"We… We've arrived!"
Our return trip ended with Eliza's happy voice as we landed on the main path in front of my mansion after flying for 12 hours. The sky had turned dark. Astro immediately leaped from my shoulder and ran away to the backyard, his small house.
The reason for our long trip was, once again, Eliza. She almost cried because I went too fast, so we slowed down slightly to match her limit. Even so, it was still fast and needed me to use <Barrier> skill from <Holy Magic> to keep the wind pressure out of my way.
"So this is your mansion, Arthur?"
Vivian approached me as I put the magic carpet into my inventory. She stopped on my side and stood gracefully with her hands put together in front of her.
"Yes, headmistress Alexia gave it to me," I replied to her with a smile, turning my gaze toward the entrance.
The door was opened from the inside, and the twin nuns walked out with stoic expressions. They put themselves on the sides and made a gesture with their arm.
"Welcome home, Your Holiness. We have been waiting for your arrival."
"The guests' room has been prepared, and dinner will be ready soon."
They both talked alternatively, just like usual. Vivian looked a bit surprised at how efficiently they moved, and it brought a smile to my face as I knew that the nuns that took care of my mansion were really capable.
"Well then, let's take some rest for today. It has been a long day." I said to Vivian with a friendly smile. "Please just think of my mansion just like yours, Madam Vivian."
"Thank you. I really appreciate it." She replied with the same kind of smile.
Then she turned to Eliza, who walked toward me while being supported by Emilia. "Let's go to our room, Eliza. I think you will need some good rest for today."
"Y-Yes…" Eliza replied weakly as she circled her arm around Vivian's neck, transferring the support from Emilia's shoulder to her mother. "I can appreciate a nap, Mama."
"Fufufu, you are really a big baby." Vivian giggled lowly as she began to walk to the mansion with Eliza.
I gestured to Lisa and Lara to help them, and they nodded in understanding. They helped Vivian to support Eliza and went inside the mansion. Lisa stopped for a second and looked over her shoulder, sending a message in a low voice that made me smile wryly before she continued inside.
'Garcia has been waiting, but she can wait, huh?'
That was just like her. Even though she couldn't wait and her sexual desire was uncontrolled after tasting me, she still thought of my situation and was willing to wait.
As I smiled while looking at the closed door, Emilia suddenly spoke.
"I think I need to return to the teacher's dorm today."
"You aren't going to stay for a day?" I asked, a bit surprised by her suddenness.
"Not today." Emilia smiled and turned to the mansion. "I can hold back for a day, at least. But do help Garcia, though. I feel bad for her."
"Hmm…" I mused, smiling at Emilia. "You're a good woman."
Emilia smiled at me, borderline grinning. "I know."
***
After seeing Emilia leave, I didn't immediately enter my mansion. The sun had already set in Academy City; it was time for the church knight's patrol shift to change.
The time on the clock inside a certain store showed 7 PM, and I knew the female knights were resting at this time and were probably having dinner in the church.
I heard they often had dinner together in the large dining room at the back of the church, near the training ground. And I went there immediately without stopping at any place.
The church's dining room was large and could even fit more than a hundred people at once, with rows of benches and a table between two of them. The ceiling was high, showing beams supporting the roof, with many chandeliers hanging on them, decorated with magic lamps letting soft yellow glow.
Those benches were half full, with female knights sitting on them.
Some of them still had full white plate armor while eating the soup and bread provided by the canteen on the side. While some of them were in the white and red themed knight uniforms with tight miniskirts, probably resting for today.
And the rest only wore their bodysuits while their bodies were covered in sweat. I said the others, but only a group of 5 girls surrounded a long table in the corner of the dining room.
They stood out even in this loud and rowdy room because the two of them, women with long fiery red hair and short blonde hair, were glaring at each other.
"As I said, Lea is suited in long-range as she's using a longbow! Why does she need to train with a dagger when she can use bare hands? Rather than bringing more weapons, shouldn't she bring an extra quiver and arrows?"
"Dagger has more usability than just killing enemies! It can also be used to deflect enemies' swords and cut through leaves and bushes when you are in a jungle."
One side, Rania, wanted Lea to train <Hand-to-Hand Combat>, while the other, Sophia, wanted to train Lea with <Dagger Mastery> to protect herself in close range.
Both weren't wrong; those skills were indeed important and best for self-protection. Even Emilia, a Mage, also had the basic Lv 1 <Hand-to-Hand Combat> for protection in case of emergency.
I could hear them from the entrance. And once I stepped inside and the knights began to register my presence, the sound died down immediately, leaving only that particular group standing out.
As usual, they wanted to pay respect to me by saluting, but I raised my hand to stop them and gestured for them to sit and eat as we were in the dining room, and they were resting, not on duty.
I also put my finger in front of my lips, telling them to stay silent, as I wanted to hear what the people in my knight squad were talking about and how their relationship was developed. I only noticed that Sophia and Rania weren't getting along well.
Not that they hated each other, but it seemed like Rania also developed the same rivalry that Sophia had felt against her at the time I left them alone to do their stuff.
Isabelle, the one who seemed to be a bit responsible, seeing how she did her duty perfectly when helping me catch Jane ten days ago, was… minding her own business and ate quietly on the edge of the table. That was an impressive ability to ignore those two arguing.
On the other hand, Lea, the topic of their conversation, looked confused and hid beside Natasha, scooting closer to the elegant girl.
"W-What should I do, Natasha? I… don't know how to say I can't choose both because I wanted to learn short staff!" She whispered with a quivering, nervous voice.
"Why don't you just give both a try?" Natasha suggested.
"But… I am afraid of wielding a blade or defending the blade with my bare hands…" Lea quickly added in an almost inaudible voice.
"… That's a problem," Natasha muttered. "Especially since we are going on a mission assigned by the Archbishop soon."
"Y-Yes." Lea nodded. "That's also why the Vice-Captain and u-umm… S-Sophia argued."
'Mission?'
I heard something interesting as I walked over to them casually. Isabelle noticed me and sent a slight nod, but then she returned to her meal.
But… Sana assigned a mission to them, huh? I hadn't had the chance yet to train them personally, but it seemed like their relationship with each other was great, and they already had enough power if Sana even assigned a mission to them.
Still, I was curious about that mission too.
So I used <Blink> to appear behind Lea and Natasha who were sitting beside Rania, and leaned my head between them.
"What mission are you talking about?" I asked with a smile.
Sophia and Rania stopped arguing, and Natasha froze in place. Lea, however…
"Kyaaa!!"
She shouted and threw a punch at me.
Tak!
I stopped it with my palm and turned to her.
"That's dangerous, Lea," I said.
"Hiiee! I-I am sorry, Sir Arthur!!" She immediately pulled her punch and bowed… prostrated on the bench at me.
That was quite funny but over the top.
"It's fine. You don't need to do that."
"Y-Yes." The shortest girl in my knight squad replied and raised her head.
Then I turned to Rania and Sophia, who were probably the most knowledgeable. I really wanted to hear the content of the mission, but first…
"I am back." I greeted them with a smile.
"Welcome back, Arthur!" And Rania welcomed me with a smile.
