LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 222
Chapter 222
“……That young girl is going to be the commander?”
“No matter how much of a Sword Master she is… Is that really okay?”
I gazed up at the sky, which sounded like a sweet melody played by an orchestra amidst the murmurs around me. The blue sky was bright, and it looked like there would be no rain. If the weather in the area we were heading to was this good, it couldn’t get any better.
Since the moment I became a mercenary at a young age, joined the Crisis family, and later when I became a training officer in the Knights Order, people had always whispered.
Not once had it ever knocked me down.
“Lord Aemery, could you share the schedule with us?”
“……Yes. Soon, His Majesty the Emperor will arrive and deliver a short speech, after which we will teleport to the central region. The accommodations are already prepared at the location where the first support troops stayed.”
My aide, Jonathan, looked at me with a surprised expression at my calm demeanor while mechanically reciting the schedule.
‘It’s quite a skill for someone to be so dry about everything.’
I chuckled inwardly and shifted my gaze down the hallway.
“Well, Lord Crisis, you look particularly sharp today.”
Helios waved his hand as he approached.
“I am honored to see the Sun of the Empire.”
Jonathan and I each touched our fists to our chests twice and bowed. Although our acquaintance with Helios had grown informal, this was an official gathering, so we had to adhere to formalities.
The soldiers’ loud greetings followed, and Helios stood before them. I stood beside him, sharing the view he was observing.
‘Does Helios see this kind of thing every day?’
I truly felt how piercing the gazes of hundreds of people could be. Yet even before that, Helios smiled without the slightest tremor in his composure.
“I extend my infinite gratitude to you who willingly march into battle for the Empire. May endless glory accompany you. Our brothers will escape danger through our help, and you shall be recorded as heroes.”
Helios’s voice was calm yet serious. He slowly scanned the soldiers, releasing a sigh-like smile.
“To be honest, I’m sure these words sound like mere pretense. If you die on the battlefield, it all ends—what use is glory or being a hero then?”
The soldiers, who had been listening intently, wore startled expressions, and those who were earlier gazing blankly elsewhere turned their eyes back to Helios.
Nobles, especially those in high positions, often treated soldiers as mere consumables, seeking to understand their hearts less than taking them seriously. Especially coming from the Emperor, it was quite unusual.
“From the start, it would be a deception for me to be standing in the safe Imperial Palace and offer you words of encouragement. However, I will say this much clearly.”
His deep blue eyes were as profound as the sea. Sometimes I would click my tongue at him calling him a madman, yet I couldn’t help but accept his words.
“I will remember all of your names. Not a single one will be forgotten.”
Helios was a man whose prestige would be recorded in history.
With his brief yet potent speech, the soldiers’ eyes began to gleam with determination.
It was a moment to keenly feel the power of words.
While I was attentively absorbing Helios’s form and manner of speaking, he suddenly turned his head to look at me.
“Now, dear commander, you’ll have to say a few words too.”
With a sly smile, Helios pulled me in front of the soldiers. Standing there as if slapped, I opened my mouth in a daze and then clenched my teeth.
‘Everything I thought positively about him has been canceled.’
It wouldn’t be odd for the commander to say a word or two, but wouldn’t it be right to give me a bit of preparation? It was quite outrageous for him to put me on the spot like this without a single word of notice; only Helios would have the gall to do such a thing.
“Haha! Don’t be too angry. As your Emperor, I’m just testing your adaptability.”
“……You might want to say that after wiping the playful smirk off your face.”
“You’re showing signs of becoming more like your father as the days go by.”
I shot a sidelong glance at Helios, who looked like he was dying of laughter, and turned my gaze back to the soldiers.
Though I had grown accustomed to the eyes of the crowd, social events like speeches were still not my forte.
This was something Ariana Llewellyn excelled at; I only knew how to wield a sword like a brute.
In fact, it made me constantly doubt whether becoming a commander was truly the right thing to do.
But while I couldn’t believe in myself, I trusted Noah, who chose me as commander, Helios, who acknowledged me, and all the people who supported me.
After a short, deep breath, I raised my head and met the soldiers’ gaze.
“I can’t promise I’ll bring you all back safely.”
Helios’s brows twitched, and Jonathan looked at me with a disdainful expression. Clearly, they found it absurd that I would utter a deflating declaration when I should be bolstering morale.
While everyone wore expressions that said ‘Well, of course,’ I slowly chose my words.
“But before the sun god Ra, I swear this much.”
I looked towards the bright sun shining down, recalling an impromptu declaration I would make when swearing before the sun.
“As we step into the battlefield, I will be the first to set foot, and when we leave the battlefield, I will be the last to leave. I will not leave anyone behind in that foreign land.”
The golden brooch symbolizing the Solatine soldiers glimmered in the sunlight. With my eyes wide open, I grinned.
“Whether alive or fallen, we will all return here. Not a single person will be left behind.”
If one leg remained, I would use a splint; if none remained, I would crawl back. If I couldn’t walk, I would carry them, and if they had passed, I would transport them in a coffin, and if not even a trace remained, I would even retrieve a tag with their name inscribed on it.
“I will make sure of that.”
They say a person dies leaving a name, so that name mustn’t be forgotten.
I might not be able to save everyone, but not a single person will be erased from memory.
A profound silence enveloped the space. Numerous emotions intertwined in the gazes directed towards me.
“Hah!”
The first to break the silence was Helios. He let out a chuckle just loud enough for me to hear and lightly tapped my shoulder.
“Thanks to you, my minor worries have vanished. Have a good journey, Commander.”
His blue eyes bore the gaze of a close friend seeing another off on a long journey. I couldn’t help but smile slightly.
“I’ll be back alive.”
While off on my distant journey, I might miss him a bit.
We moved through the portal to the central region, the mountain range, and began our advance from there. Atara was adjacent to the Solatine Empire and also bordered the North, so despite it still being late autumn, it began to snow as we crossed the mountains.
“Let’s set up camp here.”
The flurries that had barely started turned into heavy snow by evening, halting our advance. Thanks to the mages, we easily set up the barracks by melting the snow, and as the sun set, fires began to be lit here and there.
“Is there any discomfort with the camping arrangements?”
Jonathan, my aide, who entered my tent after seeking my permission, asked. I nodded eagerly while responding to messages from family and friends through a communication artifact.
“Very nice. The tent is spacious and keeps warm well.”
“As a noble young lady, I thought you’d struggle to adapt to such harsh conditions.”
I paused my hands for a moment, then looked at him with a gentle smile.
“You seem to have forgotten that before I was a noble young lady, I was a mercenary. I’ve camped enough to be sick of it. So it’d be better for you to ease your worries.”
Jonathan was subtly disregarding me. While his dislike was his own, challenging my authority as a commander was not something that could be tolerated under military law.
‘Ah.’ A short sigh escaped him as he quickly lowered his head.
“I’m sorry. I misspoke.”
If he had tried to contest me, it would have been annoying, but Jonathan was quick to acknowledge his mistake. I squinted my eyes and pierced him with my gaze.
‘Is it really a mistake?’
I usually could gauge such things, but he was so expressionless and his emotions rarely surfaced that I couldn’t tell if it was a genuine blunder or an intentional one disguised as one.
As Jonathan pondered how to navigate my unease, I too, constantly evaluated how much I could trust him.
‘He resembles that guy.’
I suddenly thought of a man with a similar demeanor to Jonathan. A terrifying statue with lifeless gem-like eyes embedded in its sockets. I was completely opposite to people of that sort.
“Alright. Is there anything to report specifically?”
Before the atmosphere could grow too grim, I exhaled to lighten the air. Jonathan, who had bowed his head deeply, finally lifted it.
“Nothing. The soldiers who scouted the surroundings reported that there are no danger factors. There’s no sign of monster remains or animal droppings within a 300-meter radius. However…”
“What is it?”
I urged him on, and after a moment’s hesitation, he slowly continued.
“It’s just my opinion, but I can’t shake this ominous feeling. There’s… a foul smell. Perhaps it’s because it’s an unfamiliar place…”
“Hahaha!”
I burst out laughing.
Jonathan blinked his black, sunken eyes in confusion, as if he couldn’t understand why I was laughing.
Ziiing.
I stood up, yanked the sword sheath from the desk, and walked towards him.
“Jonathan Aemery. How far have you come?”
“……I’m facing a Sword Expert.”
I passed by Jonathan and lightly tapped his shoulder. He flinched slightly.
“You’re quite perceptive.”
Turning his body, Jonathan looked at me with a confused expression as I lifted the tent flap.
“Commander! Where are you going?”
I turned back slightly and grinned.
“Out for a stroll. I’ll be back shortly.”
Now that I was home, I thought I might leave my mark on the territory.
The sentry, Henry, brushed off the snowflakes piled on his head and yawned widely.
‘What could possibly emerge in the middle of this snowy expanse, making me stand guard…
Having stood watch for an hour, merely observing trees, he complained inwardly.
Having lived in the capital his whole life, he had no idea how dangerous the North was. All he wanted was for his shift to end quickly so he could join the ongoing meal.
Ziiing.
‘What is that sound?’
A strange noise that resembled a mouse’s squeak or something being dragged along the ground startled his nerves.
Henry squinted in an attempt to identify the source of the sound, and suddenly, he realized that a small dot was moving beyond the shadows that the campfire light didn’t reach. That dot was getting closer and closer.
Ziiing.
As the sound grew louder, he tightened his grip on the spear he held, wondering if a wild beast was approaching.
Ziiing.
As the dot drew nearer, its outline became clearer, and it now undeniably resembled a human figure. It soon stepped into the light.
Thud.
Henry dropped his spear.
“Uwaaaah!”
A loud scream echoed throughout the camp.
“Damn it, an intruder!”
“What’s going on?”
The peace was shattered in an instant. The soldiers abandoned their meals and rushed towards the source of the scream, weapons in hand.
“Th-there!”
“What the hell… why are you screaming?”
The small figure seemed to suddenly teleport, closing the distance in an instant. The soldiers gaped in shock.
“Is-is that you, Commander?”
What stood before their eyes, drenched in black blood, was Kashmir Crisis.
“Why are you in such a state…?!”
“I found a den of Qubera around here. If left alone, they might ambush us at night, so I went to clean them out.”
Qubera, known as “Overflowing Abominations.”
Resembling sickly hyenas, they dripped with green venom from every part of their bodies. They were one of the more troublesome monsters to capture.
“……You did it alone?”
Jonathan, who had hastily rushed over amid the commotion, seemed shaken. He hardly ever appeared flustered.
Wiping the black blood smudged on her cheek nonchalantly, Kashmir nodded calmly.
“If I don’t exercise, I can’t sleep well at night. Ah, did you want to join? I’ll consider it next time.”
Jonathan was at a loss as to where to start reprimanding this madwoman who had wiped out a nest of venomous beasts to exercise before bed. He moved his lips, but soon gave up, focusing instead on what was in her hands.
“What are you doing dragging that along?”
In Kashmir’s hand were the corpses of Qubera, shredded like they had been caught in a storm. Not just one, but several.
Ziiing.
At least twenty Qubera were being dragged through the snow, entangled in a thread of aura, leaving behind trails of black blood and green venom.
“The venom and blood of Qubera act as a repellent, keeping weaker monsters away. I buried them deliberately as I came here.”
Jonathan swallowed hard as he watched Kashmir casually respond. It was not that she was saying anything incorrect; it was just hard to grasp.
Her rough demeanor, stemming from her abnormal strength, rendered a person speechless.
“Moreover, if you remove only the poisonous outer layer of a Qubera, the flesh is actually quite edible. No, it’s quite delicious.”
Thud.
Kashmir stood before the soldiers. They all held their breath, staring at her.
Having just come from battle, her light pink eyes, now tinged with a reddish hue, shone brightly in the dark like those of a demon.
With her white skin smeared with black blood, and hair swirling with snowflakes in the wind.
Who could look at her now and still say she’s human? More like a goddess of war or a demon of combat.
The overwhelming presence of a Sword Master sent chills stronger than the cold of the snowfield.
Whoosh.
Kashmir tossed the pile of Qubera into the camp. Everyone was startled as black blood and venom splattered everywhere, but not a single scream escaped.
Her gentle eyes narrowed, and her luminous light pink gaze whirled.
“Is there anyone short on meat?”
Jonathan Aemery thought then that Kashmir Crisis was absolutely not someone he could ever aspire to be human. No, she might not even be human at all.
Of course, Kashmir Crisis was merely pleased to have secured a good source of protein.