Will Captain Curtis return to the capital with us?
But before I had time to think about it, Captain Cyril put a stop to it.
"Wait a moment, Curtis! It's not such a simple problem. If Sutherland becomes established as a place to gather Sacred Stones, this land will become even more important in the future. However, if you leave this land, Sutherland will be left without a captain to protect it." (Cyril)
"We should promote Vice Captain Cody. His sword skills were better than mine (before I regained my memories of my past life)." (Curtis)
In response to Captain Cyril, Captain Curtis replied in an extremely calm voice.
Captain Cyril twitched his eyebrows, looked at Captain Curtis with a stubborn expression, and continued speaking as if to persuade him.
"...But that's not all. The same can be said about your position. There are no vacancies for knight captains in the royal capital, so it will be difficult to keep your position as a knight captain." (Cyril)
Even though the comment implicitly hinted at demotion, Captain Curtis remained unfazed and replied calmly.
"About that, I have decided to step down from my position as captain for the time being. I was originally appointed captain as a special exception when I was assigned to Sutherland. In the royal capital, I will start over as a simple knight. In the same order as Lady Fi." (Curtis)
Hearing Captain Curtis' words, Captain Cyril narrowed his eyes slightly and looked wary.
"...You too, Curtis?" (Cyril)
"What do you mean?" (Curtis)
"I had the same conversation with a certain knight captain the other day. There was another knight who offered to step down from his rank to join the same order as Fia." (Cyril)
Captain Cyril spoke in a tired voice while holding his eyes.
"Huh?" I thought as I looked up at Captain Cyril.
Are there people like Captain Curtis among the Knight Captains? ...Yes, I read it! That must be the story of Captain Desmond trying to make fun of Captain Cyril.
As I was thinking this, Captain Cyril sighed softly and looked at the commander with a look of trust. The commander nodded slightly, and Captain Cyril replied in a resigned voice.
"...Curtis, as this is a request from Chief Radek, the head of the clan of this land, I agree to allow you to leave this land as an exception." (Cyril)
Upon hearing those words, Captain Curtis gave a grin, and as if to tighten his grip, Captain Cyril continued in a louder voice.
"However! We will sort out your formal investiture and new position at a later date. For now, I will be temporarily transferring the authority of your position as a captain to Cody, and you will return to the royal capital with your position intact. Is that okay?" (Cyril)
Captain Curtis nodded seriously and gave a knightly bow to Commander Savis and Captain Cyril.
"Thank you for granting my request. I will continue to serve you as a member of the Knights, even at the risk of my life." (Curtis)
Captain Cyril nodded slightly and turned to Chief Radek.
"This is the request of the clan, including Chief Radek, and Curtis himself has agreed, so he will be returned to the royal capital. We will see to it that Curtis can carry out the same duties as Fia as much as possible, and we will protect this land even more firmly now that Curtis is gone." (Cyril)
After listening to the story, Chief Radek bowed deeply as if to express his gratitude.
"Thank you for listening to our selfish request. ...And please take good care of Captain Curtis and Lady Fia." (Chief)
The residents who had been watching the conversation nearby also called out to Captain Curtis.
"Captain Curtis, please treat our great saint!"
"Please, protect the Great Saint!"
I blinked rapidly as I watched the noisy residents and Captain Curtis nodding in satisfaction.
……Umm? Before I even knew it, it was decided that Captain Curtis would be working in the royal capital. The story unfolded at a furious pace and before you knew it, it had moved on.
I didn't really understand what happened, but I could tell that Captain Curtis had demonstrated incredible skill. It was quite an achievement that he was able to convince Captain Cyril by having the residents push him along.
As I was deeply impressed by this, I suddenly remembered the promise we made the other day.
...Huh? Come to think of it, I made a promise with Captain Curtis, right? If Captain Curtis can join the First Knights without causing any discomfort to anyone, I will allow him to serve me.
Hmm, is this not a bad idea? It's in response to the requests of the people of Sutherland, so it doesn't feel strange, right? Or rather, I wonder if Captain Curtis had a hand in Chief Radek? Or perhaps Captain Curtis was a remote island dweller in his previous life, and so he made good use of the characteristics of his clan that he was familiar with? Otherwise, the story wouldn't have progressed so conveniently for Captain Curtis. Ahhh, that's right, if I'm dealing with the people of a remote island, there's no way I can defeat Captain Curtis.
And yet, he makes me make a promise with a nonchalant air of equality. Captain Curtis is truly a strategist, isn't he!
While thinking that, I became worried as to whether this was really okay and looked at Captain Curtis. Then, Captain Curtis noticed my gaze and asked me concernedly.
"What's the matter, Lady Fi? Is there something bothering you?" (Curtis)
"...Curtis, are you really willing to lose your position just to come to my side?" (Fia)
After hearing my reply, Captain Curtis tilted his head slightly as if thinking.
"That's true... I was heartbroken when Captain Cyril took my role as the guardian knight. However, I'm uncomfortable being in a position higher than you, so I'm glad to hear that I'll be relieved of my position as Captain." (Curtis)
I stared intently at Captain Curtis' expression, trying to see if there was any shadow on it. The captain caught my gaze and narrowed his eyes as if he had seen something dazzling.
"Lady Fi, my role doesn't really matter to me. Whether I'm your guardian knight or not, as long as I can be by your side and protect you... Ah, Lady Fi, this time I will protect you from anyone, anything, everything in this world." (Curtis)
"Curtis......" (Fia)
Seeing Captain Curtis continued speaking as if overcome with emotion, I lowered my eyebrows in a troubled manner and grasped one of his hands with both of my hands.
"Curtis, thank you always, always. But you get so caught up in your duties that... I wish you'd let go of your role as the guardian knight and act with more freedom of thought." (Fia)
Saying this, he sighed in disappointment, and then Captain Curtis opened his eyes wide as if he had just realized something.
"Ah, Lady Fi! Perhaps you wanted to set me free, and so you deliberately called Captain Cyril the reincarnation of the Blue Knight?" (Curtis)
Seeing the surprised Captain Curtis, I opened my mouth in confusion.
"Half of the reason was because I thought it was convenient, but the other half was... well, I wanted to set you free. Once you were free, you could do whatever you wanted, and if you still wanted to be by my side, I thought you could come back. Sutherland is an important place to you, so I wanted you to spend some time here doing as you pleased." (Fia)
"Lady Fi" (Curtis)
When Captain Curtis heard what I had to say and smiled happily, I felt a sense of guilt for his attitude of prioritizing me so much.
"Well, I don't know! I'm just a knight, and there are many things I'm hiding, so my actions are restricted, and the things I can do are different from before. It won't be the same life as you imagine it would be. And yet... Curtis, I hate to say it, but you're a bit of an idiot. Even though you're a fine adult, you don't think about your own interests, and you can't calculate at all!" (Fia)
I took this opportunity to blurt out everything I was thinking.
When Captain Curtis heard what I said, for a moment he looked taken aback, but the next moment he burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha." (Curtis)
He continued laughing as if he found something funny, and when it looked like he was holding his eyes with one hand, he was laughing so hard that he even started crying.
"Haha... ha... Lady Fi. I'm surprisingly good at calculations. And I had plenty of time to think about it. Even if I were given my freedom, I would feel that all the time I wasn't able to be by your side was just wasted. Haha... If the fact that you've been able to think that far is the result of the virtues I gained in my past life... then I have been more than rewarded." (Curtis)
"…………" (Fia)
Perhaps in today's usage, "Having been virtuous in a previous life" meant "Deeds in a previous life."
Yes, of course, Canopus has given me more than enough.
I looked closely at Captain Curtis and then opened my mouth.
"Yes, I believe you were extremely virtuous in your past life. But the fact that you may now be suffering because of it...it's not worth it at all!" (Fia)
"...Lady Fi, I hope that one day you will understand how much I want to be by your side. I can say this with complete confidence. I am definitely in the place where I am most comfortable, doing what I want to do most." (Curtis)
"……That" (Fia)
Captain Curtis had such a look of genuine satisfaction on his face that I couldn't say anything more.
In any case, Commander Savis and Captain Cyril agreed to the plan. There was nothing I could do about it now.
I let out a small sigh as if to change my mood, then looked at Captain Curtis in shock.
"...That's right. I'm sure you know what you want to do. I hope so. However, I was wrong about one thing. I said you were an old man who couldn't do math, but you got the people of Sutherland to push you to return to the royal capital, didn't you? You're quite the strategist after all!" (Fia)
When Captain Curtis heard what I said, he looked as if he'd noticed, but that was all; there was not the slightest hint of apologetic expression on his face.
"Ah, have you noticed? I shook up the chief a little and took advantage of the residents' special qualities... You see, Lady Fi. I am more faithful to my desires than you think, you know?" (Curtis)
I frowned as I saw Captain Curtis smiling proudly.
"Not at all! Being true to your desires means doing something for yourself! You're only doing it for me, so that's not right!" (Fia)
Captain Curtis didn't say anything more, but the look on his face was one of satisfaction and happiness.
Because of this, I was unable to say anything more and just looked at Captain Curtis with a mixture of joy and regret.
Author's Note
[Supplement]
In the main text, there is a line from Captain Cyril that says that a certain knight, Captain, also requested demotion, but this is a story from volume 2 of the book.