To The One I Cherish

“……………………”

The Lanberg army headed for the border fortress said to have been attacked by remnants of the Demon King’s army.

Duke Lanberg, the commander-in-chief, had been looking back toward Gratz repeatedly for some time.

“Lord Lanberg, are you that worried about Jonah?”

“Princess Patricia…”

Patricia, who had somehow fallen into step beside her, asked with a slight smile.

Beside her was Titancia, the daughter of the hero Quylindra.

“…That’s right. It would be a lie to say I’m not worried.”

Attacks on border fortresses by remnants of the Demon King’s army were not particularly rare.

They struck several times each year, and this was already the second attack since the start of the year.

Still, the tragedy from six years ago lingered in Duke Lanberg’s mind.

That said, to avoid repeating the same mistake, the Lanberg family had assigned half of their forces—five thousand soldiers—to Gratz’s defense.

Last time there had been only five hundred troops, but this time ten times that. That was in anticipation of two thousand of the Demon King’s remnants back then. At the very least, they should hold out long enough to rout the border remnants and return to Gratz.

So Jonah would not be killed like Daniel was.

She told herself that, but Duke Lanberg could not shake off her unease.

“In that case, what we must do is scatter the border remnants of the Demon King’s army and, with the same blade, return to Gratz. Fortunately, the distance from the border to Gratz isn’t that far, so if we make a swift run alone, we can be back in half a day.”

“I know you’re right, Your Highness. I know, but…”

Even so, Duke Lanberg couldn’t help worrying about Jonah.

Partly because it was the same situation as before, but more than that she kept comparing Jonah to her deceased younger brother.

She couldn’t help it.

Then.

“…Don’t worry. No matter how many remnants of the Demon King’s army there are, they shouldn’t be a match for Jonah.”

Titancia, who had been silent until then, spoke matter-of-factly without looking away.

They had witnessed Jonah burying the ‘Hunger’ Zarichu—who had swallowed every arrow he fired into its enormous maw—into darkness with overwhelming power.

Besides.

“Well, yes. Even if there’s a one-in-ten-thousand chance the remnants attack Gratz, the result is obvious… Heh, perhaps Jonah stayed behind with that in mind.”

Patricia rubbed her chin and gave a soft, amused smile.

She, too, had witnessed Jonah’s prowess on the battlefield between the Black Dragon Fafnir and the White Dragon Lindwyrm. She believed that the ancient magic—so astonishing it awed even the legendary dragons—could not possibly be countered by mere remnants of the Demon King’s army.

“Wait a moment. From the way you two speak, Jonah really sounds like someone capable of defeating a Demon King’s commander… of defeating the ‘Hunger’ Zarichu.”

“Now that I know Lord Lanberg cares so much for Jonah, I’ll say this: Jonah is strong. I wouldn’t even concern myself with someone like me against him.”

Originally, Patricia protested that the claim Jonah had defeated the ‘Hunger’ Zarichu was false, and Quylindra accepted the protest and apologized—even at the cost of her standing as a hero—solely to protect Jonah.

So that he wouldn’t be used by ill-intentioned people or exposed to danger as a threat.

“It’s been a little over a week since the conference in the imperial capital, but Lord Lanberg has been very kind to Jonah. That’s why Jonah will surely repay that kindness by defeating the ‘Apostasy’ Taromati.”

“Mm… Jonah is very kind and has a good eye for people. He understands you are someone to be trusted, and he wants to be of help to you.”

“Jonah…”

On the journey back to Gratz with Jonah, Duke Lanberg had been treating Jonah as if he were Daniel.

But how had Jonah been? How had he treated Lanberg in response to such selfish feelings?

…No, there was no need to wonder.

Jonah had been staring at Patricia the whole time.

With an untroubled smile, his onyx eyes filled with joy and affection.

“Heh… Now I understand why you put on that farce. If it were me now, I’d probably have gone along with it.”

“I’m glad you’ve come to understand.”

“But Jonah is very strong yet truly fragile. So let’s deal with the Demon King’s remnants quickly and return right away.”

“That’s right.”

The three of them nodded to one another and fixed their gaze on the border fortress visible in the distance.

“Now! We’ll defeat the remnants of the Demon King’s army and triumphantly return to Gratz! I’m sure the people we care about are waiting!”

“Wooooooaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!”

At Duke Lanberg’s battle cry, the soldiers surged forward en masse and charged the remnants of the Demon King’s army fighting before the fortress.