The Female Knight Who Had Given Up On Everything Was Way Too Cute

And so, one week had passed since Henri-san was safely captured and the incident involving Karen-san being taken hostage came to a peaceful conclusion.

Even though I had boldly declared to Karen-san, resignation letter in hand, “I’m going to quit being a knight,” I was still serving as a knight just as before.

Though specifically, I was still serving as a rookie knight of Black Hawk.

“Welcome back, Haru. Good work on your morning assignment. Want to have lunch soon? I made something, so shall we eat together?”

The person who called me simply Haru and welcomed me back to the quarters after my assignment was, surprisingly, Madeleine-san. She was not wearing the robes of the Magic Research Institute, but rather the uniform of a Black Hawk mage, black with a gray hawk embroidered on it――.

That’s right. Madeleine-san had actually volunteered to transfer into Black Hawk midway through her career. Her rank was deputy captain, directly beneath Karen-san.

Black Hawk had always been chronically understaffed, so having a talented mage like Madeleine-san join us was extremely welcome.

Officially, her reason was to serve as Karen-san’s aide. Unofficially――well, there was another reason too.

“Thank you, I’d love some. Huh? Where did the captain go?”

“Oh, Karen? I sent her somewhere far away first thing this morning. She’s been getting soft lately despite being the captain, so she needs some retraining.”

Since Madeleine-san was currently handling all of the administrative work herself, she was actually the one who held the real authority within Black Hawk. Proper personnel allocation, proper mission selection――thanks to her skill, even our working conditions were steadily improving, and not a single person objected.

Though naturally, that meant Karen-san was bearing the brunt of the extra work.

“Which means I’ve gotten rid of the nuisance――so now the two of us can enjoy a nice, slow, intimate lunch together――”

“Y-Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!?”

The instant Madeleine-san slowly slid an arm around my shoulder with a slightly suggestive motion, Karen-san came charging back into the quarters at tremendous speed. It looked as if she had finished her assignment instantly and sprinted back at full speed.

“What do you mean, ‘nice, slow, intimate lunch,’ you cheating wife! You cradle robber! I’ll tell your husband, ‘Your wife――she’s doing things behind your back!’”

“What are you talking about? I simply made a balanced meal out of concern for the health of single Haru, whose diet tends to get unbalanced. I’d appreciate it if you stopped jumping to conclusions――tsk.”

“You clicked your tongue! You definitely just went ‘tsk,’ didn’t you!? Hey, look at me, Madeleine! My face isn’t located at Haru’s crotch!”

“Now, now, could both of you calm down a little…?”

““Haru, could you stay quiet for a moment?””

“Um, yes…”

And so, with two older women surrounding me, my daily life had become somewhat noisier.

As for how things ended up this way, let us go back just a little.

It was the day after I had declared that I would quit being a knight as planned and submitted my resignation letter.

I had been summoned alone, not to the White Cross captain’s office where the commander-in-chief was, but to Erluka-sama’s private chambers inside the Royal Palace.

“Haru-sama, I’ve been waiting for you!”

I was guided there by the princess’s personal butler, someone who rarely appeared at the knight quarters and whom the princess called “Grandpa.” Until I entered the room, Erluka-sama had looked thoroughly displeased, but the moment she saw me, her expression brightened as though flowers had suddenly burst into bloom.

Normally, that smile instantly cheered and soothed anyone who saw it.

But today, both I and the princess’s attendants could not help feeling an indescribable pressure from that smile.

The reason was Commander-in-Chief Gares, who was seated beside the princess with an atmosphere suggesting he was about to commit ritual suicide.

“Haru-sama, I think you’ve made a truly wonderful decision! Quitting the knights and throwing away your current position for the person you love――of course, I dearly wish that person could have been me, but if you truly care that much about Karen, then I have no choice but to support you with all my strength, do I?”

“Princess――for someone like me… thank you very much.”

“Please don’t worry about it. To me, Haru-sama is the benefactor who saved me when I was always alone, my big brother, and the teacher who always helped me with my studies!――Unlike that blockhead over there.”

At that, she directed a stare at the commander-in-chief that seemed capable of freezing the entire room――and on closer inspection, the ends of his hair actually looked slightly frozen. Whether that was due to the princess’s special ability or not, I could not say. Either way, it might have been even more terrifying than Henri-san’s “Mystic Eyes.”

“Gares, apologize to Haru-sama. Right now.”

“Princess… I, in my own way, was thinking about my daughter’s future――”

“Oh? Did I tell you to ‘make excuses’?”

“Ugh…”

Scary. Far too scary.

As a member of the royal family who also participated in governing the kingdom, Erluka-sama was perfectly capable of rational thought, but when I became involved, things changed a little. Exactly like this.

“You may normally be dependable, but this time you were far too self-centered. That is something you need to reflect upon, you know? Do you properly understand that?”

“…I do.”

Even the powerful commander-in-chief could hardly resist when someone far, far above him――someone at the very top――came down on him. At the very least, he had no choice but to pretend to change his mind.

“If you understand, then apologize to Haru-sama. There are still many things I need you to do from now on. Do not disappoint me and force me to bring down an axe I would rather not swing.”

“――Understood.”

Having resigned himself to it, the commander-in-chief turned toward me.

“Haru, I’m sorry. It seems I treated the feelings of both you and my daughter far too carelessly in this matter――and in the end, I caused you trouble as well. From the bottom of my heart… I want to apologize.”

Commander-in-Chief Gares put his hands to the floor and bowed deeply――of course, it was probably no more than a gesture and not yet his true feelings. Both the princess and I understood that.

Whether I could turn that apology into something genuine would depend on me from here on.

And with the princess’s persuasion as well, I ultimately withdrew my resignation letter.

And that was the full extent of my final little scheme.

Incidentally, it seemed the princess had figured everything out halfway through. She had knowingly played along with the act. I owed her a tremendous favor for that――but I decided to erase from my memory as a hallucination the words that slipped from her lips at the time: “Well, perhaps I could be the second wife…”

And now, we returned once again to the present.

It was past lunchtime and already night.

The location was Black Hawk’s usual tavern.

“Haru? Hey, Haru?”

“Ah, sorry, Karen-san. I spaced out for a moment.”

“Come on, seriously――you’re one of today’s guests of honor, so get it together, will you?”

Today’s gathering was both a welcome party for Madeleine-san and a celebration of my return to Black Hawk.

Naturally, Madeleine-san was there, and Mulberry, who had helped us during the recent incident, was attending as well. According to Madeleine-san, negotiations were already underway to have Mulberry transferred to Black Hawk soon too.

If that happened, Black Hawk’s roster might change dramatically.

“All right, I think it’s about time for a toast. But today is special, so I’m going to leave that honor to Haru. Everyone fine with that?”

A chorus of “No objections!” rang out from somewhere, and the gathering became even more cheerful.

With Karen-san, Madeleine-san, Mulberry, and every other squad member looking toward me, I cleared my throat once before speaking.

“Um, well… everyone’s probably thirsty after work, so I’ll keep this short and announce the one thing I know you’re all dying to find out――”

Even after everything that had happened, we still did not know what exactly I was. A mutation created by some divine prank, or perhaps some entirely different “something.”

There were times when that uncertainty about myself made me anxious. Times when it frightened me too.

But when that happened, I wanted to overcome it together with Karen-san, whom I loved, and the precious comrades around me.

“Everyone――Karen-san was unbelievably, ridiculously cute in bed――cheers!!!”

“““Cheeeers!!!”””

“Wha!? H-Hey, Haru!! Why did you say that now!? Get over here――hey, don’t cast a physical enhancement spell and run away from meee!!”

As I watched Karen-san frantically chase after me after I had exposed what she was like the first time we slept together, I found myself thinking once again.

Yeah, Karen-san really was adorable.