The next morning, I woke up earlier than usual. Of course, I was looking forward to exploring the Starry Forest for the Black Dragon, and so I naturally woke up.
Just like the previous subjugation mission, I was a rookie knight, so I was not considered a valuable member of the team, but since Captain Quentin, the Fourth Monster Knight Order Captain, nominated me, I was sure they wouldn't complain about me joining. Training within the Knight Order and taking care of monsters were important, but it's really important for a knight to be in the field!
Since the decision to carry out the exploration was made at short notice, there was no time to request saints from the church, and so we decided to have them come from within the royal castle. Furthermore, 15 knights from the Monster Knight Order would be participating with 15 familiars, so I couldn't wait to see the familiar battle for the first time. In my previous life, monsters were just enemies that I had to defeat. I was honestly impressed by the idea of turning them into allies and fighting together.
Once I was ready, I would start working on Zavilia. After all, Zavilia was the star today, so he had to look more stylish than usual.
"...Hey, Fia. Wearing a ribbon around your my is one thing, but what about flowers on my head? What are you aiming for?" (Zavilia)
"Of course, the number one strong and cute familiar! Today, 15 carefully selected familiars from the Monster Knights will be participating, so we mustn't let them get the better of us!!" (Fia)
"If Fia wishes, I can crush those 15 monsters in an instant." (Zavilia)
"Ahh, that won't do. Well, that's just a strong monster. You need to show off your cute side as well." (Fia)
"...I see. That sounds like a lot of troubling things, huh?" (Zavilia)
So, I put Zavilia, who had a bright red ribbon around his neck and a yellow flower crown on his shoulders, and we left the room.
Although we arrived at the meeting place much earlier than scheduled, several knights were already gathered there. Among them, I spotted a familiar face from the Sixth Knight Order and called out to him.
"Good morning. I look forward to working with you today!" (Fia)
"Isn't it Fia! Haha, it's good to have you with us. Likewise, I'm counting on you."
And so, as I was talking with the knights I was familiar with, before I knew it, most of the knights had gathered.
The knights were large in every dimension, length, width and height, but the Sixth Knight Order Captain, _ZAKARII, and the Fourth Monster Knight Captain, _KUENTIN, were especially large and exuded an overwhelming presence.
Well, they said if you wanted to hide a tree, you should hide it in the forest, but this wouldn't do. These big trees were bound to stand out in any forest. I made a new discovery, if something was a little more average, it wouldn't be found if it's hidden among its own kind, but when it's this outstanding, the differences would stand out even more. I was relieved to be a small tree, but Captain Quentin pushed his way through the crowd of knights and came straight at me.
"Good morning, Lady Fia, Sir Familiar. Thank you for coming here so early in the morning." (Quentin)
"Good morning, Captain Quentin. How do you managed to find me even though I was far away? If I'm surrounded by tall knights, I shouldn't be able to be seen or noticed from afar." (Fia)
When I asked curiously, Captain Quentin burst out laughing as if he had heard a strange story.
"Hahaha, that's a funny joke! Your presence is so overwhelming that I can sense you from any distance. If you don't mind, would it be okay if we had a brief meeting later?" (Quentin)
After seeing me nodded, Captain Quentin returned to Captain Zachary.
As Captain Quentin left, the surrounding knights asked in surprise.
"Fia, are you also acquainted with Captain Quentin?! Or rather, isn't he only interested in monsters? This is the first time I've seen him talking to a knight from another order!"
"More importantly, weren't you being called 'Lady'?! What on earth..."
"Fia is Quentin's queen!" (Zachary)
With a distasteful look on his face, Captain Zachary cut into the conversation.
Captain Quentin and Captain Zachary, I wonder how expressive those knight captains are?!
"I-I see. A queen, huh...?" (Fia)
"Captain Quentin is big, strong, and overwhelming. I guess he likes someone the complete opposite like you..." (Zachary)
It was infuriating to see the knights accepting Captain Zachary's meaningless remarks with all their might.
As I followed Captain Zachary, complaining about the drawbacks of a hierarchical society, I was taken to Captain Quentin. Gideon, the vice-captain of the Fourth Monster Knight Order, was standing by his side.
"This is Lady Fia! I was the one who asked you to come, so thank you for coming!" (Quentin)
...Listening again, Captain Quentin's way of speaking is strange, huh?
Frustrated by the unfairness of a hierarchical society, I felt a resentment towards Captain Quentin, who was near the top of it, and my way of speaking, which normally didn't bother me, began to bother me.
in the first place……… I'd been ignoring it because I felt it would be presumptuous of a mere knight to comment on the behavior of a captain, a knight of a much higher rank, but I wondered if Captain Quentin's words and actions were the cause of all this?
I thought he would be polite to everyone, like the First Knight Captain Cyril, but that didn't seem to be the case. ...Oh, that reminded me, when I first met Captain Quentin, Captain Cyril was telling me about a new game.
Is this a game for Captain Quentin? ...Really, Captain Quentin's sensibilities are so different from mine that I don't really understand him, huh?
I let out a small sigh, but it was drowned out by Captain Zachary's loud voice.
"Quentin, you still haven't gotten over that weird way of talking that you only use in Fia? I can understand if it's Cyril, but when you talk like that to anyone other than Commander, it just makes me feel uncomfortable. I get the shivers, thinking this is a sign that something bad is going to happen!" (Zachary)
"Hmph, you're insensitive too, Zachary! Why doesn't anyone notice the greatness of Lady Fia!?" (Quentin)
"Ah, yeah... I guess I am insensitive. I don't understand the greatness of Fia at all, huh" (Zachary)
Agreeing with Captain Quentin, Captain Zachary beckoned Vice-Captain Gideon.
Then he asked in a small voice.
"Hey Gideon, is Quentin serious? Should I just shake him awake or ignore him?" (Zachary)
"I don't think shaking him will wake him up. I've never seen Captain like that before, so I have no idea how to respond." (Gideon)
As expected of Vice Captain Gideon, he answered in a polite tone.
Captain Zachary shook his head and made a resigned noise.
"...Okay, leave him alone! Anyway, you guys sit down! We're having a strategy meeting." (Zachary)
He pointed to a simple table and chairs set up in a corner of the meeting place, and Captain Zachary sat down at one of them.
And so, a strategy meeting was held, with the members being Captain Zachary, Captain Quentin, Vice Captain Gideon, and myself.
Captain Zachary opened the conversation.
"I've prepared my luggage in anticipation of a week's camping trip. The 35 members I selected from the Sixth Order are all elite members. Even if we do encounter the Black King, they're all people who will be able to handle things well, so don't worry." (Zachary)
"I see. I chose the knights based on their familiars. Ten familiars have wings and five do not. I decided that it would be better to have more winged familiars to guide Black King back to his lair." (Quentin)
"I see. By the way, in your opinion, what is the probability of encountering a Black King? About 10%? No, it's probably less than that. Looking for a single monster in that vast forest is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Besides, it's possible that it has already left the forest." (Zachary)
Captain Zachary stroked his chin and asked Captain Quentin.
"100%." (Quentin)
"…………Hah?" (Zachary)
"There is a 100% chance that we will encounter Black King" (Quentin)
Captain Quentin stated this with confidence.
"Well, I understand that you want to meet Black King, the one you've always longed for! But, you know what? Don't get your hopes up too high, and don't be too upset if your dreams don't come true!" (Zachary)
Captain Zachary slapped Captain Quentin on the shoulder and continued speaking.
"Well, when you encounter the Black King, face it at a distance where you won't be attacked... In this case, it's best not to surround it in order to avoid showing hostility... Once you've arranged things well, you should persuade the Black King to return to its lair. At the Black King's age, it naturally understands human language, right? Once your sincerity is conveyed and it understands, familiars will grab a stone from its lair or a piece of Black King's remains in its mouth and fly away in the direction of Blackpeak Mountain, is that a good scenario? Well, it probably won't go exactly as planned, so in reality, you'll probably have to make adjustments on the spot..." (Zachary)
"I have no objections." (Quentin)
Captain Quentin answered briefly, then looked at Captain Zachary.
"Avoid contact with monsters other than Black King as much as possible. Black King's sudden appearance has disrupted the range of movement of the monsters whose territories have been invaded. There is a possibility that monsters from the Abyss that are not usually seen may appear. Once Black King leaves, things should return to normal, so it is wise to avoid unnecessary conflict." (Quentin)
"That's right. I'll tell that to the search team." (Zachary)
Captain Zachary said as he stood up and ruffled my hair.
"Well, even so, we can't completely avoid encountering monsters, so let's have a few battles and adjust the tactics of the sixth and fourth knights... Fia, you seemed to do well in the last subjugation, but you should be quiet today. There's a chance that we'll encounter a high-ranking monster that we normally wouldn't see." (Zachary)
…It's true, my skill with the sword isn't that great, huh?
Yes, I was being quiet.
Even though I nodded obediently, Zavilia on my shoulder was sighing softly.
…Well, I wonder what's up with your attitude that you didn't believe it from the beginning?