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Volume 1 Chapter 2 Part 8

「That is going to be a pretty tall order. 」

 

If you think about it normally, the difference in numbers alone should mean that their forces would be easily scattered and that the battle would end in an instant.

 

「So what should I do? Personally, I mean. 」

 

「Place your soldiers in front of you and stand behind them. 」

 

「Huh? 」

 

Theo unintentionally raised his voice.

 

「You can do that, right? 」

 

He looked at her,  worried.

 

「I can do that…  but that just does not seem fair. 」

 

That is just how honorable Theo was.

 

「I am sorry. It was not my intention to surprise you, but that is what is going to be necessary. Also…」

 

「I thought that was going to be all. 」

 

The protagonist of the battle should be himself, the Lord, or that is what he thought up until now.

 

「There is another thing that I want you to do. 」

 

Saying so, Siluca raised her right index finger.

 

「If the enemy gets too close to us,  I want you to order the soldiers to retreat and Lord Theo to surrender. 」

 

「What did you just say? 」

 

Theo felt the strength drain from his body as well as from his mind.

 

「Does that mean I don’t even have to fight? 」

 

「If the time for you to do that ever comes, then it will probably means that the battle has already been lost, and that I have probably been killed as well. 」

 

「Are you not afraid of dying at all? 」

 

The way that Siluca said it, it sounded as if it was someone else’s problem, so Theo could not help it but to ask her that.

 

「Of course I am scared of it, and I absolutely dread the possibility of it happening. But if you are afraid of death, then you will not be able to put your life on the line when it matters the most. 」

 

「Then, what in the world is so important that you are willing to… 」

 

Saying that, Theo swallowed his words halfway through, because he realized that he was the she was risking her life for now. Or, to be even more precise, she was risking her own life for Theo’s ideal.

 

「Come on, let us move out. 」

 

Siluca clapped her hands and she smiled at Theo.

 

Her smile was so cute, but…

 

(It’s a cowardly technique.)

 

Theo clicked his tongue inwardly. He was already dressed in armor and had his sword and a shield prepared. His soldiers were also lined up in the yard and waiting for orders.

 

Siluca tried to head for the stairs, but then she rushed to the window opposite the direction the enemy was approaching when she noticed something. And when she did that, her face immediately brightened with joy.

 

「What did you see? 」

Theo also lined up next to Siluca and looked out the window. He saw a white horse running at full speed on the road leading to this castle from the west. The rider was clad in silver armor and wore a winged cloak. Long black hair was flowing from beneath the helmet.

 

「Congratulations. 」

 

Siluca returned to her usual expression, and she bows respectfully.

 

「W-What are you congratulating me for? 」

 

Of course, Theo had no idea what was going on or what she was talking about

 

「With this, we can definitely win this battle. 」

 

Theo couldn’t believe his ears at Siluca’s words.

 

When Theo and Siluca went out of the castle, the horse had just arrived at the castle gate.

The rider leapt from their horse, threw off their winged helmet, and dropped it to the ground along with the long spear in their hand. Her long black hair curled up beautifully with just one flick of it.

 

The mysterious rider was in fact a tall woman. She had thick, well-shaped eyebrows, the narrow bridge of her nose, and her slightly elongated eyes cast a dark, cold glow upon their surroundings. Her lips were also thick and bright red in color.

She wore a silver armor that extended from her chest and went all the way down to her waist. Short black leather pants peeked through the gaps between the armor’s plating. Other than that, a surprisingly large amount of her torso was left exposed, and the same thing could be said about her thighs. The area from her knees down to her feet was covered by the same type of silver armor as her torso.

 

Her skin was smooth and slightly yellowish, just like the color of freshly squeezed milk. There was also a black pattern engraved on her body, starting at the left side of her buttocks and going all the way to her temples, meaning that she was an Artist. A separate sets of Arts were also engraved on her arms and thighs.

 

「Si~lu~ca~!!! 」

The woman screamed with a tearful face, ran to Siluca at incredible speed and jumped at her with all her might. Siluca couldn’t hold back her momentum, and she almost fell backwards when the two girls collided with one another. Theo hastily reached out with his right hand to support Siluca by holding her back.

 

At that moment, the black-haired woman glared at Theo with her sharp eyes. She clung tightly onto Siluca and violently shook off Theo’s hand from her back.

 

「Who are you? And what do you have to do with Siluca? 」

 

Although her words were polite, Theo felt uncomfortable with her interrogative tone.

 

「My name is Theo. I’m an unfortunate Lord who made a contract with the Mage Siluca. 」

 

「Did you make a contract deal with a guy like this? 」

 

The woman stares at Siluca in surprise.

 

「Lord Theo might not look like much, but he has splendid ideals… 」

 

Siluca replied with a sigh. Her body was still tightly pressed against Aishela’s armor and her limbs locked by her tight embrace.

 

「Yeah, okay, but other than that? 」

 

The tall woman woman pursued the matter further.

 

「A-As I said, he has splendid ideals… 」

 

Stumbling at the beginning, Siluca tried to say something more, but fell silent seconds after.

 

However, as frustrating as it was to admit, Theo himself was painfully aware of the fact that other than his ideals he did not have all that much going for him.

 

「Oh my poor Siluca…! 」

 

The woman held Siluca’s head and rubbed her cheeks against her cheeks, and she stroked her combed hair vigorously until they became completely ruffled.

 

「Aishela~, stop it~ 」

 

Siluca, who was patiently enduring Aishela’s caresses for a while finally had enough and asked her to stop while raising her voice.

 

It was the first time when Theo has seen her in such a vulnerable state. It felt strangely good to witness, but at the same time, he could still feel a lingering sense of threat directed towards him from the woman whom Siluca called Aishela.

 

「So you are Lord Theo, are you not? Fine, I will no longer ask for th reasons why did Siluca decided to make a contract with you. However, if I ever learn that you have taken advantage of your master-servant status in order to hurt Siluca in any sort of way, then you can kindly consider yourself to be as good as dead. 」

 

Aishera turned to Theo and said as such. Her expression hasn’t changed, but the killing intent behind each and every one of her words was as genuine as could be.

 

「I swear by all the gods that I do not think of her in such a way. 」

When Theo said so, he then lined up the names of all the Gods who were said to exist in various divine realms, one after another.

 

「Could… could it be that you don’t find Siluca to be incredibly attractive? At all?」

 

「Fortunately. 」

 

Theo nodded in affirmation.

 

She is indeed cute when she smiles, but it still did not stop him from thinking that what she did here was a rather sneaky trick.

 

「What the hell…? 」

 

「I cannot believe there is a man in this world who is blind enough to not notice Siluca’s cuteness! 」

 

「Fortunately. 」

 

Theo simply repeated the same words he had said just now.

 

「More importantly, it is nice that the two of you are having your friendly reunion, but need I remind you that while you are doing it, the enemy is still getting closer to us? 」

 

「An enemy? 」

 

As Aishela tilted her head and reluctantly let go of Siluca, she asked the two of the, to explain exactly what had happened.

 

Siluca took a deep breath, and then she explained the current situation to Aishela in as concise of a manner as possible.