As Ivan had once reflected, the Maximilien he remembered was like the protagonist of a typical JRPG hero story. Cheerful, kind, upright. A picture-perfect Hero, the sort who belonged in a hero story from the nineties.

Gilles Vert de Etakrich, on the other hand, was the protagonist of a somewhat older kind of hero story. A country knight from an obscure family who went to the capital, won a title through his strength and ability alone, joined the Hero's Party when the Demon King rose, and even married a princess.

In a fairy tale, it would have been a perfect narrative arc. Ivan sometimes thought so with bitterness. For a fairy tale of this man's life would have been a rather cruel one.

["I am... hah... Gilles Vert of Thilles...! A knight initiate... hah! Of the Eastern Order...! An anointed knight of Saint Clovis...! Hah!"]

Ivan first met Gilles Vert at the entrance to a fortress shattered by a taurus invasion. The first scene in his memory began with the cry of a knight in blood-soaked armor, standing with a half-broken shield and his spear held straight.

["I stake my name, my house, my country, and my liege's name upon this. Hah...! Here, this day, though I spend my life... hah! I swear upon what honor I have left...!"]

Gilles Vert tore off his helmet, threw it to the ground, and swept his hair back. Tying the sweat- and blood-soaked hair tightly behind his head, he shook his head a couple of times and stood straight.

Taurus corpses lay strewn around him. Alone before the fortress entrance, he held his spear and stared ahead. Countless tauruses were snorting in excitement, stamping the ground as though impatient to charge.

Faced with overwhelming violence that would have made any man's knees buckle, Gilles Vert cried out, his eyes blazing.

["One hundred more of you will die here!!"]

His spear scored a sharp line across the ground. The standoff continued between the tauruses that had breached the shattered outer walls and the lone knight on the drawbridge before the inner keep.

Those who approached first, in order. Exactly one hundred. He could promise no more than that. But he would kill that many before he died. With that resolute declaration, the young, inexperienced knight raised his spear.

In a battle that should have gone down as the Eastern Front's most horrific defeat, the fortress Gilles Vert defended held out through three days of fierce fighting. When Ivan and Veolgrin arrived, they found him standing tall before a mountain of corpses, eyes closed, asleep on his feet.

That was why Ivan had assumed the man was the Hero. He probably believed it himself. Until Maximilien appeared, no one had questioned his nobility or strength.

What light could be said to shine before the sun? That, one might say, was where Gilles Vert's tragedy began.

Born to an obscure house, he had dared to take a royal woman as his wife, and so was a man who had to prove his worth without cease. He was a husband who cherished and loved the wife who had become his shackles, faithful to her all his life. A knight still loyal to a royal family that treated him with increasing disdain as his usefulness dwindled beside Maximilien.

Nobility and inferiority, a craving for recognition and diligence, boldness and timidity, all mingled together. An all-too-human knight.

And so, Ivan thought, this complicated man who defied any simple definition might have remained a far more radiant exemplar of chivalry had he been a knight in a fairy tale. Unfortunately, this world was far too cruel a land for fairy-tale figures.

Even when he returned after the Demon King's death as one of the strongest men in the world. Even when his renown, his achievements, and his own strength had surpassed the authority of the royal house. Even with a wife of royal blood and a grown son, when he could have demanded a place in the succession to Thilles's throne if he wished. Even when he was invested as Lord Protector and granted the title of Etakrich (étatcri), ordered to stand as a shield against every arrow aimed at the royal house.

["I do solemnly vow."]

Even as the royal sword brushed his shoulders and withdrew, he bowed his head quietly and swore.

He was a knight of Thilles.

He was the knight of the Hero's Party.

He was a knight.

To Ivan, that was the simplest sentence that could define the man. Nothing to add, nothing to take away.

For no one but that man could call himself a knight. Sworn to loyalty, good faith, diligence, and fidelity, yet tormented by human pain and anguish, inferiority and inadequacy. Always plagued by those conflicting feelings. Yet unbroken all the same, humbling himself with a vow to do only what was right. A man who had always lived to prove himself. That was the knight Gilles Vert was.

* * *

At the train station stood a tired-looking Pavel and several men who looked even more exhausted. Spotting them, Ivan briefly left his companions and approached.

"Ah, if it isn't our very busy Commander."

"Pavel. Preparations?"

"Who do you think I am?"

Pavel waved a hand. The men standing stiffly at his side answered in trembling voices.

"R-reporting, sir! As ordered, we have placed every bat lurking around Madame Etoile's residence under surveillance!"

"Quietly."

"Y-yes, sir!!"

"Agents these days seem incapable of understanding the word 'quietly.'"

Ivan gave a brief shake of his head. Pavel grinned at him.

"How are they supposed to relax when the commander turns up in person to direct things in the field? Your name alone has them shaking."

"Hmm."

"Did I ever tell you why I became commander of the Guard?"

"No."

Pavel flashed a grin at Ivan's indifferent answer.

"Working under a diligent superior was so exhausting that I decided I might as well take the highest seat myself and spend my days relaxing."

"And?"

"I'm thinking I ought to become commander of Counterintelligence Command soon, too. Our Commander is far too diligent."

A sovereign's royal consort could hold no official post, especially one connected to the military. Thus, after Ivan married Elizaveta, command of Counterintelligence Command would naturally fall to Pavel. Everything was going according to plan. He continued with a sly smile.

"We've used magnets to plant moles with all three snakes, too, and we'll be handling Madame Etoile's personal safety ourselves. Count Grandmartel will soon receive some sad news concerning his son's disappearance."

"How do you intend to approach him?"

"Sweet-talk him with promises of support. For now."

"The Eastern Front?"

"I've sent a few of our boys out there, too. Well, our foreign intelligence people aren't exactly reliable, as usual, but they say they'll do their best. All we can do is trust them."

Eugene had confirmed that Count Grandmartel, at least, had some sort of connection to the demons. They did not know where those ties began or how far they reached, but the count was the right place to begin the investigation.

Pavel looked Ivan in the eye and gave a quiet nod.

"So go on, and don't worry. I'll submit the reports to Her Highness myself. Hunting a dragon, though. Hah. Now that's a job I should be going on."

"You?"

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean? Didn't you know why my spear's called the Dragonstrike Spear? One thrust, and whether it's a dragon or anything else, I'll skewer it."

Pavel chuckled and reached to clap Ivan on the shoulder. Ivan smoothly evaded his hand, gave a slight nod, and left.

After watching Ivan and his companions disappear into the crowd, Pavel turned his gaze aside.

"Put someone on them. Someone fast."

"Yes, Deputy Commander."

"Tch. When he's in that much of a hurry, there's definitely something going on. He's far too tight-lipped for his own good."

Pavel scratched his head vigorously and grumbled. Having such a diligent superior this late in his career was exhausting.

For all the man's care and thoroughness, his luck was so abnormally bad that Pavel couldn't help worrying. As the older man, he couldn't simply sit by. He ought to establish at least one channel through which he could send help in an emergency.

If the fellow came back torn to shreds again, the Princess would shut herself away somewhere out of sight and sniffle.

"Just hurry up, get married, and retire."

The man's hobby was wading into unnecessary messes, and merely watching him was nerve-racking. He could rest comfortably whenever he pleased, yet he insisted on this. Pavel let out a wry chuckle and shook his head. Not that he was one to talk.

* * *

"Boss, there's something I need to tell you."

"Go ahead."

Ivan nodded as he read his report. Inside the rattling carriage, Eugene spoke in a low voice.

"You know that Quest we got? Remember one of the additional objectives? [The total number of destroyed domains must remain at 15 or fewer.]"

"Hmm."

"We've used up two now. It's at [2/15]."

"..."

That meant at least two domains had been destroyed. Ivan set down the report and frowned for a moment. This had happened despite Gilles Vert's presence? With just a single dragon?

Dragons were, of course, immensely powerful creatures. Individually, they had virtually no natural predators. But their greatest weakness was that they were territorial animals. Almost never did more than one dragon settle in the same territory. In other words, if one appeared, it was the only dragon in the vicinity.

A mere single dragon could never threaten Gilles Vert.

"You know the knight from the Hero's Party? Mr. Gilles Vert. One of the Quest objectives was his survival."

"Don't tell me he's dead?"

"No. It still says he's alive. But, well, saying we need to keep him alive means..."

"That he could die. I know."

"Then doesn't that mean a single dragon isn't the real problem?"

"Correct."

Ivan nodded. Wasn't that obvious?

"It said, 'The seeds of a long war, sown on the Eastern Front, are now beginning to ignite.' Didn't it?"

"Yes."

"Tauruses."

The war on the Eastern Front had belonged to orcs and tauruses. The races ruled by Tumor of the Great Mountain. Until Maximilien killed Tumor, they had literally crushed every country east of Thilles.

They had lost their power and fractured after Tumor's death, but that would only have made them easier to manipulate. It was all within the scope of what Ivan had anticipated from the start.

'Merely pulling the princes' strings from behind the scenes won't bring down Thilles's royal house at its foundations.'

The central objective of this mission was the continued existence of Thilles's royal house. In other words, they had to assume the hostile forces were trying to destroy it. The obvious first prerequisite for the royal house's fall was the removal of the Lord Protector. At the very least, they had to divert Gilles Vert's attention elsewhere.

The dragon's suspiciously convenient appearance was reason enough for doubt. Assuming that, too, was the work of the 'three great counts,' their aims and actions would look something like this.

1. Use the dragon's rampage to pin Gilles Vert and the Eastern Order in one place.

2. Join forces with the taurus tribes and stir up tension on the Eastern Front.

3. While the demons keep the corps on the Eastern Front occupied, seize the undefended capital.

4. Oust the royal house and take control of Thilles.

In short, if the three great counts truly intended to put an end to the royal house, that was the shape of the grand strategy he could infer from Eugene's Quest.

"Our task remains unchanged."

"Hunting the dragon? Wouldn't going straight after the great counts be better under the circumstances?"

"Too risky. We're foreigners."

It would most likely be seen as interference in domestic affairs. Until their treason came to light, these men were the princes' patrons. Assassinating them directly would constitute a serious act of foreign interference. The reward for this Quest was [the continued existence of the United Kingdoms], after all. Such action would instead destroy the alliance between Krasilof and Thilles.

Thus, there was ultimately only one way to resolve matters smoothly and bring them to a gentle landing.

"If we end Gilles Vert's dragon hunt early and return to the capital, their plan will never come to fruition."

The great counts' plan began with keeping Gilles Vert occupied. The moment that failed, their treason would be thwarted before it began. After that, Ivan could hunt the nobles with the Lord Protector's authority behind him. The dispute over the royal succession would end the moment Gilles Vert returned, so he would not have to shoulder the burden of foreign interference.

That was what Maria's request had meant. It would be the most effective move Ivan could make as a foreigner.

The only variable was 'whatever might kill Gilles Vert.' But there was no point in pondering what that might be now. He had far too little information, and he could not even think of anything in this day and age capable of killing the man.

'Unless one of the Seven Dragon Generals intervenes in person.'

Ivan shook his head as he surveyed his companions, who were chattering away, nodding off, or staring blankly out the window. That was impossible. No member of the Seven Dragon Generals would set foot in Thilles while Maximilien was alive and well unless they had gone mad.

The only worry lay on the 'common sense' side of things.

'These kids are still first-years.'

Even Harry P*tter hadn't fought Britain's Heavenly Demon to the death in his first year, so there was no way the final boss fight had already been scheduled.

'Still.'

Eugene. He had expected the boy to be useful, but he was more capable than anticipated, Ivan reflected. With a little more instruction, he would make a fairly good agent.

His ability supplied not only a person's real name and race, but whether particular people were alive or dead, and offered more extensive information about their condition depending on Affinity. Under the specific conditions known as Quests, it could even brief them on changes to the battlefield in real time.

'As long as he can survive deployment in the field, he'll be the finest early-warning system imaginable, regardless of his training.'

Concluding his brief reflections, Ivan opened the report again and began reviewing the summaries of Thilles's military installations.

* * *

[Ivan Petrovich Yeremov]

[Character: Favorability toward Yevgeny Novikov Karamzin]

[29 (Neutral)]

"... What?!"

In the now-quiet carriage, Eugene jumped up in shock. Why had the score gone up so much? His Favorability had risen? Why on earth?

Horror filled his eyes. His gaze trembling, he looked at Ivan.

Stay calm. It's fine. It could be a misunderstanding. No, even if it isn't, so what? Even if Boss has, has those tastes. Right, I'm from Earth. I can be understanding. All I have to do is turn him down, anyway.

Eugene instinctively burrowed into his seat.

"What is it?"

Ivan's cold eyes fixed on him. Eugene chewed his lip as he chose his words.

"By any chance, and I really do mean just by chance..."

"Speak."

Was the military situation changing? Ivan narrowed his eyes and waited.

"We're both from Earth, aren't we? You know, the twenty-first century."

"...?"

"And we're Korean! Of course I wouldn't discriminate against anyone because of their sexual preferences. Oh, I'm completely heterosexual myself, but that doesn't mean I'd discriminate against someone over that."

"...?"

Eugene squeezed his eyes shut and blurted it out.

"Boss, are you perhaps gay...?"

After all, Isabelle had even made kimchi for him. She had even burst into tears in front of Ivan, yet her Favorability score was only 27. Every woman who followed him around daily because she liked him was stuck in the twenties, while the person with the highest Favorability was the dead former king. (According to the statue's depiction, he had been an enormous, muscular man.)

Why had he never even suspected this before? Eugene cautiously opened his eyes.

"..."

Five seconds. In just five seconds of eye contact, he revised his thinking. Ah, those were definitely not the eyes of a man looking at a gay man. Of that he was certain.

The stare was chilling enough that he could feel killing intent.

"If not, never... mind!"

"..."

Ivan silently looked away and resumed reading his report. Wiping away cold sweat, Eugene cautiously tapped his Status window.

[Ivan Petrovich Yeremov]

[Character: Favorability toward Yevgeny Novikov Karamzin]

[27 (Neutral)]

'The criterion isn't how much he likes someone...'

Was it usefulness?! Then did the two-point deduction mean he had become slightly less useful by saying something stupid? Tch. That would mean Miss Isabelle was worth about as much as her kimchi dishes.

Eugene sighed and pressed his fingers between his brows.

'No, wait.'

Among the 'living' people with scores over fifty, exactly two were women. Then those two were...

As Eugene agonized, the train sped across Thilles's Saint Matilene Plain.