Chapter 4: The Toll of Fate’s Bell

Reggie arrived at the castle that very night. His welcoming party consisted of Lord Évrard, Lady Évrard (who had now recovered enough to walk, since her original injury wasn’t too severe), Alan, his knight-guards, and the margravine’s attendants, myself included.

When he rode up on horseback beneath the twilight, he was accompanied by a troop of more than twenty knights. They all dismounted in unison, with Reggie the last to touch down on solid ground. As the soldiers guided the horses into the stables, Reggie turned to Lord Évrard.

“Long time no see, Margrave. I hope you’ll forgive me for my intrusion on such short notice; I sent word as fast as I could, but things have been rather hectic on my end.”

He wore an inconspicuous hooded black cloak. A hint of silver hair spilled out from beneath, its color dyed copper beneath the light of the torches. Meanwhile, I bit my lip and tried not to cry.

I already knew why Reggie was here, of course. His Lordship had told me that Salekhard had seen a dramatic spike in monster sightings, and the culprit was determined to be of Farzian origin. Hence, they contacted our royal family in order to request a resolution to the conflict. In response, the Farzian government informed them of a similar crisis in the province of Évrard and suggested the two countries work together to investigate further. And so it was decided that formal negotiations would be held with Reggie representing the nation of Farzia.

The circumstances and time frame were different, but other than those two things, it was exactly like the plot of the RPG. This made me fearful that Llewynian soldiers were already waiting in ambush, and yet the House of Évrard hadn’t received any reports. With Reggie here, surely they’d attack us any minute now.

Suppressing the urge to panic, I listened as the captain of the royal guard, Groul, made a series of requests on behalf of His Highness. They were a group of twenty-six in total, Reggie included, they planned to stay for two weeks, and they wished to use Évrard Castle as the venue for the negotiations with Salekhard.

Wait, what? HERE?!

As I stared around in shock, my eyes met Reggie’s. He grinned at me as if to say “Weren’t expecting that, were you?” to which I very nearly nodded.

Why? Whatever for? I was dying to ask, but as I was merely an attendant, to do so would be speaking out of turn.

If we were holding the negotiations here, then we’d need to open the gates to welcome the envoy from Salekhard. Would Llewyne choose that moment to strike? Or what if they impersonated Salekhardian officials in order to infiltrate the castle and attack from the inside? My anxiety swelled, and I desperately wished our detainee would wake so we could interrogate him about the location of the Llewynian army.

Restless, I followed Lady Évrard back into the castle. On the way to my quarters, she told me I could take the entire day off tomorrow; evidently, she had heard about my scuffle with the spellcaster and wanted to make sure I got some rest. Depending on what the detainee had to say for himself, it was possible they’d ask me to take a break from my attendant work in order to focus entirely on hunting the spellcaster.

I gratefully accepted her request. Right as I was on my way to visit the dungeon, however, Cain stopped me just outside.

“I wouldn’t if I were you. This sort of thing isn’t fit for a lady’s eyes,” he explained vaguely, and at first I didn’t understand what he meant. Then he continued, “If it were just an interrogation, I wouldn’t stop you, but... well...” At last, I realized what he was getting at.

The captive was awake, and the interrogation had started... but it probably wasn’t going well, which meant they might have to resort to some “enhanced” techniques. That was the part he didn’t want me to see.

Frankly, with my past-life sensibilities, the mere suggestion of it being more than an interrogation was utterly terrifying. Part of me wanted to stop them, but at the same time, I knew it was a necessary sacrifice if I wanted to protect the lives of everyone in the castle. Instead, all I could do was keep my distance.

But while I had the privilege of putting my head in the sand, I was essentially forcing Cain and the others to do my dirty work, and that gnawed at my conscience.

“From what we can tell, the man’s employer has blackmailed him into silence, so the process is taking some time,” Cain explained, as if to allay my fears. “But I estimate I’ll have an update for you soon.”

“Very well.”

Nodding, I decided to return to my quarters. But just as I turned to go, Cain suddenly grabbed my hand. His grip wasn’t tight or restrictive; if anything, it felt as though he was simply reaching out in concern.

“You don’t have to bottle it all up inside, you know.”

Puzzled, I looked up at him... and found him gazing at me sorrowfully.

“You’ve only just come of age, and after all the hardship you’ve endured, I imagine you must’ve had to teach yourself to turn off your emotions at a moment’s notice. But you don’t have to feel guilty about your own discomfort.”

I stared at him in shock. It felt like he’d seen right through me... and on top of that, he was trying to comfort me. While I was grateful for his thoughtfulness, I was still too perplexed to respond. This silence seemed to encourage Cain to continue.

“Women are, by nature, intrinsically compassionate creatures. Is it not human to fear the act of murder? Likewise, as men, it is our duty to take on the most gruesome tasks. So by all means, let us protect your purity; we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

I could feel my face turning redder than a tomato. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine someone would reference my “purity”! And right to my face! I had half a mind to correct the record and tell him I really wasn’t worth protecting.

Ugh... I should’ve said thank you and left while I still had the chance! Why do all the guys in this world always drop these cheesy lines like it’s nothing?! Well... maybe not ALL the guys. I guess there’s Harris, the chef’s apprentice—at least HE acts like a normal boy. Come to think of it, didn’t Reggie make some cheesy remarks of his own a while back? But I remember there was this weird sexual tension in the air, so I couldn’t really say anything... Gahhh!

Screaming internally, I put a hand over my face. Meanwhile, Cain seemed to intuit how I’d reacted to his statement. He chuckled quietly. “You don’t know how to take a compliment, do you?”

I had no comeback to this. He was entirely correct. Rrgh! Could you not grin at me and squeeze my hand?! I was so mortified, I could scarcely remember how to breathe.

“Glad to see I’ve cheered you up,” he commented.

“What?”

“It’s not healthy to let yourself be consumed with regret or pain; it will adversely affect your decision-making skills. Now then, go get some sleep. We’ll need you rested up for tomorrow.”

Smiling, he relinquished his grip on my hand. I nodded and walked off.

So, uh... Was he just messing with me to knock me out of my funk? That’s even more humiliating.

Cain was a handsome guy. I could imagine he probably enjoyed getting a rise out of all the girls. Yeah, that’s it. He does this with everyone. I needed to tell myself that, or else I didn’t know how I was going to face him tomorrow morning.

I was so distracted, in fact, that when I heard a knock at my door shortly after returning to my quarters, I answered it without thinking.

“Who is it—whoa!”

“No sense in asking ‘who is it’ with the door already open, don’t you think?”

It was Reggie.

“And you gave an awful start, at that! Am I truly so frightening?”

“Oh, no, um... I just wasn’t expecting you, so...”

Meanwhile, he walked in like he owned the place and locked the door behind him. This again?! And was that Groul I saw standing just outside?!

“Reggie, we’re not children anymore. We can’t keep doing this,” I told him, pointing to the closed door. But Reggie didn’t bat an eyelash.

“I don’t see a problem with it, personally. Do you?”

“But, well... I mean, you’re a prince. What if rumors start to spread?”

If people found out he was hanging around in a servant’s quarters, wouldn’t that damage his social standing?

“Oh, I don’t care about soiling my reputation. Or are you concerned about yours? Will it cause trouble for you if people gossip about us?”

Truth be told, Reggie was so handsome, anyone would kill to be at the center of a scandal with him. Even I wasn’t altogether opposed to the prospect. But because he was such a catch, I knew he’d never go for a total nobody like me. Maybe that was why he felt perfectly comfortable barging into my room.

“Now then... Where were you?”

It was such an unexpected question, my brain struggled to process it. And Reggie seemed to interpret my silence as suspicious.

“Were you doing something you shouldn’t have been? Is that why you can’t tell me?”

“I... Um...”

Sorry, but I really can’t tell you! I know I almost just said “I could tell you about it if I wanted” purely out of spite, but no, I really can’t!

After all, I was going behind Reggie’s back to hunt down a spellcaster. And as soon as they finished interrogating his friend, I was going right back out there to find him again.

But the longer I stayed silent, the more terrifying Reggie’s smile became.

“I warned you that there would be consequences for bad behavior.”

You sound like a third-rate villain, Reggie!

Of course, I could make silent potshots at him all I wanted, but it didn’t change the fact that deep down, I was totally panicking. Was the cat out of the bag?! Did he already know all about my “bad behavior,” or was he just bluffing?!

Cold sweat trickled down my back. He took a step forward, and I nearly took a step back.

“If there’s nothing weighing on your conscience, then why are you trying to bolt?”

I froze in place.

Taking me by the hand, he led me over to the sofa—a gift from the margravine “for my new attendant”—and sat me down right beside him. We were now a breath apart, and his hand was still clutching mine. In other words, there would be no escape from this interrogation.

Trembling internally, I braced myself as best I could to prevent myself from spilling the beans.

“First, let’s start with this most recent incident. While I do appreciate you rescuing my aunt, I’m told you did so by... hiking up your skirt and acting as a decoy? Is that true?”

“I did not ‘hike it up’! I merely repositioned it a bit higher so it wouldn’t get in the way when I—argh!”

I clutched my head in frustration... or rather, I tried to, but then Reggie grabbed my other hand and... leaned in?!

“Well, considering it was a practical decision that helped keep you out of danger, I’m willing to let it slide.”

“Y-You’re not mad?”

“Not at you, no. I’ll just take it out on Alan instead.”

As his face drew closer, I reflexively leaned back against the sofa. Must be nice to have such a perfectly symmetrical face, I found myself thinking. Probably my brain resorting to escapism to keep me from hyperventilating.

What do you mean, you’re going to take it out on Alan?! Why are you so upset about it in the first place?!

“Look, Reggie, you’re not my father, so why do you even—eep!”

I let out a tiny shriek as he drew his lips close to my ear.

“No, but I am your main benefactor. After all, I’m the one who convinced the House of Évrard to take you in. Is it not only natural, then, that looking after you would be my responsibility? To me, that means I need to set you straight whenever you misbehave.”

“Nngh...”

I couldn’t argue with that. He had a valid point—Lord Évrard had only hired me to suit the whims of His Highness the Crown Prince of Farzia. At the end of the day, I was Reggie’s problem to handle.

“So tell me, where were you just now? I hear you’ve been spending a lot of time outside the castle with Wentworth as of late.”

Oh god, he knows! Clearly someone must have told him what I was up to. Why else would he come interrogate me at this hour?

“Of course, if you were only acting on orders from above, then you’re hardly to blame. But when I went to ask the margrave about it, he told me I’d be better off getting all the details straight from the horse’s mouth, so here I am.”

Way to throw me under the bus, Your Lordship!

“You already know, don’t you?” I asked hesitantly.

His expression clouded over right before my eyes, his face so close I could practically see his pores.

“You broke your promise with me, didn’t you? Oh, Kiara. There was never any need for you to panic! I’ve already changed the circumstances of the negotiation as much as humanly possible.”

“By switching venues to Évrard Castle, you mean?”

He nodded. “A member of the Salekhardian royal family will be attending this negotiation as their representative, which means they’ll be bringing some soldiers of their own for security purposes. Furthermore, I’ve sent word to our two neighboring provinces and asked them to station some troops at the border. Told them the monster outbreak in Évrard was in danger of spreading to their land and let them know we might need to summon them for backup. Of course, their numbers won’t be too impressive since they think they’ll be fighting monsters, but at least this way we can have additional waves of troops if the need arises.”

“You mean it?!” I beamed. With additional troops, perhaps we could keep the fighting out of the castle altogether!

“Nice to finally see you smiling again,” he said with a grin.

He relinquished his grip on my hands, reached up, and stroked my cheek... the way one might caress a lover. My heart skipped a beat.

“But it seems my efforts weren’t enough for you, were they?”

“That’s not true, Reggie. I just don’t want you to die! That’s why I want to do everything in my power to—”

I wanted so badly for him to understand me, but before I could finish my sentence, Reggie wrapped both arms around my head and pulled me against his chest, muffling my words. Then I felt him lean in close to my ear again, and it sent a shiver down my spine.

“Just because the Thorn Princess hasn’t warned you against it doesn’t mean it’s safe. There are no guarantees, Kiara. You could turn to dust.”

I could understand why Reggie would be worried. After all, he didn’t know about my past life, so for all he knew, there was no proof that I could succeed.

“If someone else wanted to risk their life over this, I would let them; it would be their choice to make. But with you, it’s not that simple—that’s why I made you promise not to! What must I do to keep you, Kiara? Is my only option to lock you up somewhere? No, I’m sure you’d find a way to escape. Truth be told, I’d love nothing more than to chain you to the wall... but I know that would make you despise me, and I can’t have that.”

His sheer intensity overwhelmed me. By all accounts, his desire to imprison me should have been frightening, and yet I found I wasn’t opposed to it. In fact, I was tempted to let his statement go unchallenged.

Never had I imagined that love would hurt this badly. My chest was tight, and I could scarcely breathe. If this was Reggie’s preferred form of punishment, then it was highly effective.

Struggling to breathe, I tilted my head up... and my eyes met his. And when I registered the desperate yearning in his gaze, I realized he must have felt the same way I did. Could he see my yearning, too?

Each of us wanted nothing more than to keep the other alive and well... and to that end, we were willing to do whatever it took. We both wanted the same thing, but because of that, our opinions could never be reconciled. We knew this, and so we each turned a blind eye to the other’s wishes.

Instead, all we could do was express the depth of our desires, and it was that passion that steadily pulled us together like magnets, inching closer and closer...

Just then, someone rapped loudly on the door; I could hear the alarm bells ringing. Snapping back to my senses, I jumped up and flung open the door. There stood Groul, looking as stern as ever. Apparently, His Lordship had asked for Reggie.

On his way out of my room, Reggie fixed me with one last, searching look, then hurried off down the hall. But just a few moments later, one of the middle-aged servant ladies arrived with a message for me.

“Haven’t you heard? The margravine’s been looking for you! You know, I’m surprised she lets a little waif like you go out to fight monsters. Are you hanging in there alright?”

This was the same woman who often gave me extra helpings at mealtimes out of concern that I wasn’t getting enough to eat. Her Ladyship must have asked her to fetch me in passing. While I was grateful for her concern, at the same time, it made me feel a little guilty.

At least now I had safely returned to reality. Just a few short minutes ago, why, it felt as though I were in a dream... That must be why I found myself wanting Reggie to hold me, among other things too fanciful to name. In fact, I was instantly mortified at the mere memory of it.

What on earth was I THINKING?! If Groul hadn’t knocked when he did, then we would’ve... we would’ve... KISSED or something? No, no, no, that can’t be right! Reggie’s a prince! Sure, we understand each other in a way few other people can, but that’s all there is to it! He was just concerned about me and didn’t know how to express it. Yes, that must be it!

After all, I was at an awful loss for words myself back there. Somehow, I couldn’t find the means to reassure him that I was going to be just fine. Then one thing led to another, and we both sort of just... went along with it.

Still, the kindly servant woman had given me an important reminder: right now, I had more to protect than just Reggie. His Lordship, and Alan, and all the fellow servants I’d befriended... I wanted them all to survive!

Thank you for bringing me back to my senses, ma’am!

And with that, I ran off to the meeting room on the second floor of the main tower—the war room.

When I arrived, only a small number of people were inside: Lord and Lady Évrard, Alan, Cain, the cavalry commander, the captain of the guard, plus Reggie and Groul. As Her Ladyship’s attendant, I took my place standing directly behind her. Fortunately, Maya and Clara were there, too, or else I really would have felt out of place.

Once the margrave started the discussion, however, my feelings of self-consciousness quickly went right out the window. Apparently our detainee had confessed that the Llewynian army was already fast approaching our border... from the north.

“The north?!”

This was completely unexpected. Apparently, the old spellcaster had been tasked with distracting the margrave’s troops. But if Llewyne was advancing from the north, that would mean they would’ve had to pass through Salekhard... the same country that was supposed to be sending a representative to take part in the negotiations.

“Do you suppose Salekhard has betrayed us?” Reggie mused as he sat at the head of the long table.

“It appears our captive wasn’t given that sort of information,” Lord Évrard replied, sitting directly to His Highness’s right. “He was simply ordered to join the siege once the army arrived.”

“So it’s possible we’ll be fighting monsters and spellcasters in addition to foot soldiers?” Alan asked.

“Precisely,” his father nodded.

I bit my lip. If only I hadn’t let that old man escape, we wouldn’t have had to worry about this.

“What are their numbers?” asked Lady Évrard.

“He didn’t have that information either—they must have predicted that someone on his team might get captured—but if they were going to sneak a large number of men across our border, passing through Salekhard would be the way to do it. We should prepare for the worst,” His Lordship replied.

The lack of concrete information had everyone in the room on edge.

“For now, provided the intel we have is accurate, let’s talk countermeasures,” Reggie suggested. And so Lord Évrard detailed his strategy in full:

First, assuming the enemy was going to approach from two different directions, Llewyne would probably have a separate unit act as a decoy to buy even more time for the main troops to arrive. His Lordship anticipated no fewer than three separate skirmishes to break out.

Meanwhile, I groaned internally. In the RPG, there was only one battle, and it took place right at the castle—probably because the House of Évrard had no advance warning. Here in real life, however, things were different.

As Farzia’s primary line of defense, the province of Évrard always had a reasonable amount of soldiers on standby at any given time, but... would it be enough to stop a full-scale invasion?

In the RPG, the siege at Évrard Castle wasn’t a player-controlled battle, so I had no insight into the enemy’s unit positioning. All I could do was stand back and let the seasoned veterans lead the charge. But since His Lordship was already anticipating a sizable number of enemy troops, I trusted him to prepare accordingly.

“We’ll still need to leave some men stationed at the border, but with the brambles to the south and the mountains to the east, the enemy won’t be able to take a detour around our defensive walls. So, we’ll leave three hundred where they are and add the other three hundred to our main force.”

All told, we would have a thousand men gathered at the castle by tomorrow morning. The other seven hundred were soldiers from around the castle and the surrounding areas; the numbers were higher than usual due to all the monster combat in recent weeks. And if we borrowed troops from the closest branch estate, we could ultimately swell our ranks to 3,300.

This number didn’t include any soldiers drafted from the local villages—that would take time. If we sent a messenger right this moment, then gave two days for recruiting time, His Lordship predicted that we could gather approximately 6,000 more. With three days, we could have a full 10,000 soldiers in total.

But these numbers were only possible because this sort of conflict was common within Évrard. The farmers who lived in these parts knew to keep a sword and shield handy for whenever their homeland came under attack.

But if our captive’s word was to be believed, then Llewyne had surely already crossed the border into Farzia by now... because they had timed their arrival based on Reggie’s.

“Llewyne’s goal is to kill Prince Reginald here, as he is the heir to the throne. Then they’ll march to the royal capital, and if they can slay the king, the sovereignty of our nation will fall upon the queen. Llewyne will demand annexation, Her Majesty will accept, and Farzia as we know it will be gone. Thus, I believe they waited until His Highness had arrived for the negotiations with Salekhard in order to strike. They wanted him to get as close to the border as possible.”

And to that end, they had intentionally caused conflict between Salekhard and the province of Évrard. With so many noble houses presently allied with the queen, it would be impossible to keep Reggie’s movements from being leaked to Llewyne, especially since he was a public figure. No matter where he went, they were bound to find out about it.

“As soon as my scout returns, I shall lead my troops out onto the battlefield,” His Lordship declared. “I estimate we’ll depart either tomorrow or the morning after.”

Lady Évrard’s expression darkened slightly. “You’re going into battle?”

“We’ll be right there with him, Your Ladyship. I promise we’ll have him back home in one piece once it’s all over,” the cavalry commander pledged.

The margravine nodded, though the uncertainty hadn’t left her eyes. “My leg is almost fully healed now. I wish I could nominate myself to go in your stead, but when it comes to large-scale battles, I’m afraid I’m far too inexperienced; I simply won’t be of much use out there. Instead, you can trust me to protect His Highness and the castle.”

Indeed, Her Ladyship had made a full recovery. And with her taking part in the battle, we were in a much more advantageous position compared to the RPG. Plus, if Lord Évrard’s troops managed to strike first, we might just gain the upper hand in this defensive battle—His Lordship said as much himself.

“Llewyne can’t afford to send one hundred percent of their forces to our castle. The more time they spend invading us, the more time they’ll give the other provinces to bolster their defenses. If they can’t invade completely on the first try, I imagine they’ll either leave some soldiers behind to deal with it while they move on, or they’ll devise some underhanded tactic.”

“Such as?” asked Alan.

“Well, they have at least one spellcaster, don’t they? I suspect they’ll use him for more than just monster manipulation. They’ll probably have him attack directly.”

Alan’s expression turned sour. “Then I shall handle him.”

Lord Évrard’s eyes widened. “I was planning to ask you to stay with Beatrice to protect the castle, or in the event of the worst-case scenario, evacuate His Highness to safety.”

“I’ve been taking part in monster dispatch missions all month long—I can handle it. I’ll take the spellcaster trackers with me and hunt him down before he can attack the castle. But I predict he’ll have a horde of monsters with him, so I’d like to borrow some archers and infantry, if I may.”

The margrave closed his eyes and ruminated on his son’s plan for a moment. And when he opened them, it was clear he had made up his mind. “Very well. How many will you require?”

“If past experience is anything to go by, we can expect about thirty monsters total, plus the spellcaster and his friends. As such, I imagine I won’t need more than a hundred and thirty.”

Over the past month, Alan had paid close attention to the enemy numbers and repeating patterns between encounters. He had the observational skills of a competent tactician—unsurprising for the protagonist of a strategy RPG, of course.

As for the “spellcaster trackers,” he was referring to Cain and myself. In previous dispatch missions, Cain had had to request permission for us to accompany the troops, but this time Alan wanted to take us with him. Part of me was thrilled that he was finally acknowledging my ability, but another part of me was kicking myself for not proving myself to him sooner. Either way, I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“Mother, I’d like to borrow Kiara. She’ll be safe with Wentworth.”

At this, Lady Évrard probed me with an inquiring look. I nodded firmly.

“But she doesn’t have any combat skills,” Reggie pointed out bluntly. “And even if we sent up a signal flare right this moment, it’ll still take two days for backup troops to arrive from our two allied houses in the southwest.”

I knew Reggie was just looking out for my well-being, but now both His Lordship and the cavalry commander seemed reluctant to let me tag along. Hastily, I spoke up.

“We’ve already succeeded in capturing the spellcaster once before. Last time, we failed to anticipate that he would be rescued, but this time, we will bring him in.”

My eyes met Reggie’s. The hard look on his face seemed to say Why can’t you see things my way? Unfortunately for him, however, my mind was already made up. I couldn’t back down—not here. I was going to keep everyone safe.

I was terrified of getting myself killed, but if I didn’t make a stand right now, I knew I would regret it for the rest of my life.

I hadn’t expected spellcasters or monsters to be involved in the castle siege. Llewyne’s invasion route was different, too. Even if we took every precaution, it was possible some enemy soldiers might slip through the cracks. But if I could just take down the old man and wipe out his monster horde... well, at least that way I could make myself useful. And maybe, just maybe, I could use these past-life memories to save some lives.

◇◇◇

Each person was given a pack to carry. None of them were especially large, but as most people in the group already had luggage of their own to haul around, none of us were eager to take on even more. Reluctantly, we marched out at the break of dawn.

“How is this little thing so heavy?”

“What’s in yours? Flour? Mine’s so lumpy, it might just scratch up my armor.”

“I think mine might have meat in it.”

The foot soldiers followed behind the cavalry, whispering to each other along the way. Not that I could really blame them, of course. Not only were they headed off to fight a spellcaster and his monster pets, but they were tasked with carrying a rather peculiar combination of items with an even more peculiar explanation as to why. But my strategy was a risky one, and without a concrete guarantee of success, I couldn’t hope to allay any of their anxiety.

I was riding with Cain on his horse, wearing men’s combat attire loaned to me by one of the young squires: tunic, trousers, and boots, uniformly dark in color. In my hand was the stone pendant.

“Keep going straight,” I muttered to Cain, who in turn passed the instructions on to the other knights.

We traveled for several hours until I could at last feel the spellcaster’s signal was close at hand. The only information I had was his general direction, which led us directly through a forest approaching the main high road. Fortunately, however, this meant we were able to sneak a peek at the enemy from atop a small cliff roughly twice the height of the average person.

“There he is.”

Word quietly traveled through our group, and once the soldiers located the enemy, they arranged themselves into battle formation.

The old spellcaster was guarded by five soldiers, with a horde of monsters waiting just ahead of them. But one thing in particular caught my attention: this time around, the horde was bigger than ever. Normally, the most we ever fought was thirty at a time, but today we were looking at around fifty—a combination of windwolves and sky-jellies. Clearly, thirty wasn’t the spellcaster’s maximum after all. Maybe he’d been going easy on us up until now.

I could easily see why they’d chosen to take the high road. Navigating this particular forest would have been a challenge with so many monsters to look after. In fact, some of them were already starting to attack each other. The spellcaster was doing his best to keep them under control, of course, but these wild animals weren’t exactly fond of being controlled.

Eventually, the spellcaster reorganized the windwolves to the front of the procession, followed by the sky-jellies a short distance behind them, with himself and the other human soldiers taking up the rear.

Bingo.

I looked over my shoulder at Cain. One look at his face and I could tell he was thinking the same thing I was. Before we could turn the horse around, however...

“Kiara,” Alan called quietly. “Take ten cavalry soldiers with you.”

“What? But...”

If I took ten soldiers with me, that was ten fewer Alan would have for his own battle. The windwolves and sky-jellies could crest a cliff of this height with no trouble at all—and this time, there were more of them than ever before. Could he really afford to give up ten men?

“They’re your best bet against human opponents.”

“We should accept his kindness, Miss Kiara,” Cain urged.

“Please do,” Alan nodded. “Otherwise Reggie will tear me apart when we return.”

On second thought, maybe he had a point. Reggie was already opposed to me going on this mission in the first place; if I came home injured, I could only imagine how furious he would be. Naturally, it was in both of our interests to avoid that scenario, and thus the smart thing would be to work together to prevent it.

As a compromise, I haggled him down to just five soldiers—one for each of the men guarding the spellcaster—and off we went, around the cliff and out to the high road.

Meanwhile, Alan prepared his troops to attack. A handful of people emptied the contents of their packs over the edge of the cliff, and then the archers fired a wave of arrows in perfect sync.

When the monsters spotted the arrows flying at them, they noticed Alan and his troops atop the cliff and took off—the windwolves running at full speed while the sky-jellies floated ominously in their direction. But the human soldiers couldn’t very well leave the spellcaster to his own devices; we’d already captured him once before, and they were probably anticipating that we would try again. As such, we were forced to bide our time and wait for the perfect moment to strike.

We dismounted our horses a short distance away, concealed ourselves in a cluster of trees, and carefully observed the enemy.

The wolves had already reached the bottom of the cliff... but instead of climbing up, they stayed put and sniffed around. Why? Because they could smell the meat the soldiers had dumped over the edge of the cliff... and when given the choice between a battle and a free meal, they chose the meal.

Naturally, the ringleaders viewed this as a cause for concern.

“Hey! How come the wolves aren’t attacking?” one of them demanded.

“Don’t look at me! I’m doing my job!” the spellcaster shot back.

So far, so good.

I had a pet theory as to how the spellcaster was able to control the monsters. They were probably fed the same red potion as the defective spellcasters, establishing a mentor-disciple relationship that the mentor (in this case, the old man) could then use to his advantage.

But if so, why didn’t they turn to dust like defectives? My best guess was that monsters were already similar in nature to spellcasters, since both could cast magic at will. Perhaps there was something about their constitution that prevented a fatal magic overload.

Regardless, it would be a challenge for the mentor to maintain control over a disciple that had only ingested the smallest shavings of a contract stone. Hence, I’d had a hunch that the spellcaster’s commands probably wouldn’t win out over the beast’s own physiological needs. And sure enough, the wolves had prioritized their hunger. They devoured the meat ravenously, swallowing large chunks without even pausing to chew. This suggested to me that their human masters hadn’t seen fit to feed them.

Once the wolves had consumed a considerable amount of meat, Alan ordered another wave of arrows. The food had lowered the wolves’ guard, and as a result, the attack took out several of them. However, this diverted their attention from the food.

To climb up the cliff, a few wolves summoned the wind and leapt up—only to sail right over Alan’s soldiers altogether! Startled, the wolves flailed their limbs in midair. Ultimately they still managed to land on their feet, but they were so confused by what had happened that they failed to react before Alan’s soldiers got to them... and so they were summarily slain.

“Looks like it worked,” Cain whispered.

I nodded. “Better than I ever imagined, too.”

My secret? I’d laced the meat with ore fragments.

To cast wind magic, spellcasters occasionally used flux ore as a conduit. This was knowledge I’d gained reading the previous margrave’s journal—the one I’d found in the library.

You see, the spellcaster’s monsters had one thing in common: both windwolves and sky-jellies used wind magic to get around. Because windwolves typically inhabited the areas near mines, where ore could be harvested, I deduced that they probably needed to gnaw on some ore every now and then to replenish their wind powers.

From there, it occurred to me: what would happen if they consumed too much without realizing? Wouldn’t an overdose cause their magic to go berserk?

Still, there was no guarantee I was right. And in the event that my plan failed, we would’ve needed to retreat, regroup, and approach them again later. But no—my hypothesis was right on the money.

I smirked. Now that the windwolves were out of control, the spellcaster was urgently directing the sky-jellies in Alan’s direction. Unfortunately for him, however, we’d prepared a countermeasure for those, too: ore powder. It was the same flux ore but ground up even finer than the fragments. Fortunately, this particular ore crumbled easily, but nevertheless, it had taken ages to prepare.

Once the jellies were hit with the powder, they lost control of their ability to fly. Some began to float sky-high, while others descended until their tentacles dragged on the ground. With their excellent reach, these barbed tentacles normally made close combat with a sky-jelly nearly impossible, but now our archers were able to bring them down with barely any trouble at all.

Once the jellies hit the ground, they flailed their limbs in a desperate attempt to right themselves. It would take another flurry of arrows to deliver the finishing blow. But Alan was more focused on bringing down the ones that remained airborne. After all, we didn’t need to kill the beasts—just render them powerless.

Now the old spellcaster was starting to panic.

“I-I’m getting out of here!”

“Hey!” One of the soldiers seized him before he could bolt. “That’s not what we agreed on!”

“I’m not breaking our agreement! I’m just going to fetch some more monsters, and then I’ll be right back! Heehee!”

“If you leave now, we won’t make it in time to regroup with the main troops!”

“But the fact remains, we don’t have enough pawns...”

The soldiers quickly found themselves divided into those who wanted to retreat and those who refused... and that’s when we jumped in. By the time they noticed us approaching, it was too late—Cain had already struck one of them down with a single swing of his sword. The resulting spray of blood made me wince.

Gritting my teeth, I watched as the other knights took down the four remaining soldiers. It all happened so fast, the old spellcaster could scarcely process it. Then, after a moment, he chuckled.

“Heehee! Lucky me. Now I’m beholden to no one. Pffheeheehee!”

“What do you mean?” I asked, peering out from behind Cain.

The old man blinked at me. “Well, well! If it isn’t the little lady from last time! Pffheehee. Seeing as I’ve no reason to fight you any longer, I suppose I’ll answer your question. I took this job in exchange for the medication required to treat my chronic illness.”

He snatched a rucksack from under one of the fallen soldiers nearby.

“The medicine was all I ever cared about, so I’m done fighting you folks. Now all that’s left is to get far, far away from here! Farewell! Eeeheeheehee!”

Laughing, the man slowly floated into the air. Wind magic.

“Hold it! I don’t believe you for a second. If we let you go, you’ll just go attack our castle!” one of the knights shouted.

But the old man merely guffawed... until suddenly, his laughter was cut short. A stray arrow had lodged itself into his shoulder. This seemed to knock the power of levitation right out of him, and as he slowly descended back to the ground, a second arrow hit home.

“Wait, what?”

At first, I didn’t understand what had happened. Then a third arrow nearly pierced the man’s skull—but fortunately, Cain was able to block it with his sword.

Unfortunately, it was clear that the spellcaster was already fatally wounded.

In the distance, I could see someone—a lone figure—galloping away on their horse. Perhaps they were tasked with “supervising” the old man to ensure he couldn’t bail... by whatever means necessary. Even he seemed to suspect as much.

“Seems they’ve decided to silence me... Can’t believe I didn’t... see that coming... Heehee...”

Cain turned and sent the five other knights to pursue the assassin. Unsure what to do, I knelt beside the old spellcaster.

“A-Are you okay, sir?”

“Do I look okay to you, missy?” he shot back sarcastically. Then he chuckled. “I guess this is the end for me... What a shame. There was still... more I wanted to do...”

He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them once more—and looked at me.

“You said... you want to be a spellcaster, right? Are you sure you’ve... got what it takes?”

“Very sure. I know it for a fact.”

“Oh? And how do you know?”

“I’ve seen the future... or one possible future, at any rate,” I explained, now that the other knights were gone. “In it, the prince comes to negotiate with Salekhard, only for Llewyne to invade the country. And in that future, I’m a spellcaster who can control golems.”

I assumed he would laugh at me—tell me I was a silly girl mistaking my daydream for a prophecy. But he didn’t.

“Precognition and golems, eh? Heeheehee... That’s a fun combination... I like it.” He looked into the distance for a moment, then turned back to me and narrowed his eyes. “If you’ll try to grant my final wish, then... I’ll take you on as my disciple.”

Wait, really?! For a moment I wasn’t sure whether to take him at his word, but since he was already knocking on death’s door, he didn’t have much incentive to lie.

“What sort of ‘final wish’ are we talking about?”

“I want you to create a vessel and embed my soul into it... the same way one gives life to a golem. It’s possible you may fail, but even then... I was going to die anyway, y’know? It’s worth a try, I say. If all goes well, my soul will live on... and at this point, I’m desperate. So... if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Plus, once I’m reduced to a spirit, I doubt I’ll be able to control your magic much... Heeheehee...”

Now I understood: perhaps he’d been devising this fallback ever since the last time we spoke. After all, we both stood to gain from this arrangement—he needed someone who could endure the contract process in order to keep him alive, and I didn’t know any other spellcaster who would take me as their disciple. Plus, once his soul left his body, he would (hopefully) lose the ability to manipulate my magic.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. I was his only hope... and likewise, he was mine.

“You’ve got yourself a deal, mister. But I’ve never done this before, so I can’t promise I’ll succeed.”

“Miss Kiara...” Cain began. But I shook my head.

“This is the only chance I’m going to get. And if it means I can accomplish my goals, then I’m not going to let it slip through my fingers.”

“Heehee! This kid’s got some backbone... I like it. Now give me the contract stone... That red stone you’ve got there.”

As he spoke, he pointed at the necklace in my hand. Instantly, my previous suspicions were confirmed. When the Thorn Princess told me not to “attempt to use anything else,” she must’ve been referring to the contract process. Perhaps she’d seen my future.

I freed the stone from the necklace chain. The old man was now too weak to lift his hand from the ground, so I placed it directly into his palm. He curled his fingers tightly around it until there was a loud crack... and when he opened his fist, approximately one-tenth of the stone had broken off.

“Normally, the disciple-mentor ratio is more like seven to three, but... this is about the best you can expect from an old geezer on his deathbed. You’ll have to manage the rest on your own. Now... once I swallow my piece, you’ll need to swallow yours quick.”

I nodded and took the two stone fragments from his palm. My fingers were trembling. Nevertheless, I pushed the smaller piece into his mouth and watched him swallow.

Then, summoning all of my resolve, I popped the rest of the stone into my own mouth. It went down a lot more easily than I was expecting—almost like it had melted into liquid.

Then I felt something spread from my esophagus... to my lungs... to my heart... traveling through my blood vessels to my internal organs.

“Ggghh!”

Pain seared through me as though I’d ingested burning-hot lava. It felt like someone had stabbed a needle into every single cell in my body. I could tell that I was screaming and rolling around on the ground, but somehow I felt detached from it all.

The pain and heat seeped into every corner of my body, and I could only pray that it would end soon, though I didn’t know when. In the back of my mind, I registered the sickening feeling of my body melting into fluid, then reconstructing itself once more. Maybe that was what caused defectives to turn to dust—because their bodies couldn’t reconstruct properly. Perhaps this was the same pain they felt right before they died. That would certainly explain why so many of them spiraled out of control.

Every now and then, I could feel my body hit a snag as it attempted to rebuild itself—only for the decomposition process to be halted, almost as if by an invisible guiding hand, while my body recharged its energy for more reconstruction. Evidently, this was what the old spellcaster meant by the mentor helping to control the process for the disciple.

Then I felt my overheated body start to sweat... and that was when I snapped to my senses.

“Miss Kiara?! Miss Kiara!”

I found myself cradled in Cain’s arms. As I blinked up at him, the terror faded from his face, replaced by relief. Apparently he’d been rather concerned about me. Sorry to frighten you, Sir Cain.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m okay. I’m alive... I think.”

I looked down at my body and wiggled my fingers to make sure. I didn’t see any sand or missing limbs, but my body still felt faintly numb, like it wasn’t my own... Almost like I had physically transformed. The thought made me shudder.

As far as I knew, I was now officially a spellcaster. Did spellcasters still count as human? Or were they something else entirely...?

Either way, it was a bit too late to start worrying about it at this stage. Once I regained my mobility, I thanked Cain and sat upright. Now that my body was feeling normal again, my fear was steadily fading.

The old man was lying next to me. His breathing had grown faint, like it might stop at any moment.

“Looks like you were right, kid... You really did have it in you,” he whispered with a hoarse chuckle.

I nodded. “Now, how do I cast magic?”

It was time for me to hold up my end of the bargain.

“You said you have the power to... create golems, right? Then put your hand to the ground and... envision it. Search the earth for... the same power that resides within you... Gather it... Then sculpt it.”

His eyes were empty, unseeing, and his speech had slowed considerably. He’d probably spent the last of his strength on our contract.

Following his instructions, I pressed a hand to the earth. Then it hit me: how was I supposed to summon his soul into a new vessel if I didn’t even know who he was?

“While I’m at it, might I ask what my new mentor’s name is?”

“Horace,” he whispered. And with that, he fell still.

A moment later, his body began to crumble into dust, starting from one end and working its way up. Evidently it wasn’t just the defectives who died in this manner.

“Miss Kiara, the spellcaster...!”

“I know. I’ll make this quick.”

Closing my eyes, I began to search the earth for the same magic power I sensed within myself.

“If you think about it... you don’t really need to follow through on your promise,” Cain pointed out.

Truth be told, he wasn’t wrong. It was certainly an option... but not for me.

“This man used the last of his strength to help me. I’d rather keep my word if I’m able.”

With his assistance, I had now gained the power to protect the people I cared about, and that was a debt I wished to repay.

Not only was I a total beginner, but the only person who could have walked me through this was presently deceased. Focusing hard, I repeated Horace’s instructions in my head, and after a lot of trial and error, I figured out how to detect the heat signature that matched my own.

Now to sculpt it. Wait, what are golems supposed to look like?

My first thought was the giant golems that appeared in the RPG, but I couldn’t put the old man’s soul in something so large. Were there any smaller alternatives? The only thing I could think of would be a Lego model. But I wanted something between those two extremes—something I could carry in my arms. Oh, and something with eyes and a mouth, of course, so we can talk!

In the end, what I came up with was a bug-eyed statue reminiscent of a prehistoric Japanese clay figurine. But looking back, Horace was pretty bug-eyed as a human, so perhaps it was fitting... No, no! I can’t stick him in this ugly thing!

The instant I started having second thoughts, my concentration was shattered.

“Ugh...”

When I opened my eyes, it was too late.

Before me was a little clay statue, no more than thirty cers tall—the perfect size to carry. Only half of Horace’s body remained intact. There was no going back now. It was time to complete the transplant.

Concentrating hard, I willed Horace’s soul to come to me. Tiny red fragments floated up out of his body and into the new vessel... and a moment later, the statue’s goggly eyes lit up.

“Oho! So this is my new body, eh?” asked an echoey voice, like someone was talking directly into a vase. Unsurprisingly, it was Horace’s voice. Meanwhile, his body was now almost completely dust.

Looks like I succeeded. Should I be proud, or...?

I glanced over at Cain to find his face frozen in a half-smile, half-grimace.

Yeah, I feel you.

Horace, on the other hand, seemed quite pleased. He flexed his new arms and legs.

Wait, it IS him, right?

“Um... Master Horace?”

Now that he was officially my mentor, I figured I may as well show the proper deference.

“Master, you say? Pffheeheehee!”

His coppery clay body shook with bashful glee—and considering his alien appearance, it was a downright eerie sight. But judging from his signature cackle, there was no doubt in my mind: this was him.

Apparently, his shoulders, neck, hips, and knees were all flexible, like an action figure. This was not something I had consciously included in the creation process.

“How long will this spell last? Admittedly, I’m new to magic, but it seems to me this new body of yours can’t last forever.”

“Heeheehee! To think an old geezer like me popped your—”

At this, Cain clapped his hands over my ears; evidently he felt this sort of bawdy humor was ill-fit for a young lady to hear. Personally, I felt I was going to have to learn about the birds and the bees sooner or later. Plus, I’d heard a lot worse from the teenage boys back in my past life.

But before I could protest, it occurred to me: I was going to have to take this little statue with me, right? Which meant... he could potentially blab everything to Reggie, Alan, or even Lord and Lady Évrard?!

Summoning my resolve, I reached out and sentenced my perverted statue to an unceremonious flick to the forehead.

“Oof! That... didn’t hurt, actually, but I sure felt it!”

“It didn’t? Dang. Well, fortunately for you, I’m willing to let it slide, but next time you might not be so lucky! Keep your inappropriate comments to yourself, or else someone less considerate than myself might just crush you underfoot!”

“Tsk... You’re no fun. I was hoping I’d at least get a blush out of you.” He shook his little clay head in disappointment. “Now, as for your earlier question: my body will last for as long as your mana can support it. For a normal golem, this is no problem, of course—the ‘life’ you breathe into them is purely artificial. But this is my body we’re talking about, so it’s a bit of a different story. Eh, I imagine I could last about three days without any fresh mana.”

In other words, pretty similar to a battery-powered toy—once it ran out, it would stop moving.

“Long story short, in order to keep my soul in this vessel, I’ll need to stick close to you.”

“Right. I had a feeling you might.”

“Wh-What?! You’re taking him with you?!” Cain sputtered, breaking his long silence at last. I couldn’t blame him for struggling to process what he was looking at; not only had I manifested a hideous, bug-eyed clay figurine out of nowhere, but then it started talking.

“He helped turn me into a spellcaster, so I have every intention of... keeping him alive, I guess? Is that a strange way to put it? Besides, if I left him here, I can only imagine the rumors that would start floating around. A bug-eyed statue, screaming my name as it crumbles to dust...”

That was something I dearly wanted to avoid. If I survived the war only to end up with a less-than-desirable reputation, I’d never be able to show my face at Évrard Castle ever again. I could not let that happen.

“Right... Makes sense,” Cain nodded, grimacing.

A short while later, the five knights returned to report that they had unfortunately lost sight of the assassin who shot Horace.

“Not to worry. Now that we’ve captured Master Horace’s soul, I’m sure we can get plenty of information out of him.”

“Captured? I’m not sure I like the way you phrased that, little lady. Then again, considering you wanted me as your mentor, I should’ve known you’d be a troublemaker! Eeeheehee!”

My intention was to console the crestfallen knights, but now that my statue was talking, they all looked mildly terrified.

“Did that...?”

“Hold on—everyone else heard that, right? I’m not crazy?”

“It can talk?!”

I didn’t expect them to understand, so I moved on to my next order of business.

We took Master’s remains and buried them in the forest beside the high road. I no longer had any need for a shovel; instead, all I needed to do was imagine the hole I wanted, then convey my wishes to the mana in the soil. Naturally, the knights were stunned to see me using magic, so Cain explained everything to them while I worked.

Once his remains were buried, I put Master’s important belongings into his rucksack and slung it over my shoulder. We had solved the monster problem, and now it was time to return to the castle posthaste.

With Master Horace tucked safely under my arm, I climbed back onto Cain’s horse with him. He still seemed to have some misgivings; likewise, the other knights all shot me confused glances as they mounted their own steeds. Oh well. I’m sure they’ll adjust to it eventually, right?

When we arrived back at the top of the cliff, we found that the surviving monsters had lost interest in fighting and had all gone their separate ways, probably because Horace’s magical connection to them had been severed.

“Alan!”

I waved at him, and he trotted over on his horse.

“Kiara, I saw you pass out down there! What ha—aaaAAAAHHH! The hell is that thing?!”

Right as he reached out to touch my arm, he caught sight of the hideous clay figurine tucked under it and whipped his hand back. I briefly debated how to respond, but ultimately decided I’d probably need to introduce them.

“This is Horace, my new spellcasting mentor.” I held him up and made him do a little bow.

“Listen here, little disciple. I’m not your toy, got that?”

“Of course. That’s why I bothered to introduce you in the first place.”

“It can talk?!”

Perplexed, Alan shot a “help me” look at Cain behind me, but Cain merely shook his head. So Alan turned to the other knights... but they had already caught on, and so they, too, shook their heads.

“Apologies, milord, but... I’m afraid these spellcasters are beyond our understanding,” said one.

“Which is probably why Miss Kiara is such a perfect fit, what with her... unconventional way of thinking,” said another.

Alan looked back at me, his eyes wide. “You’re a spellcaster now?”

Evidently, he hadn’t been able to tell what we were doing from such a great distance. I nodded. All at once, his expression lit up with equal parts relief and concern.

“I see... So you were right,” he muttered. Then he hopped off his horse. Hastily, one of his knights followed suit in order to take the reins.

Meanwhile, Alan walked right up to us. For a moment, he stared down at the ground... and then he knelt down before me.

“What are you doing?!” I yelped.

“What needs to be done,” he answered quietly. “I owe you an apology.”

He looked up at me, his eyes full of guilt, and gestured for me to dismount. At his request, I turned and handed Horace to Cain before sliding down to the ground. Cain let out an audible groan of disgust, but took him nonetheless.

“Apology for what, Alan? Surely you don’t mean—”

“I called you a liar, Kiara.”

Sure enough, he was referring to that fateful day more than a month ago—the day I screamed at Alan about my past life. At the time, he hadn’t believed a word I said, but then Cain came along and convinced him to give me a chance. Then, just yesterday, it came to light that Llewyne really was planning to attack... and now I had survived the spellcaster transformation. This must have served as proof enough for Alan to change his mind.

As a result, his strong sense of integrity dictated that he owed me an immediate apology. Even if it meant bending the knee to a servant in front of his men, he cared more about righting his wrongdoing. I respected that, so I didn’t try to stop him.

“L-Look, it’s fine, so—”

“No, it’s not ‘fine.’ I hurt you, and I want to make it right.”

On second thought, perhaps it was a mistake to come down off my horse.

I couldn’t bear the sight of him humbling himself a second longer, so I walked up and reached out to touch his shoulder... but then he grabbed my wrist.

“Wha...?!”

The next thing I knew, he bent forward and pressed his forehead to the back of my hand—a gesture of utmost respect from a man to a woman.

“Kiara Cordier, I offer you my deepest apologies. I won’t ask for your forgiveness, but when you have the time, please tell me what I can do to make it up to you.”

“Make it up to me?! Uhhh...” The ultra-public setting only served to make this dramatic apology all the more intense, and the pressure was quickly getting to me. “Well, for starters, I wish you would’ve been more discreet about this.”

Alan rose to his feet. Judging from the smile on his face, he felt better now that he’d said his piece.

“I didn’t want to leave any room for further misunderstandings. Regardless, what’s done is done, so I’m afraid that is one wish I cannot grant. Speak to me again when you have an alternative solution.”

With that, Alan climbed back onto his horse and gave the signal for his soldiers to begin the march home. I stared blankly after him... until I heard Cain chuckling at me, that is. When I turned to look at him, he reached out and helped me back onto the horse.

“It would appear Lord Alan got the better of you this time.”

“Ugh, tell me about it. I wish you would’ve stopped him. He listens to you, you know.”

“You know what sort of person he is. Once he decides to do something, he takes action right away without giving anyone else the chance to argue. Besides, don’t you feel better now that it’s all settled?”

Admittedly, a weight had been lifted from my shoulders now that I knew I was no longer under suspicion.

“You young kids are so emotionally constipated,” Horace sighed.

I attempted to strangle him for commenting on my business, but as he was merely a statue, this seemed to have no effect. Grrrr.

Once we headed out, it took us approximately two hours to arrive home. When we got there, we saw an army marching on the castle—one bearing yellow flags with black lions painted upon them.

It was Llewyne.

“How?! Why?!”

I didn’t understand how this was possible. Why, just this morning, we’d received word that the enemy was still nowhere to be seen! Not only that, but Lord Évrard had left with an army of a thousand soldiers shortly afterward, claiming he “couldn’t afford to wait until the next scout returned.” This was right around the same time our monster dispatch squad headed out, too!

So how on earth did the Llewynian army already have our castle surrounded? Did they really steamroll His Lordship’s army that easily? Sure, the enemy seemed to have the advantage in terms of size, but I wasn’t experienced enough to be able to ballpark their numbers at a glance... and the lack of information had me in a panic.

“Sir Cain! Please hurry!”

“I hear you,” he replied, grimacing as he spurred his horse faster.

We were traveling at such a clip that I was in danger of falling off altogether, so he wrapped one arm tightly around me. Meanwhile, it took everything I had to keep hold of the saddle with one hand and Horace with the other.

This reaction wasn’t unique to just us, mind you. Our entire force was now in a desperate hurry to get back to the castle... but not all of us had horses. Alan would normally never leave his foot soldiers behind, but the circumstances were dire; he gave them instructions for what to do in the worst-case scenario, then galloped off with us.

Someone please tell me they’re still alive!

If the siege had already begun, then I was of a mind to run right in and fight back with all my power. I didn’t have a single moment to lose. If they died, then everything I did to protect them would have been in vain.

As I clung to the horse, images rose to the forefront of my mind—images of Reggie’s bloody body lying lifeless on the ground.

Please let him be safe in the castle. That’s all I ask. Please, please, please!

Soon we arrived at a lookout location, shielded from view by trees and large boulders. From there, we had an optimal view of the situation: waves upon waves of foot soldiers, marching forward over the hills to our beloved old castle. With each passing moment, the yellow Llewynian flag loomed closer and closer to our home... and the only thing stopping them was a shower of arrows from the archers standing atop the castle walls.

While the archers were busy nocking their next arrows, the Llewynian soldiers, in their dark-colored armor, lowered their shields and took a few more steps. They were carrying long ladders, too—were they planning to climb over the walls? There were probably more soldiers ramming the gates, too, though we couldn’t see from this angle.

“Where’s my father...?” Alan mumbled as he stared in disbelief.

No one knew the answer. Ideally, the troops dispatched from the branch estate would have arrived by now, but if the enemy was currently marching on the castle unopposed, then we clearly didn’t manage to rally many drafted soldiers at all.

I felt dizzy and sick to my stomach. This was almost exactly like the prologue to the RPG. At the rate we were going, we would lose the battle... and Reggie and Lady Évrard and everyone else in the castle would probably lose their lives.

We only had one weapon at our disposal. Only one of us possessed the power to take on an army of a thousand soldiers... and that person was me.

I slid down off of Cain’s horse and pressed my hand to the ground. I knew the steps—now I just needed to create a giant golem, like the ones Game-Kiara would always summon in the RPG!

“Now just a moment, my young disciple.”

“Don’t stop me, Master!” Can’t you see what’s happening right in front of us?!

But right as I turned back to argue, Horace hopped down to the ground and landed gracefully on his stubby little feet. One look at his face, and the panic inside me fizzled out. It felt like I’d been snapped back to reality—probably because his bug-eyed countenance reminded me so strongly of his human form. Then I remembered everyone’s reactions to seeing him for the first time.

A laugh welled up in my chest, but didn’t quite leave my lips. Once my panic and restlessness faded, what settled in its place was deep despair. My eyes burned hot.

“Master...”

“Now, now, don’t you go giving me the waterworks! Sentimentality’s never been my style, so I’m afraid you’re barking up the wrong tree. Eeeheehee!”

“But... I mean, how do you intend to fight them, then, if not with magic?!” I whimpered.

“Let me guess: you were going to call up a giant golem and try to crush them underfoot. Well, you might want to look a bit closer. After all, you wouldn’t want to step on your friends, now would you?”

“My friends...?”

Inhaling sharply, I looked out across the hills once more. It was a sea of dark armor, with only the Llewynian flag standing tall. But in the far, far distance, I could see a tiny skirmish.

I could make out some bright sparks—big ones, too, not the stray embers of a torch. And I could hear screaming.

“Wait... Is that magic?!”

“Indeed. Now that I’ve lost my human form, I can tell you that these people have been planning to use defective spellcasters in battle to make up for the lack of real ones. Perhaps there’s one of ’em right over there.”

“That’s even worse!” I shouted.

Even a defective spellcaster could cause massive damage flinging their spells around. They were not an enemy to be taken lightly, and yet Horace merely cackled.

“Take a moment and think about it, you sorry excuse for a disciple! If they’ve been forced to send in a defective, don’t you think there might be a good reason for that? A formidable opponent, perhaps?”

“Huh?”

Then it hit me.

“Are you saying my father’s over there fighting them?!” Alan cut in suddenly.

“I can’t say for sure, but if your old man’s currently leading an army, then there’s a chance it’s him.”

There’s a chance His Lordship is still alive? My spirits lifted a tiny fraction. Alan was looking a lot calmer, too—this must have offered him a ray of hope.

But then Master Horace snuffed it out again.

“Not to mention the other problem: you won’t be able to wield magic entirely at will! Heehee!”

“Why not?”

“That contract stone’s barely had any time to integrate into your system. If you overuse your magic before it’s ready, it will start to consume you, just like it did during the initial transformation. And while you can get away with little spells like transferring my soul and digging my grave, golems are a different story. You want to wipe out an army of this size, you’ll need maybe ten or so... and you’re not yet strong enough to handle that strain. You’ll die, kid! Pffheeheehee!”

I bit my lip. That was the one thing I wanted to avoid more than any other... but at the same time, I didn’t want to risk getting Reggie killed by playing it too safe.

Horace seemed to intuit this.

“Think of it this way, little disciple. Imagine a river. If you drop in a single stone, it’ll only get pushed downstream. What must you do, then, to redirect the flow?”

At that moment, an epiphany struck me so hard that it felt like sparks were shooting from my eyelashes.

The enemy forces were currently divided between two tasks: invading the castle and defeating Lord Évrard. At my current strength, I could only create one golem at the most. If I were to place that golem in front of the castle gates, the enemy soldiers would prioritize defeating their human opponent, since he was comparatively easier to fight than a massive stone automaton. And since I was unable to summon a second golem, I would be unable to protect His Lordship.

But if I used the golem to fight alongside the margrave, the enemies would turn and flood the gates instead. Again, it would seem like the easier of the two tasks by comparison. No matter which one I chose, I was looking at an endless game of cat and mouse. And if I tried to save both, my magic would burn out, and I would be rendered powerless to help anyone.

It was like placing sandbags to fight off a flood—a stopgap solution at best. So what would be a more efficient way of keeping the Llewynian army away from the castle...?

Then Alan chimed in.

“Their front lines consist not of speedy cavalry but foot soldiers, most of them drafted civilians. They’re acting on instructions from their commanding officer—probably a knight on horseback who can run around barking orders as the situation requires. I expect this officer is positioned near the center of the platoon.”

I imagined the commanding officer as a sandbank, sitting high above the flow of the soldiers. They would probably have a few additional knights with them for added protection.

“The foot soldiers can only move a short distance once per turn, and they can’t take action without orders from above. But the knights can travel much greater distances, so if a golem spawned within their range, they’d... run off to fight it? In which case...”

I tried to envision this battle like a map from the RPG, but quickly found it was too much to juggle in my head at once. So instead I picked up a rock, crouched down, and started to draw in the bare earth nearby.

“How’s this, Master Horace?”

“Oho! Good, good.”

Horace murmured in approval as I drew up a quick map, marking the enemy units’ positions as I went—“K” for the knights, “F” for the foot soldiers, and “S” for the defective spellcaster.

Then, following some feedback from Cain and Alan, I drew a second, revised map. The two of them nodded, and Horace let out a mischievous cackle.

Our plan was set.

“I’m going to defeat the enemy general, Alan... and you’re coming with me, Sir Cain.” I pressed a hand to the ground. “Now come on out, golem!”

In my mind’s eye, I envisioned the way Game-Kiara cast her golem-summoning magic. Slowly but surely, I gathered the mana that matched my own. Per my request, these mana particles altered their atomic structure... and once the process was complete, it manifested before me as a large, square-shaped golem—a perfect recreation of what I had imagined.

It was bipedal, sort of like a robot, except built out of stone. At its fullest height, I estimated it was about the size of a fully grown tree—approximately ten mers tall. Sensing my silent wishes, the golem turned in the direction of the Llewynian army and took off running.

Naturally, the enemy soldiers sensed the strange, rhythmic vibrations and began to panic.

“Wh-What’s going on?!”

“Earthquake?!”

The vibrations were accompanied by a loud rumbling sound, almost like something very, very large was running their way.

Then one of them quickly noticed the cloud of dust the golem was kicking up as it ran, and when he squinted at it to get a better look... he screamed.

“What the hell is that?!”

They pointed and stared at the freakish brown monstrosity that towered over them. With the dandelions and dead leaves poking out here and there, it was clear the creature was made of soil... and the second they caught sight of the dark, empty eye sockets embedded in its square-shaped head, the Llewynian soldiers all broke into a run.

“Aaah!”

With no one left to help him carry his ladder, one of the soldiers fell to the ground, pinned under the heavy metal. As the golem walked over him, he was summarily flattened into the earth... and just like that, he was gone.

The golem kicked up the grass as it walked. One of the slower soldiers ended up on the receiving end of a hard stone kick; he went flying, and when he landed, he fell still.

Other soldiers stared in horrified shock as the golem passed by, followed by about twenty knights on horseback. Their blue cloaks marked them as Farzian soldiers, but not one of the Llewynians moved to attack. These men had a reasonable amount of experience fighting monsters, but nothing remotely on the same scale as a golem.

As they stood stock-still, another wave of arrows rained down from the castle walls, striking down those who weren’t paying proper attention and further adding to the chaos.

Of course, this wasn’t to say that the Llewynian army was entirely devoid of soldiers brave enough to take up arms against a stone giant. A handful of knights dashed out from the commander’s squad to swing their swords at the golem... but to no avail. Then the Farzian knights rushed in, their horses kicking up grass and dust. It was as if the golem had carved a path just for them.

And by “Farzian knights,” I was, of course, referring to our group.

“Are we there yet?!”

“Almost! Ignore them and keep going!”

We rode our horses at a careful distance behind the golem—Alan on his horse and Cain and I on ours, plus a handful of other knights. We couldn’t risk getting too close lest the golem accidentally kick us, but if we lagged too far behind, the enemy soldiers might snap to their senses and attack us. After all, compared to a massive unfeeling automaton that was potentially invulnerable, a soft, fleshy, 100 percent mortal human being was easily the more appealing opponent.

We cut across the battlefield, attempting to draw the Llewynian army’s attention away from the castle. Our destination: the place where I’d witnessed sparks flying... and where we hoped to find friendly forces led by Lord Évrard.

This golem was actually a lot faster than I’d anticipated. I was expecting it to sort of trudge along, but instead, it lifted its knees in a full run. While its movements were sluggish, its stride was rather long. As a result, our horses had to work hard to keep up.

Personally, I was afraid my magic would stop working if I let the golem stray too far from me, and so I requested we keep our horses at a very specific distance. Fortunately, since we were traveling at close to maximum speed, our destination quickly came into view.

Meanwhile, the Llewynian army was slow to react. They focused entirely on getting out of the golem’s way, then stood there and stared after us until it was too late to give chase. In video game terms, it was as though we were inflicting a stun status effect and making them waste a turn.

But this hypnosis didn’t last long. Because the golem was highly visible from a distance, the soldiers ahead of us were more easily able to recover. Sure enough, the Llewynian knights were starting to band together. Meanwhile, it was taking everything I had just to keep the golem going.

“Nngh... I wish I could create a mud wall with one hand or something...”

Now nestled in the rucksack on my back, Horace let out another one of his trademark cackles. “Eeeheehee! Don’t get greedy, little rookie. Baby steps.”

He was right, of course. I knew that. Obviously, I wasn’t going to be able to toss out spells left and right when I was basically Level 1. And if I prematurely pushed myself to the point of a dusty death, then our battle plan was screwed. I couldn’t risk it. I was just going to have to make do with what I could manage.

Meanwhile, the golem continued to jog along, serving as our shield. We were moving at a breakneck pace past thousands of enemy soldiers, and yet the thought of being near the elite Llewynian knights terrified me so much that it felt like we were moving in slow motion. Time itself had slowed to a crawl.

Every time I caught sight of a corpse trampled by the golem or riddled with arrows, I reflexively squeezed my eyes shut and hunched down, bracing myself against the nightmare happening all around me. This was my first time witnessing people die in battle, and it made me sick to my stomach with fear.

But whenever my emotional state wavered, the golem’s stability was impacted in turn. So instead I forced myself to stare straight ahead. Don’t look down, don’t look down... Then I felt Cain’s arm tighten around me and realized he must have sensed my fear. Quietly, I willed myself to focus on my mission.

At last, the crowd parted ahead of us, and a bright flame came into view. The time had come.

“We’re here!”

I hastily commanded the golem to stop, and it obeyed, kicking up a dust cloud as it slowed. Before us was a lone figure, flinging fireballs and making them explode. This defective spellcaster could attack from a considerable range, and anyone who approached him was quickly forced to retreat. He wore dark leather armor concealed beneath a black cloak; smoke rose up from its fabric as though it were on fire.

Then I realized: Llewyne must have sacrificed one of its foot soldiers to create a defective spellcaster at the last minute.

“How awful...”

Standing on the front lines as an ordinary soldier, death was always a risk—but at least there was a chance you could avoid it. Now that he was a defective spellcaster, though, he would never be able to escape it. And when it caught up to him, it would be agonizingly painful.

There was no saving him. The most merciful thing I could do for him would be to put him out of his misery.

But before I could command my golem, someone shot past me.

“HAAAAAAHH!”

With a battle cry, Alan dashed boldly into the scattering sparks and swung his longsword. The blade hit its mark, and blood gushed from the defective spellcaster’s head. When he crumpled to the ground, he promptly dissolved into dust, blood and all.

Meanwhile, Alan glared around at the other soldiers nearby. They were all enrobed in blue cloaks—foot soldiers with lances, and cavalry knights just behind them. In the center was a man wearing a helmet with a teal tassel.

“Father!” Alan shouted.

The man lifted his hand in a wave; likewise, the other blue-cloaked soldiers grinned and waved.

It’s him... His Lordship is alive!

Relief washed over me... and the next moment, it felt like I was going to pass out.

“It’s time for the next phase of our plan,” Cain reminded me right in the nick of time, and I managed to hold out.

Then we turned our horse around, and there I realized that the Llewynian soldiers had formed a loose circle around us, trying to box us in without getting too close to their defective spellcaster. Fortunately, I had come up with a backup plan for this exact situation.

“Alan, we’re moving on to the next phase!” I called.

He turned away from his father and back to me, his expression hard. “You sure you’ll be alright?”

“I’ll have to be. I’m our only hope.”

No more needed to be said between us. He turned back and addressed his knights, plus the margrave and his army of approximately 500 soldiers, giving them a rough outline of our plan. Then he glanced over at me and gave me a nod.

“Thank you for all your help, Sir Cain,” I said as I slid down off his horse. From here on, this was a solo mission; the horse would only get in my way.

And yet, for some reason, Cain hopped down with me.

“Huh?”

In a blink, he jogged over and entrusted his horse to one of the margrave’s soldiers.

“What are you doing?!” I shouted.

“I’m coming with you,” Cain replied... and then he scooped me up into his arms.

“Wh—Sir Cain?!”

I could try to flail my way out of it, but I didn’t want to risk kicking him, nor did I want him to drop me. Meanwhile, he fixed me with his most dashing smile.

“Now you’ll have no choice but to let me accompany you.”

“But... there’s a reason I need to do this alone!”

“Oh, I won’t get in your way. I merely figured you could use someone to help you escape in the event you expend the last of your strength.”

From up close, I could see that his smile didn’t reach his eyes. He was serious. I pursed my lips.

“I know you’re exhausted,” he pressed.

He was right, of course, but I couldn’t afford to admit it—otherwise, I’d lose my nerve. I was starting to feel nauseous from all the intense concentration required to control the golem.

“Lady Évrard only let us borrow you under the condition that I protect you at all costs. I’m afraid I can’t go against her orders.”

At this, I finally gave in. We had no time to waste; the enemy soldiers wouldn’t remain stunned forever, and my capacity for magic was limited. I lowered the golem’s hand to the ground, and Cain carried me on. From there, we moved up to its shoulder.

“Whoa... There are so many of them...”

I grimaced. The sheer number of soldiers covering the land completely blew me away; I wasn’t yet skilled at estimating numbers by eye, but I was convinced there had to be at least ten thousand down there, just as Cain and Alan had predicted.

If Llewyne had managed to surprise us with this massive army, we probably would have had no choice but to run for our lives. Even with advance warning, we still barely managed to prepare for it. If we were going to turn the tide of this battle, it certainly wasn’t going to happen quickly—but we still had a chance. And I was going to do everything in my power to try.

I scanned the vicinity, then gestured for Cain to set me down on the golem’s shoulder. Now that I was a bit more rested, I had no trouble standing on my own two feet. Next, I created a little protective enclosure embedded in the shoulder for the two of us to stand in so we wouldn’t run the risk of tumbling off every time the golem took a step.

A few moments later, a flurry of arrows flew up at us. Now that I was standing on the golem’s shoulder, Llewyne had surely identified me as the spellcaster in control, since they were paying close attention. For a second I was scared the arrows might actually reach past our barricade, but fortunately, they fell short of the mark.

Truth be told, prior to that moment, I wasn’t 100 percent sure this defensive measure would be enough. After all, arrows were quite swift, and we were practically sitting ducks up here. Thankfully, it looked like we were safe for now.

My gaze drifted to the castle. I estimated we were about twenty golem-sized steps away. At first, I felt relieved to know we were so close at hand... but then I caught sight of someone standing atop the castle walls. Because of his blue cloak, I initially mistook him for a foot soldier, but then I noticed his was a different length than the others.

What caught my attention was his perfect form... but then I recognized his pale military uniform and nearly screamed.

“Why is he up there?! No! Someone get him inside!”

It was Reggie, his long silver ponytail fluttering in the breeze. Images from the RPG flitted through my mind, and my knees quivered, threatening to buckle. He was a prime target for a sniper up there! The battlements were the first line of defense in the event that Llewyne broke through the gates!

I rounded on Cain and seized him by the collar. “Sir Cain, please—do something! He’ll get shot up there!”

“Calm down, Miss Kiara,” he replied calmly. “His Highness will be just fine. The only place higher than the curtain walls would be the main tower. With the current winds, the enemy archers can’t hit him.”

“But...”

God, what if the RPG prologue comes true?!

I glared at Reggie, but the distance between us was too great. He smiled and raised a hand in my direction.

The next moment, straw spilled out from between the gaps in the battlements, followed by some sort of liquid.

“Is that oil?”

The enemy soldiers backed up a bit. Evidently they were of the same mind as Cain. And as long as they didn’t get splashed by the oil, they had nothing to fear from fire arrows; they could simply wait for the fire to die out.

Sure enough, on Reggie’s signal, the archers shot their fire arrows straight down at the ground, and the scattered straw immediately caught fire.

“Look at the smoke!”

This was by no means ordinary smoke. It formed a thick green cloud that hung low over the ground, steadily engulfing the enemy soldiers. At first, they held their positions, but as soon as they came into contact with it, they fell writhing to the ground. Some of them crawled around desperately, seeking an exit. Meanwhile, the soldiers in the back saw this and bolted. Instantly, their front line was in shambles.

“What kind of smoke is that? Is it poisonous? But the castle—oh.”

At last, I realized what was going on.

Change of plans.

Swallowing hard, I waved down at Alan. “Head straight to the castle gates!”

He must have heard me, because I saw him nod in response. Then he and the rest of his group took off running.

“Hold on tight, Sir Cain!”

Focusing intently, I commanded the golem to run ahead of Alan. The castle was actually closer than I’d estimated—just ten steps away. And once we’d taken eight of those steps, I had the golem make a 90-degree turn.

Clearly the enemy soldiers had assumed the golem would follow along with Alan, because they only moved slightly out of our way... but now I was charging right at them.

“Nngh...!”

I pursed my lips tightly. We were almost certainly trampling dozens of people underfoot right now, but I couldn’t afford to think about it. I couldn’t risk feeling fear. All I could do was focus on controlling the golem. I was trying my best not to move its upper body much, but I couldn’t keep its shoulders from jostling violently with every step. If I relaxed for even a moment, we’d both surely plummet to our deaths.

“Whoa!”

At first, Cain was a bit perplexed by my actions, but he quickly adapted. He grabbed my arm to hold me steady—something I greatly appreciated. As soon as we made it back into the castle, I planned to thank him profusely.

Down on the ground, the rest of the Llewynian soldiers were in a panic. Not that I blamed them, since they had just watched a giant stone golem mow down their comrades. Their coordination was a total mess; some were shooting arrows up at us while others were just trying to make sure they didn’t get trampled.

Meanwhile, Alan and his team stormed straight into the castle. Their objective was to ensure the safety of the margrave. After all, His Lordship had been battling Llewyne for hours; he’d started the day with a thousand soldiers, and now he was down to less than half. The man was surely exhausted, both physically and emotionally. No way could he fight his way back into the castle unassisted—hence our plan.

Step one: make the enemy think the golem was headed for the gates, forcing them to get out of the way. Step two: have Alan and his team escort his father down the newly created path.

Fortunately, His Lordship’s army was close enough for the plan to work. Plus, Reggie’s toxic smoke helped discourage the enemy soldiers from approaching the gates. He had carefully positioned the fumes so that they wouldn’t block our path, either.

Now Alan and his team would have a relatively straight shot to the castle gates; meanwhile, I attacked the Llewynian army. With Cain’s support, I was able to focus fully on manipulating my golem. Unfortunately, it pained me to do this.

How many people had I crushed underfoot? How many had died from a single stone kick? As I forced myself not to think about it, I finally spotted my target: a group of knights wearing majestic capes and carrying the Llewynian flag. I could see something sparkling on their chests... Medals, perhaps.

Closing my eyes, I charged my golem right through them. Then, when we reached the other side, I turned it around.

I have to check. I have to make sure I killed them.

The thought sent a shiver down my spine, and I felt like I was going to be sick. My control on the golem weakened; its left arm crumbled into soil and fell to the ground.

The next thing I knew, Cain pulled me into his arms and pressed me against his chest so I couldn’t see a thing.

“Quickly, now. Have this thing walk straight forward.”

I tried to say okay, but my voice wouldn’t come out. Instead, I focused on the golem’s legs, just as Cain had instructed. Once again, we took off at a run, charging forward—but this time, we crouched down so the arrows wouldn’t hit us. If it hadn’t been for the enclosure keeping us safe, we surely would have hit the ground.

Cain must have realized what was upsetting me, hence his shielding me from the view. If he hadn’t, the whole golem might have fallen apart in response to my unstable emotions.

“Just ten more steps.”

Having regained a small amount of composure, I looked up. The enemy’s front lines were in shambles, with everyone fleeing the golem in all directions, but at the castle gates, the war waged on. Evidently, some of the Llewynian knights were more committed to their cause than others. Alan and his team were now the last line of defense keeping them out.

We needed to open the gates to let the margrave’s group inside—and naturally, this was the perfect opportunity for the enemy as well. Or perhaps their only opportunity, considering we had a giant golem on our side. Thus, Alan was forced to fight off the opposing forces while the margrave and his men slipped in through a tiny gap in the gates, one at a time.

I wanted to help them. Exhausted as I was, I was still lucid enough to see that we needed to be rid of the enemy posthaste. Unfortunately, however, I just didn’t have it in me. It was taking all my remaining strength just to make it back to the castle.

Still, I needed a plan if I wanted to get inside anytime soon. I considered jumping from the golem’s shoulder to the curtain wall, but I could tell that the golem would crumble the second I stepped away from it. This would inevitably form a giant dirt pile right next to the wall which the enemy could then climb up to invade the castle. Obviously we couldn’t let that happen, so I’d have to dismantle the golem from a distance.

I commanded the golem to slowly kneel down—or so I thought, but I’d misjudged my speed.

“Aaaagh!”

Horace let out a muffled scream from inside my rucksack as we plummeted to the ground. I could feel Cain suck in a breath, too. The feeling was reminiscent of an amusement park freefall ride from my past life. Unfortunately, I had never been big on those sorts of rides, and my fear only made things worse. Before long, I had lost control of the golem completely.

And so our ride crumbled back into dirt—but fortunately for us, this soft soil created a pillow of sorts that cushioned our landing. I knew I’d screwed up, but there was no time to feel sorry for myself. I needed to keep moving.

When I tried to get to my feet, however, my body was shaking so badly that I couldn’t keep myself upright. Luckily, I had a friend with me—a friend who was strong enough to carry me when my own legs failed me. Blearily, I opened my eyes. Sure enough, it was Cain.

“Hold on tight!”

And with that, he took off running.

Naturally, the enemy soldiers saw this as an elusive chance to defeat the Farzian spellcaster. The loud clanging of metal made me flinch, and I realized the Llewynian army was charging at us—at me.

Just then, Alan rode up on horseback, wielding a lance he must’ve acquired from who knows where. He mowed down four soldiers with a single sweep, and I found myself captivated. Truly, he possessed the strength and skill befitting a protagonist.

Meanwhile, Cain carried me closer and closer to the castle. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a clear path inside—there was a sea of black and blue cloaks in front of us, struggling, and blades flying wildly about. Breathing hard, with a helpless girl in his arms, Cain stood out like a sore thumb... and yet I didn’t have the courage to ask him to escape without me.

I was so terrified of dying, I’d spent the past two years doing everything in my power to avoid it. And yet, even now, in the midst of a crisis I was powerless to solve on my own, somehow I still refused to give in to my fate. All I could do was apologize to Cain and Alan afterward for being such a burden. Again and again, I cursed myself for being so weak—but right as I squeezed my eyes shut, I heard a voice.

“Kiara!”

Just as Cain reaffixed his grip on me, the gates swung open and a veritable avalanche of soldiers poured out. One by one, they struck down the Llewynian soldiers who were giving Alan and his men so much trouble. Meanwhile, the rest of us hurried inside. Then the gate closed back up, and the metal portcullis slid down.

As the sounds of fighting faded into the distance, I heaved a sigh of relief. Safe at last. My eyelids drooped, and my consciousness slowly slipped away.

Just then, I felt someone touch my cheek.

“Foolish girl...”

Next, I felt someone else lift me out of Cain’s arms, and as I took in his scent, I thought vaguely to myself, Oh, good, Reggie’s alive.

That was the last thing that crossed my mind before it all faded to black.