Five minutes earlier, Eleonore had been riding for quite some time toward Baron Molten’s castle.
After all, the baron’s letter had only said that a soldier who might be connected to black magic was in his territory; it had not specified exactly where.
If Aschen and Lena’s training had not been close to Eleonore’s route.
And if Eleonore had not been reciting a prayer at that moment.
Then Aschen and Eleonore would have met at least several hours later.
Woooong—!
Eleonore, who had been offering prayers to the Lord for some time, opened her eyes at the sudden surge of divine power.
The divine power that had been rising like a quiet candle flame until moments ago was now blazing fiercely like a torch.
‘This is a phenomenon I’ve never seen before.’
The fact that divine power reacted was not particularly unusual in itself.
Even when she had encountered the seeds of evil, divine power had burned violently.
At those times, the flames of divine power spread as if they would set the surroundings ablaze at any moment.
But what she was seeing now was as though—
‘A beast of prey wary of an unfamiliar animal. No, this is the reaction of meeting a predator of equal rank on the same hunting ground.’
Eleonore looked toward the direction from which the wave of divine power had begun.
Below the mountain path she was on, there stretched a fairly wide clearing.
“That way, then. Shall we go, Lancer?”
When her beloved horse snorted as if in reply, she immediately wrapped both the horse and herself in divine power.
And in the next instant, they leapt.
The warhorse, as massive as a bull, jumped down the mountainside as though it were an eagle.
Boom—!
Along with the thunderous sound of landing, two people entered her field of vision.
Eleonore’s gaze fell upon the man among them.
‘This man is the cause.’
Still seated upon her horse, Eleonore looked down at the man staring back at her.
Judging by appearances alone, he was an unremarkable man. Yet the power dwelling within his body was anything but ordinary.
It was too rough to be mana, and not divine power either—an utterly primal force, like that of a wild beast.
And for such an immense power to be trapped in a body from which no mana could be felt at all.
‘How can such a power exist?’
Just what was this man?
Dismounting, Eleonore looked straight at the man before her.
“Who are you?”
**
I took a moment to steady my breathing as I looked at Eleonore, who had posed that question to me.
Red Blood’s reaction to divine power had been more violent than I expected, but this much was still within the range I had anticipated.
Given even the slightest opening, I should be able to return Red Blood to its normal state at once.
The problem was that Eleonore, the very cause of Red Blood’s disturbance, was showing a deep interest in me.
‘First, I need to stop her from getting any closer.’
“Before asking for my name, wouldn’t it be proper for you to give yours first?”
At my words, Eleonore flinched slightly, as if taken aback.
It was indeed etiquette for a knight to state their name before acting, but that was, in the end, something from books.
If it had been any other knight, they might have started raving about punishing me on the spot, and I would have had no excuse.
But the woman I knew would never do that.
As if my thoughts had proven correct, Eleonore took one step back and bowed her head.
“I have been discourteous. To ask another’s identity before introducing myself was entirely my mistake. I will apologize here first.”
“No, I too apologize for my rudeness.”
When I also bowed my head and answered politely, Eleonore slowly lifted hers.
“Then allow me to introduce myself formally.”
Saying that, she grasped her helmet with both hands.
With a metallic clack as the seams separated, the helmet that had covered her face came down.
And with it, a brilliant waterfall of platinum hair spilled forth.
What appeared next was the face of a beautiful woman who seemed as though the words noble young lady had been sculpted into human form.
“My name is Eleonore. I am a humble servant who serves the God of War, and I also serve as the commander of the Thirteenth Holy Knights of the War Order. It is a pleasure to meet you all.”
“I am Soldier Aschen.”
Senior Lena bowed her head beside me as well.
“I am Soldier Lena.”
“I see. Then I shall call you Aschen and Lena. Now, I have one question. Please answer it sincerely.”
There was a smile on Eleonore’s lips as she said that, but there was not the slightest trace of mirth in her eyes.
“Aschen, are you the soldier who killed the troll?”
“I believe it was reported that the soldiers joined forces to kill it.”
“Do I look like a fool to you? I know better than anyone that such a thing is impossible. I will ask again. Are you the soldier who killed the troll?”
“That answer is…”
As I answered, I quietly glanced around, then opened my mouth with a smile.
“I think it would be better to answer when those people are with us.”
“Hmm?”
When I pointed behind Eleonore, she turned her head with a puzzled expression.
Before we knew it, soldiers who had heard the commotion were gathering toward this place. And among those soldiers, naturally, the soldier-captain was mixed in as well.
“It seems the person in charge here has arrived. Before speaking with me, should you not speak with him first?”
“…Did you calculate this?”
“Rather than saying I calculated it, I would say you were too focused on me to pay attention.”
No matter how secluded it was, this place was still inside the garrison.
From the moment Eleonore’s landing resounded, it had been only natural that the soldiers would gather.
Realizing her mistake, Eleonore flushed and spoke to me in a low voice.
“Not bad. Next time, you will not get away like this.”
With those words, Eleonore passed by me and headed toward the soldier-captain.
Watching Eleonore’s back as she moved away, I let out a small sigh.
‘That was close.’
If the timing had been even slightly off, I might have had to clash with Eleonore while Red Blood was still unstable.
And that would have thoroughly deviated from the plan I had made.
Controlling Red Blood as it slowly grew docile, I let my eyes gleam.
‘Now it’s the next step.’
So please move properly, Soldier-Captain.
**
‘Damn bastards.’
Soldier-Captain Aaron inwardly cursed at the scene unfolding before his eyes.
When they had spoken a few days ago, they had said nothing much would happen, but the situation that actually unfolded was the complete opposite. A holy knight had suddenly fallen from the sky, and that holy knight was threatening that monstrous Aschen.
But even more like a bolt from the blue was the emblem engraved on that holy knight’s armor.
‘Damn it, the commander of the Thirteenth Holy Knights?’
A knight commander of the Order would be treated as the equivalent of a high-ranking noble no matter whose territory they visited. If he got on the wrong side of such a person, not only he himself, but even Baron Molten’s safety could be shaken.
‘That cannot happen.’
Others might curse him as filthy, but he was a man who had devoted his whole life to working for his family. He could not allow that peace to be shattered in this manner.
‘But how?’
The soldier-captain looked at Aschen and Lena, who stood behind the approaching holy knight.
Those two. To begin with, those two were the source of this entire situation. If things became truly difficult, he could eliminate only those two and slip away.
However…
‘Would that monster of a man let me be?’
Several days had already passed, yet the soldier-captain still remembered the process by which the torrent of blood had seized and devoured the troll.
If Aschen wished it, he too would end up the same as the troll.
‘Damn it, what am I supposed to do?’
As his thoughts continued in that manner, the holy knight had already arrived right in front of him.
Forcing a smile onto his trembling lips, the soldier-captain bowed his head toward the holy knight.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir. I am Aaron, the soldier-captain currently overseeing this garrison.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Soldier-Captain Aaron. My name is Eleonore. Though I am lacking, I command the Thirteenth Holy Knights in accordance with the will of the great God of War. However, I have not come here today as a knight commander, so please be at ease.”
“Then, what brings you all the way to a place like this…”
“I thought the directive had already been sent down. Was that not the case?”
Eleonore asked in a gentle voice.
But to the soldier-captain, it sounded like a rebuke: ‘Can you not even carry out orders properly?’
“O-of course I heard. I only asked for confirmation. Ahem. I understand you have come to investigate the matter of the troll hunt.”
“That is correct. And so, there is something I would like to ask of you immediately. May I see the troll’s corpse?”
The troll’s corpse.
The moment those words were spoken, the soldier-captain’s face instantly turned deathly pale.
He had somehow managed to block off the other traces by mobilizing the soldiers, but there was nothing he could do about the corpse. A completely dried mummy with only bones and hide remaining—anyone could see it looked like something caught up in wicked black magic. And yet, to think she would try to inspect it directly.
His mind felt as though it had gone rigid, but he hurriedly moved his mouth.
“We are not experts, so its condition is not very good. So showing it to you would be a bit…”
“It is all right. I am accustomed to gruesome sights. So would you show it to me?”
At Eleonore’s words, the soldier-captain’s mouth froze shut.
If she put it that way, refusing to reveal it would instead make him even more suspicious. In that case, he might as well.
‘I will not take all the blame alone.’
“V-very well. However, since we need to transport the troll’s corpse, would it be all right if I took two other soldiers along as assistants? They are soldiers named Aschen and Lena.”
“Of course, that is fine. Rather… that may be even better.”
Having somehow managed to insert Aschen and Lena into the situation, the soldier-captain breathed a sigh of relief and called the two over.
With this, he would not be the only one held responsible.
Even if things turned for the worst, he would be able to put those two forward as shields.
But he did not know.
That behind him, Aschen was smiling as if everything were going according to plan.