Zect's POV
"Sleepwear?"
How does she not know that?
"Don't you see that one-piece thing over there? Change into it."
"A one-piece?"
She doesn't know what a one-piece too...?
"Here! This is sleepwear!"
I took the sleepwear and handed it to her.
"So, I just change into this?"
"Yeah... Hey, wait..."
"What is it?"
Doesn't she know I'm a man...?
"I mean, you're a woman, right? And you know what I gotta say, right...?"
"A woman? What do you mean?"
She doesn't understand this? Is it because she's not treated as a human being?
"Well, Luna, you're a girl, so when you change, do it without me seeing you."
"I understand."
She's really defenseless.
Really~
"Have you finished getting dressed? Do you need to go to the bathroom?"
"No, I'm fine."
"Okay, well, you can use the bed and the blanket."
But why doesn't she do anything when the bed's so close...? What's wrong?
"What's the bed?"
"Here... This is a bed... And you know what a blanket is, right...? So just go to sleep on top of it."
"Okay."
After that, Luna lay down on the bed and I covered her with the blanket.
"Listen, this is a pillow, if you don't feel comfortable feel free to use it... And here, I'll cover you with the blanket. So, you can already sleep."
"It's warm... but where will Zect sleep?"
Thinking about it again, there is no couch in this room.
"I'll sleep there, don't worry about me."
With that, I moved my trash out of the way and rolled on the floor.
"But, I'm a slave, I'm supposed to sleep on the floor."
"Just shut up and sleep... I like the floor."
Anyway, in the old days, I used to sleep on a rug on the ground in the camp... which is still good because the floor is made of planks.
"I get it..."
Still... What am I... doing... buying a house slave, and now I have to do all the work?
* * *
Why is my back warm...?
"Hey... why aren't you in bed?"
"It's nice and soft, but I can't sleep... the floor's better... and this way Zect can have a blanket..."
"It can't be helped."
I turned my back to Luna and fell asleep.
But I can't have a woman on the floor and only me in bed.
Still... this brings back memories.
I used to sleep like this in the camp with Ceres, Maria, Lida, and Mel.
It's more comfortable than sleeping in a bed...
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
After that, I soon drifted off to sleep.
But before I sleep, Luna looked somehow mysterious in the moonlight.
* * *
Knock, knock...!
I hear a knock at the door.
What's that noise so early in the morning?
"Hmm~, Zect..."
"Luna, you go back to sleep, I'll be out in a minute."
Normally, no one will come to visit me.
So, who came here?
The one who came here doesn't care if I was Hero (Yuusha)... So I should at least be careful.
"It's early in the morning, shut up! What do you want?"
"I'm Silbert, Commander of the Third Order of the Galvin Empire. I'd like to ask you some questions about yesterday's dinner..."
But knights don't get involved in the troubles of adventurers.
Something is not right.
And it would be bad for Luna if she got into trouble here.
"Luna. I'm going out for a bit. Don't leave this place."
"Okay..."
I guess I'll just have to go.
But just to be safe, I activate the recording crystal and follow Silbert.
After a while, I saw that there were four other knights and even a carriage.
"Hey, adventurers are supposed to be responsible for their own troubles, why are the knights coming out?
"That's just a bit much... you can't get away with slitting 20 people's stomachs for free!"
But.. basically, if I don't kill them, they don't complain.
Even if I kill them, I'm not guilty if they're the ones who trouble me.
"Hey, isn't this normal? It's explained in the Adventurers' Guild."
I'm glad Ceres told me to read books and rules.
In the old days, I'd have just taken them at their word.
"Don't be ridiculous... You're not Hero (Yuusha), follow me."
If I look carefully I can see the adventurers of yesterday beside the other knights.
"So, you know those adventurers?"
"I know them..."
I see... this is some kind of revenge for yesterday...
"I see. And you're the Commander of the Order...?"
"Yeah, and what about it?"
"Above you, there's the Commander of the Knights, and then there's the Marshal, and the top military commander is... well, let's see... the Emperor Scizor!"
If this happens again I'll be in trouble...
But I can't help it... I have to make sure they don't do this to me again.
"Then the emperor at fault... and I'll make him responsible for this..."
"What are you talking about... Guhaaaaa!"
I hit Silbert.
But it's not enough to kill a knight...
"What are you doing to the captain!? I won't forgive you!"
"You bast*rd..."
"Ggghhh!"
"Hey, the Commander of the Order wants to make war on me. So, this is between me and the empire. Not his lackey."
I draw my sword and run past the three of them, swinging it at them.
"""Nghhhh!"""
Well, it's a minor strike, and I'm taking it pretty easy on them, so I guess they'll be okay even though their mouths are bleeding... Also...
'I have a good excuse.'
"A knight of this country tried to frame me by fabricating a crime... I think the responsibility for this lies with the emperor who employed this knight... so I'm going to storm the castle from now on..."
When I said this, the adventurer from last night turned blue...
Still, I run to the castle.
* * *
"Stop! What are you doing here?"
I'm running with my sword out.
"Silbert, commander of the Third Order tried to trap me... using the name of a knight... for which the Emperor takes full responsibility... so I've come to make him take the blame... So, bring me the Emperor. "
"Are you crazy...? Close the gate now!"
Even I know it's crazy.
But it's better to go this far for Luna. After all...
'If you hurt me or my friends, you'll be in big trouble.'
I'm sorry to make an example out of Ceres. But, I still do it.
And now, this gate means nothing to me.
"I'll show you... This is the secret that only Hero (Yuusha) can use... the Wings of Lightttt...!"
A huge bird made of light emerges from my sword... and it slams into the gate.
Boooommmm...!
With a loud noise, the gate collapsed along with a part of the castle.
"What's going onnnn!?"
Many knights and soldiers appeared from inside the gate, but I didn't care.
This many people, they can't stop me when I get serious.
"The knights of this land tried to trap me... so I'm here to make the emperor take the blame... anyone who gets in my way is my enemy... or I won't do anything."
"Are you stupid!? Blaming the king for a mere knight's deed? You bast*rd...!"
"If you have any complaints, let me, a knight myself, hear them."
Now, there's no turning back.
And if I end this now, I'm a bad man.
Therefore, I can't do it.
"I don't need a lackey like you! This is a warning!"
"Are you crazy...!? Hey, a bandit is coming in... all of you draw your swords and fight back... You can kill him if you want!"
I don't like the idea of killing them. Still...
"I'll go easy on you but if you die I don't care."
They're only strong humans... and with a sword, it's very hard to hold back, and if I'm not careful, they could die.
So I put down my sword and fight with my fists.
"Even if he's a former Hero (Yuusha), he's alone, we can beat him if we push him with our numbers..."
"""""Ohhhh"""""
Too slow...
Before, I was 'scared' when I faced many dragons, so I just hid and cut my way through them.
And when I fought Mammon, it was despair and hell.
But now, I don't feel anything.
So many knights in the castle, I'm not afraid and I don't feel despair.
I just feel in my heart that if I don't go easy on them they will die... that's all.
"Ughhh!"
"Ooohhhhhhh!"
They're so fragile... they fall just by being hit.
And I gotta say, they're taking it way too easy.
They can't beat me themselves... that's why they're asking 'Hero (Yuusha)' to do it for them...
After all, only four main jobs are supposed to go into the castle of the Demon King and defeat him.
So, a mere knight can't defeat me alone.
If I wanted to, I could easily kill them all.
"Mo... monsterrrrrr!"
"He... He's gonna kill us."
Speaking of which, this is Ceres' wife's parent's house...
"You bast*rd...! What do you want?"
"I'm just here to protest against the trap your men have set for me."
Before I knew it, I found myself in front of the throne.
"You are the former Hero (Yuusha) Zect... why are you doing this?"
"Since we have a truce with the demons, that's not quite right... Hahaha, anyway, I was set up and I'm here to make you take the blame for it..."
"Who tried to set you up, the minister or the prime minister? Or a nobleman?"
Just a small commander...
"It's the Commander of the Order..."
"""Huhh? The Commander of the Order."""
The others are surprised too.
I'd forgotten that this is Ceres' wife Frey's family home, the former sword saint.
Whatever... I've come this far, I have to do it.
So I showed the emperor the recording crystal.
"It is true that the knight is involved with Zect-dono but there is no need to go to such lengths..."
Indeed... the castle is half destroyed and many of the knights are half dead.
And looking at it from the outside... it's terrible.
It's bad... I forgot this is Ceres' wife's parents' house.
"But still, even though Luna is a slave, and even though she may look like a slave... she's my friend, just like Ceres, my best friend, who cares about his friends and your daughter... So, if you mess with her, I'm not gonna leave you alone! "
I don't know if this is going to work. But I have to do it.
"I understand, I'm sorry."
And it seems to be working. So...
"Then that's good."
I turned my back on the emperor and left.
I'm glad this is all over now...
Still, I forgot that Ceres' wife's parent lives here...
* * *
"I'm home..."
"Zect... I'm hungry."
"Well then... let's go eat. What do you want?"
"I don't know..."
Well, it's obvious...
"Then let's go eat some fish."
"What's fish?"
She doesn't even know what a fish is.
"Fish is..."
Anyway, living like this isn't so bad.
* * *
'Anyone who disrespects the S-class adventurer Zect and his slaves will spend a year in jail'
Such a warning was issued after I storm into the castle.
Ten knights were fired and twenty adventurers were banished for this incident.
And there will be no one left in the empire to mess with me in the future.
This is really the end of the quiet story of Zect... We will return to the main story in the next issue.
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