Chapter 8: Antares (2)

　　Duke Gurat is taking revenge on me.

　　Rowen ground his teeth as he drove his sword into the neck of a monster with a woolly, sheep-like body, bloodshot eyes, and magnificent, powerful antlers like a stag’s.

　　If I were such a thorn in his side, he could’ve just killed me.

　　Were the others safe? Rowen instinctively looked around for the friends he had unwittingly drawn into this death trap. A voice cracked through the battlefield like lightning and snapped him back to attention.

　　“Rowen! Five o’clock!”

　　At Luina’s sharp warning, Rowen whipped his sword behind him without even turning. A hideous shriek tore through the air. Only then did he look back. A large Kazato was screeching nearby, one of its front legs severed. Great. Obis, and now a Kazato. What a nightmare.

　　“It seems the entire menagerie has come out today,” Rowen grumbled.

　　Kazato looked deceptively cute. Anyone unwary enough to mistake one for a cat and reach out to pet it would lose a wrist.

　　Rowen gave Luina a small nod of thanks, then cut Kazato’s carotid artery without hesitation. Killing them had bothered him at first. Monsters were living creatures, after all. Now, killing one stirred less emotion in him than swatting an insect.

　　How many had he killed today? Rowen remembered counting to twenty-six before giving up. The true number was likely close to twice that, though he could not be sure. He had slaughtered around fifty mid-grade monsters by himself. The sheer number of them today was staggering.

　　Still, the worst of it seemed to be over. As his tension eased, exhaustion crashed over him. His breathing came short and fast, but he did not even have the strength to draw a deep breath.

　　“Is that blond kid the common-born girl who ranked first in swordsmanship at Witagium?”

　　“The way she handles her sword… Damn, she really is something.”

　　Rowen slowly turned toward the soldiers’ all-too-familiar description of her. Their gazes rested on Luina, who was still at the very front line, finishing off the remaining monsters. By now, the sight no longer surprised him.

　　He had tried to warn her before.

　　“Don’t overdo it, Luina. No matter how skilled you are with a sword, you’re still in danger when monsters attack in a pack. We are not even fully fledged soldiers yet. Why do you need to fight at the very front?”

　　“I don’t do it on purpose. When someone next to me is in danger, I take a step forward and swing my sword. Before I know it, I’ve ended up at the very front.”

　　Everyone watched, entranced. Luina’s swordsmanship was as beautiful as a dance.

　　Every smooth movement was stripped of anything unnecessary, conserving as much strength as possible. Each time her blade swept through the air, another monster fell. Blood did not merely drip from the sword in her small hand; it streamed.

　　Even so, Luina’s expression didn’t change until the battle was over.

　　“But what are trainees doing in a place this dangerous? This is the first time I have ever seen trainees in this region.”

　　“I heard those three are the best swordsmen in Witagium right now. Better even than the seventh- and eighth-year students. Their instructors have nothing left to teach them, so they just spar with each other.”

　　“Even so, you can’t throw young people who have barely come of age into a slaughter like this. Especially when one of them is a prince.”

　　Exactly. Rowen’s eldest brother was mild-tempered, but his father-in-law was a thorough bastard.

　　Rowen almost blurted out the words, but he couldn’t let the soldiers know he was listening to them gossip. He sat quietly on a rock and wiped the blood from his sword.

　　“Shh… I heard this is meant to keep that very prince in check. Orders came down to send Witagium’s best fighters to dangerous regions first. Straight from the commander-in-chief.”

　　“Really? They mean for him to die out here? Court politics really are terrifying. The crown prince can be ruthless… The boy is only the fifth prince. There’s no need to be so vicious about keeping him down.”

　　Except that was not what was happening. My brother isn’t behind this himself.

　　Duke Gurat was only sending Rowen a warning, not making a genuine attempt to eliminate him. In reality, his brother most likely did not know the full story, but even if he did, he had no reason to protect his half-brother at the cost of defying his strongest political supporter.

　　Marianne had been watching the situation unfold, and this latest assignment had finally driven her to file a formal protest with the military, but even that had achieved little.

　　Before she could receive their dismissive two-line response—The deployment was fairly determined according to each individual’s ability. Obey the order.—Rowen and his two friends had already been forced into the carriage sent by the military.

　　They had even weaponized the three students’ friendship against them. It was a viciously calculated move.

　　The imperial family must also have resented that Rowen, who had spent his life keeping his head down, had finally begun to assert himself. Duke Gurat might have wielded enormous influence, but even he could not control the commander-in-chief at will unless the imperial family chose to look the other way.

　　The crown prince himself had been raised from birth to become the next emperor. He had little reason to view his younger brothers as political enemies.

　　The empress and Rowen’s other brothers were another matter. Unlike the crown prince, who possessed at least some brotherly affection, they had been wary of Rowen since childhood. Aside from the crown prince, Rowen was the only witian among the imperial princes.

　　But no matter how much influence Rowen gained in the military, he could never challenge the crown prince’s position. The notion was absurd.

　　Three legitimate brothers stood between Rowen and Enzo, the crown prince. Being a witian did matter in the selection of an heir, but only when the competing candidates had factions of roughly equal strength behind them. Rowen’s mother had not even been able to protest when her son was carelessly saddled with a name meaning “fifth son.”

　　His brothers, meanwhile, had all been born to the empress, the daughter of one of the Empire’s greatest noble houses. No matter what Rowen accomplished, he could never hope to compete for the crown prince’s seat.

　　He had merely spoken once to protect a friend and her principles. And because of that single act, his two dearest friends had been dragged into this mess as well. Guilt twisted through him.

　　Luina stood nearby, drenched in blood, scrubbing her face with the cleanest corner of a bloodstained handkerchief she could find.

　　As Rowen watched her, his clenched fist began to tremble. He had always been skilled at controlling his expressions. This time, however, it took him a moment to compose himself enough to face his friend.

　　“Rowen, are you all right? You don’t look well… Did you get hurt?”

　　“I’m so sorry, Luina.”

　　“For what?”

　　“For dragging you through something like this…”

　　Luina rarely considered hardship particularly painful, but even she had to admit that this battlefield was brutal by any measure. Still…

　　“Why are you apologizing?” She blinked at him, looking genuinely confused.

　　Rowen let out a pained sigh. His friend was such a kind and guileless soul. She was born with a gift for attracting hardship and none at all for reading a situation. Somehow, he had to find a way to protect her.

　　“If I weren’t a prince, you wouldn’t have been dragged somewhere this dangerous—”

　　“If you weren’t a prince, Sharon’s research would’ve been taken from her long ago. It would’ve become a political tool or a way for someone else to make money. Sharon is a brilliant researcher with a noble sense of purpose. You protected her while knowing exactly what it might cost you,” Luina said. “It’s not that I don’t know why we’re here. I am saying that none of this is your fault.”

　　Rowen stared at her, briefly speechless. Luina was not usually one for long speeches.

　　“Luina…”

　　“You did what was right. The person who sent us here was petty and vindictive. None of this is your fault. I don’t resent you in the slightest. Not even a little. Not even the tiniest bit.”

　　Rowen had to clench his teeth against the sudden emotion rising in his throat. Luina’s clear and unwavering sense of justice seemed to soothe something inside him that had been festering and was close to bursting.

　　“But I would like to teach this Duke Gurat a proper lesson someday.”

　　“…Me too.”

　　“Punching him in the face probably isn’t realistic. Should we sneak up behind him and hit him over the head with a rock instead?”

　　Rowen burst out laughing.

　　“You carefree fools. What’s so funny?”

　　The two turned at the familiar surly voice. Ferken was striding toward them with his face twisted into a deep scowl.

　　At first, Luina and Rowen were relieved to see their friend alive. Then they both stared at him in stunned disbelief. Ferken usually managed to remain irritatingly clean even in the most horrific situations.

　　Now…

　　“What happened to you?” Rowen asked.

　　Blood dripped from Ferken’s raven hair, and his uniform had been reduced to little more than rags. What on earth had he been doing all this time?

　　“There were Piniros nests on top of that cliff.”

　　“How many?”

　　“Three.”

　　Still stunned by the state he was in, Luina and Rowen widened their eyes until they looked ready to pop.

　　Piniros always lived in pairs. Three nests meant at least six fully grown Piniros.

　　It was a miracle Ferken had returned alive. No matter how skilled someone was with a sword, taking on a high-grade monster alone was difficult.

　　And the worst thing about Piniros was that…

　　They could fly.

　　“So… what happened?”

　　“What do you think happened? I killed them all.”

　　Even the soldiers nearby stared at him in horror. Ferken himself, who had just returned from fighting a hellish battle alone, looked utterly unconcerned.

　　“Why did you go up there alone?”

　　Ferken had answered every other question with his usual irritation, but at Luina’s, he fell silent.

　　Rowen narrowed his eyes. Ferken appeared to be choosing his words. That alone was strange. He almost never hesitated before speaking or acting.

　　“I happened to see a Piniros flying. I thought there would be two at most.”

　　“You should’ve called for me.”

　　“What difference would one more person have made? Besides, I was too far away for you to hear me shout.”

　　“How did you manage to walk all the way here with your leg injured like that?”

　　Luina was too distracted by her friend’s injuries to notice, but Rowen saw it clearly.

　　Ferken’s seemingly indifferent gaze swept quickly over Luina from head to toe, then returned to examine each of her wounds one by one. Something was different about the way he looked at her today.

　　Ferken’s gaze lingered on the deep cut at the nape of Luina’s neck before he muttered a curse under his breath.

　　Seeing this, a chill ran through Rowen’s body. What was going on here?

　　Since when had that bastard been looking at Luina like that?

　　Rowen looked up at the cliff Ferken had climbed. Then, as naturally as he could, he raised a hand and clamped it over his mouth before a scream could escape.

　　No, that’s ridiculous. It can’t be!

　　It was surely a coincidence that Ferken, who had been stationed farthest from the cliff, was the one who spotted the Piniros.

　　And discovering a high-grade monster and climbing the cliff alone without telling anyone was merely Ferken’s arrogance. He had merely overestimated his own abilities.

　　And the reason he had remained silent without screaming even once, even after being beaten into such a miserable state, was because he was a fool. Because if Ferken had let out even a single scream…

　　Luina had been only about a hundred meters from the cliff in a straight line.

　　A storm of unwanted realizations raged through Rowen’s thoughts, but he ruthlessly crushed the conclusions that tried to form, no matter how damningly convincing they were.