CH 157

After a while, Robert rose to his feet.

“We seem to have a long way to go, so let’s leave now.”

“Yes, Captain.”

On the second time they took a break, Robert said,

“Considering that we’re getting closer to the forbidden region, it might be better if we get some shut eye first.”

However, Radis replied bravely.

“I’m fine!”

Robert nodded.

“I thought you’d say that. I’ll be resting first then.”

Robert picked up a stick, lit it and stuck it to the dirt floor.

“Wake me up when this has burned through.”

Then, he turned his back and immediately fell asleep.

Looking at Robert’s back as he was now off to slumber, Radis sat upright and slowly circulated her mana. In her own way, this was also a form of resting.

She tried not to show it, but it’s impossible not to have a hard time after running nonstop for this long.

In fact, even while she was sitting down now, her legs were shaking.

Still, she couldn’t make it obvious that she was having a hard time now.

‘After everything, you don’t believe in me. How can I say that it’s hard?’

Robert wasn’t like this in the past.

Although he considered the members of the subjugation squad in a more special manner, it was only that—as members.

He wouldn’t have made a fuss just because one member had gone to the forbidden region before. And, as a leader, he wouldn’t have demoralized his men and said something like, ‘I shouldn’t have brought you here.’

First of all… Dee was Robert’s right-hand man.

He trusted ‘Dee’ that much.

Did he think that ‘Dee’ of the past and ‘Radis’ of the present were two separate people?

‘If I couldn’t keep up with you, you said that I should go back to the entrance and wait for you?’

Robert would never have said that to ‘Dee’.

As soon as this thought crossed her mind, sadness flooded in like a wave.

Feeling choked up, Radis glared at Robert’s wide back.

‘If it’s because of my mistake in the previous life, I’ll admit it. But if it’s because you found out that I’m a woman…’

Then that was entirely Robert’s fault.

The current Radis was stronger than ‘Dee’.

The amount of mana she possessed had increased significantly, and her physical condition was much better.

She had gotten carried a little—juuust a little—by the pleasures of life, and she felt as if she had gotten a bit weak, but…

‘I’ll definitely ask if we can spar next time. If you get grilled to a crisp, you’ll never say that again, will you?’

Thinking like that made her feel a little better.

Radis turned away from Robert and looked down at her hands.

‘I have to be stronger.’

As Robert said, their imminent future was bleak.

The monster that appeared in the capital had defeated the White Dragon Knights—the strongest chivalric order of the empire—and brought the capital to ruin.

Besides that, a legendary monster had appeared. Dragons were believed to have already been extinct, but it reappeared and devastated the southern region.

Suddenly, the faces of Master Armano and Olivier came to mind.

‘If the capital gets destroyed, what will happen to Master and His Highness?’

Radis felt her heart sink.

Robert mentioned that the White Dragon Knights had sacrificed themselves and the emperor had met his demise. If that’s so, it’s unlikely that Armano and Olivier would have been safe.

And they wouldn’t be the only ones in danger.

‘If a dragon appears in the southern region, the Russell Marquisate will be able to defeat it, right?’

As she imagined Yves, who couldn’t even use mana, leading the knights to fight against the dragon… Her heart ached so much, and it felt like she had taken a blow to her solar plexus.

Yves wouldn’t be the only one.

If the southern region would be trampled by monsters, the people of the marquisate would also be in danger.

Radis didn’t want to lose them.

When thinking that she might lose them, the fists on her knees trembled.

‘I can’t let that happen.’

* * *

How much time had passed?

As Radis was deep in thought, she suddenly realized that the stick was almost completely burned through.

‘Captain, you must be tired, so I’ll let you sleep a little longer.’

Radis drew nearer to where Robert was sleeping, and she reached forward with the intention of extinguishing the stick’s fire.

Robert was sleeping well until that time, but he sat up like a spring all of a sudden.

Radis withdrew her hand in dismay.

“Captain?”

“……”

Robert stood up, but he looked like he was still wandering in a dream.

His drowsy eyes were unfocused.

As Robert looked straight into Radis’s eyes, she could see a bright smile tugging up on his lips.

“…Dee.”

At that moment, a strange feeling passed through her.

She felt like she finally knew why Robert was with her here and now.

In retrospect, Robert was more like a family to her than her real family.

More like a father than her own father, and more like a sibling than either David or Jurich.

No one else would be like Robert to her.

They were bound by ties even stronger than blood.

“Ah…”

Radis realized.

‘I’ve been missing this person all this time.’