Episode 47
Edwin had returned in less than thirty minutes, his expression rather grim. Helen worried that something might have happened to him, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask. It was surely something related to the knight order, after all.
Still, he didn’t look particularly upset, either. Edwin held out a piece of candy that looked as though it might have been extorted from one of the knights. When Helen accepted it and put it in her mouth, he rummaged through his pants pocket and pulled out another handful. The same amount of candy came from his left pocket. At this rate, it was reasonable to suspect he had swept up every last piece from the training grounds.
Helen rolled the candy around in her mouth and gently refused the pile being offered to her.
“One is enough.”
“Ah….”
A hint of regret joined the faint shadow already clouding his face. Edwin stuffed the candies in both hands back into his pants pockets. Then, without removing his hands, he fiddled with the wrappers.
The candy Helen was currently eating was strawberry flavored, so there were still at least two more flavors left. Since he had taken them from the communal snack basket in the conference room, he ought to return them, but he had no desire whatsoever to do so. In the end, he clenched one piece in his right hand and crushed it to bits.
A sound like something snapping in half rang out. Helen had a fairly good idea of what it was.
“I was trying not to ask, but I suppose I can’t help it. Is it because I refused the candy? Or is there some sort of problem?”
Only then did Edwin pull both hands from his pants pockets.
“It is nothing.”
“A lie.”
“Excuse me?”
“Your face clearly says you are lying right now. I may not look it, but I am very good at lying, so I can tell right away when someone else is lying.”
Helen smiled wryly at Edwin, who seemed unable to believe her words. Well, of course. As far as he knew, she only saw him as the world’s kindest benefactor who had saved an orphan who had lost her parents—someone who couldn’t even tell a single lie. So it was no wonder he was stunned.
“Internal knight order matters must be confidential, so I understand even if you do not tell me. It is not as though I could solve those problems anyway.”
The candy in her mouth had begun to melt. A rich strawberry fragrance gradually filled her mouth. Despite being candy, it felt as though she had bitten into a real, large strawberry. She recalled seeing other flavors earlier and wondered whether she should have taken a few more.
As she was diligently rolling the candy around with her tongue, slowly quelling her regret, Edwin worried for a moment, then seemed to reach a decision and bit his lower lip.
“I fear cutting the rat bastard’s lifeline will have to be pushed back.”
“Why? As I thought, I have no talent?”
She had expected as much. She was not from a family that had served as knights for generations, so what special ability could a half-noble young lady with no connection to the sword possibly have? She had said “you never know,” but since she hadn’t expected much in the first place, there was nothing to be disappointed about.
Helen resolved to accept it calmly even if Edwin said she had no talent. But a moment later, Edwin shook his head urgently and refuted her words.
“That is not the case!”
“Then? Since you cannot tell me the other reason, I suppose you are going somewhere far away?”
“……!”
Ah, he was such an easy man to read. His eyes opened wide as if they might tear from the strain, and his lips parted in shock, asking how she knew. Helen had simply guessed based on a hunch, but seeing his face confirm the answer for her, the corner of her mouth rose.
“It is not as though you have struck gold and quit, nor are you suddenly going on a long journey, so you must be returning to the capital.”
His lips, which had been gaping like a goldfish’s, pressed firmly shut. She had hit the mark.
“I have received word to prepare to return to the 2nd Knight Order.”
“Heavens! And we have only been in Hexilov for a few days….”
“Soon another person will arrive to take my place, so I must hand over my duties and go down to the capital.”
“What, has a war broken out? How can they send orders for people to come and go within mere days?”
It was the most peaceful of times, with no war against foreign nations, no internal conflict, and no demonic beasts showing themselves. This was surely the Emperor’s order.
Edwin did not say much about it, so it did not appear to be an order issued due to some dire situation. Which only made it more puzzling. For a knight sworn in loyalty to the Emperor, defying his command was a grave crime requiring one to forfeit one’s life, so he had to obey unconditionally.
“Still, it is a relief that I do not have to leave immediately tomorrow. Since there is still time, I will instruct you intensively every day until I return, just as I did today.”
“Just as you did today?”
Did that mean holding bottles full of water in both hands and bending her arms again? She currently had no strength to even lift a wooden sword, so those words were like a bolt from the blue. To make matters worse, Edwin added one more thing.
“As time is short, tomorrow I shall teach you at twice today’s intensity.”
“Might I decline, by any chance?”
“Excuse me…?”
“Haha, never mind.”
A hollow laugh escaped her. Helen had no strength whatsoever to rise from the bench. Needless to say, she could already see that she would lack the stamina to wake up tomorrow morning. She deeply regretted not having refused Edwin’s offer yesterday, but she considered the sincerity of the one teaching her.
“Do you know who is coming as your replacement?”
“……Well. They should arrive next week, so I suppose I will find out then.”
“If it was someone you knew, I was going to ask you to introduce me. It is a shame.”
“Introduce you?”
“We might run into each other on the road, so becoming acquainted would be nice.”
The candy she had been slowly rolling around in her mouth was now smaller than her pinky nail. It was now so small that she wouldn’t feel any pain from the pressure even if she bit down with her molars. Soon, the candy that had snapped in half broke apart once more. The tiny shattered pieces of candy left behind a sweet taste before vanishing completely.
* Sibello
“What’s with that getup?”
Helen jumped, startled by the voice directed at her as soon as she entered the mansion, and placed her hand over her chest. At that, Liandor, with a single gesture, set down on the floor paint cans, brushes, hammers, wooden planks, and other items that had been moving about noisily.
“Why are you jumping in surprise all by yourself?”
“I am not surprised! What are you doing in front of the entrance?”
“Can’t you tell? The stairs creak so badly. The sound grates on me, so I’m fixing them.”
Then he grumbled that the tenant was suffering because the landlord wouldn’t lift a finger. Just as Liandor said, the mansion was so old that its age was visible everywhere. They had only re-wallpapered this year, which was the only reason it was still in this state. The cost of repairing the hallway floors and the stairs was no small matter. It was on the level of renovating the entire mansion, so not only she, but even the estate’s servants had to forgo a warm, well-fed winter.
There were no major issues aside from the creaking, so she hadn’t paid it any mind—she never imagined Liandor would fix it himself. It must have bothered him immensely.
“If I had known it could be solved so simply with magic, I would have asked you long ago. What a pity.”
“As if. Did you think I didn’t know you were trying to avoid asking for my help as much as possible?”
Just as he said, since returning to Hexilov, Helen had not asked Liandor for help. With magic, anything could have been accomplished easily, but even knowing her limits in time and money, she had done her utmost to resolve things within them.
“I wanted to accomplish it with my own strength.”
“Going through all that trouble?”
“To show that even a half-blooded noble can do anything.”
At best, she had consulted books to devise methods so that fruits and vegetables wouldn’t easily freeze in the extreme cold of the northernmost regions, or adjusted the ratios of ingredients used in making fertilizer so that more fruit could bear, or collected fewer taxes so more people could benefit—that was the extent of it. Even that had not been entirely by her own strength. Without the support funds Lucas had sent, she wouldn’t have even been able to consider attempting any of it. Though it was something she should be grateful for, at times she felt burdened, wondering if she had received too much.
Liandor was not completely unaware of Helen’s feelings. That was why, even knowing she refused to lower herself to ask him for help, he had pretended to be indifferent.
“What’s with the outfit? Have you decided to become a knight at last?”
“I’ve decided to start swordsmanship lessons with Sir Vance today. I’ve already finished a day’s training.”
“You two have been alone together this whole time?”
A loud voice echoed through every corner of the first floor, as if amplified by magic. Helen reflexively covered her ears and frowned.
“If someone heard that, they’d think I had spent the night with Sir Vance.”
“How is that any different?”
Hmph. Liandor snorted and set the repair tools he had placed on the floor back into motion. A brush floating in mid-air without a hand to guide it applied polish to the wooden planks he had finished repairing. It would take at least three hours to dry completely, but they couldn’t very well avoid using the stairs, so he planned to finish the coating and then dry it instantly with magic.
“What a pointless thing to be jealous of. If he offers to teach me, I’m grateful. Where would private lessons from the youngest Knight Commander ever be easy to come by?”
“Wouldn’t magic be better?”
“……You’d nag me incessantly under the guise of teaching. I can see it plain as day.”
It was a dreadful thing, just to imagine. She was certain there was no one in all the world who would learn magic while enduring his endless nagging.