Regular Patrol
Having received their assignment, the two of them left the office.
"I'm fine with it myself, but you must be exhausted from yesterday's inauguration ceremony, Secretary. They could at least have given you a day off."
"I'm quite all right. After the two of you left for the banquet hall, there was no further work, so I rested sufficiently."
She was busy every single day.
At least since Orion had come here, he had never once seen her take a proper rest.
Wasn't she being worked too hard?
Reading the look on Orion's face, Heily spoke up.
"Please don't concern yourself so much. The Lady does grant holidays as circumstances allow."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Today there were unavoidable circumstances, so it simply couldn't be helped."
Heily held out a sheaf of documents for Orion to see.
"Recently the Knight Commander's seat fell vacant, which has caused disruptions in the Order's operations."
A guilty twinge.
Feeling oddly needled, Orion clamped his mouth shut.
"Please pay it no mind. This matter is entirely of that person's own making."
"Ugh, still, I can't help feeling kind of guilty…"
"It's fine. The vacancy in the Commander's seat hasn't had that great an impact. Sir Arnold, who served as Vice Commander, has been handling things as Acting Commander."
Arnold, huh.
Orion cast his mind back to what had happened then.
Was that the guy who'd been standing next to that bastard?
The glasses-wearing type who looked like a total straight-A student.
"However, since he wasn't able to receive a complete handover, it seems we'll be assisting from our end for the time being."
"Oh ho, so they operate completely separately, then?"
"Yes. At present, the Lady has more than enough on her plate as it is."
Heily explained the Knight Order's operations in terms easy enough to follow.
To cut to the chase, it seemed she simply handed the Order their budget and largely left them alone beyond that.
Each month she received their budget proposal, reviewed it herself, and allocated the funds accordingly.
So while she had a thorough grasp of the Order's internal affairs, she apparently didn't meddle in every little thing.
Huh… so that means that Knight Commander guy was embezzling, right?
She was more of a hands-off type than she looked…
"Hmm. Still, it's not a bad system."
After all, the people out in the field were the ones who knew. No matter how sharp you were at administrative work, if you didn't understand conditions on their end, it was all for nothing.
They'd know best what they needed themselves.
"Anyway, understood. Shall we be on our way, then?"
"Yes. Let us go."
The Agnes Knight Order was stationed not far from the northern walls.
Their duty post was over that way to begin with, and supposedly the location was chosen so they could rush out at a moment's notice in an emergency.
"Ugh, my butt…"
Working the stiffness from his body as he climbed down from the carriage, Orion held out a hand to Heily.
It was a gesture he'd grown used to by now.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
Heily took Orion's hand and carefully stepped down from the carriage.
Today she wore neither a maid outfit nor the boyish suit he'd seen her in yesterday.
It was an office look that practically screamed secretary.
Thanks to her snow-white skin and snow-white hair, the jet-black clothes suited her remarkably well.
However.
"Secretary, you didn't bring an outer coat?"
"…I didn't pack one separately, but is there some problem?"
The problem was how mercilessly the outfit accentuated her figure.
Even if she covered herself completely, what difference would it make?
That look was lethal on men.
Under Orion's intense gaze, Heily hesitated before speaking.
"…This time it really is fine. The entire schedule is set to take place indoors."
She seemed to have recalled what had happened last time, and her spirits sank.
He hadn't meant it as a scolding.
Still, it couldn't be helped.
Orion shrugged off his own outer coat as he spoke.
"That won't do. Wear mine."
"…Pardon?"
"Let's go."
He quickly draped the coat around her shoulders and turned away.
It was a shame he couldn't cover down past her knees, where her stockings peeked through.
The Knight Commander's office.
When Heily knocked on the door, a flat, lifeless voice drifted out from within.
"Yes, who is it?"
"It's Heily. You've been informed, I trust."
"Ah, Secretary. Please wait a moment."
A moment later, the door opened with a weak creak.
A man poked his face through the gap.
He looked half-dead.
His dark circles had sunk all the way down to his cheekbones, and there was no life left in his eyes.
"Please, come in."
Orion and Heily followed his guidance into the room.
Bundles of paper were strewn everywhere.
Sunlight didn't reach the place well, giving it a somewhat dim feel.
He pointed toward the sofa.
"Please have a seat."
Then he trudged over to the cupboard and set water to boil.
A short while later, warm tea was set before the two of them.
He sat across from them with a groan of pure suffering.
Uh… hmm…
Orion was thoroughly flustered.
Frankly speaking, he didn't harbor particularly warm feelings toward the Knight Order.
The moment he'd arrived he'd been subjected to every kind of insult, and that Knight Commander bastard had picked a fight with him.
So he couldn't deny he'd been looking forward to seeing a few faces this time around.
If the Commander was like that, the Vice Commander would be much the same.
But what was with this appearance?
It was a face that wiped away every last scrap of ill will.
He almost felt sorry for the guy.
The reason Orion — who'd originally planned to stand behind Heily and glare daggers at him — was now sitting quietly in his seat was precisely that.
It was like storming into a kitchen to complain about a hair in your food, only to discover the chef was bald…
Subdued, Orion kept his mouth shut.
"Lady Heily, first, the New Year budget proposal. I drafted it comparing against last year's as much as possible, so if there are any issues, please let me know. And this is the January budget—"
The two of them naturally began looking over the documents and talking.
It was mostly about the budget.
Each allocation was written out in meticulous detail regarding where the funds would be spent.
About thirty minutes passed.
Growing bored, Orion picked up a document that had been pushed over in front of him.
"Hmm?"
From a distance it looked like simple number-crunching, but up close it was a rather familiar kind of table.
"This might be a bit of a problem."
At Orion's mutter came the sharp click of a tongue.
At the same time, an intense gaze locked onto him.
It looked for all the world like he was saying he was ridiculously busy, so quit the nonsense and outsiders should stay out of it.
Heh heh. Looks like he's been holding a grudge over there too.
It would be strange for him to have good feelings. When you got down to it, Orion had a share of the blame for him ending up stuck with this job.
The biggest cause had vanished and there was no one left to pin it on, so of course he'd be irritated.
But that was that, and this was this.
Orion wanted to help Heily.
"Secretary, could you take a look at this?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"Everyday living supplies can be managed by economizing within a set limit, but weapons and equipment are different, aren't they?"
When Heily tilted her head, Orion pointed at the table and continued.
"Considering the weapons allocated to each person plus reserves, rather than a blanket sum like this, I think the amount should be calculated by quantity. Price fluctuations happen constantly with weapons and equipment too, after all."
Heily thought for a moment at Orion's words, then nodded.
"Now that you mention it, that makes sense. A reasonable point. There have been additional increases to the weapons budget every time — I suspect this may well have been the reason."
Heily immediately showed the table to Arnold and requested a revision.
"Sir Arnold. Going forward, rather than a comprehensive sum for weapons and equipment, would you please list the quantity of weapons needed? Each month we will assess the prices of the equipment and calculate the amount on our end."
Arnold's eyes went wide as he looked back and forth between the documents.
His expression said he couldn't believe something like that had come from a person who looked like he couldn't possibly be that sharp.
But before long he accepted it and nodded.
"…Understood. We'll do it that way."
A solid two hours.
The budget discussion was drawing to a close.
Last up was the matter of food supplies.
"Secretary, would you look at this as well?"
"Yes, please go ahead."
"I think food supplies also need to be broken down the same way as the weapons. Unlike weapons, the food budget is calculated on a yearly basis, but with dry goods and processed foods, the shelf life—"
Heily listened carefully to Orion's explanation.
Everything he'd said so far had been correct, so she'd wondered if he might get at least one thing wrong — but this too was adopted on the spot.
"Sir Arnold, this part as well—"
"…I've heard it all, so no need to explain. We'll do it that way."
With that, the discussion of the Knight Order's operations was roughly wrapped up.
From here on, as long as they made small adjustments each month, there shouldn't be any major problems.
"Thank you for your hard work, Sir Arnold."
"…Yes. You've worked hard as well, Lady Heily."
Even though things had concluded successfully, Arnold wore an awkward expression.
He looked depressed, as if he felt he hadn't done anything himself.
But he steeled himself and held out a hand to Orion.
"…My introductions are late. I was originally the Vice Commander, but at present I'm serving as Acting Commander. Arnold."
Orion took his hand in a daze and shook it.
"Congratulations on your inauguration as Guard Knight. I was too busy to attend the ceremony, so I hope you'll understand."
Judging by outward appearances alone, he seemed extremely courteous.
But Orion could tell what he was really after.
This bastard?
Was he trying to start a power struggle?
Why was he putting force into his hand?
Orion responded in kind, squeezing with his own grip.
"Aaaargh!!!!"
Arnold immediately folded like a cheap lawn chair with a crack.
Heily could only tilt her head at the sight.
"Hmm."
Orion thought.
Shouldn't a Guard Knight have a secretary of his own?
"Okay. You're my secretary."
"What!?"
That face that looked like it was made for nothing but work.
That face that, even with a woman like her standing right in front of him, seemed utterly incapable of any lecherous thoughts.
Good. He liked it.