Chapter 42: Honorary Count Deon Hart (7)
Chapter 42: Honorary Count Deon Hart (7)
"They started a game of trying to hit trees with the weapons from the sparring yard, destroyed eleven weapons, knocked down four trees, and later, the game evolved into targeting the knights on our side."
I silently stared at the Murderer Knight Order member.
The guy rolled his eyes awkwardly, then apparently decided to be shameless about it and puffed out his chest.
"It was training. Training."
"Shut up! You call ambushing us during designated rest periods training?!"
"The enemy doesn't pick and choose when to attack you based on your break time. Gotta get used to it."
"Then what about stealing and eating our share of the food!"
"Training in case of food shortages?"
"Hurk, my stomach medicine...."
That sturdy knight, driven to find stomach medicine....
And in just one week, at that. I couldn't hide my sigh.
Sir Kain, who had finally dug out and swallowed stomach medicine from his chest pocket, called out to me earnestly.
"The number of knights taking stomach medicine is increasing. Please, those sons of... please do something about the knight order."
"You were just about to call them sons of bitches, weren't you?"
"No."
"Bullshit! Want me to show you what a real son of a bitch looks like?"
Just a week ago, the knights of the Count's residence had still looked healthy.
After looking at the haggard Sir Kain's face, I turned my head and stared down the rampaging mad dog again.
Just when I thought the guy, who had noticed my gaze with his animalistic senses, was going to back down on his own, he scratched his head and began spouting clumsy excuses.
Honestly, they couldn't even be called excuses.
"Still, this was us being moderate compared to when we were at the imperial palace...."
"You pulled this at the imperial palace too?!"
No, they did even worse? These crazy bastards!
Drip.
Blood fell.
Right, of course. I was already tired from all the things that happened today, and on top of that my blood pressure spiked; there was no way my body could hold out.
"My Lord!"
"Captain, no, My Lord!"
I hurriedly clutched my nose and leaned back against my chair.
Damn it, I finally had a day without bleeding.
My vision blurred. My eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and then darkness came.
The last thing I glimpsed was what looked like Rememver and Lady Rien.
'Good. Hurry up and get this bastard out of my sight....'
The familiar smell of blankets filled my nose. When I opened my eyes, an equally familiar ceiling filled my sight.
I blinked, unable to process the situation for a moment,
"You are awake."
A calm voice spoke.
In my memory, there was only one person who could make a voice so calm.
"Rememver."
"Yes, My Lord."
"How long was I lying down?"
"It has not been very long. Exactly one hour and twenty-four minutes, I believe."
Given that I just fainted from a nosebleed, that seemed a bit long?
The personal physician, who had apparently been summoned while I was unconscious, was waiting nearby. He approached and began examining my body here and there.
As if the physician didn't even register, Rememver stared directly at me and calmly spoke.
"What will you do?"
"......Excuse me?"
"The knight order member who upset you has currently been dragged off by Lady Rien. Should you summon him, he would come at once."
His silver-blue eyes gleamed enigmatically.
I looked at him without a single blink, then lowered my eyes first and answered.
"In that case, would you summon him for me?"
"Yes, I shall bring him immediately."
"No. Tell him to wait not here, but in my office."
"......As you wish."
He wore a surprised expression, but did not question it.
Rememver opened the door slightly and relayed the message to the attendant waiting outside. Then, instead of leaving, he came back and stood a step away from the bed.
I wondered why he insisted on staying here, but it seemed to be because of the physician.
"Your body itself is weak and you are simply heavily fatigued; there is no serious abnormality. I have nothing particular to say except to warn you against fatigue and stress."
"Is that so. I have a great deal of backed-up paperwork... That is troublesome."
Wait, it seemed his reason for listening to the examination results wasn't worry for me, but to somehow use them for his paperwork....
A chill ran down my spine and I shuddered. The startled physician immediately rushed back and resumed his examination.
Only after I repeatedly said I was fine was I finally able to shake him off.
Anyway, by now that guy should have arrived at my office. Time to go meet him.
As I climbed out of bed, Rememver naturally fell in behind me.
That was to be expected, since he was my butler....
'Why are you following me?'
For some reason, the physician came along too. I was so startled when I turned around and saw him there.
He'd been hemming and hawing and gauging my mood earlier. He must be a tremendously timid person who missed his chance to leave and ended up awkwardly following behind me.
I clicked my tongue internally, glanced at him, and opened the office door—
And I had no choice but to silently praise the physician's choice to follow me.
"Kheup—"
The face of the order member, swollen and puffy from a severe beating.
Because of it, I choked trying to force down the laughter that was about to burst out, and ended up causing my nosebleed to burst again.
The physician hastily offered me a handkerchief.
I meekly followed his instructions to pinch the middle of my nose with it, and looked at the guy again with a serious expression.
'The face is familiar... What was his name again? Mill? Mal? Malla?'
"What was your name again?"
"Huh? Don't tell me you forgot my name? It's Milan. Of all things to forget, you forgot my name of all things...."
"You!"
Lady Rien, present as Milan's superior, flared up as if she might throw a punch any second.
That's just how the guy was, what could you do. She'd be happier if she just gave up on him to some degree, like me.
I quickly stopped her and trudged over to sit at the chair behind my office desk.
Thankfully, despite all the nosebleed, the documents were fine.
......Well, some red stains were left on the white paper, but the letters were fine, so it was all good.
Anyway.
"Milan, I have something I'm curious about."
"Ask as much as you like."
"What in the world did you lot get up to at the imperial palace?"
This was the reason I called him here.
I had no intention of punishing him in the first place.
We might not look it, but we were comrades who rolled together across battlefields during the Eight-Year War, making a fuss to save each other's lives.
Especially since these guys were the ones who made a huge scene trying to protect me, an incompetent commander, just because I was their superior. How could I possibly inflict a heavy punishment?
"Hmm... You aren't going to scold me?"
"You!"
"Lady Rien, it's fine. I won't scold you, so hurry up and tell me."
Honestly, I was a bit uneasy.
What kind of accident did they cause that even these guys, who cared nothing for the eyes of others, were asking if I wasn't going to scold them?
In case my blood pressure might spike and cause me to clutch the back of my neck and collapse, I held back the physician with a glance as he tried to slip away, and put on a deliberately benevolent smile.
At that, Milan, who had been rolling his eyes, scratched his cheek and slowly began to speak.
"To start with the trivial things, I collapsed a few buildings trying to catch some Revolutionary Army members."
"Trivial... Wait, before that. Revolutionary Army?"
Why the guys who ambushed my carriage and threw bombs at my residence?
I understood why the Revolutionary Army targeted them, but why were they making such a fuss about catching the Revolutionary Army?
"Well, as I mentioned during the carriage ambush, His Majesty told us to earn our keep by suppressing the Revolutionary Army members running wild in the imperial capital."
"......."
He did? I didn't know. My memory blanked out during that time.
So that meant these guys were the ones who saved me back then. No wonder I was wondering why I, who thought I was dead, ended up at the imperial palace banquet hall. How flustered I was when I came to my senses.
'If that's the case, the fact that my body was covered in blood back then...?'
I swept a narrowed gaze over the guy. Pricked for no reason, he floundered and spouted bullshit in an attempt at an excuse.
Of course, the content was enough to make my blood boil.
"W-Well, still, you didn't say to pay for it. Though the Prime Minister did glare at us somewhat...."
For him to notice he was being glared at, his wits must have grown a little.
In any case, shouldn't I be sending these guys right back to the imperial palace? I had a feeling those "few buildings" might end up being something I'd have to pay for.
My silence must have been deeply unsettling to him.
Drenched in sweat and gauging my mood, the guy seemed to think "to hell with it," and, acting like the guilty party filing the suit, began blurting things out wildly.
"D-Do you know how hard it is to suppress Revolutionary Army members running around with bombs without any casualties? A few buildings might get wrecked!"
"......How many exactly is a few?"
"Uh... About twelve?"
"......."
"......."
Beside me, Lady Rien sent me a look. 'Shall I drag him away?'
I pondered for a moment, then shook my head.
If collapsing a few buildings was the trivial matter, that meant they'd caused even bigger accidents. I might as well hear those too.
"What other accidents besides that?"
"We had a bout with the Imperial Guard."
"With the Imperial Guard...."
"Somehow a quarrel broke out and we had a bit of a brawl."
"A brawl...."
"Ah, we didn't lose, of course. It ended in a draw. Against the Imperial Guard of all opponents!"
"......."
"To be honest, we were a bit on the back foot, but that was because I bit off the Guard Captain's ear! For someone who's the Imperial Guard Captain, he couldn't take it and showed an opening. How ridiculous that was. And I, of course, did not miss that opening! Hahahaha!"
Lady Rien, drag that thing outside.
May I beat him?
By all means.
"Uh, huh? Commander? Why are you grabbing me by the collar... Wait, hello? My Lord? My Lorrrrrrrd!!"
But you said you wouldn't scold meeeeee....
Click.
Thanks to Rememver, who kindly closed the door, the noise was immediately cut off.
I said I wouldn't scold him, I never said I wouldn't get angry. That's bullshit, of course.
If that bastard could spout bullshit so brazenly, why couldn't I?
At some point, I lowered the hand that had been massaging the back of my neck and touched under my nose. Fortunately, the nosebleed hadn't started. My neck was fine too.
'What do I do with that bastard....'
No, the entire knight order was the problem. How to handle these damn mad dogs....
With a deep sigh, I told the physician, who was still loitering nearby, to leave, and picked up any random document in front of me.
And not long after, I shot up from my seat.
'This is it!'
Those bastards caused accidents because they had too much leftover energy.
If that was the case, then I just had to make them expend that energy!
Coincidentally, there were reports of monsters loitering in the territories near the border. I could get those unsightly bastards out of my sight, and also send them off to burn off their energy. It would be perfect!
Relieved of a weight, I began to hum a song in my head and started writing out an order.
"My Lord! I see a monster over there!"
"......Okay......."
Contrary to the plan, I ended up being dragged along on the monster subjugation with those damn bastards.
When they received the order to go subjugate monsters, the reaction of the Lofty Knight Order members was different from ordinary people.
A monster subjugation, fraught with danger. What's more, the location was near the border.
Even though they had to fight a battle where life and death hung in the balance, instead of shock or anger, they let out cheers.
We thought you were scolding us, but you give us such a fun job! Is this not practically a vacation!
"Wow, as expected of the Count! I thought I was going to die of boredom! He recognizes that we didn't cause trouble for nothing!"
"To think he'd look after us bored ones even while he's busy! Who was the bastard badmouthing our Count?!"
"I wasn't badmouthing him?! I was just discussing the difference in the Count's attitude towards the residence knights and our order!"
"So it was you!!"
Sturdy men in neat white knight uniforms flew through the air. Their landing point was one man cowering in terror, Milan.
A terrible scream erupted. Then a member of the order who had a relatively calm personality barely got a hold of himself and picked up the forgotten order letter crumpled in a far corner.
I'd bet my life these bastards hadn't read it to the end. In that case, at least I should read it properly.
And sure enough.
"It says only our knight order is going. And the Count isn't coming with us."
"......Huh?"
"What?"
Silence fell.
The men who had been beating on Milan all turned to look this way at once.
At the round eyes as if asking what that was supposed to mean, Order Member Kletter pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head.
"You bastards should read things to the end...."