Dropped Into Another World V3C1

Chapter 1 – 3rd Order Knight Pisce

—Emperors Kingdom’s 3rd Knight Order Member Pisce POV—

When I took out a sheet of paper from an envelope, I saw the words “Notice of Personnel Change”.

I can feel my heart pounding loudly.

Whoah, okay, let’s check it out!

「….I did it!」

The paper crumpled in my hand as I made a guts punch when I saw the content.

「Ah, my precious notice」

I hurriedly stretch out the crumpled paper neatly and look at the notice once more.

It was written there that I had been transferred to the “Special Investigation Unit”.

「Pisce?…..no way, is that a notice?」

My colleague, Appi, saw me and was surprised.

「Yeah. I’ve been transferred as a special investigator position.」

The “Special Investigation Unit” is a unit formed to investigate the forest.

During the reign of the previous king, the 4th knight order was commanded to survey the forest but its purpose was mainly invasion.

After the current king took over, the purpose of surveying the forest changed drastically and a special unit was created.

And for several weeks now, applicants for transfer had been gathered.

-0-

The mission of this special unit was to investigate the forest and convey the king’s “apology” to the kings and the god of the forest.

Although they are not allowed to go into the deepest part of the forest, where the god of the forest might be residing, they still have to go deep into the forest to some extent.

Because of this, strong monsters are expected to appear and it’s not a safe mission.

However, knowing the danger, many of the knights requested to be transferred.

They, as well as myself, believe that we may be able to see the god of the forest in person.

Of course, we are not expecting them to see us, who came from Emperors Kingdom that tried to invade the forest before.

I just wanted to catch a glimpse of that overwhelmingly powerful being even from afar.

「Seriously! I envy you. Darn, I wasn’t chosen.」

Appi looks at the notice with an envious expression.

「I’m sorry for you but you still have a chance, don’t you?」

Even if we go to the forest, we wouldn’t be able to immediately convey our apologies to the kings.

We might not even be allowed to look at them from afar.

Even if they listen to our apology, that won’t mean they will forgive us.

It may take a long time.

The king knew this and assured us that we will not give up no matter how many years it would take.

However, the mission in the forest was expected to be tough and once the knights get exhausted, their lives will be in danger.

To prevent this, it was decided that the members would be replaced after a certain period of time.

So, even if they are not selected this time, they still have a chance.

「That may be so but…..haa」

I feel bad for Appi, who is depressed but I’m extremely happy.

I hold my mouth with my hand since I feel like I’ll scream with joy. I look at the notice again.

I look at the part where it is written “Pisce Longra is ordered to be transferred to the Special Investigation Unit”.

「You’re smiling too much.」

Appi’s words deepen my smile.

「Ahahaha, ah, no. I can’t stop it.」

「That’s expected. So, when will you be transferred?」

「I don’t see anything in this notice so I don’t think it will be anytime soon. Besides, the commander of the special unit hasn’t been decided yet, right? Maybe we’ll be transferred once the commander is decided.」

「Commander…..according to the rumor, the captain is a beastkin.」

「That’s what I heard too but…….is it true?」

I want to say that there shouldn’t be a problem in choosing a beastkin as the captain but I have my doubts.

When I was a child, I was educated that beastkin are “failures who failed to become humans”.

I was taught many times by my parents and even by others that they deserve to be slaves.

That was the truth in my mind for the longest time.

However, I was wrong.

Beastkins was a different race.

I know in my head that what I had been taught was a mistake.

However, I can’t suddenly do away with what I have believed for so many years.

It looks like my mind has yet to catch up.

Given this state of mind, would I be able to risk my life to go on a mission under the command of a beastkin?

I’m happy to be transferred to the special unit.

However, I have never thought about the captain being a beastkin.

「There are rumors that it would be a cat beastkin.」

「Is that so? This is the first time I’ve heard of that. Cat beastkin…..」

On a mission in the forest, a single miscommunication can be fatal.

That is why the relationship between the captain and his members is so important.

How am I supposed to treat that cat beastkin a captain?

In the first place, don’t beastkins have a grudge against us?

「AHHHHHH」

「Damn it Pisce, don’t suddenly scream!」

I suddenly shouted out loud and Appi was surprised.

I think this is bad but I don’t feel comfortable.

「You know that the 1st knight order has a beastkin knight, right?」

The 1st knight order is where King Ganmirze, the current king of Emperors, was.

When it was found that a beastkin would be joining the 1st knight order, the entire order was shocked.

That’s because the 1st knight order has an important role of protecting the king.

Some of the nobles were said to have opposed the decision but the king never changed his decision.

「Yeah. They have been working with him there for six months now.」

「There were a lot of rumors in the beginning but lately, there have been fewer. Has Appi heard about anything? How’s the relationship between them and the beastkin? Are they even friends….」

I’m a nasty guy.

What kind of story do I want to hear?

Do I really need to know if they are treating each other like friends?

Or do I want to hear that it’s not working?

「You know I used to be in the 4th knight order, right?」

I was confused by what Appi said.

「Yeah, I heard. What about it?」

「The 4th and 1st commanders were good friends.」

「I know.」

I heard that when the former king was still a knight, the 4th knight order made a big mistake and all of them should have been executed.

I have heard of a rumor that the 1st knight order commander stopped that from happening.

I don’t know how true it is but I believe it is not true.

I can’t imagine the former king changing his opinion after hearing what someone else had to say.

However, it is a well-known fact that the 1st and 4th knight commanders are good friends.

「So, I still talk with the members of the 1st order when I see them.」

「Is that so? Then, have you met that beastkin?」

「Yeah, I met him. They have been treating the beastkin as their comrade. And recently, I’ve even trained with the beastkin if time allows it. And found that I’m weak.」

Huh?

「Eh? Really? I mean, you are not weak, right?」

Appi’s unexpected words left me a bit stunned.

I understand talking but, training with a beastkin?

「Pisce, as you said, I’m not weak but I’m not strong either, right? Well, that’s what I thought after hanging out with the beastkin. Though I think it’s normal.」

「Normal?」

What do you mean?

What is normal?

「I’m not sure how to say it but, it’s like how you find that girl in the store cute and fight with your girlfriend, like how you get angry when you made a mistake, like you can’t wait for your day off….that kind of normal.」

That’s certainly normal.

I thought you were talking about something else, something different.

「We are of different races, we look different, but we’re the same in some ways. So I don’t think there’s anything to be defensive about if the captain is a beastkin. Besides, we are both knights. We protect the king and this country that is ruled by the king. Our goals are the same.」

「Same?」

「Yeah, the guys I’m training with were talking about it. “He protected us and now, we’re going to protect him.” I think they were talking about King Ganmirze.」

Appi’s face turns a little red.

When you become a knight, you take an oath: “A knight protects the king and the country he reigns”.

The beastkin also took that oath because he had become a knight.

However, I had a cynical view of them just because….they are beastkins.

「My bad………」

I’m ashamed.

「It can’t be helped when you felt that way.」

Can’t be helped?

….are you saying I don’t need to immediately accept them?

「I’m sure you will be in time.」

I felt something heavy in my heart lighten up a little after hearing Appi.

「…..I’ve been feeling guilty for some time. It’s not a sin since I don’t understand, isn’t it?」

Hearing me, Appi looked at me with a strange expression.

「It’s not like you don’t understand. It’s just that you didn’t try to understand, and that’s a sin.」

I didn’t even try to know about the beastkins who were slaves.

I just believed in what was presented to me.

Now I know how foolish I was.

「Since I understand a bit now, I’ll try to understand more.」

Appi smiles.

「It’s never too late to start now.」

「……right.」

After learning the truth about the beastkins, I checked how I feel again.

Many times, I tried to convince myself that I shouldn’t care about it.

However, the feeling wouldn’t go away.

The more I learned about them, the more I realized how ignorant I was.

And I was ashamed of my past self who did not even try to know about them.

Ah…..I guess I just didn’t want to admit my inadequacy.

「I’m so pathetic.」

「Ahahaha, for sure.」

Appi slapped my back with a bang.

「ouch」

I glared at him and he laughed.

「You’re going to join the special unit so keep your head up.」

「Yeah, I suppose so. I’ll have to do my best to make sure the captain can count on me.」