CH 38.2

In the plains in the northwest of the Allied Commune, several tents have been put up, densely packed together. Soldiers are running around those tents in a hurry.

Among those tents is an especially large one where a man is playing chess by himself with a somber expression. Unlike the outside, the inside of the tent is filled with silence.

Suddenly, the tent is torn apart. The man playing chess narrows his eyes and looks outside the tent. There, he sees five men dressed entirely in black.

“How rude. Who are you people who have disturbed the silence?” the man asks, as if his mood has been somewhat worsened.

“It doesn’t matter who we are. I assume you are King Wilhelm Viktor von Weichsel, correct?“

“Indeed, I am Viktor. I see, so you are assassins who have been sent to kill me?” Despite the swords pointed at him, the man has a calm expression. In fact, he is grinning at the five soldiers. As if the man has gotten on his nerves, irritation shows on the assassin’s face.

“You b*****d! Do you understand the situation you’re in?!”

“Indeed I do. You are vampires, aren’t you? I am merely surrounded by monsters, nothing more. What about it?” Viktor calmly fends off the assassin’s murderous intent. The sight of him moving chess pieces even now causes the assassin’s irritation to reach its peak.

“You fool! Then prepare to die!”

Four assassins rush at him. Far from being perturbed, Viktor reaches for another chess piece, moving his knight and toppling four enemy pawns.

At that moment, a silver glimmer appears in the air, and the trajectory drawn by that glimmer is heading towards the four attacking assassins. After intersecting with that trajectory, blood splatters from the assassins’ bodies. Their faces are frozen in their expressions of rage from when they were rushing to attack Viktor. Despite being pierced and having blood spew out of them, they die without knowing what has happened to them. Even the last one remaining doesn’t understand what happened.

However, after the four are defeated, a beautiful female knight suddenly appears behind him, and he realizes that they were defeated by that female knight. He has an idea of who that red-haired female knight might be.

In a battle with the Weichsel Empire that happened some time ago in a different region of the Allied Commune, a female knight made a name for herself through her remarkable achievements. When she shows herself even for a moment, the surrounding soldiers become covered in blood and drop down to the ground in surrender. So, feared by the soldiers of Commune, the female knight was given a title, named after her red hair and the splattered blood of her enemies.

“The Red Reaper…!”

“Hm, so that is the title that you know her by? It’s quite amusing how their meanings could be so different and yet refer to the same person.”

The female knight frowns slightly at the assassin’s words, but she never lets her guard down. She keeps her keen murderous intent directed at the surviving assassin. He can neither advance nor retreat. The assassin has become a frog watched by a snake.

“Allow me to introduce you. This is Irene. She is the fastest knight in the empire, known as ‘Silver Flash Irene’ due to the fact that she is so quick with a sword that only its trajectory can be perceived.”

Silver Flash. It’s true that there was some beauty in that sight that has been burned into his memory. But from the assassin’s perspective, rather than beauty, he has a strong impression of it as the gruesome sight of four people’s lives being stolen, so he can only see her as the grim reaper.

“Though unfortunately, she is not a knight under my direct authority. It isn’t too late for that to change. Irene, will you serve me?”

“Thank you for granting such a generous offer to someone such as myself. But I apologize, Your Majesty. I have dedicated my sword to somebody else.”

“Yes, you are a knight with strong loyalty. The fact that we have a knight such as yourself makes you Weichsel’s unrivaled treasure.” Even though he was rejected, Viktor doesn’t appear the least bit displeased. If anything, he appears genuinely satisfied by her answer. “You must be proud, ‘Saint of Weichsel’.”

When the assassin follows Viktor’s gaze, he sees a girl in a white robe. The assassin is surprised to see such a young girl in a place like this.

The girl shows no emotions, her face entirely blank. She seems to show no interest in the assassin whatsoever, and, overwhelmed by the strangeness of the girl’s unchanging, doll-like expression, the assassin gulps.

“Though I am inexperienced, Irene serves me well,” the girl responds indifferently. Just like her expression, even though she is praising her servant, her voice is flat and lacking emotion.

‘Come to think of it…’ Suddenly, the assassin remembers the person who made a name for herself in the shadow of the Red Reaper’s striking achievements in that battle. He heard that the unit that person commanded was comprised of the best of the best even within the Weichsel Empire, giving support to their allies with precision and annihilating the soldiers of the Allied Commune with overwhelming force. The Red Reaper is known for her strength as an individual, but in terms of overall strength, that person is the core of the Weichsel Empire’s invasion.

An undefeated unit that doesn’t lose their composure even on a fierce battlefield. The ruthless commander who leads it. This is what the soldiers of Commune call that commander.

“Alexia the Witch!”

“From an enemy’s perspective, the saint becomes a witch, huh? What do you think, Alexia?”

“Nothing in particular. I no longer have any interest in what sort of words people use to describe me.”

She truly doesn’t care about the rumors regarding her. Alexia’s face doesn’t move even the slightest bit.

“Your Majesty, are you alright?!”

“You’re late. The ruffians have already been defeated by the Saint and the Silver Flash.”

Soldiers have finally noticed that something has happened in the tent and come rushing in. Having noticed the assassin, the soldiers understand the situation and immediately stand in the assassin’s way.

“Your Majesty, what shall we do with this man?”

“We are already extracting information from the prisoners of war we captured in the previous battle, but he may know something. Well, information known to low-ranking soldiers doesn’t amount to much. Seize him and extract whatever information you can.”

“Then I shall do so.”

Alexia swings her staff and the assassin becomes unable to move his body, as if he’s tied up with a rope. His sword falls from his hand as he was attempting to commit suicide. The soldiers leave the tent, dragging the assassin along with them.

“If assassins can slip through and appear before the emperor this easily, we must re-examine the camp’s defense systems.”

“My sincerest apologies, Your Majesty.”

“No, I’m not blaming you. If anything, it’s thanks to you that I was saved. And it was through your insight that we learned that this land has been dominated by vampires. That alone can be said to be a great achievement.”

“No, even I didn’t believe that vampires actually existed. I knew about vampires since I read about them in an old book, but historically, they haven’t appeared since then, so I thought they had long since gone extinct.”

In the battle that occurred just recently, it was Alexia who realized that the defeated commanders were all vampires. Through this, she also realized that the Allied Commune has been dominated by vampires.

“A country of vampires, is it? This land that is ruled by monsters must be returned to human hands. Land where people are able to live peacefully is limited as it is. We cannot simply hand Commune’s land over to them.”

The soldiers as well as the lords and nobles who rule this land have been turned into vampires. The people are unaware of this reality. They’re suffering under the vampires’ tyranny without knowing it. Some towns have even been destroyed by the vampires.

These abnormal circumstances aren’t limited to just one region. Vampires have been involved in all of the regions where the Weichsel Empire has advanced so far. The monsters that attacked Brandenburg may have also been the work of vampires. 

The Allied Commune has been dominated by vampires. The same might be true of the capital, Clermont, as well as the royal family.

“Our destination is Clermont. We will destroy all of the vampires who have done harm to our country.”

They’ll start with the territory ruled by Duke Mayenne. With Alexia and Irene’s power, they will take control with minimal casualties. With their power, even taking control of the entire country of Commune wouldn’t be impossible.

A faint smile appears on Viktor’s face. He smiles at the fact that he gained this opportunity through the military strength of the Saint which goes beyond his expectations as well as the fact that his ambitions will be fulfilled.

“Now then, Your Majesty, it’s about time that we make our leave.”

“Yes, you’ve done excellent work. I have high hopes for your future accomplishments as well.”

With a bow, Alexia and Irene leave the tent. 

“Lady Alexia, is it really alright to continue on like this?” Irene asks Alexia on their way back to their tent.

“What do you mean?”

“No matter how strong you are, Lady Alexia, setting foot on a battlefield such as this and exposing yourself to danger is…!”

“This is a noble’s duty. I must rid the land of monsters so that the people can live in peace.”

“That may be true, but you’re still a student, aren’t you? Isn’t it too early to involve yourself in war when you have yet to reach adulthood?”

Normally, it would be unthinkable for a young girl like Alexia to go to a battlefield. However, that would only be true if Alexia was just a noble’s daughter.

“I’ve been summoned here by an imperial decree which came directly from His Majesty. I had no choice but to go.”

The saint who saved Brandenburg during a crisis was called to participate in war. Since it was an imperial decree from the emperor who holds the highest authority, even the noble Zavarish family couldn’t disregard it. In fact, it was a rare opportunity for the emperor, who was desperate to strengthen his connection to her.

“But this is excessive!”

“That’s enough! That’s enough, Irene,” Alexia rebukes Irene’s persistent arguments with a shout. “Vampires are the root of all evil, bringing calamity to this land. If all of them are defeated, it will become peaceful. For the people who live here… as well as for those who visit.”

Irene understands what Alexia truly desires. Participating in this battle and visiting Commune is all for the sake of a single person. She came here just to protect that one person.

“I don’t wish for anything more than that. I know that even if I did wish for something more, it wouldn’t be granted. So please leave it at that.”

After stating this clear rejection, Alexia walks away from Irene. Left behind, tears flow from Irene’s eyes.

She can’t bear to look at Alexia as she is now. She has lost all hope, her existence simply for the sake of fulfilling the role that has been given to her. She’s just a puppet like this. If she defeats all the vampires and returns peace to Commune, she’ll never be able to voice her own desires ever again, won’t she?

“Where is your happiness in all of this…?”

Now alone, Alexia stares up at the night sky and mutters to herself, “Are you here in this dangerous land where vampires dwell, Teacher?”

The battle that took place in the Allied Commune during this period would be named the Commune Liberation Battle in the future.

The Commune Liberation Battle.

It was a battle that occurred due to the lack of communication between the Allied Commune, which had become overrun with vampires, and the Weichsel Empire, which invaded the Allied Commune on the justification of freeing it from the vampires’ rule.

Due to an unfortunate twist of fate, the mage and the saint crossed staves.