Dida is the person believed to be the one who framed Aeon.
　From Aeon's point of view, he won't get tired of killing him.
　What's more, Dida is likely to be the reason why Isaac, the leader of the Scarlet Wedge, is dead. If that's the case, Rebecca-san and Shero-san might also want to return the favor.
　If that's the case, let's just do it, shall we?　Well, I guess that's a bit of a stretch, but...

　Everyone's eyes are on Ion.
　Naturally, Hetty, too.

'......... huh?'

　Mr. Hetty's icy blank expression quickly turns to astonishment.
　For a moment, I wondered if it would be a bad idea if Hetty knew about this.　I thought to myself, "Well, it's too late now.

'No. ....... Le ...... lucrion princess ......?

　It seems that Hetty-san knew about Aeon, after all.
　Well, she's the eldest daughter of a large merchant family. I guess she's a social butterfly and all that. I don't know much about it.

　They stared at each other for a while.
　Aeon watched Hetty-san's face intently for a while, but...

'Oh!　Miss Henrietta!　Isn't that Miss Henrietta!

　And suddenly, he let out a loud voice.
　Henrietta was Hetty's real name.
　I didn't know her to the level that Ion, who was a princess, knew her name.

''I was surprised to hear about Dida Barbacro, but I didn't know that Henrietta-san knew Ayase-san!　It's been so long, Miss Henrietta.
'What?　Ugh. Are you sure it's ......?　Are you sure it's the real Princess Lucreon?
It's real!
Hi, Princess!　............ well done. I'm sure Master Reese will be very pleased.
What? You're hurting me, Miss Henrietta!

　Hetty hugs Ion.
　She is unusually out of harmony and is about to shed tears. She seems to be really, truly happy to see Ion again.
　Ion also has a hint of tears in his eyes and smiles softly. It seems that they were surprisingly close to each other.
　The daughter of an Imperial Merchant and the Emperor's daughter. I wonder if they can be that close. I don't know how powerful a goyo-sho is, but .......

I don't know if you two know each other. If you don't mind, may I ask what their relationship was like for later study?

　Somehow, I tried to be humble.

'Huh?　Didn't you know that, Ayase?
He didn't know.
'I didn't tell you about it either. My best friend Becky doesn't know about it either. Well, it was a long time ago.
Hey, what's the matter with you, Hetty?

　It looks like he's got a secret. What is it?

"Master Jiro. You may have never heard of my vocation, but I'm sure I've told you before that I have three.
Yes, I hear there are three combat types.
''As I've told everyone in the mercenary group, my three vocation is 'Gladiator,' 'Hunter (Ranger),' and 'Fighter (Grappler).'
That's great, isn't it?

　I don't feel like I can win at all. It's a brainiac.

''But there's actually another thing. That's why I got to know this Princess Lucreon and why I started the mercenary group: .......

　Then, Hetty-san took a breath and said.

''My first vocation is 'Holy Knight (Paladin). I was once a Holy Knight with Princess Lucreon.
'Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

　Me and Rebecca's "yeah yeah" echoes through the meadow.

'Seh, Holy Knight!　Then why were you in a mercenary group then!
'Because I quit for a lot of reasons, Becky. I was a Holy Knight with Princess Lucreon until she was still a little girl. The reason why the princess remembers me is because I was able to be a personal friend of Lady Reese's, even after I stopped being a Holy Knight.
Who's Mr. Reese?

　My question is answered by Ion.

'Rhys is my mother. Miss Henrietta was my mother's tea-drinking friend.

　Aeon's mother.
　So, you mean the former emperor's queen. In other words, she must be the current Empress Dowager.
　Come to think of it, I think Rebecca said something about being able to get along with the royal family when you become a holy knight. She said that Holy Knights are supposed to be the Kingsguard Knights: .......
　But hmmm. People have history.
　Ms. Hetty is the eldest daughter of the Imperial Merchant, a former holy knight, a former head of a mercenary corps, and a maid. No, wearing a maid's outfit is a personal hobby. Or rather, a disguise.

''So why did Hetty quit being a holy knight?　I mean, can a holy knight quit once he's in the castle?
'It was father-related, you know. It was more convenient for that a**h*le of a father to marry me in a political marriage than for me to be a holy knight. Plus, I was totally leaning towards Master Reese, which was alien to my f*cking father, who was invested in the second wife's side of the family.

　I see, even if it was just a holy knight, Hetty-san was able to resign because of her position as the daughter of an errand merchant. In this world, the value that women should get married and have children is still very strong. That may not change even if you are a holy knight.

''Huh?　So Hetty was a married man then?
Of course not. I'm going to be mad.
But you're not a holy knight anymore?
I quit, but there was no way I was going to do what my a**h*le father wanted me to do. I needed to be free for Master Reese to begin with, and it just worked out so well that I could pretend to be in a political marriage and get my freedom.
'Well, that's just like Hetty. Pretending to be a wife and then becoming a mercenary.

　From Holy Knight to mercenary leader?
　Hetty-san is a former Imperial Holy Knight, but she was commanding a mercenary corps to fight against the Empire. That's too eccentric.

''Oh, I see. I didn't know Hetty wore a mask like that on the battlefield.
'Yeah. It's true that if you fight regular soldiers, there's a chance they might find out. Well, our group rarely fought regulars, though.
As I recall, that's true. Except for the squad led by Dora's son.
That stupid son of a b*tc*. I would've killed him if Master Reese hadn't stopped me.

　The Masked Warrior or .......
　I was going to get Aeon to wear a mask, but there was a pioneer: .......

　But it's a bit unusual that he was a former holy knight of the empire, but he joined another country as a mercenary and bowed to his own country.
　There are many reasons for this, but it's not hard to ask.

What is it, Jirou-sama? What do you mean by that? It's a mystery to me what I do.
'Yeah, yeah. Well, if I'm being honest.
...... At that time, plans had already begun between my father and my uncle Dida to make Princess Lucurion a deceased person... Princess Lucurion, who had received the general's vocation at the age of 10, was a hindrance to her two idiot sons and all those who supported her.
So that's how it started?
''I have decided to report the matter to Master Reese alone, and to protect Princess Lucreon by whatever means I can. I was also the one who recommended Isaac for the princess's vocation education. The man's fighting ability was real, and it's unlikely that he would be bribed by his stupid son or his stupid father.

　Indeed, from the character of Mr. Isaac's alleged personality, it seems that he would try to protect the princess at all costs. In fact, he was probably right. As it turns out, though, he's failing.

''Before that, let's talk about how we created the mercenary group. This was simply to protect Rhys-sama and Princess Lucreon. Because if the situation arose, I was even thinking of using the mercenary group to exile both Rhys-sama and Princess Lucreon. I was loyal to Master Rhys personally, not out of patriotism.

　I see, so it was a 'female only mercenary group'.

'Then who was in the war?

'We're a mercenary corps, so we have to go to war to eat. But I've only fought in a few battles that were as big as wars. I was in countless minor battles. Above all, we needed money, and I had a talent for fighting. ...... Most of all, I wanted to bury those idiots with a thud, but Master Reese stopped me from doing so. I'm sure he knew that, but he still wasn't ready to kill them either.

Are you saying that this mercenary group was Master Reese's idea?

'No way!　He's so kind that he didn't even get it right when I told him about the mercenary group. In other words, I was doing it on my own. Well, ...... that was also until Princess Lucreon was set up, though. ...... And more importantly, may I ask why Princess Lucurion is at Jirou-sama's place?

'That's a long story to explain, but you can go to ....... Mr. Shamash.

　I threw the explanation to Aeon and Mr. Shamash, as it would be better for the person in question to explain.



　◇◆◆◆◆◇



'Mr. Hetty, I just got back, but I need a favor from you.

　After explaining why Aeon was here, Hetty bowed deeply to Shamash-san. The reason Aeon was safe and here now was because Shamash-san had protected her in every way. And maybe that was what Hetty-san was trying to do.
　I'm sure Hetty can't thank me enough for all that I've done.

　Of course, I was also deeply grateful. He said that if I wanted to, he would also offer me the spirit stone that was used to exorcise the prison crest, but I was adamant about that.
　Instead, I'd like to ask Hetty to do something for me.

''What is it?　Master Jirou is the one who saved the princess, anything I can do to help, please tell me.
She's not a princess anymore, she's just an ion.

　Hetty may have her position and the princess may be a princess, but from my point of view, Aeon is just Aeon now.
　That's the only part I can't concede.

''Yes. It was. Is it Aeon ...... Aeon?
'We're already talking about living here as a different person. In fact, it seems that your brother has inherited the empire, so there's no need to rehash it now. He doesn't seem to have any intention of doing so either.

　I will avenge my brother and become King of the Empire!　Unless you're talking about "I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do that" or something like that, then I'm just going to say "I'm not sure if I'm going to do that", but it's part of life to be satisfied with a little happiness.
　As long as we have enough food, clothing and shelter, it's fine.

I'll be careful. "I'll be careful. It's just an aeon. ...... I'm sure you'll be much happier here than in that crappy place.
Whether he's happy is up to him, but I think it's a lot better than the tunnels you lived in with Mr. Shamash.

　I don't know what it was like when she was an imperial princess, but in fact, Aeon smiled a lot more when she came over here.
　She was quite gloomy when I met her, but maybe she was cheerful by nature.

''So, please, Hetty-san, would you like to join the parade?　And if Dida is going to do something in the parade, it would be easier to prevent it if Miss Hetty was inside.
'That's fine, but ....... Are you sure?

　Mr. Hetty shows a slight puzzled look.
　Was there a problem? Was there?

'Mr. Hetty, I hear you're a 'holy knight' by vocation, so there's no problem.
No, I mean, I've got a pretty well-known face, so I'm not so sure.
Well, get them to put on their masks and go to ......

　The Masked Knight again.
　Aeon will have to wear a mask too, and one and two are the same.

'I see. Then, I'll join you. Hmm, I'll have to get my equipment together.
'Yes!　If you want to, I'd like to see you join the knightly corps as well, but that's too much of a bug story, isn't it?　Oh, I'll get the equipment over here.

　Hetty-san is a warrior of a hundred battles.
　She's such a fierce fighter that Rebecca had said that she would surpass even Shero-san in overall strength. Just having them participate in the parade is unbeatable, but to have them join the knight squad as well.

''Can you invite me to join the squad ...... me too ......?

　Hetty looks straight back at me with sincere eyes and asks me that.
　Huh?　It doesn't sound like it's a no-brainer: ......?

'What?　Yes, of course. You're more than welcome to come, Hetty!

　Miss Hetty is a great asset. She's strong, but she's also beautiful, after all.
　Hetty smiled softly for a moment before returning to her crisp face and saying, "It's a pleasure, Miss Jiro.

''I'm glad to hear it, Jirou-sama.
So ......?
'Yes, sir. I would love to join you. No, actually, I was going to ask you to join us. Jirou-sama will find it difficult to protect Aeon for a long time, so please let me help you. And also I used to lead a mercenary group. It would be useful in some way.
'Yes!　I'm happy too, Hetty. Best regards!

　I get so excited that I grab her hand and buzz around.
　Hetty-san looks a bit confused, but somewhat happy.
　She's the type of person who doesn't change her expression much, but I can kind of tell. This is the one when she's really happy. I'm happy too. I'm really happy too.

"Fufu ....... An all-female squad. That reminds me of the old days, Becky.
Yeah. But Hetty, the Grim Reaper, is going to be there, huh? This is going to be a bit of a celebrity in the Empire.
Is that so?
'No, it won't be a problem as few people know my face. If you wish to use my name, Jirou-sama, I'm willing to do so.

　Name ...... name, huh? Hetty, you must be very famous.

　I replied, "I don't intend to do that.
　The more famous Hetty-san is, the more her name value is likely to be the only thing that walks by itself. I want to feature more of the fact that we are a female knight squad. I want them to eventually grow to a size where they can be called a knightly order.

　Afterwards, I told Hetty about what happened in Luclaera.
　I introduced him to the Grand Master and gave him a look at the dragons.
　Since Hetty-san would be participating in the parade, we decided to rush to order equipment and make an additional insignia.

　The parade is only a week away.
　According to the grand master, he's going to make it just in time, but it's a tight schedule.