Clarice looked at Filia, who was sleeping soundly, smiling, and then popped her hand.
　It was a gesture of remembering something.

'Yes, yes. Do you know.　Master Filia, you spent most of your money to hire Master Solon?

'What?　Really?

''Yes. Eighty percent of the imperial budget for one year allocated to Lady Filia. That's Master Solon's annual salary.

　I squirmed with a jolt.
　Lucy said it was a good deal of work and offered me a job as Filia's tutor.
　It's true that I felt the pay was high for a private tutor, but I knew that when you're a servant of the princess, you shouldn't be surprised at the amount of remuneration you receive.

　But now that I think about it, the only servant that Filia had ever had was her maid Clarice.
　Filia is just one of the many princesses and is treated so coldly that only one servant is assigned to her.
　And yet, there was no way that the Emperor or the government would hire a highly paid tutor for Filia.
　It seems that Filia is using the meager money given to her by the imperial family for me of her own volition.

''That's indeed a bad idea. I'll ask Filia-sama to lower my salary later.''

''Oh, well, that's not what I meant. I just wanted to say that Filia-sama is trying to take care of Solon-sama. So, if Solon-sama were to take care of you like that, Filia-sama would be sadder than ever.

But...

'And if you're as powerful as Master Solon, there should be plenty of jobs that pay more, and even this is about as cheap as it gets, right?　I'm not just a tutor, I'm also an escort.

'No, well, that's true, but...'

Anyway, you're not going to ask me to lower my salary because I said something about money, are you?　Lady Filia will be very upset with you.

　Clarice whispered.
　'I'm annoyed, but for now I have no choice. We'll figure out what we're going to do later.

　More importantly, what I'm wondering is why Filia decided to hire me to that extent.
　Originally, it seems that Filia had hoped to make a magic swordsman like 'Solon, Vice Commander of the Knights of St. Sophia' a tutor.
　However, Lucy, who was asked to be an intermediary, couldn't quite find someone that the princess liked.
　Then I, or in other words, Solon himself, happened to show up, so I introduced him to Filia.

　I asked Clarice why Filia insisted on a magical swordsman like me, and I asked her why.
　Clarice gave me a strange look.

''Didn't Filia-sama tell you that?''

'I've heard that you had a crush on Solon the Sorcerer, the hero of the famous Order,'

Doesn't that make sense to you?

'Yes. It doesn't sound like a mere celebrity crush. Besides, if that's the case, the other person should be Creon, Sophia or Arte.

I don't know. I was more rooting for Master Solon than for the saints and Creon.

That's because I'm a commoner like you, right?

It's partly because of Filia-sama's influence that I've become a fan of Solon-sama.

Yeah.

　I thought it was the opposite.
　I thought that Clarice, who seems to love trends, had told Filia all sorts of gossip about the Knights of St. Sophia.

　The legends of the Knights of St. Sophia are spread around in various ways, and heroic tales such as liberating ruins that no one has been able to capture for two hundred years, or defeating the legendary dark dragon are told in the world.

　Although some aspects of the story are exaggerated, it is thanks to those stories that the Knights of St. Sophia are popular.

　However, it's strange that Filia is obsessed with me just because she heard those stories indirectly.

''How can she trust me so much when she's never met me in person?

　Clarice replied to my mumble.

'Then what if we've met in person?'

What?

Master Solon and Lady Filia must have met a long time ago.

　Clarice chuckled.
　I thought about what that meant.
　Have I ever met Filia?
　Did I ever get the chance to meet the Princess when I was a student at the Academy of Magic, or after I founded the Order?
　I don't think so, though.
　Clarice seemed to know something.

　I was about to open my mouth to ask Clarice when she put her index finger to my lips.
　I couldn't help but blush at the soft touch.

'Um, Clarice?'

'You'll have to hear any more from Lady Filia directly. Now, I have to get back to work!

　With that, Clarice disappeared from the room in an instant.