I, Reincarnate as the Leader of the Villainous Knight Order - Chapter 178: The Purpose of the Outing

Chapter 178: The Purpose of the Outing

“Ah, that reminds me—I promised to go play in the forest with Aria. Is it okay if I go? If possible, I’d like Justin to come too.”

Just as breakfast was wrapping up, Jest suddenly brought it up like he had just remembered.

Faced with those hopeful eyes, I couldn’t say no.

“I don’t mind… but when did you make that promise?”

“You know, when we were all eating meat skewers and talking about Justin’s cookies! She said that if it goes well, we might get to see something interesting!”

“Something interesting…? Maybe she wants to test out some magical tool in the forest. Ah, so she wants to bring us along as bodyguards. Well, letting our skills get rusty would be a problem. You all should come too.”

““““Ehh!?””””

My smiling suggestion made my subordinates—who had been eating silently—shout out in surprise.

We don’t need to fill in for the First Order anymore. So unless there’s a long-distance inspection, we won’t be called on until the wedding.

In that case, rather than being cooped up in the training grounds, it’s better to head into the forest and stay sharp.

“What? You got a problem with that? Swinging your swords at monsters in the forest is a good way to refresh yourselves, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, staying in the training grounds is getting boring. This is perfect. I’m in!”

As expected, the first to respond was Simon. He was the one who could never stay still.

The others agreed with him. And it looked like they were on board as well.

With this, we could move separately in the forest to some extent.

“Alright then, let’s send a letter to Aria and check when we’re going.”

“Yay!”

After writing the letter and asking the butler at the guesthouse to deliver it, we received a reply that same afternoon.

—

“Thanks for coming! There’s a spot where you can get some delicious fruit. But monsters show up there pretty often. Looks like they’ve been attacking people who go after the fruit… So, I wanted to use those monsters to test a magical tool. I’m glad you all came.”

The reply had said to meet the next day. Since the monsters were supposedly weak, we arrived lightly equipped.

And this is what she said the moment we met.

As expected, we were just convenient bodyguards.

“You really made that promise with Jest while I wasn’t paying attention, huh?”

“Hehe. You seem soft when it comes to that dragon. And if that boy asked you, you wouldn’t say no, right?”

“……”

Apparently, she had carefully assessed my relationship with Jest before acting.

From behind me, Arnault and the others were saying things like “She’s got skills.” But if she’s a magic researcher, she’s probably smart. You guys better watch yourselves too.

“Well, in exchange, I’ll give you the right to purchase one of the newest magical tools passed down from the previous generation!”

“……Fine. For us too, having a practical environment to keep our instincts sharp is ideal. But if it’s a request from the Magic Tower, shouldn’t they at least send some soldiers to escort you?”

I was honestly happy enough to want to dance. But if I showed too much excitement, she might take advantage. So I stayed calm.

“Maybe you guys are the same, but palace soldiers are all nobles. A commoner like me—they don’t listen to my requests. Besides… no, never mind. Let’s head to the forest!”

We headed to the forest in two carriages provided by the guesthouse.

I thought it’d be me, Aria, and Jest in one. And the four subordinates would be in the other, but…

“Our uniforms are a different color, right? Amongst the Third Knight Order participating in this escort mission to the Eldrasia Kingdom, only the Commander and Vice Commander are nobles—the rest of us are commoners. So don’t worry about being formal. Our Commander looks scary… no, is scary, but he’s nice to kids. So you’re safe.”

“That’s not exactly reassuring! And I’m not a kid! I’m already fourteen!”

“Oh yeah, you’re the same age as Princess Clarisse, right? Doesn’t look like it!”

“How rude!”

For some reason, Simon ended up in our carriage and got along with Aria (more or less) instantly.

Still, does he always talk so insensitively to girls?

Jest listened to their conversation with a smile.

If Simon could take care of Aria like this, it’d be a big help.

But if that ends up giving him the rights to buy the new magical tools, I’m not laughing…

“By the way… what kind of experiments are you doing? Are you making magical tools to fight monsters?”

If it was something that could be used in combat against people—even as a weapon—I needed to be cautious.

But Aria laughed cheerfully.

“Oh please, I’m not making anything dangerous enough to blow up during testing! What I’m working on now is something to keep small monsters from messing up crops. It’s one of the projects the previous generation left behind. They had the theory mostly worked out. But I guess they didn’t have time to make it usable.”

Aria gently stroked the pouch-like magic bag where she kept her tools, as if cherishing it.

The air in the carriage turned somber for a moment… until—

“So, what kind of fruits can we find there?”

With a totally thoughtless comment, Simon shattered the mood.

Well… *sometimes* he’s actually useful.