As soon as I arrived at work, the first thing I encountered was Lionel’s excited gaze.
Usually, he wasn’t the type to arrive to work this early, so it was clear that he must have come in early to chat with me before work about what happened yesterday. He was awfully curious yesterday too.
“Good morning, Clara.”
“…Oh, uh, okay.”
I pretended not to notice his probing gaze and sat down at my desk. However, Lionel had no intention to let it slide.
He plopped himself down on the empty desk next to me, as if he was about to thoroughly interrogate me.
“So what did you two do yesterday? Huh? Spill it all to your Big Brother right now.”
“Don’t get cheeky just because your birthday is later than mine. It was nothing special….”
“You say anything special, but didn’t the Young Duke offer you a bouquet of roses and even escorted you?”
“….”
Honestly, I had no excuse for that.
However, that being said, I couldn’t also confess, ‘Ludger Kassen is actually Heilbronner, and he took me to a fancy restaurant to keep my mouth shut, and to also keep me under surveillance.’
To others, it might have appeared to be the beginning of a romantic relationship. Objectively, I couldn’t deny that how it seemed.
If it were someone else’s situation, I’d probably be teasing them with comments like, “Hey, they both looked pretty good together, didn’t they?”
‘Come to think of it, how frustrating is it? What was Ludger thinking, taking me away like that in front of everyone and leaving me to deal with things on my own?’
I rubbed my forehead and tried to shift the conversation.
“No, you know, the culprit I caught at the last party. He owed me a favor for that, so he gave me the bouquet as a thank-you gift.”
“Heh…Our Clara, when were you naive enough to believe that? Your Big Brother is worried about you.”
“….”
The look in his eyes was clearly saying, ‘Obviously, the other party was making excuses like that just to get close to you. How could you fall for that?’
“No…But really… it was nothing special. We just had a meal.”
“All relationships start from nothing, right?”
Wrong, you bastard. I’m already trying to draw a conclusion in my head.
“Well, our Clara is somewhat attractive. I can’t believe that the Young Duke has also fallen in love with Clara’s charms. Now that makes sense.”
“…You might well just curse at me, you punk.”
I recalled the state of my attire when I had encountered Ludger so far. They were always shabby and dirty.
Not to mention makeup, my roughly bob cut hair was messy and disheveled. I doubt if that must have made me look very attractive.
When I pointed that out, Lionel commented as if turning the clothes inside out.
[T/N: The slang ‘복장 뒤집어 놓는 소리’ (literally “the sound of turning the outfit inside out”) implies a strong reaction or drastic measure in response to the criticism. Completely ignoring the fact and making their own judgement.]
“There are people with unusual tastes in this world. So, it’s possible that your shabby appearance was charming to the Young Duke, who has always been surrounded by ladies of high society… Ah, ah, ah! Oh no, a Spirit user is killing people!”
I slipped my arm around Lionel’s neck and twisted it. It should serve as a kind of joint massage and be good for his health. Though, it would be painful…
While I was trying to silence Lionel with modest pressure on the joint twist, the entrance to the Knights’ Office suddenly opened.
“Excuse me! Is this the Ruby Knights’ Office? Oh…Captain Clara!”
A tall woman with light pink hair smiled at me and greeted me with recognition.
She was wearing a knight’s uniform and looked familiar. She was…. Lan Maple, the girl who used to be mistreated by that Krosner jerk. She was also the sub-female lead from the original story.
“Hello.… Are you perhaps Sir Lan from the Diamond Knights?”
As I let go of Lionel and greeted her in embarrassment, she responded with a bright smile.
“Oh, I’m not affiliated with the Diamond Knights anymore.”
“Pardon?”
“Knight Lan Maple, I’ve just been assigned to the Ruby Knights!”
What…. What did she say?
When I was dumbfounded and couldn’t respond, Lionel stepped in first.
Unable to shake off the remnants of the pain he had received from the ‘massage’ he staggered as he moved his mouth quickly.
“Nice to meet you! I’m Lionel, the Administrator of the Ruby Knights. I haven’t heard anything yet about your appointment to our knighthood….”
“Ah, actually, the decision was made late yesterday afternoon! I was also told to start working tomorrow, but I wanted to introduce myself first, so I came.”
To forgo a legitimate vacation to visit a new workplace—could she really be human? Isn’t she an angel?
“Oh my goodness…Oh, the angel of Heaven.”
Lionel clasped his hands together and exaggeratedly stared out the window.
Judging that Lionel wouldn’t be much help with communication, I gathered my thoughts and asked Lan instead.
“Well… I’m pleased to meet you again. However, Sir Lan, you’re already an outstanding knight within the Diamond Knights. Why have you been assigned to the Ruby Knights?”
As far as I remember from the original, Lan’s affiliation didn’t change from the Diamond Knights. She even ended up being in charge of protecting the Second Prince.
For a character with such a significant role in the original story to be transferred to the Ruby Knights?
‘Did something happen in the meantime?’
Understanding the underlying meaning of my question, Lan replied with a smile.
“Actually… there was a major reorganization within the Diamond Knights.”
“I see.”
“As Captain Clara is aware, I was originally assigned to the squad led by Sir Krosner….”
Ah, she was referring to that guy who was picking on me for no reason. I remember him grumbling about being on standby. I wonder if he returned to his position?
However, Lan’s explanation that followed was completely unexpected.
“Sir Krosner was transferred to the Security Forces after being placed on standby.”
“Ah….”
I was completely astonished because I hadn’t heard anything about that. I thought he would soon return to his position after apologizing to me, but he has been demoted to the Security Forces instead?
The Security Forces tended to be considered a level lower than the Knights Templar.
Considering the difficulty of the entrance exam….and the fact that he was grumbling even while apologizing to me, it’s doubtful that he accepted that transfer order willingly.
‘Well, honestly, it’s a bit of a relief.’
“Because of this, our squad was disbanded, and I had no choice but to transfer.”
“I see… Wasn’t there a spot in any other squad of the Diamond Knights?”
The disbandment of the squad she originally belonged to for the transfer of the squad leader, Krosner, was understandable.
However, if Lan was accepted into the Diamond Knights at such a young age, it implies she had the skill to become an elite knight.
For someone with that background to be transferred to the Ruby Knights, which seemed more like a demotion, I wonder if she, like me, had some sort of conflict with higher-ups?
“No, the higher-ups did mention the possibility of transferring to another squad. However…. I volunteered to move to the Ruby Knights.”
“…?!”
Both Lionel and I were stunned into silence. She volunteered to join… this eccentric knight order?
“I heard that the higher-ups were considering sending additional personnel to the Ruby Knights’ as they were impressed by your recent performance. So, during the reorganization this time, they asked if there was anyone willing to transfer to the Ruby Knights and would like to volunteer.”
“I see….”
“Yes. I pondered about it a bit, and volunteered because I thought it would be a meaningful experience.”
“Ah, well, there’s a saying that you would face hardships while you’re young, even willingly seeking them out.”
Lionel’s less-than-helpful comments came from behind. I gave him a sharp nudge on the shoulder to silence him and turned to Lan with a smile.
“We’re very grateful for your volunteer transfer, but… our knight order has a lot of miscellaneous tasks and is somewhat short-staffed. I hope you’re aware of that….”
“Oh, yes! My seniors and subordinates gave me a lot of advice, and after gathering various pieces of information, I made my decision. You don’t need to worry about that.”
“….”
In other words, she must have brushed away everyone’s advice around her who tried to convince her to not transfer here and take a crazy decision.
But the question was… why? Is there a honey pot hidden in our knight order?
When I looked at her with a questioning gaze, Lan explained further while smiling brightly.
“I was certainly very interested in the task of pursuing the well-known criminal, the Phantom Thief Heilbronner. However, the truth is… the person I’m actually interested in is Captain Clara.”
“Huh?”
When the explanation that was separate from the original context suddenly came out, it sounded more like a confession. Realizing what she had just said, Lan blushed slightly and hurriedly corrected her words.
“Oh! To be precise, I’m interested in Captain Clara’s swordsmanship. I’ve certainly received a fair amount of teachings and have been striving to improve, albeit imperfectly in the Diamond Knights, but… ever since witnessing the duel between you and Sir Krosner that day, Captain Clara’s fabulous swordsmanship wouldn’t leave my mind.”
“That… I don’t think it was such an impressive display of swordsmanship, though.”
At the time, I was enraged at Krosner’s provocation and wanted to end the situation as soon as possible.
Therefore, instead of properly countering Krosner’s attacks, I avoided them and simply redirected his sword’s energy back to him to knock him out.
I didn’t show any flashy, spectacular techniques that would inspire admiration from others.
“That’s exactly what I mean. Without any impressive skills or flashy tricks, you demonstrated maximum ability with minimal movement and judgement. I didn’t miss that.”
“That’s….”
“That direction aligns perfectly with the path of swordsmanship I pursue. The ultimate martial art, practical and faithful to the basics. It’s the form I most want to emulate.”
“….”
I lowered my gaze, unsure of how to respond.
Thanks