit more cunning, a little greedier, somewhat shadier, and less proud than other knights.
“……?”
Of course, those traits alone would earn him the scorn of other knights, but I, at least, had no intention of doing so.
In fact, I rather liked his un-knightly flexibility.
“Ah, right. There was something I forgot to tell you.”
He paused at the door and said, as if in passing.
“There's an interesting song making the rounds in the North.”
A song about a certain free knight, clad in holy radiance like armor, who wields a straight-bladed sword of light.
A song about a certain noble knight who unhesitatingly extends a hand to even the lowliest of people, performing miracles of healing.
“I thought you might like it.”
He asked if I wasn't at that age where I'd be crazy about bards' songs.
“Well then. Take care, you vexing little brat.”
Leaving me standing there dumbfounded, Jamal Rudiger disappeared.
“Of all the places to pick, he had to pick the North.”
I stood still for a long while after, mulling over the song, then muttered under my breath.
Worried that a certain beggar knight, who had gone to the North of all places, bypassing all the warm and breezy regions, might fall ill in the harsh cold.
Especially since, unlike other knights, he didn't even have a decent cloak to wrap himself in.
“Putting on a saint act, so unlike him.”
Even as I grumbled, I think I must have been smiling.
* * *
Henkel Heinz, the Vice Director, had recently noticed he’d been smiling more freely.
It was, even to himself, a very unusual occurrence.
He was a man who lived in a constant state of fatigue, having to handle the duties his irresponsible superior had thrown at him.
Just when he’d finally finish a mountain of work, his thoughtless superior would, as if on cue, cause some trouble, and he’d have to run around cleaning up the mess, always suffering from a headache.
The present was no different.
One day, a post titled [The Malserok] suddenly appeared on the anonymous bulletin board.
Although he had managed to destroy the evidence by forcibly wiping all the records within the Cradle, he couldn't completely cover it up as if it had never happened.
He reported it to the Imperial Palace, and naturally, the palace dispatched an inspector to identify the author of the seditious and blasphemous post.
Of all people, that inspector turned out to be the traitor of the Cradle, a man he wouldn't mind chewing up and spitting out: Jamal Rudiger.
He was a man he didn't want to associate with, but his irresponsible superior, complaining of anger management issues, had bolted.
If he had his way, he would have dragged him back to deal with Jamal Rudiger, but doing so might have actually resulted in his superior beating the imperial inspector to a pulp.
Dealing with a man he loathed versus cleaning up the aftermath of an unprecedented incident like assaulting an imperial inspector.
They were choices he didn't want to make, but if he had to pick one, it was obviously the former.
It was up to him to prevent the detestable Jamal Rudiger from tearing the Cradle apart under the pretext of rooting out a traitor, and to manage the cadets so they wouldn't fall for his cunning tongue.
Normally, he should have been in a worse mood than usual.
But surprisingly, he was having a more peaceful time than ever.
It was all thanks to a certain new cadet.
The Mage Slayer.
Jamal Rudiger had stuck to the Mage Slayer and refused to leave his side.
Thanks to that, instead of having to trail the loathsome Jamal Rudiger, he was freed from his duty by simply providing a conference room as an interrogation chamber.
He wasn't at ease from the beginning.
The fact that Jamal Rudiger had singled out a promising (?) cadet from the Silver Eagle class was quite unsettling.
It was one of two things.
Either the insidious Jamal Rudiger suspected the Mage Slayer of being the author of [The Malserok], or he intended to win him over.
Whether the promising cadet was branded a traitor or was persuaded to leave the Cradle, neither outcome would benefit the institution.
“I heard that Jamal fellow is fixated on the kid.”
When his superior showed up, having heard it from somewhere, and spouted that shameless remark, he wanted to punch him in the face.
But instead of throwing a punch, he had to force open his clenched fist.
“Where did you get so beaten up this time……”
“……Never mind that. Anyway, this is good. Since it’s come to this, just give him a room and give him whatever he wants, food and all. Make sure he has no reason to crawl out.”
“What if he gets persuaded? If he’s threatened with accusations of treason or what have you, he won’t be able to resist.”
“That kid?”
His superior chuckled as if he had heard a very funny joke.
“The kid is more likely to threaten Jamal than be threatened by him.”
He added the baseless claim that if one of them were to be threatened or persuaded, it would be Jamal Rudiger.
And yet, that baseless claim was somehow convincing.
After that, his mind was at ease, as if by magic.
To put it simply, for once, his irresponsible superior had been right.
“I will conclude the official investigation and end it here.”
Jamal Rudiger, who had tormented him by declaring he wouldn't leave the Cradle until he had apprehended the traitor, suddenly announced the end of the investigation.
This was a situation where nothing had been uncovered, let alone a traitor.
“You’ll be reprimanded, won’t you?”
If he returned empty-handed, he would surely face harsh consequences at the hands of the ruthless Empress.
A cunning man like him couldn't possibly be unaware of this.
“Since I failed to fulfill the imperial command, I must accept any reprimand. Is that not the duty of a subject?”
Despite this, Jamal Rudiger's expression was unwavering.
He even looked relieved.
“When we next meet, I hope we can face each other with, if not a smile, then at least a more comfortable expression.”
“Don't even dream of it.”
Even though he retorted with a stern face, Jamal Rudiger showed no sign of displeasure.
“……Were you truly persuaded?”
“Persuaded…”
It was so strange that he voiced the question he had been harboring.
“I merely heard where to find a sturdy rope, one that at least won’t strangle me.”
He hadn't thought it possible, but it was true.
“Yes. It would be more fitting to call it a trade than persuasion.”
And with that, Jamal Rudiger quietly left the Cradle with a relieved look on his face.
“What in the world did he do?”
Henkel Heinz thought and thought again.
But no matter how much he mulled it over, there was no way for him to know what conversation had taken place in that closed room.
“I'll have to ask him myself.”
In the end, he decided to ask the person in question directly.
Just as he was about to head to the Silver Eagle dormitory to find the Mage Slayer…
“Vice Director.”
The person in question came to find him first.
It was perfect timing.
“I was just about to ask you something…”
As he was about to state his business, the Mage Slayer asked first.
“You owe me, don't you?”
Out of the blue.
As if he were a debt collector.
He stood with his weight on one leg, looking cocky.