IICSYIRD l CH 55

Chapter 12

“Or perhaps…”

“…?”

“How about Commander Blandea Lefevre stays here in Nephile Territory for a while?”

“…What?”

Agnes asked in disbelief. The chief of the territory cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Well, the Supreme Commander will have to return to the base soon, given how busy he is, and since Lord Madros’s seal is just a secondary seal… if I put in a little effort, I believe we could substitute it with the First Commander’s seal instead.”

Agnes’s teeth were grinding so hard, I could practically hear it.

“Riht… now… we… were… discussing… removing… that… custom…”

“What?”

“I said—we were just discussing getting rid of that rule!”

But the chief didn’t even glance at Agnes. He kept smiling at me the entire time.

“Commander Lefevre, what do you think? You could take a look around our sacred forge, observe the sword-making process, and stay with us for a month or two. It would be an honor for Nephile to host a direct heir of House Lefevre.”

“If I stay, you’ll finally approve Agnes’s request?”

“Of course! With someone from House Lefevre here, I’d naturally do everything I can to help.”

“So you’re using my presence as a bargaining chip to get paperwork done?”

“What? Oh, no! I’m sorry if it sounded that way. That’s not what I meant.”

So he’s either unshakably calm because he’s a big shot—or he owes Lord Madros a lot.

I didn’t really care either way. Lord Balrock had once given me a strategy for handling political arguments in the military.

Take what the other person says, twist it, exaggerate it, wear them down, then crush them with your rank. Simple and effective.

He also told me that politics in the military worked differently than in high society…

‘If someone tried that in high society, they’d be socially destroyed.’

But this isn’t high society.

I’m not Lady Lefevre right now. I’m Commander Lefevre.

“So now you’re trying to make decisions about the First Commander’s movements? Are you the Supreme Commander now? Should I report this as insubordination?”

“Commander Lefevre, please! All the priests and officials in Nephile may forge the Holy Swords, but they ultimately work under the royal family. Insubordination doesn’t apply here.”

“Oh, good point. Your family is Elvid, right? That’s a much lower-ranking house than mine. And yet you dare to force unreasonable demands on a direct heir of House Lefevre? What next—should I assume Nephile’s staff don’t need to respect Resht Az anymore?”

“Resht Az,” directly translated, meant “the reverence of the low toward the high.”

In noble circles, it was a polite warning used when someone wasn’t showing proper respect to someone of a higher rank. Or when one wanted to compliment someone of a higher house.

The chief looked absolutely stunned. His forehead veins twitched as he gritted his teeth and spoke.

“Commander Lefevre… surely you’re not turning this into a personal feud between noble houses—this is a military matter.”

Gotcha.

I slammed my fist on the table and stood up. The chief gasped in shock.

“Didn’t you just say this is all under the royal family? You’re contradicting yourself left and right. Are you telling me a man with no consistency is in charge of Nephile Territory? For the safety of the kingdom, I’ll be writing to His Majesty in House Lefebvre’s name. Bring me writing supplies.”

The word “king” drained all the color from the chief’s face.

“Commander Lefevre!”

“If you raise your voice at me one more time, I’ll have you charged under military law and your house will be held responsible.”

He immediately shut his mouth. Meanwhile, someone respectfully brought me paper and a fountain pen.

‘…Lora.’

Of course she brought them, even the diligent one. Usually people try to stay still in moments like this, pretending they’re not involved—like Grey and Jeremy over there.

I nearly laughed. Let’s hope she didn’t poison the ink or something.

I kept my face calm as I picked up the pen.

Just as I bent down to start writing—

“Commander…!”

The chief suddenly stood up, looking completely panicked.

“I must’ve expressed myself poorly! It was all a misunderstanding!”

****

Schloitz wiped cold rainwater off his cheek with the back of his hand.

The artifact in his coat had just shattered.

Since he didn’t bring Blandea Lefevre to the northern forest, once the artifact broke, he couldn’t use another. And even if she had come, she wouldn’t have let him use more than three anyway.

She constantly worried about his health and had told him clearly: no more than three artifacts a day.

Because of that, Schloitz had to adjust his entire schedule to make things less intense. He found the situation rather absurd.

Technically, he was the Supreme Commander. He could’ve forced her to grant him blessings.

But he knew that wouldn’t work. Blandeia Lefevre had a strangely firm side to her.

Maybe it was her noble blood. Maybe it was just who she was.

But if she decided to say no, he had no idea how he’d deal with it. And frankly, he didn’t want to see her forcing herself, trembling in fear.

Schloitz muttered coldly under his breath.

“I should just bring her in as my official aide.”

Maybe if she worked nonstop and didn’t sleep, she’d stop worrying so much.

“C-Commander!”

The knights stationed in Nephile came running up with umbrellas, their faces full of fear.

They were frozen—eyes, mouths, hands—all stiff from shock.

Rain poured heavily from the sky. The kind of downpour you’d only see during a major monster hunt, brought on by monsters and Holy Swords.

The artifact shattering had definitely hurt Schloitz. But not enough to knock him down.

It felt like a steel claw dragging down his throat and across his chest.

Painful, but manageable.

He accepted a towel and started walking.

The knights hurried after him a beat later.

****

“Insane. Completely insane.”

Agnes mumbled cheerfully. I looked over at him.

Shouldn’t he stop saying that out loud? People might think he’s the crazy one.

I was about to say something—but he was smiling so brightly that I didn’t have the heart to ruin it. He looked genuinely thrilled.

“Please go on in, Commander Blandea.”

“Thanks.”

Unlike the army base, where male and female quarters were totally separate, Nephile’s lodgings were more like a noble’s mansion, with attached guest houses.

So it felt strange to have Agnes escort me all the way to my room.

‘This place isn’t bad at all.’

Now I understood why the chief was so upset when he insisted I wasn’t officially part of the military.

Sure, the regular army quarters were clean—but this place had a whole different level of elegance.

This was a room meant for a noble guest. Spacious, with its own bathroom, and a pretty nice bed.

A curved alcove in the wall was lined with tall, elegant glass vases.

There weren’t any other decorations, but the vases were filled with flowers—sky blue, pink, white—someone had clearly put thought into this.

Better fresh flowers than tacky ornaments.

Lora and Grey started checking and tidying the room, while I walked to the window.

A large window facing directly south let in a soft spring breeze scented with acacia flowers.

I leaned against the window frame, resting my cheek on my hand.

The courtyard—if you could call it that—was wide and open. In the middle stood the same pillar I’d seen earlier.

What was its name again…?

“That pillar… does it have a name?”

Lora came closer and asked,

“Do you mean Dris, miss?”

“Oh, right. That was it.”

The translucent liquid inside Dris was rippling again. The surface had risen a lot since earlier—someone had taken down a huge number of monsters.

‘It must’ve been Schloitz.’

This central area, especially around the guest house, was always busy. I even saw some blacksmiths working nearby.

I let the breeze tickle my cheeks and slowly closed my eyes. I opened them again, slower and slower each time.

And then suddenly, I spotted him.

It was Schloitz.

My eyes shot open at once. He stood out even from a distance, walking with a group of panicked officials and administrators.

Looking at him always made me think of a towering wall of ice swallowing sunlight whole.

It wasn’t just his beautiful face—there was something magnetic about him. Something that drew people in.

Especially women.

Usually, I couldn’t even look him in the eye.

But right now, I had the perfect view. I took the chance to observe him as closely as I could. If only he’d come a bit closer… but this much was already more than I deserved.

Just as the corners of my lips started to turn up—

I suddenly froze in surprise.