Sitting in the carriage heading toward the palace, Lancer arms were crossed over his chest, and he had a serious expression, as if he was contemplating a very serious matter. But in reality, he was thinking about why he had met Leone.
In reality, because he couldn't know which period he was in, he had tried to look for the so-called 'protagonists', but there were no clues at all.
Bulat had not yet joined the army at least before he left the western fortress; Najenda seemed to be serving in a local army of a prefect; Chelsea, who had the only concrete clue, didn't seem to have become a female official yet; as for Sheele, he only knew she was in the Imperial Capital, but not where she was. The situation with Leone was similar. As for the remaining few protagonist group members, they were probably still in the stage of being a child...
So Lancer had long given up on looking for the 'protagonists', but he didn't expect to run into Leone, and it happened when he was completely caught off guard. But he couldn't be blamed for this. At that time, it was probably hard for an ordinary person to tell if Leone was a man or a woman, and even he hadn't expected that the short-haired, flat-chested girl who he didn't know the age of would be Leone.
But after thinking for a long time, he couldn't find any clues. He could only say that it was because he looked like a rich person, and he happened to meet Leone in the slums, and then because he was strong enough to catch her.
But besides that, he didn't think too much about it. After all, he had long understood that he was living in a real world, and there was no need to care too much. Whether they were protagonists or not, they were all flesh-and-blood beings. Even Ken Kaneki had almost died at his hands before.
"Sir, we have arrived."
Just as Lancer was finally figuring things out, the carriage driver's shout woke him up from his thoughts.
"Thank you."
After thanking the other party, Lancer straightened his clothes and walked toward the palace. No one stopped him along the way. After all, Lancer was a member of the Imperial Guards himself, but no one talked to him either. This wasn't just because the occasion was more formal now, but also because even though he was nominally a member of the Imperial Guards, he had actually been with the border army, and coupled with the frightening rumors, it would be strange if someone talked to him.
But even so, Lancer still walked with his head held high on the carpet. As early as when he made his decision, he had already guessed that he might encounter this kind of situation. Although it was a bit lonely, it was only for 2 years. If his goal could be achieved, everything would be worth it!
He would save countless people! Even if they didn't know it, even if no one thanked him, he would still be proud of his choice, because only then would he not have any regrets!
Besides, half the time had already passed. In reality... it was nothing...
After finding General Budo, Lancer followed behind the other party. He was accepting the award this time as a subordinate of the other party, so it was natural to follow him. However, the other party was as expressionless as ever and didn't say a word along the way. It seemed that he had no intention of introducing him to those officials.
But this was in line with Budo usual image. In his opinion, Lancer, as a soldier of the Empire, didn't need to care about those 'officials'. He only needed to do what he was supposed to do, just like he had done before. He would handle the rest.
But when Lancer followed Budo into the main hall...
"What's wrong?"
This was the first time Budo had spoken along the way.
"I feel that person is very strong, but why is he in the civilian officials' column?"
"Honest? He was recommended by the prefect a while ago... but this has nothing to do with us."
Looking at Budo indifferent expression, Lancer couldn't help but sigh in his heart. After all, based on the 'plot' he knew, if Budo was willing to take action, there wouldn't have been so many problems. But he was too 'old-fashioned' and 'proud', clinging to an ideology that was no longer suitable and proudly believing that as long as he was there, he could protect the Empire, but the result... was self-evident.
Although there was a suspicion of being killed by the plot, there was no doubt that even without the plot kill, he would probably be besieged to death in the end... After all, for those who suffered persecution from 'Honest', they wouldn't care why you stood by. Driven by anger, they only knew that he chose to be a bystander. Even if he wasn't an executioner, he was an accomplice. Even if a 'Teigu' was strong, the user was still human, and they would be exhausted to death one day. And there was no doubt that those who had decided to abandon everything wouldn't mind becoming the foundation of the other party's grave.
It was impossible to talk in this situation, and in reality, there was still a while before the emperor came out. Lancer, having nothing to do, started looking around to see if he could find some 'familiar faces'. But unfortunately, besides that 'current minister' who he had an impression of but forgot what he looked like, he didn't seem to recognize anyone else.
The so-called 'conferment of honors' was actually a person reading from a document, and the people whose names were called would go up and receive everyone's attention. To be honest, Lancer felt that it was similar to when a teacher announced grades after an exam in school, with the only difference being that he was criticized every time for not doing well.
This time, the 'conferment of honors' was mainly for military members who had performed excellently within the year. There were people from the border army, the local army, and of course, the Imperial Guards. And Lancer, as a member of the Imperial Guards and a subordinate of Budo, was naturally saved for last. But what he didn't expect was that he would meet another 'plot character'—Najenda.
To be honest, he was stunned for a moment when her name was announced. After all, just like he hadn't expected Leone to be a short-haired, flat-chested girl, he also hadn't expected that the one-eyed, mechanical-armed, smoking big sister would be an impressive-looking, serious female military officer. And he never expected that he would receive the honor with the other party.
But the reason for her receiving the honor was actually 'suppressing a rebellion' and 'eliminating bandits'.
When he heard this, Lancer almost burst out laughing. He even maliciously speculated whether some of the 'rebels' and 'bandits' that the other party had eliminated would later join the Revolutionary Army?
There probably wouldn't be any, right? After all, his existence hadn't affected the other party, but Lancer was still filled with 'malice'.
If he had only been unhappy with the Revolutionary Army before, then after he learned more about the 'foreign races' during the past year, he was completely disgusted.
And this had nothing to do with his current position. He just simply hated people who betrayed their own country.
At the same time, Najenda also felt the slightly malicious gaze from behind her. When she saw Lancer, she was also stunned for a moment. After all, she didn't know the other party at all. Could it be another chauvinist?
After letting out a cold snort in her heart, she simply walked away with her head held high. She also couldn't be bothered to deal with people like this. After all, since she had joined the army, there had been too many of these guys. They had no strength themselves, but they liked to bring up her being a woman.