Chapter 21: Self Deprecation
"We’re here to rescue people, not just kill monsters," Siegfried said. "If we charge carelessly, they’ll scatter toward the civilians."
"Then what do we do?" Jerome asked.
"Redirect their attention. Monsters are simpler than people. If they believe a larger threat has appeared elsewhere, their instincts will naturally shift toward it."
"...."
Sure enough, several of the beasts abandoned the terrified civilians altogether, growling as they sprinted toward the source of the explosion.
"...."
Siegfried brought his index and middle fingers together before his face, the remaining fingers curled inward as his eyes slowly closed. A murmur escaped his lips, and with every word, a golden magic circle flared to life, layer upon layer of luminous runes rotating around a brilliant core.
Boom——!
A concentrated blast of mana erupted several dozen meters away from the caravan, sending snow and loose dirt into the air.
The sound echoed throughout the mountainside, and almost every wolf-like beast immediately snapped its head toward the disturbance.
Siegfried rose to his feet.
"Now!"
The three mages immediately took position behind the front line, magic circles already beginning to form as they prepared supporting spells.
At the same time, Jerome, Gilbert, and Ilya drew their swords almost in unison before charging straight toward the distracted beasts, hoping to intercept them before they could circle back toward the civilians.
"Don’t let them regroup!" Gilbert shouted.
"You don’t have to tell me twice!" Jerome answered, quickening his pace.
Keeping pace just behind the other two, Ilya silently observed the battlefield instead of immediately committing to an attack.
Gilbert naturally drew the attention of the largest group through sheer aggression, while Jerome moved to intercept another beast attempting to circle around the flank, leaving only a handful still lingering near the civilians.
"...Hm."
Without wasting a single motion, Ilya altered his direction.
Rather than following Gilbert and Jerome deeper into the pack, he noticed a narrow opening forming near the overturned wagons where two of the wolf-like beasts had begun circling toward the injured civilians.
Immediately changing course, he sprinted across the snow and placed himself directly between the survivors and the approaching monsters before they could exploit the gap.
He lowered his center of gravity and raised his sword into a guarded stance. Of course, he had no intention of chasing them down.
All he had to do was make sure they never took another step forward.
One of the beasts lunged first.
Clang——!
Ilya caught the creature’s claws against his blade before twisting his wrist, redirecting the attack away from his body instead of meeting it head-on.
Before the beast could recover, another immediately darted in from the side, forcing him to pivot and intercept a second strike.
———!
Behind him, Elise and Lucie were already moving.
"This one’s still breathing!" Elise shouted as she knelt beside an injured merchant. "Lucie, I need a healing spell!"
"Already on it!"
A green magic circle bloomed under the wounded civilian while the remaining constructs hurried toward the designated evacuation route, guided by the two mages.
Every second Ilya bought allowed another survivor to move farther away from danger, and although he was being pushed backward under the relentless assaults, he refused to yield the narrow passage leading to the civilians.
Only after Gilbert and Jerome finished driving the remaining beasts away did the pressure finally disappear, allowing Ilya to lower his sword.
"Haa... Haaa..."
The last of the wolf-like beasts disappeared into the forest. While Elise and Lucie continued checking the remaining civilians, Gilbert slowly turned toward Ilya, his expression sterner than before.
"...Why did you leave formation?"
Ilya sheathed his sword back into its scabbard. "There was an opening."
Gilbert frowned. "That wasn’t the question."
"...."
"You abandoned your assigned position without saying a word. The moment you broke formation, none of us knew where you were anymore. If every knight starts making independent decisions whenever they think they’ve spotted an opportunity, then formations become meaningless."
"I prevented them from reaching the civilians."
"You’re missing the point."
Gilbert took a step closer.
"You happened to make the right call this time, but that’s not how teams operate. A formation isn’t built around six people doing whatever they believe is best. It’s built on everyone knowing where the others are supposed to be."
"And if I’d stayed where I was," Ilya replied, "those beasts would’ve reached the civilians."
"So you should’ve said something!"
"They wouldn’t have waited for permission."
The atmosphere between them immediately grew tense.
Jerome glanced between the two before taking a step back, while Elise and Lucie exchanged uneasy looks from beside the injured civilians. Even Siegfried remained silent.
Gilbert clicked his tongue.
"You still don’t get it."
He stepped forward again and jabbed a finger against Ilya’s chest.
"Out there, you’re not fighting by yourself anymore."
"...."
Gilbert’s irritation only grew due to Ilya’s indifference.
His finger became an open palm as he gave Ilya’s chest a firm shove, forcing him back half a step across the snow.
"You don’t get to decide on your own what’s important and what isn’t."
"...Are you done?"
The question was delivered so calmly that it only fueled Gilbert’s anger even further.
"You know what?" Gilbert scoffed. "I’ve been trying to tolerate you ever since this examination began, but I can’t anymore."
He took another step forward, glaring directly into Ilya’s eyes.
"I don’t like you."
"...."
"No." Gilbert shook his head. "That’s putting it too lightly."
"...."
"I absolutely despise you."
The clearing fell silent.
"You’re creepy," Gilbert continued. "You barely speak, you always have that same blank expression on your face, and no matter what happens around you, you react like none of it has anything to do with you. Half the time, I can’t even tell whether you’re listening or just staring through people."
Gilbert wasn’t finished.
"Do you honestly expect people to trust someone like that?"
"...."
"Look at you."
His frustration seeped into every word.
"Even now, after everything I’ve said, you’re standing there with that same face. Do you ever get angry? Do you ever get embarrassed? Do you even care what anyone thinks about you?"
"...."
Seeing the entire exchange, a sudden chill crept up Siegfried’s spine.
He couldn’t explain why, nor could he point to anything Ilya had actually done, but the temperature had plummeted. He felt as if he didn’t step in now, someone was going to die.
"...That’s enough," Siegfried said as he stepped between them, raising a hand toward Gilbert without taking his eyes off Ilya. "We’re still in the middle of an examination, and we’ve still got civilians to escort. Whatever either of you wants to say can wait until after we’ve completed the objective."
"...."
"...."
For several long seconds, neither of them moved.
"Your Highness," Gilbert began, "I respect you. I really do."
He paused.
"But with this guy around... it’s really difficult to proceed..."
Siegfried frowned, but allowed him to continue.
"I’ve tried giving him the benefit of the doubt ever since the examination started for everyone’s sake." Gilbert shook his head. "But after the past objectives... I understand why everyone keeps their distance."
His gaze turned back to Ilya.
"This is supposed to be a group examination... But do we really need this guy?"
"...."
"If all he’s going to do is ignore the formation, refuse to communicate, and act on his own whenever he feels like it, then what’s the difference between having him here and not having him here?"
"...."
"At least if we knew he wasn’t with us, we could plan around it."
One by one, everyone’s eyes slowly shifted toward Ilya, waiting for a response.
From the others’ perspective, Gilbert’s frustration wasn’t entirely without reason.
During the first objective, Ilya had lost the duel after his sword broke, costing the team the supply crate.
The second objective had ended without incident, but aside from guarding the rear and quietly following orders, he had done little that stood out.
Even during the rescue just now, although he had prevented the beasts from reaching the civilians, the first thing everyone remembered was that he had broken formation.
Whether fair or not, the impression had already taken root.
To the rest of the team, it looked as though Ilya had spent the entire expedition being carried forward while everyone else cleaned up the difficult parts.
Compared to Gilbert, Jerome, and even the three mages who had been constantly coordinating with one another, his contributions were simply the least visible.
The forest fell silent once more as everyone waited for Ilya to answer.
"It’s—"
Before Ilya could finish the first word, a deep, guttural roar resounded through the mountain forest.
Roooooooar——!
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