SSS-Knight in a Hero World-Chapter 86: Lull

If there were a rule against hitting women, Felix would’ve been the one to create it.

But because of how insane her reply was, he broke free from that violent trance.

The first step toward mutual understanding was simply to ask a question.

"Why?" Felix said in a flat tone, with neither remorse nor curiosity.

Hearing this, the orange-haired elf vaporized her tears, leaving only her salty eyes intact.

She merely glanced at Felix, giving him the side eye before enjoying the funeral once again.

It felt as if she was deciding whether or not to tolerate his curiosity or ignore it.

Say something, damnit. Felix sneered inwardly, allowing a person who celebrates his friends’ deaths with tears to live was exceedingly difficult.

"Humans killed my parents," she finally replied.

It was a very straightforward answer, but of course, that wasn’t enough to satisfy Felix as he kept staring at her in silence.

The elf then turned and continued, "It was a territorial dispute. My mother didn’t want to let go of our land, and my father defended her as expected.

They died shortly the next day."

Ferris quickly assumed the details. I guess humans were the cause of that.

Don’t know how old she is, but back then, the alliance was basically held together with hopes and dreams, so accidents like this were common.

Felix slowly took in that information, then silently punished himself again. There’s no reason to be mad at the elven race merely due to the actions of a single elf.

He wanted to say sorry for his behavior right then and there, but he had a feeling that it might rub her the wrong way.

"I understand why you hate me. My friends were also killed." Felix pointed at the funeral in the distance.

"By an elf," he said very clearly.

But to set an example out of her, Felix continued. "But I don’t hate you."

The elf was clearly perplexed by the human as she covered her mouth in shock. "You speak such enlightened words, but you somehow sound like an asshole saying it.

"What’s wrong with you?!"

"I’m just saying what’s true."

Felix palmed his eyes in disappointment, and what made it even worse.

What she said might actually be right.

"Just leave me alone, alright?" he said, retreating a few paces and sitting down on an empty patch of grass facing the funeral.

Unfortunately for Felix, the elf didn’t seem to be finished just yet.

He definitely felt her coming closer and prepared his ears to hear whatever nonsense she was about to say.

"You’re so insufferable, even though we just met," she said as she sat down close to Felix. "As much as I don’t want to even look at you, my eyes tell me otherwise." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Felix smiled a little. "...If you don’t leave me alone, I’ll report you for indecent harassment."

. . .

Hearing his threat, the maiden stood back up and left the scene.

Well, that was easy.

Felix continued to sit all by himself until it was already dusk. By then, the long funeral procession was over, and yet... he still couldn’t find himself able to go over there.

After figuring that out relatively quickly, he too left the area and returned to the busy streets of the city.

It’s been two weeks since his sudden disappearance with the knightly order, but in order to not embarrass himself, he sent a leave of absence, though it was quite late by that time.

There wasn’t much going on inside his head as he walked through the flooded streets, and nothing enticed his attention.

The amount of clutter already dulled his senses. Because this city was located far away from the frontlines, it was the safest place to create the mass graveyard, and that kind of depressing atmosphere brought the worst kind of people, including him.

Fortunately, due to his status, Felix was placed in a luxurious apartment meant for nobility. But that didn’t mean much to him thanks to his way of life.

After enduring the exotic atmosphere of a crowded night city, he arrived at his own bed.

I’ll just come back tomorrow.

***

The usual morning routine went by, and he returned to visit the gravesite.

Surprisingly, for a city that was meant to house mourners, there was a disproportionate amount of people in the area, even if it was quite early in the morning.

But in a way, Felix was delighted to have no one around to watch him.

This time, he approached the tombstones of his friends with renewed purpose.

Felix carefully spent all of his time inspecting their tombstones and quietly contemplating. That was the least he could do.

I should head back and apologize to Yaromech. He thought, but deep inside, he didn’t really want to go.

"You don’t really want to go, am I right?"

The elf’s voice came out of nowhere.

She came out of nowhere!

Felix retreated to one of the tombstones as if it were his child in need of protection. "What are you talking about?"

The elf tilted her head, smirked as her long hair covered a portion of her face in almost glowing strands of light. "I just wanted to enjoy the view more, now that their families are surprisingly... gone."

Gone.

It was normal for families to visit a few times before finally departing. Felix only just realized that fact.

A royal elf assassinating a group of knights.

That kind of information is something that shouldn’t be known to the public. Otherwise, it might ruin the alliance.

Felix could only hope that his comrades’ families were simply told to leave, and nothing more.

He sighed, knowing how emotional he got during that confrontation weeks ago.

Damn politics. Felix rubbed his forehead, then glanced at the elf. Is she really what she said yesterday?

"Let me guess, you’re part of the governmental body, and you were sent to silence me, as I’m obviously against the protection of your prince," he remarked, confident in his guess.

"???" The elf tilted her head even more, her face turning from smirkish to confused.

Felix also became confused.

Is she hiding it or...

A knight has a good sense of character. It was no different for Felix.

My god, she really isn’t.

"So that’s how it is," the elf smiled. "A political incident. It really is like that every single time."

Who the hell is this woman... Felix thought, staying on guard.

Might as well ask directly.

"Pardon me for the lateness, but who are you?" Felix asked, carefully watching her behavior.

Compared to yesterday, this elf seemed more open—strangely so.

"...Call me Eos," she said, a faint smirk forming.

Eos, huh. I don’t recognize anyone important by that name.

Eos the elf. Felix examined her aura as if he was about to fight her.

She’s deceptive, and seeing her clean a tombstone with fire without breaking it, her essence control must be at the level of a master.

A master fire mage? No... who knows what other things she could do.

But in other words...

I’d struggle against her.

Eos wrongly caught on. "I hate to break it to you, but you’re just too young for me."

This elf... are you kidding me? "Well, you’re too old for me."

. . .

The tombstones remained unchanged by the situation, but nevertheless, there was a tiny disturbance in the environment’s essence.

After a few seconds of silence, he decided to break it by making things fair. "Felix’s my name. I’m a..."

He paused for a bit, weighing the effects of what he’d say, then continued.

"Unemployed at the moment."

Eos blinked, then softened the glow of her eyes.

She walked toward the nearest tombstone, almost floating over the grass.

Eos placed her hand on the rough masonry and smiled softly.

Felix remained still as she did whatever she was doing to each of the tombs of his comrades. The only thing stopping him now was the possibility that blood would stain the grass and the stone.

He wouldn’t disrespect a sacred site, but there had to be limits to treachery.

"Please, Eos. Take your hands off—

"Knights killed my parents. Have I told you that yet?"