Chapter 85: Chapter 47.1: The Person He Would Kill

The man’s crime was “trying to stop Emperor Arnold Hein’s tyranny.”

Rudger Lars Rovine.

He was a count of the northernmost land of the Garkhain Kingdom, a loyal vassal who had served the imperial family for generations.

He was a frontier count with many military honors in past battles, and was known to be adored by many people.

But the loyal vassal, Count Rovine, was killed by the man who should have been his lord.

Three years later, he was murdered in a backhanded way for admonishing Arnold, who had become emperor, for his war of aggression.

I’ve heard all kinds of rumors about torture and killing him alive, and chopping his head in one fell swoop. It was also said that Emperor Arnold Hein executed his entire clan in order to make the Count of Rovine pay for his ‘treason.’

The murder of Rovine was one of the factors that had caused the nations to be terrified of Arnold.

That person was now standing in front of Rishe.

Rovine then shifted his gaze from Fritz to Rishe.

“…”

He looked at her with gray eyes and she flinched a little.

He was calm, but the air he exuded was that of a warrior himself.

The Frontier Count… has been entrusted with the front line of the border. He’s bound to see through everything.

If that was the case, she would be exposed for being a woman, wouldn’t she?

Rishe gulped hard at the thought. Rovine opened his thin lips and said in a quiet voice, “You…”

At the moment Rishe’s tension rose, he continued, “Do you like chicken?”

“What?”

That unexpected question popped her mouth open.

Rovine, on the other hand, has a look on his face as if he had said something so common.

Rishe and Fritz’s confusion next to him didn’t bother him at all, and he added in a matter-of-fact manner, “If you don’t like chicken, any other meat will do. There are beans, eggs and milk.”

“Uh–”

“You don’t like it?”

“No, no, I like it! There’s nothing I don’t like to eat!”

“Okay, that’s great!”

“…!?”

What in the world were they being forced to answer?

She wasn’t in the mood to ask even if she was dying to, because Rovine still looked serious.

“If you don’t have a problem eating, you should eat a lot more. From the looks of it, you have less muscle mass than the standard man.”

“H-Hai! Thank you for your advice!”

So that was what it was. What a relief!

She had learned about food that made up the human body in her life as a pharmacist. It was a knowledge that wasn’t so prevalent now, but she supposed Rovine was referring to that.

In my case, however, I’ve proven in my knight life that no matter how much I eat, I can’t build the same muscles compared to men.

In that sense, he would probably find out that she was a woman, after all. She was smiling on the surface, but she was chilled deep inside.

Rovine seemed satisfied and nodded his head.

“Young men should be nurtured more. From tomorrow onwards, I will be participating in training you. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Wow, Rovine-sama is going to coach us! Amazing! I’m not… It’s an honor!”

Looking at Fritz, happy and jubilant, Rovine immediately relaxed.

“I’m looking forward to being involved in the training of those who have a future. My itinerary was delayed and I was unable to participate in today’s training. How did you guys feel about it?”

“…”

Fritz and Rishe looked at each other.

It was Fritz who opened his mouth first.

“To be honest, it was very much considerate towards us! Since it’s called training for the Order, I was prepared to be made to run until I threw up more or train to the point where I couldn’t stand up in an hour!”

“I was a little surprised too. We are allowed to drink water regularly, and we have breaks… I’ve heard of Knights of the Order in other countries, but all I’ve heard is that they train newcomers more rigorously.”

Rovine nodded at Rishe and Fritz’s remarks.

“Indeed, it was the same in this country until a few years ago, because we were at war, and we were in need of immediate help. But a certain person changed that bad practice.”

“Bad practice? The training?”

Fritz inclined his head, and Rovine politely informed him.

“It’s undoubtedly a bad practice. We first crush the ‘useless’ by rigorously training the new recruits. The people who were sifted out in this way were forcibly trained within a short period of time and sent to the battlefield one after another.”

Ah~

“But what we elders need to do isn’t to select young people, but to cultivate them, because those who aren’t selected in the first round are necessarily unfit. Above all, we are now at peace, and there’s no need to take a dangerous approach.”

Rishe suddenly remembered.

Arnold’s squire, Oliver, once said that he was injured and could no longer aspire to become a knight.

If Oliver’s injury was due to his training to become a knight, then she could somehow imagine who changed that bad practice.