“I swear, he pushes himself so pointlessly hard.”
Lena looked down at Ashen, who lay in her arms, with a bitter smile.
Even though such a battle had taken place only moments ago, his collapsed figure looked utterly peaceful.
Lena placed a hand on the sleeping Ashen’s cheek.
A reassuring warmth.
She spent a moment savoring that warmth as it seeped into her hand.
Perhaps because she had faced the troll before Ashen appeared, a crushing fatigue washed over her.
“I’d like to rest like this for a little while…”
Unfortunately, the situation around her had no intention of granting that modest wish.
“Is the troll dead?”
“What on earth happened?”
Along with a growing murmur, the soldiers began gathering around Ashen one by one.
Their gazes slowly moved back and forth between the troll’s corpse and the fallen Ashen.
The troll, once a living calamity, was now nothing but hide and bone.
And Ashen, an ordinary soldier, had fainted peacefully without a single wound.
It was a scene like an unreal dream.
One of the soldiers who saw it muttered without realizing it.
“A monster…”
As if those words were the signal, fear spread among the soldiers.
Vampire, witch, demon—
The names of all manner of sinister things flowed from the soldiers’ mouths.
A few soldiers tried to shift the mood by mentioning Sir Freshblood, who had been a hero, but the effect was minimal.
Watching the emotion spreading among the soldiers, Lena’s expression hardened.
“This is dangerous.”
Was it because they had witnessed a sight far too unreal?
Right now, they were trying to deal with the situation by directing their fear outward.
If that were all, it would have been fine, but Ashen was unconscious at the moment.
How would the soldiers try to deal with the unmoving source of their fear?
As if proving her worries right, several of the soldiers sent murderous looks his way.
“Do I have to fight?”
Drawing the spare dagger she had brought in place of her broken shortsword, Lena lowered her stance.
She did not want the worst-case scenario, but if it came down to it, she might have to turn against the comrades she had spent so long with.
Perhaps seeing Lena’s attitude, some of the soldiers also began placing their hands on their weapons.
Just as both sides were watching each other like that—
A variable appeared.
“Ahem, hmm. What is going on here?”
Letting out a forced cough, the sergeant emerged from the bushes with leaves stuck all over his body.
Perhaps he had dropped them while fleeing in a panic, but there was neither weapon nor flag in his hands.
On top of that, there was the faint smell of urine and stains here and there on his pants.
He looked nothing like the leader of this group.
Even so, he was the sergeant.
At the sound of his voice, the soldiers’ gazes reflexively turned toward him.
Seeing that, Lena inwardly cheered.
“Good! That idiot is useful at times like this.”
Still holding Ashen protectively, she shouted in an exaggeratedly loud voice toward the sergeant.
“Reporting, Sergeant. Thirty soldiers under Senior Soldier Lena have succeeded in hunting the troll.”
“R-really?”
The sergeant’s eyes flew open, and he hurried toward the troll’s corpse.
Whether because of the stench of urine or the authority of a commander,
when he tried to pass, the soldiers naturally stepped back.
Soon, the sergeant arrived beside Lena and Ashen and stretched a trembling hand toward the remains of the troll.
“I-is it truly dead? It’s dead. It really is dead! Ahaha! It’s dead.”
Perhaps he had lost his mind from the unbelievable situation, because laughter kept spilling from the sergeant’s mouth.
Under normal circumstances, Lena would have looked at him with disgust.
But for this moment, she deliberately maintained a loyal attitude as she spoke to him.
“This is all thanks to your command, Sergeant. Because of it, every soldier survived.”
At her words, a different murmur from before spread among the soldiers.
Everyone had clearly seen the sergeant run away, and yet she was saying such a thing.
And from Lena, who was famous for hating the sergeant?
Their eyes wavered in confusion.
The most surprised of all was the sergeant himself.
“Thanks to my command?”
“Yes, thanks to your command, Sergeant. With this, your reputation will spread even farther. The baron will surely take notice as well.”
“Ahem, hmm. I suppose he will.”
Inwardly sneering at the sergeant as he belatedly put on a dignified expression, Lena continued in a low voice.
“However, Sergeant. There seem to be people who think this achievement of yours was the work of black magic or a monster. Would that really be all right?”
“What do you mean by…!”
The sergeant put on a startled expression and hurriedly examined the troll’s corpse.
Until just moments ago, he had focused only on the fact that the troll was dead, but looking again, the corpse was strange.
It had only just died, yet it had become a shriveled mummy.
Wasn’t it clearly an incident related to black magic, no matter who looked at it?
If this had anything to do with black magic, he, as the commander, would have to take responsibility as well.
At that realization, the sergeant’s face turned pale.
Watching the sergeant’s reaction closely, Lena whispered into his ear in a meaningful voice.
“As you know, Sergeant, the heresy inquisitors of the Church of Justice are nothing if not persistent. If you were to be brought before a witch trial… not only you, but even your family might undergo the Church of Justice’s ‘purification’ process.”
“Ahem.”
“For your family to move safely inside the castle, something like that must not happen. Isn’t that right?”
“Th-that’s right. There must not be the slightest blemish.”
“And…”
“And?”
“Even if it were black magic, what could you possibly do? When Ashen becomes enraged, do you think you could survive, Sergeant Aaron?”
At the way Lena’s tone suddenly turned cold at the very end, the sergeant shut his mouth.
His eyes turned not to the troll, but to Ashen.
If the troll was a monster, then Ashen, who had killed it, was an even greater monster.
What would happen if he reported him and Ashen took revenge?
After shuddering once, the sergeant soon rose from his seat and shouted loudly.
“Men, this subjugation is our achievement. In particular, this sergeant’s command was most appropriate. Therefore, from this moment on, no one is to raise objections regarding the subjugation. That is an order. Understood?”
Silence flowed from the soldiers, but no matter what they had seen, they could not disobey an order.
In the end, one soldier who could not hold back stepped forward and voiced his dissatisfaction.
“But, Sergeant. No matter how you look at that—”
“Shut up. This is this sergeant’s achievement. And Baron Molten’s achievement as well. Could there be a blemish on a subjugation overseen by the baron? You men will keep your mouths shut.”
“…Yes, understood.”
At the sergeant’s words, the soldiers declared their surrender with uneasy expressions.
Once the conclusion had been reached, the soldiers scattered one by one and moved to their respective positions.
A small number of soldiers still expressed concern, but aside from a very few, they had simply been swept up by mob mentality to begin with.
Once the situation ended, they changed their attitudes all too easily.
“Thank goodness.”
Lena let out a deep sigh and looked down at Ashen.
Without even dreaming of what had happened, Ashen was simply sleeping quietly.
Poking Ashen’s cheek, Lena whispered into his ear.
“Just you wait until you wake up. I’ll ask you everything.”
Breaking into a bright smile, Lena then carried Ashen on her back and moved together with the soldiers.
**
When I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar ceiling.
Inside the tent issued for soldiers. It seemed Senior Lena had moved me inside.
“How long has it been?”
Perhaps because I had been lying on the hard ground, I sat up with my body feeling stiff and sore, then lifted the flap of the tent.
Quite a bit of time seemed to have passed since I fell asleep, as the sky, which had been blue, was now tinged with purple.
Just as I was about to rise after seeing that, the tent entrance opened and Senior Lena appeared.
“Stay lying down for now. I don’t know what happened, and you don’t have any wounds, but your muscles were knotted up like stone.”
“I think I’m fine to get up now.”
“Hey now, listen to your noona.”
Her tone was that of a typical older sister, but if I looked only at her appearance, she honestly felt more like a younger sister.
When that thought came to mind, I laughed without realizing it.
“Why are you laughing? Don’t tell me something happened to your head?”
“No. I just thought of something funny.”
“Was there anything funny?”
Senior Lena tilted her head, then plopped down beside me.
Her golden eyes looked at me like a wolf stalking its prey.
Though the prey that wolf was after was the truth.
I looked straight at her for a moment, then let out a deep sigh and opened my mouth.
“Don’t just stare at me like that. Ask me, Senior.”
“…You know full well what I’m going to ask, don’t you?”
“I want to hear it from you directly, Senior.”
“Fine. Then I’ll ask all at once without beating around the bush. What on earth is that power of yours? What exactly did you do to gain the power to take down a troll overnight?”
“You won’t believe me even if I tell you.”
“I’ll decide whether I believe it or not. So hurry up and talk. Noona is getting angry.”
Couldn’t we just let it pass?
I stared at the ceiling for a moment, lost in thought.
It would be difficult to believe that I had reincarnated, but it was a different story when it came to Sir Freshblood’s legacy.
If I simply showed her Red Blood, I would be able to prove it at once.
The problem was whether that was a safe choice for Senior Lena.
“Sir Freshblood said someone erased the records of Red Blood.”
And if my guess was right, they were probably still actively moving even now.
In that kind of situation, was it right to tell Senior Lena everything?
“You’re worrying about me right now, aren’t you?”
“…How did you know?”
“It’s written all over your face.”
She poked my cheek, then gave a small laugh.
“I don’t know why you’re worried, but noona is fine, so tell me anything. Did you think I’d refuse to hear your secret just because it might be dangerous? If so, you’ve completely misjudged me.”
Senior Lena looked down at me with a deliberately dignified face.
Because of her face, I couldn’t feel much dignity from it, but I could at least confirm her resolve.
“All right. I’ll tell you.”
Where should I begin?
After choosing my words for a moment, I began telling Senior Lena the story, one piece at a time.
The story of going to Sir Freshblood’s tomb, the story of obtaining the power called Red Blood, the things that happened when I took that power into my hands, and even Red Blood’s weakness.
The deeper the story went, the more Senior Lena’s expression changed from moment to moment.
At times shock, at times excitement, and then concern.
And when I finished speaking, she simply remained silent.
Seeing that made me worry.
What did Senior think of me now?
Did she perhaps find me frightening?
Unable to endure those questions, I opened my mouth first.
“Are you afraid of my power?”
Senior Lena took a moment at those words before slowly speaking.
“I am. It’s the power of a knight who was called a vampire, isn’t it? On top of that, you said the more you use it, the more you might change into something like a monster. Honestly, I’m afraid. That’s how I truly feel.”
“Ah…”
So that was how it was after all?
I gave a bitter smile and tried to rise from my seat.
Everyday life with Senior had been enjoyable, but it seemed our relationship ended here.
“But,”
Just then, Senior’s voice gently held me back.
“I believe in you, Ashen. As far as I know, you’re the kind of person who would rather hurt yourself than attack an innocent person. Because I believe in you, even if that power frightens me, you don’t frighten me at all.”
“…Senior.”
“Did you get nervous after hearing only the first part? Hehe. I told you, noona can see everything.”
As I looked at Senior Lena’s brightly smiling face, relief flowed up from deep within my chest.
I had acted as if it were nothing all this time, but it seemed I had not wanted to be abandoned by Senior after all.
Senior looked at me as if I were adorable, then clapped her hands as though something had occurred to her.
“Ah, right. Ashen, since you told me your secret, I’ll tell you one of mine too.”
“A secret?”
“Mm, it’s a little embarrassing, but give me a moment.”
Senior Lena gave a small cough, then opened her mouth with a reddened face.
“My real name isn’t Lena. That’s an imperial-style name. My Kurdan name is Echel.”
“A Kurdan name. That means…!”
Knowing the customs of the Kurdan people through the game, I looked at Senior in surprise.
“Oh, you know about it. That’s right. The Kurdan people value their real names greatly. They don’t tell their real names to anyone unless they’re family or someone no different from family. You understand what that means, don’t you?”
With her face flushed, she stroked my cheek.
“It means you’re already no different from family to me. So from now on, tell me everything as it is. Noona will accept it all.”
“All right. Senior Lena—no, Senior Echel.”
Senior Lena and I smiled at each other.
“Mm, there’s still time before lights out. Right, since we’re at it, should I teach you more Kurdan words? Kechek means a shit-like bastard, and kas means fuck…”
“Somehow, they’re all curses.”
“Oh? So you have a problem with that?”
The two of us chattered together until night fell.
It was an exceptionally peaceful night after so long.