One, Two!
“One, two!”
“One, twooo!”
I watched the knights move in perfect unison with a satisfied smile. It had already been several days since we started joint training with those arrogant imperial knights. I figured after their commander Corin Diale lost to me twice in a row, their lofty pride would be a bit deflated.
But no such luck.
Their inexplicable confidence pierced the heavens. So on the first day, I had them spar with the northern knights and crushed whatever scraps of pride they had left into dust. Once we got that out of the way, the training went much more smoothly.
‘Why do we have to do this crap?’ They’d glared at me with eyes like that at first, but now they were obeying my orders quite obediently.
“You there! You’re too slow!”
Pointing out their flaws as we trained, time flew by before I knew it. Since the battles would mostly take the form of sieges, I focused our drills on that. Agni Asper’s 3rd Knight Order was already so specialized in fighting monsters that they didn’t need my instruction. They were running drills so brutal that even the imperial knights gawked in horror.
“Lady Abigail, shall we take a break now?”
The crown prince approached me, his face pale as a ghost.
“Sure.”
The crown prince had solid specs overall, as befitting the male lead. He just lacked real combat experience. He hadn’t reached Swordmaster yet, but he’d get there soon enough fighting monsters.
I clenched my fist without realizing it. That strange sensation I’d felt battling high-grade monsters—was that the path to becoming a Swordmaster? Lately, it was all I could think about, even during training or in my sleep. But since none of the high-ranking knights around me had experienced it, I had to wrestle with the question alone.
“Lady Abigail, a messenger from the ducal house has arrived.”
“Oh, really?”
I grabbed a quick meal and headed to my office.
“It’s an honor to see you, Lady Abigail.”
“It’s been a while.”
I took the letter from Lexi. It was from the duke.
“Hmm……”
The duke’s usually neat handwriting was uncharacteristically messy. The letters were crooked and uneven—something was off. I glanced at Lexi. For some reason, his face looked bruised black and blue.
I turned back to the letter and kept reading.
“……”
It started with heartfelt worry about me, then midway shifted to praising my feat of holding off high-grade monsters. But it was hard to tell if he was happy or sad about it. Had the duke developed bipolar disorder in the meantime? Puzzled, I read to the end.
“Good news……?”
The duke closed by saying good news would come soon, but he didn’t specify what. I set the letter down and looked at Lexi.
“Did Father say anything else?”
“No.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Lexi just kept nodding.
“Hmm.”
When I eyed him suspiciously, he flinched. He was definitely hiding something. I stared him down like I was interrogating him. After a moment, he reluctantly spoke.
“The duke is very worried.”
“Worried?”
“Yes. The servants have had to stop him several times from storming out of the mansion… Ah, damn.”
He clapped a hand over his mouth like he’d slipped up.
“Tell him there’s no danger of the base falling, so he can relax.”
“No, it’s not that……”
Lexi rubbed his dry face in frustration. He was probably thinking, what’s wrong with this father-daughter duo? I gave a wry smile and spoke again.
“The imperials sent reinforcements, and the saintess promised to help too.”
“Oh, is the saintess really here?”
“Yeah, you can meet her later.”
“Whoa.”
Lexi squirmed like a hidden fan stumbling into a surprise event. Apparently, even up north, there were plenty of saintess stans. I was watching him with amusement when urgent knocks echoed through the office.
Knock knock.
“Come in.”
It was Jade Mare who entered. He’d fully recovered from his injury thanks to Yurina Florence’s healing.
“Lady Abigail.”
“What’s up?”
Jade looked more anxious than usual, which put me on edge. I hoped it wasn’t anything troublesome. But his news wasn’t simple at all.
“Holy knights and priests from the Lumine Temple are arriving soon.”
“……!”
Was this the ‘good news’ Father mentioned? I shot to my feet in shock.
“Holy knights and priests? When?”
“They passed through the ducal warp gate, so they should arrive within a week at latest.”
“Ha, well I’ll be.”
It was genuinely surprising. In the original story, the Lumine Church dragged its feet on dispatching aid despite imperial pressure, until Yurina Florence finally ran away in frustration. The pope was portrayed as extremely cautious, and his high priest underneath him……
“Wait, is the high priest coming too?”
“Yes, he’s the overall commander of this dispatch.”
“……I see.”
The Lumine Church’s high priest. Vincent Wall. He got along great with the saintess and female lead, Yurina Florence, with their witty banter drawing tons of fans—almost as popular as the sub-male leads. He had hidden depth as the Magic Tower Master Benjamin Wall’s brother, making him a charming side character.
“At any rate, more forces are a good thing.”
I’d seen Yurina’s abilities up close, so I knew how much priests could help in battle. And holy knights could fight directly, which would be a huge boon.
“We need to prepare so they can jump right in whenever they arrive.”
“Yes, I’ll see to it.”
Unlike six years ago, I now bore responsibility for many lives. If this outpost fell, countless northerners would suffer. We had to defend it by any means necessary. The thrill of meeting novel characters had faded. All I could think about was welcoming these priestly reinforcements.
* * *
“I am Vincent, servant of Lumine, god of light and mercy.”
“……”
But having a novel character right in front of me hit different. And……
They never said he was a twin!
I stared at the high priest Vincent in astonishment. He looked just like Benjamin. His hair was a lighter beige, but their faces were identical. Well, the vibe was a bit different. Benjamin gave off prickly scholar energy, while Vincent exuded gentle benevolence.
I knew they were brothers, but twins? News to me.
“Lady Abigail Carpoem?”
“Ah.”
His cautious voice snapped me back.
“Sorry.”
“Haha, no need.”
“Welcome to Volta Base, High Priest Vincent.”
Vincent’s eyes widened.
“You know my name.”
“O-Of course. You’re famous.”
Can’t exactly say I read it in a novel. I just smiled and brushed it off.
“Oh dear, has my bad rep spread to the north too?”
He winked playfully, and it suited him perfectly. A guy that handsome had massive impact—but since he looked just like Benjamin, it didn’t move me much.
“Come on in. The saintess is waiting.”
“Ah, yes. His Holiness threw such a fit about confirming you were safe. Haha.”
Vincent shook his head like he couldn’t believe it and followed me inside. I led him with an awkward smile.
“High Priest Vincent!”
“Saintess!”
The two locked eyes for a moment. Then Yurina charged forward just like when we’d met outside the base. Vincent spread his arms, caught her in a hug, and lifted her right off the ground.
“Eek!”
“Hahaha!”
“……”
I watched the scene in silence. Good thing no one else was in the audience chamber. The crown prince would’ve fainted if he saw this during training. The male lead always struggled with their high-energy antics.
“Seriously, running off like that? Do you know how shocked His Holiness was?”
“I’m sorry……”
After the fun, surprisingly, came the scolding. But it didn’t last long.
“That’s why I forgave you so easily.”
“Really?”
“Yes, but……”
“But?”
Vincent glanced my way, then leaned in to whisper in Yurina’s ear. Unfortunately, my trained ears caught every word despite the training-honed sensitivity to noise.
“Next time I mess up, put in a good word with His Holiness.”
“Okay!”
“Heh heh.”
“Hee hee.”
“……”
They were having a blast. Watching the perfectly synced duo left me speechless for a moment. I wondered if the pope lived on antacids. Forcing a smile, I approached the two little devils.
“High Priest, let me show you around the base.”
“Oh, you must be busy—thank you.”
“……”
His soft, beaming smile was so much like Benjamin’s that it gave me chills. Keeping a straight face, I guided him. Vincent curiously explored the base, asking questions about anything unfamiliar. When he saw the magic cannons lining the walls from atop the ramparts, his eyes went wide.
“What’s all this?”
“Magic cannons. No official name yet.”
Truth be told, they were still prototypes. Ren had improved them, but they needed more power for high-grade monsters. Vincent took a keen interest, stepping closer.
“Didn’t know the Magic Tower was involved.”
“I know the Tower Master personally. Ah, don’t touch that.”
He flinched and pulled his hand from the ignition switch. With a mischievous boyish grin, he bowed his head.
“Haha, sorry.”
“No problem.”
If it went off by mistake, it’d just crater the ground outside—but whatever. I shrugged and said,
“Let’s head back.”
“Okay.”
Vincent looked back wistfully from the ramparts. The north’s razor-sharp wind tousled his light beige hair wildly. I stared blankly until I met his vivid purple eyes. They sparkled with amusement.
No wonder he’s so hard to capture.