Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Ulstro Kingdom - Squire Life (1)
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"Haa, that was really embarrassing."
"What do you mean?"
Irina's brazen response made Bilma's eyes widen.
"You're asking even though you know?! Because of you, I, I...!!"
Irina had spent the entire night entwined with Valdes, letting out moans. At first, it was only loud enough to reach the next room, but later the sounds grew louder and louder.
Thanks to that, a good number of people staying at the inn had heard it.
Yet the ones who had rented rooms were only Valdes and Bilma, while Irina had slipped in secretly using magic. No one had ever seen Irina, but plenty had seen Valdes and Bilma together.
As a result, everyone at the inn mistakenly thought it was Valdes and Bilma who had spent the night together.
And to top it off, this wasn't some high-class inn.
Every time mercenaries glanced at Bilma, they shot her strange looks filled with sexual harassment.
To make matters worse, Valdes had left early in the morning for the award ceremony preparations.
Bilma, who wasn't used to such things, had no choice but to endure a torrent of torment.
"Do you know what kind of hell I went through because of you!!"
At those words, Irina's cheeks flushed pink.
She hadn't realized the soundproofing was that bad, and it was her fault for not casting a spell.
"...I'm sorry about that, but it doesn't seem to be my fault right now."
"Right now?"
Wondering what she meant, Bilma looked around.
Whisper whisper.
"Mommy, why is that lady talking to herself?"
"Shh. You shouldn't look at things like that."
"Ah... ah..."
Irina was still using her invisibility magic. Only Bilma could see her.
And the place they were in right now was an ordinary street.
"...I, I want to die!!"
Bilma covered her beet-red face with both hands and bolted away.
"Haa."
A long sigh escaped her lips.
To think she had to work with someone like that. Valdes had said she'd be somewhat useful, but so far, all Bilma had shown was pure idiocy.
"...I wonder if the young master has joined the knight order by now."
The commander of the Royal Pedro Knight Order, Knight Commander Serennia Banstead, opened her mouth with impeccable poise.
"Welcome. I never imagined both the winner and runner-up of this year's martial tournament would join our knight order. As commander, I'm quite pleased."
Her blue eyes flashed as if they might devour the two at any moment.
Especially the gaze directed at Valdes was far from ordinary.
And it was understandable.
She hadn't been able to watch the tournament due to duties, but for a runner-up to give up becoming a knight and choose to be a squire instead—it was quite peculiar.
"I have high expectations for both of you personally. We haven't had any decent recruits lately, so no new members."
"...If I may be so bold, Commander. This man isn't a knight but a squire, so it might be hard to call him a new recruit."
Lady Etilene Profilene glanced at Valdes beside her as she spoke.
Her retort was unexpected, widening Serennia's eyes.
Serennia was only a viscountess herself, but as a noble, she knew well about Etilene. Etilene was quite famous in high society to begin with.
She had been knighted before even attending her debutante ball. And she was infamous for showing up to her one-and-only debutante ball in armor, getting kicked out, then returning in a dress with a stiff expression.
'Interesting. Is she jealous or something?'
It was common knowledge among most knights, excluding themselves, that Etilene excessively admired Mercedes.
"Haha, you could see it that way. But our knight order is different. Knights and squires alike are bound by strong camaraderie."
"...Understood. My apologies."
"No harm done. In fact, it was an entertaining spectacle."
"?"
Etilene made a puzzled face, not understanding, but Serennia was more than satisfied.
"Now, I'll introduce you to the others later at a leisurely pace. Everyone's busy."
"Understood."
"Understood."
Just as she finished speaking, a knock came at the perfect timing.
Knock knock.
With Serennia's permission, the door opened, and two female knights entered.
Valdes recognized one of them well.
First Princess Mercedes.
Despite her young age, she served as the vice commander of the knight order, a position earned purely by her skills, so many knights respected and liked her.
"You called for us, Commander?"
"Yes. You both probably know, but the woman is Etilene, the man is Valdes. Etilene will be under Essex as her squire, and Valdes... well, he'll be your squire, Mercedes."
"Understood."
Valdes bowed to Serennia, endured Etilene's glare, and followed Mercedes.
"Please take care of me. Uh... whoa, Your Highness?"
He looked like an innocently naive young squire.
"Call me Knight or Lady Mercedes."
"Ah, yes! Lady Mercedes!"
"...Right."
Mercedes's cheeks faintly flushed.
'He doesn't look like the mercenary who captivated all those spectators.'
It was intriguing.
The boy she had seen yesterday wasn't like this.
Valdes had drawn every eye in the arena with his charismatic presence, like some legendary mercenary staging a comeback. It was hard to believe it was the same person.
'Good. The reaction isn't bad.'
Of course, both sides were Valdes acting.
A normally naive and somewhat dim-witted boy, but a dignified and resolute warrior in battle or when asserting his will. The unexpectedness born from that contrast. He planned to flaunt that reversal charm, along with his gradual growth.
An act he could only pull off once.
"This is my room."
"Ah, yes."
Mercedes gave a small smile at Valdes's stiff expression.
"No need to be so tense. They're all good kids."
Mercedes opened the door.
The first thing that caught the eye was a large, luxurious desk. To the right of the door stood three people who seemed to be her squires, and to the left, weapons and armor were neatly organized.
"Everyone, gather round."
She sat in her chair and called her squires together.
"This is the new squire I mentioned yesterday. Name's Valdes. He's an attendant squire. Elza, you show him around."
"Yes, understood."
The red-haired, freckled girl replied.
"I have work to handle, so everyone get to it."
'She's pretty formal.'
He thought her attitude was strictly businesslike.
It was noted in Irina's report too, but while she didn't act authoritative just because she was a princess, she didn't get chummy either.
She kept a certain distance even with her squires.
Quite different from her mother.
"Valdes, right? First, I'll show you your bedroom."
"Understood."
The girl who introduced herself as Elza explained various things to him as they walked.
The current building was the knight order's main headquarters, housing the knights' offices. Knights were treated as quasi-nobles. Even if not, most were from noble backgrounds. Thus, each had their own office space.
They handled paperwork there, prepared for expeditions, did light physical training, maintained gear, and so on.
And the place Elza was guiding him to now was the annex attached next door—the knight order's dormitory. Quite a few commuted from outside, but most knights and squires slept in the dorms.
"This is your room."
"...A private room?"
This was unexpected. He had prepared for the worst, sharing a room with other knights' squires.
"Yeah, surprising, huh? Hehe, but our knight order gets generous funding from the royals. Thanks to that, even squires get small private rooms. Well, that's with the total knights included being under 300."
'Around 50, right?'
For a knight order, it was on the smaller side.
No matter how strict the entry exams were, the capital knight order alone had 200 knights. The intel seemed correct. The Pedro Knight Order was essentially the queen's own hand.
'They must check loyalty to the royals—specifically the queen. Surprising they accepted Etilene.'
The Profilene marquis house had been centrist as a count family. It didn't seem like they'd shifted to royalist, yet they'd taken her in. Maybe Etilene's famous devotion to Mercedes played a part.
And Valdes's guess was spot on.
"...This is my room. And next to it is Lady Mercedes's room."
"Pretty close."
"Right? Not just lifestyle squires—other squires' rooms are near their knights' too, so they can be called anytime."
Valdes nodded.
He already knew, but he had to react like it was novel. Other knight orders often differed.
He hadn't expected a private room, but he knew rooms were close to assigned knights. That was part of why he'd chosen to be a squire.
"Um... You don't seem the type, Valdes, but just in case..."
"Yes?"
"Don't be an idiot and try to assault Lady Mercedes."
"...Yes?"
"Haha. A few months ago, there was this moron who did. The spot you're in now was his. He was Lady Mercedes's first male squire, but he got dumb and tried that, so he was kicked out."
Elza paused, shaking her head in disbelief.
"He stupidly broke down the door, but how could Lady Mercedes not wake up? Even if not, who thinks of doing that to a knight...?"
"Haha... What a real idiot."
He agreed completely.
Mana's power transcended gender strength gaps. Half-baked muscle couldn't overcome mana users. Even if a squire could use mana, no one could overpower a vice commander from an elite knight order.
Elza squinted at him slyly.
"Why?"
"Hehe, I heard about you. You have the skills to be a knight but chose squire to fight prejudice against demon race hybrids, right?"
"Ah, yes."
Valdes's expression changed. Moments ago, he'd been naive; now, he looked like a knight with conviction.
'Whoa, he's seriously handsome.'
Her heart fluttered for no reason.
'Even looking this good, if he's a demon race hybrid... maybe I have a shot?'
Entertaining pleasant delusions, Elza showed him around the other areas in turn.
Dining hall, bathhouse, lounge, etc.
All squire-exclusive.
For the dining hall, knights ate elsewhere. The bathhouse wasn't strictly for squires, but since knights' bedrooms had private baths, few came.
The training grounds were plentiful relative to numbers, befitting a knight order: squire-only, knight-only, group ones. Vice commanders and above even had personal grounds.
"Hmm, think I've covered the important spots? Shall we head to the private training ground now?"
"Sounds good."
He'd left his scant luggage in his room on the way.
Now, his real squire life was about to begin.
'Still, better than mercenary life, I guess.'
His pre-hero mercenary days had been pretty awful.
He'd had talent, rising to high-rank mercenary later, but if stuck low-rank long, he'd have quit soon.
"You're lucky, you know. You're squire to Lady Mercedes, the kingdom's First Princess? She's beautiful and strong. Hehe, plus, she even lets us use her private training ground."
Elza's voice brimmed with affection when mentioning Mercedes.
Unlike what he'd thought about her keeping distance, she seemed more considerate than regular knights in many ways. Otherwise, such sincere words wouldn't come out.
Two other squires were already training in her private ground.
"Oh? Amy. Where's Lady Mercedes?"
"She said just train today."
"Aww. Lady Mercedes is too much.... Well, I'll head back then."
Elza said that and returned to the office.
With her gone, silence hung briefly in the training ground.
They were all meeting for the first time. If Valdes were a typical rookie, the others might chat casually, but he was the tournament runner-up. Skill wasn't everything for knights, but it was intimidating.
"Speak freely, everyone. I'm just a squire like you."
Valdes knew this and broke the ice first.
"Th-then, I'll be casual. I'm Amy. I handle lifestyle duties with Elza sis for Lady Mercedes."
"...Glet. Attendant squire like you."