Chapter 59

Following my encounter with Pro—the wolf rookie with higher expectations pinned on him than most humans—the scouting party returned from the mountain. At the same time, a large iron cage was hauled into the Purification Yard.

As the knights who delivered it headed toward the breakroom, panting from exhaustion, Senior Senega and several others gathered around the enclosure.

It was a formidable iron cage, about a meter and a half tall and nearly two meters deep.

It was clearly designed to capture large beasts, yet the section serving as the entrance was mangled and warped. A sturdy iron cage meant for predators should naturally be strong enough to withstand any wild animal’s thrashing; the fact that this was bent suggested it had been subjected to unbelievable, raw power.

“Nonoka-san. Sorry to jump straight into it, but we found something concerning stuck to the cage we set on the mountain. Could you take a look?”

“Whoa, that’s a huge cage… It’s got quite the stylish dent in it. Is this some kind of avant-garde design?”

“There’s a high probability of that, but I’ve brought a local hunter along to explain, so let’s check with him.”

I had a feeling the chances of a unnaturally twisted cage being “avant-garde” were effectively zero, but Senior Senega decided to double down on Nonoka-san’s joke before passing the baton to the local hunter. To my surprise, the hunter she’d brought along was a boy barely ten years old—and he handled the remark with a carefree smile.

“It’s definitely been trashed! These are high-end items that cost 300,000 Stele a pop, but this one got wrecked good!”

“…Wait, you’re a hunter? You’re awfully young.”

“Name’s Busse, a trap-hunting specialist! I’m the youngest hunter in the village!”

The energetic Busse had the bright, round eyes typical of a child.

Wrapped in a fluffy coat clearly made for frigid climates, a pair of goggles hung around his neck. They were likely for protecting the eyes in the snow, but their oddly archaic design made them look mismatched on someone so young.

“It’s an honor for a greenhorn like me to be of use to the Knights!!”

“The smile! It’s too bright! That pure, untainted smile is too radiant to look at directly!!”

“Guh, a formidable opponent…! To think that I, Senega, would misread the enemy so badly…!!”

Flash! Bathed in the 100% pure, heartfelt sparkle of Busse’s gaze, I found myself writhing in agony. Even Senior Senega, standing behind me, couldn’t shrug it off and let out a groan of distress.

Our stained knightly pride was having a rejection involving his purity. It was a painful gaze in the sense that it made us acutely aware of the many burdens we’d taken on while hunting orcs. Caliban, who apparently didn’t feel any sense of guilt, just watched us with a look of exasperation.

“What are you two doing using such serious tones for this…?”

“You can stand there unfazed by that smile…!? Dammit, only a year of service separates our careers, so what exactly is the difference between us!?”

“What is it? …Maybe just human decency?”

“Gah!?”

Since I felt like I’d sacrificed a good portion of my human decency to the cause of orc hunting, I couldn’t argue.

Meanwhile, Captain Akina, who had come along, was completely ignoring the conversation to inspect the cage.

“Hmm, this is a nice cage made in the mining town of Industall. The lid’s warped and stuck tight… Oh, there’s something caught in the gap. Hair? It’s white.”

“Really? Let me see… You’re right! Time for sample collection, sample collection. There’s a bit of skin stuck to it too. It looks like the skin got pinched when the lid dropped.”

“Ah, don’t touch it carelessly! It’s been out on a sub-zero mountain, so if you use your bare hands, the skin on your fingers will—”

“Whoa, it’s stuck! It won’t come off!?”

“See! I told you so!!”

Captain Akina, whose curiosity had outpaced her common sense, now had her fingers perfectly frozen to the cage. This is why problem children who don’t listen are such a pain. To make matters worse, as she panicked and tried to rip them off, Busse rushed over and desperately tried to stop her, shouting, “If you rush, you’ll peel your skin off! Just stay calm!”

Unlike the situation with Nonoka-san, this was a perfect picture of an adult being looked after by an actual child.

“Stay calm! It’s just the water melted by your body heat freezing over again. Just go slow…”

“O-Oh…!?”

Busse squeezed Akina’s rough hand with his small ones and began to blow warm breath into the gap between the cage and her fingers, slowly prying the connection apart. The sight of the boy devotedly helping the boisterous woman was like Beauty and the Beast… or rather, Boy and the Beast. The “Beast” part was non-negotiable.

“There, it’s off. Next time, please use gloves before touching metal in the cold, okay?”

“I-I get it. More importantly, that…”

“?”

As Busse tilted his head, even the likes of Captain Akina showed a maiden-like reaction. Usually, she was a captain who used violence on her colleagues, laughed loudly while fantasizing about making money, and spent days and nights making tools without even bathing once a mission started—yet her frozen heart was being thawed little by little by a boy’s kindness… I had a premonition of a moving masterpiece that would make the entire kingdom weep.

“…It tickles, so let go of my hand already, you brat!!”

“Hyah!? S-Sorry!!”

The moving masterpiece appeared to have been trampled by the screenwriter’s sudden outburst. Damn you, Goddess of Fate.

To shout at someone who helped you after you ignored their warning—where in the world had Captain Akina left her sense of shame? I was clearly wrong to think she might have a feminine reaction; the Captain pushed Busse away with a rough movement, her face turning even redder with anger.

Busse, who had been yelled at despite helping her, looked like he had no idea what was going on. No matter how you looked at it, the Captain was in the wrong, and I could feel nothing but sympathy for him.

To be this immature even against a child… she really was a piece of work. I knew she was a bit of a scumbag at heart, but this was too much to let slide in silence.

“Captain, isn’t that a bit harsh to say to someone who just helped you?”

“…Eh? I-I could have done that myself even without help!!”

“Ah… I-I’m sorry. I was in the way, wasn’t I…”

“…Hmph! I’m not thanking someone for doing something I didn’t ask for! That’s what happens when brats come hanging around the Knight Order!! I’m going back!!”

Turning her head away with a huff, Captain Akina stormed out of the room, acting like a child herself. It was painful to watch poor Busse-kun shrink back with teary eyes, looking utterly apologetic.

Still, to get that angry just because a child helped her—I wondered if he’d accidentally stepped on some kind of landmine. I instinctively traded glances with Nonoka-san and tilted my head.

“Hmm. I’ve always thought of her as childish, violent, crude, and lacking any feminine charm, but that attitude toward a kid was a bit much. Maybe she was just hungry?”

“True. But even if Akina-chan is quick to violence, lacks any maternal instinct, has a foul mouth, and possesses zero sex appeal, it feels rare for her to get that worked up. Maybe she just woke up on the wrong side of the bed?”

“Don’t you two think you’re being a bit too harsh just because she isn’t here…?”

“It’s the truth.”

“It is the truth, after all.”

“Geez…”

Caliban looked dismayed as we casually trashed our colleague, but her immaturity was such common knowledge that it was hardly news. While we were talking, Senior Senega was gently patting the back of the completely dejected Busse.

“Did I do something wrong… sniff.”

“I’m sorry, dear. That person just isn’t very honest with herself. She’s actually grateful, she’s just too stubborn to say it. Please don’t hate her, okay?”

‘See? Even that wicked Senior Senega can be kind to children.’

‘No, Senior Senega is just good at faking that kind of thing on the surface, right? She’s not a good reference at all.’

Senior Senega would be a lovely lady if her words and actions were normal. She was originally from a privileged class, but she could be kind to those in weak positions—or rather, she only truly lets loose when dealing with her colleagues. Seeing her rub Busse-kun’s back while speaking in such a gentle voice, am I the only one who wishes she’d direct even a tenth of that kindness toward sparing Vice Commander Rony’s stomach?

“Since I am capable of serving as such an excellent and beautiful secretary, there is no way he could develop a gastric ulcer. If anything, he must be far happier than Knight Rock, who burns his stomach with cheap liquor. Oh, it’s simply a mystery why I am not counted among the Three Great Mother Goddesses of the Knight Order~”

“Wow, it’s amazing how a human can spout such shameless words with a straight face…”

For the time being, Busse was led out of the Purification Yard by Senior Senega.

Apparently, he was so fascinated by the Knight Order that he had volunteered to be the liaison between the Order and the village; he planned to stay in the motive carriages until the mission was over.

I felt sorry for his run of bad luck on the very first day. I hoped he’d be encouraged by some kinder brothers or sisters in the Cooking Squad or the Infirmary.

“But still, calling Captain Akina’s attitude ‘actually grateful but too stubborn to say it’… Senior Senega sure is good at letting those lies slide off her tongue. There’s absolutely no way that woman is a tsundere, right?”

“…Are you sure?”

“Eh?”

She left me with just that one question before exiting the room. Before I had time to ask what she meant, Senior Senega walked away hand-in-hand with Busse.

What was that meaningful remark just now? I felt like I wanted to hear the details, but there was also the possibility she just said it to be mysterious for no reason, so I was at a loss. That woman really is an expert at leaving people feeling unsettled.

Do you remember the exact moment you decided on your personal pronoun?

I do. I remember when I, a woman, started referring to myself as “Ore”.¹

I don’t tell people this often, but I was originally someone who lived outside the kingdom.

It was a town of junk, where massive amounts of scrap gathered from who knows where. Children learned to distinguish between useful trash and useless trash faster than they learned their letters. It was a place full of uneducated fools who were always aiming for some dream, making new junk out of old junk.

It was nowhere near the advanced technology of the current Kingdom or the Empire on the continent; it was primitive processing technology that felt like an extension of a child’s craft project. We didn’t learn difficult theories, but as long as we had the materials, the residents of that town could finish something with sheer grit within the scope of their skills. Eventually, those residents would grow dissatisfied with the town and head for the outside world—only to eventually return with more junk.

Those who had seen the outside world all said the same thing.

They said the outside didn’t really have what they were looking for, and they returned home because their hearts had become constricted. Then, they would fiddle with junk alongside their new ideas and create even more junk.

In that way, they piled up junk that looked worthless to others but served as a foundation for them. They crushed junk with junk and placed more junk on top of that. If a fire ever broke out, everything would burn to ash—and then they would gleefully start rebuilding from scratch on the scorched earth.

I hated being in a town that repeated such nonsensical activities. I was ashamed of it, and I leaped into the outside world intending never to return, carrying only my clumsy knowledge of craftsmanship.

But things didn’t go well. I wasn’t allowed to do anything. And then one day, I began calling myself “Ore.” I can still recall that incident. It settled at the base of my consciousness like a stubborn oil stain that had built up over years, thrust upon me without my realizing it.

“Because you’re a woman, after all…”

Those were words enough to make me want to discard my womanhood.

I didn’t intend to go back to my hometown, but I realized why those who went outside had returned. Compared to the town, the outside world was far too restrictive for the heart.

I drifted through various workplaces after that, but my gender always became a bottleneck that led to unpleasant experiences, and I’d eventually quit. I repeated that for several years until I eventually washed up at the Kingdom’s Knight Order.

I don’t even remember why I applied anymore. Perhaps, upon learning there were female knights, I sought a place where it was “okay to be a woman.” As it turned out, that was the right choice, and now I sit in the position of Captain.

In the Knight Order, a woman is allowed to be strong. Unlike everywhere else, it was a place where I wasn’t subjected to that irritating ‘treatment as a woman.’ It was so comfortable that, before I knew it, I had tossed aside things like “a woman’s happiness” or “femininity” until my heart was almost entirely that of a man.

That’s probably why.

“…His hands were so smooth and soft.”

I stared at my own hands and muttered to no one in particular.

The woman named Akina had not yet fully processed the fact that she had been treated—for lack of a better word—like a girl. She had received pure concern, free of unconscious discrimination or ulterior motives. She never expected such an event to come her way. She couldn’t believe she was dazed like this over such a stupid, trivial occurrence.

“…How ridiculous. Forget being a man, he’s just a brat. What was I thinking… honestly…”

I found it utterly baffling that I had forcibly brushed off the help of that mere boy and couldn’t even manage a proper thank you.