Chapter 5.2
Part 2
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Unlike the former Lunan army, morale in the Sunkwoll army was extremely high.
Part of the reason was because their ruler had accompanied them and the soldiers were conscious of the fact that she was watching. After all, their reigning queen, Her Royal Majesty Shelfa Iras Sunkwoll, as young girl of just sixteen, was renown as the “loveliest ruler in history” not only within the kingdom but in their neighboring countries as well.
Ever man thought, She’s right here watching us, so when else would we get fired up and raise our merits if not now? Shelfa had remained in her carriage during most of the march, but she was now on horseback in their rearmost lines.
But that wasn’t the only reason morale was high, of course. Things had always been markedly different whenever Rain or Ralphus personally took command of their armies ever since they had first taken up their posts. And Rain’s army’s morale was generally high whenever he took command.
First and foremost, Rain had yet to lose a battle that he had personally commanded. The biggest thing that the numerous foot soldiers in a battle grew concerned over was their commander’s abilities and battle record. Hardly anyone trusted a commander who took loss after loss.
Absolutely no one could criticize Rain on this front. His soldiers were convinced that, “We’ll definitely win as long as we follow him!” even before the battle truly begun whenever he was in command. Even the foot soldiers had full confidence in their imminent victory as they confronted the battlefield.
Moreover, Rain often personally stood at the vanguard and led the charge when the battle begun despite being a commander and watching his unwavering back gave the men who followed after him no small about of encouragement. It naturally made them want to fight at their very best.
It was a nightmare for the enemy army whenever Rain led the charge, and those soldiers who survived the battle often spoke of the experience as such. And it was none other than the former Lunan army, whom he was facing off against now, that had served as the sacrifice for many of Rain’s countless military exploits.
In a sense, it was only natural for the Sunkwoll army……Rain’s army, to be in high spirits.
Rain, the man in question, was in his headquarters with a lance slung against his shoulder as he observed the enemy formation.
Next to him was Gunther, who was likewise in civilian clothing, whispering a report in his ear. Rain nodded once Gunther had finished his report.
“Good work. I know I say this all the time……but things will go a lot smoother thanks to your efforts.”
“Thank you for your words.”
Gunther bowed reverently from horseback and made himself scarce.
Rain watched him go for a moment before returning his gaze to the battlefield.
They were on a plain, but he had a good view of the enemy formation because his headquarters were on slightly higher ground.
“……Amateur. You may have numbers and a stronghold, but don’t you know that you should admit defeat when you lose?”
Rain whispered to no one in particular. He surveyed the enemy formation one last time and grinned when Noelle walked up to Kris and spoke to him.
“This battle’s already over.”
Rain simply smiled and did not particularly refute her. His aide, Leni, who was to his left, let out a strange-sounding, “Eeh?”
He did his best not to look at Noelle and continued,
“G-General? They have more numbers and a stronghold. This is one of those, whatchamacallit —a war of attrition, right?”
Rain responded to him this time.
He prodded at Leni with his lance and cheerfully said, “Look at you, aren’t you a smart cookie—?” Leni screamed and dodged.
“Wah! If you’re going to poke me, then at least don’t do it with the pointy end! I might get hurt!”
“Ah—, my bad. It was an honest mistake this time.”
Rain replied with a grin. He continued,
“Going back to your question. ——Obviously, we’re going to leave our main camp behind and have the rest of our army charge them out of nowhere. We’re going to charge them like mad and leave behind only the fewest people possible. We’ll charge like our lives are on the line.”
“Wait, charging like our lives are on the line……that’s so reckless. You have a good reason for it, right?”
Leni had spoken loud enough for others to hear for some reason, and Rain, too, replied in a voice that carried well.
“It’s simple. We’re doing it because it’s exactly what the enemy doesn’t want us to do. We’re already here, so we might as well harass the enemy while we’re at it.”
Then, he further explained,
“Besides, isn’t it obvious? If you ignore the soldiers they borrowed from Zarmine, the enemy army’s core —the Lunan army— has hardly any will to fight at all.”
“Well, yes, but…”
Rain cut Leni off before the latter could finish and simply ordered,
“Just go to the vanguard already. I’ll catch up to you soon.”
Rain’s aide’s shoulders trembled visibly before he left, and Rain then called out to Senoa and Gazaram.
“I’ll trust you to defend the base.”
“Yessir!”
Senoa replied vigorously, but Gazaram’s voice had been somewhat listless. Naturally, Rain knew why. It was because Gazaram’s motherland, Fanooj, was in danger. Zarmine’s main army was marching toward Fanooj even now.
Fanooj was far away, and Gazaram was rather worried for her.
“Gazaram. I know that you’re worried. And I have my own thoughts on the matter. We can discuss them later, but I want you to focus on the battle at hand for now. Alright?”
Gazaram looked up when Rain called out to him. A bitter smile spread slowly across his visage.
“To think that I of all people……I guess I wasn’t able to keep it off my face.”
Gazaram took a deep breath as he scratched his head. He continued,
“Alright. I’ll be back in a jiffy with a better mood. And I won’t show you something unseemly when I come back……so please be at ease.”
Rain nodded with a smile and guided his horse toward Shelfa, who was surrounded by her hastily assembled unit. She looked truly uncomfortable, perhaps because so many eyes were on her, and she looked visibly relieved when she realized that Rain was nearby.
“Rain!”
She began to reach out to him before she realized what she was doing and only just managed to remember to put her hands down. She could not fix this habit no matter how many times Rain had warned her about it.
Rain forced a serious expression on his face.
“You may have overhead my conversation with Leni, but I will be charging at the enemy lines in a bit.”
Abel, who had been sneaking glances at Rain, opened his eyes wide in surprised at the indifference in Rain’s voice.
In contrast, Sylvia, who was a part of Shelfa’s guard detail and was close by, heard Rain’s tone and giggled.
Shelfa looked back at Sylvia for just one second before turning to Rain with the very picture of worry drawn on her face as she asked,
“You’ll be leading the charge again……? I won’t try to stop you anymore, but please do be careful. Please make sure you don’t accidentally hurt yourself. You must absolutely retreat if things start getting dangerous. And——”
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Shelfa’s list of precautions went on for so long that Rain couldn’t help but wonder, What are you, my mother?, as he patiently waiting for her to finish before flashing his signature brazen grin.
“My most sincere thanks for your consideration toward a mere retainer. In any event, I’ll be back soon.”
“But really, please do be careful. ……Please look after Rain, Kris.”
Shelfa asked even Kris to keep Rain safe. Kris, being Kris, neighed in response, perhaps to thank Shelfa for all the times she had pat him on the head.
Rain bowed politely one last time before calling out to Sylvia and Noelle.
“Well, that’s how it is, so I’ll leave the rest to you two. I’ll trust you to guard the Princess.”
Noelle simply nodded sullenly when he looked to her. She looked extraordinarily disinterested, but it wasn’t an issue (putting the matter of her supposed unwillingness aside) because Rain did not doubt her at all. He figured ——no, he hoped that she would get used to things soon.
Sylvia, on the other hand, walked up to Rain as elegantly as always in the lieu of a reply and unreservedly asked him, “Do you mind bending down a bit?”
Rain complied, and Sylvia immediately reached out to him.
She fixed the collar of his black shirt before standing on her tiptoes to pull him into a gentle hug. Their cheeks brushed against each other. Sylvia was extraordinarily calm, despite the gasps that they could hear from all around them……and especially from Shelfa.
“Well, your opponents aren’t anything special. So I don’t think you’ll need to be too cautious. But still, be careful, okay? For my sake.”
She put a lot of emphasis when she stressed, “For my sake.” The surprise and the stares they were getting from the people around them was starting to get ridiculous, but Rain wasn’t surprised at all, naturally, since he figured that this was simply the type of woman Sylvia was.
She was the type to freely hug people as greeting of sorts……probably.
And so, he simply smiled and replied, “Take care of the Princess instead of worrying about me.”
Then, he climbed up on Kris and headed toward the frontlines.
Their short exchange cause Noelle to pay more attention to Shelfa and Sylvia instead of seeing Rain off properly.
Even Noelle, who was normally dull when it came to romance, realized that they felt something for Rain as she watched them. Or rather, something about them was definitely making her suspicious.
Moreover, while Sylvia was one thing, there was something suspicious to her about even the delicate and effeminate Shelfa. Noelle had experienced that suspicious something firsthand that night in the hallway. It was something that made a daemon like Noelle wonder, “Is this girl hiding her true strength?”
Meanwhile, Shelfa saw Sylvia’s “passionate embrace” and quickly climbed down from her horse so she could mimic it herself. Unfortunately, Rain failed to notice and had already left, so she was left in her disappointment. The disappointment on her face was readily apparently, even in Noelle’s eyes.
——And Noelle didn’t like it one bit.
And now, Sylvia, who was apparently extremely close to Rain, was suppressing the waves of her power so that she didn’t appear to be any stronger than a weak human as she stood near Shelfa with a composed expression on her face even though she was strong enough that even someone on Noelle’s level could not ignore her.
Like Noelle, Shelfa was also staring holes into Sylvia’s profile —though with a light far wiser than the light in Noelle’s eyes—, but Sylvia only smiled whenever their eyes happened to meet and did not appear to be inclined to explain her earlier actions.
——Truly, Noelle didn’t like it.
Noelle disliked everything about the situation, but she planned to do her job and protect the Lord Princess since Rain had asked her to.
It was inconsistent with Noelle’s character, but she was a bit touched that Rain had asked her to protect his liege ——or rather, she actually very touched.
Who would trust in someone as violent, rude, and merciless as me if our positions had been reversed? It was actually more normal for people to be wary of her and ask, “Wouldn’t she murder his liege?” But Rain did not seem to doubt her at all……and it pulled at Noelle’s heartstrings.
And so, Noelle sullenly stood by Shelfa’s side even though she did not like it.
Some blond named Abel or whatever had been glaring at her for a while now, but she couldn’t have cared any less about small fry like him.
——But Noelle had already forgotten that he had ever glared at her to begin with.
Rain’s orders could be heard far up ahead from the frontlines.
“Vanguard, prepare to advance! We will be aiming for the enemies’ main camp at the center of their winged formation. That’s the weak spot in their formation! Don’t even bother looking anywhere else. Just attack that spot with everything you’ve got!”
A breath later, his command ripped through the atmosphere.
“Vanguard, charge! To meeeee!!”
His voice was not actually very loud volume-wise. But his cry had the mysterious power to force friend and foe alike to focus on it, and Noelle was of no exception to this rule.
She had been busy glowering at Shelfa and Sylvia, but her eyes were suddenly turned to where he was.
Rain stood at the forefront of the cavalry, and the white horse he was riding had raced so far so quickly that Noelle was almost dumbfounded. Rain left his army behind him. Normally, people this reckless were the first to die in battle, but that was not the case for Rain.
Every arrow shot at him missed its mark because Rain was charging too quickly, and unrest spread throughout the cavalry that was waiting for him. Rain brandished his lance and cut through the enemy lines with the force of a surging wave, and his enemies fell back all to readily.
Rain’s men cheered loudly and charged behind him a beat later.
They cut through the enemy lines like a hot knife through butter, and even Noelle, who knew fully well how strong Rain was, could not help but voice her approval. He attacked at just the right spot! He makes a pretty good commander too, she thought in honest admiration.
Immediately afterward, the vanguard unit at the enemy’s left wing began to break away from the battlefield. They were not being routed, but they moved is a quite and systematic fashion. Clearly, their commander had made some kind of decision.
The Sunkwoll army had avoided that area on purpose, so it wasn’t as though they had suffered heavy losses either. They were either cowards……or perhaps they had some kind of plan up their sleeves.
That being said, it was undoubted Rain who had set this up even if they did have something in mind. After all, the entire enemy army shuddered in unrest as soon as they saw their left wing crumbling away. Their once orderly winged formation was falling apart.
“General Ahmur! General Ahmur is retreating!”
Noelle was certain that she heard the enemy soldiers screaming.
The tides of battle were turning ever so quickly.
Naturally, everyone back at Sunkwoll’s main camp, Shelfa included, was focused on Rain’s movements.
——And that was exactly what the invisible enemy was aiming for.
It had happened so suddenly.
Noelle’s instincts as a warrior sounded a shrill alarm in her heart.
“There’s danger, look around you!” it warned.
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She obeyed her instincts and looked to Shelfa only to find that Sylvia —the cheeky thing— was already moving.
“Don’t make light of me!”
She was in the middle of executing a roundhouse kick so fast that it was difficult to believe that she had been as still as a statue just a moment ago.
Her leg, which seemed to be circling through empty space in the eyes of onlookers, severed through something hazy.
Someone teleported over a moment later.
His was truly a sudden appearance.
“Whoa! That was a close one! Haha!”
A large stubbled man with a dagger in one hand nimbly jumped back.
Everyone save for Sylvia and Noelle were still off-guard, and the large man laughed in good cheer.
“I saw the Lord Princess over there and thought this was the perfect chance——but I guess I thought wrong. This really isn’t my day.”
“You bastard!”
Noelle immediately created a sword of light in her hand while Sylvia nonchalantly stood in front of Shelfa.
To top it off, the rest of Shelfa’s unit, who had been caught completely by surprise, were calling out, “You knave!” as the surrounded the man.
But all the man did was calmly take another step back. He did not attempt to flee, though perhaps that was only because he had missed his chance.
“Bastard……how dare you underestimate me when I’m right in front of you? You have guts, I’ll give you that —but why don’t I do you a favor and rip them out for you?”
Noelle, of course, was being completely serious.
Her magical aura overflowed as her entire being began to glow.
Not one to be shown up, Sylvia casually added, “Exactly. It’s a good thing I noticed him first,” and added fuel to the flames.
Noelle shot a glare at the twin tailed woman, but Sylvia was not looking back at her.
The presumptuous assassin called out to Sylvia and said,
“Damn. I made sure to be on guard against that lady in the black mantle over there since the wave of power she was giving off was something else……but I never thought that someone like you would be mixed into the fray too. Looks like you were suppressing your power on purpose. You got me good, haha.”
Noelle finally understood when the man pointed it out. I see……so she was doing it on purpose.
This is grating on my nerves!
Noelle was still fuming in her secret indignation when Abel, a “mere small fry,” jumped in.
“How dare you try to harm My Majesty?!”
He didn’t hold back as he brandished his magic sword, but the assassin dodged it brilliant by simply taking half a step back.
“Guess I don’t need to get serious yet.”
“——Kgh!”
The dagger in the man’s hand glistened as he drew a red line across Abel’s throat. Abel had only just managed to doge, but then the man’s leg blurred as Able was kicked away.
“Stay back if you’re weak! You’re getting in the way, you fools!”
Noelle shouted, but several soldiers had jumped the assassin before she could even finish.
Ultimately, however, the man felled at least three soldiers in a cloud of blood with only his dagger —he hadn’t even touched the longsword at his waist yet. Each soldier’s throat had been cut into with a single straight line.
Shelfa let out a small shriek.
“Little one!”
Leni, who had chased after Rain, saw uneasiness undoubtedly fill the latter’s face.
——Something happened back at our main camp!
That was what his instincts were telling him. There was no way that Rain would have spaced out at a time like this otherwise.
He beat back an enemy lance that had tried to take advantage of the opportunity and strike at the unmoving Rain as he shouted,
“Please go, General! W-we’ll manage things here somehow——whoa!”
Leni was unable to finish his sentence because an enemy tried to body slam him as he was shouting.
Calm down, calm down…… I can’t be like the General, but I can still help him out……just like I always have!
He repeated the words to himself as he cried out yet again. ——With a hint of desperation in his voice.
“Please hurry up and go! Before I change my mind!”
He saw black hair moving in the corner of his eye and heard someone’s voice……but Leni was too focused on his fight with an enemy to completely register either.
Or rather, he didn’t have the nerves to divide his attention at the moment.
The soldiers finally stepped back as they groaned, and it was only then that Noelle was able to step forward.
“Hmph. Are you having fun beating up the small fry? Why don’t you try and see if you can beat me as easily as that blondie over there?!”
“Hey, hold up a bit. It’s not like I was trying to kill the princess over there, you know?”
The assassin tried to justify himself.
Still, Noelle decided to hear him out and stopped, prompting him to continue,
“She just happened to be a lot prettier than the rumors said she was, so I thought I might kidnap her and have some fun with her for a night. And then I’d hand her over to my employer afterward. Or that was the plan, at least.”
It was only natural that Noelle had grown furious.
She had always been overly strict with lewd men to begin with.
“That’s even worse! I will personally murder rotten men like you!”
But the assassin waved his hand before she could jump at him. He had waved toward both Noelle and Sylvia, who had taken a step forward.
A shield appeared and surrounded the both of them, trapping them inside. Then, the man leapt lithely and, of all thing, landed only a few meters away from Shelfa.
“Well, I’m just about finished now.”
He raised his hands again, and this time he created a translucent shield to entrap Shelfa.
“Kyah!”
Shelfa had climbed down from her white horse and had been backing away from the assassin——but the shield prevented her from going too far.
“Shit, he was a mage?! But he never chanted a rune!”
groaned Gazaram, who had rendezvoused with his colleague Senoa while she was running to Shelfa’s side, as he snuck around behind the assassin.
“Hahaha. No need to get so worked up——. I’m just going to take the princess here and be on my merry way. Don’t hate me too much, alright?”
The assassin was running his mouth as he pleased, but his smile stiffened when he heard something shattered just a moment later.
Noelle had Sylvia had promptly shredded through the shields trapping them with tremendous force. Noelle ripped off her mantle as she spat out,
“Looks like you’ve been underestimating me quite a bit, bastard. You’re wrong if you thought that petty tricks like this was enough to get me out of your way, human! I will not grant you an easy death!”
Sylvia concurred with her, for once.
“Seriously. Now I’ll have to come up with a good excuse for Rain later. I’ll have you atone for that.”
Her eyes were no longer the pretty color of wine but were beginning to be dyed crimson all the way to her sclera. The assassin and made her get serious.
The assassin scowled as the two women approached with eerily quiet footsteps.
“Hey now……this Rain guy has some ridiculously strong women working for him. No one told me anything about this. I’m going to have to ask for a bonus, jeez.”
The smiled had been wiped from his face, but the man still retained his composure.
He confirmed Sylvia and Noelle’s positions and immediately made up his mind. He decided to jump toward Shelfa before the they had the chance to deal with him. But an unexpected voice resounded around them just then.
“Stand back!”
The cry made not only the assassin but even the soldiers who had been stirring up a fuss in the vicinity fall silent. Even Sylvia and Noelle, who had been just about to rush forward, stopped in their tracks to turn toward the owner of the voice.
Surprisingly, the owner of the voice was none other than Shelfa, who had been besieged with terror just moments prior and now wore a look so stern as she glowered at the assassin that she could have been another person entirely.
She had been hugging herself with her slender arms, but now she had straightened herself out and was standing tall in her full majesty. Abel, who had finally climbed back to his feet, even whispered, “Your Majestey……you’re so dignified,” in rapture as he watched from afar.
Noelle recalled what had happened back in Galfort Castle and narrowed her eyes.
——Is this girl going to demonstrate yet another bizarre change? But I don’t feel the phenomenal wave of power that I felt that night.
Shelfa did not spare Noelle or the others a single glance as she simply slid the katana she always wore at her waist out from its sheath. She did not take any stance in particular but simply held it in her hand as she turned to the assassin.
And, in a voice that only the assassin, Noelle, and Sylvia could hear, she said,
“……Rain is the only gentleman who may touch me. Stand back!”
“I was wondering what you were gonna say, but I see now that you’re just being desperate. I almost thought another person had entered the fray. But……I guess I was wrong.”
The stubbled assassin shrugged as he continued,
“My bad, Miss Little Princess Lord. I can’t kidnap you if I can’t touch you. Or more accurately, I’m about to use you as a human shield to get the hell out of dodge. I’m looking forward to being with you tonight!”
Slowly, Shelfa smiled.
There was no longer even a hint if fear in her expression, and her sapphire eyes were glistening with joy.
“I don’t quite understand what you’re talking about, but in any event, I cannot comply with your wishes. Don’t you see? Rain has come for me.”
It was almost as if he had timed it perfectly with her words.
A lance-shaped object whistled through the air and flew down from the heavens, hitting directly against the magic shield shrouding Shelfa and the assassin. It readily broke through the shield and plunged deep into the earth below.
The final shield was destroyed with a shower of sparks that looked like firefly light.
“What the?!”
yelped the assassin with his dagger still in hand.
Upon a closer look, the object that had touched down between the assassin and Shelfa was not a spear but a gigantic magic sword that was at least three meters long. The magic sword stood tall as it glowed blue, as if it meant to prevent the assassin from coming any closer to the princess.
Then, the clear blue sky shadowed over, and Rain came down from the heavens on Kris’ back. Indeed, he had entered the fray like the rain itself as he and Kris readily leapt over the soldiers and danced down.
It didn’t show very much because his clothes were black, but his jacket was drenched, likely from the blood of his enemies.
Rain climbed down from Kris, and the gigantic magic sword——in other words, the Siren’s Blade, teleported from the earth it had been piercing and returned to his right hand. Rain swung the magic sword once, and its blade readily shrank back to its normal size.
He glared at the assassin.
“Hey, you seem to have made quite the mess while I was fighting on the frontlines. Do you work for that woman, you bastard?”
“Pretty much. Though I’m technically just hired help.”
The assassin nodded and confessed with ready ease as everyone’s eyes were on him. He continued,
“Guess this is the first time we’ve met. The name’s Roy. I probably wasn’t quite as famous as you were, but I’m pretty sure you’ve at least heard my name if you’re an ex-merc, right?”
Rain frowned ever so slightly.
“Oh I’ve heard of you…… I’ve even tried looking for you once.”
“Oh yeah? That woman told me that you were once known as the legendary mercenary called the Unknown Genius Swordsman…… I guess I must’ve moved up in the world, if someone like you were looking for me.”
“Rumors say that you’re immortal…… Were they exaggerating?”
“Well, there’s a bit of truth to them.”
Roy flashed a grin.
He was acting like he couldn’t care any less about the multitude of soldiers surrounding him.
“Oh? In that case, why don’t I verify those rumors personally by turning you into a corpse?”
Rain moved immediately after he had made his declaration. He moved from a standstill and danced directly into his opponent’s face with explosive power. His magic sword was mowing Roy down, leaving behind a brilliant afterimage in its wake, by this time his allies had blinked.
Roy, however, had vanished yet again.
All the Siren’s Blade did was to draw a trail of light in empty air.
“Mph!”
Rain immediately jumped up after brandishing his sword and leapt away. He did a quick scan of the situation. ……But he found nothing. He couldn’t find Roy anywhere.
Shelfa came jumping into his arms instead.
The first thing Rain did was to turn toward the still-waging battle. Fortunately, the former Lunan army had been routed just as he had expected, and Rain’s absence had not affected the battlegrounds very much at all. It was largely thanks to the fact that Ahmur, one of the enemy’s strongest generals, had retreated early into the fight.
Interestingly enough, his allies’ attacks were somewhat dulled as they overran the enemy camp, but that would not be a decisive enough factor to change the tides of battle. They had let a few enemy generals escape them, but the Sunkwoll army’s victory was practically set in stone.
Rain whispered,
“Though……there was just one bastard that was a bit of a pain in the ass. And we let him escape us.”
Shelfa, who was taking advantage of the situation to keep clinging to Rain, tilted her head to the side.
“Whom are you speaking of?”
“Uh~, the young man named Joshua from before. He once tried to cozy up to you, Princess.”
“He’s with the Lunan army?”
Shelfa openly furrowed her brows, prompting rain to nod back and confirm it. Then, he gently pulled the princess off him.
“You’ll get blood on you. And in any event, I am glad that you are safe. ……Were you hurt anywhere?”
“……My heart suffered a small wound just now.”
Shelfa pouted, and Rain responded by clearing his throat. Their allies were beginning to gather around them. Sylvia walked over shortly thereafter and looked at Rain and Shelfa with a strange look in her eyes before she gave Rain her report.
“I’m gonna start by saying that I could have taken care of that brazen man just fine even if you hadn’t come flying, Rain.”
……It was less a report and more a self-assertion.
Rain smiled wryly and replied,
“I know. Noelle was here too, and I don’t doubt the either of you.”
Noelle, who had walked up a moment later, looked awkward upon hearing what Rain had said.
“No…… It’s true that I was late in counterattacking. I got too fixated on killing him with my own hands like I said I would.”
Noelle’s blunt and somewhat dangerous answer suited her well.
“That’s fine. Everyone’s safe——or not, but the Princess is safe, in any case.”
Rain looked to the deceased soldiers and sighed.
Then, he looked up as his allies approached him and asked,
“Did anyone see his approach?”
He looked to everyone in turns and rested his gaze on Sylvia last.
“He was already right about to attack by the time I’d noticed…… And even then, it wasn’t that I saw him or anything. I just felt his presence and reacted.”
“It’s a bit weird that a warrior as strong as you weren’t able to notice him until he was right here…… Well, I guess there wasn’t much you could do if he teleported.”
Rain subconsciously nodded back when Sylvia rebuked him and told him to address her by her name as he fell into thought.
I have a feeling that he has a bizarre trick of some kind up his sleeve…… The Immortal Roy…… I need to figure out what makes him ‘Immortal.’
“Um…”
One of the lower-ranking soldiers timidly called out to him. He wasn’t one of Rain’s subordinates but was a soldier in the newly formed royal guard —in other words, he was a soldier under Shelfa’s direct command.
Rain urged him to continue.
“What’s up? Don’t be shy —tell me anything you know.”
“Y-yessir! ……That man from before called himself Roy, but…”
The mild-mannered young man seemed a little troubled as he looked to Rain. He continued,
“But, I’ve seen him before. He’s a mercenary named Dennis from the same village that I’m from. His name isn’t Roy.”
The young man was flustered as he continued his explanation, perhaps because everyone’s attention was centered on him.
“We weren’t very close, but there’s no way that I would have mistaken him. He was a member of the village’s vigilante corps when I was younger. I’d heard that he’d left for the Central Plains to make a living as a mercenary just before I left the village myself……”
“Are you sure of this?”
“Y-yes, I’m sure! But, he didn’t react to me at all when he looked at me just earlier. And I’m pretty sure he knows who I am too.”
Rain pondered for a moment before patting the soldier on the soldier to help calm the latter’s nerves.
“You did well to tell me. It’s definitely strange, but I don’t think you mistook him for someone else either. I’m sure there’s a reason behind it……we’ll do all we can to get to the bottom of this.”
“Yessir! I apologize for not being able to be more helpful.”
The red-faced young man lowered his head.
He then told Rain his hometown’s name for reference.
Now then……I hope this’ll prove to be a useful hint.
Rain’s heart alone was shadowed and didn’t clear as they heard their ally’s cries of triumph from afar.
The Lunan army hadn’t been annihilated yet, and they would have to chase after their enemies who had fled —and the future had suddenly become largely uncertain.