That night, three knights were having a secret rendezvous in the entertainment room reserved for the captains and vice-captains inside the royal castle.
This high-class entertainment room, which only a select few are allowed to enter, was luxuriously constructed.
The floors of the spacious room were all made of black walnut, which shined a deep brown and made a pleasant clicking sound when you walked on it.
At the back of the room, there were several chess tables and a billiard table, with tables and chairs placed so as not to get in the way of them. All of them were masterpieces of the highest quality, handcrafted by artisans.
Seated in one of the luxurious velvet chairs, the First Knight Order Captain, Cyril, began to speak.
"...So? What's our new recruit like?" (Cyril)
The second knight order captain, Desmond, who was answering, replied succinctly while twirling the glass in his hand.
"I don't know." (Desmond)
After hearing the answer, Cyril approached Desmond.
"What are you talking about?! You, as the head of the military police, said you would check her out yourself, and you just watched without doing anything. You've already had three one-on-one matches during chess class. If it were the normal you, you would have come to a conclusion by now!" (Cyril)
"Don't get too excited. You're ruining the always calm captain." (Desmond)
"Hmm, you know, it's just a rumor. I'm the most combative and aggressive man in the Knight Order." (Cyril)
"Don't say things like that yourself. ... Fia, well, she doesn't fit any type I've ever met." (Desmond)
Desmond took a big gulp of the amber liquid in his glass and asked the waiter standing at the counter for the same thing.
Desmond the Second Knight Order Captain.
He was the man in charge of the Royal Castle security and also served as the Military Police Commander, the head of the Military Police Headquarters which was made up of multiple divisions.
The job of the Military Police Headquarters was to investigate and apprehend not only those within the Knight Order, but also intruders into the Royal Castle and suspicious people among the general public, and Desmond himself was a leading expert in interrogation and torture.
His harmless and kind appearance was just a facade, and all information about spies and suspicious people who had infiltrated the royal castle was exposed by him.
"Do you know? The torture devices are always named after women. Like 'The Duke of Exeter's Daughter' or 'The Witch's Peg'. Why? Because it's always women who bring misfortune. So I don't trust them just because they're women." (Desmond)
"Wait, Desmond. That's just based on a personal prejudice against you because your fiancée dumped you and married your younger brother! Before you form a prejudice, take a look at your own charms!" (Cyril)
"Shut up! I'm not the type of person who would bully myself. Even if I were to rediscover my own charms, it would only lead to disastrous results. Who would do that?" (Desmond)
Desmond grabbed the new glass placed in front of him and took a big gulp.
"Let's get back to the point. Fia is a special type. Take chess for example. If you play against a strong opponent, you will lose. This is normal. But when you play against a weaker opponent, you will win in a way that makes it almost impossible to tell the difference between you and the weaker opponent." (Desmond)
"What do you mean?" (Cyril)
"Normally, your strength doesn't change, so if your opponent is really weak, you'll win overwhelmingly, and if your opponent is roughly evenly matched, you'll win by the skin of your teeth. But with Fia, whether my opponent is really weak or roughly evenly matched, I always win by the skin of my teeth." (Desmond)
"That's interesting, huh?" (Cyril)
"When I pointed it out to her, she was surprised, so it's an unconscious action. She probably gauges her opponent's strength and unconsciously adjusts it so that she wins by a slight margin. It's become a habit... I don't know why that is, or when she developed it." (Desmond)
"That's the first time I've heard that there are things I don't understand when analyzing human behavior." (Cyril)
Cyril was honestly surprised.
"...She noticed the old wound on the commander's left leg, right? Normally, no one would notice something like that. But she managed to figure it out from that short amount of time and from Commander's slightest movement. That's extraordinary. But when you observe Fia, you can see that she's not normally sharp at all. She didn't even notice that Fabian had a haircut. That's impossible! The hair of someone you come into contact with every day has become three centimeters shorter. How can he not notice that? So, if you were to classify her normally, she is an extremely insensitive type." (Cyril)
"In other words, to sum up, she is able to gauge his opponent's strength in a fight and tries to win by a narrow margin. She has an observant eye only when it comes to injuries. ...She's not really a very mysterious character." (Desmond)
"Yeah. That's why I said I don't know." (Cyril)
Desmond emptied his glass and ordered two more of the same things.
"Then? How's you situation, _IINOKU_?" (Desmond)
When someone called out to him, the man who had been quietly enjoying his drink by himself looked up.
He was a man with long mauve hair and a handsome face.
His narrow eyes were intelligent, and his mind was said to be able to comprehend any and all phenomena in this world, but unfortunately, his skull was said to only contain magical formulas.
The man, the Third Mage Knight Order Captain, Enoch, nodded slightly.
"After checking the sword in question, we discovered that it is a variable-effect sword that was only possible to create during the 'Super Golden Age' 300 years ago. In other words, the stronger the person who wields it, the greater its attack power and speed will be." (Enoch)
"Seriously?! It's a genuine treasured sword!" (Desmond)
"Speaking of variable effect swords, there are only three in the kingdom. Moreover, all three have been passed down through the royal family for the past 300 years. Apart from that, not a single sword has been found in the last 300 years. How could such a sword have been found only now?" (Enoch)
"The vice-captain said he found it in the mansion's armory, but that family has been a knight family for less than 100 years. Why would there be a 300-year-old sword there? That's strange!" (Cyril)
"But the testimony of both Vice Captain Dolph and Fia is consistent, isn't it?" (Desmond)
Desmond narrowed his eyes at Cyril's question.
"That's right. I confirmed both of them personally. Neither of them is lying." (Cyril)
Then, Desmond lightly combed his hair with his fingers, a habit he had when thinking.
"...Well, it feels really weird. Maybe all these mysterious dots are supposed to be connected by a line. But I can't see that line." (Desmond)
"Perhaps there are factors hidden that you have never even imagined... By the way, can you please stop bothering with Fia for now? She belongs to my order, so she is now my subordinate. All I have permitted you to do is to interview Fia, and that is all." (Cyril)
"I understand. I don't think we'll be able to get any more out of Fia. But Fia was a bit taken aback. Look, in the mock battle with the commander, she aimed for his weak point to win, and yet she still boasted that it was chivalry. I was looking forward to seeing what kind of sly person she'd turn up, but when we got there, she was surprisingly simple-minded and honest." (Desmond)
"Isn't that a good thing? Well, then, don't bother Fia anymore." (Cyril)
"I was doing my job! Stop treating me like an obsessive pervert." (Desmond)
Two captain knights were arguing with each other, and one captain enjoying a drink.
And so, the night deepened in the advanced entertainment room...