The Female Knight Who Never Slacks Off When Searching For Her Nighttime “Side Dish” Is Too Cute

The knights’ nights ended very late.

During the day, we went out on missions and worked ourselves ragged, and by the time we returned to our workplace, the sun had usually already set. After that came paperwork such as reports, so by the time we got back to the knights’ barracks, it was almost always the middle of the night.

And at times like that, there was one place we knights found extremely useful.

“Hey, Haru! Your eyes look even more dead than usual today!”

It was the shop on the first floor of the knights’ barracks where unmarried knights lived.

The middle-aged woman working the late-night shift said that the moment she saw my face.

“Good evening, ma’am. Just remembering today’s work is enough to make me look like this.”

Today, I had been sent out to exterminate the massive outbreak of slimes that had recently appeared around the Royal Capital. The slimes themselves were extremely weak, but there were simply far too many of them. They hid everywhere, from the attics of private homes to the bottoms of wells, so even finding them had been a struggle.

And I had been made to do all of that alone. The Black Hawk didn’t have enough spare personnel to waste manpower on weak monsters. Karen-san hadn’t been with me this time either.

“Well then… It’s already late, so I’ll just grab something to eat and head back… Hm?”

As I casually tossed whatever leftovers were still available into my shopping basket for dinner, a certain figure suddenly flickered at the edge of my vision.

(—Karen-san?)

The person browsing products in front of the fresh-food section was Karen-san. We had each left for separate missions early that morning, so this was my first encounter with Karen-san today.

I immediately opened my mouth to call out to her, but then a certain thought crossed my mind.

—Maybe it would be nice to secretly watch her for a while.

Karen-san was unmarried, but since she had already become a member of management, regulations required her to move out of the knights’ barracks, and she now lived alone elsewhere.

There was also a dining hall in the barracks, so if we managed to finish work on time—which was practically impossible—dinner would be prepared for us. Karen-san, however, didn’t have that option.

I started wondering what kind of diet she lived on—and that made me want to observe her a little.

“Well, it’s pretty much what I expected… Sure enough, it’s mostly canned food.”

Karen-san’s basket was filled with large quantities of long-lasting canned goods, such as salted fish, along with alcohol.

She was single and constantly busy with work, so I understood why she rarely had the chance to eat proper meals, but nutritionally, it was a little worrying.

Karen-san herself probably realized how unbalanced her diet was, which was why she had come over here to try to eat at least some vegetables—

“Still, something seems off. She keeps checking her surroundings… and her face is bright red…”

The moment I noticed Karen-san’s suspicious behavior, I quickly hid behind a nearby display shelf.

I had a feeling something extremely interesting was about to happen.

“……”

While repeatedly checking her surroundings, Karen-san picked something up.

“Carrots, cucumbers, eggplants, and that one is… a daikon radish…?”

For some reason, everything she picked was thick, firm, and rod-shaped.

“! W-Wait, could it be, Karen-san—!!”

At that instant, sharp-witted as I was, I realized what was going on.

Let’s consider Karen-san’s age. That’s right, she was twenty-nine. A young wom—well, perhaps not quite that young anymore, but she certainly still gave off a youthful aura.

And such a woman was browsing through rod objects in the middle of the night.

There could only be one answer.

“Don’t tell me she’s even looking for that kind of nighttime ‘side dish’…!”

Thinking back on it, Karen-san had been working nonstop lately. She hadn’t had a single day off.

Naturally, stress would build up under those circumstances. It was understandable that she might be frustrated, and equally understandable that ordinary vegetables might make her think of 【THAT】.

I immediately wanted to go talk to Karen-san.

Captain, how distant of you. If you had just told me, I would gladly take on any role you wanted, whether butter, margarine, or anything else.

“…”

But I didn’t do that.

I decided to pretend I hadn’t seen anything today.

Karen-san wasn’t some flawless saint. Surely there were nights when she wanted to comfort herself. I was the same.

No one should interfere with another person’s lonely nights.

(Karen-san, good work today too. I didn’t see anything, so please relieve yourself however you like…)

Leaving Karen-san standing by the vegetable shelves behind me, I muttered that and left the shop, returning straight to my room.

—The next day.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! WAIT, HARUUUUUUUUU!!?! TODAY I’M GOING TO RIP EVERY LAST HAIR OF SHAMELESSNESS OUT OF YOUR HEART, NOT LEAVING A SINGLE ONE BEHIND~~~!!!”

After activating my escape skill and physical-enhancement magic, I fled from the demon-faced Karen-san like a startled rabbit.

There had been a simple wooden doll consisting only of a head and torso sitting on Karen-san’s desk that morning.

Apparently, attaching a letter saying, “I made this with great care, so please use it while imagining it’s me,” had been a mistake.

Lesson learned.

Incidentally, Karen-san apparently made a root-vegetable stew late that night, but when I asked why she had been blushing while choosing the ingredients, a sword slash flew at me instead of an answer, so I never found out.