【Thank You】Thank you to everyone who picked up the book released on June 15th. I am very grateful for your feedback.
Thanks to everyone, it's "going to a second printing!" (← Sorry, I just wanted to say that)
To reiterate, thank you very much.
The third time I met, Fia was with Quentin.
Fia was unusually composed, wearing a formal smile that was different from the one at the banquet the other day.
...She must be ashamed of her three-year-old-like outburst and wants to pretend it never happened.
I recalled my resolve from the other day and reaffirmed my vow to myself to forget about Fia's outburst as a knight.
Regarding Quentin, who was with Fia, Cyril was worried that his brain was affected by the long expedition, and it turned out to be exactly as he feared.
Quentin, who had never had any issues with his appearance, showed up at the council meeting drenched, which was clearly not normal.
When I asked in surprise what had happened, he answered with a straight face that Fia had blown water into his mouth and spat it out.
If he was wet, why didn't he wipe himself off?
Why was he using polite language and even calling Fia "Fia-sama" when she was a new knight?
Suspicious, I watched from a distance, and Fia, who had just scolded Quentin for his poor word choice, was desperately clinging to her.
It made me feel uneasy, and my spine tingled.
...This is bad, it seems Quentin has developed some strange preferences.
Can people really develop such strange habits so suddenly?
Quentin was a solitary figure.
He preferred to be alone and often was, but he was a capable knight captain who could properly command his subordinates when necessary.
He was a skilled knight who could offer necessary advice and warnings despite being a man of few words.
Yet, in just half a year, he had changed so much.
I hoped, as Cyril said, that the cause was the fatigue from the long expedition and that he would recover with time.
I thought the meeting had settled down when the Chancellor entered, but now Cyril and Quentin started fighting over Fia.
...Is this a contagious disease?
Cyril, as the head of the leading ducal family and the leading knight captain, had an exceptional ability to grasp the situation.
He could always control his own emotions and skillfully manipulate others' emotions to his advantage... or so he used to.
Cyril, what's wrong with you?
Trying to calm the chaos, I told Fia to come to me, and both Cyril and Quentin turned to glare at me with incredible speed.
This is bad, both of them are in serious condition.
However, the most serious might be Fia.
Despite having to choose from Cyril, Quentin, and me, she inexplicably chose Clarissa, the fifth knight captain, whom she had just met.
Why? I can't understand Fia's thinking at all.
...While I was struggling to understand Fia's incomprehensible thought process, she was following Clarissa, looking happy.
What a lucky guy. He's always the only one who's happy in any situation.
And that much more makes the others suffer.
I felt a little sympathy for Cyril.
After that, I witnessed Gideon, Quentin's deputy, who gave off a somewhat arrogant impression, falling for Fia.
Gideon, who always acted with a certain detachment, was kneeling at the feet of Fia, who was only half his height, and begging for something.
Wow, this is getting really creepy.
Is that really Gideon? Is he someone else?
However, his response to me when I called out to him was normal, leaving no doubt that it was him.
I felt a creeping sense of unease as more and more people involved with Fia started acting strangely, but I had to focus on the black dragon search, so I tried not to think too deeply about it.
And I later realized that this was the right decision.
Because the events of that day were so significant that they overshadowed all my previous concerns, making them seem trivial.
Spending time on trivial matters would have been a waste.
The significant event... Fia's behavior when encountering the black dragon was completely out of the ordinary.
From start to finish.
First, the numerous suggestions during the battle against the Dream Green and Flowerhorn Deer.
Even if we assume, as Quentin and Fia claimed, that she was relaying advice from the black dragon, Fia was too composed.
Seeing such a vicious monster would normally cause one to panic and lose composure.
Yet, she gave precise instructions at critical moments.
If all those perfect instructions were the result of her acting as a puppet of the black dragon, that would be an incredible story.
Then, the control of the summoned creatures.
Both Quentin and Fia testified that it was the black dragon's power, but when the creatures accepted their orders, they were looking at Fia, not the black dragon.
There's no doubt about it. Fia was the commander of the summoned creatures.
But, if I noticed it, Quentin, as the monster knight captain, must have noticed it too.
Why did Quentin deliberately mislead by saying it was the black dragon's power?
...I need to question him about this later.
Furthermore, the blue dragons that charged straight at Fia.
I was reminded of the time when Cyril was furious about Fia's command during the battle.
The problem started when the commander on the scene was blown away by the Flowerhorn Deer and lost consciousness, leaving no one to command.
Even a B-rank Flowerhorn Deer could instantly identify the commander and attack to disrupt the command.
So, why did the S-rank blue dragons, with their higher intelligence, target Fia first instead of me or Quentin?
The answer is simple.
Fia was the most valuable presence on the scene.
I don't know what makes Fia valuable.
I don't know, but the blue dragons clearly saw value in Fia.
Whatever it is, it must be something overwhelmingly valuable that can be recognized in such a short time.
And the black dragon, who protected Fia.
One of the three great beasts of the continent and a legendary ancient species, the black dragon was completely subservient to Fia.
After witnessing the black dragon's overwhelming power, it's hard to imagine how Fia managed to form a contract with it, but the absolute black king was blindly obedient to Fia.
The black dragon protected Fia, fought for Fia, and even shed its horn for Fia.
Especially the act of shedding its horn went beyond mere subservience.
It was a warning action to strongly impress upon everyone that Fia was under its protection.
Fia, ...how much does the black dragon cling to you?
I sighed deeply, wondering why all these problems had to pile up at once.
But... despite the anger and frustration that raged within me, what remained was gratitude towards Fia.
Fia is hiding something.
And all the mysterious actions she has taken so far are surely linked to what she is hiding.
---But, in the end, Fia is a good person.
Whatever she is hiding must be important to her, but when it comes to weighing it against the safety of the knights, she always prioritizes their safety.
She works hard to hide something, but when the knights' safety is threatened, she abandons everything to save them.
As a result, not a single knight's life was lost.
Only those who have faced death can truly appreciate how precious this is.
"...But," I said involuntarily, feeling indebted to Fia.
"Isn't such a sloppy cover-up going to expose Fia's secret in no time?"
Fia lacks the resolve to hide something properly.
If you really want to hide something, you have to be willing to sacrifice everything, even your life, to keep it hidden.
If you can't do that, then your attempts at concealment will fail, and it's better to give up from the start.
Fia's secret, whatever it is, might be very simple.
It's probably something straightforward, and to others, it might not be that important.
There are many cases where what is a big secret to the person is trivial to others.
I wanted to give this advice, but seeing Fia's shock symptoms earlier, I couldn't bring myself to tell her to just talk.
Fia must have been deliberating whether to confide in us... and the result was a collapse into a state of severe discomfort.
For Fia, even considering whether to confide in us was enough to trigger shock symptoms.
And after much deliberation, she decided not to talk.
---Because I, as a confidant, lacked the trust to hear her secret.
Recalling the scene, I bit my lip in frustration.
Fia was drenched in sweat, struggling to breathe, and collapsed on the ground.
She repeated labored breathing with her eyes closed and, as soon as she could speak, declared that she couldn't talk about anything.
I remembered the intensity of Fia's gaze, which was like a glare.
---That gaze was the look of someone trying to protect something.
Given Fia's actions so far, what she is trying to protect is likely someone other than herself.
And, to my deep regret, I am probably included in that someone...
Fia exposed some hidden power to prioritize saving the knights---and me.
Yet, I, who was saved, am so unreliable that Fia can't confide in me.
Worse still, Fia is even trying to protect me...
I sighed deeply from the depths of my lungs, and my arms tensed.
...The knight captain would be disappointed to hear this.
Being unable to protect a single new knight or be a confidant for their troubles...
So...
---I must become stronger.
I must become a sincere and understanding knight.
So that when Fia needs me, I can be relied upon.
So that when we encounter a powerful monster next time, I can at least be a shield for Fia.
---That is the duty of one who calls himself a knight captain...