Chapter 58

In the main story, just before Lucia attends Gorman's wedding, there's a two-part tale about the three knights who came to assist the Laguren family but decided to ask a question that was on their minds.

My name is Barloy.

I am a knight in the kingdom's army. Specifically, I belong to the Third Army and usually stay at the northern fortress.

To be more precise, I hold a position where my subordinates are a bunch of hot-blooded guys, but that's not something I openly talk about right now.

I am on leave and have come to help my former colleague, Albes.

A week has passed since I came to Albes' house.

I came to this small territory, which is close to the capital, thinking it would be a way to pass the time during my leave. Now, we have grown quite fond of the Laguren family.

The Laguren family has few servants. Therefore, we not only help with farming but also take on other tasks.

We take care of the livestock, maintain the irrigation channels, repair damaged buildings, and even do cooking, cleaning, and laundry—basically, we do everything inside and outside the house.

Most knights in the kingdom's army come from the noble class.

This often leads to misunderstandings, but we are trained to do almost all kinds of work ourselves. The exceptions are the refined palace guards and the young nobles from high-ranking families.

The military is a place where people who are better at using their bodies than their heads gather. It's nice to relax sometimes, but if you have several days of free time, it's better to keep your body moving.

Yuris, for example, enjoys physical labor so much that he even joined in the reclamation work in the north when he was free.

...And while saying that, I also did farm work when I was free, so knights are like that.

However, even aside from our nature, seeing the current state of this house makes us want to help.

While all nobles are called nobles, only a few can live a life of luxury. Only the wealthy high-ranking nobles and the main families of some lower-ranking nobles can afford it. Small lords like this one can hardly afford extravagance.

My family is of a decent lineage, but the younger sons live modestly, and Rend's family is one where the lord's family is directly involved in farming.

So, I thought it was normal, but even so, Albes' sister works really hard.

If you take your eyes off her for a moment, she tries to do everything herself.

It's understandable that Lady Tiana forbids her from doing jobs that could cause skin irritation and keeps a close eye on her.

There's so much to do here, but that's exactly the kind of work we're here to do.

So, we always have something to do, and that's part of why Laguren feels so comfortable.

The villagers seem carefree, but they don't fear us even when we seriously swing our swords. It's probably because the lord is Albes.

Moreover, the villagers became friendly as soon as we introduced ourselves as Albes' former colleagues. The next day after we arrived in Laguren, the news spread, and everyone greeted us with smiles. From this, I can feel that Albes is well-respected.

Thanks to this, when they see us, they call out, "Sir Knight! I have something good, take it with you!" and always try to give us something.

Of course, "us" is just an excuse. They really want to give it to Albes and his sister.

Freshly squeezed milk, cheese, freshly caught fish, and vegetables from their own fields. They're simple, but all of them are things that make you happy to have.

They are really well-respected.

I understand their feelings, but we also earn enough money to not be short of it, so we usually buy more than we need.

Actually, we eat a lot!

But often, we end up receiving more than the amount of money we give, and we often look at each other in the kitchen when we check. Really, the villagers here are too kind.

There are times when we end up with a wry smile, but there are no problems with our stay in Laguren.

...That's what I'd like to say, but there is one serious concern.

It's about the sister.

Albes' sister is a really good girl. She's not afraid of rough, big men like us. She's probably used to Albes, so she thinks all knights are like this.

She doesn't mind what we do, whether it's eating or daily training, and she's used to dealing with men like us.

There's no problem with the sister herself.

But the person who sent us here is the problem.

That person with the complicated background only goes by "Phil" here.

His title is a former colleague of Albes, a knight.

...To be honest.

My first reaction when I heard that was, "What the heck is that!?"

Of course, right? A person who stands out just by standing there can't just be a regular knight, can they?

I was genuinely puzzled as to how he could pass himself off as just a "former colleague."

But when I think about it, the sister's brother is Albes.

He's tall, serious, and surprisingly easy to get along with. He's also incredibly handsome. Growing up with such a family member, she might have gotten used to it.

"...But still, it's unbelievable, right? He's too shiny!"

"Sometimes there are shiny guys among the commoners, but that guy is on a different level, right?"

"But if that's how it is, maybe that's just how it is. Let's at least see how the sister perceives it."

After discussing it, the three of us came to that conclusion.

◇

—So, we decided to probe the sister.

"Hey, I heard Phil used to hang around here a lot. What did he do here?"

I asked casually during a conversation while working in the kitchen.

The sister was momentarily taken aback but quickly smiled.

"Phil? Yes, he usually relaxed, but he also did the kind of work you all do."

"Really? He did the same kind of work we do? ...Wait, that guy?!"

"...What? Can he even do cleaning?"

"He does. Phil doesn't usually do such things, does he? What should I do? I've been asking him to do everything!"

Caught off guard, we couldn't help but ask back.

Her reaction seemed unexpected, and she looked a bit worried and flustered. She might have sensed something.

...This is bad.

We glanced at each other and quickly gave a wry smile.

"Ah... Well, he might not usually do such things! But he likes physical work, so he's probably enjoying it."

"True, he does seem to enjoy it..."

"Then don't worry! That guy only does what he really wants to do!"

"Right. There were things he absolutely refused to do, even when ordered!"

We said it in a joking manner.

That shiny lord basically does his duty seriously, but he often passes off non-essential tasks to his subordinates. So, it's not a lie.

Still, it was a bit dangerous.

If we accidentally made the sister suspicious because of our slip of the tongue, that guy would get angry.

He probably wouldn't crush us with his power, but we don't want to be needlessly sent to the front lines and suffer.

We can navigate the basics of social situations.

At that moment,

Rend, who had moved to the window without us noticing, gave a subtle signal with his fingers. It seems Albes had returned.

Alright, today's secret operation is over. We need to retreat quickly before the situation turns against us.

While talking with the sister about the dinner menu, I gave a nod and a small signal to the two of them.

Yuris, who understood, started peeling the potatoes in front of him efficiently.

But we still weren't satisfied. We can't just leave things that bother us alone.

—We decided to try again on another day.