Everyone tensed up, ready for combat, but Platanus simply knelt down and offered the lance to me.
"Can you promise me? To give me as much responsibility as possible? To trust me with all your work?"
"I'm best at delegating. I'll leave everything to you. I'll hand over all the complicated tasks to you."
"Delighted! I will devote my entire being to your service!"
"No, that's not necessary..."
And so, Platanus successfully joined our group.
However, the female members of our team were less than happy.
"Can you understand what these two are talking about, Instructor?"
"No idea. Don't want to know either."
"I've never seen Platanus so happy before."
"Does Crowe have... that kind of interest?"
"Probably. I wondered why he never made a move on women, and now it all makes sense."
"Platanus hates women due to his germophobia. Seriously, these two are something else."
Unsurprisingly, the women's reaction to our new alliance was less than enthusiastic.Even Holly, who's usually silent, seemed utterly shocked and taken aback.
"Ah well."
It's okay. Our team's power has certainly increased.
"Crow-sama, as long as I serve you, I will ensure you become the ruler of this world."
This is bad. Having Platanus as an ally seems to be more problematic than expected. I can't help but feel it's only going to lead to more troubles.
As I was leisurely eating a late breakfast in the castle's dining hall, Cattleya, who had finished her meal long ago, sat down in front of me.
"Do you really trust Platanus?" she asked with a serious look.
Well, it's almost noon anyway.
"Do you, Instructor, not trust Platanus?"
"Of course, I don't, you fool. In the end, even Safran turned out to be a spy. How can you gather all those who once sought your life and make them allies? What kind of nerve do you have?"
"It's not that I'm completely optimistic about them. I think they'll turn their backs on us the moment our situation worsens or if I disappoint them enough."
"Then why..."
"I just think it's okay if they betray us."
"Ah?"
Cattleya seemed perplexed.
"I'm not worth pledging loyalty to, am I? It's embarrassing to say, 'Pledge loyalty to me and never betray me. If we're going to lose, let's go down together.' Who do I think I am?"
"You really look down on yourself too much. Aren't you too self-deprecating?"
"I guess you all won’t understand. Being weak really makes you hate yourself. But I don't have the patience or the will to try to become stronger to my limits."
"Joking aside, I think you're a strong person."
"Now you're flattering me to death."
As Cattleya and I were having this conversation, Platanus walked into the dining hall, glanced at us, and approached.
"Oh, Crow-sama and Instructor Cattleya are together? Iris told me you two used to dine together often back in your officer school days. How enviable."
Platanus said this as he sat down next to Cattleya.
On his back was the spear-shaped saintly sword of the Divine Sword, Longinus Lance.Probably using the skill "constant deployment" to attach it to his back, Platanus had the saintly sword of the Divine Sword, Longinus Lance, which looked cumbersome like the Hades Sword that Cineraria carried. It seemed perfect for carrying around such a bulky saintly sword.
"Shut up. If you've got nothing to do, go somewhere else," Cattleya growled, visibly annoyed.
"How cold, Instructor. I too was once your student. Isn't it unfair to show favoritism to certain students as an instructor at the officer school?"
"Shut up! It's your fault for belittling me!"
"Dear me, it seems I've become quite disliked by the Instructor."
"…It's your own doing, Platanus," I couldn't help but interject in their conversation.
"You made her angry when you said she had nothing to teach and that besides owning the Blaze Sword, she was just ordinary."
"I have no comeback to that. However, I now regret that I didn't involve myself more deeply with Instructor Cattleya during my student days. The ability to recognize someone like you, Crow-sama, among many students is something I should have learned."
Even after Platanus's words, Cattleya turned her face away in displeasure.
This isn't good. I wish they would get along better as they are supposed to be allies.
"Instructor Cattleya, I think Platanus truly respects you."
"No way. He looked down on me from the bottom of his heart."
"But, Instructor, remember when you were almost executed for the false accusation of attempting to assassinate the king? We were able to return before your execution because of Platanus."
At that moment, both Cattleya and Platanus widened their eyes in surprise and stared at me.
"What are you talking about?"
"When you were falsely accused and about to be executed, Iris, Safran, and I were in Blue Dragon, completely unaware of your imprisonment in the royal city. If we hadn’t returned when we did, you could have been executed."
Well, Heath was desperately trying to stop Cattleya's execution.
"The reason we decided to return from Blue Dragon to the royal city was that Safran suggested we go back. Right, Platanus? You were the one who informed Safran of the situation in the royal city, weren't you?"
"Indeed, that's correct. The primary use of the Longinus Lance is to send one's voice to a distant person and receive their voice in return, essentially telepathy."
"That’s quite convenient."
"It was quite challenging to master. You need to have a strong image of the person's face and form in mind, and it only works with people you're familiar with. Plus, the farther away they are, the more physically draining it is. Frankly, when I tried to send my voice to Safran in Blue Dragon from the royal city, I fainted after just a few minutes of conversation."
"Wow, so you went to that length to tell Safran that the Instructor was in danger?"
"I wasn't sure if Safran would convey it to you, but yes."
I looked at Cattleya, who seemed to be wrestling with complicated feelings."See? Both Safran and Platanus were worried when you were about to be executed. They both like you, Instructor."
"Shut up! I don’t care what they think of me!"
Instructor Cattleya leaned on her hand at the table, turning her face away from Platanus, but it seemed her mood had improved. She was visibly blushing and embarrassed.
"Crow-sama, I've been meaning to ask. When did you realize that Safran and I were secretly connected?"
"Hm? I wasn't certain until I saw you and Safran fighting together in the courtyard."
"But you didn't seem very surprised."
"I knew Safran was under someone's orders to watch me, but I didn't know who. I suspected that person might be a user of the Longinus Lance, capable of communicating over long distances. When you pulled out the Longinus Lance, I guessed it might be you."
"I see."
"But the real giveaway was that Safran suggested we hire a home tutor for Shion, and that tutor turned out to be you. It was too obvious that you were connected. I was surprised you had the Longinus Lance, though. I thought Holly would've noticed."
"Did you and Safran arrange her betrayal at the last minute?"
"You know we didn’t. Your Longinus Lance can hear things from far away, right? It's not just for communicating at a distance, but also for scouting."
"…"
"Safran is more of a realist than you think. She would never fight a battle she knows she can’t win. So, as long as Shion was protecting me, she wouldn’t try to kill me. I knew she’d betray you even without arranging it."
"Ha... ha... The more I hear, the more I realize I truly lost, Crow-sama. I hardly knew anything about your plans, while you almost completely saw through mine. It's only natural that I lost."
"Like I said before, there’s no part where I'm better than you. Don’t worry about losing. I didn’t even know you could fight like that with the Longinus Lance."
Platanus glanced at the Longinus Lance on his back and then said, "As a sign of my loyalty, let me teach you my techniques.""The Longinus Lance’s ability is to manipulate sound. I think telepathy is not really in the realm of sound manipulation, but originally, it could only use a magic called 'Sonar' to emit sound waves from the sword itself to search the surrounding terrain and figures."
"Can you use that magic for attack?"