Chapter 37

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Translated By Arcane Translations

Translator: FusionX

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She had a dream.

It seemed to be a stage somewhere.

She was always sitting in the audience, watching the scene. And shortly after, the curtain on the stage opened, and the actors revealed themselves.

The actors all had familiar faces.

A lizardman wielding a greatsword and a rat boy fought each other to mutual destruction.

A dwarf woman and a veteran elf took each other’s lives.

And the end of that play always ended with a giant dragon appearing and devouring the actors.

At the same time, Bayard woke up from her sleep.

The terrible nightmare repeated itself.

“...Where is this?”

Bayard blankly looked around.

Not a crude one made by breaking wood and vines, but a properly sturdy room made by stacking stones and a comfortable bed supporting her.

Was that just a dream?

Or... something else?

She didn’t know.

She couldn’t tell in her current state.

If only she could openly say it to someone else, but for some reason, she couldn’t utter it out loud.

As if a heavy rock was blocking her mouth.

That suffocation made her unconsciously avert her gaze without even realizing it.

From that day when she barely returned from that hell until now.

It hurt.

Her head hurt.

It felt like a piece of a knife was digging into her stomach.

If she died, would she be free from this pain?

What was the point of living when she couldn’t protect anyone?

[It’s okay. You can prove it with your own strength.]

[Commander...]

[If you prove it yourself, everyone will look at you again.]

[...Thank you, Commander. I’ll do my best.]

The commander who told her it was okay was no longer here.

All that was left was a piece of trash who couldn’t prove her own worth.

The guilt of not being able to protect her boiled up hotly.

[First, the Dwarf Republic will officially sponsor the Royal Knights.]

[Not only the top-grade equipment prepared by the Dwarf Republic but also this fortress will be made into an even stronger fortress.]

[In exchange, hand over Bayard]

[That’s right. Just one person, if you hand over just one person, that will be all.]

The hearing of beastmen was much better than other races.

Especially Bayard’s hearing was far superior to ordinary beastmen.

So she could hear the conversation taking place upstairs.

The Dwarf Republic, come to think of it.

Before going on the expedition, she had heard that the Dwarf Republic was acting strange.

But to think they were plotting such a scheme.

She couldn’t run away.

If she ran away again, it was clear that this time, the Royal Knights would suffer damage.

Rather, if she could help everyone this way...

[Of course I refuse.]

[A wise choice... Pardon?]

“...Huh?”

Even she thought they were excellent conditions.

Unless it was an extreme case of caring for her comrades like Commander Yuren.

Yes, a commander under normal circumstances would have no choice but to accept it.

The current situation of the Royal Knights was not that good.

There were many problems, but the biggest one was probably that most of the forces supporting the Royal Knights had turned their backs.

Thanks to that, we had a chance to lay the foundation.

But that was all I could do.

A knight order that completely excluded politics and made everyone rely on each other.

Literally becoming a family-like knight order.

“But there’s no place for me here.”

“Teacher?”

Ah, fuck, you startled me.

“...Helia? When did you arrive?”

“I just came to find you, but about what you just said...”

“It’s nothing. Let’s hurry up and train.”

I naturally brushed it off.

After sending back the envoy from the Dwarf Republic, I immediately proceeded with the next training session.

However, with my current skills, I couldn’t teach the Royal Knights.

So I entrusted their training entirely to Cluna.

She had lived for a long time and therefore had plenty of experience.

Above all, she was a member of the original hero party.

In terms of skills and experience, I could trust and leave it to her.

In fact, Cluna was instructing much better than I thought.

Clara and Ruby were also gritting their teeth and following the training well.

But the problem was, as expected, Helia.

“Y-you’re deflecting all my attacks?!”

“Even I find it difficult to deflect that dwarf’s attacks.”

“...”

Helia was only 13 years old now.

Nevertheless, she was holding her own in a spar against Ruby.

Of course, if it went all the way, Ruby would eventually win.

The fact that she could rival an official member of the Royal Knights at the mere age of 13 was already proof of Helia’s talent.

The problem was this.

Helia ran up to me with a smile.

“Teacher! Teacher! I still did my best! I did well, right?”

“Y-yeah. You worked hard. Good job.”

“Then praise me! Pat my head!”

Yeah, this was the problem.

She kept coming to me and asking for praise.

Naturally, the members would mistakenly think that Helia was my disciple.

I absolutely couldn’t stand this.

“Let me make it clear. This is because Helia is outstanding. I didn’t do anything at all.”

“No, it’s all thanks to Teacher teaching me well.”

“A good teacher and a good disciple. That’s why the sprout grows well.”

“I also want to learn from the commander someday.”

“No, that’s not it...”

To avoid further misunderstandings, I swallowed my embarrassment and spoke without being asked.

And I inadvertently became a humble teacher promoting his disciple.

However, I couldn’t finish my words.

Because someone had set foot in the training ground in the fortress courtyard.

I turned my head.

There stood a familiar face.

On top of reddish-brown hair were beast ears resembling bear ears.

She wore the red armor of the Royal Knights and was very large, about 2 meters tall.

“Commander, c-can I also participate in the training?”

“Of course.”

This was an unexpected gain.

I don’t know why, but she had overcome her trauma to some extent and decided to participate in the training.

Did Ruby separately encourage her?

Well, why does it matter?

In the end, what’s good is good.

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