Chapter 62

***

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

“Madame, take this!”

Mary handed her a meat skewer. There was no herbal powder sprinkled on it today. With a sigh of relief, Amarion accepted the food and sat down.

The knights were fully immersed in telling stories.

“What were you talking about?”

Mary smiled brightly at her question.

“Love.”

“Love?”

Her maid, who had become more comfortable with her while travelling, smiled broadly.

Was it because of her mood?

Mary’s eyes looked a little mischievous.

“Yes. When the knights saw Madame… they started talking about love letters.”

“Madame opened her heart and sent a letter!”

“Oh, oh!”

Amarion’s cheeks flushed red. She had a rough idea of ​​what happened.

‘It wasn’t a letter like that…’

She rubbed her cheeks and started eating.

Everyone liked love stories. They started talking about love letters.

Sir Raoul, who had been listening to the stories and giggling, hit Sir Leonard in the side.

“Hey, have you ever been like that?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You must have sent a letter to your woman!”

“What?”

Amarion’s eyes opened wide.

“Leonard, are you dating someone?”

Leonard stared fiercely at Raoul. But Raoul smiled and continued.

“Did you not know, Madame? This guy has an old lover. Even on the battlefield, whenever he had free time, he was anxious that he couldn’t write to his lover-”

“Someday I will sew your mouth shut.”

Leonard clenched his teeth and muttered.

Amarion stared at the blonde knight with twinkling eyes.

“I’m sorry Leonard, but this is a very interesting story. Leonard, who is so strict, has a lover!”

Leonard turned his head in embarrassment.

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

“You’re engaged?”

“Yes. We got engaged when we were seven years old. It’s a so-called political marriage.”

Leonard was from an old fashioned family, so his marriage was likely arranged before his birth.

However, the reaction of the knights was quite different. Raoul encouraged them.

“Ask him to show you the portrait, Madame. He always carries it with him.”

“Raoul, you…!”

“I want to see too, knight!”

Marry interrupted. Leonard couldn’t deny the girl’s shining eyes. He sighed and pulled a small pendant necklace from under his shirt.

They all nodded their heads.

Inside the pendant was a portrait of a smiling blonde woman. A few strands of her hair ran softly over her white dress. She was young, and looked as fragile as a wildflower.

“…This is Miss Julianna. She is the same age as me. I haven’t seen her in a while because I’m always out on the battlefield, but she said it’s okay.”

“Oh my gosh, you’re still exchanging letters?”

Leonard completely ignored Raoul.

“Actually, I wanted to see her as soon as I got back, but things didn’t go well… I feel sorry for her.”

“Ah, that’s why you joined the subjugation force!”

Mary clapped her hands together.

Raoul and Amarion did not understand, so they tilted their heads to the side.

“What are you talking about, Mary?”

“Oh, you don’t know? It’s a famous story in Morte.”

Suddenly, Leonard’s face turned red. Even under the dark night sky, she could see it.

Mary smiled innocently.

“Sir Leonard’s fiance is Julianna Fidelburg, the second daughter of Fidelburg, where we are heading. Even though she is the fiancée of the next knight commander, she is quiet and gentle and has a high reputation in the social world—Oh, knight?”

“I’m going to bed.”

Leonard jumped up and headed for his tent. The tips of the knight’s ears were ruby red.

The three of them looked at each other and burst into laughter.

They didn’t know Leonard had a shy side!

Raoul giggled.

“I thought he was following you out of loyalty! It seems that was his real intention.”

“When will we arrive in Fidelburg?”

The knights hastily answered her question.

“Even if we’re delayed, two days.”

“We are almost there.”

Amarion tossed her finished wooden skewer into the bonfire.

So far everything had been easy. Of course, there were people who got injured, but their situation was better than expected. The number of monsters wasn’t anything they couldn’t handle. She wondered what would have happened if she didn’t join the subjugation force.

But knowing Leonard’s story, she wanted to get to Fidelburg quickly.

If things went well, everything would be sorted out by next week. Then maybe she would be able to go back home. No one was hurt, everyone was safe…

Maybe she could make up with Victor.

Thinking in secret, she crawled into her tent and covered herself with a blanket.

＊ ＊ ＊

But, unfortunately, things quickly took a turn for the worse.

Amarion ran like crazy and shouted.

“Raoul, get down!”

Surprised, Raoul twisted his body and rolled to the ground. The Chimera’s gigantic paws brushed past where Raoul’s head had been before.

She clenched her jaw and climbed the Chimera’s torso. Its snake-like tail opened its mouth, baring its fangs. She cut the snake down, and put her sword through the Chimera’s jaw. It was the only way to keep the fire from spewing out of its mouth.

She took a deep breath and lifted her head.

“Is this the last one?”

“Yes, Madame.”

Amarion grabbed Raoul’s hand, helped him up, and looked around.

A total of six chimeras were dead. When a group of chimeras appeared, they were terrified. She ordered everyone to hide, and she killed four of them alone, but when she returned to the main camp, two more were attacking.

She looked at the fallen knights with a distorted expression.

“Who’s injured?”

“There are no serious injuries. The worst is a minor fracture, but most are burns and bruises.”

Mary quickly diagnosed them. Amarion watched as the wounded lay down and ointment and splints were applied.

The other knights were exhausted and sat down. While Amarion was fighting, they tied up a Chimera with an iron net and killed it. Raoul cursed loudly.

“Sh*t! How many has this been? Why are there so many Chimeras?”

“Morte is an area with a lot of Chimeras.”

Leonard cleaned his sword as he spoke.

“The Black Lion, known as the symbol of the Grand Duke, is not actually a lion, but a Chimera. You can tell by the snake tail.”

“And you’re telling us this now?”

Raoul asked with a puzzled expression. He looked even worse because of his patchy beard.

However, Amarion understood Leonard.

They were right in front of Fidelburg. It had been one day since they left camp yesterday morning.

And during that day, they dealt with more monsters than they had ever experienced. There were a lot, and large monsters appeared much more often. After killing one group, another immediately appeared. It was impossible to rest.

Thankfully, there were few injuries. No one was seriously injured, but those with injured wrists or legs were determined to fight, so they were deployed to the rear.

The relaxed atmosphere was gone. They couldn’t even eat properly, so morale fell sharply. Amarion asked with a frown.

“Where did all those Chimeras come from?”

“It must be Fidelburg. There are an unusual number of Chimeras, even in Morte.”

“Then…”

“It looks like the situation is more serious than we thought.”

A rare look of impatience appeared on the blonde-haired knight’s face.

If the Chimeras, who were territorial beasts and never came out of their realm except during mating season, were gathered here, Fidelburg’s condition was likely dire. Amarion, too, frowned.

She heard that the East was dangerous, but she didn’t expect it to be this bad.

Mary finished her treatment and stood up.

“It’s done. But he will not be able to use a sword for a while.”

“There is no village nearby, so we must get to Fidelburg as soon as possible. Mary, are you okay?”

“I’m okay.”

The girl wiped her forehead with her sleeve. Her hair, which had been neatly braided, was soiled with sweat and dirt, but the young maiden bravely endured the situation.

‘Is it because she’s a healer? Even in my hometown, healers were always the strongest.’

Leonard nodded his head.

“Then we’ll leave right away. Hey, get up!”

The tired knights got up quickly and mounted their horses. The wounded were loaded onto wagons borrowed from the last village.

Amarion gripped the reins tightly. Her thighs were tingling from fatigue. Her body and her mind felt weak.

‘Maybe you feel the same, Victor.’

As her horse began to sprint, Amarion thought of Victor.

***

Kofi shop updated till chapter 69.