Chapter 161

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Chapter 161

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 .