Chapter 103

“Anyway, the acting commander we were told would be coming was Dame Stella Eden from the Administration Bureau.”  

With an expression that said, Why are you here instead?, Aivert stared sullenly at him.  

And at that sight, every knight nearby felt a refreshing satisfaction.  

‘That’s right, no matter how much these pests make a fuss, they’ll never bring our vice-commander to his knees!’  

“Due to internal circumstances in the Administration Bureau, the appointment has changed. Consider it so.”  

“Is that so?”  

The fact that Marvin was addressing the vice-commander with informal speech, despite him being the acting commander, sat very poorly with the knights—so he earned quite a few sharp glares.  

But Marvin held his head stiffly high.  

In the military, orders from above are absolute!  

Here, disobeying his orders would bring consequences, one way or another!  

Perhaps encouraged by that fact, Marvin went on.  

“Anyway, as long as Latine Modilac has legal issues, for the time being—”  

Rodella cut in.  

“The legal issues haven’t actually occurred yet—there are only suspicions.”  

In other words, Watch your words.  

That crisp remark drew a small cheer from the knights.  

“—Anyway.”  

Marvin Tilcot, already a little overpowered by the first meeting, scowled.  

“Let’s do our best to get along for now.”  

With a voice heavy with authority, he turned his back.  

Everyone looked at him with deep displeasure as he entered the commander’s office.  

Rodella thought to herself: ‘At least it’s fortunate there’s nothing in there related to the ledgers.’ 

Still, her unease didn’t vanish.  

Of course, the ledgers they had tampered with were nearly perfect… but thinking that made her feel like a criminal.  

No—she was a criminal.  

Rodella rubbed her forehead.  

But that wasn’t the important thing right now.  

The Azure Knights wouldn’t have much trouble even if an audit came immediately, and Latine’s mansion was probably fine—otherwise, things wouldn’t have ended here.  

But if they happened to find something in Latine’s estate, things could become trickier.  

And even if not, what if this situation dragged on and the order suddenly needed a large sum of money?  

If the funds Latine used to bring in ran dry, there would be trouble—and the doctored ledgers wouldn’t save them then.  

Rodella bit her lip.  

“Aivert.”  

She decided to discuss it with him first—  

But when she naturally turned toward where he had been…  

“…”  

He was gone. She could only stare uneasily at the empty spot where he had been sitting.  

Problems everywhere… truly.  

From that day on, the Azure Knights began clashing outright with Marvin Tilcot.  

If he had just kept his mouth shut, the knights would’ve simply disliked his presence, nothing more.  

But it was as if someone had ordered him to run the Azure Knights into the ground—he abruptly began pushing for “internal reorganization.”  

“As acting commander, I have every authority a commander can exercise.”  

The first thing he touched was the order’s operations.  

“First, we’re going to greatly increase patrol personnel and suspend all civilian assistance for a while.”  

This was the exact opposite of the direction Latine had maintained.  

Increasing patrol personnel wasn’t entirely the opposite—but the problem was—  

“How much are we talking?”  

Marvin, seeming to take perverse pleasure in how much Aivert disliked using honorifics, spread five fingers.  

“Five percent more than before.”  

Aivert replied. But Marvin shook his head.  

“Fifty percent. Half the order should be on patrol.”  

At that moment, Aivert thought:  

‘Is this man insane?’  

“The order is not a patrol unit.”  

“But patrols are still part of the job. Right now, there aren’t enough.”  

No matter how he heard it, it sounded like Marvin planned to empty both headquarters and branch offices.  

So Aivert said:  

“Denied.”  

“Is this insubordination? To the acting commander?”  

In the military, insubordination is a serious crime. But Aivert shamelessly replied:  

“I disobey the real commander, too. A stand-in isn’t my concern.”  

If Latine had heard that, he might have felt a vague, guilty satisfaction—but fortunately or unfortunately, it was the truth.  

Rodella, coming in to make a report and seeing the exchange, nearly burst out laughing.  

It was so absurd.  

But more than that—it felt like the Aivert she knew. The real him, after a long while.  

‘If only he wouldn’t avoid me here…’

But of course, that didn’t happen.  

Even though he must have noticed her arrival, Aivert didn’t so much as glance her way, keeping his focus on Marvin.  

“Are you ignoring the military chain of command? Does the vice-commander also want to be the acting commander here?”  

In other words, he was threatening to bind the vice-commander up for insubordination, just like Latine.  

Rodella frowned.  

It was amusing in a way, but if things continued like this—  

“Go ahead and try.”  

Hey!  

Rodella almost grabbed him right then.  

“Is that so? In that case…”  

Marvin’s face brightened, as though he had finally found the excuse he wanted.  

But Aivert wasn’t done.  

“But if I leave this army, I’d like you to remember that I am the Duke of Royden, Sir Marvin Tilcot.”  

“Uh… what?”  

Marvin faltered.  

Rodella pressed a hand to her forehead.  

In other words, if Marvin overstepped, Aivert would just leave the army and use his authority as Duke to crush him.  

For someone who normally avoided flaunting his rank, Aivert had changed a great deal.  

But this time, it seemed he meant it. Something he truly wanted to do.  

‘Where’s the line between what you want… and what you don’t?’  

As Rodella pressed her lips together, Marvin seemed to run a quick cost–benefit analysis in his head. Then he coughed.  

“…For now, you may go.”  

And so, their second round ended in another win for Aivert.  

Without even glancing at Marvin, Aivert turned away—  

And for the briefest moment, his gaze met Rodella’s.  

Normally, he might have smiled. Or perhaps escorted her out, telling her not to stand near people like Marvin.  

But…  

This time, he only gave her the slightest nod before walking away.  

As though she was the only one who had expected more from that short moment.  

“…”  

Rodella bit her lip.  

“Oh, the quartermaster is here. Let’s hear your report.”  

The man from the Administration Bureau, who had always been overshadowed by Rodella’s performance, looked openly delighted at the thought of asserting his authority over her.  

And—  

“…That concludes my report. Any questions?”  

“…”  

Rodella’s sharp, flawless report—despite her troubled mood—brought Marvin his third defeat in the Azure Knights.  

* * *  

If one had to name the biggest difference between the Azure Knights and the Red Knights, it would be whether or not they valued rank and authority.  

From the start, there was a difference in background. The Red Knights not only maintained their own authority but also respected others’—after all, that’s how you got scraps to fall your way.  

But the Azure Knights had none of that.  

The person who should have cared most about authority, Latine Modilac, had no interest in it—or politics—at all.  

And the second person who should have cared, Aivert Royden…  

“Commander, don’t talk nonsense.”  

…was the sort to defy even the commander’s authority whenever he felt like it, leaving him with no justification to maintain rank.  

Naturally, the Azure Knights were free from the trappings of authority.  

Which meant Marvin Tilcot had to suffer.  

He was the acting commander, but no one listened to him!  

“Is this true? This requires the vice-commander’s approval, but there’s no signature.”  

Even the senior knights were like this—it was enough to drive him mad.  

After losing too many battles to count, Marvin changed tactics.  

His new plan—  

“From now on, you’ll move in groups of three. This is the acting commander’s order.”  

—was to go to the training grounds himself and reorganize the units.  

He hadn’t planned on setting foot in the dusty training field, but desperate times called for desperate measures.  

And that attempt…  

“Quartermaster! Is it true we’re supposed to change the units?”  

“Why are you asking the quartermaster that?”  

“We’ve always checked with the quartermaster, though?”  

“Haven’t we?”  

“It’s the vice-commander’s orders, idiot.”  

“Same difference.”  

…devolved into this kind of exchange, and failed spectacularly.  

Just as Marvin Tilcot was about to clutch the back of his neck and collapse—  

An incident occurred.  

* * *  

“Unidentified individuals have kidnapped over a dozen nobles and are holding them hostage aboard a ship near Pomerte Harbor!”  

The urgent report came in before noon.  

Upon hearing it, acting commander Marvin Tilcot summoned the vice-commander, the quartermaster, and the senior knights.  

“Bring them to the operations room immediately!”  

He barked the order with grave authority.  

But the knight receiving it didn’t quite manage the same expression.