Chapter 52

Chapter 52: The Identity of Ria's Childhood Friend

While I had been out, something I never could have imagined had happened at the Rift house.

Rin came running over and hid behind me.

Ria had her eyes tightly shut and was biting her lip, as if she had a terrible headache.

In front of Ria, four people — two men and two women — stood at parade rest.

All four of them looked like Northern Europeans without exception.

But their appearances were quite a sight.

Just like when Ria had first arrived at the Rift, they were covered in blood from head to toe.

"Who are those people......?"

When I asked, Ria said with difficulty.

"Well......, they are the officers of the Northern Knight Order that I used to lead."

"Ah."

Somehow, I had a feeling that was the case.

They had such strict military bearing that they looked like soldiers at first glance.

Ria continued.

"They say they searched for me and came all the way here."

"I see, but why are they standing like that?"

They were maintaining their parade rest stance, staring straight ahead.

A steeled resolve was visible in their eyes.

Ria told me what it meant.

"I have been telling them to go back, but they are refusing and saying they would rather I behead them for insubordination."

Behead them......? How terrifying.

I understood why Ria was trying to send them back.

'Ria chose to live in the Rift because of me, but she cannot let them be cut off from society too and spend the rest of their lives in the Rift.'

That was the reason Ria had fled from them in the middle of the night.

Ria said to me.

"I am sorry, Seon-u. This is my mistake."

"A mistake? How so?"

"I had told them that I recovered my health thanks to meeting a good person in the Rift."

"Ah."

That good person is me, then.

Anyway.

"So they remembered that and came looking for you in the Rift."

"That is right......, they say they have been wandering the Rift searching for me from that day until now."

From that day until now......

I was not sure whether to call them tenacious or say their willpower was incredible.

I then made eye contact with a blue-haired woman who was glaring at me out of the corner of her eye.

Then, as if nothing had happened, she went back to staring straight ahead.

'That is one fierce gaze.'

In any case, they looked like they had no intention of leaving even if a blade were pressed to their throats.

Ria was equally unwilling to back down.

'At this rate, they are going to keep this up until one side collapses from exhaustion.'

Being former knights, their stubbornness seemed to be no joke.

Let me try to end this uncomfortable standoff first.

"Ria, how about letting them rest for now? They look very exhausted. Their injuries are severe too."

"The injuries are a form of protest."

"A protest?"

"They are wounds from fighting Monsters, and even though they could heal them with Healing Magic, they are deliberately leaving them untreated."

"Ah......"

Why? To look pitiful?

Or is it because they will die if left like this, so they are saying to kill them or save them — do as you please?

Either way, it is indeed a protest.

In any case, I could not leave either Ria or the knight order members like this.

"Ria, let us have them rest for now."

"Seon-u. That is......"

"As a chef, I cannot stand by and watch exhausted, starving people suffer."

When I pushed my personal conviction, Ria was flustered.

I felt this was the most effective way to make Ria take a step back.

After all, nobody respected me more than Ria did.

I added one more line.

"Please, Ria."

Ria nodded.

"All right......, I will let them rest for now and try to persuade them again."

"Good, let us do that for the time being."

Ria then told them to break their stance and go sit on the outdoor Wooden Platform Bench.

The four of them, who had refused the order to leave, responded loudly in their language as if nothing had happened and went to sit on the bench.

Ria sighed again watching them.

"Seon-u, you must be very flustered, right?"

"No, I am fine. Rin seems a little startled because new people showed up."

I picked Rin up and patted her back.

"It is okay, Rin."

"Seonu......"

"Those people are Ria's comrades. They are not scary people."

Well, actually they might be scary people......

Anyway.

I took Rin to her room and came back out.

Ria spoke to one of them.

"Ruina, stop pretending to be pitiful and heal them already."

"###, ##!"

The one called Ruina was that blue-haired woman who had been glaring at me.

Ruina said something to Ria, then gestured toward the empty air.

The air split open, and a staff emerged.

"A Subspace skill......?"

No, since she was from the Continent of Bellinta, it would be Subspace magic.

Seeing my surprise, Ria explained.

"It is Subspace magic, but unlike your Acresia, it can only store one or two weapons — nothing more."

"I see."

Ruina then gripped the staff and glared at me.

Then.

SMACK!

Ria's knife-hand strike landed on the top of Ruina's head.

Ruina clutched the top of her head in pain.

Ria said to her.

"Ruina, why do you keep showing unnecessary hostility toward Seon-u? If you are a guest, you should be polite to the master of the house."

"####!"

Ruina immediately bowed her head to Ria.

It seemed like an apology.

"Be careful from now on, and hurry up and heal everyone."

"###."

She began chanting a magic spell, and the surroundings were bathed in golden light.

The wounds on all four of them began to heal rapidly.

'Magic heals just as fast as healing skills.'

And it was area-of-effect Healing Magic at that.

She must be an exceptionally high-level mage.

Wait......

'A mage belonging to a knight order......?'

I recalled the story Ria had told me about her childhood friend.

The friend who was an incredible genius mage and had followed Ria into the knight order.

"Is this Ruina the childhood friend you told me about, Ria?"

Ria nodded at my question.

"That is right."

So it was a woman. Phew, what a relief.

I had been a little concerned about it, petty as that was.

Ria then said to Ruina.

"Ruina, cast the area communication spell."

"###!"

Ruina cast the same Sigil of Wisdom that Ria had been using.

It seemed to enable communication across the entire area.

"It has been cast, Commander."

"I am no longer the Commander."

"To us, you will always be our Commander."

When Ruina said that, the other three echoed her.

"Once our Commander, forever our Commander!"

Watching them, Ria pressed her hand to her forehead once more.

She looked like she had a headache.

The middle-aged knight who appeared to be the oldest among them pointed at me and asked Ria.

"Commander, who is this person......? Is he the benefactor you mentioned before, the one who helped you?"

"That is correct. He is the owner of this house and the person who saved me. So please, do not be rude to him under any circumstances. Especially you, Ruina."

When Ria singled her out, Ruina shouted in a loud voice.

"I will keep that in mind, Commander!"

She was certainly well-disciplined.

"Calling me Commander is also prohibited. Just call me Lady Ria instead."

"......"

They fell silent at that order.

Ria raised her knife-hand.

"Ah, understood, Lady Ria!"

Ria then pointed to the middle-aged man and introduced him to me.

He was as large as Santos in build and had a very upright-looking appearance.

"This is Zephyr Garrett, who served as the Vice Commander of the knight order. He has been serving as adjutant since the time my father was Commander."

After Ria's introduction, I greeted him.

"Nice to meet you. My name is An Seon-u."

"Nice to meet you, Sir An Seon-u. The benefactor of our Commander is our benefactor as well. I sincerely thank you for helping our Commander."

"Not at all, I only did what anyone should have done."

Ria then introduced the other two.

"This is Neville. He is a knight, but he uses a spear."

A spear knight. That is impressive.

He looked like he was around my age.

His hair sticking up was quite distinctive.

He had slightly narrowed eyes and a playful-looking face.

I exchanged greetings with him.

Ria pointed to the last remaining person.

"This is Benny. He is only twenty-four, but in terms of strength, he ranks fifth in the knight order. He started as a territorial soldier at fifteen, became a knight, and rose to become the youngest officer in the knight order. A swordsmanship genius."

From soldier to knight order officer — impressive.

He had a bowl cut, a smaller build than average, and a gentle-looking face.

His voice was very soft as well.

"Nice to meet you, I am Benny."

"Yes, nice to meet you."

With introductions and greetings complete.

Ria spoke to them.

"Rest and eat today to recover your strength, and tomorrow, you must go back. You should not be here — you should be with your families."

The four of them pretended not to hear and did not answer.

Then Ruina, Ria's friend, spoke up.

"We already sent back all the members who have families to support."

Hearing that, Ria countered.

"Ruina, you have your father."

"I sent all my assets to my father before I left. He will be able to live comfortably for the rest of his life without me."

"Even so, you should be by your father's side."

"If I go back, my father and I would have to flee abroad. It is actually better for my father if I do not return. And it is not just me — the same goes for all three of them here. Besides, the only place I belong is by the side of Lady Ria, to whom I have pledged my life."

At Ruina's words, all of them shouted in unison.

"That is right!"

What incredible loyalty.

They looked like they would never back down even with a blade at their throats.

So this was why Ria had run away.

Since she could not possibly persuade them, she had no choice but to flee.

Ria buried her face in her palms.

"Ria."

I placed my hand on Ria's shoulder.

Seeing that, Ruina furrowed her brow.

SMACK!

She ended up getting hit by Ria's knife-hand once more.

"Ruina, this is your last warning."

"Ugh, yes, Lady Ria."

Then Vice Commander Garrett looked back and forth between me and Ria and asked.

"If I may ask, what is the relationship between the two of you? Could it be......?"

"Ah. Well......"

Ria's face and ears turned red.

She continued speaking.

"Seon-u and I are...... in a romantic relationship."

Everyone's jaws dropped.

"Lady Emeria is in a relationship......?"

"Our Commander, who had no interest in men and only cared about swords......?"

"I thought you would live alone your whole life......!"

"That is impossible! You are lying, aren't you, my lady?"

Ruina was so flustered that she even reverted to calling Ria "my lady."

Seeing their shocked reactions, I was now certain.

'As I thought, Ria had never been in a relationship before.'

I had stolen the heart of this young lady who had only known the sword, and I had done it with cooking.

Ria fanned her face with her hand to cool it down, then continued.

"It is true. I left all of you and came here in order to reunite with Seon-u."

"......"

Hearing that, the four of them wore expressions of considerable shock.

Their faces seemed to ask: Is that person more important to you than us?

Ria let out a small sigh and spoke to them.

"I am no longer your Commander. I have simply decided, as one woman, to live here in the Rift so that I can be beside the person I love. So please, do not be bound by the knight order any longer. Go back and find your own happiness. That is my wish."

Everyone kept their lips firmly shut and did not answer.

While they all remained silent, Ruina spoke with a look of firm resolve on her face.

"Yes, I will go find my happiness."

"......Ruina, thank you for understanding."

Ria gazed at her friend Ruina with a tender expression and smiled.

Ruina held back tears as she continued.

"Before I was a knight, my childhood dream was to become Lady Ria's personal attendant. I will fulfill that dream here! That is the happy life I wish for."

What......?

Ria pressed her hand to her forehead again.

Then the Vice Commander chimed in shamelessly.

"Well then, I suppose I will be the house guard. Hahaha! This is the middle of a Rift, is it not? You never know when Monsters might attack, and I will protect this place with my life."

Neville and Benny stepped forward too.

"You can assign me as a guard or have me do odd jobs. Please work me to your heart's content."

"Please give me any task as well!"

Ria trembled with frustration, and her hand slowly crept toward the hilt of her sword.

At this rate, she really was going to lop all their heads off.

I grabbed Ria's hand as it moved toward the sword hilt.

"Ria, no matter what you say or do, you will not be able to break their conviction."

"But......"

"Let them stay here for now. They said they would help with your work too."

"......"

Ria looked like she was having great difficulty making a decision.

At that moment, Ruina used Subspace magic to produce a pouch filled with something.

Ruina opened the pouch to show its contents.

Inside were Magic Stones.

"Lady Ria, I will prove my worth. In addition to my duties as an attendant, I will use Magic Stones to erect a Barrier so that Monsters cannot intrude, install magical light-emitting stones so it will not be dark at night, and develop this place further using magical engineering."

She could even do all that?

In a Rift where electronic devices could not be used, magical engineering abilities were invaluable.

On top of that, with the three S-Rank members gone, there was no one to watch the house when Ria had to leave.

Seeing that I appeared interested, Ria looked at me.

Our eyes met.

I nodded.

Ria let out a small sigh and said to Ruina.

"All right, Ruina. You may do so for the time being. The same goes for the rest of you. Stay here for now. However, if you change your minds, you are free to leave at any time."

The four of them embraced each other and let out cheers of joy.

And just like that, we had new housekeepers.

Vice Commander Garrett then said to me and Ria.

"We will set up our quarters at a good distance from here. We will make absolutely certain not to cause any trouble for the two of you — no, the three of you."

By three, he was including Rin.

But if they stayed far away, it would be difficult to come and go.

After exchanging a glance with Ria, I said to him.

"Please do not go far. Set up your quarters in the forest on the outskirts here. That way, if Monsters attack, we can respond to each other more easily."

"Would that truly be all right?"

"Of course. There is a good spot — would you like to come take a look with me?"

"Certainly."

I guided them to the forest clearing where the three S-Rank members had stayed.