CH 157

Translator: “Hakou”                             Editor: “Weasalopes”

A town on the north side of the Kingdom near the border of Black Locust country.

In a forest of small mountains south from that town, a beige-colored Knight was kneeling.

The cane rifle, held with both hands, is aimed exactly at the town.

(What’s up with those Knights earlier?)

I speak to myself in the cockpit of the beige Knight, the Old lady, the merchant guild Knight.

The optical correction magic circle rotates in front of my eyes. I’m looking through it, but I can’t figure out the identity of the defeated Knights.

Their exterior, painted in dark brown, has no indication of the country to which it belongs.

(There’s no doubt those are B-class Knights)

It is a national Knight class.

If there are four of them in a group, they’re no longer on the level of a small or medium-sized nation’s knight order anymore.

And while the possibility isn’t zero, they shouldn’t be a bandit too.

(It’s possibly the Empire)

Since we have an cease-fire agreement, we will not act hostile. Such words contained a pillow word, which is Openly.

The possibility of it being the Empire is high just because it doesn’t have any sign indicating their nationality.

(Well, something like that better left to the guild master and prime minister)

I turn off the optical correction magic circle and lower the rifle I was holding.

Then I closed my eyes and thought about something else.

(But still… He did well noticing them)

It’s about Lightning.

Old lady’s optical correction magic circle is effective for seeing something in the distance but it has a narrow field of view.

I didn’t know at all that they were approaching from the surroundings.

After seeing what and to whom Lightning was acting to, I finally started to realize and check the area.

(Looks like I’m still no match against someone who studies martial art)

A sharp sense to detect enemies that were hiding.

A refined sword technique that could crush two Knights in a short time.

I have none of those.

I can’t imagine what would happen if he wasn’t there.

(It sucks…)

Three units of B-class Knight who attacks all at once in a situation that I am not aware of. I frowned imagining that possibility.

I didn’t think I was able to protect everyone with just sniping skills.

(Well, it’s good that everyone’s alright)

Ponytail and the others probably weren’t aware that I lend them a hand.

Light arrow that fly from too far away, it didn’t let out any sound or form.

What’s more, the surroundings are full of strong summer sunlight. Unless they knew I was here beforehand, they wouldn’t know where it came from.

It might seem to them that the leg of the Knights in front of them suddenly got blown off.

(Let’s see…. Guess I’ll do that then)

That’s right, let’s push everything, including the Knight that fell down the valley to Lightning.

(I’m sure Lightning knew that I was here, but… well, that’s fine)

I confirmed that he knew I was hiding here.

I’m sure he would avoid giving out the name of the Old lady thinking that there’s a meaning behind my action. He’s a man who’s considerate about that kind of stuff after all.

That was why he released Lightning sword as a greeting to me.

(Let’s head home then)

The combination of the Old lady and me who excels in long-distance travel at high speed. We still can make it to the brothel if we go now.

There are stores that open all night. However, if possible, today I want to go to the Uniform store.

(A slender girl with bob cut hair)

I recalled one of the students at the pilot school who recently came to work.

Her feet that look even more slim due to her black tights.

To grab and lift those feet and play-punishment of the defeated with her is my recent boom.

(It’s also nice to blindfold her while chasing her around the room)

A neat pilot’s uniform. Feet wrapped in thin black tights, peeking through her tight skirt.

I imagine a scene where a girl who can’t see her surroundings and is frightened while fumbling around. Also the figure of me chasing around that girl while teasing her from time to time.

(Nice!)

I nod to myself.

I head on my way back after quietly making the Old lady turn around.

***

Under the dark grey colored clouds, it began to rain in the Royal capital.

The ever-increasing rain drives people walking down the street into their homes and close their windows.

The royal castle with a remarkably high tower, located slightly north of the center of the Royal capital.

This building, that reflects white sunlight on a sunny day, is different now. It has the same gray color as the sky, shining in the pouring rain.

In one of the rooms inside it.

The furnishing inside the room didn’t look flashy, but it’s definitely expensive. There were two men inside such room.

One is a middle-aged man who sits on a chair with a tall backrest. The other is a man in his prime with a good physique standing in front of him.

「So it’s the Empire」

Sitting on the chair, the prime minister said.

The knight commander nodded while stroking his prided kaiser mustache.

「I couldn’t find anything to show their affiliation, but I’m sure it’s the Empire’s Knight from their model」

The topic of their conversation is about the battle at the town north from here the other day.

The knight order who went to exterminate the demon beasts was attacked by Knights of unknown affiliation and fought them.

「Their purpose is still unknown」

The prime minister groans as he leans against the backrest.

All enemy pilots comitted suicide.

I looked everywhere inside and outside the town, but couldn’t find anything that caught the eye of the empire.

「What the hell is going on in the Empire right now?」

Their expeditionary force sudden withdrawal in front of Awoke.

A cease-fire agreement brought up by the Empire that advantages the Kingdom side.

In addition, their mysterious movement this time.

(It’s weird…)

If the expeditionary forces were to advance towards Awoke, it’ll be the downfall of that town for sure. Not only that, the Royal capital would’ve been besieged by now.

The reason they brought up a truce must be in the Kingdom, not in the Empire.

(There’s also a story that their expeditionary force was attacked by someone. And that is the reason of their withdrawal)

The prime minister shakes his head.

(What a nonsense)

A force that can repel an expeditionary force. Just which organization in the Kingdom has such power?

If there’s something that is capable of doing that, then it should be in the Kingdom’s knight order already.

And that knight order was busy defending Awoke at that time.

(They even agree to let go of the post town)

The conditions for the truce should be stricter on the Kingdom side. There should be no way they would let go of the post town where the expeditionary force built its base.

He was prepared to do so in the negotiation.

However, they surprisingly agreed to the request to withdraw from the post town so easily.

(Something serious must be happening inside the Empire)

And they probably withdraw their army to deal with that.

He is currently searching for information.

However, he hasn’t obtained any valuable information so far.

The prime minister shakes his head again and changes his mood.

He then turned to the knight commander again and uttered a word of praise.

「To defeat the same number of opponents unscatched… should I say as expected. I guess that’s the result of daily training」

The enemy is four B-class Knights.

No matter how elite the Kingdom knight order is, it should’ve been tough for them.

「It wasn’t the same number. A Knight of Black Locust country also participated in the battle」

He recalled the contents of the report.

A town attacked by a herd of giant double axe mantis. A Knight from Black Locust country rushed to the site to rescue his own people who were staying there.

The rank is B class. It was a Knight they confiscated from the previous fight against the Empire.

(In any case, there’s no arguing that the Knights of our country became the main force. The knight commander too, he shouldn’t have to mind these little details)

He lightly shrugged his shoulders and replied.

「I got it. I’ll write a letter to the king of Black Locust country to thank him of his assistance」

However, the knight commander’s expression is still dark. And he opened his mouth with an expression as if he has something difficult to say.

「About that… the truth is, our Knights only defeated one unit. The Knight of Black Locust was actually the ones who defeated most of them」

But, it didn’t get through well.

The prime minister raised one eyebrow and made a dubious look.

「The Black Locust Knight destroyed two units and destroyed the leg of one of the enemy’s Knight. The Knight that our Knights defeated was the ones that has been crippled」

After hearing his explanation, the prime minister made a don’t tell me expression.

「After that, they found another unit trying to escape to the mountains. Then the Black Locust Knight shot it down with a long ranged magic attack, and made it fall in the valley.」

Then he concluded with a sad look.

「It wasn’t just an assistance. He rescued us from a dangerous situation」

Even after his explanation, the prime minister is still not convinced. So he asked the knight commander a question.

「Our side also has four units of B-class Knights, you know? Don’t you think rescued is an overstatement?」

To that question, the knight commander answered bitterly.

「Those B-class Knights that were at the scene were the Knights your excellency collected and turned into B-class」

With those words, the prime minister understood everything.

The B-class that he collected is a Knight on appearance only and is actually a C-class.

C-class Knights who were forcibly collected from local nobles. The appearance was slightly modified and they call it B-class.

(If so, then the pilot is a newcomer. With this, even if it become a burden, it will not be a fighting force)

But at the same time, a new question arose.

Translator: “Hakou”                             Editor: “Weasalopes”

「It was four versus one you know? Could he really win that?」

「According to the reports, he defeated his enemies with his sword skill that was so fast their eyes couldn’t catch up. They said it was to the extent they can’t follow his movement at all」

The knight commander continues.

「On top of that, his magic skill was also astounding. The Knight, who was lifted from the bottom of the valley, had his chest accurately blown off」

The prime minister puts his weight on the backrest and sighs loudly.

「Until very recently, they’re a country where their Knight was left sleeping without a rider. But now it can take on four B-class Knights?」

The power of the Kingdom is weakened, and the power of an insignificant country is strengthened.

Fortunately, they’re a friendly country.

「Whatever is going on in the Empire, I want more Knights. Knights that can repel them if they began to invade again」

The knight commander puts his hand on his chin and ponders about what the prime minister just said.

And he opened his mouth.

「Then, how about we hire the Black Locust Knight?」

The prime minister raised one of his eyebrows to that suggestion.

「Are you saying we should take a Knight away from a friendly country?」

The knight commander greatly shakes his head.

「No, what I mean is to hire him temporarily, like a mercenary. I also heard that recently Black Locust country also hired a new pilot, operating a C-class Knight」

He took a breath and continued his words.

「The maintenance of two units of Knights. It should be hard in the kitchen of such a small country」

The prime minister starts to understand his point.

「Right… One C-class Knight should suffice to be the national Knight of such a small country. And having a B-class Knight would be a burden for them instead」

He nodded to himself.

「If we say that we will pay him a great deal amount of money, there’s a high chance that he will 」

Then he looked up at the knight commander.

「That’s not a bad idea. If we can expect him to defeat four Knights alone, we can make him fill the hole of a few A-class Knight we lost」

He immediately called his secretary and had him write a letter to the king of Black Locust country.

***

At around the same time, in the merchant guild on the east side of the town square, south of the royal castle.

Rain that occasionally increases in intensity flowing on the surface after hitting the slate roof, and enters the gutter on the street through the drain spout.

The guild master’s office on the top floor was surrounded by the sound of rain hitting the roof.

「There was a follow-up report from the knight order about the matter of the town in the north」

An old man with a small stature buried in a big chair tells Santa Claus, who sits opposite of him.

「It seems that they found a female giant double axe mantis’ skeleton in the suburbs. They probably used that to lure the entire herd to that place」

What do you think? The guild master asked.

The vice guild master, who looks like Santa Claus, puts his hand on his whitebeard.

What the guild master meant by the town in the north, is a small town located near the northern border of the Kingdom.

Although it is on the trade route to the northern countries, there are no remarkable specialties in the town itself.

「I think their goal was to capture our, the merchant guild’s Knight, Old lady」

The Knights of unknown affiliation were actually the Knights of the Empire. Those Knights were acting together in a coordinated manner.

Quietly urged by the guild master, Santa Claus continues.

「The place is the place. The Empire located just on the other side of the mountain after all」

He expresses his thoughts while looking at the large map on the wall.

The giant double axe mantis that was lured there on purpose.

The four B-class Knights that were lying in wait.

To defeat the Old lady who came to subjugate the demon beasts they have prepared and bring it to the Empire. That must have been their plan.

「I also think so」

The guild master nods and picks up his coffee cup.

「Since Tauro-kun became our pilot, exterminating the demon beasts on the trade route has been monopolized by the Knight of the merchant guild」

He then put his mouth on the cup and moistened his throat.

「When a demon beast appears, the Old lady always immediately rushes to the scene. It will be easy for the enemy to ambush such Old lady」

It seems that coffee is not the only reason why his expression is bitter.

The vice guild master also sip his coffee and expressed his impressions.

「They really took some drastic measure back there huh?」

「Tell me about it. We’ve got to carefully pick out the request from now on」

The guild master shrugs as the bitterness somewhat disappears from his face.

「Unlike in the past, the knight order now is also showing a positive response toward subjugating demon beasts. Let’s pass them some of the requests as we narrow down the request we receive」

Santa Claus nodded.

「It might be better to leave the requests near the border to the knight order as much as possible」

Let’s do so, said the guild master as he sip his coffee.

Returning the cup to the saucer, the guild master changed the topic.

「By the way, do you know the talk about the ghost knight?」

Santa Claus makes a dubious expression.

He tried to search through his memory, but nothing came to his mind.

「That’s quite a terrifying name there. Is it a new type of Knight from the Empire?」

The guild master smiled like a mischievous kid after looking at the clueless Santa Claus.

「Apparently, it’s a secret weapon of the Kingdom. It seems deep inside the hangar of blacksmith guild, if not the knight order, they kept making adjustments towards its practical use」

Santa Claus doesn’t nod.

His expression becomes even more dubious. This is because he has never heard of such a story or any information that touched that topic at all.

The guild chief begins to laugh while looking at him.

「That’s the illusion the guys from the Empire saw. Though that was probably Tauro-kun and the Old lady they saw」

Finally understanding the whole story, Santa Claus deeply nodded.

「The expeditionary force that advances towards Awoke. So that Knight was seen as the one who repelled them」

The guild master laughed as he said, now this is where it gets more interesting.

「The Kingdom developed a new type of weapon, but the flaws are too big for it to be used practically」

「Flaws?」

Santa Claus folds his arms and lifts one of his eyebrows before the guild master continues.

「It’s very powerful, but sometimes it will berserk and aims its fangs at its allies. They seems to think so after seeing the former knight commander rampaging around that time」

That time is probably about the battle of Land barn.

At that time, the former knight commander, also known as the White Lion, attacked the current knight captain who had taken over his seat.

「It wasn’t intended, but the White Lion sure did a great job in the end」

The guild master said while nodding.

「Because he will be used?」

Of course, the guild master said and hit his knees.

「The Empire is unable to make a move because they are afraid of the Ghost Knight. While the Kingdom needs more time to prepare themselves」

How pleasing.

「They won’t get anything no matter how many times they look for the Ghost Knight. They will only waste time until the Kingdom regains its power」

He grins as he plays with the green tea chick-shaped buns in his hand.

「If this goes on, it will be the same as before. Where both side can’t make a move as the peace continue to last」

「But this peace isn’t going to last forever, isn’t it?」

The guild master looked at Santa Claus with an exasperated expression.

「What are you saying? There’s nothing such as eternal peace. Even if someday the world is conquered by a single country, it will eventually fall from the inside」

He picked up Santa Claus’ chick cake and put it in the shape of a copulation and continued his words.

「Ten years, that’s all we need. After that, everything will repeat itself. Even if there is a long period without war, that’s something you will know by looking back」

The guild master didn’t remove his gaze from Santa Claus’ eyes.

「In the beginning, aiming for long-lasting peace is impossible for humans」

「That’s certainly true…」

Santa Clause was convinced after thinking the meaning of those words under the pressuring atmosphere.

He seemed to have become ashamed of his words earlier.

「I just hope that everyone can enjoy this peaceful life for a moment」

Santa Claus nods deeply to those words.

(Even if I were to worry about my grandchild’s generation later on, there is nothing I can do about it)

There is no choice but to leave our grandchild’s generation to themselves.

All we can do is not to leave a negative legacy.

「I hope that comes true. No, let’s do our best to make it comes true」

The guild master nodded with a smile.