The Female Knight Who Was Rumored To Be A Shotacon And Then Had Her Parents Reject A Relationship She Wasn't Even In Was Just Too Cute

After we finished everything involved in suppressing the bandit group, I returned to Black Hawk a little earlier than scheduled.

Officially, it was because I had to take responsibility for acting independently during the previous operation and undergo thorough retraining under my original unit.

But in reality, the reason was much simpler.

“Um, Captain?”

“…What?”

“The supplies we ordered should be arriving soon, so I’d like to go receive them.”

“No. I’ll send someone else to collect them. You are not to leave your post.”

As usual, only the sound of Karen-san’s pen moving across paper echoed through the captain’s office where the two of us were alone. She was writing a formal apology—one concerning her failure to properly supervise me, her subordinate.

“You always get yourself dragged into trouble the moment you’re out of my sight, and then you put yourself in danger. So as part of your retraining—um… you’re not allowed to leave my side for a while.”

Saying that, Karen-san forcibly grabbed my arm, restricting my movement so I couldn’t go anywhere alone.

That’s right—the only reason my cross-unit training had specifically been shortened was because Karen-san had strongly requested it.

As for why—well, I didn’t need to ask. After everything that had happened, it was obvious, even though Karen-san had denied it with a bright-red face by insisting, “We’re members of the same squad, so this much is only natural.”

Still, even with the official excuse of “thorough retraining,” I hadn’t expected her restraints to become this intense.

Recently, morning, noon, evening, and even late at night—Karen-san was almost always wherever I went, and at her worst, she would even try to accompany me all the way back to the knight barracks where I lived.

Incidentally, I currently even had to report it before going to the bathroom alone.

The person who had caused Karen-san to become this way was Henri-san, the female mage who had plotted to abduct me during that incident.

Even after the knight order investigated her, Henri-san’s true identity remained unknown, and I had reported everything about her to Karen-san without hiding a thing.

That she possessed a special constitution known as Mystic Eyes. That she had taken a liking to me, calling me her “favorite,” and had tried to abduct me so she could keep me by her side—and that she had absolutely no intention of giving up.

Karen-san was probably being more nervous than necessary because of that. She was likely imagining a scenario where Henri-san suddenly appeared beside me through teleportation and then silently spirited me away.

“Hmm—it’s almost noon. All right, time for a meal break. Haru, you’re coming too.”

Once the morning’s paperwork was finished, Karen-san left the captain’s office while still holding onto my arm. No matter what I said, she wouldn’t listen. There was no room for argument.

Of course, I was happy to always be with Karen-san. After all, it meant my presence had become that important to her.

But if she became this overprotective—

Then another problem naturally arose.

And I was about to hear more than enough about that at the place where we were going.

“—Hey, they’re here.”

“Again? How do they not get sick of being together that much?”

Karen-san pulled me by the hand into the crowded lunchtime dining hall, and for just a moment, the attention of the other knights turned toward us.

Right now, the Royal Guard was abuzz with rumors that “the Black Hawk rookie and the terrifying female captain who could silence crying children must be dating,” and because of that, I had been feeling somewhat uncomfortable lately.

Rumors had spread throughout the entire knight order under titles like 【Spring Finally Comes to the Still-Single Lone Female Knight!】 and 【A Slave Acquired Through Maximum Abuse of Her Position as a Superior!】. Well, if nothing else, it was proof that Karen-san had practically never had a man in her life until now.

If two people suddenly started spending every waking hour together from one day onward, baseless rumors like that were bound to start.

“Um, Captain—”

“…I-I told you not to worry about it. Those gawkers can say whatever they want because they don’t know you’re being targeted.”

Was it just my imagination, or did Karen-san look pretty awkward about it too?

And besides, while Henri-san was certainly hard to predict, I didn’t think she’d deliberately storm into the middle of the knight order while every member was present.

Then again, she possessed the special constitution known as Mystic Eyes, so there was still a chance she had other unique magic or abilities we knew nothing about, which meant I couldn’t say that with absolute certainty.

“That vixen Henri… like hell I’d ever hand over my Har—my subordinate to someone like you so easily… (mutter mutter)”

Was that a slip of the tongue? I could have sworn Karen-san had just started saying “my Haru.” I wanted to press her on it, but this really wasn’t the place to start flirting like that.

“Ma’am, two extra-large Set A meals. Haru, that’s fine with you too, right? You need to eat more and get stronger and bigger. So that someday you’ll be fine even when I’m not around.”

I was normally a light eater at lunch, but ever since Karen-san had started staying beside me, she’d even begun managing my meals. At this point, our relationship was starting to feel less like lovers and more like mother and child, or older sister and younger brother.

As I desperately stuffed down the noodles and salad piled mountain-high onto the enormous plate while repeatedly feeling like I might throw everything back up,

“Haru-kun—sorry to bother you while you’re eating, but do you have a moment?”

someone called out to me from behind.

“Mmgh—? Commander…?”

“It’s been a while. Though I suppose it hasn’t actually been that long since then.”

Standing behind me with an imposing posture was Gares-san, Commander of White Cross—and also Karen-san’s father.

I hadn’t seen him since the incident, so it felt like a long time since we’d spoken face-to-face.

“Um, Commander—I apologize for all the trouble I caused during the training.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s true your recklessness caused some panic throughout the unit, but in the end, the main force completed the operation without a single injury.”

Normally, acting independently was basically the same as disobeying orders, so I could have been suspended, put on leave, or, at worst, even dismissed. The fact that I had returned to Black Hawk without any such punishment was partly thanks to the Commander’s intervention.

I had to be grateful for that.

“By the way… Commander—do you need something from us?”

Karen-san immediately stopped eating, straightened herself, and saluted formally. They were parent and child, but here in the Royal Guard, they were superior and subordinate.

“No, Squad Captain Karen. My business today is not with you. The one I need to speak with is the person sitting beside you—”

The Commander’s sharp gaze turned toward me.

“—Me?”

Somehow, I’d expected that.

Considering the baseless—or, thinking about it carefully, perhaps not entirely baseless—rumors spreading throughout the knight order, it was only natural. Of course her father would call me aside.

“Yes—normally, this isn’t something we should discuss in a place like this. I ought to properly invite you to my home, but given my position, I’m rather busy. Sorry to cut into your lunch, but come to our captain’s office with me now.”

I nodded silently and followed the Commander as he turned around.

Around us, everyone seemed to think, “The father finally showed up,” and their curiosity had gone far beyond maximum as they stared intensely at my back.

“Haru…”

Karen-san seemed to understand what was happening to some extent, so even she didn’t follow us. She merely looked at me with a faintly worried expression.

“It’s all right, Captain. It’ll only be during lunch break. I’ll be back soon.”

“Yes, I’m not worried about that, but…”

That’s not what you want to say, is it? I know. Of course I do.

But you still don’t need to worry.

(I’ll simply say exactly how I feel right now.)

I silently directed those words toward Commander Gares, who was giving off a colder atmosphere than usual.

Since it was lunchtime, there wasn’t a single person inside White Cross’s station. Apparently, from noon for about an hour, everyone was completely relieved of duty.

Which meant Mulberry and Sakumika-san weren’t there either.

“Sit wherever you like. This isn’t about work.”

“…Then I’ll take you up on that.”

I said that, but my body was completely stiff with tension.

I was about to make a certain declaration to Gares-san as a “father.”

There was no way I wouldn’t be nervous.

“Now then. I’m sure someone as intelligent as you has some idea what this is about. So I’ll ask you directly.”

“Yes—Father.”

At my response, Gares-san gave a faint smile.

“Haru-kun, what do you think of Karen—my daughter?”

“I love her.”

Without leaving any pause, I gave Gares-san my answer first, then continued.

“First, please allow me to apologize for telling you this under these circumstances. I wanted to tell you properly myself—but right now, it’s only one-sided love.”

“One-sided… meaning you haven’t formally asked Karen to go out with you yet?”

“I did once, right after I joined, but she rejected me pretty easily.”

“Is that so? Around the time you joined Black Hawk, I remember Karen constantly wearing this creepy, giddy grin, so I’d assumed the two of you were already in that kind of relationship.”

So Karen-san really hadn’t been completely uninterested after all. It made me want to say, Then why did you reject me? But I knew my confession back then had been far too sudden, so I supposed it couldn’t be helped.

More importantly, Karen-san with a giddy expression… I really wished I’d seen that. She must have been incredibly cute.

“Understood. That’s all I wanted to ask. Haru-kun, you may return to Karen now.”

“Huh? Ah… right.”

Since he was the kind of person who worried enough about his daughter’s future to arrange matchmaking meetings for her, I’d braced myself for a much longer interrogation… but it ended surprisingly quickly, leaving me feeling somewhat deflated.

If Gares-san’s only purpose this time had been to verify the rumors, then maybe telling him my feelings had been going too far—

Just as I thought that and was about to leave the room.

“Ah, that’s right, Haru-kun. There was one thing I forgot to tell you.”

“?”

I turned around just as the door was about to close, and the Commander spoke in the same calm tone he’d used until then.

“Give up on Karen. That’s all.”

“What…?”

The door slammed shut, and at the same time, the bell announcing the end of the break rang throughout the building.

“Um, Commander—what exactly do you mean by—”

I tried to ask about the rejection her father had suddenly thrown at me at the very end, but—

“Oh, Haru? What are you doing here?”

Mulberry and the other White Cross members had just finished lunch and were returning to the station at exactly that moment. Seriously, what horrible timing.

“Nothing, really. I just had lunch with the Commander. See you, Mulberry. Good luck with work this afternoon.”

“Ah, wait, Haru—something’s strange about you… hey, I said wait!”

Mulberry seemed to be saying something as I quickly left White Cross, but at that moment, I didn’t have the composure to pay attention.

(The way the Commander said that was bad.)

His tone had been gentle, but the way he’d simply ordered me to “give up” without allowing any argument made it obvious that those words reflected his true feelings.

I’d thought I’d managed to make a reasonably good impression on him, so I couldn’t fully hide my shock. If even Mulberry had noticed something was wrong with me, it must have been obvious.

“…You’re finally back, Haru-kun. Could you come over here for a moment?”

I took a deep breath before returning to the dining hall so Karen-san wouldn’t notice what had happened, but when I arrived, Madeleine-san was sitting beside her wearing the white-coat-style magical robe she used for work.

Normally, Madeleine-san spoke to me much more casually, but today her expression and tone were serious. She was also holding what looked like important documents.

“Madeleine-san… what are you doing here? You don’t normally use this dining hall.”

“Ah—technically, the Commander told me not to tell anyone. But that wouldn’t be fair, so I decided I’d explain everything properly to the two of you myself.”

“Wouldn’t be fair? What exactly do you mean? You’re talking as though you already know everything.”

“Of course I do. After all, I’m the one who provided the information that led the Commander to make his ‘decision.’”

Saying that, Madeleine-san handed several pages of documents to both me and her close friend Karen-san.

“Madeleine, I still don’t understand what’s going on… would you mind explaining?”

“—It’s simple. Haru-kun was just told by your father, Commander Gares, that he ‘doesn’t approve of him dating his daughter.’”

“Fueh!? W-We aren’t even dating in the first place—and why is Father rejecting it on his own!?”

Since everything had been progressing completely outside Karen-san’s knowledge, it seemed her thoughts couldn’t keep up.

“Now, now. As for the details, Karen—we should discuss those back at your place. Haru-kun, that’s fine with you too, right?”

After Karen-san and I returned to the captain’s office in the Black Hawk station, Madeleine-san remained silent for a short while before slowly beginning to speak.

“—All right, both of you, look at the documents I handed you earlier.”

Karen-san and I looked down at the papers as instructed, only to find something unexpected there.

“Huh? This is—”

“…Haru’s résumé from when he enlisted. The one submitted when he was newly assigned to the Royal Guard.”

The knight school normally prepared all the documents for students who were scheduled to join the Royal Guard, so even I hadn’t known exactly what had been attached to mine—

“His grades over all three years at knight school, professional aptitudes, possessed skills, even his usual classroom behavior—this is pretty detailed.”

“Naturally. It’s important material for determining what role and posting best suit each recruit, as well as what kind of training they require. Though in your case, your grades were so exceptional that every unit commander wanted you, and no agreement could be reached, so in the end, your assignment was decided by drawing lots.”

“What… that was the reason?”

For the first time, Karen-san revealed the story behind how I had ended up joining Black Hawk.

Seriously, a lottery? Even if they couldn’t settle the discussion, the Royal Guard had chosen my assignment in a pretty careless way.

If they hadn’t drawn that result, Karen-san and I wouldn’t have met like this. A twist of fate, I suppose.

“Enough reminiscing—Karen, take a look at Haru-kun’s family register.”

“I already skimmed through it earlier. …I also checked it when he was hired, and nothing seems particularly wrong. His registered domicile is in the central region of the kingdom. He was born sixteen years ago to parents running a dairy farm in an inland farming village. No siblings—a typical only-child household. They aren’t wealthy, but they aren’t suffering from poverty either.”

Karen-san was right. I’d been born into an utterly ordinary family.

There had been nothing particularly special about it, just a completely mundane life—

So mundane that I couldn’t even remember what kind of life I’d lived—

—Huh?

In that instant, confusion of unknown origin suddenly arose inside my mind.

“What’s wrong, Haru-kun? Did you remember something inconvenient?”

No. I hadn’t remembered anything inconvenient.

Rather, the inconvenient part was that I couldn’t remember anything at all about my origins.

Madeleine-san seemed to notice my confusion. With a bitter expression, she continued.

“Haru-kun—you were far too ordinary in origin compared with the abilities you possess. Suspiciously so. The Commander noticed that discrepancy first and asked me to investigate. Specifically, whether your relationship with the father and mother listed in your records was genuine, including whether your magical traits were connected. That’s why I kept approaching you whenever Karen was involved.”

“I see. So that’s why you were always unusually cooperative with me.”

As expected, Madeleine-san was not someone you could ever let your guard down around. She had probably casually collected strands of my hair or pieces of skin while the two of us were watching Karen-san’s matchmaking meeting.

“But surely that alone isn’t enough reason to suspect Haru. Even someone born to completely ordinary parents without any knightly aptitude could, through some circumstance, turn out to be exceptionally gifted, couldn’t they?”

“You’re right, Karen. The possibility isn’t zero. But the fact remains that it’s extremely close to zero. That’s why we investigated so carefully all this time.”

Because the Royal Guard had to function as the strongest spear and shield defending the royal capital, any factor that could cause the knight order itself to collapse, whether from outside or within, had to be eliminated—

“And now we come to the final part of the investigation report—but to give you the conclusion first, the Commander’s concerns were correct.”

The conclusion derived from each piece of evidence.

—The origins of Haru, rookie knight of Black Hawk, were completely unknown.

“When we visited the address listed in your family register, your parents really were there. They even acted concerned about you. But that was all—your supposed parents couldn’t tell us a single memory from the sixteen years they should have spent raising you as their son. And naturally, once we analyzed it, there was absolutely no biological or magical connection between you.”

No wonder I couldn’t remember anything.

They had only ever been “something” set up to play those roles.

There couldn’t possibly have been any memories between us.

And that gave rise to another question.

Why was I here? For what purpose?

I had graduated at the top of knight school with outstanding marks, joined the Royal Capital Guard without questioning anything, and spent my days working hard alongside Karen-san, who always cared about me even though she was strict, my other superiors, and friends my own age like Mulberry, Maybe, and Erluka-sama—

For what purpose?

“—Madeleine. Then… what happens to Haru, my subordinate? Surely he isn’t going to be expelled from the knight order just like that—”

“The Commander denied that possibility. Haru-kun has caused some trouble where you’re concerned, but generally speaking, he’s diligent at work, loyal, and his abilities are beyond reproach. As for his origins, all that’s been proven is that the parental relationship in his records is false. Dismissing him is out of the question. But—”

“—Dating is a different matter, isn’t it?”

Madeleine-san gave a small nod.

“Well, from here on out, it becomes a matter concerning the Commander’s family, so it isn’t really my place to give an opinion. Anyway, that’s everything I had to say. Sorry for interrupting your work.”

Madeleine-san lightly patted my shoulder, then whispered something into Karen-san’s ear before leaving the captain’s office with her usual casual wave.

“Um, Captain.”

“…Hmm?”

“What did Madeleine-san say to you?”

“…I’m not telling.”

“…I see.”

Karen-san lowered her eyes awkwardly, and for once, even I couldn’t bring myself to say anything more.