First impressions were the worst.

　I thought he was a young aristocratic man with no common sense, who grew up in a pampered environment that didn't know how to deal with hardship, and who didn't think the trouble he caused others was a nuisance.

　So what about it.
　He buried six Scarlet Mantis in a matter of thirty seconds. From 20 meters away, with a simple longbow and an impossible feat of archery.

　How much effort did he have to make?

　I can't begin to feel sorry for him, lumping him in with those filthy nobles.


　What about me?

　I've wanted to become a knight from a young age, and I've come all this way with only a sword until now.

　It's no good. No matter what I do, I can't do it. My home has abandoned me for not having any talent with a sword, and I'm a lowly member of the knightly order I finally joined, and that's floating around brilliantly too.

　It's not accompanied by any competence at all.

　They think I'm just a little girl who just fusses about justice and righteousness.

　Even that justice I have not been able to carry out.

　Whenever I expose a nobleman's injustice and hunt him down, my superiors will put a stop to it.

　You move to expose your boss's injustice, you get interference from your colleagues.

　You are a dog of power.

　I am so sick of it.

　I hate this kingdom, I hate the system.

　Just look at it.

　Even now, even after our men are dead, the corrupt upper echelons of this Order are busy trying to coerce our Third Order allies into joining their ranks.

　The reason why we are in this predicament is also because of the incompetent commander and the unreasonable demands from the upper echelon.


　This is the Order?

　Is this the kind of knight I once admired and aspired to be?

　If so, I'm already ......



　　* * *



'Second Lord. Do you intend to join the Adventurers' Guild?

　After assisting the third knight, I was brought to the knight's room with an expensive looking sofa.

　I thought I was going to be thanked there, but that's the first thing the guy sitting across from me opened his mouth to say.

'The Adventurer's Guild?'
Oooh, that was a bit hasty. For what it's worth, I've heard that Second-dono doesn't belong to the guild despite being an adventurer.

　I certainly don't belong.
　But there is no reason to belong to it either.

　The adventurer's guild of the Castal Kingdom is an organization that oversees the mediation of requests such as the defeat of demons. It's the role of bridging the gap between the people and the adventurers, so to speak, but in fact it's a corrupt organization that the kingdom cuts out personal information in order to unilaterally control the adventurers.

　Why do I know that, it can't be helped since that's what it said in Mevion's story.

'I appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid I must decline.
Can I ask you why: ......?

　Don't bite the bullet, you old man. What does he want?

'I'm not particularly money hungry and I don't like being tied down to an organization, so is ......?'
　There was no point in hiding it, so I told him honestly why.

　Then the old man gave me a look of annoyance.

What's wrong?
''No. We, the knight's group, do not want to leave a freelance adventurer as talented as Second-dono alone as possible. Particularly this time, Second-dono's ability was made clear to the public. If this is not the case, the nobles will be scrambling to win you over.

...... I mean, the guild will protect me.
Yeah.

　I doubt it.

　You say that my abilities have been revealed in a big way, but since there are no witnesses, isn't it just a matter of the Third Order guys not talking?

　Why is the old man so eager to have me join the guild?

　............ Hmmm, I don't get it.

　I don't care if you belong to a club, but I can't help but feel that it's going to be a drag on the "world's number one".

I don't belong to any organization.
...... Right.

　When I said that, the old man pulled back.
　Then he opened his mouth with a thoughtful look on his face.

''Then let's get Silvia from us. If the Third Order is with us, it will give us some traction.

　With Sylvia in tow: .......
　I see. She's a beautiful woman with a weak head, but she's beautiful. You can't help but want a man by your side.

　That's why I'm afraid to accept this old man's proposal.

　This is probably the real aim.
　But I don't really know what that aim is.

I'm not sure what kind of tricks the nobles will try to use to get in. It is well known in King's Landing that Sylvia is a strict knight against the nobility. I think it's pretty effective, but what do you think?

　More attacks from the old man.

　...... Hmm, I think I've figured something out.

　Sylvia is hard on the nobility. And the upper echelons of the Knights are connected to the nobility. In other words, the Knights have Silvia in the way. So does that mean they want to move Sylvia to the left?

　Ooh, that's a different story.

　If that's the case, then, you know, maybe this is actually a great suggestion for me?

　Why, the duck wasn't a leek ....... It's a unique opportunity to bring a beautiful female knight into the fold.

How long will you be with us?
Hmm. Let's ask him about that--Sylvia.

　When I asked him that, the old man opened the door and called for Sylvia.
　After a short wait, Sylvia appeared with her armor off.

"Sylvia. From now on, you will be assigned as the Second Lord's bodyguard. The term of office, but the Knights are going to respect the opinions of you and Second-dono.

-Oh!

　Silvia is surprised by the old man's words.
　It would. It's practically a left turn. It's not only that, but it's also respecting the opinions of me and Silvia, which means that Silvia's term of office is decided by just one word from me. It seems that the knights are still thinking of Sylvia in awe.

............
　Sylvia was silent and turned over. A glimpse of her cleavage peeked out. Hmm, a good size.

'Do you have any particular preference for tenure?'
...... Yes.

　Ossan silenced Sylvia implicitly.

　Then his gaze turned to me. So you want me to decide on the term of office. Then--.

How about two years?

　I say what I've decided to do.
　Two years. That's enough to get us to the number one spot in the world.

　The old man said without moving his expression.

'Yes, sir.'

　Thus, the female knight Sylvia became my bodyguard.



　　* * * *



　Leftward--.

　I was "good riddance" to the Knights.

　While chewing on that fact, I accompanied Second-dono as his bodyguard to the inn and drank with him in the tavern on the first floor.

　I refused because I was his bodyguard, but the Second-dono persistently asked me to join him for a drink.
　I gave in to the temptation because of the many shocking events that had happened to me.

''Hey, let's make a deal.''

　At that time.
　The Second Lord suddenly said something like that.

　I was drunk enough to reply, "Let's listen to him.

　I didn't know that the deal would change my life in the future.


'I'm sure Sylvia would like to work more proudly as a knight. I want to help her do that.

　I was a little thrilled when his name was called.
　Thinking back, Second's looks were very good. Until now, he had no time to be in love with a woman because of all the swords, but when he was drinking and relaxing like this, such a woman's feelings would spring up and come out.

　No, it's not about that, it's about him.
　His words expressed exactly how I felt right now.

　I want to be proud of being a knight. It is my justice that has always been in my heart since I was a child.

''If you're tired of the current Knights, if you're tired of the current situation, then I want you to quit the Knights. And I want you to follow me.

　It was a shocking statement.

　Follow me!

　What is this guy talking about ......?

What are you doing, baby?
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!　I told you this was a deal.

　Yeah, yeah. Calm me. This is a deal. I'm not some pup-pup in a marriage proposal. d*mn it, my face is hot!

　I gulped down the contents of my glass in one go.

　...... Huh, I guess I've calmed down a bit.

'I guess, Sylvia can't stand the idea of succumbing to power, can she?　Then you can be reasonably competent. I've got the tools to do that.

　Hmmm, that's certainly true.

　But simply put: .......

'I was born a Virginia cavalryman. It is the role of the second daughter of the House of Virginia to be knighted and to make a mark in military service. Hence, I have been training with the sword since I was four years old. I've been training with a sword for 13 years ...... but it was no use. I had no talent for the sword. I was despised by my brother, my sister, and even my parents. I was a loser. Even if I finally became a knight, I wouldn't be able to do one thing justice .......

　I gagged. I guess I was pretty drunk.

'Ah, ......'

　Then Lord Second-dono opened his mouth, as if he had difficulty saying it.

''I'm sorry, but I have to say this. If you don't have any talent with a sword, you should try something else. A spear or a bow will do.

You--

　I lost my temper, grabbed Second Lord's chest and stood up ...... and stopped.


　What am I doing?

　The Second-dono is right.

　I've been stubborn for some time now, and I've only practiced the sword. Even though people keep telling me that I don't have any talent, I'm still ...... all about the sword.

A ...... knight is ...... a hero who wears armor, carries a sword, rides a horse ...... and gallops into a pinch... ...

　I wanted to be a knight. I wanted to be a great knight. I would never bow down to evil, I would be on the side of justice.

　...... It's so pathetic. It brings tears to my eyes.

　I'm not going to be able to say that I'm not going to be able to do anything about it.

　They will hate you. Whether I wear armor, carry a sword, ride a horse, or belong to the Third Order.

　Because I'm not a knight at all. I know that painfully for myself.

You should not impose your selfish admiration on the knights like that. You can use any weapon you want. The only thing that matters is that you are a righteous soldier who gallops into a pinch, so what does it matter if you have a sword or armor?

............

　Lord Second is quite right.

　That's right.

　Swords are not concerned with form.

　It's the heart of a knight.

　That's right. That's right!

　Such a corrupt organization is no place for a real knight!

　Quitting the Order doesn't make you a knight!

　It's the only time I can change, right now--!

"Mr. Second!　I've decided. I'm going to follow you!

　I've said it.

　But I don't regret it. I've already decided to bet on him.

　When Second-dono heard my lofty declaration, he said, "I see," and smiled happily.

　My cheeks are naturally hot. Maybe I've had a little too much to drink.


'Then let's talk about my dreams.

　Lord Second-dono said, and then he started talking passionately.

　He said that he was going to become the world's number one.

　It's really a sketchy dream that makes me laugh in amazement.

　But as he smiled as he said this, his profile was as cheerful as a boy's, and his eyes seemed to sparkle.

　-- Ah, Second-dono is seriously aiming to become the world's number one, right?

　I honestly thought so.

　If so, I want to go with you and help you with that.

　Something interesting will happen.

　Oh, I've never had such a good night in my life.

　My future was so bright--!



　　* * *



...... Phew.
　After finishing my drinking session with Sylvia, I went back to my room and sat down on my bed.

''Fu...... hmmm, hmmm, hahahahaha!
　I couldn't help but laugh.

　We're getting a beautiful female knight, man!

　Oh no, I didn't expect it to go so well as planned.

　She's probably talented in [Archery] or [Magic], 13 years of doing [Swordsmanship] and not squeaking by, I can only assume her growth type is DEX-specialized or INT-specialized. It could be a production type on a thin line, but that's okay. Anyway, having a companion is very significant. This makes it a huge safety boost.

　It's also huge that I was able to get them to disconnect from the troublesome Knights and draw them over here.

　However, I didn't tell the Knights to slap a resignation letter on them right now.

　On the surface, it looks like I'm fulfilling two years of my term of office as a person of the Third Order, but in fact, I'm a spy, so to speak, who keeps leaking information about the Order to me.

　In fact, it seems that Sylvia was instructed to "seduce the Second and draw him into the Order", but it would be meaningless if it got through to me foolishly.

　The Knights would never expect that Sylvia, who is in a sense a 'knight-like knight' who is loyal to her duties, would not follow the instructions of the Knights.

　It's an accomplishment of killing two birds with one stone, no, three birds, no, four birds.

　I'm looking forward to the days from tomorrow.
　I want to train Silvia, learn the essential skills of 【Swordsmanship】, go to the dungeon, and in addition to that--......

　I lay in bed and fell asleep thinking about it.