Chapter 121: Chapter 1 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦 “I think it would be best to prepare yourself to use defensive magic at any time, my lady.” Maxi had been basking in the sense of freedom when Gabel, riding ahead of her, abruptly cried out. She gave him a puzzled look. There were no wild animals in sight, let alone monsters. Wondering if they were being watched, Maxi looked about in terror. Gabel pointed upward. Her gaze reflexively followed his finger toward the sky, and she almost let out a scream. Five or six gigantic birds of bizarre proportion circled above them. “They are harpies, my lady. I do not think they intend to attack us at the moment, but it is best not to let your guard down.” If she recalled correctly, harpies were monsters that had the body of an eagle and the face of a human woman. Squinting upward, Maxi studied the creatures. They were too far away for her to see clearly, but she thought she could see a pale female face where the eagle’s head should be. Maxi’s grip tightened around her reins as a chill ran down her spine. Ulyseon brought his horse next to hers and cautioned her calmly, “Do not worry, my lady. Keep your gaze forward. We should be descending a slope with a rocky path soon, so you must be careful.” Maxi snapped her eyes back ahead. True to Ulyseon’s precaution, a precipitous cliff soon came into view. They led their horses along the edge and stopped next to a steep slope. At the foot of the road that plunged down was a deep, rocky valley. The knights carefully surveyed the bottom and hesitated. They needed to descend but could not do so immediately for fear of the harpies rolling boulders at them from the cliff. “I suppose we’ll have to get rid of those pests first,” Hebaron cried out impatiently, grabbing the hilt of the claymore slung over his back. Riftan raised his hand at the burly knight. “It is not them we should be concerned about,” he said, his cold gaze fixed on the bottom of the cliff. The knights followed his gaze. From the rear, Maxi was unable to share the view. She strained to hear what was going on when Riftan gave his command. “There are five drakes at the bottom. The first two- No, three rows will prepare battle. The rest shall wait here and keep an eye on the harpies.” The knights drew their swords in unison. Maxi stared open-mouthed as twenty or so knights galloped down the slope as fast as the wind. They stirred their horses along the steep and rocky path, as nimble as acrobats. The knights that remained at the top divided themselves into two groups. One would keep an eye on the harpies and the other would keep their bows drawn to provide cover for the descending party. The crisis had Maxi half out of her mind with nervousness. “W-What should I do?” “Just stay put until everything is over, my lady, and be prepared to cast your barrier just in case,” said Gabel, drawing his sword. The flock of harpies had suddenly grown by twenty. They simultaneously screeched a high-pitched cry as they circled above the campaign party. Covering her ears, Maxi followed Gabel’s instruction and made her mana flow along the lines of the rune. At that moment, a louder cry rang out from behind her. Maxi looked down at the petrifying sight. At the bottom of the cliff, the knights were locked in battle with monsters. The creatures appeared to be about 20 kevette (approximately 6 meters) in size. Sharp scales covered their bodies, making it seem as if they were roughly carved with a chisel. Pointed horns topped their lizard-like heads, and rows of razor-sharp teeth filled in their mouths. So, that is a drake... They were far more frightening than their illustrations. Their yellow eyes glinted as they charged at the knights, their bulky legs stomping the ground. The knights did not look intimidated as they scattered among the rocks to confuse the beasts. Horse and rider cantered about the rocky terrain as though they were one. As if it were a mere boar hunt, the knights skillfully lured the gigantic creatures into one place. “Commander!” One of the knights dodged a massive tail and wrapped the iron chain attached to a mace around the monster’s leg. The drake lurched, and Riftan seized the opening and plunged his sword into the drake’s throat. Dark red blood sprayed in all directions like a fountain. Maxi stared aghast at the scene before Ulyseon called out to her. “My lady! Please do not stand so close to the cliff! The harpies might charge and push you off.” Startled, Maxi hastily moved away from the edge. The harpies now flew close enough for her to see their faces clearly. When some of the knights aimed their bows at them, Gabel hurriedly stopped them. “Do not attack yet. It will be too much to handle if they join the fight now.” “But they are-” “It is not us they are after.” His calm voice was drowned out by the cries of the drakes. Beside herself with worry for Riftan, Maxi prayed for the battle to end quickly. The knights’ shouts, the drakes’ stomping, and the swooshing of swords continued for a long time until a cry from below finally announced the end of the battle. “It should be safe now, my lady. Please head down first with the junior knights.” At Gabel’s instruction, Maxi dismounted and carefully made her way down between the rocks. She was not as skilled as the knights to gallop down a steep slope. When she finally reached the foot of the cliff, one of the knights clearing the drake carcasses rushed over to take the reins from her. “Are you hurt anywhere, Lady Calypse?” “I-I should be the one... asking you. Has anyone been i-injured?” “Sir Evan Crude has a burn from drake gastric fluid. Could you please take a look at him?” Maxi nodded and rushed to where the knight was. When she got there, Sir Evan was removing his breastplate and tunic with the help of his comrades. Maxi stifled a gasp as his ghastly wound was revealed. The skin from his left shoulder to his chest was as raw as though someone had poured sizzling oil over it. Hebaron, despite taking in the gruesome injury, merely clicked his tongue. “Good job getting yourself hurt in our first battle. Why did you let a drake puke all over you like a fool?” “Don’t be so harsh, Sir Hebaron. Even you did not know there was another drake hiding in the cave,” Evan grumbled as he groaned in pain. There must have been six drakes in total, not five. After glancing at the drake carcass sprawled over the rocks, Maxi bent down to inspect the knight’s wound. Nearly all of the skin on his shoulder had been burned off, revealing red muscle underneath. She was reaching for the wound when Hebaron stopped her. “Do not touch it, my lady. The fluid might burn your hand as well.” “Th-Then we must cleanse the wound of the fluid immediately.” Maxi asked the junior knights to bring her clean water and quickly wiped away the fluid on his body. Although the contact must have hurt terribly, the knight endured it with a clenched jaw. He even managed to give her a smile. “It would have been a disaster if you had not come with us, my lady.” He sounded collected despite his gruesome injury. Aghast, Maxi gazed back at him before healing his wound. When the burns had healed completely, the tension drained from his shoulder. ... “Thank you, my lady. I feel much better now.” “If you are all fixed up, then hurry up and put your armor back on. We are setting out again as soon as we’ve collected all the magic stones from the drakes. We don’t know when those pests are going to start acting out,” Hebaron said, pointing to the harpies that were now perched on the edge of the cliff. Their faces were silhouetted against the light, and their feminine features held hints of a blood-chilling smile. Maxi tore her gaze away and looked about to see if anyone else needed treatment. Thankfully, no one else had a scratch on them. Riftan was washing drake blood off his armor by a pool, while the other knights were slicing open the drakes’ chests to collect their magic stones. Maxi watched on in bafflement. She was aware that parts of the dragon subspecies were worth a lot of gold, but she could not understand why they were wasting time ransacking monster carcasses when they should be on their way to save their comrades. “M-Must we... collect the stones? I know they are costly... b-but mustn’t we hurry...?” “We are not collecting them merely because we think it a waste not to. If we do not take them, the stones will gather mana from their surroundings and create an undead. In fact, if we were to follow the doctrines of the Orthodox Church, we would have to purify the carcass by burning it completely. It is practically impossible to incinerate such a massive monster without magic, though, so people tend to extract the magic stones instead.” “Those pests will take care of the carcasses.” Riftan came over to them dripping with water. Maxi carefully scanned him from head to foot. Other than the fact that he was soaking wet from his efforts to wash away monster blood, he appeared to be unharmed. Running a hand through his sopping hair, he regarded her briefly before turning to gaze up at the cliff. “The harpies followed us because they were hoping we’d kill the drakes. Once we are gone, they are going to knock themselves out clearing the carcasses.” “Does that mean they will stop following us?” ... “There is a high chance they will follow us again for their next meal.” He glared at the monsters perched on the cliff edge as though they were bothersome flies. “But we’ll just have to be far ahead of here before they decide to come after us. I have no intention of allowing such annoying hyenas to follow us around,” he said coolly before pulling on Talon’s reins. Realizing that he was trying to move away from her, Maxi trailed after him. She could not understand why he was treating her like she was invisible. “R-Riftan... are you not hurt anywhere?” “I’m fine,” he replied brusquely, pulling on his gauntlet. Maxi blocked his path, forcing him to look at her. “Riftan... a-are you still angry with me?” His mouth tightened into a thin line, and she could feel his sharp gaze dissecting her clammy face, disheveled hair, and dusty clothes she had worn since yesterday. Flushing, Maxi crossed her arms. “Was it not... fortunate that I c-came along? Someone was injured... just two days... i-into the journey-” “We are departing immediately,” he said stonily. “We do not have time to waste, so return to your spot in the formation at once.” “I-I think we could spare some time to-” “Was it not your wish for me to treat you as a mage and not my wife?” he said curtly, nimbly mounting Talon. “You were the one who insisted on joining the campaign against my will, so you should damn well obey your commander’s orders.” Maxi glared at his sharp face, concealed in shadow, before spinning on her heels and taking Rem’s reins. Gabel laughed awkwardly and tried to explain Riftan’s side. “Do not take it to heart, my lady. The commander is merely on edge from the battle. He tends to become a whole lot scarier when there are monsters nearby. One mistake could cost him his life, so it makes sense that he’s strung up like a wild animal.” “I... d-do not mind. Riftan... I mean, Sir Riftan is right. He is now... my commander, and I am his m-mage. It is only right that he demands my absolute obedience,” Maxi replied, speaking as clearly as she could for Riftan to hear. However, Riftan merely glanced at her over his shoulder and showed no other reaction. Feeling despondent, Maxi returned to her place in formation behind the other knights.