It happened as Simon approached the mine. A vague voice was heard from the other side, across the woods. With some expectations in mind, he jumped off from his horse and taking along his long bow, he ran into the forest.

“Damn it, we’re retreating!　Clear a path to run a――ugh!? ”

People and beasts. 

Rough breathing. The sound of metal bumping. 

The smell of blood. Screams.

About 20 meters ahead, knights who seemed to be from the local kingdom, Castall, were surrounded by scarlet wolves. Big wolves with red fur.  There are six of them. 

The group of knights seems to be struggling. Five of them are already in the ground and unmoving. There are five others who are holding their sword and formed in a circle formation. It’s easy to see they are probably going to be annihilated.

"Get down!! ” Simon screamed with all he could.

The five members of the Knight ducked as soon as they saw him holding his bow.

An arrow flew, and pierced the three Scarlet wolves who were in a straight line.

Those Scarlet wolves collapsed on the ground and died after being left with an arrow at its head.

While raising an intimidating sound, the remaining three monsters targeted Simon.

The distance is 20 meters. Since their enemies have turned their attention towards him, the knights seem to have escaped this crisis.

Twang――Along that deep sound, the arrow was released from the bow. At the moment it landed on the head of the Scarlet wolf.  Without wasting time, he prepared the second shot. The second enemy also followed the same fate. And the last one. This time, it nearly catches him but he managed to release an arrow on time to hit its head.

"Sorry, you got our thanks. For Helpi――Ah.”

The five members of Knight group approached while being wary of the surroundings. The knight who thanked him had a familiar and dignified voice.

" Simon, I have no words to express the gratitude of saving us this time.”

Removing her helmet, the female knight Silvia showed her face and bowed. 

She had a pale face. He supposed that was a given. After all, her companions were killed.

"Well, don’t worry. Let’s bring them back home.”

When he said so, Silvia and the other four knights walked towards their dead companions’ bodies, and made a very clean and beautiful. salute.

***

Sylvia's first impression of him was the worst. 

He thought he was a young nobleman who grew up in a snugly environment that didn’t know hardships, a man with no common sense that was not thinking about how he would be bothering others as long as they didn’t bother him.

But right now.

He defeated six Scarlet wolves in thirty seconds. From 20 meters away, and nothing but a long bow, an impossible feat to do with archery.

She wondered how much effort did he put into it?

She felt sorry for having bundled him together with those dirty nobles.

She reflected on herself.

From an early age she had wanted to follow the path of a Knight, and this is all she had accomplished with her sword.

Useless. No matter what she did, it’s useless. Since she had little talent for the sword she was chastised in her home, and when she finally entered to the bottom rank of the knights, she felt so left out.

All she did was speak of justice, she was that lousy justice girl. 

But even that justice felt empty, it did not resonate.

Even when she exposed the unjust aristocrats’ dirty deals, someone from above always came to stop her.

And when she tried to expose the knight commander's injustice, other knights got in the way.

Those political lapdogs.

She was sick of it.

She was sick of this Castall kingdom’s system. Just take a look.

Even after the death of her comrades, the rotten upper echelons were trying to capture and use the savior of the knight.

And the reason they got into that predicament was because of an incompetent commander and the unreasonable orders from the upper echelons.

Is this truly a Knight ? She thought.

Where is the image of a knight that she once admired and aimed at?

If that’s so, then, she would just……

***

"Simon, Aren’t you going to join mercenaries?"

After helping the Knight, Simon was brought to a room and made to sit in a sofa which seems to be of quite a high class.

He was wondering if he would be receiving words of thanks, but the first thing the old man sitting opposite from him said was almost the opposite.

"I guess I should start from the beginning. I heard that you, Simon, despite being a mercenary, did not belong to the guild.”

Certainly, he was not affiliated with them. There is no reason to belong to the guild.

The guild in the Castall Kingdom was an organization that controls and oversees requests from kingdom . So to speak, they’re the bridge between the people and mercenaries ――But the truth was, they were a rotten organization in this Kingdom that seek to manage personal information from mercenaries in order to serve their own needs.

"Sounds like a nice deal, but I’ll have to refuse.”

"……Can I ask you why? ”

"I’m not particularly bothered by money, and "I’m not good at being tied to an organization… maybe because of that. ”

Since it’s probably useless to hide it, he told him the honest reason.

Immediately after, the old man made an expression that as if troubled.

"What’s wrong? ”

“It’s nothing. As a knight, "I don’t want to let such a great mercenary as Simon go. Especially this time, when Simon’s ability has become quite obvious in a big way. With this being the case, many nobles will rush to get their hand on you.”

"……In other word, you mean the guild will protect me?”

"Pretty much.”

He thought it was suspicious.

"After all, no, I won’t join them.”

When he said so, the old man pulled down.

And then, he opened his mouth after being lost in thought.

"Then, let’s go with our Silvia. If you have someone from the Knight attached, it will serve to give them some level of restrain.”

Simon thought she might be a bit dumb, but she is beautiful. Any man would obviously want her by their side.

"I have no idea what hand the nobles might try to play with. And Silvia is famous for being a tough knight against the nobility in the capital. I think this will be quite effective, don’t you think? "

This old man gave an additional push.

Simon felt like he was starting to get it.

Silvia is tough on nobles. And the upper echelons of the knights are connected to those nobles. In other words, Silvia is a thorn on the side of the knights. Does that mean he wants to relegate Silvia?

"How long will she be accompanying me? ”

"Uhmm. Let’s ask the person herself ――Silvia.”

After he asked, the old man opened the door and called for Silvia.

After a short while, Silvia, whom now was not wearing her armor, appeared.

"Silvia. You’ll be in charge of acting as Simon’s escort. About the time of this endeavor, as a knight I would like to respect yours and Simon’s opinions.”

Silvia was surprised by the old man’s words.

That’s only natural. This is pretty much a de-facto demotion. But that also means that her and Simon's opinion would be respected, that is, Silvia’s term will be decided by Simon. Simon knew it, it seemed like the knights want to chase Silvia out.

Silvia was looking down in silence. He managed to steal a glance at the valley in her chest. Not bad, moderately sized mountains.

“Got anything to say in particular about your term? ”

Sylvia shook her head.

The old man told Silvia implicitly to remain silent.

Then, he turned his eyes towards Simon.

“How about two years? Simon decided.

The old man then spoke without changing his expression.

"Alright".

And thus, the female knight Silvia became Simon's escort to do mercenary jobs.

***

Sylvia was drinking beer with Simon in a bar.

"I was born in the Virginia House of Knights. It is the role of those born in the Virginia House to become a knight and master fighting skills. Therefore, I have walked the path of the sword since I was four years old. I’ve been training in the way of the sword for 13 years now… But it all has been for nothing. I had no talent for the sword. I was despised by my brother and sister, even by my very parents. I am one of those who have failed. And even after barely becoming a knight, my sense of justice isn’t shared by others…”

She spoke as if complaining. It seems like I’m really getting drunk.

Simon opened his mouth, as if to say something that was hard to say.

"I’m sorry for what I’m about to tell you. If you don’t have talent for the sword, you should try something else. A spear or a bow should be fine.”

Flying into rage, she grabbed Simon by the chest and stood up… and then she gave up.

She realised he said nothing but the truth.

She had always been stubborn and trained with nothing but swords. Even after everyone said I had no talent, only the sword…

“……A knight is …… clad in armour, holding a sword, riding a horse ……A hero who rushed to save those in a pinch……”

She wanted to be a knight. A respectable knight. Never succumbing to evil, always an ally of justice.

She felt pathetic. Her tears came out.

***

"I’m happy to finally meet you, Lord Virginia.”

　――A troublesome fellow.

When Noir Virginia first saw him, that’s what his intuition told him.

Gathering from his slight bow, he could tell this young man had a strength of mind, body and spirit. It was easy for him, a Knight with peerage, to know that Simon had the arm of a swordsman after taking a closer look.

Simon's figure was quite eye-catching, that even Noir, being from the same sex, felt like stealing glances. He couldn’t even begin to fathom how much those incredibly good tailor-made clothes would go for. His glossy shoes were obviously from the leather of a considerably high-rank material.

The mantle he wore also deserved a special mention. Jet-black and ultramarine, a colour that mimicked the night sky and pulled in the viewer with its scattered jewels that resembled sparkling stars.

"Father. This esteemed person is Simon, a noble from a foreign country.”

His daughter, whom he was meeting for the first time in a long time, introduced Simon to him with a bit of demure.

He decided to test Simon here.

“Umu, Simon, was it? I’m Noir Virginia. Thank you for your consideration.”

“Likewise.”

Noir was surprised. 　With plenty of composure he smiled and returned a single word.

Now he was sure―― Simon is of foreign royalty. No mistake.

If he were part of the faulty nobles like here in Castall, he would’ve instantly flown into a rage since a simple Knight had treated him as his equal. This is an action that is always sure to expose their haughty behaviour.

Unless it was someone belonging to royalty hiding their own status. If that’s the case, there is no way Noir can let this chance slip and lose his grace with such a playful prank. In the first place, he doesn’t seem to want to keep his identity as royalty a secret from Noir.

　Along with the sound of a bang. 

　Noir's head hit the table as I bowed to him.

"“Your highness Simon. I sincerely apologize for trying to test you in that manner. I’m ready to receive some punishment. But if you find it in your heart to forgive this worthless me, I would love to hear what you came here for.”

　As he bowed his head, Noir waited for Simon to speak. And hopefully, something good will befall his Virginia Knight’s House.

***