“Wow, long time no see. How have you been?”
“Not bad.”
“Haam… The area in front of the Sanctuary is just so boring.”
Renny stretched out on the sofa and yawned. Looking at her eyes, there were signs of fatigue. It seemed like she had been through a lot. I sat on the opposite sofa and opened my mouth.
“Was the Sanctuary guard hard?”
“No, my body feels fine. But standing guard in the same place all day long without sleeping is torture. Especially since there’s absolutely nothing around the Sanctuary, so I can’t even have some eye candy.”
“Tough job.”
“Ah, we definitely need more guard knights. Maybe I should recruit that Lewis guy as a guard knight?”
“Are you sure you can decide that so easily?”
It actually seemed alright to make him a guard knight.
It’s just that when compared to us, he’s exceptional in his abilities, and he’s been improving his skills by training under Lord Kalintz during vacation, and he has a good personality too. He would be a decent choice for a guard knight.
“Do as you wish.”
“No, not now. It’d take forever to get him knighted anyway if I bring it up now.”
“I didn’t think it took that long.”
Why is she looking at me like I said something absurd?
I mean, I received my knighthood relatively normally.
“You don’t realize your own absurdity… You’re the only one who’s gone through the trouble of getting dozens of certifications just to be a guard knight. Plus, saving Lady Karina added extra points. But Lewis isn’t even a Theology student, and he doesn’t really have substantial experience.”
“But he has enough ability.”
“He’s definitely better than a nobody. But I have a feeling they would raise objections from above.”
Renny frowned as if just thinking about it gave her a headache. If you think about it, there were issues like that.
The Kalon Church is currently being reorganized under Bishop Pierre, so things might be chaotic, but the protection of the Saint is a significant matter, so there could be quite a stir.
In the original story, the protagonist also needed to undertake an extensive quest to become a guard knight.
But…
“Why not just put in a recommendation letter for him?”
“Really?”
“I mean, it’s a bit awkward to say, but with my recommendation letter, he should be able to pass the usual review without much hassle.”
After all, I’m currently a count. Having somewhat of a trust from the Emperor, and Bishop Pierre is backing me, so a single recommendation letter should help him pass quite easily.
Lewis having trained under Lord Kalintz is a significant point too… And he has quite a bit of dungeon exploration experience.
“I’ll discuss this later.”
“Alright, please. I want to take a break… You should work a bit too.”
“Sorry about that.”
“If you’re sorry, you should buy me some drinks.”
“Is there even time to drink?”
“Argh~ Saying that annoys me. Can I slap you?”
Renny playfully jabs at me. I felt my hair fly as I replied.
“If I take a hit, I’ll end up right next to Lord Kalon.”
“Oh come on, how could that happen? They say you’d be fine even if a sword gets shoved into your belly.”
“I think it would hurt emotionally.”
“Yeah, right.”
I’m a person too. Even if I don’t act much like one these days. I looked at Renny’s slender belly, which appeared slightly toned from her training.
“What are you staring at?”
“If you keep this up, you’ll clearly have a six-pack soon.”
“Don’t say such awful things. If it bulges out any more, it’ll just look ugly.”
Renny seemed a bit embarrassed and adjusted her outfit to hide her stomach. Maybe it was too hot on the deserted island, as she used to show her belly everywhere.
Is she feeling shy here?
“Well, I guess some people might prefer that.”
“Don’t men usually dislike women with protruding muscles?”
“Not sure.”
I don’t really know either. But considering how uncommon female knights are, there might be fewer men who prefer that. Especially if they are saint knights.
The Kalon Church encourages marriage, but saint knights tend to be rather celibate due to their roles.
Though, it has become a bit more secular over time… but Renny is an exception being a former mercenary. Come to think of it, she might be the first mercenary to become a saint knight.
Thinking of Renny’s backstory, I sank into the sofa. It felt cushy, as one would expect for a sofa bought for a high price. After all, money can really change your quality of life.
“Renny, shouldn’t we head back soon?”
“Just a bit longer. I hardly get a break when guarding the Sanctuary. There are a few saint knights dispatched from the temple, but I really don’t trust them much.”
“To meet your standards, you’d need to call for the commander of the knights.”
“Whatever. All those saint knights are so boring that time doesn’t pass, and the ones standing around are just reciting doctrine from start to end to stay awake.”
“Now that sounds horrifying.”
That’s basically saying they’ll just be reciting biblical verses until their shift is over. That’s terrifying. I’d rather work with a ghost. Like back when streaming with a ghostly maiden or something.
It’s strange how I can hardly remember anything from before I was reincarnated, yet I remember content from the novels I read back then.
“So you should come and help out too.”
“Sorry, I have too much work piled up…”
“Sigh. I guess there’s no helping it…”
I sometimes go to the capital city to discuss plans for the dragon subjugation, so my circumstances make it difficult to serve a shift. But since I’m taking care of paperwork, I’m not too burdened with that stuff…
“Seriously, treat us to something big later.”
“Did you finish off the expensive liquor set I bought you in the capital?”
“Yeah, I polished it all off, and now all I’ve got left are empty bottles on my shelf.”
“You drank the expensive liquor like it was regular booze.”
“No, but it was less than I expected.”
I remember it being over a liter in size, at least?
Did I make a mistake in buying that?
“I’ve never seen you drunk, though.”
“Well, that’s because I usually use my aura to flush out hangovers.”
“You really do whatever you want. Do you just want to drink that much?”
“For mercenaries, drinking is a daily thing. If we can’t, we’d just end up dead in the streets at night.”
Why does that sound like a vivid life experience? Did she start drinking before she was even of age?
“Did you start drinking at an early age?”
“Well… yeah. Once you’re a mercenary, you end up drinking regardless of age.”
Is it that if you’re killing people, you can’t hold it together without drinking? I stood up as I listened to Renny’s vivid account.
“What’s up? Is someone here?”
“No… just someone coming in.”
“Oh, really?”
Our gazes shifted to the door at the same time. Outside the quiet door. But my senses, which had become more attuned, could tell.
“Viola, come in.”
“Uh? Er…”
The door slowly opened. Viola peeked in cautiously through the gap, avoided my gaze, and blushed as she said,
“Ah, hello, Uncle…”
“Wow, at this rate, you’re going to have more girlfriends than fingers! Impressive, huh?”
“If it looks like I’m going to be a spinster, I’ll count you too.”
“Should I consider it an honor to be the sixth finger of the illustrious Count?”
Renny giggled and got up from her slouching position. Viola seemed a bit burdened by the fact that Renny and I were together and cautiously asked,
“Uncle, should I come back later…?”
“No. It’s fine to come in.”
“Ugh, I feel like I’m intruding.”
Renny shook her head as she tried to stand up.
“What are you thinking so much about?”
“Well, it’s kind of weird for lovers to be around when I’m here too.”
“When I was with Karina, you didn’t say anything.”
“That was business!”
“Just think about it. If you’re feeling cold, I could lend you my side, so don’t feel so sad.”
“Forget it. Ugh, I’m going back to my room to sleep. If you meet Ashley, tell her to wake me up for dinner later. I need to have dinner before heading back.”
“Sure. Rest well.”
“Ugh… and later, buy some drinks or something.”
“Count on it.”
Renny stretched and left the lounge. I quietly observed Viola, who had sat down a little away from me. It had been almost half a month since Viola became my girlfriend.
Viola seemed either shy about being in a relationship or wanted to hide it, as she didn’t show it much around others. Although, the catch is that the rest of the group clearly knew.
“Uncle, can I hold your hand?”
“That’s something you can do without asking.”
“Still, that feels…”
Viola shyly took hold of my hand. Surprisingly, Viola, usually so boisterous, had the most girlish feelings when it came to romance.
Even the shyest Elisa tends to be a bit clingy. Sif and Millia are also on the clingy side. And Karina… is just cute.
“Are you thinking about another girl?”
“Honestly, it seems like you’re the one who’s most shy about this. You can act however you want, you know?”
“I-It’s not like that for me!”
“Then why are you trembling when you’re holding hands now? You weren’t like this during the date, so now it proves you’re just a shy girl.”
“Not at all!”
“Sure, sure.”
I wrapped my arm around Viola’s waist, refusing to give her space, and naturally, her body pressed against mine.
“Ah, Uncle!”
The scent of her cosmetics filled the air.
“You’ve done your makeup.”
“Well, I’m a girl too, you know?”
“Your hair is much tidier than before too.”
“Th-That’s because I learned haircare from my friends…”
“Cute.”
“Th-Thank you…”
Seeing a usually carefree girl sitting there like a docile lamb is hard to describe. I enjoyed Viola’s reaction and relaxed comfortably.
Until someone burst into the room and dove into my arms.
“Johann~!”
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.