Chapter 93
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 93
The sun dipped below the edge of the Haiden Fields, casting a golden glow over the gently rolling plains. As the vibrant sunset faded into dusk, campfires began to flicker to life across the encampment.
The tents were a mismatched hodgepodge of shapes, colors, and sizes, ranging from conical teepees to simple A-frames.
At the heart of the camp, a massive bonfire blazed. Around it, adventurers washed away the grueling fatigue of the day with cheap booze and willing women.
Wherever money and mercenaries gathered, merchants were bound to follow, eager to provide whatever entertainment was desired. One might wonder what they were thinking, behaving like this on an active campaign, but this was a common sight in military encampments of the era. Besides, they weren't exactly a formal army.
Rickert wasn't the type to indulge in such wild revelry. He was perfectly content to rest quietly, lost in his own thoughts or chatting with his friends.
Right now, however, sitting still was pure torture. And it was all because of Daisy.
Marie had retreated into her tent and was nowhere to be seen, leaving Volka, Boribori, and Ice to stare blankly at the two of them.
"Who did you say she was again?" Volka asked, pointing a finger at Daisy.
"Hello. I'm Daisy, Ricky's wife. We were married a long time ago, but due to unavoidable circumstances, we were separated for a while. We've only just reunited."
Daisy greeted Rickert's friends with a beaming smile. Having spent her childhood constantly on the run, she wasn't the type to be easily intimidated by unfamiliar surroundings. She might look like a pure, innocent young girl now, but she had survived a remarkably turbulent childhood.
"Is that true?" Boribori asked, looking to Rickert for confirmation.
Rickert shook his head vigorously. "No. Absolutely not."
"Ricky is just being shy. We even exchanged rings and made a promise to each other, didn't we, Ricky?"
"Stop slandering me."
Rickert answered like a machine, his mind half-blank.
"I thought you said she was a member of the Order," Ice said, eyeing Daisy.
"That's right. But I wasn't particularly devout when I joined. It's just that my foresight ability was a good match, so I spent a few years living in the Order."
"Foresight? Don't tell me..."
"Yes, I am a Sister of Prophecy within the Order. So, other than being bored, I didn't really do anything special in there..."
At the mention of a "Sister of Prophecy," Ice flinched in shock, quickly squeezing his eyes shut and turning his head away. Though he had left the Order, its doctrines were still deeply ingrained in him; he didn't dare look a Sister of Prophecy in the eye.
Boribori stared at the beautiful yet somewhat peculiar girl before speaking. "Ice, I think the answer to your problem is right here. You just need to accept every woman who approaches you instead of rejecting them, just like Ricky does."
"W-what? Bori, what on earth are you talking about?" Rickert, who had been half-dazed, snapped awake at Boribori's unexpected remark.
"It just seemed that way. For the record, I don't think it's a bad thing. It's your business to handle, Ricky."
A friend was a mirror reflecting oneself. Hearing that once-pure boy speak to him in his own blunt tone left Rickert utterly dumbfounded. It wasn't as if he went around saying cruel things to people, but the sudden thought struck him: Was I really this harsh?
"So, what is this prophecy?" Volka asked.
At that, even Daisy, who was usually a master of controlling her expressions, let her face darken slightly.
"Our God will be resurrected. Therefore, you cannot win. Turn back now, while you still can. I'm going to take Ricky with me."
Volka and Boribori didn't seem particularly convinced by Daisy's words, but Ice stiffened, visibly shaken. After all, this wasn't just anyone speaking—it was a Sister of Prophecy.
"Hmph, they all say the same thing," Volka muttered dismissively. Every fanatic of the Order of Condemnation sang the same tune about their God's resurrection.
Unfortunately, they couldn't glean any useful intelligence from Daisy. It wasn't because they lacked information, but because they had too much of it; the real challenge lay in separating the wheat from the chaff.
Ever since the incident last autumn, Nibelungen had been ruthlessly rooting out members of the Order, hanging hundreds of suspects a day. Naturally, torture had been widely employed. While this yielded a mountain of information, sorting through it to discard the useless noise was a monumental task.
The current commander-in-chief, Hellauman, already knew the location of the Order's holy temple, their infiltration routes, their daily routines, and the approximate size of their forces.
The real problem was execution. It was one thing to know a tiger lived in a certain cave, but quite another to figure out how to go in and slay it.
They couldn't just charge in blindly. How to divide the units, how to structure the chain of command, how to coordinate their movements, and how long the operation would take—these were the headaches keeping the leadership awake at night.
Having attended the war councils as both a branch head and a clan master, Volka was well aware of these logistical nightmares. He had no time to waste on nonsense like prophecies, and Boribori likewise dismissed such predictions as absurd.
Boribori clapped a hand on Ice's shoulder. "If prophecies were always right, what would be the point of us even living? Don't let it get to you."
But for Ice, it wasn't that simple. He faced a dilemma regarding prophecies: if they were all nonsense, then Armand's words would also lose their credibility.
"I feel a bit sorry for Marie. I'm sure you'll handle it, Ricky, but make sure you look after her. I'll come back if there's anything else to report. Get some rest." Volka gave Rickert a playful punch to the chest and walked away.
With that, Daisy's immediate fate seemed settled. To the adventurers, she was merely a useless defector from the Order, nothing more.
Had this been last year, during the height of the bloody purges, they might have demanded she be hanged on the spot. But she was an acquaintance of Rickert, and everyone knew they had bigger fish to fry.
The most pressing issue now was that they only had about a month to complete the operation. Without a dedicated supply train, even a month was pushing it. They had to wrap up the subjugation within that window, but to make matters worse, some of the adventurers had still not arrived at the assembly point.
Such was reality. Whenever one tried to gather a crowd to accomplish something, a myriad of problems was bound to crop up. Of course, those logistical nightmares were for the leadership to solve, not Rickert.
What Rickert did have to worry about was the precarious tightrope walk between Marie and Daisy.
"Daisy, go with him. He used to be in the Order too, so you two should have plenty to talk about," Rickert said, pointing at Ice.
"I don't want to."
"Ricky, if you ask me, it might actually be better to leave Marie and her together and have you get lost."
"W-what on earth does that mean, Bori?"
"Because right now, you trying to play the mediator and comfort both sides is only making things worse."
"You're supposed to be on my side..."
"What are you talking about? I'm always on your side. I just want everyone to get along."
When it came to interpersonal relationships, Rickert was notoriously dense, whereas Boribori was remarkably perceptive and sensitive. Still, could Bori's suggestion actually work? Leaving Marie and Daisy together? Rickert couldn't wrap his head around it.
Then, a sudden realization struck him: What are friends for, if not this? He grabbed Daisy by the shoulders, shoved her directly toward Boribori and Ice, and bolted toward the twilight-shrouded fields. He was making a run for it.
It was a pathetic sight—a former consumptive patient panting and wheezing as he fled for his life. Boribori watched with utter disbelief, grabbing Daisy as she tried to give chase.
"Let go of me."
"For Ricky's sake, just hold back for now. Stop forcing your feelings on him."
"And what if we get separated again?"
"What?"
"Have you ever spent years with your heart in your throat, thinking of only one person?"
"No. But why should I care about your circumstances? We were doing perfectly fine on our own, and you're the one who came and shattered our peace. To us, you're an unwelcome outsider right now. So behave like one. You're smart enough to understand that much, aren't you?"
Because his own people—his friends—mattered more to him than anything else in the world, Boribori honestly resented Daisy for threatening to fracture their bond. On another note, perhaps because he had studied so much, he no longer stammered like he used to; he spoke with remarkable eloquence.
Unable to watch any longer, Ice stepped in. Keeping his eyes lowered, unable to look Daisy in the face, he said, "Sister, allow me to escort you."
Perhaps Boribori's harsh words had hit home, because Daisy allowed Ice to lead her away without further protest. Not that she had accepted it in her heart, of course.
Marie was alone in her tent, Volka was busy, Daisy was temporarily out of the way, and Rickert had fled. Left entirely on his own, Boribori let out a long sigh and set off to find Rickert.
"Good grief..."
In the past, Rickert had practically raised Boribori, but now, the roles seemed to have reversed.
But as the saying goes, the darkest place is always right under the lamp. Rickert hadn't actually run very far. He had been hiding behind a nearby tent, watching, and only slunk back out once the coast was clear. Even in a crisis like this, his talent for deception was second to none.
Rickert cautiously peeled back the flap of Marie's tent and peeked inside. No candles were lit, making it hard to see into the pitch-black interior. As he craned his neck, shifting his gaze this way and that, Boribori suddenly materialized behind him and gave him a hard shove.
Even the most brilliant deception was easily seen through by someone who knew him inside out.
"Whoa!"
Stumbling into the tent to keep from falling, Rickert's heart leaped into his throat. But he froze the moment he saw Marie, her face buried in her pillow. It looked like she had been crying the entire time.
"M-Marie..."
Rickert didn't dare get too close. Instead, he gingerly sat down on the edge of the cot. He didn't even know how to begin comforting her, let alone what to say.
"It's not like I cheated on you... It's just something from a long time ago... A silly childhood promise..."
It was the worst possible attempt at comfort—nothing but a pathetic self-defense. But honestly, it's not like I actually did anything wrong, is it? He couldn't help but feel a tiny pang of injustice.
At a complete loss, he reached out and tentatively nudged the tip of her foot. He began to playfully fiddle with her toes, one by one. Marie instantly yanked her foot away.
But even that small reaction brought a wave of relief over Rickert.
"She's just a pitiful girl. They say she was entrusted to the Order, but she was basically abandoned. I don't have any special feelings for her. You're the only one I've ever truly opened my heart to. I mean it, from the bottom of my heart. It's the absolute truth—so much so that I shouldn't even need to make an oath. But if you want me to, I will."
"..."
Silence filled the tent. From far away, the rowdy laughter and drunken shouting of the adventurers drifted in, punctuated by the occasional vulgar joke. Rickert simply sat there in silence, keeping vigil by her side.
Finally, her voice thick and nasal from crying so much, Marie spoke. "...Swear it, then."
"How should I swear?"
"That you'll only ever love me."
It was a childish demand, but that was exactly what she wanted right now. Even the strong, courageous Marie had moments when she wanted to throw a tantrum, but only in front of Rickert.
But Rickert didn't treat her childishness lightly. Without a moment's hesitation, he swore an oath like a chivalrous knight. "I, Rickert, solemnly swear to love only Martelia. Unchanging, even unto death."
Only then did Marie sniffle and turn her head toward him. Her face was a bit of a mess, but her natural beauty shone through, making her look incredibly endearing. Her pillowcase was completely soaked with tears.
Rickert gently wiped the tears and running nose from her face with his bare hand, then casually wiped his palm on his own clothes. To make sure she was clean, he used his sleeve to dab away the rest. He brushed her tangled hair behind her ears and caressed her cheek until she looked a bit more presentable. The bright red tip of her nose, however, was beyond his help.
"Did you sneak out and have a drink without me?"
"Huh?"
"Your nose is bright red."
At his silly joke, Marie finally let out a soft chuckle.
"Oh? You know what they say about laughing right after crying..."
"Want to find out?"
"Find out what? I was just going to say that laughing after crying brings good luck."
"Hmph..."
"My, aren't we a bit of a pervert?"
"Who, me? What on earth did you think I was trying to find out?"
"I wonder."
Though the atmosphere had been heavy just moments ago, they slipped effortlessly back into their usual playful banter. Yet, the gaze they shared sparkled like the stars above. Without any conscious effort, they naturally drew closer to one another, and that was more than enough.
These quiet, comfortable moments were precious, and knowing that this intimacy was reserved solely for the two of them filled their hearts with a profound, touching warmth.
No one in this world was perfect. Everyone had flaws, carried scars, and sometimes unintentionally hurt those they cared about. But despite all that, what truly mattered was giving one's heart completely.
Like travelers guided by a star, Rickert and Marie gazed at each other. They were far from perfect, but they shared one crucial trait: they loved with absolute sincerity.
Sometimes, they would stumble over life's obstacles, their hearts clashing and leaving them bruised. Yet, to pick oneself up, look to the stars with a prayer in one's heart, and continue to love with everything they had—that required immense courage.
Fortunately, both Rickert and Marie were brave. Though they had walked vastly different paths in life, they were cut from the same cloth in this regard. They were bound to be drawn to each other, pulled together like stars caught in each other's gravitational embrace.
But this star-bright moment could not last forever. For they were, after all, on a battlefield.
It seemed an unforgivable oversight, but the leadership had never once considered that the enemy might strike first. They had been so consumed with plotting how to crush their foe that they had left themselves completely blind to their own vulnerability.
The Haiden Fields was a place where the stars bloomed with exceptional brilliance. And there, beneath a torrential downpour of starlight, the first battle began.