The Female Knight Who Left Behind A Legend Of Sorts At My Farewell Party Is Way Too Cute

On the night of the emergency meeting, a modest farewell party was held for me, since my departure was already scheduled for the next day.

Aside from me, the attendees were Karen-san, Madeleine-san, and Mulberry. The usual group. I would have liked as many of the others as possible to attend too, but they had a mountain of work that had been put off because of the meeting, so unfortunately that was out of the question.

Besides, we could not exactly party so hard that it affected everyone’s work from the following day onward.

And so, the four of us were sitting around a round table at Black Hawk’s usual tavern.

“…………”

“…………”

A gloomy atmosphere reminiscent of a funeral hung over the table.

The cause was, of course, Karen-san sitting beside me, our squad captain and now also my girlfriend, sipping alcohol from a huge mug as though it were tea.

The gathering had barely begun, yet she had already drunk quite a lot. Enough that even Madeleine-san, who regularly drank with her, was making a bitter face.

“Captain Karen, please don’t be so depressed. This is a huge opportunity for Haru to advance his career too, so you ought to send him off cheerfully without making him worry unnecessarily.”

Mulberry noticed the mood and tried to offer some encouragement, but all Karen-san gave in return were mysterious groans like “Uuugh…” and “Aaaah….”

She had done her best to remain composed in front of the entire squad, but here she was surrounded only by those of us she could truly relax around. It seemed the thread had finally snapped.

――This might be pretty serious.

“Haru doesn’t need to get promoted… he should just stay under me and work beside me forever… no, actually, I’ll support him myself… hic.”

Karen-san suddenly declared that she was willing to keep me as a dependent, but I respectfully declined because that went against my pride. If anything, I was more the type who wanted Karen-san to take care of the home.

“By the way, Karen. There’s something I want to ask you. Mind?”

“Hmm? What is it, Madeleiiine…? Another lecture? You’ve really settled into the role of nagging old hag lately――”

“Huh???”

“S-Sowwy. That was a joke, yes….”

At the demonic deputy captain glaring at her with snake-like eyes, Karen-san, who was technically her superior, immediately shrank into herself. Scary. I would have to be very careful with what I say from now on too.

“Honestly… anyway, back to my question. Karen, why won’t you let Haru sleep with you?”

“PFFFFFFFFFT!!!!????”

At the sudden, brutally direct question, Karen-san violently sprayed the golden liquid she had been holding in her mouth. The beautiful arc produced by lung capacity strengthened through years of training was practically worthy of becoming this tavern’s signature attraction. Ah, the rainbow was beautiful again today.

“Fnya!? W-What are you saying all of a sudden in a public place!??”

“This kind of conversation is perfectly normal. More importantly, why? Why won’t you let him do it? You’re lovers, aren’t you? You only just started dating, right? So why??”

“Uhh, why, you ask… even if you put it like that…”

Under Madeleine-san’s interrogation, Karen-san could only mumble awkwardly. Even though we were constantly busy with work, we did spend a lot of time together. There had even been expeditions where the two of us were paired together, so if we had really wanted to, we could have done it.

We could have, but――.

I had not told Madeleine-san this, but――there actually was a small reason for it.

“What? You’re keeping secrets from me, your best friend? After all the times I listened to your problems and gave you advice, this is how you repay me?”

Hmm, maybe it was just my imagination, but Madeleine-san’s language seemed rougher than usual too. She had probably drunk considerably more than normal herself. Her face was faintly flushed.

“I-It’s not like that! It isn’t, but…”

Karen-san suddenly glanced up at me.

Her moist eyes looked as though she were begging me for help.

“Um, Madeleine-san. Maybe this isn’t really something we should discuss here… Mulberry is here too――”

“Oh? I don’t mind in the slightest. Today is an informal gathering, after all. I certainly would not frown upon or reprimand anyone over a little dirty talk.”

Despite saying that, Mulberry leaned eagerly across the table, breathing heavily through her nose. So she was curious too.

“Come on, you two. Just use the momentum and confess already. I’m hardly someone who can brag about my own experience, but I still have more than the two of you.”

“…You won’t laugh?”

“Of course I won’t. You’ve only just started dating, and this is the first relationship for both of you. I know perfectly well you’re bound to have one or two worries, no matter how silly they might be.”

“…Th-Then….”

Karen-san looked at me once more, and I nodded. At this point, there was no way we could avoid explaining it. Besides, whether we told her now or not, I had a feeling Madeleine-san would figure it out eventually anyway.

After receiving my approval, Karen-san lowered her face slightly, her eyes darting around as she muttered.

“…It hurts.”

“Huh?”

Mulberry was the one who stared blankly with her mouth half open at Karen-san’s words. Apparently, she had not quite understood.

Madeleine-san, on the other hand… looked exasperated.

“I did wonder if maybe that was it, but seriously…? You actually stopped sleeping with Haru over such a stupid reason? Are you a child? No, even children go through life worrying about more serious things than that.”

“W-What did you say!? This is a serious problem for me! I want to do those things with Haru more too. But whenever the moment comes, I remember what happened the ‘first time’….”

“Obviously that only happens the first time. Even if you were inexperienced, you know that much.”

“I know, but… I know that!”

While the two of them argued, I could only sit beside them feeling increasingly uncomfortable.

I had gone into it thinking, “As the man, I need to properly take the lead,” and had prepared all sorts of things beforehand, only for it to end up like that.

“?? Um, Haru? I’m having a little trouble following their conversation… is the reason really that trivial?”

“Hmm, well, ahaha… it’s kind of hard for me to explain it myself.”

Apparently, when I asked later, she said, “Getting stabbed through the stomach with a greatsword would have been much better.” Oh, and just to be clear, I am perfectly “average-sized.”

“Honestly, I can’t believe I listened so seriously. At this rate, Haru should just get fed up with you and let some younger woman like Mulberry or Princess Erluka steal him away.”

Those were some awfully realistic names to bring up. Mulberry aside, Princess Erluka’s feelings toward me did seem genuine, so while it would never actually happen, it was more than enough to fuel Karen-san’s anxiety.

“H-Haru would never do that! No matter what happens, he’s the kind of man who’ll always think only about me!”

“No chance. Haru isn’t some saint. He’s a young man with everything a young man is supposed to have below the waist. If you don’t want someone else to take him, then prove it with your body right now, you idiot.”

“Idiot! You just called me an idiot!”

“Yes, I did, you coward. Want me to say it again?”

“Grrr!!?”

Huh, somehow the insults were getting more and more childish. They argued sometimes, but it was rare to see them get this heated.

I figured it was probably time to stop them.

The stares from the other customers were starting to get pretty painful too.

“W-Well, both of you seem pretty drunk tonight, so maybe we should call it here and――”

I tried to step between them and calm things down somehow, but――

“All right, fine! Madeleine, if you insist that much, then I’ll show you right here and now!!”

With that, Karen-san suddenly began removing the armor she was wearing, then tried to strip off the undershirt beneath it――and even her underwear.

“W-Wait!! Karen-san, calm down. Everyone can see you! Everyone can see!”

Just before Karen-san’s pale skin and the two ample things only I was supposed to know about were exposed to the entire tavern, I threw myself in front of her to cover her up.

“Don’t stop me, Haru! I have to show this woman, who only acts like some wise elder because she happened to get married before me, just how perfect we are for each other! Come on, Haru, you strip too! We’re doing it, we’re doing it right now!!”

“Doing what exactly are you saying we’re going to dooooo!?”

And so, the night before my departure passed without me getting any proper sleep, as I ended up taking care of two drunken older women who had completely collapsed.

Afterward, all four of us were lectured by the tavern owner for causing such a drunken disturbance and were temporarily banned from the establishment――but that is a story for another time.