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“I thought I was a goner for sure…”

Verna cried loudly after we rescued her. Her face and clothes were marred with her own vomit, which let out a rather foul stench. Simon and I refused to get close to her, and she continued crying until we arrived at the city and she could change.

At Simon’s house she was able to clean her body, and after she got a warm drink she bowed deeply to me.

“Diaria, thank you so much for rescuing me, and all the city by getting rid of those black knights, you have my gratitude.”
“Thank you for saving her.”
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. You don’t have to thank me so much.”

Being thanked in such a way made me feel embarrassed. Not to mention that while the black knights currently stationed in the city were gone, the main issue had not been corrected at all.

“What should we do now though? I don’t think there are any black knights in the castle right now…”
“We should discuss that with my father.”

Now that she mentioned it, I had completely forgotten about her father, the current head of the Cristopher family. He had not made any impactful appearance so far, so I had not thought about him at all.

“Verna?”
“It was his usual indecisiveness that caused this entire situation. It’s time he makes up his mind and takes the reins.”

Verna sounded quite irritated. Was it because of everything she went through? …No, that was not it. She was angry seeing his father’s failure as a feudal lord. He kept trying to rely on outsiders to protect his land, put his own people in danger, and when things got even worse, he only concerned himself with getting his daughter out safely. He might be a good father, but was a terrible lord. I could see why Verna was so mad.

“Alright you two, let’s go visit the castle.”

Without waiting for a reply, Verna stood up and headed towards the castle. We hurried on our feet and followed her, smiling awkwardly at each other. It seemed like Verna had had it this time, after her life was put in so much danger. Her feet were still a little wobbly and her body looked frail, but I could feel a strong resolve from her.

The sun had also risen now. That meant the traces of battle would become more visible. None of the corpses had a semblance of their original shape, and both allies and enemies were struck with fear after seeing Sol. Verna was taken aback seeing them at first, but she soon resumed walking. Her pace remained constant after that, almost as if she could not see anything.

I follow after Verna and look at the bodies lying around, noticing something.

“There’s no regular soldiers amongst them?”

All the bodies belonged to black knights, I could not see any regular soldiers. And I could not imagine the black knights deciding to wear regular armor, since they loved their privileged position. It was more likely that I had only killed black knights.

“I think the regular soldiers are all still inside the castle.”

Simon answered, he had heard my mutter.

“Most of the soldiers and knights in the castle got fired a while ago too. They opposed the black knights’ attitude.”
“…The feudal lord really got lenient with them, huh.”
“It’s not about being lenient or not. They had authority from Stied to easily send anyone home as they wished. Though many also quit by themselves, annoyed that the lord would not work to protect us himself.”

Simon’s voice sounded somber as he said that. There were probably many of his friends amongst those that quit. I could imagine anyone who was serious about defending people would leave in such a situation.

The castle’s front gates were still wide open, just like when we took the horses. Even though there had been such a commotion outside, the soldiers inside the castle did not seem willing to look outside. Though I felt like that was excessive cowardice even if they were scared.

Once we were inside, Verna’s steps became faster, it was almost a light trot. Her father’s room was located on the top floor of the castle, which was three stories tall. Since the feudal lord was in the room, there were knights posted at the door. They were the first people we saw since entering the castle.

“Lady Verna!”
“I’m back. Is Father inside?”

The knights answered yes, and Verna walked past them to slam the doors open. It was extremely rude to open a noble’s room without knocking or waiting for permission, but Verna did not seem to care whatsoever. Inside was a rather good-looking middle aged man, sitting together with a group of knights and guards. His somewhat twitchy appearance and confused look made me see him as just a normal guy. He was Verna’s father.

“Verna?! Why are you-”
“Father, did you hear all the ruckus outside? Do you realize what happened to all the black knights?”

The count was clearly confused seeing Verna back, who he had secretly let escape before. His concerned-father side wanted to ask her why she had come back, but Verna’s anger did not allow that. The count frowned for a moment, but then managed to squeeze some words out.

“Of course I’m aware of the fight outside. I heard some monster killed all the black knights. I don’t know who lured that thing here, but they really messed things up for us. Now it almost looks like I’m trying to oppose Stied.”
“Wha-”

I was speechless hearing his words and tone. Those black knights had been ravaging his territory, and rather than expressing gratitude for seeing them gone, he was complaining. While I was lost for words, Simon’s face got red with anger next to me, but he knew his position and bit his lip in annoyance to not say anything. But Verna’s angry voice made itself heard in the room.

“Father! Is that really what you think? Do you have no shame?!”

Everyone in the room fell silent. Verna had always been a meek and quiet girl, so hearing her shout in anger left everyone speechless, the knights and guards not knowing what to say seeing such a change in her. But Verna was not even looking at them as she continued to shout.

“You always refuse to protect your own land, always begging others to do it for you and inviting such fiends to take over the city, and when someone comes and does something about it you insult them?! I never knew you were such a pitiful man!”
“W-Why are you so angry, Verna? What’s gotten into you?”

The count was flustered, trying to calm down his daughter. Verna was still glaring at him, but after taking a deep breath her voice was a bit calmer.

“Father, where were you while there was a fight outside?”
“Where? I was here in the room, gathering information…”
“…Information?”

I could feel Verna’s anger start to rise again. Her trusted guardian, Simon, had put his life on the line to fight, and many innocent citizens could have been harmed, so hearing him say that rubbed her the wrong way.

“Well, what have you learned after spending so long in this room then?”
“Oh…so apparently most of the black knights died, and the survivors escaped…”
“I see. And what happened after that?”
“After that?”

The count did not seem to understand what Verna was trying to say, so he just cocked his head in confusion.

“It’s been quite a few hours since the fight ended. Why haven’t you gone out to see the situation for yourself? Or see if there are any wounded citizens?”
“Ah…”

Only then did he seem to notice that, and a drop of sweat began to bead up on his forehead. I guess this man had just been thinking about himself all this time…

“Father, I want you to apologize to Diaria first. She rescued Simon and I after we escaped the castle, and she was the one who drove off the black knights in the city too.”
“She rescued you? What happened after you left?”
“A pack of monsters surrounded us. But more importantly, your apology.”
“I-I see. It seems you’ve been taking care of my daughter, thank you.”

The count bowed quickly to me, though he still sounded half doubtful. I did not feel like he was being too sincere, but considering my appearance I could not really blame him. Not many people would believe it if told that a frail and beautiful and tender elf like me had defeated a whole platoon of robust black knights. I nodded to myself to convince me that was the case, but Simon still looked dubious.

“I just helped as I passed by, it was nothing serious. But more importantly, please listen to everything Verna has to say.”
“Thank you Diaria. Father, she came from Surfour, it seems that Grom’s territory has already been occupied by Stied’s men.”
“Wh-What?!”

The count exclaimed in shock. It was funny seeing his face change colors so much after hearing that the one place he considered safe had been lost.