CH 41

“Did you lose?”

Eyla looked at Rodrigo and asked. Rodrigo lifted his head and looked at her.

“I haven’t lost yet.”

“It sounds like you’re going to lose.”

I tried to give a hint, but Ether was standing between Eyla and I.

“Aren’t you here to help me not to lose?”

“Hey, who?”

She can’t be honest.

I saw her final reaction and realized that she was secretly hoping for a war victory.

What were you talking about with Kaylan in the meantime?

“Ah, um, can I intervene?”

Poch asked, blinking his eyes. The white-skinned Poch, with his brown hair and faint freckles, was a boy of a little stature, unsuitable for the fierce Cartina. But one shouldn’t judge Poch just by his outward appearance.

Poch was sold to a mad wizard when he was young and was subjected to various experiments and only fell ill with a disease that did not make him grow, so he was already over 30 years old.

“It’s a report that the crazy wizards are back on their feet.”

Poch put the papers on the table Rodrigo had made. He vaporized the blank paper. Then the text appeared.

“There is a circumstance that has flowed into the Veloki Peninsula.”

Rodrigo murmured. Was the wizard he was fighting one of them?

“By the way…”

“By the way?”

“Aren’t they administered by the Holy Father?”

“What do you mean?”

Eyla asked. Poch cleared his throat. His face, referring to the mad wizard, was calm, but his voice trembled for a moment. He probably remembered what he had been through. Read only at pm tl.

“Twenty-five years ago, there was a time when mad wizards ran wild in the Empire.”

“Keep talking.”

Eyla waved her hand in the middle, as if it was bothersome to respond. Poch turned to everyone and asked for permission. Each of us expressed their consent in their own way.

“Twenty-five years ago, there were quite a few wizards. Wizards who set sparks in their hands were common. The treatment of wizards was good then and now, and people used to pay large sums of money for the magic they performed. Then some of the wizards came up with a bad plan. They demanded their independence. Until then, the wizards belonged to each country, and the use of magic was restricted. Maybe in research or something like that.”

Poch stopped for a moment.

“Some wizards got together and formed a certain group. They call it Free Dragon, and said it was for academic freedom, but if you look into it, they say that they want to live the way they want, in other words, the freedom of a wizard.”

Now it was time for Cartina’s evil deeds to come out. I slowly looked into Rodrigo’s eyes.

“Buying slaves, testing on humans, killing each other to increase power amongst themselves, and things like that.”

Poch secretly omitted the details of how Cartina contributed.

“At that time, the Empire and the Veloki declared that they would no longer stand by the wizards and persecuted them.”

“The Emperor did a good job.”

Poch sighed inconspicuously at Ether’s one-dimensional remarks.

“Being strong is never good. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to sleep?”

“Is it?”

Ether murmured.

“So what happened?”

Jane asked. In fact, this case was not taught separately in Cartina. Even the Empire was a little reluctant, because the Veloki made the contribution.

“The Pope suppressed it. And they took the mad wizards from the Veloki without punishment.”

“Why? Why didn’t he kill them?”

Eyla had a face that was completely incomprehensible. Poch laughed bitterly.

“That has been a mystery so far.”

This time it was my turn to ask a question, and I asked.

“Was there any information that those crazy wizards escaped the Holy Father?”

Poch shrugged his shoulders.

“As you know, the Veloki is difficult for even our system to access.”

The Veloki was the most veiled place. Magicians who use forbidden magic are usually managed by Magic Tower, but after the crazy wizards started working, Magic Tower became famous.

“Right. Then… I’m going there myself.”

At my words, everyone turned to me and shook their heads.

“It’s too dangerous, Estiya.”

“But if we don’t solve those crazy wizards, we will lose.”

“Winning or losing doesn’t matter. I just want the war to end soon.”

I was offended by Ether’s cold words.

“I care!”

It doesn’t matter. If I help Rodrigo win the war, he will be happy too. If Rodrigo becomes fond of my family, won’t he show some mercy if he blackens one day? More than that, we can prevent his blackening.

Since the appearance of the mad wizard was different from the time of the novel’s appearance, the result could also be changed. In the novel, the mad wizard killed all of Rodrigo’s henchmen. But did they have anything to do with Veloki?

I have been living in this world for 17 years, and the contents of the novels I have been reading over and over are being erased as if an eraser had passed.

“I will go.”

“What about the battlefield?”

I didn’t want to put Rodrigo at risk. Without realizing it, I raised my voice.

“Devlan will handle it well.”

He looked somewhere over my shoulder. As I turned my head to follow his gaze, a group of knights approached, raising a cloud of dust. Ether and Eyla reached out in front of me, protecting me. I put both hands down and put them back in place. Seeing that Rodrigo didn’t move, it was clear that they were on our side.

“General!”

It’s a voice I’ve heard a few times.

“It’s late, Devlan.”

“Are you okay?”

“It sounds like something I was going to ask.”

We watched for a moment the aftermath of Devlon, who had been searching for his master, and Rodrigo, the owner who was worried about them.

“It was unreasonable to keep the slaves alive. I couldn’t help but dig the ground and put bombs under it.”

What happened after that, even if Devlan didn’t explain, I could understand it. Jane and I frowned and swallowed, and Eyla and Ether burst into laughter when they said it was impossible to keep the slaves unharmed.

Rodrigo looked back at Ether and Eyla. They only shrugged their shoulders. It was not the right time to laugh, but I laughed because Ether, Eya, and Rodrigo seemed to have gotten closer to a certain extent. Jane tugged at the hem of my skirt.

“And?”

“As the sun went down, the attacks subsided. We only knew at that time that you had succeeded in the attack.”

“I failed.”

Rodrigo spoke casually, but there was a sense of remorse at the end of his words.

“You did.”

Even Devlan couldn’t hide his disappointment. It was not disappointment for Rodrigo, but more like sadness at having to deal with the slaves again. I intervened between them.

“But we will be able to finish it soon.”

If you lose hope on the battlefield, it’s over. Only by drawing a bright future can we live each day in this hellish place. Otherwise, deserters will start appearing again, and this time the chaos will grow out of control.

“What do you mean?”

I slowly explained my plans. The existence of crazy wizards…

“I will enter the Veloki Peninsula.”

“I will be with you. So, Devlan, you take charge of the battlefield.”

“General!”

Devlan’s cry was close to a scream.

“Poch, Ether, and Eyla will help.”

I looked back at my sisters. Poch was my subordinate, so I didn’t have to ask for permission. Anyway, he had a grudge he had to pay back to the mad wizards. He was probably the one who would stay if I told him to go back.

“How about we go with you and Rodrigo stays?”

Then Poch intervened.

“No. Sir Rodrigo has a past working in Veloki, so I think he is much more suitable than the ladies.”

At Poch’s words, Ether and Eyla’s eyes narrowed, but he was an intelligence hunter. To argue with his opinion based on various information, it was necessary to provide more accurate and extensive information than that, but there was no way that Ether and Eyla could do that.

“Do you want to die?”

Instead, Ether and Eyla raised their weapons. Rodrigo pushed the two swords away with his hand. Seeing Rodrigo fearlessly touching the sharp sword gave me goosebumps. I rubbed my arms and stood next to him.

“Don’t do anything dangerous.”

I whisper a little.

“Are you worried? It feels good.”

I heard useless noises. I shook my head sharply. Things seemed to be clearing up. Ether and Eyla could not refute Poch’s words, and Rodrigo and I stood side by side, waiting for their permission.

“One week.”

Devlan let out a sigh.

“No more than a week.”

“That’s long!”

Ether spoke as if screaming. Devlan sighed deeply, but there was no answer. It took only a week to sneak into the Veloki Peninsula and obtain plausible information.

Don’t eat, and don’t sleep. I didn’t see it that way, but there’s something brutal about it.

I looked back at Rodrigo.

“Great.”

“What?”

Without realizing it, I had a stupid reaction.

“For a week, please take good care of me.”

He took my bag that Jane was carrying and put it on the horse that Devlan was riding on.

“We don’t have time, so let’s go. Take your time as much as possible. Change the operation. Anything is fine as long as you survive. However, the damage to civilians of the Empire should be minimized.”

Now that the mad wizard joined in, Rodrigo’s judgment that he could not fight while protecting even the army was correct. Rodrigo’s arm stretched out in front of me.

“I can ride a horse.”

“I know.”

“It would be more efficient to ride individually.”

“A warhorse is like a property. Do you not know how much a warhorse is worth on the battlefield?”

“Ah…”

I nodded and looked ahead. For a moment I thought that Rodrigo wanted to ride a horse with me. Why, it’s like that in romance novels!

Recalling that the novel I had read was not a romance novel, I fanned my hands in embarrassment with my red cheeks.

“Hold on tight.”

Rodrigo said. I quickly grabbed the reins. Rodrigo’s strong arms and thick hands were near me.

“Estiya, be careful! Send me a message anytime!”

She was talking about a magic note. Since they had Poch, so if I just write a note, they’ll be able to check my location at any time. There was no more perfect safeguard than this.

“Please take good care of my sister!”

I then whispered to Rodrigo hoping that Cartina would play a role in the war.

“Go.”

Rodrigo kicked the horse. The horse wailed and ran across the battlefield.