I Will Be the Greatest Knight-Chapter 266: More Than Mere Acquaintances

Irene managed not to make an entire fool out of herself while she mounted Sorrel and rode off with Felix at her side.

However, the moment she was out of the line of sight of the older knights who had bestowed upon them the amazing gift of armor, she pulled up the visor on her helmet.

Her riding was slow and awkward until she was able to do that.

"How on earth have you gotten used to this so quickly?" she asked Felix, who had been waiting for her a bit ahead.

She noticed that Felix was entirely unaffected by armor.

"Even though I never wore a full suit, I still got used to bits and pieces at a time," he admitted. "Having this much weight on your body isn’t meant to be easy at first, it’s only meant to be safe."

"And what about the helmet?" she wondered. "Is it safe that I can’t see a thing?"

Felix scrutinized her with a sad smirk.

"Better to not see than risk getting your skull crushed," he responded. "Let’s move forward."

Irene immediately pulled the visor over her face. Her lips fell open, and she wanted to say something to rectify the situation.

It sounded as if he was referring to Sir Eitan, and she felt awful that she had been inconsiderate. She had visited the guest room Felix stayed in and saw that his old knight’s helmet was sitting on his dresser for him to look at each and every day.

She couldn’t blame him. After all, Leif’s sword was in the very same place in her room. She had switched out blades since she didn’t want to wear them down while out in the duchy for the next month or so.

Going on a path so familiar to them, half of Irene’s brain seemed to drift while the other half was carefully listening to anything alarming, her eyes never strayed from her surroundings either.

Time went surprisingly fast as she was left to her thoughts. Before she realized, the sun was starting to dip in the sky from its highest point, and they were at their halfway point of the bridge and river.

Slipping off her horse a bit less smoothly than normal, Irene couldn’t help miserably staring at her horse, which went to the river’s edge to take a drink.

When would her journey’s stop having a whisper of Leif in them? The places they stopped, places they camped. Every trail they had taken with one another.

Even passing the ancient wall segment made her stomach sit at the thought of how that was the place they grew the closest. They had endless conversations trying to stay awake atop that high vantage point.

Felix realized he had lost Irene as she stood there motionless.

"Shouldn’t you eat something?" he asked, having already retrieved jerky and fresh bread from that morning.

Felix, the voice of reason lately.

Irene lifted her visor. At least it had concealed her miserable expression from before.

"You’re right, sir," she responded lightly, purposefully not reflecting what she was feeling.

"You’re going to keep calling me that even when we’re not around the others, dame?" he wondered.

"Why? Does it bother you, sir?" she questioned. "I thought you were a knight."

"The one person I don’t want to hear it from is you," he admitted, more seriously than his previous tone. "If you can’t drop the title, who can?"

It felt like the desperate plea of a man who had no one else, and Irene realized that’s exactly what it was.

The other knights already established were older than he, and it would likely be strange to have such a close relationship with them. The former apprentices who were just knighted weren’t close to Felix because they were younger.

The other people he shared any familiarity with were already gone. If Leif and Felix were still here, she knew he wouldn’t have felt so unbelievably lonely.

"You’re right," she relented easily. "I suppose we ought to have more comfortability around one another. We will be spending quite a lot of time together."

When she had finally retrieved her food, she offered the other knight a small, apologetic smile, hoping that she communicated well enough that she didn’t wish for anything less.

It was her father who insisted they get used to their titles, after all.

Since Felix seemed more satisfied with their resolution, Irene pressed forward once the horses were rested enough.

There was no more stopping as they went through fields and forest and were met with the familiar sight of the wall that stood at the edge of the township where Samson once lived.

Their horses slowed, and they pulled up their visors so that the townspeople would know that they meant no harm. They were only there for a friendly visit, after all.

Before they could go into the township and relieve their horses, they did what they could in the darkness of dusk and made sure that the borders of the town were clear of monsters or any other suspicious activity. It seemed that the farms were all harvested, and the storehouses were full.

Commander Lothian already made sure of that, but it didn’t hurt to double check.

The two were finally able to go to the stables that were attached to an old, three story inn that they were very familiar with. It was the very one they all went to when the town was in ruins and they had just taken down the necromanced ogre skeleton.

It felt like a lifetime ago.

When one of the stablehands took their horses and they removed their saddlebags, they walked to the entrance and were greeted by the owner when they finally stepped inside.

"Knights!" he exclaimed. "It has been such a long time since any of you have stepped foot in this town. Please, your drinks and meal are on the house tonight."

"That isn’t necessary," Felix insisted despite the knighthood’s budget being slimmer than ever.

"I insist," the innkeeper persisted.

Irene merely smiled politely, and Felix raised his hands as if to say he relented.

"A two bed room is alright?" the innkeeper asked, seeing as there were only two of them.

For the first time, upon receiving a question like that, Felix hesitated.

All the times Irene had been subjected to sleeping as the only girl in practically a sea of men occurred to him at that moment. How uncomfortable it must have been for a growing girl to deal with that.

He had the urge to tell the innkeeper to give them private rooms which would be a bit more expensive, but understandably so.

However, Irene decided to speak up since Felix’s gaze had landed on her. novelbuddy-cσ๓

"Yes, that’s perfect," she responded.

The man was merely jolly to have knights there. Since he didn’t know the two of them personally, he went on without a hitch, handing them their key for a few coins.

After that, Felix mostly went silent until they were finally in their room and taking their load off for the night.

"Don’t worry," Irene assured him. "You won’t treat me differently. I am no different than before. If it was anyone else, I would have likely hesitated more."

"Fair enough" was all Felix said before they both decided to have their first real meal of the day.

They were given thick legs of a large bird and roasted carrots. There was bread in a bowl between them and Felix requested mugs of ale.

While they ate in mostly silence, Irene noticed that Felix finished his mug. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to match his pace, but she did anyway. Drinking customs were beyond her. All she knew was that people of the equal status should eat equally. She figured they ought to drink the same as well.

However, when they were finished eating and the second mug was down, they both stood up to finally go to bed and Irene stumbled as she got off of her bench.

"Sorry," she uttered, hanging onto Felix’s sleeve because he was the only thing she could catch on the way down.

She quickly let him go.

At that moment, she knew that someone of her size ought to not drink the same as someone of Felix’s size. He had downed it so effortlessly, she thought she was supposed to as well. It had been a mistake that she would have to sleep off.

After they settled down for the night, Irene decided it was time to clean her sword as she sat at the edge of her bed. Luckily, sitting down and doing this wasn’t such an issue with all she had to drink.

The most unusual thing, though, was how much she had the desire to chat. That was certainly a sign she was still feeling their beverages from before.

"I feel a bit drunk," Irene admitted. "I will know in the future not to drink as much as you do."

Felix merely smirked and shook his head at that. He was dealing with his own weapons before he would settle in for the night.

However, his eyes soon looked over at the girl when he was finished cleaning his sword. He had taken notice of the sword she carried that day.

He hoped her drunk mind was a bit cushioned because he knew he would deal her somewhat of a blow.

"Why aren’t you carrying Leif’s sword anymore?" he wondered, feeling almost insecure that Agnes’ red journal was still tucked away in his closest pocket.

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