It didn’t seem like he intended to talk to himself from the beginning; it was probably because he was so flustered that the words slipped out.
“Commander of the 4th Knight Order?”
I turned to the commander with a bright smile on my face.
“What’s so strange?”
“What?”
“The Azure Dawn Knight Order is made up entirely of aura knights. It’s only natural for them to use aura.”
The commander looked at me with a suspicious gaze.
‘What is she trying to say this time?’
His eyes seemed to convey that meaning.
I shrugged nonchalantly at the commander.
“By the way, there’s something I’m curious about.”
“…What is it?”
“As you mentioned yourself, up until now, the Azure Dawn Knight Order couldn’t use aura during training, right? Because there weren’t enough purification elixirs.”
I paused, staring intently into the commander’s eyes.
“Yet, the Azure Dawn Knight Order is……very naturally conducting one-on-one demonic monster combat training, aren’t they?”
“……”
The commander’s face twisted in an instant at my words.
‘Well, at least he’s not completely oblivious, is he?’
I asked again in a cold voice.
“Surely, you didn’t insist that knights who couldn’t use aura because they lacked purification elixirs continue with one-on-one demonic monster combat training, did you?”
“Th-That’s…”
“Also, while the 4th Knight Order was receiving aura weapons, it seems you didn’t even pretend to provide aura weapons to our knights.”
I lowered my gaze, smiling brightly like a rose with thorns.
“Up until now, was the 4th Knight Order the only one using aura while our knights couldn’t use it at all?”
“……”
“This is really, really unfair.”
“……”
The commander bit his lower lip hard enough to draw blood.
I gazed at him coldly before glancing at the evaluator.
“By the way, as far as I know, the evaluator has always been dispatched to joint training sessions.”
The evaluator and I made eye contact.
He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple moving noticeably.
Watching him, I asked softly.
“Have you been just standing by, watching this unfair training process all this time?”
“N-No, that’s…”
“I’m really disappointed.”
I drew a firm line with my cold declaration.
Both the commander and the evaluator froze in response.
“I’ll have to think about this carefully.”
Like the arrogant and willful villainess I was, I crossed my arms first. Then, I crossed my legs at an angle and let my sentence trail off.
“Whether to just let this go, or…”
I alternated my gaze between the two, a sly smile spreading across my lips.
“Should I lodge a direct complaint with the Northern Commander-in-Chief?”
“……”
“……”
The faces of the two men turned pale.
One of them was trembling so much that even his mustache quivered with fear.
After a brief moment, the evaluator hastily asked,
“Administrative Officer Astrid, do you have a specific solution in mind?”
Oh, he’s quick to catch on?
“Hmm~ Let me see.”
I tilted my head for a moment before my eyes lit up as if I had a brilliant idea.
Then, I changed my expression and spoke softly.
“How about this?”
“This…?”
“Let’s add 10 points to the Azure Dawn Knight Order’s evaluation score.”
At this suggestion, the evaluator’s pupils shook as if hit by an earthquake.
“Yes? But—”
“Come on, that’s not too difficult, right?”
I brazenly posed the question, though honestly, it was indeed difficult from the evaluator’s perspective.
If he were to add 10 points to the Azure Dawn Knights’s score while our knights were already excelling.
It would mean that even if the Azure Dawn Knights knights lay down and did nothing from now on, they would unconditionally outscore the 4th Order.
‘Naturally, the 4th Order’s commander wouldn’t like that.’
However, he would dislike facing the Northern Commander-in-Chief even more.
“T-That’s—”
The evaluator bit his lip, unable to make a decision.
He wanted to accept my proposal but was wary of the 4th Order’s commander.
‘Hmm, in that case.’
I decided to extend a gracious helping hand to the evaluator in his predicament.
“Is that okay with you Commander of the 4th Order?”
I looked at the commander with a bright smile.
He could no longer maintain his composure.
Seeing his deeply troubled face gave me a bit of satisfaction.
“Well—”
“If you really don’t want to, just request an immediate meeting with the Commander-in-Chief right after this joint training is over.”
I declared cheerfully.
“…Understood.”
In the end, the 4th Knight Order’s commander also conceded.
Having secured victory, I nodded with a satisfied look.
Meanwhile, Giscard was watching me with a peculiar expression.
How should I interpret that look?
A mix of gratitude, joy, and a touch of reluctance.
As if he was thinking, ‘It’s really lucky that this mad dog that bites everyone is on our side.’
I mean, why the fuss even when we win?!
* * *
So, I had set the stage for our knights, and the long-awaited moment finally arrived.
Buuuuu—
The trumpet sound signaling the start of the joint mock battle echoed loudly.
Under the blue sky, flags bearing the crests of each knight order fluttered fiercely in the wind.
‘Finally!’
I felt my heart pounding with anticipation.
The highlight of the joint training was undoubtedly the joint mock battle between the two knight orders.
This battle assumed a scenario where they fought against more than twenty large demonic monsters.
The composition of the joint mock battle was as follows:
The Azure Dawn Knights took the front line.
Since the Aura Knights could project powerful firepower, their role was to sweep away the demonic monsters initially.
The 4th Knight Order followed in the rear.
They supported the Azure Dawn Knights at the front, and if the demonic monsters could not be finished off by the firepower projection at the front, they took care of the aftermath.
‘Our knights will be moving in four teams, right?’
I watched the large training ground with sweaty palms.
‘Am I finally going to witness the complete defeat of the 4th Knight Order?!’
The Azure Dawn Knights was the most elite group among all the knight orders of the empire.
With just thirteen pure combatants including Giscard, and fourteen if you count me, a non-combatant.
Maybe because of their small number, the Azure Dawn Knights was said to be very accustomed to team battles.
They moved almost as if they were a single body.
And that was indeed true.
‘…Oh my God.’
I kept exclaiming in admiration.
The first team consisted of Sir Rodrigo, Sir Daniel, and Sir Patrick.
Sir Rodrigo used his telekinesis to immobilize the demonic monster models in the front.
Then Sir Daniel snapped his fingers, and flames erupted, engulfing the immobilized models in an instant.
Finally, Sir Patrick summoned the wind, causing the flames to swell and spread rapidly to the surrounding models.
At this, the knights from the other teams immediately shouted in protest.
“Hey, don’t touch our prey!”
“That one’s ours!”
Even at a glance, it was clear that the knights of the Azure Dawn Knights were thoroughly enjoying themselves.
The four teams supported each other, moving in perfect unison.
Bang! Boom!
The demonic monsters models exploded non-stop.
Their strategy was so effective that the 4th Knight Order in the rear hardly needed to provide any support.
In fact, the knights of the 4th Knight Order were struggling just to keep up with the Azure Dawn Knights.
“This can’t be…”
A sigh escaped the lips of the 4th Knight Order’s commander as he watched the scene.
The evaluator’s expression was also far from bright.
‘Looks like there wasn’t even a need to secure those extra 10 points in advance.’
As I chuckled to myself, I suddenly narrowed my eyes.
Something seemed off.
The Azure Dawn Knights was almost entirely sweeping away the demonic monsters in front of them.
The 4th Knight Order should have been on guard and joining in the monster hunting.
But they were just clumsily circling around, as if they had no command structure at all in this situation.
I focused on the 4th Knight Order instead of our knights for a moment.
And then,
‘Hmm?’
I tilted my head in confusion.
This is because I had witnessed a strange scene.
* * * *
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There’s only 12 soldiers??? Damn. I didn’t think they were that small. Also, don’t they shorten their life spans by using their powers? Wouldn’t it be a waste to use them in training then?