To Catria’s terrible regret, she realized Lithisia had probably been there since the beginning. She had likely seen everything. Lithisia of all people had seen what Catria did to Alan. All that good, deep shoveling. Princess Lithisia.
Right now, said princess sat on her knees in front of Lancelot. In other words, she had the best seat in the house to keep watching Catria and Alan.
“Pr-Princess?!”
Lithisia’s gaze was more businesslike and focused than any Catria had ever seen on her before. “Now then, Catria. You must show everyone your Shovel Form as captain of the Holy Shovel Knights!”
The princess clenched her fists and kept her eyes glued to the pair as best she could, though eventually she began to anxiously rub her thighs together. Then she brought her hands to her ears and rubbed them lightly.
“Ah…”
She was extremely jealous.
“Lithisia?” said Alan.
“I-I’m fine, Sir Miner. Pl-please focus on Catria!”
“But—”
“A-as her mistress, I must burn her magnificent form into my own eyes!” Lithisia insisted, fire in her gaze.
“Mm.”
“This ritual must be seen through so Catria can become the leader of the Holy Shovel Knights!”
Lithisia’s deep understanding of her obligations as Catria’s mistress enabled her to keep her jealous maiden’s heart from doing anything rash. She was trying her very best. In any case, this also meant that even now she still recognized herself as the knight’s mistress, and she considered herself beholden to her duty in that role.
That meant Alan could not intervene. He had to focus himself entirely on getting shoveled by Catria! “You heard the lady, Catria. Keep going.”
“I heard her, but that doesn’t mean I understood her!” However, in the end, the scabbard-tentacle was scary, so Catria had to commit. “Eeek…”
And so the lady knight continued to clean Alan’s ear as Lithisia jealously watched on alongside the vice-captain of the knights, whose eyes glistened.
Catria continued her duty until she had finished, then blew gently into Alan’s ear. Upon this, Lithisia ordered Catria to massage his ear. Catria cried the entire time, but she never stopped moving her hands. She managed to withstand the intense gazes of one shovel (the princess) and one hundred men. She did it, and she continued to do it up until the moment she completed her task.
“I-I’m done…” she huffed. Catria nearly fell over. Her cheeks burned crimson and her thighs were covered with sweat.
Once again, the other knights had their way with commentary.
“That was the most amazing ear cleaning I’ve ever seen.”
“It wasn’t ear cleaning. It was Ear Shoveling.”
“Dragon Slayer Catria’s Ear Shoveling.”
“All hail the Ear-Shoveling Hero, Catria!”
As usual, their comments became increasingly compromised by the shovel as time went on, but for once, Catria could pay them no heed.
I did it! I did…something? I’m not exactly sure what I did, but I feel like praising myself!
“That felt great, Catria,” said Alan, and he hummed to himself with pleasure.
“Ah.” Warmth built in the lady knight’s chest at Alan’s compliment. He had recognized her ability. Alan of all people had complimented her shoveling of his ear. Wait, this is weird… No, just leave it alone, Catria. Soak in the feelings of happiness!
Catria smiled brightly and Alan returned the expression.
“I’m counting on you for the other ear,” he said.
“E-excuse me?”
Ding, ding, ding!
As if on cue, the Sacred Scabbard Arcadia’s warning booted up.
“I had a feeling that one ear wouldn’t be enough,” Alan explained.
“H-huh?”
“Your Shovel Power is weaker than mine, so you’re going to have to do a little more digging.”
“Pardon?!”
“I said it before, didn’t I? This was gonna take more time if you did the digging.”
Take. More. Time.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Catria tearfully wailed with all of her might. But it was to no avail.
In the end, Catria found herself cleaning Alan’s other ear, swabbing his nose, and even brushing his teeth. Her trials didn’t stop there either. Even though Alan let out a pleasured, “Aaah,” the scabbard’s warning didn’t go away, and she had to shovel his stomach. Still, the warning persisted. In the end, Catria could only make it stop by wearing Alan’s shoes for a moment.
“Ugh… They’re all warm…” Catria lay flat on the floor like a shovel that had just completed its objective.
Nearby, Lithisia’s face was covered in sweat as she staggered over. Despite her current condition, as Catria’s mistress, she somehow managed to bust out a smile. “C-Catria… Well done…”
She wasn’t even adding “shovel” to the end of her sentences. Seeing the princess in such a state, Alan couldn’t help but rise to take her in his arms.
“You did well too, Lithisia,” he said as he patted her head.
Tears spilled down Lithisia’s cheeks until she began to breathe quietly and fell fast asleep.
The ritual was complete, and the only ones left conscious were Alan and the knights.
“Shovel, Catria, shovel, Catria, shovel.”
They chanted this over and over again.
“Sir…Alan…” Captain Lancelot, the only knight who still retained some semblance of his consciousness, tried to ask Alan for clarification. But even as he did, he held his head, trying his very best to maintain his sense of self. The Shovel Ritual had nearly dug out the entirety of his brain. “Wh-what exactly did we just bear witness to…?”
“Is it not obvious?” Alan responded with full confidence. “You watched the greatest knight in all the land, Catria, perform the finest act of shoveling this country has ever known.”
Lancelot’s consciousness snapped and he fell to the ground. By the time he next woke, he would be but another dutiful shovel alongside the rest.
This was how Catria formally became the captain of the Holy Shovel Knights.