episode_0051

“You wanted this…? Such rigorous training?”

“Yes.”

Isabella blinked as if she couldn’t believe it and scrutinized my attire.

It will look like this.

The training uniform was already a mess, and my face was clearly covered in the dust of the training ground.

The nobleman Isabella had seen, Lord Carcine, would not be recognizable.

“Why are you pushing yourself so hard with this kind of training? There’s no need to go this far.”

“…”

“I didn’t send you hoping you would endure this kind of training. It’s almost like receiving punishment, isn’t it?”

Though her tone seemed to ask for some kind of response, I remained silent.

“I’ll just clean your face first, let’s go back. Carcine.”

She took out a handkerchief from her pocket and tried to wipe off the dirt on my cheek.

But I avoided her hand.

Even though I realized the handkerchief was approaching, I straightened my trembling body.

And headed where I should be.

I went to the rear of the squire trainees and assumed the same posture as them.

“To the Lady of the Marquis, salute.”

With the handkerchief in hand, Isabella’s hand, which had nowhere to go, stopped in its place.

Her eyes were fixed on me with a frozen gaze.

“Carcine…”

“I am currently a trainee following the rules of the training ground. Not a squire of Marquis Bagrand.”

“If you wish to learn swordsmanship, I understand. But this is different. After punishing those who conducted excessive training, find a suitable mentor for yourself. So, let’s stop this training, shall we?”

-Ding!

Here it comes.

This choice will come to an end now.

“Now you will punish all the excellent mentors.”

“Carcine…?”

“Who sets the standard for improper intense training? Is it me? Or is it the standard set by Lady Bagrand?”

“That’s…”

Naturally, it would be Isabella’s standard.

“I have never complained while training with them. If there is any dissatisfaction, would you like to ask here?”

Of course, I would say that I have never complained.

I truly hadn’t uttered a single word of complaint.

“Now you even try to take away my training in the training ground.”

“What…! No. That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what is it? Why are you punishing those who show exemplary training that I need? If that’s not taking away, how would you describe it?”

“…”

Isabella couldn’t bring herself to respond and closed her mouth again.

“You said I could tell you anytime if I wanted something.”

“Carcine. You wouldn’t…!”

“Don’t worry about my intentions. Judge whether the training is excessive or not. Don’t interfere, and let me be a knight in the training ground regardless of what I do. That’s what I earnestly desire as a birthday gift.”

Continuing to pressure Isabella, she finally accepted my intentions without speaking up again.

“If you say so… I won’t interfere anymore.”

Despite that, finding it difficult to give up, Isabella tried to brush off some of the dirt on my face with the handkerchief.

Even when I turned my head to avoid it, her hand holding the handkerchief naturally dropped.

“I’ll go. Take care of Carcine.”

“Yes!”

Leaving those words behind, Isabella turned away.

Although she said that, she hesitated a few times, stopping her steps to look back at me.

In the meantime.

The status window showed the results.

▶Recognition within the 1st Knight Order greatly increases!◀

▶The punishment imposed by Isabella has been lifted. The knights breathe a sigh of relief!◀

▶The intimacy among the knights increases!◀

Indeed, the knights seemed to relax a bit, breathing a sigh of relief and outwardly wiping their chests.

Thanks to the ash-colored boxes, the colors of the boxes had lightened considerably, and the boxes with stripes had noticeably decreased. The case with the largest deviation had decreased by more than half.

“It seems like we’ve resolved it well up to this point.”

Although it was an event that occurred due to increased intimacy, Carcine was in a state where he had just obtained an invaluable ally.

Isabella Bagrand.

With just one word from her, the 1st Knight Order could not speak lightly to Carcine.

They had even gone so far as to conduct excessive intensity training and some had intentionally tried to retaliate along the way.

If they were to borrow Isabella’s power in this state, they could easily hold the knights accountable for their sins.

However, as always, traps exist in this game.

No matter how influential the intimacy is, this is an obvious trap.

The moment you reveal your allegiance to Isabella, the public opinion of the knight order deteriorates rapidly, and you face death without being able to avoid the impending dead flag in any way.

Moreover, they also fail to resolve the hidden dead trigger in Episode V.

Naturally, a sense of déjà vu sets in.

Early in Episode V.

It’s the same as back then.

The hints are identical.

Just as in the beginning, Carcine must not receive any rewards.

That rule has been consistently followed.

“I should move on to the next step soon.”

I asked Mark straightforwardly.

“We’ve finished today’s training, but the next schedule seems tough. Can I head back first?”

“…Yes.”

Mark affirmed without saying much.

After all, having been openly caught by Isabella, there was nothing more to say here.

The other knights were no different.

Since seeing Isabella, they couldn’t lay a hand on me right now.

However, some of them seemed rather disappointed.

They were probably those who had fallen for Emma’s tricks. They might have thought it was a perfect situation to drive them out if they made a fuss here within the knight order, thinking that it would be easy to expel them.

“Sorry, but it’s not just for today. For the remaining four days, you won’t be able to drive me away.”

Laughing inwardly at them, I was the first to leave the training ground.

***

My steps felt heavy.

Even when I came to the training ground, they weren’t exactly light, but now, not being able to bring Carcine made them even heavier.

Trying to mediate between Arina and Carcine’s dispute upon arriving at the manor after hearing Claire’s message was already delayed.

By the time Isabella understood the situation, Carcine had already left the training ground.

“Mother.”

“Mom.”

As we returned to the manor, my three daughters came out to greet me.

What happened to Carcine, who was at the training ground?

I wanted to ask about that.

Isabella closed her eyes tightly and nodded.

“Carcine is living as a trainee in the 1st Knight Order’s training ground.”

“…A trainee?”

“Yes. It’s his third day today.”

Claire frowned deeply and ruffled her hair.

“If that’s the case, why didn’t you just keep a separate guesthouse open… Why does he have to sleep in a place like the training ground?”

It wasn’t a slight on the knights’ quarters. As loyal knights serving the Bagrand family, their quarters fell within the Empire’s jurisdiction, making them quite comfortable.

However, Carcine is a noble.

And a son of the Bagrand family.

Considering that the son of a noble family like the Bagrands uses the same room as the knights at the training ground, Claire felt it would have been better to just open a separate guesthouse instead. Isabella comforted Claire, thinking that even if they had opened a guesthouse, it wouldn’t have made much difference.

She still remembered Carcine avoiding her attempts to wipe the sand off his face.

He seemed thoroughly upset about something.

Isabella smoothed her troubled heart and asked Arina, “What happened to the culprit?”

“I’m still verifying. Based on Heron’s testimony, it is presumed to be the maids near Carsane’s room.”

“Mom. No matter how much I think about it, Emma is the one, right?!”

“Claire. The evidence is insufficient.”

Although Arina tried to stop her, Claire insisted once again.

“Sister, why is the evidence insufficient? I clearly saw you confronting Carsane on the day we went out!”

“Carsane was almost caught red-handed too. The outing ban had not been lifted at that time.”

“Even so, does it make sense for a maid to ask you to go to the mistress while catching the mistress’s outing? It makes sense because she already harbors ill feelings!”

“If those who have unfavorable views towards Carsane are spread even in the mansion, your emotions should not be involved in selecting the culprit.”

“Emma is the one who frequents the multipurpose room the most, isn’t she? I think she fits well within the scope. Sister.”

With both daughters bickering, Isabella warned them to stop.

“I understand what both of you are trying to argue. However, it would be best to find common ground regarding Emma’s case.”

“How?”

“Heron has taken measures to confine Emma more securely in solitary confinement regarding this matter. Anyway, not being able to control the maids in the multipurpose room can be considered the fault of the head maid.”

“…If that’s the case, I agree as well.”

“Sheesh. That girl is really 100% guilty.”

Arina somewhat agreeing and Claire feeling uneasy.

Despite their contrasting reactions, there was no further consensus beyond this.

“Mother, you mentioned that Carsane entered as a trainee. How was his condition today?”

“…He was lying on the field covered in sand.”

“Was it after training?”

“Yes. Specifically… he seemed to have been undergoing somewhat strenuous training.”

“As expected.”

Arina nodded as if understanding something.

“Mother. That wasn’t just strenuous training. It’s like a new knight initiation ceremony… based on my own experience, it’s better to bring him back as a squire soon.”

“But he wants to be in the training grounds. Arina.”

“He will continue with such rigorous training every day. It’s better to assign him a proper mentor─”

“I also tried to persuade him that way.”

Isabella cut off Arina’s words.

“I conveyed what you said verbatim… but he doesn’t want that.”

Carsane didn’t want to return as a squire.

Isabella relayed Carasane’s words to Arina, mentioning whether it was excessive training or not.

“Sigh… His stubbornness knows no bounds. Digging his own grave. It’s a knightly culture, but he might not endure such things.”

“How severe is it?”

“It’s a bad tradition. Claire.”

After giving some appropriate examples, Claire and Isabella’s expressions darkened, and they began to worry about Carsane as well.

“…I will go see him tomorrow.”

“You? But you said you couldn’t bring him back.”

“Yes. I can’t bring him back. Instead, even if he’s right in front of me during training, he won’t dare do such a thing.”

“Oh. That makes sense!”

“Then you go tomorrow. And if you manage to get him a training outfit, it would be perfect.”

“Oh, as a birthday present?”

“That’s a great idea.”

Claire and Isabella brightened up.

By preventing bad traditions and keeping an eye on Carsane, they could also give him a birthday present since they knew his interest was in the training grounds.

Finding opportunities to ease Carsane’s mood a bit through conversation and diverting his mind, worries gradually subsided.

The three mother and daughters start their plans with laughter.

Specifically, discussions were underway about how to satisfy Carsein, when the appropriate time would be, and before they knew it, it was almost like a meeting.

Then, the youngest daughter caught their attention.

“Mom, sis. Let’s have Flora go on the last day.”

“Huh? Me?”

“Yes. Flora probably hasn’t given a gift to Carsein. Let’s pull out the roots at once.”

At those words, Flora trembled.

It was a natural reaction since they had tried to torment her instead of giving a gift.

However, the family didn’t notice, but Flora was lost in her own thoughts.

Still unable to shake off her doubts about Carsein, she was engulfed in confusion.

“I don’t know. I’m not sure. What’s right…!”

Flora couldn’t hear any of the conversation right now.

She just wanted to somehow relieve this inexplicable discomfort.

***

– Thud! Slap!

Inside the room of the blonde girl, her thumbnail broke and broke again. The nail that had been bitten several times was on the verge of bleeding.

And as she bit it again, the tender skin that had been precarious activated a sharp pain.

“Ah.”

The underside of the bitten nail began to bleed red, liquid starting to accumulate.

Gradually pooling and then trickling down the flesh. By continuously biting, it reached a point of no return.

Quickly grabbing a tissue, she tried to stop the bleeding. However, the blood just kept staining the tissue red.

No matter how much she tried to stop it, the blood kept flowing, instilling a sense of fear.

She couldn’t bear it anymore.

“…If it’s him, he’ll give me the answer.”

After the family concluded their alternating visits to the conference room, Flora, who had been in this state, silently headed somewhere.

.

.

.

“Why is no one here?”

Wearing a warm shawl, Flora looked around the unusually empty conference room today and tilted her head.

“Oh. Was there sometimes an outdoor training schedule change?”

When the conference room was this empty, it usually meant there was an outdoor training session.

Thinking that perhaps they had missed something, she considered turning back to the mansion, but by now, it was time for them to return.

Slightly changing her destination, Flora quickly revealed the appearance of a knight.

“Miss Flora?”

“Sir Theo!”

Flora ran towards him with a big smile on her face.