In the dim interior of the tent, there is only the slow breathing of a sleeping silver-haired girl.
“Nnn……”
The girl’s eyes opened slightly and she reached out sleepily, looking for something.
Her hand landed on a blanket. She slowly fumbled through it, feeling under it.
She is alone in the bed.
It is noisy outside, she can hear voices and sounds of soldiers moving about.
――oh yeah, this is a battlefield.
She was still sleepy but could not relax enough to go back to sleep.
She slowly sat up and looked around.
Selene was not in the tent. She must have woken up earlier.
Krische sat there hugging the blanket for a while, staring blankly into space.
She felt the pouch hanging from her neck with only one piece of candy inside.
She fiddled with the candy through the cloth as she stood up.
Krische washed her face with water from a pitcher, waking herself with the cool water.
The surrounding temperature is not that low, but it still felt chilly.
She grabbed her cloak and wrapped it around herself.
She grabbed the bread she had set aside and dipped it in cold soup.
It does not taste that bad. She tore off small pieces and filled her stomach.
Unusually, she was not in the mood to enjoy the taste and finished her meal quickly.
Should I brew some tea?
Krische felt like drinking something warm, but also felt too lazy.
Then master’s tent.
But her feet were heavy.
She sat on the bed and stared into space.
Her mind might not be fully awake yet.
She sat there blankly, just toying with the candy bag.
“……Krische wants to go back and cook with Bery.”
Krische muttered to herself.
At that moment, someone pulled open the tent’s entrance.
“Hm? You woke up? I thought you would still be asleep.”
Her beautiful blonde hair whipped left and right like a horse’s tail.
Selene smiled as she drew closer and clasped Krische’s cheeks between her hands.
Her hands felt warm in the chilly tent.
“Good morning. The sun rose a while ago.”
“……yes, good morning.”
“Have you ate? Did you wash your face?”
“Er……yes.”
Krische nodded.
Selene patted her head and sat down next to her on the bed.
“There’s a meeting at noon, so I came to wake you up. Is your mind awake?”
“……ehehe, yes.”
Krische hugged Selene.
Selene smiled wryly and petted Krische’s head as Krische pressed herself closer.
“And this is how you act when your mind is awake? Never mind, saves me some trouble.”
Selene smiled and rubbed her cheek against Krische’s.
She gently combed her fingers through Krische’s long hair.
“We have some time……so, Krische, can you brew us some tea? Today……I will have the same as you, sweet with plenty of honey.”
“And plenty of milk?”
“Yes. The same.”
“Okay.”
Krische smiled and nodded.
They have complete control of the initiative.
The enemy is forced to react to their movements and under their control.
――It is time.
“I believe it is time to attack. Any objections?”
Nobody objected to Bogan’s statement.
Everyone in the tent nodded deeply in agreement.
“……since there is no movement from the central army, we will have to drive back the enemy by ourselves. I would rather bet on our victory than on the south holding out.”
Selene spoke up and Gallen showed his agreement.
Bogan also nodded and turned to Krische,
“Krische. What do you think?”
“Krische wants to hurry up and go home to cook with Bery……so Krische would rather finish up quickly.”
Everyone smiled wryly at Krische’s honesty while Selene pinched her cheek for being too relaxed.
Krische showed no doubts at all about their victory.
Her lack of tension helped to remove any uneasiness the others felt about this gamble and hastened their decision――and the battle begun.
――Finish up and go home.
That sounds really attractive, so Krische suggested a plan to infiltrate the enemy camp in the mountains and volunteered to participate herself.
But Krische’s vague position could lead to confusion, so Selene was put in charge of a specially formed assault squad and Krische was assigned to be her adjutant.
The plan is to infiltrate the mountains at night, followed by a bold surprise attack on the enemy’s mountain command post at dawn.
The forth corps will follow up after Krische’s squad ambushes the enemy command post.
Their role is to support this attack by paralysing the enemy’s chain of command.
Krische is used to running around the forest and the dense trees are not an obstacle for her.
For this mission, 500 soldiers used to the mountains, such as former hunters, were chosen.
They advanced silently with Krische in the lead.
“Ah――”
Krische leapt down from the trees and swung her sword twice.
She cut the throats of two patrolling soldiers without giving them time to scream. Fresh blood spouted out as they fell to the ground.
――Twenty seven.
Krische counted the number she had killed as she glanced at her cloak.
Her cloak was stained red with blood, making her pout in dissatisfaction.
Normally it would be possible for her to avoid the blood, but the objective is to prevent them from shouting and avoid detection.
It is difficult to do that and still avoid the blood.
Her cloak had grown heavy with the blood that soaked it, she wanted to take it off.
It is now dawn. The 500 selected soldiers had climbed the mountain in the dark of night and infiltrated from the enemy’s flank.
The morning light created shadows, making it even darker under the trees.
The now dark red cloak is not so bad at this time.
Krische forced herself to keep it on with this logic as she raised a hand to signal the others.
The trees rustled as men stepped out, all looking fearfully at the girl in front of them. Even Selene was looking at Krische with a severe expression.
Krische focused on reliability and took on the role of leading the squad and dealing with patrols.
Even if the soldiers were chosen for their ability to move in the mountains, she could not be sure of their ability.
Krische left them to focus on keeping an eye on their surroundings and finding enemy patrols while she disposed of the sentries.
Krische found this to be a reliable and efficient system and is quite satisfied with it. But seeing her casually cut down the sentries without receiving a single wound filled the soldiers with fear.
That is a natural reaction after watching her kill more people that can be counted on both hands and feet so easily.
Even among veteran soldiers, not many would be able to say they killed enough enemies in one day to count on both hands.
Soldiers fight in a state of extreme tension while battling the fear of death, their lives are constantly on the line.
Anyone that stands on the frontlines and kills five in a single battle is already a hero.
Killing a single enemy and staying alive is the most that most soldiers can do.
This is the norm for most soldiers and that is why they are terrified by Krische.
It is true that any who kills many with a single life becomes a hero of the battlefield.
In a sense, soldiers are career murderers, but Krische is too business-like, too different from their image of a hero.
Krische calculates the most efficient way to kill and executes it.
This is not fighting, this is assassination.
That is the role required of her, but she does it too methodically.
She accurately identifies the enemy’s blindspots and the timings in their breathing when they relax, then strikes――as a result, they die without realising what had happened.
No matter what the enemy did, it is an unavoidable death.
The instant she found the sentries, they were dead men. The soldiers could not understand Krische, but they could understand how the enemies might feel.
They could accept it if they lost by the sword in battle.
But how would it feel to be killed like this in the middle of the forest, without any honour, without even knowing what had happened.
――They imagined it and trembled.
And that lead to the image of what would happen to them if this girl’s sword turned on them.
Many of these chosen soldiers are former hunters and have a good understanding of how and what it means to take a life.
But she is not hunting animals, she is hunting humans.
They could not understand how Krische could so calmly and methodically kill without any hesitation just because she needs to, it is creepy.
“……are you okay?”
Selene approached Krische and patted her head, aware the soldiers’ feelings.
Krische acts as normal even as the soldiers stared at her.
She smiled a little as Selene patted her head.
She lifted a corner of her cloak and looked up at Selene.
“Krische’s cloak is soaked with blood. Even though Bery bought this for Krische……can the stains be washed off?”
“If they can’t then I’ll get a new one for you…… sorry about making you do this. I’ll do anything you want once we get home.”
“……anything?”
Krische put a finger to her lips, blushing a little.
“Then, Krische wants to have tea in Selene’s room again. Drink some tea, er……with the three of us, and eat some, cookies……”
“You really don’t wish for much. Well……that’s fine, I’ll join you.”
“……ehehe.”
Selene had known this would happen when Krische volunteered.
After seeing it for herself, Selene could understand why the soldiers would fear her.
This side of Krische stood out even worse because of the gap with the usual image of Krische Christand――the general’s beautiful and cute daughter.
Even the experienced centurions who looked reluctant at first, uneasy because of Krische’s appearance and youth, now looked at her with fearful eyes.
Selene wanted Krische to wait with Bogan.
Even if Krische does not care, Selene does.
It is sad and painful that the Krische she loves is being looked at like this.
But this is a stealth mission through the enemy’s defensive line in the mountains.
Krische’s plan of disrupting the chain of command and quickly breaking through the mountains with the forth corps to conduct a surprise flank attack and secure a beachhead on the river’s southern bank would be difficult for Selene to carry out by herself.
Of course Selene understands how the tactic works and knows what to do, but when it comes to whether she can actually take command and execute it, she is not so sure.
Selene has only acted as an adjutant so far.
This is the first time she actually takes command outside of training.
The responsibility of leading this special assault squad is too heavy for Selene to bear alone.
This is why Bogan decided to use Krische, expecting Selene to serve as the buffer between Krische and the soldiers.
Selene is also aware that this is her role.
She felt vexed, but was also relieved.
Bogan is an extremely practical person.
Krische has unique――exceptional ability.
Selene has good, but clearly inexperienced skill.
He calmly assessed their abilities and assigned them suitable roles.
Because Selene understood this, she felt pathetic.
Managing 500 soldiers in the mountains is really quite difficult.
Simply advancing while scouting the surroundings and finding the correct timings for small breaks is difficult. Even with experienced soldiers, she has to pay attention to make sure there are no stragglers.
If she also has to choose the infiltration route, which is currently being done by Krische, it would be too difficult for her.
Once the battle begins, information will become even more complicated and confusing.
That is why though she curses her own inexperience, she is also grateful for Krische’s presence.
Krische’s genius intuition and swordsmanship has allowed them to infiltrate further than expected.
This is also because they had slipped through the gaps in the enemy defensive line that Krische had derived from the geography.
It is all because of Krische that they manage to infiltrate so far without any large battles.
Selene initially planned to make a large detour through higher mountain paths and get behind the enemy, then quickly breakthrough weak points in the defensive line. This infiltration plan made full use of the soldiers’ hiking experience.
But this plan would involve combat and they would have to rush to get to the enemy command before news of their infiltration did.
This would have been extremely exhausting for the soldiers.
Instead, Krische suggested climbing the mountain in the night then taking a long break before descending.
Krische descended first without using a rope and scouted the area, getting rid of any patrolling sentries.
After that the soldiers carefully descended using ropes and they slipped through the gaps in the defensive line, completely avoiding combat. They just need to watch out for any patrols or reserve forces.
Although they need to be on guard while advancing, the chance of exposure is low since they are not fighting, resulting in lesser mental and physical strain.
Once they have carefully descended from the mountain, they can infiltrate deep into enemy lines without wasting energy or fighting.
As a result, they have infiltrated much further than the ideal point in Selene’s plan.
How could I have done this with just my troops without Krische?
Selene almost got distracted by that thought but forced herself to focus on the matter at hand.
“……this should be the limit. The enemy’s command post should be right ahead of us.”
“Yes. We managed to completely avoid the enemy guards so far……but this is the limit. Judging by the position of the enemy forces, the command post is a little further south.”
Krische’s tone was confident.
Krische understood the enemy’s arrangement and knew their position as if she had eyes in the sky.
She must have a mental map and compass.
Her answers are always concise and confident.
Selene will never be able to match Krische at this.
Selene opened up a crude map and confirmed their position with Krische.
Selene can recognise their current location based on how long they had walked and their pace, but not as precisely as Krische.
She corrected the slight error between her perceived location and Krische’s, pondering what had caused the error. The map? Their pace? Or did she misread the land?
After meeting Krische, Selene had worked on understanding herself well.
She learnt about her own abilities, what she is good at, what she is bad at.
Bogan had always told her to know her own flaws and Selene finally understood what he meant after meeting Krische.
Krische is someone that Selene could never defeat. But Selene can learn from her and get closer.
In order to this, she needs to understand where she is lacking, then she can work on improving, refining herself with her inborn ambition and diligence.
This is Selene’s strength.
There are great expectations of Selene, not just as a suitable successor to the hero, Bogan Christand, but as someone who can exceed him. However, Selene herself never believed that she was talented.
She believes she is a normal person who was simply blessed with the opportunity to study under many excellent tutors.
Her humility and willingness to learn made her even more popular and attractive.
Thus nobody complained about her taking command for such an important mission despite her youth. In fact, they were motivated to fight for her.
The soldiers’ loyalty to the general’s daughter, Selene Christand suppressed their fear of Krische, balancing out well and allowing them to advance orderly and stealthily.
There was also not much objection to Krische taking the lead and dealing with sentries mostly because it was Selene’s decision.
Krische also values Selene’s popularity highly.
Krische knows that it would not have gone so well if she was by herself.
She takes things too lightly and does not consider long-term implications.
It is because of Krische’s outstanding abilities that she unknowingly developed this bad habit.
It stems from her absolute confidence in herself.
Krische is indifferent to whether the soldiers listen to her.
If they listen, good.
If they do not listen, then she will punish them herself for disobeying orders in accordance to the rules, exactly according to the rules――with death.
Krische has no hesitation about doing this and believes she can deal with any problems that occurs.
If she can deal with it anyway, then she doesn’t care as long as a certain number is left.
Krische’s bad habit makes her come to such conclusions too easily.
She expected to have to sacrifice two or three, but that loss became unnecessary with Selene in charge.
Krische only saw the soldiers as numbers and did not care much either way, but fewer losses is better.
This way she does not need to conduct any executions and the soldiers still follow obediently.
Krische is grateful to Selene for this.
Selene is simply doing her best to not be a burden to Krische while constantly learning from her.
They rate each other highly, are aware of the other’s capabilities and complement each other.
Commander and adjutant. The two of them had unknowingly created the ideal working relationship.
“They should not have noticed us…… this is your achievement, Krische. Thanks to you, we will have quite an advantage.”
“Krische only led the way. It would not have gone so well with Krische alone, so the achievement belongs to Selene. Also, Krische only came to deliver letters.”
“……you are still saying that?”
“Uuuu……..”
Selene pinched Krische’s cheek exasperatedly.
Krische looked at Selene in protest as her soft cheek was stretched out.
It was not painful but she did not like having her cheek pulled.
But Selene likes pulling on Krische’s cheeks as much as patting her head, Krische’s reproachful eyes would not stop her.
Krische can understand that Selene did not do it out of malice, but strong goodwill――love, according to Bery.
Selene smiled and patted Krische’s head, then declared.
“……eventually, I will make it so that Krische does not have to do these kind of things. Then Krische can always cook with Bery at home.”
“……always cook.”
“Yes, always……so for now, lend me your strength.”
Krische thought for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
Grace and Gorka, Gallen and Galla――now there is Selene and Bery too.
These people never ask Krische for anything, only giving to Krische, they are special to her.
She always has trouble thinking of what she can do in return for them, which is why it is a relief whenever they ask something of her.
Krische sees everything in terms of calculations, thus she is most comfortable with plus-minus zero relationships.
It is unpleasant to receive too little, but receiving too much also makes her feel awkward.
Happy to be asked for a favour, Krische’s eyes narrowed slightly as her mouth relaxed into a small smile.
“Okay. Then……once we go home, Krische will not just teach Selene swordsmanship, but also cooking. So, erm……”
――Let’s cook together with Bery again.
Krische has received too much but can only pay back with trivial everyday things.
This is because that is what she values the most.
If someone is kind to you, do something which made you happy for them.
Both Grace and Bery had taught her this, so Krische loyally followed it.
This is why Krische said that, but Selene widened her eyes for a moment, then nodded happily.
“Fufu, after we go home then. A simple dish please.”
“……okay.”
They smiled and spoke softly to each other as Selene packed away the map.
A small break――a small exchange.
The soldiers watched this scene with strange feelings.
They had not been able to understand what Krische was thinking, but in that moment, she became flesh and blood, they could not tear their eyes away from her beauty and cuteness.
The heroes protecting the two beautiful Christand princesses――
The soldiers recalled that title and looked at each other, clenching their fists.
With Selene, Krische looks like any other girl her age, so it is also their duty to protect her.
Although their fear and uneasiness about her is not gone, they must protect this scene.
Drawing near the enemy command post of the mountain defensive line, the soldiers suppressed various emotions and focused their all on this thought.
Protecting Krische is part of protecting Selene’s smile, the Selene they all believe in and love.
Many stories about the two of them often spoke of this gap.
The cold and heartless Krische only acts so childish with Selene and the serious and strict Selene only allows Krische to act like this.
――The story of the two beautiful princesses began with this battle.
-End-
Edit: Changed all previous mentions of the fort’s fence to barricade.
