Inside the uselessly huge storage room, the other female recruits and I ate dinner. I’d taken the food from the mess room without permission and teleported it over to the women’s floor. Of course, when I’d entered I had made sure to carry the plates in my hands so that the other rookies wouldn’t see me using magic.
Though we’d only known each other for a few hours, we had already reached the stage where we could chat comfortably. Of the three other girls, I got along best with a commoner called Ahn—she seemed pleasant and genuine, and she wore her red hair twined into braids. Coincidentally, her name was the one I’d had in my past life, so I felt a sort of kinship between us. In my village, it had been a common name for firstborn daughters. Perhaps a town in this nation had a similar tradition.
“I meant to ask, but why did you all join the knights?” I inquired.
“My family needs money,” Ahn replied.
The other two nodded in agreement, saying that their reasons were the same.
“It’s the highest-paying job a woman can have in Hanche,” one explained.
“It’s still only half of what the men get paid, but it’s better than the other places,” the other added.
Ahn nodded. “It makes sense, since we don’t do the same thing as the men. And based on the entrance exam, we’ll have really different duties.”
The three of them seemed to consider that it was a matter of course they were paid less than the men.
Well, I suppose they have a point. It makes sense that those who risk their lives in battle would be paid more than those who are just there to cheer for them. Besides, the men must also receive hazard pay and compensation for working late at night.
As a former court mage, I could more or less understand. But the female knights’ duties were still completely unclear to me.
Surely, we’re not going to just be cheering for the men the entire time, are we?
I wouldn’t be able to handle it if every day from tomorrow onward was a repeat of the exam, with Gahariet watching us like a hawk from behind.
As I was lost in thought, Ahn turned to me, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “More importantly, Lam! Who’s that hottie who came to visit you earlier?! He seemed really worried about you.”
“He’s the reason the seniors picked on you in the first place, isn’t he? So, who is he? Your boyfriend? When did you two get together?” one of the other girls asked.
“I’m so jealous! He sneaked all the way up here just to see you, didn’t he? How romantic. I want a hot boyfriend too!”
Since I hadn’t been alone, Char had hidden the fact that he’d used magic. He’d teleported in front of the storage room and entered the room normally. When leaving, he’d done the same, exiting the room through the door before teleporting back downstairs. Because of this, the other girls hadn’t noticed that he had used magic.
“It’s as you said. Char is my hus—I mean, my b-boyfriend.” I felt my face flush just from uttering the words. Thank goodness Char wasn’t there to see it.
The three girls squealed excitedly, their cheeks turning red.
Do they like talking about these sorts of things, perhaps? They remind me a little of Mine.
She also liked to talk about romance and the like, and she would often ask me questions about love. I was probably the worst person to ask, but then again, it wasn’t like there were many options at the Mercure estate.
“So? How did you two start dating?!” one of the girls asked, bending forward eagerly.
“Um...”
I hesitated. I couldn’t possibly tell them that my family had all but sold me to Char in exchange for money.
Fortunately, Ahn came to my rescue by changing the topic. “It’s such a shame that the seniors started targeting you. Are you all right, Lam? I’m really sorry for not coming to your rescue earlier.”
“Oh, I’m fine. It’s no big deal,” I replied.
They hadn’t witnessed the senior’s pathetic attempt at bullying me since they’d been ushered to the storage room before it’d happened.
“How horrible of them, harassing you just because you have a boyfriend. I’m sure they’re just jealous. It’s on them, though; who would want to date nasty women like them?”
The three of them grimaced.
I’d never really talked with women my age like this. It was a fresh and rather pleasant experience. In my past life, I’d mostly spent my time with my teacher and my disciples, so I hadn’t had any opportunities to form friendships with other women. And in this life, I’d been isolated pretty much from birth, so I couldn’t even have made friends if I’d wanted to.
I like this. It’s nice.
While I was here, I resolved to do everything in my power to ensure that nothing bad would befall these girls.
When we were done eating, I left the storage room, claiming I would take our plates back to the mess hall. From the other side of the hallway, we could still hear the senior female knights screaming.
I feel bad for the cleaning staff, so I’ll make sure to tidy up later.
I used my magic to quickly clean up the plates and teleported them back to the kitchen before returning to the storage room. But then I spotted Gahariet coming up the stairs with his own minions.
What brings the knight captain to the women’s floor? I wondered.
I hurriedly stepped back into the room, cracked the door open, and peered out down the hallway to the staircase to see what was happening.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Ahn and the others asked, craning their necks to peek through the gap in the door.
“The knight captain has come up. He’s heading to the senior knights’ rooms.”
It would be a hassle if he started causing a fuss over the muck in the squad leader’s room, so I teleported everything to the garden for the time being.
“Where are you all?” the knight captain asked, surprised.
Footsteps echoed down the hallway, and the squad leader eventually appeared. “C-Captain. We’re very sorry about the wait,” she said, bowing her head.
She had acted with such self-importance around us, yet in front of the captain, she seemed like a completely different person.
“I can’t see anything from here. I’ll try getting closer,” I whispered to the others.
“Don’t, Lam. It’s dangerous!”
I left the storage room and scurried down the hallway; Ahn and the others trailed behind me, perhaps out of concern. I would’ve felt bad if something happened to them because of me, so I used an illusion spell to hide us all.
“Oh, there they are—the squad leader and the captain,” I said when we rounded the corner.
The two of them were standing there, chatting, flanked by their respective minions.
“...and so, we’ll be holding a welcome party for the new recruits after dinner,” the captain declared.
“Understood. However, the new girls won’t be able to attend. They’re presently under detention for breaking the rules,” the squad leader replied.
“What bullshit is that? It’ll be one dull party without any young women around. You’d better bring them along.”
“Huh...? Ah, y-yes, captain.” The squad leader nodded timidly.
The four of us exchanged glances.
“A welcome party? I can’t believe they’re actually holding one for us,” Ahn whispered, puzzled.
We all shared her bewilderment.
“But it just sounds like the knight captain wants to ogle us the entire evening. I have a bad feeling about this...”
“Me too.”
Looks of apprehension spread across their faces.
“Don’t worry. If anything happens, I’ll come to your rescue,” I assured them.
“Good grief, Lam, you’re going to attract the seniors’ hate again,” Ahn replied. “Don’t do anything rash, okay?”
“Ahn’s right.” The other two nodded, offering me smiles.
With that, we made our way back to the storage room. A short while later, the squad leader arrived to fetch us, and we all headed to the mess hall together. We adopted meek expressions as we tried our best not to provoke the seniors again. However, every time our eyes met, we nearly burst into laughter.
This is...nice.
My interactions with Ahn and the others were enjoyable in a way I’d never experienced before.
We eventually arrived at the mess hall on the first floor, where it seemed that all members of the Royal Knights had gathered. The old, worn tables were covered in snacks and bottles of alcohol. These had all been arranged by the servants who worked at the barracks, not the knights themselves.
Oh, dear, there are a lot of people here. I had no idea there were so many Royal Knights.
The overwhelming majority of them were men, and Ahn’s and the others’ faces stiffened when they took in the crowd. The poor things were scared. All of these men were bigger and stronger than they were, so it was no wonder they’d panic. Besides, the knights all had a violent and vulgar air to them. There were likely nobles in the crowd as well, but I wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart.
Where are Char and the others...? Ah, over there.
The new male knights stood in a corner, blending into the background. Thibault was no longer invisible.
“Hey, isn’t that the man who had to run a hundred laps? I wonder if he’s all right...” Ahn asked, eyeing Thibault with concern.
“He didn’t win a single match, if I remember correctly, right? I hope he’s not feeling too defeated,” one of the other two said.