The Knight Commander of the Second Male Lead [Novel] Chapter 95

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 95

Chapter Title: Chapter 95

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 95

Chapter Title: Sticky Gazes

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"Chief Steward, your face looks scary."

"Me? What about it, Vice-Captain?"

Jin subtly averted his gaze. Lui's eyes widened slightly, revealing his purple irises before closing again.

"I never imagined I'd be dealing with something like this at my age."

"What's your age got to do with it?"

Jin raised his eyebrows, and Lui smiled faintly.

"You're right. It's not about age. No, I just thought those days were long over."

Jin knew exactly what time period Lui was referring to and burst into loud laughter.

"That's right. Didn't I go looking for them several times?"

"Yes, it was quite the cleanup. Of course, Lady Nina was the one leading the charge back then."

"Come on, do you think someone goes just because they're dragged along?"

The other person.

Lui nodded with a laugh at Jin's words. Back in their teenage days, Nina had often dragged Adrian out with her.

They'd come back soaked to the bone from the water sometimes, or Adrian would carry a pale-faced Nina on his back after she'd eaten some bad fruit from a tree.

The boy, striving to become a perfect captain, was flawless in his abilities.

Yet, when he returned from playing with Nina, seeing that boyish expression on his face had always put Lui at ease.

"In any case, I'm looking forward to the day we arrive at the territory."

Lui glanced toward the carriage at the rear. Inside it, Kelloyan was riding as Adrian's stand-in.

Adrian had shoved Kel into the role of double and taken off with Nina instead.

He hadn't known there were magic tools that could change hair and eye colors.

'Good thing the tools themselves aren't common. If they were commercialized, it'd be a real problem.'

It would make tracking fugitives a nightmare.

Randell's invention hadn't yet been revealed to the world, making it extremely useful.

Lui said to Jin,

"I never thought Randell-sha would cooperate with His Grace."

Jin swept back his unruly red hair and replied,

"Well, with Nina in the middle, maybe that's why. Honestly, I'd feel better sending her with a squad member... but no, it just won't do. Not for something that dangerous. Right?"

As he spoke sarcastically about how a superior's duty was to stay safe, Lui let out another sigh.

"I know His Grace isn't the type... but still."

Wasn't sneaking off alone like this against the rules?

"All we can do is hope Lady Nina handles it well on her own."

"She'll be fine. She's always meticulous when it comes to anything involving His Grace."

Lui nodded at Jin's words.

Adrian carefully added wood to the campfire. Seeing the sparks fly, Nina made a face like she'd had enough.

"I never thought I'd become this famous."

Every time they stopped at a village, everyone would spot her and ask.

"Are you by any chance the Captain of the Ebony Knight Order?"

"Are you Lady Nina?"

No, being asked politely was still gentlemanly.

"It's Nina la Del!!"

"Silver Hawk!"

"Empire's Greatest Sword!"

There were plenty who shouted and gathered crowds.

In the end, Nina gave up on villages and chose to camp outdoors.

"Thanks to that, we got good ingredients cheap, didn't we?"

Pretending to be Kel, he was using polite speech. Nina sighed deeply at Adrian's words.

"Yeah, but thinking we'll get that every time we visit a village makes me suddenly tired."

Muttering to herself, Nina recalled the nickname 'Silver Hawk' and chuckled.

"Why does everyone compare me to animals? I'm a hawk, is Jin a bear or something?"

The black hawk was the symbol of the Ebony Knight Order, so with her silver hair, she supposed Silver Hawk fit.

Adrian pulled a bracelet from his pocket and tossed it over.

The bracelet sparkled in the campfire light, tracing a perfect arc, and Nina caught it effortlessly.

"What's this bracelet?"

"Put it on and touch the gem."

Nina slipped the bracelet onto her wrist and pressed the opal-like gem. She felt a click as it depressed.

"What is this?"

Adrian picked up the copper frying pan he'd prepared for cooking and showed her the smooth bottom side as a mirror.

Even through the blurry reflection, she could instantly tell her hair had turned black.

"Huh?"

The surprised Nina tugged at her hair to check.

Jet black.

She pressed the gem again, and it turned deep pink; once more, navy blue; and again, back to her original silver.

"What is this?"

"If we just change the Captain's hair color and style, we can avoid some of the fuss, right?"

"Seems like it. Randell made this?"

"Yes."

Nina looked up and studied Adrian. He subtly showed her the bracelet he was wearing.

"Amazing."

Nina pressed it once more to turn her hair black, then let down her twin tails.

"No one will recognize me like this."

"Probably not."

"Good, then for now."

She switched it back to her original color and tied her hair into a single ponytail for the meal.

Adrian picked out the burning wood from the campfire, placed it under the tripod, and set the frying pan on top.

Since the Captain wasn't cooking, it was naturally the squad member's duty.

Adrian seemed to quite enjoy it.

He fried eggs and salt-cured pork from the last village, serving them with bread.

"Delicious. Who knew we'd have a proper meal while camping."

"The village was close. If we keep camping, it'll have to be rations."

"True. Maybe because someone else made it. Or the outdoor thing."

Nina held out her plate. Adrian fried up three more servings of eggs and pork.

She recalled the merchant's shocked face and voice when she'd ordered the pork in a whole salt barrel.

"Pardon? Without brining it in saltwater, it'll spoil on the road, milady."

'We'll finish it by tomorrow morning.'

After dinner, they adjusted the campfire—not too bright, not dying out.

Nina curled up, gazing at the crackling flames.

"Hmm, it's sticky."

Adrian nodded at Nina's words.

The clinging gazes felt sticky. She'd sensed it since leaving the castle gates.

They'd shaken them off at the One-Horned Horse's speed, but now it was back.

'Well, they've just caught up now. On normal horses, we'd have worn out several by full gallop.'

A single sprint bought about half a day.

"It's summer, after all."

Nina flashed a grin at Adrian's response to her "sticky" comment.

"Feels kinda nice, hearing polite speech. Did our Young Master feel like this?"

"He preferred when you spoke casually to him, Captain."

"Really?"

"Of course. And he'd use polite speech if you wanted."

"Ah, I wouldn't like that."

Nina giggled. Her eyes were still golden, shining brilliantly in the darkness.

The sounds of the crackling fire and chirping crickets filled the air.

A cold, chilly wind blew despite the summer. Adrian knew Nina had summoned the North Wind.

She hated the heat, so the North Wind always lingered around her.

That's why squad members always wanted to team up with her in summer.

Her North Wind zone was cool and bug-free. In winter, people teamed up with her for different reasons—to take care of her.

After the poisoning, Nina always caught bad colds come winter.

Suddenly, Adrian asked,

"Captain."

"Hm?"

Nina, who had been blankly staring at the flames, lifted her gaze.

"I heard you used to get colds every winter. Is it better now?"

"Yeah, probably fine? I'm tougher now. My durability's different from before."

Using the word 'durability' for a human body felt odd, but he understood.

"I hope so."

Adrian's expression darkened as he spoke.

'It's strange.'

Not black hair and pale pink eyes.

Cloudy purple hair and transparent peridot eyes, yet there was a shadow in them.

Like a shadow on the moon—Adrian's eyes were always like that.

"It's okay now."

Nina smiled as she spoke, and Adrian composed his expression.

"Being sick wasn't all bad. It worried everyone, but... I could do what I wanted?"

Nina smiled.

"The Young Master, he—"

She glanced at Adrian and continued.

"When I was coughing from a cold, he said he wanted peaches. But you can't get peaches in winter. Guess that bothered him."

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