CH 22

I know. Heiner can’t be punished for this.

But if he goes into the re-investigation, Heiner will be nervous in his own way. Besides, he will be greatly scolded by Duke Lodgemund for hurting the face of the family.

It’s a small thing, but that was the greatest revenge I could ever take on Heiner.

And I didn’t want to miss that opportunity.

“It’s really fine.” I spoke as calmly and confidently as possible, so that Kalman could believe me.

“Are you serious, Lady?”

“Of course. Can’t we just ignore the wrong things because we’re afraid of things that haven’t happened yet?”

My words made his expression look strange.

It was like the expression of an explorer who found a platypus speaking human language.

“Please investigate! Thoroughly, with no gap! Let no one ever do something like this again.”

Kalman’s eyes widened. He looked back at me again.

“The Lady really is the perfect fit for Barmuth.” Kalman looked relieved now.

“According to Lady’s words, we will thoroughly investigate with no gap so that no one can ever make up for something like this again.”

And an amazing thing happened.

Kalman knelt down on one knee in front of me.

This is known as a greeting that knights only give to their superiors or to a lady they personally respect.

It’s a salutation I can never receive, isn’t it?

“Thank you, Lady. Thank you for giving me a chance to restore the honor of the 1st Knights.”

Kalman didn’t pull back his bow even when he was in front of me, who was startled and not sure what to do.

Rather, his attitude became more reverent, and his voice became more serious.

“If there is something that Lady needs my help with, I will do my best to help.”

“Excuse me, Sir Kalman. Please get up first.”

“Only if Lady would accept my thanks.”

Whoa, if I get Kalman’s greeting here, I’ll be his ‘Dear Lady’!

Even if it’s me, it’s a bit burdensome!

But Kalman really didn’t seem to want to get up until I received his greeting.

What should I do? I can’t keep letting Kalman on his knees.

So it was the moment when I had no choice but to receive his greeting

“Sir Kalman, what are you doing now?”

Above my head, I heard the chilling voice of Kellerhan.

That’s a relief. Kellehan was aware of my plight and tried to help me.

Of course my expectations were shattered by the very next words he uttered.

“Did you think I would let the deputy commander of the 1st Knights swear an oath of respect to my daughter-in-law?”

What? What did I just hear?

“If you want my daughter-in-law to be a Lady, you must bring at least one dragon!”

No! What nonsense are you talking about, this human!

When you make jokes, think about my dignity too!

I had no doubt that his words were meant to lighten the mood.

The other knights who were watching the bizarre confrontation (?) between me and Kalman laughed as if they thought Kellerhan’s words were a joke.

“Kalman, that’s all you have to do, get up. I don’t know what else the Duke of Barmuth will say.”

Kalman’s superior, a man who appeared to be the leader of the 1st Knights, beckoned to Kalman.

“Haha, I can’t help it that the Duke came out like this. What do you mean a dragon, unless I’m a brave hero, I can’t even give my name to Lady Schwires then?”

It was a moment when only Kalman pretended to lose and retreated.

“Do you think my words sound like a joke?” He asked, tilting his head in real wonder. “I’m serious, though.”

For a moment, the knights looked at Kellerhan with expressions like, “No way?”

“One who wants to be my daughter-in-law’s knight, catch a dragon. Of course, catching dragons doesn’t mean everything will work. He has to be a good guy in my opinion.”

This guy, he’s serious!

Not only me, but all of the engagement ceremony guests noticed it.

I was so embarrassed that I wanted to hide in a rat hole.

I know Kellerhan sees me as something to be protected.

And I know he likes me quite a bit.

But!

But this!

It was then. It was Yuta who took the lead in this crazy situation.

“Well, then…”

Yuta carefully opened his mouth.

“If I… I destroy all the dragons left on the continent, no one but me can become Isabella’s knight, right?”

What did he say?!

The knights burst into laughter at his ambitious words.

No one took Yuta’s words seriously except me.

I don’t know about Kellerhan, but everyone thought that Yuta’s words were the spirit of a nine-year-old.

That’s a relief.

Thanks to everyone’s laughter, the atmosphere has become quite relaxed.

The engagement ceremony ended warmly in a relaxed atmosphere.

Everyone must have forgotten words pronounced like ‘dragon’, right?

I politely greeted the guests and reassured myself inside.

It was only very later that I found out that Kellerhan’s remarks made my nickname ‘a dragon’.

Ch. Obtain New Ignorance

From the very next day after the engagement ceremony on, I went back to training.

“Training should never be neglected. Originally, it should have been done on the evening of the engagement day, but you were given special consideration.”

Kellerhan said that.

Fortunately, a dagger was made that was right for me, and it wasn’t too difficult because Kellerhan also trained me only in a way that didn’t put any strain on my body under Gilbert’s advice.

But the problem is…

“…I thought that changing to a dagger would make it work.”

The problem was that my skill never improved even after repeated training.

Kellerhan looked down at me with a look of absolute incomprehension.

It was as if he was looking at a platypus struggling in a pit with pity.

Yet Yuta was a little different.

He didn’t care at all about not improving my skills.

On the contrary, he seemed to be happy with the fact that I was sluggish and the training time increased.

“…Isabella, you look like a wet platypus.”

One day, Yuta muttered to me as he looked at me, who was exhausted from swinging a dagger at the target.

“Doesn’t platypus originally live in water?”

As I replied, Yuta turned his head to the side. And he covered his face with a gesture that resembled his father.

His shoulders were shaking. I wonder if he was possibly laughing.

Moments later, Yuta lowered his hand and looked at me.

“Alright. I won’t call you a platypus.”

He concentrated on the demonstration again.

I observed Yuta’s movements closely, pulled out a notebook that Magda prepared, and wrote down what I understood.

Organizing information in text is the most effective training method I have found.

“Do you need to fill three notebooks to learn a stab?”

Although Kellerhan said that.

Days of training passed like that.

A dramatic turning point in my training came when some members of the Gottfried Knights stopped by the Barmuth mansion to report.

***

“Today, the Gottfried Knights are visiting the mansion.”

My stamina was exhausted from the daily training, and I was dozing off while eating breakfast. I woke up to hearing Magda’s words.

“The Gottfried Knights are coming?”

The Gottfried Knights were the most famous security organization in the Empire, but they were also so secretive that only few knew their true nature.

It would be difficult for the knights to conduct investigations or operations if their faces were known, so everyone said they kept their faces and personal information a secret.

One of the main tasks that Duke Lodgemund and Heiner worked on in their previous lives was to find out the identity of the Gottfried Knights and try to convince them.

So I was a little excited that the Gottfried Knights, who hadn’t even attended the engagement ceremony, were visiting the mansion.

“Not all of the knights are coming, but only some of them are coming to report the operation and discuss on purpose.”

Still! Does a thing such as on purpose exist!

They’re people whom ordinary people can’t see a single hair of until they die.

Magda smiled affectionately, as if she was reading the anticipation on my face.

“Would you like me to talk to the Duke and give you some time?”

“No! There’s no need for that.” I quickly shook my head.

Because I didn’t want to wield the people who came for business as reserve public servants.

I was curious, but not enough to interfere with Kellerhan’s work.

I started to focus on breakfast again.

A good plan flashed in my mind while I was drinking milk with honey.

“That… Perhaps Sir Gilbert is also coming here?”

When I asked carefully, Magda tilted her head.

“Is it Sir Gilbert Wool?”

“Yes.”

“Yes. He is also coming. Even if he doesn’t report, he often goes in and out of the mansion.”

“Is Sir Gilbert coming on a mission too? Does he have any spare time?” I asked just in case.

“Oh my, no.”

Magda said with a smile.

“He’s not part of this mission. He just said that he came to serve as a guide for other knights and to report on the status of the knights.”

“Really?”

When I asked with my eyes wide open, she laughed out loud.

What’s so funny, Magda looked into my eyes for a long time.

“Miss, your eyes are sparkling.” She smiled fondly at me.

Was it too obvious that I’m so excited?

I felt awkward and drank the empty glass one more time.

“Excuse me…”

I opened my mouth carefully as Magda was refilling the empty glass with milk.

“If that so, I want to spend some time with Sir Gilbert… Is that okay?”

“Sure.” Magda replied coolly.

I was able to meet Gilbert as soon as I had breakfast.

Kellerhan went to listen to the knights’ report, so there was no training this morning.

What I did when I had to take this opportunity to meet Gilbert…

“Hello, Sir Knight Gilbert.”

“Please just call me Sir Wool. I’m not such a great person to hear the word ‘Knight’.” Gilbert said, shaking my hand.

“Then Sir Wool, I have a favor.”

“Oh my. If it’s Young Madam’s request, this Gilbert Wool will listen even if my body changes. What is it?”

At Gilbert’s question, I brought out what I had prepared.

His eyes widened as he saw the twinkling dagger in my hand.

“Can you take a look at my posture while the Duke is away?”

“Are you talking about your posture?”

“Yes!”

“I know that the Duke takes care of the Young Madam every day.”

“That is…”

I hesitated for a moment before continuing.

“I think the Duke is such a good swordsman that he has a hard time teaching me.”

Kellerhan is a man worthy of being called a genius of battle.

In the eyes of such a genius, how dull would I be seen among the dullheads?

“If this Gilbert Wool is inferior in skill to the Duke, will I be a good teacher?”

“No! I didn’t mean it that way.”

“I know, I know. Even if it’s not about skill, the Duke is a bit dogmatic.”

Gilbert reassured me that what he had just said was a joke.

“Let’s go to the vacant lot. I don’t know if I’ll be of any help, but I’ll do my best to teach you.”

“Thank you!”

I was so happy that I couldn’t hide my smile.

We went to the vacant lot and brought the target that Gilbert had laid in the vacant lot’s corner.

“What, what? Gilbert, are you going to play alone with the Young Madam? Let us join too!”

As I was prepared to stab at the target under Gilbert’s gaze, I heard an unfamiliar voice.