Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: The Griffin's Shadow
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***
Inside the carriage Elbadin was riding.
Unlike the commotion erupting outside, the interior of the carriage was as silent as a tomb.
Jed looked out the window and spoke with a somewhat tense expression.
“Your Highness, they're frost wolves. Judging by their size, they seem to be young, but their numbers are growing.”
At that, Elbadin nodded with a calm expression.
Elbadin sat with his arms crossed, perfectly still. Riat, beside him, was much the same. The two were so quiet, it was as if the chaos outside belonged to another world.
Jed, who was observing the situation outside, continued his report.
“The knights are all on standby in their designated positions. The carriage was attacked, but the Young Lord and the others managed to get out safely.”
Over the past week, since the practical training schedule was announced, the children had each undergone special training.
Although this was Lucillea's first battle, she would have learned the minimum knowledge and theory required for combat, so there shouldn't be any major issues.
Besides, the special team included Reiden and Irnel in addition to Serdian.
If things went wrong, the knights on standby would intervene, and Elbadin was not far away.
Jed turned his gaze back to the window. In that time, the roof of the children's carriage was torn apart by the forepaw of a frost wolf.
Jed, still watching the scene outside, spoke in a heavier tone.
“The battle has begun.”
To which Elbadin replied.
“Do not take your eyes off them for a second. While this is practical training for the children, we must not forget that it is also training for us to protect them.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
***
*CRACK—!*
With a tearing sound, the children were thrown from the carriage.
Among the children rolling on the dirt ground, Serdian was the first to draw his sword and shout.
“First, maintain formation!”
At his command, the children moved instinctively. Swallowing their fear, they scattered to their pre-practiced positions.
Lucillea also shrewdly moved into position.
Back in the carriage, she had struggled to understand Serdian's explanation, but now that she was in the thick of it, it more or less made sense.
Lucillea fell back as far as she could without getting in the way.
Serdian shouted sharply.
“Irnel! Stop their movements!”
Irnel nodded and channeled mana into her staff.
As Irnel raised her staff high, the forest wind whipped up like a whirlwind. Snow from the treetops and the ground surged upwards at the same time, creating what looked like a blizzard.
The frost wolves caught in the wind faltered, unable to advance further.
Serdian charged forward, saying.
“I'll hold the front! Reiden and Keilin, focus on attacking!”
“Got it!”
Reiden slammed the tip of his staff onto the ground and chanted a short spell. In that moment, a massive fireball formed at the tip. It was a sphere of flame larger than a frost wolf's head. The fireball shot toward the wolves as if fired from a cannon.
*BOOM—!*
A roar akin to an explosion echoed, and a wolf struck squarely by the fireball let out a scream as it was slammed into a tree.
“Great! Now, Keilin!”
Irnel shouted briefly to Keilin.
But.
“I... I... I can't...”
Keilin, pale as a sheet, stood dumbstruck, clutching her staff with both hands.
“Keilin!”
Serdian called her name again, but at that moment, Keilin snapped out of it and stumbled backward. The faint mana that had been gathering at the tip of her staff dissipated in an instant.
“I-It's impossible! I can't do it!”
Tossing her staff to the ground, Keilin turned and ran into the forest.
Irnel cried out in surprise.
“Keilin, no! Come back!”
But Keilin had already vanished into the dark woods.
Irnel wanted to follow her immediately, but another frost wolf swooped down from the sky. If Irnel left her post, the other children would be in danger.
Just then, a golden aura flared from Serdian's sword, so bright it was blinding. The very air around him seemed to shimmer with tension.
Reiden, seeing that aura for the first time, swallowed dryly.
‘Incredible…’
For an aura manifested at such a young age, it was remarkably stable and solid. It looked even stronger than that of a typical adult.
“Going again.”
With those words, *SHWIIING—!*
Serdian shot forward and swung his sword wide. A wave of golden aura blade energy surged forth, fiercely slashing the frost wolf in front of him.
*KIEEEEEEEK—!*
The frost wolf's shriek followed.
Serdian glanced at the children behind him and readjusted his grip on his sword.
“Focus. We can go find her after we clean up here.”
“Got it.”
Irnel and Reiden nodded.
Watching the three of them in action, Lucillea was lost in thought.
‘Hah... What a mess.’
Yet, even amid the chaos, there was a precarious order on the battlefield that hadn't completely fallen apart. Serdian held the center, and surprisingly, Reiden and Irnel followed his commands.
Lucillea was also using magic to disrupt the monsters' vision whenever she could, but she could feel the children's concentration wavering since Keilin ran off.
Lucillea spotted another newly arrived frost wolf and used a spell to bind its legs.
Something like tree roots shot out from the ground and entangled all of the wolf's legs.
Serdian glanced back at Lucillea and gave a nod.
It seemed like a compliment, so Lucillea grinned and nodded back.
One by one, the frost wolves were dealt with. But as time went on, the rate at which new wolves appeared grew faster.
Lucillea wiped the sweat from her chin with the back of her hand, breathing heavily.
‘The materials are nice, but at this rate, I'll be dead before I can even fill my material box.’
Just then, Serdian, who had been occasionally looking back to check on Lucillea and the others, shouted.
“Lucillea, fall back and replenish your mana!”
“Huh?”
Telling me to fall back even further from here is just telling me to rest, isn't it?
Reiden spoke up in Serdian's stead.
“You just woke up not long ago after passing out from mana overflow. There aren't many left, so he's telling you to fall back and rest up.”
“Ah…”
What, was that it?
Hah. So he was worried about me?
Lucillea wiped the tip of her nose and nodded.
She decided not to be stubborn.
Then, her gaze fell upon Irnel, who kept glancing back toward the forest.
Irnel was too worried about Keilin, who had fled into the woods, to fully concentrate on the battle.
As Lucillea slowly backed away, she asked casually.
“Should I go find her?”
Irnel looked at Lucillea, puzzled.
“Why you?”
“Shouldn't we find her before she goes in too deep?”
Just then, as if he had overheard their conversation, Serdian blocked a wolf's attack and shouted.
“No. It's too dangerous for you to go alone!”
He's got sharp ears. How did he even hear us in all this chaos?
Lucillea looked at Serdian and said.
“You said it yourself. We're comrades.”
“…”
“Keilin is in that forest all by herself right now. She's our comrade too, isn't she?”
Whether we like it or not.
Lucillea grinned and continued.
“Trust me. I have the artifact you gave me, and the necklace my master enchanted with protective magic. If I sense danger, I'll come running right back here!”
I'll just pop in, grab Keilin, and get out of there in a flash! Lucillea showed her confidence.
“…”
When Serdian couldn't argue further, Irnel, after a moment's hesitation, said cautiously.
“Then, please…”
“Leave it to me.”
Lucillea slowly turned her gaze toward the forest Keilin had run into.
The entrance to the dark, deep forest looked like the gaping maw of a monster.
*Gulp.* She'd talked a big game, but.
‘It's a little scary.’
Lucillea tightened her grip on the twig-like wand in her hand.
But.
‘Still, in this situation, I'm the perfect person to go look for Keilin.’
Lucillea shifted her gaze to the carriage Elbadin was in.
Not a single movement.
In all this commotion, one would expect someone to come out, but that carriage remained silent. Looking around, she saw that even the knights escorting the carriages had taken a step back, focusing only on defense.
‘So this is practical training.’
This meant the battle was entirely up to the chosen children.
‘And we've been put into a team? I hate it, but I guess you could see it as a group project.’
The kind where no matter how well I do, if one person slacks off, everyone's grade suffers.
So she couldn't just blame the girl who ran away.
Someone had to find Keilin, and right now, the only 'someone' on this special team doing nothing was...
‘Me.’
Lucillea quietly turned and started walking toward the forest.
Serdian watched her go with an anxious gaze.
In that instant, *CLANG—!*
As Serdian watched Lucillea, a frost wolf's large, sharp claws slashed down toward his head.
Serdian hastily raised his sword to block it. The impact pushed him back slightly, but he quickly regained his balance.
Serdian glared at the frost wolf before him and gritted his teeth.
“We'll finish this as quickly as possible and go into the forest to save them…”
Reiden nodded and readjusted his grip on his staff.
Irnel stirred up the wind again, glancing at the forest entrance that had swallowed the girl.
It was then.
*SKREEEEEEEEEECH—!*
A monstrous, tearing shriek echoed from above. It was a completely different cry from the howls of the frost wolves they had heard so far.
The startled children looked up at the sky. They could then make out the identity of the creature that had broken through the thick clouds to reveal itself.
“Huh? …W-what is that?”
Reiden asked in shock. An overwhelmingly massive creature… incomparable to the frost wolves they were currently fighting.
Irnel muttered, her face blank with shock.
“…A-a griffin?”
It was a griffin, an ancient divine beast they had thought was only a baseless rumor.
The griffin beat its massive wings, leisurely soaring through the sky.
And the direction it was headed…
Was right into the forest that Lucillea had entered just moments ago to find Keilin.