The third time we met, Fia was with Quentin.
Fia was unusually reserved, and had a formal smile on her face, quite different from how she had been at the banquet the other day. ...maybe she was ashamed of having exposed her belly, the size of a three-year-old's, and wanted to pretend it never happened. I remembered my decision from the other day and once again vowed to myself that as a knight, I would forget about Fia's feelings.
As for Quentin, who was with Fia, Cyril had been worried that his brain was suffering from problems due to the long expedition, and this proved to be entirely true. Quentin, who never had any problems with his appearance, showed up to the Knight Captains Conference soaking wet, so there was no way that was normal. Surprised, I asked him what had happened, and he answered with a straight face that Lady Fia had sprayed water she had in her mouth onto him.
If you're wet, why not wipe it off? Why do you use honorifics when talking to Fia, a new knight, and even call her "Lady"?
As I watched from a distance with suspicion, Quentin, who had been scolded by Fia for his terrible choice of words, desperately clung to her. It's disgusting and made me shiver down my spine.
...Damn, it looks like Quentin has seriously developed some strange tastes. Do people just suddenly develop strange habits like this?
Quentin was a solitary figure. Although he liked being alone and spends most of his time there, he was a fine knight and a captain who could properly control his subordinates when necessary. Although he didn't say much, he was a capable knight who was able to give necessary advice and counsel. Who would have thought that after just six months of not seeing him, it would turn out like this? As Cyril said, it was all due to fatigue from a long expedition, and I just hoped that it would get better with time.
When the commander entered the Knight Captains Conference room, we thought that everything was settled and were relieved, but then Cyril and Quentin started fighting over Fia.
...Is this a growing disease?
As the head of the leading ducal family and the chief captain of the Knight Order, Cyril had an exceptional ability to grasp the current situation. No matter what the situation, he always put his own feelings second and skillfully controlled the emotions of others to guide them to his advantage... or so he was supposed to do, until now.
Cyril, what happened to you too?
In an attempt to calm the chaotic situation, I told Fia to come to me, and both Cyril and Quentin turned to me in amazing speed and glared at me. Wow, they're both seriously injured.
However, the most serious one maybe Fia. Even though she was given the choice between Cyril, Quentin, and myself, for some reason she chose Captain Clarissa, the fifth knight, whom I had never met before.
Why? I can't read FIIA's mind at all.
...While I was agonizing over my inability to understand Fia's thought process, Fia was in a good mood and following behind Clarissa. She's a happy girl. That kind of girl was always happy, no matter what the situation. And that caused difficulties for those around her. I felt a little sorry for Cyril.
Afterwards, I witnessed even Gideon, Quentin's somewhat cocky vice-captain, falling victim to Fia. Gideon, who always seemed to be standing at an angle, was kneeling at the feet of Fia, who was only half his height, and begging for something.
Wow, this is getting seriously creepy. Is that really Gideon? Or is it someone else?
However, when I called out to him, he responded as usual, leaving no doubt that it was him.
Although I felt uneasy about the strange behavior of those connected to Fia one after another, I decided not to think about it any further and changed my mind since the big event of searching for the black dragon was coming up that day. And in hindsight I thought that was the right decision. Because the events I experienced that day were so big that they blew away everything that had happened up until that point, and all my worries up until that point were reduced to the level of trivial matters. It would be a waste of time to waste time on trivial matters.
A major incident... In other words, Fia's behavior when we encountered the Black Dragon was out of line. From beginning to end.
First, a number of pieces of advice on defeating the Dreambird and the Flower-horned Deer. Even if we were to concede that Quentin and Fia had received advice from the Black Dragon and simply spoken it verbally, Fia was far too calm. If one were to encounter such a vicious monster, it would be normal to panic and lose one's composure. And yet, she gave precise instructions one after another at the crucial moment. If all of those perfect instructions were the result of her acting as a puppet for the Black Dragon, then that would be an amazing story.
Then there's her familiar leadership. Both Quentin and Fia testified that it was the power of the Black Dragon, but when the familiars received their orders, they were looking at Fia, not the Black Dragon. There's no mistaking it. The familiars' commander was FIIA. But it was something that even I noticed. Of course, Quentin, the monster knight captain, would have noticed. Why did Quentin deliberately mislead people into thinking it was the power of the black dragon? …I'd have to question him about this later.
Furthermore, the Blue Dragons headed straight for Fia.
I remembered Fia's commanding issue that had made Cyril so angry some time ago.
The problem started when the commander on the scene was blown away by Flower-horned Deer, rendering him unconscious, and leaving her with no one to take command. Even a B-rank Flower-horned Deer could instantly identify the commander in charge and will be the first to attack him in order to confuse us. Why would an S-rank Azure Dragon with intelligence greater than Flower-horned Deer target Fia first and not me or Quentin?
There was only one answer. The most valuable person in that situation was Fia.
I didn't see what value there is in Fia. I didn't know, but at least the Blue Dragons saw value in Fia. This meant that there was some overwhelming value in Fia that could be found in that short amount of time.
And then, the Black Dragon risked his own life to protect Fia. The Black Dragon, one of the three great magical beasts on the continent and a legendary ancient species, was completely under the command of Fia.
After being shown the overwhelming power of the Black Dragon, it was hard to imagine how Fia was able to make a familiar contract, but the fact was that the absolute Black King was blindly obedient to Fia.
He protected Fia, fought for Fia, and even shaved his own horns for Fia. In particular, maybe the action of cutting off the final horn went beyond servitude. This intimidating behavior gave a strong message that he was behind Fia.
Fia, ...how attached are you to the Black Dragon?
I let out a deep sigh and cursed in my mind, wondering why so many problems had piled up all at once. But... although anger, dissatisfaction, and various other emotions raged inside my heart, what remained in the end was gratitude to Fia.
Fia was hiding something. And all of the mysterious actions that Fia had taken so far must be linked to this concealment.
——But in the end, Fia was a good person.
The things Fia hid might be important to him, but when weighed, Fia always prioritized the safety of their knights over keeping secrets. She tried her best to hide something, but when the safety of the knights was threatened, she dropped everything to save them. As a result, all the knights' lives were saved without a single loss. Only those who had faced death could understand how grateful we were for this.
"...But..."
Although I felt indebted to Fia, I couldn't help but say it out loud.
"With such careless concealment, Fia, won't the secrets you're trying to hide be exposed soon?"
To begin with, Fia lacked the courage to keep things secret. If you really wanted to hide something, you had to give up everything to keep it hidden, even if it meant people dying or losing something important. If you couldn't go that far, then the cover-up wouldn't be successful anyway, so it would be best to give up from the start.
Fia's mindset was unknown, but the secrets behind serious problems were often very simple. Perhaps the reason for Fia's attempts to conceal and its strange behavior was simple. And it might not be that important to anyone other than the person in question. It's not uncommon for a secret to be important to the person involved, but when other people heard about it, it turned out to be no big deal.
That's the advice I would like to give, but looking that Fia just fell into a shock, I couldn't say it so easily.
Maybe Fia was hesitating about whether or not to tell us her secret... and as a result she became so unwell that she collapsed. For Fia, the mere thought of confessing must be enough to send her into shock.
Then, after some hesitation, she said she couldn't talk about it.
——Because I was not trustworthy enough to talk to.
Thinking back to that scene, I bit my lip in frustration.
Fia collapsed to the ground, sweat pouring from her entire body and barely able to breathe. She kept her eyes closed and took heavy breaths, and just when she was finally able to speak, she declared that she couldn't say anything.
I remembered Fia's stern gaze as she glared at me. Those eyes were the eyes of someone who was trying to protect something. Given Fia's past actions, it seemed likely that there were people that she was trying to protect. And, pathetically, that people she was trying to protect must surely include me...
Fia put her priority on saving the knights—me, even if it meant exposing some kind of power she was hiding. And yet, I, the one who was saved, felt so weak that I couldn't even vent my worries to Fia. And what's more, Fia was planning to protect me...
I let out a deep sigh from the depths of my lungs. My arms tightened.
...A Knight Captain was shocked to hear that. He couldn't even protect a single new knight, nor could he confide his troubles to her.
That's why……
——I have to become stronger. I must be an honest and understanding knight.
So that this time, when Fia needed me, she could rely on me.
So that the next time I encountered a powerful monster, I could at least serve as Fia's shield.
——That was the duty of one who calls himself a Captain...
Author's Note (Preface)
[Thank you] Thank you to everyone who bought the book released on June 15th. I'm also very happy to receive your feedback.
Thanks to you, we are now in a second printing! (←sorry, I just wanted to say that.)
Once again, thank you very much.