Chapter 10
And Kael saw all of it.
For the past week, from when they left Rainford until now, as they were getting closer to Willow, Rosana had not missed a single day of bothering Vanessa.
No.
She was trying to keep Vanessa alive.
And now, the other young ladies were following behind her.
It was a scene that made Kael doubt his own eyes.
Rosana was running?
And she was running that well?
“Hah.”
Even after watching the same sight for several days, Kael could not hide a small laugh.
The hand that had been rubbing his face suddenly stopped.
The Rosana he had thought was the biggest mess had changed first.
Right now, she ran better than a deer, and she had more vitality than the rainbow-colored fish that jumped above the water.
Her energy was almost blinding.
Rosana never stopped moving.
Whenever she had some free time, she would secretly watch the knights training and imitate their movements.
Surprisingly, Kael had witnessed all of those moments.
“My lord.”
Kael turned his head and looked at Seraphin.
He had heard that Seraphin, who came from the Monteria family, had been trained as the heir of her family for a long time.
Her disciplined movements.
The careful way she held a sword.
Her quick feet and decisive movements.
All of those things came together to make the person known as Seraphin.
Even though she was the heir of her family, Seraphin had volunteered for this expedition.
Her short hair, cut before the expedition began, moved around the back of her neck.
“The training is over. Breakfast is being prepared. Let us go.”
“…Sir Seraphin, come here.”
Seraphin tilted her head and came closer to Kael.
Kael stepped slightly to the side and pointed with his chin toward Rosana, Vanessa, and the other young ladies.
Seraphin narrowed her eyes and looked at them.
“What do you think?”
“They are definitely better than they were a week ago.”
“Do you think Lady Vanessa can run away from a monster’s fangs?”
“…I believe the chances have increased.”
A possibility had appeared where there had once been none.
Kael pulled up one corner of his lips.
Vanessa, who had seemed the most likely to fall behind first, was slowly changing with Rosana’s help.
Every time she fell, she stood up again.
And now, she could run with the group fairly well.
If things continued like this, perhaps she could at least avoid danger on her own two feet.
“What about the other young ladies? I heard you got them new shoes through the Register. Clothes too.”
The Register was in charge of supplies.
Rosana had said that she had taken supplies from them.
So that was what she had needed them for.
Seraphin answered carefully.
“At the very least, I think they have gained a chance to survive once.”
Kael looked at Rosana again.
He had always thought of those who could not help in battle as burdens that simply had to be protected.
But perhaps there was another way.
Kael watched Rosana with a heavy gaze as she smiled brightly and pushed Vanessa forward.
Rosana was giving hope to this expedition.
And to Kael.
That Rosana was doing it.
That was probably why Kael could not take his eyes off Rosana.
Kael turned around to leave, but stopped for a moment.
“Seraphin.”
“Yes, my lord.”
He remembered what Rosana had muttered in Rainford some time ago.
“Can you teach Lady Rosana how to use a sword? But do not spend too much of your time on her.”
“…I will try.”
Seraphin nodded stiffly.
Kael shook his head once, then roughly ran a hand through his hair and narrowed his eyes.
I never thought I would come to think this way.
Kael gave a quiet order.
“And starting tomorrow, the non-combat personnel will train as well. Give the knights orders to divide them into groups and train them. Start with basic physical training.”
“Yes, my lord.”
If the spark of hope Rosana had created was a small flame, Kael intended to breathe into it with all his strength.
So that the flame would not go out.
For some reason, a situation different from the original story had happened.
An order had been given for the non-combat personnel to start training as well.
As for me, I was completely in favor of it.
But Vanessa was shocked, and some of the young ladies complained.
Still, no one could disobey the Crown Prince’s order.
Among those who volunteered to help with the training was Seraphin.
I did not know why Seraphin had volunteered to do this…
No, wait.
Maybe it was precisely because she was Seraphin.
As the female lead of this novel, Seraphin was the person who gave hope to the male lead, Kael.
It was like…
How should I put it?
Like a refreshing soda being poured into a stomach completely blocked by a huge sweet potato.
She was also the only person who could make Kael smile.
Whatever Seraphin did was always right.
Besides, even in the original story, Seraphin was one of the people who continued to care about the non-combat personnel until the very end.
She grieved over their deaths and blamed herself for failing to protect them.
Perhaps this time, she had grown a little more than in the original story and convinced Kael to begin this training.
As expected, the female lead.
She even grows on her own.
She really is not just an ordinary female lead.
I looked at Seraphin with a proud smile.
Then she opened her mouth.
“There is also an order that anyone among the non-combat personnel who wishes to learn swordsmanship should be allowed to train as well. If there are any volunteers…”
“Me!”
Before I knew it, I had raised my hand high.
Ahem.
Was my voice too loud?
Everyone who had been listening to Seraphin with dull eyes turned their gaze toward me.
I heard Vanessa sigh.
Why? What?
There was a limit to training alone.
Seraphin had enough skill to awaken as a Sword Master during the story, specifically while fighting monsters.
Do they think it was easy to get a chance to learn from someone that skilled?
I slowly lowered my raised hand and stepped forward.
“I absolutely want to learn, Sir Knight.”
Seraphin stared at me.
Then she turned her head and looked over the others.
“Is there anyone else who wants to learn the sword?”
“…Do we really have to fight monsters? Us too?”
A weak-looking man asked.
He was still wearing silk clothes, so he seemed to be one of those who had not yet realized his situation.
“Let me meet the Crown Prince. I will strongly suggest that guards be assigned to protect those who cannot fight. That seems to have a better chance of success than making us train. Surely His Highness would not abandon us.”
Hmm.
He is literally talking shit.
I clicked my tongue softly.
How did that even make sense?
The non-combat personnel made up almost half of the expedition.
If they wanted to protect people who could not even run properly, most of the remaining combat personnel would have to stay behind and protect them.
But the highest priority of this expedition was not to escort them.
It was to defeat the monsters.
To recover the sacred relic.
And, in the end, to protect this Empire and the world.
To protect the Empire from the monsters.
That was the purpose of this expedition.
I saw several nobles nodding in agreement.
They had dull faces, as if they had come here for a leisurely sightseeing trip.
Tsk. Tsk.
They will be the first ones to become monster food.
I quickly turned my head away.
It was better to pretend I did not know them at all.
“Those who want to skip the training may do so. His Highness said he would not stop such people.”
“Did you not hear what I just said? There is something I want to suggest to His Highness…”
Seraphin drew her sword without hesitation.
