1220: Knight Hall

「The first floor serves as a food and weapon storage, but please do not enter the locked rooms. The residential area is on the second floor, which you can reach from the staircase over there.」

「Certainly old, but the building itself is pretty sturdy. Not bad for defending.」

「Kyui!」

「It was originally designed as a fortress, you see.」

The interior of the stone fortress was much narrower than it appeared from the outside.

The thick stone walls must be reducing the internal space. It must have been built with a priority on durability.

It wasn’t so narrow that people couldn’t pass each other in the hallways, but it would be impossible for three people to walk side by side.

The ceiling was also only about 2 meters high. Ogrekin would need to crouch a bit to fit inside.

However, there wasn’t the usual dustiness that often came with stone structures. Peridot and her team had apparently cleaned it in advance.

The weapons in the storage room were left in plain sight, which was probably intentional. Someone trying to snag one would only serve to reveal their rebellious intent, giving the Kranzel side more leverage to be used against Sibylla and the knights.

In a way, this was like a loyalty test to see if they would stay obedient or not.

Even if the villagers stole all the weapons in the room, it wouldn’t do much in the hands of ordinary people like them. They don’t pose much of a threat to begin with.

Perhaps Sibylla also reached that conclusion, as she instructed Klikka and the Red Knights to stand watch in the weapons room.

「From here on is the residential area. We have already brought in beds and other furnishings into the vacant rooms, but I must apologize for our lack of preparation in the other rooms. Some of them retain the sheets and such that belong to the former owner. You will have to use them as they are.」

Peridot opened the door and showed us the room. In addition to beds and desks, there were clothes and other belongings left lying around.

It’s unclear whether the former owner of this room was deceased or merely out on deployment. It seems they were to use the room regardless.

Back in Japan, there would definitely be privacy complaints about letting a stranger sleep in their room. But in this world where there are no human rights, maybe it isn’t so strange. Most people carry their valuables on their person, or deposit them at a guild or such.

Any items left in the knights sleeping quarters probably don’t have much value.

Sibylla and the others seemed a bit hesitant, but ultimately accepted it. That said, the people forced to use some knight’s old room aren’t going to be pleased, just like the previous owners won’t like someone using their room.

「…Let’s assign the rooms with used beds to the Red Knights.」

「Yes, that’s a good idea.」

「Kyuu.」

Sibylla and Klikka nodded to each other while pinching their noses. Bisdra did the same.

A fortress packed with a bunch of single, male knights must be like a sports club dormitory, in more ways than one.

Laundry was probably a foreign concept here. There seemed to be quite a unique smell filling the rooms, though I fortunately didn’t have a nose to try for myself.

『Fran, Urushi. How is it?』

（Stinks.）

（Woof.）

Fran also pinched her nose and wrinkled her face. She should have resistance to these kinds of smells from her time as a slave, yet it was still too much for her… Those nasty knights!

On the other hand, Urushi seemed to be perfectly fine. Dogs tend to like smelly things, after all.

「Don’t know how long we’ll be staying here, but hopefully we can finish the laundry as soon as possible.」

「There’s a well in the backyard for water, so please use that. There’s also the kitchen on the first floor for when you need to use fire.」

「Got it.」

Summing up all the single-bed and multi-bed rooms that were previously used by knights, it seems they will require laundry for about 200 people.

All of that must be quite a hassle, right? Fran seemed to be thinking the same thing.

「Area Clean.」

「Whoa!」

「T-This is…」

Fran invoked a cleansing spell over a wide area. In exchange for having zero effect on undead and poison, this spell was focused on eliminating things like mold, odors, and grime.

In other words, it should clean up the fortress and improve the smell significantly.

「You’re good at cleansing magic too?」

「That is certainly a very high-level spell.」

「Just how many different magic schools can you use…?」

「Kyui.」

This spell was only for cleaning so it didn’t affect the Evil Dragon Bisdra. Fran knew what she was doing.

「Tell me if there’s anything else I can…」

「No, I’m afraid Black Lightning Princess-dono has something else to do at the moment.」

「?」

「I will be taking her to the Lord’s Mansion, so she can report to him in person. The supervision here will be carried out by my subordinates, so rest assured.」

Fran was determined to be of assistance, but it wasn’t meant to be. Besides, we’re the only ones who knows the full picture on Kranzel’s side, so it’s only natural to make us report.

「…Fine.」

Fran also knew the importance of this meeting. She nodded obediently, albeit disappointed.

「Fran, Urushi. You’ve been a great help.」

「Thank you very much.」

「Kyui!」

Fran shook hands with Sibylla and the others. I bet she’s raring to come back and help, but I’m not sure if that will come to pass. Sibylla probably knew that too.

Meanwhile, Klikka has been petting Urushi’s head for quite some time. Was she secretly a dog lover or something?

「Well then, shall we go?」

「Nn.」

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