Captain! Where is the Battlefield?

“There’s no one alive on this side.”

Rosalie turned her head at the voice coming from behind her, and Nathan lightly tapped his ear. When she glanced at his ear, he put on an embarrassed expression.

“Ah, don’t look at me like that. You know my ability.”

“Because of that ability, it could be noisy if we go to the battlefield. Your ears might hurt.”

Nathan lowered his hands that had been cupping both of his cheeks and smiled at Rosalie.

“Are you worried for me now? I’m so happy.”

She meant to scare him, hoping that he would leave now. But upon seeing Nathan’s happy face, Rosalie turned away.

Once the number of people was reorganized, Rosalie mounted her horse. Fortunately, there weren’t many missing knights as those with minor injuries remained. Joey also mounted his horse and spoke with a proud expression.

“With half of the enemy’s forces eliminated, we have an advantage in the remaining full-scale battle.”

“…Well, there’s nothing more unpredictable than war.”

Rosalie muttered in a low voice, and Joey gave her an unintelligible look. The horses resumed their vigorous pace, moving without rest until it was nighttime. Then, they finally stopped.

Rest was necessary for the horses to run more, and it was the same for people. They purchased magic tents that could be easily set up, and the installation was completed in the blink of an eye.

“If we keep up this speed, we can join them by tomorrow.”

Joey nodded when Rosalie spoke, pulling out a paper from his saddlebag and reading it.

“The Knight Commander’s side is also advancing without any significant difficulties.”

Before entering her tent, Rosalie looked at Nathan as he stood there awkwardly. He then shrugged his shoulders.

“Ah, I’ll sleep somewhere a little close. People are noisy.”

After saying that, Nathan walked into the woods. that. He found a low tree and climbed it with a light leap, using the branches as a chair and the trunk as a backrest.

Even when he stayed at the mansion, he used to sneak out into the woods every night to sleep. The sound of many people’s daily lives in the mansion was a loud noise to Nathan, and it was enough to disturb his sleep.

Just as he was about to drift off, he was awakened by the sound of footsteps coming closer and closer to him. The familiar and welcoming sound of a slightly faster heartbeat had only one owner.

‘Is she going to tell me to go back again…? Then I would feel so lonely.’

When Nathan looked in the direction of the sound, Rosalie was walking around with a faint lamp in one hand and a blanket on her arm.

“What’s the matter?”

Rosalie’s head snapped up at the voice coming from above. It was Nathan, barely visible in the darkness, but he seemed to be smiling. Rosalie threw the blanket she had in her hand toward him.

“It’s cold at night.”

Nathan caught the thrown blanket with widened eyes. Feeling a slightly unfamiliar sensation, he realized that the blanket was enchanted with warmth magic.

“I have two. Come and get your rations tomorrow morning.”

As Rosalie finished her business and was about to leave, Nathan looked at the thick blanket in his hand and asked.

 “Rosalie, aren’t you curious about my ability?”

At the sudden question, Rosalie raised her head again. The light from the lamp in her hand did not reach Nathan, so she couldn’t see his expression.

“You haven’t been surprised by my ability, nor coveted it, much less exploited it.”

“But I did exploit it, to spy on Bella.”

When Rosalie replied dryly, Nathan paused, then continued.

“…Besides that, you could use it for more. My ability is optimized for killing people. I could secretly go and kill the Marquis right now, or anyone else you want to kill.”

“I don’t know what kind of response you’re expecting from me, but I feel more at ease when I make my moves myself.”

No further questions were asked as Rosalie answered with no hesitation using the same, dry tone. She looked at the quiet figure on the tree before walking away.

“Get some rest.”

As she left, a faint sound of laughter echoed from the tree.

“She seems cold, but surprisingly kind. I can’t get away from her.”

Nathan rubbed his face against the furry blanket, which had a faint scent of Rosalie. He didn’t feel cold because he already had a warming magic item, but the blanket made him feel warmer somehow.

⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰

Setting out at dawn the next day, the members of the firing squad were able to join Aaron’s group at the watchtower on the border of the Duchy’s territory by evening without much trouble.

Aaron recognized Nathan’s face from his occasional encounters with Bella at the mansion, but when he saw him clinging to Rosalie’s side, he decided not to ask any questions.

It seemed like the Duchess he served was a much more terrifying individual than he had anticipated.

“From tomorrow onwards, we’ll likely be entering a confrontational situation. The scouting results suggest that the enemy has advanced beyond that forest.”

“Everyone should prepare for tomorrow.”

“Yes! Understood!”

Rosalie headed towards the tower. Until 150 years ago, this tower had been used as a watchtower to prepare for enemy attacks without a declaration of war. However, with the establishment of the imperial law stating that war was possible only after the declaration of territorial war to prevent excessive friction between nobles, the tower had naturally been abandoned.

Rosalie slowly climbed to the top of the tower and took a deep breath as she looked beyond the forest.

“We’ve really made it this far.”

The next day, a full-scale confrontation with the Marquis of Windell’s advancing knights began. The knights of Judeheart were at a disadvantage, outnumbered by the enemy by more than half.

During the second day of the confrontation, the news that the knights he had sent out to raid the Duchy of Judeheart were completely wiped out reached the Marquis of Windell’s ears.

Soon, two knights with flags bearing the crest of the Marquis of Windell approached the tower on horseback. Toronto opened his mouth excitedly when he saw them.

“They must be falling behind in numbers. Are they considering surrender?”

“Toronto, never let your guard down. The tides of war can turn in an instant.”

Rosalie’s blunt words stunned Toronto into silence. The voices of the enemy soldiers shouting could be heard beneath the low castle walls.

“It’s from the Marquis! Duchess, listen to the messenger!”

In response, Rosalie looked down at them, not even stepping off the (1)ramparts.

“Speak.”

The enemy frowned, clearly displeased with her attitude.

“…Marquis Windell has generously offered to spare your life if you surrender now! Raise the white flag and surrender immediately!”

At the enemy’s cries, Rosalie smiled broadly and gestured to Joey, who was behind her.

“Sir Joey, give our guest a gift.”

Joey, holding a crossbow, immediately shot an arrow without hesitation. One of the enemy soldiers screamed in pain as the arrow hit his shoulder while the other remaining soldier shouted in frustration.

“Argh! Is this how you’re going to accept the Marquis’ generosity? You will regret it!”

“Do you need another gift? I can give you more if you want.”

Rosalie threatened them with a murderous aura, causing the pale-faced enemy soldiers to quickly change their tune. As they retreated, Aaron opened his mouth in a low voice.

“Did they actually think we’d believe that?”

“Well…”

Rosalie quietly took out the hairpin she had received as a gift from her pocket. Not long after, the enemy soldiers advanced and the battle began in earnest.

“Ah!”

The flat grass field was filled with the terrifying sound of swords clashing and screams. On the surface, the outnumbered knights of Judeheart seemed to have the upper hand.

“Ugh!”

An enemy soldier hit by Rosalie’s arrow let out a final scream and fell. As she dealt with the enemy soldiers using her crossbow, she approached the Marquis of Windell. Watching this, an enemy soldier bravely rushed at Rosalie, but Nidan easily blocked him.

“Hey!”

“No one can touch Rosalie.”

The enemy soldier who foolishly attacked Rosalie was stopped by Nathan and sent flying. The Marquis of Windell, who seemed a little nervous at the closing distance, grinned wickedly when he saw Rosalie’s face.

“You know what, Duchess? I have some strong reinforcements. I wasn’t going to use them if the Duchess surrendered easily, but… I didn’t know you’d push me this far.”

“What are you talking about?”

The Marquis of Windell drew a long rod, his demeanor imposing.

“If I give a signal, the reinforcements from the Lentil Kingdom will come here right away from that forest! Hahaha!”

Rosalie shuddered and raised her voice.

“Are you bringing in foreign forces? That’s treason!”

“Once I get rid of the Duchess and erase the evidence, everything will be fine! Do you think I haven’t prepared for that while planning to receive reinforcements from the Lentil Kingdom?”

“Ha… You despicable bastard. The Emperor will find out about this.”

Nevertheless, the Marquis of Windell’s confident head did not bow down.

In response to Rosalie’s angry voice, Marquis Windell puffed out his chest and raised his voice with a greedy expression.

“I have a powerful backer, none other than Her Majesty the Empress! What do you think? If you surrender right now… I will show you special mercy.”

The Marquis of Windell’s greedy, slimy eyes swept over Rosalie. Nathan made a move to lunge for him, but Rosalie’s arm stopped him.

“Only if you dedicate that wretched body to me.”

Rosalie fought back a surge of disgust at the thought of him thinking such things in the midst of war and lifted the hairpin in her hand.

“Haha! Do you want me to step down after receiving that? Is that a very expensive gem? How ridiculous.”

“These kinds of accessories are starting to become trendy among the young nobles these days.”

Rosalie’s demeanor suddenly changed. She didn’t look angry or embarrassed; her eyes flashed as if she had spotted her prey.

As the Marquis of Windell looked into those eyes, he felt a chill run down his spine. 

He looked at the hairpin, which he had thought was just an ordinary hairpin since he had no children and didn’t know about the trends among young nobles.

 

[Collection of Footnotes]

1) “Rampart” 

– a defensive wall of a castle or walled city, having a broad top with a walkway and typically a stone parapet.