The condition of the neutral knight I hastily sought was far from good.
The first signs of trouble had become apparent around the time I met the Emperor. The old man’s face was marked by a faint worry and anguish.
Of course, at first, it wasn’t something I paid much attention to.
After all, the pinnacle of the Empire had personally come to greet a mere knight. At that moment, I was almost experiencing cardiac arrest.
It didn’t even take a split second until my knees hit the ground.
“Ian of the Percus Family greets Your Majesty!”
“Enough, enough.”
Despite my profound courtesy, the Emperor simply waved his hand. A hint of boredom in his eyes revealed his true feelings.
“There’s no need for such formality when others aren’t watching. You’ll be seeing my face often in the future. Do you intend to kneel and express your unworthiness every time?”
“However…”
“Just think of me as the neighborhood uncle. If I hadn’t been born from the bloodline of a dragon, I too would have lived such a life.”
It seemed he was sincere.
Even so, I couldn’t just rise carelessly and hesitated. Since childhood, which I barely remembered, hadn’t I grown up hearing such words?
The Emperor of the Empire is supreme.
The lives of all subjects exist for the Emperor. The Emperor was the Empire itself.
In other words, the loyalty toward the Emperor was akin to patriotism.
Thus, as a knight of the Empire, I couldn’t easily withdraw my respect.
The Emperor easily overcame this predicament.
“…It is the Emperor’s decree.”
Few could resist that voice laced with a sigh.
At least within the Empire, I could count them on one hand.
In the end, I had to bow my head obediently.
“I will obey your will, Your Majesty.”
As I straightened my knees and rose, the Emperor showed a somewhat satisfied expression.
The questions came afterward.
“So, what brings you here at this late hour? The sun has set quite some time ago.”
“Yes, the matter is… I came to consult Sir Ian for assistance despite my impromptu visit.”
“It must be urgent.”
It was a statement, not a question.
The Emperor seemed to have interpreted the rough situation merely from the atmosphere I presented.
His lips, which had hesitated for a moment, let out a long sigh.
“Then, my uncle is… No, it seems time is of the essence.”
Thus, with the Emperor’s gracious guidance, I arrived at a place I had visited once before.
Sir Ian’s room.
Inside, a girl was performing an unusual solo with a wine bottle.
“Kuh, Shi-en… I’m sorry for being a useless old man…”
Those words did not suit her appearance at all.
The drink she held wasn’t even wine; it resembled whiskey at a glance.
In truth, for someone strong enough to be called a knight, intoxication was no issue. As for me, I could easily suppress any effects of alcohol if I put my mind to it.
Nevertheless, the girl’s cheeks were flushed, and the smell of alcohol wafted all the way to the door.
It was hard to deny that the girl was quite intoxicated.
She probably hadn’t intentionally tried to sober up.
At my look of disbelief, the Emperor placed his hand on his forehead with an expression of distress.
“That was a bottle I had hidden…”
No wonder he looked gloomy today.
I quickly understood why the Emperor was feeling unsettled. Along with that, a sense of despair washed over my heart.
A drunken knight.
Even in a sober state, Sir Ian was a character unpredictable enough to catch anyone by surprise. Moreover, his strength could contend with the best on the continent, making him someone no one would dare provoke.
But I had to do it.
Ceria would be waiting for me.
I swallowed hard and took a step forward.
There was no way Sir Ian wouldn’t sense my presence.
Once I entered the room, he didn’t even turn to look at me and asked, “…What is it?”
That one line reeked of alcohol.
Sir Ian’s eyes were half-lidded as he tilted the bottle once more. Seeing such a girl act like this made it feel somewhat illegal.
On the other hand, her slumped shoulders looked pitiable.
I carefully chose my words to avoid agitating the knight.
“Excuse me, Sir Ian… I have obtained important intelligence regarding vampires. We should go together.”
“What’s the source?”
The girl wasn’t one to easily trust the reliability of information, as someone who could have been part of the Empire’s Intelligence Department.
Unfortunately, this was something I couldn’t answer freely.
After hesitating for a moment, I spoke with resolved determination.
“Actually, I’m not sure. So, in case of unforeseen circumstances, it would be best if you accompanied me, Sir Ian…”
“I refuse.”
It was a firm answer.
I felt cold sweat running down my back at his unexpectedly stubborn demeanor and turned my gaze away.
However, the Emperor, whose eyes met mine, simply shook his head.
He seemed to be indicating I should handle it myself.
It appeared Sir Ian had become so obstinate that even the Emperor couldn’t rein him in. Internal curses filled my mind as I cautiously opened my mouth once more.
“Excuse me, may I ask your reason for refusal…?”
“…Why you!”
It was then that Sir Ian raised his voice suddenly.
Crash! The sturdy wooden table was shattered into pieces. Yet, he didn’t loosen his grip on the bottle, revealing where the Emperor’s drinking habits came from.
The girl trembled with anger, unable to contain her emotions.
“Do you know how many humiliations I suffered today?! Misunderstandings abound, and what do you expect me to hear going around with you? Especially when my niece calls me… ‘bitch’….”
The girl’s eyes and hands trembled as she continued mumbling.
It was evident she hadn’t yet gotten over the shock and horror of that moment. It seemed clear that Shi-en’s fainting had caused a significant blow to Sir Ian’s psyche.
It didn’t take much time for the girl’s anger to deflate, her shoulders sagging.
Sir Ian murmured with a sorrowful expression, “Ugh, I can’t take it anymore… Shi-en, Shi-en… Hah…”
And the bottle tilted once more.
Gulp, gulp, the sound of the girl downing the remaining liquid echoed. She downed what was left of the drink, which had been nearly half full in one go.
No matter how strong her tolerance, that had to be difficult to endure.
Without thinking, I reached out to stop her, but it was already too late.
All that was left was to face the consequences.
Kuh, the girl wiped her lips in triumph, yet her expression suddenly faltered.
A few seconds later, she said, “…No, am I really ‘Sir Ian’?”
It was an incredibly unexpected remark.
It seemed I wasn’t the only one taken aback by the girl’s sudden change of heart in denying her identity as a knight.
The Emperor had opened his mouth before I could even process it.
“No, Uncle. What blasphemous words are these? If not you, who else could be called a knight?”
“No, no… Look at my body? Isn’t it too small? Even standing on tiptoes, I can barely reach your shoulders?”
Her wide eyes had lost all sense of reason as she flailed her hands about.
Looking at her, I instinctively realized.
This was dangerous.
A single drop of cold sweat ran down my back.
“Actually, wasn’t I under some kind of delusion? Right, what was it… Ian, didn’t you say? A person who believes they are the knight? That, that, that… it’s just that~”
A clear laugh escaped her lips, despite her stuttering. Despite the somewhat coherent finish to her sentences, a mockingly cheerful expression lingered on her face.
As if she finally realized, she smiled brightly and raised her arms.
“Right, I wasn’t truly a knight after all!”
What she considered a satisfying explanation wasn’t something I or the Emperor could let slide.
We both gasped in shock and shouted simultaneously.
“No, are you crazy?!”
“Uncle, Uncle! Get a grip! Who else can wield the sword if not you?”
But despite our frantic persuasion, the girl merely scoffed in satisfaction.
“Hmph, don’t want to hear it! What kind of old man gets insulted by his niece as ‘bitch’… Don’t make me laugh!!”
Her loud voice resonated as she stamped her feet in frustration.
Could it be that we had to wait until she sobered up like this?
As despair crossed my expression, the Emperor spoke up.
“…Sir Ian!”
The abrupt mention made both the girl and me turn toward the Emperor.
Our gazes met, yet they were contradictory.
I was filled with confusion, while she seemed utterly indifferent.
It was as if she were waiting for him to speak.
Quickly, the Emperor concocted a lie.
“Sir Ian wants to have a duel with you.”
“…Hmm?”
At that, the drunken girl’s gaze flickered to me.
It was a phrase I had never uttered before. Did I lack the instinct for self-preservation?
Dueling should be at a level that matched the opponents; fighting with someone of his caliber posed a risk of serious injury.
But what could I do?
Receiving the Emperor’s desperate gaze, I swallowed my tears.
“Y-yes, that’s right! If I duel with Sir Ian, I might gain much knowledge…”
And silence fell.
The girl made soft ‘hmm, hmm?’ sounds as she tilted her head a few times.
The silence did not last long.
With a crack, a sharp noise resonated as her palm struck my back with immense force.
I hadn’t seen her coming.
I choked back a surge of blood while turning my eyes away.
There stood the girl, now completely sober, bursting into hearty laughter.
“Hahah! You should have told me you wanted to duel earlier! Okay, then… shall we start now?!”
“No, we have to go somewhere immediately!”
As the pain sent shocks through my spine, my voice protested in anguish.
“And what about just a few moments ago when you claimed to be a ‘girl’…!”
It was then.
I felt something poke sharply at my throat.
Instinctively, my body straightened. A bead of sweat formed on my tense forehead.
My stiff gaze slowly shifted downward.
There, grinning mischievously, stood the girl.
“Little one…”
It was truly an unfair treatment, but all I could do was swallow hard.
“…You’ll die?”
The strong survive not just in nature; it was a law beyond the physical world.
At least I was relieved the Emperor seemed to understand my feelings.
At last, the Emperor glanced at me with a look of compassion and patted my shoulder.
“…You have it tough.”
I could only exhale a sigh in response.
But who could have predicted?
The real hardship would not be with Sir Ian.
And moments later.
At last, Sir Ian and I were face to face with Ceria.
“Ugh, ahhhhhhhhhh!”
The girl screamed while blood flowed from her wrist.
Before her stood a gray-haired woman wiping her mouth with a sleeve stained in blood.
