Remedios gave Neia a piercing look. “Squire Neia Baraja, I appoint you as His Majesty’s aide. Influence him so he works to our benefit.”
“Huh? What?? P-please wait a minute! I’m just a squire—I can’t serve a king!”
“Work hard enough that you can.”
“It’s not an issue of working hard!”
Normally she would just give in, but this time she desperately resisted. This wasn’t the kind of thing she could accept so simply. Has Remedios gone insane?
“Sh-she’s right, Commander!” Gustav backed her up. “If we don’t assign him a lady-in-waiting of some standing, His Majesty might be insulted.”
“…Are there any other women in the liberation army?”
Most of the women without combat skills had been evacuated to the south. But it wasn’t as if there were no women at all. The liberation army had a handful. Gustav was opening his mouth to suggest one of them, but Remedios spoke sooner.
“A woman in the Paladin Order. If I gave orders to a woman of the shrines, what would they think? My sister is gone! And besides, this sort of role should probably go to someone who was here to hear my thoughts. You would have me shove the job off on some third party?”
You’re already shoving it off on me, thought Neia, but she didn’t say anything.
“In that case…” Gustav looked at Remedios.
“I’m going to be fighting on the front line! You want me to keep the King of Darkness company on top of that?! Or you think we should leave everything to him?”
“Even if you intend to use him, we can’t do it so blatantly. And there are issues of trust involved. Plus, if it looks like the Sacred Kingdom can’t put up a fight, he may decide to conquer it outright…”
When Gustav trailed off, Neia realized her reinforcements had been defeated.
“Understood. I may be powerless, but I’ll do my utmost.”
“Yes, and just to reiterate. Your job is to make the King of Darkness easy for us to take advantage of. Say whatever will put him in a good mood.”
This was more than a challenge; it was absurd. Neia hardly thought she could pull it off. But she gave up and bowed her head. Nothing I say will change her mind.
“Yes, ma’am! I’ll do everything I can, so I hope you’ll all support me.”
“Sure. If you need anything, ask this guy.” She indicated Gustav.
Though rather deep in despair, Neia was surprised to find herself feeling somewhat excited as well.
His Majesty the King of Darkness, huh…?
Chapter 3 | Initiating the Counterattack
1
The carriage swayed along.
It belonged to the King of Darkness. Contrary to its plain exterior, the inside was luxurious and sophisticated, as well as superbly functional. Neia was especially impressed by the cushions that prevented sore bottoms even during long journeys.
She stole a glance at the King of Darkness as he sat across from her, his eyes gazing out the window.
He was a terrifying undead, but his presence wasn’t as overwhelming as when she had first met him during the audience.
Perhaps that was because they had more time to talk together during this journey.
One thing she had learned was that he was very generous.
The King of Darkness had the dignity of a king. Even the slightest movements he made exuded a royal gravitas.
But sometimes in this carriage, he acted like any normal person. And especially of late, those moments had grown more frequent.
How generous of him to assume a folksier attitude out of consideration for Neia, who was so nervous to be riding with him. Surely the reason those moments had increased was that he had gotten used to the act.
The reason he didn’t operate in that mode with anyone else had to be because the others were paladins, people of rank.
It’s so kind of him to go to such trouble for a foreign commoner…
What was he looking at? He probably wasn’t watching the paladins riding alongside them. He must have been looking at something else—something that had nothing to do with Neia—
“Hmm? Did something that fascinating land on my face?”
“What?! No, Your Majesty, excuse me. There’s nothing on your face…”
Apparently, she had spaced out and ended up staring at him. He seemed puzzled and rubbed his cheek with a bony hand.
“It certainly is awkward to ride together like this with no conversation. Hmm. Shall we talk?”
She had gotten used to it somewhat, but the idea of being his conversation partner still made her stomach hurt.
“We don’t know each other very well, so I’ve been avoiding topics that might be private, but now we’ve been riding together for a few days. Maybe we can open up a bit. Will you tell me your story, Neia Baraja?”
“My story?”
Her “story” was such a vague topic; she had no idea what the King of Darkness would find entertaining.
“Right. Well, for example, why did you become a squire? What does your job entail? Would you tell me about that?”
“If that’s what you’d like to hear, Your Majesty.”
She bowed her head and began talking as requested. That said, it wasn’t a very exciting story. There wasn’t anything interesting about her family or her work as a squire.
They told me not to leak any information about the Sacred Kingdom, but I’m sure this sort of thing is all right.
Or rather, if she hid even those things, she wouldn’t be allowed to say much at all.
Eventually, her uneventful tale lacking the usual four-part structure came to a close, and the King of Darkness nodded deeply.
“I see, I see. So, Miss Baraja, you’re a rare bowman squire.”
“Not to the point that I can say it so proudly, Your Majesty. I’m just better with a bow than a sword; actually, I constantly get told to
