Translator: Darling | Editor: Walker

While taking Iris with me, I returned to my own place.

We talked about why Iris was going out for a stroll in the middle of the night.

The reason was that she had to since the training in the afternoon ended so quickly.

It seems that she was not only training in the morning, but also continuing it in the middle of the night.

I really wanted to tell her to be more careful, but that’s not the talk for now. 

 She was looking at me with a mischievous look.

It was already the second time she saw me dealing with assassins – But this time was a tad bit different.

She might know something from the things I said.

“Mr. Schweiss, you’re a knight?” – She asked from the bottom of her heart.

Playing dumb isn’t hard, but it’s hard to deceive someone that has heard me talking with Folt just now.

And it might be best to stop deceiving her altogether.

I mean, there was just an assassin that broke the barrier of the school grounds on purpose.

Not just an assassin, a hit-man at that – Though these are Remyl’s words, it’s quite a different situation now.

These aren’t just hit-men, these are of the Swordsman Gang.

After a short while, I faced Iris and answered.

“Yes, I am Alta Schweiss – First knight of the “Black Wolf Knighthood”. What you just saw was me fulfilling my duties as a knight.

“Are you the one they call the Youngest knight in the order…?”

“That’s correct. I am the youngest knight in the order.”

“Oh… Is that so?”

As she heard that, she became a bit cloudy.

“So I am being protected by someone weaker than myself” – Is what she wanted to say, but that doesn’t really hit very well right now.

“So the reason you came here, is to protect me. Is that right?”

“As your appointed escort, that is indeed my job.”

“Well, looking at the situation I might actually not have been here anymore if it weren’t for you” – Is what she answered.

She didn’t seem to be going to ask me much about the assassins or the Swordsman Gang anymore.

Not because she didn’t care, but because she might not want to talk about the fact that she’s being hunted.

She stopped balling her fist, and her facial expression showed as if she had decided some sort of resolution.

“Right, well, I don’t need a bodyguard.”

“You really can’t say you don’t need one with the situation we’re in right now. I understand where you’re coming from, but it’s just like the Azuma guy you met the other day, the chance of you losing to him is rather prominent.

You might have a lot of potential, but that doesn’t …”

“You don’t have to say it! But the Swordsman Gang have killed other knights too, right? Like the Blue Blade … Bell too was done in by them, right?”

She actually mentioned Bell Trusou, the Blue Blade.

Does that mean she actually overheard the whole conversation of me and Folt just now?

“Was he an acquaintance of yours?”

“I fought with him in the swordsman tournament before. I also had the chance to talk with him during the high society event… He was more of a knight than any other, with great power. But now he’s been killed as well?”

“Yes, that’s why I am here.”

“That’s not what I am asking. Can’t you go out and deal with these Swordsman Gang people too? I mean, you could have easily tailed the guy from before, right?”

She was absolutely right.

But rather than destroying the Swordsman Gang I valued protecting her more.

Even if I were to go out for a search and destroy mission, I would have to leave her side and risk them coming for her here instead. 

If she were to be protected by another escort she might be in more danger too.

Another option would be to have her hide in the King’s Palace until the Swordsman Gang has been dealt with.

“Iris, as your bodyguard, it is my duty to protect you. Sadly, the situation isn’t very easy. It’s for the best that I stay near you rather than to go out and search for them. You could say that I even use you as bait for them…”

“I don’t care. You should prioritize destroying the Swordsman Gang over protecting me.”

She doesn’t mean to say that I can’t be near her, but there was definitely power in the words she spoke.

But really, you can’t say that you don’t need an escort when someone clearly stronger than you is coming for you.

This was quite concerning for me too.

“It seems like you don’t want to be protected. How come?”

“Well, that’s…”

Iris looked away.

She’s thinking about something.  After a moment of silence, she opens her mouth again.

“I need to be the one that protects, not the one that is protected. I need to follow my father’s footsteps as the Strongest Knight. I need to continue that lineage.”

“Your father… Former Knight-Captain Garlo Reinfell you mean?”

“So you know him… That’s right… It’s been a few years already though..”

“As the former Knight’s Captain, I know of him. At least, of his rumors that is.”

“So… You know that he has been killed too, then?”

“Aah, yes… I have heard of that too”

I noddingly answered her question.

Iris’ father, Garlo was murdered by someone.

His body was found on the Reinfell family’s site, brutally murdered.

There were traces of battle in the area around him, but no sign of the murderer.

He fought as a knight and he died in the battle as one too, but looking at the situation he was in you could tell that he was murdered by an assassin.

“Father was the Head of the Reinfell Household, and besides being a knight, he was devoted to protecting the people. Therefore I too had immense respect for him, and ever since I was a child I dreamt of surpassing him as a knight. Not that I will be able to fulfill that dream anymore..”

What Iris aspired to be – It was to be a knight like her father, Garlo.

Garlo was called the Strongest Knight, and she was called the Swordsman Princess. No wonder she wants to live up to the expectations and grow stronger.

“In my father’s stead, I must become the knight that protects the people. There can be no one that protects me. 

If it were just me, I wouldn’t care much, but if they cause damage to others I would rather prioritize to go out and defeat them myself. – Iris proclaimed with utmost clarity.

She doesn’t need an escort because they’re weak, but because she wants to be on the side that protects, rather than to be on the side that is protected.

She might be a candidate to become the next “King”, but that isn’t something she herself is after.

But that’s not the only reason that she wants to become stronger.

“I now understand how you must feel. But we can’t just let the Swordsman Gang walk loose and do as they please.”

“After all, they’re assassins who have killed people, ye?”

“Yea, that’s why-“

“What’s more, protecting you is directly linked to the defeat of the Swordsman Gang. It’s not that you don’t need my protection, I need to protect you to take care of those guys.”

“So, using me as a bait just like you said before?”

“Yes, exactly.”

From Iris’ perspective too, this seemed like a more interesting proposal than just getting protection from me.

Rather than protecting, we would combine our powers to defeat her enemies.

“I am now working here as a lecturer. If you want, I can train you the right sword technique to  meet the Swordsman Group that’s after you head-on.”

“Well, if you put it like that then…”

Iris seemed a bit confused at first, but she seemed to understand what I was saying. 

I interrupted her answer and asked her one more thing.

“But in order to do that, I need to confirm one thing.”

“And that is?”

“You say that you want to protect the realm just like your father did. But there is more than that to what you want, isn’t there?”

“….!!”

Iris was surprised. 

I understand that Iris wants to learn the blade from me in order to carry out her father’s will and follow in his footsteps.

But there seems to be more than just that.

“The actual reason as to why you want to become stronger – You want to be strong enough to kill your father’s killer, isn’t that right?”

What Iris felt that needed to be done the most was to become stronger than anyone else and dealing with the person that is responsible for killing her father. 

I understood this feeling all too well.