Vol 3 Chapter 22 – General Yuna【Vol 3 – The First Knight Commander is a Dark Elf Half-Succubus Who Hates Men】

I quickly packed the bare minimum and left the Succubus Knight Order Headquarters with Shion.

According to Shion, the First Knight Order’s building was on the opposite side, situated across from the royal castle.

We proceeded ahead while I gave a swift chop to Shion, who was proclaiming things like, “Let’s take a shortcut through the royalty-only area.”

“Still, this is sudden. And setting Shion aside, why me?”

“What are you saying, Master? You are clearly the main attraction.”

“Huh?”

“In our country’s military upper echelons, the hottest topic right now is you, Master.”

“Why!?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? —You’re the first male to ever join a Knight Order where, until now, everyone but succubi—even high-ranking nobles—was turned away at the gate. Moreover, you made the knights’ abilities blossom one after another, and you were the key player in our complete victory at the Imperial Tournament. There’s no way you wouldn’t get attention, right?”

“Why does everyone know so much about me?!”

“Well, that’s because I brag about you constantly at the Unified Knight Headquarters meetings, Master.”

“The culprit was right beside me!?”

While exchanging such words, we arrived at the First Knight Order Headquarters.

My prediction that the commander of the leading Knight Order must be a burly old man or a battle-hardened elder was completely off the mark; she was a beautiful girl who rivaled even Shion.

Brown skin, pointy ears, and rather tall. She must be a Dark Elf.

She had silver hair reaching her waist and wore a high-leg leotard, and her chest looked tighter than if she had stuffed two watermelons in there.

If not for the pointed ears, I would have definitely mistaken her for a succubus.

“I am Yuna, Commander of the First Knight Order. I am happy you responded to the request.”

“The pleasure is mine.”

General Yuna and I, meeting for the first time, introduced ourselves to each other.

As for why she is a General and not a Commander, apparently the First Knight Order is the top rank, so the hierarchy and authority are different or something. I didn’t really get the details.

Also, putting aside that she is close with Shion, I was honestly surprised she addressed Princess Shion without an honorific.

No matter how close they are, dropping honorifics for a princess is likely proof that she is highly recognized by those around her.

Incidentally, I also address Shion without honorifics, but that’s only because Shion got incredibly pissed off when I tried to use sama with her, so I have no choice.

Upon asking later, General Yuna is a half-breed of Dark Elf and Succubus. Her age is a secret, but she is easily over one hundred years old.

Beside me, Shion whispered something like, “The other day, she was lamenting that her age finally matched her bust size…” but I decided to pretend I didn’t hear that.

Another thing that bothered me was that the distance between us and General Yuna was strangely wide.

It felt about two steps further than the distance strangers usually keep.

Setting aside my relationship with Shion as an exception, maybe Knight Commanders are so high-ranking that you shouldn’t get too close?

That thought of mine was immediately denied by General Yuna.

“Ah, also, there is one thing I must say first. —I am not good with men.”

“Excuse me?”

You called me here, yet you hate men? That’s rich, I thought.

“I know I should apologize, but it’s a habit acquired since childhood. If you’d like, please hear the reason.”

“O-Okay.”

“As I said earlier, I am a half Dark Elf. And unlike now, in the era when I became aware of the world, the prejudice against Dark Elves was quite strong. On top of that, the Succubus blood in me was very prominent…”

Races like Elves and Dark Elves are known for being full of beautiful men and women.

Though unlike Succubi, there are males, and their figures are usually slender.

However, fortunately or unfortunately, the characteristics of a Succubus manifested perfectly in General Yuna’s physique.

Moreover, according to her story, she was apparently incredibly precocious.

Even as a child, she had already developed enough to put adults to shame.

“Inevitably, men constantly attacked me. It sounds strange saying it myself, but I was an incredibly beautiful girl with a large chest, and my social standing was weak. I never gained anything from it, though.”

“That is…”

“Therefore, I trained and trained and trained desperately. —As a result of that effort, I climbed my way up to Commander of the First Knight Order like this, but as a side effect, I can’t shake the habit of reflexively attacking when a man gets close.”

“I understand that very well.”

Honing reaction speed to the limit resulting in moving indiscriminately is, honestly, a common thing among martial artists.

I suffered from it often in sub-space, too.

If you mess that up, it takes units of a hundred or a thousand years to correct.

While I was feeling deeply moved in that manner…

General Yuna froze, looking shocked for some reason.

Eventually, she began to tremble slightly, and then quietly shed tears just like that.

“—Wha-?! General, what on earth is wrong!?”

“I see…! You, you understand…!”

“Eh? Well, yeah, I understand. It’s a common thing for people of our type. But that—”

“I have repeated this story as many times as there are stars, but I never received agreement from the bottom of anyone’s heart…! So I thought a partner who could share this feeling would never appear in my lifetime, but to think I would meet one in a place like this…!!”

“…Huh.”

I wondered what happened, but it seems they were tears of emotion from finding an understanding spirit.

It’s not really that big of a deal, though.

It’s just a part where one tends to stumble when aiming for greater heights as a martial artist.

Well, one thing I can say is that having this experience means she, like me, is fundamentally an “effort type” rather than talented.

The genius type, who learns how to move their body intuitively, doesn’t stumble in this way.

—And, looking at me with sparkling eyes, was Shion, the representative example of that genius type.

“As expected of Master! No matter how many times I heard it, I didn’t understand it at all!”

“Yeah, I bet you wouldn’t, Shion…”

“I will train more and more, and someday I will acquire that sense of yours, Master!!”

Man, I really think you shouldn’t acquire it.

I thought that, but in front of General Yuna who continued to weep freely, I couldn’t bring myself to say it.