Chapter 68
It was a question that required no thought. I rejected it instantly, and Elisha glared at me.
“Why not? You said sitting here was fine.”
“This is public property.”
“Then why can’t I ask a question?”
“We’re not exactly on good terms, are we?”
“Let’s resolve this amicably!”
“No.”
I don’t dislike Gilbert’s belief in saving everyone. But… chasing ideals without knowing his limits, only to be crushed by their weight, is pathetic. We’ve come too far to resolve things amicably. My side still aches from the blow he landed.
“Cadet Martin! Were you the one who stopped the magic at the grand plaza that day?”
“Who knows.”
“Ugh…! You! You fought Gilbert that day, didn’t you!”
“Don’t know.”
“Argh!”
Elisha stood up and stormed off to another group. As she joined them with a sulky expression, some shot me dirty looks.
‘Can’t be helped.’
Gilbert’s belief isn’t bad in itself. His failure isn’t the reason for criticism either.
But he couldn’t handle his defeat and tried to pin the blame on me. That’s undeniably his fault. I have nothing to feel guilty about.
Yet, I can’t talk because Elisha is intensely noble and prideful. If this small flap of wings turns into a storm that drives a wedge between them, it’d be a catastrophic misstep.
They’re the protagonist party. The light of salvation the author prepared to counter the apocalypse set for this world.
To prepare for that apocalypse, I need to keep my mouth shut.
…It’s absolutely not because Elisha swiped five cups of my coffee. Definitely not.
***
The volunteer camp leading the Eudialyte reforestation project is filled with environmentalists from across the continent. It’s famous for not discriminating between nobles and commoners.
As such, the concept of privilege is minimal. If you asked Willow to name one perk of being camp leader, it’d be the large private tent others don’t get.
“I’m back.”
“You’re late.”
Faris walked into the tent and sat down. Willow generously offered him a cool drink.
She read reports while waiting for the exhausted Gold Knight to quench his thirst.
“Phew! That hit the spot!”
“So… did you find anything?”
Today’s attack aside, since moving into this area, monster attacks have skyrocketed. Over ten members have gone missing for unknown reasons.
Having a connection with one of the continent’s top archers, she’d asked for help identifying the cause, but…
“Nothing stood out.”
“I see.”
She understood. The camp hadn’t found anything in a month either. Of course… saying she hadn’t hoped would be a lie.
Her expression must’ve given her away. The earnest young knight Faris bowed apologetically.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help.”
“No, it’s not your job, and I’m grateful you helped late into the night. Go store your gear in the warehouse and rest.”
“Yes, understood. …Oh, wait.”
Faris looked up sharply, narrowing his slit eyes as if about to discuss something serious.
“Are your eyes even open?”
“Of course. Slit eyes have their own realm.”
“More importantly, what’s up?”
“…Do ghosts appear here?”
“Ghosts? What nonsense is that?”
Faris relaxed his expression, twirling his elegant curly hair.
“While searching, I definitely saw something, but there was no presence or trace… I thought I saw a ghost.”
Willow furrowed her brow. She wanted to believe a Gold Knight, but the report was hard to trust.
“Do you think this is the Necropolis of the Arctic?”
“It’s not that kind of perilous realm, but you never know. Something might be hiding in the desert.”
“That’s a bad joke. I’m the project leader, but even necromancers avoid this desert.”
At Willow’s firm response, Faris stood.
“Alright, I’ll head in. Good night.”
“Yes, thanks again for your effort.”
***
Late at night, in the dark.
A sleeping bag, like a bug’s cocoon, wriggled. Squirm, squirm. After tossing and turning for hours, Elisha finally kicked off the bag and stepped out of the tent.
“Why… why is this happening…?”
She was bewildered by a phenomenon she’d never experienced in her 17 years. Her eyes were too clear. She was sleepy, her eyes hollow, yet why couldn’t she sleep?
‘Did I achieve some enlightenment that banished my fatigue?’
It was just the effect of the five cups of coffee she’d taken from Martin.
‘Maybe a walk will calm me down.’
The camp had mana lights on all night for potential attacks, and an alarm spell would sound if unregistered lifeforms entered, so there were no sentries.
Above all, she couldn’t sleep.
It was the perfect setting for a midnight stroll.
In this quiet night.
In the vast desert.
She felt a strange thrill, as if she were the only one awake.
“Oh!”
While wandering near the kitchen, she spotted a familiar bottle. Her mouth watered.
Martin’s coffee bottle, no doubt!
“…!”
Elisha scanned the surroundings with a fierce gaze. The eyes of the Harmadun, the empire’s premier archery family, surveyed the area.
‘Heh, hehe.’
She picked up the thermos and began rationalizing.
‘Cadet Martin’s so careless. Leaving precious items around. Hmm, well… fine. I should check if there’s anything wrong with it, right? You never know. There might be an assassination spell targeting him!’
Expecting the tan “drug,” she opened the lid, but it was empty.
“…Tch.”
It had been washed and left to dry.
Elisha took the thermos. She’d return it, at least. As she looked up to keep wandering…
“…!”
Something was there. Just for a fleeting moment, she saw a figure vanish beyond a dune. But it felt… too sly, too cunning to be human.
Reaching out, a subspace opened, and the Harmadun’s red bow appeared. Elisha cut through the darkness, climbing the dune.
‘Nothing?’
Atop the dune, she found nothing. No presence, no tracks that should’ve been there if someone had passed. Like a phantom.
‘A g-ghost?’
Elisha hunched her shoulders, clutching her arms. Goosebumps prickled her skin. She looked around.
Darkness! Darkness! Darkness! Just a bit away from the camp, and it was pitch black?! A ghost wasn’t about to pounce from behind, was it?!
The brightly lit volunteer camp came to mind. She had to get there!
“Oh, uh, time to head back! To the light-filled camp~!”
Her slow steps quickened, soon turning into a sprint. Reaching the safety of the light, relief washed over her.
‘I wasn’t scared. Ghost-type monsters are just dangerous!’
Sighing, thinking to head to bed, she saw it.
‘There!’
Someone in rags passed between the tents.
‘Cadet Martin?!’
She wasn’t sure, but Martin was the only one she could imagine acting suspiciously at this hour.
The empty night was her chance. She’d ask what happened with Gilbert. And if possible… whether he’s truly the Cosmos Empire’s Peacemaker, and why he became the Princess' Black Knight!
Chasing Martin around the tents, though the distance was far, she was Elisha of the Harmadun. She closed the gap with swift steps.
‘This is the camp’s center?’
Turning the last tent corner into bright light, she sought the man in tattered rags.
“Cadet Mar…!”
But before her were thugs gathered around the camp’s power source, the generator.
“Who are you!”
Shouting, she nocked an arrow, and they turned. No skin, just black voids in their eye sockets—wraiths.
“Eeeeek!”
Starting with Elisha’s scream, the mana light generator exploded under the wraiths’ attack.
[Warning! Warning! Mana generator destroyed! Warning! Warning!]
A blaring alarm sounded, and voices echoed across the camp.
“What’s happening?!”
“Didn’t you hear a scream?! Like a girl terrified by a ghost!”
“Grab your weapons!”
In the chaotic darkness, looking up, there was no moon or stars, just an inky sky.
“Ah, ah…! Aaa…!”
Elisha ducked instinctively. She felt a blade slice through the air above her.
“There’s a monster outside! Be careful!”
“What…? Lady Elisha?!”
“There’s a monster outside! Hurry!”
The bold camp members and shooting club stumbled in the dark, colliding with each other or attacking allies by mistake.
“I’ll make light!”
A confident mage conjured mana light to illuminate the area, but instantly became the wraiths’ target, engulfed with a dying scream as the light vanished.
“Ugh, did you see that?!”
“What are those things?!”
It backfired. The brief glimpse of the wraiths’ forms plunged the cadets and camp members into fear and confusion.
Elisha ran, her breath ragged. Normally, this distance wouldn’t wind her, but extreme tension and fear pushed her body to its limit.
‘Help!’
Anyone, please! Please!
‘Help!’
In the blinding darkness, a vision appeared.
Her brother, shielding her from a horde of orcs wielding clubs, becoming bait. She couldn’t move, and he died horribly.
‘I can’t… rely on help!’
Elisha gritted her teeth and nocked an arrow. She turned boldly, but something knocked her bow away. She couldn’t even tell what hit her. All she knew was she was defenseless, a target in the all-consuming darkness.
“Ack?!”
Falling back, Elisha shed a tear in the face of approaching terror.
It couldn’t end like this. She had things to do. She had to live fiercely for her brother, who was better than her, to ensure no one else suffered like she did. Until the day she eradicated all evil and upheld justice! She had to survive!
‘I can’t end like this…!’
Bang!
A flash of fire. In that split second, she saw a ghastly wraith raising a sword to strike her, a bullet hole clear in its forehead.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out, collapsing the wraiths chasing her.
‘Could it be…?’
Turning, she saw Cadet Martin, illuminated by the muzzle flashes.
I couldn’t do anything, but Martin’s bullets hit the wraiths’ foreheads with perfect accuracy, even in the dark. As the final shot fired, his eyes lowered to meet mine.
“Excuse me.”
“Huh, yes?”
While I stood dazed, Martin approached and lifted me by the waist with one arm.
“Eek…!”
“I know you don’t want contact with me, but stay still.”
With one hand holding the gun and the other carrying me, Martin darted through the camp.
‘Was he this strong?!’
Elisha blushed. She was mortified but had to endure it. She was clearly a burden now.
The deafening gunshots rang out repeatedly. Each shot revealed the battlefield like a painting, thrillingly.
How he did it, the bullets saved the most endangered and pierced the most dangerous wraiths. The darkness seemed no obstacle to him.