4 — After the Repatriation Ceremony

Once the awards for the special ops division and frontline soldiers—er, I had already forgotten the name of the soldiers’ unit, but whatever—had been given out, there were no more awards special enough to be presented by the king. It all just felt like a bunch of directives to give such and such award to so-and-so.

Hold on, is this supposed to represent what grade they got— Er, rather, how much they contributed, I wondered while the awards were being announced.

“How are these awards determined?” I whispered to my father-in-law next to me, puzzled.

“They’re based on one’s level of contribution to military strategy or battle. Usually it’s the operation headquarters who knows who’s doing what. And then that information, along with the battle reports, are presented to the war council at the Royal Palace,” he whispered back.

“Oh, I see.”

That must have been why the lady knights were constantly going back and forth between the palace and the frontlines.

I was following along with the seemingly infinite list of awards, feeling grateful and amazed at how many people had been serving on the front lines, when suddenly the awards came to a close with the king saying, “...and so, this concludes our repatriation ceremony.” I had to wonder if the prime minister finally gave the signal to wrap it up so we could move along to the next event.

I was, quite frankly, relieved, because after all the time that had passed since the start of the ceremony, my desire to listen to even one more droning speech had been reduced to zero. I wanted to conserve any remaining energy for the socializing to come.

No sooner had the royalty momentarily left their seats than a feeling of relaxation swept over the silent hall in the blink of an eye and the place returned to its earlier hum of noise and activity.

“Phew, it’s finally over.” I felt a burst of energy I didn’t know I still had left, and nonchalantly rolled my neck from side to side to loosen my cramped muscles.

“All that’s left is the luncheon meeting now. You just have to hang on a little while longer, Vi!” chuckled Lady Fisalis. I snapped out of my pleasant bone-cracking daze at the sound of her voice.

The luncheon meeting! That’s the other part of the ceremony that Rohtas mentioned this morning!

Royal food = lavish food.

Oh nooo, will I be okay? Getting fancy food poisoning like I did at the manor in the presence of all these people is a serious concern! Gosh, I hope people can’t tell what I’m thinking.

Alas, it must have, in fact, been very clear what I was thinking, because then Mother Fisalis asked, “What’s wrong, dear?”

“Oh! Uh, n-nothing at all! Ah ha ha ha!” I replied, more than a little panicked. Mother Fisalis just looked at me with a dubious expression.

Oh no. Is this the end for me? I bet what they serve at the palace is just as, if not more, rich and luxurious than at the manor... I can just picture it: me, writhing in gastrointestinal pain several hours from now...! Nooo!

The scene I’d inevitably cause when I’m ruthlessly felled by my weak stomach would be humiliating—to say nothing of (again, like last time) the unjustified, suspicious looks that the poor cook would get. What should I do?

...Hold on a sec. Calm down.

Now that I’ve given it some thought, Dahlia didn’t give me any of that medicine this morning to bring—that digestive aid for indigestion that Mr. Fisalis brought from the royal family’s medicinal garden when I got sick at the manor.

I drank some beforehand and she gave me more to take with me when I went on that stroll around the capital with Mr. Fisalis, too, but she didn’t tell me to drink some before I left this time, did she? Dahlia wouldn’t forget something like that, so did she know something I don’t? I’ve got to find out for sure!

I gently clenched my fist, psyching myself up.

“Um, excuse me, Mother Fisalis?” I asked,

“Yes? Goodness, is something the matter, Vi? You look ready for battle yourself.” Lady Fisalis seemed puzzled.

This is kind of important, no, very important, so yes, I’m charged up, but please don’t mind that.

As she gazed at me with those beautiful sapphire blue eyes, filled with even more energy than I was channeling into my fist, I inquired further into the matter. I was hoping to confirm what I had realized a moment earlier. “Will the luncheon meeting be formal, seated dining?”

If it’s seated dining, I’ll be served a full course, i.e. a straight path to stomach pain, since I’ll have nowhere to run. No matter how big this banquet hall is, when you consider how many people are here, space is actually limited. Assuming they put out chairs at tables for precisely the number of people expected to come, it’d be a travesty if someone (probably the lowest ranking knights) had to eat in the hallway.

Lady Fisalis replied to me kindly, fending off my ghastly gaze with a pretty smile, “No. With this many people, that would be quite the challenge, so it will be buffet style. Soon they’ll be setting up some tables where we were seated.”

Hallelujah, a buffet! I’ll be able to choose what I eat, so I won’t need to fear gastrointestinal terrorism! Yippee!

I finally unclenched my fist and sighed in relief.

Haaah. I’m just going to take a moment to breathe.

“Oh, really! I had a big breakfast, you see, so I’m not all that hungry. I was worried I’d be served a full course meal and have to clean my plate. It feels like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders, hearing that the luncheon meeting will be buffet style,” I said, letting a little white lie slide past my lips.

Then again, considering the pressure in my corset is just this side of painful after Stellaria laced me up, it wasn’t a complete lie.

No sooner had I sighed in relief at my escape from another fancy food poisoning experience than Mr. Fisalis arrived with his subordinates in tow. Looking closely at him, I noticed he was wearing a rather sour expression.

What could that be about? When I looked behind him, Corydalis and the others all looked to be in a good mood. Judging by their faces, they’re having fun following their beloved commander around. I bet their conversation went like, “We all wanna go with you,” “No, stop acting clingy,” “Aww, don’t say such mean things!” Mr. Fisalis ought to know that they only do all that because they love him!

Everyone seemed to have tossed aside their dignified expressions like masks after the ceremony and were now back to their usual laidback appearance.

“Hello, Madam!”

“The ceremony was so long! You weren’t bored, were you?”

“I know I sure felt like I lost consciousness halfway through!”

“Same here, dude!”

“You guys are sorry excuses for knights! We ought to go for some training after this. I’ll knock some sense into your lazy minds and bodies!”

“Please forgive us, ma’am!” the men cried in fear.

And just like that, I was surrounded, and the usual squeezes and hugs began.

“Don’t crowd Viola like that, guys! Hey, I’m talking to you! Wha— Hey!” Last I checked, Mr. Fisalis had been standing next to me, but all of a sudden he was swept away by the mini mob forming around me.

...Hmm, he’s gotten pretty used to this scenario. Normally, he’d nearly blow a gasket and step in to help, but for some reason he’s just watching with a warm smile today. Oh... that must be why. He’s probably just glad to see his underlings home safe and joking around like this.

And it was with said warm feelings that he barked, “You animals! Did you just shove me away when I told you not to crowd Viola!?” It seemed he’d reached the limits of his tolerance when he was ejected from the circle.

Hmm, I don’t think that vein I see on his forehead is just a trick of the light.

His subordinates yelped (mostly the men), flinching so hard that their feet left the ground before freezing in place.

Mr. Fisalis took that opportunity to return to my side, telling me, “You must be tired after that boring ceremony, Vi. And then these buffoons followed me over and... grrr.” He forcefully pulled me under his arm and away from the other knights.

Ah ha, this hasn’t changed at all, either! What a relief to see him acting like his old self instead of all weird and serious— Uh, ahem, I mean, mature.

I smiled comfortingly, hoping to sooth him after seeing his peers apathetically boot him out of the circle.

“Not at all. I was sitting down, so I’m just fine. Didn’t you all have to stand the entire time? You’re the ones who must be tired.”

“We’re used to it, so it wasn’t a big deal.”

“But didn’t one of you say you almost lost consciousness...” I said, casting the other knights a sidelong glance, at which point most of them (minus the lady knights) dropped their own gazes to the floor.

“Corydalis. Looks like these buffoons need to be whipped into shape...” Mr. Fisalis said, giving his subordinates a steely glare.

“Roger that!” Corydalis replied with a smile that spanned his whole face and a big thumbs-up.

“Aaaaahhh! Nooooo!”

What a wonderful, albeit terrifying, smile Corydalis is wearing! He really must be enjoying himself.

Each and every one of the members of the special ops division (except the women, of course) were shaking in their boots.

Am I the only one yet again pleased as punch by his superb communication skills?

I was busy smiling at the male knights while the lady knights all jabbed at them with their elbows. Then, Mr. Fisalis broke his silence with a sudden, “Vi?”

“What is it, Mr. Fisalis?”

“What’s so amusing?”

“Amusing?”

“Yeah. Your face says you’re amused.”

Well, I definitely was enjoying the back-and-forth between his subordinates, so I guess it showed!

“I’m just really happy to see everyone back in one piece!”

“Oh, really?” Mr. Fisalis smiled at my reply.

Ah, his sparkle hasn’t gone anywhere, I see.

Everyone in the special ops division came back in much the same shape that they’d left in, but I realized that the knights from the frontline unit who’d received an award were all riddled with injuries.

“Oh, but, even though you all made it back uninjured, a lot of the frontline troops were pretty badly hurt, right? Um, I forget which ones they were, but they received an award right after you...” The unit’s name had utterly vanished from my mind—not surprising, considering how little I knew or cared about military jargon—but I still pretended to try and remember for a second.

“The First Cavalry Company?” Corydalis kindly offered.

“Ah, yes. I think that sounds right!”

“You think it sounds right...” he repeated, wobbling in what was either surprise or exasperation. Either way, I just ignored it.

“The cavalry sure did contribute a lot to this war. And they did have a lot of injuries, yes. They must have been following a really brutal strategy, but I’m glad injuries are all they’ve got. What kind of operation caused them to get hurt like that, I wonder. I think they call that a ‘suicide mission,’ but then again, I’m not really great with military terms.”

All the knights snorted as if they were just barely holding back laughter.

Did I say something strange? It was obvious I had missed some sort of memo, but all I could do was stare blankly as they all exploded with laughter.

“That’s the reason the war turned out the way it did.”

“No, no, it was the genius strategizing!” the knights said, some time after they stopped laughing.

Apparently, the enemy had built their encampment with its back to a sheer cliff to try to fortify their rear defense. The cliff face was nearly a straight drop down, making attacks from the rear absolutely impossible.

But.

If the rear wasn’t an option, what about from above? An image of Mr. Fisalis, just after he finished hearing a recon report, flashed through my mind. A so-called downhill rush.

“The area in front of the encampment was level, with an unobstructed line of sight—meaning there was no place to hide, so it wasn’t suited for a surprise attack.”

“Obviously. It would have been supremely stupid to charge them head on,” Mr. Fisalis flatly told Corydalis.

I’m sure Mr. Fisalis is right, but did he have to say it in that arrogant tone of voice?

“But the point is that it was a plunge straight down! They rode their horses down an almost ninety-degree incline. That would have been incredibly dangerous! But I mean, if anyone could have done it, it would be the cavalry. But still.” Mr. Fisalis’ subordinates shivered in fright as they recollected the operation.

“You seem to forget that battlefield operations are always dangerous. Besides, they were all too happy to ride down that cliff!”

“Of course! They’re a cavalry unit, aren’t they? They showed good results from their daily training, right?”

“No, they were still idiots. They were yelling ‘yeehaw’ as they went down the hill, if I recall.” The lady knights laughed shrilly.

I... I don’t think that’s something you ought to laugh about...

“...Was I the only one who thought that was a vicious warcry, then?” Corydalis muttered, his voice drowned out by the lady knights’ raucous cackling.

Off to the side, the other knights who must have actually seen the sight in question grumbled wearily.

“It was hard enough on us, just having to scope the place out...”

“For sure.”

“There were so many bugs. I didn’t get hurt, but I was basically one big mosquito bite by the time I got back.”

“I feel itchy just remembering it.”

“We didn’t go all the way to the drop off, but we followed the same road part of the way there.”

“We shouldn’t have had to do all that. We’re the brains of this operation...”

“Yeah, don’t send us with the grunts!”

Just what sort of hellish battle plan did you come up with, Mr. Fisalis!? I thought, flashing him some extreme side eye.

“I thought the plan was well suited to them—they’re the cavalry, after all. The war was settled quickly, thanks to that. No, I mean, thanks to the cavalry! I mean it!” I said, to the delight of the knights, who smiled back at me.

But wait, is it just me, or do their smiles seem a little dark?