Mana Exhaustion
The Southern Colony. In front of Fort 4, the main base of the suppression army. The commander of the Imperial Knights was extremely busy handling his duties.
"Commander... no, Supreme Commander. A letter has arrived from the Schulzenburg family asking if support is needed."
"It's fine. Decline politely. We can't ask a mercenary family for help."
"Understood. Also, the Holy Knights have arrived and requested to join the suppression army."
"The Holy Knights?"
The adjutant handed over a paper he had been holding. It was a detailed report on the Holy Knights' forces.
"12 knights... what a joke. They're basically armored infantry in makeshift armor."
Twelve self-proclaimed knights. No mages or mercenaries hired on their own. No merchant guild secured, so they'd rely on the suppression army's hired merchants for supplies.
"Tsk..."
The commander tapped the desk with his finger, lost in thought. It seemed that taking in such riffraff would bring more harm than good.
His gaze eventually landed on the name of the Holy Knights' commander, listed as the knight order's lord.
"The de facto commander is Schluss Heinkel? Could this be—"
"Yes. It's the Schluss Heinkel from the Imperial Academy."
"Hmm..."
A faint smile spread across the commander's lips. So it was a knight order owned by Schluss Heinkel. It looked like he'd scraped together scholarships and medal pensions to establish it. Their equipment and training were probably a mess, but there was definite merit in accepting them. Even if he couldn't give them a chance to distinguish themselves, he could at least let them gain real combat experience. That would be an opportunity to put Schluss Heinkel in his debt. Though nobles constantly badmouthed Schluss Heinkel for being disagreeable and ill-mannered, it was obvious he'd occupy a key position in the empire in the future. After the scandal with the crown prince, direct pressure on Schluss Heinkel had almost disappeared.
"Where are the Holy Knights now?"
"They're waiting outside. I'll call them in."
"Do so."
The adjutant left, and about a minute later returned with the sound of clanking footsteps. What arrived at the office was a soldier in full plate armor. So they at least had the appearance down. Schluss Heinkel must have squeezed every last coin. Soon the man removed his helmet, placed it beside him, and knelt on one knee before the commander.
"I am Taylor Schwartz, serving as the vice-commander of the Holy Knights."
"Vice-commander?"
"Yes. The commander has not yet arrived, so I am in command."
"..."
A knight order commander who was late. The Imperial Knights commander's brow furrowed. If it were up to him, he'd kick the commander out and demand he come in person.
"Therefore, I wish to transfer command of the Holy Knights to the Supreme Commander of the suppression army."
"I accept. The Holy Knights are now part of the suppression army assembled to strike down the lawless."
"Thank you."
But the decision had already been made, so he decided not to bother with any push and pull. With command issues and chain of command problems from knight orders gathered from all over the country already giving him a headache, he wanted to handle this small matter without complication.
Soon the man calling himself the vice-commander of the Holy Knights offered his greetings and left.
"Supreme Commander. Reporting. Reinforcements have arrived at Fort 4."
At that moment, the adjutant spoke urgently. Fort 4. It was the northernmost among the four southern fortresses taken by the rebels. In other words, it was the front line. It was also the bridgehead needed to recapture the remaining three fortresses to solve the supply problem.
"What kind of troops and how many?"
"About 100 medium cavalry."
"Race?"
"Pardon?"
"Were they humans or beastkin?"
"They were beastkin."
The commander tapped the desk again, lost in thought. Reinforcements at the enemy's forward base. It was by no means good news. If they had been human soldiers, that is.
"Begin preparations for attack. Inform the entire army."
"What? Directly at the fortress?"
"Yes. We'll take it in one go."
The original plan of engaging in a field battle to wear down their forces before beginning the siege was immediately scrapped. His intuition, built from long experience, was telling him. The reinforcements were nothing more than untrained scarecrows. They had to attack now.
"Yes. Understood. I'll summon the commanders and strategists."
Bwooo...! The sound of a horn echoed through the camp, signaling an emergency.
***
"You're toying with me."
"Hehe. I'm doing this so you'll be comfortable."
"It's uncomfortable, so put me down."
"I don't want to."
"..."
I was lying with my head on Iris's thighs as she knelt demurely. The problem was that even if I didn't like it, there was no way to escape. My body wasn't listening due to mana exhaustion. Of course, saying it was uncomfortable wasn't just words. It really was uncomfortable. Iris's thighs were so large that the position of my head was too high when lying on them. No, was it because of the size of her hips rather than her thighs? Whatever. I didn't know.
"Uwaa... What are you two really doing?"
"Nursing a patient."
"..."
Even as Erika recoiled in shock beside us, Iris was utterly shameless. I wondered if it was okay for a saintess to have this kind of skinship with a man who wasn't even her lover. Maybe the Holy See should strip Iris of her sainthood soon.
"What really happened?"
"..."
Erika touched my blood-soaked sleeve and asked in a worried voice. I had originally planned to gloss over it, but... it seemed like she'd keep pressing until I answered, so I decided to just tell her.
"I killed several people."
"..."
Neither Erika nor Iris could continue. It was an expected result since I'd deliberately chosen words that were hard to respond to easily. Even though this was a world where people died left and right, it must have been shocking to Iris and Erika, who had probably never killed anyone. I was fine, of course. It was just a combination of letters that I'd killed, not people. Yeah. Not people. They weren't people.
"I-I see..."
"Hoo. I'm relieved."
"What? Why?"
"From how flustered you are, it seems they weren't hired by the Lichtenburgs."
"Of course not! What are you saying!"
Erika obviously wasn't, and while I hadn't ruled out suspecting Lady Lichtenburg, I'd decided to exclude that possibility. If the lady were to target me, it would be when she could definitely kill me. She wouldn't do something reckless like touching me over something that would only ruin my midterm grades.
"It wasn't the Flechettes either."
"..."
The Flechettes... honestly, it was hard to say for certain. The possibility that Iris had led an attack on me was close to zero, but there was still the chance that the old folks there had acted on their own. Of course, if Iris found out, the Flechette council of elders would be completely replaced. If noise ever came from within the Flechettes someday, that would be it. The rest would be the Wittgenstein family or other minor noble houses. The Wittgensteins were a family that had almost no description even in the original work, so with insufficient information, it was hard to make a judgment. In the end, the mastermind behind this incident remained a mystery.
"..."
"..."
Iris's smile was so burdensome that I ended up turning my head away. I'd recovered enough strength to move a little now. By the way, Iris's gaze was strange. It seemed like she was interrogating me about something. Damn. I thought I knew what it was.
"Erika."
"Huh? Why?"
"Would it be okay to go meet Yulia someday?"
"What? No. Absolutely not."
"Erika. Wouldn't it be better to hear the reason?"
"What reason... What is it?"
At Iris's smile, Erika clicked her tongue and asked.
"Yulia said she has nightmares and calls out your name in her sleep, right?"
"Uh, yeah. She did. No, back then she talked like it was something serious, but... No. It's fine. You don't have to worry about it. It seems like a psychological issue, so you don't need to feel guilty..."
"I think I can solve it."
"What?"
I slightly raised my trembling left hand. The Miracle Ring on my ring finger was visible. That must have been the problem. Or more precisely, the empty wish I'd made to the ring. I couldn't help but feel guilty.
"How are you going to solve it?"
"I'm not certain. But I want to check Yulia's condition once. I'm not saying I'll pretend to be a doctor and do some grand examination. I just want to meet her. Whether it's a meal, teatime, counseling, anything is fine. I'd like you to arrange a meeting for just the two of us."
The solution was simple. In fact, it was possible right now. It would just take mumbling a few words to the ring. But I couldn't do that. There was still something I needed to confirm. Whether the one possessing Yulia's body was really her. Or if it was just a ghost imitating her. I couldn't dismiss it without confirming. No. I was done making excuses. I wanted to meet her one more time. I wanted to have a conversation one more time. Even if it was fake, I didn't want to do something that would leave regrets.
"Well, fine. But don't say anything weird to our Yulia, okay?"
"I won't. Don't worry."
"But Schluss."
"Why are you calling me."
"That... that thing."
"What are you talking about."
"No... that. I was wondering exactly when you started wearing that ring."
Suddenly Erika hesitated and carefully asked. The Miracle Ring? They probably knew about it roughly. I wondered why they were suddenly interested in my fashion accessory.
"Since after I visited the imperial palace."
"Ah. Aha. I see. As expected. Um, by any chance! Have you ever taken the ring off since then?"
Why was she really asking? For the first few days I took it off to sleep, but it was too bothersome so I almost never took it off anymore. I even wore it while washing my face. That said it all.
"Not even for a single moment."
I said with a bit of exaggeration. Then Erika's expression changed to one that seemed slightly surprised. What was it? Did the Miracle Ring have some function I didn't know about? Was there some kind of toxicity that made it dangerous to wear for long? No matter how much I thought about it, I didn't remember putting in such a setting.
"Hoo. Hooong. I see... Then the engagement story must have been true?"
"...?!"
What? How did she know that? I was so surprised that I failed to manage my expression. Damn it. This was as good as confessing. Whether she'd gained certainty from my face or not, Erika approached closer and leaned her face toward me. Denying it any further would only make me look like an idiot.
"Yeah. It's true."
"Crazy... Then when's the official announcement?"
"What?"
"The nobles are all waiting for just that. It's already being publicly announced through the ring, but when exactly are you going to officially announce the engagement with Her Highness the Crown Prince?"
"What are you talking about."
She was saying something I had no idea about. Me and Aria engaged? That story had fallen through ages ago.
"Are you really pretending not to know now? When did you acknowledge it earlier?"
"So explain what you're talking about..."
Kuuung! At that moment, the door opened roughly. Iris and Erika frowned at the light pouring in. But to me, who could see with mana, it was clear. Emilia, walking unsteadily while breaking into a cold sweat. Had she recovered already?
"Schluss Op... Mr. Heinkel. I didn't miss the submission deadline..."
Emilia's gaze, which had been scanning the classroom, stopped abruptly when it landed on us.
"I... yo..."
"Yes. Everything has been submitted properly."
"That's good news. Congratulations."
"Thank you...?"
Emilia's voice had become so dry it was cold. Her eyes were fierce too. No, why was she acting like that again? Thinking carefully, I realized... Ah. She was clearly misunderstanding.
"Ah, no. Please calm down, Emilia. These two are helping me, not trying to kidnap or attack me."
"I know that!"
"..."
No, now she seemed angry? Why was she really like this? When I looked up at Iris's expression, she was somehow avoiding my and Emilia's gazes. It was the first time I'd seen Iris this flustered.