Chapter 187: Ace Knight Corps, Arrival
A sunny morning. In the plains around Catalina, the snow that had fallen the day before remains on the spot. Soldiers, wearing the same medal, waving their hands, step on the snow that would have disappeared by noon.
“At such times, you have to attach the medal. Even if you remove it later”
Naris told me that we were on the see-off and wore the medal.
“It’s strange. I’ve received a lot of similar things, but this medal seems special”
Neia holds the medal around the cloak and pulls her hat off in a shy look.
“Did you also get it?”
“Yes. When Becker-san gave it to me, 100-man commander Dianne had a groundless suspicion”
Not just Neia. Although not worn, Laila and Maia were also playing with the medal in their hands.
“Hoho, thanks to me”
“It’s a bit interesting”
“Oh, Maia. Don’t bend, don’t bend”
“Eh? Why?”
“It’s like this! If you bend or stretch it, it’s just a piece of iron!”
“Is that so……”
It is awkward to call this a repair and to re-strike it no matter how strange it becomes. That’s not the case. I think.
“I’m jealous of you……”
Irina looks a little dissatisfied. That said, she is not a combatant category in the first place and is treated as a guest. I want her to understand the suffering of the mayor who cannot give a cheap medal to the Queen of another country.
————————–
After the withdrawal of the garrison, we also took the carriage out of the main gate and prepared for departure.
“Thanks for taking care of us, mayor. Even though I think we will come frequently during the winter”
“We’ll be reliable as long as we can, 100-man commander Dianne”
Dianne and the mayor shake hands. Others, such as the old butcher, the blacksmith dwarf, and the young elf communication magician, who I didn’t remember their names after all, but who have become friends, have come to see us off.
“I’ll leave the room”
“It’s helpful. Although it’s not a substitute, I want the mayor to handle the equipment and food left behind as appropriate”
“Thank you”
It sounds generous, but the point is that the person in charge should manage it properly. It may be that the mayor also feels heavy pressure that 「There was a heavy responsibility」 because it was a dragon-related baggage.
After getting on the carriage.
“What are you going to do? I’m going to give a brief report to Sir Buster in Rennesto, and then we withdraw to the other side of the Snake Mountain. We’ll leave full-scale activity until the spring. You don’t have to go out with me in nominal terms until you resume our activities, so you can wait at Rennesto or you can wait for a change to the normal organization”
Dianne’s voice is heard by the four Gauntlet Knights. But Tetes shrugged her shoulders that it was a foolish question.
“I’ll follow you. It’s a promise to be taught magic in elf territory. Even if you ask me to go home now, Rennesto is uncomfortable”
“Yes……”
When I laughed bitterly, Tetes smirked a little. I won’t ask for more. She must have been dragging on the dismissal of Blue Arm and the immediate expulsion of Renfangas. It hasn’t been a month since then. Certainly, working with the dragon until the hot air cools down will be a good point for a restart.
“I don’t want to eat Renfangas´s spicy meals until winter. That’s why I will follow you”
Almeida is also in this group.
“Of course, I will follow you, too. Like Tetes, I also have the purpose of learning magic……”
Sharon looked at me and smiled. Next, there was a lukewarm look from the other side. Yes that’s right. I’m to blame. And Naris.
“Well, it’s about playing openly and I’m going to have a thaw in Rennesto……ouchouchouch”
Naris had her ears twisted by Sharon.
“Read the air Naris”
“Knight Chief!? That’s because it’s good for 100-man commander Dianne now”
“If only you pick it up again, it would be troublesome”
“Uh……”
Naris with teary eyes.
“No, I think it’s okay to leave Naris behind, isn’t it? In fact, it’s just leisure time”
That’s what Dianne says.
“……Almeida and Tetes are coming, therefore I don’t want to leave only that fellow behind”
Sharon had a serious look. Naris doesn’t seem to be in trouble. No, I think that she is a fellow who is easy to handle apart from a lot of complaints for sure.
“Tr, Trouble!?”
“……Uh, it’s hard to have a criminal record……”
Almeida and Tetes are……yeah, they really have the ability and aspiration, so if you mess up, you’ll have too much trouble. It is true that Naris who listens properly might have a different sense of security.
“I’m sorry Naris. I’ll treat you next time”
“Eh, really? Yay”
“I’ll do it too, but don’t get too excited”
“Almeida too? Yata! Trot meals are delicious!”
“……Oh, it’s quick to switch. Is it intentional to get involved?”
“Let’s not stick water in the excitement considering the heart of a colleague who looks for good”
Certainly the presence of Naris as a dose of refreshing agent may be important.
“Auuuu, we’re going to fly again……I’m scared……”
“It’s time to get used to it, Apple-chan. Well, even though I prepared a lot of medicine, I didn’t use it much”
“Isn’t it better than anything?”
“Aurora is your arm already healed?”
“There’s no problem with the amount I use. I still have some pain in my muscles”
“Well well, Aurora-chan. If we go to Polka, I’ll give you a massage at the hot spring. Anze-chan too”
“I, I’m good”
“And after that, Neia-chan. I’ll never let Neia-chan escape. I’ll be involved in the pride of Magical Doctor if I don’t erase the damage properly.”
“Do, Don’t be too hard on me”
“Andy, can I sit next to you?”
“Hey cat girl. This is my seat”
“……Irina, do you not want to sit on my lap?”
“Is it okay?”
“Ho, you can sit on my lap”
“No, I prefer Smithson-san´s lap as a chair because of its hardness”
The inside of the car is noisy as usual. After the outside work is completed and it is confirmed that Goto and Boyd have boarded, Maia roars. Catalina seen through the window is waving off by people, both from the window, from the rooftop and from the plains in front of the town. I don’t know if they can see it, but I waved back……meanwhile, the carriage moves and is held by Maia and floats.
———————–
We visit Rennesto quite often so I don’t feel like it’s been a while. However, it was my first time to see the royal castle being restored in the daytime, so I looked down from the sky and was surprised at the scale of the construction.
“With such a large scaffolding……it was pretty broken, over there.”
“It was completely destroyed during the audience. It’s for a uncertain time, as it seems to be hard to arrange repair materials”
Naris nodded.
“It was a fierce battle, wasn’t it?”
When I talked to Dianne, she smiled bitterly.
“It’s not like it broke down in battle during the audience. I heard Lord Buster broke it with a trap”
“What, I wonder if there was something amazing like a immense monster versus Dianne among the audience”
“Idiot”
Dianne grinned.
“Everyone was safe, right?”
Sharon nods to Neia who seems to be worried even now.
“As expected, there were casualties in the battle in the city, but……at least there should have been no casualties among the people involved in the castle”
“……But I can’t believe it. They put a monster in the town just to get rid of Buster-sama”
“It’s silly. But peace is a boring ambition. Especially humans are short-lived, so there is a strong desire to achieve something”
“……However, it is not possible to abhor peace, isn’t it? ……It’s difficult”
Neia pulls her hat down. It is likely not to be able to do it as the one to protect peace though it is another country.
When we turned lightly over the sky to the Celesta mansion, there were more than a dozen unfamiliar men in the garden.
“Dragon!!”
“H, Hey, what’s wrong with you, wasn’t it the story of Celesta’s base?”
“Oh, calm down, if you encounter a dragon, hide yourself first, then make contact slowly, never get it angry!”
They are in panic.
“What is that?”
Laila looks down from the window and frowns. Then, the door of the carriage was opened and 100-man commander Becker jumped off.
“Hey, why do you panic so much! Lygley, Mets!”
“……U, Uwa, the dragon gave birth to 100-man commander Becker!?”
“Why I’m born from a dragon, fool, calm down! This dragon is on our side!”
Apparently, acquaintances of 100-man commander Becker……at least two.
“Hey, can we descend?”
Maia is listening to me on my shoulder. She was hovering quickly.
“Dianne”
“……That’s good. If you don’t descend once, the roar will open”
Maia slowly descends into the garden as directed by Dianne.
Apparently 100-man commander Becker spoke to the guys in the yard while we got down and put the luggage on the lawn.
“Commander Dianne. Introducing. 10-man captain Fernando Ligley and 10-man captain Mark Mets of the Intelligence Brigade. Both of them are Ace Knights”
A flashy man with upright hair and a muscular, dark-black man. Both of then are humans. I don’t think either of them is a spy……well, Becker is also a handsome guy, but you don’t really notice if he’s off the mark and maybe there is such a technique.
“Are they the Ace Knights sent by the headquarters?”
“That’s right”
“That, we’ve been team members for 10 years now. I wonder if it’s time for us to take a break”
“Is it acceptable to see a person who runs away just by seeing a dragon?”
No, 100-man commander Becker was also quite surprised, when he first saw Laila.
“What about these guys over there?”
“……Ah, yes, they are comrades. It’s said that they were chosen mainly by those who were good at survival from the third west and the Baikan Corps in the east”
“Who has the most seniority?”
“There’s General Clay Kingfisher. ……He´s shopping”
“Kingfisher. ……Father”
Dianne made a bitter look.
“Do you know the general?”
“‘『Don’t call me general, call me 1000-man commander. Because the economy would be better if the number is concrete』, That’s him, isn’t it?”
“……That’s right”
For some reason, even Lygley, who has reverse hair, has a nervous face.
“Andy-sama, something weird is approaching”
“Hmm?”
When Maia returns from the dragon to her human form, she pulls on my sleeve. When I looked at the way she pointed, I could see a huge bird-like thing. What is that? Service Rock Dragon……although smaller than that. It’s approaching us.
“Should it be shot off with ice?”
“Wait a minute”
Dianne said,
“It’s fine”
And for some reason the go sign. Maia instantly makes icicles and throws them into the air. And.
“Who foolish!”
It seemed to shake a little, but Maia couldn’t shoot it down and it wasn’t overwhelmingly busy moving its wings and approaches. ……It’s a Birdman. A minority race to the west of Celesta. The number of flying birdmen is very similar to ox-ogres.
“Didn’t mother tell you not to throw things when people were flying!!”
The birdman who landed in the garden while getting angry is pale that the feathers of the whole body are awake. And, with shopping bags in both hands, he seems to be worn out.
“It’s been a while, Kingfisher. I thought you retired”
“Can I be the only one who retires even though Becker and Vincent haven’t retired!! Or rather, who are you!?”
Even though he is angry, I feel like he is stupid because he skipped various things. Dianne turned around. Then the birdman opens his beak and drops the shopping bags.
“……C, Ca, Captain!?”
“I told you Kingfisher”
“No, no, I don’t hear it!? Captain Dianne is beautiful today”
Even though it was said he is a general, he became a small fish at a stretch.
“I don’t understand what you mean”
The birdman opens his beak and threatens 100-man commander Becker.
“Wakare! You’re the reason why I´m here, Becker!! I’m so great that you can use honorifics, idiot!”
“I’m sorry, a certain 100-man commander once said that he was treated as a general depending on how they count”
“Don’t quibble!!”
Because it’s a birdman, I don’t know how old he is, but I feel like he is the same age as Becker. Dianne strike those two with her palm.
“Can’t you guys be a little like Ace Knights in front of Gauntlet Knights?”
“Gauntlet Knights!?”
The birdman turns his head (the girls were scared because the neck turned straight behind him) and there were four figures with gauntlets.
“Not good. Hey, reverse hair, and black macho, take this”
“We introduced yourself four times, General”
The bird man made a pose with his wings spread out in an appropriate way, splendidly passing through Ligley´s tsukkomi, who carries the shopping bags.
“I’m 1000-man commander and Master Knight Clay Kingfisher. I’m super handsome as you see”
“That introduction is already too late”
Dianne immediately made a plunge thrust.
“Master Knight……”
“Here……?”
Tetes, Naris and Sharon seem to be super suspicious, yet they line up with embarrassed faces, without being able to reveal it. And Almeida stepped down one step, murmuring while holding the iron cane without warning.
“……Its unexpected, but I didn’t think we will meet once again”
“Almeida?”
“One of the strongest of the 3rd Infantry Corps of Celesta Western Army. I had some difficulties with him in the past”
“……?”
Come to think of it, Afilm Empire and Celesta’s Western Army often collide. The birdman said a word in response to Almeida’s sharp eyes.
“Do you have a pulse?”
“No”
“……”
Depressed.
“……It’s completely forgotten……”
Almeida is also depressed.
—————————–
“Well, that’s the point. In the old days, that guy was also part of the intelligence brigade. There was also Captain. It was a story when I was a young boy”
100-man commander Becker, explained. Apparently, Dianne used to command a part of the Intelligence Brigade. There are various forms of 「Reconnaissance」 in spite of intelligence and it seems that Dianne’s unit was a forceful reconnaissance, that is, it was a rough unit that dragged out the force by hitting the suspicious unit of the enemy and investigated its outline. By the way, now let’s leave it to each infantry. There is no such thing as a unit that can stand up to such a full-time job and the lessons of war change as soon as Dianne’s nurtured unit. That’s what happened. The members of those days are now playing active roles as the most elite in various places.
“I finally understand why 100-man commander Becker always call Dianne-san Captain”
“……Yeah, it’s like imprinting. In terms of class, there’s no reason to be offended by calling her out, but I still can’t do that. Captain is Captain”
100-man commander Becker has given up. By the way, we, Basson’s crossbow corps, have the custom of increasing the sense of solidarity by banning honorific words once and throwing them away regardless of age when we are in the same class. I used to use honorifics for Keiron and Isaac. I wonder if Lantz and Goto will eventually call me out.
“So you’re going to surrender this Celesta mansion to them?”
When Anzeros raised her hand and asked, Dianne shook her head.
“In any case, it’s a mansion that has the power of a dragon prepared with an umbrella. Some of them are afraid of the dragon and I don’t want to spoil the mood of the royal castle. Probably, they will prepare a separate dormitory”
“That’s good……”
“I don’t want it to be made into a man’s garden now”
Naris smiles and says.
“……Naris, aren’t you supposed to have a house in Rennesto in the first place?”
Sharon interrupts. That’s right. I mean, at first, the Gauntlet people were going around and guarding here. But Naris laughs dry.
“When I went to see it, I was delinquent in rent and was taken out”
Salty.
“Even though you´re a Gauntlet Knight, it’s not just Naris-chan who rented a boarding house for rent, wasn’t it?”
“Well, I’ve been in arrears for about three months, so I’m too stingy to pick up my luggage and move in with a new person!!”
“Normal”
“It is normal”
“It’s normal, isn’t it?”
‥
Naris was depressed by the series of things that I, Sharon and Almeida said.
“Good, I have a place here”
“Isn’t that why I had to keep up with the special task force?”
Almeida’s calm point.
“I’m sorry, I’m telling you, I’ll give you back if you really succeed in the world, so please take me with you”
“You don’t have to be that servile
……Although.
“This is all about the strength of the army. The defense of Catalina and regular patrols of the demon territory will also be dense”
Dianne smiles grinningly.
“I might be able to return Neia earlier than I expected”
“……That’s right”
Neia pulled her hat down. What is that? Isn’t that the place where you smile?