Subjugation War (5)

"This makes the fifteenth one."

Click. Ashu sheathed his sword and caught his breath lightly. None of the magic beasts they encountered could stand up to him. It was almost instant kills. This wasn't hunting anymore—it was a straight-up massacre.

Our precious boy is amazing!!

Seeing him grow like this filled her with real pride. If he kept this up, victory was as good as theirs.

"It's getting dark already."

"Yeah."

The biting northern wind burrowed into their bodies with ferocious intensity. The light-fading ground froze over in an instant. Even with magic beast corpses scattered about, the twilight northern woods carried a certain poetic charm.

"Shall we set up camp?"

"We brought two tents, right?"

"Huh?"

What kinda weird talk is that, kid?

"One tent's enough, isn't it? If we're separated, who knows when we might get ambushed."

"Y-You're saying I have to sleep with you?!"

"Doesn't it matter...?"

Ashu's face flushed red all the way to his forehead as he yelled.

"Why should I?!"

"W-Well, it's safer that way... P-Plus, we need night watch anyway, so you'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠basically be sleeping alone...."

"... "

Ashu's face fell with obvious disappointment. Oh no.

"D-Disciple. Are you still scared to sleep alone...?"

Ashu's just a kid after all. Imagining the ten-year-old trembling every night made her pity him. Maybe sleeping together occasionally wouldn't be so bad.

"Don't say weird stuff!!"

"We have to be quiet, disciple. The beasts get more sensitive at night..."

"You say whatever you want and—"

Unable to argue back, Ashu clamped his mouth shut. For a while, the only sounds between them were the rustle of pitching the tent and crackling of the fire.

"One day down already."

"Y-Yeah."

They warmed themselves by the fire. As her numb toes thawed, she wiggled them absentmindedly. A wood pigeon's call echoed through the quiet forest.

Crackle, crackle. The burning firewood made her body relax into drowsiness.

"Hey."

"W-What?"

"Got any fun stories?"

My disciple must be pretty bored.

Fun stories, huh. She wasn't prepared for that on the spot. Her life had been dynamic, sure, but full of boring crap. Orphanage, special forces deployment, reincarnation into this world.

Talk about one-of-a-kind.

But dumping her tragic life story here? Pointless. Ashu's life was plenty messed up too. It'd just come off like bragging about her own slave chains.

Time for the secret weapon. She'd memorized 500 Gut-Busting Jokes to Make Kids Laugh just for a night like this.

She grinned and said, "Ahem. Alright then, disciple."

"...What? You got one?"

"Of course."

Her confident tone sparked curiosity on Ashu's face. She cleared her throat and began slowly....

"When the king falls—"

"King Kong."

"Ah...."

Ashu looked at her with utter pity.

"Th-Then if there are kings on both sides...!!"

"Whoa-hoo-hoo."

"No way...."

Her secret weapon fizzled out pathetically. She plopped down on the ground in despair.

"This isn't actually funny, is it?"

"D-Dunno."

All that memorizing for nothing. Her efforts down the drain.

"...Forget it. What was I even expecting from you."

"... "

It stung her pride a bit. Without a word, she pulled preserved rations from her bag. With two more days here, they'd packed mostly jerky and the like.

"Here...."

She offered some to Ashu, and he snatched it in a flash. Made sense—with all the activity today, he must be starving.

"Not bad."

He chewed steadily, staring blankly at the campfire. Watching him jogged her memory.

"Disciple."

"What."

"Remember the first day we met? Why'd you turn those barbarians into mincemeat?"

By Ashu's current personality, he was rude but not total human trash.

"First day?"

"Yeah...."

Ashu crossed his arms and closed his eyes, rummaging through memories.

"They'd turned some villager into paste."

"B-But I heard northern security was no joke...."

"Barbarians, though. Even skilled guards go flying from one punch. Unless you're knight-level, you can't keep up."

It started making sense.

But then...

"So why'd you charge at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me like a rabid dog...."

"What...?"

Ashu furrowed his brow. She flinched back.

"Eek! S-Sorry!"

As she put distance between them, Ashu hesitated, then sighed.

"Once I get riled up, I don't calm down easy."

"...Pardon?"

"Forget it! I'm sleeping."

"O-Okay...."

Ashu ducked into the tent. Suddenly alone, a chill ran down her spine in the cold night air.

"At least that's a relief...."

He wasn't completely devoid of basic social skills, her precious boy.

Still rude as hell, though...

If his words were true, that incident was pure self-defense.

"Status window."

The training progress hadn't budged. But despite the 10%, in just ten days, she felt way closer to Ashu. Who'd have thought they'd go on this subjugation together? She'd planned to slack off, collect pay, and live easy.

...But I've changed my mind a little.

Ashu wasn't a bad kid. Just starved for attention, affection-deprived, and immature. The rudeness might be genetic from the grand duke, but that could be fixed over time.

The only thing that doesn't add up...

Why was the grand duke so desperate to kill Ashu?

"Disciple, you asleep?"

No answer. Just steady breathing—he must've passed out the moment he lay down.

She brushed off her butt and stood.

"I really don't get it."

She gazed into the forest, staring at the trees.

"Why are people who aren't participants or guards here during a subjugation with all the nobles competing—at night, no less."

Fuzzy human silhouettes flickered between the trees.

The moment she spoke, a suffocating silence descended.

"Come out already."

Her voice came out colder ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠than even she expected, echoing into the void.

Shiiiik—!!

An arrow tore through the air at ferocious speed right after.

Schwick—!!

The sharp arrowhead split in half before it could even get close. A flash draw followed in an instant.

...This Ideal body is straight-up broken.

Sensitive, fast, flexible. Her heightened senses had picked up these bastards. No wonder she was the final boss's master.

Even if I couldn't block, no biggie.

She had that. Still, best to save it. She held her sword at the ready in guard stance.

"...Not ordinary, as expected."

Men in black emerged one by one from the dark woods. About ten in total.

"Uh...."

More than she'd thought.

"Ideal, I've heard plenty about you. Empire's vanguard shock trooper—your name alone still makes alliance dogs piss themselves on the eastern front."

"P-Pardon...?"

They knew she was Ideal. Only a few in the grand duke's house did.

...And it made sense the guards couldn't catch assassins? In a national event with a prince? Security should've been airtight.

"Did you slice all those people with that innocent tone?"

The man gripped his dagger, sounding incredulous.

"Doesn't matter. We prepared thoroughly to kill you today."

"... "

We're screwed.

They even have counters for me....

Run now? No—if she fled, their real target was obvious.

"What are you planning to do to my disciple?"

The man drew a finger across his throat. Clearer than words.

"Boss, before we kill the bitch, how about we have some fun first? That body's just, heh heh."

"Doesn't matter as long as they're both dead."

The man kneaded the air lewdly with a disgusting grin. Fucking gross. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The assassins approached with sleazy smirks. She couldn't get used to those eyes. Waking Ashu to run crossed her mind, but no.

"Kill her."

They charged all at once.

These cheating bastards ganging up...!!

She gripped her sword tight and braced. Precious or not, he was her disciple. As his master, she had to protect him.

And they underestimated me.

She'd been a soldier in her past life. No qualms about killing. No gun? Use a blade. No blade? Bare hands. She'd survived that hell, so she could hold her own in medieval times too.

"Die!!"

Schwick!!

"Ah—?"

The charging man's body crumpled limply. A headless corpse sprayed blood, painting the white snowscape red like graffiti art.

"...Hoo."

The metallic scent made her head spin after so long. Better than her past life—no dodging bullets or bombs, no gunpowder stink. Just watch for arrows and blades.

"...Nine left."

The assassins lunged at her words' end.