IBWMD 99

~Chapter 99~

“Eek!”

My body trembled, and I stepped back.

Right after, I felt disappointed in myself.

‘…I can’t run away!’

As a knight who swore before God, I couldn’t accept myself acting like this.

And inside that carriage was someone who’d probably never even held a sword.

How scared must they be right now?

Even if I could never be with them as a Holy Knight, my heart was still devoted to that person.

‘There’s no way I could leave them and run…!’

Screech!

At that moment, a monster that looked like a wolf rushed out from the shadows.

‘I’m going to die!’

When I saw it flying at my throat, I squeezed my eyes shut out of instinct.

Slash!

“Don’t close your eyes!”

A familiar, strong voice made me open them.

“…Captain Ista!”

“I told you! If you look away, you show weakness, and then it’s over!”

Watching Ista slash the monster almost made me cry in relief.

Even though he looked tired, with shadows under his eyes, he still shone with a holy light.

His armor, stained with monster blood, smelled of burnt flesh.
That was the smell of his powerful holy energy purifying the monsters’ poison.

Looking at him, the knight felt a huge sense of relief and gratitude.

“Where are the others?”

“They—they got scattered…!”

Ista looked around and sighed.

He hadn’t expected this many monsters, even coming here.

“We’ll protect the carriage and break through. Get behind me, now!”

The knight nodded quickly.

“…Captain!”

Screech!

A monster they missed came rushing from behind.

Ista turned fast, but the knight saw it—

A moment ago, he was so happy to see Ista that he missed it, but now he noticed:
Ista’s arm was slow and heavy.

He swung his sword a beat too late.

‘Too late…!’

Even though he’d told him not to close his eyes, the knight squeezed them shut again.

Bang!

A sharp gunshot rang out.

A flock of birds burst out from the trees.

When he opened his eyes, the wolf monster had a hole in its forehead.

Screech…

Thud.

The knight glanced at Ista’s face and froze.

His face was shining, not with happiness, but staring at the darkness beyond the trees.

Actually, he was looking a little above, into the branches.

“Captain?”

Bang, bang-bang!

Then, more shots rang out.

Screech, screech!

The monsters that rushed out were all shot down instantly.

The shooting was so fast and accurate, it was unbelievable.

Tiny, sharp bullets flew, taking down two or three monsters with each shot.

Slash!

Ista, suddenly lively, sliced the monsters’ necks with his sword.

Watching all this, the knight was shaken.

‘He’s fighting in the middle of a rain of bullets…’

Yet neither the shooter nor Ista hesitated, and the bullets never came close to hitting Ista.

It was like they were performing a practiced dance.

Thud…

While the knight stood there in awe,
dead monsters formed a ring around them.

Thud.

The last monster fell to the ground.

Above, the branches rustled.

Tap!

Something landed on the ground.

Crunch, crunch.

Someone was pushing through the dry bushes, getting closer.

“Captain…”

Nervous, the knight stepped in front of Ista.

Ista gently moved him aside and stepped forward.

“Wow. I never thought I’d see this.”

“….”

“Even the great Captain of the 3rd Order can fall out of a tree, I guess?”

A calm, gentle voice came through the bushes.

“I thought you were different from the other gorillas.”

The person who appeared was…

‘…The Young Lady?’

She was wearing servant’s clothes, but with her hair tucked up under her hat and her slim frame, it was clearly her.

The Young Lady, with a calm face, smoothly reloaded her musket and spun it in her hand.

Her moves made her look like a seasoned pro.

Then, with a slightly embarrassed smile, she greeted softly,

“Captain.”

The knight looked back and forth between her and Ista.

And then, for the first time, he saw Ista smile.

‘I’ve never seen him smile like that before.’

As the knight stared in amazement, Ista opened his arms and stepped toward her.

“Ile…”

“Ileine!”

Bang!

Suddenly, the carriage door burst open.

The Young Lady, who had been smiling, froze in place, her eyes wide.

“Wait, Lady! It’s dangerous—urk!”

A lady from high society—known as the rose—pushed the knight out of the way without a care, and rushed toward the Young Lady with the most beautiful smile.

The Young Lady also opened her arms wide and hugged her, smiling brightly.

“Reina!”

Clunk, clunk.

The carriage shook, but I didn’t care.

Reina didn’t either.
She kept pinching my cheeks with a serious look.

“Did you lose weight, Ileine?”

“No? If anything, I gained some. People keep feeding me…”

“You look like you lost weight from stress.”

“No, really, everyone just keeps making me eat…”

“You need to eat more. I brought lots of stuff…”

Reina kept pulling expensive chocolate and candy out of her pockets, busy unwrapping them and pushing them into my mouth.

‘She still treats me like a little sister.’

Reina’s cheeks were pink as she looked at me.

Pure joy sparkled in her green eyes.

If the men in high society saw her, they’d do anything for her—she even made her fiancé’s old rivals challenge him to duels.

‘Reina is so pretty, as always.’

I was honestly moved.

Who else has a sister this beautiful?

‘She should be the heroine, not some dead first love of the male lead.’

But that proud feeling only lasted a second.

“Ileine, what’s with your clothes?”

“Huh?”

“…Did they make you wear those?”

Oops. I was still wearing servant’s clothes.

“Is that it? Hm?”

Her voice trembled a little.

She felt guilty and angry that she’d sent me here in her place.

My conscience hurt.

‘You wouldn’t have come here if it wasn’t for me.’

If kindness could be an illness, Reina would have it.

I shook my head and put my hands on her shoulders.

“Reina, it’s not like that. I have my reasons.”

“But…”

“More importantly, how did you get here?”

“Oh, that…”

The story she told was simpler and crazier than I expected.

“Beth wrote me a letter saying your wedding was happening soon.”

“Yeah.”

“I couldn’t let you get married here with no family, so I rushed over.”

“Of course you couldn’t.”

Now that I thought about it,
I did see Beth writing letters a few times.

That must have been the letter, and Reina was the one who got it.

“…Did Father know?”

“No way. If he did, he never would have let me come.”

In moments like this, Reina really is a Pascal.

Before I could say more, Reina looked serious.

“My sister can’t get married all alone, with no family or friends. That’s just wrong.”

“Reina, I never had friends anyway.”

“You’re going to look so beautiful in your wedding dress. I couldn’t stand it if nobody was there to see it.”

“What do you mean? The people at the Grand Duke’s manor will be there.”

Reina smiled faintly at that.

Her smile said, ‘You’ll be lucky if they even treat you decently.’

‘That’s not true.’

The people here are actually nice.

I wanted to defend them to Reina, just like I did to Karl about my family.

But there was no time to say anything.

“Captain Ista said he was leaving a bit early, too.”

“Captain?”

That sounded important.

“Yeah. He’s being sent as the Captain of the Holy Knights to Saint Portu.”

When I heard that, I started to worry.

‘Wait, does that mean it’s the 3rd Order being sent?’