Chapter 19

Postponing results and demanding them too hungrily both carry equal amounts of risk.

If you procrastinate, the deadline will sneak up on you before you know it, exposing the blunder of your failure.

On the other hand, if you try to rush through out of impatience, flaws will inevitably appear somewhere.

Moreover, it’s precisely these kinds of actions—the ones requiring delicate judgment—that others love to nitpick and criticize after the fact.

I remember it well from my days at the academy, back when the instructors used to work us to the bone.

One of the chores foisted upon the cadets was bringing out and putting away the wooden swords used for swordsmanship training, and that day, it was my turn.

Even if it was only for twenty people, a crate packed with twenty wooden swords was quite heavy; the task itself was basically a form of knightly training. By the way, the time allotted for transport was, according to the curriculum, incredibly tight—it was a system designed to almost guarantee you’d be late and get yelled at by the instructor.

So, if you were to ask if being scolded there was the highlight of the memory, the answer would be no.

Despite the instructor’s certain expectation that I would be late, I actually made it on time.

For my younger self, who had nothing but an excess of physical stamina, it wasn’t a difficult feat.

However, the instructor’s face turned bright red with rage at this.

From my perspective, I wondered why I had to be yelled at, but there really are adults in this world who feel a senseless anger when things don’t go exactly as they predicted. And having likely searched high and low for a target for that anger, the instructor screamed at me with a terrifying look on his face, spraying spit everywhere.

“I told you we were doing training with swords and shields today!! Where is your shield, you bastard!!”

“Eeeehh!?”

Of course, there was no such plan. It was a bold-faced lie that would be exposed immediately.

I was learning how to use a shield, but to begin with, shield techniques were taught by a completely different instructor. I remember being stunned, not understanding what was happening, back when I still possessed a shred of innocence.

Incidentally, my friction with that instructor lasted for about two months, becoming quite a varied set of memories.

I don’t know where he is or what he’s doing now, but rumor has it he retired to the countryside.

The cause was… probably that, I’d bet.

“What’s wrong, Varna-boy?”

“Nn… No, I was just thinking how it’s a saving grace that the bosses of this knight order demand the impossible, but they don’t demand the nonsensical.”

As I was lost in thought while snacking on nut cookies in the dining hall, Tamae-san, who seemed to have gone on break, was right in front of me.

When I bowed and said, “Good work,” she waved her hand dismissively as if telling me not to worry about it.

By the way, it’s not like something terrible would happen if I didn’t show my gratitude.

It’s just that the cooking squad’s impression of me would worsen, their service would become sloppy, and once it became common knowledge that I was being treated poorly, my overall treatment would decline. In this world where a bad reputation leads to losses, words of thanks are important. Though there are times when you get yelled at whether you thank someone or not.

That aside, Tamae-san humored my trip down memory lane.

“Well, there aren’t many decent folks among bosses who demand nonsensical things. And that brand of good-for-nothing usually believes that what they’re saying is absolutely right. Even so, if it were a bureaucratic desk job, you might be able to maintain some level of control over subordinates, but that’s impossible in this knight order.”

Saying that, Tamae-san wore a gentle smile.

This atmosphere that the order draped itself in—where being energetic was the only saving grace—surely Tamae-san found it comfortable.

Since she had quit being a court chef to settle down here, there was no doubt about that.

“This is a knight order where both the budget and the work are at their absolute limit. If the leader were arrogant and overbearing, the whole group would turn into a bunch of total deadbeats from top to bottom. In that sense, Luger manages this order quite well.”

“…Now that you mention it, that might be true. Everyone in our order has too many quirks; those stiff-necked privileged types wouldn’t be able to hold the reigns.”

“That’s exactly right!”

The senior who drinks alcohol during work, the senior who sleeps during work, the senior who leeches off his juniors… there was no end to the list of rampaging personalities. They were called by various derogatory names like “Problem Children Adults” or “Grown-up Kids.” This order had even been given the humiliating nickname “The Kindergarten Knights” in some circles… To find the individuality and merit in such people and give them treatment just barely enough to keep their dissatisfaction from exploding was something no ordinary HR person could handle.

In that sense, the man known as Commander Luger was a man of greatness.

“Though personally, I don’t like that bearded man as a human being.”

“I don’t like him either. He’s always plotting something, makes rather reckless demands, and occasionally drags me into them.”

That was something I wouldn’t forget—at the end of last year.

Suddenly, Commander Luger said to me while I was lounging around at headquarters, “Want to go on a little day trip?” By that point, I was well aware of how fishy the Commander could be, but when he told me it was a reward for winning the Imperial Matches, it didn’t feel too bad. I have to say, my past self who followed along like a lost puppy was quite thoughtless.

Well, strictly speaking, it’s not like I didn’t have a good time.

The destination was a famous summer resort; the food was delicious and the scenery was beautiful, making it a fresh experience for someone like me who was constantly buried in work.

However, after we did a round of sightseeing, the Commander suddenly said, “I’ll buy you some formal wear.”

In hindsight, I have to say it was a highly suspicious proposal.

However, not yet fully accustomed to doubting people, I nodded readily to the suggestion.

At the time, I did technically own formal wear, but it was a super cheap item I had “borrowed” from my father when I entered the military academy. Since being a knight meant that formal dress was essentially armor, there were precious few opportunities to wear it, but I did still have a desire for a fine set of clothes.

The Commander and I headed to a clothing store for the town’s privileged class, and we picked out formal wear with the vibe of friends shopping together, saying things like “This is cool” or “This looks good on you.” The amazing thing about the Commander is that despite being a middle-aged guy over fifty, he’s incredibly easygoing. Of course, he shows his dignity as a commander when he needs to tighten things up, but it’s become a classic routine for him to show that dignity and then say, “Ah—man, making a serious face is exhausting. I’m done,” making everyone around him faceplant.

And then, just as the coordination was perfectly set—as they say, “fine feathers make fine birds”, the Commander suddenly said this with a grin.

“Well then, shall we head to the real job?”

“Huh? …Wait, wasn’t this a vacation?”

“There are no holidays in our knight order! There is only working time when there is work, and working time when there isn’t!!”

“The business structure is way too twisted!!”

Yes, it had all been a ploy by that bearded old man.

If it were possible, I’d travel back in time right now and deliver a solid kick to the back of my past self’s head for being so easily deceived.

“So, what did he make you do?”

“Apparently, there’s a merchant who has a monopoly on the weapons and equipment market. I was forced to tag along as ‘support’ for a business meeting with a different merchant who was trying to wholesale equipment cheaper than that guy.”

“Hah? Why on earth did you need to be part of a conversation like that, Varna-boy?”

“The merchant was a woman. Moreover, according to the Commander’s advance scouting, she apparently loved young men. While I was standing behind them acting as a guard, I was pelted with an intense, passionate gaze.”

She was around thirty, a beauty with a powerful feminine allure. Furthermore, on the way out, the Commander—who had stepped out first—closed the door and left us alone, and she came onto me incredibly hard.

I eventually managed to convince her that I couldn’t be her husband, but when I came out with my face covered in lipstick marks only for the Commander to burst out laughing and ask, “Did you have fun? You had fun, didn’t you?”, I finally snapped and kicked him right in the crotch. He let out a pathetic scream like the death throes of a mouse and writhed in agony. Serves him right.

“That really is pathetic.”

“I made him treat me to an expensive steak for dinner and made him cry one more time. Apparently, including the formal wear, it all came out of his own pocket.”

“Good. That bearded old man is the one who’d be most troubled by making Varna-boy angry. We’re being used left and right by him, after all. On the flip side, when you can use him, use him for all he’s worth.”

“Yes, I intend to do so quite proactively.”

Just then, I felt a presence behind me and turned around.

There stood my cute juniors, Calme and Caliban, staring at us with pale faces.

“Senior is having such a scary conversation…!”

“Senior, are you planning to walk the path of darkness…!?”

“I’m not. Don’t just go dropping people into the dark side on your own!”

“B-But! The other seniors said that… that Senior Varna joined the knight order to take revenge for his older sister who was killed by a noble…!”

“I don’t have a sister! I’m an only child! I was just a bratty kid with a reputation in the neighborhood!”

“A-And they said you swore revenge after your precious person and hometown were destroyed by Orcs…”

“They weren’t destroyed!! My hometown is relatively close to the Royal Capital, and an Orc hasn’t appeared there even once!! My whole clan, family, and the neighbors are all perfectly fine!! I mean, the moment your stories contradicted each other, you should have realized you were being tricked!!”

At my remark, the two of them let out a “Ha!” as if they had only just realized it. What a pair of idiots.

For some reason, I felt like Tamae-san let out a sigh of relief behind me, but it was probably just my imagination.

“Seriously, what kind of tragic heroes from a young adult novel are we supposed to be? Those seniors must have way too much time on their hands to be loading me up with all these random backstories…”

“No, but it’s your fault too, senior. If you go around hunting Orc heads with such terrifying intensity, people are bound to misunderstand a thing or two.”

“If you take their heads, they definitely die, right? What’s wrong with that?”

“Eeeh…”

Caliban backed away. Why?!

“Look, Calme does the same thing, piercing them through the skull with an arrow. It’s no different.”

“Eeeeeeh…”

Caliban backed away from Calme, too. Calme’s eyes started to tear up. Why?!

“Actually, Caliban, you occasionally use your Familiar’s bird to gouge out an Orc’s eyeballs. From my perspective, that’s several times more gruesome.”

“Hieeee…”

This time, Calme backed away from Caliban. A mysterious triangle of rejection was complete.

“…Youngsters these days are all so violent.”

Tamae-san sighed as she munched on a cookie, but no one there could deny it. It seemed that, before I knew it, the youths were also transforming into fine Orc-killing machines.

The next day, it was confirmed that the week-long Orc subjugation was complete, having totally eradicated them, including the strays. The residents shed tears of gratitude toward us knights as they returned to the lives that had been stolen by the Orcs.

As I was swayed by the motion of the motive carriage returning to the Royal Capital after finishing the job, I fell into thought.

The possibility of Orcs settling in that mountain again wasn’t zero.

But, as long as there were no sighting reports in the surrounding areas, the chance of them coming was low.

Our Orc subjugation was merely a symptomatic treatment—in other words, nothing more than makeshift extermination.

Even now, the Orcs breeding within the country were running wild across the island, causing damage in various places and threatening the lives of the people. The reality was that the Royal Foreign Hazardous Species Countermeasures Knights were the only fighting force capable of opposing them.

I’d heard that overseas, they adopted a guild system to recruit civilian volunteers for widespread monster subjugation, but throwing civilians against Orcs—creatures that lacked certainty unless hunted in groups—was pure madness. In fact, books from overseas spoke eloquently of just how many sacrifices were made in those kinds of demi-human subjugations.

So, how long would this game of cat-and-mouse continue?

“I wonder how Commander Luger sees the future going…”

A wily old fox of divine intellect and devilish schemes.

A man like the Commander wouldn’t be thinking that the status quo was acceptable.

Come to think of it, I was apparently due for a promotion to Vice Commander soon.

It would be a good opportunity to ask him about those things.

If there was a plan that couldn’t be accomplished in the Commander’s generation, I would have to take part in it and help lead the knight order.