“Take care, Rest…”
“Lord Rest… please, be careful…”
A few days after the war council.
Rest was immediately dispatched north on an expedition.
The preparation period for the war was far too short, but Rest was only an advance force. He was a hastily assembled reinforcement until the main force, which would arrive later, was ready.
Seeing him off were Viola and Primula, as Rest departed from the Clover Count House.
“We really wanted to come with you, but…”
“We can’t… can we?”
“No… I need you two to protect the territory here. I’m counting on you.”
Rest smiled at the two, who looked apologetic.
For this campaign, only Rest and a few guards were leaving from the Clover Count House.
Rest, being a newly established noble, had very little military strength. His few soldiers were engaged in guarding the territory and hunting Monsters, so he couldn’t afford to send them to battles outside the territory.
Viola and Primula were also needed to protect the territory. He couldn’t take them to the battlefield.
(If those two were in a dangerous place, I wouldn’t be able to fight calmly. It’s actually more helpful if they’re in a safe place.)
“Don’t worry… the foreign tribes aren’t stronger than Subnock. I’ll come back without a scratch, so I’m leaving the mansion to you.”
“…Yes, I understand.”
“Lord Rest… please, take this.”
“What is this…?”
Primula offered something.
It was a stone small enough to fit in the palm of her hand. Unknown characters were carved into the white stone with a blade or something similar.
“It’s a Guardian Stone that my sister and I made together. We carved words of prayer into it.”
“It doesn’t have any special magic, but… we carved it with a lot of feeling. Take it with you.”
It seemed to be a charm.
In Japan, during wartime, soldiers were given ‘Senninbari’ charms before going to war. The decorations that warlords wore on their helmets also had the meaning of amulets to ward off evil.
Similarly, a stone with carved incantations was probably a charm for continued good fortune in this country.
“Thank you, I’ll treasure it.”
Rest carefully placed the stone in the bag he received with it and put it in his pocket.
“Be careful…”
“Please be careful…”
“Yeah, I’m off.”
Leaving behind a smile so as not to worry the two, Rest departed for the battlefield.
He left the mansion and joined up with the guards who were waiting outside.
“Are you ready, Lord Rest?”
“Yes. Sorry to keep you waiting, Professor Dibble.”
Rest’s guards numbered only five.
Leading them was Dibble, the butler of the Rosemary Marquis House.
He was dressed in black attire instead of his usual butler’s uniform.
“Even so… are you sure it’s alright for you to come with me, Professor Dibble? Is the Marquis family okay?”
“It is Lord’s command, so please do not worry.”
Dibble replied with a cheerful smile.
It was his father-in-law, Marquis Rosemary, who had arranged for Dibble to be his guard.
It was probably also intended to reassure his worried daughters… he had sent his most trusted warrior as a bodyguard.
From now on, he would join up with the other members of the advance team and head to the fortress on the northern border.
“Father-in-law is coming later, right?”
“Yes. He will head to the battlefield as soon as the main force is ready.”
“That’s reassuring… this is my second time in a war, but I still get nervous. Even though we’re still far from the battlefield, my heart is already pounding.”
He had experienced life-or-death battles many times against Monsters… but facing humans, even if they were foreign tribes, gave him a strange sense of tension.
He was going to kill people on the battlefield… the thought made his chest tighten.
“Rest assured. I feel the same way.”
“Professor Dibble too? Are you kidding?”
Dibble was a skilled Magician.
He was Rest’s teacher, who had taught him how to fight against people, and he should have been used to fighting against humans.
“If you get used to the act of killing people and stop feeling anything, you’re finished as a human. We are Magicians. We must become beasts and demons for the sake of those we must protect, but we must not kill people and feel nothing. Carry both the lives of the humans you must protect and the lives of the humans you must take, and move forward.”
“…That’s harsh.”
It would be easier to forget the weight of human life.
Dibble was a truly strict teacher, never allowing him to take the easy path.
“However, that doesn’t mean you should hesitate on the battlefield. Do not waver in battle. Kill the enemy without mercy.”
“Really harsh…”
He was telling him to kill the enemy without hesitation, not get used to killing, and properly feel the weight of life… he was telling him to do contradictory things, making him a completely unreasonable teacher.
Rest let out a heavy sigh and got into the carriage to head to the battlefield.