Knights Of The Empire

The next morning. We woke up around sunrise, prepared ourselves, and headed toward the governor’s residence.

Ann, who came out of the mansion, did not appear nervous and seemed to be wearing her usual smile. The knights around her looked more tense, their faces stiffer than usual.

“Then we will depart.”

Lord Lancian called out to Ann inside the carriage, and we began moving while surrounding the carriage she rode in. The border gate was at the edge of the town, so we proceeded on foot rather than riding in the carriage.

As the townspeople watched the carriage with great curiosity, it slowly advanced… and at last we reached the border gate.

The carriage carrying Ann stopped right in the center of the gate, and directly ahead stood an Imperial carriage and its knights. The Imperial knights… had an attitude that made me instinctively frown.

They stared openly at Ann as she stepped down from the carriage, and some even wore vulgar grins. Seeing the behavior of those Imperial knights, the knights of the Albanell Kingdom, including Lord Lancian, clenched their lips tightly and gripped their fists.

“Everyone, thank you for everything until now. Take care.”

When Ann smiled toward the knights one last time, they saluted in perfect unison. Several knights had tears glimmering in their eyes as they looked straight at her, but I pretended not to notice.

If I had acknowledged it, I felt like I might start crying too.

“Princess Henriette, we have come to escort you. Prince Balthazar is eagerly awaiting your arrival.”

“Thank you for the welcome. I am also looking forward to meeting him.”

Ann displayed a smile different from the one she had shown the Kingdom’s knights—a smile that concealed her true feelings.

“These two adventurers will accompany us as escorts to the Imperial Capital, so allow me to introduce them. Luca and Rebecca.”

“Adventurers…? Are you saying you cannot trust our escort?”

At the mention that adventurers would accompany them, most of the Imperial knights openly displayed their displeasure. Yet even in the face of such attitudes, Ann’s smile did not waver.

“That is not what I mean. Luca is a First Rank adventurer our kingdom is proud of. He seems interested in the Empire, which values merit above all, and has been looking forward to entering it. Please accept him.”

“What exactly does ‘First Rank adventurer’ mean?”

They didn’t know… The Adventurer Guild truly didn’t function in the Empire. Seeing it firsthand was shocking.

“It means the strongest class of adventurer. Does that interest you?”

At Ann’s question, several knights grinned with amusement. Ann really was skilled at playing along with others. As expected of a princess.

“…Very well. Hey, you there, we will permit your entry into our nation.”

After nodding toward Ann, the Imperial knight addressed us in an arrogant, condescending tone. I felt irritated at his attitude, but forcing a smile was better than causing trouble here.

“Thank you very much. We look forward to working with you.”

“Thank you for having us.”

Perhaps satisfied with our humble attitude, the knights quickly completed the immigration procedures with a few words of endorsement, and we finally entered the Empire.

Our escort position was the same as it had been in the Kingdom—at the very rear—but we were not allowed to ride in the carriage and had to travel on foot. The carriage did not move very fast, so we could keep up, but walking at that pace continuously was still exhausting.

“…I seriously hate those guys.”

I heard Rebecca’s low voice from beside me.

“I completely agree, but keep it down. If they hear you, it’ll cause trouble.”

“Yeah. But… I can’t stand those condescending looks!”

Rebecca managed the impressive feat of whispering while shouting quietly, glaring lightly at the knights who smirked down at us from horseback as we struggled to keep pace.

“We just have to endure it for a few days.”

My quiet words barely seemed to reach Rebecca, but she clenched her fist tightly and nodded.

“Hey girl, getting tired already? Want to ride together on my horse?”

One of the knights spoke to Rebecca with a vulgar grin. From his tone and gaze, it was obvious he intended to do something inappropriate once she got on the horse. Rebecca glared at him openly without trying to hide it.

“No thanks.”

“Tch, you’re not a very cute woman.”

“I wouldn’t be happy even if someone like you called me cute. I’m not interested in a man weaker than Luca.”

Rebecca seemed truly angry and deliberately said something that would provoke him. As expected, the man who had been smirking moments earlier suddenly raised his eyebrows in fury.

“You’re saying I’m weaker than that guy!?”

“Of course you are. Luca’s the strongest.”

“You! Fight me in a duel right now—!”

The man shouted furiously, spitting as he spoke, then stopped his horse and pointed his sword at me. I glanced at him and began thinking about the best course of action… when another knight glared at the man who had drawn his sword.

“Hey. Our mission comes first right now. If you want a duel, wait until we reach the Imperial Capital.”

Oh—so the Empire actually had some decent knights too. With that surprise, I looked at the knight who had stopped him. He appeared serious, rough, and taciturn.

“Y-Yeah… you’re right.”

The man who had been so aggressive earlier suddenly looked flustered and quickly sheathed his sword.

—The knight who stopped him might be stronger.

Scenes like this made it clear that the Empire truly operated on a strict merit-based system. I didn’t have good feelings about the Imperial knights, but their lives probably weren’t easy either…

“Hey, pick up the pace! At this rate we’ll miss our scheduled arrival!”

When the serious knight shouted toward the front of the formation, the carriage’s speed increased slightly. But for Rebecca and me, walking on foot, the change felt far from slight.

“Rebecca… a-are you… okay?”

“Y-yeah… somehow…”

From that point on, Rebecca and I had no time to think about anything else. We simply moved our legs desperately, defeated the monsters that attacked along the way, and continued our escort mission.

“Was it really right to let the princess go…?”

Even after the Imperial knights had disappeared from sight, one man remained standing at the border gate. That man was… Hubert Lancian.

Hubert had protected Ann as a guard since she was very young, and though it was disrespectful, he had come to think of her as a younger sister.

He deeply regretted allowing someone like Ann to go to the Empire.

Tears filled Hubert’s eyes, and his lips were tightly pressed together.

“Captain, let’s head back.”

“…Alright.”

“His Majesty made the decision. There’s nothing we can do about it. You don’t need to blame yourself, Captain.”

To the soldier who tried to encourage him with a deliberately casual tone, Hubert muttered quietly.

“Perhaps I should have helped the princess escape…”

“W-What are you saying!? If you did that, you might be executed! And who knows what the Empire would do as well!”

“…I know that. But this is no different from sending her as a sacrifice. Do you really think the princess can find happiness there…?”

The knight who had come to fetch Hubert hurriedly covered his mouth and dragged him away from the gate back into the town.

“You mustn’t say such things out loud. What if someone had heard you?”

“…You’re right. I’m sorry. But I can’t stop thinking about it. Whether I could have argued more strongly with His Majesty… whether there was something I could have done for the princess.”

“There’s no point thinking about it. In the end, we’re just people who serve the nation. We can’t defy those above us.”

After those words from the knight, Hubert fell silent with a dark expression, closing his eyes as if praying for Ann’s safety.