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Chapter 16
Zenon added coldly,
“More importantly, she’s the one saying she’s fine with it.”
Luna’s face twisted in irritation.
“That’s absolute garbage. So what if people in the knight order call her a coward?”
“If you’re prepared to give up on promotions for the rest of your life, then sure.”
“Oh, please. Do promotions put food on the table? Since when are they more important than staying alive?”
Monia cut in with a solemn expression.
“They do put food on the table. You receive a higher salary after being promoted.”
“Please just shut up.”
Luna turned and stared directly at Kata.
The emotion in her eyes caught Kata off guard.
“Hey. You said you have two younger siblings.”
“…”
“And that you have a maid you’re close to.”
Kata’s dark green eyes wavered.
“So what I’m trying to say is…”
“…”
“What I’m saying is…”
Luna opened and closed her mouth repeatedly.
For some reason, she looked miserable.
“Forget it. I guess you’re even dumber than I thought.”
She turned around and strode out of the training ground.
“Luna!”
Kata called after her in confusion, but Luna never looked back.
The doors slammed shut behind her.
Monia spoke in astonishment.
“But… we haven’t finished cleaning up yet…”
The training ground once again fell into silence.
* * *
The following dawn.
Kata stood alone in the training ground with her eyes closed.
If she plunged her face into cold water right now, maybe these complicated feelings would settle down.
Then she opened her eyes.
A dark figure was approaching.
“…Zenon?”
“I figured you’d be here.”
Before she could react, he had crossed the distance between them and tossed a sword at her feet.
“Let’s spar.”
Kata stared up at him blankly before bending down to pick up the sword.
“With sword aura?”
“The deployment is soon. Keep it reasonable.”
Reasonable?
That was incredibly vague.
At the very least, she assumed it meant not sparring so intensely that one of them ended up knocking on the infirmary’s door before sunrise.
“Take your stance.”
Zenon raised his sword.
The pressure rolling off him sharpened her nerves.
The next moment—
A blue sword aura rushed toward her like a storm.
BOOM!
The force of merely blocking the attack nearly broke her stance.
“You said we’d keep it reasonable!”
Kata cried out.
Zenon ignored her completely.
Launching himself from the ground, he unleashed another strike.
Kata gritted her teeth and blocked.
At that very moment, his large frame abruptly closed the distance.
“Kata.”
Sometimes it was Donovan.
Sometimes it was Kata.
He used whichever name suited him.
“What if I injured you badly enough to put you in the infirmary?”
“What?”
“Maybe then you’d avoid the future Peter saw. You wouldn’t have to worry about criticism from the knight order either.”
She couldn’t tell whether he was joking.
Or serious.
As always, his deep-set eyes remained dry and unreadable.
Creeeak—
Kata’s sword was slowly being forced back.
Sweat gathered on her rounded forehead.
And then—
She smiled.
“Then you’d just become the idiot who hospitalized a comrade right before a mission.”
“…”
“Besides…”
She looked up at him.
“You wouldn’t actually do it.”
Zenon openly displayed his irritation.
Yet he was also the kind of person who visited the infirmary, peeled apples for someone, and asked after the swelling on their cheek.
He had been the same at the Count Korel estate.
He treated her coldly most of the time, but occasionally revealed fleeting moments of warmth.
And against her better judgment, those moments always reached her heart.
“Isn’t that right?”
Zenon’s expression froze.
The force pressing against her blade intensified.
Kata hurriedly jumped back.
But he chased after her like the wind and brought his sword down.
BOOM!
The ground caved beneath the impact.
“You said we’d keep it reasonable…”
Kata muttered.
A vivid blue slash came hurtling toward her in the blink of an eye.
* * *
Kata blinked as she lay sprawled across the dirt.
With the dawn sky behind him, Zenon silently looked down at her.
He didn’t seem inclined to offer a hand.
“I lost.”
The defeat had been expected.
Dusting off her back and the back of her head as she stood, she heard Zenon ask coldly,
“Why didn’t you give it your all?”
You were the one who said to keep it reasonable.
Kata stared at him in disbelief.
As if reading her thoughts, he continued.
“I’m a second-stage awakener. I had to hold back.”
He fixed his blue eyes on her.
“But if even a small part of you wanted to win, you should have forced out an embodiment, however crude, and come at me with everything you had.”
“Zenon…”
She blinked.
“You sounded exactly like Sir Soran just now.”
“…”
“And even if I’d gone all out, I still would’ve lost.”
Kata laughed awkwardly.
“How have you been training all this time? You’re practically on the level of a full knight.”
“…You.”
Zenon stopped speaking for a moment.
Complex emotions flickered through his blue eyes.
“…Doesn’t it frustrate you?”
Kata slowly closed her mouth.
“Go back.”
“That’s why I hated you.”
“…”
“That’s why… I…”
It was unfair.
She knew that.
Back then and now, Kata had done nothing wrong.
Normally, she could brush off his sharp words with a smile.
She wasn’t someone who was easily hurt by petty spite.
But for some reason…
Zenon Korel’s words hurt.
Having nothing else to say, Kata simply smiled.
The curve of her lips looked awkward.
“…”
Zenon avoided her gaze.
A silence resembling an old scar lingered between them.
* * *
At last, the day of deployment arrived.
Even after taking a train powered by magic stones, the knights still had to travel by horseback for over half a day.
By the time the sun was setting, they finally stopped at an inn.
“From tomorrow onward, stay alert.”
Simon chewed on a mouthful of vegetables alongside his meat as he spoke.
“The terrain is rough, and monsters can appear at any moment.”
He sighed.
“At least it’s not the rainy season. Thank goodness the ‘Masked Baron’ didn’t insist any further.”
“‘Masked Baron?’ You mean Baron Kaster?”
Kata asked curiously.
Simon shrugged.
“Sir Soran would know the details.”
Everyone immediately looked toward Soran.
Focused on his meal, he frowned irritably.
“You’ve never heard the rumors about Baron Kaster?”
“No, sir.”
“…They say the Baron was born with a severe deformity covering the left side of his face.”
Soran took a sip of wine.
“And his fingers were malformed as well. Naturally, he wore a mask from childhood and rarely showed himself in public.”
He continued,
“From what I heard, he had an awful temperament too. When a frail daughter from a modest family was married off to him, everyone believed the bride would be dead within a week.”
“What happened?”
“…The Baroness died four years after the marriage.”
Kata nodded.
“So the rumors weren’t true after all.”
“Quiet!”
Soran snapped.
“Anyway, you all know that with the rise of the End Cult, the atmosphere both inside and outside the Empire has become unstable.”
He swept his gaze across the knights.
“His Majesty has been working harder than ever to maintain stability among the people. So when reports arrived that monsters were causing trouble in the Barony, he immediately offered to dispatch knights.”
Soran’s expression darkened.
“But Baron Kaster refused the Empire’s help, insisting his territory could handle the problem on its own.”
He tightened his grip on his wine glass.
“Perhaps his reclusive nature made him reluctant to allow outsiders into his lands.”
He snorted.
“But regardless, he’s exactly as stubborn and narrow-minded as the rumors claim.”
“…”
“So don’t expect a warm reception.”
* * *
“KYAAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“…”
“This red wine has been aged in oak barrels for forty years! Its rich sweetness is exquisite!”
Soran’s prediction could not have been more wrong.
Upon arriving at the castle, Baron Kaster welcomed the knights with overwhelming enthusiasm.
“I’ve instructed the head chef to prepare a grand feast.”
“How about departing for the subjugation tomorrow instead?”
In the end, the knights found themselves gathered closely around an enormous dining table.
