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「It’s all right. His Majesty has given the permission, so you should stand tall.」
「B-, but… even so……」
「It’s fine. What we do doesn’t change, right?」

That is to say, they both would go and fight a powerful enemy together. Consider it as King Charleas’ endorsement of Inglis’ and Rafinha’s actions

「We are doing this part-time, so we can go back to the Knight Academy just fine once this is over! Not to mention, as your Squire, I can’t possibly become a knight commander all by myself, can I?」

In what world was there a Squire who overtook the Knight they were supposed to serve? If that happened, that Squire was no longer a Squire.

But, Inglis was Rafinha’s Squire. That was absolute in the way of life of Inglis Eux.

If so, it was only natural that she wanted Rafiha to stand above her, even if only a little bit. Which was why Inglis was Second-in-Command, while Rafinha was First-in-Command.

「Fufufu. What are you even saying? Well, this is just you fulfilling your wish, right?」

Rafinha giggled in amusement.

「Yup, that’s right.」

Of course, Inglis couldn’t possibly bring the proposal up if Rafinha hadn’t done anything of note, but King Charleas claimed that what Rafinha did was a deed equal to hers, he even asked her what Rafinha wanted, so Inglis said what she wanted.

King Charleas might have calculated that it would be easier for her to control Inglis via Rafinha. But, that was fine. After all, with both of them being inaugurated, Inglis could fight the Prisma much more comfortably, and there was no downside to it. It was a win-win situation.

「Okay then, fine. As the first-in-command Commander, I will give you, second-in-command Commander, my order, okay? “Do something about it,” is that good enough?」
「Yes. I will do as you command.」

With them laughing with each other, Inglis and Rafinha headed to King Charleas. The hall was already prepared for the banquet, and the air was filled with the delicious smells of various dishes.

They had heard that it would be an inauguration ceremony with a small banquet, but it seemed like it wasn’t small at all.

「Oooh—Wow……!」
「Uwah—! I-, I want the fish……! And the crabs, and the lobsters!」
「You’re right. We’ve been eating nothing but dragon meat lately, so some fish would be delightful!」

The flesh of the Dragon God was exquisite, but it was simply human nature to want to have some diversity after eating the same thing for so long. The dishes lined up would surely satisfy the cravings of Inglis and Rafinha.

「Hm. You’ve come! The two of you are dressed appropriately for a battle for the survival of our country. It suits you very well.」

King Charleas, greeting Inglis and Rafinha, nodded his head in satisfaction.

「「Thank you very much!」」

They greeted him back reverently and kneel before him.

「It is a matter of high urgency, I shall make it short. I entrust you two, Inglis Eux and Rafinha Wilford, with the full authority of my Imperial Guard Order at this time of crisis. Make haste towards Arlman and repel the Prisma!」
「「Yes sir!」」

Inglis and Rafinha once again responded in the same breath.

「Lady Inglis! Lady Rafinha! Congratulations!」

The first to shout and start clapping was Redas.

「「Congratulations!」」
「「We are in your care!」」

Just like him, the Knights under him applauded.

「I have prepared a small banquet for you. At least for the short while, you can go and refresh yourselves!」
「「Yes! Our deepest gratitude!」」

Inglis and Rafinha’s eyes lit up, and right then…

「Your Majesty! YOUR MAJESTTYYYYー!! A report from Arlman! Prisma is approaching the outskirts of Arlman already!!」

A Knight rushed in and reported as such.

「……?! That is much faster than estimated!」

They were told that there should be a few more days until Prisma was sighted, but there seemed to have been some change in the movement of Prisma. Whatever that change was— Inglis had no idea, but she knew it wasn’t something good.

Now, they had not a moment to lose.

「W-, we need to go to big brother now—!」

But… Their bellies had something else to say.

「「……」」

Inglis and Rafinha looked at each other before they bowed deeply.

「「Your Majesty, forgive us—!」」

And then—

「Kay, Glis! Full speed ahead!」
「Yeah—! Here we go!」

Inglis pulled the gear switch of the Star Princess unit with vigor.

Vroom! VROOOOOM!!

The aircraft roared. This was the fastest method to reach Arlman. It had been loaded onto the Ironblood Chain Brigade’s ship as they returned from Alucard, and Redas used it to get to the royal castle first.

「「We will depart!」」
「Y-, yes!! Please do!」

King Charleas nodded to Inglis and Rafinha, whose expressions tightened, with dignity. At his permission, Inglis Rafinha took off, each carrying a large package. Those packages were the food they were served.

They had no time to eat it, so they wrapped it up— using the mantle with the coat of arms they had just been given. Of course, they wouldn’t eat it in front of King Charleas, but they could fill their bellies as they flew.

「As-, as expected of Lady Inglis, none of her actions are predictable!」
「They used the mantle as cloth wrappers?!」
「Q-, quite discourteous, huh…」

The knights were muttering to themselves as they watched the Star Princess unit move away at high speed.

「A small thing at the cost of something bigger. After all, no one can fight a war with an empty belly!」

King Charleas responded to the voices around him calmly.