Arriving as Promised

Since he was supposed to capture them alive, Firth knocked the bandit leader unconscious and tied him to a tree.

After confirming that even if he woke up he would not be able to run far, Firth swept through their temporary camp.

It seemed they really had fled in a half-dead state, because there was not much left inside.

He dug out some food, alcohol, some money, and a few sets of replaceable clothing.

There were also several knives, spears, and swords, along with some tools like hoes and axes.

Firth picked up a shovel and weighed it in his hand.

It felt fairly handy, so he then poured two bottles of wine onto the campfire, making the flames larger and the surroundings brighter.

He used the shovel to dig a pit and buried all the corpses inside, which counted as the Royal Knights’ humanitarian cleanup.

Normally, with so many dead people, they should have been burned directly.

But this was a forest, and setting a large fire here would be hard to control.

Moreover, he had only knocked the bandit leader unconscious, not killed him.

Before he woke up and struggled, causing unnecessary trouble, it was better to take him back to the Knights’ interrogation room.

So he took the simpler approach and buried them with soil.

If later some wolves or tigers in the forest smelled the blood and cleverly came to dig it up and take a bite, that could count as feeding stray animals and doing a good deed.

Using the firelight, Firth picked through the weapons one by one that were still usable.

He confiscated several machetes and a few well-made feathered arrows, tied them together with hemp rope.

With one shoulder carrying the unconscious man and one hand holding the confiscated weapons, he kicked some dirt over the fire to extinguish it.

Then he turned around with his spoils and continued walking in the direction of the moon, leaving the forest and finding the horse he had left outside when he first arrived.

After all, he definitely had to take this bandit leader back.

No matter how strong he was, he could not carry someone all the way back to the Royal Knights.

He had come out to suppress bandits to earn some favor with the Second Princess, not to do weighted endurance training.

He tightly tied the unconscious man and the seized weapons separately onto the horse.

Then he rode at full speed, bouncing along the way back to the Knights.

By now it was deep into the night.

Aside from people like him who worked at night, most normal people were already resting.

So Firth originally planned to directly throw the man into the interrogation room and then rest.

But on the way back, he suddenly remembered the Second Princess’s final instruction to him.

Although most of what Ellie said at the end sounded like polite small talk, as if she were just saying a few simple words before parting ways, in her final sentences she still said:

“If you catch that person at night, please make sure to let me take a look at him.

I need to confirm whether it is that person.

For the sake of my friend, I will trouble you with this.

Do not alert anyone.

I do not want to make my imperial brother worry.”

At that time, Ellie’s expression had been extremely serious.

In Firth’s impression, the Second Princess of the royal family had always been someone—ah, well, actually, there was not much of an impression at all.

Because this Second Princess rarely appeared in public view.

Aside from special festivals and large banquets, she rarely even attended tea gatherings.

She almost always lent the royal garden to other noble ladies, while she herself stayed in her room.

Other than occasionally greeting the ladies who came for tea parties, few people ever saw her.

She seemed to dislike appearing on the same stage as her brother—the Crown Prince Solor.

Basically, whenever there was an event involving Solor, unless she absolutely had to attend, she would not go.

Even if someone invited her, she would claim illness and decline.

Over time, this indeed left behind a reputation of being sickly and frail.

Sickly and frail… really?

But when that phrase came to mind, Firth felt a bit doubtful.

Was she really sickly and frail?

That kick she gave him earlier had hurt quite a bit.

Could it be that she truly hated the Knights to the core…?

Using all her strength, even the strength she used for feeding, to kick both him and Sir Egmaide?

What on earth had the Knights done to make her hate them so much…

Compared to him, who was constantly on night missions, Egmaide had spent much more time stationed at the Knights’ headquarters.

If even Egmaide did not know, then Firth certainly would not know either.

But since she hated the Knights so much and still entrusted him with a task…

…Hmm…

Based on the information he currently had, Firth did a bit of brainstorming and came to a rough conclusion.

The Second Princess seemed to have some objections toward the Knights.

But she was still able to entrust him with a task, and from her expression and tone, she did not appear particularly disgusted.

However, upon seeing Sir Egmaide, she erupted with extremely intense dissatisfaction and even kicked him first.

Although being kicked once by her hurt a lot, since she could still come to him, it meant she was not angry to the point of never wanting to see him again.

But at the same time, she had never once proactively gone to see Sir Egmaide.

“Hmm…”

Firth nodded.

“So it really is because of Sir Egmaide.

The Second Princess purely dislikes Sir Egmaide.”

—He successfully arrived at such a conclusion.

It seemed correct that at the beginning he had told Eveleah that all of this should be something on Sir Egmaide’s side.

Could it be that Sir Egmaide offended the Second Princess, and now he wanted me to find a way to save face for him…?

After becoming the acting commander, do I still have to act as an intermediary for this kind of thing?

But after thinking this far, Firth did not continue to dwell on it.

As the Vice Commander of the Royal Knights, and currently the acting commander, serving the royal family and obeying their arrangements was his job and duty.

It was not about saving face or anything like that.

As long as someone from the royal family spoke up, no matter what, he had to do it.

So… he would go.

Since the Second Princess had said that once the person was caught he should go to see her immediately, he decided that after tying the man up securely, he would go to the palace and directly find the Second Princess.

And since the Second Princess had also told him not to alert the Crown Prince, that meant… going secretly.

This kind of thing was actually nothing new to Firth.

Solor had also arranged many secret missions for him.

Sneaking into Solor’s residence late at night without passing through any guards to report was something that happened often.

Egmaide, as the official commander, was always the bright and upright face of the Knights.

As the Vice Commander who operated at night, Firth often handled matters that required secrecy.

So—there was not much difference.

He already knew how he should face the Second Princess.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Ellie truly had not fallen asleep yet.

After chatting with her brother for a while, his busy work had still called him away.

It was rare for her to see such a reluctant expression on Solor’s face.

Because it was so unusual, it even made Ellie wonder whether Solor was acting.

After all, she still had not fully stepped out of the image of the imperial brother she had known in her past life.

After that, Ellie said she was going to rest.

Although she had already slept for a while earlier, because she always appeared sickly and frail, the maids never doubted whether she was truly asleep or not.

Hearing that the princess was going to rest, they tidied up the room and left.

The room that had just been lively and full of laughter suddenly was left with only Ellie alone again.

But it was fine.

She had long been accustomed to such solitude.

In the past, she could even enjoy the moon while drinking a glass of decent red wine.

Now, as the night grew deeper, she looked at the moonlight beyond the sheer curtains and sat up in bed.

“…The timing should be about right.”

She was familiar with her Crimson Raven.

Even though this Crimson Raven did not belong to her yet, did not even have that title, and his fighting habits were still not completely the same, somehow she felt that Firth would definitely act just as she expected, in the way she was familiar with.

So, feeling that the time was right, she sat up, opened the balcony window, and let the wind and the nighttime bird calls brush past her.

Then in the next second, she lowered her head, and her gaze met that man wearing a reddish-brown cloak.

“Your Highness.”

Firth raised his head, then bowed again in salute.

“The mission has been completed.

I have arrived as promised.”