Chapter 193 – The Knight’s Words

The Knight’s Words

Lavia was just as surprised.

「You seem to be a knight. Unfortunately, I do not have such a grand name. I am Lavia. Just Lavia.」

She presented her guild card. The name field only showed “Lavia”.

East stared at it in astonishment.「I see. You’ve abandoned your family name. Wait, how did you even—」

「We’re in Agiapole, Sir Knight.」

East realized that customers and employees were staring at them, wondering what was going on.

They were in Agiapole. Even if Lavia was a wanted criminal in Ponsonia, the kingdom East served, he couldn’t arrest her here. He would have to go through formal procedures first.

「You’re… right. But as a knight, I must… Hmm.」

「Let’s go somewhere else, Paula.」Lavia said.

「G-Good idea!」

Lavia and Paula left the restaurant. East hurriedly paid for his meal and bolted out.

「P-Please wait!」he said.

「What is it?」Lavia asked.

「There’s something I need to know. Did you… kill your father?」

Paula gulped. Shocking words came out of the knight’s mouth, words that one wouldn’t normally say while out in town in broad daylight.

「I did not. Neither did I detest him enough to want to kill him. Back then, I simply gave up on living. I envied the world.」

She wasn’t allowed to leave the house freely. All she had as visitors were magic researchers. Even they didn’t treat her like a proper human being. In their eyes, she was nothing but a lab rat. The only world she knew was found in books.

「I… see. You escaped from the carriage…」East glanced at Paula.「…with the help of Bios. A powerful country like this could pull that off for sure.」

East arrived at his own conclusion. He thought Paula was affiliated with the Church.

Lavia knew that the knight was actually concerned for her, even following the convoy to make sure no harm came to her. But she also knew saying something now was a bad idea. One slip of the tongue could mean trouble for Hikaru.

「Lady Lavia. You seem to be full of life now. Fortunately, you’re not wanted anymore, so you may return to Ponsonia. I doubt you want to go back, though.」

「………」

Lavia couldn’t tell him that she was in Ponsonia just a few days ago.

「That case bothered me a bit. But after seeing you, I think I’m over it.」East said.「Well, then. I will take my leave. We might not see each other again.」

Even though East was a knight, the daughter of a noble still ranked higher than him. The present Lavia, however, was nothing but a commoner. Still, the knight bowed. He then turned around and walked away, not looking back. Eventually, he disappeared into the crowd.

「Lavia-chan.」Paula said.

Lavia froze. She and Hikaru hadn’t told Paula everything yet. Lavia, in particular, didn’t want to talk about her past and her father. There was no need to tell her. She thought what happened back then would be her and Hikaru’s secret.

「Now that the knight is gone, should we go back inside?」Paula said.

「What?」

「I’m starving. I don’t think I can make it.」

Paula seemed to have her soul sucked out of her. She didn’t want to pry any further, as though saying “I don’t care about your past”.

「Okay.」Lavia said.

「All right!」

Paula’s concern made Lavia happy. The girls entered the restaurant once more.

East pondered things over as he walked away. Was this really the right decision?

I always thought she could never have killed her father. After the murder, she looked like an empty, soulless husk, but like she said, she had eyes that gave up on living. I could tell she was telling the truth just now. So who killed her father?

East had no idea. It could either be someone from the outside, yet it also felt like an insider. In either case, the case was now a thing of the past. With the king dead, and the conflict between the prince and princess going on, even Count Morgstad’s surviving family didn’t care about the real culprit anymore.

The second question is how she vanished from the carriage. The Distant Glittering Stars must have something to do with it after all. I guess Bios paid them off. Pond’s submaster might know something since Pond’s Adventurers Guild were the ones who stole the escort job in the first place.

East shook his head.

This case is closed. There’s no point in bringing it up now. I just told the girl I’m over it. But should I report this to the captain anyway?

The image of the young bandit crossed East’s mind. The boy came to the royal capital as though following him. He then defeated a few squad commanders and even the captain.

East couldn’t imagine Lawrence losing to anyone. He believed that the captain admitted he “lost” as punishment for himself for having been wounded and suffering an embarrassing defeat. The boy might be strong, but he was up against a Master Swordsman. Winning was impossible.

That knight mentioned that the adventurer who arrived before me has black hair and eyes. I think the boy who attacked me had black hair as well…

Every time he dug into his memories, he caught a glimpse of the Sun God mask. It was infuriating.

Lady Lavia, who escaped from the carriage, is here. An adventurer with black hair is in town too—the same hair color as the one near the carriage that time. Is this a coincidence?

East stopped. He then heaved a sigh and tapped his nape before walking again.

Of course it’s a coincidence. It’s not like it’s certain that the bandit had black hair. I’m getting too hung-up about this. “It’s important for a knight to be careful, but being too high-strung will dull your movements”. The captain always told me that. It seems I still lack training.

East slouched.

「All right. It’s time to start training.」

He dashed for the inn like the wind, startling residents, but he didn’t care. After that, East did nothing but train every single day. Soon, the people managing the inn started talking about how Ponsonia had some diligent knights.

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