Tutututu!

The centaurs galloped like a storm while striking up dust. They gradually slowed down as they near the entrance of Ancona Forest.

Fwoo! Fwooo!

The centaurs breathed heavily with exhaustion, and the orc warriors jumped off their backs.

“Karuta!”

They all rushed towards Arios as if they had promised.

“Don’t make a fuss, you orcs. I’m completely fine.”

Karuta grinned before climbing down from Arios’ back. When he smiled with an eye missing, he looked several times more vicious than before.

Keheung!

He snorted at the pain he felt from where his left eye used to be.

“Kereuk! You don’t look very 

completely fine

 to me, hmm? You look like you’re about to depart for the side of the Earth God, kuhehehehe!”

Kratul burst into laughter, and Karuta slapped the back of his head in response.

Kuweek!

“Keung! Don’t even dream about it. There’s no way I would die before you. Keukeu…”

Karuta laughed with a curious smile. Soon, however, his giant figure slowly lurched forward.

“Keheuk!”

Kratul hurriedly took Karuta into his embrace.

“Krauta? K, krauta!”

He called out Karuta’s name, but Karuta did not budge an inch from his embrace.

“Kehul? Did he really die?”

“T, this is huge…”

“Should we do something about his eyeball first?”

The orc warriors spoke frantically. Kratul shook Karuta once again while breaking out in cold sweat.

“Oi! You stupid orc! Are you really dead? Did you really…”

Khuuuung…!

At that moment, a strange noise burst out of Karuta’s nose. He was snoring.

Khuuuuung…! Khuu! Khuk!

“…..”

The strongest warrior of the Ancona Orcs was snoring away after losing an eye and bathing in his own blood. Not only the orcs, but even the centaurs were at a loss for words.

“Was he always like this?”

Arios asked as if finding the situation absurd, and Kratul smacked his lips together before nodding.

“He was always like this.”

“…..”

Arios closed his mouth. After listening to Karuta’s snoring for a short while, he shook his head before turning around.

“He’s the captain of the orcs, so orcs can take care of it. For now, we will head to the gate.”

“We will head to the gate as well. Since Pendragon’s griffon scarecrow told us to do that.”

Kratul spoke while passing Karuta’s body to one of the bigger orc warriors.

“Do as you please. But since there’s nothing urgent remaining, we will not give you a ride.”

“Us orcs have no intention of riding on the backs of horseheads either. Kuhuhul!”

Kratul smirked and licked his lips before bowing his head with an awkward expression. 

“By the way… Keheum! Thanks.”

“…..?”

Arios and the centaurs became wide-eyed. Kratul continued while scratching his head.

“Thank you for saving Karuta. Orcs will not forget your kindness.”

“Good work, horseheads.”

“Karuta would have died without you.”

“Thanks. You fought pretty well.”

All of the Ancona Orc warriors expressed their gratitude. Arios and the centaurs were pleasantly surprised to see the orcs acting in such a fashion. The orcs were always prideful and grinded their teeth with rivalry whenever the two groups met before. The expressions of the centaurs slowly transformed.

Regardless of race, the Ancona Orcs were true men.

*** 

“Get into line! Form lines!”

“Are you done with getting the crossbows to the embrasures?”

“What are you all doing!? Get the residents inside right away!”

Bellint Gate was finished with its fortifications, and it was busy. As soon as news reached the gate that Alice’s army had arrived near Ronan Bridge, the garrison troops of the fortress busily prepared for battle and evacuated the villagers located outside of the gate.

In only two days, over 10,000 villagers had come flooding to Bellint Gate after packing their bags. 

“The evacuation of the villagers appears to be mostly completed. However, we have not had the chance to contact some of the villages…”

A soldier trailed off. He was also originally from a village located outside the gate.

“There is no helping it. We have no choice but to believe that the lord of Alice will keep the bare minimum as a nobleman.”

The expression of the knight was grim.

There were thousands of residents who still remained outside the walls, in their respective villages. If Alice’s troops decided to attack, they would be wiped out in an instant.

“Have we heard from Conrad Castle yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Hmm…”

The knight’s expression darkened even further. Currently, the number of troops placed in Fort Bellint was about 800. Although they were outnumbered, it was sufficient to defend a single fortress.

However, that was only the case when it was a battle between humans.

The army of the Great Territory of Alice had dozens of griffons. If they launched an attack from above, it would be hard to last for even several hours. As such, they urgently sent a messenger to Conrad Castle, but they had not received a reply yet.

“Then there is no way…”

The knight muttered with a solemn expression. 

“We will delay them as much as possible while defending. All roads leading into the duchy will become breached if we are breached. We will place our lives on the line and hold out until reinforcements arrive!”

“Yes, sir!”

All those dressed in armors engraved with the symbol of the White Dragon answered loudly with one heart and one voice.

***

“We must have the decisive battle at Bellint.”

“What? Then what about Conrad Castle?”

Vincent spoke, and Killian replied with surprise.

“If Bellint is breached, then everyone is placed in danger. If the army of the Great Territory of Alice decides to head to York Town, it will be difficult to come up with countermeasures.”

“And why is that? We can send the griffons and attack them from the back.”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Hmm…”

Killian took on a serious expression. Vincent was seldomly resolute, which means he had a reasoning behind his words.

“There are numerous foreigners in York Town, as well as our own people. If they are attacked, the trust we have built over time will collapse. It will likely cause major problems with trade relations in the future.”

“Ah…”

Although he was economically ignorant, Killian wasn’t completely stupid. He understood Vincent’s words. The foreigners and merchants in York Town were there because they trusted the Pendragon Duchy. Guaranteed safety was one of the most important reasons why the foreigners and merchants paid large sums as taxes to the Pendragon Duchy and engaged in economic activities.

If their safety was no longer guaranteed, the Pendragon Duchy would lose all of the trust it built with the foreigners and merchants. Even if the duchy successfully repelled the army of Alice afterwards, once trust crumbled, especially trust regarding safety, then it would be extremely difficult to rebuild.

“It will be best to leave behind the minimum number of people in Conrad Castle. We will leave behind only about 200, 300 troops, not counting the royal guards, and 30 griffons in case of an emergency. The rest of the troops will head to Bellint to prepare for the battle. I will take command here.”

“Hmm. Let’s do that then.”

Killian nodded in agreement. It was an adequate number of troops to defend Conrad Castle. More importantly, he felt relieved that Vincent would be overlooking the defenses.

“Then let’s set off right away.”

“Yes.”

Killian stood up from his seat and left through the door.

As the sun neared the zenith, all troops of the Pendragon Duchy left Lowpool with Killian in charge. More than 1,000 troops, including the heavy cavalry and the footsoldiers, proudly marched, and around 300 griffons accompanied them.

The brave warriors of Pendragon were armed with armor and weapons that were incomparably sharper and stronger than any other place, and the residents cheered them on despite the looming anxiety.

“You have to win!”

“Long live Pendragon!”

The soldiers of the Pendragon Duchy were undefeated. Throughout numerous battles, they had never suffered a loss, and everyone believed they would definitely win this war as well.

Rumbleee!

The soldiers advanced to Bellint Gate for the final showdown while listening to the rumbling of thunder in the distant sky.

***

“Pha…”

Lindsay sighed while listening to the muffled cheers from Lowpool. She dropped her worried gaze and stroked her belly, which was noticeably larger than before. The maids standing next to her spoke carefully.

“There is no need to worry too much, baroness. Our knights and soldiers will definitely be victorious.”

“That’s right. Our duchy has never lost before. So please do not worry. You should go back to your residence and rest.”

Since Lindsay was also originally a maid, the maids were extremely warm towards her. Of course, at first, there were some who were jealous of her, but their hearts were transformed over time. Lindsay had a beautiful personality and always cared for those around her.

In addition, now that she was pregnant with a child, hating on her would be tantamount to a death sentence in Conrad Castle. After all, her child might one day become the successor of the Pendragon Duchy.

“Yes.”

Lindsay nodded, though she still had a grim expression. She walked with the maids under the escorts of the royal guards. After a while, the group reached her residence. One of the guards standing in front of the room spoke while bowing his head.

“Miss Reiner said she wanted to see the baroness, so I let her in.”

“Oh, really? Thank you.”

Lindsay’s expression brightened. 

Irene and Iriya had left for the imperial castle, so Serin was the only one with whom she could talk to. Although Mia was here, she was still too young to share a deep conversation with. In addition, Serin would soon be married to Isla. Lindsay did not regard her as a stranger since they would need to maintain a close relationship in the future as well.

Strangely enough, Lindsay noticed that way Serin looked at her was weird from time to time, but she disregarded it. Since Serin had lived in a relatively isolated environment in a monastery for a long time, she would surely be a little uncomfortable and have trouble adjusting to a new environment.

“Lady Reiner, how nice to see you. Oh my, Lady Pendragon is here as well!”

Lindsay gave her greetings in a brighter voice than usual after entering her residence.

“I was here for a while.”

Mia pattered over and embraced Lindsay. Although she had grown a little taller, she was still a young child. Lindsay responded to her words with a kind smile and shifted her gaze towards Serin.

“Baroness Conrad.”

Serin bowed her head. The 7

th

 regiment knight standing next to her also bowed with an expressionless face.

“What brings you here?”

Serin remained silent for a moment as Lindsay took her place on the sofa with the help of her maids. Serin’s mysterious gaze rested on Lindsay. It was hard to guess what she was thinking.

‘It’s that look again…’

Lindsay felt strange. Why was Lady Serin looking at her like that?

She could not understand.

Mia also noticed Serin’s gaze, taking her place next to Lindsay and carefully observing Serin.

“I took the liberty of coming here because I had something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Ah, is that so? What is it?”

“Would you mind sending away the others for a moment?”

“What?”

Lindsay became wide-eyed at the sudden request, but soon nodded.

“Let’s do that.”

The maids left one by one at Lindsay’s words. However, Mia and two royal guards remained in the room.

“I’m not one of the others, so I will stay.”

Mia spoke calmly.

It made sense. She was a direct descendant of the Pendragon family, and the only ones who could order her around in Conrad Castle was Duchess Elena and Duke Pendragon.

Even Lindsay, and certainly not Serin, who was only a guest, could tell her what to do.

“Naturally, little lady.”

Mia smiled gently at Lindsay’s words, then squirmed closer to her sister-in-law.

“Please tell me now.”

Lindsay spoke after turning towards Serin.

“…..”

But Serin was silent.

And… the atmosphere was rather strange for some reason. The air felt rather cold and alien.

“Lady Reiner?”

Lindsay tilted her head.

Serin’s tightly sealed lips opened slowly.

“Reiner… Why do you call me Reiner?”

“What?”

Lindsay became flustered.

“Reiner… No, I am Seyrod… No. Who is Seyrod?”

“What? W, what are you…”

Lindsay was taken aback and stuttered. The royal guards sensed something strange, then quickly placed themselves in front of Lindsay and Mia while placing their hands on their swords.

It was then.