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187. Childhood Friend – Broth

“It’s my fault.”

Leo de Yeriel sighed, looking at the army of Duke Tertan, which had begun to set up camp far below the castle walls.

“It’s because I’m still alive that Prince Eric sent the troops.”

Reb swallowed hard. His complexion darkened further in the dim evening glow.

The rebellion had been successful. The two marquesses of the Orun Kingdom had united, and Leo and Lena had rallied the nobles. With the help of the sorcerers, they had been marching toward victory; it was within reach.

But if the Conrad Kingdom intervened, this was a war that could never be won from the start. The only reason they could occupy Nevis was because the enemies aimed to wipe them out in one fell swoop.

Sending knights to the east… wasn’t it to conceal the Duke Tertan’s army crossing the border? They must have been trying to hide their advance.

‘So how… was the rebellion only possible after clearing the beggar siblings scenario? Or was it a mistake to bring Leo here from the beginning?’

If aiming for the throne through rebellion, this was the only place. The northern kingdoms with Leo Dexter had centralized systems established after the civil war over a decade ago, and the kings were all Apostles of Ashin. There was no hope there at all.

Only the Orun Kingdom offered an environment suitable to gather nobles, and from the last round, he had confirmed that the king and the princes were not apostles.

At least among the kingdoms he knew of, this was the only place Ashin did not control.

Reb looked around.

Fidgeting soldiers and astonished nobles. Perhaps sensing the odds were slim against the sudden appearance of a great army, the message popped up as if to confirm it.

[ Achievement: Master-Servant Relationship – ‘2107’, as long as loyalty does not waver, those who pledged loyalty will trust and follow Leo. ]

It was decreasing. And it continued to decrease.

Reb gritted his teeth.

“Leo. It’s not your fault. And it’s not over yet. If we just hold out during the siege…”

“Sir Hazen is here.”

Leo pointed downward. Indeed, the position where Sir Hazen should have pointed to the east was now directing downwards.

The Second Knight Commander of the Conrad Kingdom.

When sending out a knighthood, it was customary to first send the lower-ranked knights. The fact that Sir Hazen was here meant that not only the Second Knights but also the Third Knights had arrived.

Prince Eric de Yeriel must have been intent on killing Leo. He couldn’t comprehend why his half-brother would seek his death to this extent, yet one thing was clear.

The absurd difficulty of the beggar siblings scenario had taken hold. Even Reb, relatively free in the childhood friend scenario, had his feet bound.

“…Let’s go back. I have something to say.”

Prince Leo turned around. After reassuring the shouting nobles with “Don’t worry,” he led Reb back to the royal palace.

“Run away.”

“What?”

– Thud.

Leo, not looking back after closing the door, spoke. His shoulders were heaving as if he were catching his breath.

“You can’t die. If you die, the chapter ends. So… run away. You must live at least one more day.”

The prince turned around. The eyes prepared for death faced Reb directly.

“I’ll stay here. If I run away too, the nobles will surrender immediately. Then the pursuers will come after me.”

“Don’t…”

“I was already planning to die anyway.”

Leo approached, brushing off his clothes, speaking calmly, but the tips of his fingers were trembling. Just like when entering Orville Royal Palace.

To deny that shivering, Leo clenched his fist. He grabbed Reb by the collar and pulled him close.

“We haven’t seen Leah become a priest yet, have we? Go. Stay by Leah’s side. You need to find out what happens once she becomes a priest. I still think Minseo is mistaken.”

A commanding tone. The sharp gaze of the prince pierced Reb.

Reb murmured softly.

“…The job ending will surely pop up, won’t it?”

“Probably. But you never know.”

Leo released his grip. Straightening Reb’s crumpled clothes, he spoke.

“Actually, I’m telling you to run away with my sister. I’m sorry for messing up your turn. It’s my fault. But Lena…”

She isn’t at fault at all.

Had she been left alone, she would have quietly lived as an actress in the Orange Theater. Whatever the reason, we brought her here and put her in this predicament.

Silence fell.

Reb struggled to gather his words, but he agreed that he had to run away with Lena.

He wanted to fight honorably until the end, regardless of winning or losing, but that was not as important as his sister’s life.

And as the protagonist of this chapter, he had the duty to glean more information.

As the chances of the rebellion failing grew larger, it was wiser to promise for a future rather than be stubborn now.

“Thank you.”

Although he said nothing, Leo expressed his gratitude.

The expression of a sacrificing person was unnaturally bright, while Reb followed the prince with a somber expression.

Lena was in the princess’s room.

For her, who loved to sleep, it was supposed to be time to be asleep, but she sat there, deeply troubled, without even changing her clothes.

It seemed she had heard about the outside situation.

Leo urged his sister to escape for a while. He had meant to persuade her to take advantage of the emergency passage within the royal palace and leave quickly,

“I refuse!”

She flatly rejected him.

“Why do you keep trying to separate me? It was the same before, and it’s the same now.”

Reb, who had followed behind, looked at his sister, whom he hadn’t seen in a while, with unfamiliar eyes.

He had seen her grow this much in the last chapter. But unlike before, when she had seemed like a delicate flower hidden in her brother’s protection, Lena had grown into an adult. Her neatly clasped hands and upright shoulders clearly commanded her own space.

Lena spoke with a wounded expression. Biting her pretty lips, she articulated her thoughts word by word.

“I’m not a child. I decide where I am.”

“Then don’t act like a child!!”

But at Leo’s sudden shout, Lena’s expression wavered. She held her breath with a look of surprise, as if it was the first time she had seen her older brother yell.

Leo regretted it. Though he felt hurt by a sister who did not understand her brother’s heart, he didn’t want to part like this.

He took hold of her hand, and Lena stayed still. With her head bowed, she quietly began to cry.

“I’m sorry for shouting. But if you’re here, I can’t fight because I’m worried. Can you hide for just a little while?”

“…Just for a little? Do you think I don’t know what you’re thinking? You send me away…”

Lena bit her lip. Trying to suppress ominous words, tears welled up in her eyes.

She didn’t rush into her brother’s arms like a child. Lifting her head to hold back her tears proved futile, and she pulled out her handkerchief.

“Lena.”

“…”

“Lena.”

“…Why. Why do you keep calling me?”

Her brother approached her, patting her head repeatedly like in old times.

“Don’t worry. Stay with Reb for a little while, okay? If push comes to shove, I’ll run too. Promise.”

Lena remained silent. She stared at Leo’s outstretched finger for a long time before finally speaking.

“…Okay. But it’s really just for a moment. We can’t be late.”

Leo’s expression contorted. It reminded him of past instances when promises had been broken casually, and this was when he had last kept a promise, what his sister had said.

Lena was advising him to keep his promise again.

Leo responded with a smile.

“Sure. I won’t be late.”

*

Reb and Lena escaped Nevis. They slipped out through the secret passage they discovered during the childhood friend chapter, unnoticed by enemies or allies, and found themselves at a deserted farmhouse on the outskirts of Nevis.

– Hee hee hee!

Kus danced happily. Thrilled to have escaped from the cramped passage, he wagged his tail, but Reb quickly covered Kus’s mouth.

Fortunately, there were no guards maintaining the secret passage. The Lognum Royal Family was confident that no one knew of its existence, sending not a single soldier.

This was the natural order of things.

They wouldn’t want to make the existence of the secret passage, the last lifeline of the royal family, public knowledge, and it was not wise to send palace knights to prepare for contingencies when the exit’s position was compromised.

Reb gauged where Duke Tertan’s army might be and commanded everyone to keep quiet.

“What’s next, Captain?”

After managing to move a good distance from Nevis under cover of darkness, Cesar finally spoke.

It wasn’t just Reb and Lena who had escaped. Although Leo had intended to get help from the four knights from the Conrad Kingdom (excluding Sir Bart), he had only taken one, glancing at Lena.

He had left only one knight to avoid making Lena sad by giving them all away.

One knight.

That was enough in terms of sheer strength with Reb present, but it fell short of attending to a princess and a general.

Reb called for Cesar.

Since he had Sinis with him, he could contact Leo trapped in Nevis, and knowing this made Lena feel relieved.

“We will escort the princess out of Nevis. Choose five reliable soldiers. Do not speak of our escape to anyone else.”

Quick-witted, Cesar kept his mouth tightly shut. If news got out among the restless soldiers that there was an escape route, it would cause great chaos, and while Princess Lena prepared for their departure, he gave various excuses to bring only five soldiers.

Leo helped Lena onto Kus’s back. Signaling her to wrap her cloak tightly, he said.

“First… we will get out of here.”

Where to go, you ask?

That was the question Reb wanted to ask.

It was shocking to realize that the war, prepared for over half a year, was a hopeless one from the start, and he had no idea what to do next.

Leo had said to head for the Monastery Church, but honestly, that was just an excuse to send him and his sister away; it didn’t feel like they could gain anything in Lutetia.

Yet Reb kept his thoughts to himself. As the general, he could not show signs of discouragement and forced a confident expression to lead the soldiers.

Had it been two days already?

Thinking they had finally put enough distance between them and Nevis, Reb let out a sigh of relief.

“We will camp here for tonight. While we set up the tents, I’ll go hunting. Cesar, prepare to cook.”

“I’ll go with you.”

Hatu chimed in.

Hatu was among the soldiers Cesar had brought along. Since all the soldiers in attendance were the warriors following Leo, they were all barbarian warriors.

Reb nodded.

He left Lena in the care of the knight and climbed the mountain with Hatu.

“Um… General, if I may say so, please don’t worry too much. It will be alright.”

On the way back from the hunt, Hatu offered some words of comfort. Reb wondered if his expression was that bad and fiddled with his face.

“Yeah. It’ll be fine… Hatu, I’m sorry. I’m making you go through so much… You said you wanted to get back to your family quickly, right? You can go back now if you’d like. I can spare a little for your traveling expenses.”

Hatu shook his head.

“No. And it’s not over yet. I believe in you, General.”

Reb felt a warmth swell in his chest.

The master-servant relationship achievement count had been dropping rapidly.

For the past couple of days, the messages had not left his sight, dropping consistently, and with every time, Reb’s self-esteem plummeted with them.

Amidst all this, the pure encouragement from the young barbarian warmed his heart.

That’s right. It wasn’t over yet.

“Right… the sorcerers.”

Reb muttered.

They had departed to stop the knights rampaging through the territory. They led a full contingent of seven thousand soldiers.

First and foremost, they needed to send them to Nevis. Although the situation had drastically shifted with Duke Tertan’s army joining in, a siege doesn’t end quickly. If they hurried, there had to be a way to help Leo.

Hope glimmered on Reb’s face as he urged Hatu to hurry down the mountain.

The soldiers were setting up tents, and a fire had been lit in the middle, preparing for cooking. As soon as Reb arrived, he called out to Cesar.

“Cesar. Can we contact the sorcerers? The ones who went to the rear with those soldiers.”

Cesar looked puzzled. Perhaps due to Reb’s drastically changed demeanor, he quickly blinked and shook his head.

“No. You would have had to meet with the sorcerers in advance for that. Sinis can only remember one person. Right now, we can only go see Prince Leo de Yeriel.”

“Is that so… I guess we have no choice but to go find him directly.”

Though secretly disappointed, hope did not extinguish. Reb began considering how to bring the sorcerers and the army back as quickly as possible.

“Captain, let’s have a meal first. Hatu, take this and that to the General and the knights.”

The rough food was prepared quickly.

No matter how much raw meat they cooked without proper bleeding, it would still taste awful, but after two days of chewing on dry meat like jerky, anything warm would suffice.

Cesar ladled plenty of ingredients into Reb and the knight’s bowls, while Hatu carefully carried it, ensuring it wouldn’t spill.

“Is there none for me?”

“Coming right up.”

The meal was prepared in front of Lena, Reb, and the knight. Unable to handle hot food well, Reb blew on his broth and spoke.

“Sir Iron, will you ride ahead on my command? Your horsemanship is certainly better than mine, so take my token and call the sorcerers.”

Sir Iron was one of the knights who followed Prince Leo. The son of a fisherman, he owned the warehouse that had been hiding the knights in Noyar Harbor.

“You plan to ambush the besieging enemy forces with your troops, correct? Understood…”

– Cough!

At that moment, Sir Iron, who had just gulped down the hot broth, started coughing.

Reb and Lena were shocked, and Sir Iron himself, startled, wiped at his mouth, but what came out wasn’t just a cough.

Red blood.

The freshly vomited blood made Sir Iron spring to his feet. He drew his sword, but he collapsed forward, coughing! Reb also coughed.

‘W-What the…?’

“Gah!”

When he looked up, his lieutenant, Cesar, had plunged his sword into Hatu’s chest, smiling gently.