A few hours later, after we’d returned to the castle and were about to part ways, one of the knights dashed straight toward our group. He cut right in front of me, only stopping when he’d reached Scheat and was able to fire off several complaints to him directly.
“Scheat! You were supposed to go on the inspection today! But at the last minute, you informed us you’d be taking on a different task, so a knight who’d already requested time off was dragged back on duty!”
It was Sador, the knight who I’d seen arguing with Mirach a while back.
“I’m sorry,” Scheat said, looking like he truly meant it. “Do you know who they asked to go in my place? I’ll apologize to him directly.”
However, Mirach cut in before the conversation could continue any further.
“This is my fault; I’m the one who changed Scheat’s plans. The princess decided to head to Starfall Forest, and I needed more men to accompany her. I truly apologize.”
Sador shot Mirach a resentful glare before snapping, “This is between me and Scheat! It has nothing to do with you! He completely bailed on a scheduled task without any kind of warning or explanation. I’m not going to let it slide just because you’ve got some weak excuse for why it happened!!”
“That’s not what I—” Mirach started to say something in protest, but Scheat took a step forward and rested a hand on Sador’s shoulder.
“Sador, you’re absolutely right. You should be mad, and I need to improve my communication skills. How does an early dinner sound? I’m sure there’s a lot more you have to say, so let’s go somewhere we can sit down and eat.”
Having skillfully navigated the flow of conversation, Scheat and Sador started off for the canteen.
Seeing Mirach watch them walk away with a look of clear annoyance reminded me of the quarrel I’d witnessed him and Sador having the other day. Not to mention that Mirach and Canopus also got into an argument, causing me to worry about what was going on. Thankfully, Canopus kindly took the time to explain everything to me.
“Sador has been late three days in a row, including today, so Mirach was scolding him. Up until now there have been no problems with his work conduct, and he had a good reputation in his previous position. I was going to ask if there was a reason for his tardiness, but Mirach prevented me from doing so, and the two of us subsequently had a disagreement.”
Then, Mirach also chimed in with a tense expression, “The rules are meant to be followed. It’s easy to make exceptions, but that doesn’t demonstrate dedication to one’s work.”
Hearing what they had to say, I remembered thinking, “That’s a reasonable point, but there are many things in the world that are unavoidable, no matter how dedicated you are to your work, and perhaps Sador found himself in a helpless situation.”
Now, Mirach was being put in Sador’s shoes, but since the blame wasn’t falling on him, and instead on Scheat, he likely felt a strong sense of guilt over it.
I glanced back at Canopus for guidance, but he quietly shook his head, signaling that I should just let Mirach be.
I started to walk away, but something in me didn’t want to leave things like that. I went back over to Mirach once more and said, “The head chef said today’s snack is a ‘Mega Pudding,’ I’m not sure I can finish it alone, so how about we share it later?”
Seeing him nod in agreement filled me with relief.
I think everything’s going to be okay now, I murmured to myself. After all, there wasn’t much in the world that eating something sweet couldn’t fix.