When Lest landed at the fortress on the western side of the Great Bridge, he found a familiar purple-haired girl waiting for him.
Standing beside her was a member of the Sky-Demon unit.
Lest breathed a deep sigh of relief, his heart finally settling.
"Urula, are you safe?"
"Nn...!"
"Whoa!"
Urula lunged at him.
Lest caught her small frame against his chest. Like a loyal dog reuniting with its master after years apart, Urula buried her face in his chest and began nuzzling him vigorously.
"Nn... Nnh...!"
"Sorry. I’m sorry I was late... Are you hurt?"
"I’m okay..."
Urula nodded.
She appeared to be wearing a resolute expression, but a child was still a child. In the middle of a battlefield without a proper guardian, there was no way she hadn't been terrified.
"It’s all right now. I’m here."
"............"
Lest stroked Urula's hair. He ran his fingers through the purple strands slowly and gently, as if handling something precious.
"Everything will be fine now. Leave the rest to me. No matter what happens, I’ll find a way to make it right."
"...Sss..."
"No matter what the Imperial Army tries to do, I won’t let them have their way. You can rest easy!"
"Sss, hah... Sss, hah..."
"......Urula?"
What was this?
Why was she burying her face in his chest and taking such deep, rhythmic breaths? He had been fighting through a forced march and was covered in sweat; it wasn't a pleasant feeling to have someone sniffing his body odor so intently.
"Urula, what are you doing?"
"Just a little more."
"What do you mean, 'a little more'... No, wait, I must smell, right?"
"Just a bit... but it’s becoming addictive."
"Could you please not make a habit of sniffing people!?"
"Nn... if anything, I want to let it mature further. Sniff, sniff."
"Hey... stop it. Don't sniff me! Get off!"
He tried to peel Urula away, but she wouldn't budge. Just how tightly was she clinging to him? Using her entire body, she held on with every ounce of strength in her small limbs.
"Nn... recharge complete."
Urula remained attached to him for a while longer, finally letting go after about ten minutes. Lest felt like she was the most formidable opponent he had faced all day. The sudden wave of exhaustion made his head spin.
"Satisfied. I’m full. I don't need dinner tonight."
"D-Did you eat me...?"
"Just kidding."
Urula looked up at Lest’s face. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and while her expression remained as blank as ever, she was clearly in high spirits. Her breathing was a bit heavy, giving her a strangely suggestive air.
(What is with this girl...? Every time we meet, her personality seems different. I don't understand her at all...)
Usually, the more time you spent with someone, the better you understood them. That logic didn't seem to apply to the girl named Urula Lavender. Every time they met, she showed him a completely different face, and he felt as though he was drifting further away from ever truly knowing her.
"...Well, I’m just glad you’re safe. You seem more composed than I expected."
"Nn... You too."
"Yeah, I’m fine... though I think it got pretty dangerous back there."
The battle against the Imperial Magic Knights, in particular, had chilled his blood. He wouldn't have won if he hadn't resorted to that desperate self-detonation tactic. Once again, he was forced to realize that having an abundance of mana and being a bit dexterous didn't make him the strongest, let alone invincible.
"More importantly... reinforcements from the Royal Capital are on their way. Just a little more patience."
Lest had arrived first, but the main force would be here soon. Those returning from the subjugation of the Northern Foreign Tribes would also be deployed, and the tide of battle would surely turn in their favor.
"I don't know what the Empire was thinking by starting this... but we can win. We can win this battle."
In the previous engagement, he had neutralized the core of their forces—the Imperial Magic Unit and the Magic Knight Order. Since the detached unit had also been destroyed, the battle was moving decisively in the Kingdom's favor.
"As long as the enemy has no more trump cards up their sleeve... we can hold this! The Kingdom Army has won...!"
Lest clenched his fist with conviction—but those were words that should never have been spoken. With that single proclamation, a flag had been firmly planted. And the payoff arrived far sooner than expected.
"How sad... I am so very sad."
"──!"
A voice drifted down to them.
There were many soldiers at the fortress, and the clamor of the enemy could be heard in the distance. Yet, in the midst of it all, that voice rang out with clarity. It wasn't loud, but it was a viscous voice that clung strangely to the ears.
"Who’s there...!"
"People died today. So sad... People will die from now on. So sad... I can only save someone by killing them... Ah, what a tragedy."
"Where is it coming from...!?"
When Lest searched for the source of the voice, he found a figure standing high above.
"Sad. Oh, how sad."
The man stood there with the blue sky at his back, his clothes fluttering in the wind. He had a faint presence that felt like it might vanish into the breeze, yet at the same time, an overwhelming sense of existence that, once seen, could never be erased from the mind.
"I am going to kill a fellow Japanese person... a compatriot. That is what's so sad."
"That emblem... Takfir Kahen!"
A man in a white coat with black hair, an inverted pentagram symbol emblazoned on his chest, looked down at them with a sorrowful gaze.