Edbert’s statement that he had something to ask of me was unexpected, but not unwelcome.

In fact, I thought it was fortunate.

It had been burdensome for us to be the only ones making requests of him.

If I could grant his request as well, it would reduce my sense of indebtedness.

“What is it? What do you wish to ask of me?”

At my question, Edbert wore an unusually serious expression.

As I grew a little tense, sensing it might not be an easy request, his lips finally parted.

“There’s a ruin in the western desert of this Gritplus. It’s the tomb of an ancient king. And in that ruin—”

For some reason, Edbert’s expression turned slightly wistful as he slowly continued.

“There is a woman.”

“…A woman?”

A woman living in an ancient king’s tomb?

Confused, I asked again, and he nodded, explaining.

“Yes, a woman. A very beautiful woman.”

“Why is she there? Do you want me to bring her here?”

“No.”

Erasing the wistful expression from earlier, Edbert soon spoke with a resolute face, uttering surprising words.

“I want you to kill that woman.”

For a moment, I was too shocked to respond.

The Captain, who seemed as surprised as I was, immediately expressed his displeasure towards Edbert.

“Asking to kill someone? Are you putting out a hit on Yulia now?”

“Ah, my explanation was a bit lacking. That woman is not human. She’s a monster.”

Edbert added an explanation for our benefit as we became increasingly confused.

“This monster devours people and then imitates the appearance of its victims. So while it takes on human form, it’s not truly human. Well, rather than hearing about it like this, you’ll understand better when you see it in person.”

After hearing that much, I nodded.

“Ah, I think I understand what type of monster it is. Indeed, there are such monsters. They hunt humans, consume them, and then disguise themselves exactly like their prey to lure other humans…”

“Yes. I’d like you, Yulia, to catch that monster.”

Hearing Edbert’s words, the Captain interjected from the side.

“If that’s the case, I’ll go. Catching one monster should be easy. There’s no need for Yulia to step in.”

“No.”

Edbert stared at the Captain with a firmness he had never shown before.

Then, in an equally resolute voice, he said,

“That monster… I want Yulia to hunt it down without fail.”

“Why?”

The Captain’s gaze grew a little sharper.

He seemed displeased that Edbert was insisting on assigning to me a task that could be left to him.

However, even under the sharp gaze, Edbert did not back down.

“I’ll explain the reason after everything is finished. In any case, this task must be handled by you, Yulia, ‘alone’.”

For some reason, Edbert looked at me with desperate eyes as he made his request again.

“Please. If you take care of the monster, I promise I’ll lift your curse. No matter what kind of curse it is, I’m confident I can handle it.”

The Captain didn’t seem to like this situation, but I wanted to grant Edbert’s request.

It was because of the desperation in his gaze as he asked me.

Though I didn’t fully understand, it seemed there was some circumstance behind it.

Above all, if I didn’t grant his request, he probably wouldn’t lift my curse either.

“Alright. I’ll go personally and deal with that monster. Just provide me with the general information about the monster and its location.”

The Captain immediately looked at me with a dissatisfied expression.

Gesturing to stop the worried-looking Captain, I continued speaking.

“In return, you must lift my curse after the monster is dealt with. Additionally, I’d like you to explain. Why did you assign the monster’s elimination only to me?”

“I’ll tell you everything. And… thank you sincerely for accepting such an unreasonable request. Thanks to you, I can put my mind at ease.”

Afterward, Edbert provided us with luxurious guest rooms.

Telling us to rest well and replenish our strength.

As soon as we entered the room, the Captain, as expected, voiced his complaints.

“I just don’t understand. Why do you have to go hunt the monster alone? Edbert just met you today, so why is he specifically choosing you…”

“There must be some circumstances we don’t know about, right?”

“Circumstances…”

I nodded and then spoke again.

“He looked desperate.”

“…”

“It’s not just out of boredom that he proposed such conditions. There must be circumstances worth listening to, even if it means sweating it out. I want to hear about it.”

After I said that much, the Captain let out a long sigh.

“You’re always too composed. In situations like this where you’ve taken on a dangerous task, you could show a bit more fuss.”

“That’s because you’ve always saved me when I’m in danger, Captain. Well, won’t you do the same this time too?”

“I can’t deny that. It’s always been that way. Whenever you were in danger, my body moved before my mind could even think.”

The Captain closed his eyes for a moment as if recalling something, then continued.

“Perhaps I’ve had you in my heart for a long time already. I just forcefully denied those feelings because I thought you were Ernant’s person.”

“A long time… roughly since when?”

“I’m not sure myself. Maybe from the moment I first saw you.”

Hearing his words, I recalled.

The moment we first met.

It rained heavily that day.

I arrived in front of the Captain, soaked by the rain pouring from the gloomy sky, and immediately said this:

-“I am Yulia von Schnestern. By imperial order, I have been assigned to assist you as the vice-captain of the Silver Knights.”

At that time, I hated the Captain as much as I loved Ernant, so my gaze and tone towards the Captain were incredibly arrogant.

The Captain stared at me intently.

Without saying a word, until the raindrops on my hair fell more than ten times, drip drip drip.

With such a fierce gaze that seemed to devour even my soul…

“…”

Finishing my recollection, I returned to reality and observed the Captain.

That man with the fierce gaze from back then was nowhere to be seen; now, only tenderness filled his eyes.

I approached him, embraced him, and whispered.

“You probably didn’t fall for me at first sight. The way you looked at me back then was no joke. Your gaze was fierce enough to kill.”

“I must have been so nervous seeing you that my expression unconsciously hardened.”

“You’re lying.”

“I’m serious. I thought to myself at the time. That you were beautiful.”

Still in his embrace, I quietly listened to his continued words.

“On the outside, I pretended to be indifferent, but I was inwardly surprised. I had heard about a knight with inhuman strength, so I expected a fierce appearance. But contrary to expectations—”

He grasped a lock of my hair and pressed his lips to it as he spoke.

“Contrary to expectations, you were too beautiful.”

“Really?”

“Yes. That’s why I understood Ernant even less. Ernant just kept pushing you around. I thought, if it were me, I wouldn’t treat such a beauty that way. I wondered if that guy’s eyes were crooked.”

Still kissing my hair, the Captain whispered with a smile.

“But in the end, you ended up in my hands anyway.”

Soon, he picked me up and carried me to the bed, laying me down.

Wrapped in soft, clean bedding, his uniquely heated lips grazed my skin.

Surprised by the sensation, I curled my legs, but he grabbed my ankles with his large hands and pressed them down.

Smiling at me with his eyes, he then lowered his head and kissed my exposed thighs and knees.

Where his lips touched and left, petal-like red bruises bloomed vividly.

As if marking where he had been.

Just by looking at how luxurious the room and meals provided to us were, it was easy to see how generous Edbert was.

However, it seems his generosity was even greater than I had thought.

While I was in the midst of preparing to leave for the monster extermination, he called me over and said this:

“Do you perhaps need a sword? I have one that would suit you perfectly.”

“A sword… you say?”

“Yes, a sword. From what I see, the sword you’re carrying is just a simple iron sword, isn’t it?”

His words were correct.

I had lost the famous sword I originally carried while being chased by Ernant, and the sword I now carried was just an ordinary one.

Not a special item imbued with power like my previous sword, but just an iron sword used by common soldiers.

Edbert glanced at that iron sword and shook his head as if in pity.

“A great hero like you shouldn’t be carrying such a sword. I’d like to gift you one. Of course, it’s not just any sword. What I’ll give you is an item imbued with special abilities.”