Chapter 41: The Resolve of Two Women

“Haa! Haah!”

“Haa! Haah!”

“They’re running away!”

On top of the rampart.

Even though they had fended off yet another swarm of monsters, the soldiers let out sighs that sounded more like grumbling than relief or joy.

It’s been a little over a month since this place was confirmed to be a great den.

Even the soldiers of the Malidan Barrier were slowly being worn out, both physically and mentally, by the monsters’ relentless daily assaults.

Recently, their attacks had become so frequent that sometimes there were two assaults in a single day.

It felt like they were battling fatigue even before they faced the monsters.

“…This won’t do.”

Resting on her spear,Silverna—captain of the 5th Reconnaissance Unit—muttered under her breath.

She, too, seemed to have her own concerns about the monsters’ increasingly frequent attacks.

“…….”

Amid the exhausted soldiers stood Rihanna Helmut, as calm and dignified as ever.

Her red hair fluttered in the wind atop the wall.

Without a trace of fatigue, she gazed quietly at the monsters beyond, reminding everyone why the Helmut name carried so much weight.

Slowly, Rihanna turned her head.

Among the other soldiers, a man with his black hair tied in a ponytail was sitting on the ground, chatting idly with a few comrades, looking thoroughly worn out.

She was some distance away, but she could hear every word of their conversation.

“Man, I nearly died this time.”

“Thank you, Isaac. If you hadn’t shoved me out of the way earlier, I’d have been flattened by that rock and probably out cold.”

“Don’t mention it. You saved me last time, didn’t you?”

“Did I?”

“Wait, wasn’t it you? I’ve had so many close calls, I can’t keep track.”

They were bantering lightheartedly with the other soldiers, but the topic itself was hardly trivial.

And there were two broken swords lying near Isaac, meaning the situation had been so dire that his blades had snapped—twice.

Would everything be all right if they kept going like this?

Such doubts grew in her mind.

KRRNG! BOOM!

“Ugh, what was that?”

“Lightning? That was lightning, right?”

“I thought it was another monster.”

Beyond the mountain range.

In the middle of a clear sky, a bolt of lightning struck, making Rihanna’s eyes widen.

****

“This is dangerous as it is.”

Inside the command tent.

The 1st Company Captain of the Malidan Barrier was making an earnest plea to Uldiran, who sat at the head of the table.

“We’re being chipped away bit by bit. The number of injured is growing, and morale inside the wall is abysmal.”

Every day, they raise their spears and slay monsters. The comrade they laughed and joked with yesterday might be knocked out by a flying boulder and die today.

The burden of the front lines weighed heavier on them than ever.

“The monsters show no sign of decreasing. And judging by the appearance of beasts from other regions, it seems they’re flocking here from even farther away.”

“Hm.”

The border Margrave also seemed to share that sentiment, stroking his beard as he studied the map.

“As our commander… please make a decision.”

When the 1st Company Captain finished his proposal, the captain from another company across the table raised his hand to speak.

“Your Excellency, the purpose of the Malidan Barrier is defense. Though we do have rising casualties, on the other hand, we’ve eliminated more monsters than we can count.”

“Is there really a need to leave our advantageous position and head outside to hunt them down? That’s far too risky. Moreover, we still don’t know the identity of the monster commanding them all. Going out now is premature.”

Both captains had their own valid reasons.

Even though they disagreed, having led soldiers atop the walls themselves, there was a measure of respect between them.

“Hm.”

Uldiran fell into thought.

Should they continue this war of attrition with no end in sight? Or should they seize the opportunity—now that the monsters’ numbers had somewhat thinned—and march out to strike them down?

Silverna felt the urge to speak up, but she was only the captain of the 5th Reconnaissance Unit here.

She knew this wasn’t the place for her to butt in, so she just bit her lip, bouncing her leg in frustration.

“What say you, Dame Rihanna?”

Turning to Rihanna Helmut, who was attending as the representative of a dispatched noble house, Uldiran asked for her opinion.

She hadn’t expected him to ask anything of a Helmut, so she slowly turned her gaze to him.

“Just moments ago—”

Yes, Uldiran Caldias was this kind of man.

Turning over her thoughts, Rihanna spoke the words she had kept inside.

“After the monsters retreated, I sensed a faint magical power in the bolts of lightning that struck a few times.”

“Huh?”

“Tsk.”

A subtle murmur rippled through the tent.

None of them had noticed such a thing. Normally, they would have brushed it aside as nonsense…

‘Of all people, a Helmut…’

‘But who knows?’

‘This is tricky…’

It wasn’t just because of the Helmut name—rather, it was because everyone knew how uniquely perceptive their bodies were.

If a Helmut said it, it probably wasn’t nonsense. Even so, trusting just one person’s report to make a sweeping decision was difficult.

“I suspect that the monster gathering this great denm  is behind it.”

Ignoring the others’ reactions, Rihanna calmly shared her thoughts.

“If we go there, we’ll find it?”

“I can’t say for certain… but I believe we need to investigate.”

****

Kaang!

A crisp ring of steel echoed through a corner of the training ground—what had all but become Isaac’s personal practice spot.

As soon as he thrust his sword in a straight line, Sharen’s greatsword responded along the same trajectory.

Then Isaac hopped into the air like a rabbit, spinning once midair.

Sharen’s blade whooshed right through the spot he had just occupied. The moment he landed, he swung his sword again, aiming for Sharen’s neck—

“R-Red Wave!”

Even before Sharen finished shouting in alarm, her greatsword erupted with a crimson aura that blossomed outward.

The instant that crimson wave touched Isaac, who was still in midair, it hurled him across the training ground before he could land.

“Isaac-nim! Oh no! Isaac-niiim!”

Jonathan, who had been watching the spar, ran over in a panic.

Isaac rolled painfully across the training ground and finally came to a stop. He jerked his head up and shouted,

“I told you not to use that crimson aura!”

“Hehe… Helmut never accepts defeat!”

Right before the spar, Sharen had said: “Crimson aura? Hmph, I’m not even thinking of using it.” Yet the moment things got dangerous, she countered without hesitation using that very power.

“Phew. It’s fine. At least I got a feel for things.”

Getting to his feet and brushing himself off, Isaac watched Sharen hurry over, looking somewhat embarrassed and at a loss for words.

She was about to apologize, but Isaac asked a different question first.

“How was it?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, my swordsmanship. Until you used that crimson aura, weren’t we pretty evenly matched?”

“…….”

As much as she hated to admit it, Isaac was right.

In truth, Sharen had struggled a fair bit while exchanging blows with his sword.

Of course, without her crimson aura, a Helmut was effectively at only half-strength.

But that also meant that in just a month, Isaac—who could barely swing a sword before—had caught up to at least half of Sharen’s level.

“Just be honest, and tell me how you felt. Don’t sugarcoat it.”

At Isaac’s insistence, Sharen pressed her fingertip to her lips, thinking for a moment. Then, after shooting him a wary look, she finally answered,

“I… I was annoyed.”

“…….”

“It’s like… you already knew exactly how I’d swing my sword.”

“…….”

“After our third exchange, I tried speeding up on purpose, you know?”

“Yeah, I noticed.”

“But you seemed to realize I’d get worked up and speed up… and you responded to it like you were expecting it?”

He expected this.

He figured that if it were Sharen, she’d try to show him the gap in their skills about now—and he was right on the mark.

“Ugh, this feels awful… I–I’m just tired, that’s all! It’s only been thirty minutes since we finished defending the wall, and then Isaac suddenly wants to spar—!”

Sharen stuck out her lip in a pout, almost childishly making excuses, clearly unhappy that she’d been completely read.

Meanwhile, Isaac was quite pleased.

He had already broken two Helmut swords.

Sparring with Jonathan was now too easy for him, and he was at a point where he could even eke out a narrow victory against Sharen, who had once been far out of his league.

‘Of course, that changes the moment she starts using that crimson aura.’

He could handle Jonathan’s weak version of it, but the instant Sharen unleashed hers, the difficulty spiked dramatically.

Because of that, Isaac was mulling over what to do about aura-related matters when—

“…….”

“…….”

An utterly mismatched pair appeared.

Rihanna and Silverna were walking toward them side by side.

Neither woman even glanced at the other, yet they were headed in the same direction—so they ended up walking together anyway.

“Wow, those two really don’t go together.”

Muttering this under her breath, Sharen drew Isaac’s attention. He remembered something he needed to confirm.

“Sharen, you didn’t, by any chance, say anything to Silverna about me and Rihanna, did you?”

He asked because Jonathan was around, but Sharen jolted with surprise before retorting indignantly,

“Wh-what do you take me for? You think I’d blab about that?”

“You really didn’t?”

“No! I’m not an idiot!”

****

“Hey.”

On their way over to Isaac who was bickering with Sharen, Silverna quietly called out to Rihanna.

“…….”

Though Rihanna showed no obvious reaction, it wasn’t hard to tell that she was listening.

“I’m leaving Isaac out of this dispatch mission.”

But when Silverna said that, Rihanna finally turned her head to look at her.

Then—

“That’s wise.”

She nodded.

“If this monster is controlling lightning to that degree, then just being nearby could be dangerous for Isaac.”

“Right. Seems we agree.”

They both knew he was working hard.

They were sure he’d become an exceptional swordsman someday.

However—

“It’s too soon.”

“Exactly.”

He just wasn’t ready to set foot on their battlefield yet.

“…….”

“…….”

Both women, who had never quite seen eye-to-eye, were in perfect agreement for the first time—both wanting to keep one man safe.

****

That evening…

Silverna rushed over to the forge, wearing only a hastily thrown-on robe, after hearing from Anna that she was being summoned.

They didn’t usually operate the forge at night due to noise, so she hurried even more than usual.

“Finally?”

The moment she arrived, she asked Antonio with an eager smile.

She still had the face of Isaac burned into her mind—how he sulked earlier when he found out he wouldn’t be going on the mission.

She thought that if she presented him with a new sword, he’d cheer up in no time.

“You made it right on time.”

“No need for formalities. So, is it done? Show me!”

As Silverna pressed Antonio for an answer, he sighed.

“Almost finished, yes. But that’s not why I called you here.”

“What?”

Her shoulders, which had been so animated, slumped at once.

Her excitement swiftly turned into disappointment.

“Then why did you call me?”

“I still have a bit of Frostsilver left. I was wondering what you wanted to do with it.”

In his hand, Antonio held a piece of bluish-green ore about the size of a fingertip.

“I thought you’d just pocket whatever was left.”

How surprising, she thought. This old man was actually being up-front about it.

“But what can I do with this amount?”

Antonio clicked his tongue in frustration, looking regretful. He’d probably have kept it for himself if there had been more.

“Hrm, with just this much…”

Silverna rolled the Frostsilver around in her hand, thinking it over.

Suddenly, an idea seemed to spark. She flinched slightly, then asked tentatively,

“Ahem. Antonio? By any chance… can you make rings as well?”

“…….”

“N-no! It’s just—I thought it’d be nice to have a little memento to wear around!”

“There’s a guy among my apprentices who used to make accessories… but with this amount, we’d barely manage a single ring.”

It was a disappointing reply.

‘Well, that’s that. I guess I got ahead of myself. It’s not like I’d be able to wear it anytime soon, anyway…’

She was telling herself to rein it in, but the next words out of Silverna’s mouth took a different track entirely.

“What about an earring? One that’s meant to be worn on a single ear.”

Since she usually kept her hair tied back, it wouldn’t be unusual to see her ear exposed every now and then.

“That should be possible.”

When Antonio responded indifferently, Silverna beamed and held out the Frostsilver again.

“Please do it. Nothing too flashy—something with a more subdued look. That’d suit it best.”

“…Understood.”

Antonio decided to pretend he hadn’t heard or seen anything and just focused on his hammer. He accepted the request with the thought,

‘Might as well get to work.’

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

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