Slime Reincarnation

A reward, huh... nothing came to mind for now. I’d think it over more by next time.

"Well then, shall we head back?"

At Fenberg’s words, everyone stood up. It was already past noon, and I was getting hungry. I was thinking about grabbing something to eat on the way home, when...

"Well, well, if it isn’t Lord Coluna. It has been quite some time."

A knight clad in silver armor called out to us from down the corridor. He had short hair with a trimmed collar length cut, and his silver hair itself gleamed beautifully. A handsome man with a solidly built frame.

"Oh, if it isn’t Commander Gracia. It has indeed been some time. Glad to see you looking well."

The two of them shook hands firmly.

"Commander Gracia... you mean Gracia Spelcio, commander of the kingdom’s knight order?"

I muttered, and Gracia looked over at me with a smile.

"Oh, you know who I am?"

"Yes, I’ve heard plenty about you. Yesterday I met your sister, Krelia, captain of the capital guard."

Gracia looked surprised at my words.

"Is that so! Was it your idea to have the guard submit that deployment map of the capital?"

"Ah, yes, that’s right. Did it arrive?"

"Yes, suddenly this morning. A map with each unit’s captain, headcount, and position marked out. Huh? What’s this about?"

"Well, it seemed there were people trying to bring Krelia down. Hiring thugs to cause trouble and stir up unease about public safety in the capital. Since there was a trend of pinning all the blame on Krelia alone, the map was to confirm exactly where the thugs were causing trouble and which units failed to respond."

"Wow! You’re a sharp one! If thugs cause trouble right near where a unit is stationed and they still can’t catch them, that’s grounds for holding them accountable, isn’t it."

"Exactly. There’s also a good chance those particular units include traitors who tipped the thugs off."

"Wow, so you can smoke out the traitors within the ranks too."

"That’s the idea. Keep watching for two or three days and the picture should become clear. I’ve told them to plan their countermeasures while watching how it develops."

"Well, having someone as sharp as you backing Krelia is an incredible stroke of luck. I hope you’ll keep supporting her!"

He offered a handshake, and once I gripped it, he clapped me hard on the shoulder.

"By the way, is everyone hungry? We’re about to have the knight order’s lunch, would you all like to join us?"

I looked over at the Coluna Frontier Count.

"I’ve never actually seen what the knight order eats either. If it’s alright, let’s join them."

"Of course, it’s nothing fit for a noble like yourself, Lord Coluna."

Commander Gracia said with a laugh. We followed Commander Gracia to the dining hall.

"My, this is quite something..."

Fileontina looked slightly taken aback by the menu and the sheer portions being served. The knight order’s lunch turned out to be buffet style. You’d take a tray and plate, choose from about five kinds of dishes laid out and pile them onto your own plate as you liked, then grab bread and soup to go with it. The five dishes were mostly meat centered, with some stir fried vegetables and stewed vegetables mixed in, but overwhelmingly it was meat.

"Everyone really eats a lot, don’t they..." "That’s impressive..."

Irina and Luciana each watched as the knights piled food onto their own plates, the portions absolutely massive. Everyone had their plates stacked like small mountains. Even the bread, people seemed to be eating five or six pieces each.

"Are we supposed to eat this much too...?"

Sarina asked hesitantly.

"Fuoo! Mashter! Lunch is a feasht!"

Rina was delighted watching the knights eat so heartily.

"Ha ha ha, little one, eat as much as you like!"

Since Rina, the smallest of the group, was the most enthusiastic about the meal, Gracia said this to her with a smile.

"Yes! I’ll do my besht to eat!"

For some reason Rina gave a crisp salute in response, which warmed the hearts of not just Gracia but the other knights as well.

"Well now, a lot of it was rather heavy on the seasoning, but it was delicious."

"To be praised by Lord Coluna himself, this’ll do wonders for the knight order’s lunch reputation."

Commander Gracia laughed heartily.

"By the way, Sir Yabe. Would you care to watch the knight order’s training to help settle the meal?"

Commander Gracia gave me a refreshing smile, the kind that seemed like it should sparkle with a glint off his teeth. But this refreshing smile was, of course, obviously a trap. In these kinds of stories, watching knight order training is basically guaranteed, one hundred percent of the time, to turn into a "let’s have a quick sparring match" situation, and there was no way I wasn’t about to get dragged into it.

"Ah, well, that’s a bit..."

I was about to decline with something like "I have other plans after this," but,

"That sounds great! It’s been a while since my blood’s gotten pumping!"

The Coluna Frontier Count answered instantly, without hesitation! And blood pumping, of all things. I never had the Count pegged as the battle hungry type. The Earl of Tarbal, sure, but not him.

"I’d very much like to see the strength of the man who saved a town by wiping out a massive horde of monsters in the Dungeon Stampede, Sir Yabe."

"Eh!?"

How did Commander Gracia know about that? Even if he’d heard it from Krelia, she shouldn’t have known the exact scale of the Dungeon Stampede. If he’d grasped the true meaning of "a massive horde of monsters" accurately, that would mean word had reached the kingdom that I’d wiped out ten thousand monsters.

...It had to be Zoria, the guild master of the Sorenarini town’s Adventurers’ Guild, who’d blabbed. No souvenir for him! I’ll make up for it by giving Sarina, the deputy guild master, extra instead.

"Your heroic exploits are already the talk of the capital. Mostly vague rumors, of course, but as someone entrusted with the kingdom’s knight order, I felt it necessary to get a somewhat accurate grasp of who you really are. Your response to the Dungeon Stampede in the town of Sorenarini, your role as the miracle worker behind events in the fortress city Felbane, your extermination of the Dark Pythons in Bahana Village, wiping out fifteen hundred orcs in the commercial city of Barrietta, there’s no end to your flashy exploits. I’d very much like to see your skill firsthand."

Yep, there it is! This is definitely not just going to be watching, is it? Is it?

"...This isn’t going to end with just watching, is it?"

"Well, that’s right. I’d love for you to join in a mock battle."

Commander Gracia gave me a wink and a bright smile, for some reason. A smile there was absolutely no refusing.

"...Yes, sir."

I answered with what amounted to a sigh of acceptance.