Chapter 18

Fighting a vast army all by yourself might certainly be romantic.

However, looking at it realistically, having comrades is undeniably more reassuring than being alone. Humans are, by nature, creatures that have lived in groups. Helping one another, farming, hunting, and compensating for what others lack—humanity exists today at the end of a long history of forging connections as allies, families, and neighbors.

What I’m trying to say is—in this world, the person who can do alone what ought to be done by a group is fated to draw the short straw.

Immediately waiting for me upon my return from the Imperial Matches was a two-man investigation of the caverns where the Orcs had lived. Usually, I’m paired with Senior Rock, but this time Calme, a junior, was selected so he could gain some experience.

Caves inhabited by monsters, not just Orcs, carry an extremely high risk of ambushes and traps. However, it had been several days since the Orc colony collapsed, and most of them had been wiped out over the last two days, so it was doubtful we’d even encounter an enemy.

“Sorry for making you draw the short straw, Calme. Activity inside a cave is usually done in a four-man cell at the minimum.”

“No, as long as I can protect your back, Senior, I don’t care where we go or how many of us there are.”

Calme smiled bravely, seemingly unbothered.

If this guy were a woman, I felt he’d undoubtedly be a “good woman.” But listen here, Calme: no matter how androgynous your face is or how much of a “good wife” aura you radiate, you’re a man.

In the hopes that he might become a bit more masculine, I decided to share a little story.

“You know, Calme… a long time ago, the Knight Order used to be strictly off-limits to women.”

“Eh? E-er, well, I knew that much. I still hear sometimes that treatment for female knights isn’t great even now…”

“But knights are usually young. While things are different now, a few decades ago, the Order was entirely male. The only ones who could manage anything resembling romance were those with fiancées. Young men would build up a lot of aimless frustration. And then… an incident occurred.”

“An i-incident…!!”

He swallowed hard, his face tense. Why does that expression make him look even more feminine?

“That incident was…!”

“That incident was…?!”

“…They started fooling around with each other.”

“Wh… ‘fooling around’ meaning—y-you mean dating?! Between men?!”

His face went through a kaleidoscope of red and pale; his eyes darted around and his hands flailed. The sight was like a bashful maiden; there wasn’t a shred of masculinity to be felt.

Though it sounded like a dirty joke, it was a fairly true story. It happens occasionally in other Orders, and abroad as well. Apparently, the culture of same-sex love has a deeper history than one might think.

“You can’t! Between men, that’s… that’s filthy!! Impure!! Unproductive!!”

I get it, so stop shaking your head “no” while covering your bright red face with your hands. Besides, why are you red? Just what kind of scenes are you imagining? Perhaps this junior is more of a closet pervert than I thought.

“Nowadays the ban has been lifted, and same-sex romance is prohibited within the Order. However, this is still a space full of men. It wouldn’t be strange for someone to open that forbidden door at any time; humans can’t stop once they’ve awakened to ‘love.’ And to people like that… how do you think someone lacking masculinity like you, Calme, would appear…?”

“Pyahhhhhhhhhh?! N-n-no, no, no, Senior!! It’s wrong for you and me to be like that!! It’s wrong… even if it’s wrong…!”

“—Hey! Why are you suddenly pairing me and you together?!”

How did he reach that forbidden conclusion? And why, while teary-eyed and blushing, is he subtly preparing to be “welcomed”? Why is he emphasizing those cherry-pink, moist lips? Come to think of it, between his skin’s luster and those lips, isn’t he more feminine than an actual woman? He’d probably win in a beauty contest against Akina from the Tool Squad.

“But… but if it’s Senior…!”

“Stop it!!! Don’t try to drag me into a dazzling world of same-sex love!!!”

“Eh?! O-oh, was I wrong?! Really?! Whew… since you started talking about that the moment we were alone, I thought for sure… ah, right. I’m relieved…”

His voice trailed off as he lowered his head, his face as red as an apple from shame. Seeing a sight like that actually makes me want to tease him more—is that just me? Having a sense of bashfulness isn’t a bad thing, but as a knight, he should be a bit more dignified.

“Listen, Calme… what I wanted to talk about was your daily conduct. You’re a bit too unmanly for a knight. If you don’t carry yourself with more confidence, you’ll be looked down upon when working with other knights, and it leaves an opening for people to take advantage of you.”

“Yes…”

“Even regarding that talk about same-sex romance—if your attitude stays like this, it wouldn’t be weird for you to fall into that kind of situation, you know? Not to be blunt, but you have a beautiful physique, like a woman’s.”

“Eh… r-really? Am I… beautiful?”

“…Why are you blushing at that?”

“I-I’m sorry!! M-my tendency to act all giddy like this is what’s wrong, isn’t it… Ugh, people have been telling me for ages that being a knight is impossible for me, but… I’ll try my best. I’ll do my best, so please don’t abandon meeee!!”

“O-oh. Well, as long as you understand.”

The scene looked not unlike a woman desperately clinging to a man who just suggested a breakup. He’s probably doing it unconsciously, but seriously, stop—it wouldn’t be a joke if someone saw us.

What are we doing during a mission? I haven’t neglected our surroundings, but we need to tighten up or it’ll get dangerous.

Then—as if speaking of the devil—I felt a faint presence in a small side-hole ahead.

I gave a hand signal behind me, and Calme immediately entered a combat stance. He might be like an adolescent girl sometimes, but while he’s no good with a sword, he’s extremely capable in his field of expertise. With this, the rear is secure. All that’s left is to confirm the enemy’s presence.

With a torch in one hand to light the darkness, I quietly drew my sword.

‘Now, what’s in there? The breathing is shallow, and no footsteps… in that case, it might not be an Orc, but a stray wild animal. We’ll see.’

In the case of Orcs, there was always a possibility they were holding their breath while lying in ambush. Whether it was due to their instincts as hunters or their wisdom in knowing how to build fires, they would set their traps at the very edge of where a torch’s light couldn’t reach.

Conversely, in such moments, an Orc would always take action once illuminated. They would either flee to avoid having their position discovered or abandon the ambush to launch a direct assault.

I set fire to the tip of a pinecone I had picked up outside and tossed it into the side-hole. The pinecone, which was relatively long and burned well, lit up the interior of the hole. Alongside pebbles and twigs, pinecones were the Knights’ loyal allies—the saviors of autumn that served as cost-free fuel. Though, seasonally speaking, it was nearly winter.

Startled by the light, the source of the presence leaped out from the hole.

“Pikiiiiii!?”

“This one’s an Orc child, huh.”

What emerged was a small Orc, not even a meter tall. Its body was quite thin, lacking the sturdiness typical of Orcs. Its facial features still looked infantile. I gathered that because it was weaker than the other young Orcs, it hadn’t been able to secure enough food. Such things were common in the parenting habits of the natural world, though I thought it rare for that to actually turn into a stroke of luck.

However, its fate had just run out.

With a whoosh that cut through the air, an arrow pierced the crown of the Orc’s head.

“Gugi… gi…?”

The young Orc’s eyes flew open in shock, and it slowly slumped forward while twitching and convulsing. It was an instant death from brain destruction. Moreover, since the arrow had struck cleanly without piercing through the skull, there was very little bleeding. Considering the cleanup, it was an ideal kill—not to mention a perfect shot aimed at a moving Orc.

“Impressive.”

“This level of skill is child’s play compared to piercing the eye of a wild boar,” Calme muttered, still holding his crossbow in a firing stance with words as calm as if he were a different person.

Apparently, Calme had gone hunting often with his father since he was a child, and his skill with a bow boasted a divinely accurate precision… however.

“I’d appreciate it if your accuracy stayed that high when I’m not standing right next to you.”

“Hauu… I-I’m sorry.”

Hauu? What are you, a maiden? Is your heart a girl’s even if your body is a man’s?

Perhaps because he had honed his craft solely out of a desire to be praised by his father, he couldn’t manifest his focus unless someone he wanted praise from was nearby. That was his greatest flaw. Incidentally, it seemed the only people in the current Knight Order he wanted praise from were me or Vice Commander Rony.

Supposedly, if he were given a bow without a specific person present, his arrows would wobble with nervousness like a sea scorpion and fly off in a completely different direction. He was a talent with a truly “peaky” temperament.

“Well, whatever. It’ll be a pain if blood spills, so let’s bag it right here.”

“Y-Yes! I’ll prepare it immediately!”

By tossing the corpse into a waterproof double-layered bag, we prevented the toxic blood from seeping into the ground. The Orc corpse in the bag would be collected later and transported on a stretcher. Keeping the environment unpolluted was also a fine part of our duties.

While bagging it, the head rolled, and its murky eyes met Calme’s. He frowned slightly at the sight, but he slowly lowered his gaze and finished bagging it.

“Senior.”

“What is it?”

“Do we really have the right to kill Orcs…?”

At those words, my hands stopped as well. Monsters were living things, too. As long as they existed in this world, they would naturally try to survive. It was likely the humans who thought of dominating them who were originally in the wrong.

We humans were “special,” and non-human races like Orcs, who couldn’t be reasoned with, were “enemies.” In the religions of neighboring countries, including the Kingdom’s Holy Church, that was sometimes what was taught. However, Calme was likely agonizing over whether it was right to place values on life in the first place.

“Even an Orc child struggled desperately to live this long, yet I shot it down the moment I saw it. But looking at this Orc’s remains, I feel like I’ve become a heartless being…”

“You aren’t right.”

“…I figured you’d think so too, Senio—”

“But you aren’t wrong, either.”

I cut off Calme’s weak-spirited words and stated it firmly.

“Don’t forget, Calme. We are knights, the Royal Foreign Hazardous Species Countermeasures Knights. Our job is to protect the territory of the Kingdom by repelling hazardous foreign species that cause casualties and ravage the land. If our half-baked work results in harm to powerless commoners, I could never apologize enough to those people.”

“Senior…”

“We are knights who raised our swords for the sake of the people who would be in trouble without us. Don’t forget who your blade is for, okay?”

“You’re right. If I don’t do it, someone else just gets hurt… Alright!!”

Slap! Calme smacked his own cheeks with both hands, and from then on, he carried out the mission more gallantly than usual. It seemed my clumsy encouragement had reached his heart. He was a handful of a junior, but I suppose being a senior meant having to be serious for the sake of such juniors. I looked forward to the growth of this man, who would likely become a squad leader one day.

By the way, there was one thing on my mind.

‘Calme never joins the others for a wash or the large bath, and he absolutely never strips in front of people… Wait, he is a guy, right? …He really is a guy? Huh? Am I making a fundamental misunderstanding here…?’

I had no way of knowing at the time that this mystery would linger far longer than I imagined.