Chapter 41: The Resolve of Two Women

"Haah! Haah!"

"They're retreating!"

On the wall.

Despite having repelled another wave of beasts, the soldiers let out sighs closer to complaints rather than relief or joy.

It had been over a month since the area was confirmed to be a great nest.

Even for the soldiers of the Malidan Wall, the constant daily onslaught of beasts was wearing them down, both physically and mentally.

Lately, the attacks had even become more frequent, sometimes occurring twice a day.

The battle against fatigue had become as pressing as the battle against the beasts.

"...This can't go on."

Silverna, the captain of the 5th Reconnaissance Unit, muttered as she leaned on her spear.

She, too, seemed to have her own thoughts about the increasing frequency of the beast attacks.

"..."

Amid the exhausted soldiers, Liana Helmut stood tall and composed.

Her red hair fluttered in the wind blowing over the wall.

Her calm gaze, fixed on the beasts beyond the wall, showed no trace of exhaustion, reminding everyone why the Helmut name was so revered.

Slowly, Liana turned her head.

Among the other soldiers, a man with black hair tied back in a ponytail sat down, looking weary as he chatted with his comrades.

Though they were far away, Liana could hear every word of their conversation.

"That was close. I almost died this time."

"Thank you, Isaac. If you hadn't pushed me out of the way earlier, I would've been hit by that rock and knocked out with a concussion."

"Don't mention it. You saved me last time, didn't you?"

"Did I? I can't even remember anymore. There've been too many close calls."

Though he joked and laughed with the soldiers, the content of the conversation was no laughing matter.

Especially since there were two broken swords lying near Isaac.

The fact that two swords had been broken spoke volumes about how dangerous the situation had been.

Is it really okay to stay like this?

As her thoughts deepened—

Kurung! Kwaaaang!

"Whoa, what was that?"

"Was that lightning? Did lightning just strike?"

"I thought it was another beast attack."

Beyond the mountain range, Liana's eyes widened as she saw the lightning strike in the clear sky.

* * *

Inside the Strategy Tent.

"This is getting dangerous."

The captain of the 1st Company of the Malidan Wall pleaded to Uldren, who sat at the head of the table.

"We're being worn down bit by bit. The number of wounded is increasing, and morale within the wall is at an all-time low."

Every day, they swing their spears and kill beasts. Every day, they watch comrades who were laughing and joking with them yesterday die from flying rocks today.

The weight of being on the front lines pressed down on them heavier than ever.

"There's no sign of the beast horde thinning. In fact, it seems like the beasts from other regions are joining them, which suggests they're gathering from far and wide."

"Hmm."

The Margrave, seemingly sharing similar thoughts, stroked his beard as he studied the map.

"As the commander, I urge you to make a decision."

As soon as the captain finished his report, another captain seated across the table raised his hand to request permission to speak.

"My lord, the purpose of the Malidan Wall is defense. While it's true that the number of wounded is increasing, we've also slain an uncountable number of demonic beasts."

"To abandon our advantageous position and venture out to hunt them down? The risks are too great. Moreover, we still don't know the identity of the beast commander. It's too early to move outside the wall."

Both captains had valid reasons for their arguments.

Having led their soldiers on the wall, their opinions were opposed, but they respected each other's perspectives.

"Hmm."

Uldren naturally fell into deep thought.

Should they continue this endless war of attrition with no end in sight?

Or should they take advantage of the reduced numbers of beasts and strike out beyond the wall now?

Silverna's lips twitched, but she knew her place. As the captain of the 5th Reconnaissance Unit, she wasn't in a position to speak out of turn, so she bit her lip and fidgeted.

"What is your opinion, Lady Liana?"

Uldren turned to Liana, who was present as a representative of the dispatched nobility.

Liana, who hadn't expected to be asked for her opinion, slowly turned her gaze to Uldren.

"Just now—"

Uldren Caldias was that kind of man.

As she mulled over her thoughts, she began to speak.

"After the beasts retreated, I sensed a faint trace of magical energy in the lightning strikes that followed."

"Hmm?"

"Hah..."

A subtle groan escaped from those inside the tent.

None of them had noticed it, after all.

Under normal circumstances, they might have dismissed it as nonsense, but...

'It's Helmut we're talking about.'

'There's a chance she's right.'

'This is troubling.'

It wasn't just the weight of the Helmut name that made this difficult. Rather, it was because they knew too well about the capabilities of the Helmut family.

If a Helmut said it, it probably wasn't nonsense.

But could they really make a decision based solely on one person's word?

"I believe it might be the work of the beast that gathered this large colony."

Of course, Liana ignored the reactions around her and calmly expressed her thoughts.

"Can we find it if we go there?"

"I can't guarantee it... but I believe we should at least investigate."

* * *

Clang!

The clear sound of a sword echoed from the corner of the training grounds.

A spot that had become Isaac's usual training area.

As his sword extended in a straight line, Sharen's greatsword moved to meet it along the same trajectory.

But Isaac leaped up like a rabbit, spinning once in the air.

Sharen's greatsword passed through the space where he had been just moments ago.

As he landed and swung his sword again, aiming for Sharen's neck—

"Ho, Crimson Flame Wave!"

Before Sharen's desperate shout could fully escape her lips, a crimson wave erupted from her greatsword.

The wave spread wide, hitting Isaac just as he was about to land, sending him flying far away.

"Sir Isaac! Oh no! Sir Isaac!"

Jonathan, who had been watching the sparring session, rushed over in a panic.

Isaac rolled across the training grounds, finally coming to a stop. He lifted his head and shouted.

"I told you not to use Crimson Flame!"

"Hah, hah, a Helmut never admits defeat!"

Sharen, who had confidently declared before the match, ["Crimson Flame? Hah, I wasn't even planning to use it."], had unleashed it without hesitation when she found herself in danger.

"Sigh, fine. I got the gist of it anyway."

Isaac stood up, brushing himself off. Sharen, who had hurried over, looked embarrassed and struggled to find the right words.

She wanted to apologize, but Isaac asked her something else instead.

"How was it?"

"Huh?"

"How was my swordsmanship? Before you used Crimson Flame, weren't we pretty evenly matched?"

"..."

She didn't want to admit it, but Isaac was right.

Sharen had indeed struggled quite a bit against Isaac's swordsmanship.

Of course, a Helmut without Crimson Flame was only half as powerful, but on the flip side, Isaac, who couldn't even swing a sword properly just a month ago, had now caught up to half of Sharen's skill.

"Just be honest. Tell me how you felt, raw and unfiltered."

At Isaac's request, Sharen bit her lip, hesitated, and then spoke cautiously.

"It... it was annoying."

"..."

"I felt bad. It was like Isaac knew exactly how I was going to swing my sword."

"..."

"Earlier, after the third exchange. You noticed I deliberately sped up, right?"

"Yeah, I did."

"But Isaac, you knew I'd get angry and speed up, and you reacted to it?"

He had anticipated it.

He figured Sharen would try to widen the gap at that point, and he was right.

"It felt annoying... I-I was just tired! It's only been 30 minutes since the wall defense ended, and you suddenly wanted to spar—!"

Sharen pouted and made childish excuses, clearly frustrated that she had been completely read.

On the other hand, Isaac was thoroughly satisfied.

This was the second time he had overcome a Helmut's sword.

Sparring with Jonathan had become almost boring, and he had reached the point where he could secure a decisive victory against Sharen, who had been completely out of his league at first.

'Of course, if she uses Crimson Flame, it's a different story.'

He could handle Jonathan's clumsy Crimson Flame, but the moment Sharen used hers, the difficulty skyrocketed.

As Isaac pondered more deeply about the aspects related to aura—

"..."

"..."

An unlikely pair.

Liana and Silverna were walking toward them together.

Neither of them was looking at the other, but they were heading in the same direction, so they ended up walking side by side.

"Wow, those two really don't match at all."

As Isaac muttered while looking at Sharen, he decided to ask her something he had forgotten earlier.

"Sharen, you didn't tell Silverna anything about me and Liana, did you?"

Since Jonathan was present, he figured it was safe to ask, but Sharen flinched and responded indignantly.

"D-Do you think I'm an idiot?! Why would I say something like that?"

"Really, you didn't?"

"No! I'm not an idiot!"

* * *

"Hey."

While walking toward Isaac, who was bickering with Sharen, Silverna quietly called out to Liana.

"..."

Liana didn't show much of a reaction, but it wasn't hard to tell she was listening.

"I'm going to leave Isaac out of this dispatch mission."

But at Silverna's next words, Liana's face finally turned toward her.

Then.

"Wise decision."

She nodded.

"If the beast commanding this horde can manipulate lightning to that extent, just being near it would put Isaac in serious danger."

"Yeah, I thought the same."

She knew he's working hard.

She was confident he would become a great swordsman someday.

But.

"It's too early."

"Right."

The two women judged that it was still too soon for him to step onto their battlefield.

"..."

"..."

For the sake of one man's safety.

It was the first time the two of them had agreed on something.

* * *

That evening.

Silverna hurriedly threw on her robe and arrived at the forge after Anna suddenly told her she was needed there.

Upon hearing from Anna that she was being summoned to the forge, Silberna hurriedly threw on her robe and rushed over.

"Is it finally done?"

As soon as she arrived, Silverna smiled brightly and asked Antonio.

Especially since Isaac's face, still sulking after being told he was being left out of the mission, lingered in her mind.

She thought giving him a sword as a gift would cheer him up quickly.

"You came quickly?"

"Enough with the greetings. Is it done? Show me!"

Antonio sighed as Silverna urged him on.

"Ah, it's almost done. But that's not why I called you here today."

"What?"

Her shoulders slumped.

Her anticipation turned to disappointment in an instant.

"Then why did you call me?"

"There's some Frost Silver Ore left. What should we do with it?"

In Antonio's hand was a finger-sized piece of bluish-green ore.

"I thought you'd just pocket it."

She thought the old man was being unusually honest, but...

"What can you do with this amount?"

Antonio clicked his tongue regretfully.

If there had been more, he probably would have kept it for himself.

"Hmm, with this amount—"

Silverna took the Frost Silver Ore and rolled it around in her hand, deep in thought.

Then, as if an idea struck her, she flinched and casually tested the waters.

"Ahem. Antonio? C-Could you... make something like a ring?"

"..."

"Ah, no! Just! It'd be nice to have as a keepsake!"

"I have a disciple who used to make jewelry... but at best, we could make one ring."

A disappointing answer.

'Well, that's fine. I was getting ahead of myself anyway. There's no place to wear it right now.'

Even as she tried to restrain herself, Silverna's mouth was already saying something else.

"What about an earring? Just one side."

Since he often tied his hair up, his ears were naturally visible a lot.

"That might be possible."

At Antonio's indifferent reply, Silverna smiled and handed the Frost Silver Ore back to him.

"Please take care of it. Not too flashy, something more subdued. That would suit her."

"...Understood."

Antonio decided to act like he hadn't heard or seen anything.

He accepted the request, thinking he'd just hammer away at his work as usual.