Vol 3 Chapter 23 – It Means You Are a Powerhouse Worthy of My Tutelage【Vol 3 – The First Knight Commander is a Dark Elf Half-Succubus Who Hates Men】

We spent that night in the guest quarters of the First Knight Order’s headquarters and left the Royal Capital the following morning.

The expedition force consisted of one hundred elite knights, handpicked from the already formidable First Knight Order.

Shion and I would be accompanying them.

Since being chosen for a magic beast subjugation expedition is considered a tremendous honor, I’m told that every member of the First Knight Order hopes to go, polishing their skills daily to be selected.

Well, they can’t exactly neglect the defense of the Capital for a drill, so a strict selection process is unavoidable.

I feel a bit apologetic that an outsider like me is joining such a glorious expedition unit.

Though, if you ask Shion, she’d just say, “It’s only natural for Master!”

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Several days have passed since we left the Royal Capital.

Basically, I stayed right beside Shion. Since Shion was marching with General Yuna in her capacity as both Princess and Commander of the Knight Order, I inevitably ended up talking more with General Yuna as well.

Given that General Yuna isn’t good with men, I held back at first. But since eighty percent of Shion’s conversation with the General was somehow about me, I inevitably got pulled into the discussion quite often.

The content was, well, that.

How strong I am. What kind of guidance I’m giving at the Succubus Knight Order. What kind of training Shion and I used to do deep in the mountains back in the day.

Shion’s stories were like a doting parent recklessly boasting about their child. You’d think the listener would be terribly annoyed.

However, General Yuna seemed to enjoy listening to Shion’s stories, asking questions and expanding on them, so I couldn’t even stop them.

The fact that she didn’t realize Shion was a woman—well, that’s fine, whatever.

And then, one more troubling thing occurred.

That day, too, General Yuna was listening to Shion’s old stories about me while we traveled.

Suddenly, she started saying this:

“I’ve decided. I, too, shall become a disciple of Shion’s Master.”

“What are you saying all of a sudden?!”

“It is not sudden. I have been thinking about it ever since the day I first met Shion’s Master.”

When I asked what she meant, she explained.

Apparently, General Yuna has never received combat instruction in her entire life.

Of course, she spars in the military, but in all those cases, she is the one doing the instructing, not the one being instructed.

That makes sense.

Believe it or not, rumor has it General Yuna instantly killed the strongest Division Commander at the time on the very day she enlisted.

She says she cultivated her ability independently through monster subjugation and fending off harassers, so it makes sense that she has no master.

“I became this strong on my own, but I still have moments of doubt where I wish for guidance from another. However! Being ordered around by a weak fool is out of the question. On that point, if it is Shion’s Master, there is no problem at all!”

“There are tons of problems! Besides, someone like me can’t become the master of a super-celebrity like General Yuna!”

“What are you saying? Isn’t the Master actually the Master of Shion, the Evil-Crushing Princess Knight who is far more famous than I?”

“She just didn’t know Shion was a Princess!”

I tried my best to protest, but General Yuna shook her head, saying no.

“Furthermore, though unworthy, I am confident my ability does not pale in comparison to Shion’s. Therefore, I believe I have enough skill to be worthy of the Master’s teachings. Right, Shion?”

“Ugh… As a soldier of this country, Yuna-san is the only person I can’t win against…”

“Ho-ho. The Master is currently military personnel, so Shion believes she can beat the Master?”

“Hah? There is absolutely no way I could win, don’t talk nonsense! Master is Master in the first place, so he transcends categories like ‘military’ or ‘knights’ and is beyond comparison. Let me tell you, even you, Yuna-san, would be beaten to a pulp by Master with just one finger!”

“Hmph. Just as I thought. That means the Master is indeed a powerhouse worthy of my tutelage.”

“Uuu… It’s enough for Master to have just me as a disciple…”

“Wait, the conversation is moving forward without me?!”

I’d like you to wait a moment.

General Yuna says she’s bad with men, but I don’t have any particular issue with her. If anything, she’s an incredibly beautiful older woman with a great figure, and my favorability rating for her is high.

Besides, General Yuna is bad with men, and even now she maintains a subtle distance from me because I’m a guy.

Given that situation, I don’t think there’s any need to make me her master, you know?

Vol 3 Chapter 24 – Senior Disciple?【Vol 3 – The First Knight Commander is a Dark Elf Half-Succubus Who Hates Men】

When I argued that point passionately, General Yuna smiled bashfully, looking troubled.

“Since we are here, I will confess… For the first time in my life, I encountered a member of the opposite sex who is likely equal to or stronger than myself, so I did not know how to interact with him… That is the cause of my awkwardness with the Master…”

“No, please just interact with me normally!”

“…Also, I do not like that the Master calls me ‘General Yuna’ just like other men… If we enter a master-disciple relationship like Shion, I thought we could have a friendly relationship where you call me by my name without honorifics… Is it… still no good?”

“It’s incredibly hard to refuse when you ask me with upturned eyes while saying that! I mean, Shion, you say something too!”

When I sought help, Shion panicked and backed me up.

“T-That’s right! I am the only one allowed to call Master ‘Master‘! Even if it’s Yuna-san—”

“Ah. If my apprenticeship is accepted, I will become fellow disciples with Shion. In that case, Shion would become the Senior Disciple.”

“…S-Senior Disciple?! I am Yuna-san’s Senior Disciple… Ehehehe…”

Ah, jeez, this is no good.

She’s entranced by the situation of becoming the Senior Disciple of Yuna-san, whom she could never beat until now.

It’s that. I can already see the image of Shion constantly blowing her ‘Senpai breeze’ toward General Yuna.

Shion’s face melted into a delusional grin for a while, but realizing I was staring at her with scornful eyes, she cleared her throat.

“Ee— ahem… Master, isn’t it okay to take a new disciple around this time?”

“No, wait! I’m saying that General Yuna being my disciple is…!”

As expected, making the currently strongest active-duty female knight of the Succubish Kingdom my disciple is too heavy a responsibility.

I thought so and tried to persuade them, but General Yuna’s resolve was very firm.

And so. In the end, pushed around by both General Yuna and Shion—

“…I-I understand… I will take General Yuna as my disciple…”

“I-Is that so!! —Then from now on, we are in a master-disciple relationship! I am counting on you, Master!”

In contrast to me, limp and exhausted, General Yuna was beaming from ear to ear. The disparity was brutal.

“Ah, of course, since I am a disciple, the Master must not call me ‘General Yuna’ like other men, alright? I wish to be called Yuna, without honorifics.”

“Please at least let me call you Yuna-san… By the way, I’ve been wondering this whole time, why ‘Master’?”

“Do not mind it. In my hometown, there is a custom to call one’s unique, absolute teacher ‘Master’ and obey them.”

“Is that so…”

“Ah, right. From now on, I shall call Shion ‘Senior Disciple’ as well.”

“Fufufu, as your Senior Disciple, I will guide you thoroughly!”

Good grief.

Leaving aside Shion, whom I just thought of as a kid, it feels wrong to make Yuna-san, the Commander of the First Knight Order, my disciple.

Well, if Yuna-san herself is convinced, maybe it’s fine.

While I was thinking that, Shion made a face like she’d just had a great idea.

“—Master. Now that the talk is settled, I have one proposal.”

“What is it this time?”

“Yuna-san—no, Junior Disciple knows Master’s greatness, but she doesn’t yet understand how truly, absurdly strong you are. Right, Yuna-san?”

“Umu. That is certainly true.”

“Therefore, how about we have a serious match right now? Of course, it will be a confrontation between Master and the two-person team of myself and Yuna-san—!”

And so, suddenly, it was decided that I would have a mock battle with Shion and the others.