One Month of Change
A month had passed in Muller. The incompetent were fired, and the competent were recruited. I gave Triana Müller the position of guard captain. The authority to oversee the security of the castle and this city was far greater than it sounded. Frankly, when I wasn’t around, she would be second or even third in the chain of command for the castle’s defense. Giving that level of authority to the last remaining direct descendant of the Müller line sent a clear message to the locals: I had finished the reshuffling. And that was exactly what I’d intended.
In truth, no one had voiced any complaints from the start, but the people who had been working out of sheer terror now showed faint signs of relief on their faces. Zeke seemed to have finished his preliminary checks and was now fully focused on internal affairs. Chloe, for her part, was busy rebuilding the knight order she had previously dismantled.
“I thought I was going to die.”
Chloe staggered into the office, her face deathly pale.
“I honestly believed I’d gotten used to Sir Hans’s training… That was clearly a delusion. It’s horrific. Please, Lord Leo, save me.”
“Yeah, sorry about that.”
Could you stop looking at me with those abandoned-puppy eyes?
If I fought Hans, I would win. Sure, he had a mountain of real combat experience and had marched across countless battlefields with my father. He might have a few hidden tricks up his sleeve, but with my overwhelming magical power and the fact that I had personally learned the most efficient ways to move my body, my odds were still better. Besides, the number of ways Hans could even reach me while I was airborne was limited.
Still, individual strength was one thing. The collective power that defined a knight order was something I couldn’t simply create. And teaching them? That was another matter entirely.
“Just grit your teeth and bear it.”
“There’s a limit to how much I can bear! You told me that if I’m going to become the knight commander, I should experience this hellish field-by-field training myself first. But making me do it all alone is completely unreasonable!”
Seeing the usually cool-headed and professional Chloe whine like this, it was obvious Hans had been working her like a dog. The way her eyes glistened with unshed tears nearly made me laugh. I held it in.
“What about the other knights?”
“They’re in group training right now.”
“Ah…”
If these were Franz knights, complaints might have surfaced, but Hans was the type who still threw himself into the field despite his age. He had probably crushed any resistance with pure skill, and knights tended to respect that kind of honor and strength. On top of that, Chloe—who had come from Franz with them—was being worked even harder. There was no way they would complain.
“Then they must be taking a break?”
“…Yes.”
Chloe’s gaze sharpened like a blade. Her eyes flicked toward the twin brothers standing guard just outside the door.
“W-we’re on duty!”
“This doesn’t count as resting, you know?”
Heh. Perfect timing.
“Chloe will take over escort duty from now on. You two head to training.”
“Whaaaaaat?! This is our shift!”
“Exactly! Do you have any idea how much we spent in alcohol to secure this time slot?!”
“Not a clue.”
At the mention of alcohol money, Chloe’s face hardened. The twins must have sensed her magic power slowly rising.
“Training is the duty of a knight! We’ll take our leave now!”
“Loyalty!”
The twins bolted immediately. A smile tugged at my lips. Chloe let out a long sigh at their noisy retreat, but the sight seemed to drain the anger from her face. It was ridiculous, but effective.
“Most of them grew up in the castle, yet they don’t act shy around people. It’s surprising.”
I had heard they visited the town below the castle more freely than I did, but maybe it was simply their personalities.
“Indeed. Seeing how quickly they’ve started drinking and socializing with the Müller people, they clearly have a talent for building relationships.”
Chloe didn’t seem truly upset anymore; her expression had already softened. The Franz family held the higher position, but we were short on manpower and would be living together from now on. It was actually a good thing that they were getting along so well with the locals. Something to encourage, even.
So I turned my gaze to Chloe. When she avoided my eyes, I knew she had caught on.
“Are you getting along with Triana?”
“…Hmm. Socializing has never been my strong suit. Besides, she is a noble.”
They were close in age and the same gender. It would be nice if the women in charge got along, but it seemed that wasn’t happening easily. Well, she was a noble, after all. And her magic power was the second strongest after mine.
“Still, I don’t think it’s a bad relationship.”
Her awkward expression made me wonder how true that was. I chuckled and pulled her toward me by the hand.
“Um, it’s still working hours?”
“Exactly. Your duty is to escort me. Doesn’t that mean you need to stay close?”
“You certainly have a silver tongue. Do you get this close with the twins as well?”
That was an image I’d rather not entertain. When my brows furrowed, Chloe let out a small laugh and drew nearer. Her small, graceful body naturally settled onto my thigh.
“Then I suppose there’s no helping it. I must guard your most precious place.”
“I’m counting on you, Sir Chloe.”
At my words, Chloe gave a seductive smile and slid her hand over my pants.
“Miss!”
“Ah, Cherry.”
Cherry, who served as both Triana’s maid and assistant, arrived with a stack of documents. Triana gave them one final check and nodded. This was the time to prove her worth. She had to show she could handle everything flawlessly, so she was being extra cautious not to make even the smallest mistake.
After confirming there were no errors, she looked at Cherry.
“Thank you, Cherry.”
“Not at all, this is nothing!”
When Cherry smiled brightly, her pink hair seemed to light up the entire room. Apart from her decent magic power, her looks and cheerful personality made her extremely popular. Many men in the castle had their eyes on her. At this point, she was practically the top marriage candidate.
Cherry was also at the age where she should be thinking about marriage.
“I won’t leave until you do, Miss! So you need to find a partner soon too!”
“Yes, thank you. I’ll look into it later.”
“There you go again! You always say that and then keep putting it off!”
Triana gave a bitter smile at Cherry’s pout. Given the current situation, finding a marriage partner among the nobility might prove difficult. With that thought in mind, she picked up the documents and stood.
“Are you going to see the lord?”
“Yes. I need to report before the day is over. You can leave early today. You’ve been working hard—go rest. Spend some time with your family.”
“Understood! Then you should rest soon as well, Miss!”
Triana gave a small wave to Cherry, who had come out to see her off, and walked down the corridor. There wasn’t anything particularly urgent, so this shouldn’t take long.
She thought of the lord who had appeared in her life not long ago. Leoric Franz. The second son of the Franz County, a noble possessing the power of the sun. In a world where most noble families spent generations researching their unique bloodline magic to claim its power, that man was clearly an anomaly. Such cases weren’t completely unheard of, but…
“They only appear in old hero tales…”
Triana smiled bitterly. When he had first revealed himself, floating high in the sky like the sun itself and looking down like a god, she had thought he wasn’t human. But after encountering him several times and speaking with him, she realized there was more to it than that.
Even Chloe and Zeke—his close aides who knew his personality well—had inwardly agreed when she previously called him a hero who would rule this region. That was probably why.
“Leoric… Franz…”
In their short time together, she had come to understand his abilities. Even when he claimed he didn’t want to do something, he never refused a task and handled everything with skill. He rewarded his people warmly, yet when it came time to punish, he was colder than anyone. And his magic power? Still in his twenties, he possessed a fragment of the ancient power of the sun—something no one had managed to claim before.
He had the qualities of a hero.
“Even if he himself doesn’t want it…”
As her grandfather had said, looking at the current situation, it wouldn’t be strange if conflict broke out. There were plenty of greedy lords nearby. The fertile lands of the South continued to accumulate wealth and troops, and with the changing of generations, more lords had no memory of the previous era’s wars.
“War will come.”
That was why both the people of Müller and those who had come from Franz were moving so quickly now.
Click. Click.
Triana walked down the corridor, one that still felt unfamiliar. At the end of this path she rarely visited stood a heavy, oppressive door of dull color. As she reached it, she suddenly noticed something strange.
“Why aren’t there any escort knights?”
There should have been guards stationed in front of the door… Triana tilted her head. Had something happened?
After a moment’s hesitation, she took a deep breath and knocked.
Knock, knock!
“It’s Triana.”
She waited. Normally, even if he was working, he would respond… But there was only silence. Had something gone wrong? Normally, using magic inside the castle was forbidden, but just in case, she slowly began to raise her power—when a voice finally came from within.
“Yeah. Come in.”
“…Understood.”
It was the lord’s voice. At least he sounded fine. After a brief pause, she opened the door.
With a soft click, the door slowly swung open. She scanned the room. There were no signs of disturbance, and the flow of magic power was calm. The lord sat at the desk in front of her, smiling at her as usual.
“It’s nothing. I was just in the middle of something.”
“Ah, I see. I’m sorry.”
Caught scanning the room, Triana blushed at his wry smile and lowered her head.
Slurp…
“Hm?”
She thought she had heard a strange sound. Triana glanced around, but when she met the lord’s gaze, she quickly approached the desk with the documents.
Slurp!
“…Um?”
“What’s wrong?”
Seeing her hesitation, the lord gave a mischievous grin.
“No, I just thought I heard a strange noise…”
“Really? I didn’t hear anything. Ah, is this the report?”
“Yes! It’s the report.”
Triana placed the documents on the desk.
Thud!
“Huh?”
Did the desk just move…? Triana’s gaze began to drift downward toward the desk.