When I arrived at Commander Lieber’s office, it was Sir Leonhard who greeted me.
“What seems to be the matter?”
“I believe I’ve found something and wanted to talk about it…”
“Then first, let’s go inside.”
There were only two people in the room I was invited into: Commander Lieber and Sir Leonhard. I felt sorry for the escort that followed me thus far, but I had them wait outside for now.
Commander Lieber half-heartedly cleared out the materials that were piled up on the sofa before following up with ‘Please’ and offered me a seat.
Maps and other books were still spread out all over the desk and not to mention the dark circles around their eyes. They must have been looking through this all night long.
“And what is the matter of discussion?”
When I was asked again, my throat tensed up.
“I want to visit the first village again.”
“The first one?”
Sir Leonhard frowned with suspicion.
“Weren’t we told that that temple was being rebuilt?”
Commander Lieber asked.
“As you’ve said, the old temple was demolished and a new one is currently undergoing construction. However, the villagers told me that there wasn’t anything inside in the first place.”
“Are you saying there wasn’t anything valuable enough to be worth moving?”
“That’s also possible. However, if there really were worthless items, I doubt they would say it was empty. Stealing the stone statues would be unlikely as well.”
“I see.”
Commander Lieber replied with folded arms.
“And so I had thought it over… This is only my speculation and nothing else.”
“Please tell us.”
Sir Leonhard urged my hesitant words.
“There could be another temple other than the one being rebuilt, where all the items of worship had been moved there.”
“You’re saying the first temple is only a farce so there was no reason to have anything in it in the first place?”
I thought my explanation was incomprehensible. To fully understand after explaining it once… Sir Leohard’s ability to grasp information is terrifying.
“If that’s the case, it would be best for us to search the forest next to that village.”
I nodded in agreement.
“Yes, and I’d like to set off as soon as possible.”
Before Raptor gets there first.
Sir Leonhard understood the parts I didn’t say out loud. ‘Then I shall prepare for a journey right away’, Sir Leonhard replied, but it was Commander Lieber who stopped him as he was about to stand up.
“No, wait a second! The sun will already be set by the time you arrive if you set off now, you know? How about going tomorrow instead?”
“We can’t afford to lose any time.”
“Ah… Then, wait a bit, I’ll go with you!”
I squinted my eyes at his sudden offer.
“Wha-!? T-That’s-”
“I know full well of Leonhard’s ability, but sending only one escort for Your Highness doesn’t calm my heart. Since we’ll attract too much attention if we move in large numbers, I won’t take any subordinates with me this time.”
Commander Lieber said all that and left the room in a hurry.
Perhaps he went to give orders to his subordinates. Less than an hour later, we met up at the fort’s gate, before setting off for the village.
********
The horse’s hoofs violently kicked the ground and sent a dirt cloud flying in the air.
The sun was hanging low in the sky above the scenery that blazed past me. Looks like night is coming.
“Are you all right, Princess? We’ll be there soon, so please hang on for a little bit longer.”
I was being checked on multiple times. I wanted to give a reply, but I was too afraid of biting my tongue.
When I could no longer handle the oncoming wind pressure, I raised my face up. At the end of my vision was a village that had begun to appear in the distance, and a small forest that seemed to have snuggled up behind it.
Since cutting through the village will attract too much attention, we went around it instead.
I looked sideways at the scenery that flew by. Smoke was rising up from the chimneys and a flock of sheep was returning back into its shed. The sounds of birds flying overhead and the voices of lively children could be heard.
This is the daily life that I want to protect.
By the time we had arrived at the side of the forest, the sun had almost set.
“Can you dismount?”
I took the hand offered to me and got off the horse.
With his support, I managed to stay upright despite my staggering legs. It felt like the ground was still shaking, which made me nauseous.
“Please don’t overdo it, Princess.”
“I’m all right.”
I managed a laugh for Sir Leonhard, who only stared at me with worry.
“The sun’s set after all, huh.”
Commander Lieber pulled out some flint and skilfully used it to light torches.
The night forest illuminated by faint torchlights appeared in my vision.
Leaves were swaying in the wind. The sound of them rubbing each other sounded like a giant buzz. The shadows from the swaying trees looked like monsters and my legs instantly gave out. It doesn’t take a folktale to scare me off from going into a forest at night, I wouldn’t want to come anywhere near this in the first place. It’s too creepy!
The Demon Lord could be sleeping here. It gave off that kind of atmosphere.
I clasped my trembling hands and slowly took a deep breath.
I’m all right. I’m not alone. There are two excellent escorts right by my side, after all.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
Nodding to Sir Leonhard’s words, I took my first step into the forest.
Commander Lieber took the lead, with me in the middle, and Sir Leonhard last.
The wind was very cold as I rode on the horse, but there was another kind of cold in a forest. The chilly and damp air.
It’s so cold. The breath I exhaled warmed my nose for a moment before it froze white and became painfully cold. My ears and nose were starting to hurt.
The cold air that clung onto my skin stole away its heat. Even though I was wearing full gloves, I could no longer feel my fingertips.
If we don’t find the temple soon, we’ll freeze to death.
But I don’t even know if it really existed in the first place.
“…!?”
As we went deeper into the forest, I caught something in the corner of my eye.
Sir Leonhard, noticing I had held my breath, asked me.
“What’s the matter?”
“I thought I saw something shining just now.”
Commander Lieber went and searched the area I pointed to with his torch.
He gave the rocks a good look around before turning back to me and nodded.
“Oh, this is moss. It’s a kind that can reflect light.”
Commander Lieber told me that it probably reflected the moonlight and was seen through a gap in the trees. I exhaled a breath of relief.
I honestly thought it was a fairy for a second.
It was likely that if a young child were to enter this forest and saw that, they’d be surprised and run away. I was impressed by the fact that those folktales really made good use of the natural traps around here.
But that’s not important right now, I thought, and immediately braced myself.
“I’m aiming for the centre of the forest for the time being, but… where is that exactly?”
“I don’t know either.”
“I guess that’s a given… Isn’t it better to search when there’s more light, after all?”
What Commander Lieber said was on point.
But for some reason, I felt so frustrated I just couldn’t sit still. I didn’t think it was because of the insects either. My heart simply wouldn’t calm down.
“I want to search a little more.”
“All right, but we only have about an hour left.”
“An hour…”
“Any later than that and we will surely freeze. Your nose is starting to go red, you know?”
Being pointed out by Commander Lieber, I held my nose in a hurry.
So embarrassing. A red-nose reindeer might be cute, but it only looks stupid on me, doesn’t it?
“Princess.”
Being called from behind, I turned back with a somewhat unnatural pose while holding my nose down. I want you to understand a maiden’s heart of not wanting to show a stupid face towards the one she loves.
When I raised my face, I was surprised to see Sir Leonhard’s face so close to mine.
He put his hand behind the back of my neck and wrapped something around me. It was his own muffler-like piece that was part of his winter clothing.
“It will be cold, but please bear it with this for the time being.”
Sir Leonhard was red.
I couldn’t understand what happened, so I only held the muffler down with both hands. No way did a manga-like event just happen to me. Is this real life? I’m seeing illusions because I’m about to freeze to death, right?
When I buried my face into the muffler, I caught a glimpse of Sir Leonhard’s scent and nearly fell over. Not good. My nose is about to bleed, but for a different reason.
“Stop flirting and let’s move on already.”
“Flir-!?”
Hearing what Commander Lieber said, I could only open and close my mouth repeatedly like a breathless carp.
“No, even if you’re not flirting… Look out!!”
Commander Lieber’s face turned serious in an instant. My arm was pulled and I was soon held tightly.
What I saw from the commander’s chest was something flying vigorously through where I had stood. A slender knife that played the flames of our torch was stuck in a carpet of dead leaves and shimmered dully.
Sir Leonhard jumped out in front and unsheathed his sword.
Woosh! Sir Leonhard instantly cut down another knife that flew with the sound of the wind. Then two more in succession.
The knives came from different directions. In other words, there were multiple assailants.
Are we surrounded?
Thinking that sent chills down my spine.
We couldn’t see who the enemies were because of the night. One’s imagination can spin out more enemies than there actually are. The thought that I might die here made my body tremble.
“Ernst! You go ahead!!”
Sir Leonhard shouted.
Commander Lieber hesitated for only a mere instant, before picking me up and started running.
“S-Sir Leon!!”
“He will catch up to us soon!”
I leaned out and extended my hand.
The figure of my important person was soon swallowed by the darkness and disappeared.
“Sir Leon…!!”
I felt my heart crushed by a fear different from before. A fear so strong that my throat couldn’t make a sound.
When I arrived at Commander Lieber’s office, it was Sir Leonhard who greeted me.
“What seems to be the matter?”
“I believe I’ve found something and wanted to talk about it…”
“Then first, let’s go inside.”
There were only two people in the room I was invited into: Commander Lieber and Sir Leonhard. I felt sorry for the escort that followed me thus far, but I had them wait outside for now.
Commander Lieber half-heartedly cleared out the materials that were piled up on the sofa before following up with ‘Please’ and offered me a seat.
Maps and other books were still spread out all over the desk and not to mention the dark circles around their eyes. They must have been looking through this all night long.
“And what is the matter of discussion?”
When I was asked again, my throat tensed up.
“I want to visit the first village again.”
“The first one?”
Sir Leonhard frowned with suspicion.
“Weren’t we told that that temple was being rebuilt?”
Commander Lieber asked.
“As you’ve said, the old temple was demolished and a new one is currently undergoing construction. However, the villagers told me that there wasn’t anything inside in the first place.”
“Are you saying there wasn’t anything valuable enough to be worth moving?”
“That’s also possible. However, if there really were worthless items, I doubt they would say it was empty. Stealing the stone statues would be unlikely as well.”
“I see.”
Commander Lieber replied with folded arms.
“And so I had thought it over… This is only my speculation and nothing else.”
“Please tell us.”
Sir Leonhard urged my hesitant words.
“There could be another temple other than the one being rebuilt, where all the items of worship had been moved there.”
“You’re saying the first temple is only a farce so there was no reason to have anything in it in the first place?”
I thought my explanation was incomprehensible. To fully understand after explaining it once… Sir Leohard’s ability to grasp information is terrifying.
“If that’s the case, it would be best for us to search the forest next to that village.”
I nodded in agreement.
“Yes, and I’d like to set off as soon as possible.”
Before Raptor gets there first.
Sir Leonhard understood the parts I didn’t say out loud. ‘Then I shall prepare for a journey right away’, Sir Leonhard replied, but it was Commander Lieber who stopped him as he was about to stand up.
“No, wait a second! The sun will already be set by the time you arrive if you set off now, you know? How about going tomorrow instead?”
“We can’t afford to lose any time.”
“Ah… Then, wait a bit, I’ll go with you!”
I squinted my eyes at his sudden offer.
“Wha-!? T-That’s-”
“I know full well of Leonhard’s ability, but sending only one escort for Your Highness doesn’t calm my heart. Since we’ll attract too much attention if we move in large numbers, I won’t take any subordinates with me this time.”
Commander Lieber said all that and left the room in a hurry.
Perhaps he went to give orders to his subordinates. Less than an hour later, we met up at the fort’s gate, before setting off for the village.
********
The horse’s hoofs violently kicked the ground and sent a dirt cloud flying in the air.
The sun was hanging low in the sky above the scenery that blazed past me. Looks like night is coming.
“Are you all right, Princess? We’ll be there soon, so please hang on for a little bit longer.”
I was being checked on multiple times. I wanted to give a reply, but I was too afraid of biting my tongue.
When I could no longer handle the oncoming wind pressure, I raised my face up. At the end of my vision was a village that had begun to appear in the distance, and a small forest that seemed to have snuggled up behind it.
Since cutting through the village will attract too much attention, we went around it instead.
I looked sideways at the scenery that flew by. Smoke was rising up from the chimneys and a flock of sheep was returning back into its shed. The sounds of birds flying overhead and the voices of lively children could be heard.
This is the daily life that I want to protect.
By the time we had arrived at the side of the forest, the sun had almost set.
“Can you dismount?”
I took the hand offered to me and got off the horse.
With his support, I managed to stay upright despite my staggering legs. It felt like the ground was still shaking, which made me nauseous.
“Please don’t overdo it, Princess.”
“I’m all right.”
I managed a laugh for Sir Leonhard, who only stared at me with worry.
“The sun’s set after all, huh.”
Commander Lieber pulled out some flint and skilfully used it to light torches.
The night forest illuminated by faint torchlights appeared in my vision.
Leaves were swaying in the wind. The sound of them rubbing each other sounded like a giant buzz. The shadows from the swaying trees looked like monsters and my legs instantly gave out. It doesn’t take a folktale to scare me off from going into a forest at night, I wouldn’t want to come anywhere near this in the first place. It’s too creepy!
The Demon Lord could be sleeping here. It gave off that kind of atmosphere.
I clasped my trembling hands and slowly took a deep breath.
I’m all right. I’m not alone. There are two excellent escorts right by my side, after all.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
Nodding to Sir Leonhard’s words, I took my first step into the forest.
Commander Lieber took the lead, with me in the middle, and Sir Leonhard last.
The wind was very cold as I rode on the horse, but there was another kind of cold in a forest. The chilly and damp air.
It’s so cold. The breath I exhaled warmed my nose for a moment before it froze white and became painfully cold. My ears and nose were starting to hurt.
The cold air that clung onto my skin stole away its heat. Even though I was wearing full gloves, I could no longer feel my fingertips.
If we don’t find the temple soon, we’ll freeze to death.
But I don’t even know if it really existed in the first place.
“…!?”
As we went deeper into the forest, I caught something in the corner of my eye.
Sir Leonhard, noticing I had held my breath, asked me.
“What’s the matter?”
“I thought I saw something shining just now.”
Commander Lieber went and searched the area I pointed to with his torch.
He gave the rocks a good look around before turning back to me and nodded.
“Oh, this is moss. It’s a kind that can reflect light.”
Commander Lieber told me that it probably reflected the moonlight and was seen through a gap in the trees. I exhaled a breath of relief.
I honestly thought it was a fairy for a second.
It was likely that if a young child were to enter this forest and saw that, they’d be surprised and run away. I was impressed by the fact that those folktales really made good use of the natural traps around here.
But that’s not important right now, I thought, and immediately braced myself.
“I’m aiming for the centre of the forest for the time being, but… where is that exactly?”
“I don’t know either.”
“I guess that’s a given… Isn’t it better to search when there’s more light, after all?”
What Commander Lieber said was on point.
But for some reason, I felt so frustrated I just couldn’t sit still. I didn’t think it was because of the insects either. My heart simply wouldn’t calm down.
“I want to search a little more.”
“All right, but we only have about an hour left.”
“An hour…”
“Any later than that and we will surely freeze. Your nose is starting to go red, you know?”
Being pointed out by Commander Lieber, I held my nose in a hurry.
So embarrassing. A red-nose reindeer might be cute, but it only looks stupid on me, doesn’t it?
“Princess.”
Being called from behind, I turned back with a somewhat unnatural pose while holding my nose down. I want you to understand a maiden’s heart of not wanting to show a stupid face towards the one she loves.
When I raised my face, I was surprised to see Sir Leonhard’s face so close to mine.
He put his hand behind the back of my neck and wrapped something around me. It was his own muffler-like piece that was part of his winter clothing.
“It will be cold, but please bear it with this for the time being.”
Sir Leonhard was red.
I couldn’t understand what happened, so I only held the muffler down with both hands. No way did a manga-like event just happen to me. Is this real life? I’m seeing illusions because I’m about to freeze to death, right?
When I buried my face into the muffler, I caught a glimpse of Sir Leonhard’s scent and nearly fell over. Not good. My nose is about to bleed, but for a different reason.
“Stop flirting and let’s move on already.”
“Flir-!?”
Hearing what Commander Lieber said, I could only open and close my mouth repeatedly like a breathless carp.
“No, even if you’re not flirting… Look out!!”
Commander Lieber’s face turned serious in an instant. My arm was pulled and I was soon held tightly.
What I saw from the commander’s chest was something flying vigorously through where I had stood. A slender knife that played the flames of our torch was stuck in a carpet of dead leaves and shimmered dully.
Sir Leonhard jumped out in front and unsheathed his sword.
Woosh! Sir Leonhard instantly cut down another knife that flew with the sound of the wind. Then two more in succession.
The knives came from different directions. In other words, there were multiple assailants.
Are we surrounded?
Thinking that sent chills down my spine.
We couldn’t see who the enemies were because of the night. One’s imagination can spin out more enemies than there actually are. The thought that I might die here made my body tremble.
“Ernst! You go ahead!!”
Sir Leonhard shouted.
Commander Lieber hesitated for only a mere instant, before picking me up and started running.
“S-Sir Leon!!”
“He will catch up to us soon!”
I leaned out and extended my hand.
The figure of my important person was soon swallowed by the darkness and disappeared.
“Sir Leon…!!”
I felt my heart crushed by a fear different from before. A fear so strong that my throat couldn’t make a sound.
