Chapter 2: The Siege of Sorwen

Under Prince Reginald’s command, we had successfully taken back Cassia.

After we had spent a while in Cassia Castle, we held a meeting to discuss whether we should head straight to Delphion and vanquish the main body of Llewynian troops or take a detour to liberate Sorwen first.

Why were we weighing those two options? Because of Sorwen’s unique circumstances, and because initially, we’d had the option to pass the province by.

The province of Sorwen had a mountain range to the north. There was a wealth of mines there, and the marquis’ manor was built in a town along the foot of a mountain.

Once the marquis of Sorwen had received word that Llewynian troops were drawing near, he had evacuated all his citizens to the mining town. With 30,000 soldiers about to descend upon them, he’d judged that his territory’s forces alone wouldn’t be enough to push them back, according to Edam.

“Frankly speaking, if we had somewhere to escape to, I would have done the same. Sorwen is a naturally fortified area, so it must have been an easy decision to make.”

In order to protect the mines from bandits, a fence had been built alongside the road to the town a long time ago. Using those built-in features to their advantage, the Sorwenians had managed to thwart the Llewynian’s attack on the manor. The Llewynians had chosen to turn their attention to the royal capital instead, and thus the marquis’ forces hadn’t suffered many losses.

“I’m almost envious. Limerick has mountains of its own, but we don’t have nearly as many mines as Sorwen. The high road through our province was built with traffic flow in mind, so most of our roads are easy to march through,” Jerome, Lord Limerick’s brother, reflected with a nod.

Taking that into consideration, some proposed that we leave Sorwen to hold out for now and instead devise a way to defeat the main group of Llewynians first; the reason was that we had recently received news that things were going poorly for the royal capital and its army.

The king was nowhere to be seen, and our forces kept getting pushed back by the Llewynians—all we ever heard was bad news. If the royal army was defeated before we could get to them, there was a good chance our fight would drag on even longer.

Reggie set his elbows on the long table, placed his chin on top of his hands, and smiled. “Unfortunately, this is bad timing for Sorwen. A lot of farmers escaped to that impregnable mountain town. If they can’t tend to their fields all summer long, it will affect their autumn harvest.”

Évrard was no exception there. In the RPG, there was no need to worry about provisions, but this was the real world. People needed food to live. This wasn’t like my past life, where you could import food from other parts of the world with different production periods or preserve it with the power of science and technology. Herbicides didn’t exist, and the only forms of insecticide were all-natural. If a farmer left their crops alone for several days, it would have a huge impact on their harvest.

Jerome’s expression turned grim. “Even if we allow things to turn that way for a time, we’ll still need to drive the Llewynians out of Sorwen eventually.”

“True. We don’t want to be caught from behind while we’re attacking Delphion. And it’s unclear if the marquis of Sorwen would aid us while he’s holed up in the town,” Alan added, in agreement with Jerome. “My father has approached the kingdom of Erendor to the south. If they grant us their cooperation, the plan is for them to block the invasion route north of Évrard. That way we won’t have to worry about any new Llewynian reinforcements.”

The northern part of Évrard had been overrun by Llewynian forces, so the people living up there had fled the area. Under normal circumstances, Évrard would have gathered troops to go and recover that lost ground, but we weren’t the only ones who had taken damage here. We had to go strike down the Llewynian army before they could launch an attack on the royal castle.

Given the current situation, we would have a hard time enlisting help from other noble houses for the sake of defending our own territory. Therefore, all we could do was call for troops in the name of stopping the Llewynians’ march, then assign the soldiers that couldn’t join us on our expedition to Évrard under the pretext of defending the border.

At the moment, Lady Évrard was attempting to bring the other lords and the kingdom of Erendor to our side using her title as a former princess of Farzia. If she succeeded, we could cut off the Llewynian soldiers trying to pass through Sorwen.

“I’d prefer to drive the Llewynians out of Sorwen so we can be better poised to attack Delphion. Sorwen should have the forces to spare, so I want them to curb the flow of reinforcements until we make our move,” Reggie suggested.

Edam nodded. “I see. Sorwen keeps an army of its own, after all. So long as we do a little culling on their behalf, they can drive the insects out on their own. The majority of Llewyne’s troops are... currently moving toward Sestina, I believe.”

He was referring to the place where troops summoned by the king had gathered. Most of the soldiers had come from noble houses to the west. The Llewynians were concentrating their forces there in order to crush the Farzian army.

The discussion proceeded in the direction of liberating Sorwen.

Reggie was to serve as our commander, with Alan and Jerome joining him. Edam would stay behind in Cassia.

In the RPG, Alan had fought at Sorwen. After Sorwen succeeded in stopping the Llewynian invasion, they decided to aid Alan’s forces.

Thus, I assumed that it was the right decision to go... but I was nervous. I had a feeling the battle wouldn’t go the same way it had in the game.

We had just barely prevented Maynard from turning into a sea of flames. When I had heard the full report of what had gone on in Cassia, I’d realized what a tough fight it would have been if we’d fought fair.

As much as I hated to admit it, my magic was hard to use inside a city. Reggie’s methods of inspiring the townspeople and poisoning the food supply had been the best way to retake Cassia quickly and with minimal casualties.

Still, there was no telling what could happen, so I wanted to come along regardless.

“I’m going, too,” I asserted.

I didn’t say I wanted to go. I wasn’t asking permission; I was just going to do it.

Up until now, I’d come along reluctantly, only because I wanted to protect my friends. If I wanted to produce results that no one could argue with, I had to be more assertive. That was the conclusion I’d come to after my talk with Isaac.

I glanced at Reggie, determination in my eyes. He nodded back at me.

“Very well. We’ll have Lady Kiara join us.”

Reggie didn’t argue. He was probably trying to stick to his word—that is, in exchange for letting me do as I liked, he would ignore my requests concerning his safety.

That was fine by me. Before I could start worrying about anything else, I just had to be by his side.

◇◇◇

The day we set out, I rode my own horse.

Fortunately, there were foot soldiers among our forces. We had to traverse the long distance without leaving them behind, so there was no need to gallop ahead on the march. In that case, I had no trouble riding a horse by myself. Besides, if I didn’t get in some practice soon, I was bound to forget how it was done.

When I told Cain I would be riding alone, he begrudgingly got a horse ready for me. After my rebellious breakout the other day, he may have figured it was useless to argue.

In exchange, I had Cain and the mercenary duo serving as my three escorts.

“So you see, that’s when I decided I’d rather be a mother than a bride.”

Along the way, I became absorbed in one of Girsch’s anecdotes.

Girsch had been born into a matrilineal family. After helping with the household chores from a young age, the mercenary had developed a secret affinity for sewing and child care.

One day, Girsch’s family was dragged into a war. They had no choice but to flee, abandoning their home and their fields. Girsch took up the sword in place of a needle and thread, jumping into battle as a volunteer soldier.

Girsch turned out to be surprisingly well suited to fighting. After striking down enemy soldiers one after the other, the mercenary’s strength had become apparent to all... but that came as a bit of a disappointment.

“I hate to admit it, but I’m better at wielding a sword than sewing.”

After cutting through enemies even more skillfully than cloth and saving up a decent amount of money in the process, Girsch eventually longed to raise children.

Then, one day, Girsch came face-to-face with true love. The man was a member of Gina’s and Girsch’s current mercenary group.

“He was a handsome one, alright. When I told him I had no interest in remaining a soldier, he invited me to join the group. He told me it was somewhere I could make a living through my swordsmanship and make my dream come true.”

The mercenary group was made up of villagers whose homes had burned away in the fires of war. When they got married, their wives would go live in the village and give birth to more children. When those children grew up, they made a living fighting in wars as a member of the mercenary band, and the cycle continued.

Girsch thought that sounded perfect and jumped on the offer without hesitation. After all, there would be plenty of opportunities to take care of the kids whenever the adults were away.

“But see, the man who recruited me had met me while he was on his way back to his hometown to get married. At first, I was just thrilled to have my skill recognized. But whenever I saw him talking to his wife, I started to feel lonely.” Girsch placed a hand to one cheek with a sigh.

A while after that, the mercenary finally realized those feelings for the older man hadn’t been simple admiration—it had been romantic love.

Unfortunately, said married man was as straight as an arrow. Girsch had fun taking care of the man’s children together with his wife. Their love was never meant to be; however, the mercenary started to think of taking care of a loved one’s children as another form of happiness.

In the end, Girsch switched tracks to “I’m going to become everyone’s mama!”

Cain listened off to the side with a bewildered look on his face. Meanwhile, I thought the story was pretty amusing. I mean, here we had this huge hunk of muscle acting like a nanny! As far as I could tell from listening, Girsch liked men but held stronger maternal instincts than any romantic feelings.

Girsch had also looked after Gina since she was little, serving as her sword instructor.

As we talked and enjoyed one another’s company, a day and a half went by following our departure from Cassia Castle. We eventually arrived near a Sorwenian fort north of Cassia.

In Cassia, the Llewynians had left a nobleman to serve as a temporary lord in order to get a foot in the door. However, since the Sorwenians had withdrawn and they had yet to capture the region, they were using the fort as a base, leaving to attack the nearby towns every now and then.

For that reason, we had assumed that if the Llewynians in the fort knew we were coming, they would hole up inside to fight us off. But...

“Nobody was there?” When he heard Jerome’s report, Reggie furrowed his brow—and immediately gave an order. “Strengthen our defenses in the rear and keep marching! The enemy plans to surround us!”

“If they’re going to go around us, we’re better off pushing ahead than turning back,” Jerome said.

“Should we seclude ourselves in the fort?” Alan suggested.

“No, Alan,” Reggie countered. “We’ll be in trouble if they left a parting gift behind for us, and we don’t have time to investigate before going inside.”

“If they’re planning to encircle our forces, they must be hiding somewhere nearby. The best place to engage them would be...”

“Just outside the town where the marquis is staying.”

At that, the knights broke into a gallop. A portion of the cavalry took some archers with them and ran past the fort.

The infantry kept on moving. We spurred on the carriages carrying supplies as fast as they could go.

In the very rear, I marched with the troops led by Alan so we could strike back at any enemies who tried to attack us from behind.

“This isn’t what you expected, is it?” Alan asked, following after the foot soldiers as he kept an eye out behind us.

“Yeah. Two different battles have been combined into one.”

In the RPG, Alan’s forces first defeated the Llewynians stationed at the fort, then headed to the mining town where Lord Sorwen was staying. Along the way, a different Llewynian general caught them in a pincer attack.

“We prepared for this possibility. Don’t worry about it.”

Apparently, Alan was worried I’d be upset that my information hadn’t been of any use. He had a pretty considerate side to him.

In moments like these, he really acted the part of a protagonist who had brought so many people together to fight by his side. As for me? All I ever worried about was myself, and I could be downright insensitive at times. Even now, I was so hung up on getting Cain’s and Reggie’s approval that I was completely ignoring their feelings.

“Thanks.”

If our enemy planned to besiege us, I wanted to break through their ranks as quickly as possible. I wasn’t a very skilled rider, but I spurred my horse as fast as I could.

Around us, soldiers were forming battle lines and dashing ahead.

Today was comfortable thanks to the overcast sky and the breeze blowing through, but it was still a hot time of year. Most of the soldiers had rolled up their sleeves underneath their cloaks. Even Reggie and the knights were more lightly dressed than usual.

Evidently, waging war during the summer was almost unheard of. Enemy and ally alike would be bogged down by the unbearable heat. For that very reason, the Llewynian army had paused their march and was currently engaged in a standoff with the royal army.

Once autumn rolled around, the situation was bound to change in a big way. We had to produce some results before then. Otherwise, the nobles who had been sitting on the fence might end up pledging their allegiance to Llewyne.

However, everyone said that this attack on Sorwen was our absolute limit. After this, we were going to enter the peak of summer. The reason we had chosen to carry out this plan regardless was because we had one clear advantage here.

“Go on, you guys!” At Gina’s call, her frostfoxes ran circles around the soldiers, kicking up a blizzard as they did.

It was like marching with a portable air conditioner. As a result, even though we had to do a bit of running, our soldiers stayed in tip-top shape. Something like this wouldn’t have been possible even in my past life, probably. It was the equivalent of traveling in a car with an air conditioner and a generator.

Meanwhile, the Llewynian soldiers in Sorwen were bound to be completely drained from marching in the summer heat. That assumption of ours eventually bore fruit.

Past the lines of cavalrymen and archers who had marched beyond the fort, Llewynian soldiers sprang out from a nearby grove. They put a stop to the attack of the archers already stationed there and then attempted to drive them back even further, but there wasn’t much energy to their charge.

Given the heavy armor they were wearing, they had probably been more concerned about sustaining injuries than the heat, but they must have been struggling to push forward. Their speed kept slowing, and judging by their less-than-impressive numbers, quite a few men had dropped out.

Just in case, I formed a small hill in the middle of their path. Climbing it forced them to expend a great deal of effort, and their speed dropped even further.

As we sped ahead, we eventually lost sight of the Llewynians who had been pursuing us from behind. Reggie had us slow our march, but we continued to press onward. If we came to a stop, the Llewynians would catch up to us, and we didn’t want to get caught in a pincer attack.

Sure enough, as we resumed our journey after a short break, arrows came flying at us from both sides. None of us were wearing armor due to the heat, but we managed to block the attack with the shields Reggie had ordered us to bring along.

Nonetheless, Reggie decided to press onward instead of stopping to fight. After the onslaught of arrows died down, he had our fastest knights move out to deal with the enemy archers.

Reggie’s knights would lead the attack on the left. Jerome would assume responsibility for the right.

I couldn’t help both of them. After some indecision, I decided to go to the left. In the RPG, the enemies were more thickly clustered on that side.

I was about to turn my horse in that direction when Cain stopped me. “I’ll take you there, Miss Kiara. Please ride with me.”

I hesitated for a moment. If something happened, there was a chance Cain might force me to turn back. But then again, he had never once disregarded my wishes in the middle of a battle.

“Alright.”

At that, Cain brought his horse right up to mine, lifted me up off of it, and hauled me over.

“Eep!”

By the time I’d gotten over my surprise, the transfer was complete. I was shocked by the abruptness of it; he was tossing me around like a bag of rice!

I didn’t think I was all that light. I was a little bit taller than I’d been in my past life, so that meant I had to be heavier... presumably.

Cain entrusted my horse to a nearby knight, called out to Gina and Girsch, and dashed off to the left.

The rain of arrows came to a stop, and the Llewynian soldiers charged out of the grove and onto a plain centered around the high road.

“Now, Girsch!” I yelled out.

“Ehe! Long throws are my specialty!” Girsch lobbed the hunk of copper ore I’d handed over when we set out.

“Specialty” was no exaggeration; it flew a considerable distance. My eyesight wasn’t sharp enough to catch where it landed, but that didn’t matter. I had Cain bring our horse to a sudden halt, dismounted, and put my hands on the ground.

“A pitfall!”

I put my all into creating a giant hole in the ground. The group of Llewynian soldiers at the front fell down the surprise pitfall. The ones in the back failed to stop themselves in time and tumbled down after them, cutting off the flow of soldiers from the left.

Girsch’s eyesight was good enough to get a glimpse of the scene from afar. “My, my, it looks pretty deep.”

“Really? How deep?”

“About two men tall?”

My pitfall was a resounding success, but the Llewynians began steering themselves around it before too long. I didn’t want them getting over here so easily, so I went to work mass-producing pitfalls while we were on the move. I made two of them right in the middle of their forces, but they didn’t appear deterred.

“Heheheh... Looks like you’ve got the hang of it, kid.” Master Horace cackled as he looked on. “But go too far, and you’ll regret it later.”

“I’ll be fine, Master Horace.”

I couldn’t let as few as ten or fifteen pitfalls get me down—not if I wanted to show everyone what I was made of.

Gina called for our attention. “The cavalry is coming our way. Let’s pull back for now.”

The Llewynian knights were trying to come back around from the front. Even worse, they paid no heed to the Farzian soldiers attempting to hold them back and were coming straight for us!

Cain turned his horse around by the reins.

“Protecting the spellcaster comes first!” someone shouted. Cain, Gina, and Girsch all took off at once.

The rest of our men had noticed what was happening; Reggie’s knights, who were leading the left-hand forces, did their best to mow down the Llewynian knights for us.

However, the Llewynians were dead set on going after me. A few shielders intercepted our knights, and the rest of the Llewynian cavalry galloped past them.

“They must think killing you will put them at an advantage... or no, maybe keep them from being at a disadvantage,” Master Horace reflected.

Cain nodded. “A spellcaster is a much more challenging opponent than any ordinary soldier. That’s whom I would go after first, too. The Llewynians must have evacuated the fort we saw earlier in order to prevent a repeat of what happened at Clonfert.”

They had heard that I’d destroyed an entire building in one hit, and that was why they had abandoned the fort. Everything finally made sense.

I wanted to head them off with my magic, but with the way Cain was holding me firmly against him—not to mention that with all the rocking back and forth, I’d bite my tongue if I wasn’t careful—that wasn’t going to happen.

In the meantime, we made it back to Alan.

“I brought you along without asking, but you’ll be safer here, Miss Kiara,” Cain explained. Evidently, he had judged that Alan and his knights, who were guarding the rear and keeping an eye on the situation before deciding their next move, were better poised to protect me. “Take care of Miss Kiara, milord.”

Alan ordered his knights and cavalrymen to keep me surrounded.

“Wait just a second!” Gina got down from her horse, untied her hair, and tied a red shawl around her waist, wearing it like a skirt. Then she left her horse with Girsch. “This should do it. Sir Cain, let me ride on your horse. Girsch, you come with us. Lord Alan, you take Kiara. Kiara, you should tie back your hair.”

“Planning to act as bait, hm?” Alan asked.

Gina nodded. “If the enemy is going after our spellcaster, it’s a good strategy. We can take care of the cavalry, but the arrows are what we really need to be worried about. This way, we can fool their eyes from a distance.”

“Let’s do it. Get on, Kiara.” Alan came to a quick decision and urged me up.

“But...” I hesitated. If Gina acted as a decoy, she would be chased down by an overwhelming number of knights. I felt awful subjecting someone else to a scenario that would have my own hair standing on end.

Alan was the one to scold me for my hemming and hawing. “If we split the enemy’s attention in two directions, it will reduce Wentworth’s and Gina’s chances of being targeted too. Once they find out Gina is a decoy, they won’t spare them another glance. While the enemy is distracted, keep your distance and attack. We have to create a situation where it’s easy for you to wield your magic. Hurry!”

With that command, Alan reached out with both arms, and Cain silently lifted me up off his horse. He handed me over to Alan, who had me sit at the front of his saddle.

I had no say in the matter. I felt almost like a ball, getting passed around from horse to horse.

At that point, all I could do was thank Gina for her consideration and tie back my hair in order to play my role. She had even handed me a cord to do it with.

“I’ll take the spellcaster and go on ahead. The Llewynians at our rear won’t catch up to us just yet. You lot should go back up our forces on both sides. You five, come with me. Hurry up and put your hair back already, Kiara! Let’s go!”

“Hey, wait!”

While my hands were still behind me working to tie up my hair, Alan spurred his horse onward.

“See you later, Kiara!” Perhaps to clear my conscience, or perhaps because she was totally used to this, Gina just waved me off with a smile. Both she and the poker-faced Cain faded into the distance.

I couldn’t even spare a hand to wave back. I had almost managed to force my hair into a ponytail, but then...

“Whoa!”

Because I couldn’t grab hold of anything, I nearly slipped off the horse.

Alan firmly gripped me around the stomach, so we managed to avoid a disaster. He then said, “Just give up and grab hold of something,” pressed me against his shoulder, and adjusted his grip on the reins. After that, we picked up speed.

I was so afraid of getting thrown off that I listened to Alan and clung to his left arm. The moment I did, I finally understood how he was able to toss me around so easily. I couldn’t usually tell from over his clothes, but his arms were way beefier than mine.

While I reflected on the newly apparent reason behind our difference in strength, I looked back at the enemies behind us, then started searching for a place for us to go.

“How about that clifftop over there?”

“We’ll be sitting ducks on the way up,” Alan said curtly.

Unfortunately, I didn’t see any other areas that stood out. From here all the way to the base of Sorwen’s mine-filled mountain, there didn’t appear to be any places that gave a bird’s-eye view of the battlefield. That meant there was only one thing I could do.

“When is Reggie planning to stop our march?”

“Soon, most likely. He’ll want to finish things before the weather-beaten troops have a chance to join up with the Llewynians on this side.”

The reason he kept pushing his soldiers forward was to prevent a pincer attack and to evade the enemies closing in from behind. Even if the number of soldiers was the same, the amount of effort it would take to defend against a pincer attack versus taking the enemy head-on was incomparable.

“Furthermore, Sorwen’s marquis should be able to see us from where he is. If he knows our forces are clashing, he’s likely to send us more soldiers.”

If the Llewynians saw we were getting reinforcements from Sorwen, they would have no choice but to retreat. This was yet another part of Reggie’s calculations to end the hot summer battle as quickly as possible.

“These are the prince’s troops we’re talking about, after all. Thinking ahead, Sorwen can’t choose NOT to send any help. Mmheehee!” Master Horace seemed to agree with Alan’s assessment.

Still, if the enemy cut down our numbers before that could happen, it defeated the whole purpose. In that case, I’d already found my battlefield here.

“Alan! Run your horse around this whole area once, then drop me off a little ways ahead,” I requested, then grabbed some copper ore from my pocket and started sprinkling it around.

“Our forces haven’t stopped yet.”

“That’s fine! I’m better off somewhere past our army, a short distance from the high road. Please?”

Alan wasn’t about to deny my request. Reggie stubbornly refused to include my magic in our tactics, so we hadn’t discussed what my role was supposed to be.

I knew that was Reggie’s kindness at work. He figured I didn’t want to kill anyone, so he was allowing me the option to not do anything at all.

As we started running ahead of the troops, my eyes met with Reggie’s for a moment. His gaze was stern. Ever since I had begun to fight, Reggie gave me that look every now and then. And each time, I felt like he was seeing right through me to the fear in my heart.

It was like he was saying, Will you be able to keep on fighting?

But I had no intention of stopping.

Eventually, Alan took us to the spot I had pointed out. After passing through the high road, lined by a small wood, we came out into a wide, open area.

In the distance, I could see a fence built to restrict the people coming in and out of the path that continued toward the mountains, along with a town built on a slope. The area from here to the fence was all vast plains.

There were a few fields here and there, but presumably, there had already been a clash with the Llewynians here. Everything had been trampled, and all the crops were brown and withered.

This was the perfect spot. I had Alan stop at a place a little to the left of the high road, and then I slipped down from his horse.

“Thank you.”

“Is there anything else I should do?”

“No, it’s fine. Thanks for not trying to stop me.”

Alan didn’t ask me what I was planning to do. He just frowned and said, “If you’re saying that, I’m sure you’re up to no good. Part of me wants to just hit you upside the head and toss you over to Reggie.” He heaved a sigh. “But lately, I’ve started to see things differently. If we can put a quick end to this ridiculous war, at least things between you and him won’t grow any more strained. So I’m willing to prioritize winning above all else... and to that end, I suppose I can turn a blind eye to your idiotic behavior.”

As he turned away to start giving orders to the knights, he added, “So long as you promise not to die, you can do as you like. At the end of the day, I know you’re a stubborn cuss who won’t take anything but the path you’ve chosen for yourself.”

Alan knew me too well—particularly the part about me being stubborn.

Thus, I leaned into it. “Thanks.”

After that, I knelt down on the ground.

I knew what I had to do. I needed to fortify our defenses, losing as few of our and Sorwen’s men as possible. I had already laid out the groundwork to do just that.

I took out my copper ore and brought my golem onto the scene. Once I got up onto its shoulder and sat down, I could get a better view of what was going on down below.

The vanguard had finally made it here. Reggie seemed intent on confronting the Llewynians in a narrower area toward the front; he had placed the foot soldiers in the front and stationed the archers in the rear.

And that’s when I heard Master Horace yell, “Augh?! When did YOU get here, you little rascal?!”

“Huh?”

When I looked over, I saw Lila boldly riding on the golem’s right shoulder, opposite of where I was sitting. Lila stood steadfast, watching me closely. Somehow, I could feel the pressure easing off me.

“Don’t worry, Master Horace. Lila is just here because she’s worried. Besides, you can’t get a strained back if you’re made of clay, so you don’t have to worry about your joints aching in the cold anymore.”

“True enough... but the antipathy’s been carved into my soul.”

Even now that he couldn’t feel the heat or cold, he was still tormented by old memories. I felt bad for him, but the frostfoxes’ powers held too much appeal. He really needed to overcome his trauma somehow.

“I’m doing my best here, so you try a little harder too, okay?”

I focused on my magic arts. My power surged toward the copper ore I had scattered a short distance away.

Because it was so far from me, it was a little difficult to concentrate my mana in the ore. Nonetheless, I managed to pinpoint the location of the majority of it. As the Llewynians rushed ahead and drew closer to the Évrard soldiers, I waited for them to pass over the ground where I had scattered the ore.

I gritted my teeth. Wherever the ore had been spread, the well-traveled ground of the high road slowly melted away into mud. Before long, it had turned into fine sand.

Now that they were ankle-deep in sand, it became harder for both the Llewynian foot soldiers and cavalrymen to move forward. I shifted the sand around so their feet would be even more firmly buried.

This is hard to do with such a wide range.

I placed a hand to my chest and held my breath.

“It’s only a foothold!” When voices rang out to rally their men, the Llewynians pushed on. The soil had merely turned to sand; they figured there was no need to go around it, unlike the pitfalls, and they could just force their way through.

I took deep breaths and waited for more and more Llewynian soldiers to set foot in the sandpit—one thousand, two thousand, three thousand of them. As I counted, I could hear my pulse pounding in my ears like a drum.

Once the time was right... I hardened the sand all at once.

With one or both legs cemented in place, the Llewynians began to panic. Now that they couldn’t move, even if they could still swing their swords, they had nowhere to run. They couldn’t dodge, either.

Reggie and the other commanders didn’t pass up the opportunity. Their blades went to work reaping the enemy’s lives like wheat.

In the RPG, paralysis was classified as a low-level magic spell. But in reality, there was nothing quite as scary as having your legs frozen in place.

Countless screams and death throes reached my ears.

◇◇◇

“You’re well prepared.”

As Gina was pulled up onto Cain’s horse, disguised as Kiara, she cocked her head to one side. “I’m supposed to be guarding Kiara, aren’t I? If you’re going to hire a female mercenary, this is the most obvious use for one.”

“I see.”

Cain determined that he would just have to defend Gina in place of Kiara—not only for the mercenary’s sake but to lure in the pursuing cavalry as well. Seeing as Gina knew how to wield a sword, he was bound to have an easier time of it than protecting Kiara.

After thinking it over, he said, “There’s no need to be worried. I’ll keep you safe, just as I’ve always done for Miss Kiara.”

“Hm? Don’t need it.” Gina gave Cain a wide-eyed stare, and the knight looked equally puzzled by her response.

“But if you get hurt, Miss Kiara will be devastated.”

Gina glanced around, ascertaining the positions of the enemy cavalry, then beckoned Reynard and Sara back to her side. Frowning, she told Cain, “Listen... You’re really going to get yourself in trouble like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’d heard that Farzian men were a more respectable sort than Salekhard’s, so I can’t say I’m surprised. It’s fine to protect women and all, but you need to learn to take a good look at people and make a judgment call. I was hired to fight for you. You’re not paying me to be protected.”

Frankly, Cain was taken aback. He had been raised to protect women, regardless of whether one had been hired to fight as a mercenary. But evidently, Gina wasn’t particularly impressed with his convictions.

“Got it? I’m out here fighting because I can hold my own. I don’t need your concern. If something does happen to me, I have my cute little buddies here to take care of it, so don’t waste your time worrying over nothing. Reynard!” As she called out her partner’s name, Gina drew her dagger from its sheath.

The Llewynian knights had drawn closer. To cover their comrades’ backs, the Évrard cavalry rushed forward to cut them down. Unfortunately, the enemy was so focused on slaying the “spellcaster” that they paid no heed as their fellow men were defeated behind them, and the vanguard drew closer and closer to Cain and Gina.

“Reynard, sword!”

The frostfox who had been running alongside their horse let out a wild roar. Simultaneously, the blade of Gina’s dagger extended until it equaled her in height. It became a sword of ice, enshrouded in a cloud of white, billowing vapor.

As Cain turned his horse, Gina swung her blade down. The arms and shoulders of the nearby knights it hit—and perhaps most fatally of all, the heads of the horses they were riding—froze over, and those enemies collapsed on the spot.

Cain backed Gina up, the pair striking down all the enemies who came slashing their way undeterred... and as he did, he came to a realization.

So long as she wasn’t fighting at point-blank range, Kiara was considerably strong. If he allowed her to fight as freely as Gina and defended her as an equal... maybe, just maybe, they could more handily demolish the Llewynian army.

Almost like the devil had whispered into his ear, the thought crossed his mind and refused to leave.

In the meantime, the majority of the Llewynian knights fell to Gina’s icy blade, and the remainder were slain by Girsch and Alan’s knights. The few men left standing saw that they stood no chance and turned back. With that, they were unlikely to go chasing after Kiara. It was right then—when Cain had determined as much and started heading to the vanguard to find Kiara—that it happened.

The Llewynian foot soldiers closing in from behind had slowed to a stop.

More accurately, the ground underneath their feet had suddenly turned to sand, tripping them up and impeding their movements.

Soon enough, the sand around their feet hardened into stone. As soon as the Farzian soldiers realized the Llewynians had been rendered immobile, they surged forth like an avalanche.

Cain couldn’t describe the sight before him as anything but the demolition of a powerless enemy. It was nothing more than the slaughter of an opponent who couldn’t fight back.

But there was no telling how long the miracle would last. If the Farzians didn’t mow them down now, the surviving Llewynians would go on to claim the lives of their fellow men. To keep that from happening, the Farzian soldiers swung their swords down like men possessed.

Cain and Gina, who were right up close to the spectacle, joined in the battle as well.

By the time the heat and the stench of blood in the air had reached stifling levels, the earth had returned to its original form. But in spite of their newly found freedom of movement, very few Llewynian soldiers managed to make an escape.

All the Llewynians who had been slain with their legs cemented in place fell backward, their knees bent at an odd angle. It was a bizarre sight to behold.

“So this is the true terror of a spellcaster. ‘Strong as ten thousand men’ doesn’t even begin to cover it. When used to her full potential, she could destroy an entire army all by herself,” Gina muttered. She had dismounted Cain’s horse to fight, so her arms and chest were now soaked in the blood of her enemies. There was a slight tremble in her voice—perhaps she was left shaken by the one-sided massacre.

Among the nearby soldiers, many had turned pale, and others were visibly frightened.

Previously, whenever Kiara had struck down the enemy with her magic, she had simply overpowered them with abilities disconnected from reality. This time, her magic had facilitated a slaughter by human hands, making the horror seem all the more real.

Yet Cain couldn’t understand why everyone seemed so afraid.

This was all so they could defeat an even greater number of Llewynian soldiers. They were fighting to ensure that Llewyne would never invade Évrard again, so what was the issue?

And... it was the perfect vengeance, too.

A desire sleeping deep within Cain’s heart had been awakened: he wanted to see the Llewynians utterly crushed.

When he saw a Llewynian soldier hanging skewered from behind on a spear, Cain recalled the corpse of his mother, whom he had managed to identify despite the days’ worth of rot and decay. When he saw a Llewynian soldier breathe his last, staring up wide-eyed at the sky as he shed tears and blood, Cain was tormented by the knowledge that his brother had met a similar end.

Up until now, Cain had bottled up all that hatred under the guise of self-control. As a knight serving the margraviate of Évrard, he couldn’t allow himself to be driven by a grudge alone. He had been warned that if he went rogue and raised chaos, it would only make it that much harder to defeat the enemy.

So long as it would allow them to beat Llewyne, Cain had felt he could live with that. He had followed his orders, and before long, that sense of self-restraint had been ingrained in him.

It was no surprise that he had slipped back into that impulse as soon as the war had begun. All that had been holding him back was the pity he felt for Kiara.

When he saw a woman crying, he didn’t want to sadden her further. But no matter how hard he had tried to stop her, Kiara herself had insisted on fighting.

After hearing what Gina had to say, a thought had crossed Cain’s mind: the entire reason he had taken a liking to Kiara in the first place was because he had witnessed her pushing forward to defeat the enemy. She was a courageous girl, capable of accomplishing what he couldn’t. That had been his initial impression of Kiara.

His good sense was what had stopped him from throwing her into battle. Thus, he had done everything he could to hold her back, to the point of attempting to incite Prince Reginald into action—though neither of the pair had gone along with that in the end.

He finally understood why, whenever he had allowed her to go overboard, he had made her frame it as a command for him to obey—because otherwise, he couldn’t keep his own hatred in check.

But now, Cain believed there was no longer any need to hold himself back. Kiara had made her choice. No matter how much she cried and wailed in the process, she would protect the prince and as many Évrard soldiers as possible and kill however many Llewynian soldiers as was necessary to do it. Their goals were in alignment.

The battle unfolding before his eyes had begun to wrap up. As he shouted orders at his men, Prince Reginald caught Cain’s eye.

For a few short seconds, the prince’s gaze wandered to the golem standing a safe distance away. There was no change in his expression, but Cain sensed pity in his eyes.

Having noticed that, Cain knew he had to go to Kiara’s side.

When he looked closely, he saw that the magic holding the Llewynians in place had been dispelled, and the golem had begun to move.

“I’m going after Kiara.” He bid Gina a terse goodbye, then headed in the same direction as the spellcaster.

The golem, which she had been utilizing as her high ground, gradually returned to a lump of earth. Cain figured she would be nearby and had his horse bring him close.

Most likely, Kiara had chosen a spot far from the troops because she didn’t want to see either him or the prince right after the battle. She wanted to stand by their side to better protect them, so it must have been hard on her to be constantly denied.

Cain tied up his horse nearby, then walked in search of her at a leisurely pace so as not to frighten her.

He stumbled upon her quickly enough. She was lying on the ground, hugging a frostfox close. It was Lila, who must have left Gina’s side at some point during the battle.

Kiara’s breathing was rough, like that of someone suffering from an illness. Clearly she had used too much of her magic.

But after this, she would never have to worry about that again. From now on, Cain would fight alongside her, taking care not to push her too far.

The soil crunched under his feet as he took a step forward. When Kiara heard the sound, her eyes snapped open, and she turned her head, startled.

“Oh, Sir Cain...”

Her greenish-gray eyes were damp as she stared up at him. She looked anxious.

Most likely, she was concerned that Cain had seen her in a bad spot. And she was right to be; normally, he would have been furious with her. Why would you make yourself sick like this? he would ask. Take better care of yourself, he would say.

But today, he wasn’t thinking any of that. He knew now that what he truly wanted was for her to grant him his wish. She was the one who could do what he had never managed to.

Cain wanted to be her support.

Meanwhile, he slowly began to understand just what it was he felt for her.

◇◇◇

Leaning against my golem’s head, I gasped for breath as I watched blood dye the ground below.

I’d had a rougher time than expected. I had assumed that this would be easier than moving two golems at once, but perhaps there had just been too much distance. All the same, I didn’t want to stick around somewhere I would be easy pickings.

“Mmheehee, this is brutal! It’s a simple tactic, but I’ve never seen anything more chilling. I’m betting both enemy and ally alike got a good taste of your power today,” Master Horace remarked.

A dry laugh escaped my lips—though who could say if I’d actually managed a smile.

My goal here was to inspire a fear of me, so that should have been exactly what I wanted to hear.

If everyone kept me away from the fighting in the name of keeping me safe, I had to prove to them just how strong I was. Isaac was the one who had given me the idea.

Go hand your enemy a sound defeat.

I didn’t want anyone to grow dependent on the convenience of my magic. I just wanted them to count me among their numbers. So long as I did that, I hoped they wouldn’t flat-out leave me behind again like they had in Cassia.

The Llewynians were in chaos over the current predicament. Those who fought back even knowing there was no escape found themselves the targets of arrows or fell victim to Farzian swords. Those who gave up relinquished their weapons and surrendered.

Nonetheless, the Llewynians in the rear didn’t give up their struggle. Can’t they just hurry up and retreat?

For lack of options, I moved my golem forward.

“You sure you can manage?” Master Horace was a spellcaster himself, so he could imagine just how much of a toll casting magic at such a wide range would have on someone at my proficiency level.

“I’ll be fine,” I insisted as I advanced my golem to chase away the Llewynian soldiers. Unsurprisingly, the Llewynians ran off for fear of a finishing blow.

Reggie rushed toward a soldier with his back turned, ordering his men to hunt down anyone within range. This marked the end of it, most likely. Our efforts had paid off.

Relieved, I returned the hardened earth to soft dirt. Next, I hurried my golem away, heading for a nearby windbreak. It was a good distance from the battlefield, so I figured it would be safe. Just outside of it, I slowly dismantled my golem—carefully, otherwise I was liable to tumble over on the spot.

With great effort, I managed to sit myself down in the shade of a tree. But even that proved too painful, so I lay down on my back.

I found myself short of breath for the first time in a while, so much so that I nearly broke into a coughing fit. The last time I had been in such bad shape was after the battle at Fort Clonfert.

“Even Clonfert wasn’t... this bad...”

Everything hurt. I was suffocating, as if I wasn’t taking in enough oxygen with each breath.

Master Horace scoffed, “That’s what you get, kid. Obviously the burden was going to be heavy if you transformed such a wide range of land. If you’d at least thrown some of your own blood in there, maybe it wouldn’t have left you so drained.”

Of course. Surely there would have been a world of difference if I’d given myself an easier time of it rather than struggling through the process.

For my part, I’d just wanted to show off a big spell—and to do it without using a technique that would rub Reggie the wrong way.

“Hey, Master Horace. Don’t tell anyone... okay?”

I was in so much pain, but I didn’t want to tell anyone. I didn’t want anyone to know.

Master Horace fell silent for a bit, reluctant to answer, but he eventually muttered, “Do as you like. Magic draws on your very life; you’re better off using it for a reason you can make peace with. Besides, if anyone wanted to stop somebody who used the kind of magic you just did... they’d have to think of one damn clever way to pull it off. Eeeheehee! But hey, it’s not like I want to watch you sink into a quagmire.”

“Quagmire? I don’t know what you mean... but thanks, Master...”

I figured he would say that. The only ones who perceived magic as a way to handle your very life force were the ones who had experienced it themselves. Here we had Master Horace, who had wished to survive no matter the cost and had used the final embers of his life to turn me into a spellcaster. Of course he wouldn’t try to stop me after I’d decided what I was going to use my own life for.

Still curled up on the ground, I endured the pain, desperately praying for the mana writhing within me to settle down.

Unfortunately, I had no idea if that was going to work out in my favor. My body’s revolt showed no signs of dying down, and fear washed over me as I remembered all the times I’d watched defective spellcasters turn to sand.

Was I going to die? Here, without anyone knowing? The thought of disappearing without so much as uttering my final words was too lonely to bear.

Tears pricked at my eyes, and when I reached out a hand in desperation, I heard a soft footstep, followed by something fluffy touching my arm.

I saw a pale coat of fur and a green ribbon. It was Lila. She sniffed at my cheek, then lay down next to me, pressing her cold body against mine. I took comfort in the chill, and in the next moment, I felt the heat suddenly begin to drain from my body.

I wasn’t physically cooling down. The fever generated by the magic swirling within me was being sucked out along with the mana itself.

Oh, that’s right. Frostfoxes hang around spellcasters because they like their mana. By snuggling up to me, Lila was absorbing all my excess mana. As a result, the magic inside me came under control, and gradually, it subsided.

I hugged Lila tight, grateful for her help during one of my most hopeless moments. She stayed put, making no attempt to wriggle out of my grasp.

When I closed my eyes, relieved, the tears that had welled up in my eyes began to spill. But that was fine; I just had to wipe them away before anyone showed up—or so I thought. Thanks to the sudden loss of tension, my consciousness faded for a bit.

My eyes snapped back open at the loud crunch of footsteps. When I turned my head, I saw it was Cain.

“Oh, Sir Cain...”

Oh no, I thought. Now that he’d witnessed me completely wiped out, it was no use trying to act tough.

As I was searching for an excuse, I noticed that something was off. The look on Cain’s face seemed more pained than usual, yet somehow like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Or perhaps it was just my imagination.

“Please don’t tell Reggie. I’m just a little tired.”

I tried getting up to show him I was alright, but I wobbled like I was anemic. Still, I powered through it enough to sit up straight.

“You’re so stubborn. It’s more upsetting to be told that you don’t need any help from me, you realize.”

Cain kneeled down and extended a hand. His fingertips slid over my cheeks, wiping away the tearstains on my face. He used the same hand to stroke the back of my neck, and I jolted at the touch.

“I don’t like being outmaneuvered the moment I take my eyes off you either. If that’s how you plan to go about it, I’d much prefer you keep me by your side as a partner-in-crime—or at least, I do now.”

His hand was warm, steeped in the smell of blood and iron from gripping his sword, but the darkness in his eyes only grew. As he lifted me up with a faint smile on his face, he had an air of intensity about him—one that said he’d long since thrown out any pretense of a reason for touching me and simply desired to wrap me up in his arms.

“What?”

I was flummoxed, but Cain spoke in a gentle voice, like he wanted to reassure me. “From now on, all I want to do is help you if you’re going to fight. No matter how hard I may try, I will never understand your desire to spare our enemies. My own hatred for Llewyne is too strong. When I watched those Llewynian men die without putting up a fight, I was fully reminded of that.”

He had always silently watched as I performed funerals for the enemy, but I’d known it didn’t sit well with him. For him, the battle against Llewyne also held implications of revenge. If this war had been against Salekhard and only Salekhard, Cain likely wouldn’t have felt the same way. He simply would have fought as part of his role as a knight.

And yet, I had insisted on having things my way—and reawakened his grudge in the process.

Unfortunately, there was no turning back time. Cain couldn’t go back to the person he’d been before his revelation.

“For the longest time, I pitied you. I wanted to keep you away from the war... but if you refuse to change your course of action, I’ve realized now that I’d do best to support you in it. After all, you can kill far more Llewynians than any ordinary soldier. And what’s more, you changed a predetermined future.”

Cain lifted my hand and placed a kiss to my fingers.

His attitude toward me had changed somehow. Before, he had always given the impression that he was looking after a child, and at times, I’d found that embarrassing. But now, he was almost... reverent? There was something oddly polite about his demeanor. It felt like there was an almost frenzied quality to his eyes when he looked at me... or was that just my imagination?

“I believe this should be more convenient for you too. We have only one problem. Although His Highness doesn’t seem interested in restraining your actions, he is against proactively throwing you into battle. But with my help, things should become easier for you... Don’t you agree?”

All I could do was nod. Cain was exactly right. If they knew I had him on my side, Reggie and Alan would see that it was no longer possible to craftily remove me from their plans. There would never be a repeat of Maynard, where they had purposely left me behind.

There was just one problem.

“Won’t you get in trouble if you do that? You were ordered to protect me, so if you allow me to jump into danger—”

“His Highness asked me not to stop you from doing whatever you’d set your mind to, so it should be fine. But in that case, why don’t you make it an order?”

“Huh?”

“If the one I’m protecting commands it, I have no choice but to obey. If we leave things as they stand now, I would have to prioritize His Highness’ and Lord Alan’s orders over your desires. If I were to put your orders first, so long as you have no plans to make an enemy of His Highness, there should be no conflict of interest.”

It would be a piece of cake to avoid becoming enemies with Reggie. I would never, ever join up with Llewyne. Besides, if this would serve to protect Cain as well...

“Please work with me... to defeat our enemy.”

Cain immediately called for a do-over. “That didn’t sound much like a command. You ought to have the word ‘order’ in there, if nothing else.”

Didn’t we have a conversation like this before? I wondered. Then I tried again, “Erm, in that case... please obey my orders on the battlefield.”

“Tell me to prioritize your orders above all else. Otherwise, I might just give precedence to His Highness and lock you away somewhere you can’t use your magic.”

“Hrk... When we’re on the battlefield, please give my orders top priority. Even if that means disobeying Reggie. I’ll take full responsibility for whatever happens.”

The corners of Cain’s mouth finally lifted, satisfied. “Then I am at your command, Miss Kiara.”

“Great... Here’s a different kind of quagmire.”

I thought I heard Master Horace mumble something with a sigh, but I couldn’t quite catch what he said.

◇◇◇

Cain and I made our way back to the rest of the troops just before the battle ended. At almost the exact same time, a group of Sorwenians came along from the nearby town. About twenty armed horsemen showed up to receive Reggie.

Of course, one of those men was Lord Sorwen. If I remembered correctly, he was stated to be thirty years old in the game. He had lost his father in a mining cave-in and succeeded him at a young age. Perhaps a product of his family’s extensive efforts in commercially developing their territory, he had the air of a merchant about him.

He was riding a horse and wearing a military uniform, a sword hanging from his waist, but the look didn’t really suit him. It was almost like the clothes were wearing him. His long, golden-brown hair reached his shoulders.

“I do so humbly apologize for our tardiness. I’d heard rumors of Your Highness’ march, but to my deepest regret, not even our merchants could so much as budge after the Llewynians’ attack. Why, even merchants from neighboring territories found themselves trapped in our town, unable to return home. You have my deepest gratitude for striking down the invaders!”

Yeah, the ingratiating attitude really screamed “merchant.”

“I was hoping we could make it here sooner ourselves,” Reggie replied. His tone was so mild, you’d never guess he had initially planned to skip past Sorwen altogether.

I watched the exchange from a distance.

If I were to believe what Reggie had said in Cassia, so long as he didn’t find out how exhausted I’d been, he wouldn’t have anything to scold me over. All the same, I was so afraid he was going to see right through me that I wanted to hide, like a dog guiltily glancing at their master after a bout of mischief.

“It’ll be fine,” Cain reassured me, placing a hand on my shoulder as I fidgeted. He had been by Reggie’s side far longer than me, so I assumed he knew what he was talking about.

Then again, Reggie was a certified expert at reading my mind. I wanted to go get a word in with Jerome or Edam ASAP. Using this battle as an example of what I could do, I would request that they incorporate my magic into their strategies from now on.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t interrupt the prince’s and the marquis’ conversation to start up a chat with the two men standing nearby. While I was waiting impatiently, Reggie looked my way.

Cain held my hand in solidarity. I instinctively looked down, and by the time I lifted my head again, Reggie was already looking elsewhere.

That was all there was to it, but somehow, it had left me terribly anxious. It was a feeling akin to plunging a hand underwater, stirring it all around, and leaving everything a mess.

As I stood there perplexed by my own emotions, we were given the order to move out.

◇◇◇

At Lord Sorwen’s guidance, we entered the nearby town. Surrounded in fences and walls built to keep bandits out, the place was the picture of calm.

Alerted to the arrival of the prince’s army, some of the townspeople came out of their houses to line the cobblestone streets. Others stuck their heads out of their windows to watch us. The women seemed particularly giddy as they gazed out at Reggie and his companions.

“Hey, look at the silver-haired man!”

“Isn’t that the prince? He’s so handsome!”

“Awfully young, isn’t he? He must be close to my daughter’s age. That knight by his side has such a refined look about him!”

“Is the one with the black hair another nobleman?”

“I did hear that the margrave’s son is here to represent Évrard.”

These poor girls had been down in the dumps for a long time now. Forget going out to fight to protect their town; they hadn’t been able to go out at all in ages. This must have made for a fun diversion.

Reggie probably realized that himself. Occasionally, he would wave his hand with a smile. He’d probably gotten used to this sort of thing over the course of his life as a prince.

Making a show of cheerfulness was bound to have a positive impact on townspeople, young and old, male and female. If we looked relaxed enough, we’d give them hope that we could drive out the Llewynians.

Just as I imagined, part of the crowd watching Reggie began to cheer.

“Long live His Highness!”

“Victory to Farzia!”

If you traced it back to its origins, Farzia was once a kingdom ruled by the divine right of kings. But ever since war had grown more rampant, kings who were formidable in battle had become more popular with the citizens.

Appearances held equal sway over people’s hearts. Reggie’s good looks held the power to inspire the confidence needed to lend us a hand.

Not far behind him, I was riding together with Cain. It was embarrassing to do this in front of such a large audience, but I hadn’t recovered enough to ride on my own, so I’d had no other choice.

I wished I could have flaunted my stuff... like, Your spellcaster here will give it her all! But that was asking too much from me. The thought was absolutely terrifying. If the people started muttering, “Who does that little girl think she is?” or whatever, I’d never recover.

Unfortunately for me, sharing a horse was bound to stand out. It probably didn’t help that seeing a girl among the forces was so rare.

“Look, there’s a girl! Who is that?”

“Some nobleman’s daughter, perhaps?”

Each time one of those whispers reached my ears, my shoulders trembled a little.

“Act a little more confident. You mustn’t look down. It’s a waste of your pretty face,” Cain whispered into my ear. That embarrassing line of his was almost enough to make me scream and run away, but if I did that, I’d just look like a crazy person.

If nothing else, I didn’t want to be perceived as a weirdo, so I looked straight ahead with a stiff face. Behind me, I heard Cain let out a burst of laughter.

Ugh... This is humiliating. Nonetheless, Cain kept his arm firmly wrapped around my stomach to hold me up, so I couldn’t deny that this was easier on the nerves than going it alone.

Before long, we arrived at Lord Sorwen’s manor. It was an elegant brick building, much less ostentatious than the outer wall of the town. After being shown to my room and assigned a servant to act as my attendant, I had her draw a bath for me. Given the hot time of year, the lukewarm water felt perfectly pleasant, and it was a relief to rinse all the dust, sweat, and smells of blood from my body.

I brought Master Horace along with me. The servants were taken aback by his... everything, but they kindly wiped him down with a cloth at my request. Master Horace seemed awfully pleased to have the young ladies’ hands all over him.

After that, I took a short nap. I had just about reached my limit, so I fell asleep in no time at all.

When I woke up about three hours later, I was feeling a lot better. In my earlier condition, I probably couldn’t have gotten food down my throat; I was lucky there had been some time before dinner.

Perhaps because of the large number of people crammed inside the manor, dinner took place inside a small hall. Reggie and the other nobles weren’t the only attendees; their accompanying knights enjoyed their meal in the same place.

With the exception of the ones tasked with guarding the manor, the soldiers would have to spend the night in tents set up in the outskirts of the town, but the marquis had at least provided them all with a meal.

Gina and Girsch were staying in the manor too. The two often served as my escorts, and Gina was a woman with monsters to take care of, so they couldn’t very well have spent the night with the rest of the soldiers.

Off in a corner of the hall, an animal-loving knight was talking to Lila and Reynard. “Err... shake, boy!” I heard him say. They’re not dogs, you know.

Alan looked like he really wanted to join in. Every now and then, his eyes would drift over to Reynard. Unfortunately, neither Alan nor I could head over there. There was a good chance that Lord Sorwen would start up a conversation with us. Here we were enjoying his hospitality, so we couldn’t very well abandon the man who had provided us food and shelter to go play with some foxes.

Once the spotlight fell on me, I was lucky to have Cain, who handled himself flawlessly, sitting by my side. Thanks to his assistance, I managed to answer all sorts of questions about magic without incident.

Afterward, the lord even flattered me with, “My, the lady spellcaster is so young and precious.”

He also asked, “Which house is Cordier?” to which I responded that they were relatives of the Évrards. He mentioned that he had a male relative close to me in age. When I remarked that he might get along with Alan and his friends, for some strange reason, Reggie burst into a fit of amused giggles.

Next, he said, “One of the daughters of a branch family is living nearby, and the air there is much cooler than in our manor. Would you like to go visit it tomorrow?” Cain called for Master Horace’s help in a whisper, and he laughed his usual creepy cackle.

As such, I was able to gently let him down with, “If I had Master Horace with me, the poor girl would probably get scared.”

Following my rejection, Cain cut in to suggest that the spellcaster might need some rest after the long battle. Even Alan said, “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen you bedridden as of late... but don’t push yourself.” So, with that, Lord Sorwen finally gave up on his invitation.

After that series of conversations, for whatever reason, Reggie’s knight Groul massaged his temple with a sigh. Is he tired?

Despite various mishaps, I successfully made it through dinner. I could still feel the fatigue weighing down my body, so I went right to sleep afterward... but I woke up in the middle of the night.

Ever since we’d left Évrard, I hadn’t been sleeping very well. However, considering how listless I was still feeling, I hadn’t imagined it would be bad enough to wake me up.

I tried to go back to sleep, but it wasn’t happening. I had already slept too much during the afternoon, most likely.

There was nothing more I could do, so I decided to move my body a little. Once I’d had a nice change of pace, maybe I would be able to get back to bed.

The room I was staying in was one of the guest rooms, so it was fairly large. Inside the spacious area were a bed, a writing desk, and a sofa. There was a wardrobe as well, but I never carried much luggage on the march, so I had no need for it. Even the pale-blue nightgown I was wearing was just a hand-me-down from the marquis’ sister, who had already left to be married.

The world outside my window was completely still; the only sound I could hear was the rustle of leaves swaying in the gentle breeze. The sky was pitch black, and from what I could tell, there was still a long way to go until dawn. It was pretty cool at night, but I’d probably feel even more refreshed with the wind against my skin.

Thus, I decided to leave my room.

Seeing as it was bound to get hot, I almost didn’t want to wear anything extra, but then I would be in trouble on the off chance I ran into someone. I threw on a thin gown over my sleepwear. Master Horace would just make for extra luggage, so I left him behind.

When I stepped out of my room, there was no one else in the corridor. That was no surprise, really; it was the middle of the night. Everyone must have been worn out from the battle earlier in the day.

However, my servant had apparently been waiting around in an adjacent room. When she heard me open the door, the middle-aged lady rushed out to meet me.

“How can I be of service to you, milady?”

“Oh, um! I just woke up, so I was going to go for a short walk,” I answered honestly, and she offered to lead me to the manor’s courtyard.

I was grateful for her help. After all, nobles’ manors were huge; I could’ve ended up wandering for ages before I found my way outside. Plus, having someone walk with me was comforting.

Under her guidance, I headed outside through a sliding door.

The breeze caressing my skin felt pleasant. All the heat that had been bottled up inside me since the afternoon dissipated into thin air. After drawing a deep breath, I looked behind me, but the servant was gone. Had she gone back inside to give me space?

The courtyard was pitch black, but I could just barely make out the silhouettes of everything in the moonlight. And most notably of all, the stars were shining brightly in the sky.

This world had its own myths and folklore associated with the constellations. I had picked up some very basic trivia at my boarding school, but seeing as I’d always just pretended to know what everyone was talking about, no one had ever formally taught me about any of them. I was worried people would think it was strange that a nobleman’s daughter, who ought to have heard all these fairy tales from her wet nurse, had never heard about any of that stuff.

Still, even if I knew nothing about their true meanings, what I did know was that the stars were beautiful. Magic existed in this world, sure, but maybe it still followed the Copernican model. Was it safe to assume that those shining lights were celestial bodies?

I noticed a few stars moving through the night sky. Huh? But how? Can stars really move that fast? If this were my past life, I’d assume those were planes, but we don’t have those here.

As I followed one of the traveling stars with my eyes, I saw the shadow of a bird pass over the moon, bigger than the one I remembered from my past life. Its tail feathers shone as brightly as a star.

“Oh, so it was the bird that was glittering...”

Just what you’d expect from a magical world. Witnessing a bird’s tail feathers shining like a star was a perfectly normal phenomenon.

While I was thinking to myself about how strange and beautiful it was, a voice unexpectedly rang out to answer the questions in the back of my mind. “It’s called a starbird. Have you never heard of the creature?”

I looked behind me, startled by the unfamiliar voice, and saw a man walking up to me. It was too dark to tell for sure, but it looked like he had a lighter shade of hair. He had left his lantern near the door, and its soft glow glinted off his locks. He had a meek quality to his features, and I got the feeling I’d seen him somewhere before. Unfortunately, I was bad at remembering people’s faces at first glance, so I couldn’t recall who he was for the life of me.

“Were you having trouble sleeping, Lady Spellcaster?”

He clearly knew I was the spellcaster, and now that he was only a few steps away, I could tell how slender his arms were. He was probably some kind of white-collar worker... which meant he wasn’t a soldier or anyone else with the army. But seeing as he had so casually struck up a conversation with me, he had to be a relative of the marquis’ or something.

“It’s an honor to meet you. Would you mind talking with me for a bit?”

“I’m sorry, have we met?” I asked.

He gave a quick bow. “I am a member of the House of Sorwen. I heard you were due to stay here, so I was hoping for the chance to meet you. Won’t you take this opportunity to chat with me?”

He nonchalantly caught me by the arm, and I gave a start. This guy definitely seemed like the type to go around trying to pick up girls. Wait... Is that what he’s doing here?!

The possibility finally occurred to me, and I was thrown for a loop. What was I supposed to say to turn him down?!

“Milady,” he whispered urgently, taking advantage of my hesitation to pull me into an embrace.

A chill ran down my spine. This was nothing like when Reggie or Cain would hold me close. I felt no peace of mind at the gesture. On the contrary, a feeling of disgust crept over me.

If he were an enemy, I would clobber him without hesitation. But given his relationship with the marquis, I wasn’t sure if I should do anything too drastic. Besides, killing was easy, but I wasn’t confident I could hold back enough to merely knock someone out. If I summoned a golem to punch him, his bones would be crushed into dust. Oh, I got it! I can just cement his feet to the ground!

Right as I had my eureka moment, I heard a voice call out, “Could you please keep your hands off our spellcaster?”

The owner of the voice stepped out from deep within the left-hand side of the courtyard. Perhaps he’d been out for a nighttime stroll; he was dressed in breezy attire instead of his usual military uniform, though his sword still hung from his waist as a precaution. The biggest clue to his identity was his silver hair, glittering in the moonlight and hanging loose for once.

There weren’t many men who looked good with long, unbound hair. Yet in his case, he simply looked beautiful, like the resident of a fantasy world. I almost began to wonder if I was dreaming.

“Y-Your Grace...” The man from the House of Sorwen knew it was Reggie at once. He sounded frightened.

“To think you’d pull this just when everyone is worn out from the battle. I see the marquis keeps poor company.”

Reggie was smiling, but his eyes were narrowed, giving him a sinister air. As the prince approached with the look of a hunter who had locked onto his target, the man who had struck up a conversation let go of me and automatically took a step backward.

“And here I just issued the marquis a warning. Was he planning to talk his way out of this by claiming you acted of your own accord?”

“Erm! No, well, you see... we were only talking! Please excuse me!” the man babbled, then made a run for it.

After I watched him go in a daze, I figured Reggie at least deserved a thank you. “Um, thanks for saving me. And... good night.”

I was afraid that if we talked any longer, he would tell me off for everything I’d done earlier that day. Plagued by a guilty conscience, I decided to make my own hasty escape. I didn’t get very far, however, before he pulled me into a gentle hug from behind. He held me loosely, like he all he wanted was to wrap me up in his arms.

“Don’t run, Kiara.” His pleading tone brought me to a halt. “Don’t be afraid. I won’t get angry with you. Not today.”

The tension finally drained from my body. I wasn’t scared. On the contrary, I felt relieved, and any desire to disentangle myself from the arms wrapped around my shoulders and waist vanished—because now I knew that Reggie wasn’t going to turn his back on me.

I had rebelled against him, yet he still hadn’t written me off. Just knowing that much made me happier than I ever could have imagined. I didn’t want to be brought back down to earth, so I hoped he wouldn’t say anything more about today. At the same time, there were words I desperately wanted him to say, enough to squeeze them out of him.

A plea nearly escaped me: Please, tell me you need my help. Tell me that you need me badly enough to bring me along.

But Reggie didn’t say anything.

He knew what had happened, and that was exactly why he wasn’t going to question me about it. On the other hand, perhaps his silence was a sign that he was holding back something he wanted to say.

It was a truly vexing moment. And yet, for some reason, just standing quietly like this gave me the peaceful feeling that we had been together this way for a long, long time now.

Had I grown too used to him hugging me ever since we had first met? Back in the beginning, it had definitely taken me by surprise. Well, I’m pretty sure he saw me as more of a fellow kid back then. We even slept in a pile together.

A thought finally occurred to me, and I asked, “Were you having trouble sleeping again?”

“That’s right.”

Reggie had always been a light sleeper. I knew that whenever he stayed at Évrard, he would often wake up in the middle of the night. I’d even stayed up late chatting with him once before. We had been busted by Mabel and given us a good scolding afterward, though.

“Now I’m glad I came out into the courtyard to pass the time. It meant I was here to rescue you.”

He didn’t interrogate me about why I was out here. After all, he’d already promised he wouldn’t get mad at me.

“Here I thought you’d be tired. Even from afar, I could tell you weren’t looking well. Were you trying to hide it to avoid my disapproval? Wentworth, on the other hand... I suppose he’s chosen to accept whatever it is you want to do.”

“Yeah. He said he’d help me do whatever I’ve set my heart on.”

I didn’t tell him everything Cain had said. He had only revealed so much of his heart to me in order to entrust me with his wishes. And besides... I was the one who had pushed Cain into saying those things.

I remembered the feeling of playing an RPG with my levels maxed out from the beginning—how exhilarating it had been to so painlessly beat the enemies. If that enemy were someone who had killed my loved ones, you can bet I would have craved even more of that thrill. The more I cut loose, the more vengeance I would be able to take.

“I see.”

How had Cain come to that decision? Surely Reggie wanted to know. Regardless, he didn’t ask me to explain any further. He had probably sensed that I didn’t want to talk about it.

There was a lapse of silence, and I looked up at the sky once more. Another star-laden bird was flying past. The lights twinkling in the darkness informed us of its presence.

“Oh, a starbird.” Reggie noticed what I was staring at. “It’s a nocturnal bird that sleeps during the daytime. People claim it’s a species of monster. Since it possesses the ability to see in the dark, it can fly through the night sky without any issue.”

“Its tail is so pretty! The feathers shine just like stars.”

“Would you like one of those feathers for yourself?”

“Not really. I’d feel just awful plucking it out. Wait, do they ever shed?”

If they shed and regrew their feathers, I could marvel at its beauty with a clear conscience. Then again, if I picked one up in the middle of our journey, it would just make for extra luggage.

“Oh no. Those birds are quite ferocious, you see. They only look small when you see them flying from a distance; they’re actually fairly large animals. They’ll often attack and devour pigs, so we have to call for exterminations from time to time.”

“Wait, what? Pigs?!”

My image of the bird suddenly transformed into something much more terrifying. And it looked so beautiful when it was up in the sky, too!

Reggie giggled at my surprise, then said, “Right... About that man just now. I’m going to issue the marquis a stern warning. I’ll ensure that he never tries to make a profit off you again.”

“What do you mean, a profit?”

“With all the mines around here, I’m sure there’s no shortage of tasks an earth spellcaster could help with.”

“Oh, I see...”

Digging tunnels with my magic was a piece of cake, so to anyone in the business of operating those mines, my skills must have been highly desirable. I totally understood why they wanted to bring me into their ranks.

“If I’m being honest, I would’ve preferred to simply slice off the arms he touched you with.”

“Hold on now, there’s no need to go that far!”

Upon turning my head in surprise, I came face-to-face with Reggie’s affectionate gaze. I tensed when I saw that beautiful face so close to mine, but Reggie just cheerfully remarked, “You finally looked me in the eye.”

Watching him light up over something so trivial made me strangely antsy. It felt a little hard to breathe, like the air around me had suddenly thinned.

“I have one thing I’d like to ask of you, Kiara.”

“What is it?”

Peering into my face, he answered, “Don’t do anything too reckless. If you think you’re in trouble, just run away. I do worry about you, you know.”

I didn’t respond immediately. I knew there were bound to be situations that called for a little recklessness, so I couldn’t promise him that.

Reggie whispered, “Just say yes.”

“Erm, I—!”

Reggie drew his face even closer to mine, pressing his cheek to my temple. Wait, this isn’t just “close”! We’re actually touching!

I had grown accustomed to hugs back when I was being passed around like a ball, but face-on-face action was still too much for my delicate sensibilities.

“Come, give me your answer,” Reggie urged me, extracting an arm from around my shoulders to instead press his hand to my cheek. “All you have to say is ‘yes.’”

In an attempt to drive me even further into a corner, he brushed his lips against my ear. Hey, that tickles!

“Would you stop that?! Yes! There, I said it! Happy?”

Grr! Why does he always have to go and do stuff like that?!

Once I had panicked and caved in to his demands, he finally drew back.

I glared at him. “Since I only agreed under pressure, how can you be so sure I’m going to keep my promise?”

I was already planning to go back on my word from the moment I said it. Did that upset him? Apparently not, since Reggie seemed perfectly satisfied with the outcome.

“This was good enough for me. Now that you’ve promised, I bet you’re going to regret it as soon as you break faith with me. You’ll think of me and feel bad about it.”

“Hrk...”

How diabolical. He had made me promise just so I would regret it later.

“Was that too cruel? Then to make amends, let me take you back to your room.”

“Sure, I don’t mind... Hey, wait!”

The moment he had my permission, Reggie swept me up into his arms. Then, he started walking ahead at a brisk pace. What’s wrong with all the people in this world? Don’t they have any sense of weight?! Why are they all so strong?! How can everyone lift me up so easily?!

Even my past-life dad had a hard time picking me up after I’d entered middle school. But then again, I could tell how broad Reggie’s shoulders were as I rested my head against them, and in his arms, I suddenly felt a whole lot smaller. It really drove home how stark the difference in our physiques had grown since we first met.

“Put me down, Reggie! Aren’t I heavy? I can walk on my own.”

And yet, Reggie only embarrassed me further with, “Your warmth reminds me of a little kitten’s, so I’d rather not let you go.”

A kitten? Now that was just embarrassing. I definitely wasn’t that cute.

For some reason, a sense of loneliness washed over me. Something about this was nostalgic... and sad. Still, I wanted to stay like this forever.

There was no armor or thick clothes to separate us for once, so I took the chance to soak up Reggie’s body heat. I found myself nuzzling my cheek against his shoulder before I realized what I was doing.

“Are you cold, Kiara?”

“Huh?”

I was so humiliated, I could have just screamed. What was WRONG with me?!

“Err, uhh... A little? Maybe?”

I had no idea what I’d been thinking. Desperate to play it off, I went along with the excuse Reggie had provided for me. Sadly, that turned out to be a huge mistake.

“Oh, sorry. I hadn’t noticed.”

He tightened his hold on me. When we arrived back at my room, he put me back in my bed and pulled the covers all the way up to my neck. Nooo, it’s so hot! I tried to pull them back down, but he readjusted them with a gentle scolding.

“I don’t want you catching a cold. We have to keep you warm.”

“It’s so hot, though...”

“Didn’t you just say you were cold?”

Sure I had, but that was just a lie I’d blurted out. Ugh, it’s sweltering...

I could have sworn I heard a faint giggle, so there was a good chance Reggie knew exactly what he was doing.

I managed to sleep soundly despite the roller coaster of events. The next day, I awoke to news that a post-horse had arrived from Cassia.

According to the intelligence we received, delivered via a southern province currently fending off a Llewynian attack, the royal army had confronted the Llewynians... and been sent running.