Those Who Live Without the Law

Chapter 42

Irena Kellogg

* * *

When I came to Bennett City, I also used the train. However, the train I had taken back then and the Kensington Express I was riding now were completely different.

“Here is the coffee you ordered. Is there anything else you might need, Mr. Randolph?”

A train attendant prepared the coffee and several kinds of cookies, kneeling beside my seat to set them out.

Dominic Randolph.

A worthless son, whose foolish mayor father ended up putting on a dog collar from the Rose Garden while trying to help him get a degree somehow.

And it was the identity I was currently assuming.

Instead of replying to the attendant, I simply gave the newspaper a shake. It meant there was no more business, so she could leave.

Still, since I was pretending to be a young nobleman, this much attitude was appropriate.

“The Randolph family... they have a long history, but they’ve grown rather poor.”

They were a house whose influence had been considerably diminished after a major setback. In that regard, I had no right to speak harshly about them.

“But at least they still have something left.”

What right did the pathetic remains of the Featherwing family have to evaluate anyone else?

I took a sip of the hot coffee and felt slightly melancholy.

There was still a bit of time left before the train would depart, and the person who would be sitting across from me had already been decided.

“Irena Kellogg.”

The only daughter born to Simid Kellogg’s second wife.

She was still just an apprentice knight, but even so, she was among the younger ones to have earned the title of knight.

Which meant that, among Simid Kellogg’s children, Irena Kellogg was currently his only daughter.

“With eight sons and just one daughter…”

Naturally, more affection and attention would go to the daughter. People were always like that. You inevitably cared more about the one that was fewer in number.

And in a noble family, a daughter ultimately became an extremely useful gift.

It might sound crude, but it was the truth. Sending a daughter in marriage to another house was the surest way to strengthen ties.

Was a daughter an object? Of course. The daughter would marry a man she did not want, and the man would take a wife he did not desire.

Marriage had nothing to do with love, so the consent of those involved was never required.

“She probably became a knight because she hated that.”

Female knights were quite common. In fact, among the children of noble families, the path of the knight was often seen as a way to escape a predetermined fate.

Once you swore loyalty to the nation, you were no longer property of your family.

“You—why do you keep sneaking glances over here?”

Irena, who had sensed my gaze, spoke in a voice that sounded rather displeased.

“Are you with the Scarlet Leaf Order?”

At my words, Irena flinched slightly, then cast her eyes toward the sword leaning beside my chair.

Soon after, her expression softened a little, and she answered.

“Yes, though I’m still an apprentice with much to learn.”

I replied with a smile.

“You’re still young, aren’t you? If you keep working hard, I’m sure you’ll achieve good results. Is Sir Dana Watson still the Order’s commander?”

Dana Watson, the commander of the Scarlet Leaf Order, was a famous heroine. She was a striking beauty with flaming red hair that left a strong impression.

But there was an even more notorious story about her than her looks.

“She probably still enjoys her drinks, doesn’t she?”

“It’s not just the drinking. The knights who serve her are always worried. If she doesn’t stay away from alcohol and men, she won’t live long.”

That was the woman who once ate three kilograms of meat and drank eight bottles of spirits for dinner, then spent the night with seven men.

“She was the sort of person whose resolve to burn through life like a fire you could feel.”

If there was liquor, she would drink it. She would consume food and men alike. She killed her enemies and saved her allies.

“She’s never cared about living a long life.”

“Yes, all the seniors say so. By the way, it sounds like you know the commander personally.”

I gave a vague smile in return.

“I once challenged her and ended up thoroughly beaten.”

At my words, Irena nodded. The sword-shaped battle gear resting beside me was obviously an excellent piece.

Of course, battle gear given by noble families to encourage their children in the life of a knight were also of good quality.

“But that one is different.”

That wasn’t the kind of item you simply gave or received as a formality.

“Come to think of it…”

Irena spoke in a tone that had grown considerably softer and took out a handkerchief embroidered with her name.

Seeing that, I immediately retrieved my own handkerchief and smiled.

“My, it seems I’ve been rather distracted.”

Following the proper procedure, we exchanged handkerchiefs.

“…Dominic Randolph? You?”

Irena looked down at the name embroidered on my handkerchief and gave me an uncertain expression.

Likewise, I was wearing a face that appeared thoroughly flustered.

“Well.”

Irena Kellogg, though she was happy to finally be on her way home after a long time, was also under quite a bit of stress.

“Engagement.”

Strictly speaking, as a member of the knight order, Irena was under no obligation to accept an unwanted engagement.

Among the children of noble families, knights were the only ones allowed to marry freely for love.

But that didn’t mean she could completely ignore her family’s wishes.

“There’s someone good we’d like you to meet.”

Whether she liked it or not, she at least had to agree to meet them. It was a matter of minimal respect for her family.

…

Irena’s expression turned somewhat ambiguous. I also looked as though I was struggling with something complicated.

“In truth, it was all complete nonsense.”

There was no reason for the Kellogg family to marry Irena off to the likes of the Randolph family.

If they had to arrange a marriage for their only daughter, of course they would aim for an alliance with a far better house, not some family like Randolph.

Irena’s gaze wasn’t on me but on the sword leaning beside my chair.

“That’s a fine sword. It seems the Randolph family has more wealth than the rumors suggest.”

Even though she knew it was a piece of battle gear, she deliberately called it a sword, and saying it hinted at wealth contrary to the rumors was also a sarcastic remark.

She was indirectly saying, “You don’t even understand the true value of what you own.”

“By chance, I managed to acquire a fine battle gear through a fortunate connection.”

It wasn’t something my family had bought me—I’d obtained it myself. And she knew perfectly well it was battle gear.

Understanding my explanation well enough, Irena continued in a tone that still sounded as though she was merely passing the time.

“You are known to have more skill with the pen than the sword… how unexpected.”

Dominic Randolph had earned his degree through dishonest means.

Irena, too, had heard the rumors. This was both a jab at the supposed scholarly prowess of Dominic and a little test to gauge my reaction.

Until a moment ago, Irena had been maintaining a fairly courteous attitude toward me.

But now that she realized I was the man she might be forced to marry if things went badly, it was natural her guard had gone up.

“Yes, that’s true. I do prefer the pen to the sword.”

In the sudden, awkward atmosphere, I quietly took a sip of my coffee.

And as she watched me, a crease of deliberation appeared between Irena’s brows.

“Damn it.”

It would take several days of traveling by train to reach the Kellogg estate.

In other words, whether she liked it or not, Irena would have to spend that time with the “man she might end up engaged to” sitting across from her.

“Even though I already don’t like him!”

Strictly speaking, more than half of that negative attitude came from a prejudice formed before she’d even seen my face.

Who could possibly have a good impression of someone who couldn’t even earn their own degree and had to steal it using their family’s power?

I had already guessed things would turn out like this.

It didn’t matter if Irena seemed wary of me. After all, the fact that Irena and I had been assigned nearby seats was part of the plan from the start.

And the incidents that would unfold during this train ride were all things Spring Parsley had prepared with the backing of the Rose Garden.

“Irena’s skills amount to the level of an apprentice knight capable of using battle gear.”

Since this was information provided by the Rose Garden, the chance it was wrong was extremely low. Even so, the Scarlet Leaf Order was still among the more capable knight orders in the Empire.

Irena probably had skills better than most ordinary apprentice knights.

But that wasn’t the real issue. What I needed to be concerned about wasn’t her strength, but the attitude she had suddenly begun to show—one of wary dislike.

“Seems she dislikes me more than I thought.”

Irena was a woman who’d become a knight because she didn’t want to marry whoever her family chose. It was difficult for her to maintain any kind of pleasant demeanor toward someone who might end up an unwanted fiancé.

“But no, this isn’t it.”

She gave me a once-over, pausing as if to think, then slowly shook her head.

Appearance meant nothing to her. From the start and especially with someone her family was trying to push on her—she had no intention of agreeing to an engagement.

She had become a knight, and on the battlefield she would defeat the Empire’s enemies, hone her skill, and one day become a decorated knight, perhaps even the commander of an order.

“One day, like the commander herself.”

Her dream was to become someone like Dana Watson, the Scarlet Leaf Commander, the Red Comet. Of course, that didn’t mean she wanted to imitate the overeating, the binge drinking, or the tangled affairs with men.

What she desired was freedom—the freedom to do whatever she pleased. That was the one and only wish she had.

And it wasn’t something she would ever trade away for the sake of some man with a passably decent face.

While Irena was busy rejecting me in her head—though she’d never even confessed to me without realizing it, I was also thinking of other things.

“The Red Comet, Dana Watson.”

She was counted among the great knights who upheld the Empire. The reason she’d earned that nickname was simple.

“She looked like a comet falling from the sky, and her hair was the color of flame.”

With a single swing of her blade as she fell, a mushroom-shaped cloud would rise high into the sky, and the ground would be gouged with a crater over 1.5 kilometers wide.

And it wasn’t as though this was some desperate final strike she used when there was no other choice.

It was simply the opening blow that announced Dana Watson had entered the battle. That single signal was usually enough to break the enemy’s will and send them fleeing.

“If I ever run into her, I’d better turn tail and run without a second thought.”

Anyone who could create a crater that size with a sword strike could hardly be called human anymore.

I stopped that train of thought and looked again at Irena, the more immediate concern.

“Do the rumors make you uncomfortable?”

At my words, Irena flinched, then nodded.

“It’s hard not to be bothered, at least a little.”

“If I move to another seat, would that ease your mind?”

Irena shook her head.

“…No matter what, I can’t impose on you like that.”

At the very least, she was someone with a basic sense of social courtesy, consideration, and conscience.

She wasn’t the sort of dull-witted idiot who would shamelessly say, “I’m uncomfortable, so you should go elsewhere.”

Irena turned to look out the window for a moment as if she didn’t intend to talk anymore, then closed her eyes.

…

Naturally, I wasn’t foolish enough to keep pestering her when it was obvious what that attitude meant.

The train rolled on, and time kept passing. Idle hours ticked by, filled with nothing in particular to do.

And so, the train kept running for two full days.

“Hey—no, come on! You can’t be serious!”

Irena and I were playing cards now. The hours spent confined in the carriage were simply too long for her to keep ignoring me and besides, she’d grown bored.