The Female Knight Who Just Wouldn't Let Go Of My Hand Was Way Too Cute

I didn’t know very much about the 【Empire】 myself.

I only vaguely remembered learning a little about it as part of our general education back in knight school. It ruled the eastern continent, which had nearly twice the territory of the northern continent where the 【Royal Capital】 was located, entirely by itself, and it had achieved that through military force.

And finally, it had absolutely no diplomatic relations with either our northern 【Royal Capital】 or the other great power, the western 【Federation】――those were about the only three things I knew.

“If that insignia belongs to the Empire, then――”

“Right. That woman Nevan isn’t a slave trader at all. It means she’s a member of the Empire’s knight order.”

Judging from her build, she didn’t seem to be a heavily trained knight like Karen-san, which meant she was probably some sort of mage.

“Wait, hold on. If she’s not actually a slave trader, then――”

Ena, who had been listening to us, suddenly turned pale as she realized something.

If Nevan wasn’t a slave trader, then just who exactly were all the slaves she’d been bringing here recently?

“They’re most likely Nevan’s subordinates――Imperial soldiers, almost certainly. The reason they’re so strangely obedient to you is probably because they’ve been ordered to ‘act that way.’”

If Karen-san was right, that would also explain a good deal of the uneasiness Ena had been feeling.

“But why would the Empire go that far? Cozying up to Lilia and even handing Imperial soldiers over as slaves――I can’t imagine there’s enough benefit in getting friendly with this country to justify all that…”

“No, there is. They probably took an interest in the unusual traits possessed by the people of this Republic. Like I said earlier, the Empire is a military state. It wouldn’t be strange for them to take an interest in the abilities of the girls here.”

Nearly every girl born and raised in this country supposedly possessed physical abilities surpassing even those of wild beasts――from the Royal Capital’s perspective, the objective of sending Karen-san and me here was to teach them organized combat methods and “strengthen them as a knight order”――but it was unlikely the Empire had the same thing in mind.

Still, one thing was certain.

I had a bad feeling about this.

“That’s really bad… We have to go back to the Princess right now and tell her who Nevan really is…!”

After hearing our entire conversation, Ena spun around and hurriedly tried to return to Lilia, but Zena grabbed her arm and stopped her.

“…Wait.”

“Don’t stop me, Zena! We have to hurry or Lilia-sama… the Princess…”

“…Calm down. Whatever we do right now probably won’t accomplish anything.”

Zena turned her eyes toward me as though asking for agreement.

“She’s right, Ena. Even if we tell Lilia now, she probably won’t listen, and Nevan would realize that we’ve discovered her true identity. I know it’s frustrating, but for now, we need to wait.”

“…If Captain says so.”

Only then did Ena finally regain her composure, and the tension drained from her rigid body.

That said, we couldn’t afford to simply sit around doing nothing either, so it was clear that we needed to take some kind of action.

“For now, I’ll hurry back to the Royal Capital and report this to Her Highness. I’ll send a messenger immediately as well, so until then, keep a close watch on Nevan’s movements.”

“Then what if something happens before that――”

At my words, Karen-san firmly grabbed my shoulder.

“If that happens, Haru, I’m leaving it to you. You’re the commander here right now.”

Karen-san looked at me as if asking, You can handle it, right?

“――Yes.”

I nodded firmly.

I might still be unreliable, but I was a knight too, and a man with someone precious to protect.

Every now and then, I had to show Karen-san that I could be dependable.

“Good. That’s the answer I wanted. I opposed this assignment at first, but maybe it was a good thing I came here after all.”

The moment Karen-san gave me a satisfied smile, the ship that had come to pick her up sounded its departure whistle as though urging her to hurry.

For now, Karen-san and I would once again have to part ways here.

“Take care, Haru. Good luck.”

“I will, Karen-san. And next time you come, make sure you properly persuade Madeleine-san first, okay?”

“Ugh… I’ll try.”

She probably wouldn’t succeed. Madeleine-san was incredibly lenient with me but brutally strict with Karen-san. Their conversation would probably end with, “Vacation…” “Die.”

“Well then. We’ve said our goodbyes――so I should probably head back to the settlement with Ena and the others now.”

“Hm? Ah, right. Be careful on your way back.”

“Yes, I will. So, with that said――”

I lowered my gaze and stared at my wrist, which Karen-san still hadn’t let go of.

“Could you let go already? Look, even the people on the ship are starting to get a little irritated.”

“Then why don’t you shake me off yourself? I’m not gripping you that hard.”

I silently ignored that with a smile.

She knew she had to let go――but Karen-san was actually so worried about me that she couldn’t bring herself to release my hand. No, perhaps she was even thinking about dragging me back to the Royal Capital with her.

That was the kind of person Karen-san was.

And I loved watching Karen-san when she was like this.

Yes, that’s right. I’m a pervert. What of it?

“Come on, let go already. Go on, go on!”

“Mm… nghhhhh…”

Karen-san gradually loosened her grip. If I pulled my hand away, I could have escaped easily, but I deliberately didn’t.

“What are you two even doing…?”

“…Idiot couple.”

Ena and Zena, who were waiting for me, watched us with exasperated expressions. They were probably thoroughly disgusted.

“Nghhhhhhh… there!”

“Wah!”

Just when I thought she’d finally let go, she hugged me instead. No, no, this had gotten worse.

“I’m still worried! I can’t do this! I’m taking Haru back with me! I’ll keep him by my side forever! Any objections!?”

“Um, quite a few, actually…”

In the end, it took a full ten minutes for Ena, Zena, and me together to persuade Karen-san.

It was hardly a dignified farewell――but in a way, because it was so perfectly normal for us, I felt like I could face what came next without unnecessary tension.

Having thoroughly replenished my supply of Karen-san, I steeled myself to plunge into the next battle.