112. Senior Holy Knight and Sunny Land [3]

As I glanced around at the tattered training hall and thought about how to explain this situation, I noticed footsteps coming this way.

Perhaps the staff of the Holy Knights Association heard the sound of broken windows and are heading towards us in a hurry.

(For the time being… I have no choice but to explain it as it is…)

I don’t know if they’ll believe me, but let’s just describe the plain truth.

When I made up my mind, a man walked into the training hall.

「What was all that noise just… now?」

He, who was dressed in a wacky outfit, gaped at the miserable state of the training hall.

In the midst of the indescribably heavy air,

「B-Branch chief…」

One of the junior holy knights called out.

(The『Branch Chief』means… Is he『Clown Jester』-san?)

Leia-sensei informed us that he had just taken up the position of branch chief of the Orest Branch Holy Knights Association about a week ago.

Clown Jester.

Judging by his outward appearance, he seemed to be in his early thirties.

He is about 180 centimeters tall and has a thin body build.

Dark red hair and gentle face.

A red spade was painted on the right cheek and a black heart on the left cheek.

He wore a black bartender vest on top and a whole body white monochrome clown costume.

And he had a black-and-white fedora low-over his eyes.

It’s not good to judge people by appearance, but… he somewhat gave off a shady feeling.

「Um… Excuse me, can I ask someone to explain the situation?」

When Clown-san looked around with a wry smile,

「T-The shitty brat there suddenly started going on a rampage!」Instructor Don Gorg shouted, with an evil smile.

「Him?」

Clown-san’s gaze was directed to me.

「Aa yes! Watch out, branch chief! Even with such a small body, he is strong like a demon!」

Then, Ria and Rose protested to the instructor who was talking nonsense.

「Hey, don’t screw around! You’re the one who went on a rampage without permission and destroyed the training hall!」

「You were the one who got violent first!」

「Gu, Gununu…」

One-vs-two – he was on the disadvantage in numbers.

「W-What! You guys have been watching it too, right!? That shitty brat suddenly started to rampage! Oi, you were watching right !?」he glared at the junior holy knights as though threatening them.

「「「……」」」

They shrank back and held their tongue in response to that clearly obvious threat.

(…Well, no wonder.)

For them, this instructor is their direct supervisor.

There is no merit even if they stood up for us.

(But that means… We will be at a disadvantage….)

Don Gorg is an instructor here.

It is our word against his.

As the branch chief of the Orest branch, Clown-san will be more inclined to believe what his subordinate says.

And then,

「N-No! The person who broke this room was… Instructor Don!」a junior holy knight shouted.

And with that as the start,

「A-Aa! I saw it with my own eyes, too! The instructor went on a rampage and destroyed this training hall!」

「Branch chief! The fault lies entirely with the instructor!」

Everyone around me raised the voice of truth simultaneously.

「B-Bastards…!」

To the instructor who furiously glared at the junior holy knights,

「…Don-san, is it true that you went on a rampage?」

Clown-san asked indifferently, with an unreadable expression.

「…………It’s true. But! It was unavoidable! That kid spoke impudently to me!」

「I see. By the way… that liquor bottle over there… Is that yours?」

「Aa, what’s wrong with that?」

「『The Holy Knight Work Regulations』prohibits drinking while on duty. You know that much, don’t you?」

Holy Knight Work Regulations – The universal rules of the Holy Knights worldwide.

「Hmm, I don’t care about that stupid rule! I have been an instructor here for decades. My word is the rule here! Even during the previous branch chief and the branch chief before him, it has always been so!」

Clown-san simply shrugged his shoulders as the instructor shouted.

「Fuu… I understand. Well then, Instructor Don Gorg, I’ll dismiss you today.」

「W-What?」

「We will send you a notice of dismissal to your home. Thank you for everything until today.」

Clown-san took off his hat and bowed, and as if to say『This matter is final!』, he walked past the instructor.

The next moment,

「…Greenhorn, who just got appointed last week… Don’t talk like you understand anything! Sand Blast!」

The furious instructor wielded his broken soul dress and shot more than twenty sand swords towards Clown-san.

「B-Branch chief, look out!」

A shriek flew,

「Haa… You can’t even tell the『difference in power』?」

The sand swords broke as if it had hit an invisible wall.

And that was not all.

「Wha-What is this…!?」

The instructor slowly went down where he stood, as though being pinned down from above.

「Nuohh!」

He seemed to be struggling to get up somehow, but… he couldn’t even twitch.

Perhaps he was being held down by a tremendous force? Or perhaps something else?

(Is this『gravity』? …No, it’s not.)

Looking closely, only the instructor’s body was influenced by the mysterious power.

If he was held down by gravity, the surrounding broken floorboards would also start creaking.

This person… although wearing a silly outfit, he is pretty strong.

Clown-san, who made the difference in power between them clear, returned to his light tone from before.

「Now, you’re being a hindrance to the clean up. Please say『goodbye』already.」

Immediately after that, the instructor, who was freed from the mysterious power,

「Tch, damn it… I will remember this, Allen Rodore!」

At the end, he spat that out and ran out of the training hall.

「Eh?」

For some reason, I alone seem to have incurred his enmity.

No matter how you look at it, it’s just him venting his anger and complaining, but…

(I just hope it doesn’t grow into something troublesome.)

When I was thinking of that,

「You are Allen Rodore-san, aren’t you? Man, I’ve heard a lot about you. Welcome to the Orest Branch Holy Knights Association.」

Clown-san welcomed us with a soft smile.

「Well, I have a lot of things to talk about with you, but…」he said, and looked around the roughed up training room, lightly scratching his cheeks.

「For the time being… Can you help me with the clean up?」

And we cleaned the training hall with Clown-san using a broom and dustpan.

■

After that, I, Ria, and Rose, who had finished cleaning the training hall by working together with everyone, gathered in the branch chief’s office.

「Come now, everyone. Please have a seat.」Clown-san said, pointing to a sofa in the center of the room.

「Yes, excuse me.」

And as we slowly sat on the sofa,

「-Here you go. This is a fruit juice made from Noel’s fruit.」

A woman who was on standby in the branch chief’s office from the beginning, placed four glasses on the table in front of us.

She is probably Clown-san’s secretary.

「Thank you.」

We, who were thirsty after the three hours of practice-swinging, accepted it with thanks.

「This is good!」

「…! It’s just the right refreshing aftertaste!」

「Yeah… It’s a good drink after training.」

And as we enjoyed downing the fruit juice,

Clown-san sat down on the sofa across from us.

「I am really sorry. I seem to have caused a lot of trouble from the first day… The Holy Knights Association is an old-fashioned organization, so such things happen sometimes.」he apologized for the previous incident.

He looked wacky like a clown, but he doesn’t seem to be a bad person.

「Well, this is long overdue, but self introductions are in order.」Clown-saan said, and picked up his fedora and bowed lightly.

「I am the branch chief of the Holy Knights Association Orest Brach: Clown Jester. Because I just moved here about a week ago, I do not know left from right in this place!」

He cracked a joke at the end and cackled.

…It’s hard to get a grip on this person.

「I’m from Thousand Blade Academy, Allen Rodore. Nice to meet you.」

「I am Ria Vesteria. Pleased to meet you.」

「Rose Valencia. Good to meet you.」

After the self-introductions, Clown-san exhaled greatly.

「Man, I was surprised. I didn’t think they were going to send forth a『big-shot』. Thousand Blade Academy is really generous!」

…Big-shot?

As I tilted my head, confused by the word,

「Oh, there you go… Allen-san. I am talking about you, of course. You defeated that『Prodigy』 Idol Luxmaria at the Sword King Festival.」

I don’t know what on earth he was so happy about, but the corners of his lips curled up.

「I’ve also heard a lot about Ria-san and Rose-san.『The Black and White Princess』and『Bounty Hunter』- and『Allen Rodore』. Man, it’s really a spectacular view when the three of you are together.」

Clown said『What a magnificent sight』, rubbing his hands together

…What a talkative person.

「Well! Actually, I have a little suggestion for you. Would you be interested?」

「Y-Yes… What would that be?」

「Straightaway… Are you interested in an『expedition mission』?」

「Expedition mission?」

I asked back without thinking.

「To put it simply, you will venture outside the country and perform the duties of a Senior Holy Knight.」

「O-Outside the country…!?」

「Ahaha, I am not talking about going to a distant country, you know? I’m thinking of a place that takes about an hour to two by plane.」

「N-No, but… we have classes at school, so…」

If I said I wasn’t interested in foreign expeditions at all… that would be a lie.

But… I can’t ignore the classes of Thousand Blade Academy.

「Aa, that’s no problem. If I remember correctly, the students of Thousand Blade Academy will get a week off for『Autumn Break』. This is a『Small Expedition』during that period!」

「I see…」

As Clown-san said, then there’s certainly no problem.

But, there was only one thing that bothered me.

「Excuse me, can I ask you a question?」

「Yes, of course.」

「Thank you very much. So, why are you pushing for such an expedition?」

The moment I shot the question, his eyebrows twitched.

「…That’s a good question. To be frank… As a place where you can gain experience. There is simply a lack of opportunities here.」

「…What does that mean?」

「Just between you and me… the Senior Holy Knights of a『Branch』are no big deal.」

「I-Is that so?」

「Yes. All the best Senior Holy Knights are on missions outside the country. And the ones who are a rank above them, the ace class, are on government officials escort duty.」

Clown-san took a sip of the fruit juice and continued.

「This is the secret of this place… Or rather, it’s like an『open secret』in the industry. Well, that’s why I hope you guys will accept the expedition mission.」

「I, I see…」

「As for the destination of your expedition, it will be『Dagrio』which is called『Sunny Land』. It’s relatively calm there, and I don’t think it’s a bad idea for a first-time expedition destination.」

「Is that so?」

When I heard about the overseas expedition from Clown-san, I glanced at Ria and Rose.

And, the two of them nodded encouragingly.

It seems that we are of the same mind

「-Okay. It’s a great opportunity, so we would like to go on this expedition!」

「Oh, you’re accepting it! Then, please study the duties of a Senior Holy Knight until the autumn break! First, please go to the reception desk. You will receive a lecture there. It’s a short 30 minute explanation on the Holy Knight rules and main duties.」

「Yes, I understand. Then, excuse us.」

In this way, we decided to go on a small expedition for about a week during the next autumn break.

■

After Allen and others left the branch chief’s office, the woman who served as Clown’s secretary asked, timidly.

「Uh… Clown branch chief, was that really a good idea?」

「Nn, what are you talking about?」

「『Sunny Land』is a conflict zone where the top secret『Extermination Operation』is scheduled to be carried out in a few days, isn’t it? To send students to such a dangerous place… I think it’s too dangerous.」

「Ahaha, those three will be fine. After all, there’s a transcendent among them who broke the curse of the 100 Million-Year Button!」

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