Chapter 125

Commander Frederick appeared, ruffling the protagonist’s hair.

[ Mo Je-won: Hey, hey, are you watching too? ]

And Mo Je-won sent a chat message, right on cue.

“We’re finally setting off! Is everyone ready?”

“Of course. But Commander, you’re way too excited. Can’t our knight order look at least half as dignified as the Berha Knights?”

“You and your endless nagging… That’s something for you to fix once you become the Commander. Ahem, more importantly, I’m a bit worried about the Saintess.”

“The Saintess?”

When the protagonist asked back, Frederick grinned as if that was the exact reaction he wanted.

Judging by the look of it, they were forming a rescue party to head out to the county. The exact same dialogue from the Saintess route I had played through passed by.

Let’s see, next up was probably Frederick teasing the protagonist by linking them with the Saintess.

“It seems like the Saintess relies on you a lot, you know~ Ahh, I wonder why you’ve gotten so close to the Saintess already, leaving poor Sir Arianne behind~.”

“Commander!”

“I feel so sorry for Sir Arianne. I thought our knight order was finally going to produce its very first monumental couple, but…”

-The Commander is definitely on Team Arianne

-I’m bummed too ㅠㅠ

-Still, the Saintess is the real deal though

“That is an insult to the Saintess. Please stop teasing.”

“How did I even raise you! You won’t even let me make a joke like this? So cold-hearted!”

“Hah… I practically raised myself, though.”

With a deep sigh rising from the depths of his abdomen, the protagonist brushed Frederick’s hand off his shoulder and headed somewhere.

“Where are you off to, Hereis?! Heyy~ Don’t run off just because I teased you a little. With a timid mindset like that, you’ll never become a swordmaster~.”

No matter what Frederick said, Hereis stubbornly avoided him and hid his body in a deserted alleyway.

‘So exhausting.’

Catching his breath, Hereis closed his eyes as he leaned his back against the wall. That thoughtless commander had dumped all the important paperwork onto him. The reorganization of the rescue party, requests for support from the imperial family, and so on…

Even Drott, his squire, had taken a time-off, leaving Hereis with no choice but to handle all that mountain of work by himself.

-Drott took a vacation, it says?

-He was dead in some other route

-Fucking spoiler idiots

‘…Just how much longer can I stay here?’

His father had become the duke, just as scheduled. That meant he, too, would end up succeeding the Rubel family. As his mother had said, he would soon have to undergo formal successor training.

‘Commander my foot. I’m even in a position where I have to return the Vice-Commander seat. I need to ask the Commander to pick a new Vice-Commander soon.’

I thought things were flowing just like the game, but small details like this had changed.
Originally, he would have been lamenting over Robert’s death right about now.

It was when Hereis was deep in thought. Someone rushed hurriedly into the quiet alleyway where only Hereis had been standing.

And that person was…

“S-Sir Hereis…?”

“Saintess.”

-Ohhhhhh

-Prettyyyy

The Saintess was walking over with a dark expression. Upon spotting Hereis, she looked somewhat startled, but quickly hurried over.

“S-Sir Hereis, w-what are you doing here…?”

The Saintess’s stuttering had improved vastly compared to when they first met. Feeling a sense of fond pride, a natural smile formed on Hereis’s lips.

“I evacuated because the Commander talks too much.”

“Haha, I-I ran away because Sir Ilian’s nagging was t-too severe.”

The two looked at each other awkwardly before bursting into laughter.

“We’re in a similar boat, aren’t we?”

“Y-Yeah, I suppose so.”

At that moment, a pleasant breeze blowing from somewhere made the two stop their conversation.

As the wind subsided, the Saintess tidied up her ruffled hair and spoke up first amidst the silence.

“Th-Thank you for putting up with my s-stubbornness, Sir Hereis.”

“No, Sir Ilian put in much more effort. I had no idea you would manage to gather this many reinforcements in such a short amount of time. As expected of the Ralphican Church.”

“…D-Do you think the county will be safe?”

Ding!

A choice popped up, and the Exiled Scholar easily picked the best answer. The Saintess’s affection smoothly went up.

Honestly, the chances were low. But seeing the Saintess’s bitter gaze, Hereis decided not to explicitly voice out the obvious fact that everyone already knew.

“It will be safe. Please don’t worry too much.”

[ Mo Je-won: Good choice, though. But I could’ve done at least that much lol ]

I ignored Mo Je-won’s worthless chat.

“W-We might be able to save them, but I w-wonder if my s-short-sightedness… and greed… might be putting e-everyone in trouble…”

“Saintess, all of us came here knowing the risks. Besides, you aren’t the only one who wants to save the county. We feel the same way, which is why we agreed with you.”

“But…”

“So please don’t worry about it too much. Besides, having thoughts like that is underestimating our chivalry.”

“I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean it like that…”

“Saintess, you are no longer in a position to apologize to us.”

“Even so…”

The Saintess paused for a moment at Hereis’s steady, direct eyes. He had that exact same look in his eyes when he saved her back then.

“Still, I can t-thank you, right? I’m sorry I’m late, but thank you for s-saving me back in the village…”

“…I merely did what had to be done.”

“Fufu, y-you really are as stubborn as the rumors say.”

“Rumors… you say?”

At Hereis’s reaction, as if hearing this for the first time, the Saintess burst into laughter.

“Now I understand why e-everyone thinks Sir Hereis is c-cute.”

“I don’t think I have a particularly cute face.”

“It’s true that Sir Hereis is g-gorgeous and looks like a h-handsome sculpture rather than cute, but that’s not what I meant, your actions– Ah, ahem. N-Never mind. Please f-forget it.”

-Looooool

-Her face turned red

“A-And I’ve been wanting to ask you before, u-um… h-how did you happen to come find me at my home? You showed up out of nowhere and s-started talking to me, you have no idea how s-surprised I was.”

“…It’s a bit embarrassing, but I was actually wandering around slacking off a bit, and the Saintess’s house just happened to catch my eye, so to speak.”

-That’s a pretty weak reason

-You can’t just say it’s because you have to meet the hidden heroine

“F-For a r-reason like that, you… knocked on my door?”

“If it was rude, I apologize.”

“No, no. W-Rude? On the contrary, I’m g-grateful. If Sir Hereis hadn’t s-saved me that day… I m-might not even be here right now.”

[ Mo Je-won: The hidden conditions are pretty tricky though. Didn’t he look up a walkthrough? ]

Even if it’s tricky, it’s not to the point where you can’t find it at all. Mo Je-won just played the game half-heartedly.

“E-Ever since I met Sir Hereis, I-I’ve changed. The m-me who used to shrink back and tremble in f-fear died to the m-monsters that day……”

Remembering the past, the Saintess clasped her trembling hands together to calm herself.

“And a-after awakening something like divine power, my stuttering habit started to get b-better too…”

She then met Hereis’s eyes with a refreshed expression.

“Now, I’ve gained the c-confidence that I can r-truly save people. It’s a-all thanks to Sir Hereis.”

Ding!

Another choice popped up.

-222

-Option 1 is actually pretty decent though?

“Hm, what about the third one.”

-Nah, it definitely isn’t 3

-So uninspired

Undeterred by the chat trying to stop him, the Exiled Scholar pushed through with his own choice.

“…It must be thanks to Ralphican’s guidance.”

-Oh man, so frustrating

-What a dating sim noob, seriously

[ Mo Je-won: Lol, finally gonna get to watch him ruin it. ]

Is Mo Je-won feeling some kind of competitive rivalry toward the Exiled Scholar? Since a moment ago, he’s been rooting for the walkthrough to get messed up.

What a waste of energy on something so useless. And unfortunately for him, things aren’t going to go the way he wants.

Because this choice is the correct answer, too.

Hereis became at a loss for what to do with the excessive praise. He said whatever came to mind to divert the credit to the god and break the tension. And that sincerity seemed to have reached the Saintess.

-?

-??

-Huh?

-That was actually right?

[ Mo Je-won: You’ve got to be kidding me! ]

The Exiled Scholar had a weird talent for dating sims.

If the streamer in round one had been the Exiled Scholar, it would have been tough. I should send a word of thanks to Mo Je-won, who unintentionally supported my peaceful round-one lifestyle.

Well, it doesn’t matter to me anymore who the protagonist dates. Still, seeing them all cozy made me feel somehow restless.

Both of them were people I had met and built a bond with in the past, and it felt like that because I was the only one who remembered while the two of them forgot, laughing it all up.

…In short, it was an eyesore.

“Sir Hereis! Well, sorry to interrupt when the atmosphere is so nice.”

Frederick approached Hereis and the Saintess while they were in a cozy atmosphere, with about as much hesitation as someone who wasn’t sorry at all.

“We’ve got a huge problem. Her Highness the Princess has been kidnapped!”

It was a big deal, indeed. An imperial princess, no less, had been kidnapped. It was a matter that required the Imperial Knights to move directly. But if that happened, the rescue party would…

Ding!

-To think we can branch off into the Princess route right here, holy cow (O.O)

-The rescue party is scary, so let’s just run away? And save Her Highness the Princess while we’re at it.

-Obviously the Saintess, are you abandoning the hidden route?

“Ahem! Born as a man, one should not yield to status and must save more people! There are plenty of people to save the Princess! But the people of the county only have us!”

-Ah, yes.

“Then, I will entrust the command of the Imperial Knights here to you, Hereis.”

Frederick turned back to the Saintess and bowed his head.

“Saintess, I’m sorry. It seems I must break away from the rescue party.”

The Saintess waved her hands, saying it was fine.

“P-Please rescue Her Highness the Princess safely!”

“Thank you for understanding. I will resolve this as quickly as possible and rejoin you.”

With Frederick’s lines, the broadcast ended, leaving only Sera behind as she stepped back out into the quiet hallway. I tossed Mo Je-won’s continuously chiming chat far away.
Come to think of it, was the conversation between Robert and the Duchess still ongoing?
I wondered when they planned to wrap it up, and as if thinking the same thing, Sera muttered.

“It’s taking a long time. Is it because the Young Master went to the county?”

The county being designated as a restricted zone had even been a topic of conversation in our mansion.

Voices of concern grew, questioning if the ducal domain was going to become dangerous too and arguing that we should evacuate, but once the news broke that the protagonist was leaving to fix it, everyone kept their mouths shut while reading the expressions of the Duke and Duchess.

Right now, talk about the county was practically taboo in this mansion.

Anyway, there was one lingering question.

‘Doesn’t Jeffrey care?’

And the protagonist was heading right to a place littered with all sorts of his weak points, such as account books and traces of monster experiments.