episode_0085

“Hoo…”

Having returned to the Imperial Knighthood after posting obscene material in the East Square at dawn with Lord William, I unbuttoned one button around my collar and exhaled deeply.

Modeling, posting obscene material, guarding the atelier…

Since all of this is done under His Imperial Majesty’s command, I have no major complaints.

However, it’s unavoidable to feel disappointed that the reality differs from the dream I had when I joined the Imperial Knighthood, which was to imagine myself wielding a sword splendidly, protecting people, and becoming a sturdy shield.

“Haa…”

My head is complicated.

The thought that this is indeed the work of a proud Imperial Knight conflicts constantly with the thought that as an Imperial Knight sworn to loyalty to His Imperial Majesty and the Imperial Family, I must do any task.

The most beautiful sword for His Imperial Majesty, yet my actions are those of a clown…

“Eugh…!”

“Oh, Junior Knight Rachel Scott, you were here, I was looking for you.”

As I turned the corner, vigorously shaking my head to clear out the vain thoughts, someone walking down the corridor from the opposite side called my name and approached me.

“Huh…?”

It was dark, so I didn’t recognize him instantly, but the epaulet clearly shining in the darkness told me that the person before me was the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Knighthood.

Appearing in such a place in the deep dawn, someone who shouldn’t be here, made my mind go completely blank.

“Lo, Loyalty!”

Thankfully, my body, trained by arduous drills, reflexively gave a salute first.

Seeing this, the Deputy Commander smiled with his eyes, brought a hand to his mouth, and spoke.

“Shh! Your voice is too loud.”

“So, Sorry.”

To make a mistake a new recruit would make…

My face felt hot.

The Deputy Commander looked at me with satisfaction, motioned for me to follow, and moved towards a corner where few people passed.

Upon reaching the corner, and after checking several times to see if anyone was around, the Deputy Commander pulled out a palm-sized, silver hip flask from his pocket, opened the lid, and subtly offered it to me.

“Care for a sip?”

The strong scent of alcohol wafted up from the small opening.

“No, I’m still on duty, so I won’t drink.”

It was a kind gesture to help me relax, but I shook my head and gently pushed the hip flask away with my hand.

If it were a holiday or I were at home, I wouldn’t have refused, but right now, I am strictly on duty.

Even if it was the Deputy Commander’s recommendation, it was right not to drink.

“Good, I like that.”

And as if that choice was the correct one, the Deputy Commander smiled broadly enough to show his teeth slightly, closed the lid of the hip flask, and put it back into his pocket.

“First, I apologize for coming to find you so suddenly at this hour, it seems it was decided in a hurry, and suddenly.”

“It’s alright.”

My heart is pounding.

This atmosphere and this feeling.

This is definitely a new mission.

And a considerably important one.

“I was a bit curious why you were selected, but seeing your attitude just now, I realized, that you are the right person for this mission, just lacking a little experience.”

“…!”

I nearly yelled without realizing it.

The moment had arrived where my personal iron rule of never doing anything foolish while on duty proved helpful.

Some people around me said I was foolish, but I proved it wasn’t pointless.

“On the eve of Empire Founding Day, that is, starting from Wednesday the 12th, you will be carrying out a new dispatch mission.”

“A dispatch mission…”

My heart pounded, my breathing grew faster, and the corners of my mouth trembled slightly, but I maintained as calm an expression as possible and carefully asked again.

“The details are top secret, so I cannot tell you yet, there is a sense of it being a bit early, but I’m telling you in advance to give those around you some notice to a certain extent.”

“…!”

Top secret!

It was news that made me cheer inside.

Espionage? Escort? Or infiltration?

Various missions that should not be carelessly revealed to the outside world flashed through my mind.

“You will learn the mission details on the day itself, I’m sorry I can’t tell you much because it’s top secret.”

“No, I will do my best in any mission, rather, it is an honor to be given such an opportunity.”

As I straightened my waist and head and expressed my genuine happiness, the Deputy Commander smiled and patted me on the shoulder.

“It’s good to see you full of ambition.”

“Thank you…!”

“Just one hint I can give you, for your sake, is that you’ll be working not too far from the Imperial Capital.”

“Ah…!”

A dispatch mission not far from the Imperial Capital.

In that case, only two possibilities remain: the Imperial Palace or the Intelligence Department.

Either way, it’s a dream mission for a knight.

“I will do my best…!”

“Mm, well done.”

Suddenly, my body felt light, as if I could do anything.

_

“Haam~”

Attack the east, distract the west… This is east and west reversed, so should it be attack the west, distract the east?

Anyway, while everyone was focused on the west, I took advantage of the dawn, posted posters in the east with Lord Rachel, and ran away.

“I’m going to stop making clothes and putting up ads this week, and do nothing next weekend.”

After a quick breakfast, I went to the atelier and delivered slightly shocking news to the staff gathered for the third costume meeting.

“Last time?”

“Lord William, isn’t the last weekend really important?”

The staff, who had been sitting calmly, bristled and protested as soon as they heard the nonsense about it being the last time.

Look at the fierceness in their eyes, those people.

“There’s a perfectly reasonable explanation, so could everyone calm down?”

I gestured for the workaholics, who were reacting irritably, to sit still, and pointed to the calendar hanging on the wall.

“Empire Founding Day is on Thursday, but besides the main event, there’s also the eve, so it runs for two days, right? There are also many minor events.”

“That’s right.”

Excluding the New Year, it’s the Empire’s biggest holiday, a time when even privately held banquets increase sharply.

So, some people actually call it Empire Founding ‘Week’.

“So that week, no matter what you do, attention will be focused on Empire Founding Day, so it’s better to concentrate on the Empire Founding Day event rather than doing something pointless.”

“Hmm… but isn’t it a shame to just let it pass?”

“Who said we’re just letting it pass?”

“Pardon?”

“We have a good dress, don’t we?”

This time, I pointed to Princess Elizabeth.

“The dress Elizabeth will wear, that alone is enough to attract attention, isn’t it?”

“Ah!”

“Were you still making that?”

“You haven’t touched it much at the atelier lately, have you?”

“I did it at home at night.”

“Huh.”

“Wow…”

Hearing that I made clothes all day and then went home to make more clothes, the human staff were taken aback and looked at me as if I were a monster.

“… Sir, do you not enjoy personal life usually?”

“Even so, I do have hobbies… Uh…”

No matter how hard I rack my brain, nothing comes to mind except work, sewing, and sleep.

I feel like I used to read books and draw even when holed up in my room, but now I’m only doing things related to sewing.

If I force myself to bring up one thing,

It was just having a cup of tea with Emily at dawn because I couldn’t sleep.

“None…?”

“That’s why you’ve always been reclusive…”

“Uh… please enjoy yourself a little, we also attend banquets or tea parties usually.”

“You’re human, but you live a truly perfect life…”

“……”

Seeing Adelheid look at me enviously, I decided I needed to seriously think about my lifestyle.

Because a life that a sewing addict thinks is enviable couldn’t possibly be considered normal by human standards.

“After Empire Founding Day, shall we go for a picnic among ourselves?”

“Yes.”

“That would be good.”

“Ahem…!”

As the staff’s gazes, looking as if at something pitiful, poured down on me, I became awkward and cleared my throat, interrupting the conversation.

“Anyway! For Empire Founding Day, we’re going with Elizabeth’s dress, got it?”

“Do as you please.”

Part of me wanted to argue that my social skills weren’t completely destroyed, but I thought I’d look even more pathetic if I did, so I hurriedly finished the conversation, trying my best to show discomfort.

“By the way, what are we doing this week?”

“Make something big, please, the panties are too small, they’re over in a blink and don’t make an impact.”

“Last time was a bit strong, how about going slightly plain this time? That way, attention will be drawn to the dress, won’t it?”

“We won’t be seeing much of this advertisement anyway, so we can do it roughly.”

“Yes?”

“The squares where we could post ads are expected to be blocked off.”

Unless they’re fools, they’ll station people in places they expect crowds to gather.

You might wonder if there’s an excess of manpower, but a Ducal House truly has a surplus of people.

Even if the family doesn’t use its own people, just showing a little bit of golden sincerity to the officials doing inspections would get it blocked off in less than 30 minutes.

“Then wouldn’t it be meaningless whether we do it or not?”

“We’ve advertised enough already, I’m just satisfied with provoking them.”

We’ve already shown plenty that we do things like this, and the increase in people booking visits after Empire Founding Day proved this.

The beginning wasn’t even about promotion, but rather to give them a taste of their own medicine, so this was closer to the original objective.

“But, Lord William, do we have to post them in the squares?”

“Huh? Then where should we post them? At my house?”

“Couldn’t we just treat it as discarding one carriage and circle the Imperial Capital?”

“Ah, that.”

I had thought about the method suggested by Duke Herbert.

Like bus or subway ads in my past life, there were people here who would occasionally promote by carriage when you least expected it.

“What sin did the coachman driving the carriage commit?”

But that’s only when it’s a legal advertisement.

Why would I go to the trouble of taking photos myself, printing them in the family’s territory, and posting the posters myself?

It’s because I intend to take responsibility for the legal issues.

“If I order someone else, it’ll be a headache later, and I don’t know how to drive a carriage.”

“There’s a really very simple solution for that.”

“What is it?”

“We can use a bat Beastman.”

“What are you talking about?”

I don’t understand what he means.

Does using a bat Beastman grant extraterritoriality?

As far as I know, there’s no law that grants extraterritoriality except for diplomats.

“Among the blind, the only race capable of being coachmen is the cave bat, they can sense their surroundings with special sounds, and since they can’t see, they can claim they did it unknowingly.”

“Hmm~ Not bad.”

“Hehe~”

Duke Herbert let out a triumphant laugh, lifting his head slightly.

While the plan itself wasn’t bad, whether such a person existed was another matter entirely.

“But is there anyone who is a bat Beastman and drives a carriage?”

Even if I had a billion gold, I’d need a person who is both a bat Beastman and a coachman to execute it.

How do you find a species that is even more exclusive and wary among Beastmen who are already reclusive?

“Ah.”

“Oh dear…”

Seeing Duke Herbert let out a short gasp as if just realizing that, I sighed heavily and shook my head.

Our Herbert, his ideas are ingenious, but it’s a real shame he never thinks about execution.

It would be perfect if he was mixed half-and-half with Panny, who only thinks about execution and always gives mundane opinions.

“Or how about attaching a cart to a horse?”

“Cart?”

“A small cart that can barely hold one person can be pulled as long as you know how to ride a horse.”

“Yeah.”

“Fix a mannequin there and go around the Imperial Capital.”

Since I can ride a horse by myself, I can easily manage it even with a cart attached by walking slowly.

Since it’s a mannequin anyway, the advertisement exposure can be even greater.

And if you think about it, it’s an Imperial Capital equestrian runway.

Even the first of its kind.

“Yeah, that’s good, let’s do that.”

I can hear the penalty level going up, but I can’t pass this up.