Chapter 8
Episode 8: A Rival Appears
Even if they're reckless, how could knights sworn to protect the empire act without any conviction?
Lucia, as their captain, couldn't tolerate it.
A vein popped on her usually indifferent face, which was devoid of any emotion. And the corners of her lips turned upwards.
Those who saw it shuddered.
The mad black monster.
The black monster's crazed smile was the captain's most feared expression, even by enemies.
Her squad members were startled and cried out at the sight.
"W-Wait! Captain!!! We've waited five years! Five whole years! We congratulate you on becoming a Sword Master, but shouldn't you think about those of us who have been waiting! Captain!"
"Y-Yeah! I can't stand other royal guard from other squads picking fights with us for no reason just because our captain's not around anymore!"
"...Too lazy to wake up in the morning."
Heath's words shattered the earnest atmosphere, and Vernon and Gillianna glared at him.
Lucia swallowed her anger at their fuss.
She could roughly guess why they were acting like this.
Even though the Black Knights were infamous, Lucia, who had been the main pillar of that infamy, had been away for five years.
And while the unique backgrounds of the squad members contributed to their lack of friendliness, the fact that the captain didn't get along with the nobles meant that support was cut off and they were often ignored by other royal guard.
They had joined the Black Knights for their own reasons.
Lucia's presence was a big part of those reasons, so they had endured and waited for five years despite their temperaments.
Their adventures with them were just beginning.
They might not remember it now, but Lucia was the one who would remember their twenty years of activity together and their deeper-than-anyone-else camaraderie.
Recalling those memories softened her heart.
Vernon, the highly educated one, Gillianna, from a famous chef's family, and Heath, the undeniable genius.
Even though they weren't all here, if these irreplaceable brothers and sisters helped her raise the child, then childcare would be...
'Are they even here for me like fate?'
Lucia was newly moved by the realization of their existence.
And slowly nodding,
"Leave the floor cleaning alone. There's a reason. The rest, just help until I return to duty..."
"Okay. Decided. Then, see you tomorrow~!"
"You know the food we brought is in the living room when you come in, right?"
"...Bye."
Vernon, Gillianna, and Heath disappeared leisurely through the window they had come in through.
They were cunning bastards who knew this would happen.
'…I should get rid of the windows.'
Lucia's face as she looked at the window was more serious than ever.
-Knock knock…!! Knock!!!
As if they had forgotten something, someone was urgently knocking on the front door.
"Now they remember to come through the door..."
When she opened the door, Berl was there, his face stained with tears.
"Captain...! It's been five years! For five years, I've been diligently continuing my work in place of the captain! But how could you not even tell me...?! I'm so, so disappointed!!"
Lucia's small understanding was overloaded.
"Go away."
"...Huh? Excuse me?"
Lucia, holding onto her fading sanity, closed the door as if nothing had happened.
And the lonely footsteps of Berl disappearing.
The atmosphere of the training camp dormitory, which couldn't have been noisier, became quiet again.
This was finally a place Lucia knew.
She took a short sigh and tried to lock the door and go up to the bedroom to take a nap with Nia.
But soon, the door she hadn't been able to lock properly was hurriedly reopened.
And unlike before, Lucia squinted at something bright that seemed to radiate light through the open door.
There, a strikingly handsome man in a neat white robe was breathing heavily.
Lucia immediately recognized his unusual appearance, which was not usually seen.
He was someone she knew.
And he was an unexpected person she never thought would come all the way here.
His flowing silver hair was damp with sweat, as if he had rushed here, and it slipped down his white skin, and his firm chest, wrapped in a white robe, heaved with rough breaths.
But his twilight-like golden eyes were fixed on Lucia and did not waver in the slightest.
As Lucia, reflected in those eyes, was about to open her mouth, he blurted out as if to cut her off.
"Who is the father of the child?"
*
"Hahaha! Did you see the vice-captain? He came with us, but he kept crying in front of the door. Amazing!"
Gillianna, who came out of the captain's quarters, said, laughing so hard that her neck bent.
"Why is he so attached? The captain would never open the door for him, given her personality."
Heath nodded as if agreeing with their words.
"Ah, but thanks to the vice-captain, it was bearable for five years."
"That's right. How fortunate that such a diligent person is in a royal guard full of bums like us."
The three of them nodded in unison, as if admitting that they were bums themselves.
"Ugh~ But is it really the captain's child?"
Gillianna said, loosening her stiff arms and legs from her horse-riding posture.
"There's no way. Our captain. The only time she touches a man is when she uses her sword to cut off the enemy's head..."
Vernon shuddered as if he was scared even saying it himself.
"Hmm. That's true. But they did look quite alike, didn't they?"
"Tsk tsk, did you even see properly? They don't look alike at all except for the hair..."
Vernon said, recalling the face of the child who had been wary in the corner.
"Really? No, but are you saying I didn't see properly? Are you trying to pick a fight again, you bastard!"
"Calm down, Gillianna. It doesn't matter what the captain did anyway, does it? It's a good thing, since we've been bored for five years."
Vernon skillfully diverted Gillianna's point.
"Well, that's true. Whatever the captain does, we'll be together. But a child. The captain is always amazing."
They were reminiscing about Lucia's stories, which were unlike those of ordinary humans, and were giggling as if they had never argued.
But Heath, who was listening, quietly muttered.
"...Changed."
At his words, the two who had been joking pricked up their ears.
"She tried to protect that child."
Genius magic tool maker, Heath.
That's what he's called now, but his hidden ability was unknown to anyone except Lucia.
And sometimes he would say things that couldn't be ignored.
"In what way?"
The quick-witted Vernon tried to latch onto Heath's questioning words.
And as Heath was about to open his mouth, the sound of hooves suddenly shook the ground near them like an earthquake.
And it passed them like lightning and soon disappeared.
"What was that? Just now? The only thing at the end of this road is the captain's quarters, right?"
Gillianna gathered herself as if she would chase after him right away.
But Vernon urgently stopped her with his hand.
"I think we can go our own way. It seems to be the captain of the White Wizard Division."
"Huh? What? Oh. Too bad. I missed that spectacle!"
Gillianna hit her palm hard with her fist as if she was really disappointed.
"Ha, how unfortunate. The most popular man in the empire, of all people... Our captain wouldn't even notice if she was over ninety years old."
"Hey. No way. That's too much~ Haha."
She laughed, saying it was impossible, but Vernon's words were perhaps more accurate than God's prophecy.
And not far from them, Berl, who was wiping away tears, was exuding a tiny presence.
*
Lucia was flustered by the man who had suddenly come to her.
Squad members might do that, but there was no one like this on the list of people who would visit if she took childcare leave.
But who was this?
Leon Luwins.
He was a man called an angel compared to herself, who was called the empire's monster.
With his proper demeanor and manners, he was the opposite of her, and was called a walking angel or a legal code.
But it was different for Lucia.
She was always being compared to him, who was called her unintentional rival, and she was always the indifferent and arrogant one compared to his bright and kind self.
Lucia said, looking at him, who was breathing heavily.
"What's the matter, Captain Leon?"
"I'll ask again. Whose child is it?"
He didn't seem to care at all about her question.
'This person shouldn't be involved. Could he be here for inspection instead of the Prime Minister?'
Lucia recalled his father as she looked at his silver hair, which reflected the light.
His father was the Prime Minister of the Empire, an unknowable old man with an extraordinary mind.
Although Lucia had received the Emperor's permission for childcare leave, if that conservative Prime Minister got involved, this clumsy vacation would undoubtedly be challenged once again.
He had been troublesome in the past, and he still was.
"I have no obligation to tell you."
"...You shouldn't answer like that in the future."
'What is this person saying...?'
Lucia was inwardly surprised by his hostile demeanor.
She had never even exchanged a proper conversation with him.
However, everyone knew that he was always quiet and calm, not just Lucia.
But today, he was strange.
He seemed to be barely holding back emotions that were surging like a typhoon. Then,
"If I find out, I will definitely kill him."
Lucia's eyes blinked rapidly in confusion at his unexpected words.
In fact, perhaps he didn't even know what he was saying right now.
'Running away... Why? Why with such an irresponsible, despicable man...!'
Jealousy.
He, who had never slandered anyone or harbored ill intentions, shuddered for the first time in his life at the sharp emotion that spread like poison throughout his body.
The Emperor's hasty audience just before this had a significant impact.
'Oh, stop badgering me. Why are you looking for the child's father from me? I understand. I'll only tell you. The father of Lucia's child actually ran away. Ugh, I would have run away too if I were him. Heh heh heh!'
That's right. It was a far cry from Lucia's explanation.
It was just a casual joke the Emperor made to him, who kept persistently asking.
But those words seemed to have caused a great misunderstanding for Leon, who was more serious than anyone else, and shattered his spirit, which was already frustrated by the sudden news of childcare leave.
Leon looked straight at her for the first time.
Those calm, blue eyes that he couldn't usually look at properly for fear of revealing his absurd feelings.
And when he saw her eyes, he remembered that day five years ago.
'If I win this match... will you grant my wish?'
'As you wish.'
That summer, under the bright sunshine, he mustered the courage to challenge her to a duel, carrying a heart that he could no longer contain, and was cleanly defeated without any fuss.
And only then did he realize.
The vitality that came alive when she held a sword, the infinitely empty look in her eyes when the match was over.
Beyond his own inadequacy, he realized painfully that unless someone broke her sword, he wouldn't be able to draw even a shred of interest from her, who only knew the sword.
He was frustrated, but he never gave up.
He simply decided to wait until she reached the level she wanted to reach, until a gap appeared in her heart.
...No one knew it would take ninety years.
Soon, in the long silence, he noticed a look of embarrassment on her face as she looked up at him.
It was a look he never wanted to see in the eyes that looked at him.
Only then did he come to his senses, clench his lips tightly, and quickly turn around.
However, his retreating figure was not a step back in restraint, but a rough stride as if he no longer had the luxury to hesitate.
As he left, Lucia, left alone in the emptiness, was simply dumbfounded as if she had been hit by a sudden bombardment.
'Is he crazy? Why would he kill me for hiding the child's father?'
