“Uh, hmm.”
In the suddenly awkward atmosphere, I blinked blankly for a mont, scratching my head before smiling and opening my mouth.
“So you had a sibling, Lunelle?”
“M-My apologies.”
Startled, Lunelle—who had been looking down nervously—responded in a fluster.
“I should’ve reported it beforehand... but the timing didn’t align. I’m sorry.”
“No, there’s no need to apologize for that.”
Lunelle, who was normally blunt and stoic, was visibly flustered for once, and not wanting to make the situation any more awkward, I gently coaxed her with a soft voice.
“If it’s you, Lunelle, I’m sure you judged them strictly without favoritism, even if they’re family. In that case, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“......”
“Oh? Why the silence? Don’t tell it was nepotism?”
But the mont I said that, Lunelle flinched and held her tongue, making tilt my head and question her further.
“...What is nepotism?”
“Ah, well. I an... you didn’t go easy during the evaluation, right?”
A term from my past life had slipped out, but thankfully no one seed to find it strange.
“...I’ve already severed ties with my family.”
“So that ans...”
“To , there is no longer a sibling. If you so wish, Master, I can even abandon the Misthylene na.”
After a brief pause, Lunelle responded in a solemn voice, and the tone was so dark that everyone’s attention naturally turned to her.
“Haha, there’s really no need to go that far. I was only asking about the evaluation process...”
“...Once again, I apologize. I was rely caught off guard.”
As I tried to patch up the increasingly awkward mood, I tilted my head slightly at Lunelle’s words, digging through my mory.
‘Now that I think about it, the Misthylene family—Lunelle’s family—was also a count family, like ours. And now their children want to join our knight order?’
If we were a renowned martial family with a long-standing knight order, or if it were the ducal knight order or the imperial one, this wouldn’t have been surprising.
But no matter how much the Ringaarden count family had been rising in status lately, for the children of another count family to apply to our knight order?
Legally, there was nothing wrong with it, but within the current noble society of the Empire, it was definitely not considered normal.
“Master, in case you didn’t know, the Misthylene count family is currently on the brink of bankruptcy.”
“Huh?”
As I tilted my head in slight confusion, Parsha, who had been quietly reading my expression from the side, suddenly leaned in and whispered the information into my ear.
“To explain a little more, they’re in the sa state our Ringaarden family was in about a year before I arrived.”
“So...”
“Yes, aning no one knows when they’ll collapse.”
It stung a little to hear it, but honestly, even just a few months ago, the Ringaarden family had been in such dire straits that we could barely keep up appearances as nobles.
So if that sa state had persisted for a year, it was easy to imagine the kind of decline the Misthylene family had suffered.
But how the hell did Parsha know that? Usually I was the one who had to piece together information from noble gatherings and whisper it back to her, wasn’t I?
“How did you know about that?”
“...Turns out the servant contact network my grandfather left behind is pretty useful.”
“Hmm.”
Curious, I asked Parsha, but she only deflected with a shaless smile.
‘Surely she hasn’t already set up her own information network?’
In the original ga, she had created a hidden network even redia didn’t know about and nearly got purged for it, so I couldn’t help but feel uneasy—but that was several years later in the ga’s tiline.
She’s only been under my employnt for less than half a year. There’s no way she’s already built sothing like that.
‘There’s no way... right?’
The image of Parsha with that villainous smirk from the original ga flashed through my mind, sending an unnecessary chill down my spine—but for now, I decided to let it go.
“Then the reason the children of the Misthylene family applied to join our knight order...”
“Isn’t it obvious? They’re trying to use whatever strings they’ve got left to at least secure one final lifeline.”
I an, I turned that redia villainess into a tsundere noble lady—there’s no way I can’t manage one Parsha, right?
“Parsha... your language is rather harsh sotis.”
“......”
“A bad child doesn’t deserve to be my subordinate.”
Smiling quietly at that thought, I gently chastised her—and the corners of her lips, which had been slightly lifted, began to twitch.
“...I’m sorry.”
And then, she quietly lowered her gaze and offered a ek apology.
“I really can’t tell if you’re a good kid or a bad one...”
Lady redia, watching us from the side, muttered sothing under her breath—but unfortunately, I couldn’t quite make it out.
“Y-Young Master... all of the interviewees are ready...”
“...Ah, I see.”
Just then, Sasha entered the makeshift interview room with her usual timid expression and asked the question.
“Sh-Should I let them in one by one?”
“No, bring them in two at a ti. I have sothing in mind.”
As Sasha turned to hurry out of the room with quick steps, I added one more thing in a gentle tone.
“Oh, and when I give the signal... bring a stretcher.”
“...Excuse ?”
“Never mind. You don’t need to co. Give the task to a maid with a tight mouth.”
If an assassin were to try sothing in this interview space, which currently had two war machines inside, I’d need to be ready to handle the aftermath swiftly.
“Please take care of it, okay?”
“...Got it.”
Thankfully, Sasha—recently promoted to head maid—had beco much more competent. Instead of bursting into tears like she used to, she simply nodded with a slightly somber expression and left the room.
“At least it’s just one today...”
“...What exactly do you do all the ti?”
“Pardon?”
redia narrowed her eyes and questioned Sasha’s mumbling with deep suspicion—but I, too, had no clue, so I simply gave her another helpless look.
***
“Ah, hello. I’m Johan, graduate of the 113th class of the Byework Knight Academy...”
“......”
Thus, after a short preparation ti, the knight order interviews finally began—but I never expected such a combination right from the start.
‘Johan, with the highest Luck stat, and an assassin sent to kill . Now that’s an interesting pair.’
Two of the people I was most keeping an eye on during these interviews were already standing before .
‘Still, that assassin is impressive.’
Even though Parsha could see through them, there wasn’t a hint of murderous intent coming from the assassin standing before .
Well, if they had leaked even a trace of killing intent here, they might have been folded in half by redia, standing next to .
Still, to completely erase their killing intent with the target standing right in front of them—this assassin might be as skilled as Bergen.
‘But how did Johan end up entering with soone like that...?’
One thing puzzled : Johan, who should be blessed with incredible luck, ended up grouped with a terrifying assassin.
As far as I knew, Johan’s stats were average across the board, except for Luck, making him no match for the assassin beside him.
For them to be paired together—did that an so unexpected event was about to happen right here?
“You there.”
As I kept a cautious eye on the situation, the sharp-eyed Lady redia spoke first.
“Y-Yes, yes ma’am?!”
“No, not you.”
Johan, frozen stiff at the realization that the Empire’s only princess was an interviewer, quickly answered first—but redia’s words weren’t directed at him.
“How long do you intend to keep that robe on?”
“......”
“If you ca for an interview, at least show the minimum courtesy.”
At her stern command, the unidentified assassin who had been covering their face finally lowered their robe and spoke.
“...Understood.”
And then, a flurry of different expressions swept across everyone’s faces.
“A beastkin?”
The mont the robe was pulled back, a pair of sharp, pointed wolf ears popped into view, imdiately revealing the individual’s origins.
“...Another woman?”
Though sohow, a different sort of comnt slipped from redia’s lips.
“You’ve certainly co a long way from the Eastern Continent.”
“......”
“But why did you decide to apply to the Ringaarden Knight Order, of all places?”
As the interview room lapsed into silence again, it was once more Lady redia who broke it.
“I rely followed where the winds carried .”
“That wasn’t the kind of abstract answer I was looking for.”
Despite the sharp question, the wolf-eared beastkin maintained an expressionless face before slowly turning her gaze to .
“I’m certain the recruitnt notice said you would not ask about backgrounds.”
“......?”
“I fail to understand why you keep prying into my personal history.”
Hearing that, Lady redia, montarily stunned, turned her gaze toward just like the beastkin and asked:
“Is that true?”
“...It is, actually.”
“Haah, unbelievable.”
The mont I answered with an awkward smile, Lady redia’s mouth launched into a fierce tirade.
“What kind of idiot doesn’t care about the background of the blade that’s going to serve them?”
“...Right here, apparently.”
“This isn’t a joke, you know?”
Of course, I wasn’t in a position to be picky, so I had decided not to care about backgrounds—but it seed Lady redia’s philosophy was quite different.
“Even giving you the benefit of the doubt—a knight academy graduate with no history is one thing. But a beastkin from who-knows-where?”
“......”
“Are you trying to form a rcenary band instead of a knight order, Whitney?”
Though her words included so dangerously controversial remarks, I trusted in the growth redia had shown so far.
“Lady redia.”
“What?”
“...Discriminating based on race is wrong.”
Saying so with a slightly serious expression, I watched as redia, briefly frozen, finally whispered in a low voice.
“That’s not what I ant to say...”
“...Lady redia.”
“Haah, fine. I get it. I’m sorry.”
Thankfully, seeing maintain a firm stance, she finally backed down this ti.
“But female beastkin tend to shed a lot, and they have certain periods where they get... troubleso...”
“......”
“...Tsk.”
Still, no one would mistake her for anything other than the villainess she was. Seems like so fundantal issues will need to be corrected little by little.
“Hey, I won’t ask about your past. But at least tell your na.”
Watching nervously as Lady redia’s words teetered on the edge, I let out a sigh of relief when they stayed within acceptable /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ bounds and turned my attention back to the interviewees.
“...I can share that much.”
But that mont of relief didn’t last long.
“Please call Ferris.”
“...Ah.”
At the na that ca from the wolf beastkin’s mouth, I imdiately recalled the identity of the assassin who had brazenly shown up at the interview.
“Ah, uh... I see.”
“...What’s wrong?”
Because according to my mories, the wolf beastkin who introduced herself as Ferris—
“...It’s nothing.”
—was none other than the slave knight and right hand of Maier, one of Lady redia’s most hated enemies.
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