Chapter 21

The busiest unit in our knight order is, in fact, the Engineering Squad.

The Engineering Squad must identify the best locations for traps and determine which types will be effective.

To do that, they have to understand the Orcs’ range of activity, their patrol routes, and the location of their nest.

To grasp those details, the Engineering Squad must first head out on reconnaissance.

In other words, they bear the incredibly heavy responsibility of meticulously surveying both the monsters and the terrain within a limited timeframe, then promptly reporting those results back to the order.

And their work doesn’t stop there.

When there aren’t enough traps and they have to improvise alternatives on-site, they must work on the handiwork alongside the Tool Creation Squad. Since some traps are manually triggered, they often accompany the combat units, and to top it all off, they are required to join the Recovery Squad when collecting equipment after use. It is a cycle of ultra-hard work.

Because of this, the strategy meeting cannot begin until the Engineering Squad returns from scouting.

Consequently, the other members inevitably find themselves with far too much time on their hands.

Having reached the peak of boredom, I was currently sitting on a bench near the Mayor’s house—where Senior Garmon and the Mayor were busy reminiscing—reading a book.

“Nonoka-san’s copy of ‘The Chronicles of Hunter-kun’s Struggles’… it’s actually pretty interesting. I guess there’s a reason she’s so obsessed with it.”

This story was apparently so popular on the continent that its total circulation had surpassed ten million copies, but the serialization had stalled for a long while because the original author was either recovering from illness or getting distracted by starting new series. The copy I held was Nonoka-san’s old one, aged enough that the pages were slightly discolored.

…Incidentally, when she handed it to me, she said: “If I lent this to Bevion-kun, I feel like it would come back covered in all sorts of strange stains, so showing it to him is a big No-No, okay?” I couldn’t help but feel a sense of endless darkness regarding Nonoka-san’s treatment of Bevion.

Digressions aside, the book followed the adventures of a hunter named Hunter-kun.

Every thought process of the protagonist, the clumsy Hunter-kun, was petty, cautious, and full of human weakness. Furthermore, despite his clumsiness, the meticulous strategies he used to take down his targets were written with incredible detail.

You could almost hear Hunter-kun’s breathing as he hid in the shade of the trees, waiting for an opening to strike.

It felt like I was watching my younger, amateur self, which put me in a pleasant mood.

Surprise attacks are the basics of combat, and this petty, over-cautious knight order was essentially a real-life collective of Hunter-kuns.

Now, one might think I could just wait until I returned to the motive carriage to read, but with my senior still busy, it would be awkward for a junior like me to just scurry off.

Senior Garmon probably wouldn’t mind, but I was waiting as a matter of etiquette.

Besides, I figured I’d ask him to give me a quick tour of the town. It wouldn’t hurt to find out about recommended souvenirs or local specialties while I had the chance.

‘Still, this really is a stone-producing region. Stone buildings are packed everywhere. It’s a sight you don’t see elsewhere.’

Looking away from the novel, my field of vision was filled with houses made of stone and plaster. Even the road paving was impressive. Compared to the architecture of the Royal Capital, these buildings made prominent use of naturally shaped stones, giving them a charm different from perfect symmetry.

Coniferous trees that looked like windbreaks were planted along the edge of the town.

It seemed they were gradually expanding the area where plants could grow through soil improvement.

The area looked small for all that effort, but perhaps soil improvement was just a task that took an immense amount of time.

As I was thinking about this, sharp footsteps rang out from the path.

When I looked up, there was a man holding a peculiar spear.

Since he was carrying a weapon, I assumed he was a member of the vigilante group.

Age-wise, he looked a few years older than me—maybe around twenty.

Wait, his face looks like someone I know… while I was studying his features, our eyes met.

In some lawless wasteland, meeting eyes might be the signal for a fight! But there was no such rule here. As a minimum courtesy, I closed my book, stood up, and offered a greeting.

“Hello. I’m with the knight order that arrived today.”

The man, who had walked right up to me, looked me up and down as if appraising my value. Eventually, he let out a condescending smirk.

“…Hmph. To think a spindly man reading a book like you could become a member of a knight order. The Pig-Hunt Knights must be a pretty soft bunch.”

Unfortunately, this “spindly man reading a book” happened to be the strongest in the National Knighthood.

However, if I were the type to get worked up over such trivial provocations, I wouldn’t last long in this order. Besides, his taunt was a low-class effort that fell far short of Chronicler Yagara’s explosive, irritation-inducing rants.

Still, despite calling me “soft” at a glance, this man’s body was quite well-trained.

Perhaps he was a strong individual, like an unsung hero. Better keep an eye on him.

“The knight order opens its doors even to commoners. Why not pass the entrance exam in one go and get paid for ‘soft’ work?”

“Are you an idiot? Are you even aware that I’m insulting you?”

“No, I figured it might just be the confidence of the strong. By the way, if you’re serious about taking the exam, I can pull some strings with our Commander to get you some support!”

“I see, I get it now. The idiot wasn’t you, it was your superior, the Knight Commander.”

“You’ve poked me where it hurts. It’s true, our Commander’s brain is a bit fried. He’ll probably be chased out of the order soon, so there’ll be an executive seat opening up—a perfect chance for a promotion! Isn’t that a great deal?”

“Are you that much of a positive thinker?! Show your Knight Commander some respect!!”

“Respect the Knight Commander…? Do you really think a knight can survive with such a ‘soft’ attitude?”

“Eh, what is this ‘survival of the fittest’ style?! Am I the crazy one here?!”

This was standard operating procedure within our knight order. I wasn’t sure how things worked on the outside, though.

“Aaaaagh, damn it! What is with this knight?! I mean, a knight is supposed to be more… like…! Ugh, this isn’t how I imagined this going…!”

It seemed my scouting attempt was a failure. A shame.

However, at this point, I identified the reason his face looked familiar.

“You… now that I look at you, you look a lot like Senior Garmon. No, wait, come to think of it, earlier…”

In the middle of the conversation between the Mayor and the senior, I was certain there had been mention of the senior having a younger brother.

“Tch, so you noticed. That’s right! I’m that shitty big brother’s sibling, the great Nagi-sama!!”

“Which ‘great’ one?”

“Eh? No, I mean, didn’t you hear about me from my brother?”

“No, not at all. I just learned your name now, and I only found out he even had a brother a moment ago.”

“Wha… Whaaaaaat—!?”

The younger brother was struck with shock all on his own, but I truly had never heard that he had a sibling.

I only heard it for the first time earlier when the Mayor was talking to him and said something like, “Is your brother doing well?” The other seniors might have heard of him, but I wouldn’t know without confirming it.

“W-Why, Brother…! I’m your flesh and blood…!?”

Perhaps it was deeply mortifying that his existence wasn’t recognized through Senior Garmon, as Nagi collapsed to his knees. After seeing that punk-like provocation, the possibility wasn’t zero that he was considered a family embarrassment, but it would be best to hear the truth from the man himself.

In the end, Nagi shouted, “Don’t think you’ve won with this!! Remember this—!!” as he ran off, leaving the scene.

Immediately after, Senior Garmon stepped out of the house and muttered, “I feel like I just heard my brother’s voice for some reason…” but come to think of it, what had he actually come here for in the end?

As soon as Senior Garmon learned his brother had been there, he hurried off.

Left high and dry, I had no choice but to buy something called “Falafel”—bean croquettes—at a nearby stall and snacked on them as I headed back to the motive carriage.

Passing the dining hall on the way, I spotted the perpetually drunken Senior Rock looking cheerful as he carried a crate of what looked like high-proof liquor. It seemed he had stocked up at a local tavern again.

However, this was a good opportunity.

Senior Rock, who was surprisingly one of the best-informed people in the order, might know something about Senior Garmon and his brother. Since the topic of the brother could potentially be a landmine, I decided to feel him out.

“…So, that’s the deal. Do you know anything about Senior Garmon’s brother?”

“Ah, I’ve heard mention of him. Only maybe two or three times, though.”

If the elder Senior Rock had only heard it a few times, it was as good as never being spoken of. At the same time, it never ceased to amaze me how his memory remained above average despite being a drunkard.

As Senior Rock began his drinking session in the dining hall, I provided the falafel as a snack while gathering information. Popping a crispy falafel into his mouth to enjoy the texture of the batter, the senior washed it down with tequila before digging through his memories.

“Yeah, it slipped out once during a family discussion or something. He said something about the kid having talent but lacking effort, but everyone else was getting too rowdy, so I was the only one listening♪”

“By the way, how much had you had to drink then, Senior?”

“Just a step before being tipsy, I’d say. That guy has a high tolerance, you know. I don’t know what’s bothering you, Varna-kun, but it didn’t seem like they were on bad terms. I think he just didn’t have a reason to bring it up?”

That meant if I asked the senior about it the next time we met, he’d likely tell me.

“Still, to think that serious Garmon-kun’s little brother is a delinquent warrior from Gretel. He was the type who could do both practical skills and studies, so maybe it’s a case of an underachieving brother rebelling against his great older brother? Isn’t that a common story?”

“I wonder. The younger brother’s body was quite well-trained; it’s not a given that he’s inferior.”

The reason I had made that scout-like offer was because he really did seem capable.

There was no waste in his footwork, and at the very least, he looked strong enough that he might win a physical contest against the younger members of the Skirmish Squad. Senior Rock, who hadn’t actually seen him, gave a half-hearted “Heh” and took a sip of booze before opening his mouth again.

“As an old-timer, I’m more curious about the part where he provoked you, Varna-kun, and then said ‘this isn’t how it’s supposed to go.’ If he’s a member of the vigilante group, it wouldn’t be strange for him to harbor a misplaced sense of rivalry toward the knight order that showed up late, would it?”

“Well, most vigilante groups don’t think highly of knights, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he picked a fight… but wouldn’t the town be the one in trouble if he did that?”

If they interfered with the knight order and delayed the Orc subjugation, the ones most troubled would be the local residents whose damages would increase.

Even a vigilante group made of locals should be able to understand that with a little thought.

Even if they had pride in protecting the town, they had asked the knight order for help because it was impossible with their own strength.

At my reasonable doubt, Senior Rock spread his arms wide and laughed grandly.

“As expected of the future Vice Commander—how brilliant! …However, it is the way of the world that the common folk aren’t always so brilliant. Cases where the vigilante group and the municipal representatives are split while asking the knight order for help weren’t rare, especially back in the day♪”

“Specifically?”

“The fool in a story I heard back when I was a rookie… after interfering with activities to prioritize his pride, he got caught in an Orc trap and couldn’t move! He was discovered by the Orcs before his fellow humans, and the next day he was found as pig feed♪”

“Ugh, that’s the worst…!”

It’s a well-known fact that Orcs kill humans, but in rare cases, they actually eat the humans they’ve killed.

Nowadays, the entire populace knows the danger of Orcs, so human casualties are few, but apparently, there used to be people who would carelessly provoke them. A human corpse gnawed on by an Orc is a sight so horrific that a normal person would vomit up their breakfast from the morning before last. I only know of it from the records of the time, but I absolutely never want to die the way those texts described.

“Incidentally, the claim of the surviving vigilante members afterward was: ‘Our comrade got caught in a trap you outsiders set without permission! You jinxes, get out!!’ …If you get bored later, go dig through the archives for the rest of the story♪”

“No thanks. Good grief, half-baked people who can’t even identify who they should be protecting shouldn’t be carrying weapons…”

As a knight, I cursed under my breath and bit into a falafel.

The responsibility that comes with power is far more important than pride, especially for the Royal Foreign Hazardous Species Countermeasures Knights.

If you have to bow your head and follow someone to save people, then you bow.

Real pride resides in the things you must protect even if you have to lower your head.

It must be an action dedicated to others, not for oneself.

However, as a human, I felt conflicted about that curse.

They had no choice but to fight because the knights didn’t arrive in time, yet once the knights arrived, they were treated as outcasts.

They were the ones who had protected this place until now, yet all the glory was snatched away by the knights.

If that’s the case, where does the pride of those who have risked their lives to protect this land go—?

‘Later, maybe I’ll try to look for that Nagi person.’

It was fine to be an Orc-killing machine, but I didn’t think separating human emotions from that task was the right answer.

I secretly resolved to put in some “unpaid overtime” that wasn’t part of the mission details.