Ch.3Loyalty

“Insulted me? What on earth are you talking about?”

Why would a lord even care about a bottom-tier adventurer like me?

The place where I stayed was near a frontier city located almost at the edge of the continent, but that’s precisely why more adventurers gathered there.

It was a simple principle—the farther from the kingdom’s center, the greater the danger from magical beasts, and where magical beasts pose greater threats, there’s more work for adventurers.

Among hundreds, sometimes even thousands of adventurers coming and going, it would be impossible to remember just one person, let alone direct insulting remarks at them.

Moreover, I hadn’t done anything particularly noteworthy while searching for the dragon. I even doubted whether the lord knew of my existence at all.

Besides, even if he did know me, he would have no reason to deliberately upset the Royal First Knight Commander who had been urgently dispatched at his request during an emergency situation with a dragon suddenly appearing.

Or perhaps he said something along the lines of not understanding why worthless trash like bottom-tier adventurers even exist?

“When greeting me, he mockingly said, ‘It is an honor that the Royal Knight Commander who serves His Majesty the King has come to help us.’ I serve only one master. For him to dare suggest I serve that woman was an unbearable insult. It was a remark that disgraced both me and the master I serve. So I cut him down. I wanted to tear his mouth apart and chop his body into pieces, but I had orders from my master.”

“…You could have just ignored something like that—wait. What did you just say, Serena? You cut him down?”

“Yes.”

“What did you cut?”

“The lord’s mansion.”

“……”

Upon hearing those words, I silently offered my condolences to the lord. I thought she had fixed that habit of hers, but apparently not.

Since Serena belonged to the Royal Knights, the lord naturally would have assumed she served the king. After all, the Royal Knights’ loyalty to Charlotte was truly extraordinary.

The problem was that Serena was far from being a typical Royal Knight.

On top of that, she had a pathological loyalty to me. That’s probably why she momentarily lost her mind and did something like this.

As the First Commander of the Royal Knights, she outranked most nobles, so it wasn’t strange at all to think the lord was simply trying to show proper respect.

Despite being a city where many adventurers came and went, it was still just a peripheral town, and its lord couldn’t even begin to compare with someone of her status.

I felt sorry for the lord. If he had just said “It’s an honor that the Royal Knight Commander has come” without adding unnecessary flowery phrases, he wouldn’t have given her anything to take issue with.

If he had known how much Serena despised and was disgusted by the phrase “serving His Majesty the King” being attached to her, he would never have made such a mistake.

“So, you destroyed the lord’s mansion.”

“Is there a problem, my lord?”

“…How exactly did you destroy it?”

“It was nothing special. I merely used Sky Slash to cut the mansion in half.”

The conversation confirmed my suspicion. Serena had absolutely no awareness of the gravity of her actions.

Just as someone might question why stepping on a weed while walking was being pointed out, Serena was genuinely puzzled about why slicing a mansion in half was being questioned.

Strange, did I raise her with such a lack of common sense?

“Were there any casualties?”

“I killed a few who foolishly tried to attack me, and then the rest stopped coming.”

…Well, I suppose that’s relatively restrained by her standards.

At least she didn’t cross the line completely. This outcome was better than having the mansion diced like tofu and all the knights impaled on their own weapons with their limbs severed.

I did feel sorry for the few who died, but what could I do? Considering Serena’s former personality, we should be thankful that only a few people died.

The old Serena would have killed the lord without question first, then slaughtered everyone holding a weapon regardless of whether they attacked her or not, and left the city drenched in blood.

Even if she faced disciplinary action for this incident, the position of Knight Commander was nothing but an empty shell that Serena could discard at any time.

Even now, she was eagerly looking for an opportunity to quit being Knight Commander and follow me around. She would probably welcome such a development with open arms.

But trying to arrest her for killing guards and destroying a mansion raised the question of whether she would allow herself to be captured peacefully.

“Well, at least you used Sky Slash. I was worried you might have used Dimensional Cut in your anger—”

“No.”

“—What?”

“I absolutely did not use Dimensional Cut.”

I couldn’t help but widen my eyes at the unprecedented event of Serena interrupting me and making direct eye contact.

Serena was the type who would slit her own throat without blinking if I ordered her to die, not someone who would speak up like this.

She met my gaze without flinching. I could feel the sadness and intensity flowing from her eyes.

“Dimensional Cut is reserved solely for my lord’s lifelong wish. It is not a technique to be used on such inferior humans. Please, do not doubt my loyalty. It was merely Sky Slash, not Dimensional Cut.”

I had only mentioned it as a joke, but Serena was confronting me with her emotions in all seriousness. This was clearly my mistake.

Dimensional Cut.

A technique that literally cuts through dimensions themselves, so difficult that even Charlotte might not be able to use it.

Armor and helmets infused with mana offered no protection against it, defensive magic might as well not exist, and even high-level barrier formations could be torn apart with a single strike.

Since it cut through dimensions themselves, the only way to block it was to use magic that similarly interfered with dimensions.

Or, like me, just take the hit and regenerate.

Despite its grandiose name and incredibly complex casting method, it didn’t work on me. Even after being hit several times following the initial failure, the result was the same.

My accursed body, which should have been torn apart by the dimensional rift, completely restored itself within seconds as usual.

Although it ultimately failed, Dimensional Cut was a technique Serena had personally created to kill me. I knew she was attached to it, but I hadn’t realized to what extent.

After all, I hadn’t mentioned it since confirming it couldn’t kill me.

“You’re right, that was my mistake.”

“No, my lord. It’s my fault for not demonstrating my loyalty more clearly. I apologize.”

Serena bowed her head once more. Watching her, I let out a small sigh. Perhaps I had left Serena alone for too long. Her emotional state seemed much more unstable than before.

“Stand up, Serena.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Serena promptly stood up. Her face had returned to its usual expressionless state.

I gently placed my hand on her head. Surprised by my action, Serena’s body trembled slightly. But she didn’t push my hand away.

“M-my lord?”

“Stay still. That’s an order.”

At the word “order,” Serena’s body stiffened. She seemed determined not to move at all, following my command to stay still.

Finding this ridiculous, I lightly flicked her forehead with my knuckles.

“Eek?!”

“Don’t be that still. Just act naturally, naturally.”

Not that my flick would hurt her anyway—my hand would hurt more from hitting her.

After confirming that Serena had relaxed somewhat, I ruffled her hair, messing it up. Serena’s expression softened.

Apologizing to each other here would only lead to mutual embarrassment. And sometimes, one action speaks louder than a hundred words.

While continuing to pat her head and searching for an appropriate topic to change the subject, something suitable came to mind.

“You said you came to get me, right? I was planning to return to the royal palace soon anyway. This works out well.”

“Is that true, my lord?”

“Of course it is. Why would I lie?”

“I apologize. I didn’t mean to doubt your words at all.”

“No need to apologize, I was just saying.”

“I see. I’m sorry for not properly understanding your intentions—”

“Anyway.”

I cut in before another apology could come out of Serena’s mouth. She immediately closed her mouth when I interrupted.

“I really was planning to return to the palace. Look, as you can see, I failed to die this time too.”

My finger pointed to the large crater nearby. Serena’s blue eyes followed the tip of my finger. Both statements were true—I had failed to die again, and I was returning to the palace.

But first, there were things I needed to do.

I needed to go back to the city and clean up the mess Serena had made. It must be in complete chaos by now. And while I was at it, I should stop by the Adventurers’ Guild to report my failed quest.

Being a bottom-tier adventurer meant I had no reputation left to lose anyway. People would simply think, “Oh, he failed,” and that would be it.

“Let’s take a walk first.”

And I need to think about what excuse to make while we’re at it.