I, reincarnate as the leader of the villainous knight order

Chapter 26: A Toast?

Riding my horse along the cobblestone path from the royal castle to the barracks, I was accompanied by the pleasant sound of hooves clacking. By the time dinner was over, the sky had already darkened considerably, and it was chillingly cold, with snowflakes threatening to fall.

“I’m exhausted,” Orel muttered weakly, his breath visible in the cold air.

“Yeah, I feel you. But well, if you think about it, it was worth it for what we gained, right?” I replied.

“Yeah… With no expeditions in sight for a while and plenty of budget, it was worth enduring. But still, the Crown Prince’s attitude was terrible, wasn’t it? Was he always like that?” Orel asked.

“He might have been making a scene on behalf of me, who’s caused trouble before. You know, people with an overly strong sense of justice, without someone to hold them back, just come off as irritatingly self-righteous. Maybe he wanted to show everyone that without someone to reel him in, he’d just be an insufferable guy,” I explained.

“Hehe, indeed, he can be quite insufferable,” Orel chuckled.

Upon arriving at the barracks, we handed our horses over to the stable master and entered the warm indoors using magical devices. The tension I had been holding in my shoulders due to the cold melted away as I relaxed. Perhaps tonight was a good time to raise a toast in my room.

As I was about to head to my room from the entrance staircase, Cassius descended the stairs.

“Oh, Commander, Vice Commander, welcome back! Did you get plenty of rewards?” he asked eagerly.

“Yeah, thanks to you, we saved a considerable amount of aid money to be used during the Stampede. Since we got an increased budget, the meals will continue to be delicious, and we even received funds for renovating the aging barracks. We could make the bathhouse even bigger, or even add a separate shower room. I’ll consider your suggestions specifically,” I replied.

“In that case, a shower room! Sometimes you don’t want to soak, especially in summer, and there are times when you want to wash off sweat but can’t. It’s tough for the Squires, too, most of them are usually late. When I was a Squire, I was always exhausted after following a Knight,” Cassius suggested.

“Haha, that’s thoughtful of you. Alright, we’ll make a shower room. I’m going to rest now; I’ll inform everyone tomorrow,” I said, patting Cassius’s head as we passed each other and headed back to my room.

After casting a cleaning spell and changing into my nightwear, I selected a bottle of liquor for tonight’s drink. Although I, Justan, often went out to drink, I also had a collection of bottles in my room.

Among them, I chose a high-quality distilled liquor and conjured ice into a glass with magic. With a pop, I uncorked the bottle and poured the liquor into the glass, causing cracks to form in the ice with a snap.

“Oh… Speaking of which, snacks… This should do,” I murmured to myself. Most of the bento boxes made for the expedition to the ruins in the Eastern Forest were still left. Since the lunchboxes were custom-made at that time, it might be a good idea to have the kitchen use them from now on.

Having a stock of one meal for the next expedition would save us from cooking during rainy-day camping, making it easier for the Squires. Now, I just needed to think about where to expand or renovate the barracks, whether to add to the bathhouse or to demolish the salon and build it there.

As I tilted the glass, the cold yet warm liquid flowed into my stomach. However, since I had no memory of getting drunk, it seemed I was born with quite the tolerance for alcohol.

“I guess I should turn the unused storage room into a mini-kitchen. We can’t keep borrowing the kitchen every time we want to make sweets. But… it’s surprising that they have a sweet tooth, huh, hehe.”

I had never seen them eating, but perhaps it was simply because sweets were expensive and not readily available. Indeed, after pepper, sugar might be the next most expensive seasoning. Still, it was much cheaper than pepper.

As I pondered this, there was a knock on the door, more accurately, a heavy pounding. Orel usually knocked normally, so it must be Simon or Gaspard.

“The door’s unlocked,” I said, and the door swung open vigorously.

“Commander! Is it true you’re going to make a shower room… Oh, you’re eating something delicious!! I want some too!!”

As expected, it was Simon who had come to confirm after hearing from Cassius.

“Alright, alright, keep your voice down. Some people might already be sleeping,” I cautioned.

“Oops… hehe. But, Commander, that food looks delicious! And that liquor, isn’t it expensive?”

“Yeah, it’s enough to blow a few days’ wages. It’s just a reward for myself after a tough day. Dealing with royalty is quite a hassle; sigh…”

I raised my glass visibly, and the ice clinked as I did so.

“Wow, I’m glad I’m a commoner! Even just dealing with nobles other than you and the Vice Commander seems terrible. I can only imagine how much worse it is with the royal family,” Simon exclaimed.

“Whether it’s terrible or not depends on the person, but it’s definitely not relaxing,” I replied.

Especially women, they don’t attack directly but subtly fill the moat so that when you realize it, there’s no escape. The Queen and the Concubine are typical examples.

The King is the type to prepare multiple preemptive moves, making you think there’s an escape route, but where you escape to is the worst possible choice. It’s foolish to go against him.

“Anyway, I understand it was tough. So, let’s have a toast to that!”

Simon grinned. You just want to drink this expensive liquor, don’t you?

That night, Simon finished a bento box and three glasses of liquor before returning to his room.

As I looked at the empty bottle, I had to remind myself that this was a celebration toast.