Interlude:
You Can Do It, Claus
WHILE LIAM WAS AWAY at the military academy, House Banfield
had been facing a growing problem, without the benefit of Liam's
guidance. His knights were dividing themselves into factions.
"What do you know? You just got here!"
"Oh, shut up, weakling!"
The two factions, controlled by Tia and Marie, were constantly
quarreling. As for the subjects of their disputes, it could be anything:
which faction's ships would be embarking first on practice maneuvers,
whose ships would be using which ports, and so on.
Today, once again, the knights of both factions were glaring at each
other as they shared a port on a military base that had been established on
a repurposed resource planet. Meanwhile, stealing his way through the
groups was a knight who wasn't affiliated with either faction.
The man's name was Claus Sera Mont. He had a tired appearance
and looked to be in his thirties, but he too was a knight of House Banfield.
He entered into service several years earlier but had kept his distance from
both factions all this time.
All my coworkers are so hotheaded. It's tiresome... He sighed in
relief when he was finally by himself, far away from the other quarreling
knights. They were a little quieter when Lord Liam was around, and
neither one of the groups' leaders are here so there's no one to rein them
in either... Then again, if those two were here, it would probably be even
worse...
As was to be expected, Liam had a huge influence over House
Banfield. His orders were everything, and once his people had them,
obeying them was all they concerned themselves with. Both factions were
more subdued when Liam was around because they were too busy doing
his bidding. Of course, the knights would still glower at each other and
maybe provoke one another, staying one step away from violence at all
times, but it had never been this extreme.
At this point, someone could draw their weapon at any moment.
Lord Liam won't be back for a while, so I don't know what's going to
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happen before then...
Claus's shoulders were heavy as he thought about the future when
he suddenly heard quarreling voices from yet another direction.
Apparently, the factions were arguing over which group should have to go
investigate some suspicious ships that had been sighted.
"You guys can handle a simple mission like that, can't you?" one of
Tia's crew said. "It's perfect for you fossils."
"You mean it's perfect for you lot, with your pirate grudge," one of
Marie's knights spat. "Or are you too scared to go since you might get
captured again?"
Coming upon this tense scene, Claus sighed yet again. Both factions
wanted to rack up achievements out in the field to score points with Liam,
so they tried to force any missions that seemed like simple busywork onto
the other group.
Claus steeled himself as he approached the feuding knights. He said,
"I'll take that mission, then."
With their sharp gazes all redirected at Claus now, the opposing
groups managed to regain some of their calm. Because the man made sure
to always remain a neutral party, he was able to interact with both sides as
nothing more than a coworker.
"You, Sir Claus? Well, if that's the case..."
"He just saved your skins, pirate-haters. We'll leave it to you then,
Sir Claus, the Chief of Busywork."
Watching the knights of both factions wander off in opposite
directions, Claus was able to relax a bit again. He let out one last sigh.
"Chief of Busywork, eh? Fitting, I guess." Claus smiled in self-
derision. Everyone around him treated him as a convenient tool to take
care of all the work they didn't want to do. Thanks to that, neither faction
saw him as an enemy, but it also meant that all the work he ended up doing
was troublesome and didn't help his reputation any. Investigating
suspicious ship traffic typically wasn't very interesting, though it might
lead to various headaches. Since that sort of work was all he did, people
didn't think very highly of him. Still, Claus wasn't particularly bothered
by this, especially when he remembered the house that he used to serve.
"Doing boring work will still gain you some points in the long run,
and eventually lead to better pay," he muttered to himself. "This is heaven
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compared to before, when all my achievements were being stolen while
my reputation and pay kept dropping. Being the Chief of Busywork is fine
with me."
While his colleagues might jokingly dismiss him, Claus was
ultimately satisfied with his current situation. He stretched out his back,
then set about getting himself ready for this little mission.
"Now, to go investigate."
People also forced busywork on him at his hold job, before he had
come to serve House Banfield. He knew he was being taken advantage of,
but then again, he didn't have much ambition in the first place. Claus was
just the sort of knight who was satisfied with the circumstances he found
himself in.
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