How To Subdue a Masochist Princess

Deputy Commander Agnes avoided eye contact with me all day long.

'Joe, it's a bit sudden, but... I'll prepare myself mentally in advance.'

She also often showed a different, more disheveled side than usual, such as muttering nonsense or blushing brightly for no reason.

She even chewed her tongue or stuttered while reporting on her subordinates' special circumstances in front of me.

Seeing this usually thorough and meticulous woman almost losing her mind, I suspected that she was suffering from the aftereffects of the last Mana outburst.

'This is a big deal.'

If that was the case, it wasn't normal. I knew how much of a headache that was.

In order to resolve the aftereffects, I had to continue receiving similar treatment from the person who gave me emergency treatment at the time until my symptoms improved.

'You stupid disciple. How much trouble are you going to make me?'

In the past. When I overdid it to surpass the realm and caused a huge mania outburst.

How many times did I have to get my butt kicked by Master before I completely returned to normal?

As a fully grown man, it was truly a horrible and humiliating experience to lie on Master's thighs, which were less than half my size, and be forcibly treated multiple times.

Meanwhile, the vice-captain wasn't the only one I had to worry about.

'Hey, you there, sir. Your name was... Kyle? Is there a problem?' 'Huh, captain! No! There's absolutely nothing wrong with it!'

When I approached the knight who was noticeably dead and asked him, he said it was fine, but he gave off a look that anyone could tell was wrong.

That wasn't all.

Now, the Black Lion Knights were all walking around with a gloomy and gloomy air, regardless of their status.

Whether they were swinging their swords or training their physical strength, they all looked like they had no life at all, reminiscent of an army of the undead.

A mess, not much different from the mess they had been in during the inauguration ceremony.

'What should I do with this?'

It seemed that the unwelcome guests who had visited in the morning were largely to blame.

Since the order of the knights had strict hierarchical order, everyone was refraining from talking nonsense, but didn't everyone have eyes and ears?

The fact that the Imperial Counterintelligence Agency and the Inquisition Office had visited the unit at the same time.

Everyone was showing anxiety at a situation that was generally not a good omen.

This was something that the leader could never just sit by and watch.

So, I gathered the Black Lion Knights in the central training ground and decided to confront the current situation head-on.

"Are you all here?"

"Yes! Everyone is standing here."

Standing on the platform, I looked at the spirit and appearance of my subordinates, and they were definitely more useful than when I first saw them.

The constant exchanges with the knights from the Imperial Guard. And the actual battles I had recently experienced must have been a great help.

However, the gloomy atmosphere that was hovering over this entire space was just too much to bear.

I opened my mouth, raising my spirits.

Since my purpose was completely different from last time, I took control of the surroundings with a powerful, pulsating will to boost my subordinates' morale.

"I know what you are worried about. First of all, I guarantee that the Counterintelligence Bureau or the Inquisition will not disturb or harm us at all."

—Yes! I see!

However, the effect was minimal. After all, this is not enough.

It seemed that my achievements were still lacking to follow the master in such a detailed aspect.

Everyone was answering loudly, but it was obvious that the subordinates were still deluded.

An awkward and stiff demeanor, as if they were trying to force themselves to be confident.

'They are all cowering.'

They were as if they were new soldiers about to fight their first battle, or criminals about to be judged.

Why on earth should they be like that?

My subordinates and I were not criminals.

On the contrary, we were a victorious unit that had recently successfully completed a suppression mission.

Even though everyone was full of energy and cheerful, it was not enough to have them all hunched over like that.

I didn't like it. This was not right.

That's why I decided to correct it.

"The reason the main office called you here is simple. Let me get straight to the point. Is there anyone who hates wealth and honor?"

—No!

When I skipped all the small details and got straight to the point, everyone was clearly shaken. They seemed to be wondering what I was talking about out of the blue.

However, the anxiety that had been in the subordinates' hearts just now had largely disappeared.

What had covered up the anxiety was an unmistakable sense of anticipation and doubt.

As expected, it was better to minimize mention of unpleasant topics and quickly cover them up with another topic.

This was much better than trying to persuade them with useless words.

"We have been given a new mission. Unlike last time, it is too dangerous, so only the best can join us. It has to do with an enemy that threatens the empire."

Anyway, this mission wasn't something that needed to be hidden, nor was it something of a scale that could be hidden.

The real purpose of the mission had to be kept strictly confidential until just before dispatch, but there was no point in trying to hide anything else. Rather, it would only backfire.

So when I just revealed the outline of the mission, everyone's eyes filled with various emotions.

A torrent of various emotions, including anticipation, passion, excitement, worry, and fatigue.

There were some weak and negative emotions mixed in, but even that was understandable.

How could it be another mission when it's been so long since we've been through actual combat and had a break? Honestly, even I think the schedule is a bit harsh. It's not like it's a war.

There were even some personnel who were still recovering from their injuries.

So, in order to further boost the motivation of my subordinates, I had to offer them a juicy carrot that would cover it all up.

I took a deep breath and intentionally said something louder.

"But if you succeed, the rewards will be enormous. I can say with certainty that it will be comparable to direct achievements on the battlefield. I pledge my honor."

Everyone's eyes lit up.

It wasn't even a simple phrase. It was just a cliche-like morale-boosting phrase.

If the person speaking was someone who had actually gone to the battlefield, been on the brink of death, and finally returned alive, it would be a different story.

Furthermore, I only spoke the plain truth, without any lies.

It was a task to subdue a terrible hybrid of traitors and devil worshippers, so there was no way they would just wash their mouths clean and offer a small reward.

At least the imperial family that I've seen so far has been very generous. It's enough to make voluntary loyalty boil over.

Of course, that's unlikely... If I don't like the reward for this mission, I'll go to the treasury and cause a scene to get it all.

Anyway, judging by the enthusiasm in the eyes of the subordinates, it seemed that they were almost there.

Then, one last word would be enough.

"The quota for this mission is only 30 people. Regardless of rank, we will only form those with outstanding skills. Let's wait for the results of the sparring for a week from now. Any objections?"

—No!!!

A very satisfying and loud answer came back from the hundreds of enthusiastic subordinates.

"Good. Let's end today's official work here. Everyone can spar or train freely, and those who are tired or have personal reasons can leave work. That's it."

With that, I came down from the stage.

Excluding the white captains who can use Aura, the skill gap between the rank-and-file knights and the ten-man captains was honestly about the same.

It felt like the ranks were determined almost entirely by experience or seniority.

Of course, both are factors that cannot be ignored, but in a mission like this where you have to select and select the best, it would be better to have a competition.

While all the subordinates were scattered to do their own work,

The vice-captain, whose face was red, approached me hesitantly.

"Thank you for your hard work, Captain. It was a truly wonderful speech."

"What's wonderful? I'm not good at speaking in the first place, so I just used all sorts of tricks. I appreciate even empty words."

Just like last time, he was trying to make a fuss over something trivial, so this time I drew a clear line before he could say anything embarrassing.

'You're amazing, Captain! Just what did you do? How on earth did you do that?'

Whenever I see the vice-captain act like that, I feel a strange feeling.

Even though they look completely different, how can every little action and habit be so similar to that of Ensign Laurent?

The person who left would never come back, but the vice-captain's appearance kept overlapping with hers.

After stopping by the office and leaving the unit to leave work early, the vice-captain who was waiting in front of the guard post immediately followed me.

"You, you've been having a hard time since this morning. You don't have to force yourself to follow me. If you're not feeling well, you don't have to follow me."

"No. Pee, if you need to, I can make enough time until after midnight today."

"Really? Then that's fortunate. Come with me. We'll talk about the details as we go."

Of course, it would take quite a while to stop by the blacksmith shop to order armor for two people, but it wouldn't take until midnight.

Could it be that he was saying indirectly that he didn't want to take up too much time? If so, I should just finish my business and send you off quickly.

"Walking side by side with you like this… reminds me of the vacation I had in Bartok's Viscounty."

But, the vice-captain was coming too close to me today. If it kept going like this, he was going to link arms like that time. Honestly, I don't hate it, but it wasn't the time.

"We're both wearing uniforms right now, so it'd be awkward to stick close to him."

"Wouldn't that cause unnecessary misunderstandings?"

"Hot! Sorry."

As expected, judging from her symptoms, it seemed almost certain that she was suffering from the aftereffects of the mana overload phenomenon.

I honestly had been a little hesitant during the vacation, but now I think I know.

The original owner of the strange mana that had settled into her mana core during the emergency treatment process. In other words, she had unconsciously felt close to me.

It was a rare phenomenon that could only occur if the mana compatibility was quite good, but when I thought about it carefully, it was really strange.

Originally, the mana of the holder of the manifestation image containing the energy of nature and my mana would not have good compatibility with each other.

If the magicians knew, they would be happy, saying that a rare case had occurred.

I led the vice-captain to the post station near the unit. It was a bit difficult to walk to the commercial district where the old man's blacksmith was located.

When I arrived at the post station, my personal groom was happily gambling with the other grooms.

Then, when he saw my face approaching from afar, he was startled and I fell over.

"Ugh! Please wait a moment, I'm sorry!"

"No, take it slow. It's my fault for coming so early without notice. So, did you win?"

"Yes! I won a bit today. I almost lost just now, but I'm glad you came to see me, Master."

I looked back at the vice-captain next to me while waiting for the coachman who quickly started preparing the carriage.

"Tell your coachman to drive the carriage to the commercial district. That's where the destination is."

"Hmm, well..."

But the vice-captain was staring at the ground and not knowing what to do.

She was also from a noble family, so she should have a car. No way...

"A-are you cramped? Sorry."

"No, it's fine."

Yeah. Well, it's possible that there's no carriage.

In fact, having one is unusual. I don't know, but a private carriage is close to a luxury item. I think I was thinking too much based on my own standards.

"Uh, do you smell something unpleasant?

"I didn't have time to wash myself today."

"No, it's okay. You always smell good, so you don't have to worry about it."

"Hot! Th, th-that..."

That's how I headed to the blacksmith shop with the vice-captain in the carriage next to me.

It was the same when I was with the princess this morning, and it's the same now.

It didn't feel so bad to have a passenger in the carriage that I had always used alone.

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