Evil Black Maria - Chapter 103. Impact And Promise

“Tea, please.”

Mary offered a cup of tea to the fox-eyed knight, who sat on a sofa in the examination room, which doubled as a parlour.

“Thanks a lot, young lady. I like green tea better than black tea or coffee. Well, I like anything that is connected to the Japonais culture.”

He said with a unique accent and an overly suspicious smile. Then, he picked up the teacup in a relaxed gesture and sipped the tea.

“Mmm, it’s delicious. Did Sensei teach you how to make it?”

“It was easy, Mr Olga. This girl learned it all on her own.”

“That’s great. Such a hard worker.”

The knight, called Olga, looked at Mary with admiration.

She gave him a confused look and quickly hid behind Shizuru, refusing to move away.

“Hahaha, she doesn’t like me. Is my face really that scary?”

“Sorry, she’s very shy…….”

Generally, Mary never spoke much in front of patients or clients when she was helping out in the clinic.

She is a neatly dressed ex-orphan who is only fond of the local doctor who found her.

If such a reputation is passed on to the outside world with a sense of drama in the background, it can be used in a favourable way.

She’s smart enough to know that.

That’s why she is acting in a way that is obvious and easy to understand.

“By the way, Mr Olga, you said you were sent by Ms.Rosa?”

After the tea was served and a couple of appropriate conversations had taken place, Shizuru brought up the main subject.

“…..huh? Oh, I forgot.”

Is that really alright for a knight like you?

Shizuru inwardly whispered while maintaining a smile on his face in front of Olga, who was not joking and had just forgotten about it until now.

“I’ve been hearing for a while now that Sensei had promised to have dinner with the Commander.”

With a thin smile lifting the corners of his mouth, Olga reached into the folds of his kimono with his long, slender fingertips.

He took out a thick envelope.

“Open it.”

Shizuru does as he is told, quietly taking the envelope from the table and opening it.

When he turns it upside down, a stack of papers slip into his palm.

“Read it.”

Shizuru did as he was told again, and began to read the nearly fifty sheets of letter paper that were filled with text.

He stares down at the text, tracing it with his fingertips, occasionally brushing a strand of hair back behind his ear as he reads.

Even without being aware of it, every single detail of his behaviour was bewitchingly refined.

Olga watched quietly with his fox-like eyes, unable to read his thoughts.

For a while, the only sounds in the room were the rustling of paper and the sipping of tea.

It was not until nearly ten minutes later that Shizuru finished reading the entire letter and looked up again.

“Um…..”

A slightly wry, confused look appeared on Shizuru’s face.

On the other hand, Olga shook his head, sighing quietly.

“I’m sorry, Sensei, for making you read something so long. I told the leader that she should be more brief.”

The letter sent by Rosa was, in a word, an apology.

She began by apologising for not having been able to visit him in person, and then went on to lament in what sounded like a theatre play-like manner.

“Um……this means that she wants me to wait a while for our earlier promise……,is that correct?”

“Right. I’m really sorry about that, it’s not easy to explain.”

–Due to personal reasons, it is unlikely that I will be available for the foreseeable future, so I hope to be able to fulfil our promise after I have finished my current work.

To sum it up, it could have been written on a piece of notepaper, if not a single sheet of letter paper.

How did it get to the point where it turned into such a large amount of text?

Even though he had just read through everything, Shizuru couldn’t help but nod his head.

“You might have already heard about it from the rumors or other sources, Shizuru-sensei. A while ago, the headquarters of the mercenary guild was destroyed.”

Of course he knew. The reason is that the person who did it was his own boss – naturally he couldn’t say that.

With a vague expression on his face, which suggested that he was either hearing it for the first time or already knew about it, Shizuru urged him to continue.

“The Mercenaries’ Guild was an important organisation. If it was destroyed, who knows what effect it will have on the rest of the country?”

Although it was a kind of private company, the influence of the mercenary guild on the kingdom was by no means small.

The Kingdom of Si Levant was huge, boasting control over half the world.

As a result, the country is vast, and in many cases remote areas are not fully controlled by the central authority.

Such lands were manned by the Mercenary Guild to prevent the deterioration of security.

But now, with the destruction of the guild, this was no longer possible, and the kingdom has to fill in the gaps.

“It’s no secret that we in the Guard Knights have our own problems. Commander Rosa was at a meeting today and was trying to get out of it somehow.”

“……..Sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologise, Sensei.”

Olga replies with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

A closer look at the letter revealed that the handwriting was rough in places, with what looked like tears spilled on it.

How much sadness did she feel when she wrote this?

“So she sent me to do it for her.”

“Eh?….”

How is it possible to use one’s own Deputy Commander as an errand boy?

Although he didn’t say it out loud, Shizuru felt the same way.

“Well, Sensei. I’m going to have to leave now.”

If Rosa has a lot of work to do, then all the Guard Knights are probably very busy.

After about thirty minutes of conversation, Olga stood up from the sofa with these words.

“Commander Rosa said she would contact you herself once things have settled down.”

“Well……I understand. And Olga, you are welcome to visit us again anytime.”

“…… Don’t say it like that, you know. I’d be here every day then.”

Olga smiled thoughtlessly and ruffled Shizuru’s black hair.

Mary, who was hiding behind him, her eyes lit up for a moment.

“Goodbye, then. I’ll visit you again when you’re alone.”

Olga turned on his heel, waved his hand and left the examination room.

A few moments later, the doorbell rang loudly.

–After the noise had subsided, Ludmila emerged from the back room.

“Went back….?”

The question was asked in a somewhat anxious tone of voice, and Shizuru nodded his head.

Relieved, Ludmila sat down on the sofa and relaxed.

“Haaa …… I didn’t expect someone from the Guard Knights to come …….”

“……Didn’t I tell you that I have friendly relations with East Blood Knights?”

“I didn’t hear you…….”

Ludmila glared at Shizuru, muttering bitterly.

She had never been in a social gathering before and, despite being royalty, her face was hardly recognisable.

However, there are exceptions, such as the Earl of Garland, whom she once killed.

“I met Commander Cranbury once when she was still Deputy Commander……”

“Well, you’re lucky it was not …… herself.”

Unlike Shizuru, who was capable of using his mouth to his advantage when the time came, Ludmila was not skilled at the art of manipulation.

She has an honest nature and it shows on her face.

“Well, let’s just say she saved the day this time. Don’t worry, I’ll cover it up if it happens.”

“Thank you — wait a minute.”

Ludmila was about to let it go, but she reacted with some delay to the unexpected words.

She gave him a skeptical look and asked.

“What did you just say? He…she…?”

“Oh, you didn’t notice?”

Shizuru blinked in surprise.

Then, with Mary rubbing up against him and on his lap, he muttered something to himself.

“Olga is a woman. If you had looked closely, you would have noticed that.”

“How would I know……?”

Olgarisa Vargo, Vice Commander of the East Blood Knights, the Second Order of the Royal Guard.

A lady knight with great reputation, who is considered to be Rosa Cranberry’s right-hand woman.

She is also a genuine fan of Japonais culture.

She enjoys wearing men’s clothes.

“Are all knights of the Royal Guard like that……?”

“Haha.”

He laughed it off and deceived her.