Ordo, the Free City
Eric, the captain of the guard in Ordo and a former knight of the Red Flame Knights, had never been very fond of the life he’d been born into.
His family struggled just to eat from one day to the next, while the nobles up in their lofty towers could gorge themselves on whatever they fancied and, if they grew bored of a dish, toss it away without a second thought no matter how much remained.
If Eric had ever done something like that, his father would have beaten him to death for it.
And it wasn’t just food. Their homes, their clothes, their leisure time… everything they were given was far more abundant than what commoners could ever dream of.
Unfair.
But if he dared say such things aloud, it wouldn’t have been strange for his head to come off on the spot, so Eric simply swallowed his resentment and brooded over it in silence—until one day he asked his father,
“Father, how does one gain honor and wealth?”
“Honor and wealth? Then there’s no place better than the Red Flame Knights! They’re where the strongest men in Grasis gather, so honor’s guaranteed, and if you want to keep men like that around, don’t you think they pay well?”
“Don’t you think?”—words of guesswork, not certainty.
His father himself was barely keeping them fed, after all; there was no way he’d know the habits of those living above.
He was just repeating old stories passed down by word of mouth, seasoning them with his own assumptions.
Still, Eric was captivated by his father’s words and willingly pushed open the gates of hell himself.
“These are the strongest people in Grasis?”
Eric knew he had talent for swordsmanship.
He’d taken up the sword relatively late, but he learned so quickly that he soon caught up with his peers, and a few years later he even defeated the former mercenary who’d taught him.
Of course, that had only been possible because his teacher wasn’t exactly a proper swordsman, but even so, Eric’s confidence soared.
In truth, his talent was extraordinary enough that he was able to join the Red Flame Knights without much trouble.
Once he’d entered the order and looked around at the other knights, he thought,
“At this level, the commander probably isn’t all that special either.”
With that thought in mind, he challenged the commander—and then…
“…Pathetic.”
He never even got to fight the commander he’d been aiming for, and was instead soundly beaten by some little girl.
Pink eyes looked down at him coolly as he lay there, thoroughly trounced.
From that day on, after the pain of defeat etched itself deeply into his bones, his nightmare began.
“Eric, water.”
“Eric, rice.”
“...You can’t fight? That’s fine. Then fight me instead.”
“I’m not holding back, so dodge properly.”
“Haaah!”
Eric, dozing for a moment in his office, jolted upright as though he’d just dreamed of falling off a cliff.
He looked around in a panic, trying to calm his pounding heart, and only after confirming the familiar sight of his office did he finally wipe away the cold sweat on his brow.
“It, it was a dream….”
A dream from the first time he’d met the commander, of all things.
There was no worse nightmare than that, he thought, and downed a cup of cold water.
As the icy water settled in his stomach, his half-fogged mind slowly began to clear.
On the day he’d challenged the commander, the person who appeared before him wasn’t the commander at all, but a girl who introduced herself as the vice commander.
He had seen her face around the order from time to time, so she wasn’t completely unfamiliar, but each time he’d simply assumed she was a page helping out with chores, or some servant under someone’s command.
He’d never once received an introduction to the vice commander after joining, and he couldn’t have imagined that such a young girl would hold such a position.
He had even asked whether the vice commander was like a secretary who assisted the commander, only to be told that wasn’t the case, and the sheer absurdity Eric had felt at the time was beyond words.
That meant a girl who looked no older than ten was stronger than Eric and the other knights, did it not?
No matter how he thought about it, that couldn’t possibly be true. Surely the other knights had been letting her win because they found her adorable.
It was a shame for the girl, but for Eric, who had his sights set on becoming commander, he had no choice but to shatter her illusions.
Still, I should go easy on her so I don’t hurt her.
What Eric hadn’t known then was that it wouldn’t be the girl’s illusion that shattered, but his own pride.
“If I’d known, I never would’ve picked a fight….”
After losing to the vice commander, he’d been put through hell.
For the crime of arrogantly challenging the commander.
Thanks to that, his skill improved by leaps and bounds, but if he could go back to that time, Eric vowed he would never make that choice again.
“Compared to back then, this is heaven.”
There was no vice commander to drive him like a dog anymore, and no war to send him out against monsters, Dimensional Beasts, or the imperial army.
All he had to do was patrol regularly to maintain public order and step in to fight only when dangerous elements like criminals or monsters appeared.
The old Eric, who had once chased honor and wealth, was long gone.
“And that’s another day done~”
He stretched lazily, his body stiff from sitting, and muttered to himself in a relaxed drawl.
Then—
Whiiist!
“What now?”
At the sudden call signal, he frowned.
Annoyed by this interruption to his peaceful routine, Eric checked the signal.
“It’s the checkpoint?”
Had someone started causing trouble again?
Scratching his head, he answered the call from the checkpoint.
“Yeah, it’s me. What’s going on?”
—U-um, Captain….
“Quit stammering and spit it out properly.”
—Y-yes, sir! We found a suspicious pair! One of them is an Apostle, and the other is a little girl, but the item the girl presented looked highly unusual, so we’ve locked them in the temporary holding cells… However, I think you really need to see this yourself.
“What are you talking about…? Did you take a bribe?”
—N-no, sir!
“I’m joking. Why are you taking it so seriously? You’re making it awkward.”
That guy’s name was… right, Garrett.
He was diligent and honest in his work, which was another way of saying he had no sense of flexibility. Eric couldn’t imagine that a man like that would accept a bribe.
“Haaah… all right, I’ll head over right now, so wait there.”
—Yes, sir!
After cutting the connection, Eric gathered his gear and left the office.
He waved off the greetings from subordinates who recognized him as he made his way to the checkpoint, and there Garrett was waiting for him outside.
“At attention!”
“Skip the formalities. I’m trying to finish this fast and go home, so just tell me quickly.”
“I received this….”
“…What is this, the royal crest…?”
Why was that here?
The moment Eric saw the small plaque engraved with the crest of the Grasis royal family, a chill ran down his spine as though someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over him.
Something—something… he couldn’t explain it in words, but the feeling was ominous.
He could have dismissed it as mere instinct and moved on, but Eric had never ignored the hunches that had saved his life on countless battlefields.
“Wait a second. Who gave this to you?”
“A little girl.”
“What did she look like?”
“Uh… she was so adorable I thought she might be the daughter of some noble house. She’ll probably make a lot of men cry when she grows up.”
“…Was she, by any chance, pink-haired?”
“Yes, sir, that’s right.”
“And her eyes were pink too?”
“They were, sir….”
By now Garrett could tell something had gone wrong, and he began to watch Eric carefully.
“…Do you know her?”
Without realizing it, Garrett had shifted from using an honorific to calling her a girl.
By then Eric’s face had already gone deathly pale.
“...Where did you say she was?”
“We locked her in the temporary cells.”
At that, Eric instinctively glanced toward the checkpoint.
Fortunately, it still stood there in one piece, not a single part of it smashed.
“Garrett.”
“Yes, sir….”
“Don’t tell anyone what you saw today. And….”
With a face that looked like it had aged ten years in an instant, Eric said,
“Please, develop some flexibility….”
Leaving behind that heartfelt plea, he walked into the checkpoint. The back of his retreating figure looked remarkably like his younger self, the one who had once opened the gates of hell on his own.
* * *
Here, Canaria, take this.
...What is it?
If anyone ever bullies you, or some freeloader—not that I’m calling anyone that—starts pestering you, show them this. It’ll solve things cleanly.
Huh….
...Garid, you liar.
Cleanly resolve things, my ass. This just made everything more annoying.
Or maybe I’d used it in a way Garid hadn’t intended, and that had caused the problem….
I sighed at the iron bars blocking my way.
...No.
...Let’s admit it.
I’d been too stupid.
I’d tried to avoid a little inconvenience without thinking through the consequences of my actions, and in doing so I’d dragged myself into something even more annoying.
Every time something like this happened, I was reminded just how little patience I had….
As I reflected on my past actions, a fresh wave of indignation rose in me, and I puffed out my lips.
But seriously….
Was throwing me in jail really necessary?
It’s not like people in Ordo don’t know Granic, so couldn’t they at least hear me out?
Even if showing the royal crest caused trouble, I thought they’d at least talk to me first. I never expected them to throw me in a cell without a word….
I wasn’t the sort who liked going out on errands like Garid, so since receiving the plaque I’d never once had a reason to use it. I’d had no idea something like this could happen.
Unless a royal or noble called for me… and even then, unless it was something I absolutely had to handle, I rarely involved myself. Besides, those people already knew me, so there was no need to show the plaque in the first place.
I don’t want to make a scene.
But I also hated the idea of sitting quietly in a prison cell even more.
Hmm.
“As long as I don’t hurt anyone, it should be fine.”
I tested the bars by knocking on them, then nodded.
Yeah, let’s do that.
There might be people who’d end up in trouble if I broke out, but that wasn’t really my problem.
Health was the most important thing, after all. As long as I didn’t get hurt, that was what mattered, right?
Just as I was gripping the bars with both hands and gathering my mana, hurried footsteps rang out—and a man burst through the checkpoint door rough-handedly.
Thud-thud-thud!
Bang!
“Commander! Please wait!”
“…Commander?”
There weren’t many people who called me that.
“Ugh!”
Staggering.
The man who’d called me commander hurried over, his feet tangling under him as he nearly lost his balance in his rush.
Only when I faced him through the bars did I finally recognize who he was.
“Hello, Pathetic.”
“My name is Eric, not Pathetic…! Why in the world are you in there, Commander?!”
“Because they locked me up, obviously.”
Did he think I’d walked in here of my own free will?
I murmured that with complete calm, and Eric—who was already clutching his head—rummaged in his clothes, pulled out a key, and unlocked the cell door.
Creaaak.
“Is it really okay to let me out like this?”
“You’re not exactly the type to stay quietly imprisoned, are you….”
That was fair.
After leaving the cell, I sat in the chair Eric offered me.
“Do you have any idea how shocked I was when the person who vanished right after the war suddenly reappeared?”
“Nope.”
“I wasn’t asking….”
He let out a dry sigh and flopped into the chair across from me.
It had only been a few years since I’d last seen him, but somehow Eric looked like he’d aged a decade in the meantime.
As far as I knew, he shouldn’t even be that old.
Poor guy….
“It’s all because of you, Vice Comma—no, Commander!”
“…Huh? Me?”
“You always made me run errands, telling me to fetch water and bring food, and when I ran into monster packs you kicked my ass for not fighting fast enough, and when I finally got a chance to rest you’d call me back just to beat me up…!”
Apparently he’d been holding a lot in, because Eric’s eyes even began to glisten as he vented his grievances at me.
After listening to his complaints in silence for a while, I nodded.
“Yeah, I see.”
“…That’s it?”
“Then what reaction did you want?”
“Sigh….”
Eric let out a breath as if to say, Of course. What was I expecting?
Still, hearing him out made me feel a little wronged too.
Anyone listening would think I was some irredeemable bitch.
“Making you run errands was something you agreed to.”
When he chose to challenge me instead of Garid, he and I had made one promise.
If Eric won, I’d hand over the commander’s seat.
But if I won, he’d obey whatever I told him to do, without a single complaint.
He’d agreed to it himself, fully aware the things we were putting on the scales didn’t weigh the same, so why was he acting differently now?
“Ugh, th-that’s true, but….”
“And I kicked your ass because you were too scared to fight.”
“...“
“And I called you in on your day off because you were being too damn arrogant.”
He still hadn’t gotten over it after being beaten by me once, so I made sure to straighten him out.
After a few more rounds of that, he finally started lowering that proud nose of his.
“If you hadn’t gone after Garid in the first place, I would’ve let you do whatever you wanted.”
Seriously, why pick a fight with someone who was already hurting?
Eric looked offended.
“I-I didn’t know you were hurt back then…! If I had, do you think I would’ve done that?”
“You seem like the type who would’ve.”
“Hey! I’m not that reckless!”
“Hmm….”
“I’m serious!”
When I looked at him skeptically, Eric sprang up and shouted.
Well, fine. We’ll go with that.