The Female Knight Who Physically Forces Her Way Into Someone Else’s Telepathy Is Way Too Cute

It was the night of the same day Ena had thoroughly beaten me in our mock battle.

《Haru—Haru, can you hear me? Has anything changed with how you’re feeling?》

Just as I was about to give my equipment another round of maintenance in preparation for our arrival in the Republic tomorrow, Madeleine-san’s gentle whisper reached me inside my head.

It was a telepathic communication spell used to communicate with someone far away, but the farther apart the two people were, the more mana it consumed and the harder it became to use. I could use it too, but a few minutes of continuous use was about my limit. Long conversations were strictly forbidden.

“I’d like to say there aren’t any problems, but…”

Honestly, they were piling up.

《…All right, tell me about it. I’ll give the princess a report too, just in case.》

Idle chatter would only increase the burden on Madeleine-san, so I told her about the day’s events as concisely as possible.

As for questioning her about Karen-san’s colorful assortment of underwear—well, we could leave that aside for now.

《A country of female warriors, huh… I’d heard rumors, but you really got sent somewhere troublesome.》

“Yes, it looks like it’s going to be quite a challenge. By the way, how are things on your end? Mainly regarding the redistribution of work.”

The truth was, I had left in the middle of an ongoing mission, so the handover and various other matters had been weighing on my mind the entire time. By the time the telepathic call reached me, it was already past midnight, so I was sure I had caused Madeleine-san quite a bit of trouble.

《Oh, that… We’ve more or less worked something out. I’m planning to have someone start tomorrow.》

“Really?”

For Black Hawk, where requests for replacement personnel were rarely approved—as though to say, 【It’s your job to make up for shortages through ingenuity, isn’t it?】—that could be considered a stroke of good fortune.

But in the Royal Capital Guard, where most knights would probably rather resign than be transferred to Black Hawk, what sort of eccentric would willingly accept such an order?

《Well, her personality is pretty difficult, so she’ll need some training… Wait, hey, what are you doing—》

At that point, Madeleine-san’s voice grew distant. Long-range telepathic communication was difficult to maintain while doing something else, so if someone interrupted from the side and broke your concentration, for example, it became hard to keep the spell going.

And judging from what was happening, Madeleine-san was probably experiencing exactly that situation on the other end—

《Who are you calling a homewrecker?! This is just a work report—like hell I’d say something like that! What am I, some sexually frustrated housewife in the middle of the afternoon?!》

The person making a huge fuss beside Madeleine-san was probably—or rather, almost certainly—Karen-san. And as usual, she seemed to have misunderstood something.

“Is Karen-san next to you?”

《Yes. I thought I’d take advantage of there being no interruptions and give Haru a work report, but your strange intuition is as sharp as ever… Huh? “It’s unfair that you get to talk to Haru when I want to talk to him too”? Hah, if you’re jealous, then learn enough magic to light a single fire, you muscle-brained woman.》

“Haha… You two haven’t changed at all.”

I could almost hear Karen-san’s cry of “Grrr!” in my head, and I couldn’t help but smile.

At the same time, I belatedly realized that it was the first time I had laughed since setting out on this voyage—

“Um, did you perhaps anticipate that I might end up like this and deliberately…?”

《You’re giving us too much credit. Karen and I are both simply worried about you, that’s all. So if anything happens, make sure you report it without hiding anything. Understood?》

“Yes, Vice-Captain.”

《Mm. Good.》

Even though she was supposed to be far away, just hearing her gentle voice made me feel as if she had directly patted my head and encouraged me.

I had thought this for quite some time, but Madeleine-san really suited the image of a dependable older sister.

《—All right, looks like we’re about out of time. That’s it for today’s work report. If I feel like it, I’ll contact you again around the same time, so complain, vent, whatever you need to do. Got it?》

“‘If you feel like it’—does that mean you won’t do this every day?”

《Then you’d never become mentally stronger, would you? An older sister’s lap pillow is most effective when you’re completely battered in both body and mind—hey, you female knight over there! I heard you say, “Pfft, what kind of cheesy crap is this woman saying?!” You’d better remember this later! Mulberry, tie that over-the-hill woman to a pillar or something!》

I could picture Mulberry’s face as she was dragged into their quarrel, utterly bewildered. Until now, that position had belonged to me, but for a while it would be her job. My condolences.

“…In any case, thank you for looking out for me, Madeleine-san. Thanks to you, I think I’ll be able to give it my all starting tomorrow.”

“First impressions are important in everything. If I was able to help, then I’m glad.”

“Um… and while I’m asking, could I trouble you with just one more favor?”

《What is it? If there’s something you forgot to mention, I can listen now.》

“Yes. I’d like you to tell Karen-san something…”

We weren’t alone, and I was saying it through a telepathic call with Madeleine-san, but—

“Please just tell her, ‘Karen-san, I love you.’”

《Karen, your precious, precious boyfriend says, “I love you.” Don’t you have anything to say back? Huh? No, you don’t have to say anything. It’ll be too late once Haru finds himself a new woman over there—hey, stop swinging that greatsword at me!》

As expected, having an embarrassing exchange like this through a third party was apparently unacceptable by Karen-san’s standards. She probably let out another adorable shriek like “Eeeeh!?” or “Whaaa!??” again. Ah, what a shame I couldn’t see Karen-san flailing around in embarrassment.

《Seriously, don’t come at your best friend with the intent to actually cut her down… Haaah, I’m exhausted thanks to a single female knight who’s nearly hit the big three-oh, so let’s talk again another time, Haru.》

“Yes. Good night, Madeleine-san.”

It was a shame I couldn’t hear Karen-san’s reply, but simply knowing she was still the same adorable Karen-san as always put me at ease.

With that, I decided it was about time for me to get some rest as well. If everything went smoothly, we would arrive in the Republic around sunset, and I still needed to make a few preparations for that.

《Ah, Haru. One last thing, all right?》

Just as I was about to end the spell from my side, Madeleine-san stopped me.

“? What is it? Did you forget to tell me something—”

《A message. She said, “Me too,” and, “Do your best.”》

After saying only that, Madeleine-san cut off our telepathic connection.

Me too—and do your best.

Just two incredibly curt replies.

But for me at that moment, they were devastatingly effective.

“Ahh, come on… That’s not fair, Karen-san…”

Imagining what expression Karen-san had been making when she asked Madeleine-san to pass along that message, and what gestures she might have made, I spent the night aboard the ship restlessly lost in thought.