Chapter 4: Battle on the Delphion Border

It was the afternoon of the day we determined that, soon, we would be departing Cassia and heading out on the march. I stopped by a church in the castle town. Girsch, who had been paying the place frequent visits, had invited me to come along that day.

I had only asked Cain to accompany me, but upon arriving at the church, we ran into Alan and Reggie, who had been taking a stroll around the town. They both came inside with us.

We headed for the church’s backyard. There, we found a bunch of kids who had lost their parents in the war playing together.

Ever since we’d returned to Cassia, Girsch had been helping out at various establishments sheltering these unfortunate children. That was the world’s aspiring mama for you.

At first, the children had been in as much of a stupor as you would expect after losing their parents, siblings, and homes. Only the toughest of the bunch had helped the nuns of the church look after the rest. Whenever they weren’t working, they either sat in pensive silence or, occasionally, burst into tears as all the horrors came flooding back to them.

Girsch had picked up war orphans off the street and brought them home to the mercenary village countless times in the past and thus was used to dealing with traumatized children. According to the grateful nuns, Girsch’s presence had brought smiles to the children’s faces in no time.

When Girsch had asked me to come along, I was hoping I could do a little good by playing with the children.

And here was the idea I had come up with.

“Hey, kids! My name’s Horace!” I ventriloquized, affecting a squeaky voice. At the same time, according to our plan, Master Horace lifted his right hand. His arm was quivering just a fraction, accompanied by little clacking sounds, but I pretended not to notice. “Let’s be friends!” Master Horace waved. After that, he stopped moving.

I had asked him to do a little spin for the finishing touch, but perhaps his pride just wouldn’t allow it.

The kids were mystified by the otherworldly doll. They edged toward Master Horace, brimming with curiosity.

“Is this dolly made out of pottery?”

“Whoaaa! Does it really move by itself?!” A boy at the front of the pack poked at Master Horace.

The clay figurine rattled and shook with fury. However, he had already given me his word that he would play along, so he couldn’t fight back. He was the one who had claimed, “Playing with kids sounds like a walk in the park!” Of course, that had just been him giving me tit for tat, but no need to sweat the small stuff.

“You’re a monster,” Alan remarked.

“I am not! Don’t you think this was a great idea?”

Alan could pity the doll all he wanted, but Master Horace was the one who had agreed to it.

Next to him, Reggie appeared to be having his first giggle fit in a long time. He had turned away, his shoulders shaking wordlessly.

Master Horace had taken off, walking with a symphony of clickety-clacks, and the children were following after him like baby ducklings, badgering him ruthlessly.

“Hey, mister dolly! Say something!”

“Is walking all it can do? Boooring.”

“If you’re real, prove it! Do a cartwheel!”

Even for an animate doll, that was a tall order—given his shape and all.

Master Horace came to a stop with a particularly loud rattle. It seemed he had reached his boiling point. “Grrr, I’m DONE! Who could stand looking after these little brats?! I’m telling you, I HATE kids!”

“Eeeek! The doll yelled at us!”

“We’re gonna be cursed!”

“I’m scared of ghosts!”

Master Horace swung his arms and hopped around in a rage, sending all the children running.

“Hey! You take that back! I am NOT a ghost!”

“Ahhhh! The evil doll is chasing us!”

“Wahhh!”

In an instant, the procession of ducklings had turned into a game of tag between a group of children and an oversized clay figurine.

“Oh, how cute! It’s just like kids to be so scared of a doll,” Girsch commented, warmly observing the scene.

“You don’t have to be a child to find that scary. If that thing started chasing me—even in broad daylight—I’d be running too,” Alan interjected, and I was in complete agreement. It would be especially terrifying at night. But seeing as I was the one who had made it in the first place, I kept my mouth shut.

“It’s such a shame that today is our last day visiting here. I should go say my farewells to the priests,” Girsch said with a sigh, then headed over to the nuns and priests of the church, who were standing a short distance away.

As he watched the mercenary go, Reggie mumbled, “The church may intend to keep custody of them, but things aren’t looking good for these children.”

This world was filled with natural phenomena that defied explanation, and as a result, every country worshipped the gods to at least some extent. The church was bound to offer refuge to Llewynians, too. That was why, no matter the country, it was common for VIPs to be sheltered inside of churches. Consequently, church entrances were always strictly monitored, and much of the time, not even the most kind-hearted friar would be allowed to keep anyone inside, child or no.

“I’d like to act as quickly as possible, but if I push our soldiers too hard, it will be difficult to keep them going... Kiara. According to your memories, we clash with Lord Delphion’s forces next, correct?”

“Right.”

Delphion was the territory bordering Cassia to the northwest.

“Lord Delphion’s troops will come marching toward us—on Llewyne’s orders, supposedly. The only difference is that originally, that was supposed to happen a whole year after Llewyne occupied the royal capital. I’m not sure how the new situation will change things.”

Up until now, it hadn’t made much of a difference whether events took place before or after the fall of the royal capital. Everything had been put into motion by Alan and his Évrard forces, the ones on the offensive. This time, however, things were different.

“It all depends on what they do—Llewyne, Salekhard, and the Farzian nobility siding with Llewyne,” Alan chimed in.

“Personally, the one I’m most worried about at the moment is Salekhard. If they would be willing to stay secluded in Trisphede, we could always form some sort of pact with them, relinquish the land temporarily, and avoid engaging them in battle,” Reggie suggested.

Alan frowned in response. “Don’t you think it would be a bit difficult to negotiate with them?”

“Perhaps. There’s also the question of how Delphion’s baron and the other nobles will act, considering Llewyne still has a ways to go until they seize full control of Farzia. Once the royal capital falls, the queen may dispatch more troops toward us too. Is it safe to assume the baron will cut his ties with Llewyne as soon as his daughter is freed?”

“I think so, according to everything I know.”

Lord Delphion had chosen to cooperate with Llewyne because his daughter had been taken hostage. On Llewyne’s side of things, the battles against the neighboring provinces of Sorwen and Cassia had been particularly fierce, so they wanted to strike a deal that would let them avoid fighting Delphion. Thus, they had accepted the baron’s offer.

In the RPG, however, the baron’s daughter had already been killed, so there was no means of rescuing her. As such, I couldn’t be 100% sure that if we freed the hostages, Delphion would come over to our side.

“Also... in the Battle of Delphion, the queen’s attendant joins the fray as a spellcaster yet again.”

In other words, I meant the game version of Kiara Credias. With that in mind, the land of Delphion was bound to stir up a lot of complex feelings within me.

“There’s a chance Lord Credias may make an appearance in her stead,” Alan pointed out. That was a good guess.

We knew that Lord Credias had played a part in Salekhard’s attack on Trisphede. A good bit of time had passed since then, so there was a chance he had gone back to the royal capital, but it was equally possible that he was still in the area.

“I don’t know what kind of magic Lord Credias uses, but whatever it is, we have to take him down,” I declared, brimming with determination.

Reggie cast a glance my way, as though there was something he wanted to say.

◇◇◇

After we returned to the castle, Cain, Master Horace, and I discussed tactics we could employ against Lord Credias.

“Gotta be honest with you, kid, it’s hard to say when we don’t know anything about the man’s element or abilities. Heeheehee!” Worn out from playing tag with the kids, Master Horace was sitting with his legs sprawled out over the table.

“Are you sure you haven’t heard any rumors of a spellcaster that might be relevant? Besides, you were indirectly in contact with him, weren’t you?”

Back before I knew he was a spellcaster, I had only ever caught a quick glimpse of the viscount’s face. I’d never spoken with him before, so everything I knew of his character was based on hearsay. The way he’d stared at me had creeped me out; that had been my only initial impression of him.

Since Lord Patriciél was the one Master Horace had been in contact with, even he had never met Lord Credias face-to-face.

“He was being cautious, I’m sure. If he were the type to fight by sheer magic force, he would have shown up in the flesh and wiped the floor with me. Mmheehee! Considering he didn’t show his face even after I’d swallowed the contract stone, he must be real keen on keeping his abilities a secret.”

“Then is it possible he possesses a more unconventional power?” Cain asked.

Master Horace gave a deft shrug of his little clay shoulders. “Or maybe he thought that if he concealed his magic, it would be easier to put me down on the off chance I came to crush him with everything I had. The amount I swallowed didn’t have enough binding power to give us a full-fledged mentor-disciple tie. That’s why he was planning to off me once my job was done and why he stuck me with someone who could take me out at a moment’s notice. Heeheehee!”

Oh, right. There had been no sign of Lord Credias around when the soldier standing watch over Master Horace was killed, and that was why he had chosen that moment to make a run for it. And then he had been shot and killed for his trouble.

Clearly they had assumed Master Horace would never willingly join their side, and that was why they’d made a move against him. They must have been worried that if they let him run loose, he could have ended up allied to Farzia—which would spell trouble for their side.

Either way, we didn’t have enough information to draw a conclusion. All we could do was pray that the viscount wouldn’t show up to any future battles.

Dinner had rolled around when a post-horse arrived from the squad patrolling the Delphion border, confirming that the enemy had begun to advance. Their forces were composed of both the baron’s soldiers and Llewynians who had been stationed in Delphion.

Salekhard’s flag had been spotted among them, too.

Having already made our preparations for the upcoming expedition, we set out immediately.

◇◇◇

“Salekhard, hm?” Reggie muttered from where he sat next to me.

Alan was riding in the same carriage as us, and Master Horace was by my side as always. Everyone had packed inside for an additional meeting as a follow-up to our usual war council.

“It’s hard to predict what they’ll do,” Reggie fretted.

“Nonetheless, it seems the positioning of the enemy matches what Kiara remembers. This might be easier than we’d expect,” Alan responded, flipping through my memory guide.

We were lucky that the circumstances had turned out the same as in the RPG. The timing of the events was different, so I had assumed we wouldn’t be able to count on my memories at all. This way, we would have a much easier time forming our strategy.

“In which case, we know the battle will take place in woodland.”

There was a forested region near the border between Delphion and Cassia. Doing battle there meant weaving through the trees; in the RPG, it made the archers a real pain to deal with since their attacks could go through one or two obstacles. It took time to defeat the incoming foot soldiers, and in the meantime, the archers rained blows from the rear. Unfortunately, the trees made it hard to cut around behind them.

Basically, you were thwarted by obstacles at every corner while your party members’ HP was whittled down to nothing. I had found that part of the game really frustrating.

What’s more, you could always use recovery items in the RPG, but in the real world, the soldiers’ lives would really be chipped away. That was a lot more frightening to imagine.

But knowing Reggie, we could count on him to come up with a plan to minimize the damage we took.

“Salekhard probably wants to see us in action, considering they may have to fight us next. And they just so happen to have the perfect underdog to put to use.”

“We already predicted that the incoming forces would be a mix of the baron’s soldiers and Llewynians. Delphion borders Trisphede, Sorwen, and Cassia. Seeing as Llewyne has seized the territory, of course they’ll want to use that to their greatest advantage.”

Reggie’s “underdog” remark was right on the money. In the RPG, as soon as the baron’s soldiers were defeated, the Llewynians ran for the hills. The whole point of the battle was just to trim down Farzia’s numbers, if luck was on their side.

Thinking about it from that perspective, Delphion was really getting a raw deal here. I had to assume the reason they were doing the Llewynians’ bidding was the same as in the game: the baron’s daughter had been captured.

“We can’t allow them to pare down our numbers or attack Cassia now that the province has just gotten back on its feet,” Reggie said, then flicked his gaze toward me. “And that’s where I have something to ask you, Kiara. Do you think you could fell some trees for us?”

“Fell them? Sure, if I had my golem stomp over them.”

“How big of an area can you cover? It doesn’t matter to me how you get the job done. So long as you don’t overexert yourself, that is.”

After giving it some thought, I answered, “If you want me to make us a decently wide path, I think I could manage about two hundred mers. If you want me to make it bigger, I’ll have to take breaks and repeat the process a few times over... or it might be faster to just have my golem run around the area blindly.”

Reggie closed his eyes and nodded, mulling that over. “Alright, thank you. I might ask you to try something once we get there.”

He was probably considering whether or not we could use that as part of our strategy—all to claim victory. I was so overjoyed that it was hard to keep from breaking into a smile.

The quicker I could bring our battles to an end with my magic, the less danger Reggie and my friends would be exposed to.

◇◇◇

We arrived at our destination three days later. What stood before us was the forest that served as the Delphion border. Except for the few gentle hills in the area, the earth was level and densely packed with trees.

The enemy had deployed their soldiers into this forest. Normally, we would raid the woods and fight them head-on, but after the discussion at our war council, we decided to set up camp close by instead. Not only would it be hard for our forces to navigate the forest, but even communication would get tricky. And here I had thought that all those obstacles had made fighting in the forest a pain in the game. Terrain was an even more essential factor in a real fight.

Naturally, the enemy wasn’t going to give up their advantage just like that. Reggie’s read on the situation was that leaving them be for one or two weeks wouldn’t be enough to make them leave the forest. He had accounted for that in his plans, and thus had his troops take up position right outside the forest. The enemy was bound to grow impatient, having us nearly within their grasp. All we had to do was dangle the bait and wait.

The Llewynians were aiming to lure us into the forest. They wanted to draw us into a battle of attrition, just like in the game. Still, we figured that they wouldn’t launch their attack during the night. It would be just as hard for them to navigate the forest in the dark; hence we predicted that the enemy’s attack would come when the sun was up.

That said, we couldn’t pinpoint precisely when it was going to happen, so the plan was to stand watch in shifts.

The ones standing at the forefront were the two squads belonging to “Opera Superstar” and “Grandpa Cane,” Lord Azure and Lord Enister respectively.

“Do be careful on that goat of yours, Master. He’ll eat anything in sight, so you never know when he might bring you to a sudden halt.”

“Isn’t this the goat you gifted me, lad? Here we have a creature born of the wild, gracious enough to let me ride on his back. If nature is calling, sometimes I have to let him run free.”

So went the conversation I overheard between the two of them. Uh, hold it! Letting him run free sounds like a terrible idea!

I really wanted to butt in and say that out loud, but I held my tongue. We’d only just met, so we weren’t exactly on familiar terms yet.

“Don’t do that!” Lord Azure, the old hermit’s swordsmanship disciple, jumped in with the same comment I’d wanted to make. Surely he would keep an eye on Lord Enister for us.

I had my own role to play, so I was waiting behind the front lines with Cain.

“Here! This is the first route Reggie told me to take.” As we stared down at a simplistic map, I went over our initial plan of action. After that, the only thing to do was to keep on waiting.

Nothing happened on the first day. Since I had plenty of time on my hands, I asked Master Horace for advice on how I could learn to cast larger spells. He exposited to me at length about all his findings over the years.

“This body of mine makes talking so much easier! My throat never gets parched! My mouth never gets tired of running! I just love it! Heeheehee!”

As a matter of fact, I was probably the one getting tired out by his explanation, what with nodding every now and then like a good listener.

The first attack came on the second day. It was just before breakfast, so Lord Azure seemed to be struggling with hunger pains. He bellowed out commands in his resounding voice, eliminating the need for a runner; Reggie’s and Alan’s troops heard him announce the attack loud and clear all the way to the rear.

Just as we had predicted, the Llewynians pushed the baron’s troops to the front lines. The Delphion soldiers’ blue capes had been dyed black, signifying a change in their allegiance. Tasked with leading us into the forest, they had a lot riding on their shoulders, but if they failed, they would be doing little more than exhausting their own forces. Thus, I had been under the impression that they had no desire to be on the battlefront, but it seemed the Delphion men had good momentum going.

On the other hand, we had also anticipated that our Farzian soldiers might lose steam quickly without Llewynians to fight against; however, Lord Azure’s troops were determinedly forcing the Delphion soldiers back, overwhelming the enemy with their mighty voices.

In the meantime, I brought forth a golem bigger than my usual fare. I’d rolled up more of the surrounding earth into it than I had meant to, so there were trees jutting out of its back and arms—but that was a feature, not a bug. I could use them as shields against the enemy arrows.

I made its feet twice the usual size, too. Cain and I boarded the golem’s shoulder, which reached higher than the tops of the trees, and advanced forward. The route I would be taking was a good distance from Lord Azure’s group. Moving just fast enough that we wouldn’t get thrown off as we bobbed up and down, I circled around to the northern part of the forest.

Once we were far enough from the ongoing battle, I had my golem stride to the west... or rather, slide to the west.

“The enemy is cutting around from behind us!”

“It’s an earth giant! The spellcaster is here!”

The enemy soldiers started to panic, running helter-skelter out of my golem’s path.

These soldiers had once belonged to Farzia... but now that they had swung their swords at us, there was nothing I could do to help them. Surely some of the men were too slow to flee, stamped into the ground under my golem’s feet; however, I just looked straight ahead, concentrating on keeping my magic going.

Once I had advanced a good ways ahead, I turned my course southward. From the perspective of the Farzian troops, it must have looked like I was cutting straight through the forest. With each step my golem took, it culled the trees in its way, opening up a path.

Is this wide enough for two carriages to pass through?

Skidding along made the distance feel extra long. The enemy archers were gradually adjusting their aim for my height, and their arrows were beginning to reach us. Every now and then, one would bounce off the earthen fence I had built around us as a shield, and Cain had to brush more and more aside with his sword.

“Can you go any faster, Miss Kiara?”

Even Cain felt this was getting too dangerous.

“Not if I want to make a path as big as we planned—ahh!”

An arrow whizzed right past the side of my head. By the time they reached our height, most of the arrows had lost their momentum, but that particular one flew even higher past our heads before plummeting to the ground.

Eep... That was terrifying!

Still, Reggie had entrusted me with this job. If I couldn’t pull it off, our plan wasn’t going to work. Plus, he’d probably never trust me with anything again, which was just about the worst thing I could imagine.

We finally made it three-quarters of the way through our course. Just a little more to go.

The moment I thought that, arrows started flying toward us in rapid succession. Just like the one that had nearly hit me moments ago, they were packing powerful momentum.

Cain knocked two of them away. One bounced off my golem.

The fourth sliced my arm, close to the shoulder.

“Ngh!” I nearly let out a scream. Yet I didn’t bring my golem to a stop.

“How badly were you hurt, Miss Kiara?”

“The arrow didn’t go through me, at least. Can you close the wound for me?”

“It will be difficult to manage when we’re being jostled around like this.”

Cain, too, was gripping my earthen fence-slash-shield for dear life.

“Then let’s take care of it when we get back.”

I took a look at my arm and was relieved to find it wasn’t bleeding too heavily. If it had been a bloody mess, I wouldn’t have had any room to play it off.

Eventually, we arrived at the final point of our cross-section. I switched directions to head back to our starting position, forming a new path as I did.

My arm was throbbing with pain. Even so, I was more concerned with whether my injury would be noticeable or not.

I saw Lord Azure’s troops ahead of us. It looked like they had successfully driven back the enemy soldiers. The closer we came to our allies, the fewer the number of arrows flying through the air, until the stream finally died down entirely.

“Let’s take a look at your wound, Miss Kiara. Does it hurt?”

“It’s nothing I can’t handle. How conspicuous is it?”

“Your clothes were ripped, but it’s only a small tear. The wound itself might be deeper, though. There’s blood dripping down your arm. Still, if the pain isn’t troubling you, I doubt it was poisoned.”

Cain returned his sword to its sheath, rolled up his sleeves, and quickly went to work administering first aid and wiping away the blood.

“Will I be able to hide it under my cloak?” I asked.

“I believe so, yes,” was Cain’s diagnosis.

I nodded, then lowered us down to the ground and returned my golem to a pile of dirt, now that we had found our way back to our starting point.

After that, I swiftly returned to my tent. It was a relief to have everyone’s eyes off me at last.

“Ouch!”

Now that I could finally acknowledge the pain without worry, I kept yelping “ouch” over and over. I felt like every time I said it, the pain subsided a little.

“Is it that bad?” Master Horace asked from my waist.

With a dry laugh, I shoved him under the blanket deep inside my tent. “It’s practically a scrape. But I’d like to take a proper look at it, so stay in there and behave, would you?”

Even now that he had transcended humanity, it would be unthinkable to get undressed in front of Master Horace. Still, if I wanted to take a good look at my injury or wrap it up in bandages, my sleeves would get in the way. It was too close to my shoulder.

When I inspected my arm, I found it was just as Cain had said. The damage to my clothes was minimal—though the dress was matted with blood. Underneath the ripped clothing, I spotted torn flesh and found myself struck with the pain all over again.

My cloak hadn’t taken any damage. If I patched myself up quickly enough, I could hide the cut and pretend like nothing had happened.

“Do you need any help, Miss Kiara?” came Cain’s voice.

His question gave me pause. Can I actually bandage this on my own? While I was having my internal debate, Cain made a good point: “It’ll be hard to treat on your own. Let me help you.”

“Erm... If you would, thanks.”

After admitting to myself that I really couldn’t manage it on my own, I slipped one arm out of my dress, hid the front of my body under my cloak, and adjusted my clothes just enough to avoid indecency. Then I called for Cain.

When he came into the tent, he kneeled by my side, took some bandages and a bottle of medicine from a bag, and placed them on the floor.

“All I did earlier was apply some ointment. Let me treat it again—properly this time. The sooner your wound heals, the better.”

Cain looked like he was taking this very seriously, but I couldn’t help feeling a little anxious. I mean, here I was flashing him my bare shoulder! I looked at the floor, hyperaware of his fingertips brushing over my skin.

“I am flattered you see me that way, but try to relax.”

“What?”

When I lifted my head, I found Cain staring straight back at me.

“One arm isn’t such a big deal... but do you think you can grow accustomed to this? If you want to keep your injuries hidden from His Highness, I’m the only one you can go to for treatment.”

Cain was exactly right. My arm was one thing, but if I got struck through, say... my shoulder with an arrow, I certainly wouldn’t be able to handle it on my own.

As I struggled to answer him, Cain gave me a small smile. “I’d like it if you did.”

From there, it happened in an instant. I felt his breath against my bare arm, like a gentle flutter of wings.

Cain stood up, a faint smile still playing on his lips, and said, “I’ll come back later.” And with that, he left.

“Hey, Kiara?” I sat there in a daze until Master Horace called out to me, crawling out from under the blanket.

After all... I was pretty sure what Cain had just done crossed the line of “teasing.”

The kiss on the cheek I could explain away. In past-life terms, this world was vaguely European, so it wasn’t unheard of as a greeting between two close friends. I had always assumed that Cain’s gestures fell under that category.

But my arm? Normally, you would never go around kissing someone’s arm, right?

Of course, that didn’t necessarily mean Cain was serious about me. He hadn’t asked me for anything. If I went by what he had said to me, it sounded like he was asking me not to think of him that way. But if I went by his actions, it seemed like he wanted me to get used to him doing that... or, in other words, like he did want me to see him that way.

What would happen if I did think of him that way? When I tried to imagine it, I was ready to tear out my hair.

After all, I just couldn’t see myself leaning into those feelings and learning to depend on Cain. I was afraid that the moment I knew I could rely on him, all the pain I had been holding in would come spilling out, and it would be too much for me to bear.

If that happened, I wouldn’t be able to fight anymore. Coming this far, stubbornly insisting on having my way all the while, would all have been for nothing. Even Cain would be disappointed with the outcome, considering how strongly he wanted me to destroy the Llewynians.

Meanwhile, I realized that what I was currently yearning for wasn’t love or romance. All I wanted was someone who would protect me.

In that case, my only option was to pretend I hadn’t noticed his feelings.

If I wanted to keep on fighting, Cain’s help was indispensable. If I didn’t want things to get awkward between us, I would have to follow his example and act like it wasn’t a big deal, pretending like the thought hadn’t occurred to me at all.

Just thinking about the kiss made me so embarrassed that I couldn’t bear to look him in the eyes. Still, for the time being, all I could do was hypnotize myself into forgetting everything.

Once some time had passed and I had finally regained my composure, I glanced back at Master Horace, wondering if he might have any bright ideas. Experienced in the ways of the world as he was, I tried explaining to him what had left me in such a state of shock.

Master Horace went quiet for a bit. His clay face didn’t show a change in expression, so it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

Eventually, he expressed his short take on the matter. “Feh! Damned lady-killers!” he muttered bitterly.

Drawing my own conclusions from that, I promptly decided not to ask Master Horace for any more love advice.

◇◇◇

The next day, Delphion soldiers attacked during the evening. Most likely, they had moved out during the day and kept themselves hidden. The enemy had waited until it was dark out to lure our forces into the forest, hoping to assail and conquer us while we were panicked and unable to see our surroundings.

This time, Lord Enister’s forces fended them off. The enemy didn’t stray far from the forest, instead just shooting their arrows at the troops led by the goat-riding old man. As a result, our bruiser of a hermit was struggling to go on the attack.

Lord Enister’s soldiers shot off some arrows of their own and waited to see what happened. Meanwhile, I climbed straight up onto my golem and went back to work culling trees, just as Reggie had instructed.

This time, I busied myself with dividing the parts of the forest I had already sectioned off into even smaller segments. In the twilight, I caught glimpses of soldiers scurrying away to avoid being trampled, fleeing to the remaining tracts of green.

Reggie had probably been keeping an eye on the progress of my mission; before I finished my rezoning of the forest, he moved his forces behind Lord Enister, ordering them to shoot their longbows at the Llewynians, who were moving atop the fallen trees for a better vantage point.

Before long, both sides were starting to run out of arrows. Once that happened, we would have no choice but to draw our swords and fight in close quarters. Yet the Delphion soldiers still refused to come any closer.

Lord Enister’s forces took the chance to descend. A squad was assigned to each section of the forest, surrounding and attacking the Llewynians who had run out of the cleared path and into the groves of trees. Reggie’s soldiers were dispatched to areas that were short of hands.

With all those fallen trees in the way, the enemy couldn’t make a quick escape. Not only would it take them time to go help their other comrades, but their own hiding places had been inundated by Farzian soldiers, too. Thus, each division was obliterated one by one.

This was exactly the situation Reggie had been envisioning when he asked me to cull the trees in the area. The first step in the plan was to limit where the enemy could hide. If they planned to stay out of sight, stealthily draw closer, and then launch their attack, they would first have to cross the path I had made and slip into the groves I had left toward the front.

By knocking down the trees in those groves and creating even smaller sections, I had successfully limited the enemy’s potential hiding places and forcibly reduced the number of soldiers who could take cover in one partition. They hardly had enough room to retreat, and a small group of enemies would be easy to surround and take down.

I saw more and more figures dashing through my pathways in order to escape the Farzian army’s attack, attempting to return to the deeper parts of the forest.

However, the enemy didn’t seem happy to have their soldiers running away. A bugle resounded from beyond the path, and a large number of Llewynians came forth, attempting to push the retreating soldiers back.

At that, I instructed Cain to head back to the ground. “I won’t go any farther into the forest.”

“Do you promise?” Cain asked, suspicious. After giving him several firm nods, I finally managed to get his consent.

It was a bit of relief to be on my own again. Cain was treating me the same as always, but pretending like everything was “normal” was wearing me out. Even now that we had gone our separate ways, my heart was pounding like crazy. I stood up, clinging on to my golem, and waited to calm down.

From way up high, I could see the sun, the color of a ripe orange, sinking down into the other side of the forest. If I wanted to burn the harrowing sight into the enemy’s memories, I had to finish the next step before the sun set.

“What are you planning to do all on your own? You’re pretty far away from the fight,” Master Horace asked.

“This,” I answered.

I transformed my golem’s right arm into stone, then swung it around a few times. Once it had finally gathered enough momentum, I detached the arm entirely.

It went flying. It soared through the air like a ball and landed on the other side of the crossing.

There was a loud thud. Clouds of dust danced through the air. I could feel light tremors in the earth all the way back where I was, and I heard screams added into the mix, too.

Bugles, which I assumed belonged to the Llewynians, rang out left and right. The arm hadn’t landed quite where I had been aiming, but it looked like the rear units of the Llewynian troops had indeed suffered heavy damage.

My control wasn’t the best, but there wasn’t much I could do about that. I’d never had particularly good reflexes, so I deserved a pat on the back just for getting that close to my intended target.

“What do you think, Master Horace? That’s what I call a golem-style cannon!”

“You always come up with the strangest things, kid,” Master Horace replied, dumbfounded.

Back in the beginning, Reggie had asked me to go after the enemy once our forces seized the partitions, perhaps by throwing something at them. Thus, I had decided to make as big a splash as I could by catapulting a lump of earth right into where we were luring the main troop of Llewynians.

I hurled the golem’s left arm the same way. Accompanied by even more screams, the Llewynians retreated further into the forest.

I spotted several flags deeper in the forest, where the trees were more sparse. Among them was the crest of a crown-bearing eagle on green fabric—Salekhard’s flag.

However, that flag had retreated prior to the Llewynians. For the time being, it seemed we wouldn’t have to worry about fighting Salekhard. I was relieved, though I soon found myself wincing at my aching leg.

When I had stepped into the woods earlier, my leg had been grazed by an arrow. I was glad I hadn’t been shot through, but it still hurt plenty.

All the same, I was hesitant to report it to Cain. Thankful he hadn’t noticed it in the dim twilight, I chose to remain quiet about it.

◇◇◇

“What a disgrace! You couldn’t even manage to lead them into the forest?!” The feeble yell came from a young man with curly ringlets who was adorned in heavy armor. Standing behind him was his servant, bearing the flag of Llewyne, along with several of his knight-guards. He was the Llewynian count stationed in Delphion, Lord Erling.

Kneeling before Erling was a black-haired man on the upper end of what could pass for “middle-aged.” This somewhat plump man, clad in a military uniform and curling tightly in on himself, was Lord Henry Delphion.

“My deepest apologies... but my men did their utmost.”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses! I want to see some results, you useless maggot!”

The whip in Lord Erling’s hand made several loud cracks. After each one, the baron of Delphion screamed. Not only was the Llewynian count viciously flogging him, but his poor aim meant the whip rarely came down on the baron’s arms and shoulders, often striking the top of his head instead. Lord Erling’s subpar skill meant there wasn’t much power behind the lashes, but nonetheless, the knights standing behind him averted their gaze at the sight of his temper tantrum.

Eventually, Lord Erling seemed sufficiently satisfied with the sight of Lord Delphion cowering in pain. With a smirk, he announced, “Hmph. I suggest you be a little more cooperative, or else I’ll have your daughters give their lives to serve as our cannon fodder!”

“No, please! Anything but that!” Lord Delphion jumped to his feet. He clung to the count, tears streaming down his face as he begged for him to reconsider.

Lord Erling sneered and brandished his whip once more, when...

“Ho, my Llewynian fellow. It looks like our work here is done, so we’ll be taking our leave now. See you back at the fort.”

The person who’d interrupted them was riding a bay, beautifully muscular horse. Wearing a green cape embroidered with the crest of an eagle, this tall, reddish-haired man gazed down at the count, his gray eyes narrowed.

“Oh, erm, Your Majesty! You’re leaving already?!” Lord Erling changed his tune instantly, rushing up to Isaac with an obsequious smile on his face. “Please do stay a little longer! We could use your—”

“All you asked of us was to stand watch against an attack from Sorwen. Either way, if Farzia carries on with their current method of whittling away at your men, even if you do manage to lure them into the woods for an ambush, you won’t have enough soldiers left to unite against them. Your plan has already failed, so we’re through with helping you. Bye now.”

Following that curt dismissal, Isaac spurred his horse onward, only for Lord Erling to chase after him. Isaac glanced back at the man like this was all some terrible inconvenience. After waiting for Lord Delphion’s men to lift him off the ground and carry him away, he issued the count a warning. “Their spellcaster can get a bird’s-eye view of the battlefield from atop her golem, much like climbing a watchtower. If you don’t leave this forest soon, she’s going to hunt you down and crush you like one of those trees. I recommend you flee as fast your legs can carry you.”

Cowed, Lord Erling dashed off to go order his troops to retreat.

“How nauseating... I can’t stand men of his ilk,” Isaac muttered, then returned to his position a short ways off. Mikhail and his knights, who had been waiting for him nearby, met him halfway.

“Would you stop provoking everyone you speak to, Your Highness? You’re always so quick to pick a fight. You’re going to put our plans to waste like that, you know. The next time you want to stop him, wait for the right opportunity and show a little restraint.”

“That’s ‘Your Majesty’ to you, Mikhail. And I know that. Why else do you think I refrained from punching him?”

“You may not have raised a hand against him, but you still threatened him.”

Anything he could say would just be turned back on him, so Isaac kept his mouth shut. He never had managed to best Mikhail in a contest of words.

“That spellcaster certainly is impressive,” a blond knight chimed in, perhaps looking to lighten the mood with a change of topic.

“Must be nice to have one in their ranks. I want one too,” Isaac remarked, sounding very much like a child enamored with a particular sweet in a candy store.

Mikhail seemed amenable to the subject change. “Yes. She was already quite a sight to behold back in Clonfert, but I always knew she would become even more effective when properly incorporated into their strategy.”

No matter what he said to the contrary, Mikhail was just as desperate to get his hands on a spellcaster as Isaac. Scheming was his specialty, but the way he always hoped to get a job done with as little fuss as possible was why he got on so well with the king.

“You said there were two spellcasters on their way from Llewyne, did you not? And one of them is that middle-aged man who came by Trisphede?”

“Apparently, yes. But they are our allies, so they ought to work to our advantage, don’t you think?”

“Not a chance. Llewyne is hoping for Salekhard, the country they dragged into their war, to take its fair share of damage amid all this. I’m sure they’re planning to invade us once they’re done with Farzia. In that case, they have no reason to loan us their spellcasters; they’ll simply watch and wait for our forces to dwindle as much as possible.” Isaac sneered, then said to the pair, “Thus, our best move is to ensure our forces dwindle as little as possible... for the time being, at least.”

◇◇◇

The Delphion and Llewynian forces retreated from the border. All the same, we spent the following day combing the area to make sure they hadn’t left any soldiers behind. If we let them go unnoticed only for them to invade Cassia again, it would spell trouble for us later.

That said, we had no hope of catching everyone. Some of them could have fled back to their country all on their own, or they might have blended into the Farzian ranks, making it difficult to root them out. Thus, we limited the length of our search to one full day.

In the meantime, we traced where the Llewynian, Salekhardian, and Delphion troops had withdrawn to. Evidently, they had headed for a fort located within the province of Delphion.

The next day, we proceeded west down the high road, which stretched alongside the forest, and stopped our march once we had entered Delphion. We ended up near a shallow but relatively large river. Although we had to take turns standing watch, many took the opportunity to go wash up in the water.

Some washed the blood off their armor, humming to themselves all the while. Some played with Reynard, who had grown filthy with dust, laughing as he kicked and splashed water everywhere. Others just started doing their laundry. Most common of all were people who took the opportunity to bathe.

I was interested in taking a bath myself, so I went with Gina and Girsch to find a spot away from everyone else. I created a makeshift shower stall by transforming some of the boulders there, then hopped into the water. Girsch and Lila were standing watch close by, which gave me an added sense of security. The plan was for Girsch to have a turn once Gina and I were done.

Girsch was a maiden at heart. Ever since coming to that realization—and even long before—the mercenary had always been a little shy about mingling with men. Considering Girsch had a male body, it had been a constant struggle before Gina had become a close confidant.

Incidentally, it wasn’t nearly as hot as it had been during the peak of summer, so the cold water had a little more bite to it now. Taking my sweet time soaking wasn’t an option anymore.

We managed to scrub ourselves clean right down to our hair, but we were chilled to the bone by the end of it. When we threw on our clothes and stepped out of the “stall,” we found the ever-considerate Girsch had started a fire for us.

“We can’t have you girls catching a cold, now. Come warm yourselves up!” the mercenary insisted before hitting the bath. Gina and I huddled around the fire for warmth.

“Even with Girsch to look out for me, I never imagined I’d be able to bathe in such an open area! Thanks a bunch, Kiara!” Gina threw her arms in the air, delighted. She seemed to be a big fan of keeping clean, just like any girl would be. “But by the way...”

“What is it?”

“Is your leg okay? That looks like a pretty nasty injury.”

Gina pointed at my left calf, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. That was where I had been grazed by an arrow during the battle. Cain hadn’t noticed it, but after I had taken a good look at it in my tent, I’d found it to be even deeper than I’d anticipated. Thanks to the first-rate salves of this world, the wound had closed up in no time, but I could tell that it was going to leave a lasting scar.

“It’s fine. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“But what if it leaves a scar? It might hurt your chances at marriage.” Gina studied my leg with genuine sympathy in her eyes. “Did you have it treated right away?”

“Erm... I did what I could as quickly as possible.”

“You did? By yourself? Don’t tell me all you did was use a salve on it!”

I nodded, and Gina’s eyes went wide. “I didn’t want anyone else to know that I got hurt. I was afraid they might trick me into staying off the battlefield again.”

“At least tell Sir Cain! He could have called me or Girsch to handle it.”

Ouch. That was a sore spot. “Uh, you see... I kinda can’t ask Sir Cain.”

“Did something happen?”

You’re too sharp, Gina.

Gina demanded I spill my guts, assuring me that she’d keep whatever it was between the two of us. There was nowhere for “girl talk” to spread in an army full of men, and Gina’s experience as a mercenary probably meant she could keep a secret, so I gave in and confessed—specifically, about the kiss on my arm the other day.

“Oh, now I see.” Gina’s expression grew serious. “Then I have one more question for you: have you caught on to his feelings yet?”

“Yeah. How could I stay oblivious now?” A dry laugh escaped my lips. Now that his actions had gone beyond what could be filed away as a misunderstanding, there was no way I wouldn’t realize he was interested in me.

“But it’s hard to come to terms with that, so you’re avoiding him?” When she said the word “avoid,” it finally occurred to me what I was doing. Instead of confronting him head-on, I was trying to pretend it had never happened. “Well, I suppose that goes without saying, given the situation. Let me guess: you don’t think you can reciprocate his feelings right now?”

“The only thing going through my mind is how much I want to depend on him. I can’t tell if I have actual feelings for him or not.”

For a moment, I dipped into some hypotheticals. Say I was living in my past life as a high school student, and exams were the worst of my troubles. If a really great guy made a move on me, I might consider it a chance to fall in love and try going out with him. But as the person I was now, I couldn’t afford to indulge in his kindness and stop moving forward.

“Besides,” I added, “I’m not sure if Sir Cain is acting purely out of love.”

I still had my doubts. What Cain wanted most of all was for me to charge into battle and destroy Llewyne. He was willing to fight by my side. Whenever he took up the task of protecting me, his kindness always came through loud and clear, and there were times I had nearly mistaken that for something more. But after hearing Cain’s true wish, I had begun to wonder if he simply thought of me as a high-quality blade he needed to maintain.

I had already told Gina just about everything else, plus she had never once objected to my desire to fight, so I went ahead and mentioned the promise Cain had made to me—that he would keep Reggie in check if he tried to stand in my way. I told her about Cain’s grudge against Llewyne, too, and how he was grateful to me for killing their men.

“I can completely understand why you wouldn’t have recognized his feelings as romantic. Some men have no reservations about kissing, whether there are deeper feelings behind it or not. It’s in their nature.” I sensed a bit of indignation in her words. Was that experience talking? “It’s easy to wonder if he might be trying to trick you somehow. If you let yourself fall for him, and then he tells you that was just his way of saying hello, it’ll take more than decking him in the face to pull yourself out of that funk. Still, you never know exactly what might blossom into love.”

After listening to my whole story, it sounded like Gina believed there could truly be romantic feelings at play here.

“How was it for you, Gina?”

Based on how much advice she had, Gina had to have some experience with love herself. She clearly knew way more than I did. I stared intently at her, wordlessly imploring her to spill the beans, and Gina ran a hand through her half-dried locks. She looked so glamorous with wet hair.

“My feelings started as admiration. In the beginning, I wanted to be more like him. That’s what I thought I loved about him... but a lot happened between us, and eventually, I just couldn’t feel that way about him anymore.”

“Admiration... I see.”

I definitely admired Cain. If I were as strong as him, maybe everyone wouldn’t always have to worry about me so much. Then again, I could say the same of Reggie and Alan, so it wasn’t like he was uniquely special in that regard.

“Anyway, you’re afraid you won’t be able to focus on fighting anymore, right? So Cain’s suggestive behavior is stressing you out.”

“Exactly. And that’s why I can’t tell him if I get hurt.”

Otherwise, I’d turn into an anxious mess.

It wasn’t Gina who piped up with a suggestion next. “Why don’t you tell Sir Cain that you were instructed to come to me if you get hurt?” Girsch, who had taken a bath and changed clothes, came along with a towel draped overhead. “Sorry for eavesdropping, by the way.”

I shook my head furiously. “Don’t be! We were talking out where anyone could hear, and I was the one who decided to start running my mouth.”

It wasn’t Girsch’s fault.

“That’s a good idea. That way, Sir Cain will get the hint that Kiara just isn’t ready for you-know-what.”

“I don’t know what,” I commented with a puzzled tilt of my head.

Gina just laughed. “When was your first love, Kiara?”

“Erm...” The reason I hesitated to answer was obvious: I was pretty sure I’d never fallen in love. I had thought plenty of guys were handsome or charming, sure, but those feelings weren’t much different from a celebrity crush. No matter how hard they’d made my heart throb, it was the same as squealing over an anime or manga character.

Above all else, anything I could have felt would just be washed away by the war and my position in it.

When I gave a small shake of my head, Girsch cut in, “Sir Cain has rushed to your rescue a good handful of times. That never gets your heart racing? It’s definitely worked like a charm on me, even with a fight raging. When someone saves you right in the nick of time, how can you not fall head over heels?”

Come to think of it, Girsch’s first love had been a man in the same line of mercenary work. Naturally, they would have met on the front, and if that comment was any indication, Girsch had apparently fallen for him in the heat of battle.

Right then, Master Horace finally chimed in with a devious cackle. “That’s not what this disciple of mine is really after. And until she gets what she wants, she won’t have a thought to spare for romance. I mean, just listen to her! She’s basically still a kid.”

“I can’t deny I’m a little childish, but geez...”

I had technically come of age, but it always stuck with me that if this were my past life, I would still be considered a child; consequently, it was hard to think of myself as an adult. That was my read on the situation, at least.

Girsch appeared to have come to a different conclusion. “What a wise guardian you are.”

“I’m the kindest mentor you’ll ever find! Mmheehee! But there’s only so much I can manage in a body like this—especially for a girl who’s never had any decent parents.”

“I read you loud and clear, ‘Master.’” Girsch gave a nod, then suddenly patted me on the head. “Don’t worry. Just leave everything to Mama Girsch here. I’ll go have a little talk with Sir Cain myself.”

“Huh? About what?”

“Oh, just some grown-up things.”

The contents of this future conversation remained a mystery, but I felt a lot better after getting all my worries off my chest. When I left the riverside and headed back to my tent in good spirits, I spotted Sara under a group of soldiers’ adoring gazes.

“Want a bite, Sara?” A young soldier held out a piece of bread, blushing.

“Try this instead!” Another one was offering an unsalted bit of dried meat he’d saved from his soup. Sara sure was popular.

Being the little scamp that he was, Reynard was a favorite among the soldiers who loved playing with dogs, but the calm and gentle Sara drew in the soldiers who wanted an animal to quietly sit by their side. Lila would often provide a source of comfort when the men were feeling down, so many thought of her as a motherly type—someone who might not get close but who was always watching over you from afar.

Whatever the case, since we were fighting for our lives out here, it was nice to see so many people making the most of animal therapy.

It was right then that Reynard came ashore from the river and padded over. Seeing as he had just gone for a dip, he was soaking wet. No sooner did he come right up behind the soldiers offering Sara food than he started shaking himself dry.

“Ack!”

“Stop spraying water everywhere, you little rascal!”

“How can something so cute be so infuriating?!”

“We’ll feed you next time, alright?!”

Reynard snorted as he watched the men scurry away, shouting. After witnessing this series of events from afar, Gina and I burst out laughing. Girsch mumbled something, but I couldn’t quite catch whatever it was.

“What he’s doing is really no different from Reynard.”

◇◇◇

The next day, the Farzian army marched deeper into Delphion. In order to take back the province, we had to drive out the Llewynian soldiers, and for that, we had to make an ally of the baron’s younger brother.

Lord Delphion’s brother, Ernest, was in the process of gathering people who refused to fall in line with Llewyne. If you enlisted his cooperation in the RPG, you were given a huge advantage in the battle ahead. Having an ally who knew the lay of the land gave you boosts in both attack and defense.

That was when it suddenly occurred to me: we had fought plenty of defective spellcasters, but I had yet to meet one who wielded earth magic. Whenever I did finally clash with an earth user, would they use golems, too?

“Judging by the game art, the golems in the RPG were a little smaller than the ones I make. If we only have to fight one about three to four mers wide, could we take it down like we did in the game?”

“According to what you know, we can defeat a golem of that size?” Alan asked, having overheard my soliloquy.

I nodded. “If you’re looking to keep the battle short and sweet, I know just the right strategy. First, have your archers get about two hits in. Then, you send in Alan, who has high evasion, as well as Cain and Jerome, who have high defense. Assuming you’re around level fifteen by this point, if you surround the enemy with those party members... you can finish the battle in about three turns.”

“Pardon?” Both Alan and Cain, who was sitting next to him, cast odd looks at me.

Yeah, I had a feeling they wouldn’t get it if I explained it with numbers from the RPG. I’m not sure how else to describe it, though.

Reggie was there, too. I was in the midst of going over the events to come with everyone who was aware of my whole reincarnation deal.

“If we translate your explanation into reality... that means that if we surround it with archers and add their attacks to the mix, in addition to the men commanded by me and General Edam, we can take down an undersized golem,” Alan summarized.

“Basically, yes. On that note, I was wondering if it might be a good idea for you guys to fight against one as practice.”

The study materials would be provided by yours truly.

“There is always a chance we could encounter an enemy who wields the same magic as Miss Kiara. I believe it would be wise to come up with countermeasures for that scenario, and it’s a good idea to get our soldiers accustomed to combating magic.” Thankfully, Cain seemed receptive.

That was all well and good, but being around Cain still made me nervous. Has Girsch already spoken to him? Or has no one said anything yet? If so, I should probably be the one to bring it up. He’s acting the same as ever, though.

While I was overtaken by anxiety, Reggie made a decision on the matter. “Fair point. They may be used to having a mage for an ally, but Enister’s and Azure’s men have yet to clash with a defective spellcaster. Rather than thrusting them into an encounter with the unknown, it would be best to ease them in with something they know is relatively safe. Why don’t we give it a try?”

Reggie jumped into discussing plans for an improvised training session with Alan. He suggested that one golem would be enough per round, and that at the end of three rounds, even the soldiers relegated to observing should have a good idea of how to fight against one.

Ever since Sorwen, Reggie had ceased to object to my ideas. When he had told me he wouldn’t criticize me, I had assumed he’d just been talking about that one night. Had he finally given up, taking me for an unreasonable person who would only escalate things each time he tried to stop me? He was probably just holding his tongue, but still...

There were things we couldn’t say to each other and lines that had been drawn, but I found the atmosphere strangely comfortable. When it was just the four of us, working toward a common goal, it reminded me a little of the time we had spent traveling together after I had run away from boarding school.

I had stowed away on their carriage with plans to make my own way, but I had been deeply relieved to receive a helping hand sooner than I ever could have imagined. That was exactly why each and every one of these men, who had accepted me into their circle, was so important to me. Much like I always did whenever I dreamed of my past-life family, I wished that this moment would last forever.

However, I knew that was impossible.

◇◇◇

Training began an hour later.

Once you were standing before it with a sword in hand, even a smaller golem was apparently pretty hard to fight against. Some of Lord Azure’s knights and soldiers went up to bat the first time around, and Cain joined them as backup.

“Let’s begin, Miss Kiara!” came Cain’s shout. I started off by advancing my golem toward them.

Lord Azure’s men faltered as the golem strode forward, each footstep making a thundering thud. Concerned that they were scared stiff, I decided to mess around a bit to ease the tension. I had the golem clap its hand and spin in a circle, ending the performance with a little skip.

Not only did it fail to lighten the mood, but the soldiers looked like they couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

Oops. Guess that didn’t work.

“Enough with the eccentric maneuvers. Not even the enemy would do that,” Cain chided me without beating around the bush.

Regret didn’t take long to set in. “Sorry.”

Once I had apologized, I followed Cain’s guidance and tried attacking more like a real enemy would. After a few trials of me swinging the golem’s hand down in slow motion while the team rushed to dodge the attack, Cain tried his hand at going on the offensive.

Uh, I think that was a critical hit!

He held his sword high above his head and swung it down, severing one of the golem’s arms.

Whaaaaat? He totally just lopped off one-third of its HP! Golems have pretty strong defense stats, so if he’s going above and beyond that, Cain’s attack power must really be something else!

Encouraged by Cain’s strike, the House of Azure started raining down attacks of their own, and my golem swiftly hit its limit. Before I could even give it the command, it collapsed into dirt.

This had never happened before. I was fascinated as I observed the spectacle, learning at last what happened when my golem was defeated.

Next up was the House of Enister. After witnessing the previous battle, they came at the golem without fear.

“Don’t you dare hold back, lads!”

Or maybe their enthusiasm was because they found Lord Enister, who was barking orders from behind, even more frightening.

The third group to go was a mixed squad. It was a group of about five soldiers and knights, including Groul, who was brimming with excitement after asking to have a turn, and Cain, who would once again be playing a support role.

Perhaps because it was their second go, I didn’t see anyone shrinking back this time. Thus, I had my golem launch much more standard attacks than the previous two rounds. Every now and then, I tried lifting the soldiers off the ground and making them scream. I tried stomping its feet and causing a stir. I tried sweeping at them with its arms.

Not only was everyone dodging my attacks perfectly, but Groul in particular seemed to be having a great time. It put me in such a good mood that I let my guard down.

The next time my golem’s right hand flew toward them, the attack caught one of the more exhausted soldiers, sending him flying.

“Oh!”

I hadn’t meant to hurt anyone. I hurried to make my golem catch him, but someone rushed in to protect the plummeting soldier before I could—it was Cain. He caught the soldier just before he hit the ground, shielding him and grazing his left arm against the ground in the process.

I suppressed a scream in the back of my throat. In the same moment, my golem crumbled into dirt.

Thankfully, nobody had been hurt too badly; the soldier got to his feet right away, and Cain seemed to be fine himself. But of course, our battle exercises ended with that.

The final incident gave the exercises a sense of realism to everyone watching, so all the soldiers walked away satisfied. I, on the other hand, didn’t feel an ounce of accomplishment.

“I’m so sorry, Sir Cain!” I ran up to him, bowing my head immediately.

Cain only laughed. “Don’t worry about it. I forgot you were holding back for us and got a little too relaxed myself. Leaving that aside, it was my arm that was hurt, so it will be a little difficult to treat on my own. Would you mind helping me?”

I wasn’t about to turn down my victim’s request. I nodded my head vigorously.

I would be the one doing the nursing this time, so I assumed there would be less opportunity for things to get weird. Besides, Cain looked like there was something he wanted to speak to me about.

Cain took a seat atop a fallen tree a good distance from everyone else, ready to undergo his treatment. Nobody would be able to hear our voices here, but I was a little relieved that we were still within sight of the others. I rolled up Cain’s sleeve and went to work treating the wound.

While I was busy wrapping bandages, Cain finally opened his mouth to say something. “Girsch spoke to me.” My hands stopped. “Supposedly, your heart hasn’t grown past childhood yet. You walk at a slower pace than most people; it’s easy for you to get left behind and end up lost, so I need to wait up for you.”

“‘Childhood’? Really?”

If this were my past life, I would be in the prime of my high school career, squealing over cute boys with my friends. It came as a bit of a shock that Girsch saw me as the equivalent of a little girl.

It did make sense, though. Forget getting swept up in a crush; here I was freezing up and hiding behind a reliable adult. The moment I had counted on Girsch to handle this, I was choosing to remain a child. As I came to terms with that, I tied off the end of the bandage.

“Does it bother you to be called a child?”

“Not really. I mean, it’s true. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do. I didn’t know how to address the issue head-on, so I made Girsch, who’s always acting so motherly, take care of it for me,” I answered honestly.

Cain chuckled. “Girsch knows you too well, it seems. But if you’re a child, that means it’s still okay to do this.” He lifted his uninjured right hand and gave me a gentle pat on the head—just like he would do to a little girl.

At first, I tensed up. But each time he repeated the motion, I gradually grew a little more relaxed, until I finally let out a small sigh. Everything was fine now. With each stroke to my head, I became more and more assured that Cain wouldn’t do anything to me without warning again.

“For the time being, I’ll just wait and see what happens. I’d rather not scare you off, for my part. Once you’ve decided to do something, you’ll take off running without a care for anything else. If you decided to get away from me, you’d end up somewhere I couldn’t reach in no time.”

What was I, some kind of fleet-footed animal? I was a little put out by his description. For some reason, though, my lips simply wouldn’t twist into a pout; perhaps because the hand on my head was comforting enough to melt my heart each time I attempted to steel it. Here was conclusive proof that I preferred to be treated like a child more than anything else.

“The last thing I want is to make you hate me, lead you astray, and render you unable to fight as a result of it all. For now, I’ll remain by your side as a brother figure and nothing more.”

The words “brother figure” struck a chord with me. Why was that? It felt like something akin to nostalgia.

“I’ll wait until the day you want something a little more than that,” he added, tracing the skin just above my ear with his fingertips.

Swallowing down a yelp, I took this to heart—that what Cain really wanted to say was that he was just being patient for now. Unfortunately, I was still far too disoriented to take that in stride. My mind couldn’t catch up to what was happening, so I hoped that he would just stay as my brother for a little while longer.

But one way or another, I felt that Cain and I had finally managed to resolve our miscommunication. I wanted to go thank Girsch and Gina, but there was something else I had to do first. I had to go apologize to the soldier I had accidentally knocked aside.

After wandering in search of him and asking around, I soon tracked down the man in question. Reggie had called for him, for some reason, so I found him inside the prince’s tent.

The soldier appeared largely unharmed. He also seemed deeply uncomfortable to be sitting alone with the prince. The moment he saw my face, he broke into a relieved smile.

I feel you... Anyone suddenly called for a one-on-one chat with the prince is going to be terrified of what he’s got to say.

Given the circumstances, the soldier cast me a pleading look, like he wanted to get out of the tent as soon as humanly possible.

“How’s your inju—”

“Right as rain! There’s no need to be concerned!”

“Well, that’s good...”

“Is that all you wished to speak with me about?!”

He was giving off the vibes of a dog whining to be let out of a cage, so I gave in. “Yes, that’s all. I’m really sorry about what happened. Feel free to head back now.”

“Please don’t worry about it. Well then, farewell!” The soldier happily brought our conversation to an end and bounced his way out of the tent.

Reggie giggled at the sight of it. What a bully, having a good laugh when he was the one who had frazzled the man so. On that note, why had he called the soldier into his tent in the first place?

“Why did you do that?” I asked, and Reggie inferred what I meant.

“I knew it would be weighing on your mind.”

“You had him wait here just so I could see him?”

Reggie nodded, then explained, “It would be difficult for you to track him down on your own, wouldn’t it? Besides, given the lack of women in our group, I’d rather not have you wandering around by yourself.”

In other words, it was to save time and keep me safe. I gave a wry smile. “I would have been fine. I used my magic to trample a good deal of people into the ground just recently. No one would go out of their way to come near me.”

I had only meant to reassure him, but Reggie peered into my face with concern. “Does that hurt?”

The moment he asked, I felt a pang in my chest. Reggie had posed the question knowing full well that few people would be happy to be so feared.

It did hurt. I just didn’t want to show any weakness. Besides, I was the one who had given everybody a reason to be scared.

“I’m fine.” I made an attempt to smile back at him, but Reggie wasn’t buying it.

“Really? If that’s the truth, look me in the eyes when you say it.”

Reggie stood up and came closer to me, still staring. I wasn’t about to give him reason to doubt me, so I returned his gaze head-on.

His blue eyes were so beautiful. There was a teasing glint to them, but as we stared at each other, that twinkle suddenly disappeared, the hue of his eyes darkening.

“Kiara.”

Before I knew it, Reggie’s fingers were at the side of my face, scooping up a lock of my hair. When he tucked it behind my ear, his fingertips smoothly brushed against my skin. A shiver ran down my spine. I recoiled from the sweet sensation, but as he stroked my hair again, the feeling began to fade.

“I won’t tie you down or hold you back. But at this rate, you’re just going to keep hurting yourself. At least say something when you’re having a hard time.”

Reggie’s kindness tugged at my heartstrings. Still, I couldn’t promise him anything. If I did that, I’d break down, just like I had once before.

If I kept that promise, it really would end with Reggie locking me away somewhere safe. He would convince me that getting involved in the war was a mistake, and the last thing I wanted was for him to keep me away from everything only to get shot and die.

This world wasn’t a game. There was no returning to my last save.

I already had someone on my side. There had been a moment where I felt uneasy to have him—the one who wanted to see me fight—alongside me, but we had taken care of that issue.

Thus, I swallowed so many of the words I could have said, instead just smiling at Reggie. “Don’t worry. It’s gotten a lot easier for me.”

Even so, lying to him made my heart ache.