Chapter 6 He went home with heavy steps. It was midday at that time. His family was busy baking bread and managing the bakery.
Isset also helped the shop during holidays, but that day he stayed inside his room due to lack of motivation.
He threw away the high-quality clothes that replaced his original clothes and dived onto his bed while wearing only his underwear.
He closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but he couldn"t fall asleep due to the stimulation inside his head.
The next morning.
His head wasn"t clear, but it was somewhat better after he took the medicine he got from Aydin.
Just before he went out, Isset"s mother handed him freshly baked bread.
[What"s with this?]
[Just eat it.]
She saw him off after striking his back.
That day"s mission was to kill monsters.
Since those in charge of intelligence observed a small pack of snow wolves emerged at the western forest, it was concluded that it would be handled by the eighth knight order.
[Snow wolves at this season, how strange.]
Eisel sat diagonally behind Isset who was driving the horses at the front.
A snow wolf, as the name implied, was a ferocious monster covered with white fur that moved while searching for deep snow, and it was also a species that couldn"t be found in this season when the snow had already melted and disappeared.
[Isset Sennel, what is your battle experience against snow wolves?]
[…Just once before.]
The state of Eisel who was speaking was the same as always.
He really couldn"t believe that Aydin had erased her memories.
[—They"re here.]
Eisel"s sharp words made Isset came back to his senses. He didn"t see anything with eyes, but the tension of the horses was transmitted by the reins.
In the green forest, the monsters with white coat could be seen.
As soon as the figures of the monsters were confirmed, Isset jumped down from the horse and drew his sword that was sheathed near his waist.
He whistled with his fingers to give instructions to his favourite horse to stay away from the byroad.
When the snow wolf rushed over while baring their fangs, Isset thrust his sword.
Before those sharp fangs could reach him, Isset twisted his body and kicked its nose, and when it flinched, he plunged the tip of his sword into its neck and sliced it off.
The second snow wolf pounced from behind and bit into his arm. However, a knight"s uniform was made from cloth and thread weaved imbued with magical power, so the fangs couldn"t pierce through it. After its attack failed, the snow wolf pounced once again after making a turn on the ground.
He raised his sword overhead to slash its side, but stakes of ice suddenly emerged from the ground and penetrated its abdomen, and killed it.
With the ice magic as a start, Isset heard Eisel"s voice from behind him instructing the other knights in a dignified tone.
The third snow wolf near Isset was also pierced with the ice stakes. Eisel commanded him to get down on the spot, and once he moved out of the way, a rain of arrows pierced down on the pack of snow wolves from his rear.
The knights who carried their swords attacked the pack of wolves that had lost their leadership.
In a few minutes, extermination was over.
After the end of the battle, they dug a hole to bury the corpses of the monsters.
It"s because the smell of blood could keep wildlife away and would attract more monsters.
It took a few hours to bury 30 snow wolf corpses; they then finished their task by sprinkling herb water on the ground.
The muddy group took a rest on the riverside.
Isset unfastened his horse saddle, lightly stroked his horse"s nose and gave it a lump of sugar before allowing it to drink from the river.
He shouldered the saddle, and washed his body and equipment away from his horse.
The other members were bathing in the river with their horses.
Their upper bodies were naked, showing no consideration to Eisel who was the lone woman.
Isset took off his leather boots, stepped into the waterside, and used twigs to scrub off the blood and mud that had stuck onto his boots.
[Are you feeling okay?]
Looking over his shoulder, there was his captain Eisel. Since she was only supporting using magic from behind, she was only slightly dirty.
Isset gave an adequate response and resumed the task of removing the mud again.
He thought that the person behind him would go away, but she continued to talk contrary to his expectation. {TN: The author wrote that there are 2 people behind Isset, but I think it"s a mistake so I wrote that there"s only one person.}
[Let me sit next to you.]
[Ha?]
Showing an unexpected behavior, Eisel sat next to Isset without his consent.
Her elegant figure when she sat on her knees on the gra.s.sy ground felt out of place.
Eisel was closely watching the state of her younger than 20 years old subordinates that were playing in the river.
The older knights were free and they either lied down or went fishing at the upper stream.
[Do you have a business with me?]
[No, it"s just that you are the only one who heard my instructions to put your appearance in order.]
It"s not that he"s particularly tidy.
It"s just that Isset who was raised in a bakery was taught that things had to be treated with care, and he knew that his sword and shoes would become useless if he didn"t maintain them.
[I"m impressed.]
[…It"s nothing.]
He immersed his sword in the river to cleanly wash off the blood and fat before replying.
[By the way, you—]
[Are you not taking the promotion exam?]
Hearing what she said, Isset snorted. It"s an impossible discussion, so he silently ignored it.
[Oi, I"m seriously asking.]
After cleaning his equipment, Isset washed the saddle that he shouldered with his hands.
He then took out a towel he brought from inside his bag, soaked it in the river water, and then wiped his face and neck after wringing it.
After he had finished, he then sighed deeply.
[I think it"s wasteful for me.]
He was young and composed, and his sword skill was good, Eisel praised Isset so.
She then added that he was able to do something anyone was up to task for, such as going against a pack of monsters alone.
[What, what"s with your reaction!]
[…smell.]
[What?]
[Something smells like an old hag.]
Eisel lost against Isset"s abusive words.
Since it"s nice that his boss had shut up, Isset took out a piece of bread from his bag and ate it.
[Na, you!!]
She was talking seriously from her side, but her subordinate replied in a truly abusive way, so Eisel scowled heavily.
[Wh, while it"s true that I"m a little older than you, but to call me old hag is—]
[It"s not about the age, it"s the content.]
[What?]
[Such a meddlesome old hag.]
Eisel was pointed out that she was not youthful as the subject of conversation, and she then frowned in discomfort.
But, alas, she couldn"t find words to refute him.
The only thing she could do was to stand up, point at Isset while saying "I"ll remember this!", and then leave.
The next day, the knights who gathered in the plaza were about to be asked about personnel rea.s.signment.
[This evening, Lieutenant Givanju Chelik will be moved to the third knight platoon, the royal capital patrol squad.]
It was informed that the adjunct that had come with Eisel would be moved that day.
Moreover, it was announced that there was no replacement personnel.
[Therefore—]
Eisel said that the replacement adjunct would be selected from among the eighth knight platoon who was there at that time.
While such speech was said, Isset was gazing up at the sky which was showing a clear fine weather while thinking that it had nothing to do with him.
[For the next adjunct, I"m thinking of deciding on candidacy announcement.]
Isset looked at his colleagues" faces as if there would be a person who would volunteer themselves as the adjunct.
However, something unexpected happened.
[I"ll do it!]
[No, it"s me!]
[Please leave it to me!]
Members who wanted to become the adjunct rapidly raised their hands.
Isset"s eyes opened in surprise as he didn"t think that they were the type to be dazzled by things like position and t.i.tle allowance.
Eventually, all but Isset had raised their hands.
Under such circ.u.mstances, the surrounding"s intense eyes focused on Isset.
However, neither of Isset"s hands which were clasped behind his back never came up.
A member next to him whispered to him in a small voice.
[Oi, you, read the atmosphere.]
[Ha?]
Isset who did not understand the meaning at all asked what it meant.
[At such a time, there"s an agreement that everyone will volunteer.]
[I"ve never heard such a story.]
The senior knight who was facing Isset bared his teeth.
[Oraa, it means that you have to raise your hands too!]
[Haa, I don"t see any significance! If you don"t want to be the adjunct, you won"t need to mention this since there are so many candidates!]
[It"s a form of beauty, you idiotic rascal!!]
The knight who was selling a fight with Isset made a gesture of swinging his overhead arm toward Isset"s head.
Reflexively, Isset raised his hand to protect his head.
However, the swung hand stopped moving without hitting him.
He looked at the group member who performed such strange behavior with a scowl, but the other person showed a quiet face as if nothing had happened.
Then, a voice he had never imagined called out.
[Very well, the announcement of candidacy had been decided. Isset Sennet, you are now the adjunct.]
[Ha?]
When he looked over his surroundings, the other members who had raised their hands had the posture of clasping their hands behind their back and were completely waiting.
Only Isset was standing still with his hand raised.
[No, wait.]
[Congratulations!]
[Congratulations!]
[Congratulations!]
Isset, who was caught by the other knights, were raised over their heads and thrown to the sky while they shouted "banzai~, banzai~".
Eisel resisted her urge to laugh and disappeared back to the break room.
In this way, Isset became the adjunct due to his surrounding"s skill.
TN: I laughed as I translated the last part. Isset has been trolled. Maybe the other knights had an agreement with Eisel? XD