After Zachary declared that he would never talk about abs again, I was retrieved by the First Knight Order's Captain, Cyril.
For some reason, Captain Cyril was extremely angry.
He muttered things like, "My daughter before she gets married" or "My daughter after she becomes an adult."
Then, after passing through several long corridors, I was taken to a luxurious room, the layout of which was obviously different.
Where am I?
The room was extremely spacious, with a soft carpet spread out across it, and a heavy-looking bookshelf and desk were placed there so as not to get in the way.
I thought the ceiling was high, and when I looked up, I saw that there were pictures of the knights and a saint painted on the ceiling.
"Fia, this way." (Cyril)
When I turned around after hearing the voice, I saw a low table and a sofa in one corner of the room, with the commander and the Second Knight Order's Captain, Desmond, sitting on the sofa.
"Good evening, Commander Savis, Captain Desmond of the Second Knight Order" (Fia)
After properly greeting them, I added a grin.
"Uh-huh, Captain Desmond, I've got some top-secret information." (Fia)
"Oh? Let me know if that's really top-secret information." (Desmond)
Captain Desmond twitched his cheek and looked at me with serious eyes.
...That's right, you're the commander of the Military Police after all. Gathering information is an important job.
I, the humble Fia Ruud, will be happy to help you!
"The contents are, tada! Commander's personal erotic information." (Fia)
"………………hah?" (Desmond)
"Commander's stomach is divided into six compartments!" (Fia)
"...Huh? Is that all? Well, everyone in the Knight Order knows that..." (Desmond)
"What?! Are the knights really that out of whack?! People's personal sexual information is leaking everywhere!!" (Fia)
I cried out in surprise.
Captain Cyril, who had been following behind, sighed.
"Sorry, I was completely intoxicated."
"No, no, I'm just a little tipsy. The alcohol just makes me feel a little better, and there's nothing wrong with that. And you can drink as much of that delicious booze as you want, Commander." (Fia)
"That's encouraging. First, sit down."
The commander gave us permission to sit down, then glanced towards the door, where a waiting chamberlain approached and poured us fresh glasses with the golden liquid.
"It's a noble rot wine. It's sweet, so it's perfect for you."
"...Noble Rot Wine! What an expensive and delicious thing!!" (Fia)
I held the glass in both hands.
The commander looked at me and opened his mouth.
"Fia, today's subjugation was splendid. Let us all gather here to celebrate your heroic performance. ... All of heaven and earth are with the Nav Kingdom Black Dragon Knights."
"All of heaven and earth are with the Nav Kingdom Black Dragon Knights!"
Captain Cyril, Captain Desmond, and I repeated it, and then brought the glass to mouth.
Ahh, it's delicious. It has a rich and sweet taste. As expected from the commander. It tasted completely different from other wines. ...or so I think.
"Commander, thank you so much for your help today." (Fia)
I smiled and thanked the commander.
In the end, Flower-horned Deer was killed by a single swing from Commander. If anyone deserved the most credit, it had to be Commander.
"...Ah! By the way, did Commander eat the meat from Flower-horned Deer?! Now that I think about it, Commander was the biggest contributor today, but I was so busy eating my own meat that I didn't secure any for Commander. W-what should I do? I wonder if there's still any left..." (Fia)
As I stood up to go back and get the meat, Commander stopped me with one hand and motioned me to sit down again.
"Don't worry about the kids. Sit down." (Savis)
Looking at the table, there were many colorful fruits, cheeses, hams, and other items lined up.
Ah, that's enough. Excuse me.
Commander looked at me as I sat back down on the sofa, then he spoke.
"You're quite the mysterious guy. You can fight monsters you've never seen before using only data, you can quantify a monster's life force at a glance, and you can see through the individual characteristics of a monster in just a few moments." (Savis)
Then he took a sip of wine from his glass and opened his mouth again.
"Your eyes must be special." (Savis)
"My eyes? Is it my eyes? Certainly, my eyesight is good." (Fia)
"Fia, keep quiet. If you open your mouth, it will get complicated." (Cyril)
After being warned by Captain Cyril, I quickly closed my mouth.
Sorry. I thought it was okay for me to answer.
Just when it seemed Commander had closed his mouth as if deep in thought, it seemed to be Captain Desmond's turn, as he picked up the bowl of the wine glass with all five fingers and swirled the glass back and forth.
"I don't understand how amazing you are, but the fact is that you have accomplished many things, and you don't have any special abilities or lie. I wonder why there are so many things that only you can do. Looking at the results, the things you have accomplished and the things you can do are all amazing. ...Ah, I just don't understand you at all. All the experience I have up until now is no use. Because of you, my pride has been completely torn to pieces."
"………………" (Fia)
He told me not to open my mouth, but maybe it was a compliment? Shouldn't I say thank you? Or maybe he seemed down, so should I try to comfort him?
I glanced at Captain Cyril and he shook his head. Yes, I was quiet.
Afterwards, the four of us drank quietly without talking much.
I wonder. Maybe important people didn't get too excited?
When it's quiet, I felt like closing my eyes, or meditating a bit...ugh.
I felt the futon moved and I opened my eyes to find myself leaning on Captain Cyril. Or rather, I had collapsed quite a bit, so now I was using Captain Cyril's lap pillow. Hahaha, I was using Captain Cyril as a lap pillow. ...Ahhh, I'm going to be killed!!
I hastily sat up.
"Sorry, Captain. I was meditating for a little too long!" (Fia)
Someone's jacket slipped off my body. I looked and saw that Captain Cyril was only wearing a shirt.
"Ahh—, even your jacket! I'm so sorry!" (Fia)
"I made the call myself. If I get angry at you for that, then I'm a psychopath." (Cyril)
Captain Cyril laughed beautifully.
"You slept well. I've never seen anyone fall asleep in Commander Savis's, no, His Highness the King's, private room before." (Cyril)
"Ahhh! Commander's private quarters! Or rather, a royal private quarters! No wonder it's so splendid!" (Fia)
Seeing my panic, Commander Savis, who was sitting across the table from me, shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"Children sleep well" (Savis)
Next to the commander, Captain Desmond continued sipping his wine.
Good. It seemed my meditation wasn't very long.
I gave a fake smile and addressed the commander.
"Ehehe, I was meditating. The strongest knight in this room was next to me, so I was able to meditate with peace of mind." (Fia)
The room froze for an instant, but I didn't notice at the time and was thinking nonchalantly, "I wonder if I can have one more glass of Noble Rot wine."
"......Fia? Who do you mean the strongest knight in this room?" (Cyril)
Captain Cyril's gentle voice came down from above. What's this? Is Captain Cyril the type who wants to be praised?
"Of course, it's Captain Cyril. I've seen each of you swing your swords, and Captain Cyril was the best in both speed and attack power. For some reason, Captain Cyril has a bad habit of relaxing his grip at key moments, but if we're competing on the basis of pure strength, Captain Cyril is number one! Right, he's the strongest knight, right?" (Fia)
I looked up at Captain Cyril with a smile and noticed that his expression had become serious.
Oh, what's that?
"Fia, your eyes are truly amazing. When we confronted Flower-horned Deer during the day, I was a bit surprised at how slow you were in recognizing the commander..." (Cyril)
"Th-That's very rude of me! By the time Captain Cyril arrived, we had gathered all the forces necessary to defeat that monster, so our attention shifted to defeating the monster itself... By the way, that monster also knew that the captain was the strongest, so I was wary of the captain standing by its side and charged straight at the commander. Of course, we knew what was going to happen when we stood in that position." (Fia)
"...Yes, I now understand. Your ability to grasp the situation during battle is impeccable. I'm sorry for underestimating you, Fia." (Cyril)
"Huh? Huh? Huh? N-n-n-no, I'm the one who's sorry for acting without your permission!" (Fia)
Huh? Why is Captain apologizing to me? Aren't we the ones always causing trouble?
"I have one request for Fia. Please keep quiet about the fact that I am stronger than Commander. It would be easier for the knights who like strength to understand if Commander, who is at the top, is thought to be the strongest, and I don't like to stand out in that sense." (Cyril)
Captain Cyril smiled, and I nodded without hesitation.
Of course. I wouldn't cause any trouble to the captain.
As I continued to shake my head up and down with all my heart, the commander, who had been silent up until then, called out to me.
"...Fia, why don't you join the Fourth Monster Knight Order for a while?" (Savis)
"Yes?" (Fia)
The proposal was so sudden that I was stunned for a moment.
Ah, the Monster Knights?
...Ah, something's touching on an important part of my memory. I felt like I'd forgotten someone important...