The Knight Commander of the Second Male Lead [Novel] Chapter 60

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 60

Chapter Title: Weakness Isn't Bad

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"Captain."

When Nina turned around, he asked with a stiff expression.

"How did you know we'd been robbed?"

"The Duke told me."

The answer came easily. Rorokomo's face grew even more rigid.

"Does that mean you've been surveilling us?"

"Well, yeah? Probably most people who make contact with us are under basic surveillance."

Nina tilted her head, adding, Adrian isn't the sloppy type.

"Then why..."

"The point of surveillance isn't to save people. It's just observation. There's no reason for the ducal family to rescue you."

Rorokomo stared at Nina, who smiled coolly as she spoke.

"Then why did you come?"

"Well, when someone you know gets robbed, it feels off, right? If you can save them, you should."

Nina grinned.

Rorokomo had one last question.

"Deliberately..."

He stopped mid-sentence. If she'd come to silence him, he'd be dead by now.

Any other reason...

Nina smiled.

"Not that. Even if it were, um. Sorry, Rorokomo. We're not scheming some grand plan to turn you to our side."

Ha ha. Nina laughed again. Rorokomo's face flushed. Mimina looked equally flustered.

Nina smiled softly.

"Thinking you're valuable enough for that is something to be proud of."

High self-esteem, strong sense of self-worth.

The target isn't just anyone, after all.

"I'm sorry."

Was his judgment clouded by fever? Or maybe he just wanted to blame someone.

"I wanted to pin my weakness on someone else. If I'd trained harder in sealing arts..."

He bit his lip, feeling utterly pathetic. Like the most useless person in the world.

Nina stepped back inside and plopped down in her seat.

Propping her chin up, she said,

"Rorokomo, being weak isn't bad."

The sudden words felt like mockery to him, and he let out a self-deprecating laugh.

"If it weren't for you, Captain, Mimina and I would both be dead."

"The bandits are the bad ones. Is strength everything? Sure, I'm pretty strong myself."

Nina chuckled.

"After handling about a thousand... um, I'd probably still die, right?"

It wouldn't be easy, but she'd die eventually.

"You're a merchant, Rorokomo. Money is power too. I couldn't haggle like you. In the merchant world, I'd be incompetent. Weak, but that's not bad, right? Everyone has their strengths. So we help each other out."

Rorokomo gave a wry smile and bowed his head. Nina figured she'd said enough and stood.

"Well, I'll really be going now. Take care, Mimina. Rorokomo."

As Nina left the hut, Mimina saw her off.

"Sorry if Rorokomo hurt your feelings..."

"It's fine."

Rorokomo was a severely shaken victim. Despite having no room in his heart, he'd responded defensively to criticism—instead, he'd honestly admitted his mistake.

That alone made him impressive, Nina thought.

Mimina's cheeks flushed at Nina's words. She whispered,

"You really are like a Snow Knight, Lady Nina."

Nina blinked. "Snow Knight?"

Mimina floundered. "It's a legendary figure from our Bleka tribe. Means an incredibly cool knight."

Elegant, beautiful, righteous Snow Knight.

Mimina was too embarrassed to lavish such praise in front of her. Nina smiled shyly.

"Thanks for saying that. Well, bye."

She lightly mounted the One-Horned Horse and signaled. It accelerated in an instant.

Watching Nina vanish quickly, Mimina fanned her red cheeks.

Then she stormed back into the hut, glaring.

"What kind of rudeness to your benefactor?"

"Mimina..."

"While I slept soundly, she nursed you through your burning fever herself. Even made ice with spirit power!"

Rorokomo's eyes widened in surprise. Now that he thought about it, he vaguely remembered.

Recalling details one by one, his heart grew heavy.

She'd rushed over at midnight, used priceless medicine without hesitation, fought to save Mimina.

Fighting bandits alone must've been life-risking.

She'd recovered the wagon and horses intact, asked for nothing. Not even a single fairy coin.

Suddenly feeling like an ungrateful wretch, he rubbed his face with both hands.

"What do I do..."

Mimina patted his back.

"Rest first. Then we'll go apologize."

Rorokomo nodded at her suggestion of a proper thank-you. His mind must've been dulled by incomplete recovery.

He lay down and closed his eyes. Sleep claimed him the moment his head hit the pillow.

Back home, Nina reported to Kiril first. Kiril listened eagerly to her scolding about the medicine.

Then she sounded deeply regretful.

"I wish I'd seen it myself. There must've been side effects... Chances to test on severely injured humans don't come often."

"Satisfy yourself with my report, Kiril. Side effects?"

"Intensified fatigue, or excessive regeneration speeding up aging..."

Kiril tilted her head, then shook it.

"Nothing to do but wait for a suitable test subject—er, patient. So he had a fever?"

After answering Kiril's questions thoroughly, Nina gave Adrian a brief report.

She added that she'd wiped out the bandits. Answering his questions about them, Nina's face turned odd.

"Thinking about it, they were huge? Had a mountain stronghold? Not even deep in the mountains... What?"

They had proper weapons and armor.

"Their skills were pretty good too. Doesn't seem like runaway farmers at all..."

Nina paused.

"Could it be the count's private bandits?"

England had privateers; did the count's territory have private bandits?

On the path from our lands to theirs?

The targeting was too obvious; Nina was exasperated.

"Wow, I only took the pricey stuff, but I should've swept every fairy coin on the way back."

On the return, she'd stopped at the stronghold, loaded gold coins and ornaments onto the One-Horned Horse.

Now she realized she should've taken everything.

Sighing, Nina added her talk with Rorokomo.

"He wondered if it was deliberate, which floored me."

Adrian asked,

"You don't think it was?"

"Nope."

"Why? You're bummed I didn't use that method to get you your toy."

"Maybe, but..."

Nina trailed off, gazing at Adrian.

The office, windows flung open the moment she entered for sunlight, had a gentle breeze.

Sunlight hit Adrian's handsome face, making him glow.

Nina beamed.

"Young Master doesn't do things I hate."

Adrian stared, speechless, then sighed.

"Yeah, true."

"Why the 'you got me' face now? You've known forever."

Nina shrugged boldly.

"And that method has too many variables. Not your style."

Adrian chuckled.

"Good work, Captain."

"No problem, Your Grace."

Nina crossed her arms in salute and left.

Jin grumbled, "Should've taken me."

Nina could've said too annoying, but considering his feelings, she nodded seriously.

"Got it. Next time for sure."

Jin's face darkened. He grabbed her arm.

"What? Hurt somewhere? Injured?"

"Huh? No, totally fine. Those guys were weaklings."

"Then why say it like that? Normally you'd brazenly say 'too annoying.' Something happened?"

"No, I was being considerate of your delicate feelings."

"Since when?"

Nina rolled her eyes.

"You prefer rough treatment?"

Jin frowned. "Hey, don't make me sound like—" He stopped.

"Yeah, honesty is better. Just startled me."

Determined not to get swept up, Jin kept calm. Nina laughed and promised, "Got it. Always honest."

She continued,

"Now, take the newbies to beginner Belaks? Need to form teams."

"Group Kell, Shallo, and Raja separately."

"Huh?"

Nina tilted her head.

Usually pairs of two.

"Group of three? Not pairs?"

Jin smirked.

"Those three stand out too much. Plus, training them as Royal Guard. Better to group solidly."

"Got it."

"Then I'll prep to head out."

Shifting to training talk, they walked and chatted.