Chapter 31
Without hindering Yuriene's movements at all, she reliably plunges her sword into the minor Monsters he misses.
She snuffed out the Monsters with extremely efficient and simple movements. There were no flashy techniques or eye-catching skills. Nevertheless, her appearance drew attention.
Behind the silver-haired captain of the royal guard, wreathed in white Mana, the hem of her purplish-red dress spread out wide as if dancing. The long, flowing sleeves replaced simple sword movements, drawing intricate lines in the air.
A Redcap, digging a tunnel and hiding, reaches out to grab her ankle. Without even looking down, she avoids it with a light step. Then, the high heel of her ribbon-decorated ankle boot crushes and pins the Redcap's arm, and a silver-dusted sword is unhesitatingly plunged into the Monster's forehead.
After that, she avoids the Monster's blood that spurts out, wrinkling her nose like a young lady avoiding mud splashed by a carriage.
The hat with its abundant feathers didn't fly off during all that action. The hat, perched quietly on her head, proved how well she maintained her balance as she moved.
Thanks to that, she was still in the same state as when she had set out, without a single bloodstain. A figure that didn't fit at all in a space full of fog, walking corpses, and stench.
The fact that she was maintaining that appearance was proof of her skill. It was a bonus that she didn't even bat an eye even when a Monster with dangling, rotting eyeballs charged at her.
'I heard the captain of the royal guard suddenly nominated a Squire.'
'A genius recognizes a genius, I guess...'
'Monsters have gathered together. A full-grown Monster, a growing Monster.'
'I thought she was crazy when I saw her clothes... But at that level, there's nothing to say about what she wears.'
Those watching from behind inwardly clicked their tongues. Their gazes involuntarily went to her.
Then they all turned their heads at the same time. It was because Cadet Ekinesia Roaz casually lifted the hem of her dress as she moved. The dark stockings visible under the lace petticoat in a Monster den where corpses were running around was an unexpected sight and too stimulating.
'Silver dust fell.'
For Eki, it was naturally not an intentional action. In the first place, she didn't lift it up that high. She gathered the hem of her dress in one hand and opened the bag fixed to her thigh with a leather belt with the other.
Those who cannot use Mana grind silver and mix it with blessings to apply to their swords when dealing with Monsters. This is because it is difficult to inflict damage on Monsters with good regenerative abilities with ordinary swords. In the case of ghost-type Monsters, they could not be cut at all unless the sword was coated with silver dust.
In fact, it was an unnecessary tool for Eki, but since she had to hide that she was a Master, she also used silver dust. While applying silver dust to her sword, she kicked the leg of an attacking skeleton with her foot and then crushed its head with the long heel of her ankle boot.
'It's surprisingly useful, isn't it?'
Her brow furrowed as she looked down at her heel with a chuckle. Her black shoes were a mess with Monster blood, bodily fluids, and bone fragments. They were shoes she liked, too. Oh well. She sighed inwardly and picked up her sword again.
Yuriene wasn't worried at all. There were just a lot of them, and there weren't even any high-ranking Monsters like Dullahan. He wouldn't even be worried if a Dullahan showed up, so worrying about him in this kind of rabble den was a waste.
She subtly turned her gaze and looked at the rear of the formation. She found Mikhail's hair first, before finding Alice's blonde hair.
'Teresa is in the left canyon, so why is he here?'
Puzzled, she looked at him for a moment, and Mikhail was fighting reasonably well. Then their eyes met. It was because Mikhail had been glancing at Eki all along. As soon as their eyes met, Mikhail's face turned bright red all the way to his chin, and he quickly turned his head away.
'What's wrong with him?'
Eki tilted her head, then soon lost interest and looked for Alice. She had gotten some Monster blood on her, but she was safe. Worried that there might be a dangerous part, she looked at her several more times, but Alice was diligently and meticulously performing her duties as usual.
Fatima and Ian were not visible because they belonged to the Teresa's subjugation squad, not this one.
Eki finally felt relieved and looked ahead. Even while she was distracted, she habitually dealt with the miscellaneous Monsters that Yuriene missed. It was more mundane than she thought, so it was even a little boring.
As the sun rose to the middle of the sky and began to decline, Yuriene stopped the entire subjugation squad.
"Take a break for a while. Everyone, have a meal."
The members of the squad cleared out the nearby Monsters and then sat or leaned here and there, eating jerky and water for lunch. Eki also took out jerky and munched on it, and Yuriene's actions caught her eye.
He was not eating and was looking up at the sky. She followed his gaze and looked at the sky. The fog was so thick that ordinary people couldn't see the sky, but Yuriene and Eki were both superhuman, so that level of fog wasn't a big problem.
Clouds were gathering in the sky. There was a high probability that it would rain in the evening. The clouds looked black and heavy, and it might even thunder.
'Rain, lightning, night.'
The situation when Baraha died. Eki's nerves sharpened. Yuriene, who had checked the sky, lowered his head. His eyes met hers.
Blue eyes blinked slowly. In those eyes, in those actions, there was something that felt like lightning. Eki realized what he was thinking. Just now, they had seen the same thing and thought the same thing. She guessed what kind of order he would give. She realized it.
He took his eyes off her and looked at the members of the squad, giving an order.
"Since the weather is not good, the afternoon's subjugation will be postponed until tomorrow, and we will return to camp."
No one who trusted the captain of the royal guard objected. The members of the squad began to pack their things. Eki stood frozen. Yuriene, who had approached her, lightly touched her shoulder.
"Cadet Ekinesia Roaz. Good work. Get some rest when you return to camp."
Leaving those words behind, his hand quickly fell away from her. Eki stared at him as he walked away with a pale face.
'He remembers, he does.'
[Hey, that girl, she definitely...]
The Demon Sword muttered in surprise. Eki closed her mouth and followed the returning members of the squad. She gathered all the things that had happened so far, the words he had said. Conviction arose in her blank head.
Yuriene knows. The erased pasts. The things that have become things that didn't happen now. He has memories from before the regression.
What she had wanted to deny was pushed forward as conviction. She thought with a dazed head.
'Then why doesn't he hate me? Why doesn't he try to kill me?'
She couldn't understand. As she retraced the path where all the Monsters had died, leaving only stench and fog, she only thought about that.
She recalled the Rangiosa that she could never grasp, and the fountain stained with blood.
She recalled the corpses scattered around it and the lifeless Ajenka.
She thought of his name, which had been branded as the worst captain of the royal guard and the one who destroyed the Azure Sky because of her.
She thought of his dying eyes.
If Yuriene had been possessed by the Demon Sword, massacred the Roaz County, and stepped on the corpses of her parents and Lancelid to meet her, Ekinesia would have hated him.
Even if she knew in her head that it wasn't his fault, her heart wouldn't have been able to forgive him. If she had died at his hands after that, she might have cursed him until her last breath.
Yes, she had done such a thing. To him.
Moreover, Yuriene wasn't just a victim. He was the one who had trusted her and given her the opportunity to overcome the Demon Sword, even going to extremes. He could have disposed of her, but he refused and brought her into his territory.
'How much, would he have regretted it? How much would he have resented me?'
Eki couldn't possibly, possibly think that he wouldn't hate her.
Thinking most positively, he might have had some pity for her. Because of his noble character, he might not have cursed her.
Still, no matter how positively she thought, there was no way that he, who had those terrible memories, could show her the same defenseless smile as last night. He couldn't smile like that in front of the person who had killed him. There was no way he would show her favor.
"He doesn't know. It can't be anything else."
Eki muttered like a groan. The end of her words was rough like a scream. The Demon Sword, which had been pondering alone, quickly took her words.
[Doesn't know? Who doesn't know what?]
"I..."
She swallowed the rest of her words. Even if it was a small voice, she didn't want to pronounce it because there were members of the squad returning to camp nearby. The word Demon Sword.
Yuriene doesn't know that Ekinesia Roaz is a Demon of the Demon Sword. Or maybe he suspects it but isn't sure.
The reasoning she had made right after their first reunion came to mind.
'If he has memories but no evidence, so he's just watching, if he suspects me of being a Demon of the Demon Sword who might do something at any time... he'll keep me as close as possible and monitor me. Until he finds evidence he can be sure of. Yes, there's no other explanation for this.'
Thinking that way, it fits surprisingly well. She thinks she knows why he asked her for a duel and why he acts like he has good intentions.
Yuriene is testing her. Now that time has turned back, he, who doesn't know who turned back time, will try to find out if Ekinesia, a Military Cadet who didn't exist in the past, has memories from before the regression. And at the same time, he will be carefully exploring whether 'Ekinesia Roaz' is a Demon of the Demon Sword.
If he becomes convinced that she is a Demon of the Demon Sword, he will...
Her mouth was terribly bitter. She felt like something was being crushed in her heart. Eki stared blankly ahead. Yuriene's back, returning to camp, was white and neat. She didn't want to see that figure, so she closed her eyes.
* * *
It started raining after sunset. It was such a heavy downpour that she was worried that the raindrops would pierce the tent's cloth. Before long, thunder rumbled and lightning streaked across the sky.
Eki sat at the entrance of the tent, slightly lifting the cloth and looking outside. The outside, where the rain was pouring down, was pitch black. The torches couldn't withstand the rain and wind, so only two or so expensive magic lamps were barely emitting light.
Every now and then, when lightning struck, the surroundings were revealed in white and then subsided. Most sounds were buried by the loud sound of rain. It was a silence with only the sound of rain and thunder.
The camp in the silence was peaceful. Both Teresa's side and Yuriene's side had returned without even seriously injured people, except for minor injuries.
Eki raised her knees and rested her chin on them. Her purple eyes were fixed on one side without moving. She was wearing the same dress as during the day, but because of her fixed gaze and quietly crouched body, she looked like a beast aiming for prey.
[Aren't you bored?]
"Not really."
Eki replied casually. Her gaze was on Baraha's tent. At the same time, she expanded her senses as much as possible and sensed all directions. She has been maintaining that state for more than three hours already.
It was enough to be tiring, but she was surprisingly clear-headed. She didn't want to think about Yuriene, so she was focusing even more on this. She cleared her head and only detected the dangers in all directions.
