I was in a daze all day on Monday. I had planned to finish my morning work quickly and then head to the lawyer’s office for a bit.
“Excuse me, Captain. Can I leave right after I finish my fieldwork….”
“Yes, please do. But I’ll need you to submit the report tomorrow.”
“It will proceed without a hitch.”
It was lunchtime, and most of the others had gone out to eat, but as usual, Sir Sein was saving his lunch hour to work so that he could leave early after finishing it.
Well, I was also thinking of taking advantage of a bit of flexible working hours today.
I quickly glanced through the papers and checked my watch. It was about fifteen minutes past lunchtime.
“Okay… I’ve dealt with the urgent matters, and since I’ve already asked for their understanding, I suppose it’s fine if the consultation at the lawyer’s office takes a little longer and I come back late.”
Even if I came home late, I’d likely have to work overtime anyway… It was disheartening.
I grabbed my shabby cloak and hurried down the stairs.
However, just as I was about to pass the entrance, a small figure called out to me.
“Excuse me, Sir!”
“…Hmm?”
A girl of about eight with brown hair waved her hand, her bright eyes shining with enthusiasm.
“Are you a knight of the Ruby Knights!”
“…Yes, that’s right. Do you have something to report?”
She shook her head vigorously.
“No! I came to see Dad!”
‘Ah… Dad?’
My mind went blank for a moment. There shouldn’t be any married individuals in our Order, right? I knew that well because I managed their personal files.
“Uh, have you lost your Dad? Should I report him missing?”
“No! Dad is a knight! You’re Captain Clara, right? I can tell by the color of your hair! Dad told me about you.”
“….”
It seemed I could no longer ignore the shocking reality that there was a single father among the members in our Order.
And judging by the girl’s age and appearance…
“Excuse me, what is your father’s name?”
“It’s Sein Pierre! Sein Pierre de Forte!”
“….”
As expected, it was Sir Sein….
No matter what, I figured Lionel and Billy wouldn’t have gotten into trouble when they were just young themselves.
Nevertheless, I couldn’t leave the child alone like this. I could postpone the lawyer consultation and handle it later.
“Have you had lunch?”
“I have! The next-door aunty next gave me some food!”
“I see. Well, shall we wait in our office for now?”
The girl blinked and asked with a curious expression.
“But why are you being so polite to me? You’re an adult!”
“Ah… That’s because you should respect anyone filing a complaint, no matter their age.”
“Complainant…?”
“Come to think of it, you’re not here to fill a complaint. Can I speak informally with you?”
“Yes!”
“Okay. Can I ask your name?”
As I held her hand and walked up the stairs, she smiled bashfully.
“Dad told me not to tell my name to strangers!”
“….”
But didn’t you just tell me your father’s name? Considering her age, I couldn’t quite tell whether she had been well-educated or not.
“Well, I’m your father’s colleague. If you know my name, wouldn’t it be unfair if I don’t know yours?”
“Um….”
She wiggled her fingers and nodded.
“Okay! But you can’t tell anyone else, okay?”
“I promise.”
“My name is Judy! Judy Forte!”
It was a cute name, reminiscent of a character from a novel I read in my past life.
I sat her down in front of my empty desk and sent a cancellation notice to the law office.
First, I decided to carefully check on the child’s situation before contacting Sir Sein.
“Judy, why did you suddenly come to see your Dad? Did anything happen at home?”
“Nothing!”
“Then why did you come here alone?”
“You know, I was curious about where my dad worked. But when I said I wanted to go, Dad kept telling me I can’t come!”
“….”
“That’s why I just came! I know how to read a map!”
“I see… You’re really smart, Judy.”
“Hehehe!”
It was an incident that brought a warm smile to my face. Of course, when we were young, we were also often curious about what adults are doing.
If she had often heard stories about the knight order from her dad, it probably would have sparked even more curiosity.
‘By the way, the child is very outgoing. It’s amusing how different she is from her dad.’
She sat on the chair, unable to stay still for even a moment, her body was swaying as she looked around.
“Do you work as a knight here? Where is the training ground? Do you use swords there?”
“…Um, well…”
The girl’s innocent yet blunt questions tugged at the heart of this poor Captain of the knights.
“There is a large training ground somewhere else and I practice there sometimes.”
Even though I was borrowing someone else’s training ground…
“I see! Hehe, you know, Judy wants to become a knight too!”
To voluntarily jump into this demanding profession… Sir Sein, you haven’t shown your child the darker side of being a knight?
But I didn’t want to dampen the enthusiasm of such an innocent child, so I smiled and played along.
“That’s wonderful that you want to be a knight. I see you have Spirit too.”
“Uh, um… Oh…”
Then Judy flapped her hands, her face turned pale.
“I was told not to tell this to anyone! Oh no! Judy did not say it!”
“….”
“…No. I really did not.”
“Yeah. Okay. Judy did nothing wrong.”
I could understand why she was reacting that way. Spirit users who hadn’t yet reached puberty were attractive targets for kidnappers.
Although the security has improved somewhat since my childhood, a shocking kidnapping incident had recently occurred in the heart of the capital.
Sir Sein must have thoroughly trained his daughter to hide the fact that she possessed Spirit. Still, being a child, she was a bit careless.
“Aren’t there any other adults at home? Didn’t they stop you from coming alone?”
“No, there aren’t! The lady next door often checks on me, but she’s busy today, so I just came out for a bit.”
“…I see.”
“Is Dad busy these days? It seems like he doesn’t come home as often as before.”
“Does your father usually take care of you?”
“Yes!”
Only then did I understand why Sir Sein always seemed so restless and why he always left work early to go home.
‘It must have been because he had to leave the child alone at home…’
Knowing the truth, I felt a little guilty as a Captain, thinking about how often Sir Sein stayed late for work.
Nevertheless, now that I know the situation, I should contact him. If things continued like this, Sir Sein would be shocked when he got home and found that Judy wasn’t there.
‘I should contact him.’
As soon as I activated the communicator, Sir Sein answered.
“Hello, Sir Sein. This is Clara Weyburn. Would it be alright to speak with you for a moment?”
[Yes, Captain. I’m almost finished, so it’s okay. Do you have something urgent?]
“Oh, that’s not it. Um, Sir Sein. Your daughter came to visit our knight’s order.”
[…Yes?]
“Your daughter Judy came to the front of the Knights to see her father. I’m looking after her right now.”
[What…?]
Sir Sein remained silent for a moment, as if at a loss for words, before finally speaking.
[…Okay, I’ll finish up and head back.]
“Yes.”
The connection ended abruptly. I could sense the panic and confusion in his voice even through the communicator.
“Dad will be here soon. Why don’t you play here with me for a bit?”
“Wow! I want to see you use a sword!”
“…That seems a bit dangerous. Maybe next time.”
“Okay!”
“Would you like to wear a cloak instead?”
“Really? Is that okay?”
“Yes.”
I dropped the cloak that was hanging on the hanger over Judy’s shoulders. By then, she was practically wrapped in it as if wearing a blanket instead.
Still, Judy was so excited that she started jumping up and down, playing knight all by herself.
“Hehehe, I’m a knight! Get out of the way! You punk, don’t move!”
It seemed her references to knights were quite old-fashioned. Even the way she spoke was as such.
As Judy laughed and played, the bell rang.
‘Hmm, is that a dispatch call?’
Since Judy was here, I had to apologize and ask for permission to be a little late, even though it was a dispatch call. I nervously picked up the communicator.
“…Hello, this is the Ruby Knights headquarters.”
[Ah. I had a good feeling about this, and it was indeed you.]
As soon as the soft voice reached my ears, goosebumps ran down my spine. It was a voice I didn’t want to be familiar with, yet it was all too well-known.
It was Gustav.
“What is it, Vice Captain Gustav? Are you using the Knights Templar hotline for personal matters?”
[You recognized me just by my voice? I’m glad.]
“If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll hang up….”
[I’m touring around your Knights’ Order to receive the documents. I was wondering which direction to take first, and it seems like this is a good opportunity. It’s nearby, so I’ll come right now.]
“….”
[See you in a bit.]
Gustav is a real freak🫤