Volume 8 Side Story Part 7

「For me, it feels like I just used that magic, so of course I wouldn’t have changed in such a short time. Well then… Shall we try to drive away those who invaded your territory? 」

Null adjusted his glasses and said with a fearless smile.

It was the fifth day since the main army of Waldrind started attacking. Dirk Dinkel was confident of their victory at this point. The battle was progressing smoothly, ad their enemies were not able to deal with the Heavy Knights of Waldrind.

The only things they needed to be careful of are the ferocious Beastman and the Arts users who used strange weapons. In both cases, they were able to successfully contain them by assigning a group of Heavy Knights to fight them by firing Crest-imbued crossbow bolts at them from a distance.

In the previous battle, there was also a cavalry unit with tremendous mobility, but he haven’t seen it now. Maybe they’ve actually taken precautions against them and that’s why they didn’t show up?

No other enemy could stand against them. He felt like the knights were trained better than he expected, but this is a rural country after all, so they were no match for Waldrind, whose Heavy Knights have honed their fighting skills since the days of the Iron-Blooded Earl Jurgen Kraische.

(Heavy Knights of Waldrind are the best on the continent, so that was only to be expected.)

Dirk once again felt pride in his heart.

The Dinkel family has been a family of the Knights of Waldrind for three generations. His grandfather was in Jurgen’s army, his father was in Matthias’s army, and he was in Marlne’s army. He has also refined his skills and rank as a Lord thanks to her.

He still vividly remembers the first time he met Marine. That must have been ten years ago already. All the children of the Heavy Knights of Waldrind were introduced to the still young Marlne back then, under the guise of saying hello to their future master.

When Dirk saw her, he almost collapsed. Her beauty, her grace, her voice, her intelligence. It was at this moment that Dirk learned for himself the meaning of the word infatuation.
After that, Dirk worked hard on his training as a knight. He overextended himself and often thought about giving up halfway through. However, every time Dirk felt like he was about to give up, he renews his loyalty and respect for Marlne, and managed to overcome all difficulties with her support. As a result of his efforts, he has now risen to the position where he is no longer just a knight, but a captain and can even participate in military councils.

The opportunity that Dirk seized was the capture of Medinia and Fergard. Marlne was not very enthusiastic about conquering these two countries because she is currently dealing with both the Fantasia Union and the Artuk Treaty. However, she cannot ignore the new invasion route to the western part of the continent. That is where Dirk stepped in. He planned an invasion, persuaded Marine to go through with it, took charge of her army, and now…

And now he was here, in this moment.

Dirk had a secret ambition. If he manages to defeat Medinia and Fargard, his title will rise to that of a Viscount. That way, he’d be able to be even closer to Marine than ever before.

(Alexis Ducet, Milza Kuchess… you will not be the ones standing next to my Lady when all is finally over.)

The Heavy Knights of Waldrind serve as Marine Kraische’s swords and shields. She is the Elector who will becomes the Emperor, after all. To all the knights, Marine was a truly special existence. However…

(Only the most meritorious of the Heavy Knights will be able to marry Lady Marine as an equal. I will take that position.)

Even though Dirk knew that such thoughts were disrespectful towards his master, he couldn’t just go and abandon this dream of his.

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As a first step, he needs to conquer these two countries at all costs before the Artuk Treaty would come to their aid.

「Push up the front! Get to the castle walls today! Tomorrow we’ll have a victory banquet inside it! 」

Dirk went around the area and was checking the battlefield. He was just checking the situation to make sure he didn’t make a mistake.

But then…

「What is that… ? 」

Dirk glanced over at one of the knights who said that and gasped.

It was a huge dragon the size of a castle. Bark covered its body instead of scales. On its back were branches and leaves, and many thick vines were running wild like living creatures alongside it.

That strange dragon suddenly appears on the battlefield and attacked Waldrind’s army.

The soldiers on the front lines all panicked and started to flee. Some of the heavily armored knights fired their crossbows at it, but they did not cause any serious damage. On the contrary, they attracted the dragon’s attention, and were blown away by its vines.

「Don’t panic! Set up your formation! What kind of dragon is this…?! 」

Dirk continued, but his words were drowned out by the cries of his colleagues.

「Dirk! That’s a Tree Dragon! 」

Berger! This… This is a Tree Dragon?! 」

Dirk asked while clicking his tongue inwardly. Berger nodded.

「That’s right. It is said that it is the one who ruled the Demonic Realm here: a giant dragon covered in bark. There is no doubt that it is the master of the Tree Dragon Forest! 」
「You idiot, the Demonic Realm should have been liberated. There’s no way there’s any Tree Dragons left here! 」

「Then what is that? Are there two such things? 」
Dirk looked up at the dragon.

His great appearance certainly made him worthy of being the master of the Demonic Realm. No matter how much he denied it in his heart, he had no choice but to admit that he was real, wrecking havoc on the battlefield

Dirk was at a loss for words, so Berger continued.
「Perhaps we were mistaken. Maybe the Demonic Realm wasn’t liberated at all? 」

「What? 」

「Maybe they didn’t liberate the Demonic Realm, but tamed it in some way? That makes sense to me. 」

「That’s stupid. I’m sure the Shadows reported that the Demonic Realm has been liberated. 」

「It’s not like the shadows have penetrated into the Demonic Realm itself, did they? 」

「… They didn’t. 」

「If this imagination turns out to be true, things will get complicated. 」

Even though it was bitter, Dirk had to admit that what Berger had said was true.

If the Demon Realm still exists and the two countries have tamed it, then even if they conquered it by force, they would not be able to move back and forth between the center of the continent. On the contrary, they’d have to deal with the Demonic Realm themselves.
「B-but… 」

Is he telling him that he came this far only to go home empty-handed? Is he really going to expose his master to such shame because of his own failure?

Dirk trembled with shame.

「Dirk! Our top priority should be Lady Marine! If we want her to succeed, then we cannot allow our ranks to be unnecessarily damaged! 」

「… 」

Dirk’s eyes widened

Marine trusted her Heavy Knights. If he were to exhaust his forces for nothing, then he could never atone for that in the face of his beautiful master.

「Retreat! There’s nothing we can do about it now! 」

Dirk cried out in despair. Berger laughed slightly and patted Dirk on the shoulder.

「That’s why you’re a knight among knights. Why, if you’re a nobleman, you can immediately make up for this mistake. 」

When Berger gave the order to retreat, he mounted his horse and galloped away. Dirk looked up at The Tree Dragon Forest once again and gritted his teeth in disgust, and he also began giving instructions to the rest of the troops to retreat.

He didn’t notice at all that Berger’s mouth loosened just a little as he walked away, and he didn’t even dare to question how did he knew so much about the Tree Dragon Forest.
Then, Berger’s appearance among the army gradually changed into a different person.

* * *

Everyone in Medinia Royal Castle’s military council room were excited at the arrival of that person.

「Welcome home. Thank you for your hard work. 」

Katarina also greeted her when he returned.

「Yeah… I’m home, Katarina. 」

The person smiled as she replied.

It was Protea, an Arts user. She was the one who turned into Berger a while ago. She took a=on an appearance of a muscular knight, but in reality she was a captivating girl who attracted the attention of both men and women alike.