I Was Reincarnated as the Villainous Knight Commander Who Betrays Everyone at the End, So I Plan to Leave the Fake Hero’s Party with the Exiled Girl Who’s Actually the True Hero! ~While Watching Over the Protagonist Up Close, I Somehow Ended Up Destroying the Whole Scenario~ - 21

Chapter 21: The Villainous Knight Commander Scolds the Protagonist

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Three days had passed since we left the town of Handel. Tiana’s private soldiers, numbering a hundred soldiers, steadily approached their destination. However, a problem arose here.

“I definitely didn’t expect you’d follow us in secret, Ciel.”

“…Ehehe.”

“‘Ehehe’ isn’t going to cut it. This time, I won’t let you get away with a smile.”

“U-uh, I-I’m sorry…”

I was scolding Ciel inside the rattling, swaying carriage. I was giving her a pretty serious lecture.

“Hiding among the cargo on the carriage… If you’d made one wrong move, you wouldn’t have been able to complain even if you’d been cut down.”

“Y-yes…”

“And to do something like this alone, without even bringing Mofumaru along—what would you have done if you’d gotten hurt?” Ciel hadn’t brought Mofumaru with her.

Apparently, she’d made something called a stamina potion yesterday. She then used it to run after the carriage, and hid among the cargo during a break. Sakuna had sensed something odd with the cargo arrangement and checked—only to find our shop owner hiding there.

Really, the whole scene had turned into chaos.

“Is she an intruder?! Then it should be fine if I cut her down!”

Stopping Sakuna from drawing her sword had taken everything I had.

“…What about the shop?”

“Um, I asked Rei-san and Mofumaru to take care of it.”

It seemed Rei was operating a mannequin using poltergeist powers to imitate a human and handle the shop. That ghost sure could be resourceful. As for Mofumaru, he’d apparently been bribed with some fancy meat, so no one had objected to Ciel’s plan.

Haah… What am I going to do with her?

“Don’t be too hard on her. Ciel-sama must have been worried about you.”

“That’s not the point, Sakuna-dono.”

Sakuna interjected from the side, but this time I couldn’t let it slide.

“What if she got hurt? I, Mofumaru, Rei, and especially Tiana would all be worried sick.”

“Y-yes, I’m very sorry.”

“…Haa, it can’t be helped. Ciel, since we don’t know what might happen, I need you to promise you’ll stay by my side. Otherwise, I’m not confident I can protect you properly.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Ciel drooped her shoulders. Did I scold her too harshly? Maybe I was being too cruel? But I had to steel my heart.

“I think you’re worrying too much…”

I understood what Sakuna meant. The purpose of this mission was to subjugate monsters that had appeared in the production area for cotton and silk used in clothing. Tiana’s private soldiers was fairly well-trained as a unit.

Watching them skillfully coordinate to defeat the monsters we encountered along the way made that obvious. And most importantly, there was Sakuna—although a bit unhinged, she had combat senses that easily surpassed our protagonist, Ciel.

There was no way they’d fail to defeat the monsters. That was what everyone must have thought—but I didn’t.

“There’s no harm in being overly cautious.”

I said that to brush it off, but I was a bit worried to the point my voice was shaking. This monster subjugation would end in partial failure. They’d be able to defeat the monsters, but Tiana’s private soldiers would suffer devastating losses.

Half would die, and the other half would be seriously or lightly wounded. Even Sakuna, the strongest in the army, would end up nearly losing an arm. Originally, Ciel was supposed to meet Tiana and Sakuna after this monster subjugation.

Ciel, hardened by witnessing the ravaged private soldiers, would then sell healing potions at high prices. At that point, she understood the value of her potions.

Tiana, desperate, would buy up large quantities from Ciel to heal the survivors and Sakuna. As a result, Ciel would make a huge profit, buy property in a corner of Handel’s town, open her shop, gain favor with Tiana, and become friends with Sakuna.

So this time, I wanted to scold Ciel for her reckless behavior. I wouldn’t die myself, and even if the army suffered, it would be a chance to sell potions to Tiana and earn her gratitude. However, if Ciel herself got hurt on the battlefield, it would all be for nothing.

“Why did you do something like this? You wouldn’t act so carelessly usually, Ciel.”

“That’s, um, well, I don’t know myself…”

“You don’t know?”

Ciel averted her gaze as she spoke. Sakuna, watching her, seemed to catch on to something and grinned mischievously.

“Ohoho!! So that’s what this is about!! I love this kind of story!!”

“Eh? N-no, it’s not like that!! I don’t even understand my own feelings yet!!”

“No need to worry! Those kinds of feelings become clear over time!!”

“Aauuu…”

Ciel blushed and let out a whimper like Mofumaru. As the two of them shared a mysterious understanding, I was left completely in the dark.

“Sakuna, what do you mean? What do you mean by that?”

“What?! Are you seriously saying that?! You’re unbelievably dense, you fool!!”

“I don’t even know why you’re insulting me all of a sudden…”

I really didn’t understand.

“Hmm, it looks like we’re almost there.”

“Mm.”

Sakuna stuck her head out of the carriage and pointed ahead.

“That’s Cottolk Village, the major production area for Tiana’s cotton and silk.”

“It’s enormous…”

“Wow!! Look at those beautiful flower fields!!”

What Ciel and I saw from the carriage was a cotton field of unimaginable scale. In the distance, there were even buildings that looked like they were for raising silkworms to produce silk.

So this is Cottolk Village…

“It’s a peaceful and lovely place.”

“It used to be barren land where nothing grew. Apparently, it was developed by Tiana’s great-grandmother.”

“That must have taken a very long time.”

It was almost unimaginable that this peaceful village would become a battlefield in just a few days. No, I was the one who’d made it that way.

“Hmm, the wagons up ahead seem to be in a commotion.”

The carriage ahead of ours suddenly stopped. Ciel tilted her head to the side at that.

“Did something happen?”

“Let me go check it out.”

“Alright, I’m counting on you.”

Sakuna stepped off the carriage and headed toward the stopped wagon ahead. After a short while, she returned with a serious expression.

“This is a bit of a problem. The scouts who went to investigate the monsters’ lair have returned…”

“What happened?”

I knew the details, but I feigned ignorance and asked Sakuna.

“There’s an army of about a hundred orcs led by an individual that appears to be an Orc King. That’s twice the number we’d anticipated. They also confirmed several higher-tier variants.”

“An Orc King…?”

“Yes. I explained it to you before, Ciel. It’s a troublesome foe that even a seasoned party of a dozen or so adventurers would have a hard time bringing down.”

Facing an orc army led by an Orc King, Tiana’s private soldiers would attempt a prolonged defensive battle. They’d call for reinforcements and try to hold out until help arrived.

Eventually, reinforcements would arrive in time and Tiana’s army would claim victory, but more than half of their troops would end up killed or wounded. After regrouping with the reinforcements, they’d launch a counterattack on the orc army in the nearby forest…

That was when Sakuna, fighting the Orc King one-on-one, would suffer a grievous injury, nearly losing her arm. The additional casualties among the private soldiers would only make things more difficult.

“Now then, what should we do?”

The best course of action would be to stick to the original story. Even now, differences between reality and the original storyline had begun to appear. If I guided events to follow the original plot, it might keep the overall narrative from deviating too far from the original. But there was one problem.

“Lars-san? Is something wrong?”

“…No, it’s nothing.”

Ciel was here. What if sticking to the original plot caused Ciel to be gravely injured… Or worse? No. Absolutely not. I couldn’t accept that.

Even now, things had already diverged from the original. Even if the story changed further, it wouldn’t be that different from how things already were. In that case, I had to prioritize Ciel’s safety.

“Sakuna-dono. I have a proposal.”

“Oh? What’s this, Lars-dono?”

I made Sakuna a proposal so outrageous it would normally be unthinkable.

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