“One last thing, Kiole la Diarca.”

Yuder looked Kiole straight in the eyes and said,

“There will come a time when you’ll have to choose whether you’re a knight or a Diarca. If you don’t care about dying, then fine. But if you want to live, start paying attention to what’s around you and try using that brain of yours. Don’t stop. Keep thinking.”

Kiole, who had been staring at Yuder blankly, snapped back to his senses.

“Wait a minute. W-Why do I have to choose? Whether I’m a knight or not doesn’t change the fact that I’m from House Diarca!”

“Sure. If you want to die, just keep spouting things like that.”

“What the hell are you saying?!”

Instead of replying, Yuder stood up. Kiole shouted after him, flustered.

“No, wait. Explain it more clearly, will you? You always talk so vaguely, it’s too damn hard to understand!”

This is hard to understand?

Yuder turned and looked at him with a face full of contempt. Kiole flushed bright red with shame, but surprisingly, he made an effort to contain his emotions as he spoke.

“...If you’re going to keep calling me stupid and telling me to think, then at least tell me how I’m supposed to think! You saw it last time! I can act when I think it’s the right thing to do as a knight! But if I don’t know what the right thing is, then I can’t do anything in the first place!”

Yuder let out a short sigh.

You should know that the support you sent to the South saved your life.

To think he’d end up trying to explain something this kindly to that guy. If the other Cavalry members had seen him, they might have fainted.

After collecting his thoughts for a moment, Yuder said,

“A knight follows his lord. If thinking is too hard for you, then go see for yourself who you should follow. For someone like you, that’s probably the best approach.”

“....”

Kiole’s expression changed slightly. Yuder could only hope that, at the very least, this line would stick in the fool’s head later.

“Now get lost. I have work to do.”

Yuder was about to dismiss him when he added, “Ah, and by the way—those gazes you felt on you recently? They weren’t Kiorne’s surveillance. They were the Cavalry, stationed there because His Majesty didn’t want you dead.”

“...What?!”

“Now that you know, make sure to thank my colleagues if you meet them. Don’t forget this is the third time the Cavalry has saved your life.”

The first was in the East, when Yuder saved him. The second was during the hailstorm in the South, when he and Kachian were found. The third was the recent assassin incident.

Seeing the shock plastered on Kiole’s face, Yuder finally gave him a hard kick in the ass to shove him out the door. After that, time slipped by quickly as he went around the Cavalry quarters, checking in here and there, and listening to what had happened while he was gone.

Didn’t have time to visit everyone. I’ll have to meet with the mages after tomorrow.

After mentally sorting out what remained to be done, he returned to the Commander’s office, where a mountain of paperwork awaited him atop the desk.

“...Commander?” 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The rarely-used title rolled off his tongue. From beyond the piles of documents, a familiar voice answered.

“Mm. I’m here.”

Kishiar was still seated in his chair, as usual. He had simply been buried behind the stack of papers.

Yuder saw a hand lazily waving over the top—playfully, as if beckoning him. As he approached, another hand slipped out to pull him by the waist. Yuder allowed himself to be drawn in without resistance, ending up half-seated on Kishiar’s lap.

Those red eyes sparkled with amusement right in front of him.

“What is all this?”

“Six ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ weeks’ worth of reports. The ones I should’ve read but didn’t.”

Just as Yuder had scouted around in his own way, Kishiar had clearly been assessing the situation in his own.

“Don’t worry. I’ve read it all. It’s just still lying here because I haven’t cleaned up yet.”

“...I’m not worried. I mean, this is the man who supposedly read the entire Imperial Law Code during dinner one evening. What would I possibly worry about?”

“Then I’m glad.”

Kishiar chuckled softly and placed his hand over Yuder’s, layering them.

“So, Aide. Who did you meet? Any interesting stories?”

“Nothing special...”

Yuder began listing the people he had seen.

“I went to Medical first to look for Inon, but he wasn’t back yet. Apparently, he had more work to do and sent a message to Priest Lusan saying he’d be late. Ah. Priest Lusan gave me this medicine. He said it was the first one he made himself, mixed with divine power to boost vitality.”

Kishiar looked genuinely impressed when he saw the bottle.

“Priests usually don’t care much about pharmacology. It’s impressive he’s managed to learn so quickly, especially with such strong divine power.”

“I thought so too. After that, I ran into some new recruits—Fay was among them.”

The subtle tension that crept into Kishiar’s grip wasn’t his imagination. Yuder lightly patted his hand in reassurance and continued.

“I wasn’t expecting to run into him right away... but thanks to that, I learned something quite interesting. I’m curious to hear what you—no, what the Commander thinks about it.”

Referring to him as “you” had been an honest slip. Even though it had only been about a month, the habit had already taken hold.

Kishiar blinked slightly, then smiled as his eyes narrowed warmly.

“Really? It’s rare for you to say something like that. What is it?”

Yuder explained Fay’s ability—comparing the information he’d known in his past life with what he’d just learned, and laying out his hypotheses. Kishiar listened silently, nodding from time to time.

“...That makes sense. If your thoughts are right, it could open a whole new path for developing his ability.”

“Honestly, I think that would be better for Fay too. Forcing the growth of a poorly compatible ability is mentally exhausting.”

Kishiar didn’t respond immediately. When Yuder turned to meet his eyes, he saw him smiling faintly, a breath of something like a sigh caught in his expression.

“What is it?”

“...Nothing. I was just hoping he’d be able to recognize what you’ve done for him and be grateful. Very, very grateful.”

Then, as if something occurred to him, Kishiar let out a thoughtful hum.

“Speaking of mirrors and scales... that reminds me of an old tale I once heard in Peleta. Actually, it’s more of a northern regional legend than something exclusive to Peleta.”

“What kind of tale?”

“You remember that basin near Peleta?”

“The place where Sir Zuckerman slayed the monsters?”

“Exactly. It’s called the Tomb of the Sleeping Water Fairy. But there are several similar places scattered throughout the North.”

According to legend, those places were once clear ponds where the water was so pristine it mirrored your reflection. Sick people would visit, gaze at themselves in the water, and offer a tribute on a mysterious scale. If the weight was just right, a fairy would appear and heal their illness.

“There are also versions where the fairy grants wishes instead of healing—but most end with the illness being cured. The deeper the illness, the heavier the tribute needed. No one knows what exactly had to be offered, but if the weight was right, even someone on the brink of death could be saved. I remembered it because I found it fascinating.”

Presumably, he’d remembered it because it had to do with healing.

“A mirror-like pond and a precisely weighed offering... Maybe Fay’s ability stems from remembering that story.”

“Perhaps. Thank you for sharing.”

“Think nothing of it.”

Next came the tale of Gakein. When Yuder admitted he’d played a minor prank for revenge, Kishiar looked absolutely delighted.

“I’m only telling you this in advance so you don’t sabotage my plan, Commander.”

“Of course, of course. Don’t worry. I won’t say a word until the Sword Emperor of the Northern Wind returns. But surely, putting up a big welcome sign for his return at the Cavalry’s front gate wouldn’t count as sabotage?”

Yuder thought for a moment, then nodded—that much would be fine.

“And after that... I met Kiole la Diarca.”

“Kiole?”

“He had the nerve to come here himself, uninvited.”

As he recounted the encounter, Yuder recalled all the surprising things the idiot had said.

“...To be honest, I’m slightly concerned that the advice I gave him could cause trouble for His Majesty or for you. However—”

“No. It won’t.”

Kishiar firmly shook his head and cut him off.