Chapter 35: A Wondrous Woman
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 35: A Wondrous Woman
“Madam.”
A knock came at the door, followed by Lina’s voice. Blair closed the book she was reading.
“Come in.”
The moment permission was granted, Lina entered the study. She approached with a solemn expression, as if on a grave mission, and held out a letter.
“It’s from the guild.”
It was the news she had been waiting for.
Blair set her book aside and unfolded the letter. To prevent anyone from reading it if intercepted, the message omitted any mention of the sender or recipient, containing only a single, brief line.
[We have discovered the origin of the crest you asked us to investigate. That crest belongs to…]
As Blair’s gaze moved down the page, her eyes began to tremble.
* * *
“It’s coming!” a knight’s voice echoed through the quiet winter forest.
Just then, the ground split open with a heavy rumble as something surged toward them from a distance. Something massive was moving beneath the earth.
Herdin stood directly in its path.
Watching the approaching entity with cold eyes, he drove his sword deep into the ground. A blue magic circle expanded outward from the blade. He had channeled his freezing magic downward, targeting the earth itself.
Beneath the magic circle, sharp spikes of ice pierced deep into the ground, striking the hidden creature. A massive, worm-like magical beast burst from the soil with a roar.
“Now!”
At the Knight Commander’s order, knights lying in wait throughout the forest fired their crossbows in unison. Dozens of bolts, each trailing a thin, sturdy wire, embedded themselves in the beast’s flesh.
The creature thrashed its colossal body, trying to shake them off and retreat underground. It flung several knights aside, but it could not overpower dozens of grown men. The knights gritted their teeth, straining against the beast’s immense strength.
“Agh!”
One of them lost his grip and was flung into the air. The beast’s maw gaped wide, ready to swallow him whole.
Just as terror seized the falling knight, Herdin closed the distance in the blink of an eye. He caught the man and threw him toward the safety of the forest.
Then, he swiftly conjured another magic circle, using it as a stepping stone to launch himself forward. Reaching the beast’s head in an instant, he cleanly severed it from its body. There was not a single wasted motion.
The two halves of the beast writhed. The head began to regenerate a body, and the body, a head.
At that moment, phantom swords of pure light materialized in the air. The blades rained down on the beast’s body like a torrential downpour.
The knights watched in awe, marveling once again at their duke’s combat prowess, though they had witnessed it countless times before. Magic required intense concentration, making it incredibly difficult to cast while moving. For the same reason, one could not normally cast more than one spell at a time.
Yet Herdin not only moved seamlessly while casting but also chained his spells in rapid succession. Anyone witnessing this would be forced to admit it: he possessed a power that truly transcended human limits.
Landing lightly, Herdin drove his sword into the severed head of the beast. The creature’s core—its heart—shattered, and both halves of its body fell still.
The knights let out sighs of relief. The battle was over.
Sheathing his sword, Herdin looked down at his palm, feeling the mana flow within his body.
There hasn’t been any unusual activity since the New Year’s Festival.
He had been checking his condition regularly ever since the disruption to his mana during the festival, but everything had seemed normal. Even after scouring grimoires, he could find no record of mana temporarily evaporating and then returning. He couldn’t speak of this instability to anyone. His weakness was Delmark’s weakness, so his only option was to monitor it and figure it out himself.
Too many bothersome things lately.
The abnormal state of his mana, and the waking hallucinations he had been seeing.
“Your Grace.”
A squire approached Herdin, who was lost in thought, and handed him a towel. Herdin wiped the beast’s fluids from his armor as the other squires began salvaging the carcass.
Hunting magical beasts was immensely risky, but their remains were highly lucrative. Arrogant beast hunters often ventured deep into their territory for profit, sometimes, like today, luring the creatures all the way to the nearby villages.
“Actually, we had almost finished that beast off ourselves. It only ended this quickly because we’d already weakened it.”
Herdin shot a disdainful look at the culprits. Moments ago, they had been begging for their lives, but now that the beast was dead, they were stepping forward to claim their share.
They should have taken responsibility and just let themselves be eaten.
But there was no need for him to intervene. The Knight Commander, who was thoroughly sick of northern beast hunters, would handle it.
Herdin returned the towel to the squire and stared quietly at the carcass being processed. Killing always left a foul taste in his mouth, whether the target was an enemy or a beast. He thought he had grown used to it after taking countless lives for more than a decade. Why, then, did he feel this sudden, lingering discomfort?
As he pondered the reason, Blair came to mind.
The woman he held in his arms had been warm. Her skin against his was soft, and the heart beneath her breast beat small but strong, just like her.
He was struck by a simple truth: being alive was a wondrous thing.
It was a fact he had always taken for granted, but it hit him with fresh clarity. Perhaps that was why dealing death with his own hands felt so uniquely unpleasant today.
He wanted to return quickly. To the mansion where the woman who possessed that wondrous life awaited him.
As Herdin turned toward his tethered horse, he saw Ruth approaching, followed by some rather unwelcome faces.
It was the Imperial Knights. At their center was the Vice Commander who led the squad.
“My goodness! While we were stopping by the temple to fetch the cleric, you’ve already slain this massive beast? As expected of the Knights of Delmark, the natural enemy of all magical beasts!” he exclaimed with exaggerated surprise. Or at least, that was how it seemed on the surface.
Herdin looked at him with indifferent eyes. He knew the Imperial Knights had arrived late on purpose. They always did. If civilian lives hadn’t been at stake, he would have ignored them completely.
“Indeed. It would have been a disaster had we been a moment later. We might have had to witness that Imperial crest you wear being excreted from the worm’s backside.”
The atmosphere instantly turned icy at Herdin’s blatant sarcasm.
The Vice Commander’s face stiffened for a fraction of a second before he masked it with a hearty laugh. “Haha, our order is not quite that incompetent, Your Grace. We are the Imperial Knights, after all.”
“Ah, I am well aware of your competence. You always bring the clerics at such impeccable timing.”
“…”
“Hurry and transport the wounded to the village. That is another thing you excel at, is it not?”
He was treating the Imperial Knights like mere squires cleaning up after a battle. Unable to hide his sour expression any longer, the Vice Commander turned away and barked orders at his men.
Standing beside Herdin, Ruth clicked his tongue as he watched them go. “Tsk, what a waste of tax money.”
As the Knights of Delmark received treatment, Herdin held out his hand to Ruth. “Our casualties?”
Ruth instantly understood, clipping a cigar and placing it in Herdin’s outstretched hand. Lighting it, he replied, “Five in total, but they’re only minor injuries. Nothing to worry about, Your Grace.”
“What is the schedule for today?”
“Nothing major, but you remember Sir Caligo and his men are scheduled to arrive today, right?”
Sir Caligo was one of the knights who had fought alongside Herdin on the battlefield—highly skilled and fiercely loyal. He had been stationed at the Delmark Main Castle by Herdin’s order but was now traveling to the Imperial Capital.
“I know.”
In truth, he had only just remembered, but there was no need to point that out. As Herdin gave a half-hearted nod and took a drag from his cigar, he sensed someone approaching from behind.
“Excuse me…”
Herdin and Ruth turned around at the same time.
“Ah, it really is you, Your Grace! We met at the temple once before. Do you happen to remember me?” A silver-haired woman beamed with delight upon seeing Herdin.
He exhaled a plume of smoke, his expression indifferent. In his mind, Blair’s voice echoed from some time ago.
‘That cleric from earlier is the woman you will fall in love with.’
Her voice had been so detached, as if speaking of someone else entirely. Her eyes had held the same distance.
At the memory, Herdin’s gaze grew cold and dark.
He didn’t know her name, but he remembered her face. Even if he hadn’t wanted to, it was a face he couldn’t forget.
“I remember. Cleric.”
In truth, even if he hadn’t remembered, he could have guessed her occupation from her attire. Yet Miella smiled brightly, delighted that he simply said he remembered her. She was a woman whose emotions were written plainly on her face.
“I’m so glad to see you again. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No.”
Miella was taken aback by his curt, immediate reply, but she scrambled to find something else to say. “How is the injury I treated back then? May I ask how you are feeling?”
“I am perfectly fine. Your healing magic was flawless.”
Despite the compliment, Herdin’s eyes were filled with boredom as he smoked his cigar. It was a clear signal that he was fine and she should be on her way, but Miella, seemingly failing to grasp his intent, blushed.
“I’m so relieved. It was an internal injury, and I was so nervous at the time… I worried it might not have healed properly.”
“…”
“Ah. How is the Duchess? She seemed very startled back then as well.”
The moment that familiar title left Miella’s lips, his bored expression instantly vanished.