Chapter 122

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The room was filled with a heavy, oppressive silence. Well, perhaps heavy isn’t quite the right word. Gazelle and Felix weren’t maintaining this silence out of disappointment or sadness. It was pure anger. Both of them were holding back the urge to unleash a torrent of abuse, maintaining silence to regain their composure. I sat on the living room sofa, cautiously observing their expressions.

“Would either of you like something to drink?”

“No… I’m fine for now.”

“I’m okay too.”

I see… But I was starting to feel like I couldn’t bear this silence much longer, so I wanted to distract myself with something… I couldn’t just leave them and go to another room. What should I do… As I pondered this, Gazelle, who was sitting to my right, suddenly softened his expression. Then, in a gentle voice, he spoke to me.

“Sorry for making you uncomfortable, Takumi. It’s just… the response from the lord’s knight order earlier was so unexpected.”

Gazelle’s thick palm touched my back. And with a voice as gentle as his touch, he began to stroke my back. It seemed like a comforting gesture, but perhaps it was something Gazelle was doing to soothe his own mind. You know, like animal therapy, where you pet animals to calm yourself down.

“Yeah, I understand how you both feel. In fact, I feel the same way.”

Thinking back to the members of the lord’s knight order from Gorera City who arrived at this inn after receiving a report from the innkeeper, I nodded deeply. This was my first time meeting members of the lord’s knight order directly under the lord in this world. And when I thought of a “knight order,” based my expectations on the members of the Royal Knight Order in the capital city. The members of the Royal Knight Order, despite differences in background and ideology, were all upright and courteous, consistently taking up the sword for the sake of the weak. So naturally, I had assumed that the members of the lord’s knight order would share a similar sense of purpose. However—

“Unexpected is an understatement…! For such individuals to call themselves knights is beyond presumptuous!”

Uncharacteristically, Felix’s voice was harsh. Seated to my left, he furrowed his brow deeply, clenching both hands tightly.

“The innkeeper reported the incident in the morning! And yet, they didn’t arrive until well past noon… In such a drunken state, what is the meaning of this! Moreover, without even bothering to properly inspect the rooms or the inn, they concluded, ‘They intended to skip out on the inn fee from the start’…!”

Felix, with flames of anger burning in his amethyst-colored eyes, spoke words tinged with frustration. His grip was so tight from anger that his nails dug into his palms, causing a slight trickle of blood. I quickly wrapped Felix’s hand with both of mine.

“T-Takumi…”

“Felix, calm down. It’s understandable that you’re angry, but you don’t need to hurt yourself over those people.”

“Yeah, Felix. Save that anger for later.”

At mine and Gazelle’s words, Felix’s tough expression softened.

“I’m sorry, both of you… I couldn’t contain my anger at their disgraceful behavior as knights…”

“No need to apologize. You did well. Besides, if they were our members, you’d probably be even more furious.”

“Indeed. Such individuals would never be chosen as knights of the Royal Knight Order… but if they were members of the Black-winged knights I would personally supervise mock battles until they coughed up blood.”

The “mock battles” Felix mentioned were part of combat training. They would wield blunted swords or wooden swords and engage in actual combat. Of course, as the captain and vice-commander of the Black-winged knights Gazelle and Felix sparred with members almost every day. However, never once had I seen Gazelle or Felix kneel on the ground. When Felix said he would “personally supervise mock battles,” it meant—regardless of surrendering, collapsing, or spitting up blood, they would have to continue being struck down by Felix’s sword again and again.

…Would that be a death sentence?

Nevertheless, Felix’s anger was justified. As he said, the response from the members of the lord’s knight order who came to this inn was appalling. When the members of the lord’s knight order arrived at the inn, I hid in the shadows and discreetly observed them from a distance. Even if the members of the lord’s knight order wanted to talk to me, Gazelle and Felix would handle it, so I was told to wait in the room. But it was uncomfortable leaving everything to them, and I was curious about what the members of the lord’s knight order were like.

The lord’s knight order that visited consisted of three men in their late twenties, but they arrived well past noon. It was clear at a glance that it wasn’t because they were delayed due to work. Their bodies emitted a strong smell of alcohol. Gazelle and Felix, along with the innkeeper, greeted them at the entrance, and I could see them wrinkling their noses at the men’s boozy breath. However, the top priority now was Rido’s safety. Gazelle and Felix tried their best not to show their discomfort and, along with the innkeeper, guided the members of the lord’s knight order to Rido’s room. I discreetly followed them from the shadows…

“Hmm. We rushed here upon hearing of a kidnapping, but what a fuss over nothing. It’s simply a case of a man disappearing from an inn.”

“There’s no need to make such a big deal out of a grown man leaving an inn in the middle of the night. He probably intended to skip out on the inn fee from the start. By now, he’s probably leisurely traveling to another town.”

“The broken window glass must have fallen inside the room, not on the balcony. And if you’re saying he used the sheets tied to the balcony railing as a rope, it would be strange if the sheets were left on the balcony.”

“…Who are you?”

One of the members of the lord’s knight order who had been speaking arrogantly now looked at Gazelle with a disgruntled expression. However, Gazelle showed no signs of intimidation and shrugged nonchalantly.

“I arrived in Gorera City three days ago. I met Rido, who was staying in this room, on the way here and traveled with him.”

“Hah, so you’re just a tourist. And the man who disappeared is a complete stranger to you, right?”

One of them glanced at Gazelle with a mocking expression.

“In any case, that man was planning to skip out on the inn fee from the beginning. The broken glass was his doing, and as for the sheets, he probably made some kind of arrangement to remove them from below.”

“If he escaped on his own, then what’s with the blood there? Besides, we pay the inn fee upfront. The innkeeper explained that earlier.”

“Hmph. He probably didn’t want to be billed by you, so he ran away in the middle of the night.”

With a dismissive wave of their hands, the trio exited Rido’s room.

“Absolutely ridiculous to summon us over such nonsense. At least offer us some good wine to make it worth our while. Hey, is the dining hall open?”

One of the trio yelled at the innkeeper. Sweat dripped down the innkeeper’s forehead as he replied nervously.

“It is open, but… um, I’m sorry, but the dining hall is reserved for guests of the inn…”

“Hah, we came all the way here in the midst of our busy schedule! We’re only here to listen to your trivial nonsense.”

“I-I’m terribly sorry, but even if you’re members of the lord’s knight order, we can’t admit you to the dining hall unless you’re staying at the inn.”

Eventually, it turned into a back-and-forth between the trio from the lord’s knight order and the innkeeper, with demands for “serve us alcohol in the dining hall” and apologies of “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.”

I was hiding in the shadows, nervously watching the scene unfold, when I suddenly realized that Felix was no longer there. Wondering where he had gone, I saw him coming down the stairs. It seemed that he had unknowingly left the second floor and returned to our room on the third floor. In his hand was a large bottle of dark green wine. It was one of the bottles Felix had bought yesterday at a liquor store on the main street.

“We’ve taken up your time, and we apologize. This is our way of apologizing.”

“What’s this? Just a bottle of wine…”

The man who received the wine bottle from Felix looked at it with a puzzled expression. However, the other two members of the trio lit up with joy at the sight of the wine bottle.

“Hey! Isn’t this wine a Gold Chardonnay!? It’s worth over 200,000 for a single bottle…!”

“What!?”

I quickly covered my mouth. I couldn’t help but exclaim when I heard the price of the wine Felix offered. It happened at the same time the man from the lord’s knight order exclaimed in surprise, so they didn’t seem to notice.

I mean, come on! I saw Gazelle and Felix getting excited at the liquor store, but I didn’t check the prices! I didn’t even buy anything at that store…! I didn’t think it would be that expensive!?

“W-Well, I suppose that’s fine. Let’s consider this a concession.”

“Thank you.”

Thanks to Felix’s quick thinking, the situation was somehow resolved. The members of the lord’s knight order suddenly became cheerful, clutching the wine bottle carefully as they happily left the inn. I watched their backs with a somewhat dazed feeling.

...But now that I think about it, Felix really held back his urge to get angry at that time… And the innkeeper was amazing too. I don’t know if I could have refused their demands if I were in the same position. They were just trying to do their job. I need to learn from them!