Chapter 78: Sunrise in the fortress

While Zirconia’s fort is in turmoil, we sailed up a tributary and arrived on our own shore without difficulty. Raquel-san lifts the anchor that holds the ship in place by herself. She will hurl it into the shallow water a little further away from the shore –if the ship gets too close to the shore, it will run aground and we will have to fix it in that case.

“Oh Apsaras, guide the chains that hold our ship to the bottom of the water…!”

At the command of Noin, Apsaras dances in the air above the surface of the water –then a vortex is formed on the water’s surface. It will guide the anchor to the bottom of the water.

“―Seyaaa!”

When Raquel-san throws the anchor, far from slowing down due to the water resistance, it goes underwater while rotating at a tremendous speed instead. After throwing a number of anchors needed to fix the ship in place, Dite-san wiped Raquel-san’s sweat.

“Thank you for your hard work, Knight Captain. Against your strength and magic combined, enemies are nothing right.”

 “Indeed, the power of magic is great. However, I can only exert my full strength thanks to Grass-dono…”

“Grass-sensei, did you also treat Raquel-ane? And personally…?”

Presha-san has a curious look on her face. For sure she’s wondering when did we do such a thing. After I applied the spirit mark on Astina-denka, in the room next to it ―If I explain it like that, Raquel-san may feel embarrassed. In fact, she is now holding her mouth as if she just made a mistake.

“N-No. That… It’s because I’m also a doctor you see. Just by looking at it, I can tell where the strain on your body is. I will notice it even if you hide it.”

“Uhmm… I’m energetic and not hurt anywhere so I didn’t receive any treatment. But if you have time, I’d like you to check up on me too. You know, just in case.”

“That’s what everyone thinks. I also got helped to cure my insomnia… If you take some time to ask for a medical check up, you are likely to become less energetic.”

There is also the word preventive medicine, like checking their nutrition and the daily burden on their body, then I can adjust and maintain it with my own hand on a daily basis.

But, I wonder why –was it because everyone is relieved that our mission was completed safely? I feel that the way they look at me is closer to those coming from a woman than from a knight.

“…Milord is really being yearned for. From how I see it, I think it’s close to being worship.”

Noin says with a smile while her light blue hair flutters in the river breeze. It seems that she is still grateful to me, but since she is from the same school and is close to my age, the term “Milord” feels a little bit off after all.

“The one to be worshiped should be Astina-denka as she is the shrine maiden of the sacred tree, I am just a spirit user.”

 “The one who can bring out the power of the sacred tree through me is you. And that is…”

“N-No, please don’t speak anymore than that. I’m one of the subjects who follow Your Highness, and I’m in the same position as everyone else.”

I knew it from the time I signed contract with the sacred tree. Her Highness, who is connected to the sacred tree, is changing her attitude towards me.

A maiden from the Royal family shows an attitude of being equal to me, or perhaps she will even obey me. Even now, if I didn’t stop her, she could have said that I, who also contracted with the sacred tree should be the one worshipped than her who is only a shrine maiden –well, this maybe me exaggerating things.

―But if Her Highness wouldn’t say anything just because I interrupted her, that would be a different story.

“Grass who made a contract with the sacred tree became an existence on the same level of the sacred tree. I believe that it is my mission to worship the sacred tree, respect its power, and convey its benefits to the people. I view Grass who can use the “miracles” of the sacred tree as his magic as the most important person on the Knights Order.”

The river’s breeze calms down and passes between us. Even though I knew that Astina-denka gave me the best compliment, I don’t know how to react. The first person to respond was Raquel-san. When she looked at me, her gaze had a lot of trust that I couldn’t even imagine from the time I first met her.

“From now on, our knights’ order will reach a major turning point. With the presence of Grass-dono and the others, by having three magicians, we were able to change the situation where we could only be cornered. For Astina-denka and for the people, I can continue to wield my sword and move forward without bending my belief. I am really grateful for that.”

“At first, I thought you’d soon be scared of the battlefield and run away, but it was totally different. I don’t know how to apologize to Grass-sensei for that misunderstanding…”

“It was the same for me too. We defended against Zirconia without relying on men and I thought we had to continue to do that. That is, Grass-sensei… it was because I just didn’t know any gentleman who can be an unwavering pillar like you.”

Why do the three of them says it to this extent?

It’s like if they don’t say it now, they won’t be able to say it anymore.

―It is because we don’t know if we can survive in the upcoming battle with General Alejandro.

“…Well for me, since I met everyone, since I came to Isle Rose Fortress, I started to think that I am not a “flop”, that even I can help others too.”

I had to work hard even just to acknowledge my own self. When I was at the academy, I think I was often down while trying not to become useless. Since I met the elders and started talking to them, I’ve been looking up a lot. It became natural for me to look up at the branches of a big tree.

Leslie wasn’t depressed when she pulled the “air” spirit and goes off the path of the elites. When she spent more time with me, she talked about things that I don’t know if she was serious or not –Sven taught me how to live without worrying as things will happen if it’s bound to take place.

There was nothing wrong with my journey so far. So that it will stay that way from now on, I need to earnestly think on what I can do to keep everyone alive even if I know they are already prepared for it.

“I don’t want anyone to die. I don’t want to convince myself anymore that I’ve done what I can just by healing those who are injured while seeing someone die without being able to do anything.”

This is not something that should be said especially since everyone here is a knight. Even so, I don’t want to send them to the battlefield without conveying it.

“…So please let us think about it together. Like a strategy where we could avoid any damage when confronting the enemy army.”

Me, Leslie, and Noin are combat magicians. With the addition of this new forces and the acquisition of a warship, it should be possible to defeat the enemy base where Alejandro is located. We could make it fall in a way that was not possible before.

We were able to neutralize the base where the warship was being built with only a small number. We have Laune and Rei, the familiars of the sacred tree –there is Earia and Apsaras too. With all these spirits, if the enemy doesn’t have a magician, we can create the situation overwhelmingly favourable to us.

“…Not having any casualty is the ideal. However, any commander takes casualties into account when planning a strategy.”

I know it’s exactly as what Astina-denka has said. My thoughts are childish and I’m not really facing the reality. But she did not negate me.

“However… The power of the spirits will surely make the impossible possible, I want to believe that too. I have witnessed the miraculous events that you have caused many times you see.”

“…Your Highness…”

“Grass, Leslie, Noin. The three of you, please help us. Noin, when I said I can’t forgive your sins, thinking of what I said I…”

“No. I only have the desire to work with all my heart to make Milord’s ideal a reality. I am already satisfied if I can be forgiven for that.”

Noin would easily sacrifice herself for me. That’s why I have to be careful. That’s the case for Leslie too. She’s always protecting me in a moment notice –it was fine until now, but if that continues, she could be seriously injured someday.

“…If I’ll be with Grass-nii, I’ll also… I will try to be as useful as possible with my magic.”

“Thank you, Leslie. You really hold Grass dearly right.”

“……I’m……”

Leslie’s answer couldn’t be heard because of the wind. Astina-denka seemed to know what Leslie was trying to say. Before I can ask her, Her Highness approaches the edge of the ship. Looking down on the shore, there are scouts from Isle Rose Fortress who came to patrol. They are Dite-san’s subordinates.

“Y-Your Highness… this ship is…”

Because it is hidden by the magic of fog, you can’t see it unless you get very close to the warship. As a result, the scouts are quite stunned. When Dite-san also appeared from the top of the ship, the soldiers salute in a hurry.

“This is Zirconia’s warship. It’s magically concealed so it will take some time before the enemy detects it.”

“We’ll use this to proceed to the next operation. You should scout the eastern part of the fortress. If there is an enemy movement on the opposite bank, let us know immediately.”

“Y-Yes… We understand!”

As Her Highness commanded, the scouts run on horseback. After seeing them off, we got off the boat using the rope ladder and stood on the ground. Passing through the reed beds, we headed to Isle Rose Fortress. Seeing the fortress with the sunrise on its back makes me feel proud rather than nostalgic.

“…We managed to come back without losing anyone.”

The knights opened their eyes wide to Astina-denka’s words. Her Royal Highness was also worried about this operation of sneaking into the enemy’s territory –Although she said that she’s not afraid, she still voiced her relief.

 “Of course, neither I nor everyone is doing half-baked training.”

“Haa～… I was nervous though. I thought I had to fight everyone in that fort.”

“Before that happens, I was going to do something about it. But I was able to save that too.”

It was the gunpowder weapon prepared by Dite-san, the “Fire Lance”. Using that newly developed weapon carries great risks. The fact that it was not used can be said as a good fortune.

Even if I know that the knights are always fighting with their lives, I still can’t help but think.

I won’t let anyone die. I’ll use all the means I can use to achieve that –I’ll protect everyone who said I was their “support” with my own hands.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

---

Previous ⚜ Table of Contents ⚜ Next

---