A dead silence fell over the place, and Desmond, trying to change the dark atmosphere, spoke up in a cheerful voice.
"Ah, that's right! I was in the middle of reporting on my visit to the duke's residence!" (Desmond)
Zachary, who also wanted to change the mood, immediately jumped on board with that comment.
"Ah, ah, let me hear the rest!" (Zachary)
Desmond just nodded as if to leave it to me and went back to reporting.
"So, at the Duke's mansion, Fia was the only one who ate three desserts and even received a souvenir from Lloyd! ...No, this was a story that didn't matter." (Desmond)
It really didn't matter.
Everyone looked at Desmond with blank expressions, and he cleared his throat as if to collect himself and spoke again.
"In other words, regarding whether or not Fia will join the Knights of the Royal Guard... I confirmed this with Saint Priscilla herself. Saint Priscilla said that she has no eyes on anyone other than Saint. It doesn't seem to matter what color your hair is." (Desmond)
"Ha, I see! That's an answer befitting a high-ranking saint."
"Ah, but now we don't have to worry."
The knight captains nodded in agreement, and all of them except Cyril looked back at Curtis.
"Good for you, Curtis! Now, you and Fia are confirmed to join the Royal Guards!!" (Cyril)
Curtis, who was congratulated by everyone, blinked rapidly, as if thinking about the meaning of those words.
"…Royal Guard Knights, huh?" (Curtis)
As Curtis muttered, various thoughts came and went.
One thing is, if she is the leading saint, she will have interactions with many saints, so it is in this kind of environment that Lady Fi should be present.
One thing is, that 300 years ago I was also a knight of the Royal Guards, so I felt very sentimental.
One thing is, that Captain, a knight of the royal guard from 300 years ago, was the most revered person next to his master, and it was only when I was in that position that I could understand his greatness.
"That's right. I feel nervous, but... if it's a role, I'll humbly accept this role." (Curtis)
Seeing Curtis spoke humbly, Desmond raised one eyebrow in surprise.
"You're honest. I thought you'd be more resistant to becoming Captain of the Guard Knights." (Desmond)
Curtis looked up and looked directly at Desmond.
"The power of the healing magic that the saint possesses is truly special. People with such special power should feel joy in exercising that power as long as they are shown the right path. Now. It's just an unfortunate situation where there's no one who can show you the way." (Curtis)
And Curtis thought to himself that Fia would be able to point them in the right direction.
That was why it was only right that Fia and himself be assigned to the Order of the First-class Saint's Guard.
Desmond was surprised and impressed when Curtis spoke confidently about his bright hopes for the future of the Saint.
"Curtis, you were the type to dream of a saint even more than Cyril! What’s more, you were pure. Alright, your dream will never come true, but I will support you!!" (Desmond)
Desmond then looked back at Cyril.
"Good for you, Cyril! You've found your friend." (Desmond)
Cyril's lips curved into a smile, but he didn't comment on Desmond's statement.
Instead, he pointed to the counter.
"I have prepared a special drink for you all." (Cyril)
When the knight captains turned their heads, there were fruit-filled glasses lined up on the counter, filled with attractive alcoholic beverages.
Desmond, who felt strange that he was using a shallow glass that he didn't normally use, looked at Cyril suspiciously.
"What's so special about this alcohol?" (Desmond)
Then, Cyril smiled meaningfully.
"I said at yesterday's meeting that I would have Knight Captain visit the cathedral to explain the appearance of the demon and to store the box containing the demon. And regarding that tomorrow... In other words, it's today. I'll talk directly to the knight captain who will be in charge." (Cyril)
"I told you..." (Everyone)
All the knight captains all straightened their backs as they remembered the scene correctly.
……I see.
It seems that the knight Captain who will be assigned to go to the cathedral will be announced from now on.
However, Cyril used the word "consultation", so there should be room for negotiation before the announcement.
In other words, it's probably time for bargaining from now on.
Now, the knight captains were thinking about what attitude they should take...
"I don't want to go to the cathedral, but I'd be happy to go to the cathedral if it meant going to pick up Her Majesty the Queen Mother, who is the current First-class Saint!" (Quentin)
Quentin honestly said everything he was thinking.
Ah, it's fine like this.
All the knight captains who had been bracing themselves suddenly felt at ease.
And Zachary, who was one of the knight Captains who also lost his strength, also expressed his will.
"For some reason, our Sixth Knight Order has an abnormally high proportion of male knights. Because of that, I have never been able to understand the subtleties of women. On the other hand, Her Majesty the Queen Mother lives in a villa full of women. She had lived there for many years and has been in charge of many saints as First-class Saint. It is very difficult for a rugged person like me to understand what such a sensitive person is trying to say. I don't want to be rude to Her Majesty the Queen Mother, so I'd better not go there." (Zachary)
Zachary said it more euphemistically than Quentin, but meant the same thing.
In other words, "I'm sorry for the role of picking up the Queen Dowager!" That's what it meant.
It seemed that the knight captains wanted to express their intention to welcome the queen dowager rather than went to the cathedral.
However, Cyril returned to his explanation without responding to their complaints.
"Currently, there are seven people in this room. However, I cannot leave the capital. And Curtis will be busy organizing the Royal Guard Knights." (Cyril)
Desmond quickly noticed that there were 5 glasses lined up on the counter, so it occurred to him that he would use these glasses to decide who would respond from among the 5 people excluding Cyril and Curtis.
Therefore, he raised one hand in desperation.
"Me! I'm definitely needed in the capital too! Not only will the First-class Saint to be selected, but Her Majesty the Queen Mother will also be welcomed, so there's no doubt that more people than usual will gather in the capital. We need to protect the royal castle even more than usual!" (Desmond)
Desmond disguised himself as his own business and claimed that the person in charge of the royal castle's security services could never leave the royal capital.
"Oh, then I need to guard the royal capital as well!" (Clarissa)
Similarly, Clarissa claimed that the person in charge of guarding the royal capital could not leave the capital alone.
Then, Enoch, who had not said a word up until then, finally spoke.
"If I wanted to, I could live for a month without speaking to anyone. There's no way I could deal with a cathedral or Her Majesty the Queen Mother." (Enoch)
However, those were words of threat that they didn't understand.
Therefore, the other knight Captains thought to themselves, "Before you say such words, you should make an effort to acquire human-level sociability."
On the other hand, after Cyril finished listening to what everyone had to say, he let out a sigh of relief.
"……I understand" (Cyril)
As everyone looked at Cyril, wondering what he had found out, he shook his head slightly in confusion.
"I know that you are all equally important and that I cannot do anything about how you allocate them." (Cyril)
In other words, no one's words would affect Cyril, and it seemed like he intended to do things his way. All the knight captains understood Cyril's feelings accurately.
As everyone expected, Cyril continued speaking smoothly.
"Then, out of the five talented knight Captains of the kingdom... Desmond, Clarissa, Enoch, Quentin, and Zachary, two of them will go to the cathedral, and three of them will go to pick up the Queen Mother. Commander Savis has left it to me to choose a knight Captain for this matter. However, I don't think I can choose one, so I'll leave it to you to choose one yourself." (Cyril)
As soon as Cyril finished speaking, the maids quietly rearranged the glasses that had been lined up on the counter onto the table in front of Cyril.
Then, with an elegant gesture, Cyril pointed to the glasses.
"Now, choose your favorite glass. Each glass contains a different fruit. The person who chooses the glass with seedless fruit will go to the cathedral, and the person who chooses the glass with seeded fruit will be asked to pick up Her Majesty the Queen Mother. Oh, by the way, we will be staggering the timing of each duty, so five knight commanders will not leave the capital at the same time." (Cyril)
The Captain of the Five Knights stood up from his seat and looked at the five glasses with a serious expression.
However, the person who made the preparations was Captain Cyril, the first knight brigade captain.
Of course, they couldn't tell by looking at it.
"Cyril's method of preparation is equal, so don't hold a grudge." (Zachary)
Zachary said, grabbing a glass.
"The fact that he is trying to get more people to pick up Her Majesty the Queen than the one going to the cathedral is typical of Cyril, who can keep score, and is so shrewd!" (Clarissa)
Clarissa grabs a glass while complaining.
"Please, please! I've done everything for the world and for people! It's about time you release me from my hard work!" (Desmond)
Desmond grabbed a glass, complaining about the hardships he had been through.
"Desmond, this is just a test of luck. Your past actions have no bearing on this outcome." (Quentin)
After admonishing Desmond extremely calmly, Quentin grabbed a glass.
"I choose to believe in the profound words of my predecessors. 'There is good fortune in leftovers.' This word is absolutely true... It's supposed to be, it's supposed to be." (Enoch)
Bowing his head as if in prayer, Enoch picked up the last glass.
Cyril picked up his own glass and matched it with everyone else's.
"All of heaven and earth is with the Näv Kingdom Black Dragon Knights!"
Everyone else, including Curtis, chanted as well.
"All of heaven and earth are with the Näv Kingdom Black Dragon Knights!"
Then, everyone poured their glasses at once... and after a while, the sound of crunching, crunching, crunching seeds echoed in the quiet room.