To The Battlefield (15)

When I returned, the knights were sitting around the campfire.

“My lady, over here!”

Mary called to me and handed me a skewer. Perhaps she had not made it today, because it was not sprinkled with medicinal herb powder. Feeling a little, just a little, relieved, I accepted the food and sat down.

The knights were deeply engrossed in conversation.

“What were you talking about?”

At my question, Mary smiled brightly.

“Romance.”

“Romance?”

The girl, who had grown much more comfortable during our travels together, giggled. Was it my imagination? Mary’s eyes looked slightly mischievous.

“Yes. The knights saw you and…… started talking about love letters.”

“……And so, after receiving my letter, the young lady finally opened her heart to me!”

“Ooh!”

My cheeks flushed. I could roughly guess what had happened.

It had not been that kind of letter…….

I needlessly rubbed my cheek, sat down, and began eating. Everyone liked love stories, so one person after another joined in.

Raul, who had been listening to the noisy stories with a grin, suddenly jabbed Leonard in the side.

“Hey, haven’t you ever done something like that?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Come on, you must have sent your lady at least one love letter!”

“What?”

My eyes widened.

I felt sorry for looking so shocked, but still.

“Sir Leonard, is there a woman you are seeing?”

Leonard glared fiercely at Raul, whose mouth was far too loose for a man of his size. But Raul merely grinned and revealed everything.

“You didn’t know, my lady? This fellow has had a sweetheart for a very long time. Even on the battlefield, he could barely stop himself from boasting about her whenever he had the chance─.”

“One day, I am going to sew your mouth shut.”

Leonard muttered through clenched teeth.

My eyes sparkling, I looked at the blond knight. I felt sorry for Leonard, but it was an incredibly fascinating story. To think that such a stiff and serious man had a lover!

Leonard turned his head away in embarrassment.

“It is not what you think. She is my fiancée.”

“Your fiancée?”

“Yes. We became engaged when we were seven. She is what you would call a political match.”

I see. Leonard came from an old family of retainers, so he had probably been expected to marry into another family that served Mort.

But the knights reacted quite differently. Representing the knights, who were all grinning as though eager to tease him, Raul egged me on.

“Ask him to show you her portrait too, my lady. He always carries it with him.”

“Raul, you……!”

“I want to see it too, Sir Leonard!”

Even Mary joined in. Leonard could not bring himself to refuse the girl’s shining eyes. He sighed, then pulled a small pendant necklace from inside his clothes. We all leaned forward at once.

Inside the pendant was a portrait of a slender woman with her blond hair pinned up. A few strands flowed softly over her white dress, and her lips curved in a smile. She looked as delicate as a wildflower.

Leonard said.

“……This is Lady Julianna. She is a count’s daughter and the same age as I am. I have not seen her for a long time because I was away at war, but she always told me that it was all right.”

“Oho, so you really have been exchanging letters?”

Leonard completely ignored the grinning Raul.

“To tell the truth, I wanted to visit her as soon as I returned, but circumstances did not allow it……. I can only feel sorry toward her.”

“Ah, so that is why you came with the subjugation force!”

Mary clasped her hands together as she spoke. Her face was filled with dreamy excitement.

Meanwhile, Raul and I tilted our heads in unison, unable to understand.

“What do you mean, Mary?”

“Ah, I suppose you two would not know. It is a famous story in Mort.”

Leonard’s face suddenly turned bright red. It was obvious even beneath the dark night sky.

But Mary smiled innocently.

“Sir Leonard’s fiancée is Lady Julianna Fidelburg, the second daughter of Fidelburg Territory, where we are headed. Even though she is the fiancée of the next commander of the knight order, she is famous in society for being modest and gentle─ Sir Leonard?”

“I-I will excuse myself now.”

Leonard sprang to his feet and headed toward the tent. The tips of the taciturn knight’s ears were red enough to burst.

The three of us stared blankly at one another, then burst into laughter at the same time.

Who would have thought Leonard had a side like that!

Raul chuckled.

“I thought he only came as your attendant, my lady! It seems that was his true motive all along.”

“When will we arrive in Fidelburg?”

The knights answered my question.

“Two days at most.”

“We’re almost there.”

I tossed the empty wooden skewer into the campfire.

Everything had gone smoothly so far. Of course, there had been residents who suffered damage, but the situation was better than expected. The number of monsters had not been more than I could handle. I did not know what might have happened had I not come along, but in any case, that was how things stood.

Now that I knew Leonard’s story as well, I wanted to reach Fidelburg, the battlefield, as soon as possible.

If things went just as smoothly there, everything would be settled by next week. Then perhaps I would be able to return to Mort Castle soon. No one would be hurt, everyone would be relieved,

and perhaps I would be able to meet Victor and talk to him.

Thinking this to myself, I crawled into the tent and pulled the blanket tightly over my head.

But as always, the situation quickly took a turn for the worse.

I ran madly and shouted.

“Raul, duck!”

Startled, Raul twisted his body and rolled across the ground. The Chimera’s enormous forepaw swept through the place where his head had been a moment earlier.

Clenching my teeth, I climbed onto the Chimera’s torso. The snake attached to the monster’s tail opened its jaws viciously. I cut the snake down, then drove my sword beside the Chimera’s jaw. It was the only way to stop flames from bursting from its mouth. Only then did the thrashing lion’s head grow still.

Breathing heavily, I raised my head.

“Was that the last one?”

“Yes, my lady.”

I grabbed Raul and helped him to his feet as I looked around.

A total of six Chimeras lay dead on the ground. One Chimera alone was already formidable, so I had been horrified when they appeared in a pack. I had ordered the knights and Mary to hide and cut down four by myself, but when I ran toward the shouting from the main group, I discovered that two more had been hiding there.

I looked at several fallen knights with a pained expression.

“The injured?”

“There are no severe wounds. Most have burns and bruises, but a few may have minor fractures.”

Mary diagnosed them quickly. After watching her lay the injured men down properly and take out ointment and splints, I turned away.

The other knights had all collapsed from exhaustion as well. While I fought, they had bound one Chimera’s legs with iron nets and managed to kill it themselves. Raul swore loudly.

“Damn it! How many times has this happened now? Why are there so many Chimeras?”

“Mort has always had many Chimeras.”

Leonard wiped his sword with a stiff expression.

“The black lion known as the symbol of the grand ducal house is actually a Chimera, not a lion. You can tell from the snake tail drawn on one side of the crest.”

“You can really say something like that right now?”

Raul asked incredulously. The patchy beard on his face from being unable to shave made him look even rougher.

But I understood Leonard’s desire to think about anything else, even if only in that way.

We were now right outside Fidelburg. It had only been one day since we left camp yesterday morning.

And during that single day, we had encountered more than twice as many monsters as before. There were greater numbers of them, and large monsters appeared far more frequently. As soon as we finished off one group, another appeared, leaving us no time to rest.

By now, injured knights had begun to appear among us. No one had suffered critical injuries, but those with damaged wrists or legs were judged unable to fight and placed in the rear.

The relaxed atmosphere had completely vanished. We could not even eat properly, so morale had plummeted. Frowning, I asked.

“Where could all those Chimeras have come from?”

“Fidelburg, most likely. That place has an unusually large number of Chimeras even by Mort’s standards.”

“Then.”

“The situation seems more serious than we expected.”

A rare trace of anxiety appeared on the blond knight’s face.

Chimeras were territorial creatures that did not leave their domains except during mating season. If so many had gathered here, then Fidelburg could not possibly be in a normal state. I also grew anxious and frowned.

I had heard that the east was dangerous, but I had not known it was this bad.

Mary soon finished treating the injured and stood up.

“I’m done. But those two will not be able to use swords for a while.”

“There are no villages nearby, so we must reach Fidelburg as quickly as possible. Mary, are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

The girl wiped her forehead with her sleeve. Sweat and dust had even ruined her neatly braided hair, yet the young maid endured the situation bravely.

Was it because she was a healer? Back home, the healers had always been the strongest as well.

While I was thinking, Leonard nodded.

“Then let us move immediately. Hey, get up!”

Despite their exhausted legs, the knights quickly rose and mounted their horses. The injured men were placed in the supply wagon we had brought from the previous village, and the others formed up around the wagon and Mary.

I gripped the reins tightly. My thighs ached from the long hours of riding and exhaustion. As my body weakened, my heart seemed to weaken as well.

Had you felt the same, Victor?

As we galloped at full speed upon the signal, I thought of Victor.