Chapter 78: 4th Team Leader Weasel

“Sir Luke, may I have a moment?”

“?”

On my way back after running an errand for Elaine, Squad 4 Captain Weasel of the escort unit called out to me.

His sharp eyes suggested he had something important to say, and I had a good idea of what it was.

Right now, there was only one reason Weasel would be looking for me.

‘Seriously, why did she have to get so nervous and overreact…’

Well, there was no helping it. If they were curious, they would come to me instead of Elaine, so I had to get used to it quickly.

When I first revealed it to Grace, it was a pretty big shock too, but I managed to handle it somehow.

“Yes, what is it?”

“It’s not something to discuss here…”

As expected, he was going to ask about my relationship with Elaine.

Weasel glanced around cautiously before leading me to a secluded spot.

“I was so curious that I stopped by home last night and asked my mother… Hah, she said it’s true.”

“Your mother?”

“Yes, my mother.”

“?”

“Why do you look like you’re hearing this for the first time? My mother has been working as a housekeeper at Lady Elaine’s residence for quite some time now.”

If it’s the housekeeper at our home…

Madam Mia? She was Captain Weasel’s mother?

‘I remember hearing that Elaine got acquainted with a soldier’s daughter after saving her.’

So that daughter was Weasel.

I hadn’t interacted with him much, so I didn’t realize it.

Still, this was quite the coincidence. The world really was small.

“Madam Mia is your mother, Captain? I didn’t know.”

“Oh? Really? Wow, she’s always been a mischievous one, but this is a bit much. She completely hid it when I asked about Lady Elaine’s life, and now she’s keeping family ties a secret from you? She’s always been playful, even back in the day. It’s troublesome sometimes.”

Rather than her hiding it from me, I had just never asked in detail.

Weasel seemed frustrated that Madam Mia had kept this from him.

At the same time, it reinforced my trust in her.

Despite her own daughter being a captain in the escort unit, she had kept Elaine’s relationship a secret. Elaine’s judgment really was remarkable.

“So, it seems like you’re living together… But, uh, have you two… gotten m-married?”

Since he had already heard from Madam Mia, he should know the answer. But asking me directly must have been his way of confirming it.

Maybe because he was also a woman, Weasel seemed particularly interested in this kind of topic.

“We’re not married yet, but we are seriously considering it.”

When I answered earnestly, Weasel’s eyes widened.

“So you two are dating? Not just relatives or anything like that?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

As I nodded again, Weasel’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Then—wham.

He grabbed me by the collar and shook me violently.

“What the hell happened?! How did you end up with Lady Elaine? Since when? I never noticed a thing. H-Hold on! Did it start when you first joined as her adjutant? What did you do to seduce Lady Elaine in such a short time?! I didn’t think you were that kind of shallow guy!”

Wow, he was intense from the get-go.

His questions came at me like a storm, barely giving me a chance to answer.

He was shaking me so hard that I was starting to feel a little dizzy.

Weasel had always shown great respect for Elaine.

Being someone whose life was saved by her, he probably thought even more highly of her than Madam Mia did.

Elaine, despite being in her twenties, had risen to the rank of escort squad captain, and she deeply valued Weasel, who was always diligent and capable.

Honestly, if I were in his shoes and Grace suddenly announced she was dating Aran, I would be just as flustered.

Thinking about it that way, I could somewhat relate.

But that didn’t mean I could just spill everything.

So, I answered as much as I could within reason.

“Oh… I see.”

Weasel seemed to accept it at first.

Then—

“Wait, but you two kept this a secret for months?! Lady Elaine could’ve at least told me! And if this happened around the time of the Silver Sabertooth expedition, that means it lines up with when my mother started working at Lady Elaine’s residence… So I was fooled by my own mother for months?!”

“Well, if you think about it, Madam Mia didn’t exactly lie. She simply chose not to reveal the truth. That’s not the same as deception.”

“That’s still lying!”

After shaking my head dozens more times, Weasel finally let go of me.

“Hoo, sorry. I was so shocked that I lost my composure.”

“Compensation… A motion sickness pill will be enough.”

Though I was exhausted, thanks to Weasel, I gained some confidence.
If I experienced this from the start, I wouldn’t struggle as much the next time someone came looking for me.

“It may just be my assumption, but rather than being angry at Madam Mia for keeping it a secret, I think you’re actually mad because of me.”

Weasel let out a sigh before responding.

“As expected of someone I once wanted to recruit into my squad. You’re right. I do feel a little upset with my mother. But with you, I was just feeling a bit petty.”

“I understand. A fresh recruit suddenly shows up out of nowhere and takes the side of the commander you’ve always admired. Of course, you’d wonder who the hell he is.”

“Could you not say that yourself?”

From the way she called her ‘Lady Elaine,’ I could already tell.
Simply put, Weasel was feeling conflicted.

It was probably like how a fan club president would feel after hearing dating rumors about their favorite idol.

And not just any idol—one at the top of the industry.

Meanwhile, the rumored partner was a newly debuted rising star.

The difference in status would naturally make them wonder what kind of trick that guy pulled.

But the person in question was someone they had a good impression of.

Plus, the idol was the one who revealed the relationship first.

Even the manager(?) acknowledged their good relationship, so there was nothing to nitpick.

Still, congratulating them didn’t feel right either.

“Well, as long as she’s happy, isn’t that all that matters?”

“Sir Luke, I didn’t realize before since we’ve never had a proper conversation, but you have quite the thick skin, don’t you?”

“Haha.”

Since I hadn’t done anything wrong, I decided to play it shamelessly.
Weasel seemed to realize that getting mad at me wouldn’t do her any good, so she let out a deep sigh.

“Fine. Lady Elaine isn’t the type to have just anyone by her side, and you are talented enough that all the captains would want you on their teams. If she kept it a secret because of reactions like mine, I can understand.”

“Thank you for your congratulations.”

“I didn’t congratulate you.”

As far as I remembered, Weasel had always been like an affectionate childhood friend or little sister to her squad members.

But to me, she was being rather prickly.

Pushing her any further seemed dangerous, so I decided to keep my mouth shut.

“Hoo… If I had known you two were in that kind of relationship, I would’ve applied for vice-captain just to keep an eye on you. But I can’t abandon my squad, and the application period is already over.”

The vice-captain assessment was scheduled for the day after tomorrow.

Originally, there were four candidates, but the vice-captain of the 2nd Squad withdrew his candidacy, likely aiming for the captain position if his commander, Loron, got promoted.

That left only three candidates—the captains of the 2nd and 3rd Squads, and the vice-captain of the 4th.

“Are you supporting the vice-captain of your squad?”

“Well, yes.”

“If they get promoted, their position will be vacant. Wouldn’t that be a shame?”

“Of course, I’ll miss someone I relied on, regardless of rank. But I believe they’ll do an excellent job.”

“Hmm.”

“I was actually planning to put you in the vacant vice-captain spot.”

“What?!”

“I’m joking. That was just payback for teasing me earlier.”

Weasel grinned, satisfied with her small revenge.

“Besides.”

“Besides what?”

“I should probably tell you this.”

“?”

“Be careful of Sir Loron. He also has his eyes on Lady Elaine.”

“?!”

Loron is after Elaine?
Here, “having his eyes on” couldn’t possibly mean targeting her life.

“Wait, do you mean what I think you mean?”

“Exactly what you’re thinking.”

“But he’s never shown any signs of it…”

“Did you show any signs?”

“Ah.”

“You haven’t been a lieutenant for long, so you wouldn’t know. But he’s been watching Lady Elaine for a long time. There’s no way I would’ve missed those glances.”

Loron, the captain of the 2nd Squad, always gave off an air of a cold and unshakable nobleman.
It was hard to read his emotions.

But to think he had been after Elaine all along… That was a real shock.

So this was how Weasel felt. I completely understood now.

“Could that be the reason he applied for vice-captain?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s entirely unrelated. The vice-captain is right next to the captain—closer than anyone else, except for you.”

I wasn’t worried about losing Elaine.
Her heart was already with me.
Still, it was unsettling.

Loron wasn’t just some noble relying on privilege—he was a true powerhouse who had earned his captaincy on his own merit.
And with our relationship now public, the sudden involvement of an unexpected rival caught me off guard.

“I’m telling you this because, between you and him, I think you’re the better choice.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Loron is an extreme opportunist. Do you really think he’s after Lady Elaine out of love? His gaze never held affection.”

Elaine was the favored knight of Grace.
Even for me, dating Elaine had significantly increased my interactions with Grace.

Loron Tebar was a man who had deliberately joined the knights—a faction with no noble privileges—solely for the sake of his own advancement.

His ambition for success had to be exceptional.

“Thank you for the information.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Like you said, Lady Elaine’s happiness is what matters most.”

I thanked Weasel and headed back.

I already had more than enough quests to handle, and now another one had been added to the pile, making things even more troublesome.
But since it was something that could affect the ending, I had to take it seriously.

‘Still, Loron didn’t seem like the type to do whatever it takes to rise in rank or use women for his own gain.’

He was stiff and lacked warmth, but as a squad leader, his reputation wasn’t bad.

In fact, his strict and meticulous approach to work made him stand out as one of the most capable among the squad leaders.

However, since the warning came from Weasel, an ardent fan of Elaine, I couldn’t dismiss it completely.

Among the squad leaders aside from Elaine, the only one I was close to was the Third Squad Leader, Ki, so I couldn’t be certain.

Loron wasn’t a character mentioned in Brave Road, so I had no way of predicting what he might do.

Once again, I realized just how much of a cheat code future knowledge was in life.

The day of the vice-captain selection exam.

Since I had been forewarned by Weasel, I considered sabotaging Loron’s chances of passing… but that was too dangerous.
If Grace caught me, I’d be dead.

Not to mention, I had no real way to sabotage him.

The classic trick of slipping a laxative into his meal wouldn’t work, and the test papers needed for the vice-captain exam were in Grace’s possession.

If I tried to tamper with them, I’d be met with a flying sword technique from above.

In the end, the only thing I could do was—

“Deputy Squad Leader, do your best. I’m cheering for you!”

“Sir Luke is cheering me on? Hoho, thank you.”

—hand some sweets to the Fourth Deputy Squad Leader, Bendem, to keep his energy up.

As for the other competitor, the Third Squad Leader, Ki…

Well… Sorry, but he seems best suited to staying in the Third Squad.

After giving Bendem a buff with the heart of a parent sending their child off to a college entrance exam, I headed to my next destination.

“Stop right there. Pardon me, but what business do you have here?”

“Tell Lord Rigrid that Knight Luke has come. He should know who I am.”

The guards at the entrance exchanged glances before one of them went inside to confirm my identity.

While waiting for Rigrid to appear, I gazed through the iron bars at the Deep Snow family’s estate.

“You must have a tough job.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m also in the Honor Guard, so I understand. Standing here all day, guarding—it’s not easy, is it?”

At the mention of the Honor Guard, the guard’s eyes widened in surprise.
Being a northerner himself, he must have been well aware of the Honor Guard’s prestige.

“You’re a knight of the Honor Guard? How do you know the young master?”

“I happened to meet him at the last party, and we got along well. Lord Rigrid was kind enough to invite me over.”

“If you had told us that from the beginning, we would have let you in right away…”

“As I said, I’m part of the Honor Guard. If you were to let in a stranger without verifying their identity, wouldn’t that result in disciplinary action for you?”

“Indeed!”

Perhaps because we were in the same line of work, the guard looked at me with newfound respect and nodded in agreement.

With this, my reputation among the guards would improve, and word about me would spread among them.

And as a result, Rigrid’s image would also rise—after all, he was associating with such an outstanding Honor Guard knight.

There’s a reason parents always tell you to make good friends.

I may not have been able to sabotage Loron…

But I came here to pull off a different kind of scheme.

The best thing about being Elaine’s aide was that she was always by my side.

The second-best thing was that, since the Honor Guard operated on a squad-based rotation system, I wasn’t bound by it.

As long as I had Elaine’s permission, my movements were relatively free.

Elaine’s schedule today was packed from morning to evening with the vice-captain selection exam alongside Grace.

Grace and Elaine would be there as examiners, but I had no real role—at best, I was there for reactions.

So, like a child asking their mother for permission to go out and play, I had asked,

“Lord Rigrid wants to see me. Would it be alright if I went to visit him?”

Since the person in question wasn’t a woman, Elaine gave me permission without hesitation.

She just told me not to stay out too late after finishing my work.

‘Heh, strike while the iron is hot.’

Director: Luke.
Screenwriter: Luke.
Producer: Luke.
Starring: Luke, Rigrid Deep Snow.
And special adaptation by Luke.

It’s time to completely derail the original storyline.