Ch.89EP.23 – The Knight Conducts an Interview (8)

Ihan brought Levi home.

Rather than taking her somewhere else, his own base would be the safest place.

And the biggest reason for bringing her here was…

“Please enjoy some tea while you chat!”

“Th-thank you, Miss Maid.”

“Don’t mention it! Make yourself comfortable!!”

“…Yes.”

“Hehe.”

The maid who gave energy to anyone who saw her, Leira Winter.

He judged that her mere presence would give Levi a sense of relief.

Leira exuded her characteristic vitamin-like energy as she backed away with quick steps.

Not only that, but as she backed away, she mouthed ‘Good luck, Sir Knight!’ with a wink.

Such positive energy would be beyond the abilities of even an aura user.

Sure enough…

“M-Miss Leira seems amazing. She’s always positive whenever I see her, and seems to read others’ minds.”

“That’s an overestimation. In my opinion, the maid is simply bright without much thought.”

“That’s… th-that might be true…”

Levi regained her vitality as if photosynthesizing Leira’s positive energy.

It couldn’t be anything but a positive sign.

Well…

“Oops!”

…Though she shouldn’t absorb that aspect.

Backing away, Leira finally fell with an “oops” sound, and with a crash, one of the tables Ihan had been making as a recent hobby broke.

Someone else might worry more about her getting hurt than the object, but Ihan wasn’t particularly concerned.

“Oh, how?! S-Sir Knight! This is broken, sniff…”

“It’s nothing new, so just leave it. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“?”

“…You’re so sturdy you don’t even realize you could have been hurt.”

“Ehehe.”

“…Just stay healthy like that always. I’ll be satisfied with just that now.”

“Hehe, yesss!”

Ihan sent his now-familiar, matter-of-fact concern, and the maid wagged her tail happily like a golden retriever. Watching this, the girl…

*Snort!*

“……”

“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to laugh…”

“No, it’s good to see. Laugh. People should laugh when they want to, or they’ll get sick inside.”

“B-but…”

“Have you finished crying now?”

“!!?”

“Haha, it’s fun to tease you.”

“Y-you’re too much…”

Levi’s face reddened as her voice became small, and Ihan kept encouraging her to laugh.

By all means, freely.

‘She’s finally showing some life.’

Indeed, people need to cry thoroughly when they’re having a hard time.

That way they get less sick inside.

‘That’s a relief.’

He felt relieved at the same time.

When he first found her, she had been on the verge of tears, no, looking like death.

Looking at her, he felt so pitiful and sorry that he simply couldn’t leave her alone.

He was afraid she might make a bad choice.

That’s how serious the girl’s condition had been today.

‘I absolutely cannot send her away now.’

In his previous life, as a non-commissioned officer, one of the most painful memories he experienced was suicide attempts.

Group bullying among soldiers, or physical abuse.

Depression from failing to adapt to military life.

The sense of deprivation from having freedom taken away for two years.

Due to these various factors, many people would exceed their stress threshold and ultimately choose extreme options.

Ihan once had the job of caring for such individuals.

This too was an unreasonably assigned task, but for the first time in the military, Ihan approached a forced assignment with passion.

He didn’t want to see people dying before him, and he hoped they would endure a little longer to return to society.

Thanks to that, such unfortunate incidents decreased somewhat in the unit he was responsible for.

…And now.

‘Mental care after a long time.’

There’s a girl showing particularly serious symptoms.

It’s precarious.

Like a candle that might go out at any moment.

And he didn’t want to watch his cherished disciple helplessly give up everything.

“Levi.”

“Yes? Ah, yes!”

“Why are you so surprised?”

“I-it seems rare for Master to call my name…”

“Does it feel awkward? Then I’ll call you teddy bear.”

“Y-you can just call me Levi…”

“Really? Then I’ll call you comfortably.”

“Yes…”

Perhaps because he rarely called her by name correctly, and was even being kind.

Levi showed a bewildered reaction while blushing shyly.

This probably wasn’t just because her name was called, but because it might be her first experience having someone call her name at such close proximity.

She really is a rare, pure child.

Literally, she’s only an adult in age, still a “girl” with traces of innocence, isn’t she?

…Conversely, that’s why she’s vulnerable.

She’s still not an adult, in an unstable state needing society’s protection, like a glass that could break at any time.

That’s why Ihan approached carefully but with firm resolve.

“From now on, if it’s difficult to answer what I say, you can just say ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Or you can just nod lightly, and I’ll interpret and understand.”

“Ah, there’s no need for that…”

“Is your withdrawal from school your true desire? Or is someone forcing you to withdraw?”

“!!!”

“See, you’re already finding it difficult to answer.”

“……”

“Good, you don’t need to nod either. Just listen.”

Ihan moistened his throat with the tea Leira had brought.

As if preparing to speak in earnest.

“I can’t claim to know everything about you. But I do know one thing. You’re not the type to carelessly give up on learning without any reason.”

“……”

“I know there’s a circumstance. I know that withdrawing from the academy is the conclusion you reached after agonizing alone. But you should know that enduring pain alone when it’s unbearable is nothing more than self-torture.”

“…I, I…”

“Again, if speaking is difficult, you don’t have to. I just want to know your true feelings because you seem to be suffering alone.”

“……”

“Still, as a senior in life, let me give you one piece of advice: sometimes just sharing with others can be comforting.”

“…Master.”

“Hmm?”

“…You’re unexpectedly eloquent.”

“…Is that a compliment?”

“Yes.”

More than anything.

* * *

The Pollet family was once a prestigious family that produced many renowned knights just a few generations ago, but…

Unfortunately, during the war with Britain decades ago, most of their martial arts and swordsmanship techniques were lost when the previous head of the family and knights died.

This could be considered a drawback of the traditional method of passing down techniques only through oral transmission rather than written records, and because of this, the lineage of knights was virtually severed…

Thus, the Pollet family became too embarrassed to even call themselves a knight family.

A knight family must prove itself through its martial prowess and honor.

But having lost that martial prowess, how could they claim to be a knight family?

If not for the title of war hero and a small estate, the Pollet family would not have survived as a family.

With the remaining honor and titles, the previous head of the Pollet family…

– We will rise again! I will make it happen!!

He is said to have done his best to regain the honor of being a prestigious knight family.

…Without realizing reality, it was truly a futile effort.

If, perhaps, the Pollet family had accepted reality and admitted that they were finished as a knight family, another path might have opened up.

Whether as civil officials or pursuing another direction, they might have led a stable life, even if not as prestigious as when they were knights.

But.

“Martial arts techniques are treasures passed down through generations after refinement, and swordsmanship has been passed down since ancient times, ideally embodied in swordsmen’s bodies. But to restore such treasures and secrets? If my grandfather had been a genius like Lord Roen, it might have been possible, but my grandfather’s talent was only average. And with average talent, it’s absolutely impossible to restore martial arts and swordsmanship.”

Gathering all available assets to try to restore the family’s martial arts and swordsmanship, but the process was never easy.

Even trying to restore from the remaining records, without anyone to consult, how could it be easy?

Eventually.

“-We went bankrupt.”

Yes, the Pollet family went bankrupt.

The Pollet family, once a viscount family, sold even their title and remained only as honorary nobles barely registered in the noble council.

All assets were squandered, and they lived in a small house, dependent on the maternal family.

It would be fair to say they were beyond recovery as nobles.

– Th-this can’t be happening, this can’t-!

Unable to believe reality, or rather, proving only his own incompetence, the grandfather rapidly aged and passed away.

…And at this point, it would be no exaggeration to call it despair, and the right course would be to accept reality and relinquish the noble title.

But people are like that.

They think they’ll be different, they think they’re smarter, but most…

– My father failed, but I’m different. I will definitely raise this family!

They repeat the same mistakes.

Levi’s father.

The current head of the Pollet family, or rather, a man for whom the title of head is embarrassing, dreamed like that.

The dream of becoming a knight.

And so her father, Reynol Pollet…

– It’s business, I need to make money through business first!

– If I just have money…!

– This is it, look at this, Levi! They say it’s a legendary knight’s martial art! I was able to get it for a large sum of money!

…Reynol was a hopeless man.

Instead of making money through business, he created debt.

Claiming to receive investments, he returned stripped of his clothes.

Saying he bought martial arts, but it was nothing more than a third-rate, inferior technique…!

He was truly a maddening person.

A childish adult who didn’t know the world.

That would be the accurate description of Reynol Pollet.

And when things get like this, isn’t the sequence predetermined?

– Pay back the money, you fool!

– Hey, noble lord, are you playing with us?

– How long do we have to wait for you!!

In the end, it’s the family that suffers from the mistakes of a maddening person.

This principle was the same in any world.

“Mother has been bedridden for a long time. My younger sibling is fortunately in the academy dormitory. The maternal family helped with that. But it’s not very positive.”

“Why not completely rely on the maternal family then?”

“That wasn’t possible. The maternal family isn’t well-off either. We couldn’t burden them because of Father.”

“……”

“Sigh, so-.”

At this point, honestly, or if he were a normal person, he should have come to his senses.

Doesn’t he have children to feed?

He doesn’t even think about making money.

If only he would just stay still.

– L-Levi, w-would you consider marriage?

He asked about a marriage prospect.

And Levi saw.

The gold bracelet on his wrist and the sword decorated with splendid ornaments.

– Ah.

She had been sold.

“-It would be a lie to say I’m not upset. But I decided to think positively. The appearance of gold means that the rest of the family can live in a slightly better environment.”

“……”

“Also, it is a good match. Although the Marquis is quite old, it’s the Tristan family. It’s not bad at all. Unlike noble ladies who are desperate to find good matches, I…”

“……”

“I… hmm, why? Master, why can’t I say it’s okay?”

“……”

“Right, why can’t I say these simple words, Master?”

……He responded to the girl’s quiet question with silence.

The girl probably already knew the answer to that question, so he deliberately didn’t provide an answer.

How painful it is to have your wings clipped and ankles bound, telling her that would be-

‘…Too cruel.’

*

*

*

“……”

Ihan left Levi with Leira for a moment and headed to the cliff in the backyard.

A quiet, secluded place.

Did he come here because he felt stifled?

No.

Or because anger was rising?

Not that either.

The reason he came to a place where no one was around was…

“I want to ask you something.”

“-Yes.”

*Step*

To meet him.

As soon as Ihan threw a question into the air, with a whoosh, a gray-haired boy appeared.

Ihan already knew he was nearby, and Derrick had anticipated that he would call for him if he waited here.

Because he could roughly guess what he was curious about.

Sure enough, the question that came from his mouth was…

“What happens to her in the ‘original work’?”

“……”

“Hmm, you can pretend not to know if you want. I’m not forcing you to answer. Just, I suddenly became curious.”

“Haha….”

You’ve given up on hiding it completely now.

Derrick laughed with such a thought to himself.

But Derrick wasn’t displeased.

Because he knew that what he was curious about were extremely “human things.”

So he…

“Th-this is just me talking to myself, you should understand. I-I’m just talking to myself.”

“…Alright, let’s go with that.”

“Ahem.”

He decided to provide a [spoiler] in his soliloquy.

“─The Marquis ends up on the brink of death after being poisoned. And Levi Pollet is framed as the culprit.”

“……”

“Sh-shall I continue?”

“Hmm…!”

Ihan suddenly missed food from his homeland.

Perhaps because of the spicy taste that hit him, he wanted to drink the cool radish water that was more refreshing than carbonated drinks.