Chapter 72

Alright. Let’s just focus on work!

Complicated feelings can wait until after all the real complicated work is done!

Trying to shake off the unfamiliar feelings left behind after Aivert’s departure, Rodella threw herself into her tasks—but what came to her that night was nothing short of a trial.

“Uh… we have an emergency!”

The voice was urgent, but carried a slightly off-kilter tone. It was Senior Knight Lanark, hastily knocking on the door to the records office.

“What is it?”

Rodella tapped her desk, a signal to enter.

Lanark stepped in with a troubled expression.

“A civilian aid request.”

Rodella glanced out the window.

“At this hour?”

Civilian assistance requests usually didn’t come in the middle of the night. They were typically for manual labor—like helping with harvests.

And that face—he looked seriously troubled.

“Yes, they said it has to be right now.”

“What’s the issue?”

“It’s… a pregnant woman. She’s in danger.”

“What?”

Suddenly? A pregnant woman?

Why were they contacting the knights for that?

“It’s from the slums. They probably don’t have any medical personnel.”

“Uh…”

While the order did provide occasional medical support, this was a whole different matter.

Medical professionals who assisted with childbirth in the Empire were all women—and this place?

It was filled with men. A knight order full of them.

None of whom had ever witnessed childbirth.

In other words…

“You want me to assist with a birth?”

How?

Rodella was clutching her head when—

“A pregnant woman?”

Someone passing by the hallway had overheard. A military doctor, judging by the hurried voice outside the door.

Rodella rushed to open it.

Of course, it was a man.

And he looked just as troubled.

“There are no female medical officers at headquarters right now.”

“Actually, there aren’t any women at headquarters at the moment. They’ve all been dispatched to regional branches this quarter. Except for you, ma’am.”

Rodella tilted her head back to look at the ceiling.

Great. So that means I win the lottery? I’m the only one who can go?

Just then, Lanark asked anxiously: “Will you go?”

“If they’re so desperate that they came to us, of course I have to. But…”

The problem is, even if I go, I won’t be of much help!

That’s when the doctor said: “In any case, I’ll immediately contact the regional branch for reinforcements. In the meantime, it’d be helpful if you could go ahead and ensure sanitary conditions for the mother. For now…”

And then he launched into medical terminology.

“H-hold on! Slow down! Speak slowly!”

Rodella, unusually flustered, stammered while trying to keep up as a downpour of medical knowledge rained down on her.

She tried to filter out the more complicated procedures and focused only on the things she could realistically do.

“So basically, make sure the area’s clean, right? Bring clean cloths?”

“Yes. Considering the distance from the slums to headquarters, the labor’s probably been going on for a while. The birth may have already begun—please hurry!”

With the doctor visibly agitated, Rodella became just as anxious.

“Got it, I’m going!”

A few minutes later, Rodella’s horse was loaded with bundles of clean cloth, wrapped in several layers of fabric.

Even noblewomen with doctors at their side sometimes died in childbirth—let alone women in the slums.

Knowing that danger, Rodella urged her horse forward, striking its side.

“Hyah!”

She galloped urgently toward the slums. Not long after, another horse followed behind.

It was Rodin, one of Royden’s escort knights. He gave her a reassuring nod before falling into pace behind her.

Rodella’s expression relaxed a little.

At least she wasn’t alone in the middle of the night—that offered some comfort.

…Wait. Rodin’s a man too, isn’t he?

Then he can’t go inside the birthing room!

Rodella’s expression grew grave again.

* * *

When they arrived, the slums were noisy with activity.

Being a closed-off society, many of the women who knew the mother had gathered at her home to offer help.

“……!”

The way they gasped at the sight of Rodella made it clear: the request for aid from the Azure Order hadn’t been a unanimous decision.

Trying to enter as the quartermaster of the Azure Order would only increase resistance.

And to make matters worse—

“What’s going on?”

A man looking in the direction of the commotion drew even sharper glares.

Rodella could feel the eyes narrowing the moment Rodin looked toward the mother’s home.

“Sir Rodin, stay outside. Don’t come in.”

Rodin looked troubled at that.

His orders were to protect her.

“It’s cramped in there—it could be dangerous.”

Rodella frowned. Understandably, it was a tricky situation for a bodyguard.

“Then go scout the house first, check if it’s safe.”

With all the noise and distraction, sneaking in unnoticed shouldn’t be hard.

Rodin melted into the shadows and returned shortly after inspecting the house.

There were no suspicious individuals, as far as he could tell from the sounds and shadows seen through the window.

“What do you think? Is it safe?”

There were still unknowns, but it was clear Rodella had to enter alone.

When Rodin hesitated, she added: “Keep watch. If something feels off, come in immediately.”

With the situation assessed, Rodin gave a silent nod.

“…Understood.”

Once he withdrew, Rodella stripped the gaudy gold trim and accessories from her outfit and stuffed them into her pockets.

Then she picked up her bundle and headed toward the house.

“W-who are you?”

Rodella stood out sharply from the people in the slums, even after removing her ornaments.

Her neatly tailored uniform screamed of someone from the outside.

Naturally, wary eyes turned toward her.

“I’m a maid from the Azure Order. I heard there was a civilian aid request.”

Rodella kept her face calm and offered a vague but believable excuse.

Someone had requested aid, after all.

“Aid… request?”

The woman who had spoken looked suspicious.

She’d heard that the knights were running around claiming to help civilians…

But here? In these rotten slums?

More importantly—

“Who told the outsiders?!”

The closed society of the slums rejected outsiders. Uninvited help was met with suspicion and refusal.

No one knew what price such help might bring.

But then—

“I asked for help! I heard there’d be a doctor too!”

Another woman burst through the crowd from inside the house, pushing her way out.

An argument erupted between her and the one at the door.

“Are you insane? Do you know what happens when you get involved with highborns?!”

Rodella had introduced herself as a maid, but she was still wearing an Azure Order uniform.

The words hurled at her were harsh, with no concern for her title or appearance.

But the woman who had called for help furrowed her brow and shouted back:

“The Azure Order isn’t like the Red! Look—they came to help, didn’t they?!”

“Still—!”

Faced with the evidence standing right in front of her, the woman blocking the door couldn’t argue back.

But she still wore a distrustful expression.

Clearly, word of the Azure Order hadn’t reached this part of the slums.

Rodella hadn’t expected it to.

The people here barely interacted with commoners, let alone outsiders. It made sense that they were wary.

But as was typical in such a tightly knit community, every woman in the vicinity seemed to have gathered at the house.

“The doctor said the area around the mother needs to be kept clean.”

Rodella met the woman’s gaze directly.

“I understand you don’t trust outsiders. If you’re worried, you can stay right next to me and watch.”

She was essentially asking to be let in—on the condition that she would not be left unmonitored.

The woman eyed the cloth in Rodella’s hands, then looked at the mother.

Her concern for the laboring woman was evident.

Eventually, she relented.

“…If you insist that much.”

At the very least, the clean cloth Rodella held seemed to be proof enough of her intent.