As I entered the room, I lit candles one by one while the Duke took off his uniform jacket and vest and hung it on a hanger. Usually thereās no conversation between him and me to speak of.
Sometimes I struggle with the awkwardness and talk about a story that I donāt get sick of. Of course, every time the Duke would say I was too noisy or simply ignore me, butā¦ I had something I wanted to ask for today, so I opened my mouth very carefully.
āUm, Duāā¦. I mean, Sir Knight.ā
I almost called him āthe Duke,ā but I corrected myself because it wasnāt inherited yet.
Thankfully after my call, he turned to me. Purple eyes looked down at me, inadvertently appearing obsidian due to the ravages around them.
āSoon, youāll be going to war.ā
āā¦ā¦War?ā
His head tilted slightly. He didnāt seem to know what I was talking about, only looking down at me in confusion. Did he change his mind? Itās a safe war if going with the Paladins and the Imperial Knights, but what if they back out?!
āI heard that Vios declared war.ā
āI wouldnāt call something like that a āwar.āā
I said it while filled with anxiety, but he responded casually in answer. Oh, I see. I was anxious thinking that the Duke wasnāt going to war, but from the Dukeās point of view, this couldnāt even be considered a āwar.ā
Well, yes, true. He has fought in numerous wars with quite large kingdoms, so the battle with Vios, a weaker country, wouldnāt even fall under the category of āwar.ā Maybe a subjugation? A conquest?
I boldly signed the contract with the promise that this campaign would be worth 300 gold, but I still had anxiety, so I tried to increase my chances of survival by increasing my congeniality with the Duke. With only a few words of conversation, my chances of survival could improve. Somehow, I was very happy.
āThank you very much, Sir Knight!ā
So I smiled brightly while wearing my business smile, only to have the Duke crumple his eyebrows. No, it hurts me a little if you respond so honestlyā¦?
āā¦What are you thanking me for?ā
āOh, I also decided to participate in the war as a healer.ā
Again, his eyebrows crumpled further at my response. There must be paper under there somewhere for it to crumple so well.
āDonāt be a nuisance there.ā
Well, Iāve been sitting like a statue for you for three years, but, ādonāt bother me like that,ā is your response! I felt my temper flaring up, but I only nodded. If I express my mind here, my chances of survival will only decrease.
Maybe right now, my survival rate in that place is in the negative.
āIāll keep that in mind.ā
And most of all, I thought of his position of power among the soldiers, so I answered neatly and politely. Meanwhile, the Duke said, lying in the bed, without looking at me.
āYouāre noisy.ā
āā¦ā¦ā¦.ā
If this man had a remote control, it would need only a mute button.
* * * * * * *
Ten days passed by in a flash. I was in a constant state of distress thinking about the war, but the atmosphere of the capital was not so at all. Everyone said we would just win and come back, and some even laughed and joked about those who were going to war.
This time ruled by King Keschmir XII will probably be recorded in history as a peaceful dynasty for the empire. But outside of the empire, wars of both large and small scale were neverending. In contrast, the empireās prosperity was so great that it could afford to send aid to other kingdoms at war at whim, enabling us to expand some parts of our territory.
The empireās success is mostly accredited to the Leader of the Paladin Knights and the Chief of the Imperial Knights, the Duke. They both were sent to each country, where they subjugated the people and returned in victory like clockwork.
However, it is a little regrettable that the Duke is called, āGrim Reaper,ā establishing himself as an object of fear, while the leader of the Paladin Knights is referred to as, āthe Hero.ā
I havenāt met the chieftain of the royal knights properly myself, and Iāve yet to get an impression of him from far away. Still, both leaders have the same skills and accomplishments, so the difference in their reputations is a bit sad.
Although, there were terrifying rumors surrounding the Duke that undoubtedly contributed to his appalling nickname. Previously, the Duke of Willard had another son, but one day he was suddenly discovered dead in the mansionā¦ At that time, the head of the Willard family also collapsed in a similar manner.ā¦ The coincidence was difficult to explain away.
Itās already been three years since then. When the incident first broke out, the entire empire was scandalized, but no one dared to question Cabel Willard since it was around the time when he managed to expertly conquer a great kingdom, establishing himself as a war hero.
Thanks to that incident, horror stories quickly spread throughout the empire, claiming that the ornamental knives in the mansion drip blood every time it rains.
In reality, I donāt believe in such a ghost story. But, it is true that the Duke visits the temple whenever it rainsā¦
āLily. We are going to war, but the square is so lively. It feels like weāve already won the war and have returned to celebrate.ā
What Iām afraid of isnāt exactly defeat, but rather that I might see someone die in front of me.
Iām anxiousā¦ However, whether or not she knew of my worries, Lily emphasized again that we have both the hero and the grim reaper of the battlefield going with us.
Even if something bad happened, it wouldnāt be because of Vios, but because of the Paladin Knightsā leader and the Imperial Knightsā leader clashing!
Itās a quite probable scenario, so itās just one more thing for me to add to my list of worries.
Lily and I are arriving at the western border today. To start the journey, the envoy is meeting at the outskirts of the capital. Since the empire is so large that itās a place that would take forever to reach on foot, the entire personnel decided to use the gate to cross over.
Because of the announcement that they would gather in the outskirts of the capital and depart, we were moving in a carriage in front of the temple. As we went along, more and more people could be seen gathered outside from the window.
Looking at the knights standing upright in line, the color contrast was enough to easily distinguish between the Paladin and the Imperial Knights. The white and gold colored uniforms of the Paladins and the dark navy colored uniforms of the Nickel Knights gave off different feelings.
There were also a few wagons loaded with materials needed for subjugation. There were already several priests wearing uniforms with the insignia of Abnel. Judging by the line, is it possible weāre late on our first arrival?
But fortunately, it seemed we werenāt too late, as no one appeared to notice as we got off the wagon. Since weāre the only priests coming from El Nur, we should report to the commander right away that weāve arrived.
I was walking around because I didnāt know where to go, so Lily grabbed me and led as if sheād done this before.
There were a lot more people than I expected, so I was nervous, but Lily whispered a little. Naturally, my eyes turned to the direction Lily pointed to, and an exclamation unconsciously slipped from my mouth.
āWowā¦.ā
His tall, grand figure immediately stood out from the crowd. But more than that, it was his gorgeous golden hair that caught my eye. I knew that the royal family had a lot of blondes, but itās the first time Iāve seen that golden color fit someone so well.
His bangs were shortened and raised to give a neat impression, making his face clearly visible. In addition, his body was quite large, and being equipped with the armor of the Knights Templar made it look even bigger.
Elviniraz Keschmir, prince of the empire and Chief of the Paladin Knights of Abnel. Keschmir is a surname of the royal family, meaning, āthe light of the world.ā However, his whole name is even more grand, meaning the, āthe light of the people.ā
Looking at him like this, heās definitely a person who shines enough to live up to the name.
In addition, he was wearing the gorgeous long sword known as the Sword of Abnel on his waist. It suited him so well that the blacksmith 300 years ago must have made it with him in mind.
Itās not as though Iāve never seen any handsome people since coming to this fantasy world, but to think Iād praise him so much at the very first sight, heās really phenomenal.
This is the first time Iāve had such an impression since Duke Willard. Ah, of course, even though I currently know him as the Zombie Kingā¦.
After gazing out with my mind wandering, our eyes met. Elviniraz, who was talking with other paladins, turned his head and looked at us.
Heās a rare master in the empire, so he might have felt my gazeā¦? Somehow, these masters are becoming more and more like human body detection sensors.
āAh, you must be the priestesses from El Nur.ā
Elviniraz, who approached Lily and me, bowed his head to see if he had recognized the pattern on the priestās uniform correctly.
It was a little daunting because it felt like a human torch was walking toward me, but fortunately I was able to say hello without trembling too much. Well, the end of my voice seemed to go up a little..? So, so handsomeā¦
āWould this be Renesha Elnur?ā
When I replied that he was correct, he nodded a little in confirmation and said hello to Lily next. Lily also responded with a very polite attitude.
After the initial greetings, Elviniraz looked back at me and smiled lightly. The bright smile created soft folds around his coolly outstretched eyes.
Oh, even his eyes were a dazzling gold as well. When an artist would attempt to depict him in the future, I was convinced he couldnāt use a simple golden dye, but actual melted gold in order to accurately portray this manās dazzling persona.
āI have heard a lot about you, Priestess Renesha.ā
āThank you.ā
Itās a bit embarrassing to hear that heās heard stories about me even though Iāve never done anything worthy to spread around. Although itās known that I have a high power, he, as the paladin general, would have seen a lot of people greater than me in Abnelā¦
I was embarrassed, so I bowed my head a little and said that I was grateful, but I suddenly wondered why I should be grateful towards him.
Itās not like I spread those rumors for him to hear. Somehow, I felt my expression wavering, so after thinking about it for a moment, I also replied in the affirmative with my business smile turned on.
āIāve heard a lot about you, too.ā
Lily jabbed me in the back. I clearly didnāt mean it in a weird way, so what was with her?! Itās a perfectly normal conversation!
I felt wronged and glanced at Lily, but Elviniraz burst into laughter in front of us. It was a very magnetizing laugh.
He wasnāt laughing at me as if he found it funny, but just laughed as if he liked my answer.
I laughed along. I couldnāt help but feel better when such a handsome man smiles like that in front of me.
However the conversation that followed turned a bit serious. The campaign area we are headed to is in the western border of the empire, whose fortress has been temporarily occupied by Vios.
If the knights successfully carry out their attack, we will enter the territory of Vios from the next day.
Where will healers be deployed in the process, and how do I deal with emergency situations?
I couldnāt think of what to do. What if I donāt perform well and someone dies?
As I faced this human torch, my breath that had loosened slightly tightened with anxiety all over again. As I was nodding my head with a stiff face, Elviniraz smiled as if he had noticed my condition.
āYou donāt have to worry. My knights have sworn on the names of Abnel and Keschmir and will protect you with the light.ā
I was baffled by the words that sounded like a serious oath, but it made my heart quiet down again. How can I be so nervous and then calm down so suddenly?
I have been repeating reassurances to myself over and over, but it was the first time I felt truly relieved. Having a brief conversation with him made me completely reassured.
I smiled brightly and thanked him. It turned out that the way to increase my chance of survival was not with the Duke, but with the Paladin General.
Somehow, this journey might actually be enjoyable.
{Within a few hours, that turned out to be my immense delusion.}
pant, pant
āI think Iām going to pass outā¦ā
I made a serious miscalculation because I was so focused on the war itself. I completely overlooked the fact that the western border is made up of very rugged mountain ranges.
We rode in a wagon at the beginning of the journey, but it rattled like crazy because the stone roads were uneven. So everyone had to get off and start walking, which was difficult for me to handle with this bodyās poor physical strength.
Is this really just a campaign expedition or are we undergoing special training? I was barely able to walk anymore. Lily also paused occasionally and sighed exhaustively.
However, compared to us, Abnelās priests were still quite at ease. The experienced people who frequently went to war zones as healers seemed to be on a different level. Theyāre healers who even have physical strength.
This is a scam.
Eventually, it was too tiring to go on so I stopped and took a long, deep breath while leaning on a tree next to me. It was so hard.
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āI want to go homeā¦.ā
āHome? You donāt have a home though?ā
āā¦.. Lily. Canāt you just consider Iām holding the temple as home in my heart?ā
The journey suddenly changed into a mountainous hiking trip that made me want to turn tail within the first five hours. How am I supposed to do this for two months??