Chapter 97: CH 97

I returned to the Imperial Palace with Enoch and stared at the beautiful dark horse prepared for me. Then, with Enoch’s help, I sat on the saddle and took the horse’s reins with familiarity.

Since Erin had already learned horseback riding, riding one was easy. However, as I got on the horse, I suddenly had a question.

I galloped to Enoch’s side and asked in a voice only he could hear, “By the way, do you fight on horseback? In a world where magic has developed so much…”

They could’ve flown around, drawn a magic circle and teleported as a group, or ridden a magic chariot at least.

“Movement is only verbal. You have to get off when you go and fight.”

“Can’t you magically move at once?”

Enoch glanced behind him and whispered back, “It pollutes the environment. Magic disrupts order because it draws on nature’s mana. So I don’t use it except where absolutely necessary. Moreover, it’s unreasonable to move so many people at once.”

“Pollute…”

I never dreamed I would hear such a word in this world. So, magic… Did it mean it’s polluting the environment?

Read this at Novel Endeavors.

Before the battle, the Emperor gave a short speech and encouraged the troops. I got goosebumps from the loud shouts that rang out from behind me.

In fact, I wouldn’t be participating in most battles. Since I was a hidden card against the Demon King, my role was to hide in a corner not to disturb as much as possible, and shoot an arrow when he appeared.

But perhaps rumors had already spread everywhere that I was a priestess, and the eyes of the soldiers looking at me shone brightly.

Perhaps the fact that the Goddess of Luck was with them seemed to fill them with morale.

To avoid disappointing them, I glanced back and smiled and waved. After that, their reaction was more explosive than before.

Then, the High Priest cleared her throat, and Enoch gave me a sour look before saluting the Emperor as if he had come to his senses.

“I will trust your choice no matter what, Enoch.”

After answering the Emperor’s encouragement with a look in his eyes, Enoch took the lead and drove his horse.

I was obviously a little behind Enoch at the start, but Enoch took the horse’s reins, slowed it down, and rode alongside me.

“Where are we going?”

“Most of the Demon King’s troops depart from Clifford’s estate. There will be a confrontation between that place and the mountain range in the northern part of the capital.”

“… He’s the Demon King, but he must be familiar with human warfare.”

“Well, they’ve been watching over the human world for a long time.”

I looked closely at Enoch as he said that. He was dressed a little lighter than the other knights; he only wore one sword and armor made of leather, not metal.

“Aren’t you worried? Is the Demon King an easier opponent than you thought?”

“No, he’s a very difficult opponent. That’s why it’s reassuring yet scary for the Priestess to go with us,” Enoch muttered bitterly to himself. “But fortunately, the Demon King insisted on the human way, so I can handle it. If he had only wanted the destruction of the human world from the beginning, he wouldn’t have been able to prepare for it so leisurely.”

“Why does the Demon King insist on the human way?”

“Because the power of the demon world comes from the evil emotions of humans. The ultimate goal is to dominate the human world and make it live in one of suffering.”

It was a little hard to accept, but I tried to understand the story as it was. Still, it was much easier to ask questions, perhaps because I said I was from another world.

Even after Enoch heard the truth, he treated me the same. It was probably because Rikephoros’ lineage had a similar history.

After talking for a long time and riding the horse, a large mountain range and forest appeared in front of the flatland. This was probably the beginning of the northern region mountains that Enoch mentioned.

He abruptly raised his hand to halt the ranks.

When everyone got off their horses, Enoch suddenly asked for my hand.

“We’ll go up. Don’t be surprised.”

“Y-yes?”

I reached out to him, and we suddenly levitated up. Enoch rose high into the sky with me in his arms. I was glad I didn’t scream in shock.

“W-what the?”

“Look ahead. From now in, this is important.”

When I came to my senses, we were floating very high. Come to think of it, I had a similar experience before. Was it during the hunting competition?

“Are you showing me the Demon King’s location?”

“That’s right. Can you see it?”

I saw the forest at a glance from here. I calmly raised my divine power and energy.

“No, the fog is too seen. I can barely see it, but…”

A strong wind arose when Enoch hugged me and recited a short word. The trees in the forest swayed all at once, and with the sound of a shot, the fog suddenly cleared.

It was a truly admirable ability, but there was little time to be surprised.

“Can you see now?”

Then, I could see the dark energy I had not seen before spreading all over the distant forest.

“There, in the valley there, and the hills above. The highest hill in the middle has the darkest demon energy, but I don’t know if that’s the Demon King.”

“That’s enough.”

Unlike when we floated up, we came slowly down when we descended.

Enoch assigned the location to the knight commanders around him as soon as we came down.

“But if you run into the Demon King, Rupert Clifford, retreat immediately and report it here. The same goes for Prince Breiman.”

As he said so, he handed them a magic tool for communication.

“Damon.”

When Enoch called Damon, who was nearby, he immediately ran toward them.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“You will perform the duties of an escort knight here as well. Protect the Priestess as safely as possible, but in case…”

“Is it okay if I take the Priestess and run away? I’ll throw everything away.”

“No, hang on, Damon!”

“That’s right.”

I immediately tried to refute Damon’s reply, but Enoch immediately agreed.

“Your Highness.”

“It would be best not to have that happen.” Enoch looked at me and spoke affectionately but firmly, leaving no room for discussion. Seeing that, I suddenly realized that he was the Crown Prince.

The soldiers moved diligently and pitched tents on the plains. With this place as a base camp, six knights and troops would climb as if surrounding the mountain range.

As this war was not simply between humans, several other priests were in each unit besides me. Read this at Novel Endeavors.

Priests, wizards, and some knights were moving and planting something in the ground. Enoch, who followed my gaze, explained briefly, “We’re setting up a barrier. So most of them won’t be able to get close.”

After confirming that the barrier was completely installed, Enoch told me to rest, then disappeared somewhere.

I looked up. The overcast sky grew darker as the sun went down, and there was even fog on the ground. It certainly wasn’t natural. It must have something to do with black magic.

“I can’t see much, so I don’t know if it’ll be okay.”

“The knights have sharper eyesight than the average person, so it should be okay,” Damon answered my mutterings.

Although there was intermittent chatter in the camp, tension remained, probably because it was the first day of the way. The place was quiet.

After a while, when the wait got a little boring, I heard weapons crashing from a short distance away. A large explosion sound followed.

“What’s that?”

I had been sitting blankly, but I jumped up and looked in the direction where the sound came from.

I was worried about Enoch, who wasn’t here. When I saw the other knight jumping out, I reflexively tried to run, but Damon grabbed my arm and stopped me.

“Damon.”

“Lady, since the knights are out, they’ll bring news.”

After a while, Enoch and some knights returned covered in dark red blood. Enoch paused when he saw me from afar, then changed his shirt and wiped off the blood with a towel before approaching me.

“What happened? Your Highness, are you hurt?”

I immediately tried to use divine power on him, but Enoch held my hand and stopped me.

“No, it’s not my blood. I’m fine.”

The knights brought the man tied up with rope and threw him to the ground.

“Your Highness, everyone else ran away, and I only caught this one because he was hiding in the grass over there.”

“You’re not the one who fought against me earlier.”

The person looked around and suddenly widened his eyes when he saw me.

“Madam…! You’re Madam Clifford!”

“What?”

Who was this person who recognized me? Of course, I was divorced now and was no longer Madam Clifford, but I had no time to argue with that.

“I’m a servant at the Clifford duchy!”

“You? But, what were you doing hiding in a place like this?”

“I, I just…”

When the servant hesitated and refused to speak, the knight drew his sword and threatened to cut his throat.

“Answer straight.”

The servant looked at the sword, trembled and said, “The Duke…The Duke said Erin Spilet… He wants us to bring Madam… They sent me… I-I didn’t mean anything bad…!”

“He asked you to bring me? If it’s the Duke, do you mean Rupert Clifford?”

“Y-yes. He’s waiting over there now.”