Chapter 10

Kael saw everything that was happening.

For the entire past week, from when they left Rainford until now, when they were getting close to Willow, Rosana had been tormenting Vanessa every single day.

No, she had been trying to keep Vanessa alive.

And now the other young noblewomen were following in her footsteps.

It was a scene that made Kael doubt his own eyes.

Rosana is running?

And she’s actually running that well?

“Hah.”

Even after watching the same sight for several days, Kael couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh. The hand that had been rubbing his face suddenly stopped.

The Rosana he had considered the most hopeless had been the first to change.

She was now running better than a deer, with more vitality than a rainbow-colored fish leaping above the surface of the water. The energy she gave off was almost blinding.

Rosana never stopped moving.

Whenever she had some free time, she would secretly watch the knights training and imitate their movements.

Amazingly, Kael had witnessed every one of those moments.

“My lord.”

Kael turned his head and looked at Seraphine.

He had heard that Seraphine, from House Monteria, had been trained as the heir of her family for a long time.

Her movements were disciplined, and she was careful whenever she held a sword.

Her quick feet and decisive movements were equally impressive.

All of those qualities came together to form the person known as Seraphine.

Despite being the heir to her family, Seraphine had volunteered for this expedition.

Her short hair, which she had cut before the expedition began, swayed around the back of her neck.

“Training is finished. Breakfast is being prepared. We should go now.”

“…Sir Seraphine, come here.”

Seraphine tilted her head and approached Kael.

Kael stepped slightly to the side and pointed with his chin toward Rosana, Vanessa, and the other young noblewomen.

Seraphine narrowed her eyes and looked at them.

“What do you think?”

“They’re definitely better than they were a week ago.”

“Do you think Lady Vanessa could run away from a monster’s teeth?”

“…I think her chances have improved.”

There had been no chance before.

Now there was a possibility.

Kael’s lips curled slightly to one side.

Vanessa, who had seemed the most likely to fall behind first, was slowly changing with Rosana’s help.

Whenever she collapsed, she got back up.

Now she could actually run with the group for a decent amount of time.

If she continued like this, she might at least be able to escape danger on her own two feet.

“What about the other young ladies? I heard she even got new shoes for them through the quartermaster. Clothes too.”

The quartermaster was in charge of supplies.

So Rosana had taken supplies from him.

Apparently, this was what she had needed them for.

Seraphine answered carefully.

“At the very least, I think they’ve been given a chance to survive once.”

Kael looked at Rosana again.

He had thought of the people who couldn’t fight as nothing more than burdens that needed to be protected.

But perhaps there was another way.

Kael watched Rosana cheerfully push Vanessa forward.

Rosana was breathing hope into this expedition.

And into Kael himself.

Rosana.

That was probably why Kael couldn’t take his eyes off her.

Kael turned to leave, then suddenly stopped.

“Seraphine.”

“Yes, my lord.”

He remembered what Rosana had muttered back in Rainford a while ago.

“Could you teach Lady Rosana how to use a sword? Don’t spend too much of your time on her.”

“…I’ll try.”

Seraphine nodded bluntly.

Kael shook his head once, then roughly ran a hand through his hair and narrowed his eyes.

I never thought I’d find myself thinking like this.

Kael gave a quiet order.

“And starting tomorrow, the non-combat personnel will train as well. Tell the knights to divide them into groups and make sure they train. Start with basic physical conditioning.”

“Yes, my lord.”

If the spark of hope Rosana had created was a small flame, Kael intended to breathe as hard as he could into it.

So that the flame would not go out.

For some reason, the situation was different from the original story.

An order had been given for the non-combat personnel to start training as well.

Personally, I welcomed the situation wholeheartedly.

Vanessa was horrified, and several of the young noblewomen complained, but no one could disobey an order from the Crown Prince.

Among those who volunteered to help with the training was Seraphine.

I wasn’t sure why Seraphine had volunteered to do this…

No.

Maybe she volunteered precisely because she was Seraphine.

Seraphine was the female protagonist of this novel.

She was the person who gave hope to the male protagonist, Kael.

It was like…

Well, how should I put it?

Like someone pouring sparkling soda into a chest that was completely blocked by a giant sweet potato.

She was also the only person who could make Kael smile.

Whatever Seraphine did was always right.

Besides, even in the original story, Seraphine was one of the few people who continued to care about the non-combat personnel until the very end.

She grieved their deaths and blamed herself for failing to protect them.

Perhaps this time, she had grown a little more than she had in the original story and managed to persuade Kael to begin this training.

As expected of the female protagonist.

She could even grow on her own.

She’s not just some ordinary heroine.

I looked at Seraphine with a proud smile.

Then she spoke.

“Among the non-combat personnel, anyone who wishes to learn swordsmanship is also allowed to train. If there are any volunteers…”

“Me!”

Before I knew it, my hand shot straight into the air.

Ahem.

Was my voice too loud?

Everyone who had been listening to Seraphine with dead-fish eyes turned to look at me.

I heard Vanessa sigh.

What?

There was a limit to how much I could accomplish by training alone.

During the course of the original story, Seraphine eventually became skilled enough to awaken as a Sword Master during the battle with the monsters.

Do you know how rare a chance it was to learn from someone that talented?

I slowly lowered the hand I had raised and stepped forward.

“I absolutely want to learn, Sir Knight.”

Seraphine stared at me quietly.

Then she turned and looked over the others.

“Is there anyone else who wants to learn the sword?”

“…Do we really have to fight monsters? Even us?”

A weak-looking man asked the question.

Judging by the fact that he was still wearing silk clothes, he was one of those people who hadn’t realized his situation yet.

“Let me speak with His Highness the Crown Prince. I’ll strongly recommend that he assign guards to protect those of us who can’t fight. That seems much more likely to succeed than having us train. Surely His Highness wouldn’t abandon us.”

Hmm.

He’s talking absolute nonsense.

I clicked my tongue softly.

Did that even make sense?

The non-combat personnel made up almost half of the expedition.

If they wanted to protect all those people who couldn’t even run properly, most of the remaining combat personnel would have to stay behind and guard them.

But the top priority of this expedition wasn’t to escort them.

It was to exterminate the monsters.

To recover the Sacred Relic.

And ultimately, 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 faces like dead fish, as if they had come here for a leisurely sightseeing trip.

Tsk, tsk.

You’ll probably be the first ones to become monster food.

I quickly turned my head away.

It was better to pretend I didn’t know them.

“Those who don’t want to participate in the training may leave. His Highness said he wouldn’t stop them.”

“Didn’t you hear what I just said? There are things I need to suggest to His Highness the Crown Prince…”

Seraphine drew her sword without hesitation.