Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Lightning Omen
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“Haa! Haa!”
“They’re running away!”
On the wall.
Even after repelling yet another wave of monsters, what escaped the soldiers’ lips were sighs closer to grumbles than relief or joy.
It had been a little over a month since the horde had been identified as a Great Horde.
Even the soldiers of the Mallidan Wall were growing mentally and physically exhausted from the relentless daily assaults.
Lately, the attacks had grown more frequent—sometimes twice a day.
The battle against fatigue often came before the fight with the monsters.
“...This won’t do.”
Silberna Caldias, captain of Reconnaissance Unit 5, muttered while leaning on her spear.
She seemed to have her own suspicions about the uptick in monster raids.
“...”
Amid the weary soldiers stood Rianna Helmunt, tall and unbowed.
Her red hair fluttered in the wind whipping across the wall.
With no trace of fatigue, she silently stared at the monsters beyond—a sight that truly conveyed the greatness of House Helmunt.
Slowly, Rianna’s head turned.
Among the other soldiers sat a black-haired man with his hair tied back in a ponytail, slumped in exhaustion as he chatted with those around him.
Though they were some distance away, every word of their conversation reached her ears.
“We almost died for real this time.”
“Thank you, Sir Isaac. If you hadn’t shoved me out of the way earlier, that rock would’ve given me a concussion and dropped me.”
“Forget it—you saved me last time.”
“Did I?”
“Wasn’t it you? So many close calls lately, my memory’s all jumbled.”
He joked and laughed with the soldiers, but the content of their talk was far from trivial.
Two broken swords lay beside Isaac, after all.
Swords breaking—two of them—meant it had been that dangerous.
Is it really okay to keep going like this?
As her worries deepened...
Rumble! Boom!
“Ugh, what the hell?”
“Lightning? That was lightning, right?”
“Thought it was another monster.”
Beyond the mountains.
Rianna’s eyes widened at the bolt of lightning striking a clear, dry sky.
“This is too dangerous.”
Inside the strategy tent.
The 1st Company commander of the Mallidan Wall appealed to Uldiran Caldias, seated at the head.
“We’re being steadily worn down. Never mind the rising number of wounded—the morale inside the walls is in shambles.”
Swing spears every day, slay monsters. Yesterday’s comrade, laughing and trading barbs, lies dying today from a flying boulder.
The weight of the front lines bore down on them heavier than ever.
“There’s no sign of the monster numbers thinning. With monsters from other regions appearing lately, it seems they’re converging from distant lands.”
“Hmm.”
The Margrave, sharing similar thoughts, stroked his chin beard while eyeing the map.
“As your commander, I beseech a decision.”
As the company commander’s report doubled as a proposal, another commander seated opposite raised his hand to speak.
“Your Excellency, the Mallidan Wall’s purpose is defense. Yes, wounded are up, but we’ve slain a countless horde in return.”
“Abandon our advantageous formation to sortie and hunt them down? The risks are too great. And with the horde leader’s identity still unknown, it’s premature to venture out.”
Each commander’s argument carried its own logic.
Having led soldiers from the front lines atop the walls, their opinions clashed but with mutual respect.
“Hmm.”
Uldiran naturally fell into contemplation.
Continue this endless war of attrition, with no end in sight?
Or leverage the thinned monster numbers to sortie now and strike?
Silberna itched to speak, but as merely Recon Unit 5’s captain, she knew better than to interject. She bit her lip hard and jiggled her leg instead.
“What say you, Lady Rianna?”
Uldiran sought the opinion of Rianna, the dispatched noble representative.
Not expecting him to ask her, a Helmunt, Rianna slowly turned to regard him.
“Just now—”
Uldiran Caldias is that kind of man.
She mulled it over inwardly before voicing her reserved thoughts.
“After the monsters retreated, I sensed faint mana in several of those lightning strikes.”
“Hm?”
“Tsk.”
Subtle groans rippled through the tent.
No one else had noticed.
Normally, they’d scoff at such nonsense.
‘Of all people, a Helmunt.’
‘Could be true.’
‘Troublesome.’
It wasn’t mere prestige making it awkward. Their physiology was too well-known.
A Helmunt’s word rang true, unlikely idle talk.
Yet basing a decision on one person’s hunch was hard.
“I suspect it’s the doing of the monster rallying this Great Horde.”
Ignoring the reactions, Rianna stated her thoughts plainly.
“Head there, and we find it?”
“I can’t say for certain... but we should investigate.”
Clang!
A clear sword ring echoed from the corner of the training grounds.
The spot had become Isaac’s designated seat.
As his drawn sword thrust straight ahead, Sharen’s greatsword mirrored the trajectory in response.
Isaac hopped like a rabbit, spinning once midair.
Sharen’s greatsword naturally whistled past the space he’d occupied.
The instant he landed, he swung again, aiming for her neck.
“Ho, Crimson Wave!”
Faster than Sharen’s urgent shout, a crimson Red Aura erupted from her greatsword.
As it spread wide and struck Isaac, his airborne body flew far without landing.
“Sir Isaac! Oh no! Sir Isaac!”
Jonathan, watching the spar, rushed over in a panic.
Isaac tumbled across the training grounds.
He finally came to a stop, snapped his head up, and yelled.
“I said no Red Aura!”
“Heh, heh... Helmunt never yields defeat!”
Before the spar, she’d bragged, [Red Aura? Hah, wouldn’t even think of it.]
Yet in her own pinch, she unleashed it without mercy for the counter.
“Phew, whatever. I got the sense of it anyway.”
Isaac dusted himself off and stood.
Sharen hurried over, fumbling awkwardly for words, clearly embarrassed.
She meant to apologize, but Isaac asked something else.
“How was it?”
“Huh?”
“The sword. Before Red Aura, we were pretty even, right?”
“...”
She hated to admit it, but Isaac was right.
In truth, Sharen had struggled clashing blades with him.
Of course, a Helmunt without Red Aura was at half strength.
Conversely, it meant Isaac—who couldn’t even swing a sword before—had caught up to half of Sharen’s level in just a month.
“Just say it straight. Your gut feeling.”
At Isaac’s urging, Sharen pressed a finger to her lips, glanced around cautiously, then spoke.
“Infuriating.”
“...”
“Felt off. Like you knew exactly how I’d swing every time.”
“...”
“From the third clash. You knew I sped up on purpose, right?”
“Yeah.”
“But you even predicted I’d ramp up from getting pissed and reacted?”
He’d anticipated correctly.
Sharen would try to show the gap around then, and it landed.
“Made me so mad... I-I was worn out! Defense wrapped 30 minutes ago, and you drag me into a spar—!”
Lips pursed in a pout, she made excuses like a child, fully aware she’d been read like a book.
Isaac, on the other hand, was thoroughly pleased.
Two Helmunt swords broken now.
Spars with Jonathan felt trivial, and against Sharen—who once outclassed him—he could now claim a decision victory.
Of course, Red Aura changes everything.
He could handle Jonathan’s feeble version, but the moment Sharen unleashed hers, difficulty spiked.
Thus, his deliberations on auras deepened further.
“...”
“...”
An utterly mismatched pair.
Rianna and Silberna approached together.
Ignoring each other entirely, yet heading the same way, they walked side by side.
“Wow, they really don’t match.”
As Sharen muttered, Isaac remembered something he’d forgotten and asked preemptively.
“Sharen, you didn’t tell Silberna anything about me and Rianna, right?”
He asked with Jonathan present, and Sharen flinched before retorting incredulously.
“Am I an idiot?! Think I’d blab that?”
“For real?”
“No! I’m not an idiot!”
“Hey.”
As they walked toward Isaac, still bickering with Sharen.
Silberna softly called to Rianna.
“...”
Rianna showed no overt reaction, but it wasn’t hard to tell she was listening.
“For this dispatch op, we’re pulling Isaac.”
At Silberna’s next words, Rianna finally turned to face her.
And then...
“Wise.”
She nodded.
“A monster wielding lightning like that? Isaac just approaching would be perilous.”
“Exactly. We’re on the same page.”
She knew of his efforts.
Was certain he’d become a fine swordsman one day.
But.
“Not yet.”
“Right.”
The two women had judged it still too soon for him to set foot on their battlefield.
“...”
“...”
All for one man’s safety.
The first time their opinions aligned.
That evening.
Silberna hurried to the forge, cloaked in a robe at Anna’s urgent summons.
The smithy didn’t operate at night due to noise.
Which only quickened her steps.
“Finally?”
Upon arrival, she beamed at Antonio.
Isaac’s aggrieved face from earlier still lingered, especially after being sidelined from the op.
A sword as a gift would surely soothe him.
“You’re quick.”
“Skip the greetings. Done? Let me see!”
Antonio sighed, reining in her impatience.
“Aigoo, it’s nearly complete. Didn’t call you for that, miss.”
“What.”
Her eager shoulders slumped.
Anticipation crashed into disappointment.
“Then why?”
“Leftover Frost Silver Ore. What to do with it?”
A finger-sized chunk of cyan-green ore in Antonio’s hand.
“Thought you’d just swallow it if any remained.”
The old man’s being upfront for once.
“What can you make with this much?”
Antonio smacked his lips in regret.
He’d have pocketed it if there’d been more.
“Hmm, with this amount—”
Silberna rolled the Frost Silver Ore in her palm, pondering.
Then an idea struck; she jolted slightly and probed casually.
“Ahem. Antonio? C-could you... maybe make a ring?”
“...”
“N-no! Just! Nice to wear as a keepsake!”
“One apprentice did jewelry... but a ring’s the limit.”
A regrettable reply.
Well, too greedy anyway. No occasion to give it now.
Though self-restraining inwardly, her mouth pressed on.
“Earrings? For one side.”
With her hair tied up, her ears showed often enough.
“That should be doable.”
At Antonio’s nonchalant answer, Silberna smiled brightly and proffered the ore again.
“Please. Nothing flashy—something subdued and serene. That’d suit it.”
“...Understood.”
Antonio pretended not to hear or see.
He accepted the commission, intent on just hammering away.