"Whew."

As soon as the Vice Commander’s dream ended, her presence in the subconscious space vanished.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure if it would work, but fortunately, it seemed like I was able to heal the Vice Commander’s heart, even if just a little.

This is how things should be.

As I thought about it, Nutriche approached, twisting her lips in displeasure, perhaps unhappy about being made to do something so embarrassing.

"...It ended well, so I guess it doesn’t matter, but making me do things like this... What is it?"

"...What?"

Nutriche, who had been grumbling, suddenly looked at me in surprise and pointed at my face with her finger.

"Why... why are you crying?!"

"Sniffle..."

But... I couldn’t help it.

Who would’ve thought that someone I thought was just cold and rude had such a story?

"Sniff... Nutriche, this should be enough, right? It’s over, right?"

"Uh, yeah. It worked, so she’s probably fine now. Why are you getting so emotional...?"

It wouldn’t have been strange not to cry, but it was also natural for anyone to cry over such a story!

I held back tears the whole time I was trying to persuade the Vice Commander.

"This... this is all your fault!"

"What?! I was just following your instructions!"

"It’s because you acted so well!"

"I did exactly what you asked, and now I’m getting blamed!"

Still, you could’ve toned it down a bit. The Knight Commander in the dream was so well-replicated that I almost believed it was real.

And adding Mu-shin and the other knights was just... making it all feel overwhelming.

I only asked you to act as the Knight Commander!

"Anyway, this is all your fault! Take responsibility!"

"How am I supposed to take responsibility? Should I just move in and live with you?"

"..."

"Don’t get embarrassed now, you crazy person!"

It seemed like everything fell into place at just the right moment.

Haha, the way we banter back and forth is almost as perfect as the times in Agartha.

…But on another note, this story also made it clearer why Mu-yeon was so obsessed with becoming stronger.

Even though she had mentioned it on the way to deal with the gardener, I hadn’t fully realized how tragic the Snowy Mountain Expedition disaster was, and I treated it like a passing story.

If the Knight Commander had survived because of her superhuman strength, my intuition told me that Mu-shin might have survived as well.

If he had strength comparable to the Knight Commander, it’s not a stretch to think that.

Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to search for him later.

Who knows?

Like the Knight Commander, maybe he was captured by a good foreigner and is being protected.

...Damn, my meddlesome nature is a problem.

My list of things to do keeps growing.

"Tch, saving this person ruined my free time."

"Thanks, Nutriche. I’ll bring you something really fun next time."

"Do you even realize how many times you’ve said that? How do you plan to pay for all this karma you’re building up?"

How will I pay for it?

I’ll introduce her to some of the marvels from my world, and she’ll be blown away.

No matter how foreign she is, she won’t be immune to the wonders of human science and creativity.

"For now, it’s almost time to wake up. Thanks for your hard work today."

"Yeah, you too, Nutriche."

With that, I drifted away from the subconscious once more.

Back in reality, the incident involving the Vice Commander was unknown to anyone except the Branch Chief, Alpha, Beta, and me, so it didn’t cause any big waves.

As I stood up and focused my hearing, there was no sound at all. The atmosphere of the knight headquarters was as peaceful as ever, confirming the calm.

When I went to check on the Vice Commander in her office, she and the Knight Commander had already gone out somewhere.

It seemed like they wanted to spend some time together, lost in their own thoughts.

Seeing that both the Knight Commander and the Vice Commander were absent left me with a strange sense of warmth.

But this wasn’t the time to get emotional.

I had work to do.

I had to reconnect with the foreign forces, trace the Recorder’s tracks with the scholars, and prepare for the existence of the Interrogator.

As I thought about this and headed for the exit of the headquarters, I bumped into something.

"Ugh!"

The impact caused me to fall backward, and I rubbed my lower back as I got up.

It was Alpha and Beta.

"...You."

"Why are you coming out of here?"

Do they not know the Vice Commander is awake yet?

They looked at me with puzzled expressions, tilting their heads.

I considered telling them everything that had happened, but I didn’t want to reveal too much, so I just shrugged my shoulders.

"There was just some work to do."

"According to the knight's dictionary."

"‘Work’ isn’t something done in the shelter."

The way they spoke in perfect unison was giving me a headache.

They weren’t wrong, though.

I had been ‘sleeping’ up until just now.

Still, I couldn’t help but feel a bit wronged.

Even so, I didn’t show it, and after giving them a casual smile, I headed for the main entrance of the headquarters. The two knights, looking curious, went toward the Vice Commander’s office.

As I watched Alpha and Beta head off, I stopped and called back to them.

"Oh, right. The Vice Commander went out with the Commander."

"...!"

I could hear the sound of something brushing against their armor, as if they had spun around in surprise.

Without looking back at them, I just waved and headed for the door.

I’m sure they understood what I meant by that.

"...The Vice Commander was right."

"He’s quite the solver, after all."

Still, I couldn’t ignore the sound of their words.

It made me feel warm inside.

A quiet walk home.

There was still plenty of work to do, but for now, I felt at peace knowing that the most urgent tasks had been taken care of.

As soon as I returned to the branch, I reported back to the Branch Chief, but for some reason, he gave me a strange look.

"Branch Chief...?"

"...I don’t even know how to handle you anymore."

Suddenly, what was that supposed to mean?

The Branch Chief spread his fingers and started counting them off.

"Containment of the Furnace Rift incident, rescue of the Knight Commander, elimination of the Dragonslayer, preemptive suppression of cultists, and now solving the group nightmare death case. Any one of these would be enough to get you promoted to a high-ranking officer."

Ah, crap.

I thought he was praising me, but it turns out he was about to start worshipping me like the Vice Commander did.

"On top of that, you haven’t accepted any rewards for any of these achievements? Tanton, what exactly are you...?"

"I... I didn’t really do much! I’m not sure about the nightmare case, but the rest of them were more other people's achievements..."

"No, you need to straighten your back. Even as a third party, I can’t stand how modest you are. I’ll immediately recommend to the Vice Commander that you be rewarded, whether you like it or not..."

"Ahh, no, please, stop! I’m heading to my room now!"

"Tanton, wait!"

If I didn’t get out of here fast, I had the feeling he’d follow me all the way into my room, so I ran upstairs, closed the door, and let out a sigh of relief.

Seriously, I didn’t even do that much.

People sure love to exaggerate.

Thinking this, I turned around.

And there, lying on my bed with her face buried in my pillow, was someone I hadn’t seen in a few days.

"...Asty?"

When I called her name in surprise, Asty turned her head to look at me.

She had an endlessly polite expression on her face, despite her odd behavior.

"You’re back, Master."

And she greeted me like nothing was wrong, as if what she was doing wasn’t strange at all.

No, no matter how I think about it, this is strange.

Why is she lying on my bed, when she has her own room?

It’s one thing if she’d fallen asleep, but those sparkling eyes were definitely not the eyes of someone who had just woken up.

"What... what are you doing?"

"I was trying to conserve your energy because it looked like you were about to run out."

She said it so nonchalantly, without even blinking, that I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.

"What the hell does that even mean..."

I hadn’t seen her for a few days, and it’s true I hadn’t been paying much attention to her.

But still, this was kind of absurd.

Was this some new way of messing with me?

If that was her goal, she definitely succeeded.

My head felt dizzy.

Just as I thought she was done and was finally getting off the bed, I realized she wasn’t done.

"...?"

For some reason, she stood there, silently staring up at me.

With a focused, piercing gaze.

"Sigh. Alright."

Understanding what she wanted, I placed my hand on her head and gently stroked her hair, and she beamed up at me with those twinkling eyes.

Soon, she closed her eyes, as if to savor the feel of my hand.

Honestly, she was like a cat sometimes.

"How about we go to the market together?"

"Yes."

She answered flatly, but she seemed quite pleased.

On the way to the market.

I decided I wanted to treat Asty to a meal, so we planned to stop by a restaurant.

When I asked her what she liked, she said, "Whatever you like is what I like, Master." So, I decided we should just go to a decent barbecue place.

Since she’s still growing, eating meat would be good for her body.

With that thought in mind, I opened the door and entered the restaurant.

"Oh."

"Oh."

There, sitting at a table with a bright smile, was the Knight Commander.

Did she come straight here after heading out earlier?

"Running into you here, huh. This place must really be as good as they say."

As I was thinking this, I spotted the Vice Commander approaching with a bottle of water in her hand.

I was about to salute, but the Vice Commander waved it off, signaling that it wasn’t necessary.

"Today, I can’t possibly accept a salute from the one who saved my life."

"...That’s..."

"You woke up later than I did, so I was able to piece it together."

As she said that, the Vice Commander knelt before me, just as she had done when I saved the Knight Commander.

I was flustered, but the Knight Commander was snickering as if she found the whole thing amusing.

"Thank you for making me realize something I had forgotten, Tanton. If it weren’t for you, I would have remained buried in the depths of the abyss, and my story would’ve ended without closure."

"I... I really don’t know what you’re talking about. Haha, did something like that happen?"

"...I could learn a thing or two from your humility."

The Vice Commander said this as she stood up and pulled something from her pocket, handing it to me.

"What’s this?"

"A reward. No one else could make better use of it than you. If you ever find yourself stuck, it will help you out. Take it."

What she handed me was a long stick with a button on it.

It seemed like pressing it would activate something.

"Just... don’t press that button now. It’d be better to use it when you’re on a mission outside of Rondan."

What?

Is it some kind of weapon for fending off foreign enemies?

I wanted to ask more, but the playful look on her face told me she wouldn’t reveal anything, so I decided to let it go for now.

"Is that child the one you rescued from the illegal slavers?"

"Yes."

"I see."

The Vice Commander, wearing a refreshed smile unlike anything I had ever seen from her, pulled out two more chairs.

"Why don’t you join us? I’ll cover the meal."

"Ah, that’s..."

"Weren’t you planning to eat here anyway? Just think of it as a kind stranger buying you dinner."

How does one treat the Vice Commander like a passing stranger?

It was almost impossible for anyone in the knight order.

Refusing would make things awkward, so I accepted.

The Knight Commander, seemingly amused by the situation, pursed her lips slightly and nodded.

"Oho."

"I’ll pay for the Commander’s meal as well. Feel free to eat as much as you want."

"Kihihi, then I’ll enjoy it to the fullest."

She’s so pleased.

Sigh.

I glanced at Asty to make sure she wasn’t uncomfortable, but her eyes were closed, and she seemed perfectly at peace.

I felt a bit bad for intruding on such a special moment, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of warmth as I took my seat.

As we chatted and prepared to eat, my heart felt full.

It was a warm day.