Chapter 863

Kiolle stood silently, unable to continue speaking, as someone approached Myra's side and picked up a bloodstained hailstone that had rolled to the ground. The newcomer was dressed in a black uniform with brown, short hair and a small stature. Kiolle recognized her face as somewhat familiar and tried to remember where he had seen her before.

'I think I saw her at the party... The Cavalry...... one of the Deputy Commanders, perhaps...?'

He couldn't recall her name. If he couldn't remember the name of a servant he had been with for ten years, how could he be expected to remember the names of the numerous members of the Cavalry stationed behind Yudrain Aile? Nevertheless, it seemed clear that it wasn't Myra, the First Princess, who had thrown the hailstone, but a member of the Cavalry.

Despite her unassuming appearance, she had managed to aim perfectly at the back of someone's head in this dark, stormy weather. Although it seemed unbelievable, knowing that she was a member of the Cavalry made it less surprising.

Kiolle, still dazed, was glanced at by the Cavalry member, Kanna, who held Myra and spoke calmly.

"First Princess, please refrain from impulsive actions. This time it was a person, but it could have been a monster."

"I'm sorry. I just reacted without thinking when I heard something, it made sense then..."

"Haah... It does seem like you were right. It wasn't a monster, but still..."

Both of them exuded a familiar yet strange odor. Kiolle then realized that both Myra and Kanna were stained with blood on their skin and clothing.

'...Blood... it's blood...!'

"So, Sir Diarca, why are you still here and not fleeing? And that person looks like your servant, why were you getting beaten?"

Startled by Myra's words, Kiolle momentarily forgot his shock at the smell of blood.

"How could I know..."

"That servant, he has noticeable blond hair. It's strange to not remember someone you're trying to hide while parading him around as your servant."

"That's… uh… ah..."

Kiolle's mind momentarily stopped. Throughout their time living in the same mansion due to Duke Herne's affairs, they had frequently seen each other. Moreover, Kiolle had engaged in strange behavior to hide the Crown Prince, so it was odd that Myra wouldn't remember.

Kiolle had never imagined that someone like Myra would take any interest in a servant or commoner. For her, who had just barely recovered from witnessing her father's horrific death, their presence was not of much concern. Kiolle didn't know this.

"That’s, well..."

"But about this servant, are you just going to leave him like that? His face is buried in the mud, he might not be breathing."

"Oh... Ahhh!"

Kiolle then hurriedly pulled Katchian's head out of the muddy ground. The boy was a mess. His head, hit by the hailstone, was swollen and bleeding, and his face and clothes, buried in the mud, were so dirty that even Duke Diarca wouldn't have recognized him as the Crown Prince.

"..."

Normally, Kiolle would have been fussing over cleaning the dirt off the face and checking the condition, but at that moment, all he felt was a complex emotion. The sight of Katchian's dirtied face brought back memories of the look in his eyes and his words when he had kicked and tried to make Kiolle kneel earlier.

"Should I help you carry him?"

"Uh? Oh..."

Kiolle's response was hesitant and uncertain, his mind still wrestling with the tangled memories and the reality in front of him. The events of the night had taken an unexpected turn, leaving Kiolle to grapple with a mix of surprise, concern, and an unspoken realization about the complexities of their intertwined lives.

At that moment, Kanna approached expressionlessly and asked, "This person..."

"Is there a problem?"

"No, it's nothing. Monsters might be approaching, so we should hurry. Everyone is waiting."

Myra turned her head towards Kanna, who was murmuring with an unusual look in her eyes. Kanna nonchalantly shook her head and then moved ahead, releasing her hold on Prince Katchian and Kiolle.

After pushing through the hail and darkness for a short distance, they came upon Duke Herne's servants and other non-Awakener people who had been rescued after getting lost, as well as a few members of the Cavalry who seemed to be guarding them. The atmosphere among the non-Awakeners was gloomy, with some constantly wiping away tears. Kiolle, feeling a bit out of place, carried Katchian at the very back of the group. Coincidentally, Myra and Kanna were there too.

"If the person you're carrying is too heavy, our members can help," Kanna offered.

"It's fine, really..."

"Okay, then. I asked because your cheek seemed quite swollen. It must be painful where you got hit."

"..."

'Why do they speak as if they know something I don't?' Kiolle wondered, feeling uneasy, while Kanna turned to look at Myra.

"Oh, I wasn't talking about the First Princess's cheek."

"...I see."

Myra responded as if she understood why Kanna had looked back at her, even though she hadn't said anything. She nodded familiarly and then resumed walking.

'Cheek... the First Princess's cheek...? Now that I think about it... the First Princess also has a swollen wound on her cheek... Was she hit? By whom? Who would dare strike the First Princess of the Herne family?'

Kiolle was startled to notice for the first time that there was indeed a red, swollen mark on Myra's pale cheek. Despite her wet, bedraggled evening gown and the injury, the First Princess walked on her own, without a word of complaint or allowing anyone to carry her.

Absorbing this unexpected sight, Kiolle was suddenly jolted by a shout from ahead.

"Monsters ahead!"

Kiolle was startled, wondering if he should put down the Crown Prince and prepare to fight.

"How many?"

"About ten. Not sure, though!"

"We can handle that many. Don't avoid them, just push through! Get ready and wait a moment!"

Surprisingly, the non-members of the Cavalry, unlike Kiolle, showed little reaction, as if they had experienced such incidents before. While two members of the Cavalry were gathering the non-Awakeners, including Kiolle. Kanna, who had thrown the hailstone, knelt on one knee and placed her hand on the ground.

Invisible energy surged, and Kanna's eyes shone a bright blue.

"Okay. Exactly twelve. Same type as the monsters we've encountered before. No peculiarities. Spread out to the left and right, and on my signal, annihilate them!"

"Understood!"

The Cavalry members dispersed with impeccable coordination. Despite being significantly outnumbered by the twelve monsters, not a single one of them showed fear.

Soon, a faint vibration signaled the approach of the monsters.

'Is this really happening... Am I just supposed to stand here and do nothing?'

As Kiolle was gasping for breath, overwhelmed with the urge to flee, someone beside him struck up a conversation. 

"You seem very nervous, but don't worry. If there were about fifty monsters, it would be wise to avoid them, but ten is no problem at all."

Turning his head, Kiolle saw a Cavalry member speaking with a calm expression. Despite the wounds scattered across his skin, suggesting numerous battles had been fought on the way, his demeanor was completely composed. Kiolle wondered how such a newly formed group could be so relaxed.

'Could it be they're overconfident because they haven't faced monsters before?'

Kiolle recalled the monsters he had faced during training with the Imperial Knights. Even the training monsters, which were almost powerless, had been terrifyingly strong and chilling. That was during a safe training session, and now, this was real combat.

Although Yuder Aile was said to be a monstrous figure beyond standards, he had never properly seen the strength of the other Cavalry members, so he couldn't bring himself to believe it.

"…But it's so dark... and hard to see. How do you plan to...?"

What if, by some chance, they failed to handle the monsters properly, or decided to save themselves and ran away?

"I'd rather fight too."

"Oh? Brave of you, especially with your legs shaking like that..."

"What?!"

"Appreciate the sentiment, but it's unnecessary. Not that we're underestimating the non-Awakener, but we're best suited to handle this situation. Any unexpected interference might just cause chaos."

"..."

"Ha. That's a cool line, right? One of our Deputy Commanders said it once; I've been waiting to use it. Anyway, we won't leave you behind. We'll make sure you get out safely, so just stay put."

With a smile, the Cavalry member patted Kiolle's shoulder, and a translucent barrier of energy formed from his fingertips.

"..."

"They're coming!"

Kanna's sharp cry was the signal for the monsters to emerge. As Kiolle glimpsed the gleaming eyes of the pitch-black monsters blending into the darkness, a wave of fear made him flinch. The hidden members of the Cavalry then launched their attack from both sides.

The battle was swiftly decided. While the members of the Cavalry couldn't claim to be as overwhelmingly powerful as Yuder, they still managed to defeat all the monsters without sustaining any serious injuries, shaking off the blood and catching their breath.

"Ha... Haa."

"Any injuries?"

"None."

"No monster left breathing... Move out!"

At Kanna's hand signal, the Cavalry members, though barely rested, quickly reformed their formation, positioning themselves to protect the non-Awakeners.

Kiolle, carrying the Crown Prince, moved within their protection, observing the backs of the Cavalry members.

Under normal circumstances... as a knight, he too should have been protecting others.

But now, he was the one being protected, hiding behind others.

The very person he had tried so hard and sincerely to save had not trusted him and had insulted him with a slap, while these Cavalry members, whom he had disregarded, were saving them without any apparent reason.

Without asking for anything in return.

This realization stirred an unfamiliar feeling in Kiolle Diarca for the first time.

Unaware of what was growing inside his heart, invisible to the eye, the hail continued to fall relentlessly upon the heads of the people.