Once everyone returned to the fort, they spent the rest of the day relaxing.
In other words, while the knights I knew were celebrating my safe return, I carried Zavilia on my shoulders and went around the fort and watched the knights training.
As promised, Curtis was attacked by Captain Ghai with meat dishes.
Somehow, Green, Blue, and I also got caught up in the same attack.
When the four of us finished all the food that was served, Captain Ghai turned away.
"Seriously!? This was food for 20 people!!"
They took pity on me and told me that I was really hungry, but no, I was eating the same amount every day even in the mountains.
However, since there were only dragons around, my sense of the amount of food might have been off.
At dinner, Curtis, who was sitting nearby, suggested my future plans.
"Lady Fi, I don't know when you'll be able to see Oria next, so why don't you stay in this fort for a while?" (Curtis)
"Oh, is that okay?" (Fia)
Including the number of days it would take for the return trip, it seemed like it would clearly exceed the three-week vacation, so I asked again, and Curtis nodded that there was no problem.
"This is a project that Captain Cyril has approved in advance, so there is no problem." (Curtis)
It's true that Captain Cyril told me that the period of my stay here would be treated as business, but is it okay for me to treat the period of my stay as business?
"Hmm?" (Fia)
I folded my arms, tilted my head, and thought.
However, I quickly concluded that it would be a good idea.
"Our fine knight commander must have a good understanding of the members, and he must have given instructions based on that understanding, so we can stay here as long as we want. As Curtis said, I won't have many opportunities to spend time with my sister in the future." (Fia)
I was the type of person who interpretted the rules loosely.
Therefore, we decided to continue staying at the fort for the purpose of "Confirming the movement status of the dragons on Blackpeak Mountain when the black dragon was absent."
Captain Cyril also said that the knights were in trouble because of the monsters overflowing from Blackpeak, so he told me that it was necessary to understand the situation correctly.
As if they were good friends, Green and Blue agreed to stay at the fort for the same amount of time as we did.
In their country, Red would be running the family business by himself, but the second and third sons were free.
Although I sympathized with Red, these two were highly valued by the knights because they were skillful and could do whatever was asked of them.
"...It's bad for Red in the Empire, but it's a blessing for the Kingdom Knights in the fort."
With this in mind, I never rushed both of them back home.
One afternoon, some time later, I was drinking tea with my sister, feeling satisfied with everything.
As expected, it was too relaxing, and as we were talking about leaving the fort tomorrow, we received a message saying that a messenger had arrived from the Ruud territory.
"Huh, did someone come on an errand from the Ruud territory? Well, who is it?" (Fia)
While wondering, I went to meet her with my sister, and it turned out to be Rin, a female knight I knew.
My sister and I welcomed her together, thinking it was the first time in a while that we were able to see a familiar face again.
It's not far from Ruud territory to this fort, but we had to cross several mountains, so I went out of my way to ask what was going on, and Rin handed me a long, thin piece of cloth.
"What is this?"
It seemed like my sister has no idea either, so she tilted her head as she asks.
Rin lowered her eyebrows in confusion.
"However, about a month ago, a knight who served a noble in the Arteaga Empire suddenly came to visit. It was said that the nobleman who was in charge of everything was looking for an engagement partner, so I gave him a portrait of Miss Fia. At that time, he left me this as a guarantee, but it was clearly a fine one, so I decided to bring it to him for judgment." (Rin)
"Eh, my portrait!? I-I'm engaged?" (Fia)
I couldn't help but get up from my chair when I heard about the water, but both my sister and Rin just looked at me with a smile as I looked upset.
"Fia, calm down. It's common to give portraits. However, even if you give them 10 portraits, it may or may not lead to one arranged marriage, so don't expect that."
"Ah, y-yes..." (Fia)
"But, being approached by the Empire…" (Fia)
When my sister narrowed her eyes as if thinking about it, Rin took over.
"Well, this is the first time I've heard about it from the Empire. According to the knight I dealt with, the highest-ranking knight was young, blue-haired, and beautiful."
"Beautiful and strong with blue hair!" (Fia)
The moment I heard Rin's words, something occurred to me and I spoke up.
That's right, Blue confessed to me that he stopped by the Ruud house the other day.
Just like when we first met, he happened to stop by my house while wandering around the intermediate forest near Ruud's territory, and Blue's friends who were with him at that time brought his sword and someone's portrait. I was told that it had been replaced.
What's more, the reason he wanted the portrait was not because he was getting engaged, but because he was acting based on a fortune told by a fortune teller in his country.
When I first met him, I remembered that he wanted the monster's left hand because it was the result of a fortune-telling, and the story that had been so interesting suddenly stopped being that way.
Perhaps Blue and his friends, who had a hard time saying it was the result of a fortune-telling, explained that our family was looking for a fiancée.
"Ah, sister, that knight is Blue. Apparently Blue has been wandering around that area for a while, and I heard that he happened to stop by the Ruud family." (Fia)
She felt disappointed and when I explained it, my sister started saying something strange.
"Oh, Blue was planning on saying hi to dad?" (Oria)
No, I haven't caused Blue enough trouble for my family to complain.
When I shook my head to express my intentions, my sister put her hand on her chin as if thinking about it.
"However, leaving a sword in exchange for Fia's portrait is not a bad way to deal with the knight family." (Oria)
Then, my sister unwrapped the cloth and took out the sword.
"……huh?" (Fia)
However, the moment I saw that sword, I was shocked as if I had stopped breathing.
When I opened my eyes and remained motionless, my sister, who had not noticed my condition, let out an admiring voice.
"Well, this is certainly a fine sword! There's a big stone in the handle...is this a magic stone? Fia, with a magic stone this big, Blue must have left a fortune behind..." (Oria)
When she looked up and saw my expression, her words stopped.
Because large drops of tears were falling from my eyes.
"Fia?" (Oria)
I walked up to my sister who stood up as if she was surprised, and without saying a word, I picked up a beautiful black sword.
"..."
The sword I held for the first time in 300 years felt heavy in my hand, giving it a solid feel.
Ah, I can't believe this sword is back in my hands after so many years...
Tears kept falling from my eyes.
——This was the sword I gave Sirius 300 years ago.
As I hugged his sword and cried without words, my sister, who had placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, spoke up as if she had realized something.
"Blue, that's great! A sword was just delivered from the Ruud family. Is this yours?" (Fia)
"The sword…huh, Fia, what’s wrong with you!?" (Blue)
Just as I heard the sound of impatient footsteps, Blue immediately came to my side and looked into my face in surprise.
Then he noticed the tears streaming down my cheeks and jumped back in shock.
"Fi, fi, t-tears. Ah, ah, my handkerchief. Ah, it won't come out of my pocket. Ah, why at such a critical time!" (Blue)
The sound of fabric being torn continued.
I could hear my sister's intercessory voice above my head.
"Calm down, Blue. You look much worse than Fia. Fia burst into tears as soon as she saw this sword. Could this be yours?" (Oria)
"No, this isn't my sword, it's... it's my friend's sword. Well, my friend said that he was once a fine imperial knight, so he was given this sword as a reward from the country." (Blue)
"Did your companion leave behind such a venerable sword?" (Oria)
"Ah, that’s it… my friends are weird. Originally, my fortune told me that I had to exchange the portrait for the sword, but the Ruud family gave me a "reverse medal commemorating 1000 losses in the territory practice match." I was impressed by what I saw, and I wanted this kind of knight to have a fine sword and become strong, or something like that..." (Blue)
Blue's voice was so hollow that I couldn't hear it anymore, but my older sister, who understood the gist of what was going on, took over.
"I see, the completely defeated knight who received the reverse medal is a young Fia, so I guess he wanted Fia to become stronger? Anyway, your companions must be brave to leave behind such a prestigious sword associated with an imperial knight so easily, huh?" (Oria)
My sister's voice sounded impressed, but I denied it.
"No...this is not the sword of the Empire. It is the sword of the Nav Kingdom." (Fia)
Because Sirius was the proud knight of our Nav Kingdom.
And he probably would never let go of this sword.
Or was the sword passed from the Nav Kingdom to the Arteaga Empire after Sirius died?
I didn't know the details, but...in any case, Sirius's sword had returned to me.
I hugged the sword tightly with both arms.
"...Sister, I want this sword." (Fia)
When I raised my head and looked at my sister, she looked at Blue as if to confirm.
"Blue, it seems like a fine sword with a long history, but is it really okay for her to receive it?" (Oria)
"Of course! If you want Fia to have it, she'll probably want this sword as well." (Blue)
Blue nodded loudly many times.
As a result, my sister looked at me happily.
"That's right, Fia. That's good. From now on, this sword is yours." (Oria)
"……thank you" (Fia)
I bowed deeply towards the two and hugged my sword again.
Then I thought about Sirius.
...Sirius, thank you for using this sword with care.
Thanks to him, I was able to encounter his sword again, 300 years later, without a single dent in the blade.
"Fia is a lucky person to be able to possess the sword she fell in love with at first sight." (Oria)
While saying that, my sister hugged me until I stopped crying.
Seeing me suddenly hugging my sword and crying, my sister seemed to have come to that conclusion.
I thought Sirius's sword was so beautiful that I fell in love with it at first sight, and I couldn't explain it any further, so I silently accepted her words.
——That day, I slept with Sirius's sword next to my pillow.
Although I never dreamed about Sirius, I slept well and maybe I owed him.
When I told Curtis that Sirius's sword had been returned, he blinked in confusion.
"I thought Lady Fi always had a good night’s sleep, but… I’d like to ask you on the contrary, have you had any trouble falling asleep recently?" (Curtis)
"...If you ask me that, I basically sleep soundly every day." (Fia)
Curtis always made me reconsider the truth.
——The next morning, I left the Eleventh Knights' fortress with Curtis, Green, Blue, and Zavilia—we said goodbye to the many knights we had become friends with during our long stay.
I grabbed Sirius's sword with one hand and waved my other hand, and said goodbye to my sister and Captain Ghai with a smile.
Although I encountered the demon, Zavilia returned, I was able to meet my sister, I was able to travel with Curtis, Green, and Blue, and I was able to reunite with Sirius' sword, so I was glad I came here. While thinking from the bottom of my heart.
Zavilia was on my shoulder, looking up at Blackpeak Mountain.
When I looked up at Blackpeak, I saw a cloudless blue sky in the background.
...The fact that it's such a pleasant and sunny day probably hints at a fun future after returning to the royal capital.
I left the fort feeling so happy.