Previously Unpublished Extra Story — Queen’s Uniform

It had been about three weeks since Fie had become “friends” with Queen.

After finishing their meal of pasta with meat sauce at the canteen, Fie and her companions were engaged in their typical discussion when something about Queen caught Fie’s eye, causing her to stare at him intently.

“Hmm...”

Upon becoming aware of Fie’s intense stare, Queen’s face turned a slight shade of red as he fidgeted uncomfortably.

“What is it, Heath?” Remie asked, having noticed Fie’s stare. He peered over at her while enjoying some tea after his meal. Turning over to her friend, Fie answered his question without hesitation.

“Don’t you think Queen is being a bit distant?”

“Eh?” Queen himself appeared shocked at Fie’s observation.

“Y-You think so...?” Remie’s polite laugh was not enough to hide the awkwardness of the conversation. From the beads of sweat on Queen’s brow, it wasn’t hard for Remie to understand how he felt.

“Really? It seems like he’s really used to being around you though!” As usual, Slad spoke without much thought. The reality was, in fact, the exact opposite — Queen did not seem very used to his new arrangements at all.

However, it was perhaps expected for Slad, who had a very surface-level personality, to not notice this.

“No comment...” Such a statement from Gees, on the other hand, was more of an affirmation than a denial.

“Why do you care if he is being distant or not? Is this something to be concerned about?” Gormus’ statement was delivered with a clearly uninterested tone.

“See? Everyone thinks it’s fine...” Queen, who appeared to cheer up a little from the statements of those around him, was rudely interrupted by the sound of Fie’s fist hitting the table.

“I’m CONCERNED about you here!” Fie’s sudden exclamation nearly caused Queen to jump out of his seat.

With narrowed eyes, Fie posed a series of questions to Queen, all the while staring into his eyes.

“Queen. Where did you go after training yesterday?”

“Uh... we went to town for shopping and leisure, Heath.”

“Then, what about the day before?”

“We went to see some newborn kittens in a nearby platoon barracks.”

“What about this last Sunday?”

“I went on a picnic to the mountains with you and your friends.”

“After the training session on the Sunday before last?”

“The Roof.”

“Who went with you?”

“You and your friends, Heath.”

“Did you interact with or spend time with anyone else on any other days?”

Queen shook his head at the question.

“None whatsoever. I was reading in my room.”

“Ahh...” Fie sighed at Queen’s response.

Fie did not mean to complain about Queen’s presence at all of her outings and activities — after all, it was she who had invited Queen to come along in the first place, and for his part, Queen had readily agreed. Fie thought that his eagerness and happiness at being invited was lovable to a certain extent.

However, other than instances where Fie had invited him, it would seem that Queen did not interact with any other squires at all. Although the squires of the northern dormitory were known for being easy-going and readily made friends with others, none of them had grown particularly close to Queen, even after a few group excursions and activities.

Personally, Fie wanted Queen to live happily as a member of the northern dormitory — as long as he did not let her secret out of the bag. Although his continued obedience reassured Fie, she could not help but be worried about his future social prospects.

After all, Fie was happy to have made friends with Queen, but she thought that he needed some steadfast friends of his own. In fact, it was perhaps strange that Queen didn’t already have many friends, objectively speaking.

“Why...?”

It was commonly observed that those who excelled in a one aspect or another were likely to become popular: the academically inclined, the musically talented, social butterflies.

Queen’s skill with the sword was obvious — in fact, it was a skill that all knights must possess. Hence, it was natural to assume that he would be looked up to. Even Fie thought the same way — she admired Queen’s strength and ability with the sword.

His looks sat comfortably in a middle ground between “cool” and “cute” — and his exotic appearance only exacerbated how much he already stood out. “That which is beautiful is good” is a thought commonly shared amongst the young and old, men and women. Even Fie admired Crow’s good looks, for example — although his playboy personality was a minus, reducing his overall attractiveness by about twenty percent.

Queen’s personality was relatively pleasant as well. Although he had made quite a splash when he first showed up, he had been oddly calm as of late. This, however, was why Fie was so concerned — she had realized that Queen was the type to fixate upon his own goals and develop tunnel vision, eventually forgetting about those around him.

Even Gormus, who was also strong in combat but easily misunderstood due to his character, had many friends whom he got along with.

After having settled matters with Fie and no longer wildly issuing challenges to her, it would have made sense for Queen’s popularity to explode overnight.

Instead, he was leisurely seated in his chair, albeit now with a surprised expression. Looking at him, Fie finally noticed something. In fact, she found it strange that she had not noticed this until now.

“Actually, Queen... why are you not wearing the squire uniform...?”

“Huh?”

“Ah...”

As a collective realization spread throughout the squires at Fie’s table, their eyes suddenly all came to rest on Queen.

All squires had to wear a uniform.

The uniform consisted of a brown wool jacket, and was completed by a pair of white pants, made from strong, durable fabric. Although squires were not official knights in any capacity, they did occasionally participate in peacekeeping activities, even apprehending criminals should the need arise. To allow the public to identify who they were, a uniform of sorts was necessary.

Their uniform was sufficiently mobile and durable — well-suited to their movement-intensive training activities.

However, Queen had not worn this uniform, not even once.

Thinking back on it, Fie realized that he had not been wearing it ever since he first set foot in the northern dormitory.

Although she had found it odd the first time she set eyes on him, this fact was not readily evident to her during the first week, when Queen had been chasing her around. On the second week, after Fie had befriended him, he still did not wear the uniform — and eventually that had finally culminated in Fie’s current realization.

Queen, still seated with the same surprised expression and cocked head, answered Fie’s query with a simple statement.

“I don’t have a uniform.”

“What!?”

Squire uniforms were usually provided shortly after the individual in question enters a dormitory. If the size of the provided uniform was off, it could easily be amended if the squire provided their measurements — the uniforms were tailored to fit each squire. The squires didn’t even have to pay for these specially made uniforms.

The fact that Queen did not own a uniform indicated that he probably hadn’t taken his own measurements.

“When you were still in your old dormitory, did anyone say anything about the uniform?”

“Not particularly, no.”

Upon hearing Queen’s response, Fie groaned in exasperation. Although they, too, had gotten used to Queen not wearing a uniform, it was common courtesy to at least tell their fellow squire that he should be wearing one.

It was worth noting that while there were no rules that insisted upon the usage of a uniform, it was important to have a fresh set of clothing to change into when laundry schedules inevitably fell behind.

This was why it was recommended that squires wear a uniform — and keep a few spares on hand. Squires without uniforms were a thing of past generations, and Fie could not help but wonder what the culture was like over in the eastern dormitory.

“Am I doing something wrong by not wearing a uniform...?” Queen asked, looking confused.

Queen’s query worried Fie. No one had said a word about it until now — or even noticed anything out of the ordinary. However...

“Don’t you think it’s easier to get along with everyone else if you wear the same thing?”

Fie’s observation was correct — appearances were, after all, an important part in social interactions. Humans in particular often regard those who look different with suspicion. In contrast, those who look similar to them invoke feelings of camaraderie.

Internally confirming her suspicions that Queen was in fact distant and somewhat isolated from his peers, Fie made up her mind — she would obtain a uniform for Queen. In fact, it sounded like fun.

Currently, Queen was wearing clothes cut from a purple fabric. The fabric in question was expensive-looking, and had an aristocratic air to it. If anything, it complimented his exotic appearance and platinum-blonde hair well. However...

“Where did you buy your clothes from?”

“I brought them over with me from my home country.”

It did not seem like Queen was overly attached to his current garments — this was a good sign.

“Well, why don’t you just try a uniform out? I’ll lend you a spare of mine,” Slad said, readily joining the conversation.

As Slad and Queen were similar in build, that was probably a good approach.

Fie nodded.

“Yep, go try it out.”

“Oh... but the laundry just went out. How about tomorrow?”

“That’s true. You should also see if you move well in it — why not try it out after tomorrow’s training session?”

At one point of time or another, the conversation had fully shifted over to equipping Queen with a uniform of his own.

Everyone agreed with Fie’s conviction — although no one had asked for Queen’s input on the matter at all.

At the end of the next day’s training session, Fie and company gathered on top of a small hill near the training grounds.

“Here, I’ve brought it with me.” In Slad’s hands was a freshly laundered jacket, which he promptly handed over to Fie.

“Thanks!” Accepting the garment with a smile, Fie unfurled it before Queen. “Well, try this on first. Take off your shirt and I’ll put it on you.”

“I-I’ll put it on myself...”

“Nah, nah, let me do it.”

Fie seemed to be enjoying herself by dressing up Queen like a doll — perhaps because she was a girl.

Queen, eventually realizing the futility of his complaints, eventually took off his purple top. It would appear that he wore a tight-fitting, black singlet underneath.

Spreading out his arms, Fie happily fitted Queen’s arms through the jacket. Suddenly, an involuntarily strong shudder spread throughout Queen’s body.

Queen possessed immense explosive power in his muscles — after all, he had closed the distance between him and Gormus almost instantly during their bout. His reflexes and mobility were close to that of a wild animal.

Due to Fie brushing against a ticklish spot as she was fitting the jacket onto him, Queen shivered and flinched a little too hard, all the while not realizing his strength — and so Fie’s small body was promptly launched away.

Although she did not travel too far, Fie’s particularly bad luck today meant that she had landed on the slope of the hill they were on, and promptly proceeded to roll all the way down.

“Gyaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!”

That was how Fie ended up rolling down the hill.

“H-Heath!”

Panicking, Queen gave chase to the rolling Fie. The jacket, now airborne as well, was duly caught by Remie.

Queen finally caught up to the grass-covered Fie, who came to a stop at the foot of the hill. Although she was not exactly angry, her face was decidedly pale.

“What the heck happened...?”

“I’m sorry... The clothes were tickling me, so...” Queen said, with a somewhat deflated expression.

“Well I’m not mad, so don’t worry about it... Let’s go back.”

After Queen helped Fie up from the ground, the two squires made their way back up the hill.

As it turned out, the problem was quickly identified — it seemed like Queen’s skin did not react very well to the materials used in the squire jacket.

“Yeah, some people are a little allergic to wool-based materials. The wool used isn’t exactly high quality, so if your skin is sensitive, it might hurt...” Remie said, running his hands over the jacket.

For what it was worth, Queen’s skin was indeed smooth — one could even say it was delicate.

“So... something like the clothes you normally wear is fine?”

“He’s always wearing them after all...”

Such were Slad and Gees’ observations as they gazed upon Queen, who was once again clad in his purple clothes.

“It’s made of considerably high-quality materials... The person who chose this for Queen really had his welfare in mind. It feels nice to the touch, too,” Remie observed.

Fie herself decided to try touching the fabric after Remie had sung such high praises of it.

“Wow, it’s true! It’s so smooth.”

Without warning, Fie put her face against Queen’s chest, rubbing her cheeks across its surface.

Indeed, it was smooth and felt good to the touch. In fact, it even seemed to regulate Queen’s body heat well, with the surface warm and—

“Uwah!?”

With her mind lost in the evaluation of Queen’s clothing, Fie did not anticipate what was about to happen until it was too late. A great shiver crept into Queen’s body once more, causing him to involuntarily flinch.

Just as before, Fie’s small body was launched into the air and down the hill.

“GYAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!”

And so it came to be that Fie, once again, rolled down the hill.

“Heath!”

Queen nervously gave chase, and helped Fie up when he finally caught up with her.

“M-My apologies...”

“No, don’t worry about it, I’m not mad...”

Saying so, Fie took Queen’s cheeks in her hands, and pinched them. Queen’s face contorted into a strange shape.

“I’m sowwy...” Queen apologized once more, now closer to tears than ever.

Gormus could only watch over the two with an exasperated gaze.

With the two back on the hill once more, discussions began again in earnest.

“Well, what are we going to do about the prickly wool? Thoughts?”

“Well, we could easily get around this issue by using high-quality materials. Alternatively, we could have Queen wear a sleeved inner garment of some kind, so that his skin does not come into contact with the wool...” Remie, who seemed to have extensive knowledge of clothing, gave his detailed advice.

“I see,” said Fie, nodding as she looked Queen over slowly from head to toe. “That being said... you’re quite an exhibitionist, aren’t you Queen?”

“E-Exhibitionist!?” Queen looked like he had been struck by lightning. He had apparently not thought that way about his appearance at all.

However, there was some truth to Fie’s words. Queen’s clothing did expose a fair amount of skin — at least more so than his fellow squires. However, it wasn’t to a point where he could be considered a pervert — for the most part, the exposed skin was within the parameters of common sense.

“Maybe his core temperature is just high?” Gormus suggested, and Fie nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, come to think of it, he is quite warm,” Fie said, still feeling traces of warmth on her cheek despite having rolled down the grassy hill.

Queen’s face once again turned a light shade of red.

“Well, let’s go with the undershirt suggestion first.”

“I have just the thing!”

Slad’s suggestion was duly carried out by Heath, who promptly set off in the general direction of the northern dormitory.

“Y-Your undershirt!?”

Fie gave the surprised Queen a casual smile, not thinking too much of his response.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you the biggest one I have.”

“Come to think of it, Heath’s clothes are always a bit bigger than they are supposed to be...” Gees had finally spoken. To this, Fie pointed a thumb at her own chest, laughing it off.

“Haha. Maybe I’ll get bigger one day!”

The true reason for Fie wearing bigger sizes than usual was so that she could hide the lines of her body.

As Queen was the only one there who knew of her circumstances, the other squires merely nodded and saw Fie off. Queen did not say very much, and instead paced around, somewhat unnerved.

After Fie returned with her clothes at last, the discussions began once more. Without hesitating, Fie thrust the garment that she had brought into Queen’s hands.

“Here, put this on, and then the jacket over that.”

It was a white, long-sleeved top. As Fie had said, it was slightly too big for her, but would fit Queen relatively well.

“Uh... well...”

Although Queen was nervous, he had no choice but to accept the garment, rapidly gaping like a fish as he did so. It appeared that he was trying to say something.

“Queen...?”

Fie, who looked somewhat confused, was joined in her confusion by the other squires around her. Unable to handle the pressure, Queen gave up, removing his black singlet and putting on Fie’s white garment.

Nervously, he put his arms through the garment.

Although the white undershirt was a reasonable fit, it seemed to be a little on the tight side — but Fie didn’t think it was a problem.

“All right, then. Try putting the jacket on.”

Fie assisted Queen with the squire jacket. This time, Queen managed to put it on without any major incident, and Fie did not tumble down the hill. Finally, she adjusted his sleeves and collar.

“Yeah, it suits you!”

“Yeah, he looks a lot more like a squire now.”

Slad and Remie nodded.

Upon seeing Queen dressed in the squire uniform, Fie felt a sense of satisfaction. Although his usual clothes suited him fine, the squire uniform also looked good on him.

However, a moment later, Queen’s body was covered in sweat.

“Is that too hot for you...?”

Queen nodded vigorously.

It appeared that Gormus’ assumptions about Queen’s body temperature were correct after all. In contrast, Fie had a lower body temperature and often had to wear multiple layers of clothing to compensate.

“His face is red...”

Indeed, Queen’s face had turned an unhealthy shade of red from the accumulated heat.

“Well... I guess this isn’t going to work. Take it off then.” Fie retrieved the garment that she had loaned Queen after he had taken it off.

“I-I’ll wash it for you...”

Fie shook her head at Queen’s offer.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m going to wear it now anyway.”

Saying so, Fie took off her grass-covered squire jacket, putting the white garment on instead — specifically, the garment that Queen had been wearing up until a short while ago. Although it was a little wet to the touch, it did not smell.

Upon seeing this, however, Queen started gaping once more, his face now redder than ever.

In the end, the squires came to the conclusion that a drastic solution of sorts was required to remedy Queen’s uniform problem.

“It seems like we can’t solve this without actually getting a custom-made uniform for Queen.”

Although they were not sure if it could be done, the squires decided to find out.

“Well then, I will search for a fabric that will not agitate Queen’s skin.”

With Remie’s cooperation, the group saw a bit of hope in the situation.

“Oh, I’ll come with you then!”

“As will I...”

As usual, Slad and Gees accompanied their friend, and soon the three were gone.

“I am not really interested in any of this, so I am going to rest. If you need any help carrying heavy things, I will help.”

Gormus’ views on the situation remained unchanged. To begin with, he did not really agree with forcing Queen into a uniform, and he had simply gone along with the group.

As an afterthought, Gormus gave Queen some advice, the exasperation clear in his voice.

“Well... I suppose this one time is fine, Queen. However, don’t listen to what this fool says too much... or you’ll really get into a bothersome situation,” Gormus said, and lightly rapped the top of Fie’s head.

“What!? I am not a bomb, you know!” Fie raised her hands in protest.

As there was nothing of note that the squires had to do today, Remie and friends returned to the dormitory. Gormus had something to attend to back at his platoon, and eventually only Fie and Queen were left.

Suddenly, Fie seemed to realize something.

“Oh! Right, try putting just the pants on. The material isn’t wool, so it should be fine, right?”

Fie handed over a pair of pants to Queen, which apparently had been borrowed from Slad as well.

“Well Queen, go on. Take off your pants.”

“Eh...?” Queen’s mouth opened, and remained open.

“If you don’t take them off you can’t put the uniform’s pants on, right?”

“B-But.” Queen looked at Fie apprehensively.

It was then that Fie had finally realized.

“Are you, by any chance, embarrassed...?”

Fie somehow found it strange that a man would be embarrassed — although he was outdoors, alone with a member of the opposite sex, in only his underwear.

Queen nodded rapidly.

Seeing his response, Fie had the following to say:

“Don’t worry about it. Other than me, no one is looking.”

For Queen, that was precisely the problem.

However, Queen was too embarrassed to tell Fie how he felt directly. He was acutely aware of Fie’s status as a woman, and above all else, he was, like many other squires, going through puberty. It was a sensitive time for him.

On the other hand, Fie herself was guilty of being somewhat dense in this situation.

“Come on, if you take this long, the sun will set. Take them off, quickly! Actually never mind, I’ll take them off for you.”

With a flash, Fie’s hands were firmly latched onto the sides of Queen’s pants.

“W-Wait! Ahh...!”

Closing his eyes, Queen desperately held onto his pants with all of his might.

“Ugh, don’t mess around!”

“No! Stop it! Stop it!”

For a while, the two of them remained in a stalemate. On one hand, Queen was desperate. After all, if Fie succeeded in taking off his pants, she would see his underwear — and the prospect of that drove him close to tears.

Fie, for her part, got more irritated by the second, becoming increasingly determined to take off Queen’s pants.

After a few skirmishes over the status of Queen’s pants, Fie’s fingertips inadvertently slipped, and came into contact with warm skin.

In other words, Fie’s fingertips had somehow found their way beneath his underwear amongst the struggle.

Queen’s entire body tensed up. However, Fie did not notice this, and continued her crusade of pants removal. And so, ever so slightly, both Queen’s pants and underwear began to fall below his waistline.

“Eeee! N-No...!”

In the very next moment, Queen had promptly launched Fie away and up into the air once more.

“I TOLD you to STOOOOP!”

“Gah!”

Fie’s small body easily flew up and away into the air.

“GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

And so, Fie came into contact with a familiar grassy hillside and rolled down its slope for the third time that day. Fie, however, probably deserved her most recent flight.

Although she had braced herself for the fall and thus was not injured, unlike the other two instances, Queen did not rush down to check on her.

Casting her gaze towards the top of the hill, Fie came across a pitiable sight — Queen was bent over and holding onto his underwear with both hands, his pants having finally been successfully removed. His face was flustered, and he looked upon Fie with tear-filled eyes.

With that sight, Fie finally realized that she had gone too far.

“I went overboard. I apologize.” Fie got down on her knees and placed her head against the grassy hillside, apologizing in the general direction of the hilltop.

After that, Queen tried on the squire uniform’s pants while Fie was looking in a different direction — and yet for some reason it did not occur to Fie that it would have been a lot faster if they had done this in the first place.

On Sunday of that week, the group decided to go on a material-sourcing trip in the capital, per Remie’s suggestion.

A variety of shops existed in Orstoll, from high-class marketplaces to the downtown streets often frequented by Slad and the rest. Of course, one could not leave out the hole-in-the-wall shops as well.

As Remie’s hobby was stitching soft toys, he happened to have the relevant knowledge to recommend a place.

About fifty paces from the royal castle, Fie and company arrived at the shop in question — it was a small store located in a back alleyway, and various textiles hung from its displays.

With an eager expression, Remie entered the shop, the others following close behind him.

The members for this excursion were Queen, Fie, and Remie. Gormus had excused himself, apparently busy with one thing or another. Slad and Gees, on the other hand, had not finished their homework, and were studying together to finish their work on time.

Fie, for her part, had spent considerable time assisting Queen with his studies last night. Although he gave off the impression of being a very capable individual, Queen was not very good at academic affairs — which came as a surprise to Fie, as he was supposedly well-read.

“If it’s wool you want, you’d want some high quality, smooth woven material... Specifically, I would recommend Ingria sheep wool, imported from the Northern Kingdoms. Its smoothness is legendary — it is even used to make clothing for royalty. Although you won’t find such expensive, high-quality material in shops, you can easily find wool a grade or two lower — they would still be smooth to the touch and fair to the skin.”

Perhaps it was because Remie had come to a shop that he liked, but he was markedly more talkative than usual. Even Fie was somewhat taken aback.

“You really like sewing, don’t you Remie?”

Upon hearing those words, Remie became aware of his talkativeness, and promptly nodded, his face becoming a little flushed in the process.

“There aren’t many customers who come to this shop, so I don’t feel too embarrassed to come in here, even though I’m a man.”

Although he was evidently blushing, Remie looked very at home and pleased with all the textiles displayed in the shop.

Apparently, shops on the main street were often patronized by aristocratic ladies and other womenfolk, and as such Remie stood out.

Fie, however, thought that Remie should simply cross-dress to get around this problem — better a cute Remie than an ugly woman.

“Then we’ll have a look at Remie’s recommended materials!”

Fie held up a beautiful white textile in her hands — and then promptly froze as her eyes came into contact with the price tag. Fie could not believe her eyes.

“2800 merks...”

It was expensive — prohibitively expensive.

For squires like Fie, their monthly salary was roughly 900 merks. In other words, the material she held in her hands was worth three whole months of her salary.

Fie’s financial perspective was, after all, determined and scaled with her salary as the primary point of comparison. Although Fie had felt it justified to use her salary to purchase snacks, goods, or to go on the occasional excursion, in comparison, this textile cost a bit too much.

Queen, who had been standing next to Fie, placed a hand on the textile in question, nodding.

“It seems like this material works on my skin,” Queen said. Then his eyes, too, came in contact with the price tag in question — and to that, he nodded. “It seems to be a fitting price as well. Very well, we shall go with this.”

It was worth remembering that Queen was, after all, of noble birth. Having been born to a viscount, Queen had already inherited the estate from his parents. Although he did not show his wealth at all in his day-to-day interactions with the other squires, he was in fact very well-off.

As he had enrolled with the hopes of making it as a knight through his own efforts, Queen usually lived within a normal squire’s means. However, he did not hesitate to use his wealth if the need for it arose — particularly in this kind of situation.

“I see. Well, I’m glad we found you something suitable!”

Remie, as well, was of noble birth — his mannerisms and conduct were an obvious indicator of him being born to a well-respected noble house.

As such, their monetary views were decidedly different from someone like Fie. And so she suddenly stopped them from bringing the textile in question over to the shopkeeper.

“What is it?”

“What’s wrong?”

Turning their heads, the two came face to face with a pale and sweaty Fie.

“L-Let’s look around a bit more. We may find something cheaper but still of a good quality...”

Although it was Fie’s idea to dress Queen up in a uniform to begin with, the incredibly high price of the material sent shivers up her spine.

Fie was particularly excited for Queen’s new uniform, and was looking forward to helping him into it. However, the unexpectedly high price of the textile had changed her eagerness into guilt.

“Ehh? I don’t think we’re going to find anything this high quality at any cheaper price. I don’t mind looking around at all, but what about you, Queen?”

“I do not mind.” Queen nodded.

However, no matter how hard they looked, they could not find a fabric that suited Queen. The many fabrics that Queen did try out often provoked a negative reaction from him — as one could tell from his expression. In addition, almost every fabric that met Queen’s requirements was equally expensive.

In the end, Queen purchased the very first material that they had tried, placing a deposit. The rest was to be paid at a later date on account of Queen issuing an invoice to the name of his noble family.

Upon exiting the shop, Remie and Queen asked after Fie, who was being oddly quiet.

“What’s wrong Heath? You don’t seem to be doing very well.”

“Are you all right?”

“No, it’s nothing...”

Although neither Remie nor Queen noticed it, Fie’s impulsive suggestion for Queen to get a uniform had resulted in an unnecessary expenditure, and her heart was pierced with guilt.

“Oh, did you buy some materials as well, Heath?”

Fie was hugging a small bundle of materials close to her chest.

“Yeah... just a bit...”

Unable to say what she wanted to say, Fie held the bundle closer than ever, finally returning to the northern dormitory with Queen and Remie.

Queen, having handed the newly-bought materials to the uniform procurement department, soon received a uniform of his own.

To witness this occasion, everyone gathered on the hilltop.

“So you finally finished it. Took you a while.”

“You didn’t even do anything, Gormus,” Fie said, squinting her eyes at him. He merely sneered, albeit in a good-natured way.

“Not doing anything unnecessary is also a means of helping, you know. If one does something unnecessary just because they think they should, they will end up regretting it soon enough.” Gormus looked at Fie, his eyes seemingly conveying a deeper meaning.

“Ugh...”

From the way he had said it, it seemed like Gormus had already figured out the overall flow of the situation.

Amidst the chatter, Queen finally arrived — and he already had his uniform’s pants on. It seemed that Queen had learned from his past experience.

In fact, he had already put on his entire uniform before this. But he had taken off his top just for the occasion, leaving only his undershirt.

“Well then, Queen will now officially put on his uniform!”

Fie stood next to Queen as if she were presenting someone at a formal event. Spreading out his arms, Queen displayed the completed uniform to those who were gathered — Gormus, Remie, Slad, and Gees.

“Ooooohhh. You look cool in it!”

“It looks good on you.”

“Yes... unmistakably a uniform.”

“I don’t get what is so special about it. Well, it’s a uniform.”

Thus were the opinions of the four who were gathered around for the ceremony — and to round it off, they clapped.

“Well then Queen, raise your arms.”

Raising his arms as he had done before, Fie helped Queen put on the outer jacket of his uniform by guiding him through the arms and shoulders, and finally buttoning up the garment from the front.

This time, Queen did not flinch, and Fie was not launched down the hill. He had finally put on a uniform safely and without incident.

“It suits you, Queen!”

“Yep, it’s cool.”

Slad and Remie praised their fellow squire once more, clapping as they did so. Gees and Gormus also started clapping, if only out of politeness. Queen blushed from all the attention, and it was quite a festive atmosphere.

With this, the episode of Queen’s uniform came to an end. As the squires made to return to their dormitory, Fie called out to Queen.

“Queen...!”

Fie, with a rare expression of nervousness, prompted Queen to pause and ask what was wrong, tilting his head at the situation.

Then, Fie finally showed Queen the object that she had been hiding behind her back this entire time.

“Um... this is something small to celebrate you getting your uniform... And an apology for last time... Something like that...”

The item Fie held out in her hands was a small pouch, made from a familiar white textile.

It appeared to be the product of the materials that Fie had bought that day.

Queen’s eyes widened.

“Did you make this by yourself...?”

“Yeah...” Fie turned red in spite of herself, and turned her face away from Queen.

In reality, the fact that Queen’s uniform had cost him 2800 merks weighed heavily on her heart — she hadn’t thought that a mere whim on her part would translate into such a high expense for her fellow squire.

The fact remained that Fie could not have possibly paid for the materials with her squire salary — and although her assets as a princess could probably have funded it, that would have appeared too suspicious to the others. Although Fie was aware that her gift could not replace the original expenditure, she had bought some of the high-quality material with her own salary, and had turned it into a small pouch.

It was made of sturdy textile and felt smooth to the skin — with this, Queen could use it easily.

“Also, the base is stitched. I’d meant it to be ornamental, but Sir Garuge added a non-slip coating to it...”

Between the time of Queen delivering the materials and receiving his uniform, Fie had received instruction from Garuge and worked hard at sewing the base of the pouch. Although she had kept it a secret from Queen and company, Gormus had happened to be at Garuge’s workshop on an appointment to make custom-sized equipment, and as such had found out about Fie’s endeavor.

As it was her first time sewing items of any kind, Fie had a hard time with her project.

“It’s probably not very well made, sorry...”

Upon hearing Fie’s dejected words, Queen shook his head.

“No... I am very happy that you would make something for me!”

On his face was a smile, much akin to that of a happy puppy. He held Fie’s gift close to his chest, treasuring it.

Fie, seeing Queen’s smile, finally felt the guilt lift from her heart — even if her gift did not solve any problems to begin with. Although it was an effort on her own part, it was worth it.

“Well, then put that on too!”

Following Slad’s suggestion, Queen promptly attached the pouch to his pants. Now armed with a jacket, black inner garment, his white pants and pouch, Queen was the very picture of a squire.

“Yeah, the pouch really suits you.”

As Fie had obtained the design of the pouch from Garuge in the first place, it fit in well with Queen’s squire uniform. Queen, for his part, seemed happy to receive a gift from Fie.

And so, after some time was spent admiring Queen’s new uniform, the squires’ meeting was over.

While the other squires in the dormitory were surprised by Queen’s new uniform (and pouch) the next day, they eventually got used to his new appearance.

Perhaps it was due to the uniform, but eventually Queen began making friends with the other squires in the dormitory — and to that, Fie could not help but feel a little jealous.

In particular, it seemed like Queen had made friends with some of the more quiet squires in the dormitory, happily discussing with them books that Fie had never heard of.

And so it came to be that Fie would invade Queen’s room the very next day to borrow some of the above-mentioned books to read — but that is a secret, and a story for another time.