episode_0021

30.

“Ah, are you here, vice-captain? Looks like it’s already shift time.”

The guard knight standing guard in front of the door of the room where the hero was staying saw Vice-Captain Rona and spoke to her with a bright face.

He must have been quite happy to be freed from the tedious task of standing still in front of the castle’s castle door, guarding against intruders who were unlikely to come, and his face showed signs of welcoming Lorna, who had come to change shifts.

Rona clicked her tongue when she saw that.

Everyone in the Knights Guard knows the importance of protecting the warrior, and the leader, Princess Anis, has asked them to pay close attention to the safety of the hero, and to treat them as if they were the next father of the nation.

In fact, there was a slim, if not impossible, chance that the Demon King’s assassin would come deep into the castle, even to the room where the hero was staying, without being detected.

Still, she stands guard just in case, but Rona, unable to overcome the silent protests from the bored guards, eventually changed the guard work that had been done by two people to a one-man system, and is currently taking the initiative to do it every other evening. They were on guard at night from dawn to morning.

Since vice-captain Rona has come forward in person, the complaints of the knights of the Royal Guard have decreased considerably and their attitude toward guarding has improved a bit.

Every time Rona saw something like this, she wondered whether the knights of the Royal Guard truly recognized the importance of being a warrior, not just in words, and whether they lacked a sense of duty.

Of course, Lorna also understood that she was setting too strict standards, so she only thought about it internally and did not reveal it to the public.

“Yes, thank you for your hard work, Lord Eris. Is there anything to report before shift?”

“Princess Lee visited me shortly after my shift, and she has not come out yet.”

“Liana again? I think I received the same report when I changed shift two days ago.”

“Is that so? You visit quite often.”

The guard knight who heard Rona’s words looked like he didn’t know what the problem was, but

Unlike the guards who stood guard only once every ten days, out of the three times of morning, afternoon, and night, Rona’s impressions were a little different, as she stood guard at night once every two days and received a detailed report from the guards who finished guard each time. .

On the day that the three women, including Princess Anis, left the royal castle, the warrior, who had rested for a day due to body aches, canceled all of his planned itinerary in just one day, and visited the royal garden late at night accompanied only by his maid, Rachel.

After that, he did not go anywhere and continued to receive visits from Princess Liana every two to three days.

And every time I come, I stay for a long time, lasting more than a few hours.

Lorna frowned at the suspicious smell that slowly wafted out.

“Did you ask Liana the reason for her visit? The visits are too frequent and long. I think I need to listen to it once.”

“Oh, no, vice-captain, how do you ask that?”

In response to Rona’s words, the Royal Guard knight opened his eyes and questioned back, then let out an exclamation as if he understood, and then spat out the words as if he was sighing.

“Ah…. This is why our vice-captain has no dating experience…”

The guard knight, who was trailing off his words, continued speaking when he saw Rona frowning.

“Think carefully. Vice-captain, why would a woman visit a man frequently and try to stay with him as long as possible?”

“That…. What is it?”

“Wow, the real vice-captain, ha…”

The royal guard, who was pounding his chest in frustration, poured out words as if trying to release what was inside him.

“Even if it doesn’t go as far as affection, love, or anything like that, there is at least some liking for the opposite sex, so it keeps coming like this, right? Well, as the vice-captain said, if Queen Lee’s visits are so frequent, it means that the hero didn’t just tell her not to come, so she didn’t just reject him, and seeing as she continues to accept him, it seems like the hero doesn’t have any feelings at all… Anyway. How can you say this out loud and ask why I keep coming?! If you ask, will you get an honest answer?”

Lorna froze for a moment after hearing the impassioned speech of the Royal Guard, and then barely opened her mouth to speak.

“Uh… So, Liana is dating a warrior? No, what about Anis? You told the warrior to be treated as the next father of the nation.”

“I don’t know that either! How do I know if they are still just getting to know each other with a crush, or if they are dating, or if they will suddenly break up? Manager, it’s interesting to hear, but I don’t want to get too involved in other people’s political issues. As for the treatment of the next father of the nation, we won’t know until after you return, and it hasn’t been officially decided yet.”

Even after the guard knight with a much more refreshed complexion finished the remaining shift procedures and left, Rona, who was left alone, was absent-mindedly immersed in other thoughts, unable to properly concentrate on her guard, unlike usual.

The warrior and Liana? Anis, you seemed sincere? I’m sure Liana heard that Anis ordered the warrior to be treated as the next father of the nation?

No, it’s definitely not official, and officially speaking, the warrior isn’t tied up anywhere right now, so even if he suddenly starts dating Liana, it’s not something that can be said. Is it really okay to just leave it at that?

In her complex and confused mind, Lorna felt a headache creeping in and recalled how the guard who had left after her shift had said that she was not involved in political affairs.

Okay, maybe I should just pay attention. Let’s only think about protecting the warrior properly.

After clearing away the worries floating around in her head and putting them to one side, Lorna briefly remembered one more thing the guard had said.

By the way, it’s a relationship… Should I meet a man somewhere before it’s too late and try to improve his sense of humor?

As Rona was thinking such things, she suddenly remembered the image of a hero from a man.

Although he is not very handsome, he has a decent appearance, does not mind being covered in dust, which is unmanly, and enthusiastically participates in difficult and difficult training without a single complaint.

He was different from other weak men, no, he was a hero summoned from another world, so it would be natural for him to be different from the men of this world, but in Rona’s eyes, he was definitely cool, and I couldn’t help but think that she would fall in love with him…

After thinking that far, Lorna slapped her cheeks with both hands and muttered to herself.

“Mi, you’re crazy, you’re crazy. Rona, who dare you…”

“Sir Lorna? What are you doing?”

“Ugh, eh?! Oh no! I didn’t even think about it!”

Lorna was so distracted that she didn’t even hear the door open. When she heard Princess Liana’s voice coming from behind her, she jumped up in surprise and spoke gibberish in a panicked voice.

Realizing that others might have heard my embarrassing self-talk, and realizing that I had neglected my guard because I was lost in my thoughts, I felt even more embarrassed, so I couldn’t make eye contact with Princess Liana and lowered my head with a bright red face.

While Rona was reflecting on the need to get herself right before judging others on whether she truly realizes the importance of protecting the hero or whether her sense of duty is lacking, Princess Liana’s voice was heard in her ears.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll just go.”

“Yes, yes, goodbye. Liana.”

Princess Liana didn’t seem to be very interested in Lorna’s strange behavior and immediately left without saying anything.

Lorna, who saw Princess Liana off with her head down, belatedly realized that she had not brought any male attendants, and that she was smiling like she had seen her before.

Originally, she had planned to ask about the frequent visits, but remembering what she had heard from the Royal Guard, Lorna couldn’t bring herself to ask Princess Liana as she was leaving.

Things that I had previously thought of as vaguely suspicious now seemed significant, and concerns that I had pushed aside came flooding back.

If Princess Liana is really interested in the hero, it explains why she does not bother to bring a separate attendant when meeting the hero, why she has a bright and happy expression, and why she often comes to see the hero.

And if it was something like that, as the guard knight said, it wasn’t something Rona could carelessly ask about and get involved in.

No way, really, really, the hero and Liana have that kind of relationship…

Lorna suddenly thought that it would be better to just ask Rachel, the head maid inside, out loud.

No matter what happens, if Rachel is always by the hero’s side, there’s no way she doesn’t know anything.

While thinking about this, Lorna suddenly noticed that the door was being opened again.

This time, even though I was thinking of other things in the back of my mind, I was able to react in a timely manner because I was bracing myself not to let my guard down.