Chapter 38
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Do You Know Why I'm Strong? Because I Escaped! (7)
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The support funds from the kingdom had arrived.
It absolutely couldn't be called a large sum. But for us, who already had next to nothing, it was like a rain in a drought. However, we couldn't spend it recklessly.
Because we never knew when or where something might happen. Right now, we had some financial breathing room thanks to selling off every scrap of junk in Lionheart Fortress. But that would only last a short while.
Once we started seriously managing the funds, they'd dry up in no time. It had been about two months since I took over as captain, and I'd delayed it as much as possible. But now, I could put it off no longer.
"We need to resume Royal Knights operations."
Originally, the Royal Knights had operated by dispatching small groups of knights to wherever they were needed. From the start, the entry requirement was knights capable of facing demons.
In the past—before the total annihilation—the Royal Knights had enjoyed their greatest era, each member equivalent to an entire ordinary knight order. A true golden generation.
Naturally, Royal Knights like that had received support and aid from all races and nations, without discrimination. But now that the golden generation was wiped out, what then?
"Just flies buzzing around. No requests, no support."
"Can't be helped. The Royal Knights' trust is shattered."
"...For now, we just have to grit our teeth and accept it."
Even as I reviewed the work in the office, there wasn't a single request from anywhere else. At the words of Cluna, who was handling duties alongside me as adjutant, I let out a sigh.
The current situation was extremely poor.
With the Royal Knights annihilated, the crisis of no longer being able to rely on outside forces had intensified. As a result, every nation strictly forbade the outflow of talent and focused on bolstering their own military power.
That was good in itself, certainly. But the problem was the enemy. Before the Royal Knights were even formed, they'd been miserably overwhelmed precisely because they hadn't formed alliances.
The Royal Knights had been the pretext that somehow resolved that issue in the past. But now, even that pretext was gone, and everything was reverting to the old status quo.
"To let them know the Royal Knights are still going strong, we have no choice but to rebuild our reputation from the ground up through requests."
"But it's not a completely hopeless situation. If this incident wakes them up and each country builds up their military..."
"Unfortunately... that ending won't be a good one."
"Huh?"
I got it, really. The Royal Knights they'd trusted and handed everything over to had burned to the ground. All that remained now were ashes. How could they trust and rely on them again?
Especially since the previous Royal Knights had been history's strongest, the golden generation. Focusing on their own defense rather than reconstruction was the smarter choice.
The problem was that I already knew how that story ended. Over eighty percent of the continent occupied. Nations and races like the Dwarf Principality completely destroyed—that was the conclusion.
I turned my head. Cluna was staring steadily at me. One wrong word, and this happens. She was experienced, after all. I held out my palm and said,
"No, just a slip of the tongue. Don't worry about it. More importantly, how's Bayard's condition right now?"
"Fortunately, much more stable. She still shows some instability, but..."
"But?"
"Um, Captain..."
"Yeah?"
Agh, you startled me. She'd poked just her head in through the door, so for a second I thought it was a severed head. The bear ears atop her rust-red hair trembled anxiously. With a sigh, I said,
"Bayard, what is it?"
"Uh, well... you see..."
"Bayard still has severe anxiety symptoms. She'll be fine one moment, then suddenly overwhelmed by anxiety, or even go into a seizure."
"I understand. After that hell she went through... Any solutions?"
"It's you, Captain."
No sooner had the words left her mouth than Bayard charged at me like a wild boar. Kwaaang!! Fortunately, she slowed before impact, so no injuries. But the problem came next.
Her arms wrapped around my body in a hug. You might wonder what's wrong with that. But try imagining a bear hug from an actual bear. My guts would probably shoot out my mouth.
Apparently, this agonizing act somewhat eased Bayard's anxiety symptoms. And this was an improvement. Before, it had been constant.
"Still, definitely better than two months ago."
"Back then, it was over forty times a day."
"Now it's about seven times."
"It has gone down a lot."
You call that 'gone down a lot'? Every single time, my heart dropped. And with Bayard always hugging at full strength, there'd been more than a few times I thought this was it for me.
[Um... Won't I become a burden?]
[If so, the Captain would've dodged himself.]
[T-that's right! Then until then, I can go all out...!!]
[......]
Not that I wasn't dodging—it was that I couldn't. I'd considered using Time Stop to evade, but it always failed. My Time Stop had two functions.
One was the active Time Stop I triggered consciously. The other was the passive Time Stop that activated when my life was in danger. The issue was the active one.
Since I had to trigger it myself, a slow reaction made it useless. And whenever I tried to react to Bayard, she always hugged me first.
Indeed... the power of a mid-tier Royal Knight. Definitely a different league from rookies like Clara or Ruby. The problem was that it didn't count as an attack, so the passive didn't trigger.
On top of that, thanks to what Cluna had told Bayard, dodging with Time Stop was off the table. If I dodged her, then what about her anxiety symptoms?
"Always find you here, Bayard."
"Heh, Helia."
"Let's head back soon. Don't we have training?"
"...Helia?"
"It's fine, Teacher. I'm not mad."
But veins were popping on her forehead. Her red hair was even standing straight up like some ghost. Helia bit her lip, forcing a smile.
It was more terrifying for me, watching. But Bayard just sniffed and approached her casually. Blood trickled from Helia's tightly bitten lip.
"S-sorry, Helia. I didn't mean to..."
"It's okay, Bayard. I can make it up in training."
"Yeah! That's right! I'll give it my all too!"
"Eek...!!"
I could see Helia fuming even more at Bayard's words. It had been like this for the past two months. Ever since Helia saw Bayard hugging me, she'd been venting her rage in spars.
It got so intense that even the spectating Clara and Ruby were shocked. But Bayard took it all in stride, looking refreshed afterward.
Watching that scene made something click. There used to be a video online of a martial artist sparring a bear. Sparring in name only—the bear was just playing around.
"What a ridiculous pairing."
"But Bayard's gotten a lot brighter thanks to it."
"That's the ironic part."
Helia was dead serious in those spars. Bayard just toyed with her appropriately. That showed the overwhelming power gap between them.
Still, Helia's skills had improved dramatically because of it. Spurred on, Clara and Ruby were training hard too. In the end, a positive cycle.
If only things kept going this smoothly. I'd been thinking that while going over the work when I noticed a letter on my desk. Looking at Cluna, I said,
"What's this letter?"
"It arrived just this morning. From the seal, looks like from the Dwarf Principality."
"Dwarf Principality... Still got something to say, huh."
After I'd smashed them so thoroughly before. Thinking they still hadn't learned, I broke the seal and read it. The contents were completely unexpected.
"...Cluna, the first request is here."
"First request? From the Dwarf Principality?!"
"Yeah. Half request, half nitpick."
To sum it up, they didn't trust the skills of the new captain—you—so prove it by handling this request alone. Not wrong, really.
This wasn't some no-name knight order. It was the Royal Knights' captain. Tackles like this were par for the course. The problem was that it was from the Dwarf Principality.
No matter how I looked at it, they were just grasping at that previous incident. But a request was a request. We weren't in a position to be picky right now.
"Captain, let's formally reject this one."
"Is that necessary?"
"Facing a demon alone is extremely dangerous. Even the old Royal Knights operated in pairs at minimum against demons."
"That's exactly why it's a good thing."
If I went alone, I could handle it somehow. Because I had Time Stop. Even if I couldn't win, I could survive with Time Stop.
The current Royal Knights were too unstable for dispatch.
So, it was better if I just went alone and sorted it out.