Knights were mostly of noble birth.
While some gained independence after their knighthood investiture,
it was naturally better to receive support from one's family.
Noble children, in particular, were those who lived under someone's care from birth until adulthood.
In severe cases, there were even bizarre spoiled brats who couldn't wash their own bodies or change their own clothes.
Well, attending an academy where dormitory life was the norm, or getting accustomed to knightly life, gradually made such tendencies disappear.
But even if it gradually improved, having lived as a spoiled brat for a lifetime, would that be fixed so easily?
Many still kept attendants even after becoming knights.
Nannies and butlers always stood by, ready to rush over the moment they felt any discomfort...
They had no idea how ridiculous this looked.
Especially for Rihan, it was incomprehensible, and honestly, he sometimes clicked his tongue wondering if it wasn't rather embarrassing.
But...
"Oh my, Rihan brought a maid? That's a first!"
"Looking at her attire, she seems like a royal maid? Did someone bestow her upon him?"
"What a beautiful lady, how about a cup of tea..."
"...Rihan is right behind you."
"Gasp!"
...That embarrassing situation had fallen upon him.
When he had no such intention whatsoever.
"...Damn it."
Rihan spat out a curse.
"So, who is that beautiful lady?"
"Beautiful? Doesn't she look rather dense?"
"...She does seem a bit sluggish."
Jake faced the lady his friend had brought for the first time, slapped Rihan's back, and laughed playfully.
How pitiful Rihan had looked, insisting on living alone without taking a lover or a wife.
Actually, maybe there was something wrong with his body, or maybe he liked men, not wo—
"I don't know what you're thinking, but for some reason, I don't like it?"
"Ahem, ahem. I didn't say anything. Don't put words in my mouth."
"...Wasn't it?"
...This ghost-like bastard.
If there were realms to perceptiveness, he'd probably be an Aura User.
Jake stole a glance, then looked at the woman sitting on the lawn at the edge of the knight order's training grounds, trying to fall asleep with a sluggish face.
Drool was even dripping from her mouth; there was no telling when she'd fallen asleep.
"...She does look very tired, I'll give you that."
"Haa."
"What's your real relationship? It's not like you hired her."
"...Just know there are circumstances. It wasn't my intention. And I'll send her back soon."
"Hmm. Did the royal family send a designated commission by any chance?"
"......"
"I'll keep my mouth shut."
Jake finally nodded, saying he understood the situation.
The same went for the others.
Perhaps they had guessed to some extent given the presence of a royal maid.
It happened occasionally.
Times when the royal family designated a knight and issued orders.
It was a most glorious affair, a commission that had to be kept an absolute secret.
While it was enviable and stirred jealousy that he was designated by the royal family, objecting to a royal's decision was out of the question.
Respect and loyalty toward the royals, toward the Pendragon royal family, was something everyone held dear regardless of social status.
"Do your best. I'm rooting for you."
"How do you know what the commission is?"
"Not the commission, I mean the lady. She may look a bit dense, but she's a beautiful lady, isn't she? Haha!"
"......"
"Hm? Why is there a sudden chill..."
Rihan pondered whether to beat this guy up.
It wasn't like he was mocking anyone.
'I want a lover too, you bastard!'
It was a sorrowful secret he could never speak of anywhere.
Rihan, without showing it outward, cried inwardly like a swallow. * * *
Leila Winter.
That was the maid's name.
Though it was a situation he was forced into, while he resented the wicked aunt who created this situation, he didn't resent this dense maid, so he figured he should at least remember her name.
"Miss Maid, please don't do this here anymore and just rest at home. If not that, then go to the palace."
"No, Sir Knight. Still, I must do my best at the work I've been tasked with. I'm getting paid to work, after all, hehe."
"......"
She was a bit dense in the head, but a good kid.
She was only twenty-two.
Looking without prejudice, she was undeniably a diligent woman who tried her earnest best.
...The only problem was that things got destroyed one by one whenever she worked.
'Did that aunt send her to destroy my entire household, by any chance?'
It was a moment where he felt a subtle balance between suspicion and certainty.
"Cute child. Wasted on you."
"...Please make some noise when you walk, will you? You know, sometimes you seem more like a former assassin than an old man, right?"
"There was an assassin among my friends when I was young. I killed him with my own hands, though."
"......"
"Haha."
What a crazy old man.
The fact that even when he casually made such bloodthirsty remarks, it didn't sound like empty boasting, had to be this old man's flaw.
But even that flaw, someone would probably praise and flatter.
"What brings you here today? Aren't you attending a meeting?"
"Why would an old man like me go to such a place? The young ones will handle it."
"Still going your own way, I see."
Though he had white hair like an old man, it gleamed with enough luster to look moist, and his skin was so elastic it was hard to believe he was in his seventies.
His body was small and could seem unremarkable from one perspective, but his deep eyes and the subtle energy drifting around him made him far from ordinary.
If this world were a wuxia novel instead of medieval fantasy, the nickname that would suit him best would probably be 'Sword Sage.'
Baltar Grace.
A man who started as a gladiator, caught the eye of the then-king, and became a knight. A remarkable knight who achieved great merit in war and became an Aura User.
'If you meet Baltar on the battlefield, run.' — With so many tales of his martial prowess, he was undeniably a legendary rare human, even having an epic poem of martial deeds composed about him.
He was none other than a heavyweight knight even royals couldn't treat carelessly, and also an eccentric who refused the position of military supreme commander and instead took command of the 3rd Knight Order.
...From Rihan's perspective, he was also a mountain he had to overcome someday.
"Why did you really come? You usually never visit the knight order."
"Hehe, I heard you brought a woman, so I came out of curiosity."
"...You must be damn idle."
"Would I go around working at this age?"
"......Can't argue with that."
No matter how much of an Aura User he was, it was true he was already past the age to retire.
It was just that he maintained the peak of his body for a long time with aura, so he only looked young like this.
That was really something.
"I'm honestly envious, really. Heard you took in another wife?"
"Not a wife, a lover. Who's trying to make a married man out of me?"
"You've had ten kids already, shouldn't you admit it at some point? That's just shameless."
"If the body is young, the heart is young too. I'm still in my prime, haha."
"...No wonder the country's in such a state."
Ironically, this old man, whose appearance alone evoked the image of a dashing hero, was an incredibly virile man contrary to how he looked.
There were clearly women who were wives, but he claimed to have over ten lovers, and had sired over ten children.
Recently, a great-grandchild was born, wasn't there?
Yet he refused to admit he was a married man.
If they didn't hold a wedding ceremony, it was null and void, apparently?
Strangely, however, he had a sense of loyalty, cherished the women who bore his children, and fulfilled his role as a faithful father, so despite it being a family environment ripe for discord, it was said to be surprisingly harmonious.
...In my view, this guy was the true protagonist rather than those harem female leads or regression story male leads.
'Envious.'
While someone has lived 30 years without ever properly holding a woman's hand?
Huh? Including my past life, how many years in total?
...Keep it down.
"You seem to have a lot on your mind today."
"...There is something. An opportunity came to find something I had given up on, but the process seems like it'll be a bit messy."
"Haha, behaving out of character. Just go steadfastly as you always do, that's more like you."
"Easier said than done."
"Hehe."
He let out a hearty laugh, and only then did the knights who felt his presence stiffen.
When he deliberately hid his presence, it was difficult to notice him.
"W-We greet the Commander!"
Sincere salutes followed one after another.
There were probably some here seeing Baltar for the first time, and many who had only heard his name.
Since he was like a spirit beast, seeing him in person was a rare privilege.
And those who saw him all revealed a common emotion, which was none other than 'admiration.'
Since they were seeing a man who was already a legend before they were born, everyone naturally had sparkling eyes, and especially the eyes of the new knight Yord Decker, who had fought Rihan, burned brighter than ever.
Since he was effectively the pinnacle of the kingdom's knights, it was a natural reaction for orthodox knights.
"Everyone, get back to your duties. I'll just see to my business and leave."
However, even though passionate gazes were poured upon him, he didn't pay them any attention.
Despite his smiling expression, there was somehow an atmosphere that made him hard to approach.
It was the culprit that made many want to seek his teachings, yet no one could easily approach him, and Rihan.
"You might end up as fertilizer from hoarding techniques. What's so great that you have to teach?"
"Don't. I also hate bothersome things with a passion."
Baltar was famously unique in that, despite being an Aura User, he never took in a single disciple.
Even among his children who became knights, it was said they never received a single lesson from him, a testament to his eccentric nature.
At that moment.
—Come to the back garden later, I'll give you an appointment letter.
A voice tickled Rihan's ear.
It was a voice meant only for him.
Not using aura, but a method applying projection technique.
However, even if one had learned projection techniques, they wouldn't easily replicate it.
It was a high-difficulty technique to that extent.
And the person who experienced such a high-difficulty technique, along with admiration.
"Seeing a profound secret technique is nice and all, but let's just talk with our mouths. A man's voice ringing in my ear isn't exactly pleasant."
"...You insolent brat. You should just read the room."
"It gives me the creeps."
"...How about we exchange words with swords first before talking?"
"Haha, that's good. Come up to the rooftop, old man!"
"There's no rooftop here here."
Shring.
Baltar accepted his insolent provocation, and Rihan couldn't have been more delighted.