I had exchanged letters with the leadership of the Order Knights over a long period. However, I had only conveyed that I wished to meet them someday; I had never mentioned my true purpose for visiting.
Therefore, the knights here had no idea that I was interested in Raykadi.
I asked the regular knight Berka Fisk, who was acting as my guide.
“What is this commotion?”
“It seems our squires are quarreling again. It happens often, so you need not concern yourself, Sub-Master…”
“No. It bothers me, so let’s go take a look.”
Berka broke into a cold sweat at the sudden request, but I paid him no mind and walked toward the voices.
When I reached the source, I saw a black-haired girl standing alone against a group of girls her own age.
At the center of the opposing group was a blonde girl with sharply upturned eyes. She was the one who had been sneering and saying Raykadi had caused trouble again.
…Character Sheet.
<Nadia Litvin> [Level: 22/38] [Vitality: 08] [Strength: 09] [Agility: 10] [Mana: 11] [Spirit: 02] [Sense: 09] [Divinity: 00]
[Traits: Blunt Weapon Prodigy (B), Mana Control (C)]
[Skills: Featherrow Heart Method (A), Featherrow Blunt Weapon Art (A), Litvin Advanced Swordsmanship (B)]
[Description: Age 19, human race. Eldest daughter of the Litvin royal family and a squire of the Order Knights.]
Nadia Litvin was a character who had appeared briefly in Part 3 of the original story. She opened her mouth with a sneer.
“Really, it’s almost embarrassing to claim you belong to the Order Knights. Picking a fight with the owner of a merchant guild that’s deeply involved in the local economy?”
“The Terok Trading Company was accumulating wealth through illegal means. I simply enforced punishment according to the Order’s principles, Lady Nadia.”
Raykadi responded calmly to the childish provocation and promptly walked away. Her long black ponytail swayed behind her.
“Wait, I’m not done—!”
Nadia gnashed her teeth and tried to grab her, but…
“Squire Nadia Litvin! What kind of disgraceful behavior is this in front of a guest?!”
“Sir Fisk…”
“The Order is a group that must advance with one heart and one mind! You cannot even get along with your comrades and instead cause conflict! I will not let this slide!”
After receiving the scolding, Nadia twisted her face and gave Berka a slight, perfunctory nod.
There was no trace of respect for a superior in her attitude.
With a bored expression, Nadia glanced our way before leaving. Her entourage followed after her like obedient lackeys.
Berka let out a sigh.
“I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“I heard the Order Knights have an extremely strict hierarchy… yet the way she treats a senior knight suggests otherwise.”
“…That is not the case. The reason we cannot easily punish Nadia Litvin is because of her special status.”
I already knew.
Nadia was the sole daughter of the Litvin royal family—one of the core nations of the Union. In the original Part 3, she had used her position to the fullest to obstruct the protagonist’s party.
And the series of misdeeds stemmed entirely from her long-standing bad blood with Raykadi Shafeck, which had begun during their squire days.
Linia approached me and whispered.
“That girl named Raykadi is the talent you’ve set your eyes on, right, Young Master? Trouble is already wafting off her like a bad smell.”
“Indeed.”
We continued walking while chatting.
The Order Knights’ commander, Tiya Ferlich, was a hale old woman who had long passed seventy.
After exchanging various personal anecdotes, quite some time had passed. Only when dusk began to fall did I finally bring up the main topic.
“Commander Ferlich. While walking through the Order grounds before arriving here, I witnessed two squires quarreling. Nadia Litvin and Raykadi Shafeck, I believe.”
“Hmm…”
Tiya’s expression darkened slightly.
Unlike national knight orders that treated anyone above Level 10 as a regular knight, private orders had rather strict rank divisions.
They subdivided squires into “pages” and “squires.” Even if one’s skill was sufficient, if they were not yet of age, they remained classified as squires (Squire) on paper.
Squires only advanced to regular knight after receiving sufficient mental education and turning twenty. This was because private orders valued not only martial prowess but also conduct in accordance with their founding ideology.
To put it bluntly, hot-headed children who could not yet distinguish right from wrong had no right to bear the Order’s name.
I said to Tiya,
“I heard Lady Nadia is the sole daughter of the Litvin royal family. Lady Raykadi is also the eldest daughter of the Shafeck family, the most prestigious martial house in the northwest. Given both their backgrounds, it must be difficult for you to side with either one, Commander Ferlich.”
“…This does not seem like an appropriate topic to discuss with a guest.”
She was openly trying to avoid the subject. However, I had no intention of meekly following her lead.
“In my opinion, it would be best to graduate one side early before a bigger problem arises and eliminate the source of conflict. Don’t you agree?”
“Graduate…?”
Tiya trailed off.
Most squires in the Order Knights had not come to devote their lives here. They had simply come to build the “Order Knights alumna” spec.
Joining this place was treated as a kind of elite course for women in the northwest. Returning home afterward made it easier to secure high positions or favorable marriages.
Therefore, most gave up on advancing to regular knight and returned to their families.
If it helps to understand, think of the “outer disciples” commonly mentioned in wuxia novels.
Tiya’s eyes gleamed.
“Aiden Stroke… so you came here with impure intentions after all.”
“Impure?”
“Don’t play innocent. I’ve heard the rumors that the Blispiel Clan is gathering exceptional talents from all over. You intend to use the pretext of resolving conflict to poach Raykadi—the most promising squire in our Order—into your clan, don’t you?”
“Hmm…”
Caught red-handed.
Of course, I had expected this much pushback.
“Commander Ferlich. Do you truly believe that if Lady Nadia graduates, Lady Raykadi will quietly remain here? And even if she does stay, how long do you think she will last?”
“What do you mean?”
“Think back to the behavior she usually displays. The Order Knights’ ideals have already changed, yet you still cling to old traditions. Even if she becomes a regular knight, she will never fit in easily among the other members.”
“…This is a matter tied to the Order’s greatest talent. You cannot possibly claim ignorance.”
Tiya fell silent.
How could she not know?
In the original story, Raykadi had recalled in a flashback that the commander at the time—Tiya Ferlich—had regarded her as a nuisance.
In fact, the old woman standing before me was the very person suspected of providing the decisive cause for Raykadi’s forced expulsion.
In other words, this crafty old hag had noticed that I coveted Raykadi’s talent and was pretending to be angry. She wanted to inflate Raykadi’s value even slightly so she could squeeze more money out of our financially powerful clan.
“Given her personality, the moment she decides there is no hope of improvement, she will leave the Order of her own accord. When that happens, the problems inherent in the Order will surface. If we can persuade her and take her with us, wouldn’t that be beneficial for both sides?”
“Hmm…”
A normal family’s daughter voluntarily resigning would not cause much of a stir, but if it was the famous eldest daughter of the Shafeck family, the story would be entirely different.
The instant Raykadi left while voicing dissatisfaction with the Order’s ideological decay, the Order’s honor would suffer a severe blow.
The old woman before me had surely predicted this and devised a plan. I had come to prevent that plan from being set in motion.
I took a breath.
And dropped the bomb.
“First, would you kindly stop the little scheme you and Lady Nadia were cooking up to trap Raykadi?”
“Scheme…? What are you—!”
“There is no point in playing dumb. I already know you have been slowly laying the groundwork to force her expulsion.”
“Enough! I have no idea what you are talking about. Even if such a thing were happening behind the scenes, I know nothing of it.”
Tiya denied it in a calm tone.
But her pupils were trembling violently.
I stared at her as if pressuring her.
“I see. After talking with you, I realize I may have misunderstood. In that case, can you promise me that you will never slander Lady Raykadi in the future?”
“…O-Of course. There is no reason for me to do so.”
Immediately afterward, Shambhavi moved.
Crunch!
Before anyone noticed, the creature bit Tiya. Her face stiffened, and she suddenly clutched her throbbing head.
“L-Let us end the discussion here. I will arrange a meeting with Raykadi right away. Then I shall take my leave… ugh!”
I watched the old woman’s retreating back as she hurriedly left the reception room. A MacGuffin recovery message appeared.
[MacGuffin No.580 / ‘Mastermind Behind the Expulsion’ recovered.]
[Achievement Points + 500]
I chuckled softly.
“You know nothing, huh…”
The fact that she felt pain from the forced oath meant she was already breaking the promise “I will never slander Raykadi” in real time.
After that, everything went smoothly.
I looked at the girl seated before me.
Long black hair braided neatly down her back like a horse’s tail. Blue eyes. Because of her solemnly composed expression, her features made her look more like a beautiful boy than a girl.
She was exactly as described in Part 3 of Reca Chronicles.
“Nice to meet you, Raykadi Shafeck.”
“Likewise, Aiden Stroke.”
She returned my greeting.
Her tone was flat and calm.
It was a voice that made even the listener feel composed.
Character Sheet.
<Raykadi Shafeck> [Level: 37/64] [Vitality: 08] [Strength: 17] [Agility: 15] [Mana: 13] [Spirit: 03] [Sense: 10] [Divinity: 02]
[Traits: Curse Devourer (S), Life Incineration (S), Blunt Weapon Genius (A), Weapon Genius (A), and 4 others]
[Skills: Shafeck Blunt Weapon Art (A), Shafeck Heart Method (A), Featherrow Vision Weapon Art (A), Feint (B), and 3 others]
[Description: Age 15, human race. Squire of the Order Knights and eldest daughter of the Shafeck family, the most prestigious martial house on the Prima Continent. She is known as a knight of upright character.]
Raykadi was two years older than Epio.
Naturally, she was two years younger than me.
Born in October, her birthday had not yet passed, so her sheet listed her as fifteen years old.
Unlike Amiel, who was the same age, she had not consumed any elixirs like the Yin-Yang Herb, yet her growth rate was astonishing. It was surely the result of diligent training in a good environment.
She asked me,
“May I ask why you summoned me, Sub-Master of the Blispiel Clan?”
“I came all the way here with one proposal for you. How would you feel about joining our clan after your ‘graduation’? I will treat you generously.”
“Thank you for the offer, but I must decline. I plan to advance to regular knight in the Order Knights rather than graduate.”
Raykadi spoke firmly.
I had expected this response.
“So you intend to devote your life to the Order. May I ask why?”
“Because I respect the founder, Lady Mirka Olin, and agree with her ideology.”
“Then there is even less reason for you to remain in the Order Knights. This filthy place is not suited for someone like you, Lady Raykadi.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“Hmm… It would be faster for the person who tried to set the trap to explain it directly. Please come in, Commander Ferlich.”
At my signal, a haggard-looking old woman entered from outside the door. Raykadi tilted her head in confusion.
“…Commander Ferlich?”
“Yes. The commander of the Order Knights. According to my investigation, this person plotted to frame you and force your expulsion.”
Raykadi’s eyes widened.