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“…Alright! That should do it, right?”

I planted my hands on my hips and let out a satisfied breath as I surveyed the breakfast laid out in the kitchen for a huge crowd.

Scrambled eggs, thick-cut bacon, stewed pork belly from Amukham Boar, and honey toast.

Well, technically, the actual cooking had been done by the head chef of Amukham House, but still. This was food for nearly a hundred people. I’d helped with the plating, at least.

Honestly, I wanted to help with serving too, but things inside the Amukham House had finally settled down. The maids had their hands free again, and before I knew it, they’d all gathered here.

Which meant I wasn’t needed anymore, which led to me being told to wait in the back.

(Sniff… sniff sniff…)

My job as the “poster girl of the dining hall” had vanished…

Well, Mama Sonia and Anne-Marie did warn me not to show myself in front of the knight order more than necessary, so I guess that’s that. …I was currently, enthusiastically, unemployed.

But hey, there was still plenty of behind-the-scenes work to do ♪

Basically, as long as I worked somewhere the guests couldn’t see, it was all good! Like helping out with cooking prep! Or lining up plates! Or cleaning up afterward and washing dishes!

And indoors, there was laundry and cleaning too!

Granted, if the maids caught me doing any of that, they would immediately confiscate the job…

Still! I just sneaked around and found work whenever I could! Heh! Teehee!

That’s how I ended up doing laundry. After spreading out and hanging the clothes across the entire clearing on the south side of the East Wing, I stretched happily, only for a familiar figure to catch my eye.

“M-Marsh?! What are you doing here so early in the morning?”

Standing there was Marsh Causburt, master smith of the forge in Cope Town.

“Oh! If it isn’t Little Miss Cloud! What’s this, helping out the village?”
“Yes, well… sort of. Um, what brings you here, Marsh? Are you delivering weapons or armor, by any chance?”

He had a large leather bag slung over his right shoulder. …Though for a delivery, it looked a bit small.

“Hm? Well, something like that. Oh, actually, perfect timing, miss. Do you happen to know where the knight order is stationed?”
“Ah, yes! There’s a temporary barracks set up past the East Wing. I’ve just finished my work, so I can show you the way.”
“That’d be a big help. Much obliged.”

Apparently, Marsh wasn’t here for the main knight order, but someone in the logistics division.

“Last autumn, I lent a hand with something, so I just came to check how it turned out.”

Right, he’d been in the Royal Capital for about two months back then.

And now he had come here to see what the result was. When the knight order arrived in Cope Town, he hadn’t had time, so they’d asked him to come take a look once they’d settled into the Amukham House.

“And there’s also one more thing… Ah! There he is! Hey! Fred!!”
“Huh? Ah! Master Causburt! You came all this way?!”

Near a tent set up as a temporary warehouse, Marsh raised his hand and called out to a man standing in front of it.

The man, Fred, wasn’t wearing the leather jacket, boots, or gloves typical of the knights. Instead, he had on khaki-colored coveralls and plain leather boots. A black bandana with a trippy pattern was tied around his head like a headband, holding back his black hair, and the stubble around his rounded jaw was… impressive. His droopy blue eyes looked a little glazed over, with dark circles underneath. Maybe he hadn’t slept much?

(What is this guy? That outfit? It totally doesn’t belong in a fantasy world?!)

Scratching his head with a pen while checking documents on a clipboard in his other hand, he looked exactly like a mechanic.

Fred raised the hand holding the pen and greeted Marsh.

“Thank you for coming all this way, Master Causburt! We’ve been waiting for you!”

He stepped closer, grabbed both of Marsh’s hands, and shook them enthusiastically.

“We’ve adjusted the Type Four you left behind, and it’s now successfully operating as the Kai-Two version! Would you please take a look?!”

(W-what? Huh?! What was that?! Did he just casually drop terms that feel wildly out of place in a fantasy setting?! Type Four? Kai-Two? Hearing these makes me feel like we’ll be setting sail or something soon!)

I’d planned to leave as soon as I’d guided Marsh here, but my curiosity dragged me all the way to the tent entrance. Because seriously, what in the world did Type Four and Kai-Two mean?! What did he build?! This was the kind of thing that kept you up at night, you know?! Right?!

Just then, Magritte and Djimon emerged from inside the tent.

“Princess?! What are you doing here?”

At Magritte’s words, Fred froze, eyes wide. “P-Princess…?” Before he could make a fuss, Djimon gently motioned for him to keep it down.

The reason Magritte was here, of course, was because as commander of the advance unit that led the main knight order, she was also responsible for logistics as a whole.

Apparently, it had been Magritte who’d visited Marsh in Cope Town on the way to Amukham.

“Thank you for coming, Master Causburt. Chief Rowling has been waiting eagerly.”

Marsh shook hands with Magritte and Djimon. Fred Rowling, it turned out, had received technical instruction from Marsh while he was in the Royal Capital and now served as chief maintenance officer for the logistics unit. Basically, one of Marsh’s disciples.

“We were just about to start operational testing on the finished units! Perfect timing, now Master Causburt can inspect them himself!”
“Oh? That is good timing, then. Let’s have a look right away.”

(Operational testing? The Type Four, Kai-Two thing? What are they?! I wanna see! I wanna know, I wanna see so bad!)

“Huh? You want to watch too, miss?”

Marsh looked at me and grinned. …Was it that obvious? I probably had curiosity plastered all over my face. It honestly made me feel a bit embarrassed.

So I looked away, but Marsh just chuckled and asked Magritte if it was okay for me to observe.

She agreed with a smile, but that gentle, indulgent look somehow made my cheeks burn even more.

With Magritte’s permission, I tagged along with everyone. Our destination was the training area in the East Wing.

The East Wing, connected to the main Amukham House, had once served as barracks for knights and soldiers back when this was still Amukham territory.
Those facilities had been preserved and were still in use.

Apparently, the training area was far sturdier than anything at school. Even high-grade adventurers used them often, which said a lot about their durability.

When we arrived, there was a bench near the entrance. And on it lay something that looked less like a person and more like a pile of rags, twitching weakly, barely breathing.

Looking closer, I recognized that pile as one of the knights I’d met yesterday. Namely, Sir Kyle!

Why was he in that state, here of all places?!

I instinctively started walking toward him, but for some reason, both Magritte and Djimon smoothly averted their eyes and walked past as if they hadn’t seen a thing. Marsh and Fred didn’t even glance his way, chatting merrily as they continued.

(…Ah. I see. This is… one of those situations, isn’t it? The one where it’s better to just pretend I didn’t see anything.)

He wasn’t seriously injured, after all. He probably just trained himself into the ground since morning. If he rested a bit, his stamina would come back.

Yeah! Being seen all battered and exhausted by a girl would be embarrassing, right? Yup! Definitely best to pretend I didn’t see anything! That’s what a thoughtful girl would do! Mm-hmm! I’ll pretend I didn’t see a thing! Let’s go with that!