Chapter 104

For the crime of losing at rock-paper-scissors, the knight who had been standing guard in front of his door for three days answered him in a sullen voice.

“The others have already gone ahead.”

“Why wasn’t I called?!”

“You’re usually the first to arrive, even without being called, sir.”

His gaze seemed to ask: Perhaps you’re not capable enough to act as the commander’s deputy?

Marvin shuddered and headed for the operations room.

By the time he entered, the meeting was already well underway.

Naturally, it was being presided over by Aivert and Rodella.

“They’re demanding ransom and safe asylum,” the knight was reporting.

“Asylum? From what?” Rodella asked.

Yes, the Empire was in political turmoil.

But it wasn’t yet at the point where armed conflict had broken out.

There was no reason for anyone to be seeking asylum yet.

“They’re still investigating. But they’re saying that unless we want all the hostages killed, we have to dispel the magical whirlpools that guard the Empire’s maritime borders.”

The Empire’s territorial waters were vast.

It was virtually impossible for knights to guard the entire stretch.

That was why magical artifacts in the sea created whirlpools, making them impossible to breach by ship—unless the Coast Guard deactivated them.

But there was a problem.

“So, if we want to save the hostages, we have to calm the whirlpools. But then they’ll just sail away, right?”

The knight nodded at Rodella’s words.

“That’s right.”

“Then how do they plan on returning the hostages?”

If you want us to take you seriously, at least make sense.

But the knight said, “The Coast Guard protested, and various proposals were made, but…”—he frowned—“the most reasonable one was a hostage exchange.”

Hostage exchange?

Rodella raised an eyebrow.

“Go on.”

Marvin sat down in the commander’s seat while listening.

The knight continued, “They even suggested throwing the hostages into the sea and telling us to retrieve them, but the Coast Guard rejected all that nonsense.”

Indeed, that was drivel the Coast Guard could shoot down immediately.

“So what are the conditions of this exchange?” Aivert asked.

Surely they would demand a hostage of similar status to the nobles they had captured.

“They want someone of such rank that they could guarantee the captors’ safe passage—

a noble with no combat ability.”

Everyone had the same thought.

Who would agree to that? Are they crazy?

But one among them thought differently.

“First, they must be a noble. Second, they must lack combat ability. Third, they must have a status high enough to replace the captured nobles.”

He glanced down the list of nobles present.

“Most of them are barons, viscounts, or from nameless houses. They must want someone higher ranked than these. That means the answer’s obvious—someone from a count’s family or higher.”

Had he perhaps fallen down the stairs this morning and hit his head?

“So who’s the noble lunatic with the noble spirit to board that ship?” Aivert asked, voicing everyone’s question.

Marvin pointed with his report.

“There.”

He was pointing at none other than Rodella.

Rodella blinked. Huh?

“No combat ability, high rank…” He spread his hand.

“Surely you wouldn’t turn your back on nobles in mortal danger? I thought you’d volunteer.”

He grinned.

“Don’t be ridiculous—let the deputy commander go,” Aivert said.

“I can fight, though?”

“Then why don’t you two fight, and the loser goes?”

Before Rodella could even say she wasn’t fighting, the arena was nearly set.

Marvin cleared his throat.

“As nobles, how can you do something so unseemly? Time is of the essence.”

“What, afraid you’d lose to the quartermaster?” Aivert smirked.

Given the difference in size and strength, Rodella should’ve been at a disadvantage, and yet…

Rodella looked at him.

That meant he believed in her—believed in her skill.

From what he’d seen at the academy, no less.

He was certain she’d win without a scratch.

Sometimes he showed that kind of trust.

This was one of those times, even now when he wouldn’t even look her way.

“Who says I’d lose?!” Marvin snapped.

But the fact he didn’t actually agree to fight suggested he wasn’t confident.

Just then—

“They’re saying the ship is moving away from the harbor!”

The knight’s urgent voice rang through the chamber as he entered with a dispatch.

Aivert jerked his chin at Marvin.

“Off you go, Sir Marvin Tilcot, the nobleman with no combat ability.”

“I’m the deputy commander! Don’t you know the commander’s deputy can’t leave his post?!”

Then he smirked.

“Oh, or maybe Commander Latine used to leave his post all the time? Is that why it’s so familiar to you?”

The atmosphere in the room instantly went cold.

Officially, yes, Latine should have stayed at his post.

But the way he sneered and twisted his words was another matter entirely.

Aivert was calculating whether it’d be faster to just knock the man out and throw him in a carriage when—

“Wait.”

Rodella stepped in to stop them both.

The situation was already urgent.

The fact that the captors were moving the hostages away from the harbor meant they were heading toward the whirlpools.

Unless they were promised safe asylum, they were willing to risk being smashed to bits in the whirlpools.

What could possibly be threatening them so much?

One thing was certain—they were serious.

And Rodella had noticed something.

Looking at the list of captives—

Some were from the neutral faction, but most were from the aristocrats’ faction.

Setting that aside, how had the kidnappers captured these nobles?

That thought made Rodella press her lips into a thin line before she spoke.

“The hostages are taken, and their demands are clear. We should move quickly.”

She stood up.

“I’ll go.”

“Glad you decided—”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Rodella.”

Their eyes met.

This time, Aivert didn’t look away.

His bright blue eyes seemed to pierce right through her.

Then he turned to Marvin.

“The Black Knights won’t just let this slide—they’ll be looking for a cooperating noble too.”

Marvin nodded vigorously.

“Of course.”

“They just won’t look too hard.”

Rodella’s immediate retort made Marvin’s face crumple.

Aivert understood what she meant.

The Black Knights, who treated high-ranking nobles with care, would never suggest that one of similar rank serve as a sacrificial lamb.

“Then I’ll take that as a yes.”

As things seemed to be wrapping up, Marvin leapt to his feet and clapped his hands.

“The deputy commander is impressed by the quartermaster’s spirit of sacrifice! Applause, everyone!”

No one clapped.

Apparently unprepared for that, Marvin awkwardly slinked out of the room.

Aivert, however, kept his eyes on Rodella.

“What are you thinking?”

She had a few suspicions, but there wasn’t time to explain them.

“Even if we go now, it might be too late. The ship is already close to the whirlpools.”

Rodella moved to follow Marvin out.

But Aivert grabbed her.

“……!”

He rarely touched her, which only made his urgency more apparent.

And, to her surprise—she liked it.

The contact. That he was holding onto her.

That he still cared. That he still valued her.

Of course, she wasn’t doing this insane thing just to get that proof. But still…

She was momentarily at a loss for words when—

“Then I’ll go instead.”

“If I said you had no combat ability, not even the pebbles rolling around in the capital’s square would believe me,” Rodella replied.

Aivert pressed a hand to his forehead.

Then he pulled a pair of handcuffs from his pocket—the magical ones from last time, which he now carried and used on occasion after figuring out the key.