My wedding to Lina occurred without incident.

As a noble, I had thought that the proper way to have a wedding ceremony was to make it huge, performed in a grand cathedral and followed by a lavish reception party at the marquis’s estate. However, Lina, tears in her eyes, had pleaded, “I would rather not have something too luxurious.” Thus, the ceremony had been small—unprecedented compared to my noble family’s past weddings.

The ceremony had been held in a small, nearby church.

Attendees from my side of the family had included my mother and little sister, my sister’s fiancé, my uncle and cousin, as well as my superior Prime Minister Herschel and coworkers Connelly and Virgil. Lina’s guests had been her mentor and foster parents Sir Alexander Vanitas and his wife, her once-fellow apprentice Cody Macmillan and his wife, and Commander Baxter and Vice-Commander Gill of the Black Knights Regiment. Two of Lina’s friends, female black knights from her graduating class, as well as that one reserve soldier, also attended.

The reception after the wedding had also only been a buffet-style garden party in the space adjoining the church. It had been a ceremony completely unbefitting the typical aristocrat. Even so, however small the ceremony was, I thought that exchanging vows in that church filled with such a pure atmosphere, and having the reception with close friends in that garden surrounded by beautiful blooming flowers and abundant trees, had been wonderful.

Those invited had steadily given us their congratulations one by one, and the buffet had served as a tidy meal. There had been no stench of perfumes nor cigarettes, but instead the ceremony had felt fresh due to pleasant breezes and the scent of greenery and flowers.

Lina had refrained from having an original dress be designed, instead opting for a basic, off-white dress made with some additions. Lina, wearing that dress with decorations of green jade—my color—had been beautiful. Indisputably beautiful.

“Lina is a dear friend, companion, and sister to us. We would like to know how you cared for her during your engagement, and if you will cherish her henceforth, now that you’re married.”

“We would like to hear what you have to say. Don’t leave out anything.”

Being brought into the conversation with Lina and her two female knight friends and being persistently asked about our relationship became a fond memory as well. I had been genuinely glad to learn more about the unknown sides of Lina and her relationships from her student days. Her friendship with those women had been heartwarming.

As a black knight and white mage, Lina and I had met with strong intentions of forming a contract. And under such sobering circumstances, we had become engaged and then married.

However, no matter how we met or began, we could change our relationship as we went forward.

I, tied as a husband to my wife Lina, would protect her, just as I had vowed to God in that church, to the friends and family attending, and to Lina herself.

Since then, nearly three years had passed.

During this time, my relationship with Lina was by and large favorable. As we both worked, our circumstances caused us to occasionally go for days without being able to see each other. However, as husband and wife, we lived in the same house, slept in the same bed, and ate together.

However, the past two months of work had become so busy that I usually returned home late at night, if I was able to return home at all. As the timing of Lina’s deployments was unpredictable, I found it difficult to secure opportunities where I could bestow divine magic upon her equipment. I was devising ways to make time or have Lina come to me for divine magic, but we were limited.

“I understand what you are saying,” I told Connelly. “However, I am troubled by how often this happens.”

“But it’s only during your time as an aide that you can gain practical experience in supporting the next era. Joshua, it’s highly likely that you will be the next prime minister, so you must work hard now,” he insisted.

I understood what Connelly was saying. Were I still a bachelor, I wouldn’t have hesitated to put my nose to the grindstone. However, I was no longer in a position where I could operate solely according to my own convenience.

“But leaving the royal capital for so long—and for so many times—means that I won’t be able to fulfill my duties to my wife,” I argued.

Compared to the other countries of the world, the Kingdom of Mert was of middling size. Even so, leaving the royal capital to inspect the provincial towns and cities took two to three weeks at a time—and some locations took over a month to visit.

Moreover, during the time I would be participating in an inspection, I wouldn’t be able to bestow divine magic on Lina when she went on missions. If I couldn’t do that, she would be exposed to danger. I couldn’t have that. As her husband, I couldn’t let her go on a mission without divine magic.

However, Connelly ignored my worries and smiled as if he were admonishing a child. “There’s no need to worry.”

He was approaching sixty and gave off the initial impression of a good-natured old man. Truly, I had never seen him angry—he was always calm. However, I knew him to be surprisingly stubborn.

“Your problem is that you don’t have time to grant divine magic to Lina. But if she didn’t go out on missions, you wouldn’t have that issue,” he continued.

“Excuse me?”

“Going on missions isn’t the only thing black knights do. Raising younger generations at the knights’ academy, for example, is a fine job.”

If my memory was correct, the majority of instructors at the knights’ academy were former knights. I had the strong impression that this reemployment was reserved for those who had aged into retirement or taken a step back from the front lines due to illness or injury.

“You mean for Lina to leave the front lines?” I asked.

“I don’t think it’s such a bad idea,” Connelly said after a moment.

“So what you mean to say is that I would have my wife be employed in a safe job so that I would be able to leave her alone, and that way I could devote myself entirely to my work as I did when I was a bachelor. Is that correct?”

I knew that there were only a finite number of people among those who worked as knights, hunters, adventurers and the like who could say that they loved to fight. Those same people also said that they really felt alive by becoming stronger and fighting for their lives with monsters and dragons.

While Lina may have been a black knight, that didn’t mean that she wanted to fight. The law stated that those with ability in old magic became black knights to fight dragons—that was why she did it. In our three years living together as husband and wife, I had learned that Lina had no taste for battle.

So, Lina might think it was a good idea, what Connelly said about working as an instructor at the knights’ academy. However, that wasn’t something Lina had brought up, and I would be remiss to selfishly make that decision for her.

“Think about it a bit more positively. This way, Ms. Lina wouldn’t get hurt, nor would her life be put at risk. Furthermore...wouldn’t it be safer were you to have a baby?”

It was encouraged for black knights and white mages to have plenty of children—the more the merrier. As of yet, the difference between those who had the gift for old magic and those who didn’t was still a mystery. However, it was said that the gift was inherited through blood, and it was true that many children who had been born to or otherwise descended from black knights became black knights themselves.

Naturally, others hoped that Lina and I would have children. However...

“You tell me that we have too much work here for me to go home, and then bring up having children...” I muttered.

“You don’t have to be apart forever, you know,” Connelly said. “Instead of you both being busy as bees, she can take up permanent work here in the capital and you’ll be able to meet. Well, I suppose she can’t promise to always be able to come home if the knights’ academy happens to go out training in the field.”

As I looked at the smiling Connelly, I realized that he would neither withdraw nor yield.

I thought for a moment before replying, “Please allow me time to think about my own work and that of my wife’s.”

“So long as you consider it thoroughly. I’ll be waiting for your answer—make it a good one!”

Connelly was seasoned, having worked for many years as one of His Excellency’s the Prime Minister’s assistants. While he may have been a mellow man, he could be incredibly pushy. I took a deep sigh, and it suddenly occurred to me to consult with a friend about the matter.

***

Life with Lina in the west hall was quiet.

The attendants and maids came to do their work during the day, and when they finished they all returned to the main hall, so they weren’t around at nighttime. When Lina was out on missions, I was alone in the west hall.

I used to love the quiet that came with being alone, and would look forward to enjoying my favorite tea in silence or continuing to read popular books. Now, however, I was a bit lonesome when left by myself in the west hall.

Lina was currently on duty at the second fortress in Allbury, and had thus left the estate.

Near the Allbury territory was the Great Azure Sands, a sprawling desert where monsters and dragons lived.

There were countless areas throughout the world where those creatures thrived, but in our country there were three particularly large ones known together as the the Three Wicked Expanses: the Great Azure Sands, the Abyssal Forest, and the Grand Crimson Canyon.

As a great many large dragons inhabited these areas, I had bestowed upon Lina’s equipment the maximum amount of the strongest divine magic I possessed...but I still couldn’t help but worry.

“You know, a suave, sighing man makes for a pretty picture.”

“Don’t make fun of me.”

From time to time, I talked to Donald through a prismaphone, an anchored magic correspondence device that used crystal prisms infused with mana. If both sides had this handy device, they could use mana to see and speak to each other even if apart. However, due to the fact that it required a large amount of mana and heavy crystal prisms, it was nearly impossible to carry around. Many people wished for a smaller version.

Just having a person in the same position with similar problems, one who could understand my worries, made me feel at ease.

“I’m serious. Joshua, has something happened?” Donald, projected in the prismaphone, tilted his head. “Lina is on a mission, right? I understand your anxiety and uncertainty—even if you gave her the most magic you possibly could, anything could happen.”

“That’s right, I am anxious. In addition, I’m a bit troubled by something,” I admitted.

“What’s the matter?”

I summarized my conversation with Connelly to Donald—that both foreign and domestic affairs would make my long-term business trips as one of the prime minister’s aides grow in number, and to help with that, Connelly had suggested that Lina leave the front lines to become an instructor...not that Lina had been asked.

I took hold of a glass full of alcohol, and the ice inside clinked loudly as it rolled around.

Donald listened silently to my story, and took a sip from his large mug before laughing. I couldn’t believe he was laughing at my worries. There was no reason to smile at any of this in the first place.

“Taking pleasure in the misery of others, huh?”

“No, that’s not it! I’m happy.”

“Happy?”

“Yes. I’m happy to know that you and Lina have built a good relationship. You know, your marriage was so unusual and abrupt, and I had been worried whether it would go well.”

That reminded me that when Donald had heard that my wife would be a black knight, he had been terribly surprised. I assumed that he must have applied that to his own situation and felt many factors that contributed to his anxiety.

“You’re thinking of and worrying about your wife, as well as considering the future,” Donald continued. “I’m glad that you’re being considerate like that. So no, I wasn’t laughing at your worries.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, about your wife’s duties. It’s not a bad idea, her becoming a teacher at the knights’ academy. My wife is teaching as an interim instructor at the moment.”

Donald’s wife taught geography at the knights’ academy—it seemed that that was recognized as part of a black knight’s duty. As female black knights were involved with childbirth, many taught the upcoming generations rather than go out to battle.

“Well, I know this is a bad way of saying this, but society wants female knights to have and raise children rather than go on missions. The data we have up until now suggests a trend that black knights who are mothers are able to use stronger old magic than black knights who are fathers, and there is also a slightly higher ratio of black knights born to mothers who are also black knights.”

“I see, so they leave missions to male black knights and childrearing to female black knights. The overwhelming majority of black knights are male anyway, so they can make do without a few female ones,” I surmised.

“That’s right. Since old magic users are stuck with the level of ability they’re born with, the country can’t afford to be complacent. Moreover... I know it’s wrong for me to say this. I’m not fit to be a black knight’s spouse.”

As if Donald were telling me a secret, he came closer to his prismaphone and lowered his voice. I thought that since this was a direct meeting between us through the device, there wasn’t much meaning in the action—however, Donald was clearly showing his feelings.

“I’m so relieved that my wife isn’t in danger on missions. I know I shouldn’t say that—not even to you—when there are others whose partners are out on assignment. Still, the fact that the worst won’t happen is incredibly important to me.”

I thought that, surely, a black knight’s spouse wasn’t fit to say this.

Regardless of what division knights belonged to, it was their duty to protect the country, its people, and their livelihoods—they took pride in that. To deny that at all was simply unacceptable.

However, I was able to understand his feeling of relief that his beloved spouse was teaching students history or geography, rather than worrying about her losing her life.

“So, Joshua, it’s important to talk to Lina and hear her thoughts for the future, but she’ll be safe as an instructor. You wouldn’t have to worry about her dying, or her getting injured. Please understand how important that is.”

No one wanted their beloved spouse to be in danger.

Black knights and their white mage spouses may have met and married each other because of their roles, but we were still men and women who thought of each other as husband and wife. It was from that line of thought that Donald was advising me—to seriously consider Lina becoming an instructor.

“I’ll talk to her,” I said after a moment. “Thank you, Donald.”

I was able to be honest about my gratitude. My fellows at the royal academy had all noted how bad I was with words. I assumed that I was still lacking in that area, but I had vowed to make efforts toward forming a family with Lina as our compromise, and I thought that my relationship with Donald was going in a good direction.

***

On a morning several days after Lina had been scheduled to return from her mission, my mother sent me a summons from the main hall. The contents had only mentioned having breakfast together, however, I expected that our conversation would turn to her wanting to hold tea parties and have dresses made, and how she thought her budget was too low. The thought left me dispirited from an early hour.

An attendant escorted me to the dining room in the main hall, where my mother and I partook in the breakfast that had been set out for us. It wasn’t until after we had eaten and were sipping tea that my mother finally opened her mouth to speak.

“Has that girl still not returned?”

Mother always called Lina “that girl,” I assumed because she still had not been able to accept her as my spouse. Even so, I thought that mother even taking an interest in Lina was progress.

“Yes. It’s common for missions to go on for several days longer than anticipated.”

While I knew this, it still worried me. A mission extending past its planned time meant that an issue had sprung up.

My mother did not respond for a moment. “Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Thinking about the possibility that danger had befallen Lina made a chill spread through my chest. I received another cup of hot black tea to distract myself, and just then, heard a distant scream.

Startled by the voice, I raced from the dining room. I followed the sound of screams and commotion to the west hall, dreadful sweat running down my back.

I burst into the west hall, and the stench of damp sand and earth mixed with the reek of blood and rot permeated the air.

A maid sat in the corner of the entrance. She must have come to collect the laundry—a basket had fallen to the floor, and sheets and clothes lay scattered on the floor. I followed her line of sight to the source of the stench.

Filthy with dirt and dyed with blood, a ragged figure slowly lifted her head from where she sat on the bed.

“Ah, I’m sorry for causing trouble,” she said after a moment.

“Lina!”

“As soon as I realized I had made it back, I lost my strength. I’m truly sorry for causing a scene.”

“That doesn’t matter! Are you okay?!”

I reached out my hand, but Lina shook her head to ward me off from approaching.

“I’m fine. I’m filthy, so it’s not a good idea to touch me.”

“But—”

“I really am fine—there is no need to worry. I will clean myself up, so we may talk later.”

“Don’t be stupid—you don’t look okay at all! Not to me!”

I ignored her warning and lifted her in my arms.

“W-Wait...!” Lina shifted, her cheeks and ears dyed red. “Please let me go! I’m heavy and filthy!”

Although she was still wearing all of her armor for her mission, her body was lighter than I had expected. Deep down, her delicateness surprised me. I couldn’t believe that she could fight monsters with her slender body.

I ordered a servant to prepare a bath, change of clothes, and a meal for Lina, then headed toward the washroom further in the west hall.

“You can’t call yourself heavy if a civil servant like me can carry you.”

“L-Lord Joshua! Please put me down—I can walk by myself!”

“It’ll be faster if I carry you.”

I sat Lina down in a chair in the dressing room, then started to take off her robe, spaulders, and other equipment.

My intention had been to give Lina the strongest divine magic I could—resistance magic, body enhancement magic, speed enhancement magic, and barrier magic. Considering Lina’s fighting style didn’t allow for heavy armor, I had bestowed magic upon her spaulders, greaves, breastplate, boots, and robe. I had even put recovery magic into her earrings.

Even so, her equipment was now ragged and had lost its strength. Her gauntlets were so crushed that I thought her hands would have been torn off had they not been worn. Some parts of her equipment crumbled under my touch, unsettling me to my core. Large cracks split her spaulders, and her main weapon, the longbow she still gripped tightly, had many gashes in it as if left by claws.

If my divine magic had been even a little weaker... I shuddered at the thought.

I urged Lina into the washroom that the attendants had so frantically prepared and ordered the maids to attend to her in the bath, while I returned to the sitting room with Lina’s tattered equipment. As I looked at the gear that she would never use or wear again, I felt terror over and over again.

I had never felt such deep fear—the fear that I might lose my wife.

Afterward, I heard a report from the Black Knights Regiment that on this mission, one of the black knights suffered a grievous injury and had been pulled from the front lines. A new breed of dragon had appeared in the Great Azure Sands, and that black knight had lost both a leg and an eye; with an enormous laceration across their back as well, they had been forced into retirement.

While the probability of encountering a new type of dragon was quite low, it wasn’t impossible. Matching that new breed of dragon in battle had apparently been difficult, and the mission had been hard fought. That was why the expedition had been extended.

I felt that before long, if missions like this continued to happen, something would befall Lina that she would not be able to recover from.

What if Lina had been that black knight, forced to retire? What if Lina had returned with an immense wound? Without limbs? Or as an unspeaking, chilled corpse?

Just imagining it left me shuddering, and it felt like my heart had frozen over.

Donald’s words rang in my head: “The fact that the worst won’t happen is incredibly important to me.” I, too, knew it was wrong to think this as the spouse of a knight, but right now I understood my friend’s words very much.

As I gazed at the greaves crumbling like dust in my hands, I made up my mind.

I would not hesitate to protect my wife.

<<<>>>

Time passed incredibly quickly. With each birthday I felt time move all the faster.

It had been three years since I married Lord Joshua in that small church, and it was now our kingdom’s calendar year of 784.

Black Knights Secretary General Roche, who had presided in his position for a long time, retired due to his age, and a new secretary general took his place. Apparently this man was young and kind, a deeply trusted friend to His Highness the Crown Prince from their time at the royal academy, and performed duties as a white mage husband to a female black knight.

I had only met him once, and I thought he seemed to be a person of many talents. Well, for a plain black knight like myself, he was completely removed from my everyday life, so the change in secretary generals only brought with it a bit of loneliness that Roche wouldn’t be around anymore.

For the past three years, my married life with Lord Joshua had been going well—for a time. Lately, we hadn’t seen each other at all.

With his job at the royal palace keeping him busy, he rarely came home. Although we were supposed to be living together as husband and wife in the west hall at the Granwell estate, it felt like I lived there entirely alone much of the time. Thanks to that, I was ill at ease.

Those living in this house before I came—namely, Lady Sherry and the servants—still did not accept my marriage to Lord Joshua. Our life in the west hall was still pleasant only because this was Lord Joshua’s home.

The majority of the servants thought that it was beneath them to service this house where I was effectively living alone. That was why things had been so difficult since Lord Joshua had stopped coming home so often.

I myself had been put on more missions at fortresses that were in territories slightly farther away, affording me less time spent in the west hall—which may have been my saving grace. It took quite a lot to put up with the servants’ brusque attitudes and objections.

The trouble of not being able to meet with Lord Joshua was that he could not grant divine magic to my equipment. This was only an issue when I was away on hunting missions or stationed at fortresses, because without divine magic I would be left defenseless with my life at stake—and that could spell trouble for the lives of the black knights I fought beside.

My loneliness at being unable to meet Lord Joshua and living in solitude in the west hall was a separate problem.

In three days, I would be dispatched to another fort. As this fort was near to one of the Three Wicked Expanses where monsters and dragons frequented, I wanted my preparations to be perfect. However—

“We’ve just received word from the royal palace. It appears Lord Joshua will not be returning until the end of the week,” a blunt lady-in-waiting told me.

　At the end of the week, I would be on duty at the fortress. His schedule would not allow for us to meet before then.

If that was the case, I would have to take my equipment to Lord Joshua at the royal palace and receive his divine magic when he had a recess. I had done this many times by now.

I checked my equipment and began to pack it. I was sure I could save time if it was all ready for Lord Joshua to imbue it with divine magic. I didn’t want to trouble him for longer than necessary.

After I checked my spaulders, breastplate, gauntlets, and other gear, Lady Sherry came from the main hall in an unexpected visit. Two ladies-in-waiting accompanied her, along with Cameron—and these three were glaring at me.

“Do you have a moment?” Lady Sherry asked.

“O-Of course.” I could not refuse.

“Do you understand the position Joshua is in now?” Lady Sherry continued.

It took me a moment to respond. “Huh?”

Lady Sherry sat down comfortably on the sofa, a folding fan in her hand. “My son is in a position of grave importance. He is spending his time now in necessary preparation to become the future prime minister.”

“I-I understand.”

“It appears that you do not understand whatsoever just how important this time is for him, so I will spell it out clearly for you, all right? I will not have you interrupting his work.”

As if to supplement the former marchioness’s words, Cameron added, “In other words, you will not be taking those items to Lord Joshua, and you will not be distracting him.”

“Ah, but I must see him!” I protested. “I’m going on a mission to protect citizens from dragons and monsters! Telling me not to prepare for that is—”

Before I could finish, a leather pouch filled with money was placed on the table. The coins inside clinked against each other.

“Before you married Joshua, you received magic through commission, correct?” Lady Sherry asked. “Why not go ask that same white mage? So long as you have the coin, it shouldn’t be a problem. You may go ahead and use this money.”

“But if I do that...” Surely they understood how magic affinity worked!

“This should settle the matter,” said Cameron.

From the breast pocket of his jacket, Cameron pulled out an envelope and handed it to me. It was addressed to me, and sent by the Black Knights Regiment executive office.

I opened the envelope. Inside was a single sheet of paper, written upon with letters so beautiful they looked as if they were modeled from a textbook.

We wish for you to work even harder on your hunting missions as well as your fort duties. However, you must not trouble your spouse’s work.

The letter was directly from the newly-appointed secretary general of the Black Knights Regiment. It stated that it would be impossible for me to receive divine magic from Lord Joshua, who was busy with his work. However, the letter still asked me to work hard on my missions against dragons and other monsters.

It took me a moment to speak. “This can’t be...”

“If you care for Joshua, then I implore you to take this into consideration,” said Lady Sherry.

The former marchioness stood, and just as easily as she had arrived, she began to leave the sitting room before adding, “Oh, one more thing. I would like you to consider the real reason as to why my son has not been coming home to you in the west hall.”

Lady Sherry left the west hall along with the two maids. It wasn’t like Lady Sherry had been loud or spoken to me in a domineering tone, but I felt exhausted, as if a typhoon had just swept through.

“You do understand the real reason Lord Joshua has not returned home?” Cameron asked.

“Well...because he is busy with work,” I replied. “He hasn’t the time to return home.”

Cameron shook his head and sighed deeply. His expression seemed to be making fun of me, as if to say that I really didn’t understand. “Do you not think it’s because he doesn’t want to see you?”

“I...”

“Of course, he is tied up with work. Currently, Lord Joshua is spending important time working as a civil servant in the royal palace. However, even so, do you believe it impossible for him to return home for days at a time?”

I couldn’t breathe for a moment. Could the reason he hadn’t returned to the west hall be that he didn’t want to see me? Had he been emphasizing an official reason for not returning home because of that?

“By all accounts, a civil official such as Lord Joshua should have a wife who is a renowned noblewoman of high birth. As he has decided not to inherit the title of marquis, it is all the more important for him to have close ties with other nobles. Yet... Thanks to the law of the country, a woman like you is his wife.”

I couldn’t reply.

“I ask you to think about the future, for Lord Joshua to be able to spend his time in peace when he returns,” Cameron continued.

Was I the only one who had thought that these three years since our marriage were going well? Had I been full of myself? I was suddenly aware that I had only been taking Lord Joshua’s protection and support. Had I ever been of use to him? No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with an answer.

“You are fortunate to be a knight. The Corps has dormitories, so you will have a place to reside and sleep. That should be sufficient.”

“B-But Lord Joshua has said nothing about me being a nuisance...” I protested.

I hadn’t seen him for days. He had sent me letters and cards when he started to get busier, but now they had stopped coming. Even correspondence via the prismaphone wasn’t addressed to me, but rather to the maids and butlers.

Did he not even want to see my face?

“Do you believe Lord Joshua would do such a thing?” Cameron asked. “He is a kind man. However, his not returning home is an answer in itself.”

I gathered my belongings. I felt awkward taking the things that had been bought for me, but there were a number of items that I wanted no matter what. I considered that I might get yelled at, yet still packed them.

The only things I wanted to take were a dress for outings, as well as everyday shirts, pants, and dresses. Then, the jade earrings I had received to commemorate our marriage, and the necklaces, bracelets, and other mementos from our anniversaries.

When I packed all of my equipment and maintenance tools, and then put on my knight uniform, my preparations were complete.

I left the west hall early the next morning, by myself. Surely, those in the marquis house would be happy now that I had finally left.

I wondered what Lord Joshua would think. I wondered what he truly thought of me—I still didn’t know, but I was afraid to ask him. I was afraid that he would say, “I signed a contract with you and made a promise. That’s always been our relationship, so don’t get in my way.”

It was a similar fear to standing up to a dragon.

When the Knights Corps executive office opened, I filled out the forms to reenter the dorms, then took the pouch of money to Brendan for the first time in three years.

I wondered how my white mage friend would react when he saw me. Would he smile? Get angry? Be shocked? I hoped that if it were possible, he would laugh it off.

“Wh-What are you doing here?!”

When my friend saw me for the first time in a while, his voice echoed in the lonely cafeteria.

Chapter 4: He and She Sever Their Ties

Kingdom of Mert Calendar Year 785

After being discharged from the treatment center, I returned to the royal capital via carriage. En route I had to make transfers at towns and villages—and as I had not yet made a complete recovery from my injuries, I rested at one of these towns before taking another carriage. I took my time returning to the capital, and the journey lasted five days.

The carriage stopped at a wagon station in the center of the capital where I disembarked and then headed for the Kingdom of Mert’s Knights Corps General Headquarters. The deadline to hand in my papers—the end of the seventh month—was drawing near.

I assumed that, as the General Headquarters was the department which coordinated all colors of knights, I would have to present my forms for withdrawing from the Corps and leaving the dorms not to the Black Knights Regiment executive office, but rather here instead. If I was wrong, I would ask the General Headquarters secretariat to deliver the papers the rest of the way for me.

I entered the whitish stone building and passed the reception desk on my way to the counter for the executive office. Seated behind it was the secretary, a woman who was still young and cute.

“Excuse me,” I said. “I’ve come to submit these papers.”

“All right, let me take them.”

The female secretary smiled as she accepted both my documents and my knight badge, which was proof of my identity. Then and there, she confirmed the contents of the papers and handed me a replacement identification badge, and then the withdrawal process was over.

Enlisting had required so many trials, like stamina and practical exams, written tests, and interviews, yet resigning took only a moment.

“Also,” the secretary added, “this letter is addressed to you.”

“Thank you very much,” I replied. “You, and the rest of the Corps for taking care of me for so long.”

As I took the letter and turned to leave, everyone in the General Headquarters executive office stopped working, stood, and saluted.

“Thank you for your service to our nation!” they said as one.

“It is I who should thank you,” I replied, returning the salute.

I left the Knights Corps General Headquarters executive office, then cleaned out my room in the knights’ dormitory. I hadn’t left anything significant there, so I finished quickly.

When I returned my dress uniform to the dormitory supervisor, I was told that I could do whatever I liked with my everyday uniform. I put it in my luggage, more or less as a memento.

Then, I rented a room at an inn in the lower city. After resting, I looked at the letter that I had received from the General Headquarters.

The envelope was of pure white, high quality paper, and sealed with a design of a unicorn and ivy. It was a letter from the Granwell marquis family.

***

The next morning, I left my luggage in the room and headed toward the upper echelon of the capital’s nobles’ district—to the Granwell estate.

The letter stated that upon my return to the royal capital, I could come at whatever time—and it terrified me. Although I had been summoned by the marquis family, it hadn’t been by Joshua—it had been by Lady Sherry. Telling myself to not be nervous was impossible.

It had been a while since I stepped onto Granwell grounds. My home had once been this estate’s west hall for three years. Now, it had been a year since I was last here.

Just a little over a year ago, Lord Joshua had stopped coming back to the west hall, and it had seemed that he had been trying to take his spare moments at the royal palace to give me magic. The servants with longstanding connections to the marquis house, without the master of west hall presiding there, had looked at me with cold, severe eyes, and in the end I hadn’t been able to stand it and left. The small, simple room in the knights dormitory had felt warm and secure by comparison.

When Lord Joshua had been in the west hall, it had been my home—I had felt safe. Now, that felt like something from long ago.

I entered the grounds through the servants’ gate on the east side, and when I rang a bell on the backside of the main hall, Cameron appeared.

“Come along quietly,” he ordered.

“Understood.”

This was the second time I had entered the main hall, with the first being when I had initially met Lord Joshua’s family—four years ago, just after we had gotten engaged. I had not set foot in the main hall even once since then. Just like before, the main hall was so extravagant and elegant that my eyes hurt to look at it. And also just like before, I couldn’t calm down.

After entering the sunroom facing the garden, we found Lord Joshua’s mother, Lady Sherry. She wore a mellow dress and a minimal amount of jewelry. The round table had been set up with tea and snacks, but only enough for the former marchioness—none for me.

She eyed me as I hobbled over, relying on my cane, and furrowed her brows, seemingly displeased. “It seems you’ve greatly injured yourself.”

“I apologize,” I replied.

“I heard that you quit the Corps. Was it due to that injury?”

“Yes. I apologize,” I repeated.

It was a while before Cameron carried in a plain chair for me and placed it facing the former marchioness. “Sit down,” he ordered.

I wondered if Lady Sherry had needed that time to mentally prepare herself for sitting at the same table as me, a plebian.

“It’s been four years since you married Joshua,” she said. “Time flies.”

“Yes it does,” I replied.

“I assume you understand the basic premise of your marriage to Joshua, with you being a black knight and him being a white mage, correct?”

I could guess what she was about to say.

My marital relationship with Joshua had been established because I had been a black knight. However, now that I wasn’t one anymore, our relationship was no longer valid—that was what Lady Sherry wanted to say. From the start, the former marchioness and her daughter had not approved of my marriage to Lord Joshua, but since it was an honor for a white mage to marry a black knight, as well as the law of this country, they had reluctantly put up with it.

As I was now, I had no qualification to stand by Lord Joshua’s side.

“My son took the opportunity in his marriage with you to refuse the title of marquis and decline to become head of our noble house,” Lady Sherry continued. She paused. “I approved of his decision to live as a civil servant—although if I must speak the truth, I would have liked for him to follow in his late father’s footsteps as head of the Granwell house.”

The former marchioness let out a small sigh. I wondered if she was sighing because her beloved son hadn’t fulfilled her wish to become the next marquis, and felt sad every time she remembered that reality.

“If my son chooses to be a civil servant, I will support him. Thus, I want him to become prime minister and protect this country in the future. To that end, I will do whatever it takes.”

Lady Sherry rang a small silver bell that had been left on the table. At the sound of the clear chime, the far door opened and Cameron entered with a black lacquered tray.

On the tray was a single document, a quill pen, and an inkwell.

“What my son needs is a wife from the nobility who befits his status and can support him to become prime minister,” Lady Sherry continued. “You and he have no children. The nobility typically does not condone divorces, except in unusual cases such as a grave crime or the inability to have children. In case you were unaware, it is typical among this country’s aristocracy to annul marriages that do not produce children after three to five years before entering a second marriage.”

The document presented to me was to file for divorce.

During my four years of marriage with Lord Joshua, I had not had any children. With that as a strike against me for divorce, alongside my no longer being a knight, I had no reason to remain married.

I didn’t understand aristocratic society, but I thought that surely for a civil servant to succeed, he naturally needed a good understanding of his work, as well as a powerful family. For Lord Joshua to assume the position of prime minister, the influence of his spouse’s house and relatives was essential. I also thought it necessary for him and his prestigious wife to have a child between them.

I had nothing.

As a commoner with no living relatives, I had no family backing me, nor did I have children. Even if I did, they would be the children of a commoner—they would score Lord Joshua no favor in the political sphere. I couldn’t give him anything.

“I am grateful that you thought highly of and loved Joshua.”

I didn’t register her words for a moment. “Huh?”

The former marchioness lifted her head, and for the first time looked me directly in the eyes. This woman with light blonde hair, pale blue eyes, snow-white skin, and a delicate body was Lady Sherry. I thought that Lord Joshua and his sister Lady Margot must have taken after the late marquis, but I felt that she had the same intense, willful eyes as Lord Joshua.

“I am grateful that you cherished my son,” Lady Sherry continued. “I know there are many married folks in this world who are not able to cherish each other. For that, I am grateful. However...”

“I understand,” I said. “I would be of no use to Lord Granwell.”

I picked up the quill pen and signed my name on the divorce form.

My hand shook, and my handwriting—which hadn’t been pretty in the first place—was now even messier. I hoped they would pardon me.

Though I had been suddenly told to separate from the man I yearned for and cherished in my own way, I did not cry, and I did not scream. I took my leave without complaint. I wished that they could at least forgive me for my poor handwriting.

“That reminds me,” Lady Sherry said. “One year ago, too, you agreed to my request so quickly.”

“Request?”

Lady Sherry checked my signature, then returned the document to the tray Cameron held. Without a sound, Cameron left through the door he had entered through.

“My request as a member of the Granwell house to not intrude on Joshua’s work, for his sake.”

I paused. “I remember.”

She had made that request just as Lord Joshua and I had started to not see each other due to our schedules—just over a year ago, after I had encountered and fought a new breed of dragon in the Great Azure Sands.

Our days where we could return home to the west hall—where we were supposed to live together—had grown fewer, and my hours alone there had grown longer. In the beginning, I had received letters and cards of apology for not being able to return home and lines proclaiming his loneliness at not being able to see me. But those had steadily stopped coming, replaced by ladies-in-waiting informing me that my husband would not be returning home that day. In the end, even those messages had stopped.

As Lord Joshua hadn’t had the time to return to the west hall, I had gone to meet him at the royal palace under the pretext of receiving divine magic or giving him gifts, but then Lady Sherry and the newly-appointed Black Knights Regiment secretary general had warned me not to interrupt Lord Joshua’s work.

I hadn’t been able to meet Lord Joshua. Without him at home, living alone in the west hall had felt shameful, and so I had left. Cameron and the other attendants had been ecstatic, telling me never to come again unless summoned.

Though I had been unable to meet Lord Joshua, my missions had not changed, and I had once again had to ask Brendan to bestow divine magic on my equipment and infuse my magic stones with mana. I had told myself that I was just returning to how things had been before I had gotten married and that nothing had really changed compared to when I lived with Lord Joshua, but in reality, there was a steep difference.

My chances of injury and ruining my equipment had risen.

I remembered well the first days I had begun fighting with Lord Joshua’s divine magic, wondering just how powerful it was. It hadn’t felt real, repelling dragonbreath and taking attacks without a single scratch.

I stood from my seat and gave an official salute.

“I thank you for your hospitality. From the bottom of my heart, I hope for Lord Granwell to marry a splendid noblewoman.”

With that farewell, I turned and left the sunroom. Cameron, at attention in the hallway, guided me back to the exit on the east side of the estate. I exited the residence, and then the grounds.

“Never see Lord Joshua nor Lady Margot ever again—you’re a stranger to them now. And don’t even think of trying to get into another noble house again, peasant.”

As Cameron said this, he slammed the gate closed behind me.

With a heavy thud, he told me that my ties to Lord Granwell had been cut.

***

The restaurant we had gone to together had been plebeian, with many large platters of food that Lord Joshua had dished up for us splendidly. I remembered how surprised I had been to learn that he liked unsophisticated food and had a commoner’s palate.

In the first play I had ever seen, the princess had nearly been offered to the beast as a sacrifice before the hero drove off the creature and, together with her, slew it. Through their cooperation they had fallen in love and gotten married, then lived happily ever after, making a popular story at the theater. It had been interesting and moving, and I had felt like I had been in the story myself.

Though those young noblewomen at the theater had said such awful things, Lord Joshua had gallantly rescued me. I remembered well how gentlemanly he had been, and how my heart had pounded.

He had gifted me the book that the play we saw had been based on. After that, like a tradition, every time we went to see a play he would give me whatever book it had been based on. I had been happy to be able to look back on those memories.

On our anniversary, he had given me semitransparent jade earrings. It had been the first time a man had given me jewelry. I had been ecstatic. I had been embarrassed to hear later that receiving gems that were the same color as his eyes had shown his possessiveness and desire to keep me for himself, but I had still been happy.

I had been someone who had known only battle, and Lord Joshua had been the one to show me little by little the pleasure and happiness I could have as a person and as a woman.

Whenever I had faced off against dragons and monsters, Lord Granwell’s divine magic had protected me. His slightly cold mana had surrounded me, defended me... I don’t know how many times it had saved my life.

Over the past year we had hardly met, but he had upheld his promise to endeavor toward our compromise of becoming family. I had fallen in love with him and wanted to cherish him. Even now, I still felt that.

Now that I wasn’t a black knight, I would only hold him back. I would be of no help to him.

I left the nobles’ district and headed toward the inn I had left my luggage in. As much as I could, I kept to deserted streets as I relied on my cane.

Just being together didn’t mean someone would treasure you. Sometimes, it was surely better to separate.

Surely that was the case. I thought that way—I wanted to think that way.

When I returned to the room I rented at the inn, my tears started to fall. My vision distorted and my breathing came quicker. It was there that I sat, as if I had crumbled.

I started to sob.

Soon enough there would be a beautiful noblewoman close beside him, and together they would live in that dazzling main hall. I could no longer be that person beside him. I could no longer eat meals with him, no longer go to the theater with him, no longer stroll the city with him. We had been separated.

I sobbed more. I felt such severe distress that I thought my chest might burst. I hadn’t known how yearning for someone could be so painful.

Many of my tears fell, spreading round blotches on my knees and the floor.

From now on, I would be alone. I could never be close to him again.

I hoped they would forgive me for continuing to think of the man I fell in love with, the husband I had spent only a handful of years with.

<<<>>>

For the first time in roughly five months, I stepped onto the soil of my homeland and felt its breeze. When I realized I was home, my feet naturally stopped. The earth was slightly damp, and moisture was in the air.

“Lord Granwell? Is something the matter?”

“No,” I replied. “Just happy to finally be home.”

“Ah, right. The Allied Fiefdoms of Kiniath may be our neighbor, relatively speaking, but as it’s sandwiched between seas, it’s the same as having one or two countries between us.”

One of the people accompanying me this time on my trip abroad across the sea was a mage civil servant. He smiled and took a deep breath of our country’s air.

“I once heard that when you go to another country, the air is different too. I’d say that’s true,” he said.

“I suppose so.”

The Allied Fiefdoms of Kiniath had been dry, and its air had smelled of parched earth. I was able to say that my inspection of a country with a different climate and environment had been enjoyable, educational, and enriching.

I and the other civil officials boarded a carriage that had been waiting at a curb for us, and alongside the knights guarding us, the carriage set off.

“More importantly, I was stuck in a town for a month and a half due to an out-of-season sandstorm,” the mage civil servant said. “I was lucky to see their technology that protects them against sandstorms, but still—a month and a half!”

Kiniath was rife with deserts and arid regions, and sandstorms were a common natural disaster. If nothing was done, the sand could swallow up both towns and people. To prevent that, magic tools had been arranged throughout the towns to encompass and protect them during sandstorms.

In our country, there were no such magic tools that could maintain a barrier strong enough to endure a sandstorm that lasted up to two or three months. Our mage civil servants and magic craftsmen were understandably in a tizzy after seeing that.

“However, thanks to being trapped for a couple months, we were able to see why the people and livestock in town had no troubles with eating. It’s important to see these things for ourselves,” I replied.

Magic was closely related to people’s lives. Our country specialized in divine and attack magic to face off against dragons and monsters, while Kiniath had developed magic tools that were less for attack and more for defense and aid in their livelihoods. That was why, even though a sandstorm had trapped us for months, we had had access to food and drinking water.

I thought that both our countries would be able to sincerely work toward commerce, study abroad opportunities for students, and the like. We could receive technology related to magic tools, magic for daily life, and various support magics, while in return we could offer our country’s technology related to divine magic and export foodstuffs.

“You’re right about that, Lord Granwell!” the mage civil servant replied. “I found it to be of great interest. However, our planned three months’ stay turned into five. I was brought into my wife’s house, you see. I don’t want her and my daughter to lose their affection for me and throw me away!”

I paused. “That sandstorm was large, and certainly unexpected. We finished our work while we were confined there, so once our oral and written reports have been submitted, we can take a sizable holiday. Please spend that time with your family and no one else.”

“I will do that. I hope they like the souvenirs I brought from Kiniath.”

The other mage civil servants and foreign officials nodded, sharing similar feelings.

All civil officials here were enthusiastic and ambitious about their work, which was why they had been chosen for this trip overseas. They all found their jobs important and worth doing, but it wasn’t as if they made light of their families, fiancées, or other personal connections. Everyone here wanted to have a happy relationship with those people, myself included.

Though I felt satisfaction and fulfillment from my work, Lina had constantly been on my mind.

Without asking her opinion, I had the Black Knights Regiment executive office reassign her to the knights academy as an instructor. Immediately afterward, Prime Minister Herschel and Connelly had ordered me to begin inspection visits to many foreign and domestic locations, and I hadn’t been able to properly see Lina this year.

Magic prismaphones grew unstable depending on both mana amount and distance, so I hadn’t been able to use it for a long-distance conversation. In the end, the only means for communication were letters. The further letters had to travel, the more chances there were for them to be lost, so even if I had been able to send a letter, there was no guarantee Lina would receive it.

Even if we could only have one-way communication between us two, I diligently sent letters to Lina through her executive office—although I hadn’t been able to send letters during the sandstorm due to being completely isolated. Along with the letters, I sent along hair ornaments and ribbons I had come upon during my travels. I didn’t think they would remove her anxieties or displeasure, nor serve as an apology for changing her occupation without asking. Even so, it was all I had been able to do.

Connelly had told me that my travels abroad would go on for about two or three years—five at most. I hoped my colleagues would pardon me from spending five whole years doing this, as I believed two to be plenty.

After my travels abroad finished, I could once again spend time with Lina. I would use the vacation time I had accumulated to go home to my family’s estate.

Our relationship which had come to a standstill would once again be able to advance. It was a pity that time had been wasted between us, but we would be together until our old age. I hoped that we could take back that time, and that everything would be all right.

***

The festival preparations were underway in the town center’s plaza. Festivals celebrating the autumn harvest occurred in every region, including Sathante. The festival offered gratitude to the god of abundance with a banquet prepared using food made from the bounty of crops harvested in the surrounding forest, and the ample amount of seasonal fish caught in the ocean at the nearest town. Apparently when the festival was in full swing, you could find a smorgasbord of treats—cookies and cakes made with numerous nuts; rich mushroom and shellfish stews; boar and venison steaks; and fish pies.

The townspeople had set out dolls modeled after the god of abundance, and decorated the whole town vividly. Colorful flags and other decorations filled the town and streets, and Sathante teemed with liveliness. It was delightful to see the festival preparations slowly come together.

I took the shortest route to the far side of Sathante’s nobles’ district, and arrived at my destination: the public park with the water fountain.

The park had been built in a snug circular shape, and the fountain in the center had been designed with a forest fairy motif. Seasonal plants, flowers, and fruit trees had been planted in the outer perimeter of the garden. This spot was neither as large nor as grand as the town’s main square, but I had heard that the relaxed atmosphere made it a popular spot for elderly nobles.

An older gentleman and his grandson were collecting leaves and trash that had fallen into the fountain and around the park.

“Ah, so you’re checking the lanterns here today, are you?” the man asked.

“Good day,” I replied. “I see you two are doing a great job.”

Seeing the residents clean up sections of the town was an everyday sight—they all took turns—but I thought that they might be putting more effort into it with the festival coming up. Watching the young boy enthusiastically rake up the fallen leaves was adorable.

Monster-repelling lanterns had been set up in various places along the boundary between the park and the forest. I headed toward one to check for any malfunction when I heard something loud echoing from the depths of the woods. The ground shook violently. A creak resounded as something knocked down a tree, and an enormous roar shook the air.

I remembered what that mustached commanding officer had said—that there were a large number of eyewitness reports of monsters this season, and that large beasts invaded Sathante once every several years. I didn’t know how long it had been since the last time.

But even if a monster had burst into town last year, that didn’t guarantee that this year was safe. Dragons and other monsters lived by a completely different logic than humans. It wouldn’t be strange if they invaded every single day.

The tremors and roars continued, slowly growing ever closer.

The old man and his grandson were still cleaning.

“Run!” I screamed at them, then threw my bag of gunpowder spheres down on the beautifully arranged mosaic tiles on the ground. With a loud smack, the gunpowder burst, and yellowish smoke rose into the air.

The guards should be able to see the cloud and come running. But there was a problem—this place was at the farthest reaches of Sathante. It would take time for the red knights to get here from the guard station at the town’s front entrance, and for the man with his age-weakened legs and his tiny grandson to flee.

Were I still an active-duty black knight, I would have no issue taking on monsters—be they boars, snakes, or bears. But my body was weakened now. My movements had grown dull, and I had no weapons.

I glanced at the old man and his grandson. Spurred on by the bellowing and crashing coming from the forest, they fled, stumbling, from the garden. At almost the same time, several of the monster-repelling lanterns set up along the boundary between the forest and the town emitted strong light before bursting in showers of sparks.

With a resounding, earsplitting roar, an immense bear-type monster appeared, knocking down trees. It had long, sharp claws, which had expanded along its upper forelegs to clad those spots in gauntlet-like armor.

When I had been an active-duty black knight, I had confronted monsters many times over. I knew that physical blows against monsters with hard armor, fur, and thick fat weren’t very effective, but magic attacks were. Monsters that inhabited the mountains had heavy-looking bodies that moved surprisingly nimbly, unleashed hefty blows, and could even breathe fire, though they only gained that ability as they aged.

Were I still as I was when I had been active duty, this monster would not prove to be a difficult match. However, now it was a formidable enemy. My limbs still couldn’t move well due to the numbness and paralysis caused by my wounds and the poison.

As I had continually used magic far beyond my capabilities, my mana circuits were fried—whenever I activated them, they stung, and on top of that whatever magic did come out was weak. To make matters worse, I didn’t have any sort of weapon on me. All I had was the cane I used for support. There were no bells or whistles on this simple wooden stick.

The monster turned round and round, letting out roars that sounded like earthquakes, then glared at me and the pathway that led to the nobles’ district. No matter what, I couldn’t let this creature get to where there were people living. Until the red knights came, I had to either prevent it from leaving this park or bring it down.

I stood between it and the nobles’ district.

Mary had told me not to use magic, but I couldn’t worry about that now.

I used body-strengthening magic to force my stiff limbs to move, and I poured earth elemental, growth-activating magic into my cane. Before being cut down and made into a cane, it had once been a tree—and now, that tree came back to life. With all my strength, I thrust the cane into the ground, and a pale green, glowing magic circle spread out on the ground.

Usually, using magic left no sort of discomfort. Like blood naturally flowed through veins, mana flowed through mana circuits. Unlike blood, though, the mana currents could be controlled.

Roots sprouted vigorously from the former cane, now a revived tree. They bored through the ground and penetrated the tiles, twining around the growling bear-type monster as it stood on its hind legs. The roots continued to grow, lengthening from the creature’s legs to its body, constricting its movements and trying to stop and kill it—and they would continue to do so as long as my mana could last. The monster raged, bellowing as it tried to tear off its entanglements.

I grunted from the pain. My fried mana circuits already felt as if they were about to burst—my arms and fingers, flowing with mana, hurt as if they were being burned. But with my limbs as sluggish as I had thought they would be, my only way to fight was with magic.

The raging monster was turning this beautiful park and its fountain into a tragic battlefield. The planted flowers had enclosed the fountain and walkway, which had been built with tiles, forming a mosaic themed around a legend about fairies passed down in this region. Yet our battle had ruined those flowerbeds and broken and scattered some tiles without a trace. The fountain in the center was still standing, but it was cracked and off-kilter.

I knew I had had no choice but to fight the invading monster. I wasn’t a resident of Sathante, but I felt wretched when I looked at this disaster that had struck just before the festival.

The bear-type monster let out a particularly loud roar. It shook violently as the tree roots wrapped and twisted around its body. I was channeling a great amount of mana, trying to force the roots to bind the creature and strangle it to death. Pain shot through my right hand as I clasped the former cane. The nail on my middle finger split in two, and blood gushed out.

I groaned. It hurt. I was in pain, plain and simple—and honestly, I wanted to stop. But if I ran away here, I would be letting the monster into the heart of town. I had to avoid that no matter what.

“Lina!”

From the path to the nobles’ district behind me, I heard someone call my name, as well as the clatter of running feet. The owner of the voice was the mustached commanding officer.

I was so relieved that the red knights had come that I automatically lessened the amount of mana I was pouring into the cane. At the same time, a shriek pierced the air. I thought it might have emanated from one of the apprentice knights who had arrived with the commanding officer—screaming at the sight of their first monster.

Perhaps provoked by the shriek, the bear-type monster flailed its arms violently—though it injured itself doing so, it also tore off the tree roots, and the groaning of breaking wood filled the air.

I released more mana, and the shock split the nail on my left pointer finger. I grunted as blood spurted from the wound, but my former cane sprouted a new tree root that pierced the monster’s eye. Bluish black gore gushed from the beast, and the pain pushed it into an uncontrollable rage.

At that moment, a dark shadow ran up beside it, and the bear monster’s head flew off.

“What...?” I gasped.

Blood spurted out of the decapitated head as it flew before falling onto the edge of a flowerbed. Even more blue-black blood poured out of the headless body of the beast, and it fell with a thud alongside the tree roots binding it. The mosaic tiles on the pathway shattered upon impact, and the ground shook—but neither I, nor the commanding officer, nor the rest of the people at the scene paid any attention to that.

Instead, we were looking at what had beheaded the bear monster with one strike.

A knight or skilled adventurer gallantly saving the day in the nick of time was a pretty common story found in adventure novels on bookstore shelves. In the blink of an eye, he would eliminate the extraordinary creature before him, and with a twinkling smile, ask, “Are you all right?”

I would have liked it if I were in a storybook—if there were a knight or adventurer standing there. However, in the end that was just a fantasy in my head, and not the reality in front of me.

Instead, the creature that had killed the beast was one of its brethren. The new bear-type monster growled with a voice that rumbled like an earthquake. It had sharp claws glittering dully with blue-black blood, and large, long fangs.

The difference between the two beasts was their size. While the first monster had been huge, the one in front of us now was about twice as large. Bear-type monsters were fiercely territorial—I assumed that the killed monster must have trespassed on the other’s land, resulting in a chase that had led here to the town.

The giant bear-type monster set its sights on me, smelling my blood, and it swung its forelegs down, its sharp claws slicing through the air with a whoosh and buffeting me with wind pressure.

I could feel the gust from its attack. I dodged, diving in close to the beast, then stumbled around toward its backside. The monster’s claws swung down where I had been, pulverizing the mosaic tiles there and shattering the former cane that I had left standing up in the ground.

If I had taken that attack, I would be dead.

As I thought that, the beast swung at me again. I knew I had to avoid the attack, but my legs couldn’t move—they trembled, weak. Cold, greasy sweat broke out all at once across my skin. It would all end when the bear tore into me with its huge, sharp claws. I closed my eyes.

I heard the monster bellow loudly, and the sound of a blow rang out close by. However, no matter how much time passed, its attacks did not hit my body. I thought it strange and opened my eyes to see a light green, glowing magic barrier had been spread out before me.

“What?” I whispered.

It was force field magic—the kind of magic that had always protected me up until a year ago. It had defended me time after time against attacks from dragons and other monsters, formed from mana that felt slightly cold. Though it should have disappeared long ago, that force field magic had deployed to protect me—and it had done so flawlessly against the bear-type monster’s attack.

“Lina, don’t breathe!”

I heard the commanding officer’s voice at the same time that something burst with a popping sound. A copious amount of greenish, light brown smoke permeated the air alongside the grassy scent of herbs. It was a monster-repelling smoke bomb—an item that wasn’t necessary for urban security, but indispensable for guarding rural fortresses and towns. The haze blinded the monster, and the scent of herbs rendered its nose ineffective.

I gathered that the monster hadn’t cared for the offense. Irritated by the smoke and the smell, the enormous bear-type creature set its sights on the commanding officer and the red knights who had rushed to the scene. Through the smoke, I could see them forming up to fight the beast. However, the blows from their swords, bows, and other weapons were barely effective against the monster, covered as it was with its thick skin, fat, and tough fur. If this went on too long, the red knights would be harmed.

The monster wasn’t paying attention to me—now was the time.

Trying to keep the creature from noticing me, I slowly crawled toward the crumbling fountain in the center of the park, then plunged my hands into the water. The water that surged out of Mt. Mulian was clear, cold, and beautiful—and I poured mana into the element around my hands to control that water. Pain shot through my fingers as I deployed a blue magic circle, and the water started to sway before swirling in circles. The water vigorously whirled inside the fountain before assailing the monster’s backside in a small tidal wave—and the moment the water touched the beast, it froze into ice.

Being doused in cold water and frozen into immobility, on top of the smoke, smell, and stinging attacks from the knights, caused the monster to rage violently and let out a roar. But whatever icy chunks splintered off due to its thrashing were soon replaced by a new wave of freezing water.

Normally, this magic could instantly trap a monster in a frozen coffin, but in my current state I could only freeze the creature a bit at a time. And now that I had started, I couldn’t put a stop to it no matter what agony assailed me, at least not until the monster was dead—I feared that the moment I cut off my mana, the creature would destroy the ice and crush my unmoving body without mercy in one strike before returning to hounding the red knights.

I grunted with effort. The ice gradually grew thicker, and the monster stood on its hind legs, raging and struggling to shatter the ice—but the ice spread to its chest. It was a blessing that the underground water supply from which the fountain drew was inexhaustible.

“Lina, are you okay?!”

I hurt. I was in so much pain that the commander’s voice felt like it was coming from far away—I could barely hear the monster’s roars and the splintering of the ice. It felt like my arms were going to come off.

“You’ve got it! Just a little longer!” he continued.

“Amazing—it’s a coffin of ice!” someone else said.

I didn’t know how much time had passed—but it felt to me like several hours had gone by. Only the shrill sound that accompanied the water as it froze reached my ears.

Finally, I could see through my blurry vision that the ice had covered the monster’s face completely and grown thick, and I stopped releasing mana. The searing pain in my hands had quit, but now they hurt as if stung by needles. My fingertips, already normally sore, must have made for a hideous sight with the broken nails.

“Lina, are you all right? You sure are reckless,” the commanding officer said. “Eric, once you’ve checked the injured, form parties to patrol the area, repair the lanterns and set up the spares, and dispose of the monster. Everyone else is prohibited from entering the garden.”

“Understood,” someone—Eric the vice-commander, I assumed—replied before pausing. “The disposal of the headless one will be fine, but what should we do about the one encased in ice?”

“It would be a pain if it could breathe through cracks in the ice—let’s leave it in there for a few days to make sure it’s dead. This area can’t be used for the festival, anyway.”

After listening to the commander and vice-commander, I finally relaxed.

“I’m sorry, Commander,” I croaked. “If only I were a little more able to maneuver, I could have—”

“You’re not a knight anymore—just a regular visitor who came here to Sathante for recuperation. You shouldn’t have had to fight, but still, thank you. You were a great help,” the commander told me.

He propped me up by the shoulder, helping me to stand. A boy training to become a knight supported me on my other side.

“Because you pushed yourself to fight,” the commander continued, “the damage was limited to a busted-up garden and just a few scratches on this kid here. Normally, two bear-types invading the town would’ve resulted in lots of harm to knights and citizens too. A bear-type got into town about ten years ago and killed three knights and badly injured a lot more. Two citizens also died. Mind you, that was just one bear.”

Being told that this was actually a victory—with no one dead despite two monsters invading—made me both relieved and happy. I was glad that I had been of use.

“Now before anything else, you’re going to the treatment center. Ron, after we’ve taken Lina there, go fetch Mary the herbalist. Don’t forget to bring medicine.”

“Yes, sir!” the boy on my other side replied.

“Sheesh,” the commander continued. “You would normally be getting some experience in dismantling and disposing of a monster here...”

The young knight in training paled at his commander’s words. “I’ll get Mary as soon as possible.”

I assumed that Ron would assuredly be brought in to help dismantle the frozen monster later, but I felt bad for him and kept quiet.

***

A gentle warmth spread slowly from the ends of my limbs throughout my body. As my body grew warmer, the pain and prickling feeling grew lighter. The heat was soft and pleasant—it was a captivating feeling, and I wanted to stay like that forever.

Though I thought that, I felt a chill on my face. I shivered and opened my eyes to meet Mary’s gaze as she frowned at me.

“Huh?” I said after a moment.

As I slowly sat up, I realized that I was in one of the two treatment centers in Sathante. One of them was a large, lavish facility in the nobles’ district meant for guests. The one I was in, on the other hand, was a small clinic for the locals, situated in the heart of town. An elderly white mage who could use recovery magic was on duty three days a week—in emergencies, someone would go to his house to retrieve him so he could cope with whatever issue had occurred.

From the look of things, only Mary and I were here. The head of the treatment center must have been at home.

“I’m glad to see you awake. I was worried that you might not wake up,” Mary said.

She brewed a floral-scented, light green herbal tea. I knew that when I drank it, my fried mana circuits would feel slightly better. I accepted the cup of tea with both hands, in which I still felt a dull pain and a light pins and needles sensation. Bandages were wrapped around my hands, up to my elbows.

“How long was I asleep?” I asked.

“Just about a whole day,” Mary answered. “Don’t worry—the knights on guard don’t have any major wounds—mostly just bruises and scratches. You’re the one with the most injuries, child.”

“Is that so? I’m glad.”

When I drank the herbal tea and it settled in my stomach, my body felt comfortably warm. It was a little sweet, and delicious.

“Honestly—you shouldn’t be glad, child!” Mary grumbled, but even as she spoke she prepared new bandages and cream to put on my arms. “You don’t have a body that can fight anymore. And because you so recklessly fought, the mana circuits in those hands and legs of yours—which you spent all that time trying to heal—are all fried up just like they were when you got here!”

I drained the cup of its tea and sat sideways on the bed to let Mary take off my bandages. Underneath them on my wrists were distinct marks left by burning my mana circuits. My right arm remained unchanged, discolored with purple and reddish black splotches. With the scars from my lacerations, too, I looked absolutely revolting.

“Your mana burns have gotten worse,” Mary noted. “They’ll probably hurt and feel like needles for a while yet. Just drinking tea won’t heal them quickly, so I’ll make you some medicine too.”

“Thank you, Mary.”

“As for your leg... Did you force it to move with magic again?”

“If I hadn’t, I would be mincemeat right about now,” I replied.

An attack from the bear-type monster’s foreleg, with its sharp claws and heavy strikes, would have killed me with one hit. Even a glancing blow would have squashed me into a lifeless pulp.

“Didn’t that force field magic activate?” Mary asked.

“Oh, that...” I trailed off.

It had been Lord Granwell’s force field magic. I touched the small earrings I wore—I was sure that the force field’s deployment was thanks to them. He had gifted me these jade earrings to commemorate our marriage. The pair had been one of the few mementos I had taken with me when I left the west hall. They had been the first pieces of jewelry I had ever received, and I had wanted to keep them no matter what because they were the same color as his eyes.

It seemed that he had put force field magic into these earrings, and when I had faced an emergency, the magic had automatically activated. Even though Lord Granwell and I had been separated, he had once again saved my life.

There was a silence between Mary and me for a moment.

“At any rate, child, I’m glad you’re okay,” Mary said. “Now then, Lina, let me put this cream on you. We’ll start again from the beginning with your massages and physical therapy.”

“I’ll work hard,” I promised.

Mary applied a cream just slightly warmer than my skin from my knees to my calves. Just as she started to massage me, the bell attached to the clinic door chimed as someone came in. I wondered if it was the elderly mage who ran the clinic—however, it was someone else, alongside another person, who flung open the curtain that divided the hallway from the treatment room.

I was stunned. “Yes?”

“What’s wrong with you?” Mary snapped. “Coming in without permission!”

The two women who had appeared stood out conspicuously in the small commoners’ clinic. Both had blonde hair with a strong yellow hue, blue eyes, and snow white skin—I could tell at first glance that they were nobles. Given their similar hair and eye colors as well as their facial features, they were most likely sisters.

Although this was the first time that I had met them, they scowled at me with rather irritated expressions.

“So you’re the red knight who fancies herself a blue one? The one who let the monsters into town yesterday?” the one in a blue dress—who appeared to be the younger of the two—asked.

“Excuse me?” I asked after a moment. I had let the monster into town? Me? “What do you mean?”

“Do you not understand what you did?!” The woman in the blue dress said. “Were you even doing your job? If you had been, the monsters wouldn’t have invaded like they did yesterday!”

She hit me with her folding fan.

It didn’t really hurt—the elaborate folding fan was only meant to cover her lower face, and there wasn’t much power behind the strike since she was just a sheltered noblewoman. However, I had no idea why she struck me.

“What are you doing?!” Mary snapped, angry on my behalf. “First you barge in, then you start shouting nonsense and hitting people out of nowhere!”

The noblewoman in blue huffed and pointed her folding fan at me.

“This wannabe knight didn’t properly refill the lanterns with mana to repel the monsters. Don’t you think that’s why they got in?! This year’s festival was important—we invited a noble to whom this town owes a great debt! It was supposed to lead Sathante to future development as well! However, since you didn’t do your job properly, our beloved garden was destroyed. Guests who found out about the monsters’ invasion cut their plans short and returned home, and those who had been scheduled to come canceled!”

Her large blue eyes overflowed with tears, which spilled onto her white porcelain cheeks. The noblewoman in the deep green day dress consoled her with a hug.

“The monsters’ invasion was an accident!” Mary protested. “This region is deep in the northern mountains, and Sathante is at the foot of the Mulian Mountain Range. We’re much closer to monsters than other towns are, and the beasts have invaded countless times in the past. These things just happen now and then.”

“But if this wannabe knight had been doing her job, the town would have been protected!” the noblewoman in blue shouted. “Why did you put off checking the lanterns on the far side of the nobles’ district?! If you really are a former knight, why didn’t you handle things better?!”

Mary bent forward. “She—”

Mary was bent forward as she argued. I put a hand on Mary’s shoulder to interrupt her, then got off the bed. As I thought, my overworked right leg would not move—I staggered a bit, but braced myself on my left leg to stand. I bowed my head deeply, giving a knight’s salute.

“My lack of strength allowed for the monsters to invade, and as a result, one of Sathante’s important locations was destroyed. For that, I truly, deeply apologize.”

“It’s your fault! Your responsibility!” the woman in blue seethed. “It’s all because of you!”

In my childhood, I had learned a great piece of wisdom: it was better not to oppose nobles. Nobles—not every one, of course, but most of them—disliked plebeians on a fundamental level. If something happened, the blame always fell on the commoner. My mentor, his wife, Cody, and the black knights from my graduating class weren’t that way. They treated me kindly, like an equal. But the reality was that nobles like them were the minority.

Yielding to them was unwarranted, but if it solved the problem, that was better.

As I continued to bow my head, something bounced off my hair and hit the floor. It was the ornate, beautiful folding fan that the noblewoman in the blue dress had held. It looked incredibly expensive, but now it was bent.

“Calm down, Marsha!” commanded the girl in green.

“But sister!”

I stared vacantly at Marsha as she cried over concern for her hometown while her older sister comforted her. Wearing extravagant dresses and coming from high birth as they did, the two noblewomen looked like they were acting out a scene from a play.

“Your name is Lina?” said the older sister.

“Yes, that’s correct,” I replied.

The older, green-clad noblewoman glared at me with a mix of hatred and scorn in her eyes, as if she were looking at trash. She looked me over from head to toe, then laughed scornfully.

“A commoner with gray hair, dull gray-blue eyes—a female knight who left the Corps after getting injured,” she noted. “I’ve heard a lot of stories about you.”

“Sister, do you know about her? How awful!” cried Marsha.

“Yes, I heard it straight from the main house. The whole story was absolutely appalling to hear.”

Marsha’s gaze grew even more disdainful. “Honestly, you are the absolute worst!” she raged. “Commoners are all inferior, but even among them, you are the lowest of the low!”

As if to protect Marsha, the older sister stepped forward and hit me on the shoulder with the fan she held.

“Would you kindly leave this town? This is a well-known hot springs town, and a great number of high-status individuals come here for them. It is not a suitable place for a woman who fancies herself a knight—such as yourself. I may not live here, but my precious little sister married into a family here and this town is irreplaceable to her. This is a place where many people come to recuperate and relax—I wonder if you even understand that.”

Mary once again looked like she was about to protest. I once more stopped her with a hand, bowed my head, and said, “I will do as you wish.”

This was fine—if I left Sathante, everything would work out.

The townspeople had worked hard for the festival—and even though not being able to use the beautiful garden on the far side of the nobles’ district was a hard blow to take, there were other gorgeous places here. They could decorate, prepare delicious snacks and meals, and even alcohol. I was sure that the festival would be a success.

“Be quick about your departure—I would have you gone by the start of the festival,” the woman in green commanded.

Marsha and her elder sister left the clinic arm in arm. The doorbell chimed again, and I kept bowing my head until the ringing faded. I let out a deep breath.

“Lina, you idiot! You absolute moron!”

It seemed that Mary had been holding in her words this entire time. She pushed my shoulder—with my leg so weak, I couldn’t keep my stance and ended falling backward into a sitting position.

“I’m sorry, Mary,” I told her.

“There was not a single thing you needed to apologize for!” she retorted.

“But monsters did invade,” I explained. “And that once beautifully maintained garden is now a wreck.”

“Isn’t the order in which the mana in the monster-repelling lanterns are refilled decided between the garrison and Marsha-Leigh’s husband? The person in charge of lantern maintenance is her husband, not you.”

Mary placed a dish of ointment on my lap, then touched my discolored leg without hesitation, spreading cream on it and restarting her work on massaging it. Her hands were deeply wrinkled, and because she worked with so many herbal remedies, her fingertips and nails were dyed green. A noblewoman might call her hands dirty, but to me, they were the kind, warm hands of a grandmother.

“There have been times in the past where monsters got into the village,” Mary said as she worked. “Many knights and civilians have fallen victim to them. This time, even though two bear-types invaded, no one died, and no one even got severely injured. It’s a miracle.”

The cream felt good on my skin—incredible, actually, now that I could relax—and its citrusy scent filled the room.

“This should be obvious, child,” Mary continued, “but in the first place, your body is in no state to battle monsters. You’re like me—a person who has no means to fight. Even so, you pushed yourself to go against two of them...”

Tears dropped onto the dish on my lap. They should have been cold, but instead were incredibly warm.

“Thank you, Mary,” I replied. “I don’t regret it, you know. I’m sad that the garden was destroyed, but no one was hurt, and no one died.”

“Lina...”

“I came here to recuperate, but I was quite happy here and ended up overstaying my welcome, it seems,” I continued. “This is good timing—I was just thinking that it was about time to head to another town. I’m sorry for the sudden request, but could you make me more medicine and cream? Tea, as well? I’ve found that your creations are the best for me.”

Mary’s black eyes overflowed with tears, but she laughed and said, “I’ll prepare you some really effective stuff.”

After Mary treated me, the elderly white mage came to the clinic to check me over a second time. He told me that the pins and needles sensation and aches in my hands would heal with time, although my legs would need even more time and I would have to start my physical therapy over again. My mana circuits, already burned out even before the battle, had been severely damaged by the forceful flow of elemental mana.

Pouring my mana into magic items and tools had become painful, and now my job refilling the monster-repelling lanterns was unfeasible. Of course, the hot springs felt wonderful, and Mary’s medicines and teas were incredibly effective on me. I also thought that I was getting along well with the members of the garrison and the townspeople.

However, I was an outsider, and as I was in no position to spend lots of money as a visitor to the hot springs for medical treatment, it wasn’t proper for me to overstay my welcome.

This was a good opportunity to leave Sathante.

***

During the night I packed my belongings and did a bit of light cleaning in the room I was renting. My right leg had never been so difficult to move before, and the pins and needles sensation in my right hand kept me from using it as I would like. This made the packing and cleaning time-consuming, but somehow I got it done.

The next morning, I would visit Mr. Landon, the superintendent of Sathante who oversaw the town. He was the one who had given me the job of refilling the monster-repelling lanterns to pay the rent for my room in the commoners’ district. I thought it best that, since I could no longer do my job, I inform him about leaving my room and Sathante, and bid him farewell.

After that, I intended to go to Mary’s store to buy my cream and medicine, and then head to the garrison to say my goodbyes before leaving. Even if I took the time to give my regards to the people who had helped me, I would be able to leave Sathante just past noon—in time for me to disappear before the festival started.

With my trusty new crutches, I headed toward the nobles’ district to visit the nobles-only hotel that Mr. Landon managed. I went to the back entrance that the employees used and talked to someone who led me to Mr. Landon’s office.

“Good morning, Lina,” he greeted me. “Is something the matter? It’s quite early.”

“I apologize for the sudden visit,” I replied. “Today I will be leaving town, so I came to give you my regards.”

“What?!”

“Lina?!” Mr. Landon’s son, Ezra, cried out in surprise. In a rush, he arranged to have a chair brought for me to sit in and even told someone to prepare tea.

“What’s happened to make you leave town so suddenly?” Ezra asked, taking a seat opposite me. “If it’s about what happened the other day, that’s not your fault. Since we’re next to the woods, monster incursions are inevitable.”

“That’s exactly right,” Mr. Landon added. “None of the citizens even got a scratch on them, and the garrison knights only got scrapes and bruises! Everyone in town is grateful to you—you have nothing to worry about!”

Despite Mr. Landon saying otherwise, I knew that there were people who thought I was to blame—I was sure that Marsha-Leigh and her elder sister weren’t the only ones, though I didn’t voice these thoughts.

A maid brought the tea, and as she set it out she gave me a stern glare. I immediately found a new person who thought I was at fault.

“But since I wasn’t able to move properly, the garden was destroyed just before the autumn festival,” I said. Alongside my apology, I explained that my burnt mana circuits had gotten worse, and that I wasn’t able to refill the monster-repelling lanterns with mana anymore. I also let them know that I would be leaving Sathante.

“But you don’t have to worry about the garden,” Ezra protested weakly.

“Thank you,” I replied. “However, I was visiting this town to recuperate from my injuries. Sooner or later I would have to leave anyway, and today is that day. I apologize for the inconveniences I caused. Thank you for all you have done for me.”

I bowed my head, and Mr. Landon and Ezra, so used to years of greeting and sending off a great many guests coming both for treatment and sightseeing, replied with, “Thank you for coming.”

Since they had gone through the trouble of having the tea brought out, I drank my cup before taking my leave. The tea in the lavish, off-white cup tasted odd. Even though I had put sugar in it, it was a bit sweet yet still bitter. Such an expensive tea was something that I as a commoner could not identify.

I left the nobles’ district and headed to the far side of the commoners’ quarter where Mary had her pharmacy. After checking the signboard to ensure that the store was open, I entered. The gentle clacking of the wooden door chime and the scent of medicinal herbs surrounded me.

“Good morning, Mary,” I greeted.

“Morning, Lina,” she replied. “You took your time. I expected that you would come here first thing in the morning before rushing out of town.”

“I thought I should give my regards to Mr. Landon just in case,” I explained.

“You fool. Landon’s wife and her sister are the ones chasing you out.”

“They’re not chasing me out. Besides, Mr. Landon and Ezra are different.”

Mary shrugged her shoulders in exasperation, then put my oral medicine and a case of cream on the counter. After I placed the payment down next to the items, I took them. I heard the sound of hot water being poured into a teapot, and the familiar scent of her usual tea filled the shop.

“You’re in no hurry to leave, right? Have some of an old woman’s tea,” Mary said kindly.

“Thank you,” I replied after a moment. “I will.”

I sat in my usual chair to wait for the tea. Suddenly, I felt a heat around my stomach, and I put a hand against my belly. My stomach was tying itself in knots—the heat was slowly spreading outward from the middle of my body. My vision started to swirl violently.

“Lina?” Mary asked. “What’s wrong? You look pale.”

“I’m f-fine...” My speech was slurring. “Just a bit...dizzy...”

“Lina!”

My stomach felt hot, like it was burning—it was as if I had swallowed numerous scalding pebbles. It hurt, and I felt faint.

I couldn’t remain sitting in the chair and I fell to my knees. The impact caused the sweat on my body to splatter to the floor. It was the end of autumn—it wasn’t hot enough out for me to sweat in such large amounts like this.

“Lina, it’s going to be okay. I’m going to get the white mage.”

I wanted to tell Mary that I was fine, but the words wouldn’t come out. I could only take rough, rasping breaths.

Something suddenly came up from my stomach. I put a hand over my mouth, but I couldn’t restrain it—an ironlike taste filled my mouth, and reddish black blood flooded out.

I heard Mary shriek as if from incredibly far away even though she should have been close by.

“Lina!”

I thought someone called my name, but it was distant.

I felt like I was slowly sinking into a deep, dark hole. I couldn’t move my arms or legs, and I couldn’t see. Still, I thought I heard someone call my name from far away again.

That voice... It sounded like Lord Granwell’s, but that was probably just what I wanted to hear. It was the fault of a wish that would never be granted—seeing him again and hearing him call my name.

After all, I would never see Lord Granwell again.

Chapter 6: Him, in the Town of Steam

Kingdom of Mert Calendar Year 785

“Once again, we are from the office of inspection. My name is Frost Val McGuire, and this is Faion Hawking. His Excellency Prime Minister Herschel as well as Sir Alexander both consulted us to begin an investigation.”

Inspector McGuire gave a cool impression with his bluish silver hair and deep blue eyes. He gave an elegant bow, then picked up the documents lined up on the desk.

The office of inspection simply called this room “the multipurpose room.” It only had one large desk, and some plain, unadorned chairsr. I assumed it was used for interviews, drawing up documents, and screenings—and, at times, for rough interrogations.

After receiving the summons from the office of inspection, I had returned to the royal palace and been led to the multipurpose room. I was there with the head of inspection, His Excellency the Prime Minister, and Sir Alexander—Lina’s former mentor.

“First,” Inspector McGuire declared, “let me state our conclusion: there was nothing inadequate about the documents brought to our attention.”

The documents that the prime minister’s office submitted for inspection had been sent by the Black Knights Regiment executive office—they were the papers affirming that my wife, Lina Granwell, was employed as an instructor at the knights’ academy. They had been officially signed by a secretary as well as the secretary general—they were in no way counterfeit.

“And are the documents Sir Alexander presented also official?” asked Prime Minister Herschel.

Inspector Hawking nodded.

“Yes,” Inspector McGuire explained. “Sir Alexander brought in the documents with Ms. Lina’s mission instructions. They’re official, signed by the head secretary in the Black Knights Regiment executive office. In all likelihood, Ms. Lina followed these instructions and went on missions to subjugate dragons and other monsters.”

I felt a rush of dizziness and bit my lip to endure it.

The reassignment forms I had submitted for Lina had been accepted. The documents that the executive office had sent confirmed this. His Excellency the Prime Minister and all the civil servants in the policy department were aware of this. Without those documents, even though I was an aide to the prime minister, I would not have been able to take charge of all those long-term inspections abroad and around the country, since I wouldn’t have been able to provide divine magic for Lina’s missions. Everyone knew about my and Lina’s relationship as a white mage and black knight, and our marriage.

Yet, Lina wasn’t actually teaching Monster Studies and archery at the knights’ academy. Her duties had been the same as before I submitted the transfer request: to subdue monsters such as dragons—though without my divine magic.

“As for the rest of the documents submitted, everything is official,” McGuire continued. “The Black Knights Regiment executive office managed and issued them. Our office is currently investigating all such documents for any discrepancies.”

McGuire gathered the papers and passed them to his subordinate. Then, he once again looked at me.

“Lord Granwell, I must ask: where is Ms. Lina currently?”

I paused. “I do not know where she is.”

“After Ms. Lina’s hospitalization, she returned to the capital,” McGuire said. “There is testimony that the Granwell estate summoned her.”

“My mother called for her,” I explained. “Lina arrived at the estate, spoke to my mother, and then left. As to her whereabouts, neither my mother nor the servants know anything. However, I’ve heard that after she left, she stayed for one night at an inn and left the next morning. The last people to see Lina would not have been anyone from my estate, and there is no evidence that she was followed or harmed.”

I still remembered the shock I had felt upon hearing that Lina’s whereabouts were unknown. I had believed without a doubt that she had been coming and going from our estate’s west hall to the knights’ school where she worked. I had assumed that the young fledgling knights there would be a handful, but I had been relieved that her life would not be in danger at that job.

The reality, though, was that just over a year ago she had left the west hall to live in the dorm at the Knights Corps, and had gone out to fight dragons and other monsters without my divine magic. When I had learned that wasn’t a joke, I hadn’t been able to breathe. It was unbelievable that she had gone out on missions with her equipment blessed with divine magic by that low-grade mage. Even if it was the same resistance magic, the difference in effectiveness between mine and that man’s was tremendous—like a shield made of thin paper versus one made of specialized steel. Going out on missions despite that was reckless.

“It is as Lord Granwell says,” Inspector McGuire agreed. “Sir Alexander, this has already been confirmed by members of the office of inspection. The former Granwell marchioness and the estate servants, and naturally Joshua Granwell himself here, committed no unlawful acts vis-à-vis Ms. Lina. Our judgment as the office inspection is that there has been no criminal activity in this case. Ms. Lina left the royal capital of her own free will.”

“Hmph, fine.” Another dissatisfied expression transformed Sir Alexander’s face, and he glared at me.

It seemed like he thought that the Granwell family had been involved in Lina’s disappearance. Perhaps he surmised that Lina’s mere existence was a nuisance to the marquis family, and that we had let her go off on a mission without blessing her with divine magic—and if she died from her wounds, so be it. He probably suspected that, since Lina escaped with her life this time, we had summoned her afterward to dispose of her or something like that.

It would be one thing if Lina had died in the line of duty while out on a mission, but if a member of our house had wanted to eliminate her, then surely they would have devised a more sophisticated method. It would have been easy enough to do without leaving a trail straight to the Granwell name or even a whiff of our involvement.

“We also have confirmation that Ms. Lina took a long-distance carriage headed toward a remote northern border district,” Inspector McGuire continued. “However, we haven’t yet been able to verify where she disembarked, though we are continuing the search. Sooner or later we should be able to establish her whereabouts.”

Inspector McGuire stood from his chair, then looked at me and Sir Alexander one after the other. Finally, he gave a slight bow of his head to Prime Minister Herschel, who was still neatly seated.

“As soon as we learn of Ms. Lina’s whereabouts, we shall be in contact. I ask that you please wait until our investigation is finished regarding any inconsistencies in the official documents from the Black Knights Regiment executive office and we have a detailed picture of what happened. I hope that this is agreeable, Your Excellency.”

“Well, I suppose it is,” Prime Minister Herschel allowed. “It is unthinkable that our office should be accused of persecuting an honorable black knight, and certainly not a joke to suspect my aide of mistreating his wife.”

Investigator McGuire paused. “Well, according to the contents of these documents, there was no doubt about Ms. Lina’s employment at the knights’ academy as an instructor. The question is how both these sets of orders were made official. I ask for your patience—we will take it from here.”

The two royal inspectors took the documents and departed the multipurpose room, leaving His Excellency, Sir Alexander, and myself behind.

“Well then, Joshua,” Prime Minister Herschel said. “We should be going. We’ll have to wait for the inspectors to contact us.”

“Yes, sir,” I replied.

If I were being honest, I wanted to go search for Lina at once. If I followed that long-distance carriage’s path among towns and villages up toward the northern region, I was sure that I would discover her whereabouts. I felt uneasy—why should I have to leave the search for my own wife up to others?

As I was about to follow Prime Minister Herschel out of the room, Sir Alexander—seeming a bit despondent—said in his low voice, “Lord Granwell.”

“What is it?” I replied.

“Well...” Sir Alexander trailed off.

His Excellency paused. “Joshua, I will give you a moment to speak with Sir Alexander. As he is your wife’s former mentor and foster parent, that makes him something like your father-in-law, does it not?”

***

“I...I must apologize,” Sir Alexander said, bowing his head. “I’m sorry for suspecting ya, Lord Granwell.”

We had left the multipurpose room and gone to the rear garden on the other side of the building. It was a small space and a quiet one, too, as not many people frequented it.

I didn’t respond.

“I deeply apologize,” he continued.

“It is true that some sort of problem occurred in the Black Knights Regiment executive office in regard to the paperwork,” I finally replied, “and as a result—while not my intention—I neglected Lina. Considering that, I must apologize to you, her mentor, and everyone else involved for any concern this may have caused.” I bowed my head.

After I had seen the official document that came from the executive office, I had concluded that Lina had been removed from mission duties. However, what I had failed to do was physically check that Lina was going to the knights’ academy to teach.

Flustered, Sir Alexander said, “Please stop—don’t apologize.”

When I lifted my head, I saw that he wore a bewildered expression.

“As for myself, I woulda just been happy to see Lina happy,” Sir Alexander mumbled. I had never expected to see such a renowned dragon slayer and veteran knight to look so disheartened and tired.

“Going on missions to slay dragons is certainly an honor, but it goes hand in hand with danger,” he continued. “My wife and I were never blessed with any kids, so we thought of my apprentices Cody and Lina as if they were ours. When we heard that Lina was going out on missions while her husband was ignoring her, we were terrified.”

I thought it only natural for him to worry about the knight he had raised as a daughter after hearing that her husband was neglecting her, even if she had been getting divine magic from a coworker to go out on missions. I thought it a matter of course for him, as a mentor and foster parent, to look into my and Lina’s relationship.

“As a knight, if Lina were to get badly wounded or even lose her life, it would be fate—there’s absolutely no safety in battling dragons and other monsters. But Lord Granwell, I worried ’bout what would happen to your marriage if she survived, but had to step down from being a black knight. Though ya did seem close during your first three years of marriage.”

“Well...” I trailed off.

“The marriages between black knights and white mages are contractual, based on mana compatibility—which means that divorce can happen,” Sir Alexander continued. “If it were Lina’s informed decision, regardless of whether it was to continue or cut off her marriage with you, my wife and I would support her.”

Sir Alexander clenched his fists tightly.

“But she left the capital without a word. When we looked into it, we found out that she’d moved out of the Corps dormitory. She was supposed to be living with ya in your estate in the first place, but she moved back into the dorms over a year ago. She’d had less and less to do with ya, so I figured your marriage wasn’t going well.” Sir Alexander paused, then added, “I’d thought that you might’ve had a change of heart, Lord Granwell. And then after Lina was injured and couldn’t be a black knight anymore, I thought it wouldn’t be all that strange of ya to consider her a bother.”

“Ah, so that is why you thought it possible that we might have done something to Lina after hearing that she had been called back to the estate, as she was already estranged and a nuisance,” I surmised.

Sir Alexander didn’t answer for a moment. “I’m sorry.”

Considering Lina’s position and circumstances, I could understand why Sir Alexander would come to the extreme conclusion that my family and I had done away with her, as well as bring that idea to the office of inspection’s attention. As there was no evidence to support that suspicion, Sir Alexander had been rash, but that had been due to his concern for Lina.

I wondered which one of us actually cared more for her—but when I thought that, I felt ashamed.

“Let’s both stop apologizing,” I suggested.

“Lord Granwell?”

“I am also justly at fault for what’s happened to Lina,” I explained. “It’s natural that you and everyone else, Sir Alexander, have certain feelings about me.”

“But—”

I held up a hand to stop Sir Alexander from continuing.

“I understand what you were trying to say,” I explained. “Those in the prime minister’s office, including myself and the policy department members, all thought that Lina was employed at the knights’ academy because of the official documents. The cause of this incident lies with the source of those documents—the Black Knights Regiment executive office.”

They had accepted the transfer request and had issued official documents confirming it, yet at the same time had neglected to inform Lina of her transfer and continued to send her out on dangerous missions. Only the Black Knights Regiment executive office could issue those conflicting orders, but I didn’t know why it had done so.

“Inspector McGuire is currently leading a team to audit the executive office, and we have no choice but to leave this matter to them and wait for the inspection to end—then, everything should be clear. But to begin with, there is no meaning in blaming each other or apologizing for Lina’s disappearance.”

I had meant to mutter this to myself, but Sir Alexander lowered his head and agreed with me. “That’s true.”

In the end, though, I had neglected Lina. I let out a bitter sigh—then suddenly felt strong mana. Sir Alexander, who had been so dejected, snapped into alertness and turned his gaze toward where the mana was coming from.

A dry autumn wind blew, and the surrounding temperature dropped slightly. I felt that strong mana coming nearer—then saw a faint, pale green, glittering mass of light flying toward us. The green thing bumped into Sir Alexander, then burst.

I didn’t understand what was happening at all—but it didn’t seem to be something evil. The green glow left behind after the thing burst encircled Sir Alexander, and he stood frozen, seeming to feel or receive something.

There was silence.

In the distant past, there had been a country which we now called the old magi-nation. All the people who lived there could freely use what we referred to today as old magic—which was incomparably stronger than our modern magic. However, as time had gone on, that power had faded and died out. We still did not know precisely how far that magical civilization had expanded, nor did we understand why they had declined. It was a mystery lost to the annals of history.

In today’s world, black knights could still use old magic, which drew from the power that structured our world. Old magic included many aspects that did not exist in modern magic, and I thought that this green light was most likely connected to it.

Sir Alexander, enveloped in the glowing green cloud, furrowed his brow deeply and adopted a severe expression. Then the light disappeared, and he turned his sharp hazel eyes on me.

“Sir Alexander?”

He didn’t speak for a moment. “Lord Granwell, come with me.”

With long strides, he approached me, then grabbed me by the arm and pulled me along. He was so strong—stronger than I thought humanly possible—that I stumbled.

“Wh-Where are we going?!” I cried.

He tugged me to a spot near the center of the garden; all the while,I kept almost tripping over myself.

“Oh, Lord Granwell! What good timing—I was just about to head over to the prime minister’s office.”

“Inspector Hawking?”

The man I had met just a short while ago during the inquiry approached us. Without a word, Sir Alexander took Inspector Hawking by the arm as well and stood him at my side.

“Inspector, I’d like you to go too.”

“H-Huh? What? Sir Alexander, what in the world is going on? Excuse me!”

Inspector Hawking wore a befuddled expression on his face as he protested, but I couldn’t answer his question, and the only one who could was keeping quiet about it.

“Um, excuse me?” Inspector Hawking tried again after a moment. “What’s happening?”

“Honestly? That’s somethin’ I’d like to know too,” Sir Alexander replied.

In front of our eyes, the aged knight rose to his full height and held out his right hand toward the stunned Inspector Hawking and myself.

“Inspector, I’d like to entrust ya with the matter you’ll see over there. Please judge it with your honest observations,” requested Sir Alexander.

Inspector Hawking was bewildered. “What are you talking about?”

“Lord Granwell,” Sir Alexander continued, “Please save Lina.”

“Huh?” I breathed. “Save Lina?”

Sir Alexander’s words raised questions from me and Inspector Hawking, but we didn’t receive an answer. A large, glowing, light purple magic circle unfurled at our feet, spreading out in three tiers. It was some sort of old magic.

I soon couldn’t hear any sound around us, and the scenery in front of us warped significantly—it felt as if we had been sucked into something, pulling us up. Like a leaf dancing in the wind, the force shook me about right, then left, then up and down, before finally lifting me up off my feet and forcefully throwing me aside. Though I had been unbalanced, I somehow managed to land on my knees. Immediately, Inspector Hawking, his face white as a sheet, fell on his backside on top of the light purple magic circle.

“Ugh,” he groaned. “I feel awful...”

It seemed being tossed about like a leaf had made him feel sick.

“Where are we?” I asked, bewildered.

As the glow from the magic circle started to fade, I took a look at our surroundings. It was clear that we were not in the royal capital. We were deep in the mountains, the temperature was lower, and the air around us smelled different.

“It worked—you did it, Master! I was worried since I’d heard that you weren’t good with magic, but you did it! If you’d failed, we would have two talented civil servants’ worth of mincemeat here.”

The one who had said such disturbing things was a boy with a dazzling smile who seemed to have just passed his mid-teens. Beside him was a middle-aged man, sitting on the ground with his head hung low as he breathed roughly. I didn’t have to look twice at him to recognize him due to his distinctive features—he was Sir Elijah Altman, a black knight with a tall, solid build, tan skin, black hair peppered with a bit of white, and blue eyes.

“I wonder what kind of punishment we would’ve gotten if they actually had been made into chopped liver. I’m really glad you succeeded, Master!” the boy continued.

Sir Elijah regained his breath enough to say, “Shuddup—take Lord Granwell and get going!”

“Okey dokey,” the boy responded, exuding youth. “Come on, Lord Granwell, let’s get going! Mr. Inspector, sir, please wait for my mentor to get his breath back to hear the details, okay?” He then grabbed me by the arm and pulled me along.

I glanced at our surroundings as we hurried on. I guessed that whatever was going on probably had to do with what Sir Alexander said about saving Lina.

“I have a question,” I said.

“Yes, sir?”

“Where are we?”

“We’re in Sathante, the northernmost hot springs town in the northern border region,” the boy replied chipperly. “Though to be more accurate, we’re in a clearing a bit outside the town, in the mountains. I hear it’s some sort of secret hideaway that the local kids play in. We borrowed the place because you need a quiet, kinda biggish spot for teleportation magic to work.”

The boy continued pulling me along, and we passed under a gate with a signboard attached to it that read Welcome to the Home of Hot Springs.

There were several towns and villages around the country that called themselves the “home of hot springs.” There were natural differences when it came to the efficacy of hot spring water that bubbled up from underground. Each hot spring had its own unique characteristics that appealed to tourists and other visitors, such as having a view of the ocean, being frequented by animals such as monkeys and deer, or being used to make cuisine.

Sathante, a hot springs resort deep in a forest, was located on the northern side of the country. It was cool throughout the year, even in the summer, and during the winter visitors enjoyed watching the snow while taking a pleasant bath. Furthermore, despite being deep in the forest, Sathante visitors could enjoy cooking made with fresh seafood from the nearby harbor town. With these as selling points, it was incredibly popular even among other hot springs towns.

Teleportation magic was a specialized spell among the broader field of old magic. Thanks to it, in an instant we had been transported from the corner of the castle to Sathante, when an overland trip from the royal capital should have taken days. It seemed like a convenient kind of magic.

The boy led me along through the center of town to a small establishment with a signboard identifying it as the Second Sathante Clinic. We entered and ran through the hallway until we came to a treatment room at the end and went inside.

“I’ve brought him!” the boy declared.

“At last! I’m at my limit—swap with me, boy.”

An elderly white mage in white robes spoke to me, and I stood in front of him next to the treatment bed. I caught sight of the person lying there.

“Lina!” I cried.

Her complexion was utterly pale, although strangely her cheeks and neck were red—I assumed because of fever. Her breaths were thin and ragged, and she seemed unconscious.

“Boy, aren’t you her husband?!” the elderly mage shouted. “Hurry up and help with the poison!”

“Poison?!” I echoed.

“Not the dragon poison that’s accumulated in her body—the poison in her veins! Hurry!” the elderly white mage shouted close to my ear.

I traded roles with him. “Poison in her veins,” I muttered.

I gripped Lina’s hand, checking her condition closely from head to toe with magic. A toxin was in her veins, flowing throughout her whole body. There was also another kind of poison in her right arm and right leg, but that wasn’t in her bloodstream—instead, it was in her muscles and bones, and seemed to not be affecting her body so much as the one that was currently circulating. There were a large number of scars all over her, both old and new, though these weren’t what was threatening her life. First, as the elderly white mage had said, I had to detoxify her bloodstream.

“Detoxify,” I murmured, and light green magic glowed as it slowly encompassed Lina’s body.

***

Throughout the night, I continued to heal Lina with detoxification and recovery magic. Looking at how many injuries she had collected on her body over the past year hurt me more than I could have imagined.

The old herbalist who was tending to Lina asked me to extract the poison that Lina had drunk, so I did as told while I worked on detoxifying the rest in her body. Thinking about it later, I realized that the poison was necessary for evidence, though apparently I was so upset that I hadn’t been able to process that simple fact in the heat of the moment.

At dawn, Lina’s condition stabilized, and I breathed a sigh of relief alongside my overflowing tears. As I thought about how glad I was that Lina was alive, I passed out. I hadn’t slept long before the boy who I had met upon first arriving in Sathante roughly woke me and dragged me to the Heiress Hotel.

Sathante had numerous lodging facilities. There were ones for nobles, ones for the masses, and even privately owned holiday villas. Among them, the Heiress Hotel was a large and extravagant accommodation for nobles. On the first floor were areas like the entrance lobby, sitting room, restaurant, and dance hall, while visitors’ rooms started from the second floor. All rooms had their own terrace and private bathroom, it seemed.

There were people waiting for us at the far back of the lobby, where sofas had been set up. Sitting there drinking an after-breakfast coffee was Sir Elijah—the man who had teleported Inspector Hawking and me to this place. Moving to stand behind Sir Elijah was his apprentice, the boy who had brought me first to the clinic and then here—Noah Lakes. Opposite Sir Elijah sat Inspector Hawking, who had lost the sickly pallor that had been on his face when we arrived here together yesterday. There were others here as well, but I focused on these people.

“Hey, we’re here!” Noah greeted.

“Good morning, everyone,” I added.

The two who were sitting stood, and we exchanged names and greetings. When I shook Sir Elijah’s hand, it was hard and calloused from using his sword.

“Once again, Sir Elijah, thank you for your correspondence regarding Ms. Lina,” said Inspector Hawking, bowing.

Sir Elijah roughly scratched his head, then shook it side to side. “Nah, it was a coincidence that I came across what was happening and then contacted you.”

“About that,” Inspector Hawking began, “may I ask about how you discovered what was going on?”

Elijah nodded and asked a nearby maid for another cup of coffee, then offered us the second sofa. When we sat opposite him as the maid set out coffee, though I couldn’t even think of touching it. After all, I had been told that Lina had been offered poisoned tea in this very hotel, and she had vomited up blood before collapsing.

Sir Elijah gathered his thoughts before speaking. “I came here to give my apprentice some practical experience. I also thought we’d take the opportunity to enjoy the hot springs, eat some good grub, and see the festival.”

“Gain practical experience in Sathante, you say?” Inspector Hawking inquired.

“Yeah,” Sir Elijah responded. “On the north side of this town is a forest that leads to the Mulian Mountain Range. In the fall, monsters that prepare for hibernation move ’round real actively, which is why we’re as on guard during this time as we are during the spring breeding season. I thought we might come here to take down a few bear-types for experience.”

Noah, Sir Elijah’s apprentice, was standing behind him. He nodded in affirmation.

Sir Elijah carried on with his story. “Soon after we got here, we happened upon an old herbalist who was screaming for someone to come help her. I asked what was wrong, and she said that a young lass had vomited blood and collapsed, so she needed help right that minute to carry her to the clinic.”

Inspector Hawking processed this information. “And that ‘young lass’ was Ms. Lina.”

“Exactly. I had orders that if I found Lina, I had to contact the office of inspection. So, soon as I helped carry her to the clinic, I sent an emergency correspondence to the office and to Alexander.”

“To Sir Alexander too?”

“Yeah, ’cause he’s Lina’s former mentor. Usually, I would’ve assumed I should call her husband Lord Granwell as well, but...” Sir Elijah paused. “Considering her whereabouts were unclear and I had been instructed to contact the office of inspection if I found her, that suggested she was in some sort of trouble that concerned the office. Lina isn’t the kind of girl who causes problems, so I assumed that the issue involved her husband and his family.”

I caught Sir Elijah shooting a fleeting glance at me that silently said that he had been right on the money. As that was the case, I kept my mouth shut.

“In the meantime,” Sir Elijah continued, “I found out that Lina’d been poisoned. This town only has one guy who can use healing magic—that old man—and he said that he couldn’t save Lina by himself. Something about magic affinity and ability. If he took too long, Lina would die of the poison, so I decided to call Lord Granwell. I thought that the culprit who had administered the poison might still be in town too.”

“I see, so that’s why you teleported Lord Granwell and myself,” Inspector Hawking surmised. “That teleportation magic is quite the convenient spell.”

“Actually, it’s not convenient,” Sir Elijah countered. “The person who performs the spell can’t teleport, and the more mass you teleport, the more mana it consumes. Teleporting two people wipes out my mana completely. I and Alexander used all of our mana to teleport you two and I had nothing left. And yesterday before I teleported you, I sent that emergency communication spell, too, so my stamina was all gone.”

So that was why when we had arrived in Sathante, Sir Elijah had been sitting limply on the ground—he had expended all his mana using an emergency communication spell as well as teleportation. It seemed that before the teleportation, that green light that had enveloped Sir Alexander’s body had been magical correspondence.

“You all right, Lord Granwell?” Sir Elijah asked. “You were up all night helping Lina with healing magic, right? You’ve been using magic since you arrived yesterday.”

“I’m fine,” I replied. “I’m used to staying up for two to three days at a time.”

There was a lot of work to do regarding the country’s policies at my job. As there was a large volume of work to do among so few civil servants, each person’s responsibilities were myriad. Virgil and I—still young aides to the prime minister—as well as the civil servants under us had a particularly large number of tasks. In the busy season, it wasn’t rare to have no time to sleep, or to continue work for two to three days at a time.

“Ah, to be young,” Sir Elijah said. “Working through the night is impossible for me nowadays.”

“White mages are not only defensive but also healing mages,” I explained, “so it’s reasonable to expect us to be able to provide care in emergencies.”

“I see. And how is Lina doing?” Sir Elijah asked.

“The detoxification has finished, and she’s sleeping now. We removed the poison and put it in this.”

I placed a small glass bottle on the table. A seal covered it, keeping the poison taken from Lina’s body from becoming diluted by airborne contaminants.

“Has the poison been identified?” Inspector Hawking asked. He picked up the bottle, and the light yellow poison sloshed around inside.

“Mary, the town herbalist, looked into it. It’s mainly made from a poisonous fungus called a daybreak mushroom, and has a delayed effect. Apparently, a portion of the nobility often uses this poison. Its unique trait is that the larger the dose, the longer its effects take to activate,” I explained.

Sir Elijah considered that information. “A poison favored by high society, and one that makes it harder to identify the culprit the larger the dose. So, who poisoned Lina?”

Inspector Hawking wet his lips with his tea, shrugging his shoulders ambiguously.

“The perpetrator was a maid working for the family that runs the Heiress Hotel. The one who ordered her to do it was Baroness Amelia Talys,” he answered.

“Who’s this Amelia Talys woman?” Sir Elijah asked.

“The current administrator of the Heiress Hotel is Mr. Landon. His son Mr. Ezra has a wife, Lady Marsha-Leigh. The one who ordered the poisoning was Marsha-Leigh’s older sister,” answered Inspector Hawking.

Sir Elijah thought for a moment. “Why’d she have Lina poisoned? Also, Lina collapsed in the town pharmacy—was it really okay for Amelia to have the poison take effect so soon?” He gestured more and more as he voiced his doubt. “If you can adjust the time that the poison starts to take effect after being administered, then wouldn’t she at least have given enough that it would only take effect after Lina left town?”

“It seems the baroness did account for that,” Inspector Hawking answered. “However, in actuality, the poison took effect much sooner than she expected. Do you know the reason for that, Lord Granwell?”

“Mary the herbalist’s medical opinion is that it likely has to do with the dragon venom that has remained unneutralized in Lina’s body,” I explained. “She believes that it reacted somehow with the poison that Lina drank, affecting Lina’s body much faster than planned.”

The remaining dragon venom in Lina’s body had yet to be detoxified, and it was still dulling her senses and making her numb. It was imperative that the poison be neutralized as soon as possible. If I had blessed her equipment properly, things would not have come to this.

However, it could be said that the dragon venom had saved Lina’s life this time. If it hadn’t been in Lina’s body, the slow-acting poison might have taken effect after she left Sathante and arrived in another town. If that had been the case, Sir Elijah would have passed her by, the doctor and Mary the herbalist would have been unable to treat her, and I wouldn’t have made it in time. Lina could have lost her life.

“Well, at least Lina’s life was saved,” Sir Elijah concluded. “Now, here’s the important part: this lady, Amelia Talys—why’d she make the maid serve poisoned tea? Did she or the maid have any relationship with Lina?”

“None at all,” Inspector Hawking replied. “Ms. Lina hardly has any connection to the nobility outside of the few nobles she does know. That was virtually their first meeting.”

“All right then, what’s the motive for poisoning? It can’t just be because she’s a knight from the peasantry,” Sir Elijah said.

“The motive is still unclear. Lady Amelia Talys, who gave the order, and her maid Ann, who did the poisoning, still have not revealed anything. I will continue the interrogation thoroughly,” Inspector Hawking promised.

He shrugged his shoulders again and raised a hand in a beckoning gesture, upon which three people approached. Judging from the clothes they wore, I wondered if they were affluent commoners.

“This is Mr. Landon, superintendent of Sathante and the owner of this establishment. This is his son, Mr. Ezra, and Mr. Ezra’s wife, Lady Marsha-Leigh. This is Ms. Lina’s husband, Joshua Granwell, an aide to the prime minister.”

At their introductions, the three bowed their heads deeply.

“Thank you for coming so far.” The speaker, Mr. Landon, was an obese man with a thin head of hair—the picture of being past middle age. He paused before continuing. “I am deeply sorry for what has been done. We cannot apologize enough for it.”

Next to him was his son, and behind Mr. Landon was his son’s wife, who bowed stiffly.

“Amelia Talys and her maid—the mastermind behind the poisoning, and the executioner, respectively—have both been apprehended and are currently being restrained in the garrison dungeon. In a few days they shall be transported to the royal capital. I believe they will suffer a heavy punishment, seeing as they attempted to kill a former black knight and member of a marquis’s family.”

At Inspector Hawking’s words, the faces of the three turned even paler, and I could see them sweat profusely.

“How wonderful that our country does not practice capital punishment,” the inspector continued drily. “They’ll get to keep their lives.”

Even though the attempt at taking Lina’s life ultimately failed, the crime that the Talys family committed against her—a member of the Granwell marquis family— was severe. Being relatives, Mr. Landon’s family was most likely in on the act as well.

“Lady Marsha-Leigh, on the day before Ms. Lina was poisoned, I hear you visited the clinic she was at,” Inspector Hawking continued. “Would you care to explain why?”

The lady in question, standing behind her husband and father-in-law, turned even paler. She took a shaky step forward and lowered her head. After a moment, she said, “I had heard that monsters had invaded the town. I was relieved that there were no people with serious, terrible wounds. However, the park in the nobles’ district had been destroyed, leaving it unfit for strolling.”

“Well, two big bear-types were rioting there. If it was just a park they destroyed, isn’t that good?” Sir Elijah asked.

Lady Marsha-Leigh’s face turned pure white. “That is...” She struggled to find words. “I heard that the monster-repelling lanterns hadn’t been functioning well. Since the person refilling their mana wasn’t doing her job, the lanterns weren’t working, and...and the monsters got in.”

“And who told you that?” Sir Elijah inquired.

“My elder sister and her maid, Ann. They said that a former knight—a commoner—was refilling them, and that since she was neglecting her duties, the monsters invaded the town.”

“So that’s why you went to the clinic,” Sir Elijah pressed, “harshly complained to Lina—the very one who dealt with the two monsters—and then hit her with your fan?”

Hit Lina with her fan? At Sir Elijah’s unbelievable words, I scowled at the noblewoman—Sir Elijah and his apprentice did the same.

“I checked the monster-repelling lanterns myself,” Inspector Hawking reported.
“They all had seventy percent or more of mana remaining within them. It is my judgment as an inspector that they were working without a problem. In the first place, while they may be called ‘monster-repelling,’ those lanterns cannot perfectly protect towns from monster incursions. They are devices to discourage the beasts from approaching as much as possible. Thus, Ms. Lina is not to blame, don’t you think?”

“I...” Lady Marsha-Leigh whispered, and she sank to the floor. It seemed that she really had thought that Lina was responsible for the monsters’ attack.

“That’s enough,” I said after a moment.

Inspector Hawking shrugged his shoulders once more. “You’re right,” he agreed. “It seems that she doesn’t know why her older sister poisoned Ms. Lina.”

“Lina was in no state to fight—and as a retired knight, she’s a noncombatant, same as you all,” Sir Elijah declared. “Yet she pushed herself, fighting to protect this town and its citizens. And despite that, you blamed her for everything and demanded she leave the town.”

“I-I’m so sorry,” Lady Marsha-Leigh repeated, pressing her forehead to the floor in apology. Next to her, Mr. Landon and Ezra also expressed their condolences again.

I couldn’t bear to listen to them despite their apologies.

Rather than Lina leaving after her treatment had finished, they had been about to drive her out for something that wasn’t her fault. Naturally, a great snort of indignation escaped me.

“How could you do such a thing?!” I snapped.

“I-I didn’t know!” Lady Marsha-Leigh shrieked. “I didn’t know she was a member of a high noble family—I didn’t know she used to fight as a black knight! I swear! If I had known I wouldn’t have said a word!”

“Marsha-Leigh!” Mary the herbalist interjected.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t know, I didn’t know!”

Lady Marsha-Leigh screamed and cried as she clung to Mary. Her state was unbecoming of a noblewoman. It chilled me to my core, thinking about what humiliation and absurdity Lina must have experienced.

***

The afternoon autumn sky was a clear blue without a single cloud in sight, and the chirps of birds filled the air alongside the voices of a great many people as they worked to dispose of the bear-type monster that had been frozen. Lina had defeated this one—as well as the other one which already cleared away—despite being so unfit to fight. Because of that, her wounds—which had been gradually healing—had worsened again.

After the discussion at the hotel, I poured detoxification magic into Lina three times a day—morning, noon, and night—for the next few days. I also administered recovery magic over the large wounds on her arms and legs that she had acquired during the past year without my knowing. After my treatment with magic, Mary the herbalist would plaster a cream of her own making over Lina’s limbs and massage it in.

The poison Lina had drunk at the hotel had already been purged, so there was no urgent threat upon her life. However, Lina had yet to wake up, possibly because of the accumulation of dragon venom in her body.

Now, I had moved on to detoxifying it and healing her external wounds, but since a lot of time had passed since she had received those wounds, the magic wasn’t very effective. I could only continue to be patient and persevere.

I had just finished the midday treatment. I sat on a bench, absentmindedly watching the monster be disassembled.

It seemed that the dismantling of the monster was being done with great skill, and I figured it would be done within the next two hours. Bear-type beasts’ claws, fangs, bones, and hides were used to make items such as weapons and armor, while one part of the internal organs were used for medicines, and the meat for food.

“Are you feeling regret? After all this?” Mary the herbalist asked. She sat on an adjacent bench and let out a long sigh.

“I’m full of regret,” I answered. “All I’ve felt recently is regret.”

“I’m amazed at you, boy,” she answered. “It’s like you know nothing at all of being the white mage spouse to a black knight.”

“A white mage protects and supports the black knight. I know full well—”

“‘What it’s about,’ is that what you want to say?” she interrupted. “You saw all those wounds on Lina’s body, didn’t you? She can barely walk because of them. And the effects of the dragon’s poison discolored her skin all reddish black and purple.” She paused. “Boy, if your magic had been there for her, she wouldn’t have become like that. A white mage doesn’t just protect their spouse’s body, you know—they support and protect their spouse’s heart. That’s just as important.”

From the treatments, I knew that Lina’s body was riddled with wounds and her skin was discolored, all because my magic hadn’t been there for her. Surely her heart had likewise suffered many wounds, even though I was the one who was supposed to protect and heal that part of her too.

I had no argument against Mary the herbalist. It was just as she said.

She continued speaking after a moment. “The way I see it, you and Lina are both utter morons. If you don’t communicate what you’re thinking through your words and behavior, nothing gets across.”

“Does Lina resent me?” I asked.

“I don’t think she resents you,” Mary replied. “If anything, I think she felt guilty.”

“Guilty?”

“She told me she felt that there was no way she was a good match for you. She’s a commoner, and you’re a dazzling, high-level aristocrat, as well as someone who supports the country as an aide to the prime minister,” Mary explained. “She said that you were only matched because of your compatible magic affinity, and that you must have pitied her because of all those rumors surrounding her about refusing marriage proposals time after time. And then once you were engaged, she thought you protected her because you were valuing the contract and your duty. Even if you took care of her out of obligation or out of pity, it made her happy, and she loved you.”

“What...?” I whispered.

“I assume you didn’t intend for there to be any love? You must have thought you’d start out with familial affection for her, and if you happened to build up trust between you two, so be it—but now, you’re in love with Lina. Am I wrong?”

I couldn’t speak for a moment. “You’re not.”

“Thought so,” Mary said with a bitter smile. “You know, boy, it’s not all your fault, okay? Don’t get that wrong. You two worked to compromise with each other, loved each other, cared for each other, and acted like you did. But first of all, you and Lina should have spoken to each other—used your words.”

I covered my face with both hands and squeezed out all the air from my lungs. No matter how many times I did so, the heavy feeling in my chest couldn’t be expelled alongside my breaths.

Finally, Mary asked, “What do you intend to do with Lina now, boy?”

“I...”

“You know that she already meant to divorce you.”

No words came to me.

Lina had left the west hall of her own will to live her life, had signed the divorce paperwork that my mother had given her, and left the royal capital. I had searched for her, found her—and yet, what did I intend to do?

I wanted to start over with her. I wanted to do as many other couples did, and live a normal, married life with her.

I had destroyed the file for divorce that Lina had signed. I had crumpled it in my hands and burned it to ashes in front of my mother’s eyes.

“Even so,” I said finally, “I want to be with her.”

Even if it was only what I wanted.

“Because of your contract?” Mary asked. “Because you have to?”

“Because I’m in love with her.”

There was a high probability that Lina no longer wanted to be with me. I had neglected her for the past year, and consequently, she might have exhausted her fondness for me. But just as Mary the herbalist said, nothing would start between us unless we spoke. For now, I would continue with Lina’s treatments. She still hadn’t woken up, after all.

“Use this.”

“Hm?”

Mary handed me a paper bag. When I looked inside, I saw an unorganized mix of oral medicine, a case filled with cream, and leaves that seemed like they were to make herbal tea.

“That’s the medicine she’s been using, and the tea she’s fond of. It lessens the symptoms of magic burns, and it’s supposed to help dilute the toxin left in her body. We’ve used up all the medicines and creams to treat her, you know. The rest of it all must be running low by now.”

“I...”

“You’re a white mage, boy, and you’ve got a good magic affinity with her. When it comes to healing her, nothing is going to be more effective than your magic.” She paused. “Still, this stuff is nothing to sneeze at. It’ll help.”

Mary the herbalist patted my shoulder with more force than I thought possible for an old woman, and a shock ran through my body. My shoulder stung for a while afterward, continuing to supply me with pain.

<<<>>>

My head spun round and round. With my eyes closed, I couldn’t tell up from down. I felt just like a leaf that had fallen into a current of water—at its mercy, jostled and pushed around. I was incredibly hot too. I didn’t know whether it was the room’s temperature or perhaps a fever, but I was burning—sweltering and suffocating. I was dizzy, hot, and could barely breathe.

I held out my right hand. I thought I might feel something. Desperately, I extended my arm, searching for something to cling to—if even my fingers or the back of my hand could touch something, that would be fine.

Just when I couldn’t reach any farther, my fingertips brushed against something. It felt like someone’s hand. It encased and gripped my own, squeezing as if its owner would never let go.

“It’s...right...”

I could hear a voice, but I couldn’t properly listen. I was too dizzy.

The heat seemed to recede through the hand that held mine. Huh? I thought as the burning left my body and my breathing eased. My dizziness, too, gradually calmed.

“If...”

Ah, I still couldn’t properly listen. The voice belonged to the owner of the hand, I was sure, and I had no doubt that they had come to my rescue.

“Please...I...”

What? What were they saying? I squeezed the hand, and it squeezed back. At the same time, an intense wave of drowsiness overtook me, and I drowned in it.

***

“You may have been born a commoner, but you have lived for a bit as a knight—so you must know something about the nobility, correct?”

The former Granwell marchioness, Lady Sherry, spoke to me as if she were admonishing a small child and trying to make them understand something.

“Your marriage to Joshua is based on your magic affinity. I, too, am fully aware of the importance of the relationship between a black knight and a white mage. So, while I was not satisfied with you two being together, I allowed it. This is also a great honor for him as a white mage, at any rate.”

The noblewoman sat on a beautiful chair, decorated with a delicate botanical pattern. She wore a beautifully draped dress of fine embroidery and lace, and had her long hair tied up with a hairpiece made with large jewels.

“However, you are no longer a black knight,” she reminded me. “You can no longer even give Joshua the honor of being a white mage married to a black knight. You have no value as a member of the Granwell family. For Joshua to become prime minister in the future, he needs to marry a young lady with a documented noble lineage.”

Lady Sherry gracefully moved her hand—pale and free of sunburns—and suddenly, a single sheet of paper appeared.

“If you care even a little for Joshua, you should understand. I’d have you step aside and go disappear somewhere. You have some serious wounds, correct? Go to some rural village with a nice climate and live at your leisure there.”

An ink-dipped quill pen also appeared in Lady Sherry’s hand, and the paper and pen glided toward me. The quill pen slid into my grasp, and the feather trembled as if already trying to sign my name.

“Well, I’d have you hurry up. After this, I have to meet with the young lady who will become Joshua’s official wife.”

I signed my name on the line, and the paper and quill pen flew back to Lady Sherry.

“Thank you,” she said. “I believe this is the first time I have ever felt grateful to you. Truly, thank you for setting Joshua free.”

It was the first time I had ever seen the former marchioness smile, and she was beautiful, like the mother of a saint.

***

“Oh, it’s you. Hurry up and get ready so we can go fight.”

A senior black knight threw those words over his shoulder, looking at me with a disgusted grimace.

“Sounds like you married that prime minister’s aide and became a member of a marquis’s family. Still, that’s all only paperwork in the end. Don’t get the wrong idea—you’re still a peasant.”

I had no doubt that he was nobility, what with his shining blond hair, clear blue eyes, and well-proportioned features. He wore equipment so expensive that I thought my eyes would bug out of my head, and it had been blessed with more than enough divine magic.

He thought for a moment before saying, “Well, before this you were only able to get your divine magic from a low-grade reservist, but now the great prime minister’s aide will bless your equipment, right? Guess that means missions will be easier for you now.” The black knight seemed to realize something. “Ah, right!” he cried out, coming close to me. “You’ve got lots of strong divine magic now, so you’ll be able to work even harder on missions—you can do our part for us.”

Another black knight joined the first, and then another came along—then more and more. They were all from families holding the rank of count or above, or were related to a count’s family out here in the frontier, and had beautiful hair and eye color, and well-defined features. Then, their wives appeared, all mid-level white mages or higher, all born from equally high houses, and all having complementary magic affinity with their husbands.

“Oh right! Since you’re a commoner, you’ll have to do twice as much of our share,” said the second knight.

“Isn’t twice too little? She’s a commoner, so she’ll have to do five times as much,” the third declared.

“It’s a pity to send you out against a dragon alone though, so go with him. He’s a baron’s adopted kid—another peasant,” added the fourth.

The black knights laughed.

I knew that there were several places that were said to be microcosms of noble society, and the Corps was one of them. It might seem that a knight’s prowess dictated where they stood in the Corps hierarchy, but strangely enough, their status played a large role here as well.

“Hurry up and get out there, pleb,” commanded another. “Kill a lot of dragons and other monsters for us while we’re here at the same fortress.”

“The towns and villages’ll be saved, we’ll be spared a lotta trouble, and we’ll get plenty of special bonuses!” boasted one.

“The good thing is that even if you get eaten up by a dragon, no one’ll care,” said the first. “You’re an orphan with no relatives, and even if your husband ends up known as the no-good white mage who couldn’t protect his black knight, he’s an aide to the prime minister and a marquis’s family member—it won’t be a big bruise to his ego. On the contrary, he’ll be relieved to be freed from having you as a wife.”

“So do your best for us!” another yelled.

Their voices resounded endlessly in my ears.

***

“Now then, let me say this to you once again: you were born a commoner, yet were blessed with the ability to use old magic. That is a wonderful thing you should be thankful to the gods for.”

As the previous secretary general of the Black Knights Regiment had retired due to his age, the new, youthful secretary general spoke to me.

“You freely use old magic, master the use of various weapons to defeat dragons and other monsters, and protect the lives and livelihoods of the people who make this country their home,” he continued. “This is the mission and duty of those who can use old magic. I do believe you understand this thoroughly, correct?”

In contrast to the light, gentle color of his hair and eyes and the soft features of his face, the new secretary general was polite but prickly. From the moment we first met, I knew he didn’t like me.

“The majority of those blessed with old magic ability are of noble bloodlines. You are not,” he reminded me. “You must make a visible effort to compensate for that. Do not disgrace your dear mentor Sir Alexander, nor Lord Granwell, who so kindly became your husband.”

The previous secretary general had employed a meritocracy system. If you could subdue dragons and other monsters, you did great—and if you could slay many, you were an outstanding knight. It was an easy to understand system which had personally been a great help to me.

“Can you comprehend that?” the current secretary general asked condescendingly. “You were born a commoner, yet managed to have the legendary dragon-slayer Sir Alexander Vanitas as your mentor. What an honor that must have been. You do know that a great many trainees from the upper echelons of high society wished to become his apprentice, right? Disregarding that fact, you became his apprentice and underwent his training. That is something you must repay him for.”

Black knights who left the front lines chose an apprentice from among the trainees at the knights academy. The trainees could not choose their black knight mentors—the black knight chose their apprentice. The black knight would assess the state of the trainees’ classroom learning and hands-on training, then listen to the instructors’ appraisal of their daily lifestyles and the like. Then, the black knight would go “I’ll turn this one into a fully-fledged knight” and select their apprentice.

I didn’t choose my mentor—my mentor chose me. I was frankly glad that he did, and it was my intention to fight in a way that didn’t embarrass him. However, I didn’t want my social status to sully what people said about his choice.

The secretary general remained silent for a long time. “What is with your attitude? Get a grip on your situation. Recently you finally married, but until then you had refused every white mage who had offered to marry you due to their social status, position, and physical appearance. I utterly cannot believe it. You have done the lowest thing a person can do, you know. Do you understand?” The secretary general glared at me through round glasses with his leaf-green eyes. “This will not help your relationship with Lord Granwell. At the very least, you must not interfere with his work as an aide to the prime minister. The executive office will manage this part without fail, so all you have to do will be to follow your mission instructions.”

A young man stood next to the large desk that the secretary general worked at. “I will manage this woman’s mission assignments from now on,” he offered.

“Ah, that’s great. Secretary Tommy Shaldain is a relation of yours, so he’s sure to take good care of you,” the secretary general smirked.

Secretary Tommy Shaldain of the Black Knights Regiment executive office was a cousin to Lord Granwell on his mother’s side, which I supposed made him related to me on paper.

“If you don’t work satisfactorily,” he said, “you’ll be a nuisance to Joshua, Margot, and my aunt. Were you aware that since you—a plebeian—married Joshua, Margot has been treated quite coldly by the family she married into. She gets bullied at soirees and tea parties.” He snorted roughly before continuing. “They all talk about how she’s the sister-in-law to a commoner with no parents. She’s inconsolable. You’ll have to work to become a first-rate black knight so people will deem you acceptable!”

Although I was a commoner who had entered the high nobility, I hadn’t imagined that I would be the cause of Lady Margot being bullied at tea parties and soirees, nor her being treated so distantly by her husband’s family.

“Well, that will cease to be the case depending on how well you do your job,” the secretary general noted. “Your mentor Sir Alexander was born into a viscount’s family—a low-ranking noble estate. However, every single citizen in this country holds him in high esteem, as he has shown many great efforts as a black knight. So you, too, should follow in your mentor’s footsteps on your missions and protect the lives and livelihoods of the citizens. If you can produce results, everyone will recognize you. After all, there is precedent for that.” The secretary general put his hands together and continued, “You will not bother your mentor nor your husband, nor interrupt their work. With that taken into account, do devote yourself to your missions.”

The secretary general laughed and inclined his head, and a chortling Tommy Shaldain enthusiastically nodded and added, “It’s just as you say, Sir Secretary General.”

Then, mission directives, filled with tightly-packed schedules, appeared in my hand.

“‘Devote yourself,’ good. That’s all you can do anyway,” said the secretary general. He had slightly quirky, soft-looking reddish brown hair, pretty eyes like spring leaves, and a face that seemed gentle at first glance.

“Fight until you die,” he ordered me with a smile on his face.

***

When I opened my eyes, the world seemed blurry.

Though I blinked several times, my vision never seemed to be completely clear. It was so hazy that I could only make out broad shapes, colors, as well as light and dark. It was as if a fog had risen around me.

Speaking of which, I had a feeling that something like this had happened to me before. Right—before I had been fired from the Corps, I had had the same vision trouble when I woke up in the hospital. But unlike then, I was not in that hospital, and it seemed that those incoherent scenes and conversations I had witnessed were dreams.

I only had to think just a little to understand that fact. Lady Sherry hadn’t produced the file for divorce out of nowhere without warning, the black knights who hated me hadn’t suddenly popped up in countless numbers, and the secretary general and Mr. Shaldain hadn’t laughed together like that. Those had all been dreams that mixed reality with my thoughts and perceptions toward those people. They had been unpleasant, but nothing to worry about. In the end, dreams were just dreams.

My field of vision gradually began to clear. I slowly looked around, and recognized that I was in a room at the Sathante commoner’s clinic.

My left hand felt heavy and wouldn’t move, so I looked in that direction. Someone sat in the chair there, lying prostrate across the bed. He was ardently squeezing my hand back.

I gasped softly.

He had brown hair with a strong reddish tinge, pale skin that had never known a sunburn, and the hand holding mine was typical of a civil official’s, with large writing calluses from continuously gripping pens.

I didn’t speak.

There was no reason he would be here. Was this a doppelgänger? Was I still dreaming, or perhaps seeing some convenient illusion? While I was reeling, the man in question awoke, then met my gaze. His eyes were a deep green.

He didn’t speak for a moment. “Thank goodness you woke up. Do you feel any pain or discomfort anywhere?”

His smooth, low voice was familiar. I had heard it many times—and I had wanted to hear it so many more times.

He waited for me to answer. When I didn’t, he asked, “Are you all right?”

“Y-Yes.” The syllable came slowly from my lips.

It had become a matter of course to feel pains, cramps, pins and needles, and a general sense of deterioration in my body. However, right now I felt only a little of those discomforts. It wasn’t like the damage was all gone, but I felt significantly better. I thought for sure that I had been aided with recovery magic.

“You’ll need more time to make a complete recovery, so please be patient,” the man continued. “We’ll perform healing magic on you, give you medicine, massage you with cream, and we’ll do physical therapy too.”

“O-Okay,” I replied shakily.

“There’s no need to worry. I’ll be taking full responsibility for treating you and restoring your mobility.”

I was reeling. Why was he here? Why, when we had no relation anymore? Why act and talk like he was still my husband?

He paused. “Is there a chance you don’t remember me? Did you forget me?”

I didn’t answer.

“Be honest.” His dark green eyes, full of an intellectual air, narrowed. “Answer me,” he pressed.

I wish he had been someone I could have forgotten. If he had been that kind of person, it would have all been easier.

“Lord Granwell,” I eventually responded.

“That’s not my name.”

I paused, then answered, “Lord Joshua.”

His expression crumbled, and he fell upon me and hugged me. He was warm, smelled nice, and was heavy against me.

“I’m so glad,” he said, weaving words together in a whisper. “I worried that my recovery and detoxification magic wasn’t working—that I couldn’t heal you.”

He squeezed me tight, sniffling. Many warm droplets fell onto my shoulder, and I realized that Lord Granwell was crying.

“I missed you,” he said finally.

The unexpected words made my heart squeeze and quiver with happiness. I had thought that I would never see him again, yet here we were together, and he’d told me he’d missed me.

It was difficult to move my arms, but I wrapped them around Lord Granwell’s back. Immediately, he hugged me even harder. His embrace was slightly painful—no, it was rather painful. However, I wanted to remain in his arms. I stayed unmoving, captured in his arms while warm rain sprinkled on my shoulder.

Chapter 7: His and Her Reunion

Kingdom of Mert Calendar Year 785

“U-Um...” I searched for words as I sat there, straight up on the bed.

I was no longer a knight—just a plain, divorced commoner with no relationship to Lord Granwell. I was in no position to have a conversation with a high-ranking nobleman such as him. However, I had to. As Mary had told me, we had to talk to each other about ourselves. However, though I understood that, I didn’t know what to say.

Lord Granwell let out two large breaths, then made tea in the teapot set out on the table. He handed me a plain mug, just like a commoner’s. To my surprise, the herbal tea inside was Mary’s.

“You were unconscious for five days,” Lord Granwell finally continued, “and the poison gave you a high fever. The poison has been neutralized, but your body is in an extremely weakened state. If you feel any sort of pain, I want you to let me know immediately.”

“All right.” I paused. “I...”

Lord Granwell sat in the chair beside the bed and drank some of the tea. He let out a large sigh. “First of all, there is something you must know,” he began. “We are not divorced.”

I stared at him. “W-We... Huh? What?!”

“My mother called you to the main hall to sign the file for divorce, correct?” he said. “I burned that document to ashes. It was never properly submitted to the authorities, so we remain husband and wife.”

We...weren’t divorced?

Hadn’t Lady Sherry told me when I signed the file for divorce that she would have it sent out immediately? And what was more, it had been burned to ashes?

“I, um...” I searched for words, then managed, “But I was told that since I’m no longer a black knight, I’m not fit to be your wife. That for your future, you should marry a young noblewoman with a powerful family.”

“The one who told you that was my mother, not me,” Lord Granwell countered.

“Oh, I...I see. But...” I didn’t know what to say.

Lord Granwell smiled wryly. “No matter what your situation, I have no intention of divorcing you. When we got married and I signed our marriage registration, I swore to the god in that church to love you until death do us part. I don’t have any desire to break my vow. How do you feel?”

I shook my head. When we had married, there had been a number of oaths written on our marriage registration—like to care for and support each other, and to respect each other. Of course, what Lord Granwell had said about being together until death do us part had been written there as well.

“Besides,” Lord Granwell added, “I don’t plan on making those vows all the time. I only want to do it once in my whole life.”

I also had no intention of breaking my vows. I had no reason to cut off our marriage, and besides, I had fallen in love with him. If we were going to discuss divorce, I assumed it would be in relation to Lord Granwell’s position.

“I feel the same,” I stammered out finally.

“Is that so? Then that’s good,” he replied. “If you had truly wished for a divorce, I would have clung to you desperately and begged you by any means necessary to change your mind. I’m relieved.” He muttered that last part and drank his herbal tea.

As I watched him, I also sipped my own cup of refreshing citrus-flavored tea.

Lord Granwell gathered his thoughts. “I didn’t mean to neglect you over the past year and several months, but that is what happened, and I apologize. I’m truly sorry.”

He placed his mug on the table, then lowered his forehead to the bed in a bow. I could see the neatly trimmed hair on the back of his head, but this wouldn’t do. If we were to talk, I wanted to properly see his face.

“Um, about that—would you please explain that to me?” I asked.

“Of course.” Lord Granwell slowly lifted his head. “Where should I start? Well, yes—like I said, I did not intend this, but I did neglect you. I—as well as His Excellency the Prime Minister and the entire office—was under the assumption that your duties had been changed.”

“Huh? By duties, do you mean my hunting missions?”

“Correct. I...” He paused. “I didn’t check with you and rather selfishly submitted a request to your executive office for your transfer to the knights’ academy as an instructor.”

“Wh-What?!” I gasped. Me, an instructor at the knights’ academy? A teacher?!

“I still regret doing such a thing without consulting you, but I had wanted to remove you from your missions.”

“Um, was that because you couldn’t find the time to bless me with divine magic because of your work schedule?” I asked.

“While that was a factor, my first priority was to keep you away from danger. I know it’s a selfish excuse, and unacceptable for a knight’s husband to say. However, seeing you return home completely exhausted from your missions, with your equipment broken and tattered, terrified me,” he admitted.

Lord Granwell squeezed his hands together so hard they turned white. I put my own hands on top of his, and his relaxed—but only just slightly.

“No matter how much divine magic I blessed your equipment with, when something pushed that magic beyond its limits, you ended up injured. You may have only been wounded until that point, but one day...maybe something that couldn’t be undone—something fatal—might happen to you.” His hands trembled under my palms. “It was frightening to think about that.”

Lord Granwell’s fears weren’t unfounded. Knights’ battles against dragons and other monsters always went hand in hand with life-threatening danger. No matter how strong the divine magic we received and no matter how extensively we trained, it did not change the fact that death was right around the corner—the reality that black knights died in the line of duty.

“So that was why you wanted me to work at the knights’ academy?” I asked, wrapping up Lord Granwell’s trembling hands with my own.

“Yes. I thought that if you were an instructor there, I wouldn’t fear for your life,” he explained. “I received official documentation from the executive office that you taught Monster Studies and archery at the school,” he continued. “So I departed for work around the country and abroad too. But...your situation was different than I thought.”

I pulled Lord Granwell’s hands and pressed them against my forehead. “Thank you.”

“Lina?”

“Thank you for trying to protect me,” I insisted.

“But I didn’t protect you,” he protested. “You kept going out on missions—not just that, but you fought those dragons and beasts without my divine magic.”

“The executive office sent you the official notice of transfer,” I explained calmly. “Despite that, I continued to be deployed. The Black Knights Regiment executive office must have done that intentionally. It is not your fault, Lord Granwell.”

“But...” he protested weakly.

“I’m glad that you wanted to keep me safe from harm.”

I was sure that there were many spouses of knights who thought more or less the same way as Lord Granwell—they hoped that their precious life partner wouldn’t get hurt and would come back from missions safe and alive. However, knighthood was an important occupation that protected the lives and livelihoods of the citizens, and many felt pride in their work. The truth was that it was difficult for white mages to ask their partners to quit and transfer to a safe occupation.

However, Lord Granwell had actually done it. He had put my life before his own, even though he had known that he would surely be spoken of badly as a black knight’s spouse.

“I’m truly sorry,” he said after a few moments. “For what my mother did, as well.”

“But...” I gathered my thoughts. “When I think about Lady Sherry’s position and feelings, what she did was a matter of course.”

I was confident that she was a mother who thought about what she could do for her son and followed through on it. For a civil servant to be successful in his career, a spouse was important, and in that case, a young lady from a noble house with ties to other civil officials would surely be a better choice than myself.

“My mother wants to atone to me.”

“To atone? She wants to make amends?” I asked.

Lord Granwell nodded. “I had a fiancée in the past. She was a young woman from a count’s family, and for several details I’ll leave out, our betrothal was dissolved. The cause of it was Margot.”

“Did Lady Margot cause a problem that your ex-fiancée felt responsible for?”

Lord Granwell nodded. He turned back to the cup he had left on the table and picked it up. I thought the herbal tea must be lukewarm by now, but he drank it in one gulp.

“That’s right. When I married you, I officially announced to my uncle that I would not be inheriting the title of marquis and left it in writing too. My mother accepted it because it was my decision.”

“Which is exactly why she wanted you to have a successful career,” I surmised.

What you thought might be good for another person was not always favorable for them. In that sense, it seemed that Lady Sherry’s love for her son was a bit out of sync with his own desires. However, I had a feeling I understood how she thought of him.

“I bear no ill will toward Lady Sherry for what she did to me,” I explained. “After all, what happened was a result of her doing what she could for you as your mother. Besides, I was the one who signed the file for divorce.”

Lord Granwell did not respond.

“I do regret that,” I continued. “It wasn’t until Mary told me that I realized this: you and I are the ones who are married, Lord Granwell—Lady Sherry has nothing to do with it. The only ones who can discuss the continuation of our marriage are the two of us.”

I am neither very smart nor a deep thinker, so I always realize and regret things after someone else informs me about the issue.

Lord Granwell paused. “I was quite shocked when I heard that you’d signed the file for divorce without hesitation.”

Lord Granwell took my hand, squeezing as if to say he wasn’t going to let me slip away.

“Our marriage began with a large contractual element. However...” He paused. “I had no intention of keeping it that way. In my own way, I was fond of you, loved you, and cherished you for the way you wholly expressed your gratitude and feelings for me. Though I did not say all of that in words, I had thought that my feelings had gotten through to you.”

He hung his head and spoke haltingly. His ears were a bright red. “So, when I heard that you hadn’t hesitated to sign the divorce paperwork, I felt...miserable at the thought that you considered our relationship so trifling.”

I paused. “Knights always risk their lives when they fight dragons and other monsters,” I said finally.

At the abrupt change of topic, Lord Granwell raised his head. He looked rather puzzled, and his green gaze flickered.

“Monsters can have large, sharp claws; jagged, pointed tusks; or solid horns; and some breathe out fire or poison,” I continued. “Receiving a direct blow would reduce anyone to dead meat in the blink of an eye. That’s what missions are—dangerous. Lord Granwell, since our betrothal you have blessed my equipment and filled my magic stones with mana, and that has saved my life time after time. During the past year since I lost access to that magic, I realized firsthand its value—how strong it was, and how well it protected me.”

There had been barrier magic that had saved me from being instantly burned to ashes, high-level recovery magic that had immediately healed my body after a long tail had sent me flying into a rock wall, and speed enhancement magic that had given me the agility to evade the thrust from a sharp horn. It was impossible to list all the countless times his magic had saved me.

“Lord Granwell, your magic...” I gathered my words. “Your mana surrounded me and saved my life more times than I can count. I was grateful on every single occasion, and it was impossible not to fall in love with you after being saved so many times.”

“Then why did you sign the file for divorce?” Lord Granwell asked slowly.

“The fundamental basis of our marriage is based on the fact that we have compatible magic affinity—I the black knight and you my white mage. My feelings didn’t matter in that situation. When I...had to stop being a black knight, it seemed logical for our marriage to be dissolved.” I paused. “Besides, there was your future to consider. I thought that it would be better for you to...to marry a young noblewoman. Someone who had a family that could support you, with connections among civil servants.”

“And so you stepped aside for the sake of my position and career?” Lord Granwell pulled my hand and pressed his lips to the back of it with a soft smack. “For me?”

“But... I really, really...” I was flustered. “I didn’t want to sign it.”

“I see.”

“But I thought I had to.”

Lord Granwell looked at me with upturned emerald eyes from under long reddish-brown eyelashes. His thin lips had formed into a smile. My heartbeat suddenly quickened, and my face burned.

“I’m glad you were thinking of me,” he admitted. “But I want you to understand that whether you’re a knight or not, I want to remain your husband. I do not want to ever give up on you. So I hope you never give up on me without a word.”

Lord Granwell’s face slowly came closer, so much that I couldn’t properly look at him.

“From now on, I want you to put what you’re thinking into words—I want us to solve problems together,” he continued. “If you have any desires, I want you to tell me. And I will do the same for you.”

“O-Okay,” I stammered.

Something soft pressed against my lips, but only for a moment. We separated, only to kiss over and over again.

After what felt like an eternity, our kisses concluded. As if to put on a finishing touch, he pressed his lips to the back of my hand once again. “I love you,” he murmured.

“Lord Granwell,” I whispered, stunned.

“Stop that.”

“What?”

“Lord Granwell is a title, not my name,” he explained. “I’d have you call me by my name—you did so a year ago, didn’t you?”

“Ah, well... I...” I stammered.

“Come on, Lina. Call me by my name.”

“W-Well...” I paused. “Lord J-Joshua.”

“I don’t need an honorific—drop the ‘lord.’”

“Wh-What?!”

“Come on, now.”

He continued pestering me until I managed to say it. Fire radiated from my face, and I thought my heart would burst. However, Joshua seemed happy that I had called him only by his name, and he gave me a delighted smile.

***

Three days later, a group from the royal capital arrived. I had known that Inspector Hawking’s associate would be arriving in a carriage with an escort of red knights, but I couldn’t hide my surprise upon seeing my mentor, Sir Alexander, come out from the coach. He saw that I stood close to Joshua, relying on my cane, and approached us immediately.

“Even young children tell their parents where they’re going before they go off and play,” he scolded me. “Even now that you’re grown up, if you knew you were going to be absent for a long time, you should’ve told someone at the estate where you were going and how long you’d be gone. At the very least you should’ve told Lord Granwell that you were going to recuperate in the Sathante hot springs for three months! In the first place, you should’ve contacted me when you left the marquis’s estate.”

I had no retort. I bowed my head. “I’m deeply sorry.”

Joshua also lowered his head alongside me. “I also apologize for causing you to worry.”

“I heard that ya managed to speak with my foolish apprentice—that’s excellent,” Alexander told Joshua before turning to me again. “Lina, I’m glad you’re all right. No more causing trouble by going missing. You’ve shortened my and Leila’s lives, ya did. From now on, you’re to have proper discussions with Lord Granwell and you’re not to neglect corresponding with him.”

My mentor put his large hand on my head, rubbing it like he used to during my training when I mastered old magic or completed a mission successfully.

“Yes, sir,” I said finally.

“May we continue? I thought perhaps you might like to lecture her some more.”

Inspector Hawking stepped in, his teasing lightening the mood. Honestly, I had thought that my mentor would scold me for longer—I was surprised Inspector Hawking had broken up the chastisement so easily.

“We may,” Alexander replied. “Lord Granwell is Lina’s partner and protector now, after all.”

Inspector Hawking laughed. “I see your role as father has ended, huh?”

His joke made my mentor turn away in a sudden huff, and Joshua, smiling, pushed even closer to me. I didn’t really understand it all, but I was honestly just happy not to be lectured anymore. My mentor’s rebukes were insistent and long.

“Understood. Now then,” Inspector Hawking continued, “let me inform you as to the plan from here on. The maid who attempted to kill Ms. Lina, and the baroness who ordered the poisoning, will be escorted to the royal capital. There, they will undergo investigation and trial, and their punishment will be decided upon and carried out. The departure to the royal capital will be in the morning on the day after tomorrow. Ms. Lina and Lord Granwell shall accompany us.”

Nothing about the plan stuck out to me, so I nodded in agreement.

“Now then, Ms. Lina, please make whatever preparations your health will require for the trip. Although, I’m not worried, as your husband Lord Granwell is here with you,” Inspector Hawking noted.

“Naturally,” Joshua said with a rough snort.

Over the last few days, Joshua had continued caring for me with magic, and Mary had treated me with her tea, medicines, creams, and massages to tremendous effect. The poison I had drank here in Sathante had completely left my body, and the recovery concerning the accumulated dragon venom and magic burns had advanced considerably. Thanks to Joshua and Mary, the discoloration on my skin was fading, my wounds were less noticeable, and I could move my limbs more freely than before.

Inspector Hawking paused. “Ms. Lina, I have a few last things I would like to ask you. About the relative of those who worked at the Heiress Hotel—Lady Amelia Talys. Had you ever been acquainted with her before coming here?”

“No,” I replied. “This is still the first and only time I’ve been to Sathante. The only time I visited the Heiress Hotel was when I went to give my regards to Mr. Landon before leaving town. I only met Lady Talys after the bear-types invaded, when she came to the clinic I was in.”

“She arrived with Lady Marsha-Leigh, correct?”

As Mary had been with me then, she had already told him what Lady Marsha-Leigh and Lady Talys had said and done to me. It seemed he was verifying the information with me.

“Inspector Hawking, why did Lady Talys have Lina poisoned?” Alexander asked.

Inspector Hawking scratched his head of light brown hair. “She said she was told to—that if she saw Ms. Lina, she was to use the special poison to kill her.”

My mentor’s, Joshua’s, and Inspector Hawking’s eyes all turned toward me.

“Who ordered that?” Sir Alexander crossed his arms, scratching his chin with his right hand as he thought. I wondered if he was mentally going through the nobility that he knew. “Although Lina’s married to Lord Granwell and is a member of the marquis’s family now, she’s still treated as a commoner. The Talys family has almost no connection to the Granwells, and they’re not related to any of the different factions. I can’t think of anyone or any house who would order Lady Talys to poison someone.”

“The Talys family is related to Marquis Connelly,” Inspector Hawking pointed out. “However, it’s clear that these houses and their other relatives have nothing to do with Ms. Lina. I’m afraid that the motive and the ultimate perpetrator are still unknown.”

“Which means that more detailed investigations and inquiries are to follow, I take it?” I asked.

I hadn’t imagined that a completely unrelated nobleman or woman was after my life. I wouldn’t say that there was zero possibility that I had done something wrong without realizing it, but surely nothing that would warrant someone wanting me dead.

“Yes,” the inspector replied. “Well, I think everything should be okay, but Ms. Lina, for now, please be careful about what you eat and drink.”

“Understood.”

I looked at Joshua, who had remained silent throughout the exchange. He wore a severe, pained expression on his face. I wanted to know what was wrong, but I hesitated to ask and swallowed my words.

The day after the next, we boarded a carriage in the same caravan as the one that held the prisoners, and as planned, we left the remote northern village of Sathante.

Sir Elijah and his apprentice went to Mt. Mulian to commence their monster-hunting training—their original goal for coming to Sathante. Ms. Leila would join my mentor in a few days here in Sathante, so he remained, getting a headstart on enjoying the hot springs, mountains, ocean, food, and drink. It seemed that they had already made arrangements to spend the winter here by themselves.

Sathante’s autumn festival was held, though on a smaller scale than what had been planned. However, it seemed that both the citizens and visitors still enjoyed it. Mr. Landon’s family was apparently disappointed in it, but he still performed his role as town administrator.

I hoped that what Lady Talys had done wouldn’t affect the people around her much. However, that didn’t seem possible, what with the social standings, responsibilities, and the like found in the world of the nobility. That world seemed even more relentless and complicated than the northern frontier.

Chapter 8: His and Her Return to the Royal Capital

Kingdom of Mert Calendar Year 785

Lina and I returned to the royal capital in the inspector’s train of carriages, and borrowed a small residence belonging to the office of inspection for an immediate stay. As Lina had lost her knighthood, she could no longer stay in the Corps dormitory, and all of the rooms in the civil servants’ lodgings were essentially for single occupants only. By all rights we should have returned to the Granwell estate, but Lina had hardly any fond memories of it, what with how my mother and the servants had thought so lowly of her. With that in mind, I hesitated to return to the west hall.

The cozy two-story house that the office of inspection owned had been prepared for temporary stays by those people under audit or protection. There was a small garden which Lina took a liking to as she happily inspected the house and yard.

Sir Alexander and Sir Elijah had teleported me to Sathante, and afterward I had stayed there to help Lina recover. In all that time, I had not performed my duties as an aide, so I hurried to the prime minister’s office as soon as we arrived at the capital.

In the end, however, I had accumulated many holidays from my long inspections both domestically and abroad, and technically I had already been taking time off even before I went to Sathante.

“You still have vacation left, you know,” the prime minister told me. “I’m sure there are still concerns about your wife’s health, and things you need to resolve. I’ll take on the rest of your work, so you do what you need to do.”

With that, he promptly drove me out of the policy office.

***

After Lina and I had stayed in that small borrowed house for three days, Inspector McGuire paid us a visit. He told us that the investigation into the internals of the Black Knights Regiment executive office was progressing—although it appeared that there was a friend of mine who would not speak unless I was present.

“To speed the questioning along, I would like you to be there, Lord Granwell,” Inspector McGuire said. “Ms. Lina, as you are the affected party, you may join if you are interested. Well, I believe that the story we are to hear will not be a fun one, at any rate.”

Inspector McGuire seemed troubled to his core. I could not refuse.

At the designated time, Lina and I were led into a plain room. There was a large desk, chairs, writing materials, and a few magic tools, but the front of the room allowed a view into two other rooms. The space we were in was for surveying interrogations, and the two rooms at the front were the interrogation rooms.

“Those in the rooms on the other side cannot see nor hear us,” Inspector McGuire explained.

In the left room was Tommy Shaldain, my cousin on my mother’s side. He was responding to the inspector’s questions like a disgruntled child.

“Why did you embezzle the special bonus that was supposed to be paid to Ms. Lina?” the investigator asked.

“I did not embezzle it! That money should have been used for Margot,” Tommy retorted.

“You did embezzle it. The special bonus was to be paid to the black knight responsible for slaying the dragon. There’s no reason for you to send that money to Count Aston’s family without Ms. Lina’s consent.”

“She wouldn’t have had any objection anyway—she’s a plebeian and married into the marquis’s family, you know. The money is to make up for her annoying everyone there, and it’s not cheap.” Tommy huffed and looked away.

“What...is he talking about?” I asked haltingly.

Inspector McGuire shrugged his shoulders. “Exactly what you hear. He’s been sending the bonus money that’s supposed to be paid to Ms. Lina to Count Aston—using the Granwell name.”

“Why?”

“He said it was for the countess’s budget.”

“My sister’s budget?” I echoed. “I don’t understand that at all.”

“It’s all right,” Inspector McGuire replied. “No one else here understands either.”

The inspectors in this room who were watching the proceedings and taking minutes of the conversation were all either gasping in amazement or shaking their heads.

“First, there was something to give to you two... Something to give...” Inspector McGuire muttered. He casually picked up a box on the table and handed it to me and Lina.

Lina tilted her head as she opened the box. Inside was a rather hefty amount of letters and a few small paper parcels.

“We found these letters and gifts under the desk of the Black Knights Regiment executive office’s secretary general. By all rights, they should have gone through the office before continuing on their way to you, Ms. Lina, and to you, Lord Granwell. All of them had been kept in the office without being sent.”

“All of these are for me,” Lina said finally.

I recognized the letters and parcels. I had sent them to Lina from the places I had gone to work. The parcels, now worn, were filled with things like small hair clips and blue and green ribbons. I had thought that they were being sent along to Lina, but not a single one had gotten to her. What’s more, this was the first time she was seeing any of my letters.

She had not seen my face or heard an explanation, nor had she replied even when I had sent her one. Lina had simply been left alone to perform her duties. Furthermore, thanks to my mother and the servants, Lina had left the west hall, and had thought that I and everyone around her wanted the two of us divorced. It had been a hopeless situation.

“Th-Thank you,” Lina said haltingly after a moment. “I’m happy you sent these letters, and these beautiful ribbons and hair clips.”

“A little late for that,” I noted.

Lina shook her head and held the letters and gifts as if they were precious. “Even so, I’m happy. These are irreplaceable to me.”

For some reason, I felt embarrassed that she would read the letters I had sent so long ago. However, Lina was smiling, and I couldn’t deprive her of them. I was also happy to see that the box contained a number of letters she had written to me as well.

“Now then,” Inspector McGuire said. “Lord Granwell, I didn’t call you here because of Secretary Shaldain. Instead, please direct your attention to the other room.”

Someone was in the room on the right of Tommy’s. I recognized him, and even remembered his voice. The inspectors had traced the information gathered—the documents concerning Lina’s assignment as a black knight, Tommy’s embezzlement, and the marquis family that was related to the noblewoman who had had Lina poisoned—and come to one person.

“Donald.”

Although he wasn’t supposed to be able to see into this room or hear our voices, Donald looked up and met my gaze. The peaceful, gentle smile of the friend I knew from our school days remained unchanged on his face.

***