The massive spear of Taurus hurtled straight toward Lir’s slender neck.
The enormous arm of Taurus, gripping the rust-streaked spear, bore a grotesque scar from a past burn. This beast, even in the moment it stood on the edge of death, followed its instinct for slaughter, grinding its hooves and swinging its arms.
Through Lir’s eyes, as death loomed, everything except herself seemed to move in slow motion.
A raindrop fell before her eyes, and the light refracted through the droplet made Taurus’ great spear appear even more threatening.
The fearsome roar of Taurus traveled through the humid air, shaking her fragile body. Out of the corner of her vision, she caught a glimpse of her master hurriedly gathering electricity at the tips of his fingers.
A flood of emotions surged within the young elf’s chest, and memories flashed before her mind like a dying person’s life review.
It was futile, and unjust—a meaningless death perhaps. But such was the battlefield. A place where a single moment of carelessness could drag even a genius into the abyss.
As the fear of death finally caressed her spine,
Creak!
The sound of a mechanical device engaging echoed across the chaotic battlefield.
Bang!
In an instant, a deep crimson light filled her vision. The light appeared as quickly as it vanished, leaving behind a faint afterimage in her eyes.
Subsequently, Taurus’s body became ensnared in the crimson light, and the spear aimed at her neck soared upward into the sky.
“…”
Lir stared at the corpse of Taurus with a vacant gaze.
The upper torso of Taurus, which had been charging toward her with all its might, had completely vanished.
Taurus’s lower half, now bereft of brain and heart, relaxed its grotesque muscles and wobbled before collapsing.
Thud!
The sound of the spear tip, soaked in rust and blood, hitting the ground brought her sense of time back to normal.
The lower half of Taurus, trembling and crashing after failing to stop its momentum, rolled along the ground and brushed her robe.
“Eh, Ah…”
Lir turned her head, belatedly, to look at the lower half of Taurus that had fallen behind her.
The mud-covered lower half shivered uncontrollably due to rigor mortis.
“Are you alright!”
The voices of the squad leader and soldiers finally reached her dazed mind.
Her body limp, she unknowingly sank into the muddy water.
Her robe immediately darkened, and her oversized hat slipped down. Her golden hair, soaked from the rain, clung wetly to her head.
“Hoo…”
She was still alive.
The numbness in her hands and feet returned, and the fear of death that had dominated her mind transformed into the joy of survival.
Adrenaline kicked in late.
Her hands trembled, her legs went numb, and she breathed heavily.
The young elf began to moisten her large eyes with tears. Fortunately, it was raining, so no one would know that her tears were mingling with the rain.
“Everyone, were you being careless?”
“…”
Bin.
The cold voice of the frail boy cut through the rain, echoing across the battlefield.
She looked up at the boy with white hair. His expression was heavy with disappointment and anger.
“Because of the trees, the view wasn’t fully open, and it was raining too! Did you really think that the entire herd of Taurus would be wiped out by just one ‘bolt’? Did you truly expect not even a single one to survive?”
Immediately after, Alter Heinzel’s voice, filled with fury, rang out loud and clear in all directions. The idea that his cherished disciple might have been carelessly snatched from life made even the ancient wizard, who had lived long and become calm, seethe with anger.
“Stand up first.”
At Alter’s side, the boy quietly helped Lir up by grabbing her arm.
Still under the influence of the adrenaline rushing through her body, she failed to grasp the situation around her fully.
She grabbed the boy’s hand and managed to stand up, but soon her legs gave out once again, causing her to collapse.
“… Was it Bin who saved you?”
Lir asked Bin, seated on the ground, her gaze lifted toward him.
From the small crystal floating above the boy’s shoulder, the mechanical clicking sound she had heard echoed faintly.
“Didn’t I emphasize that the battlefield is a dangerous place and you must never let your guard down, Lir? Don’t make me regret bringing you along!”
Before the boy could answer Lir’s question, Alter’s scolding voice thundered down.
“…”
The young elf shrank her shoulders and bit her lips tightly. She unconsciously gripped the hand that held Bin’s, and something stirred inside her.
Ah, this.
The tears she had been trying to hold back finally started streaming. Just when she had barely escaped the terror of death, a scolding from her master was the last straw—it made her emotions uncontrollable.
Her emotional fluctuations were as unpredictable as someone with bipolar disorder, and they completely disrupted her peace of mind. It was the first time in her life she had experienced such turmoil, leaving her unsure of how to manage these overwhelming emotions.
If she opened her mouth now, it would surely lead to an embarrassing outburst of tears.
“…”
The pale-faced boy with the deep dark circles under his white hair carefully placed his wide-brimmed hat on Lir’s head.
Though the stark black hat did not match her ivory skin and golden hair, now wasn’t the time for such concerns.
The boy quietly picked up the blue hat that had flown off when Lir fell, shook off the mud, and then quietly spoke:
“People die on the battlefield. Don’t let your guard down.”
“Damn… I can’t believe this.”
Alter, after confirming the boy was taking care of his disciple, started walking towards the center of the battlefield.
“Are all of you elite soldiers? You must have at least four years of military experience, and surely, you have substantial combat experience… right? You’re veterans, aren’t you!”
The white-haired boy quietly observed Alter raising his voice to the surrounding soldiers.
“Magicians and soldiers work symbiotically! Magicians eliminate enemies with magic, while soldiers protect them using their physical abilities and combat experience—that’s each role, isn’t it!”
Every word of the elder pierced through the rain, deeply embedding itself in the soldiers’ hearts. As his voice grew louder, it took on a metallic tone, but no one dared to criticize or mock him.
“…”
The white-haired boy, Bin, couldn’t take his eyes off Alter scolding the subordinates.
Surviving the battlefield, let alone securing victory, was not a matter of simply being strong.
One needed to know how to encourage fellow soldiers and comrades, and also when they made mistakes, to firmly correct them to ensure they wouldn’t repeat them.
“…”
Bin looked at Alter’s back and murmured, “I’m disappointed.”
He was not disappointed in Alter, nor in the soldiers who had made mistakes.
He was disappointed that the person standing there scolding the subordinates wasn’t him, the one supposedly bearing the title of general.
“Sorry!”
The soldiers bowed their heads in unison, having heard Bin’s muttered words even amidst the heavy rain.
“Hmph, well, it’s fine.”
The boy answered their apology brusquely, his face expressionless, then helped the still-sitting Lir up once more from the mud.
“Let’s go.”
She managed to stand with her trembling legs, barely finding balance thanks to Bin’s assistance. His arm offered minimal support, but to Lir, it made a significant difference.
Still clinging to Bin’s hand, she hobbled along and they finally entered the provisional tent.
Creak!
As the boy entered the tent, the sound of mechanical gears engaging could be heard again.
And as if its job was done, the crystal shattered into many pieces, sinking into the boy’s chest.
Upon witnessing this, Lir confirmed: the sound of the mechanical gears was indeed the one that had saved her, proving it was Bin’s action that saved her life.
“Bin… it really was you, Bin, right?”
“Ah… calm down first. Do you want to have some leftover bread?”
Bin spoke to her as one might soothe a crying child.
“Thank y-you… thank you…”
Tears finally broke free, and her tongue tripped over her words. Lir felt deeply embarrassed for exposing such an unsightly moment to the one who had saved her life.
How could she repay this boy who had saved her? The young elf could find no answer within herself.
“Is it Lir’s first time on the battlefield?”
As Bin wiped off the muddy rainwater from Lir’s robe with a handkerchief, he asked the just-entered Alter.
“I’ve never left the confines of the Magic Tower. My whole life has been spent training there, never setting foot outside…”
“In that case, shouldn’t you have paid more attention? Given that it’s her first time, mistakes are possible—but Alter, you should’ve known what the battlefield entails.”
“Honestly, I never expected this. In the past, when we went out together to deal with monsters appearing near our Magic Tower, it seemed we could handle things well enough… If Lir has become a burden on this expedition, I apologize.”
Alter apologized to Bin with a hoarse voice. The boy shook his head, indicating he hadn’t meant any blame.
“It’s not so much of a burden. Everyone has a first time… Lir needs to gradually gather experience in the battlefield. What’s the point of a magician who can’t even protect themselves in an era where people die daily?”
Bin laid down the muddy handkerchief and gently wiped away Lir’s tears and rain with a clean one.
“Only, I didn’t want to see anyone dying, so I should’ve been more careful… something like that…”
Just as the boy’s fine fingers and soft handkerchief had almost dried the elf’s cheek of moisture, suddenly his vision jolted violently.
“Ah! Thank you! Really, really thank you… I was so scared…”
Just as Bin was about to finish drying her tears, Lir unexpectedly embraced him, sobbing and crying again.
The hat Bin had given her fell off, revealing her tangled golden hair soaked with mud and rain.
The boy was so weak, boasting a strength of just one out of a hundred, that he could do nothing to hold her sudden charge.
With a small sigh escaping his worn-out throat, Bin fell backward with Lir onto the tent floor.
The young elf had no clue how to repay this debt. She was at a loss, except for incessantly repeating her gratitude.
“I’m sorry, I’ve been such a burden! But thank you, thank you so much…”
This socially awkward elf repeated the same words endlessly.
Her face buried in Bin’s chest, Lir continued to cry, overwhelmed by her emotions. Bin sighed deeply, managing a sentence through his breath.
“…You’re heavy.”
The boy tried to push the elf away slightly with his feeble arms, but it was fruitless.
Even with a strength barely able to hold a cup of tea when tired, he stood no chance against an average woman’s weight, no matter how slim she may be.
Frustrating, Bin quickly gave up on moving her, and instead, tenderly wiped the mud and water off her hair with his frail hands.
It took a full two hours for Lir’s crying to stop and her tumultuous emotions to settle.
“…I’m sorry.”
Realizing herself belatedly, Lir kneeled before Bin and apologized.
“Let’s get some sleep. What is this… we have plans tomorrow.”
With a weary voice, Bin grabbed his ribs, lay down on the temporary tent floor, and fell into a brief slumber.
Unlike Bin and Alter, who quickly fell asleep, Lir spent a restless night.
…She simply couldn’t sleep, haunted by her shameful behavior.
