Chapter 21
After experiencing failure once, the second operation naturally became uneasy as well, but no particular countermeasure came to mind.
“Oy, big bro! Come talk with me for a sec, will ya?”
And the dangerous situation Allen and Todd squeezed out was encountering thugs in a back alley of the capital.
“That sword on your waist looks very expensive! Let’s have a look, shall we?”
Since the role of the idiot, the protagonist, belonged to Bjorn, the thug roles naturally fell to the two of them.
And that very point greatly stimulated Bjorn’s anxiety.
“Yeah! H-Hand that sword over here!”
Perhaps nervous because the real situation had suddenly begun, Todd stammered his lines messily.
Two paladins who had lived proper lives all their lives would never look like ruffians just by loosening their gaits and spitting a little.
Even the disguise that seemed somewhat carefully prepared looked sloppy to Bjorn’s eyes. And compared to the performance he had just poured his whole soul into at the restaurant, their acting was far more immature.
Wondering who on earth would fall for such clumsy behavior that even a child would scoff at, he checked beside him and saw Leila, tense, unconsciously gripping his arm tightly.
He did not know whether to laugh or cry. On top of that, for some reason even his heartbeat began to quicken abnormally.
‘……’
Using the absurd situation as an excuse, Bjorn absentmindedly wrapped an arm around Leila’s shoulders and pulled her close to himself. It was an action that came out without him realizing after seeing her frightened.
“Well, that’s a nice picture. Your girlfriend?”
He was flustered for a moment by the slender frame felt at his fingertips. Then Allen’s rough tone snapped him back like cold water.
Allen stood with one leg crooked and spun a club around, somehow looking far more entertained than he ever did in the order.
—Sir Bjorn, that’s not it!
Todd’s message rang through divine power. Only then did he realize his mistake. Instead of shielding Leila, the purpose of this farce was to run away pathetically.
“They probably don’t know you’re a knight since you’re in plain clothes. Wouldn’t it be enough to scare them off and chase them away?”
Meanwhile, Leila whispered softly so only Bjorn could hear. To him the two looked trivial, yet her face was pale as if she truly feared them.
Indeed, a well-raised noble lady would never have encountered hooligans in a dark alley until now.
Bjorn barely removed his hand from her faintly trembling shoulders. Even though it was his own plan, seeing Leila genuinely afraid made him feel very unpleasant.
‘Did I expect deceiving someone would feel pleasant?’
Thinking self-mockingly, he hardened his resolve and clenched his fist.
Please, this time, give up on me.
“I’m sorry, Miss Leila. Facing two at once would… be difficult. Did you perhaps bring an escort separately?”
Leila’s eyes, which must have expected bravery worthy of a knight of the Principality, widened in shock.
“B-But Sir Bjorn, you’re…”
The question and doubt, ‘a knight?’, appeared in her eyes then disappeared.
“Because the details are confidential to the temple… In any case, what is certain is that I do not have the ability to stop those two. This sword is also in truth closer to ceremonial decoration. As I am now, I cannot guarantee your safety.”
The lies, unbearably humiliating even as he spoke them himself, continued.
Contrary to the words he poured out to Leila, Bjorn’s skill had no equal within the order. The fact he became vice commander of the paladin Corps at such a young age proved it.
Especially regarding divine power, he was said to be stronger than any paladin that had appeared in the Principality so far.
While using such power, the temple feared he might seize authority relying on his reputation or escape their influence.
Thus outwardly Bjorn’s achievements were greatly reduced. So Leila couldn’t possibly know his true ability, and though he knew he could deceive her because of that, he felt strangely wronged.
She would never know that the man before her was the one who slaughtered the most vicious heretics and demonic beasts during the five-year holy war.
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