The Crumbling Roses
In the darkness, a single precariously hanging light on the ceiling cast its lonely glow. Beneath its faint halo, shadows huddled around a round table, murmuring lowly.
"Is this really the right move?"
"Of course it is. Or do you think it's wrong?"
"No, that's not what I mean! Don't play word games."
"Are you saying the Prophet's oracle is wrong?!"
The agitated voice silenced the room, the air growing heavy. The shadow who had spoken grudgingly lowered his tone and added,
"No, don't get mad. Just hear me out. Why are we suddenly bothering with the Margrave's second son? Not some big shot like the First Prince or Princess. Is it really worth it?"
"I agree on that point. What's the reason to waste effort on some Margrave's second son? Even if it's a prophecy, he's not the eldest—just the spare. Do we really need to risk touching him? One slip, and we could catch someone's eye, ruining the whole plan."
At their skepticism, a chilling laugh echoed from one side.
"Heh heh... Men with brains for decoration. You think we'd move without thinking?"
"What?!"
"Why the sudden attitude!"
"Quiet."
The figure at the center cut them off with a sharp word, and the commotion died down.
"This is the first time the prophecy has twisted, but the plan remains unchanged. We're simply removing the variable named Kasian Valenvalt before it becomes a problem."
"So, can you definitely take care of it?"
"We bribed a savage shaman with an ancient magic tool to control the wyvern. It's just a half-baked squire who can't use mana and a talented brat. The chance of failure is near zero."
"Ancient magic tool? Isn't that a pretty big loss?"
"We have to take the hit to crush it in the bud right away."
"I get that, but... it's still a waste."
He smacked his lips, thinking of the ancient magic tool.
"Hmph, handle it well. I'm busy with the princess matter, so I'll take my leave."
"Disgusting witch bitch, get lost."
"Hee hee, the bald guy's got a temper~."
"Bald guy's not me. It's that guy. Stupid bitch. Gone already...?"
"Hey! Quit the damn bullshit and do your jobs."
"Hmph. I'm doing mine."
The figures around the table bickered pointlessly for a while, voices laced with mutual distrust and contempt swirling in the air. Finally, as if their business was done, they began vanishing one by one. The flickering shadows lifted, and the long shadows stretched across the floor vanished like magic.
The space plunged into dead silence.
While the 'wyvern' card, thrown to eliminate the variable Kasian Valenvalt, rampaged in the forest, the ones who had set the board slipped away without a trace, retreating into their own shadows.
-----
Why is this happening?
I'd thought at first it was manageable. With this body's talent and my reincarnated adult mind, I believed I could control a crisis like this.
But as time passed, things didn't improve—instead, it felt like sinking into a massive swamp, struggling only to drag me deeper into despair.
"Gahk!"
A soldier shielding me with his shield screamed and was flung back.
The monsters' initial reckless charges had changed. As if an invisible commander overlooked us from above, directing their formation, they relentlessly targeted our weaknesses.
And the bigger problem was this: the mana gathered in my hands was visibly fading.
Nine years old. This young body hadn't even properly formed a mana core, and it had already hit its limit. The mana coursing through my veins was no longer a sharp weapon—it had become venomous fangs gnawing at my flesh, sending excruciating pain through my entire body.
"Kuh!"
I rolled across the ground dodging an attack, scanning the battlefield as I thought.
'No way... Was it a trap from the start?'
Something might be commanding the monsters. But I couldn't confirm it now.
'At this rate...'
I needed something—anything—to reignite hope.
My vision swam. In the distance, I saw Kalia locked in fierce combat with the wyvern.
Unlike our dire situation, she was relentlessly pressing the wyvern. I couldn't clearly see her storm-like sword path, but from the corner of my eye, I forced strength into my trembling legs, using my sword as a crutch to stand again.
Stamina depleted, hope vanished—an utterly hopeless situation. I had only one choice here.
To forcibly kindle a spark of hope. Even if it relied on someone else's power, not mine. Kalia was my official guard knight, the sole joker who could turn this game around.
"Kalia's overwhelming the wyvern! We hold here until she joins us—we don't die!"
My shout pierced the forest's silence and the monsters' cries, reaching the soldiers' ears.
"Hoo... Understood, young master."
Hans replied through ragged breaths. Dark red blood stained his lips, and the shield in his hand was mangled beyond recognition.
What hurt most was the light slowly fading from his eyes, as life ebbed away. Yet Hans raised his trembling sword again.
I closed my eyes briefly at his desperate back, then opened them.
Coldly judging, Hans probably wouldn't return to the territory. Given his age, surviving this long was a miracle. We owed him infinite gratitude.
Hans knew it too—his lifespan flickering out like a flame. Yet for his remaining comrades and his young lord—me—he squeezed out his last vitality, standing firm.
A man's final back, guarding what mattered—that was the first true knight in my eyes, transmigrated into this romance fantasy.
I swore not to let that noble resolve go to waste.
'If Kalia comes, we win.'
That simple, clear belief meshed like gears, tightening the soldiers' crumbling formation once more as they fell.
I swallowed the metallic blood—mine or monster's—in my mouth, gathering the remnants of mana at my fingertips.
"Kuh!"
Squeezing beyond the limit brought waves of agony. But I endured. I was the commander. I couldn't show weakness.
Just a bit more. Until she severed that winged beast's neck and turned here.
We had to hold.
Heh heh—
From the deepest shadows of the monster horde, where it had silently observed until now, a massive figure finally rose.
A grotesque skeleton twisting human form—the Yeti.
It had waited for Hans's shield to shatter and our line to break, like a predator. Its lips twisted into a chilling grin.
Its eyes gleamed not with beastly madness, but cruel intelligence enjoying the torment of the weak.
Thud—!
The ground vibrated lowly as the Yeti took its first step. Its massive foot crushed lesser monsters blocking its path like paper.
Grinning grotesquely, it snatched a staggering goblin at its feet with one huge hand.
"Kieek? Kyaaak?!"
A death screech erupted, but it ignored it. As the Yeti clenched, the goblin's slender bones crumbled like cookie crumbs, echoing through the quiet forest.
It stared at the pulped life in its grip, then pulled back its shoulder like hurling a baseball.
Instantly, a tearing whoosh ripped the air.
Shuuuuk—!
The goblin corpse, thrown at full force like a cannonball, hurtled toward us.
Not mere toss—infused with monstrous strength and sadistic play, it targeted Hans's front, where he could barely hold his shield.
"Dodge, Hans!"
My cry came slower than the incoming corpse. Trailing blood and flesh, it was overwhelming violence that would crush the soldiers' budding hope in an instant.
"Aaah—"
It was over in a flash. The bloodied mass struck dead-on, Hans's upper body vanishing without form.
What thudded to the ground, never uttering a scream, was only the tattered shield he clutched to the end, guarding his lord.
"Hans—!!"
Ron's anguished wail tore the forest.
Hans was the oldest veteran, but also the mental pillar giving warm advice to all, transcending rank. His hollow death severed the last thread of reason in the soldiers' hearts.
To those who'd spent far longer with him than I, this wasn't just a warrior's fall. It was family dying.
"You monster bastard!!"
Soldiers, eyes rolled back, charged the Yeti recklessly. Ignoring terrain and formation—suicide.
"Stop! Please stop!"
I screamed until my throat bled, but they were beyond control.
Over their vengeful backs, the Yeti's foul laugh thickened.
I could only watch helplessly as they lost reason and rampaged.
My voice drowned in the din; my commander's authority broke against their boiling rage.
One soldier forced through the monsters' midst, carving a path. Teeth and claws tore him, but he took one more step toward the Yeti before collapsing.
Seizing that split-second gap, another screamed a battle cry and followed. Then thudded down.
Blood soaked the ground, splattering everywhere. Like red roses crumbling in harsh wind, the soldiers' fleeting bodies painted the battlefield crimson.
The last rose scattered.
Ron, who wanted to confess...
Seeing those I'd first befriended in this world turn to corpses, mingling with the dirt—it hurt worse than my heart being shredded.
Too raw for my lingering modern sensibilities. I couldn't endure; I stumbled back one step, two, fleeing.
Valenvalt dignity, commander's duty—swallowed by massive fear paralyzing my mind.
I turned to run blindly, but my mana-squeezed body betrayed me. Lead-heavy legs tangled; I crashed pathetically into the dirt.
"Urk, cough...!"
Suppressed nausea erupted. The warm soup Ron smilingly handed me moments ago mixed with acrid bile, surging up.
Ron's gentle warmth filling my mouth tangled with his brutal death before my eyes, ripping me apart.
Covered in dirt and vomit, I barely propped my upper body with shaking arms, gazing at the sky.
Vision blurred. Contrasting the blood- and scream-stained earth, this damn romance fantasy sky, starlit, was heartbreakingly beautiful.
"Goddamn romance fantasy... Shouldn't have read it..."
As monsters closed in, shadows looming while I regretted—
"Kyaaaak—!"
Then, the Yeti's ear-splitting roar shook the forest.
The monsters' numbers thinned by the soldiers' suicidal charge, but still greedily gleaming, halted en masse.
Those lunging at me, kneeling defenselessly, recoiled gasping under the Yeti's pressure.
Like a warning not to poach its prey.
From behind, I swear I heard the Yeti chuckling.
Terrifying. Infuriating. To meet my end at such a vile monster.
"Kyaaaak—!!"
The battlefield held its breath at the Yeti's roar; amid the eerie silence, clashing metal still rang fiercely.
Kalia's sounds.
She'd mounted the massive wyvern's back, mercilessly slashing its tough hide.
Enrapt by the damn beautiful night sky, I'd missed it—my guard knight's true face now seared into my retinas.
Couldn't track her sword path clearly, but sharper than moonlight slicing air, her momentum overwhelmed even the beast's death throes—awe-inspiring.
'If only I had that power...'
Useless to think now. But in what I believed my final moments, that overwhelming martial prowess struck my heart with intense yearning, eclipsing death's terror.
That instant—
"Aaaak!"
Agony too excruciating for a full scream ravaged my mind. Like a spike stirring my brain, pain pierced my body; vision went black.
Thus, I lost consciousness.