The Knight Commander of the Second Male Lead [Novel] Chapter 51

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 51

Chapter Title: The Professor's Visit

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Nina changed into her training clothes and headed outside.

It had been a month since she began training Kel, Raja, and Shallo separately.

A very little, but they were finally starting to take shape as escorts.

The coordination between the three was still awkward and clunky, but considering it had only been a month, it was considerable progress.

Worried there might be complaints about selecting only these three, Nina had declared, "If you prove your skills, you could be replaced by others."

Those words lit a fire in everyone's hearts. Now they were all throwing themselves into training with passion.

Of course, the other knights made terrified faces whenever they watched the trio train.

"Captain."

Shallo was always the first to come scampering over.

It was nothing short of miraculous how she came running with her eyes sparkling full of anticipation and joy.

'What did I even do?'

Her beige, curly wool-like hair looked so plush and tempting that Nina wanted to find out just how soft it was.

Suppressing the urge, Nina smiled.

"Shallo."

"You're here, ma'am."

Next came the loud-voiced Raja.

His greeting somehow made her feel like she was the boss.

"Captain, have you arrived?"

Kel smiled brightly while showing the perfect amount of respect, making her want to praise him as a good boy.

"Let's try it like real combat today. First up, Shallo—you're the principal."

"Yes, ma'am."

She answered quickly, without even knowing what it would entail.

Nina designated her as the protectee and had her walk through the garden.

The attacker was, of course, Nina herself.

They rotated through it several times like this—each one taking turns as protectee, escort, and attacker. Then they switched it up, with Nina acting as the protectee while they took on the other roles.

By the end of the repeated training, the three were exhausted, collapsing and trembling like newborn fawns.

"Good work."

At Nina's words, Kel bowed his head.

"No, ma'am."

Seeing his light purple hair reminded her of her earlier thought, so Nina reached out a hand.

"Ahaha, Kel's such a good boy."

"?!"

Kel, who had been sitting on the ground, jerked his head up. His hand reflexively clamped down on his tousled hair as she ruffled it.

His reaction was so dramatic that Nina spoke in surprise.

"Sorry. That was rude of me."

"No, it's fine."

He bowed his head deeply in response. The tips of his ears were red.

Shallo alternated jealous glances between Kel and Nina's hand, swallowing hard several times before offering her own head.

"Um, me... too..."

Her voice was tiny and full of shyness, so Nina laughed and reached out.

"Yeah, good work, Shallo too."

Shallo's hair felt even softer and more pleasant than expected.

Raja's eyes darted back and forth awkwardly between the two of them.

Asking to be petted would hurt his pride, but being the only one left out would hurt even more.

If those two get it, then I should too.

"Captain. Me too!"

"Uh, sure."

As Nina petted Raja's head, he felt an odd sense of fulfillment.

Being praised by someone he respected felt far better than he'd imagined.

He'd always just fought with his parents and older brothers...

The warm feeling seeped into his heart, leaving him regretting it when her hand finally pulled away.

"Captain!"

Jin called out to her in a loud voice. Nina told the three to rest, then hopped lightly over to him.

"What's the matter?"

"You have visitors, Captain."

"Visitors? For me?"

Nina tilted her head, and Jin furrowed his brow slightly as he replied.

"They had a letter from you? Why are they strangers?"

"My letter? Ah!"

Only then did Nina recall that she'd sent letters to all the talented people she remembered.

"How many are there?"

"Three. Only one had the letter. The other two seem to be with her."

"One..."

Still, it was a start.

'Thanks for coming all this way, at least.'

Quickly recovering from the shock of Lorokomo's rejection, Nina thanked Jin and headed up to her room to change.

She swapped her training clothes for her uniform and carefully retied her hair into twin tails. Then she entered the Knight Order captain's office.

The three people in the waiting room all stood up at once.

Jin was standing rigidly at the entrance to the captain's room, his face expressionless.

As Nina entered, he crossed his arms into an X in salute. Receiving such a formal greeting from Jin was both embarrassing and enjoyable. The other three placed a hand over their left chests and bowed at the waist.

"I'm Nina Randel. I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. Please, come inside."

"No need to apologize. We should have sent advance notice despite the invitation. We're the ones who are sorry."

The woman wearing round glasses stepped forward as the representative to exchange greetings.

They entered the Knight Order captain's office, where Nina seated the guests and took the head seat herself.

"I'm Geramim. And these are my friends, Pasha and Lotte."

After hearing their introductions one by one, Nina mentally put up an exclamation point.

'Administrative talent.'

Nina smiled.

"I've already heard of your reputation. Since you came after receiving my letter, may I take that as a positive answer?"

Geramim was a lovable woman in her forties with plump cheeks and round glasses. Pasha and Lotte, who had come with her, appeared to be women in their mid-twenties.

Geramim pushed up the bridge of her glasses and spoke.

"Reputation—what kind, I can only imagine. It's embarrassing."

A self-deprecating bitter smile crossed Geramim's face.

Nina grinned.

"All I've heard is that Professor Geramim has a high reputation at the academy."

"You must have heard the backstory too, which is why you sent the letter."

Geramim spoke sharply, but Nina replied with her usual smiling face.

"Yes. I thought it was the Empire's loss to let such great talent go to waste."

Geramim's face turned bitter at those words.

"Forgive my sharpness, Viscountess Randel. It's just the situation."

"I understand."

"The Kingdom of Baru, where I was born, doesn't allow women to advance in society. Even after becoming a professor at the Imperial Academy, I'm useless back home."

Geramim looked straight at Nina.

"That's why your letter was so hard to believe. I looked into you, and it made a little sense, but..."

"Because I'm a noble from commoner origins."

At Nina's blunt words, Geramim looked momentarily surprised, then wore an expression that was hard to call a smile as she replied.

"Yes. In the Empire, no one gets hired without a letter of recommendation."

No matter how renowned a professor she was, she needed a recommendation.

And for a foreigner like Geramim, it was even more essential. But the academy hadn't provided one for her.

In fact, a man she'd believed to be a friend had stolen her research results, leading to her expulsion from the academy.

She had the talent and had devoted her life to building it, yet nowhere would put it to use.

Because she was a foreigner. A woman. No recommendation.

They'd even slapped her with spy charges for allegedly trying to leak research abroad.

The letter from Nina had felt like a lifeline.

The Rubaenu Ducal Family.

She knew the infamy well. The bastard child who killed his own parents and half-siblings to seize the title.

The Violet Forest overflowing with pollution.

The collapsed knight order.

Still, it was a ducal house.

One of only three in the Empire.

There was no other path.

She'd brought her disciples along, practically liquidating her assets to scrape together travel funds to get here.

Even so, she couldn't help but gather her pride and put on a bold front. She knew all too well that showing weakness made people look down on you.

"So, you said you'd treat me the best you could—what exactly do you mean by that?"

Tensing her stomach, she asked, and Nina nodded.

"Of course. We'll give you the best treatment we can offer."

"And sorry, but I don't do dirty work."