Chapter 13

Early morning. While walking to work with Zara, whom I happened to meet on the way, we were approached by an unfamiliar knight.

"Hey, you're the medic of the second squad, right?"

The one who called out was a young knight in his early twenties. He was shorter than Zara, a petite young man.

Without paying any attention to our reactions, he directed his question not to me but to Zara.

"Hey, what's up? I heard you're a Forest Elf, so you must be the one, right?"

The knight continued to pester Zara.

Could it be that he thought Forest Elf = the most beautiful woman = Zara?

Hmm, I see—do you think I understand?

Why doesn't he notice that Zara's ears aren't pointed?

Why doesn't he notice that I, with pointed ears, am standing right next to her?

Gritting my teeth, I wondered.

Probably because I'm too short for a Forest Elf, my face is plain, I have no magic, and no one would want to marry me!! But then, I recalled my own evaluation and felt empty. Sad.

Anyway, what about Zara? I glanced up at her. She narrowed her eyes and looked down at the knight.

I thought she would clear up the misunderstanding, but instead, she said something unexpected.

"Do you need something from me?"

The knight was startled by Zara's low voice. He must have thought she was a handsome man in disguise. To me, who knows her in women's clothing, the knight in his uniform looks like a fine man.

However, when standing next to the bandit captain, Zara looks elegant and slender. She must be one of those people who look thinner in clothes.

Well, during battles, she swings a large battle axe like a man.

"Are Forest Elves this beautiful, even the men...!?"

I'm not sure about that.

While many women are beautiful, the men often hunt and work in forestry, so they tend to have sturdy builds.

On the other hand, the Forest Elves who come to the capital are mostly slender young scholars, which might have led to the rumor that all of them are beautiful.

The young knight opened his eyes wide and looked Zara up and down.

I can understand why he would do that.

Zara asked again, what he needed.

Her voice was lower, indicating she was slightly angry.

"Ah, y-yes, our captain wants to talk to you."

"Talk?"

"Yes. Apparently, since the new medic joined, the squad's performance has improved, and he wondered if you'd consider a transfer."

"I'll decline. Please tell him that."

"B-but, we're the Seventeenth Expeditionary Squad—"

There are seventeen expeditionary squads in total.

The higher the squad number, the larger the squad.

Highly skilled knights are mainly assigned to the Seventeenth, Sixteenth, and Fifteenth squads.

On the other hand, we are the Second Expeditionary Squad.

At first, I thought it was a small but elite squad, but it's known as a demotion destination for the expeditionary squads, given the shabby equipment we receive.

So, a transfer to the Seventeenth Squad would be a big promotion.

However, I have no intention of transferring.

Zara glanced at me for confirmation.

I shook my head, indicating that a transfer was out of the question.

Zara nodded and turned back to the young knight.

"Thank you, but no. Go back. It's a waste of time. Please tell your captain not to approach me directly again."

"Y-yes, I'll tell him. ...Um, sorry."

"It's fine. As long as you understand."

She smiled, but it was a slightly intimidating smile.

It felt like she was used to handling such situations.

The young knight hurriedly left.

Zara sighed deeply.

I felt bad for causing such trouble.

"Um, I'm sorry."

When I tried to apologize, I was hugged tightly. The force was so strong that I let out a "gah" sound.

"Oh, no, Mel, I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

I thanked and apologized to Zara again.

"It's fine, really. But, trying to poach my Mel is absolutely unacceptable!!"

"Ah, yes."

I thought I heard something unsettling, but I decided not to point it out.

Zara was still angry.

So much so that she reported it during the morning briefing.

The captain laughed and thought it was over, but then he opened his eyes wide and showed a scary, bandit-like expression. Even without a beard, his face was intimidating.

No, that's not the point.

"Poaching!?"

When I confirmed it, he clicked his tongue.

The captain wasn't the only one to react.

"That's outrageous! We can't allow that!"

Verry, the deputy captain, grabbed my shoulder and said he wouldn't let me transfer.

Urgas and Gar also nodded in agreement.

"I remember you being harassed on your way from the dormitory before."

"You mentioned someone approached you recently, right?"

"Ah, no, what did they say, Mel?"

"Ah, no, they offered me some sweets and asked if I wanted to talk in the cafeteria."

"What!?"

The knight had a cute package of baked goods. The sweets in the capital were very tempting, but my parents had warned me not to go with strangers, so I declined.

"We need to do something about the route from the dormitory."

The captain and Verry were muttering to each other.

"Why don't you live with us, Mel? We can go to work together every day!"

"Eh?"

I was about to say that it might be a bit much, but the captain adopted the idea.

"Wh-what, all of a sudden?"

"As a squad, we can't afford to lose our medic."

When I pointed out that the captain had the final say in personnel matters, he said that wasn't the case.

"If the personnel department says so, we can't object. The more difficult thing is if you yourself request a transfer."

"No, I won't."

"You don't understand."

He seemed worried that I might be tempted by good conditions and accidentally agree to a transfer.

"Do you not trust me?"

"No, it's because the treatment here is poor."

He said that anyone would be swayed if they heard about the better treatment in other squads.

"To be honest, trying to keep you might be selfish. For Lissliss, it might be less of a burden to go to another squad. But, we need Lissliss here."

I had never been recognized like this in the village, so I was genuinely happy.

I decided to work hard in the Second Squad, which had accepted me and said I was needed.

Just as I was about to express my gratitude—

"So, I'll use Zara as a deterrent. To avoid being approached during commutes, you should live together."

"Huh?"

Zara said she would take care of it with a smile.

No matter how much I tried to stop her, she wouldn't listen.

"I have a two-story house, so you can use the empty room upstairs. I won't come up there."

Apparently, she would also make breakfast and dinner. What a great deal.

"Why are you doing so much for me?"

"I'm worried."

But, I was a bit hesitant about living alone with a man. However, she said there were other female roommates.

"There are other girls living there, so don't worry."

"Ah..."

Well, if there are other girls, it should be okay, right?

Since she insisted, I decided to accept her offer.

We would discuss the move later.

◇◇◇

During the afternoon break. Since I caused trouble for everyone in the morning, I decided to make and distribute some sweets as an apology.

I bought the ingredients at the cafeteria: eggs, flour, triangular cow's milk, and butter.

I was making pancakes.

I lit the stove in the squad's simple kitchen.

First, I separated the egg yolks from the whites. I mixed the yolks with flour, melted butter, and triangular cow's milk, and whipped the whites with sugar.

When the whites were fluffy, I combined them with the yolk and flour mixture, stirring gently with a wooden spatula.

I dropped a spoonful of the batter into a heated frying pan with a spoonful of butter.

I listened to the sizzling sound and flipped the pancake when it was ready.

It had a nice golden color.

Thanks to the well-whipped whites, the pancakes were fluffy and thick.

I stacked three on a plate. It was a substantial amount, but the fluffy texture should be fine.

For Zara, Verry, Gar, and Urgas, who love sweets, I added the forest apple compote I made last time.

For the captain, who doesn't like sweets, I topped the pancakes with a fried egg sprinkled with black pepper.

I called everyone to the break room.

They were surprised when they saw the pancakes.

"Wow, Medic Lissliss, what's this for?"

"Well, I caused everyone trouble this morning."

When I said it was an apology, Urgas was amazed.

"Mel, you didn't cause any trouble at all."

"Right. Worrying about a comrade isn't a bother."

Zara, Verry, and the others...

The captain patted my back.

Gar shook his head, indicating not to worry.

"Thank you, everyone."

But, I really wanted them to enjoy it.

When I encouraged them to try, they said they were just about hungry and happily accepted.

We sat down to eat.

When I cut into the pancake, it had a fluffy texture. I took a bite with the forest apple compote on top.

"Mmm..."

It was delicious.

The slight sweetness of the batter and the sweet and sour taste of the forest apples went well together.

The batter melted in my mouth.

"Amazing, I've never had such fluffy pancakes!"

Actually, I developed them to provide a sense of fullness. When you have many siblings, you think of things like this.

Urgas happily bit into the three-layered pancake and gave his opinion.

"Medic Lissliss, this is the best pancake I've ever had!"

Verry and Gar also nodded in agreement. I was glad they liked it.

Urgas also said the captain's egg was delicious.

"Want to try it?"

"Wow, thank you!"

Urgas happily mixed the yolk into the batter and ate it. It seemed to suit his taste as well.

The salty after a sweet treat is irresistible.

It was a peaceful afternoon.