Chapter 52
Ernant’s Schemes
After a long silence, the commander let out a deep sigh and scolded me.
“So you thought I’d be happy hearing you pour cold water on everything like that?”
“I’m sorry. But I was just being realistic—”
“Enough.”
His firm voice cut me off.
Then he slowly began walking toward me, step by step, a mischievous smile tugging at his lips.
“Are you planning to keep using those lips of yours for spouting nonsense? If that’s how you’re going to use them, I’d rather borrow them for a while.”
“…What?”
I didn’t even have time to ask what he meant before the commander pressed his lips to mine.
It hadn’t been bad before, but this time his movements were much more skilled.
He sealed my lips for a long time with practiced ease.
“Mm… W-wait, if someone sees us here—”
“Shh.”
That was the last kiss we shared within the ducal castle.
The very next day, after that long kiss, we departed—
Heading north, toward the frozen plains where monsters from the rift ran rampant.
The current season was summer, the season of blooming roses.
Yet, astonishingly, the north truly was covered in snow.
Apparently, this had only happened after the monsters began appearing?
Either way, caution was necessary.
Before my regression, I’d never visited the duchy, so this was my first time setting foot here.
Of course, even then, corruption had spread near the duchy and monsters appeared.
But back then, I wasn’t the one dispatched.
Before regression, the commander and I had been distant, so he chose someone else to accompany him to his lands instead of me.
And so, this place was new to me.
I was more tense than usual as I scanned the snowy landscape.
Just then, the commander asked,
“Can you sense the location of the monsters?”
“No, it’s difficult. For some reason, I’m finding it hard to concentrate today.”
“I see.”
Until now, I’d been able to point out monsters easily because, before regression, I had already witnessed where they would appear. But here, I had no prior knowledge.
“Still, there’s one thing I do know.”
All eyes turned to me as I suddenly spoke up.
Glancing around at the others, I shared the one piece of information I had about the monsters in this area.
“The monsters here possess intelligence on par with humans.”
I had never seen the monsters of this snowfield myself.
But before regression, I had heard accounts from other members.
—“The Winter Queen was a monster that could devise strategy.”
That was what one of the dispatched knights had told me.
The monster ruling over the snowfield was called the Winter Queen.
It was said to resemble a woman made of ice, hence the name.
The Winter Queen, using ice-based powers, had created a castle in the middle of the snowfield. From there, she generated lesser monsters called golems.
Defeating the golems would make infiltrating the castle simple, but the queen used them with clever tactics, making battles a struggle.
So, I relayed all of this to the others.
“…For that reason, on our way to the Winter Queen’s castle, we must be prepared to encounter golems at any time.”
“I see. You may not know her precise location, but you seem to know everything else. Impressive.”
“Thank you.”
“Then let’s move out. In a cold place like this, even standing still is exhausting.”
With that, the commander spurred his horse forward, and we all followed behind.
Carefully, avoiding likely golem territory, we advanced toward the queen’s castle.
We roughly pinpointed her position with a magic detector, while Oscar used his clairvoyance to check if golems blocked the way.
Travel went more smoothly than expected—until, about half a day later, a problem arose.
“Commander, a group of knights… no, a whole order of knights is approaching from the south.”
Oscar’s clairvoyant eyes were fixed in that direction.
To us, nothing was visible, but clearly his sight revealed something.
The commander immediately questioned him.
“Wait—an order of knights? Here, of all places?”
“Yes. Fortunately, their numbers are small. About ten. From their steady approach, it seems they know our exact location.”
Oscar’s expression grew grim as he continued.
“In other words, there may be an awakened one among them, someone with abilities like mine.”
That meant a knightly order—including at least one awakened—was approaching us.
The commander, troubled, stayed silent. Oscar bowed deeply.
“Forgive me for realizing too late. I had rested my eyes for a moment, and they closed in before I could detect them.”
If Oscar had kept his clairvoyance active, we would have spotted the suspicious knights first and avoided them.
But Oscar’s natural mana reserves were low; he couldn’t keep his ability active all day.
So this was simply an accident—inevitable.
Knowing that, the commander didn’t scold him harshly.
“Don’t blame yourself. No one can maintain an ability constantly. Still… an order of knights, here? Can you tell whose?”
“Give me a moment. I’ll look more closely.”
Oscar narrowed his eyes, staring hard to the south.
Then, his words shocked us all.
“They are His Majesty the Emperor’s royal guards.”
“…The Emperor’s royal guard? Are you certain?”
The commander asked, incredulous. Oscar’s reply was firm.
“I am certain. Their uniforms bear the crest of the Guard upon their left chest.”
“….”
The commander’s face twisted with unease.
Of all groups—it had to be Ernant’s guards.
While we waited to hear their purpose, they soon arrived before us.
“We greet the Duke. We are the Golden Stags, the royal guard of His Majesty the Emperor—”
“Your uniforms tell me well enough who you are. State your purpose.”
The commander’s sharp tone froze the guard captain’s face, though he quickly masked it and replied.
“By imperial command, we have come to assist the Silver Knights in their monster subjugation.”
“…You intend to help with our hunt? You?”
The commander’s mocking tone was met with an unshaken answer.
“Every one of us in the Guard is awakened.”
“…Awakened?”
“We lack direct combat experience against monsters, but we do possess abilities. We will be of great assistance.”
Indeed, faint traces of mana could be felt from them, and they had tracked us here. They were awakened, if not powerful ones.
If they had been strong, Ernant would surely have used them in his monster harvests already.
So they weren’t exceptional—but still dangerous.
For they were Ernant’s guards.
Knights serving the man who wanted the commander dead.
Ernant. What scheme was he plotting now?
I glared at them.
There was no way he had sent his men purely out of goodwill. His intentions were undoubtedly darker.
Just then, Oscar cried out urgently,
“Commander! Three ice golems are approaching!”
The Winter Queen’s creations—lower-class monsters made of ice.
They were troublesome opponents.
Their bodies were massive and slow to melt, but hard as stone to break.
We could fight them, but exhausting ourselves before facing the queen was foolish—we needed to evade.
The commander was about to give the order to retreat when—
“We will handle them.”
The guard captain suddenly declared.
Of course, the commander didn’t accept such bold words lightly.
“What nonsense is this?”
“We will face the golems. The Silver Knights should remain safe.”
“Hah.”
The commander gave a dry laugh, then snapped.
“Did you not just say you have no experience against monsters? And none of you seem particularly powerful.”
“But we have trained steadily in preparation for such hunts. Allow us to prove our strength.”
The guard captain’s unblinking insistence left the commander at a loss for words.
He could only glare, incredulous.
Then Oscar shouted again, more urgent than before.
“Commander! They’re getting closer—three minutes until they reach us!”
