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Volume 5 Chapter 1 Part 13

「Must be nice… 」

Cammy mutters while moving around Irvin.

He glanced at her, but he ignored her and simply continued his work.

「Irvin’s master is not Theo Cornero, but his contracted Mage, right? That sounds like a pretty complicated situation. 」

「It feels like having a troublesome daughter who finally got married. 」

Irvin chuckled.

A Chamberlain’s service to his master is different from the unstable feelings of love. It must be absolute and eternal.

「That’s right. Even in the case of us Shadows, I think we should also look out for and take care of each other since we’re working in the darkness… 」

Layla grinned.

「That’s why you should come scout the camp with us tonight. 」

「Do you want to work with me again? Or did your skills improved from last time and you want to show off? 」

「Well, something like that. It’s still not enough to beat Irvin, but don’t you hate losing and being laid down because of it? 」

「I have no intention of playing along with your weird hobbies. 」

Irving told her to let the idea go, and he tied up the rolled up tent with ropes and tied up the stakes together. The tents belong to Waldrind, so his work was essentially done here.

「Shall I go scout over there? 」

Cammy hesitantly asked.

「Don’t do it. If you try anything funny, then I assure you that the twin maids are going to find you way before I will. Your skills as a Shadow might be far superior, but when it comes to killing each other, the twins are way better at it. After all, they’re Werewolves. 」

「Werewolves? And you are educating them? 」

「Yes, since Werewolves have their own way of doing things. However, there are some aspects that overlap with our special skills, so that’s why I decided to train them. There are times when even I cannot handle some tasks on my own, so having them around to help me is a huge help. 」

As Irvine said that, Cammy snorted at him in disgust.

「Well, from now on we’ll be enemies, but we can meet once in a while. Even if we’ll be serious about killing each other at those times. 」

Layla said with a straight face.

「My aim is to survive the upcoming battle. 」

「Or maybe you’re going to die together with your master? That is our way of doing things. 」

「My master had died in front of my eyes once before. I don’t intend for there to be a second time. 」

Irvin interrupted Layla, and then he ran towards the castle.

* * *

Marine returned to her encampment, entered her tent, and began to prepare herself for the upcoming battle.

While in her underwear, she put on her skin-tight cotton padding and put on her armor. When she was about halfway done, her two maids have returned and hastily started to help her.

「You should have waited for us to come back. 」

Layla said sorrowfully, and Cammy silently gave her nod.

「Were you able to have a nice, long talk with Irvin? You used to look up to him as if he was your older brother, after all. 」

Originally, Irvin was a Chamberlain working under Marine’s father, Matthias Kraische. He lost that master during 「The Tragedy of the Grand Cathedral」, and now Siluca Meletes was his new master.

For Irvin, It was his way of making amends for trying to stop Siluca, who was the only one who tried to stop the tragedy from happening in the middle of all that chaos.
「I can’t quite accept being his little sister in our relationship. 」

Layla complained.

「I could be his little sister if he wanted, but… 」

Cammy said sadly.

「Thank you for your continued hard work. 」

Aubest entered the tent and bowed to Marine. He waited outside her tent until her preparations for battle were over.

「Siluca seemed to be quite fulfilled. 」

「Yes… 」

Alvest nodded. For a moment, a slight smile appeared on his face.

「Aren’t you feeling lonely? 」

「No, it seems that Theo Cornero is a Lord worthy of her service. Moreover, since we shared our feelings with one another, I feel quite fulfilled myself. 」

「But that Theo Cornero was definitely a peculiar individual. 」

「Are you satisfied with the negotiations, Lady Marine? 」

「Let me think…. I know that Alexis called him his friend… 」

Marne said while giving Aubest a wry smile.

Alexis Doucet possessed an innate ability to see into the very essence of the things that he was looking at. That peculiar talent of his was especially manifested with the art the he was creating.

「He seems to be a person who’s capable of changing the atmosphere of a place he’s at just by being there. I bet that if we invited him to Waldrind to serve as the court jester at my castle, then he’d probably do an outstandingly good job at it. 」

Marine said sharply.

「That’s exactly why he’s so good at winning the hearts of the people around him. Normally, people don’t change so easily, but sometimes, when the circumstances are just right, they might spontaneously act like they normally wouldn’t, just like during a festival. 」

「A Lord should always prioritize the remaining 364 days of tranquility over the madness of one day a year. And besides, the rule of the Kraische family does not consider the feelings of the people. It focuses on establishing and enforcing reasonable laws, since that is what is ultimately going to protect them. 」

「It seems that the soldiers in the castle are also more enthusiastic because of him. 」

Aubest said while looking back towards the castle.

Certainly, some cheers have been echoing repeatedly from over there since a while ago.

「For their love! 」

That’s what could be heard when Marine and the others listened carefully.

Marlne bit her lip tightly and clenched her fists.

「You can’t protect a castle with love! Neither can you do it for a country or time…! 」

She said in a violent tone, and then she looked back at Aubest.

「Order the Lords of Ozer and Veltava to march out! If they want to take their territories back, let them do it with their own hands. I will pick up all of the remaining bones. 」

「As you wish. 」

Aubest bowed to Marine expressionlessly and left the tent.

* * *

「They’re coming」

Theo, who was watching the enemy camp from the cracks in the fortress’s walls, saw that the armies of the Lords of Veltava and Ozer began to move from their positions and raised his voice.

Hearing that voice, Siluca finally left the pillar in the corner of the hall behind which she was sulking and came up to Theo’s side.

She was ridiculed by the soldiers, lectured by Aishela, asked for her impressions by the twin Werewolf maids, and encouraged by Priscilla to have a proper ceremony in the church.

However, once the battle has begun, all of that has been shoved to the side foe the time being.

「So, what are we going to do? 」

Theo asked her for an opinion.

「Well, since we already agreed that the best thing we can do here is to buy time… 」

Siluca pondered this matter for a while and then put together a plan.
「We won’t repel any of them easily, so let’s try fighting both sides for as long as possible. I don’t want to show too much of our hand until the Heavy Knights of Waldrind arrive on the battlefield. 」

「The soldiers in the castle are all in incredibly high spirits, so it might be difficult to control them though. 」

Theo said apologetically.

「See? I told you were taking things too far. 」

Siluca glared at Theo resentfully. She wanted you to do that kind of thing with him only when it was just the two of them alone.

「If that’s the case, then I would like to ask you to move out, Lord Petr. 」

Siluca looked back at Baron Petr, who was standing nearby.

Petr and Petr’s army were not swept away by the excitement of the other soldiers in the castle, so carrying out a dangerous mission such as this was an ideal task for him and his soldiers under the 「Myrmidon」Banner.

「What would you have me do? 」

Petr stepped forward and asked for instructions.

「I would like you to draw the enemy into the fortress and drive them back when the sun goes down. It is important to keep the damage done to the enemy armies as low as possible so that both armies can attack us again tomorrow. 」