A terrified Marsha.
And before her eyes, a masked man raising his sword.
“Stooop!!”
The tearing scream
cut across the forest like a thrown dagger.
&
That cry halted, for an instant, the movement of the man about to bring down his sword.
Serafinlie’s knight did not miss that opening.
With a sharp ring of metal, their swords clashed,
and the blade pointed at Marsha was knocked aside.
It was a moment that made my heart drop.
I threw myself from the horse I had been riding.
Almost leaping down, I kicked off the ground
and rushed straight in front of Marsha.
“Marsha!”
“Ah, aaah...”
Marsha’s face was already a mess of tears.
The moment she recognized me,
her eyes slowly closed, as if the tension she had barely been holding together had all come undone at once.
Just like that, she lost consciousness.
That terror
was too much for the Marsha of now to bear.
Gritting my teeth, I carefully moved her beneath a tree.
Only after laying her down so she would suffer as little shock as possible did I finally raise my head.
There were two of them.
They wore masks,
but I could tell from their movements alone that they were at the level of knights.
The knight who had been protecting Marsha had already collapsed with a fatal wound.
Just from the sword marks scattered around and the trampled earth,
I could tell how desperately he had held out until the very end.
Fortunately, Serafinlie’s knight was no easy opponent either.
Soon after, Eileen’s knight joined in as well,
and the moment Miles entered the battlefield, the flow of the fight tilted sharply.
The two immediately retreated.
They meant to flee.
On the other hand, the three knights did not go so far as to try chasing them.
At that moment,
I passed between them in an instant.
“You don’t get to.”
As if I had been waiting, I shot forward and threw a throwing dagger.
Perhaps because the movement was too sudden,
even the knights on our side swallowed their breaths for a moment.
The men, too, seemed not to have expected me to intervene directly, and their reaction came half a beat late.
Clang!
One of them easily knocked away the dagger flying at him.
It was at that very moment.
I drove into that brief opening and cut deep into his waist.
Slash!
“Guh!”
Blood sprayed.
Even as the man pulled far back, he staggered,
and I charged in without the slightest hesitation.
At the killing intent pouring from me, the men faltered for an instant,
and then their hands went straight into their coats.
Smoke bombs.
The moment I saw it,
I pulled the dagger at my waist and threw it.
Boom!
But I was one step too late.
With an acrid smell, smoke spread in every direction in an instant.
My vision blurred.
Serafinlie’s and Eileen’s knights immediately spread to the sides and escaped out of the smoke.
Miles and I fell back—not forward, but behind us.
Because of Marsha.
There was a chance they might use this opening not to flee,
but to make one last attempt on her life.
I immediately stood in front of Marsha and sharpened all my senses.
A short while later,
when the smoke cleared, the men were already gone.
I steadied my breathing and looked down at my hand.
In it was a single scrap of cloth.
I had tried to grab him at the same time as I cut him, but this piece of leather came loose, and I ended up losing him.
I should have caught his body.
I immediately tucked the scrap into my coat and approached Marsha.
Thankfully, there were no major wounds visible on the outside.
I carefully lifted her into my arms and climbed onto the horse.
Then, minimizing the shaking as much as possible,
I returned straight to the estate.
***
Clop, clop.
Even by the time we arrived at the estate, Marsha had not opened her eyes.
As soon as the horse stopped, Father and Mother rushed out first.
Their faces were filled with worry.
She was the daughter of a friend they had known since childhood;
there was no way they could treat this as someone else’s business.
I briefly indicated that she was all right,
then nodded to signal that Marsha should be taken inside first.
Behind them, Eileen and Serafinlie looked at me at the same time.
Both of their faces were stiff, but the moment they saw me, they looked relieved.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
At Serafinlie’s question, I shook my head.
“I’m all right. It’s thanks to both of your knights. Thank you.”
If their judgment had been even a little slower, Marsha would truly have been in danger.
Eileen looked at me for a moment, then cautiously opened her mouth.
“Could it be...”
I knew what she meant without having to hear the rest.
So I shook my head first.
“Probably not. The Greg family was trying to start a territorial war with the Lin family. That possibility is more likely. Of course, we’ll have to confirm it.”
At my words, Eileen let out a small breath.
It was a sigh mixed with relief and unease.
“The two of you must have been startled as well, so please rest. If possible, I think it would be best for you to return to your respective territories as soon as you can.”
Eileen had come with five knights.
Even if she moved out tomorrow, it would not be unreasonable.
Serafinlie, too, had deliberately brought six knights after hearing what Eileen had gone through, so she should be fine as well.
However, neither of them seemed to have any intention of backing down.
“No. We need to investigate. They might be the same ones who targeted me.”
“I feel the same. If that’s true, the next target could be me.”
Their expressions were resolute.
They were not wrong.
In the end, I could say no more and nodded.
“Understood. Then for now, rest today, and we’ll move as soon as the sun rises tomorrow.”
I headed to the training ground to put back the weapons I had brought with me.
Meanwhile, Eileen and Serafinlie, who remained behind, spoke in low voices.
“The situation isn’t good.”
At Eileen’s words, Serafinlie slowly nodded as well.
“I know. He personally saved his childhood friend from danger. It’s a dangerous situation in many ways.”
To them, that was another kind of crisis.
Serafinlie narrowed her eyes and muttered.
“From what I heard, Reion shouted pretty loudly. Should we form an alliance again?”
“...”
Eileen’s brows drew together slightly.
A brief silence passed,
and then she spoke quietly.
“That’s a relief.”
Serafinlie did not understand those words at all.
“What is?”
And Eileen turned away with a faint smile as she said,
“In my case, he lost his reason.”
In that instant, Serafinlie’s expression stiffened.
She could not even look at Eileen’s retreating back.
Then she drew in a breath and swept her hair back.
“... Maybe I should just pounce first.”
She said that,
but the mere thought was enough to make her face flush first.
Biting her lip hard, she glanced around,
then hurriedly left as if nothing had happened.
***
As soon as I returned to my room, I frowned.
“...”
The piece of leather I had accidentally torn off from that man earlier.
The problem was that there was a pattern and a number engraved on it.
What was especially troubling was the pattern.
A figure reaching out a hand toward the sun.
Amazingly, I had seen this before.
In my past life, at that.
Through a certain person who used to speak with Eileen.
Back then, Eileen and he met often.
However, I did not know what kind of relationship she had with him.
Whenever she faced him,
I was never once able to get close to that place.
I had seen the pattern by chance.
One day as I passed through a corridor,
the wind had blown, and in that moment, the man’s sleeve had lifted.
That was all—on the inner side of his exposed wrist, I had seen that mark.
Then.
Could it be Eileen?
Was she the one who had orchestrated all of this?
If that were true.
What on earth was she trying to obtain?
Attacking herself—
what sort of calculation had that been?
It might be an excessive leap.
It was from my past life, and it might not be the case now.
But the problem was
that if it were her, she was capable of doing such a thing.
In my past life, she had actually done something similar.
Then this time, too?
Even the attempt to kill Marsha—
was that part of some plan?
No, perhaps in my past life, she met him after that?
Or not?
A secret organization raised by her family?
Questions with no possible answers kept digging through my mind.
Pressing my throbbing temple, I closed my eyes for a moment.
Stop.
Just for a moment.
I had to cut off my thoughts here.
When I slowly opened my eyes, I felt the air in the room again.
The night chill seeping in from outside the window,
the candle flame set on the table,
even the rough feel of the leather in my hand.
I let out a low breath.
This is not my way.
In any case, I cannot understand her all at once.
Then what I had to do was clear.
Confirm it.
Step by step.
I decided to look into this pattern first.
Once I organized my thoughts that way, it felt a little easier to breathe.
Even so, one thing remained until the end.
Had it all been a lie?
Was everything fake after all?
I had tried not to believe.
From the beginning, I had told myself over and over
that I must not believe.
And yet, I had expected just a little.
That perhaps this time might be different.
Our meeting,
and the time we had built, were different.
So maybe.
Truly, maybe.
...
I did not push that next thought through to the end.
Instead, I looked down once more at the piece of leather in my hand.
There is only one thing to do first.
Investigate this pattern.
What comes after can be thought about afterward.
“Step by step.”
It was almost like a phrase meant to soothe my own heart.
***
Early morning.
As soon as I opened my eyes, I headed straight for the room where Marsha was.
Just then, the butler, Albert, came out from in front of the door.
“Albert, how is she?”
Our territory was on the frontier and fairly small, so we did not have a proper physician.
Instead, Albert had at least a basic knowledge of medicine.
“Fortunately, there is no major problem. She only fainted from shock. You may go in.”
I gave a short nod and stepped into the room.
Marsha, who had been sitting by the window, slowly turned her head.
And the moment she saw me,
she smiled brightly, only for her eyes to quickly grow wet.
“Waaah.”
“Ma-Marsha.”
As I hurried over in confusion,
Marsha came into my arms without the slightest hesitation.
“There, it’s all right. It’s all right now.”
“Sniff, I was so scared... I was really, really scared...”
I know.
I know what that fear is like.
It was far too much for Marsha to bear.
After sniffling for a long while, she finally calmed down little by little and drew away from my embrace.
Wiping at the corners of her eyes, Marsha abruptly said,
“I had a dream.”
“Hm?”
“A monster was chasing me, and a prince on a white horse saved me. He lifted me into his arms... How should I put it?”
Then she suddenly lowered her head.
“At that moment, he looked quite handsome.”
At those words, a laugh slipped out of me.
“Serafinlie’s knight was the one who saved you. He was fairly handsome, too. Should I call him over later so you can thank him?”
In that instant, Marsha glared at me.
“Why?”
“Idiot.”
“Huh?”
I genuinely did not understand, and stared at her with a blank face.
Just then, Father and Mother entered the room.
The moment they saw Marsha, their faces filled with relief,
and Marsha burst into tears again and threw herself into their arms.
Meanwhile.
After hearing that Eileen and Serafinlie had gone to yesterday’s scene with their knights,
I headed there as well.
The first thing that entered my sight upon arrival was Eileen.
She was examining the scene carefully with her knights.
The scrape marks on the ground,
the traces of bark torn from the trees,
even the places where footprints had been smeared—her face said she would not miss a single thing.
I went straight up to her.
“Oh, Mr. Reion, you’re here? How is Marsha?”
“She only fainted, so she’s all right. Have you found anything?”
Eileen shook her head.
“According to our knights, they’re definitely a little different in nature from the ones who attacked me. Judging only by the traces left behind, the trajectory of their swords and their movements aren’t in any style they’re familiar with.”
The knights around us were examining the traces of battle left on the trees and ground.
The direction of broken branches,
the depth of the gouges in the earth,
even the marks where blades had grazed past—they were checking each one.
“If we had any remaining clue like the type of weapon or the material of their clothes, it would be much easier to narrow it down.”
At those words, something flashed through my mind for an instant,
but I immediately erased the thought.
“You can tell from things like that?”
“Yes. Of course, there are many cases where people disguise such things to deceive others. Even so, when information like that accumulates, if similar traces appear later, they at least become evidence that it was the same culprit.”
It was just like her, never overlooking even the smallest thing carelessly.
At that moment, Serafinlie walked over to us.
In her hand was a broken fragment.
“There’s nothing in particular on this side either. Instead, we found a fragment of the smoke bomb they used.”
Serafinlie held up the piece as she spoke.
“It’s not exactly cheap junk. I’ve seen it before because it’s among the goods we trade.”
Her eyes sharpened coldly.
When it came to the ability to remember goods and the sense to classify them,
even Eileen had to concede a step.
“Can it be traced?”
At Eileen’s question, Serafinlie shook her head.
“Impossible. It’s a smoke bomb that’s too widely circulated. It isn’t cheap, but it’s not so expensive that it’s only for the high end—just a bit better than average—so it’s spread across all sorts of regions.”
In the end, that was all the information we could obtain from the scene.
To be honest,
it was hardly any different from having nothing at all.
Was it really the work of the Bedberiu territory?
Or was it truly connected to those who had attacked Eileen?
If not that—
I glanced at Eileen.
But I immediately turned my gaze away again.
For now, I could not be certain of anything.
In the end, we began by clearing up the remaining debris as we restored the scene.