The Northern Mountains, Part 1
The next day, Sirien suffered from a terrible hangover. Though she didn't sleep in quite as late as the day before, she still couldn't avoid waking up late, and she was pressing her temples as if her head were splitting. It was the most haggard I had seen her look in recent memory.
It was only natural. She had overindulged after not drinking for so long and ended up completely blacking out. If anything, she was just paying the rightful price for her actions.
"Oh, morning... Rajen. Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah. I slept very comfortably."
"I-I see. Ugh, my head..."
"I told you to drink in moderation."
But Sirien still had one more karmic debt to pay. From the moment she woke up, she kept casting anxious glances my way. The reason was painfully obvious. She must have remembered what happened yesterday.
Even while riding on my back, Sirien hadn't stopped her bizarre antics. My left ear had spent the entire journey inside her mouth, and she had even tried to slip her hands under my clothes. I had managed to stop her wandering hands, but there was no saving my ear. Thanks to that, even as I fell asleep, the phantom sound of her licking my ear seemed to echo in my head.
"You know, while I was trying to sleep, I kept hearing this weird rustling sound right by my ear."
"You... Rajen, you!"
"What? Want me to scoop you up like last time?"
"Eek!"
Still, teasing Sirien made it all worth it. Her face flushed bright red, looking as if she wanted to kick her blankets into orbit out of sheer embarrassment. I knew that feeling all too well. I was just glad it wasn't me this time.
I wanted to tease her all day, but I held back because I knew she might actually burst into tears if I pushed any further. It definitely wasn't because I was overly conscious of holding her hand. No, really—it wasn't like this was the first time we'd held hands, so why was I acting like this? I thought I'd be fine now that our relationship had officially changed. But far from being fine, my resistance was only growing weaker. Even the simplest gestures felt entirely new and foreign when I realized I was doing them with my "lover."
"Good morning, you two!"
On our way to the dining hall, we crossed paths with Baron Isquente again. The exhaustion was written plain as day on his face. He looked as though he had been suffering from severe sleep deprivation ever since we arrived, with dark circles hanging heavily under his eyes. Not that his lack of sleep had silenced his talkative mouth, of course. The Baron stared at Sirien and me. A sly smirk crept up his lips, his expression turning into one that practically begged to be punched.
"My, the atmosphere between you two has changed quite a bit over the past few days, hasn't it?"
"And your face has changed quite a bit too, Baron."
"Ah, I suppose it has! Hahaha! That is merely the toll of sleeplessness. But I did manage to attend the festival on the final day, you know? It would make no sense for me to completely skip a festival I threw just because I wanted to have some fun! I squeezed three days' worth of enjoyment into a single day!"
He grinned despite looking utterly exhausted. I couldn't tell if he just had incredible stamina or if he was simply a madman. I had no choice but to acknowledge the Baron's sheer lunacy. As expected, that man was far from sane.
"Ah, by the way, did you hear from the Saintess?"
"Hear what?"
Was there something Sirien was supposed to tell me? I couldn't recall anything of the sort. Even looking back at our recent conversations, nothing particularly stood out. At most, she had mentioned heading to the Grand Duchy once we wrapped things up here. I glanced at Sirien, who now wore a look of sudden realization. It seemed she really had forgotten something.
"I'm sorry. It completely slipped my mind. I was... just so out of it yesterday."
"It is of no great importance, so do not worry. You can tell him at your leisure."
"We are going to the Imperial Capital as soon as preparations are complete."
Edelmarion, the capital of the Edelmar Empire. It was the most prosperous city in the empire's long history, the cradle of all wealth and power. True to its reputation, Edelmarion was a den of schemers where powerful figures of every stripe lurked in the shadows.
It was also the stage where the main story of the original novel would unfold in just a few years, starting with the reincarnation of the female protagonist. The Crown Prince, the main male lead, was naturally stationed in the capital, and by now, the Sword Saint and the rising stars of the Magic Tower would have already established their roots there.
In the original timeline, Sirien and I had also frequented the capital, and the Holy Order of Light—where the female protagonist would be reborn—had its headquarters located just outside Edelmarion. It was, in every sense, the primary stage of Saintess, a Reverse Harem is Impure!
"Rajen! Two coming from your side!"
"I'll take care of them!"
However, our journey to the capital was far from smooth. Naturally, the empire had not always been powerful enough to claim imperial status from the start. In its infancy, there were several nations far mightier than the empire, and the capital itself had come close to falling multiple times. Each time, the saving grace that pulled them back from the brink was the Northern Mountains.
The Northern Mountains served as the dividing line between the empire's central and northern regions, acting as its second shield. While not as treacherous as the forest housing the Sanctuary of Hybras, the range was home to numerous ferocious monsters and wild beasts, making it difficult to deploy large military forces. To be precise, it wasn't just dangerous for armies; it was a hazardous path for any traveler.
"One of them is trying to escape over there!"
"Sirien!"
"On it!"
A pack of monsters had descended upon our carriage procession. They were what people called Blood Wolves. Though they resembled wolves, they were far from ordinary beasts—they were vicious magical creatures. Unfortunately, they were no easy prey. As a rule, magical beasts were far stronger and more aggressive than common forest animals.
According to the knightly manuals, it took two trained soldiers to handle a single Blood Wolf. To guarantee safety, the manual recommended assigning three. Considering that Blood Wolves always hunted in packs, they were more than enough to become a traveler's worst nightmare.
But they had picked the wrong prey. We weren't just a handful of ordinary soldiers; we were the wild cards who had fought on the front lines against the demons. Having even drafted extra hands from the Aktania Gate before setting out for the capital, our force was not one that mere magical beasts could hope to match.
— Grrrrr!
— Screeech! Yelp!
My greatsword tore brutally through one of the wolves. Its hide was remarkably tough, preventing me from cleaving through two at once. While the first died instantly, the second recovered its footing and lunged at me again. I planned to handle this second one with a bit more care. A tough hide meant a high price on the market. I couldn't help ruining the first one, but I wanted to kill at least one cleanly so we could sell it.
Slipping my blade beneath the wolf's underbelly, I pierced its heart in a single thrust. It thrashed briefly against the half-embedded steel before the light quickly faded from its eyes.
Times like this make me really envy Sirien.
Sirien's power worked best on creatures devoid of reason—or more accurately, those with lower-tier souls. It was an Authority that forced death upon a target at the cost of a massive amount of divinity. While she couldn't easily use it against high-ranking species capable of communication, it was highly efficient against mute beasts and monsters.
Well, she had her own ways of dealing with humans and demons too. Whether it was an unconditional, forced death or a death achieved by overcoming complex conditions, it looked identical to the untrained eye. After all, a terrified human was no different from a beast.
In any case, the wolves that had charged toward Sirien collapsed peacefully, as if falling into a deep slumber. As for the wolf that had tried to flee, someone had apparently thrown an axe at it; a blood-stained hand axe was now spinning back through the air with a low whoosh. I watched as the blade drank in the blood the moment it was caught. No matter how many times I saw it, I could never quite get used to that sight.
"Shall we take a brief rest here? We need to clean up the carcasses, and it is always wise to rest after a skirmish."
"That sounds like a good idea."
"Do not worry about the Blood Wolf hides! My men will skin and cure them properly before we settle the accounts. You can place your full trust in me, Nelloa Isquente!"
"You only say that because you know you'd get caught the moment I audit the ledgers anyway."
"Oh, come now, Saintess! Speaking like that makes it sound as though I go around swindling everyone else. For the sake of my honor, I cannot allow such a misunderstanding to stand!"
"Sure, sure."
We held a forty-percent stake in Baron Isquente's merchant guild. We were essentially running it as a joint venture, and Sirien was incredibly meticulous when it came to auditing the books. Perhaps that was why the Baron found her a bit difficult to deal with. ...Well, "difficult" was putting it mildly.
Sirien stared blankly at the Baron for a moment before walking over to me. We headed toward the rear of the procession to assess the situation.
"It doesn't look like we took any major damage. No casualties either."
Our procession was quite large, numbering over thirty people including the guards. Aside from myself, Sirien, Russell, Isha, and Baron Isquente, there were the Baron's attendants, the guild staff, and three mercenaries we had drafted from our own squad back at the Aktania Gate.
Our mercenaries, in particular, possessed a powerful presence. Though, calling them "mercenaries" felt a bit off—perhaps "believers" was more accurate? Since everyone we took in had converted to the Church of Hybras, either term was technically correct.
As soon as we reached the rear, the heavy scent of charred flesh wafted through the air. Standing in the center of the blackened corpses was a red-haired woman. Beside her stood a man holding a bow, and a white tiger beastman wielding a massive hammer waved at us.
The red-haired woman's face lit up the moment she saw Sirien.
"Welcome back, Sister!"
"It's been a while, Captain."
For the past four years, we had walked through blood and fire together on the battlefield. These were our people—the ones Sirien and I had worked so hard to gather and raise.