Chapter 122: Chapter 1
Garrow and Ulyseon abandoned the drake carcass they were fussing over and hastened to her side.
A knight retrieving a heavy ball and chain looped around the leg of one of the monsters clicked his tongue loudly. “You two better get your heads on straight. Getting distracted from guarding her ladyship while those vultures are circling...”
“Our apologies, sir. This is the first time we’ve seen a drake up close...”
Ulyseon turned to Maxi apologetically, looking embarrassed as he scratched his head. Maxi smiled to reassure him. She did not think anything could have happened to her with so many knights around.
As if reading her thoughts, the knight who had admonished the squires grew grim. “We do not know what dangers might be lurking, my lady. A moment of carelessness can cost a life.”
Maxi nodded stiffly, and even the squires’ faces grew serious.
“Never take your eyes off of her ladyship from now on.”
With a satisfied look, the knight went to retrieve another weapon. Maxi watched as the men methodically cleaned the blood from the weapons they recovered from the carcasses, while others collected magic stones from the drakes’ hearts.
When they were done, they hastily washed their blood-splattered armor and mounted their horses in unison. They set out again without a moment to catch their breaths.
Not long after they had moved on from the cliff, loud flapping came from above. A flock of harpies had begun swooping down to gorge on the drake carcasses. Maxi shuddered at the sight. She was certain the horrifying image of the monstrous, bird-like creatures with their pallid faces smeared with blood would give her nightmares.
“Keep your wits about you! More drakes may be hiding nearby!”
Hearing Riftan’s booming voice, Maxi hastily turned her head to look forward again. The rugged terrain continued on for a long time, and the knights remained vigilant as they passed along the lively stream that flowed through the valley.
The looming possibility that monsters might leap out at them made Maxi’s back damp with cold sweat. She was so wound up that she was utterly exhausted by the time they stopped for a break to feed and water the horses.
“Here, my lady, have some water and salt,” said Garrow, handing Maxi a waterskin and a small quilt pouch. “You will exhaust yourself if you do not keep hydrated.”
Slumped on a rock, Maxi pinched some of the salt and sprinkled it into her mouth. Ulyseon watched as she drank thirstily from the waterskin as though he felt sorry for her.
“Please endure it a bit longer, my lady. We should be able to get some proper rest once we are out of this valley.”
Maxi barely managed a smile. She simply could not bring herself to say that she was all right.
They rode on for half a day more, but contrary to her fears, no more harpies or drakes appeared as they passed through the valley. It was only after they had reached a flat plain that they began setting up tents. Maxi teetered off her horse and gathered firewood to help the knights. Seeing this, the knights quickly dissuaded her.
“You must save your energy, my lady. You would be helping us more that way.”
After hesitating briefly, Maxi put down the twigs. It would certainly be better for her to regain her energy than to slow them down by dropping from exhaustion.
While the knights prepared the meal, Maxi sat by the brook and washed her clammy face and neck. The cool water was also refreshing against her sore hands and forearms. She finished washing up by soaking a towel and slipping it inside her tunic to wipe her underarms and back.
A bath and a change of clothes would have been heavenly, but that was impossible when she was surrounded by so many knights. Maxi flapped her clothes and tried to dry the sweat instead.
Thinking that she would at least change her socks, she had just dunked her feet when Riftan’s curt voice sounded above her head.
“Your tent is ready. You should go rest.”
Maxi rose and picked up her boots, but she did not like the thought of putting them on again with wet feet. She gave him a troubled look as she shook the water off. Before she knew it, she was in the air.
“R-Riftan!” Maxi shrieked.
“You mean, Sir Riftan,” Riftan muttered sarcastically, striding toward the tents with Maxi in his arms.
Maxi pursed her lips as he pushed her straight into her tent.
“I shall bring you your meal as soon as it is ready, so rest a while.”
Maxi wanted to lash out and ask him if he had ever heard of a mage being served by the commanding knight, but she quickly gave up on the idea. Once he left, Maxi changed into a new tunic and undergarment.
Though she actually wished to change her trousers as well, she did not have the energy to wash and dry them, nor did she want to ask the knights to do even her laundry for her. Maxi brought her trousers to her nose. She scowled in disgust before slipping the sweat-soaked garment back on.
She realized just how opulent her life had been; she always had clothes to change into and clean water to bathe in. The damp trousers she wore now smelled of horses, and it disgusted her all the more.
It is unavoidable in a campaign...
Squeezing her eyes shut, Maxi lay down on the blanket. Perhaps it was because she was less tired than she had been the previous day, but she could feel the bumps on the ground far more distinctly. Tossing about, she tried to find a comfortable position.
“Are you uncomfortable?”
Sticking his head into the tent, Riftan caught her wriggling on the blanket. Maxi shook her head. The last thing she wanted was to be seen as fussy when he already thought of her as a delicate noblewoman.
“I-I was... merely trying to scratch my back. Is that... dinner?”
“It is soup with dry meat and some bread.”
He crawled into the tent and lowered the tray onto the floor. The tent suddenly felt cramped with his tall and brawny physique within it. As she picked up the bowl of soup, Maxi vacantly watched Riftan stretch out his long legs and remove his armor one by one. Riftan cocked an eyebrow as if to tell her to start eating.
“I know it’s not much, but it’s the best we can manage on a journey. Try to eat it even if it does not suit your palate.”
“I had no intention of complaining a-about the food,” Maxi replied in annoyance, then quietly began to eat.
The stale bread and bland soup was practically a feast after this morning’s piece of apple and jerky. She gulped down her ration in the blink of an eye.
“You must have been famished,” Riftan said after watching her wolf down the meal.
His eyes darkened, and Maxi blushed, wondering if she had devoured it too hungrily.
“A-A little.”
“Our journey will continue like this. Are you sure you can handle it?”
Maxi stubbornly bobbed her head. Riftan regarded her for a moment, then began to eat his meal in silence. As soon as they were finished, they lay side by side inside the tent.
Even though she was close to fainting from exhaustion, sleep strangely eluded her. Sighing, Maxi tossed about to get into a comfortable position and unwittingly touched Riftan’s leg as she did so. Riftan pulled his arm out from under his head and turned away from her as though he had been burned.
Maxi’s face stilled. Since when had he loathed touching her? He had always fallen asleep with his arms wrapped around her.
Yet, at the moment, he was pretending to sleep as far from her as possible as though he could not stand being touched. Fear suddenly coiled inside her chest. Was he completely disillusioned with her?
His face was shrouded in darkness. Maxi nervously searched it and placed her hand on his forearm. Riftan stiffened. He drew in a sharp breath, and an instant later, he sat bolt upright and grabbed his sword.
“I will stay outside. Go ahead and sleep.”
With that, he crawled out of the tent before Maxi could stop him. She blinked after him in shock before pulling the blanket over her head. She could hear beasts howling in the distance, and for some reason, they sounded sad.
...
***
Riftan remained indifferent to her throughout the journey. During the day, he led the knights in silence. At night, he would bring her food and make her bed, but that was as far as their interactions went. He even stopped coming to her tent.
When she secretly inquired with Hebaron, he told her that Riftan either spent the night wrapped in a blanket near her tent or did not sleep at all.
Maxi was furious. No matter how angry he was, how could he let his body suffer like that so foolishly?
When she stormed up to him and demanded to know why he refused to sleep in her tent, Riftan replied irritably, “Trust me. I can rest better outside.”
She did not know how to respond to his firm tone. One good thing about the campaign being so arduous was that she was so dizzy from exhaustion, she did not have the strength to torture herself by brooding over Riftan’s coldness.
“We will be passing through that mountain soon. The path will be rough, so please follow us carefully,” Gabel cautioned as they rode through the dense forest.
Wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead, Maxi nodded. The day was unusually hot and humid, and the wind was barely there. Rem snorted continuously as though she was just as tired. Maxi coaxed her along as she resentfully looked up through the leaves at the blazing sun.
Perhaps it had been a mistake leaving the veil that the dressmaker couple had given her. A frivolous worry about getting more freckles crossed her mind.
“There will be a small village once we pass this mountain. We may be able to sleep on a bed tonight if we’re lucky, so please persevere a little longer, my lady,” Ulyseon said encouragingly.
Maxi scraped together whatever energy she had left by imagining bathing in cool water, scrubbing her body, washing her hair with soap, and sleeping on a clean bed.
...
They were halfway up the mountain when the horses grew noticeably slower from exhaustion. The party eventually dismounted and continued the climb on foot. It turned out that scrambling up a steep slope with twisting roots was no easy feat. Feeling her calf muscles burning, she tossed her head back and tried to steady her breathing.
Blinding sunlight streamed in through the leaves. Each time she inhaled deeply, it felt as though her lungs were being stabbed, and her feet felt like they were on fire.
A plea to stop for a short rest was stuck in her throat, but she desperately pushed it back down. Not wanting to become a nuisance, she stubbornly kept herself collected until the hellish march came to an end. Maxi nearly sank to the ground on the spot, but a harsh bellow rang out before she could even catch her breath.
“Cast your barrier now!”
It was Riftan. In a daze, Maxi watched as the knights drew their swords.
“Goblins!”
Before she could grasp what was happening, the ground shook violently, and a horde of creatures came swooping at them from above. Maxi screamed and staggered back. A hideous goblin with wrinkled, dark-green skin charged at her with an ax.
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