The Female Knight Who Was Secretly Pretty Happy To Gain A Much Younger Little Sister Was Way Too Cute (1)

“…I was originally born in the Royal Capital. My father was from the Royal Capital, and my mother was from this country.”

The Royal Capital and the Republic had maintained a cooperative relationship since ancient times, sometimes closely and sometimes only tenuously. That applied both to goods and to people. So naturally, what Zena had described was by no means something impossible.

Whether they were born in the Royal Capital or in this country, if their mother was a woman of the Republic, they would inherit almost exclusively their mother’s blood—and with it, abilities ideally suited for becoming warriors and knights.

Despite being from the Royal Capital, she could live here as a native without arousing the slightest suspicion—there could hardly be anyone better suited to serve as a spy who could quickly report back to the Royal Capital if anything unusual happened.

“So that means the reason requests that normally would’ve never been approved suddenly went through, and reinforcements came unusually fast…”

Zena gave a small nod.

“…Because I’ve been sending information back to the Royal Capital all this time. Including how you’ve been performing your duties, Commander. I’ve reported everything to Erluka-sama and the commander-general.”

There were people in every world who took advantage of the fact that nobody back home knew what was happening locally and submitted false reports or fabricated accomplishments, so there was nothing strange about assigning someone to keep watch.

The reason Zena had been so cooperative with me from the very first day could also be explained, to some extent, by the fact that she had originally been on the Royal Capital’s side. After all, trying to do this job without a single ally would have been difficult.

“A double agent… so that’s what this was. I wondered why you kept cozying up to me and feeding me information about the Royal Capital from the very beginning… y-you little brat…”

“…Capturing you was always part of the plan. I simply gave you information within the limits of what I was allowed to leak so that you’d trust me and I could carry it out with certainty.”

After glancing at Nevan, who lay face-down after being struck by a needle likely coated in paralytic poison, Zena proceeded to bind her entire body tightly in steel wire.

Once they handed her over to the main reinforcement force that would presumably arrive afterward, Zena’s mission would be successfully completed.

“…I’m sorry, Ena. For deceiving you, even a little.”

After confirming that Nevan was securely restrained, Zena turned toward us and bowed deeply.

Even though it had been necessary to deceive Nevan and complete her assigned mission, she had still taken hostile action against Ena, who had worked alongside her as Lilia’s caretaker and could practically be called her friend—it must have been painful for her as well.

“You deceived and betrayed me, the Commander, Lilia-sama, Noka, even Nevan—everyone, every single one of us… Zena, you’re definitely not going to die peacefully.”

“…Yeah. I know.”

“You know, I almost got sliced into little pieces and died because of you… So how exactly are you planning to make that up to me?”

“…………”

At that, Zena let her arms hang loosely at her sides in front of Ena, stood perfectly still, and closed her eyes.

Apparently, she was telling her to do whatever she wanted.

“Oh, so that’s how it is… Then plant your feet properly and grit your teeth.”

Understanding Zena’s intention, Ena lowered her stance and took two, then three deep breaths.

“One punch, and then they’re even… Yeah, yeah. Ah, youth.”

Karen-san watched them quietly and nodded with deep emotion—but Karen-san, that sounded extremely “old-lady-like.”

“What a pointless little performance. They should just settle it with money and get it over with—don’t you agree, boy?”

Henri-san, please stop throwing cold water on the moment. And don’t ask me to agree with you.

“Fuuuu… hn, raaaaah!!”

“Nguh—!!”

While I was busy dealing with the reactions of those two adults, the two younger girls were right in the middle of carving another page into their youth. Ena’s fist slammed full-force into Zena’s face—around the cheek—and sent her flying several meters away.

“…Ena, that hurt.”

“Obviously. I hit you seriously—here, can you stand?”

“…Mm.”

Zena grabbed Ena’s offered hand as though they were shaking hands and pulled herself upright.

Seeing their hands clasped tightly together, I thought the whole matter had finally been settled—but—

“—Hih… hihi… hihihihihihihihihihihihihi…!”

At the strange laughter, we turned around and saw the immobilized Nevan staring at all five of us with such an intense expression that her eyeballs looked ready to burst from beneath her now deeply wrinkled eyelids.

“What’s so funny, Nevan? Did using too much magic finally scramble your brain too?”

“Hih… I just can’t stop laughing because you idiots are so convinced you’ve completely won…”

A complete victory—given the situation, that should have been obvious. Her forces were exhausted, she herself was completely unable to move, and all that remained was to wait until she was handed over. Nevan herself should not have been stupid enough to fail to understand that.

“Zena… you were perfect. I completely fell for your words and actions. I even did something as stupid as recognizing you as a new member of the Empire and giving you an insignia—but you made exactly one mistake at the very end. You said it because you thought you’d completely captured me…”

Nevan glared at Zena, and her lips twisted with a wet, grotesque sound.

“You said it, didn’t you!? Zena, you told me where Lilia iiiiiiiis~~~~!!”

In that instant, Nevan opened her mouth so wide it looked as though her jaw might dislocate, and something resembling white mist leaked out.

Eventually, it became a faintly glowing sphere high in the air before dispersing somewhere into the distance.

And then—

“C-Commander! Nevan, something’s wrong with Nevan—”

While I tilted my head at the bizarre phenomenon that accompanied what sounded like her final death cry, Ena, who had been examining Nevan’s body, called out in confusion.

“She’s dead! And her body’s shriveled up like a mummy…”

When I looked toward Nevan—or rather, what had once been Nevan—Ena was right. There was no need to check further. All the moisture had drained from her body, leaving her completely dead and desiccated.

Had she killed herself because she refused to be handed over to the Royal Capital? No, that seemed far too uncharacteristically decisive for her.

“—She escaped. Probably… only her soul.”

“? What do you mean, Henri-san?”

“That woman Nevan was particularly skilled in necromancy. If she manipulated corpses by using her own magic and life force as a simulated soul, then perhaps the reverse was also possible—”

“—Even her own soul wouldn’t be an exception?”

“It’s possible. Converting your own soul into magic and transferring it somewhere else—whether something that inhuman is truly possible, I can’t say.”

Which meant the white sphere from earlier had been Nevan’s own soul converted into magical power…

Then where had that soul gone—and what had she meant by those final words?

At that moment, the worst possible scenario flashed through my mind.

Karen-san seemed to have reached the same conclusion after seeing my expression—

“—Haru, it seems the real battle is only beginning now.”

Realizing what Nevan’s final gamble had been, all five of us raced toward a certain place at full speed.

Of course, there was no guarantee that her scheme would succeed. It might fail completely, leaving her truly dead.

But if it did succeed—we would not be able to avoid the worst possible outcome.

And our opponent was the Empire, a nation that would apparently stop at nothing in pursuit of strength—there was no telling what kind of forbidden method they might employ.

“—This is the place, right, Zena!?”

“Mm… I carried the princess back to her own room myself, so there’s no mistake.”

We were heading toward the shrine where the Republic’s female warriors gathered, the same place containing Lilia’s room and the commander’s room I normally used.

It was where we had first fought Ena and Lilia—if possible, I would have preferred to avoid any more fighting there, but—

“Commander-sama! Ena-neesama!”

Just as we were about to rush straight toward Lilia, Noka came running out from the entrance of the shrine instead.

“…Noka, are you all right?”

“Z-Zena… neesama too?”

“It’s okay, Noka. She’s definitely on our side, so don’t worry. More importantly, why are you here?”

“Ah, yes. The slaves started rampaging, so I was going to bring weapons and healing potions from the storeroom to support everyone who went to suppress them… but then I felt like something inside was strange, and I got scared… and then all of you arrived.”

Looking inside from just outside the entrance, nothing in particular seemed unusual.

But now, even that silence felt ominous.

“Haru, let’s bring that girl with us for now. Under these circumstances, she’ll be much safer with us than alone.”

“Hahi…!? C-could that gallant figure possibly belong to Queen Karen-sama!?”

“Queen… sama? Um, what exactly does that mean?”

“A-ah, ummm, I apologize for introducing myself so late! My name is Noka, and I serve as a warrior in this country alongside Ena-neesama and Zena-neesama… and, um, when I say Queen-sama, I just call you that on my own out of admiration and respect… awawawawawa…”

“Explanations later, Noka. Everyone, let’s hurry to Lilia’s room first.”

Leaving the flustered Noka, overwhelmed by suddenly encountering the person she admired, in Ena and Zena’s care, Karen-san, Henri-san, and I went ahead toward the stairs leading underground.

We violently kicked open the heavy stone door and burst into the arena, where what we saw was…

“—What is all this commotion about?”

“Lilia… sama?”

“What is it, Zena? Why are you making such a surprised face? What a strange girl.”

Standing in the center of the arena with her battle-axe in hand was Lilia herself.

The way she effortlessly wielded that heavy axe with one arm—it was unmistakably the same Lilia I had fought when we first met.

“Lilia-sama, your body… Are you feeling all right? You’re not sick or feeling strange anywhere?”

“Hmph… Ena, who do you think I am? A little fatigue is nothing that a short sleep cannot fix, as you can plainly see.”

There was nothing unnatural about the way she responded to either of their questions.

If so, then Nevan’s scheme had failed, and all our worrying had been unnecessary—

But one girl, partially hidden behind the others, seemed to have reached a conclusion different from ours—one close to certainty.

“Um, Lilia… chan? Are you… really Lilia-chan?”

“…What is it, Noka? Why are you making such a strange face? Is there something on my face?”

“N-no, not really… That’s not what I mean.”

Steeling herself, Noka—who had once been Lilia’s closest friend—continued.

“—Who exactly are you?”

“—!??”

The atmosphere around us tightened instantly at her words, and Karen-san and the other three immediately became fully alert.

“…What nonsense are you saying, Noka? I am myself. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“See, you called me ‘Noka’ again. Why do you keep calling me that?”

“…Because you are Noka, aren’t you? What is wrong with calling Noka by her name?”

Noka shook her head and answered.

“Because—the Lilia-chan I know doesn’t even know my name. When we were little, I was crying because the other girls were bullying me, and just because of that, she said, ‘You keep chirping and crying, so you’re 【Chirpy】’… She never asked my name, and I never once introduced myself either.”

The “Lilia” standing here knew everything. She knew about Ena and Zena, and even about me, who had come from the Royal Capital, and Karen-san, with whom she had once fought fist-to-fist.

Those were all things she could have learned by investigating or witnessed with her own eyes.

But the current “Lilia” did not know one thing—the fact that the real “Lilia” we knew had never known Noka’s actual name at all.

“…Aww, come on. I was planning to wait until all of you let your guards down, then cut the whole lot of you in half at once… but you figured it out that easily.”

Lilia clicked her tongue crudely—or rather, Nevan, who had taken residence inside her body, twisted her face into something hideous.

“Fine, then I’ll show you! The true power of the newly reborn Lady Nevan, who stole the body of the Republic’s princess and came back to life!!!”