AFTER receiving permission to bring Lance into the knights’ headquarters, I led him inside.
Lance looked the buildings up and down with intense curiosity. “I imagined the Royal Order’s headquarters being significantly fortified, but it’s much more plain-looking than I expected.”
“This is where we train and wait for our orders to come in. If we stayed on constant high alert, we’d be exhausted.”
We conversed until finally arriving at the Second Expeditionary Squadron’s barracks. Charlotte was washing our laundry at the well, but she turned around to greet us.
“Welcome back! Oh, Mell, who is this?”
“Um… This is Lance. He traveled a great distance from the Fore Elf woods to come here.”
“I see.” Charlotte’s ears slumped, as if she’d picked up on Lance’s unpleasant mood. She greeted him with nothing more than a slight bow. “Should I prepare tea?”
“Please do, Charlotte.”
I led Lance to the parlor and had Zara keep an eye on him while I went to inform Captain Ludtink.
“What’s goin’ on, Risurisu? You’re early today.”
“Um, Captain Ludtink, the thing is…”
“What is it?”
“M-My ex-fiancé came here from the Fore Elf woods…and he wants to take me back with him.”
“He what?”
The captain had been stifling a yawn until he heard that. His face instantly transformed into that of a bandit. I only wished Lance had been on the receiving end of that look, not me.
“I don’t want to go back. I fully intend to spend the rest of my life in the royal capital. Amelia brought Zara to try and convince Lance he was in the wrong, but he just wouldn’t listen.”
“So, you brought him here so I could talk some sense into him?”
“Thank you for catching on so quickly.”
Captain Ludtink let out a deep sigh before standing up. He gave me a pat on the head before heading toward the parlor.
On the way there, we could hear an argument going on between Zara and Lance.
“You better stop talking bad about Melly!”
“I’m simply speaking the truth. She only thinks about herself. That’s why she left her family behind to come here.”
“She didn’t leave them behind. Melly’s always thinking of her family. Why, she sends them an allowance every single month!”
“Stop it! Do not fight about Mell! Be nice and eat sweets!” Charlotte tried to put a stop to their dispute.
Captain Ludtink let out another sigh before stepping into the parlor. “Shut your mouths, both of ya.”
“Argh! It’s a bandit!” When Lance took a look at Captain Ludtink, his eyes almost fell out of his skull.
The captain shouted back with his usual, “Who’re you callin’ a bandit?!”
“Lance, this is my boss, Captain Ludtink.”
“Boss?! This guy with the face of a bandit?!”
“Sadly, he’s an honest knight.”
“Sadly? What the hell do ya mean by that, Risurisu?” Captain Ludtink retorted.
“I-I’m sorry.”
Captain Ludtink sank down into the seat across from Lance while Charlotte served us tea.
“Eat cookies and have a nice talk, everyone.” She set down a plate of cookies at the center of the table before taking her leave.
As soon as the door closed, Captain Ludtink cleared his throat. “I’m Crow Ludtink, captain of the Second Expeditionary Squadron of Enoch.”
It was an intense, overpowering introduction. If this was my first time meeting the captain, I just might have pleaded for him to spare my life.
I thought back to my actual first time meeting him, when he had asked if my long ears meant I was a wild rabbit. He had followed that up by howling with laughter. I felt insulted at the time, but now I wondered if his intention was actually to ease my nerves.
If he’d shown me the same intensity that he was showing Lance now, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do my job.
Well, I do wish he had found a way to support me without calling me a wild rabbit.
“So, you’re Lance, huh? I heard you want to take Risurisu back to the woods.”
“Y-Yeah…”
“She’s the combat medic for the Second Expeditionary Squadron and an essential member of the unit. I can’t let you take her with you.”
His words left no room for interpretation. I’d worried the captain might tell Lance to put a leash on me and take me back home with him, but he didn’t hesitate to designate me as a crucial member of the team.
“However…”
“However?!” I leaned forward in a panic.
“What’re you gettin’ upset for, Risurisu?”
“Because…you already said he can’t take me. Shouldn’t that be the end of the story?!”
“I guess, but I don’t think this guy’s gonna be convinced by that alone.” Captain Ludtink nodded over toward Lance, who had his arms crossed as he glared at me.
It appeared that, even knowing how important I was to my squadron, Lance wasn’t ready to back down.
“Zara.”
“Wh-What?”
“You should battle it out with him. The winner gets Risurisu.”
“Huh?!”
“A battle?!”
Zara and Lance could hardly believe their ears.
“The prize is the right to marry her. That’ll work, yeah?”
“No, it absolutely won’t!”
I had to be the one to put a stop to this.
“Wait a minute! Why do Zara and Lance have to fight to marry me now?!”
“He wants to take you back to the woods so he can marry you, right? I bet Zara’s pissed that someone’s tryin’ to steal his woman too. That’s why it’s best to settle this for good with a competition.”
When I heard Captain Ludtink’s absurd proposition, I couldn’t contain myself any longer.
“Please don’t fight over me!”
The room fell silent. Everyone’s eyes were glued to me. I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed, wishing they wouldn’t stare at me so intensely.
“Um, so…you really intend to compete? With me as the prize?”
Lance was the first to answer. “I like it. Sounds like a good way to let off some steam. I’ll sock that pompous prick right in the face.”
“Oh my, what a dangerous man. But I like a challenge. I’ll gladly accept.”
The ferocious sparks between them reignited. Captain Ludtink stopped things from escalating.
“Hang on a second. Knights aren’t allowed to duel, so it’ll have to be somethin’ other than a scuffle.”
“What, are we supposed to compete with a card game or something?”
“No…you’ll be huntin’ mushrooms.”
“H-Hunting mushrooms?”
“Yep.”
But why that? Mushroom season lasted from summer to autumn, but it was currently spring, making them much harder to forage.
“Marina told me about these legendary golden mushrooms you can harvest in early spring. They grow in the woods surrounding the royal capital.”
“G-Golden mushrooms?!”
They were supposedly another variety of the “golden” food eaten in high society. I’d already tried golden cheese and golden apples before—both of which were truly delicious.
I knew golden mushrooms wouldn’t be an exception to this rule.
“All right. Whoever finds a golden mushroom gets to marry Melly.”
“Fine by me. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Zara and Lance were both on board.
“Too bad we have to do this in such a roundabout way. This would be over in an instant if we were allowed to fight,” Lance grumbled.
I thought that it would indeed be over in an instant, just not in Lance’s favor. If this was a battle of might, Zara would no doubt come out on top. Zara even told me about how one time he picked up Captain Ludtink and threw him during a training session, so I knew he was incredibly strong.
“Um, are you sure about this, Zara? Taking part in this competition with me as the prize?” I asked.
According to the rules, the victor would be the one to marry me. That meant if Zara won, we would have to get married.
“Actually, Melly, I’ve been trying to ask you to marry me for a while now.”
“Wh-What? You have?”
“Uh-huh. But it’s the strangest thing. Every time I try, something interrupts us.”
“Is that right, Zara?”
“I’ll have you know that one of those interruptions has been you, Crow.”
“Me? I never noticed anything like that.”
In fact, neither have I. The captain and I must be incredibly thickheaded.
“So don’t you worry one bit, Melly. You can still decide for yourself if you want to accept my proposal and marry me.”
“Zara…!”
The men had decided on a competition, but we still had a job to do, so I doubted we would be able to decide a victor anytime soon.
“We’ll be done with work three days from now, so why don’t we meet up in front of the barracks that morning when the bell chimes nine times?”
“Hang on. Why three days from now?”
“Like I said, we have work right now, Lance.”
“You expect me to wait three whole days for this?”
“All right.” Captain Ludtink crossed his arms before giving Zara and me orders. “It’s not like we’re gonna get any missions while Garr’s gone, and we don’t really have anything else to do in the meantime. Zara, Risurisu, let’s all take half the day off for the mushroom hunt. How’s that sound? We can wrap this up by the end of the day.”
“Very well. I’ll find that golden mushroom if it’s the last thing I do!” Zara exclaimed.
“Is that right? A city slicker like you thinks he’ll be able to forage mushrooms?”
It seemed Lance still believed Zara was born and raised in the royal capital.