My Ex-Girlfriend Was Appointed as a Knight Commander. - Chapter 1

If you were to grab a passing Kingdom Guard and ask, “What kind of place is the Raven Knight Order?” they would unanimously say, “The order where the worst rascals of the Third Corps are gathered.”

The place where troublemakers who get drunk and cause incidents get kicked out, only to be replaced by another troublemaker who got demoted for getting drunk and causing incidents. Holding the #1 spot for having the most knights on standby, infamously nicknamed the “miraculous perpetual motion machine,”

This is the Raven Knight Order.

Maxim Apart was appointed the new vice commander of the Raven Knight Order two years ago. The previous vice commander was imprisoned after getting involved in a drunken brawl, which became well-known gossip among those in the know.

Maxim Apart.

In fact, he wasn’t an outstanding knight from the beginning. He didn’t have a high-profile mentor, nor did he have the solid backing of a prestigious family. To begin with, the Apart Viscounty, which wasn’t part of the mainstream martial arts faction, couldn’t do anything for Maxim. It would have been considered plenty if they had at least given him a family sword, but the Apart family didn’t even have that.

“Filthy world.”

It was Maxim’s catchphrase. Upon closer inspection, it was a branch family of a prestigious clan. Even if they couldn’t help, he wished they wouldn’t hinder him. Still, an outcast from a civil service family wasn’t well-received among the children of the great martial arts families. This fact greatly influenced Maxim’s demotion to the Raven Knight Order.

“I should have just followed my father’s advice and gone into the legal profession or tried to butter up the palace aristocrats.”

Until he became an adult, he had only attended a social gathering once. The memory of that forcefully attended social event was definitely not a good one. Since then, Maxim devoted himself even more to sword training. That effort was rewarded with his acceptance into the Academy, but life after graduation wasn’t so smooth.

The world was not easy. Maxim became a sailboat cast into the winter sea, swept away by the storms. The utterly wrecked sailboat seemed to end its story by docking at an abandoned port called the Raven Knight Order.

“Vice Commander.”

The weather is nice. Where should we have lunch?

“Vice Commander.”

Should we go to the usual place… I want to try a different restaurant too.

“Vice Commander Maxim Apart.”
“I’m listening.”

Maxim rolled his eyes, filled with boredom. As expected, the person persistently calling him was Christine. Among the 30 members of the Raven Knight Order, she was the only one who would search for him so enthusiastically.

“Have you heard about the new commander who will be appointed?”
“No. Strangely, the current commander hasn’t said anything.”

It’s not strange to think about it. The commander has never properly done his job.

“That damn old fart. Now that he’s retiring, he’s dumping all the work on me.”
“…No wonder.”
“Argh! Damn it!”

Maxim’s clenched fist trembled in the air. His hand weakly fell on the desk that narrowly escaped being shattered.

“But he should hand things over by today. Since he has one month left, there should be a replacement at least within the week…”

Maxim spoke in an empty voice after calming his mind. There wasn’t an ounce of expectation in it. Christine laughed out loud, seeing his ever-changing appearance as if watching a fire across the river.

“Christine, you’re being noisy.”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”

No matter how much of a place filled with only rascals, there are bound to be relatively normal people. Christine was one of those few normal individuals. Although he spat out cold words, Maxim was always grateful to her.

“By the way, this place might be cleaned up soon.”
“Cleaned up?”
“The reason the Raven Knight Order has been able to survive so far is thanks to its achievements during the Imperial Era, but the newly enthroned king seems to be cleaning up the relics of the old era one by one.”

Even a troublemaker isn’t a troublemaker from the beginning. In fact, the Raven Knight Order was one of the oldest knight orders on the continent. It was the Empire’s sharpest blade before the Empire was torn into three. Isn’t it obvious what happened after it was split? The Raven Knight Order became a glorious but empty shell.

“…Will this knight order really disappear?”

Christine rubbed her arms and looked around the office. The old office. The space, which wasn’t properly maintained, smelled of musty dust. The cleaning was surely being done consistently, but the stale smell unique to this space refused to go away.

“Rather, it’s amazing that it has lasted this long.”
“That means we’ll also be cleaned up, Vice Commander.”

Maxim shrugged his shoulders.

“They’ll take useful guys like you. But as you said, those who are expendable might be retired.”

He gathered the completed documents and organized them. They were all tasks the Commander should have handled. He glared at the stack of papers with resentful and annoyed eyes, then got up from his seat.

“Let’s have lunch. You worked hard helping me match the ledgers.”
“What do you mean? I was happy to skip training.”

Christine jokingly retorted. A sigh or a yawn, indistinguishable, escaped Maxim’s mouth.

“I feel sorry for whoever becomes the new commander here.”
“Someone in a similar situation as the current commander might come, right?”
“Then I’m quitting being a knight and returning to my hometown. I’m serious.”

Maxim’s head shook vigorously from side to side. His roughly parted light brown hair shook along in annoyance. His expression seemed to say he was getting split ends. This poor young man had almost no romanticism left for knighthood and martial arts.

“Then should I quit with you, Vice Commander?”
“You can’t quit even if you wanted to, can you?”

Christine is a mage. Maxim couldn’t understand how a mage of her caliber ended up in the Raven Knight Order. Did she make someone hate her?

“It seems like I’m the only one who can take your place if you leave.”
“That’s true.”

Maxim admitted it with a chuckle.

“But I want to work under a normal commander at least once.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. How much more disappointment do you want?”

Until then, Maxim could still laugh. Harboring compassion and unease for the new commander who would be appointed, Maxim and Christine left the office.

Without any expectation of the storms the new commander would bring.

==

Sluggishly.

It was the perfect word to describe the scene at the Raven Knight Order’s training ground. Knights holding swords, spears, and shields dazedly swung their arms and legs. They must have squandered their energy at the tavern and brothel last night.

If a knight from another order saw this, they would either get very angry or sneer greatly, but for their vice commander, Maxim, this was a part of daily life. It’s not that he took a stance of non-intervention from the beginning. The two years and the knights’ unchanged attitude during that time eroded and numbed him.

“Vice Commander.”

A voice devoid of any spirit was heard from behind. It was an ordinary member with an obvious air of annoyance.

“What is it?”
“The Commander is looking for you.”

After saying that, the member sluggishly walked toward his sluggish comrades. Maxim suppressed the urge to smack the back of the member’s head.

‘Why is the Commander looking for me again?’

Shouldn’t he be guiding the knights’ training over there right now? The blood vessel on Maxim’s temple twitched. While the negligence of ordinary members didn’t harm him, the Commander’s negligence came back as serious damage in the form of increased work.

Getting angry will only be his loss.

Maxim calmed himself down. If the next commander turns out to be the same kind of person, he can just throw his resignation letter. He just needs to endure for a week. Just one week.

Maxim reached the commander’s office with calm footsteps. The Commander’s presence was felt beyond the office. It was the meager qi of an old knight who had lost all his martial prowess, and even that lost prowess was surely unimpressive.

Knock, knock.

Maxim slowly knocked on the office door. The response was very slow, like an old man waking up from sleep.

“Come in.”

As he opened the door, the commander looked at Maxim with drowsy eyes. It really seemed like he had just woken up from a nap. Maxim pulled a nearby chair and sat down haphazardly. He didn’t miss the Commander’s eyebrows twitching momentarily at that action.

Pathetic.

He didn’t have the guts to say those words out loud yet. Maxim sat deeply, sunk into the chair, and faced the commander. As if admitting defeat, the Commander spoke first.

“As you know, I’m retiring this time.”
“That’s right.”

Maxim replied indifferently. Underneath that was a clear emotion of disinterest.

“The next commander who will succeed me has been decided.”

Finally, something on time.

He swallowed those words that got stuck in his throat. If he said that, the old commander might pull some petty trick.

“When are they arriving?”
“Today, before it gets dark.”
“Haha.”

He couldn’t hold back the hollow laugh that escaped at the third thing he heard. Regardless of Maxim’s reaction, the Commander continued.

“Please take care of the handover. You prepared it, right? I believe you’ll do a good job since it’s you.”

To smash that dog-like old face of his…

Maxim began to contemplate seriously. In fact, he didn’t care at all whether the handover was done or who the next commander would be. Even if it wasn’t prepared, it wasn’t something the Commander should be concerned about. His mind would have no room for anything else besides thoughts of the fishing trips he would go on after retirement.

“Here, this is the personal information of the new commander who will be appointed. Read it.”

Maxim took the carelessly handed piece of paper from the commander. Of course, he didn’t read it. There was no reason to read it when he didn’t even think it was worth reading.

“Oddly enough, the commander coming this time is a young woman.”

But the commander’s last unnecessary remark piqued Maxim’s curiosity. He flipped the paper and started reading. He was curious if it was a signal for the knight order’s reorganization. If the person had a decent career and was promising, it would be a reorganization; if not, it would be a simple demotion.

And Maxim froze from the first line of the personal information.

“Why? Are you suddenly interested because it’s a young woman?”

Whatever nonsense the old fart was babbling, no words were reaching Maxim’s ears. His eyes were glued to the paper, refusing to move.

“…Commander, is the person coming this time really this person?”

At Maxim’s stiffened voice, the Commander asked back with a frown.

“Are you saying I gave you the wrong information?”
“Is the name of the person coming this time really Theodora Bening?”

At Maxim’s rare reaction, the commander thought it was strange for a moment but soon erased his suspicion and answered.

“That’s correct. Theodora Bening.”

Maxim abruptly stood up from his seat. The Commander dismissively said to him, who had turned his back.

“Prepare well. You heard she’s coming today, right?”

Maxim didn’t even answer and left the office, slamming the door behind him. The Commander stared blankly at the closed door and soon rested his body on the chair to sleep.

Meanwhile, Maxim’s mind was being colored to not just white but transparent. He barged into the Vice Commander’s office like a storm and sat at the desk. Then he endlessly read the slightly crumpled paper the commander had handed him, double-checking if he was reading it correctly.

Theodora Bening.

That’s right. No, maybe he read it wrong. It could be Theodore, not Theodora. It could be Bennix, not Bening.

Theodora Bening.

But no matter how many times he read it, the letters “Theodora Bening” refused to change. Maxim finally accepted the reality that had hit him and sighed as if the ground would cave in.

‘Of all people, of all people, of all people!’

His ex-girlfriend was being appointed as the commander of the knight order where he was serving as the vice commander!

Translator’s Corner

I’ve been keeping my eye on this novel for a while, and after reading a bit, I finally chose to do it. I know how well this Author writes as I’ve translated his last series as well. (Promise I’ll reupload them soon. In like a month or so. All of it.)

I plan to post a chapter every other day. They are long.

For those reading my other novel; yes, this is a dumb decision. I will regret my life.

Well, I hope you’ll enjoy!

-Ruminas