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194. Engagement – Battlefield

“Over there.”

Leo pointed with his finger. In the direction he indicated, a dozen enemy soldiers were hiding, and Lena gulped and swallowed.

It was her first battle. Not only was it her first time on the battlefield, but it was also her first time raising her sword to kill someone. Lena closed her eyes for a moment to steady her breathing.

Hadn’t all her swordsmanship training been for this moment? I can do this, Lena Ainar. Don’t be scared.

“Let’s go. Just do what you can. Don’t overdo it.”

As Lena gathered her resolve, Leo pushed her gently with a calm voice, reassuring her that it was nothing to worry about.

With that confidence, the unease in her heart lessened a bit. Clenching her sword, Lena sprang out of the bushes alongside Leo.

“Knight!”

The soldier on guard shouted.

At that shout, ten soldiers rushed to form a defensive formation, while one soldier dashed off in the opposite direction.

A messenger.

Feeling urgency rising within her, Lena glanced up at Leo.

But Leo still wore a calm expression. Catching her gaze, he smiled, making Lena feel embarrassed. She looked away, not wanting to show her foolishness to Leo.

“I’ll take the lead, Lena.”

– Thud.

Leo walked forward without any tension. It was only when he got close to the soldiers that he drew his sword, and Lena realized that the atmosphere had shifted.

The soldiers in front seemed manageable. Just a moment ago, she was worried about breaking their defensive formation. Should I just charge in? But now, those thoughts vanished.

Leo’s {Pass} determined the path she should take.

– Crack!

The shield of the foremost soldier shattered under Leo’s swing. Seizing the opportunity, the soldiers charged in, but Leo remained unfazed in his calm movements.

He deflected a nearby soldier’s sword and kicked another soldier rushing from behind, timing it perfectly to kick away the aerial arrow headed toward him. Then, the follow-up spin slash finished off the soldier he had kicked.

Lena watched him fight. The direction indicated by {Pass}…

There wasn’t any. She could just stand still.

Lena realized she didn’t need to interfere in this fight. Even without her, Leo wouldn’t get a scratch.

“Lena, what are you doing? Handle this here.”

“…U-uh, okay.”

Leo had ‘yielded’ his position to her. She hesitated, thinking she could just turn and cut, and only then did she face a soldier.

“Huff… huff…”

But the enemy she faced, given to her, was in awful shape. He walked over and, perhaps frightened, began to shake like a leaf as he swung his sword, trying to hit his comrades like they were flies.

Lena easily dispatched that soldier. She deflected the blade that had lost will and plunged her sword into his chest.

Her first kill. The first harvest she gained as a swordswoman was something so trivial.

Lena felt emptiness. Surely, killing someone would bring guilt, right? ─ She had braced herself for that, yet felt none.

And that emptiness multiplied as Lena looked up. Leo was literally ‘toying’ with the remaining five soldiers. Like a mother bird leaving her injured prey alive, he looked back at Lena and—

– Hurry up and join the fight. And grow stronger.

He was giving her an easy path.

Her pride took a severe hit. But since she had anticipated this, Lena charged in.

When Leo, now a knight, spoke of pairing up on the battlefield, Lena got angry. Why did he appoint such things on his own? But Leo countered that this was a good opportunity for her.

“After all, squires can’t go to the battlefield. At most, they’ll just guard the general or the Thousand-man Commander. Do you want that?”

Gathering experience and making accomplishments on the battlefield. ─ That was the gist of Leo’s argument, and Lena found herself agreeing.

However, she hadn’t expected Leo to be this strong. Unlike one-on-one duels, she thought there would be times when she would have to assist when surrounded by multiple opponents, but what was she…

‘…Don’t act like a child.’

Lena squeezed her eyes shut and tightened her grip on her sword. Though the enemy may have been terrified, they acted with sincerity, allowing her a chance to experiment with bolder sword techniques.

Indeed, Uncle Noel’s swordsmanship didn’t quite suit her. Hiding one move was fine, but being overly defensive didn’t sit well with her.

‘Right. I should tweak this swordsmanship to match my taste. That way, I could complete my own style of swordsmanship. Then someday…’

After finishing off the last soldier, Lena looked back at Leo.

She had to hide before another squad arrived, but Leo seemed distracted, looking around as if he had lost something or was wary of spies.

“Leo? We should hide now.”

“Uh, yeah. Let’s do that.”

As Leo was drawn into the bushes by Lena’s hand, he kept glancing around. Yet, his gaze seemed to be directed somewhere far away.

After a moment, Leo stopped and said,

“Lena. Um… How about we go over there? It wouldn’t be good to keep using the same hiding spot; let’s find a new one around here.”

“Huh? Do we really need to do that now? Wouldn’t it be better to rest a bit?”

Though spring had brought plenty of green undergrowth, it wasn’t as suitable for hiding as the thick foliage of summer. They had to dash among the bushes while avoiding the clouds in the sky and the enemy’s gaze.

It was quite exhausting, especially right after ambushing a squad.

But Leo seemed resolute. He even looked very anxious, making Lena think, ‘Is this really that urgent?’ But she agreed to move.

“Uh?”

“Shh!”

As Lena walked along the ridge in the forest, she spotted something. Between those bushes… a knight!

Two knights from the Belita Kingdom were hiding and resting amidst the bushes. If she hadn’t been looking, she wouldn’t have noticed them lying low in the ground.

Leo grabbed Lena’s shoulder, excited.

“Stay here. I’ll handle it.”

“What? No way. I’m fighting too.”

“No, Lena. Those are knights. It’s too much for you right now.”

“B-but…”

Trying to push back, Lena felt Leo sigh softly. “You just need to help out a bit,” he seemed to say before feeling defeated.

How much more pathetic can you get, Lena Ainar? Now it’s even normal for you to be carried by Leo.

Ugh. ─ Lena gritted her teeth. For some reason, she couldn’t breathe well, so she turned her head and said,

“…Alright. I’ll stay here. Hurry back…”

“Sorry.”

[ Quest: Duelist 988/1000 – {Swordsmanship} level will increase by one. ]

That’s my catch. The knights aren’t weak enough to let me handle them easily while I just watch and take a backseat…

Leo boldly moved along the ridge. Carefully stepping over the freshly sprouted weeds, he seized higher ground and quickly dashed toward the enemies.

“Yaaaaah!”

“What…! Urgh!”

– Crash!

Taking off from the high ground, Leo slammed down on a knight.

The soldier barely realized in time to draw his sword to parry, but he couldn’t withstand the weight of Leo’s blade and lost his grip.

Blood flowed in rivulets from his shattered hand.

“You bastard!”

– Whoosh!

Another knight swung his sword. Unable to finish off the downed knight, Leo pivoted, doing a somersault in midair.

– Clang!

A thrust from the air! The one who swung his sword was either experienced or had good skills. As he blocked Leo’s thrust, he tried to rise,

“Ugh!”

But Leo landed and cruelly trampled him down. The soldier’s face and sword were slammed into the ground.

“Senior…!”

The knight who lost his sword was flustered. It was as though a large knight stomped on the senior while repeatedly driving a sword down.

The senior struggled, trying to block the descending sword with all his might. Though his face was crushed, he glared fiercely and batted away the descending blade with his arm. Blood sprayed everywhere as his forearm was torn apart.

“Quickly, get him off me…! Ugh!”

The pinned knight cried out. He thrashed desperately, finally managing to kick Leo’s arm away.

“Sorry, Julian.”

“Ugh?”

Leo Dexter knew who he was. He was Julian, a knight of the Third Knights Order.

In the previous Beggar Siblings run, when Prince Leo was a royal knight at Orville Royal Palace, he had met all the knights of the Belita Kingdom.

{Tracking Skill} isn’t required to know their names, but he had observed the knights signing the guestbook at the ‘banquet’.

And that was the motivation behind being able to participate in this {War}. The Duelist quest presented the optimal environment, and as long as one was careful, there would be no life-threatening situations.

The Swordmaster of the Belita Kingdom, Count Hermann Forte, did not come. He had seen this when the last Beggar Siblings run finished.

[ The Engagement Scenario Ending has been changed. ]

[ Lena Ainar ]

[ Final Job: Knight of Abrival Castle ]

[ Marriage Partner: Leo Dexter ]

[ Leo Dexter ]

[ Final Job: Knight of Abrival Castle ]

[ Marriage Partner: Lena Ainar ]

[ Engagement Ending: Peace of Abrival Castle ]

+ Born in Abrival Castle, Lena Ainar had a happy childhood… (omitted) …Having participated in the war, Lena achieved remarkable military feats and became a knight. She returned to Abrival Castle and lived a life guarding the castle, happily raising three children. +

+ Born in the capital Barnau, Leo Dexter… (omitted) …Having participated in the war, Leo achieved remarkable military feats and became a knight. He returned to Abrival Castle and married Lena Ainar, taking her and the children hunting often, establishing a happy household. +

This was the ending we awaited.

I had no way of knowing why, but Count Hermann Forte surely hadn’t participated in the war this time… No, he definitely wouldn’t. So I just needed to clear the quest.

Of course, I couldn’t afford for the ending to be identical to that. There was one more thing I had to do, but that wasn’t difficult.

“Then take care.”

Leo bid farewell in advance. The resistance was fierce, and since the incompetent subordinate picked up his sword, he had given up on ending it easily. Instead, he stabbed the wrist of the arm he was stepping on.

“Ughhh!”

“Senpai! You bastard! How can a knight behave so viciously…!”

“Vicious?”

– Whoosh!

Leo lightly dodged the sword that was swung with great force and laughed. He only went all out because he feared for his safety; to be called vicious was simply absurd.

Deciding there was no need to respond, Leo quickly slashed at the knight in front of him. After exchanging a few blows, his sword pierced the knight’s throat, and soon Julian followed his junior into the afterlife.

With his right wrist half-severed and his left arm a shred of rags, Julian still charged bravely, honorably impaled in the heart.

[ Quest: Duelist 990/1000 – {Swordsmanship} level will increase by one. ]

Only a little bit left.

Covered in blood, Leo smiled as he retrieved the emblem of the Belita Kingdom’s knight from Julian and the incompetent subordinate.

His feats and quest counts were piling up neatly. With no significant threats ahead, a smile naturally spread across his face.

‘Soon, everything will be over.’

With the achievements accumulated, I would slip out of this war. As soon as I finished the Duelist quest, I would head toward the Jerome Holy Kingdom, where I would marry Lena. I could foresee her becoming a knight, and I needed to mention this in advance.

And in the next childhood friend run… I would end this damn game.

“Hah. Hahaha… Hahahahaha!”

Leo Dexter looked up at the sky, laughing. Even after capturing two knights, he felt he had energy to spare, as if he weren’t afraid of the enemy swarming in.

Meanwhile, hidden far away, Lena was wearing a wild look. Overwhelmed by Leo’s supreme, effortless performance, she panted heavily.

‘Don’t act like a child. I will definitely catch up, definitely Leo…’

Could I catch up? No way, could I, a mere girl, catch that monster?

“Lena, thank you for waiting.”

The monster approached. Leo smiled gently, but Lena couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye.

*

Similar events repeated themselves. Leo prowled the battlefield, hunting knights, and the quest clear was just within reach.

But then one day, Leo encountered an unexpected guest.

“What the—! Senpai!”

“…Oh dear. I said to find a soldier, and here we’ve got a knight. Deros! Get out of the way!”

A fiery red head. Katrina pushed through the bushes where Leo and Lena had been hiding. Startled, her junior, Deros, was pushed aside as she drew her sword.

Leo was equally surprised.

‘Why is she here already? What’s changed again?’

It was still early spring. It was too early for Katrina to pop up.

She always emerged in the summer because her unit, the Second Knights Order, set out late.

From what I’d experienced in the Beggar Siblings runs, the First and Second Knights Orders of the Belita Kingdom usually deployed late at the behest of Count Hermann Forte. She shouldn’t have been here; she should have just left Orville for her deployment…

Leo’s spine froze in cold realization.