‘Now that I think about it, I had almost forgotten that a formal apology to me was included in the duel as the reward for victory.’
I nodded my head to Billy, indicating to let the person in.
‘I wonder if he had written the statement properly? Well, that’s none of my business.’
While thinking so in my head, my hands faithfully processed the mountain of tedious paperwork in front of me. However, unlike me, who was involved in the matter but rarely showed any reaction, Lionel sitting across from me had a very excited expression on his face.
‘Yeah, Lionel has worked so hard lately. I guess it’s not bad to let him enjoy this much vitality in life.’
Soon, the door to the knights’ office opened and a man with a large build appeared behind Billy.
‘Oh, he looks really pissed.’
Although we didn’t have the best first impression, I hadn’t had the intention to show an annoyed face much like his. Since he came to apologize sincerely, I thought it’s only proper if I greeted him politely.
“Greetings Squad Leader Krosner. It’s been two weeks since we have met.”
“….”
However, at my sincere greetings, his already depressed face suddenly crumpled further.
“Are you mocking me?”
“Hmm?”
“Really, haaa… I believe you’re going to claim that you weren’t aware of it, aren’t you?”
Mentioning things that I had no clue of, he continued speaking in an angry voice, his hair disheveled.
“Because of you, I had to submit a report and was relieved of my position. I’m currently being held on standby!”
“…!”
At his sudden exclamation of something which I truly was unaware of, I couldn’t help but show an astonished expression.
“Ah…um. That’s really unfortunate.”
“Unfortunate? If you hadn’t gone to another knighthood first and caused misunderstandings…Ugh, huff.”
It seemed he must have had more troubling things to tackle. Even though there were things he wanted to say, he closed his mouth in the end.
Eventually, Krosner took a few deep breaths as if he was barely holding back his anger before shouting.
“Whatever! I apologize about what happened before. Hmph, it’s not really something to apologize for, but I’m just keeping the conditions of the duel result because of my honor as a knight. Hope you’re aware of that!”
“….”
“Then I’ll take my leave!”
Then, before I could even show any reaction of acceptance to his apology, Krosner stormed out of the knights’ office. With a loud ‘bang!, the door to the knight’s office was closed.
For a moment, it felt as if a huge typhoon had passed by.
“Should you… even consider that an apology?”
Lionel asked the reasonable question which I believe everyone else was thinking of.
“First of all, it seems very different from the apology method my mother has taught me! When apologizing, she told me not to attach conditions and to clearly state my mistakes!”
“Billy’s mother is really wise.”
I held my forehead at Billy’s silly but reasonable argument. In my heart, I thanked his mother’s hard work in raising him, who was overly cheerful but surprisingly had his own set of conscientise.
The door opened again, and this time a face with a smile plastered on it entered.
“Hello… It seems like a knight visited our knights’ office. What happened?”
Sir Sein, who was as usual late for work, glanced at our expressions and asked curiously. Now that I think about it, I realized that Sir Sein hadn’t got the news about my duel.
Lionel briefly explained the situation to him, as if he was criticizing Krosner, who had just left the office. After hearing everything, a frown appeared on Sir Sein’s wrinkled face.
“Hmm…. That’s really offensive.”
“Yeah, that person’s attitude was terrible.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. Since he came here to apologize formally in the first place, the knight should have submitted a report with that and be reinstated. Would that ridiculous apology be considered an official apology? It’s not an apology, but rather an act that I believe only hurt the Captain’s feelings.”
“….”
At the sudden passionate way of assessment, I blinked my eyes in surprise. For a moment, I forgot that it was the first time I have seen Sir Sein showing extreme enthusiasm. Next to me, Lionel teased him as he expressed his hidden feelings.
“Sir Sein, you care a lot about our Clara, don’t you?”
“Yes? Ah…. Um. That’s….”
The enthusiastic attitude he showed earlier disappeared all of a sudden. With a hesitated face, Sir Sein went to his seat.
“That, just. I meant that was what was supposed to happen. So I hope you please take note….”
“Yes. Thank you for your concern, Sir Sein.”
“….”
Sir Sein kept quiet, perhaps embarrassed that he had shown his anger in a way that was not typical of him. After all, to us, he was a uselessly cute old man.
Nevertheless, I could understand Sir Sein’s words. To be honest, he was upset that I had accepted an apology that couldn’t be considered even a proper apology.
But anyway, it was also true that that bastard Krosner had come to our knights’ office on his own two feet and apologized. I couldn’t complain about the quality of his apology…… Our knights’ didn’t have that much power or authority.
‘Living in this world where power and social status is everything is hard in reality.’
Still, it was a bit amusing to think that Krosner was on standby for a while.
“Nevertheless, I remembered that I received a few documents requesting cooperation on my way up. One is from the Royal Court, and the other is from the Museum and the Art Gallery….”
“Oh, I suppose today was the deadline. Please transfer them to me. I will give them a look.”
“Yes.”
Now that it was known that our knights are officially in charge of Heilbronner, the documents arrived to request for a smooth work process in the future. They were sent from places that had been targeted by the thief Heilbronner in the past or was likely to be targeted by him in the future.
The documents were basically about giving permission to our knights in advance so that we would not experience any inconvenience when entering and exiting the targeted places, or providing other necessary information.
‘I finally feel like I belong to the Knights Templar for receiving papers like this.’
Astonishment washed over when I received the documents first which soon turned to pride. I couldn’t believe that now I could enter areas off-limits to the general public. But after the initial excitement died down and I accumulated some experience, I started to feel less enthusiastic.
As I checked the contents one by one, something occurred to me and I tilted my head in puzzlement.
“Hmm? It seems no official document from the Imperial Relics and Treasure Management has arrived.”
“Yes…. I’ve checked the names of secretariats on the documents that were sent when I arrived. However, I found none from the Ministry of Imperial Relics. They should have all been sent by today….”
“Since it hasn’t arrived today, perhaps they’ll contact us tomorrow? Well, Sir Sein, you can go back to work.”
“Yes.”
Although I dismissed it as something insignificant, I still felt a little anxious inside. The Imperial Relics and Treasure Management was under the jurisdiction of Ludger Kassen himself and he was the director.
He was known for having a strict and professional attitude in his work. He wasn’t the type of person to just idly sit by and watch his subordinates not handle deadlines with utmost care.
‘What…. Something’s wrong… I have a bad premonition….’
While I was agonizing over the fact, the bell in front of our knights’ office rang. Billy, who was in charge of answering, quickly got up and answered it.
“Hello! This is Billy Fonzie from the Ruby Knights. Yes. Uh…Yes?”
While I was wondering if I should point out his absentminded attitude when receiving the call, Billy tilted his head and put down the communication stone before approaching my desk.
“Uh… Captain. Sorry to bother you but we have another guest.”
“Guest?”
“Yes. But it’s…Duke Ludger Kassen.”
“…?!”
Why is it that my ominous premonitions are sadly always wrong?
I barely held back from banging my head on the desk.
***
After Krosner left the office of Ruby Knights, he rode his horse and headed not toward the palace where the Diamond Knights headquarters is, but toward the government office which was situated on the western side of the capital.
It was the headquarters where the Sapphire Knights, known as the ‘Knights of Rising Powers’, resided. They were a group of knights of great importance, although not as much as the Diamond Knights.
Showing his badge to the guard at the entrance, he headed straight to the Vice Captain’s office.
He knocked on the door roughly and a moment later a soft voice replied back with, ‘Come in’.
As soon as Krosner entered, the person sitting at the desk greeted him with a smile.
“Greetings, Senior Krosner.”
“…Gustav. You seem too happy to greet me.”
“Well, that’s not false.”
The young man called Gustav shrugged his shoulders before letting out a slight smile.
His appearance wasn’t something too noteworthy, he couldn’t even be called a peerless handsome man. However, his gentle and calm expression made people always have a good impression of him. His chestnut hair was neatly organized, and his sturdy body, evidence of his knighthood, gave the impression of being from Honam.
[T/N: Honam (literally “south of the lake”) is a region coinciding with the former Jeolla Province in what is now South Korea. Today, the term refers to Gwangju, South Jeolla Province and Jeonbuk State.]
However, his purple eyes, which looked very affectionate at first glance, had a strangely snake-like creepiness that seemed to see through people depending on perspective.
“But the Senior should know that the apology must be formal. You know I worked hard for your return.”
“…Yes, I know.”
Clicking his tongue as if annoyed, Krosner leaned back on the back of the sofa.
“Nevertheless, that Commander Geloic is extremely dark-hearted! Was it necessary to punish me this way just because I insulted that incompetent and shabby knight order?”
“Obviously, it wasn’t. Quite a few high-ranking officials are also dissatisfied with this action.”
“Right?!”
“Yes. Well… Commander Geloic had always favored Clara. He must have gotten the wind of your action and thus punished you this way.”
The voice, assessing the doings of his superior was calm, however, a prickle could be heard in Gustav’s words.
“Come to think of it, weren’t you and that crappy knight captain in the same training group? Has she always been that arrogant?”
“Clara….”
Gustav’s purple eyes shook for a moment, various emotions passed by behind those snake-like eyes.
“Yes, she has always been like that. I tried many times to get along well with her as a fellow trainee but…. Nothing is sadder than knowing that the other person doesn’t accept that.”
