NOVEL NEXT Chapter 24 - Episode 024: Cool-type Female Knight, Enduring Mundane Daily Life
Episode 024: Cool-type Female Knight, Enduring Mundane Daily Life
“Maria-senpai, good work!!”
“Yes.”
It’s tiring.
“Maria-sama, how about going for a meal sometime?”
“I’m sorry. I’m swamped with work.”
“I see. Then, another time.”
It’s tiring.
“Maria-sama is so cool and awesome, isn’t she?”
“Yes, it’s only natural for her to be called the Ice Sword Princess.”
“That unflappable attitude, wonderful.”
It’s tiring.
The girl, with deep blue eyes slightly raised like the sea, gazes ahead, her long aquamarine hair fluttering as she walks briskly in a blue and white dress armor.
Her figure is reminiscent of a valkyrie.
Contrary to the reactions around her, the female knight Maria was tired.
Because despite her dignified and cool appearance, she was actually emotionally expressive.
“Welcome back, miss. The bath is ready.”
“Understood.”
Maria returned home and took a bath.
*Sigh*
Then, she collapsed onto her bed in her room and screamed loudly while kicking her legs.
“I’m not the kind of person you all think I am!!”
It was an action completely unlike the individual known as the “Ice Sword Princess” in town.
She had been treated as an aloof and unapproachable high-ranking flower due to her calm and excellent appearance since childhood, and her tendency to speak in stock phrases with a mask-like expression.
However, this was the true nature of Maria.
Her aloof attitude and absolute zero expression actually stemmed from her difficulty in communication.
When she tried to talk, her expression inevitably stiffened, and she couldn’t find the right words, leading to cold responses like stock phrases.
Unaware of Maria’s situation, her family dressed her in attire, manners, and martial arts skills befitting her cool image.
Maria herself, unable to betray her parents’ expectations and feelings, continued to maintain the same misunderstanding, growing up to this day.
And despite being a woman, Maria became a knight who governed the city of Farmrest due to her abilities. The daily exposure to others’ gazes was suffocating for her.
For Maria, the only place she could truly be herself was this soundproof room. For her, who had no allies, letting out a sigh here was the utmost relaxation she could afford.
“That cat I saw today was cute… sigh…”
And she, too, was just a normal girl at heart.
In reality, she loved frilly and cute clothes, fancy stuffed animals, and fluffy animals.
However, due to the image she had cultivated since childhood, she was too scared of the gazes around her to touch them, only glancing at them briefly and reminiscing in her room.
She couldn’t even collect pictures or stuffed animals because the maids might find them.
It’s no wonder she sighed.
And besides, it was out of the question to speak the truth now.
I didn’t think Maria-sama was like that.
I’m disillusioned that she likes stuffed animals.
Maria-sama in frilly clothes is not Maria-sama.
Thinking that she might be subjected to such accusations and stares, she couldn’t bring herself to speak up.
“I wonder if there’s a place where I can interact with fluffy things without worrying about others’ eyes…”
Maria muttered quietly as she turned over.
Her spirit had been greatly cornered.
Maria fell asleep without knowing that such a dreamlike place truly existed.
“Kyaa! It’s Maria-sama!!”
“It’s true!!”
“So dignified and beautiful!!”
Her cramped life continued unchanged, with stares from those around her.
“Haah!!”
“Gyaaah!!”
Today, as part of the city’s security maintenance activities, she inspected the surrounding villages and carried out the subjugation of monsters nesting nearby.
“What splendid swordsmanship. Truly worthy of Maria-sama.”
“That’s nothing.”
Responding with a composed demeanor while swinging her sword and shedding blood to the subordinate man who was offering fanatical praise, Maria felt her heart tighten even further.
“Is that… a shop?”
On her way back, she noticed a stylish building on the outskirts of the town.
It had the cute appearance that Maria liked, shining without a single speck of dirt.
“Oh, that’s apparently a café. They were distributing flyers in the town below. It seems you can interact with fluffy monsters inside the shop.”
“!?”
Upon hearing her subordinate’s explanation, Maria was shocked.
She had never heard of being able to interact with fluffy monsters even in a café.
It wasn’t strange for Maria to go to a café.
If there was a reason to come to the café, she might accidentally be able to interact with something fluffy.
However, there was no reason for her to come to this café. While pondering this, she returned home.
And surprisingly, the opportunity came sooner than expected.
“Recently, incidents like the Elder Treant’s appearance, attacks by goblin hordes, and abnormal occurrences of Formaboars and Kenaibirds have all been resolved.”
The next day, Maria was called by the leader of the knights to hear about it.
It’s good that the problems have been resolved. It’s not particularly unusual.
“And?”
As she didn’t understand why she was called here with just that, she urged him to continue.
“All those incidents were resolved by just one adventurer.”
“I see. Is that so?”
It was only now that Maria realized what the leader wanted to say.
“That’s right. I want you to go see that person.”
“Understood.”
Elder Treant was an opponent that even the knights had trouble with.
A person who could solve those problems alone was extremely strong. If the opponent was a bad person, and if there was resistance, Maria was the only one with the power to suppress it.
She understood why she was chosen.
And when she heard the leader’s next words, Maria’s face twisted slightly with surprise.
“That person is an adventurer named Ack. He runs a café called Fluffy Café in the outskirts.”
She hadn’t expected to have the opportunity to go to that café.
“I understand.”
“I’m counting on you.”
Suppressing her excited feelings, Maria headed to the Fluffy Café in the outskirts.