CH 196

SWOOOSH SWOOOOSHH

A cold wind mixed with snow blew through the air with a howl. The dusk dyed the snow that perched on the surrounding trees with a hue of red.

This place was the edge of Charalia, the Kingdom Inglis and her friends were born. It was close to the borders of Alucard, their neighboring country. Whilst it was already cold enough to pierce their skin, the temperature would continue to drop further as night falls.

「Phew… How very cold. I’ve never been this cold before.」

Leone shuddered as she was peering at a mountain fortress from behind the trees. The fortress seemed to be a border guard base owned by the Alucardian army.

They were on their way to cross the border and infiltrate into Alucard lands. They would be using a Flygear Carrier as their base of operation, and the Carrier would be carrying several Flygear units that would be housed in it. Amongst these units was Inglis and Rafinha’s personal unit, the Star Princess unit. In addition, it was also loaded with a large amount of food as its cargo, and that was the entirety of this small platoon.

To put it in a nutshell, they were pretty conspicuous. Should they just fly in with their Flygears brazenly out in the light, they would definitely be spotted. Therefore, they were taking position there and waiting to cross under the veil of night.

「You are right, the wind is so cold it hurts my poor cheeks.」

Liselotte said. She had taken all precautions she could to protect herself from the cold, from lumpy fur garments to earmuffs as well. Even so, this unfamiliar cold still got to her.

「It’s because we are going to the mountainside border and avoiding plains……It’s actually comparatively warmer this year in the open plains, you know?」

Pullum’s words were to be expected from an Alucard native.

「What choice do we have……The Alucardian army is rallying on the plains, after all…」

They had avoided the plains border where the Alucardian army was concentrated and made their way to the mountainside border. But even here, there were forts scattered about, forcing them to take extreme caution in making any movements.

The Alucardian army, which was gathering in the open plains, didn’t seem to have started moving just yet. If Inglis’ little platoon were discovered so close to the border and provoked the hornet’s nest, they might contact the main army down in the plains, and the invasion might start ahead of schedule.

If things went in that direction, their clash with the Charalian army, who should have begun their movement towards the border, would be inevitable. The Charalian army was a combined force of the Imperial Guard Order under King Charleas’ direct order as well as several private Chivalric Orders owned by the lords of various territories. Amongst them, there was also Marquis Wilford who led the Knights of Ymir, the hometown of Inglis and Rafinha.

This separate platoon was to infiltrate into Alucard before the two armies clash and wear each other down in order to encourage political changes or a change in opinion amongst the Alucard’s higher-ups to force the Alucardian army to retreat.

That was the essence of this mission. They had their means to connect with the higher-ups in the form of Lahti. He had been hiding his identity this whole time as a Prince of Alucard. There was no one more qualified for this role than him.

This was all Inglis’ idea, and if they succeeded, they could prevent an all-out war from ever breaking. This mission would save the lives of many Knights and foot soldiers who would otherwise be lost, as well as the lives of innocent people who would be trampled under the fire of war.

Inglis herself just wanted to fight the allegedly strong individuals in the Alucardian army, the Highlander that resided there, Prisma, and about everything that moved… or so Rafinha assumed. It was only natural that she saw it like that, but for Leone, this mission was very important.

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For that reason, she couldn’t allow herself to throw a tantrum just because of the cold.

「…Maybe I should get some exercise. I don’t want my body to be stiff when I need it.」

Leone held up her black great sword and was about to swing it around. It was then that Rafinha called out to her.

「Leone, Liselotte, if you’re cold, just eat some more. It warms you up from the inside!」

Aside from the smiling face, there sat a huge pot that looked like it had enough serving to feed several grown men. It was basically a cauldron, and it was specially-made, as Inglis and Rafinha said that it would be too much trouble if they had to make the same food again and again if their pot was too small. In it, a hearty seafood soup was simmering away.

「It’s best to eat something warm when you’re cold, you know?」

Inglis also called out to them, her smile showed grace.

「……We’ve eaten enough!」

「Our stomach is full!」

Ordinary people like them couldn’t eat endlessly as Inglis and Rafinha did. They had to warm up their bodies using means other than food.

「Is that so? We’ll eat the rest then, okay?」

「Eating hot pot in such a cold place makes it taste better than usual, don’t you think?」

「Oh, it’s the thing about what places bring out flavors. I so agree~」

At the sight of the two cousins, Lahti could only laugh dryly.

「Ahaha… If you eat so much food right off the bat, will we have enough to last?」

「Well, we can always buy some more on the way!」

「We still have the army funds that His Majesty provided us with. It’s not every day we can go to Alucard, so we want to taste the local treats too.」

「That’s right, that’s why I looked up all the information about good food, after all!」

「Don’t you have something better to look up for……」

Right about then, a boy walked in from their side and raised a question. It wasn’t Lahti, of course, but Ian. He was the only one of the countless replicas of Ian that had been created by the technology of Highland, and was the only one that Yua had saved, in her words, take home with her.

In fact, she was already on her way home with Ian under her arms when Inglis rescued him and brought him along for this mission. He was the one who knew the most about the current situation within Alucard, after all. What he did might have been a sin, but he bore no ill will for Lahti and seemed to be remorseful of his act.

And so, not just Inglis, but everyone also decided that he currently possessed no danger to the group. Even if he did, Inglis was more than welcome to face that danger. She couldn’t have enough strong enemies to fight. As long as they don’t lay their hands on Rafinha, that is.

「Miss Inglis, Miss Rafinha, would you like to have more vegetables?」

「Yeah, put em in, Ian!」

「Some more fish too, if you please.」

「Okay. Let me prepare for it.」

As though atoning for his sin, Ian had been attending to a whole load of works himself. And, to be honest, he was a great help to have in this situation.

「All right, let’s see where we can make the food taste the best around here! Ah, maybe that cliff over there!」

「Don’t fall, you hear me? As for me, maybe I will eat it on top of a tree.」

「Aah! You’re going with the theory of higher places make food more delicious, aren’t you? Then maybe I should bring out a Flygear and eat it way up there.」

「Stop, that’ll be too conspicuous!」

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Leone, obviously, stopped her. She was beginning to question why they bothered to hide at all.

In that manner, Inglis and Rafinha continued to eat until the sun went down completely.