CHAPTER 03
“What ring? There are so many.”
Adamas shrugged.
“The one on your right middle finger. The beetle ring.”
“Oh, this? It’s a keepsake from my father.”
“Is that so? That keepsake strangely resembles a ring I lost a month ago. Not a common ring, you know.”
“Huh? No, this isn’t theft at all…”
Adamas was flustered. Surely, the great Sapeiros wouldn’t accuse him of theft over a single ring. The problem was that the ring’s design was truly uncommon.
“Hide a tree in the forest? Wearing a stolen jewel openly like this… bold, indeed.”
Adamas’s pupils jittered rapidly. This suspicion had caught him completely off guard. And from Sapeiros? This was the worst possible scenario!
“No, wait! I really am not a thief! Please believe me. Things went well at the river. If I were a thief, would I have helped you?”
Adamas insisted on his innocence.
Sapeiros glanced once at the ring, once at Adamas’s face, and let out a long sigh.
“Let’s just move on. Prepare to cross the river quietly. Soon we’ll reach shallower water.”
Sapeiros gently stroked his rapier as he spoke calmly.
W-what? He really trusts me?
Watching Sapeiros’s back as he walked ahead, Adamas tilted his head.
Did he never have high expectations of me to begin with? Well, who in their life truly received proper help? An orphaned knight commander, after all.
The only person who had helped him early on would have been the Marquis Mano Kunzait, who had first given him a position.
But Marquis Kunzait had died two years before this battle, and the current Marquis was Kunzait’s son, Mano Hidenight…
Adamas shook off the spiraling thoughts and scanned his surroundings.
“No. We need to go all the way to Barantu Island.”
“Why? The closer to the upper river, the shallower the water, but the Ride Mountains make the terrain rougher. Why go all the way to Barantu Island…”
“We absolutely have to reach Barantu Island.”
Sapeiros didn’t respond. Adamas spoke again, his voice desperate.
“I saved you. Just trust me one more time.”
Sapeiros let out a quiet, almost sighing sound.
“Lead the way. We can’t delay any longer.”
The sound of Sapeiros’s footsteps followed behind Adamas as he went ahead.
His heart raced uncontrollably.
Don’t worry, Adamas. Everything will be fine.
She held her head high and clenched her fists tightly.
Bang—
A firebolt passed right above Adamas and Sapeiros, landing nearby.
“Ugh, spit.”
Sand splashed across their faces.
“Cross the river alone.”
Blocking another incoming firebolt, Sapeiros said.
“No!”
Spitting sand from her mouth, Adamas grabbed Sapeiros’s clothing quickly.
“Move! If we don’t stop them, they’ll cross the river. We need to reduce their numbers even a little.”
The upper Baran River was surrounded by forest. In the center, a small sandy island—Barantu Island—had formed.
Adamas and Sapeiros were passing through it.
Though the sun was about to rise, the enemies did not stop attacking.
“We only drew them here by fleeing upstream! Move!”
When Sapeiros shouted, Adamas answered in kind.
“What? I saved your life, and this is what you say!”
“There’s no time for arguing. Cross the river!”
“Then I say don’t go!”
Adamas grabbed Sapeiros’s hand tightly. The sight of his bloodied hand made her unwilling to let go.
“The enemy numbers a thousand, and there are only two of us. Running is the right choice. Move.”
Sapeiros looked away, pushing her hand gently. Adamas gritted her teeth, holding back tears.
“Even if we run, we go together!”
“Impossible.”
Adamas gripped Sapeiros’s hand even tighter as he repeatedly tried to push her away.
Only seventeen. Sapeiros was two years younger than her. And now he was volunteering to risk his life to save her.
Yes, that’s who you are.
I’m so lucky. You are exactly as I imagined you would be.
Thank you. For showing me, my father, and the people of Mano were not liars.
“Sir Sapeiros. You have to survive.”
Adamas clutched Sapeiros’s hands with trembling ones.
“Survive and protect the Marquisate.”
Their eyes met in the air. Sapeiros’s trembling gaze and his clenched jaw were fully reflected in Adamas’s sight.
She shouted firmly, as if making a vow:
“I will protect you!”
They were clearly outnumbered, but there were definite advantages for Adamas and Sapeiros.
The muddy mountain paths created by the long rainy season hindered the movement of mages with weak stamina. The rough terrain prevented horses from forming proper lines.
“Sir Sapeiros. Do you know how to win a war even when outnumbered?”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“If you don’t, learn now. Use the environment.”
“You’ve been oddly curt. Hey, you! What exactly are you planning?”
Kicking sand beneath her feet, Adamas grinned slyly.
Then she removed the amber ring from her left ring finger.
“Amber. Thank you for everything so far!”
Concentrating her power, the dark yellow gem split with a crack. She threw it at the ground beneath them.
Then something remarkable happened.
The sandy island beneath Adamas and Sapeiros rose to a height where Roviana’s firebolts could barely reach.
“…Impressive, but are we just waiting here for reinforcements?”
Sapeiros asked.
“No. The magic isn’t that strong, and it doesn’t last long.”
Adamas pulled all the pearls from her water can, rolling them in her hand a few times before tossing them downward.
She was cleverly targeting the feet of the enemy mages.
The tiny pearls hit the ground with a tap tap, stirring up a pale dust cloud.
“Now with the dust, even the best mages won’t be able to hit us accurately.”
Adamas immediately summoned a small fire arrow.
“Firebolt.”
It was tiny—pathetic compared to the firebolts the Roviana soldiers had been casting. Its power was probably negligible.
Yet she sent it flying over the mountains.
Repeating the action three times, small beads of sweat formed on her forehead.
“Now we just wait.”
“…Wait for what?”
“Until they get wet.”
“You didn’t… destroy the Baran Dam, did you?!”
“Hmm? No. Too far, and a few firebolts can’t take down a dam. I destroyed the small weirs instead—the three closest ones here.”
Weirs—small dams used to temporarily raise water levels for farming or drinking.
Upstream, the Baran Dam had three small weirs below it.
“But that amount of water isn’t enough to stop all the soldiers. Not by hand…”
“Of course. I just want them wet. I’m not aiming to sweep them all away.”
Adamas had no intention of a full flood.
Minutes later, water surged from the three small weirs swollen by the long rains.
Still, the flow wasn’t enough to sweep away the Roviana soldiers completely.
“Now, lend me this.”
Adamas reached for Sapeiros. Specifically, she reached for his rapier.
From the moment she first saw it, she had known its secret.
“You’re crazy. Asking a swordsman for his sword!”
Sapeiros shouted harshly.
“Fine. You’ve got a loud voice. Then here’s the plan. Stay still!”
Sighing, Adamas moved behind Sapeiros and embraced him. She didn’t forget to scold him quietly, telling him to stay still while he flinched in surprise.
Though she didn’t show it, her own hands trembled. Holding Sapeiros… it felt unreal. But more important things remained.
Wrapping her arms around the seventeen-year-old swordsman taller than her nineteen-year-old self, Adamas lifted his right hand.
The hand gripping the rapier tightly.
She tapped the back of his tense hand gently.
Beneath the narrow, long blade, the hilt was topped with a large, flat emerald.
The gem was surprisingly opaque for a jewel, and aside from its size, it seemed useless.
“Have you ever thought this jewel was strange?”
“What do you mean?”
“Look closely… doesn’t it seem filled with storm clouds?”
“Storm clouds?”
Adamas closed her eyes and concentrated.
The slight smell of brine, something burnt, mixed with the scent of blood and sweat filled her nose.
She placed her hand on the rapier’s emerald. With a sharp crack, a fissure appeared in the gem.
Seconds later, a blinding blue light flashed, and the world seemed to shake violently.
Rumble… Bang—Bang—
It was a breathtaking sight.
