We lost.
　Bernhardt, who had his sword against his neck, said that and put it on the ground.

''Yeah . I don't think there's anything wrong with you being Knight Commander. From now on, I asked you to train some new recruits. And I'll give you this as well.
　With strength like this, I wouldn't worry.
　With that in mind, I gave Vernolt the loyalty band.

"Thank you, sir. From now on, I'll do my best to live up to Leonce's expectations.
　Bernold said and kneeled on the ground and received the bracelet with his head bowed .
　He's been an adventurer for many years and knows how to handle nobles and such?
　Most of the nobles will feel better about themselves if you lift them up.
　Well, never mind that.

Yeah, nice to meet you. So who else wants to try?
　With Bernold's challenge over, he asked for the next challenger.

......
　Well, of course no one is going to offer it.
　The guy who got blown up at the beginning, Alma and Hermann's fight, me and Bernold's fight.
　It's a scary thing for the average person.
　Well, that's the plan.

Well, that's the plan. ....... So, we all failed, then. Okay, that's it. We're done for today. We'll see what we can do next month.

Oh, no!　Wait!
Yes!　Let me do it!
　At my comment, the previously quiet contestants opened their mouths and pleaded with me impatiently.

It's too late. Class dismissed!
　It would be troublesome if they started a riot, so I used Serena's power to summon a large number of golems .
　Come to think of it, I hadn't introduced it yet, but I can summon golems with Serena's level 4 power.
　Isn't it the same as Elena's demon summoning?
　But it seems that artificially made golems aren't treated as monsters.
　They're magical tools or magical items.

　Serena's detailed level 4 power is to summon magical tools or magical items.

　Which is pretty handy.
　In fact, when I summon Serena, I can summon Elena too.
　So I don't have to worry about not having a weapon on me.

　But I'm not talking about how great Serena is.
　The summoned golems formed a wall and drove all those who wanted to join out of the castle.
　The ones who didn't even try to challenge me or Hermann didn't even try to fight the golems, they just got scared and left.

"Is that right?
　As I watched the people being pushed out by the golems, Bernolt asked me.

'Yeah . 'No problem . I'll give it another shot next month, if he's up to it.

But there are only two of us in the Order, right?

'Well, that's okay. We've got golems in our house, and there's nothing good about rushing to get more of them. We'll have to increase our numbers little by little, carefully selecting them carefully and carefully considering them.
　There's no hurry. The enemy knows we're taking our time to prepare.

I see. ......

Besides, I'll bring Hermann with me after school now, so you don't have to worry about him.

Still, it's three people: ......
　Bernold looked at Alma and Hermann, then chuckled .

''There are plenty of golem soldiers in the area, so we'll be fine. Besides, the golems here are definitely stronger than those soldiers.''
　I mean, wouldn't it be more reliable to mass-produce golems to fight the next war?
　But I came to the idea that it's impossible to get enough of them to fight a war ......, so I decided to start recruiting knights slowly.

'I see, then maybe we can choose our knights slowly.

Right?　We've got to take a serious look at it so we don't let the traitors out.

Yes, sir.

''Well then, you two, good luck tomorrow. But there won't be anything to do, so for now, make sure Alma can use non-attribute magic by next month. Maybe you can learn it right away, since you can manipulate magic.

Yes, sir.

'Oh, speaking of which, Alma. Should I go see Bell?　He's right there.
　It's a gift.
　Belle will be happy to see her junior colleague, too.

What?　Oh, yes!
　Alma tilted her head for a moment, as if my question hadn't entered her mind, and then nodded vigorously.

　So I took Alma and the others and came back to Frank and the others.


I'm done with my work.

Totally ...... I don't know what you want to do at all.
　When I came back, Frank looked at the challengers who were still being pushed out of the room with a dumbfounded look on his face.

'Really?　Finding the best people is what we're here for, you know. Besides, there were a lot of spies in the mix this time, so we couldn't have hired that many anyway.
　It's too cumbersome to identify them one by one, so we went with this method.

　I'm sure the spies will wait and see how the test goes before attempting it to keep a low profile.
　That's what I thought, so I decided to show him the hardest part of the test and then ask him to come forward.
　This way, only the most passionate or the best will come forward.
　Spies can't come forward if they want to, 'cause they'll stand out and I'll remember their faces.
　Well, I asked Mr. Flare for an interview, just in case someone comes along who doesn't mind.

　With that thought in mind, I turned to the two guys next to me who were having a great time.
'Belle!　How have you been?
　Alma was holding Belle's hand and talking to her happily.

'Yeah, Alma looks good too.
　Belle, on the other hand, was happily replying to Alma.
　But still, it's very unusual for Belle not to use honorifics.
　Well, since Alma is like family, it's strange that she uses honorifics.

"Yes. Belle really did get to be a maid. And she must have been quite fond of having Master Leonce walk around with her.
　Of course!　I love Belle so much.

Well, I'm her personal maid.

Wow. You've come a long way.

Alma, you'll be the knight tomorrow.

Heh.
Ahaha.
　They were praising each other and laughing happily.
　Looking at them, I felt like I was going to be happy.

I'm glad that I had the courage to try that time. I got to be the knight I dreamed of being, and I saw Belle again.
　I think so, too.
　If you weren't that good out there, I was going to recruit Alma.
　It's not every day that a young girl can challenge someone in that room without anyone else raising their hand.
　Besides, even if she was weak, I could have trained her up and forced her to be strong.

I know. And Alma's strong again, isn't she?

Yeah. I've been working my ass off for two years. You can't even beat Belle now, can you?

　No, no, no, no, no. ......
No, you don't. Do you know how many times I've had Master Leo teach me martial arts every day?

'Oh, I have a feeling that's not going to happen: ......
　Alma looked at me and nodded her head in agreement with me, all by herself .

''Well, Belle is stronger than Hermann.
　Probably because I'm usually the strongest people around me .

''Shh, Master ......?''

Oh, I mean, it was like a voice in my head. Not.
　I heard Hermann's sad voice from behind me, and when I tried to cover it up in a hurry, I said more gibberish .

''Is that so . I thought I was my master's best pupil, but I wasn't. ....... You're right. I guess I shouldn't have gotten this arrogance right. Now I have to go back to the drawing board and practice like hell every day. ......
　When I heard such a voice, I turned my face back and saw a ...... negative dreadful aura of depression, and Hermann was mumbling to himself.

I'm not going to be the only one who can do that.　There's a reason for this: ......

"Remember the first time Master taught me. You were training so hard back then. That's right.

Hey!　Listen to me!
　He was still mumbling to himself, so I grabbed Hermann by the shoulders.

　Finally, Hermann stopped talking to himself.
"Yes, sir.

You're still on level one, right?

Yes. You're not allowed to raise the bar in school.
　Are you banned from leveling up?

'What?　Really?　Well, okay. Hermann is level one, but Bell is over level 30. Normally, there's a thirty-fold difference between them. It's just that no matter how hard you try, you can't win by that much, right?



'Ta, sure: ......'

'Do we understand each other?　You're strong enough.

Yes, ...... I get it.
　He replied, but Hermann seemed somewhat unconvinced and his voice was very low .

　Taku...... can't be helped .
''Well, I'll go with you on your next vacation to help you level up, so don't be so depressed .
　A couple of days in the dungeon should be enough to make you strong enough.

Oh, really?
　Hermann's face lit up.
　d*mn cashmere.

Yeah. That'll fix your mood, huh?

Of course!
　I don't know where the negative aura I had earlier went: .......

'Is Frank coming too?'

'No, okay ....... For all intents and purposes, there's no way I'm going to be able to keep up with you guys in your fight.

I don't think so. Frank has some very powerful magic. I'll build you an upgrade later.
　It's all for fun and games.
　It'll definitely be more fun with the three of us.

Is that so?　So long. ......

Okey-dokey. So Alma and Bernold will see you tomorrow. I have some work to do, so I'll say goodbye to you today. Belle will give you a tour of the castle. And you, Frank and Hermann, if you want to come with me, take a tour of the castle.

Okay.
'Yes!　I'll come around.
Yes, sir.

Okay, I'll see you later. So I'll see you later.
　I heard their replies, and then I said it and went to my room.


"Elsie, I'm sorry to keep you waiting.
　When I came back into the room, I found Miss Elsie sitting on the couch in her room reading some papers .

'No, I'm not waiting for you. Rather, isn't it too early?　What happened to the Knights' exam?

It's over.

'What?　It's over!　What decision did you make?

Who wants to take the test?　But when I asked, there were only three people who came forward. It went faster than I thought it would.

'Oh, really? ......
　Miss Elsie nodded with a difficult look on her face, wondering if she knew what I was saying or not.

'Well, that's not the point, but let me hear about your progress while I was away.

I understand. But it's only been about ten days, so we're not that far along.

Yeah, I guess so. Nice to meet you.
　I hope it's nothing out of the ordinary.

I understand. Since Leo's return, the training of artisans and the construction of the magic tool factory have been progressing well. And I've also started looking for that general commercial space Leo asked me to build. We've received many applications for this one right away, so it looks like it will be filled with no problems.

That's good to hear. It looks like we'll be able to start developing it in earnest in six months, as planned.

Yes.

Oh, and how's Lou doing, unrelated to work, but how's he doing?
　It's not work-related, but it's more important than work.
　Stress is very dangerous for Lou.

'Is that you, Lou?　Lou would miss Leo and the others so much that he would stick with me all the time, except when I'm at work.

Really? ......
　I knew Lou had become a bit lonely since the last time he went crazy.
　I'll have to get Sherry over here often.

That helps me feel a little less lonely, though.
　I see. I knew you'd miss her, Elsie.

I'm sorry. I'll try to stay here from now on.

Don't worry about it. Oh, but if you can show up at least once in a while: ......
　I told her it was okay, but I'd be in trouble if she really stopped coming . I could hear that thought in Elsie-san's voice and expression.



Yeah, I'll try to be here as much as possible.
　Anyway, he should be able to come tomorrow.