In a World of Reversed Chastity, I Strive to Become an Honorable Male Knight, but Lustful Women Keep Targeting My Body - 247

Chapter 247: The Kukkoro Male Knight and a Second Confession

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After finishing the dinner with the elf ninjas, I invited Gilberto and headed out to the outskirts of the city of Carrera. Going out immediately after being attacked might have seemed careless, but the Liseben Army garrison was stationed here. In terms of safety, it was on par with or even safer than the lord’s manor.

Of course, after what had happened, I should probably have cut my vacation short and returned to work, but I had been thrown words that sounded very much like a confession, and then the attack had muddled everything. As someone who was utterly hopeless at romance, I was honestly in a mental state where I couldn’t focus on work at all, because I was far too curious about what she had meant to say next.

“This handle here. While you’re turning it, if you press this button…Like this, it makes a sound.”

In a corner of the garrison, inside a development lab for new weapons, I was showing Gilberto a piece of new equipment that had only recently been put into practical use. It was a strange object made up of a drum-shaped spool packed with insulated copper wire, a wooden box with a crank handle, and a simple switch.

I had Gilberto spin the handle on the wooden box while I pressed the switch. The electric buzzer attached to the copper wire on the other end let out a foolish-sounding buzz.

“At a glance, it just looks like a child’s toy but by combining long and short signals, you can transmit fairly complex messages. That means you can exchange information over long distances without relying on messengers or carrier pigeons. Of course, only within the range the copper wire can reach.”

Put simply, it was an ultra-primitive wired communication device. Its structure was extremely simple. Just a generator, a buzzer, and a switch connected together, something that even a child in the modern world could build. However, for a military in this world that had no means of real-time communication, the difference between having this and not having it was enormous. It was an extremely important invention.

“I see… So you can immediately relay frontline information to the commander.”

“Exactly. Armies in the coming era will need this as an essential tool.”

As I spoke, I gently stroked the simple switch mounted on a wooden board. This device would be invaluable not only for command purposes but also for artillery fire. Based on data sent from forward observation posts, rear artillery units could fire without directly sighting the target. In other words, indirect fire would become extremely easy to conduct. It was nothing short of revolutionary.

“I see. That’s wonderful.”

Though impressed, Gilberto seemed distracted. But I was the same. After all, was that really a confession of love? I was curious about it. In fact, I was very curious about it. 

And seriously, what kind of genius is it to bring her to a new-weapons development lab just to prompt the continuation of a confession? Me, that’s who. That’s exactly why I’d ended up with the abysmal record of having no partner for over fifty years across my past and present lives.

“I’m thinking of deploying this to each farming village before long. It’ll be for emergency communications in case of trouble. Information will get through far faster than sending messengers.”

“Oh, that sounds promising. While the elves are keeping quiet, we’ll need to firmly prepare our interception posture.”

“Indeed. Setting aside the moderates, there’s a fairly high chance that Vanquah and the other hardliners could escalate things into full-scale combat… Precisely because we seek peace, we have to be prepared for war.”

Even as we talked seriously, an indescribable atmosphere hung between us. It was painful. Extremely painful. For a war-obsessed idiot like me, this kind of air was unbearable. Finally unable to endure it any longer, I urged Gilberto to sit down, then took a seat myself while glancing around. Though it was called a new-weapons lab, in reality it was just a work shed. The interior was no different from an ordinary barn.

Normally, engineers and alchemists bustled about this experimental lab, but today there was no one else here. After all, it was a holiday. …And it was precisely because I knew there would be no one around that I had deliberately brought Gilberto here.

“…By the way.”

“…Y-Yes.”

Cutting short the preliminaries meant to fill the silence, I decided to get to the main point. Gilberto was completely stiff. Her complexion shifted between red and pale, as if she were extremely busy. She was clearly very shaken.

Of course, I was shaken as well. Just continuing with my words felt like launching an attack on a fully prepared enemy defensive position without any fire support. Even so, I couldn’t run away now. After letting out a small breath, I fixed my gaze on Gilberto.

“Earlier… Just before we were attacked by the elves, I feel like I heard something rather interesting.”

The moment the words left my mouth, I deeply regretted it. Wasn’t there a better way to bring this up, with more atmosphere? On top of that, it came out sounding awfully arrogant, even though I was hardly in a position to choose my partner. 

Damn it, me.

“If you don’t mind, would you tell me the rest of that conversation once more?”

What should I do? Really, what should I do? I was at a complete loss. Of course, Gilberto was a wonderful woman. She was earnest, capable, and kind enough to risk her own life to save her subordinates. In fact, she was far too good for a man like me.

If it weren’t for the issue of succession caused by our races, she was someone I’d want to bow my head and beg to marry, rather than just answer yes. But that racial issue was huge. After all, I was a noble of the hume race.

“……”

At my words, Gilberto’s face turned bright red as she lowered her head. That didn’t seem like a bad reaction… I thought. Could I go for it? But if she really did confess, how was I supposed to respond? No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t reach a conclusion. This was bad.

“…About that matter…”

After remaining silent for a while, Gilberto said that with a terribly pathetic expression. Her face was filled with self-loathing. 

Ah, this is bad. 

That kind of intuition shot straight through my brain.

“…I-I’m very sorry, but I-I-I would be happy if you could… Forget about it…”

Gilberto squeezed out those words with the demeanor of wilted greens sprinkled with salt. All I could reply was…

“I see. All right.” 

…S-So that’s it, we’re retreating here…? Isn’t this a situation where I should press the attack instead? No, if I pushed too hard, I might take a fatal blow myself. What should I do about this…?

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