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Chapter 19
“Is it very dangerous? It’s not a high-ranking monster, right?”
Harriet, unable to read the mood, spoke only the truth.
“It’s a top-tier monster!”
“…What did you say?”
“Even if the Rune Knight Order rushes in all at once, they can’t deal with it—unless it’s the captain.”
“Then why on earth did you take Edwin along?! Are the knights protecting him?”
“How could they protect him when he’ll be standing at the very front?”
At those words, Dana’s reason snapped.
It felt as if something inside her head went pop and broke.
She’d heard that it was a knight order full of lunatics, but how could they take an ordinary civilian along?!
And make him stand in front as a shield, no less!
Dana’s legs gave out.
As she collapsed to the ground, Harriet crouched down beside her.
“Are you okay? Are you cold?”
She couldn’t hear his words at all.
Everything she had shared with Edwin flashed through her mind.
Their first meeting, the warm lunches, the conversations they’d shared.
Even the affectionate looks.
And last night, especially, had truly been… something.
Edwin had healed a painful childhood memory Dana herself hadn’t even realized she carried.
She had thought of herself as someone numb to loneliness.
But that was only because her wounds had scabbed over and hardened into calluses.
The only one who had ever gently touched those wounds was Edwin.
‘He’s someone precious to me.’
The moment she realized that, Dana made a firm decision.
‘Now it’s my turn to protect him.’
Forcing strength back into her legs, she stood and asked Harriet,
“Where is Edwin right now?!”
“At the Fraken habitat, probably……. But going alone is dangerous!”
Someone who knew that sent Edwin there?
If Edwin were to get hurt even slightly… what would she do then?
Dana let out a long breath.
Her overheated mind seemed to cool.
“Wait just a moment. I’m going to Edwin.”
With those words, Dana headed for the training grounds.
Just as expected, the potions she had stacked up yesterday were still there.
With this much, she could endure even if her stamina ran dry.
Stamina potions could prolong one’s life in critical situations.
Cradling an armful of potions, she strode straight outside.
Along with Harriet, curious eyes followed Dana.
The knights even stopped their training and trailed after her.
Unable to contain his curiosity, one of them asked,
“Um… are you—no, that administrator—are you lovers?”
Of all things to be curious about right now…!
Dana stared at him with a fed-up look.
“Yes, we are! So guide me, please. To where Edwin is!”
The knights gasped in surprise.
“Whoa.”
“Wow.”
Among them, the most levelheaded—the vice-captain, Dante—stepped forward.
“How about waiting here for now? He is safe.”
“Just let me deliver this!”
Dante pondered for a moment.
‘If she’s the captain’s lover… she’s not going to be easy to persuade.’
With a serious expression, he gave an order to his subordinates.
“Open the armory.”
Meanwhile, Edwin, who had set out at dawn, climbed the mountain without even wearing armor.
Dealing with the occasional low-level monsters was the knights’ job.
“Has the Fraken awakened?”
At his question, the subordinates replied,
“It seems it just woke from hibernation. There was tremor activity from the foot of the mountain.”
“I see.”
From a certain point on, the number of monsters increased rapidly.
Before the cause could even be identified, monsters descended the mountain and attacked people.
Among them, the Fraken—capable of devastating an entire village—was a particularly troublesome foe.
Unlike monsters that vanished when their core was pierced, it could revive using only the mana remaining in the mountain.
On top of that, its massive body and strength made it difficult even for well-trained knights to handle.
As they climbed higher, faint vibrations could be felt.
Edwin, who possessed special abilities, could sense mana.
That included the aura of monsters as well.
Following the powerful presence, he stopped in front of a cave.
Seeing the cave sealed by a massive boulder, he drew his sword.
The knights following their captain swallowed hard, tense.
Edwin took a small glass vial from a nearby subordinate.
The purple liquid was a potion that agitated and awakened monsters.
He uncorked it and sprinkled it at the cave entrance. The noise soon grew louder.
Thud. Thud.
They could feel the Fraken, fully awakened, approaching.
The earth-shaking vibrations made it hard to even stand properly.
Soon, cracks began to form in the large rock blocking the cave entrance.
Crack—crack—
Starting from the center, the rock split and began to crumble with a boom.
Large chunks fell from above.
Edwin lightly leapt aside to avoid them.
A tremendous roar followed.
The Fraken had smashed the entrance entirely.
The rocks shattered, dust billowing everywhere.
Through the haze, the Fraken poked out its face.
As expected, it was enormous.
A large horn sat on its forehead, and its excited ears flapped on either side of its face.
When the Fraken slammed its front paw down, the cave began to collapse.
“Long time no see.”
Edwin waved lazily.
After a long hibernation, the Fraken was ravenous.
The monster stretched and roared.
At the thunderous sound, the knights covered their noses.
“Ugh, you really can’t ignore morning breath after a deep sleep.”
“Seems worse than last year.”
As if understanding them, the Fraken grew even more agitated and stepped forward.
It opened its maw toward the knights.
The monster lunged, as if to swallow them in one bite.
Sharp teeth and a purple tongue rushed toward Edwin.
“Same as ever.”
Watching the Fraken repeat the same behavior every year, Edwin clicked his tongue in boredom.
Then he leapt high, planting his foot on the monster’s protruding jaw.
In an instant, he sprang up onto the horn.
Annoyed, the Fraken shook its head.
But Edwin maintained perfect balance as if on flat ground, climbing higher.
And finally—
CRACK!!
Edwin’s sword pierced the core.
The core in its forehead was large and tough.
Without precise aim and tremendous force, it was nearly impossible to strike.
The Fraken blinked after its core was hit, then staggered.
Unable to take more than a few steps, it collapsed with a thud.
Its massive body gouged deep into the ground, dust rising once more.
The monster’s form grew hazy, then crumbled into powder.
It scattered into the air and vanished.
“What are you doing? Seal it back up.”
“Yes, sir!”
The knights, who had been staring blankly, brought over large rocks nearby.
Just like before, they blocked the cave entrance again.
“Let’s go.”
“Without resting?”
The knights, exhausted from climbing the mountain, asked.
“Then you rest by yourselves.”
Edwin descended the mountain without a hint of fatigue.
As he shook his head, dust puffed out.
He couldn’t meet Dana looking like this.
Thinking he should shower before she woke up, he continued down—
“Edwin!!”
“….”
Edwin froze at the unexpected sight.
A slender woman was desperately calling out to him.
That voice was unmistakably Dana’s.
He could never forget it.
But then…
“A helmet…?”
Not just a helmet.
Wearing no armor, Dana came stumbling toward him with only a helmet and gauntlets on.
Her awkward movements looked almost like a frog’s.
“It’s me.”
She removed her helmet.
Her usually neat hair was completely disheveled.
The subordinates behind her hurriedly shouted explanations.
“She insisted she absolutely had to go to the captain—no, to Edwin, sir…!”
“Yes, yes! We at least made sure she was safe! Armor was impossible—she couldn’t even walk in it…!”
As they spoke, the knights were holding stamina recovery potions.
After a quick look around, Edwin immediately understood the situation.
Dana had come looking for him.
Because she was terribly worried about him.
The realization made Edwin’s eyes widen.
A swelling joy rose all the way up his throat.
Just as he was about to call her name—
Dana, who had been running, leapt straight into Edwin’s arms.
Those slender arms wrapped tightly around him—
“….”
Edwin ended up—
unable to say a single word.
