Chapter 27
Unsealing
“Men! As of today, the two weeks of adaptation training come to an end. Thank you all for keeping up without injuries or dropouts! Today is not only the final day of training, but also the day we hold the official induction ceremony to welcome you into the Crimson Moon Order of Knights. Have you all packed what you need for the march?”
“Yes, Sergeant!”
The new recruits, lined up in front of the castle gates with simple packs strapped to their backs—including Himena—answered energetically.
Even though Himena had joined training a whole week late, she had managed to keep up with the grueling regimen.
Once the sergeant’s inspection ended, Kylian, mounted on his black steed, rode forward and gave a dignified order.
“Today you will march to the mid-slope of Mount Glacies before us! You’ve all done well in training so far, but only after completing this final test will you officially be accepted into the Order. I expect every last one of you to reach the destination—without exception!”
“Yes, Commander!”
The eleven recruits formed ranks and set off through the gates toward Glacies. The senior knights, along with Whale and Kylian, followed leisurely on horseback.
“Good luck, knights!”
“Come back safely!”
“Please… return alive!”
The townsfolk lining the walls waved yellow handkerchiefs in farewell, but their eyes carried unease.
Return alive? What kind of march makes people say that?
Though anxiety welled inside her, Himena figured climbing a mountain couldn’t be that bad, and she followed the column diligently.
Whiiiish…
But soon, upon facing the enormous silver-gray cliff face of Glacies, she finally understood why the townsfolk had said such things.
“T-th-that cliff… You want us to climb that? With bare hands?”
She pointed at the dizzyingly tall wall of rock, her fingers trembling.
“That’s right! That cliff is known as Mors Roca—the Cliff of Death.”
The sergeant gazed up proudly, as if showing off.
“Ah… ha-ha, of course. The… Cliff of Death. What a wonderfully terrifying name. Ha-ha… such a majestic sight. I’ll just, um, move along to the next tourist spot…”
“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?”
The sergeant quickly snagged her by the scruff when she tried to slink away.
“Didn’t you hear the commander? Everyone climbs. No dropouts, Hermes.”
“T-this is insane! That’s just suicide! How can you expect us to climb that? I won’t! I refuse! Somebody save me!!”
Whiiiish…
“Uwaah… I-I’m afraid of heights! Put me down! Let me go home!”
Kicking and flailing in the sergeant’s grip, Himena soon found herself strapped with rope and clinging like an ant to the cliff face, bawling helplessly.
“Hang in there, Hermes! You’re almost there!”
Royce called down from far above, climbing steadily.
“Almost? We’re not even halfway! I’m doomed… waaah…”
“Then I’ll come down to help you, just wait!”
He began edging dangerously downward.
Sniff… no, go on without me, Rolex. It’s over for me. I won’t drag you down too… live well… in my place…
As Himena staged her melodramatic farewell, Kylian’s booming voice cut down from above.
“Hermes! Do you mean to spend the night there? Hurry and climb! The sun sets fast in the mountains!”
What? When did he get up there? I never even saw him climb!
While the recruits clawed their way up the Death Cliff by rope, the seniors and Kylian had simply ridden their horses up the back trail to the midway point.
“Don’t tell me you’ll let your name go down in history as an Acktikos celebrity who perished here? Hurry up! The last to arrive will be punished!”
He smirked down at her.
He’s provoking me again? Trying to bury me and reclaim his fame? Ha! Over my dead body!
Fueled by spite, Himena gritted her teeth and dragged herself up.
“Hang in there, Hermes!”
“You’re nearly there!”
“Brother, you can do it!”
Spurred on by cheers from comrades and seniors who’d already arrived, she finally scrambled to the mid-slope and collapsed flat on the ground.
“Well done!”
“Impressive, Hermes!”
But their applause only rang faintly in her ears, her body utterly drained.
Huff… I can’t breathe… Is my chest bound too tight… or is it the thin air… so hard… to breathe…
She clutched her chest, gasping in agony.
“Good work, men! Behold one of Glacies’s hidden wonders—Ragrima Hot Spring, also called the Dragon’s Tear! A divine gift reserved only for those who endure the climb!”
“Wow!!”
As the sergeant and seniors stepped aside, the recruits gaped at the breathtaking sight: a wide turquoise spring, steaming gently amidst rocky crags.
“This spring isn’t too hot, but it’s perfect for easing your exhaustion. This is our tradition: a celebration where seniors and newcomers bond and share fellowship. Now—strip down and enter!”
“Woohoo!!”
Splash! Splash!
The knights tore off their clothes without hesitation and leapt into the spring.
So that’s why they’d been told to pack towels and spare clothes.
Wait… a hot spring?
At the word, Himena forced herself upright and squinted ahead.
Her pupils widened.
Through the veil of steam, the glorious sight of tanned, muscular bodies—bare except for conveniently placed mist—unfolded before her.
Ah… the true divine gift isn’t the spring… it’s those muscles!
Like a Spartan army, every knight’s ripped, sculpted physique gleamed as water trickled down them.
Then, suddenly, someone’s leg blocked her view.
“Hey, move it, old man. I can’t see.”
“Hermes, you’re coming with me. As the last to arrive, you’ll serve your punishment.”
“Huh?!”
Kylian tossed his bundle of clothes onto her arms and led her toward the back of the spring.
Seriously? I’m exhausted… and now this…
Just then, Royce called cheerfully:
“Brother! Come on in! The water’s perfect!”
That idiot still thinks I’m really a man!
“Leave Hermes be! Last place must attend the commander in his private bath,” the sergeant explained, chuckling.
Kylian strode ahead up the slope.
“Hah… hah… how much… farther…”
“Almost there.”
He had meant only to bring her to his private pool, where she could bathe alone while he stood guard.
But Himena’s breathing grew harsher, her face turning pale.
“Here we are. Ah, blast—I forgot my underclothes. Careless of me. I’ll head back down. You go ahead and wash.”
He feigned surprise, watching her carefully.
“Hah… hah…”
“Hm? Why no answer?”
He turned—and froze.
Himena, ghostly white, sank to her knees and collapsed, dropping his bundle.
“Marquess… sir…”
Then she toppled sideways, unconscious.
“Hermes! What’s wrong?!”
“Gasp… m-my chest…”
“Your chest? What about it?”
Clawing at her breast, she wheezed desperately.
Kylian quickly unbuttoned her tunic, revealing layers of tight white bandages wrapped across her chest.
“You fool!”
With the altitude already thinning the air, she had made it worse by binding herself so tightly her heart could barely beat.
He tried to undo the bandages, but they were wrapped too many times.
“Damn it, no choice!”
Grabbing the cloth with both hands, he ripped it apart.
Riiip!
“Cough! Huff, hah… haaah…”
Freed from its crushing grip, her chest heaved with fresh breath—before she fainted entirely.
“Hermes! Stay with me!”
He pressed his ear to her chest.
Ssss… ssss…
She was unconscious, but her breathing was steady.
“Thank goodness… Wait—”
As he raised his head in relief, his gaze froze.
Before him lay the soft, full curves of a woman’s bare chest.
“T-this is…”
Lifting his eyes slowly, he beheld the nude body of a beautiful woman, posed unintentionally in the most seductive way.
“Uh… uh…”
He stared, transfixed, like a broken machine.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know what a woman’s body looked like. It wasn’t even that his ascetic lifestyle had left him restless at night.
But the graceful neck, the delicate collarbones, the full breasts rising and falling with breath, the slender waist, the milky skin that begged to be touched—
This time, his breath caught.
The sight of Himena’s body was enough to unseal the primal instincts he’d kept buried beneath reason.
“Commander! Commander!”
“Gah!”
Startled by Whale’s voice calling nearby, Kylian hastily covered her chest with her tunic.
“What was I just… doing…”
With shaking hands he fumbled to rebutton her clothes, but the tiny buttons slipped through his trembling fingers.
“Commander, are you there?”
“Damn it!”
Panicking as Whale drew closer, Kylian stripped off his own jacket and wrapped it tightly around her.
“Commander, you—oh? Hermes! Commander, what happened? Why—”
Whale rushed up, alarmed.
“She suddenly couldn’t breathe and collapsed. Must be the altitude. I’ll take her down on horseback first. You follow after!”
“Yes, sir!”
