Ch.217Chapter 217: Far to the East

Just like that, the sister’s task assignment for the three of us ended as quickly as the coffee in her cup diminished.

The coffee appeared quite hot, judging by the steam rising from the cup.

*Slurp*

Watching our sister occasionally sip her coffee while talking to us, until she finally emptied the cup completely.

I realized two things simultaneously: that the workload currently assigned to her was substantial enough that she needed caffeine to deceive her fatigue, and that we shouldn’t take up any more of her precious time when she was so busy yet still made time to brief us personally.

‘I should leave quickly.’

I was about to salute her and prepare to exit her office, trying to gather the attention of the two beside me who still seemed dazed, so we could salute in unison.

“Aren’t you going to ask why? It must be confusing to receive such a sudden announcement.”

Her voice, seemingly finding my reaction bland, stopped me in my tracks.

The reason… Well, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t curious.

But as soon as I heard about the diplomatic escort mission from her lips, I had already formed some theories about why the three of us were specifically chosen.

“It’s because the northern region suddenly got busy, so you can’t deploy high-ranking personnel, and among the available members, we three are the most suitable, right?”

Speaking in a calm voice on behalf of the two who were still lost in thought, I shared my deduction.

After carefully placing her empty coffee cup on the desk to avoid breaking it, from our sister’s lips came:

“Hehe.”

Along with a laugh filled with a mix of appreciation and amusement.

“Karl Lanos is sharper than he looks.”

She readily acknowledged my deduction, then continued:

“Exactly, the northern region suddenly got busy. So busy that it makes the Subjugation Festival you three participated in as Cradle students three years ago seem like child’s play.”

She supplemented the impromptu theory that had formed in my mind.

It was a simple story.

Usually, once a year, around the end of the year when the northern cold reaches its peak, magical beasts, unable to resist the surge of magical impulses, become active.

But now, even before the cold reached its peak, they were launching offensives at levels usually seen only during the peak season, causing Night Haven to flood with requests for support.

At a time when even deploying all the veteran knights of the Imperial Knights, known as one-man armies, wouldn’t be enough to address the shortage of manpower.

The result was careful consideration of who to assign to the important diplomatic matter of escorting the delegation.

It was natural logic that strong knights should be dispatched to escort a diplomatic delegation representing the country.

But international image only matters if the country continues to exist.

Responding thoroughly to the movements of the Obsidian Palace, which could lead the entire central continent into the flames of war if handled even slightly carelessly, was even more important.

This created a dilemma.

After selecting all the personnel to send to the most important northern region.

Then selecting knights to be dispatched for the still important diplomatic escort mission.

If word got out that the veteran knights of the Imperial Knights, renowned across continents, were absent, and knights of lesser weight were escorting the diplomatic delegation instead.

It could give the impression that the Solarium Empire was paying less attention to establishing friendly relations with other nations.

That’s why our sister chose the three of us.

In terms of rank, we were just fledgling knights who had recently received the emblem of veteran knights, but.

As successors of legendary weapons that led humanity to victory in the Great Holy War era, we were promising talents gradually making a name for ourselves.

And despite our youth, the fact that we were children of noble warrior families representing the Empire couldn’t be overlooked.

It wasn’t hard to see that choosing the three of us was a result of quite sound judgment.

…Well, the key point for me was that I was among those three, which filled me with emotion.

“I will live up to the Deputy Commander’s heavy expectations.”

As soon as our sister’s lengthy explanation ended, Shizu, who had finally regained her senses, gave a textbook response.

Though the two of them were sisters in private settings.

When facing each other as the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Knights and a veteran knight, Shizu’s spirited answer showed her characteristic attention to formal expressions.

I couldn’t help but feel my lips curling up at her spirited response, but.

“Let’s have dinner together after successfully completing the mission. I found a nice place recently… Sister, a coffee cup is for drinking coffee, not for throwing at my head.”

“Sis… I mean, Deputy Commander, please calm down.”

Thanks to Excel’s half-awake response, I focused all my efforts on getting our sister to put down the coffee cup she was holding with a vein popping on her forehead, causing my lips to straighten again.

Fortunately, the coffee cup wasn’t needed to fully awaken his half-awakened mind.

*Thwack!!*

“…Ugh!”

After putting the coffee cup back on the desk, our sister delivered a forehead flick to Excel before he could dodge, completely awakening his mind that seemed to go blank whenever he saw her.

Even though I had gathered my ki sense in anticipation of something happening, preparing for any sudden situation.

I couldn’t properly detect the movement of our sister’s right hand that accurately struck the center of Excel’s forehead.

I only had a vague impression that something had passed by.

Despite spending three years diligently honing my advantages, even sacrificing sleep, and priding myself on having somewhat mastered them.

Our sister simply reminded me that there were still heights above me that I couldn’t reach.

“That’s enough explanation for now. I’ll excuse you from your duties, so prepare well during the next five days.”

With these final words, our sister issued a dismissal by raising her right palm for us to see and waving it gently from side to side.

The three of us saluted her in unison and smoothly exited her office.

The tension from the sudden news that the three of us, including myself, had to go on an overseas assignment was about to take over my body.

[Three rookies on an overseas assignment? Who’s going to lead you?]

‘Someone more experienced than us will be assigned to the delegation, so we’ll have to rely on them.’

[Hehehe… Is that so?]

‘…What? Why are you suddenly laughing in such an unpleasant way?’

[It seems you haven’t noticed. Well, you’ll find out in time, so I’ll leave it as a future surprise.]

Thanks to Fafnir, who suddenly laughed mysteriously and aroused my curiosity, suspicion rather than tension began to dominate my mind.

…What is it exactly?

#

“Well then…”

With my brother’s calm voice, which hadn’t revealed much emotion since entering the office.

*Creeak-!!*

Along with the sound of the door closing as he and the boys she cherished like her brother left the office.

Silence fell in the Deputy Commander’s office of the Imperial Knights.

And from the lips of Iriana Lanos, the future head of Solarium Empire’s greatest swordsmanship family and the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Knights, who should have been enjoying that silence.

“Sigh…”

A deep sigh, rarely heard even by those who knew her well, broke the carefully constructed silence of the office.

Thanks to the well-heated room and the well-designed insulation that kept the warm air from escaping.

The sigh from her lips didn’t turn into white breath.

“Haaa… Finally finished one busy task.”

As she spoke in a voice drained of energy, resting her upper body on the desk.

She didn’t resemble the heroic figure who commanded prestigious knights with a single command and defended against the fierce attacks of the Obsidian Palace lurking in the northern territories.

Rather, she resembled a bureaucrat working in the Empire’s administration department, known for its grueling workload that could drain one’s very soul.

If people who didn’t know her situation suddenly saw this unexpected side of her, they might feel puzzled and bewildered.

But those who understood her current situation would likely pay respect to her for maintaining even this much composure while working.

It’s not unreasonable.

The Obsidian Palace’s aggression, which always intensifies at the end of the year, had become incomparably fiercer than in previous years.

Even spending all 24 hours of the day responding to their offensives and focusing on supplying appropriate personnel and resources would leave one’s body exhausted during this period.

Normally, she would have delegated such supply-related tasks to others.

And immediately armed herself to rush to Night Haven, standing at the forefront to repel the forces of the Obsidian Palace.

“No, no. If I leave the capital too, operations will be paralyzed.”

Quickly erasing the thought that had briefly crossed her mind, Iriana shook her head lightly without raising her upper body from the desk.

She mentioned that operations would be paralyzed.

It might be hard to understand how the absence of one person could disrupt the administrative tasks of the Empire’s greatest military force.

“If it weren’t for those damned inspectors, I wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Many clues emerged from Iriana’s grumbling, still with her upper body buried on the desk.

The Inspection Department, which makes even bureaucrats and knights who receive salaries from the Empire tremble in their sleep.

It seemed they were a major contributor to the overwork Iriana was currently experiencing.