When Hatred Wavers
"Ha... how strange."
She muttered as if speaking to herself.
Aisia, who had never once fretted over such things, parted her lips and began to speak.
Though Aisia Lil Shuhain was the proud princess of the Liberia Empire, in this moment she was nothing more than simply Aisia.
"Clearly... clearly I hated you, yet somehow that feeling is wavering."
He listened to her words in silence.
In a way, the conversation felt unfamiliar and awkward for them both.
Her feelings are wavering...?
Despite the stone-like expression that never changed, Adolf Kareha trembled deep within at the fact that she was voicing her honest heart.
The instant Aisia realized she had spoken such words to the man who was a living nightmare on the battlefield to the Liberia Empire's army, she began to freeze.
What... what did I just say?!
Watching Adolf Kareha keep that same rigid face even after her confession, Aisia recoiled in horror at her own words.
Yet an inexplicable warmth slowly began to circulate between the two of them.
"Still, I don't fully trust you yet."
She spoke as if drawing a careful line in advance.
"I only know a fraction of what kind of person you are."
"That is fine. Take as much time as you need to observe me."
He answered in a gentle voice.
"Once this matter is resolved... I shall speak my true heart so that you may come to trust me."
At those words her chest fluttered once more.
Though she could not yet grasp what speaking his true heart truly meant, at least it was certain he was striving for her sake.
The night deepened, and the campsite was swallowed by darkness.
Adolf Kareha soon rose to leave; he still had to make the final patrol.
"You seem cold. Wear this cloak."
Before stepping out he saw the flush on Aisia's cheeks, draped his cloak over her shoulders, and departed.
Aisia watched his retreating back until he vanished beyond the tent flap, then lowered her head.
"It's warm..."
Feeling the lingering heat of Adolf Kareha, she murmured to herself, flustered by the turmoil rising inside her.
Could a man like this truly be cold-blooded? Might I allow myself to relax, even a little?
Amid the trembling where new emotions had begun to sprout, the heated conflict still remained unresolved.
She knew full well that she was still a weakling who could not even properly command mana, and that her status as a prisoner of an enemy nation had not changed in the slightest.
The fear that Adolf Kareha might harbor some hidden motive also refused to fade.
Yet through this ambush a definite crack had formed in her heart.
I cannot simply keep being protected... Somehow... I must do my part.
The man she had once dismissed as cold-blooded had, in truth, risked injury to shield her.
I am Aisia Lil Shuhain, First Princess of the Liberia Empire. I cannot live indebted to a man of the enemy nation.
Along with the shift in her perception of him, Aisia herself was changing.
The next day the campsite once again entered preparations.
"No assassins left alive this time either, I take it."
Kareha muttered while watching the bodies being recovered.
The only bright sign was that allied casualties were fewer than during the initial surprise attack.
"We cannot keep taking this."
Their party recovered the assassins' corpses, tended the wounded, and prepared for the road ahead.
The soldiers' morale and fatigue rose together, yet under the operations and plans commanded by Adolf Kareha they gradually regained stability.
"There is someone I can entrust with investigating their clothes."
That morning Kareha tied a note marked "Investigate" together with the common insignia found on the assassins' garments and sent it by messenger pigeon.
In the forenoon the adjutant knocked on the tent and spoke to Aisia in a careful, gentle tone.
"I speak carefully, but this afternoon we plan to explore the inner passages of the ruins. It seems Your Highness the Princess must go there as well."
"I have to go..."
She furrowed her brow.
"After that chaos yesterday, you're saying we'll move again?"
"We know the danger as well, but lingering here long is no better. Assassins or monsters might strike again, and considering food and supplies we must finish quickly."
"I understand."
Aisia accepted without particular objection.
Previously she would have resisted fiercely, yet now she at least believed Adolf Kareha was not deliberately dragging her into danger merely to kill her.
A night had also passed, and Aisia, beginning to judge more rationally, agreed that haste was necessary.
"If Your Highness feels any discomfort, please tell us freely. Today's combat formation will be arranged more solidly. And the General has instructed that the Princess's safety be the absolute top priority."
"The General... that man said that?"
Preparing to leave, she lifted her head in surprise.
Even if I have a purpose for him, if it becomes like that, isn't it no different from becoming an escort formation...
"Yes, he said so directly."
The adjutant shrugged.
"He warned that the Princess must absolutely not be hurt, and if an accident occurs, whoever it is will bear heavy responsibility."
Originally one who protected others, now receiving the perception of being protected, Aisia Lil Shuhain felt indignant. Yet she knew that refusing as unnecessary would mean spurning Adolf Kareha's goodwill, so she could only press her lips firmly shut.
In that moment the scene of him shielding her rose again in her mind.
Though it had been only a brief span, recalling that she had survived the threshold of death because of him made her heart begin to pound heavily before she knew it.
Around noon the exploration party was finally formed.
Adolf Kareha took the lead; his close aides followed, supporting one another.
Aisia was placed in the center with the escort soldiers—a formation designed to minimize any chance of her being attacked.
Unlike before, a tension that a surprise assault could come at any moment ran through every soldier, so the observation teams on the outer edges advanced while desperately scanning the surroundings.
The moment they entered the ruins entrance, rotten air and the reek of ancient mold assaulted their lungs.
The floor was slick; the stone walls were densely covered with graffiti of unknown patterns.
Occasionally a magical aura could be felt, and each time the vigilant soldiers gripped spears and shields more tightly.
"Be careful. If there are traps, we must coordinate with one another."
Adolf Kareha commanded in a low voice.
"Behind this collapsed pile of stones... yes, there is one more passage."
They lit their torches and barely forced their bodies through the gap.
Aisia followed with a tense expression.
Each time they passed an open door or corridor, stone dust and powder that seemed ready to crumble fell from above with soft thuds.
And the stench of rot grew stronger.
"Monsters may appear inside. Be prepared."
When the smell of rotting corpses rose, the adjutant, realizing a predator nested nearby, called for caution. Yet even after hearing him Aisia could not gather her focus.
Her still-unstable mana offered no help.
Perhaps... will that man protect me again?
Suddenly realizing she had harbored such an expectation without meaning to, she was flustered.
But yesterday's events had been too intense; their shadow still lingered in a corner of her heart.
When roughly an hour had passed, a sudden vibration that made the ground rumble reached them.
"It's a vibration!"
The soldiers flinched and cried out.
"Is the ruin collapsing?"
"I don't know yet. It also sounds like something large is moving."
Adolf Kareha raised a hand and halted everyone.
The surroundings grew suffocatingly quiet; from beyond the cracked stone wall came a dull sound like heavy footsteps.
"A monster?"
One soldier whispered. Another nodded.
"The possibility is high. Rumors have long claimed that monsters nested in this region."
"Unit, prepare for combat."
At his gesture the soldiers raised spears, swords, and shields as one and locked into formation.
Surrounded by escorts, Aisia stared ahead with tense eyes.
Suddenly a massive shadow appeared at the far end of the cave.
Horns crowned its head; hard carapace covered its entire body, and sharp claws tipped its limbs.
Red light flashed in its eyes as it unleashed a threatening roar.
"Ogre type?"
One soldier asked in panic.
Adolf Kareha calmly regulated his breathing and readjusted his grip on the sword.
Realizing at once that it was no ordinary ogre, he composed his entire body with a sharp command.
"It looks similar, but that is not a simple ogre! Everyone maintain the front line!"
The monster, as if refusing to yield to the spirit-laden order of Adolf Kareha, bellowed a thunderous cry and wildly pounded the ruins walls.
The ceiling shook; fragments rained down. Soldiers scrambled, crouching low while barely holding the line.
Each time the creature smashed hard rock with its fists and made the floor boom, the ground trembled.
"If we leave it like this the path may be blocked! We must deal with it quickly!"
Adolf Kareha shouted.
"Those who can support with bows or magic fall back! Close-combat team, advance with me!"
"Advance!"
The adjutant and several knights surged forward at once.
The monster was already berserk, charging at a speed astonishing for its bulk.
One front-line soldier tried to block with a shield, only to be flung mercilessly into the wall.
"Damn it, you monster!"
Soldiers were driven back, screaming.
Adolf Kareha circled to the flank and drove the tip of his sword into the creature's waist.
The hard carapace kept the blade from sinking deep, yet it was enough to provoke the beast.
"I've drawn its gaze! Flank it from the other side!"
Confirming the ogre's eyes had locked on him, he issued the command.
Knights scattered left and right seeking openings; archers waited between them, but the narrow cave made drawing bows nearly impossible.
"What do we do? Not enough space to shoot!"
The archers fretted, yet Adolf Kareha instructed them in the same breath.
"Wait only until you secure a firing angle. Drive the monster toward the wall and the chance will come."
Thus a fierce engagement unfolded.
When the monster's fist struck the ground again, a great stone pillar tilted and collapsed with a rumbling crash.
Fragments rolled straight toward Aisia; terror seized her.
I have to dodge!
An escort soldier hauled her aside; together they flung themselves clear, barely escaping the rain of debris.
Yet while attention was stolen by the collapse, the monster wheeled and lunged for the rear.
"This is..."
By the time the adjutant realized, it was already too late. The creature swung its massive body and charged toward Aisia.
"We must block it!"
Adolf Kareha spun and sprinted.
But the monster's charge was plainly faster than his speed.
"At this rate..."
With no room even to move, Aisia was about to take the full force of the collision.
She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for what would come.
Several nearby soldiers threw themselves at the beast, only to be smashed aside one after another by its raw power.
"If that place is breached it's over!"
Someone screamed.
In that instant Adolf Kareha, armor scraping, barely planted himself in front of Aisia and raised his shield.
Yet the monster's strength was overwhelming; he was hurled backward, shield and all.
"Guh-haak!"
A bloody cry tore from his lips.
The ogre instantly switched targets and moved to finish the fallen Adolf Kareha.
Everyone in the fray could picture it: if the now-defenseless Kareha took that blow, he would not survive.
"No!"
Aisia screamed in that single moment.
And then her body moved of its own accord.