"Then, the next topic is..." (Cyril)
Cyril turned over the document in his hand this time.
Seeing Cyril like that, Desmond grinned as if relieved.
"Alright, alright, the most serious 'Topic you want to cover your ears' is over, right? The rest are relatively easy 'Topics you don't want to hear'?" (Desmond)
Cyril was the type to eat the thing he hated the most, Desmond said as he leaned back in his chair.
Cyril smiled beautifully at Desmond.
"I'm the type of person who eats both the things I like and the things I don't like. From an early age, I was trained not to show it to my face when I eat something I don't like, so even if I eat something I don't like, you won't notice." (Cyril)
"Oh, what do you mean?" (Desmond)
Desmond looked around for an explanation, but there was no answer.
As a result, Cyril's voice echoed in the silent room.
"Then, let's start with a similar case. The other day, the 'Great Saint's Rose' was discovered." (Cyril)
"...'Great Saint's Rose'?'" (Everyone)
Everyone tilted their head to the side when they heard a word they had never heard of.
"You mean 'Rose'? There's a word I don't understand!" (Zachary)
Meanwhile, Zachary was stumbling further ahead.
For someone as manly as he was, he didn't seem to know anything about the types of flowers.
However, looking at Zachary, Enoch, who was the only one ahead of him, stood up from his chair with a thud.
"What? It's the 'Great Saint's Rose'? That can't be true! That should have disappeared 300 years ago, right?" (Enoch)
Seeing Enoch, whose cheeks were bright red with excitement, Clarissa blurted out, "Huh, who is this?"
"What happened earlier? Where did the silent character go?" (Clarissa)
Ignoring Clarissa's complaint that she had heard more words in one day than she had heard in the last year, Enoch turned his sparkling eyes to Cyril.
"Cyril, don't be so pretentious! Is the 'Great Saint's Rose' real? Or, like the first topic, is it 'Might be real'? Where was it found? And where is it?" (Enoch)
Seeing Enoch asking questions in quick succession, Zachary let out a whistle.
"I've never seen Enoch talk like this either. Haha, I didn't know that, but he's the type who's good at tongue twisters." (Zachary)
"'Is the Great Saint's Rose real? Where was the Great Saint's Rose found? Where is the Great Saint's Rose?'...No, even I can say that!" (Clarissa)
Clarissa glared at Desmond who proudly replied and urged Cyril to continue.
"Cyril, please continue!" (Clarissa)
Cyril looked up from the documents in his hand.
"As the name suggests, 'Great Saint's Rose' is a red rose that was the seal of the Great Saint 300 years ago. The petals were distinctive and sparkle like cut jewels." (Cyril)
"Does such a flower exist? If so, the jewelers' business would increase!"
Enoch looked at Desmond, who raised one eyebrow sarcastically, as if he were an idiot.
"You really have no imagination! It's the Great Saint's rose!? I'm sure it's worth many times more than a jewel! And there's no need to translate it into monetary value. If we were given this gift from a saint, it would be something we would be proud of for eternity!!"
Cyril looked at Enoch with a cold gaze as he continued to talk fluently.
Up until now, Enoch had hardly said anything at all, but today he was talking as if he had lost his nerve. To put it bluntly, it was a nuisance, his eyes told all.
However, Enoch was the type of person who didn't judge other people's feelings, so Cyril's feelings never reached him.
Cyril continued speaking.
"...That special rose was lost along with the Great Saint. It was supposed to be that way. At least for the past 300 years, there has been no information on the discovery of the 'Great Saint's Rose.' Despite this... A flower that appears to be that rose was found in the garden of the royal castle." (Cyril)
"The garden of the royal castle!?" (Everyone)
The knight captains were shocked and shouted out loud.
"Huh? It's true that the Great Saint was also the princess of the Näv royal family, but did the flower seeds still remain in the royal castle?" (Clarissa)
Clarissa tilted her head curiously.
Desmond, on the other hand, let out a remorseful yelp.
"Aaaaah, what I did didn't make me a millionaire! Damn, I don't know who it was, but whoever found it did a great job!" (Desmond)
Cyril dropped a bomb on Desmond.
"Oh, Desmond, didn't you benefit from that?" (Cyril)
Desmond stopped at Cyril's words.
"……What does it mean?" (Desmond)
Cyril repeated his words as if to remind Desmond, who only moved his gaze.
"I told you earlier that the next topic on the agenda is also about Fia Ruud." (Cyril)
"...you said that."
As if he understood what Cyril wanted to say, Desmond timidly replied.
Then, Cyril uttered the expected words.
"Fia is the one who found this flower." (Cyril)
"!!!" (Everyone)
All the knight captains were shocked and held their breath.
Desmond was the first to collect himself and began speaking rapidly in desperation.
"Huh, what's going on with that guy? If she walked around the territory, she would pick up a black dragon, and if she walked around the royal castle, she would find the Great Saint's Rose. It's probably too abnormal!! It won't cause an unprecedented incident. Isn't she under some kind of horrible curse that causes her to explode?" (Desmond)
"Hahah, this is truly an unprecedented big incident. However, I thought that I would lose my appreciation for it when something like this happens, but I was surprised after all! Hahahahaha, my God, it makes me laugh. I can't stop shaking and my body is shaking." (Zachary)
Cyril looked surprised when he saw Zachary laughing with his arms folded.
"Oh, I thought you too had the benefit of Fia finding a special rose, just like Desmond, but I had no idea...I was relieved. Fia, who belongs to my knight order, seems to be tight-lipped." (Cyril)
"……What do you mean?" (Zachary)
Zachary asked with a cautious expression, as though he didn't want to ask, but he had no choice but to ask.
Cyril responded to Zachary with a question.
"Zachary, Desmond, Gideon, and Fia went out to dinner, right?" (Cyril)
"What?! Gideon went out to dinner with Lady Fia!?" (Quentin)
Quentin made a sound of dissatisfaction, but Cyril ignored it, knowing that it's definitely just based on personal feelings and had nothing to do with the main topic.
Then, looking around at everyone, he continued speaking.
"That morning, Fia found the rose and presented it to Commander Savvis." (Cyril)
"Huh?" (Zachary)
"Is that so?" (Desmond)
Zachary and Desmond seemed to have no idea at all, and let out a shocked sound.
Therefore, Cyril began to give a detailed explanation.
"To explain step by step, the original client was His Majesty the King. His Majesty regularly places flowers at the saint's tombstone, and Commander Savvis was asked to prepare the flowers. Fia looked like that and respected the saint, so the Commander directly asked Fia to procure flowers. Then, for some reason, she found the "Great Saint's Rose" in the garden of the royal castle." (Cyril)
Although it was a step-by-step explanation, the most important part was left out, just like when talking about the Black Dragon.
The key question was how Fia managed to find a precious flower that was thought to have disappeared for 300 years.
However, after listening to Cyril's explanation, Clarissa let out a surprised voice.
"Aaah! That day, I met Fia! She said with a normal face, 'Commander asked me to buy flowers, and I gave him the flowers I procured.' Huh? Judging from her appearance, I don't think she realizes the value of the flowers she gave her." (Clarissa)
After speaking, Clarissa looked at Commander Savvis.
Then Savvis affirmed Clarissa's words.
"Indeed, I was surprised to see the distinctive color of the rose, and Fia replied, 'That's a rose that looks like the Great Saint's Rose and may not be real.'" (Savvis)
"Haha, isn't it similar to Dolph's line from earlier when he said, 'It wasn't a black dragon, but black-ish dragon-ish creature?' After all, they are a parent and child."
Desmond flirtatiously interrupted Zachary, who was casually expressing his thoughts.
"No, that's not the point! But is it possible that the person who found it doesn't understand its value at all!? Well, it's true that even if I found a beautiful flower in the castle garden, I have no idea that it's an amazing flower that comes from a great person from the past. In fact, from my point of view, no matter how beautiful I think it is, I can't believe she has a heart of steel that picks all these flowers and presents them to the Commander."
Cyril nodded at Desmond, who grumbled that Fia didn't understand authority at all, and Cyril continued.
"...It is true that Fia's mental strength to pick flowers from the garden even though His Majesty the King gave her gold coins for flowers is a great thing. However, thanks to that, Zachary and Desmond were probably given companionship by Fia, right?" (Cyril)
"Aaaaaaa!!" (Zachary, Desmond)
As if something had occurred to them, the two of them let out a strange cry at the same time and stood up from their chairs.
"I remember! Desmond was at a restaurant and said, 'Did you offer His Majesty all those flowers and receive money in return? Perhaps Commander Savvis, who acted as an intermediary, had never seen the flowers growing there, so it must have looked novel to him'!" (Zachary)
Desmond grabbed Zachary.
"Bah, Zachary! You should never say that!" (Desmond)
Desmond then quickly clasped his hands together in prayer to the Commander.
"No, Commander! I wanted to tell you that with Commander’s wisdom, she would be able to pick up something amazing that everyone else overlooks, even from among the flowers and flowers growing in the garden!! I'm sorry that my expression seemed to be a little off due to the alcohol!!" (Desmond)
When Savvis silently nodded in approval, Desmond let out a deep breath as if relieved.
Then, with excitement, he continued.
"Ah, but I also remembered! In front of Fia, who said that she would be in charge of the bill, I said to her, 'I'll definitely have to pay for this later. Moreover, it is so expensive that it will change your life!!' Look, I'm now paying for it! I should have paid for mayselft that day!" (Desmond)
After hearing Desmond's confession, Cyril looked at his colleague with the eyes of a vile person.
"...Even though you're a knight captain, did you really treat a first-year knight to treat you? That's a way to take advantage of your position, isn't it?" (Cyril)
"Huh... No, that's not the case..." (Desmond)
Desmond raised a panicked voice, but Cyril calmly continued speaking.
"So, didn't Fia say anything at the dinner table? Commander Savvis told me that Fia didn't seem to understand the value of the flowers she brought, but I can't help but wonder. Such terrible things are happening one after another around her. It happens too often to dismiss it as a coincidence. Moreover, it is completely unknown why such abnormal situations occur only around her." (Cyril)
Judging from Cyril's expression and tone, he seemed to be deeply troubled, which was unusual for him.
"That's why I'm allowing you to speak privately during the meeting even more than usual today, in the hope that you'll come up with some useful hints from what you're saying. If you notice anything, please feel free to let me know!"
"No, even if you ask me to say it… It’s not a big deal, like something we talked about over drinks…"
Wanting to get away from Cyril even a little, Desmond became glued to the back of the chair, and after stammering at Cyril's question, he opened his mouth as if he had made up his mind.
"Also, to be clear, the content of today's meeting is different from usual, and it's full of things that seem impossible! There's no way I could just listen quietly to such outrageous things! Even with this, I'm holding back because I'm in front of Commander, and I'm only saying one-fifth of what I wanted to say, so don't miss it!!" (Desmond)
When Cyril heard Desmond's words, he held his head while muttering in shock, "...This is one-fifth."
Author's Note
Thank you for always reading!
Speaking of the book version, thanks to you, six volumes have been published, and I have written a new edition each time.
If you have a story that you would like to read for publication in the next volume, I would appreciate it if you could write it in the comments section. Also about the story from 300 years ago.
I will use it as a reference (❁ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)⁾⁾⁾