The Second Knight Order Captain, Desmond, opened his mouth to speak when he saw me, but then shook his head, as if he had second thoughts.
"I have a ton of questions, like why Quentin is soaking wet, or why he's prioritizing a meal with Fia even to the point of skipping the conference, but I don't have time. I'll hurry for now, but I'll ask you all about it later!" (Desmond)
Captain Desmond pointed to the entrance of the dining hall with one hand and walked quickly ahead of the group.
"Damn, it seems like a certain captain is acting out of character, and now Fia is involved again..." (Desmond)
I thought I heard my name, but Captain Desmond's tweet was too quiet for me to hear clearly.
With no other option, I chased after Captain Desmond together with Captain Quentin. Zavilia slipped into his usual place inside my uniform and rubbed his face against my stomach. This made me want to sleep...
After walking for a while, I patted Zavilia lightly in my clothes, we arrived at the main building of the Knight Order. As we walked deeper and deeper down a long corridor where many knights were passing, we came to a halt in front of a particularly luxurious door. Two knights who had been waiting at the side opened the door for us.
Beyond the door was a spacious room, with a large glass panel from ceiling to floor on one side facing the courtyard, allowing the light from outside to shine in. In the center of the room was a large, polished round table, with several knights sitting on chairs lined up around it.
"Quentin, isn't that a bit much for you."
Among the seated knights, a knight with rust-colored hair stood up and called out to him. After taking a few steps towards him, the rust-colored knight noticed me standing behind Captain Quentin and called out to me.
"It's Fia! You look as energetic as ever, don't you?"
"Ummm,……" (Fia)
Wondering if I'd met him somewhere before, I glanced over at the color of the sash he was wearing across his body. Ah, that's right. It was the captain who glared at his subordinates at the meat festival the night they defeated Flower-horned Deer.
"Hello, Sixth Knight Order Captain Zachary. Yes, I'm fine." (Fia)
It seemed he mistook me for someone else and started talking to me in a friendly manner, but it was the captain whom I had only seen briefly during the Meat Festival. I had never spoken to him before, so I gave him a noncommittal reply.
"Hahaha, are you not going to call me Zachary like last time?" (Zachary)
As he spoke, Captain Zachary ruffled my hair.
Hey, stop, it's messing up my hair. And I don't know who you've mistaken me for, but I'm not so rude as to call a knight, Captain, by his first name!
As I frantically retorted in my mind, Captain Zachary bent down, put his arms around my neck, pulled me close, and whispered in my ear.
"I share Commander's personal erotic information with you. You can call me by my first name." (Zachary)
Hey, what is "personal erotic information"? That's a stupid-sounding word! Seriously, people are mistaken me for some crazy person!
I quickly tried to say something back, but Captain Zachary had already turned his gaze to Captain Quentin and seemed surprised when noticed his wet hair.
"Hey, Quentin! What do you mean, a handsome man dripping wet? Why are you pouring water over your head?" (Zachary)
On the other hand, Captain Quentin simply replied "Ah" as if it was nothing.
"Is this it? Lady Fia sprayed me with water that she had in her mouth." (Quentin)
In that instant, Captain Zachary turned towards me with great force and let out a loud, insane cry.
"Fia! Did you have such a hobby?!" (Zachary)
"No!!" (Fia)
In response to the sudden accusation, I reflexively denied it.
Wh-what are you saying, Captain Quentin! And stop yelling and trying to attract attention, Captain Zachary!
Fearing that he might be misunderstood, I hurriedly began to explain, but his explanation was drowned out by Captain Zachary's loud voice.
"You too, Quentin! Why didn't you wipe the water off? Are you comfortable like that?!" (Zachary)
There's no way it's comfortable!! Captain Zachary, please think about how you say it!
The surrounding knights began to get noisy, and I could hear them murmuring, "Captain Quentin is a total masochist, calling the woman with 'Lady'!"
Wait, wait! At this point, I don't care about Captain Quentin's reputation, but if things continue like this, won't my reputation as his partner be tarnished as well? No, no, if that happens, my big sister _ORIASAN_ will get angry with me!
Or rather, although I was trying not to make eye contact so I couldn't see for sure, it seemed like the person emitting the cold air from diagonally to my right was Captain Cyril, and he's glaring at me with all his might.
"W-wha- Captain Quentin, that was unavoidable, right? I was eating and I accidentally choked, and spit out the water, right?" (Fia)
As I desperately tried to explain, Captain Zachary uttered a surprised cry.
"What? Quentin, did you have dinner with Fia? You don't eat with women, even if they're your subordinates, do you?" (Zachary)
Huh? Wait, wait! What's that, a rule exclusive to KUENTINDANCHOU? Don't bring that up after the fact!
Wanting to somehow calm the topic down, and searching for the next thing to say, Captain Quentin continued speaking as he pleased, with a dreamy look on his face.
"Lady Fia invited me, so I have no right to refuse. And, to be precise, we didn't have a meal. Who could eat a meal sitting with Lady Fia? But I'm really glad we were able to join her. That meal was worth a thousand gold coins. I would sacrifice anything to have that kind of time. Even having water sprayed over my head was a nice touch." (Quentin)
The surrounding knights seemed frightened by Captain Quentin's dazed expression and morbid words, and they stepped back with their whole bodies, looking horrified.
Yes, that's right! I can understand how frightening it would be! Depending on how you look at it, it may seem like Captain is a knight with strange tastes who enjoys being splashed with water spurting from my mouth!
I instinctively took a step forward and reproached Captain Quentin.
"C-Come on, seriously, stop it! Captain Quentin, your choice of words is horrible! How can you get so nasty?" (Fia)
Suddenly finding himself the one being criticized by me, Captain Quentin was flustered and apologized.
"Fi, Lady Fia, please don't be angry! I sincerely apologize!!" (Quentin)
"That's why your choice of words is the worst! Seriously, don't open your mouth any more! I'm the one who should be spared!" (Fia)
As I was desperately shouting, a quiet voice came from behind me.
"You seem to be having as much fun as ever, Fia. Whenever I think of something noisy, it's always you." (Savis)
When I turned around, my eyes met with Commander Savis who had just entered the room. It seemed that he had been ushered in once all the attendees had gathered.
"C-Commander Savis!" (Fia)
As if I had found my savior, I called out the name of Commander Savis.
The commander raised one eyebrow to encourage me to continue.
"What's up?" (Savis)
Feeling as if he was willing to listen to what I had to say, I instinctively ran up to the commander's feet.
I thought it was probably a bit presumptuous for a rookie knight to ask the commander for advice, but the only one who could save me right now was the commander, so I clung to him with all my might. And before anyone could accuse me of being disrespectful, I began speaking passionately.
"Listen, Commander Savis! Our schedules clashed, so I happened to have lunch with Captain Quentin! Then, during the meal, he started talking about something completely out of the blue, and I accidentally spit the water I was drinking at Captain Quentin. Of course, I know it was my fault for spitting, but for some reason, when Captain Quentin reenacts that story, it makes it seem like Captain Quentin and I are part of a group of perverts! If this keeps up, any knight who hears the story will mistakenly think that I have some strange tastes! Please do something about this Monster Knights Captain's expressiveness!" (Fia)
Commander Savis listened to me in silence, but when I finished, he tilted his head as if chewing on what he had heard.
"I know that when you are involved, even the most capable knights start behaving suspiciously. It is probably a reaction to a new stimulus. Well, Quentin is probably just tired and acting strangely, but I'm sure he'll return to normal after a while." (Savis)
"Thank you, Commander Savis!!" (Fia)
Having achieved what I wanted, I triumphantly turned to look at everyone. Commander Savis said that Captain Quentin's strange behavior was due to fatigue from a long expedition. Did you hear that, everyone?
"It seems that the matter has been settled to your satisfaction. In that case, please come over here." (Cyril)
Just as I relaxed, a cool voice rang out. When I turned towards the voice, Captain Cyril was beckoning me with a quiet smile.
"It is customary for one or two subordinates to accompany me to Imperial Conferences, but this time I will be traveling alone. You are a member of the First Knight Order, so please come this way." (Cyril)
Looking around after being told, I saw that the only people seated around the round table were the captains of each group, with one or two knights standing behind each captain. I thought that made sense, and just as I was about to take a step forward, Captain Quentin grabbed my arm.
"What are you talking about, Cyril? I brought Lady Fia here myself. And she’s currently working for our order. It’s best for her to stay with me." (Quentin)
Hearing Captain Quentin's words, Captain Cyril narrowed his eyes with a smile.
Wow, that's amazing, Captain Cyril! It's a very advanced technique to be able to convey displeasure even while smiling!
"Haha, since you're both going to get into trouble, come to me, Fia!" (Zachary)
Zachary The sixth knight, Captain, called out to me.
...Ah, what's that? Just when I thought I'd succeeded in calming the turmoil, it seems like I've been embroiled in a new one again? ...When did this happen?
As I stood there unable to comprehend the situation, Commander Savis called out to me with an amused look on his face.
"So, Fia, where do you want to go?"
...Good question, Commander. To be honest, I want to go back.