An Unusual Reunion
The question hung in the air like a challenge. “Can House Ashtar truly handle Pector’s army?”
An army, huh. So he really was going all out this time, even commanding troops directly. Back when I died fighting the Demon King, Pector had never brought a proper force with him. If I don’t show up now, he’ll probably declare war on the entire empire. That stubborn bastard was always like that.
“Who knows? Even the original Olivia didn’t seem to know much about Ashtar’s military strength.”
“Then in the end…”
“I’ll have to go myself.”
There was no point trying to win with sheer numbers. The nuns weren’t ready for combat yet, and I couldn’t use them as cannon fodder anyway. Fine. If that’s what he wants, a fight it is. I could probably use Sword Magic too. Depending on how things went, I might even have to prepare for a one-on-one duel.
But before that, I figured I should go see the useless pieces of shit who hadn’t improved one damn bit since I died.
The reunion with the Hero Party happened inside the knight order’s barracks on the outskirts of Karhem. Eugene looked like he’d been through hell—covered in wounds—and neither Cyria nor Ella was in much better shape. Between them stood a suspicious woman wrapped in a robe.
She looked shady as hell, so I decided not to bother talking to her. Probably some new companion they’d picked up. Either way, she’d just end up dancing in the palm of the Hero’s hand like the rest.
“Hello. I am Olivia Lapa Ashtar, the Saintess of the Empire. Are you by any chance the Hero’s party?”
“Ah, hello. Yes. This is Hero Eugene, and these two walking disasters are Ella and Cyria.”
The suspicious woman answered in their place. Looking at their condition, it was obvious they were in no state to speak. I went ahead and cast a quick heal on them.
But that woman’s voice… why did it feel so familiar? It couldn’t be her, could it?
“Then let me ask this. The enemy is definitely Pector, correct?”
I casually asked the Hero I hadn’t seen in a long time. At this point, even this worthless Hero’s opinion mattered. At least from the perspective of Olivia, not Noah. I refrained from scolding him. No matter how useless he was, from the empire’s standpoint the Hero was still humanity’s last hope.
“Yeah. But…”
“Did Pector bring an army with him?”
“It was different from before. He really seemed intent on attacking the empire. Right now Pector has occupied Karhem and imprisoned all its citizens.”
Yeah. That sounded exactly like Pector. He wouldn’t kill the civilians. He’d probably wait a little longer, testing the waters. If I still didn’t show up, then he’d start executing them. If he truly wanted me that badly.
“Any news about the prince?”
“The prince was fine. The problem is my little sister,” Ella answered instead.
“Was Shariel injured?”
“No, but I’m still worried.”
Ella. This is all because you’ve been slacking off this whole time. Well, if that’s all, then it doesn’t matter. The moment I appear, they’ll probably release the hostages.
“The fact that he stayed quiet until House Ashtar mobilized its forces suggests he has some kind of objective. He didn’t torture the prince, though he wasn’t exactly treating him like an honored guest either.”
Even Eugene seemed to have developed some capacity for thought. That made sense. While House Ashtar had quickly gathered its troops, Pector hadn’t launched any attacks either. It meant he was waiting—not just for Ashtar, but for other territories to send reinforcements as well.
“You didn’t ask Pector what his goal was?”
“He wouldn’t answer. So I’m just making educated guesses.”
That was enough. I already knew what this was about.
“Lady Olivia. So in the end…”
“Life never goes the easy way, does it?”
I’d been hoping against hope the whole way here, but it was exactly as I feared. He really was after Noah. If all of this was just for me, it felt strangely hollow. At the same time, I couldn’t help feeling a twisted sense of gratitude that things would have gone differently if I hadn’t been here.
“My lady. Combat preparations are complete.”
One of the knights approached me.
“Why are you telling me that?”
“Lord Rockton has delegated command authority to you, my lady.”
Even if he gave it to me, I had no intention of attacking. Stirring things up now would only be like poking a hornet’s nest.
“Then let’s wait and see for now.”
“Pardon?”
“They say the Mad Sword will be arriving soon. It won’t be too late to fight after watching the Mad Sword and Pector clash. If we attack now, both Karhem and Ashtar’s soldiers will suffer massive casualties.”
From what I could see, they had cannons and quite a few infantry armed with new weapons. In other words, Ashtar had pulled together all its elite forces. The larger the scale, the greater the potential losses.
“Understood. Please give the order whenever you are ready.”
The knight withdrew.
“And…”
I walked over to the woman in the corner who was hanging her head. The moment I saw her face, a surge of heat rushed to my head.
Yuria. If this bitch had just done her job properly, none of this would have happened.
“Yuria.”
“Lady Olivia?”
THUD!
I kicked Yuria square in the stomach. Already exhausted, she crumpled to the ground.
“Gah!!”
“My lady?”
“This damn bitch just had to ignore my orders and create this entire mess. Hey. Get up.”
I yanked Yuria to her feet and slapped her across the face.
SLAP!
They say even a mad dog can be tamed with a beating. I couldn’t just let insubordinate bitches run wild.
“Did you think I’d go easy on you just because I’m a woman now? If you had just listened to me properly, the prince wouldn’t have been captured, the Hero wouldn’t have been humiliated, and Karhem wouldn’t be in this state.”
No matter how pathetic Eugene was, he still had the eyes of the world on him. If word spread that the Hero—who already got beaten up regularly—had gotten his ass handed to him by one of the Four Heavenly Kings again, his reputation would plummet even further. The Demon King’s army morale would only rise.
“My lady, that’s merely speculation. Besides, wasn’t it ultimately His Highness the Prince who went to Karhem?”
Looking at the prince’s condition, it was obvious Yuria had coaxed him into it.
“Aslan is the type who chases empty ideals and gets swayed by his subordinates. Of course he’d act out of spite toward me, and you were right there whispering in his ear. That idiot Lailer would have followed Aslan’s orders without question. Speculation? Yes, it’s speculation. But at the very least, we could have bought enough time to figure out Pector’s intentions. Meaning Karhem never had to fall to the demons. Hey, do my words sound that funny to you?”
SLAP!
One wasn’t enough, so I backhanded her other cheek.
“I went so far as to use my position as Imperial Tutor and Saintess to warn you all, and you still thought it was a joke?”
I should have done this from the beginning. I should have used my authority as Taesa to beat the shit out of the prince, Yuria, and Lailer. Hell, I should have at least sent Valen Libelt with them. That guy might think Ashtar is trash, but he’s loyal to the empire. He would have beaten the prince into submission if it meant getting him to safety.
“I’m sorry, Lady Olivia.”
“If anything happens to the prince, remember it’s all your fault. What are you waiting for? This bitch doesn’t deserve treatment in the Ashtar barracks. Throw her outside and make her maintain the soldiers’ weapons.”
I really couldn’t stand the sight of her. Better to send her out to maintain equipment for the Ashtar soldiers who might have to fight because of her.
“But she’s badly injured. Shouldn’t we at least heal her a little—”
Claire seemed to pity Yuria and tried to treat her, but I waved her off. Heal her? Like hell.
“At least the Hero Party fought even though they lost. Those wounds are probably from running away. It’s obvious. Yuria must have whined to the Hero Party, and they rushed into battle against Pector without proper preparation and got wiped out. Hero Eugene. Am I wrong? Eugene. You are the Hero. The entire continent is watching you. If you want to protect your reputation, you’d better speak honestly.”
This was the time to get our stories straight. No matter how much of a bastard he was, he was still the Hero—humanity’s hope. If the only thing that spread was news of his defeat, it would be disastrous.
“Ah, well… you’re not entirely wrong. Ella’s little sister was captured too. Things got urgent, so it ended up like this.”
Good. At least they could cooperate when it came to saving face. Who would have thought the Hero’s shamelessness would actually be useful here.
“This is all your fault, Yuria. If you have any conscience left, go outside and maintain the weapons of the Ashtar soldiers who might die because of you.”
“…Yes.”
Yuria staggered out of the barracks with slumped shoulders. I would have preferred to sit her down and lecture her properly, but it seemed like a beating would get through to her better than words. Same with Aslan. If I catch him this time, I’m going to beat his ass too. Imperial blood? Who gives a shit. This body holds the titles of Ashtar, Saintess, and Imperial Tutor.
But the way the Hero Party was staring at me was anything but normal.
“What are you looking at?”
Want to get beaten too? When I glared at them fiercely, the Hero Party quickly looked away.
“Lady Olivia. Please calm down for now.”
Claire tried to soothe me.
“Calm down? Because of that bitch the situation turned into this mess.”
“She didn’t do it on purpose, did she? Perhaps you could show a little mercy—”
“Mercy my ass. I warned them so thoroughly about Pector and this is what happens.”
Was I wrong? That brainless Yuria ignored everything I said and practically handed Aslan over to Pector on a silver platter.
“Claire, you should start treating the Hero Party first.”
Even if I hated them, since I was part of Ashtar now, I had to support the Hero Party.
“Yes, my lady.”
Wait. Claire was a woman. If she treated the Hero Party, that could cause problems too. There was no telling what kind of nonsense that lecherous Hero might try.
“Valen Libelt. You take care of the Hero yourself.”
“What? Me?”
Valen’s eyes widened in disbelief at my order. The two of them weren’t exactly strangers. Valen Libelt hated the Hero. During the supply route recapture battle, the Hero had dumped all the work on him. That part was fine. Valen hated annoying tasks, so having sole command was probably better than sharing it.
But that idiot Hero had picked a fight with him first. It was around the time I asked him to take good care of things.
—Then I’ll leave it to you, Young Master Libelt.
That was fine. But then—
—Noah. Why would you entrust anything to such a barbaric man? Do you really think someone like him can do it properly?
—The Hero who passes his own duties to a mage is far inferior to me and Libelt’s soldiers.
I had spoken without hesitation. From that point on, they’d been at each other’s throats. Eugene, completely unaware of his own incompetence, had simply called Libelt vulgar and looked down on him. Naturally, they’d been bickering ever since. It was probably partly the Hero’s fault that Libelt had ignored my orders and charged straight through the Demon King’s army like a madman.
Look at them now—glaring at each other. The Hero was even letting out a groan, clearly unwilling. No wonder he hadn’t greeted me earlier. The grudge was still fresh. From Libelt’s perspective, the Hero who had screwed over the empire’s northern defenses was someone he couldn’t stand.
“We’re short on hands. The Divine Archer and the Kingdom’s Saintess should be treated by Claire since they’re all women. So you’ll have to take care of the man. You’ve rolled around on battlefields before—you can treat wounds, can’t you?”
“……”
Young Master Libelt couldn’t refute that. The sight was so ridiculous I almost laughed. Ah, there really was something satisfying about tormenting people. Valen and the Hero. What if I paired up two people who were complete opposites? And better yet, make Valen take care of the Hero?
“That actually makes sense,” Seria chimed in.
“Then what about you two?”
“I’m from Ashtar and she’s from the Magic Tower. We need to prepare to deal with Pector.”
“If you slack off, I won’t let it slide.”
After saying that, Valen walked over to the Hero. Watching them glare at each other, I pinched my thigh to hold back my laughter. With this, I had successfully separated Valen from Claire.
In the end, I had to handle this matter alone.
Would Pector have grown stronger? Or had he grown weaker?