When we returned to the tent, things inside were a mess. The Faith’s big shots were being rattled about, forced to dance without stopping, their arms flailing thick bunches of weeds. The squad leader of the female knights and her posse were trying their hardest to help stop them. There were even a few people from the royal palace standing outside the tent. I assumed someone had gone to inform them of the situation at hand. They were peering inside through the transparent wall blocking the entrance, looks of pure befuddlement on their faces.
“Oh, wow.”
“Such chaos.”
The twins made little comments as they observed the dancing knights from a corner of the tent.
Upon noticing that I had returned, the female knights came to grab me.
“Hey! Where did you disappear to?!” they exclaimed.
I had made it so that only they could walk out of the tent, but it seemed that they had chosen to stay regardless.
“Stop messing with us, and do something about this! What in the world is going on here?! I’m the one in charge here, so I’ll be held responsible for that mess you caused!” the squad leader yelled in a strident voice, her long hair now a complete bird’s nest. “Do you want to ruin my future, is that it?! I finally became squad leader... Do you have any idea how much I struggled to get to where I am now?!”
I really didn’t, so I had nothing to say to her outburst.
“I’ll have to leave the Royal Knights now! What are you going to do about this?!”
She was even more agitated than usual, desperation carved into her features.
I felt a little bad, so I said, “This won’t be your sole responsibility, though, will it? These people are in the wrong here. They tried to swindle the kingdom.” I pointed at the fake clergymen.
“Who cares?! In these types of situations, the ones who take the fall are always the female knights! After all, who cares if we’re here or not? They can just pin the blame on us and kick us out! I’m squad leader in name only; they’ll find a replacement in no time!”
Several of the other female knights nodded deeply at the desperate squad leader’s words. It seemed that what the squad leader said was common knowledge among them.
“She’s right,” one said. “We keep our mouths shut while forced to do all sorts of absurd things so that we can survive here. This is the only way to stay in the Royal Knights. We worked so hard to be liked by the kingdom’s elite and the male knights, so why did you cause such a commotion?! You have to make an effort to get used to your workplace. Do you not want to stay here?!”
The other female knights nodded in full agreement with their friend. Meanwhile, Ahn and the other two new recruits were staring at me with confusion in their eyes, which was soon replaced by determination as they began making their way toward us together.
“Y-You’re all wrong! You never put in effort!” one said, turning to our seniors.
“It’s because you keep pushing others to accept that kind of treatment that the working conditions here have never improved! Also, just because you’ve endured the other knights’ mistreatment doesn’t give you the right to bully the new recruits!”
The senior female knights countered sharply, “You’re speaking from a place of naivety because you’ve just arrived! We were once in your shoes. Those who make such immature claims get ostracized. If you want to remain with the Royal Knights, you have to conform to expectations—”
“Exactly! I used to believe I wanted to work for a living, but I decided to spend my days here quietly, so I can eventually marry someone with money. But if this accident tarnishes my record, no one will want me as a wife! What am I supposed to do?!” another lamented.
I listened to their gripes with mixed feelings.
I wonder if they were also suffering but chose to remain silent. Then again, bullying one’s juniors is a big no-no, and I don’t think that they should get away with it... But if I just leave them behind, I know for a fact I’ll feel like I’m the one who ruined their lives, and that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
The ones truly at fault here were those who had used them like tools, ready to dispose of them once they didn’t have any apparent use anymore. Yet, once the schemes of the Faith and the transgressions of the kingdom’s elite were exposed, all eyes would fall on them, and the female knights would end up as nothing more than an afterthought.
By the time someone extended a helping hand to them, some might have already found themselves on the streets. Actually, knowing how things were in Hanche, it was entirely possible that the people would overlook the Faith’s and their leaders’ wrongdoings. In that case, the female knights would be harshly criticized for failing to fulfill their duty to protect the guests.
Used, discarded, and verbally abused. This was far too unfair. While I couldn’t alter the sense of values of Hanche’s citizens in one day, I still wanted to help these girls to the best of my ability.
Some regions in Tête are similar to Hanche. Actually, women might have more job opportunities here; at least, they can become knights.
Working women were exceedingly rare in Tête. Those who did pursue a job served as domestics for rich families, helped at their families’ mom-and-pop inns and stores, or worked as farmers or certain types of artisans.
We might have had more freedom five hundred years ago.
This was largely because magic had been more common back then, and it minimized the differences in strength and stamina between men and women. People who could use magic had the freedom to do whichever job they fancied.
In the current world, the only place where women have more freedom than in Hanche is Lèvres, I think.
There were female knights in Flèche’s kingdom as well—way more than in Hanche, in fact. And unlike here, they actually trained as knights, guarded the royal palace, and kept the country safe. Furthermore, when Flèche ascended the throne, he created a new division called the “magic knights” that accepted both men and women among its ranks. This chivalric order was mainly centered around mana wielders and people who had agreed to get the seal on their mana removed after the Faith’s downfall.
“You seem to have a lot of complaints, but in short, you’re unsatisfied with the way you’ve been treated since joining this order, aren’t you?” I said. “If you truly want to be a knight, what about joining a chivalric order in a different nation? I know someone involved with the knights of another country, so I could put in a good word for you at the entrance exam.”
There were fewer than twenty female knights here in the Royal Knights, so Flèche probably wouldn’t mind letting them sit through the exam at the very least.
“Huh?!” The squad leader’s shrill voice pierced through the air. “And what guarantee do we have that things will go well over there? Stop making it sound like it’s such an easy option! Some of us ended up in the Royal Knights because we had nowhere else to go. Young women are pretty much accepted by default here. We can at least save up to pay for our own food.”
“But some places let female knights perform the same duties as the men,” I pointed out.
“There’s no way we’d travel so far just to—” the squad leader started when one of the other female knights stepped forward.
“If such a place truly exists, then I want to go. The squad leader is the daughter of a baron but unlike her, I come from a family of commoners. If I get kicked out, I won’t be able to sustain myself anymore. I don’t think I have enough savings to last me until I land a new job.”
“You’re betraying me?!” the squad leader yelled.
“I only joined the Royal Knights last year, but I’m getting tired of the peer pressure here. I was planning to quit anyway, so if I can have a similar job somewhere else, I’d like to try my luck,” the female knight said.
The moment one of them spoke up, the others joined in.
“The only reason I stayed quiet this entire time is because I couldn’t afford to disobey the nobles,” one said. “I figured that as long as I had room and board, I could endure the terrible conditions here and that my efforts would eventually be rewarded. But if I had known I would just get used and then discarded like a broken tool, I would have just lived the way I wanted to from the start! Hanche has little contact with the mainland, but I might just go and find myself a husband abroad!”
“I’m too scared to travel, so I’ll remain in Hanche, but not in the Royal Knights. If I can’t land a good marriage opportunity, there’s no point in staying here any longer!”
They all spoke their mind, a hint of desperation in their voices. Just as I thought, the solidarity between these women had been weak from the start. They were all aiming for different things in their lives.
Seeing that all of her minions were abandoning her one after the other, the squad leader began to panic. “I can’t believe you betrayed me when I treated you so well all this time. You won’t get away with it!”