Ordinary Life
“So? So. What happened next?”
Eloise nibbled on her fish-shaped bread, eyes sparkling with excitement.
“What happened? The friendly match we’d all been hoping for ended after just two rounds, and the head of the delegation and our relationship manager decided to kiss and make up—
“No. Not that. Karl. What happened after that?”
“That? Obviously, the next day, they all marched straight into the palace…”
“I wouldn’t know. How would I?”
“Aah, really! I’m an elf from the Empire now, right?! Not a Gganf! If you asked me which side I’d choose—elves or humans—I’d hesitate for about a second before answering ‘humans’! So tell me! It’s not like you have to keep this secret, right?”
“This crazy elf. Confidential information exists to be kept secret, doesn’t it? What does it even mean to say it doesn’t have to be kept secret?”
“And it’s not that I’m an elf and therefore not telling you. Honestly, I don’t know any more than that.”
“I’m not an imperial official or a minister. I’m just an ordinary academy returning student who does exactly what I’m told and then steps aside. What else could I possibly know?”
“I really don’t know.”
“Aah, you’re so stingy! Tell me, tell me!”
“I really don’t know! Hic!”
Her breath caught. Karl quickly patted Eloise’s arm, and Lav, who had been standing nearby, quietly stepped closer.
Then, with a loud thud, he grabbed the arm wrapped around Karl’s neck and pried it away, returning to his original spot.
“Thanks, Lav.”
“My pleasure, Master. I mean, Senior.”
“Anyway, I don’t know any more details than that. Just some diplomatic talk with the Empire side and the Lasquer delegation, and then it was over. There must have been some kind of diplomatic development. But if I ask you about it, it’ll look like I’m some kind of minister.”
“You could just say so. Honestly, if Karl were to leave public service, the Empire would probably be overjoyed!”
“What are you talking about? I’m already swamped just trying to inherit our countship.”
“More than that, I was disappointed with the Lasquer knights.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I thought I could at least spar a few rounds without breaking a sweat. But one guy couldn’t even draw his sword properly. The next one kept his distance but couldn’t close the gap. It was nothing like what I imagined.”
Who knows how many times I thought, Maybe my father wasn’t actually studying swordsmanship after all?
If the knights had heard that, they would have leaped for joy, but who knows. In reality, they really were that weak.
Ah, no. I shouldn’t have said that out loud. If I had, they might have charged at me even harder in anger. Ah, I wish I had.
“…Is it that the human knights are weak, or is Karl actually strong?”
“What kind of nonsense is that? Don’t butter me up.”
“No, I’m being completely serious.”
Karl waved his hand in dismissal at Eloise’s words.
“When did I ever fight any knights? The most I’ve done is some scuffle with the Luzens on the southern front. I’ve never even faced the knights I was supposed to fight.”
“That’s exactly it, Karl. If anyone overheard, they’d think you were stationed with regular Luzens soldiers.”
*
It was unbelievable. I could say I fought the Lasquer knights easily.
I hadn’t fought the Lasquer side before, but information existed nonetheless. According to those reports, each knight’s personal combat ability matched or exceeded that of my own unit members.
Yet Karl was saying they were “too weak to be fun.”
If someone who didn’t know Karl heard that, they might call it arrogance or a misunderstanding. The real problem was that it wasn’t arrogance or a misunderstanding at all.
If it were Karl, he probably would have said that.
Karl hadn’t fought only ordinary elves. No, correction. He hadn’t fought only ordinary Gganf.
They were a mix of conscripted and drafted forces. Their level was above that of regular imperial soldiers, but not by much.
First, the assault unit. The name alone didn’t sit well with me. Elves leading an assault? That’s why the Empire called them Gganf.
They were famous for their mastery of close-quarters combat, wielding swords instead of bows and arrows to turn imperial battle lines into wastelands because they hated the Empire so much.
I couldn’t even guess how many times Karl had fought them or how many he’d won against.
Is that the end of it? No way. There’s more. Especially the next two groups were the real deal.
The Black Forest Battalion and the elite guard that protected their leader.
Darnan Nav, the Luzens leader, had been there, so those two units had definitely been positioned nearby.
And naturally, Karl had clashed with them at least five times.
Objectively speaking, their level matched or exceeded that of our Hygens extermination unit.
It was only natural that the imperial army was being torn apart, and the fact that survivors remained was shocking. After combining postwar reports, I wondered how many imperial soldiers the Luzens had slain.
Yet Karl survived those fights too. If I told him that, he’d probably say, “I was just lucky.” He would definitely answer that way.
But sometimes luck isn’t luck. Sometimes what you thought was luck turns out to be real skill. Karl was a perfect example of that.
The feeling that the Lasquer knights were relatively easy to deal with was just an extension of that. After fighting them repeatedly on the southern front amid rivers of blood and death, how could they possibly match someone who only did a friendly match here?
Without a single joke, it was fortunate that Karl hadn’t killed those knights. Truly fortunate!
“I don’t know. Anyway, I’m even more disappointed about Lasquer.”
“Yeah. Yeah. If Karl feels that way, then that’s just how it is. Ah, but Karl, what about your father? I heard he went to the Lasquer border too.”
“That’s strange.”
“What is?”
“Why does our father become our father? I need an explanation, Eloise-senpai?”
Aigoo! Why are you like this? Let’s not be so strict about things, Karl-senpai. Huh? Yeah!?
“Well… According to what I heard, he briefly visited the border for a few days and then returned.”
“Did he really just go back and forth?”
“…According to Special Intelligence and War Ministry reports, he fought one round with the Lasquer knights.”
As expected. My father, Karl’s father. He shouldn’t just pass by quietly! Hehehe!
“Princess Lepia. Or rather, I heard it was from your maternal side. It wasn’t a particularly tense atmosphere; it was just a brief friendly match to recall old memories, like I did.”
“The outcome? Of course Father won, right?”
At that, Karl scratched his head and said something. I didn’t know he’d lost. Who knows how many times he got scolded by Mother the moment he returned home. And if it weren’t for Mother, Father might have stayed longer?
Now that I think about it, Karl’s family seems much stronger on the female side. How should I win over Mother and Sister Ricata? I’ll have to prepare a separate strategy for this later!
“Master. Just out of curiosity, what does Mother like?”
Whoa. Lav is already catching on and setting up his trap. I’m tired, so tired! Why are my rivals so capable? Really!
“Hmm? What Mother likes. Um, Gganf heads?”
Gganf heads? Really? No way? If that’s the case, I could quickly mop up the remaining Luzens stragglers this weekend, salt them neatly, and bring them back!
“I’m joking. Please stop with those serious faces.”
“Tch.”
“Hmph.”
*
Lepia sat blankly in her seat, recalling the news delivered by the delegation head.
“I have reported everything to Her Highness the Second Princess. Her Highness expressed gratitude that Her Highness the Fifth Princess did not agree with the plan.”
“The Empire side expressed unofficial regret that such incidents occurred within the academy, and promised that this would never happen again, so please rest assured, Princess.”
“There were also reports from the home country urging Her Highness to return to Lasquer, but Her Highness the Second Princess ignored those opinions.”
To sum it up, everything had gone in a very positive direction.
The Second Princess had learned about the dissatisfaction her subordinates held, and she had to decide whether to persuade them to accept it or coldly reject them.
She had also realized that she had been running solely for her goals. Now she needed to look back and confirm whether they were truly following her. The decision was hers, but the help had been there.
The Empire had clearly shown that it had no intention of interfering in Lasquer’s internal affairs. At the same time, it had publicly declared that the Empire still held the upper hand.
Even Friedrich Count’s brief appearance at the border had shocked them greatly, and the delegation had mentioned that two knights had not been defeated by a single young man who was a former imperial soldier.
Finally, Lepia herself—
“I see you here, Senpai.”
Turning her head, she saw Karl approaching with an envelope in hand.
“Karl-senpai.”
“Sit down. Why stand up to greet me?”
Karl sat Lepia down and pulled a fish-shaped bread from the envelope, popping it into his mouth.
“It seems everything has gone well. At the very least, there will be no punishment from the Lasquer home country for you, Senpai. They firmly rejected that proposal and confirmed you would stay in the Empire, so you should have clearly realized there is nothing more to gain here.”
“I see.”
“So now, Senpai, live an ordinary life. The academy turns out to be quite nice. I wanted to return here too, which is why I gritted my teeth and endured on the battlefield.”
Ordinary. Ordinary. A kingdom, a princess, honor—set all that aside. Just truly living an ordinary life. It’s possible, isn’t it?
“Want to eat one?”
Lepia, who had been quietly staring at the envelope Karl offered, carefully picked up a fish-shaped bread.
She hesitated for a moment, then bit into it with a loud crunch—
“Oh.”
Karl suddenly smiled and let out a cheer. Lepia tilted her head in confusion.
“I ate it from the head. Just like me.”
“…”
Lepia quietly turned her head. The moment she saw Karl’s smile, her face flushed hotly.
She wondered if her face had turned bright red in the mirror. Since she didn’t want to show that, she simply nibbled on the plain fish-shaped bread.
“It looks delicious. It must suit your taste. Want another one?”
Meanwhile, Karl seemed pleased that Lepia enjoyed eating fish-shaped bread.