/
She went to bed that night, reminding herself that she had clearly spoken her mind and was not responsible for anything else beyond that.
Even if he came in hurt, I won’t care.
The next morning though, the knights that escorted her surprised her by re-introducing themselves and saying that they would take care of her with all of their abilities. Then she noticed a little detail.
“The number of escorts decreased?” she asked with raised eyebrows.
At the unexpected remark, the dark-haired knight who introduced himself as Matthew Pinter, bowed his head once more and replied, “Yes, m’lady. Starting today, two knights will accompany you at all times, just as you have requested from the commander.”
“Ah.”
Deatrice did not respond any further, but Pinter showed a friendly smile and knelt down.
“It’s not so easy to break the commander’s stubbornness, but the madam is something else. If I may be so bold as to state that four guards isn’t really a lot, but with the current situation, it would be hard for him to deal with all of the monsters. If a deputy commander escorts you, the commander will feel much more at ease of your safety. However, if an unforeseen threat occurs, it will be much more difficult to deal with…”
He…
Deatrice simply stared stupidly at the vice-commander who was currently in a monologue.
“… I was worried for a while, but as expected, the madam is wise and saw the reality of the situation. As the commander ordered, I will do my best to keep you safe. I shall be the one to guard the madam from night to morning, during the day—ah! The shy kid is here. Oi, Atkins, over here!”
Hearing Pinter’s fussy urging, she saw someone hurriedly approaching them.
With dark blue hair, it was the knight she had seen last time, crying as he washed clothes in the forest.
‘M-my name is Jerry Atkins. Pardon me, but… may I ask what your name is?’
She couldn’t recall having answered the question, but the man in front of her right now did not seem surprised about her identity.
Atkins bowed and greeted her in a familiar tone, which was followed by Pinter introducing him.
“This is Jerry Atkins, our youngest. He may look unreliable, but he’s actually good at doing his job.”
Deatrice nodded her head slightly. “I do not doubt the skills of my husband’s knights. Good luck in the future.”
This time, the two knights bowed their heads deeply.
For a brief moment, while Pinter had his view directed to the ground, Atkins raised his head and met with her eyes.
Deatrice thought she was mistaken, but she surmised there was a vague little something in his gaze. But in any case, it disappeared as soon as she saw it and it felt like she was just seeing things.
When Pinter finally lifted his head, she continued smiling at them like a graceful host.
***
Tom ran down the dirt road carrying a pile of papers. As he passed through the tents and busy people, the mixture of burnt blood and disinfectants penetrated into his nostrils.
He trembled at the strange smell.
Tom hated blood, so it was even more of a hurdle to pass through such a place.
On one side, bodies of resting knights had monster blood splattered all over and on the other were researchers piling up monster corpses and studying them. Beside them were medics tending to the wounded.
As soon as he saw his destination, Tom ran faster than ever before. By the time he passed the place where soldiers moaned agonizingly, he finally opened the flap and walked inside with his eyes half-closed.
“Are you here?”
He was just in time to see Lucius with another man standing next to him. The scholar leisurely gave a polite ‘hello’ to him and subsequently summarized his report on the monster findings. Glancing at Tom, the scholar stepped outside.
Lucius picked up the paperwork the man had just submitted, threw it over the pile of papers, and gave his attendant a wink.
“Don’t tell me you’re…”
After putting down the papers, Tom shook his head in exasperation.
“You’re right.” Lucius smiled softly and gestured to him. “Deliver it to me again.”
“Do you know how many times I’ve done this today? Shouldn’t you just get a lower-ranked servant to do it for you?”
Lucius tutted at him.
“But what if it’s confidential? Better to be safe than sorry.”
Tom complained. “You’re just doing this to torture me. Isn’t it enough that I run fifty laps every day?”
He had been punished with running around the training ground fifty times every morning since Lucius discovered he had divulged his marriage secret to Dixie. Not to mention cutting a significant chunk of his salary.
Lucius looked at Tom who frowned and smiled cutely.
“You should understand, Tommy. I kept you here when I should’ve kicked you out many times over. If you can’t do such a simple task, then don’t do it.”
Tom had a hopeful expression on his face, but it was crushed by Lucius’ next words.
“But should you do that, quit now and never come back. You’re not so irreplaceable.” It sounded half-joking when he said it with a friendly tone, but Tom knew his master was being serious.
At this moment, waking up in such a godforsaken hour and running around the huge training ground was definitely a more favorable option than enduring his master’s current attitude.
Tom groaned as usual, but he managed to hold back his soaring emotions.
“It’s just bringing a bunch of papers, what’s so difficult about it? I can do it all day long!” He dumped a stack of files on Lucius’ desk, “Here are the documents you requested.”
It contained the reports on the estimated location of roaming monsters, overall casualties, as well as strategic plans on minimizing damage and proposed solutions on recovery.
After dealing with this monster situation, Lucius still had to toil over the amount of work piling up on him without even having enough time to rest his fatigued body.