Gruon and Daphne
Daphne was confused. An unexpected situation had unfolded before her eyes.
“Come out, you pig bastard.”
The man’s low growl was directed at the noble who held her leash. The children bound alongside Daphne were so terrified that their eyes had gone completely blank. But Daphne fought to make sense of the chaos. She hadn’t been born a slave. Most slaves either inherited the status from their parents, had their property seized, or were captured by slave hunters. Daphne fell into the last category.
She had once been a bright young girl raised by parents who farmed on the outskirts of the Sog Kingdom. Then one day slave hunters stormed their home. Her parents were killed, and she was separated from her only younger sibling. That was how she became a slave.
The others tied up with her, however, had been born into slavery. Their spirits were already broken, so it was natural they would be paralyzed with fear in a moment like this. In the end, it fell to Daphne—the oldest among them and the only one who understood the language—to assess the situation.
The tension was razor-sharp. The noble holding their lives in his hands had drawn a dagger. It would have been foolish to even think of resisting the line of enemy soldiers clad in silver armor. They should have dropped to their knees and begged for mercy. And yet the noble’s gaze was fixed on her.
He wasn’t targeting the enemy at all.
The moment she realized that, Daphne snatched up a wooden plank that had fallen nearby. It had once been part of a table, but with its legs torn off it was now the perfect weight and size for a makeshift shield.
Just as she expected, the noble yanked hard on the slave collar, trying to drag at least one of them away as a hostage.
“Guh!”
A fifteen-year-old girl couldn’t possibly withstand that force. The collar that had already been tight now dug even deeper, making it almost impossible to breathe. But Daphne instinctively knew what she had to do. She let herself be pulled forward—wooden plank raised in front of her like a shield.
Thud!
The impact was far more powerful than a direct collision. The noble dropped his dagger. ‘It hurts… so much.’
Daphne had no proper grip on the plank, and the jagged splinters tore into her palms. She hadn’t eaten properly in days, and her frail body made the pain feel dozens of times worse than it should have.
“You filthy bitch!”
The noble spat curses at the girl who had rammed into him and swung a vicious hand at her face. But the blow never landed. He had taken his eyes off the enemy.
Crunch!
A man with neat clothes and green hair had punched a clean hole straight through the noble’s chest with some unknown power. Only then did the noble’s eyes lose their venom and grow dull. It was a truly pathetic death.
Daphne felt relief wash over her at the sight—so much that every ounce of strength left her body. Her legs gave out. Her fingers lost their grip, and the wooden plank clattered to the ground. She could no longer stand. Her body began to collapse.
But then someone who hadn’t even glanced at the dead noble came running and caught her in his arms.
‘I… I must smell terrible.’
He didn’t seem to care at all. He held her tightly, as if to reassure her. ‘Th-thank you.’
She wanted to say it, but Daphne couldn’t speak. She simply didn’t have the strength. What she didn’t know was that her silence wasn’t caused by exhaustion alone.
Daphne traveled under the protection of Gruon and the Silver Eagle Legion. They crossed high mountains and rested beside a lake so deep it seemed unreal. She had become a slave at around seven years old. In all the years since she turned fifteen, she had never known such freedom.
Until now, she had only lived in dark, gloomy places. Seeing sunlight had been a rare luxury. The same went for food. She had survived on cold grass porridge and bread as hard as stone. Even the tough jerky felt like a feast in comparison. The mushroom soup that warmed her against the evening chill was so delicious it brought tears to her eyes.
That was why Daphne believed following these people was the best choice she could make.
In truth, she had already guessed who they were. Unlike the other children, Daphne still had sharp ears and eyes. She had pieced together the situation. She even knew where they were headed.
Seiros Kingdom.
She didn’t know exactly which city or who they served, but she had heard there was a kingdom nearby—and that it was currently at war. She had worried they might be taking her as a prisoner of war, but their kind treatment suggested otherwise. The way they treated her was simply too different.
“Miss, you’ve really been through a lot. That Shield Attack you used on the noble back then was top-notch. Truly admirable.”
The words came from a Silver Eagle Legion soldier sitting across from her, sipping soup. His warm attitude left her at a loss. She simply looked away. It wasn’t intentional. She couldn’t speak, so she had no way to respond.
“Still… to think she’s mute. And so young, too.”
Just as the soldier said, ever since that day, no sound had come from Daphne’s throat. Even when she tried to speak, only faint breaths escaped. It frustrated her to no end. With no outlet for that frustration, she sometimes felt she had no courage left to keep living.
“Enough. Leave her be. She’s free now—that’s what matters. I’m just glad she’s alive.”
The soldier beside him seemed more sentimental. He gazed at the sky as he spoke. It was hard to reconcile this gentle side with the merciless way the Silver Eagle Legion had slaughtered their enemies.
Time passed. Night fell, but the march continued. They wanted to reach De Pruna within a single night. The normal journey took two days, but by skipping sleep and taking only short rests, they could cut the time in half. That was only possible for hardened soldiers, though. For boys and girls whose bodies had been starved of proper nutrition, it was impossible.
“Lord Gruon. One of the boys following us has collapsed. We don’t have a doctor, so I’m not sure of the cause.”
Legion Commander Merkezz delivered the report from the rear. Gruon turned and walked toward the back of the column to check on the boy. Daphne, who had been quietly observing the situation from his side, followed after hearing that one of her younger siblings had fallen.
When they arrived, the boy was being carried on a soldier’s back. He was unconscious.
“His condition?”
“Ah, Lord Gruon. He collapsed while walking. We’re carrying him now, but he remains unconscious. His breathing is extremely weak.”
“Damn it. We don’t even have medicine. Commander, how far are we from De Pruna?”
“At our current pace, we should arrive in about two hours.”
Merkezz calculated the time they had already traveled and gave the estimate. After hearing it, Gruon gave his order.
“Forget it. This child comes first. Halt the march.”
Two hours meant they were already quite close to De Pruna.
“Commander, form a squad and return to De Pruna at once. Bring back the nutrition officer and a doctor.”
They could have pushed on for the remaining two hours, but Gruon chose to stop for the child’s safety and made the appropriate decision.
“As you command.”
Merkezz immediately gathered the fastest soldiers, formed a squad, and departed from the column. The marching column came to a stop. The soldier who had been carrying the boy gently laid him on the ground.
“Trees, stones, winds—I command you in the name of mana. Grant proper rest, and let green slowly heal the wounds. There shall be no faded springs, no gloomy skies.”
Gruon chanted a spell centered on the fallen boy. A mysterious energy scattered and swirled around them. Once it was ready, he manipulated the mana he had released.
The surrounding trees bent in unnatural ways to form a dome. Grass grew up to cradle the fallen boy’s body. Tiny motes of light danced in the air, and breathing became easier.
“It’s a shame healing isn’t my specialty.”
Gruon was a mage of growth and life, but healing operated on a different principle. Aside from this spell that slightly boosted natural recovery, he had no truly useful healing magic.
Meanwhile, Daphne—who had been marveling at the wonder of the shelter—stroked her younger sibling’s forehead, checking on his well-being. She shot Gruon a glare, clearly thinking the forced march was entirely to blame for this.
Gruon leaned against the wooden wall of the shelter and spoke.
“Glare at me all you want. There’s nothing I can do about it. The Silver Eagle Legion is more important than the five of you. They’re exhausted too. It’s better for them to get home than rest here. Well, thanks to that kid, we get to rest. Maybe it’s not so bad?”
When he received no answer, Gruon looked into the empty air.
“Who am I even talking to?”
“······.”
Daphne lamented her inability to speak to him. Still, she wanted to thank him for caring about her sibling. More than that, she wanted to thank him for freeing them. But sadly, no voice came out.
“Ah, that’s right. They said she’s mute.”
Seeing her continued silence, Gruon finally connected the dots from the soldiers’ chatter. It hadn’t been important enough to report, and there was nothing he could do about it anyway, so he hadn’t known. But after hearing them talk about it so much, even he had caught on.
He had nothing more to say. The other soldiers left the shelter. Only the unconscious boy, Gruon, and Daphne remained. The mood grew heavier.
Once everything had settled, Gruon spoke again.
“You can’t speak, but you can understand what I’m saying, right?”
He had been pondering how to have an actual conversation with her. The solution he came up with was simple—questions.
Daphne nodded weakly.
“No wonder you stayed close during the march. You wanted to know who we were and where we were going.”
When Gruon deduced her intentions from such tiny clues, Daphne’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Surprised? You’re surprisingly bad at hiding your emotions. Especially after showing us that side of you earlier.”
Daphne calmed her startled heart and glared at him again. She could have looked away, but it seemed she had forgotten how to look at people normally.
Gruon had been wondering about something since the first time he saw her.
“You possess a blessing, don’t you?”
The question finally slipped out. If not now, when would he ask?
“It’s obvious. Honestly, I was quite shocked when that frail body of yours sent that noble flying. You don’t seem like you’ve learned any techniques, so the only conclusion is a blessing.”
Gruon pressed her, laying out all the evidence as if telling her to stop pretending. The innocent Daphne could only nod.
“I knew it. I won’t ask what kind of blessing it is. I was simply curious. More importantly, what will you do once we reach De Pruna?”
This question was more difficult. Daphne neither nodded nor shook her head. She was thinking hard.
“If you have nothing to do, why don’t all of you come work at our castle?”
This wasn’t a request. It was coercion. If he asked nicely, she would only hesitate, so he needed to be a little forceful.
Daphne had been pondering what to do in De Pruna when Gruon’s sudden offer caught her off guard. The only thing she knew how to do was physical labor. The same was true for the siblings who had come with her. They had learned nothing and had no skills. Besides, they were still young.
When Daphne still hadn’t given a clear answer, Gruon delivered the decisive blow.
“If you work at the castle, we’ll give you a place to sleep, food, wages, and you’ll be allowed to use the library during your free time. You’ll need basic education too—shall I assign you a tutor?”
Daphne almost nodded. She stopped because the conditions were too good. She stared at Gruon intently. Her eyes clearly said she was suspicious.
“You’re wondering why?”
Daphne nodded.
“You probably won’t believe anything I say, but the first reason is because of you. The second is because I feel sorry for you. The third is because I’m bored.”
Daphne didn’t understand what he meant by “because of you,” but the other reasons seemed harmless enough. So she decided to work at the castle. Her siblings would surely agree. They always followed her decisions.
Daphne nodded with firm resolve in her eyes.
“Then I’ll take that as permission. You’d better prepare yourself. The conditions are so good you might go cross-eyed.”
Gruon smiled slyly. Daphne looked at him and thought he was a very strange man.