Picked up a Strange Knight – Ch 21: Omake II

It was eight in the morning when I saw Ilias off on his way to work and began cleaning the house. This wasn’t something I ever saw myself doing back when I lived in Japan, but recently I think that I’ve gotten into the habit. I had the day off from my part-time waiting job, so I was leisurely passing time. It was a pain to have to work too much — four shifts a week was the perfect balance. My body can’t bring itself to work five times a week anymore. Ahh, if the weather’s good today, maybe I’ll wash the sheets. The temperature in this world was always constantly chilly, but the weather changed every day. It’d been really cloudy lately, so I was kind of hyped for the first sunny day in a while. I peeled the sheets off and threw them into the washing machine, then splashed water on top.

In this fantasy other world, the Kingdom of Selentia (the name of which I had just recently memorized) had developed in a mysterious way. Rather than using electricity, gas, or water power, they used magic stones. In terms of advancements, this country used magic stones for processing materials and for teleportation, so I had no idea what evolution of technology they were advancing towards. The toilets tossed waste directly into the processing plant using that teleportation technology, which I thought was pretty awesome. That said, they still hadn’t made anything resembling a washing machine in this mysterious Kingdom, so laundry had to be washed using a washboard and tub. In this day and age, to have to scrub and scrape at your laundry using a washboard… was something the people living today couldn’t even imagine.

By the time I finished my sole task of hanging the sheets up to dry, it was already past 11 o’clock. What should I eat for lunch… I pondered, and as I made my way to the kitchen, a paper bag caught my eye from where it sat atop the table. That was the bag Ilias used to carry his bento lunch with him every day. This world didn’t have a tradition of bringing food from home, so the first man to carry a bento lunch here had to have been Ilias, no doubt. Though it shocked people in the beginning, the act of making your own food seemed to have boomed, and about three days later another knight brought his own bento. For bento-making to become super popular among the noble knights was way too big of an image gap that I couldn’t help but crack up.

Yet despite having sparked that boom in bento-making, this bento had just been forgotten here… I guess I could eat this instead of lunch, but then I thought about how Ilias had told me that it made him happy how I gave him this bento every day. I’m in a good mood today, so how about I specially deliver it to him? Damn, I’m really such a great guy. With the bento in hand, I grinned to myself as I headed toward the castle where Ilias worked.

The only problem about getting to Ilias’s workplace was that you needed to sign in once or something like that, according to what he’d told me. I was somewhere within the castle walls in a room that could have been a knight’s station, or maybe some sort of official’s office, I don’t know. Either way, this white-themed, high-ceiling room had a crazily stylish desk sitting within it… This sure was that Northern European interior design I’d been told about, I thought while nodding.

Next up was the castle gate, which also towered up high. Although the gates were open, the two knights stiffly guarding the entrance at both sides made me think that it probably wouldn’t be that easy to pass through here — and I was exactly right.

The moment he caught sight of me, the closest knight approached and asked what I was here for. When I explained that I was a relation of the knight Ilias and that I was running an errand for him, the guard gave me the stink eye — yep, he was pissed off. You’re supposed to be keeping peace, so is it really okay for you to take that kind of attitude with a normal upstanding citizen like me? I did all I could to hold back, only because picking a fight here would make Ilias’s reputation suffer. Seeing that I was so stubbornly refusing to leave, the other knight came over as if wondering what was going on, surrounding me.

“What is the matter?”

“This guy won’t shut up about how he has a relation inside of the Knight Order.”

“A relation? With whom?”

“Ilias Garland.”

“Ilias, you mean the Captain of the 7th Division? You, there’s no resemblance at all between you and he.”

“… I’m his wife.”

“That’s a straight-up lie, lying liar. Oi, you, I know you wanna get closer to the knights and all, but you’d better stop telling lies.”

“Fine, I get it already. Then if you would, please take this over to him for me.”

“It is forbidden to receive gift donations, I’m sorry.”

“Off you go, now. Move along!”

In what freaking world would you consider a bento as a ‘gift donation’?! Though the second guy who’d come over was decent, I wish this knobhead who’d talked to me first would just F off…! It would be a waste of time to stay here any longer, and even though I couldn’t say it, I was already feeling like I just wanted to go home already. Stewing in frustration, I glanced over at the castle. There I saw that two knights had walked out and approached in this direction. Seriously, more knights? I’ve already had more than enough of them… I diverted my gaze and started walking off, but for some reason, the other guys noticed me and dashed over. I startled, my gaze snapping back toward them only to meet some faces that I had seen before.

“Azusa-san! What’s going on, for you to be in a place like this?”

“Uhyoooo-! Azusa-san is as pretty as ever today!”

“Oh, aren’t you guys Ilias’s…”

Subordinates, right. These two are the ones who had come running over during that incident with that lout a while back. I had forgotten their names, but seeing some familiar faces put me more at ease. Just as you would expect, these guys with their doggy-like Captain were also doggy-like people, and behind them I saw their tails wagging back and forth at full power. I pasted a smile on my face and told them that I had come over to bring the bento that Ilias had forgotten, but was now just going home. The two then noticed the gatekeepers, who’d been pushed back during the conversation. Their tails dropped, their gaze seeming to carry an authoritative threat. They turned once again to face forward, the two hands of these subordinates jumping up to grab my shoulders, making me flinch. That surprised me…!

“Since this person is Sir Ilias’s family, please leave this matter to us from here on.”

“This person is the wife of our division’s Captain. This person has the same right to enter as a Knight Captain — or rather, even more right to enter.”

You guys, so you can show that kind of Knight-like attitude too, huh… Since the first impression I had gotten was of them running over and wagging their tails, this image had solidified in my mind, so I could only apologize to them from the bottom of my heart. Perhaps because they’d been blown away by these imposing subordinates, the two gatekeepers meekly nodded their heads and opened the way.

And here we saw the fascinating phenomenon of two knight subordinates transforming back into excitable doggies. As if slinging me over their shoulders and carrying me away, they safely escorted me to within the castle walls.

At this time Ilias would be overseeing practice drills, they told me. Having to barge in while he was working, especially during something like drill training, sure put me under a lot of pressure. The only practice drills I could imagine were things like firemen scaling walls or the Japan Self Defence Force doing marathons.As I passed through the doors to the training area, I lightly wondered if they would be doing sword-swinging practice, but the spectacle unfolding before my eyes was beyond what I could have imagined.

In this round and open room, the sounds of sand being kicked and dull metal clashes reverberated in the air. The source of those sounds were the six knights swinging their swords in the center. Though I think it must’ve been a 3vs3 simulation battle, it was a hair-raising sight. The only 3v3 matches I’d seen before were for things like basketball… is it really okay to use swords here? Won’t they get hurt? When I saw Ilias ward off an attack to his head by deflecting with his sword, anxiety ran through me.

“There’s no need to worry. The swords in the practice room have all been dulled.”

“Sir Ilias, you’re so strong! Seriously awesome—!”

“The match should be decided at any moment now.”

“That’s technique number 9! Keep an eye out—!”

The knight at my right provided commentary with a calm smile, and the knight to my left cheered while excitedly pumping his fists in the air. As I listened to this stereo playback, somehow a slight smile grew over my face, and I began to watch the battle closely. “Looks like it’s ending soon,” they said, and just as expected, Ilias’s opponent began to retreat. What had ended up cutting down his opponent, whom I recognized as another one of Ilias’s subordinates, were the remaining two Knights who moved at Ilias’s signal. And thus, his opponent was easily felled.

The only one left was the leader, whom Ilias had been fighting. He took a hit from Ilias’s sword, and the glancing strike against his leg caused his form to crumble. I thought that Ilias’s win was now certain, yet contrary to what I thought, synchronized curses of “Cowardly!” and “Oh, you’re askin’ for it!” erupted from either side of me. I finally understood what was happening when I saw the opponent kick up sand in Ilias’s eyes, blinding him. The instant Ilias thrust his left arm up to cover his eyes, the opponent mercilessly sunk his blade into it, but in the next moment, the sword was flung into the air. When the sword clattered to the ground, catching everyone’s attention, Ilias called out with a commanding voice, “Alright, that’s enough,” marking the end of the simulated battle.

“Ilias…!”

I was so overcome with worry that, unable to just stand still, I called out his name, making surprise flash over his expression and eyes. He brightened up with excitement, flowers blooming in the air around him — until he suddenly seemed to grow vigilant, glancing around the area before rushing over toward me.

“Azusa! Why are—”

“Your arm!! Is your arm okay?!”

“Huh? My arm?”

“Just now! At the end!!”

In contrast to how frantic I was, Ilias turned his left arm to look around his elbow as if he’d forgotten. A dark red line stood out just below his elbow, and when you looked above at his forearm, there was another similar bruise. It looked like it was really painful, and it had started swelling up, but Ilias only said that it wasn’t such a serious wound. The hell is he saying, are you freaking kidding me?! You wanna stay hurt or something?! I just stared at him, having lost whatever I wanted to say, but the two subordinates picked up on what I was feeling and spoke up, asking him to go to the medic’s office. Ilias tried to refuse, saying that it was only a scratch and not broken, and more importantly, Azusa — but before he could finish, I shouted over him, “I’ll go along too!” Thus, it was decided that Ilias would go see the medic while I accompanied him.

Without any hesitation, Ilias opened the door to the medic office, which didn’t have any sign identifying it. “Is it okay to go in here?” I asked, gingerly looking into the room, and Ilias said from behind me, “It’s fine.” With that permission, I stepped inside while murmuring ‘Please excuse me’, and Ilias followed after me, closing the door behind him.

The inside looked pretty much like a Large Edition version of a school nurse’s office; besides having medicine cabinets, there were also several beds with their own curtain enclosures. Ilias went over to the cabinets to set things up, but even though he was the one who was injured, I couldn’t do anything except watch. Even though I came with him to attend to him, I was completely clueless about how to treat an injury, so there wasn’t anything I could do about it. Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen any topical treatment stuff like Mercurochrome recently, though I don’t know how good it’d be for this… Well, there’s no such thing as Mercurochrome in this world anyway, so I shouldn’t even mention it.¹ When I noticed that Ilias had started shrugging off his top in order to treat his wounds, I picked up the poultice that he had left on the desk.

“I’ll stick it on.”

“…Then, may I trouble you for the help?”

He had stripped even his shirt, and his torso, with its wide shoulders, was tightly rippling with muscle. He exuded a manly sex appeal that a spindly and weak guy like me could never match up to, but on his arms and on his back were many scars of wounds that had healed but never faded. “They’re my medals of honor,” he said, laughing as he looked at them. “Is that what they are?” I casually replied, but inside, I was struck once more by the realization that being a knight inevitably came with the risk of being in danger.

“Azusa? What…?”

When I looked up at Ilias and saw him staring at me with a confused expression, I realized that my hands had stopped. I tried to brush it off with a quick ‘Sorry’ and continue my work, but he sent me a questioning glance, and I resigned myself to not deceiving him.

“I was just thinking that, you’re… really a knight, Ilias.”

He made a face that said ‘I understand the words you just said, but I don’t get what you actually mean’. Though I couldn’t calm down under his piercing stare, I picked up where I left off with my task.

“I knew that fighting was part of your job, but… yeah. I can’t stand it if you get hurt.”

“Azusa…”

“It’s not like I want you to quit being a knight or anything. You become especially cool when you take pride in your job, and I like it, so…”

I pasted the poultice onto the swollen dark red lines covering his arm. To him, being wounded was an everyday, common occurrence, but to me, the bruises on his body were large wounds that rarely ever happened. Someday, a serious injury might come along to break up this everyday life of his. Maybe he might even die during one of his missions… Now that I’m looking at reality, this really is something that I have to try to endure.

I’d put myself in a bad mood. As I stared fixedly at the bruises and fell silent, Ilias let out a soft sigh and stroked my head. When I lifted my head, I saw Ilias with a tender smile on his face.

“You don’t have to worry. I’ll never lose. Because you’re here, I’ll surely never lose.”

“Ilias…”

“I’m really no good, am I. To have made you carry such an expression on your face… I must train even more and become stronger. That way, you won’t have to carry such worry for me.”

Just because he said it didn’t mean it would happen, I thought, but the fact that he considered me so highly that he wanted to get stronger for my sake made me unable to think badly of it. Two emotions warred within me, and as I glimpsed at Ilias, speechless, he swooped in to press soft kisses on my eyelids, making the happiness drown out my worry.

“Guh…”

“I thought so… It does hurt, right…?”

Ilias suddenly let out a groan, clamping his mouth shut and turning his face away. You might be trying to control it, but doesn’t it still really hurt…? To my question, Ilias replied with No’s and Uh’s, but he couldn’t even properly form the syllables in his mouth. If the cheat I got wasn’t just some language ability, but a healing one instead, it would’ve been really great. It’ll hurt if I touch it, so I can’t even rub his wounds… Isn’t there anything else I could do? Oh wait, there was that thing my parent’s did a lot when I was a kid. But even when they did it, it’s not like anything happened… No, it got across that they cared, right? It was going to get better soon, so you didn’t have to be sad? Should I do it? Shall I do it…? After several seconds of intense worry, I finally looked up and saw Ilias’s eyebrows knotted in pain. With that image in front of me, my body moved on its own.

“P-pain, pain, fly away…”

I did it perfectly, right down to the hand motions. When I got to the ‘Fly away~’, I waved my hand in the direction of the day after tomorrow. I did it to perfection, but this was something that I really shouldn’t have done, damn it!!!

Such a suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper embarrassing thing to do! You frigging moron!!!

Why did I do this? I was thinking about how I wanted to help him, and what came to mind was to help him make the pain fly away~~, but ya really shoulda thought it through much more, isn’t that right, Azusa-kun…!

Sure enough, the speechless Ilias was looking at me with blank eyes. Stop, don’t look at me with those eyes of yours…!

“Azusa… What just…?”

“I’m begging you, forget this happened…! Pretend you didn’t see anything…!”

“No… There’s no way I can! What was that motion just now?”

“That’s, uh… it was just a thought, but I… was trying to… make the hurt, uh, fly away… or something along those lines…”

“Make the hurt, fly away…”

Stop… Don’t repeat it…! I’m begging you! It was a mistake for an almost 30-year-old man like me to say that thing. The only people who can get away with saying stuff like that are parents with young children, or nursery school teachers…it’s definitely not the sort of line that a man should be delivering to another man who happens to be a big and brawny knight. Overcome with humiliation, I covered my face with my hands, and suddenly, I was hugged. I couldn’t process what the heck was going on anymore, but I felt like I heard Ilias whisper into my ear, “You’re just too adorable today.”

“Wha — Ili, mmph—”

I had frantically thrust out my hand to push his face away, but my words were cut short. Something warm pressed into my mouth — it was his tongue entwining with mine. My mouth attempted to close from the surprise, but the full and thorough kiss made my jaw slacken. Saliva overflowed and ran down the corner of my mouth; the kiss was so intense that I couldn’t even breathe, making my head spin with dizziness. I desperately pounded on his chest, and once he released me, I gasped fresh air into my lungs — but I didn’t even have enough time to stabilize my breathing before my shoulder was pushed, making my body fall backwards. After feeling the softness at my back and seeing the ceiling above me, I figured out that I had fallen on top of a bed. I heard the sound of the curtain rail being pulled shut, making everything just a bit dimmer and separating us from the outside world. And then, when Ilias returned to me as if this was the most natural thing in the world, I frantically asked him to wait.

“W — what the heck’re you doing?!”

“It’s because of what you did, Azusa.”

“I don’t get what you mean, make it simple! Explain it to me!”

“I’d be glad to… After feeling how much you were thinking of me, and even demonstrating it to me with your actions, it made me overwhelmingly happy. And in those circumstances, when you made such a sweet movement while saying ‘Pain, fly—’”

You don’t have to tell the whole world about it…! Overcome with embarrassment, I covered his mouth with my hands before he could say more. Though I glared at him, Ilias looked back at me with a cool expression and moved my hand from his mouth so that he could kiss my fingertips.

“Adorable.”

Even when our lips met, sloppy kissing noises filling the air, he refused to take his eyes off of me. Under that heated gaze, I, too, felt a rising heat within me. Without saying anything more, I felt him press me down onto the bed as he brought my fingertips into his mouth, his tongue sliding between my fingers.

“Mph, wai — ah!”

“Azusa… I love you, Azusa…”

“We’re in the medic’s office, in case you forgot…”

“There won’t be anyone coming in at this hour, so it’s alright.”

“But… ngh-”

“It’ll be fine; the door’s locked.”

“Guh…”

“Azusa…”

“If someone comes, we’re calling it quits, alright…!”

“Very well,” Ilias said, pressing a kiss to the back of my hand. This image of princely demeanor was the only damn princely thing about him – I clearly saw the way he smiled, a carnivorous knight peeking through that polite facade.

“Nn, ah….!”

I bit into Ilias’s necktie to try and stifle my voice, but it felt like he was pushing his fingers deeper inside of me than usual, so I couldn’t help but let out the moans. Once he’d finished slicking me up with the ointment, he picked up my body and dropped me onto his lap. Gravity’s pull made me sink down easily on his cock until I had all of it inside me, my skin pressing down on his and feeling like it was burning. I wrapped my arms around Ilias’s neck, clinging to him. The moment I locked gazes with his glinting blue eyes, he started thrusting inside of me.

“Aah… Azusa…you feel so incredible.”

With my hips shaking loosely, the necktie that I’d hastily clenched between my teeth became soaked with drool, making it useless. I’d been hoping that we would stop as soon as someone came by, but then I considered – in my current state, with my top half completely undisturbed and only my lower half partially undressed, my pants hanging from one leg, I’d be the only one struck by the circumstances.

Every time my body swayed, my nipples rubbed against my clothes, making them swell and tingle. It’d be more comfortable if he just took my clothes off me, but right now there’s no way I could say that… more than anything, I knew that Ilias was aroused by the sight of me like this, even if he didn’t say it. Letting out a strange and unusual breath, he began pushing up, reaching deeper inside me than he had ever gone before.

“—ngh!! So deep…!”

Unable to bear it, I opened my mouth, and the necktie flopped and fell to my cock.

“Mmph–”

I let out a shout at the next thrust, and was so mortified I felt like I might as well blow up right here. But it was too late; though I was already out of breath, Ilias, who wasn’t even winded, began thrusting at a rhythmic pace.

“Nngh, ah, ahn, wai–”

“Incredible, you’re even tighter around me than usual…!”

“Nuh, what?! Ah, aah!”

Every time he struck inside me, a pleasure like lightning coursed through me. What the hell is this? What the hell is this?! I felt like I was going to get swallowed up by this overwhelming feeling, one I’d never felt before.

“Nuh, aah, ah, ahn, I’m scared…!”

“It’s alright, it’s not scary.”

“No way, ah, ngh, aaaah!”

Rather than trying to get help, my body decided to just give up… As I collapsed, Ilias hugged me strongly. Every time he thrust inside me, the strange and pleasurable feeling ran through me, and it felt like I was going to lose myself in it.

“Haa, I’m going to come…!”

“Ah, aah! Aah, ha, ah!”

Ilias spoke in a husky, assertive voice, his speed increasing. As my body trembled and shook, I couldn’t help but think, hurry up and spill inside me.

“Kuh, ——ngh, I’m coming…!”

“Ngh, ah, stop, ah, I’m coming, aaaaah!”

From beginning to end, including the cleanup afterward, the entire thing lasted about 30 minutes.

Even though only that little time had passed, what a freakin’ dense amount of time… I’d also gotten turned on by that thrill of ‘what if someone comes?’ and ‘we’re doing it in this kind of place?’ As for Ilias, I guess considering he’d just finished battling, he’d been raring to go from the beginning. That’s why, that excitement of ‘no way… we’re really going to do it in your workplace!’ took a nosedive, and all I felt now was guilt.

And yet, my partner-in-crime, so to speak, was now very energetically chomping down his bento.

“Your bento just really is so delicious.”

“Is that right… guess I’m glad, then…”

“Want to eat some too, Azusa?”

“No need… I don’t wanna take your meal. I’ll wait ‘til I get home to eat…”

Food eaten after exercise sure tastes great, eh. As long as Ilias was satisfied, that was good enough for me. My body was aching like hell, so just let me rest over here ‘til his break’s over. I guess Ilias had been starving ‘til now judging by the way he shoveled food in his face, but when he finished, he promptly returned to his usual, serious, Mr Knight appearance. Minus his necktie. “I brought a spare, so don’t worry about it,” Ilias said with a gentle smile – but of course I’m gonna worry about it, idiot.

That said, after seeing with my own eyes how difficult the life of a knight really was – much more difficult than I’d previously thought – I grew sweeter to the idea of compromising. I normally wouldn’t put myself in the position he’d had me in, but I suppose I could consider it as a reward for him. But really, we should only do that kind of thing at home, please.

Shortly after that lunch break, Ilias offered to accompany me back to the front gate on my way home. I gratefully accepted, and the two of us exited the medical ward. There wasn’t much traffic on our way back to the entrance, and the fact that I didn’t see that many people made my feelings of guilt dissipate a little. But just as I let my guard down, a voice called out from behind. Ilias corrected his posture and turned around, and I, caught up in his reaction, also turned around. From the way he looked, it seemed that standing before us was a superior officer.

“Captain Garland, there is news of the matter of this morning’s simulated battle.”

“Sir.”

After he saluted, our eyes met. His gaze gave off the feeling of ‘I’m in trouble’ so strongly that it killed the smile on my face.

“It’s alright. I can get back by myself.”

“Sorry…”

“…And who is this?”

“Sir. I’m his wife, Azusa. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“A pleasure to meet you as well.”

I forced a smile on my face and bowed my head. Since this was a superior officer, I understood that certain things had to be done. What exactly those ‘things’ were, I had no idea, but I supposed that it might be something that only those of the knight order understood. After being sent out with a “Be careful on your way home”, I returned on the path I’d taken to come in, and after turning a corner I encountered the two subordinates again, waiting for me at the entrance.

“Aaaaaaaazusa-san…!!”

The hell’s with the shouting…? As soon as our eyes met, the two subordinates flushed bright red. Wondering what was up with them, I came closer. For some reason, the mellow guy wouldn’t meet my eyes. He just fidgeted, his face turned to the floor. What’s up with that…? Looking for an explanation, I turned to the lighthearted one, but he instead also looked nervous and burst out with, “Where’s Ilias-san?!”

“He got snatched up by a superior.”

“Eeeh?! That sucks… What about you, Azusa-san? Are you headin’ back?”

“Yep, I got things to do after all.”

“Th — then let us see you off at the gate!”

“Eh? It’s fine. You guys have work, don’t you?”

“No! Right now, Azusa-san is…! It’s seriously no good…!!”

“…….Ha?”

I don’t get it. “Let’s go!” the lighthearted subordinate said, starting to walk. Bewildered, I ended up sandwiched between him and the mellow subordinate, who had huddled close while still keeping his face turned to the ground. Why were they doing this? In any case, was this subordinate who kept his eyes glued to the dirt doing okay? I asked aloud if he was alright, and he responded with an exaggerated jolt of his shoulders.

“Uh, um…! I, I’m just, not very used to it…!”

“Eh?”

“That is, um, the two of us, we didn’t have the intentions of eavesdropping at all! But, that is, it was impossible not to…! I couldn’t… help but hear…!”

Eh…? No, wait…?

“Though saying that I lost my composure over such a matter feels so pathetic… Azusa-san, became so much more enchanting than before…!”

Y-y-you’re kidding me…?! They heard me and Ilias as we………?! When I came?! Oh god, I’m going to die of embarrassment. I’d rather just outright die.

When they realized I had totally gone blank, the subordinates tried to talk to me, but not a single word registered in my head. I swore in my heart: I will never come back here, ever again.

To have done the dirty with your husband at his workplace, then to be asked about it point-blank by his subordinates who’d overheard the whole damn thing… Whatever the hell a living person is supposed to do after that, I have no damn clue.

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Author’s Note

After this, the subordinate-chan claims to his boss, “Azusa-san really is way too damn sexy, ain’t he!”

And his boss replies, “Is that so?” while returning a smile filled with satisfaction.

Previous Chapter | Index | Sequel

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1. Azusa mentions a topical antiseptic called ‘Merbromin’, specifically a Japanese brand ‘Akatin’. It’s a red-colored paste that you would smear over small skin wounds to prevent infections. ↩

Posted in Novel Translations Picked up a Strange Knight and Tagged PSK