Chapter 22: The Strongest In The Kingdom

Everyone changed the place to the living room. Haruna went to the kitchen once, preparing tea, and placed the cakes from Nell on small plates. She put them together on a tray and placed them at the table where the two sat in the living room. In front of Haruna and Nell were two sets of cake and tea, and for Deris there was a set of tea and sweets, which Haruna had purchased before. For not serving tea alone, Haruna’s kindness seeps into Deris’ heart.

「Thank you, Haruna. You’re so thoughtful that it’s hard to believe you’re Deris’s disciple. This tea also smells good.」

Nell enjoys the scent with a cup in hand. Her graceful appearance is very picturesque. Enough to make Haruna worried if it was rude to offer her cheap tea that had purchased when she was going shopping.

「I found this at the market in town the other day. I’m sorry that it’s a cheap thing…」

「No, this is good. When I went out on an expedition, I couldn’t even usually drink tea after all. A luxury item is best to consume in moderation, what everyone is familiar with is just fine.」

Nell doesn’t seem to care at all, and she is still wearing a dazzling smile. She really looks like a different person than the opponent where Haruna was prepared to die at the front door earlier.

「Um, what do you mean by an expedition?」

‘Was it her work?’ Haruna who thought so asked such a question while tilting her head.

「Ara? Deris, you didn’t tell her about me? That robe Haruna is wearing was something I wore, right? I just thought that you already told her about me.」n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

「Ahh… come to think of it, I think I only said that the robe was used by someone who was living together in the past. Sorry, my bad.」

While putting a cake that resembles a chestnut bun in his mouth, Deris said so without a sign of feeling sorry at all. However, those words alone seemed to be a big clue for Haruna.

「Living together in the past…? Live… together… ah!?」

Haruna jumped up greatly from the sofa, perhaps because she realized something from her master’s words.

「Nell-san is Shishō’s girlfriend, right!? I’ve been in Shishō’s care!」

「「Wrong! (Y-you are wrong!)」」

It was so wrong that they denied it strongly in unison. Haruna is dejected that her mother’s intuition didn’t come into play.

「I-is that so? I’m sorry …」

Haruna returns to her seat timidly. However, since both of them are blushing, Haruna feels that she was not far from the mark.

「W-well, it’s Deris’s fault for not introducing me properly. That’s right, it’s his fault so don’t mind it.」

「Don’t just blame me for everything… cough! I’ll tell introduce her again, she is Nell Lemure, my old adventurer companion and the strongest knight in this Magic Kingdom Adelheit. She’s the leader of the Magic Knight order. Even though her job is a swordswoman, she stands at the top of the group of magicians. She’s as strong as a monster, so watch out.」

「… Ehh!?」

At Deris’s words, Haruna turned her sparkling eyes to Nell. Haruna is fundamentally interested in strong people.

「Calling a lady as a monster is unnecessary. Haruna will be scare―― hey, why is she sparkling!?」

「Haru is a weirdo in her own way.」

「Yes! I’d like to have a match someday!」

Haruna straightened her posture and raised her hand. Nell felt somewhat happy when Haruna gave an unusual reaction. The reactions toward Nell, who is in the position of leader, are usually awe and fear. No matter how beautiful she is, it will be irrelevant once her identity is revealed. That’s how strong she is.

「Hmm, you are too good for Deris.」

「That said, I won’t give Haru to you. You were the one who didn’t accept her as your disciple in the first place.」

「… Did I?」

Nell tilted her head, showing that she didn’t get what he was saying.

「Hey, Canon said that he came to your place. If I’m not wrong, it was four days ago.」

「That’s right. Canon-san took me around and we came to Shishō’s place in the end.」

「Canon did? Hmm…」

「Are you seriously don’t remember? Old geezer Joseph abducted a bunch of young people from another world, didn’t he? Haru was one of them, but she was judged to be unworthy of being a hero and was sent to me. He really did something wasteful.」

「Ehehe.」

When Deris patted Haruna’s head, she made an expression that didn’t feel bad at all.

「Ah, come to think of it, I was about to beat him since he said something incomprehensible right before I left for the expedition. He escaped right away, so I didn’t even remember what he was saying.」

「Hey, Canon was pretty scared, you know…」

「I joined the knight order because the country begged for it, you know? I do the minimum work, but I can’t take care of each and every one of my subordinates. And those guys that you said before, I just knew about their existence recently since I just got back today from my expedition.」

Nell said so and let out a big sigh. Being a knight leader is making her busy and the burden of responsibility is not superficial.

「Especially, they looked at me with suspicious gazes and they talked to me with seductive words. It was hard to resist pulling the sword out, you know!? What the hell are they, I don’t need different reaction like that!」

…… It seems that Haruna’s classmates were causing trouble.

「Well, you see, I’m sorry about my classmates…」

「There’s no need for you to apologize. The men are a target of purge because of that, but there are girls who can shine if they are polished. I don’t know their name, though.」

Can shine if polished. When hearing that, Haruna thought of Mizuhori Touko, who was acknowledged as a level 5 brawler, and her best childhood friend, Rokusai Chinatsu. There is a sense of favoritism for Chinatsu, but for Haruna, Chinatsu is a good friend and a person she respects. It’s natural to be happy when Chinatsu is recognized by Nell.

「But then again, it seems the men are making a mess.」

「What do you mean?」

「The person who summoned them, Joseph, can’t control them. He sent his servants to those self-proclaimed heroes, but I wonder how long that will last. Some of them seemed to have slipped out of the royal castle in the last few days and disappeared.」

「They ran away…?」

Since their treatment in the castle is good, it was surprising for Haruna that there were some who chose to run away. No, looking at those guys who had a weird high tension, it was wrong to think that they will obediently listen to this country’s instructions. Still, it’s not easy to find a place to stay like Haruna. If that’s the case, when thinking about what they will do after the escape, what comes to mind is them doing bad deeds.

「Yes, it seems that they are a bad group. I just hope that they’re not drowning in power and doing bad things. If my subordinates in the knight order can’t deal with it, it will end up with me having to take care of it… I’m sorry, Haruna. If it comes down to it, I will deal with them without mercy even if they came from the same place as yours, okay?」

「Ah, yes. I think it can’t be helped.」

Nell was impressed with Haruna’s unemotional reaction since she was expected for her to go against it. She was surprised that there was a cool-headed girl within those that only have half-hearted thoughts. As a bonus, she is good-natured, cute, and her housework is perfect. Deris’s house, which used to be a semi-trash house, is now clean. Perhaps, there are still more, but she felt she could understand why Deris took her as a disciple.

(She’s somehow like Deris’s wife… I should have taken her as my disciple…)

Nell left such words at the bottom of her heart so that no one could hear it.