If this were the modern era, we wouldn’t have to pack down dirt roads like this—there’d be asphalt instead. What a shame.
...Wait. Would we still have to repaint the asphalt and scrape off chewing gum?
‘Come to think of it, a dirt road might be better.’
After a long while of backbreaking labor, the road was almost finished. Winter took a step back, clasped his hands behind his back, and surveyed the path with an eagle-eyed gaze.
"Hmm..."
"Does anything look off?"
I, standing beside him, immediately tried to read his expression. In a cold voice, he responded,
"The road is uneven."
"...I’ll have them flatten it further!"
And so, to smooth out the road, Benny even used her wind attribute aura.
"Father... I miss you..."
I definitely heard Benny mumbling, but I pretended I didn’t.
Since news had spread that the newly crowned Emperor would be passing through here, the townspeople had gathered to watch us prepare the road and await his arrival.
They murmured in admiration at Benny’s precise aura control. Not exactly the recognition she wanted, though.
‘That’s annoying.’
I glanced toward the crowd.
I’d been on external duty enough times to know exactly how people looked at us. They stared at us as if we were monsters, with thinly veiled fear in their eyes.
It was only natural, but that didn’t mean I liked standing among people who clearly despised me.
That was when I noticed Dalin.
With so many people around, she looked far less confident than she did at the unit. It was almost like she had regressed to how she had been when she first enlisted.
"Dalin!"
"Yes?"
She widened her eyes and ran toward me at full speed.
"Why aren’t you moving faster?"
"H-huh?!"
"Why is the work so damn slow only in your section? You trying to die? Do you want to get dragged inside for a one-on-one session?"
"Ack, no, I’ll work faster!"
Dalin hurriedly resumed working.
And, just as I expected, as she focused on avoiding my wrath, she completely forgot about her discomfort among the townspeople.
Whew. What a considerate senior I was, looking out for my juniors’ emotional well-being like this.
"...Move faster. Your hands are just sitting there, aren’t they?"
"I’ll fix it!"
Yep. I was an amazing senior.
Finally, the road was ready.
We lined up on either side of it, leaving a clear path for the Emperor’s procession.
There was always the possibility of an assassin hiding among the townspeople, so this formation also allowed us to keep watch for any threats.
The soldiers stood at intervals, with other military units positioned at the far ends of the road. I had heard that not just the Border Defense Army but also soldiers from other command units were mixed in.
Unfortunately, the time the Emperor had chosen to pass through was precisely when the sun was at its highest.
I could already feel sweat dripping down my back.
The heat was unbearable.
‘This XX Emperor, I swear to god...’
I was dripping sweat, scowling in the heat, when Winter suddenly left his position and approached me.
"Salvia, are you very hot?"
"Yes."
I replied automatically—then suddenly locked eyes with his icy blue ones.
Wait. Winter’s aura was ice-attribute.
‘Would standing near him make it cooler?’
Just like how touching Aquila’s hand would warm me up, maybe Winter had a naturally cooling effect.
After a brief moment of thought, I glanced at the spot where Winter had been standing and said,
"Can I switch places with you?"
"I don’t mind. But why?"
"Mm. The sunlight is stronger over here."
It was the kind of brazenly selfish answer that showed I didn’t give a damn about my subordinates, but no one around me even reacted.
Even Winter took it in stride.
"Then go ahead."
And so, I switched places with him.
I wasn’t sure if it actually made a difference, but maybe as a placebo effect, it did feel slightly cooler.
"They’re coming."
Winter murmured suddenly, eyes fixed ahead.
He had been the first to sense the Crown Prince’s arrival the last time, so he must have been detecting the vibrations in the ground.
"I can feel the horses approaching."
"Ooooh... Hey, you heard that?"
I turned my head to glare at the recruits, and they immediately stiffened in nervous anticipation.
If that XX XX, now Emperor, even hinted that our discipline was lacking, we were all dead.
As we stood on high alert, waiting for the Emperor—
"Huh?"
Someone from the crowd muttered in confusion.
A figure was running down the road.
A massive, broad-shouldered man, draped in a black robe.
If that wasn’t the most obviously suspicious black magician getup I’d ever seen.
A black magician?!
I remembered something I had overheard when Karon had been in danger—one of the Three Great Black Magicians of the Empire operated in this area!
Just like before, this guy was definitely here to commit a crime.
Even if he wasn’t a black magician, charging onto the cleared path at this moment could only mean one thing—he was targeting the Emperor.
XX. I could already hear the sound of every single soldier here losing their heads.
"Jenny! Behind you!"
"Catch him!"
Winter and I shouted at the same time.
Jenny, confused, turned around—just in time to see the suspicious man charging toward her.
“No!”
The Emperor would be passing through here any second now.
That realization hit me like a lightning bolt, and I moved on instinct.
But someone acted even faster.
Karon, standing beside Jenny, launched himself forward before I could even finish yelling “Catch him!”
Thud!
Karon tackled the man, rolling over once as he brought him down. The black-robed figure never even got the chance to step onto the path.
‘Whew. That was close. Almost left footprints all over the clean road we just finished.’
Karon was one of the strongest among us, and the man didn’t stand a chance. He was completely overpowered, unable to struggle free.
‘Wait... This guy was supposed to be one of the Empire’s Three Great Black Magicians, right? Why are they all so weak?’
Honestly, people with fancy titles like The Four Heavenly Kings of Evil were always just a lineup of stepping stones for the protagonist...
The black magician was subdued, but the atmosphere was still tense.
“The Imperial family...! Those filthy, cursed bastards!”
The black magician kept screaming, full of rage. He clearly had a personal vendetta against the Emperor.
“Hey, isn’t that a curse effigy?”
I pointed at the suspicious-looking totem in his hand and glanced at Winter.
Winter nodded.
“Yes. It’s definitely an object for black magic.”
So he had definitely been attempting an assassination.
XX, that was way too close.
This was even more dangerous than when I’d been swallowed by the Ghost Groom.
Meanwhile, the black magician thrashed violently under Karon, desperately trying to break free.
“You hypocrites! You use black magic yourselves, yet you persecute us?!”
Of course, no matter how hard he struggled, Karon wasn’t letting go.
Karon towered over him, face devoid of any trace of amusement. His usual easygoing demeanor was gone—he was terrifyingly cold.
The magician’s robe shifted, slipping down and revealing his face.
“Gasp...!”
The surrounding townspeople recoiled.
He had the classic deranged villain look—sunken eyes, hollow cheeks, a deeply unpleasant aura.
‘He’s not even thinking rationally.’
He had charged forward without any plan, without any preparation for being caught.
He must have been so consumed by rage upon hearing the Emperor would be passing through here that he had blindly rushed in.
Which was why subduing him had been so easy.
The man, still pinned beneath Karon, let out a choked growl.
“You’re just being used by the Emperor like pawns! Why do you protect him?!”
The words struck a nerve.
For a moment, the soldiers around me hesitated.
Because the truth was... he wasn’t wrong.
But before anyone could dwell on it—
“Focus ahead.”
Winter’s voice cut through the tension like a blade.
The soldiers immediately snapped back to attention.
We were seconds away from the Emperor’s arrival. There was no time to think about anything else.
With Karon occupied, the rest of us resumed our rigid postures, acting as if nothing had happened.
“W-what the hell is going on here?”
Our platoon leader, clearly at a loss, looked back and forth between us.
But before he could even begin to issue orders—
Winter calmly stepped in.
“Karon’s position can be naturally covered by widening the spacing. As for the black magician, Karon can keep him restrained and hand him over to the authorities later—”
“No need for that.”
A very familiar voice rang out.
“No way...”
The second Winter heard it, his face froze in shock.
Karon’s grip momentarily slackened, nearly allowing the black magician to slip free.
Ishina’s pupils trembled.
Aquila... Aquila just looked at me with the most pained expression.
But the person most genuinely stunned in this moment was me.
“No... way...”
“That man is a black magician. We’ve been tracking him. I’ll take him from here.”
A woman stood before us, dressed in plain clothing.
But—
"Eh, eh, eh, April-nim?"
It was unmistakably April.
The recruits and privates were confused, but every single sergeant and Winter were frozen.
“What are you doing here...?”
Winter was the first to speak cautiously.
She gestured toward the black magician, still pinned beneath Karon.
“I was tracking him. It’s my job.”
Oh. Right.
April had joined the Special Forces for Black Magic Investigation.
So this was the black magician she had been pursuing.
“You guys have more pressing matters right now, don’t you? I’ll take care of this, and we can talk later.”
April smiled at me.
I blacked out for a second.
But then I remembered—THE EMPEROR WAS COMING.
Snapping back to reality, I watched as April effortlessly took the black magician off Karon’s hands.
This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
Dragging him along, she vanished into the distance.