As I gazed at the captain again, thinking that Captain Zachary was a handsome guy, Captain Quentin interjected from next to him.
"Zachary, the many great feats of Lady Fia that you have mentioned are likely the result of the power of the Black Dragon King." (Quentin)
"A black dragon...?" (Zachary)
Captain Zachary repeated suspiciously.
"Yes. As you probably already know, the bluebird monster that Lady Fia had on her shoulder was a mimic of the Black Dragon King. There have been records of the Black Dragon King in books for over a thousand years. In other words, the Black Dragon King is a being who possesses a thousand years' worth of knowledge and power. He knows the characteristics of monsters, can grasp monsters from far away, and has control over the familiars that are enslaved by other knights. All of this is surely due to the power of the Black Dragon King." (Quentin)
"...Is that so, Fia?" (Zachary)
Captain Zachary asked me, so I thought about it one by one.
"Huh? Well... of course Zavi... Black Dragon knows the characteristics of monsters, right? He certainly told us about the types and numbers of monsters each platoon had encountered. And as for controlling the familiars... now that I think about it, the Black Dragon helped us out by making a special intimidating sound." (Fia)
Oh wait? So Zavilia actually helped us with most of it? Well, well, none of these are the duties of a Saint. It's not like I'm doing a bad job... right?
Suddenly I felt like I had done a poor job and looked up at Captain Zachary in a dejected manner.
Captain Zachary stared at me in silence for a while, then nodded as if he understood something.
"If that's your answer, I'll accept it." (Zachary)
...Huh? That sounds like a suggestive way of saying it. No, actually, that's true, isn't it? If you take away the part about her being a saint...though.
The Saint part... My knowledge of monsters' characteristics came from my experience defeating many monsters as a Saint in my previous life, and the fact that I could control the familiars was due to the power of my Saint blood... but that couldn't be said.
Or... is this the right time to confess that I'm a Saint?
The moment I thought that, my whole body suddenly began to tremble. In an instant, my heart started beating violently and sweat began to drip down my face and back. Even my breathing became difficult, shallow and short.
"Fia?" (Zachary)
Captain Zachary noticed my condition and called out to me suspiciously. He's worried about me, so I have to reassure him... That's what I thought, but all the strength went out of my body, and I ended up falling face down to the ground. While lying on the ground, I opened my mouth to gasp, but no sound came out other than the sound of labored breathing.
——Ah, it's impossible.
As I laid on the ground, I thought about my past life.
——————Our powers were absolutely different.
Captain Zachary was strong. Captain Quentin was strong too. Zavilia was extremely strong. Commander Savis and Captain Cyril were also incredibly strong.
……………But Demon King's right hand man far surpassed that………………
If that demon found out I was a saint, he would come and kill me immediately. If Captain Zachary, Captain Quentin, Zavilia, Commander Savis, Captain Cyril... tried to protect me, it would end up with a pile of corpses of knights and black dragons.
——I couldn't bear to see such a future.
I laid on the ground, breathing shallowly. A strange whistling noise began to come from my throat, and it became difficult to breathe. The pain of barely being able to breathe caused tears to naturally fall.
……Painful. But having a life taken was even more painful. It would be even more painful if the knights or Zavilia were to lose their lives instead of me.
Captain Zachary showed me his courage, but I couldn't live up to it... After all, confessing now would paint a picture of a future in which the knights die in vain. Bravery and recklessness are different. The Demon King's right hand man was an opponent that no knight could defeat even if they fought him a hundred times.
However, the moment I confessed, Captain Zachary would be taking a risk. The knowledge that I was a Saint—that would be fatal if the Demon King's right-hand man found out, so knowing it was a risk in itself.
Captain Zachary acknowledged my decision to act in order to save the knights. He promised me, in the name of the knight captain, that whatever I told him would be kept a secret. That's why…………
……Painful. It's so painful that I couldn't confess the truth to Captain Zachary, who showed me such sincerity, and that I couldn't return any of it...
I couldn't say anything, just let the tears flow from my eyes and breathe heavily.
"...... Fia" (Zachary)
Captain Zachary's voice came down from above, so I just moved my eyes. Captain Zachary silently looked down at me, then carefully picked me up from my collapsed state and held me in his arms.
I was embraced in a way that my head was positioned at Captain Zachary's heart. The unnatural sounds continued to come from my throat, and it was becoming difficult to breathe in and out. As my consciousness began to fade, Captain Zachary spoke to me in a slower voice than usual.
"Fia, can you hear my heart beating?" (Zachary)
When I concentrated my attention on my ears, I could hear the thump of Captain Zachary's heart beating slowly and powerfully.
I didn't feel like I could speak out loud so I just nodded slightly, and Captain Zachary continued in a calmer voice than usual.
"Good girl. Synchronize your heartbeat with mine. Breathe in slowly. And breathe out even slower. ...That's right, you're good at this." (Zachary)
Captain Zachary's big, warm hands slowly stroked my back from top to bottom. The tears that spilled from my eyes got Captain Zachary's knight uniform wet, but the captain didn't seem to mind and continued to encourage him to breathe slowly in a calm voice.
After breathing in and out repeatedly in time with Captain Zachary's voice for a while, my breathing returned to normal. My trembling also subsided, and my sweat began to subside. Still, after closing my eyes and staying quiet for a while, my chaotic mind began to calm down.
——It's disloyal to Captain Zachary, but there's nothing I could do about it. Even if the same situation happened 100 times, I would make the same choice.
In my past life...the knights repeated this to me. The great saint and the knights had different values. The knights were meant to be the shields of the great saint, and the reverse was not possible. But I never accepted that.
Whether one was a knight or a saint, there was no difference in their worth. If the knights became the saint's shield, then I would become the knights' shield.
——And with that, I saved the lives of my knights. Just as the knights protected my life.
Therefore... I would not confess to being a saint. As long as it posed a risk to Captain Zachary.
Once I had made up my mind, I let out a big sigh. Captain Zachary must have noticed that I had calmed down because he stopped stroking me and removed his hands from my back.
"Fia, I'm sorry. I made you do something too much. Let's leave it at that. ... If you can drink water, you should drink it." (Zachary)
As he said this, he handed me a bowl of water.
I took a sip of it just to moisten my lips, but it was so delicious that I gulped it down the whole thing. Drinking water refreshed my body and made me feel energized. I placed my hand on Captain Zachary's chest, looked up at his face and smiled.
"Captain Zachary, thank you very much. I feel calmer and more energetic now." (Fia)
"...Your recovery ability is astounding." (Zachary)
Captain Zachary gave a small laugh as if relieved, and patted me on the back as if comforting a small child.
I gave a small smile, looked Captain Zachary straight in the eye, and thanked him.
"Captain Zachary, thank you for acknowledging my actions. I was glad that you promised to keep my secret no matter what I said. But... I'm sorry. I can't tell you anything more than this." (Fia)
Captain Zachary stared intently at me as if to ascertain my true intentions.
I glared back at him, thinking that this was the time to hold on, and after a while, as if he had read my mind, Captain Zachary nodded slightly and muttered "I understand."
Then he looked at me with a serious face.
"Fia, remember that we are grateful to you. If you don't want to talk, you don't have to. ... But I'm always ready to listen. So, if you ever need me, call me anytime. —That's my way of showing my gratitude." (Zachary)
Captain Zachary kept quiet, then helped me to stand and took me off his lap.
"Fia, you must be tired, so you should go back to the castle first. I have something to discuss with the others so I can't accompany you, but I'll assign a few knights to you instead." (Zachary)
I wondered if I didn't need to listen to what he was telling everyone, but I realized that my body was wobbling, and I realized that staying here would be of no use at all. If the captain had decided that I was no longer needed, then I should have returned to the castle so as not to get in the way, but I felt bad about dragging the other knights into this.
"Well, I'm going back to the castle, but everyone else will be busy so I'll be okay on my own, okay?" (Fia)
"...They also have business at the castle." (Zachary)
After a pause, Captain Zachary continued, but I think he's really bad at lying.
…Yeah, he definitely put that on me because he was worried about me. But I'm feeling better now, and if you're worried about falling off your horse, you're okay, you know?
Despite thinking that, I felt it would be rude to turn down such a kindness, so I decided to accept it in silence.
As we were getting ready to go home and loading our luggage onto our horses, Captain Zachary, who had come to see us off, spoke gravely.
"Fia, given the circumstances of this case, I have no choice but to report it to Commander Savis. ...However, I will carefully examine the contents of the report. I will not do anything bad to you." (Zachary)
Hearing Captain Zachary's words, I realized once again that in the end I hadn't explained much at all. In other words, the information Captain Zachary currently had was limited, and it would be extremely difficult to organize that information and report it to the commander. And yet, he was so considerate of me and came to talk to me to reassure me, even though the information hadn't been sorted out yet...
I couldn't help but sigh.
...Ahh, Captain Zachary, you really are a handsome man...
Author's Note (Preface)
The book released on June 15th will be available at some stores with a bonus short story.
I'm very sorry for the last minute information. Please refer to the activity report for details.
We have also uploaded the frontispiece of the book at the bottom of this page.