Commander, how could you do this without so much as a word to me — the expedition’s commanding officer!
She says she hasn’t finished testing the long-range device and needs to refine it along the way. What would you have me do? And if the knights are going to use these devices properly, they need thorough instruction — that much is correct.
If the device hasn’t been verified, there is absolutely no need to use it on this expedition! We’ve dealt with monster outbreaks before — why is it so necessary to—
Leon. You know as well as I do that this expedition will be unlike anything we’ve handled before.
And that is exactly why you agreed to let a civilian — not a trained fighter — accompany the force?
It’s not as though I wanted to! Listen, Leon — Lady Rüschino is practically the only person who has volunteered to help us on this expedition!
…What do you mean?
Everyone else has taken a step back and is watching from a careful distance, Leon.
…….
Every eye is on us, waiting to see whether we succeed or fail. In a situation like this, is it truly rational to turn away the one person who has offered to help us — with no conditions attached? And the devices themselves are no small thing. No one knows that better than you.
Commander.
Leon. I may be a cowardly old man, but I can still tell good from bad. I don’t believe Lady Kasha Rüschino is the kind of person who would betray others for her own gain.
…….
There must be a reason she didn’t discuss this with you first. Frankly, given your track record, I can’t say I’m surprised. You didn’t say a word to her about this expedition, did you?
Of course I didn’t. It was obvious this expedition would be dangerous—
Which is precisely why she was not willing to let you go alone!
…….
Stop arguing and get moving! We need to reach the next waypoint before the lady tires herself out!
Leon swayed in the saddle at a steady pace, turning that final exchange with Alex over and over in his mind.
He understood Alex’s reasoning. The Order’s very existence might be at stake in this expedition — as were the lives of each knight they had both spent years shaping.
Alex would have clutched at any lifeline available. Leon was no different.
The trouble was that in this particular case, the lifeline was named Kasha.
A long breath escaped him.
You are always reckless, and in front of you, I am always useless and unable to do anything.
His entire life had been built around protecting others. Intercepting threats before they reached those he cared for, enduring pain alone, in silence — it had become something close to instinct.
And yet Kasha had never once sought his protection. She seemed not to have even conceived of the possibility. Sometimes it stung his pride.
Was he truly nothing more than a piece on her board — something she had needed for a time, on her way toward her own objectives? A helplessness unlike anything he had ever known settled over him like a weight.
He swept his gaze over the column on the pretext of a survey and searched briefly for her at the rear.
But the long line of the formation made her difficult to find.
Is she keeping up all right? She’s never ridden this long before.
For someone new to riding, a full day on horseback was close to an ordeal. And given the urgency of this expedition, there was no room to adjust the pace for comfort — they needed to arrive quickly.
At this rate, the journey would take more than two weeks. Mountain paths, desert terrain, cliff faces — the route ahead was expected to be punishing throughout.
I can use sacred power to help her recover whenever I can manage it — but with my men watching on all sides, I can’t stay near her constantly.
Given the nature of the unit — a company composed entirely of holy knights — he could always have one of his men attend to her recovery.
The problem is I would sooner die than arrange that.
Leon pressed his lips together in irritation. Even imagining another man’s hand touching Kasha’s forehead made something cold and dangerous stir in his gut.
Compose yourself.
He was the commanding officer of the Holy Knight Order, invoking the name of God. He could not be kindling murderous intent toward his own men.
This is going to be a difficult journey.
He stared up at the sun burning red above him and, in all sincerity, thought exactly that.
First evening of the expedition.
Finding out that they were camping in an open field — no nearby estate, no shelter — Kasha dismounted her horse with a carefully composed expression.
The moment her feet touched the ground, every bone and muscle in her body registered its protest with startling clarity. Her thighs and hips and lower back in particular had gone so numb she could barely feel them.
That had been her state for the past two hours or so, if she were honest. She had gritted her teeth and endured it, making it through the first day without incident — but tomorrow, and the day after, still stretched ahead of her.
Can I actually keep going for two weeks like this without slowing the expedition down?
Perhaps it would have been wiser to simply send the devices with the expedition and remain in the capital. Her determination to complete the long-range device and change the shape of this war had made everything snowball like this.
The journey has already begun. Stop being weak.
She steadied herself with that thought and turned to look for a spot to set up her tent.
“…?”
What on earth was happening?
Knights had converged around her and were assembling something with swift, coordinated efficiency. When she moved to give them space, several of them rushed over to stop her.
“Please wait just a moment! It’ll be ready shortly!”
“What will?”
“Your tent, naturally, Lady Kasha.”
Karim laughed, easy and good-natured.
“I can — I can set it up myself. I don’t want to be a burden.”
“Goodness, no. Please don’t worry. We have orders to make absolutely certain you’re comfortable for the duration.”
“…….”
She didn’t ask who had given those orders. There was only one person in a position to give Karim a command.
Kasha stared as a full-sized tent took shape before her eyes in a matter of minutes.
“I’m supposed to use this entire tent by myself?”
“It’s normally the Commander’s tent — he’s offered it to you.”
Karim leaned in with a conspiratorial wink. Kasha raised her hands in protest.
“No — I really can’t—”
“Don’t worry. There’s a second large tent kept in reserve for emergencies — no inconvenience at all. Please, just accept it. If you refuse, we’re the ones who suffer.”
Karim was so insistent she had no ground left to stand on. She sighed, her expression going quiet.
This isn’t why I came.
Her concerns, it seemed, were simply irrelevant. The tent was finished, and the knights dispersed promptly.
“Rest well! Supper will be brought to you shortly!”
“I can come and get it myself—”
“If you keep saying things like that, we’ll be in serious trouble!”
Karim vanished before she could say another word, having stationed two guards outside her tent into the bargain.
Kasha went inside and looked around. A set of reasonably soft bedding had already been laid, along with a small desk and a chair — she had no idea when they’d appeared.
There’s nothing for it. I have to finish the long-range device as quickly as possible and make myself useful.
Her eyes hardened with purpose.
She ate the meal the knights brought her quickly, then went straight to the desk. The moment she sat down, pain blazed up from below and she nearly cried out. Her entire body ached and exhaustion was pulling at her — but she set her jaw and held on.
The long-range device was nearly finished. She only needed to calibrate the distance to the target and the angle of launch — and that was proving far more difficult than it should have been.
Kasha did not leave the desk until the night was deep and the surrounding camp had filled with the sound of snoring.
And then, a few hours later, in the grey before dawn, someone entered her tent.
“I knew it.”
Seeing her slumped over the desk, asleep where she sat, the intruder exhaled the words in a near-silent murmur.
He crossed to her at once and lifted her with practiced care. A familiar movement.
Her neck went limp and fell back as she was lifted, and he caught it carefully, adjusting his grip to support her.
He carried her to the bedding and laid her down gently. But she stirred at the sudden absence of warmth, curling onto her side with something unintelligible on her lips.
At that same moment, her loose shirt rode up, exposing the pale expanse of her back and the narrow line of her waist without warning.
That was not all.
The thin fabric that had made her seem fragile and slight revealed, as it shifted, a figure far more softly curved than he had allowed himself to imagine.
“…….”
He stood still for a suspended moment. Then the eyes of the intruder — Leon — wavered, utterly beyond his control.
“Why do you always…” he said, his voice barely above a breath. “Why do you always put me through this?”
Slightly flushed at the corners, he reached down with quick, rigid movements and pulled her shirt back into place. His hands were stiff as a wooden puppet — but noticeably unsteady at the fingertips.
With her pale skin hidden again, he managed to recover something resembling focus.
Golden sacred power spilled from his hand. He pressed it gently to her forehead. After a moment, her breathing quieted and settled into calm.
He lifted his hand and hesitated, then murmured softly — as though defending a choice he had not quite made cleanly.
“Just so you know — this is entirely for the sake of your recovery. Not for any other reason. I hope you understand that.”
“…….”
“Ideally, I should have asked your permission first. But I knew you would never allow it under these circumstances.”
As if in answer to his rambling, Kasha’s face creased slightly.
His hand hovered helplessly for a moment, then resolved itself, and moved slowly downward toward her waist.
