In a World of Reversed Chastity, I Strive to Become an Honorable Male Knight, but Lustful Women Keep Targeting My Body - 241

Chapter 241: The Kukkoro Male Knight and a Distraction

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“Haa…”

That night, as I ate dinner, I let out an involuntary sigh. I was busy, far too busy. After receiving the shocking report from Roswitha, I prepared letters detailing the concerns and requests of the Diesel Countess family and sent them to Chancellor Adelaide in the royal capital by carrier pigeon.

Of course, things like word processors or personal computers did not exist in this world, so everything was handwritten. And since the means of delivery was something as unreliable as pigeons, there was always the risk that they might be preyed upon by birds of prey mid-flight. Because of that, important letters like these had to be sent in sets of at least three at a time.

And even after finishing the letters, my work was not over. I held meetings with the Carrera City council regarding the acceptance of the elves, went out to inspect the Liseben forces still in the middle of their reorganization, and so on. There was simply too much to do. I was so busy that I seriously found myself considering learning the ninja art of shadow cloning.

“You look exhausted.”

Gilberto, who was sharing the table with me, asked in a worried tone.

“Liseben doesn’t have many civil officials. Inevitably, the burden on the lord ends up being…”

Well, the foundation of the Liseben government was my knights, after all. Having few civil officials couldn’t really be helped. Thanks to the arrangements made by Chancellor Adelaide and Margrave Suolahti, a few bureaucrats had been dispatched to us, but it still felt like pouring water on a hot stone.

“Still, personnel don’t just spring out of nothing. For the time being, we’ll have to manage with this structure.”

I sighed once more and poked at my autumn vegetable salad with my fork. Of course, I was taking steps to increase the number of civil officials, but none of them were quick fixes that would improve things immediately. In the end, for now, all I could do was grit my teeth and push on.

“But if you overwork yourself too much, it will harm your health. Wouldn’t it be better for you to take at least a short rest?”

“I agree.”

Sonia chimed in with Gilberto’s words.

“Al-sama has hardly rested at all for the past month. No matter how you look at it, this is overwork. Even if you took a single day off, you wouldn’t be punished for it.”

“…That may be true, but if I step away, the work will stall, won’t it? Taking a day off won’t reduce the amount of work that needs to be done…”

If one day’s worth of work got pushed to a later date, it would probably make things even more exhausting in the end. I really didn’t like that idea.

“There’s no problem. Fortunately, tomorrow’s schedule is filled with minor matters of low importance. They’re tasks I can handle as a substitute, so please take the day off.”

“But…”

Dumping my work on my adjutant and resting by myself felt a bit wrong. Just as I was about to shake my head, Sonia smiled gently before I could.

“If Al-sama were to collapse, I’d be so worried that I wouldn’t be able to work properly either. That would only make things less efficient.”

“…I’m sorry. I truly have an excellent adjutant.”

Really, she was far more capable than I deserved. Why had Sonia abandoned even her position as the next margrave to follow me? I didn’t know the reason, but one thing was certain. I owed her a debt I could never fully repay.

“Then… I suppose I’ll take you up on your offer.”

I smiled a little and brought the soup to my mouth. The moment tomorrow became a day off, for some reason the food started tasting better, how utterly mercenary of me. As I savored the well-stewed, tender root vegetables, I thought about my plans for the next day.

It would be such a waste to spend a precious day off lazing around in bed all day. Lately, all I’d been doing was attending meetings and working at my desk, and my body had completely gone slack. It would be better to go outside and get some exercise. Still, there was the matter of the “guest” scheduled to arrive in the evening. I’d have to be back at the mansion before then.

“Maybe I’ll go for a long horseback ride for the first time in a while.”

Ideally, I’d like to do some hunting as well, but unfortunately, Liseben didn’t really have any game large enough to be worth the effort. Bird hunting could be fun in its own way, but I wasn’t in the mood for that right now.

“Ah, that sounds wonderful. However, things have been rather dangerous lately. It may be troublesome, but please be sure to bring proper escorts.”

She was right. Going out alone would be risky. I’d just heard about extremist elves from Lady Dalaiya as well. …Well, when it came to elves, almost all of them were extremists anyway. From the perspective of those who wanted to continue the war with the “Legitimate” faction, I was probably a thorn in their side. There was always the possibility they might resort to assassination. It wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.

“That’s true. I’ll pick someone who looks like they have time on their hands—”

“Ah, my lord! If you need an escort, please leave it to me!”

Before I could finish my sentence, Gilberto leaned forward and asserted herself. The intensity of her reaction caught me off guard.

“W-What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

“N-No, it’s just…”

Gilberto glanced hesitantly toward Sonia and trailed off. My adjutant flashed a sly, provocative smile, gave a small nod, and encouraged her to continue. …What was this? Had these two grown close enough to communicate with just eye contact without me noticing?

“Since it’s such a good opportunity, I thought it would be a good chance to deepen the trust between you and me, my lord…”

“Oh?”

Now that I thought about it, I’d never really gone anywhere just to have fun with Gilberto. I had gone with Sonia countless times but not with her. Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. Being invited out like this made me strangely happy, almost like being asked on a date.

…Getting this fluttery just because someone asked me out to hang around was really taking the whole ‘hopelessly unpopular’ thing too far, wasn’t it? This was exactly why I made ridiculous misunderstandings and missed my window to get married. Haa…

“I’m happy to hear that, but will your work be all right? The elves may be quiet for now, but we can’t afford to let our guard down.”

Gilberto’s job was to oversee security in the rural areas. She monitored the elves for any suspicious movements and, if necessary, initiated countermeasures based on her own judgment. It was an extremely important position, responsible for the initial response in anti-elf defense operations.

“For just one day, it shouldn’t be a problem. Just as you have Sonia-sama, my lord, I also have subordinates I’m quite proud of.”

“I see…”

When she put it that way, she was right. The Prevost family to which Gilberto belonged had a much longer history and purer lineage than my own Blondin family. There was no room to doubt the quality or number of her subordinates.

“Alright. Then I’ll ask you to escort me for the entire day tomorrow. I’m counting on you, Gilberto.”

“It would be my honor, my lord.”

With an openly delighted expression, Gilberto bowed deeply.

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