"Oh my, there it is, la la~ la~. A beautiful lump. Could this be a fragment of a star that fell from the sky last night? Sparkling, sparkling, sparkling~." (Fia)
As I was picking up a shiny rock that had fallen to the ground, an arm suddenly reached out from beside me.
"Yeah, it's just an ordinary rock, Fia." (Fabian)
Fabian finished checking it in an instant and handed the stone back to my hand.
"Huhu, are you still practicing poetry at a time like this? But the more you practice, the further away you are from correct poetry, so you should stop." (Fabian)
After hearing Fabian's words, I took one more reluctant glance at the stone before placing it back on the ground.
If you brought back everything you see along the way, your luggage would be full.
——Currently, our visiting group was heading south towards Sutherland.
Nav Kingdom was located on a continent surrounded by sea, and was a great power that ruled over the entire western edge of the continent. The country had a long north-south shape, and both its southern and northern ends touched the edge of the continent. This meant that the kingdom faced the sea to the north, west, and south. And because Sutherland was located at the southernmost tip of the kingdom, it took about 10 days by carriage from the royal capital in the center.
The visiting group this time was made up of 80 knights from the First Knight Order. Many young knights, including Fabian, were participating because Captain Cyril wanted as many young knights as possible to learn about history. Additionally, around 20 civil servants were participating, but most of them were unable to ride horses and were therefore travelling by carriage. In other words, even though the knights were traveling on horseback, they had to match the speed of the carriage.
"It's time to leave! Break is over!" (Cyril)
When I turned around at the voice urging us to depart, I saw a person who appeared to be a nobleman standing in the middle of the group of knights. It was Captain Cyril.
This time, Captain Cyril was representing His Highness the King's younger brother, so he was wearing noble clothing instead of knight's uniform. He was wearing a shining noble suit embroidered with gold and silver threads, a dark-colored cloak with a large jewel around his neck, and several medals were adorned around his chest, and the gold lanterns hanging from the cloak glittered in the sunlight. Depending on the wearer, the outfit could come across as overly extravagant and gaudy, but Captain Cyril pulled it off beautifully. Truly, he looked exactly like a high-ranking royal or aristocrat, and one can only say, "as expected."
...Commander, it was a good idea to choose Captain Cyril as your representative.
Watching the captain from afar, I admired the commander's wise decision.
Maybe when you go to a hostile place, it's important to make a good or bad impression. On the other hand, Captain Cyril had such a strong presence. I was sure it would impress the people of Sutherland.
With that thought in mind, I mounted my horse and rode alongside Fabian.
From the horseback, everything looked sparkling and shining. It felt good to go to a new place. Unfamiliar scenery and food you had never tried before would give you new impressions.
Perhaps the knights were a rare sight, as children waved to us along the way. When I waved back with a smile, the children threw me wreaths. I caught it in the air and place it on my head. The children cheered loudly, and I also laughed out loud with joy.
As I continued to chuckle, Fabian called out to me.
"Fia is amazing. No matter who you're playing against, you can always find something fun to do." (Fabian)
"Huh? What happened all of a sudden?" (Fia)
"Yeah, it's something I've been thinking about for quite some time. I'm sure Fia has many special skills, but I think your greatest skill was being able to have fun at any time, with anyone." (Fabian)
Fabian stared at me intently, so I tilted my head to one side, wondering if that's true.
"Really? But everyone has that kind of skill, you know." (Fia)
"Do you think so, Fia? But unfortunately, that "everyone" doesn't include me or Captain Cyril... or rather, all the knights, Captains, and Commanders." (Fabian)
"Hmm?" (Fia)
I looked at Fabian, wondering what was going on, and he just stared back at me with a smirk.
...Yeah, that's what Fabian was like, right?
I had a bad habit of knowing the answer but not saying it.
I looked at Fabian with my eyes wide open and tried to convey to him, "That's a bad habit!", but he just laughed out loud, so I doubt I got through to him very well.
The journey was proceeding in a peaceful atmosphere, but as we got closer to our destination, everyone became quieter.
Come to think of it, the visit to Sutherland was an annual event, so many of the knights participating this time must have visited the place last year as well.
With many of the experienced warriors beginning to quieten down, does this mean that, as Commander said, knights really aren't welcome in Sutherland?
As I thought this, I looked around and noticed that I was no longer waving to people I met on the street. When the residents noticed the knights' march, they stopped what they were doing and bowed, but the welcoming smiles that were seen at the beginning were gone.
And this tendency to feel unwelcome became even more pronounced as soon as we entered Sutherland territory.
First of all, there were hardly any people around. The residents would had been informed of the date of the visit in advance, so they should have known that a representative of the royal family would be coming, but there was no sign of them. Normally, local residents would be standing on both sides of the road to welcome us, but there was no one to be seen. It was so deserted that it seemed as if the residents had chosen to stay indoors and avoid seeing each other.
The few residents I could see were simply bowing from afar, and there was no sense of any desire to become friendly.
Hmm, what is this――?
I tilted my head sternly.
I thought the people of Sutherland had a gentle and warm disposition that reflected the warm climate of the land?
Originally, many of the residents of Sutherland lived on a remote island located south of the continent. It must have all started when they lost their homes due to a volcanic eruption on a remote island and moved to Sutherland. A friendly clan with brown skin and azure hair. These were the people of Sutherland. I thought they were a cheerful and fun people who couldn't stay quiet for even a moment and couldn't help but laugh at even the smallest things.
However, I had only visited this place once in my previous life, and I was accompanied by Canopus, who was the lord at the time, so everyone might have just been considerate to me and was smiling at me.
I rode my horse among my fellow knights, vaguely recalling my past life. Everyone seemed to sense the uncomfortable atmosphere and became silent. Fabian also tilted his head quizzically.
"I never imagined that the land of Sutherland, ruled by Captain Cyril, would have such an atmosphere... For there to be no one to welcome the lord back..." (Fabian)
Our group then arrived at Captain Cyril's residence—the lord's mansion.
...Ah, this building.
When I saw the beautiful blue and white mansion, which suited the seaside, I found myself smiling.
Yes, this mansion shining blue and white in the sunlight was the Sutherland mansion.
Hehe, the building is still the same as it was 300 years ago. How nostalgic.
As I got off my horse and began to unpack my luggage, I heard the sound of a new horse's hooves in the distance. Curious, I turned my gaze towards the gate and saw a group of knights I had never seen before.
Apparently, they were the 13th Knight Order in charge of this area.
I tilted my head in confusion when I saw a man who looked like the Captain dismount from the most impressive horse.
He was a tall man with tanned hair and skin. He appeared to have been well trained and has a well-built, muscular body, but—isn't this knight weak?
—Yeah, maybe he was by far the weakest of all the knight Captains I knew.