TMLHGCFTV 59

Chapter 59

I stared at Kael with my eyes wide open. His violet eyes were fixed on me as if they could pierce straight through me.

“What on earth are you…?”

Kael lifted my wrist.

“You are not to do anything until this hand heals. You are not even allowed to hold a weapon.”

“Your Highness!”

That sounded like a death sentence. There were so many monsters around here!

“Lady Seraphine, stay by Rosana’s side and guard her closely. By that, I mean protect her and keep an eye on her at the same time.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

“Your Highness…! Everyone gets hurt this much! Why am I the only one being treated like this…?”

“No one throws their life away fighting like you do! Everyone else knows that their lives are precious.”

Kael ground his teeth as he muttered the words. His violet eyes were filled with emotions I couldn’t identify.

Had I really fought as though I were willing to throw my life away?

I couldn’t deny it.

I’d always been like that.

Because I believed that giving my absolute best would lead to the best possible result.

And this time had been no different.

Was that way of thinking wrong?

‘There’s something about you that makes people worry.’

‘Me?’

‘Forget it if you don’t understand. We’ll just have to work harder, I guess.’

I remembered the things my comrades used to say.

I’d always been at a disadvantage. I was like an island dropped alone into the middle of the world, and people only acknowledged me when I gave everything I had.

And I had to be that way to survive.

If I hadn’t been able to join the military, what would have happened to me? Wouldn’t I have ended up being sold to debt collectors?

If I hadn’t risked my life during my military service, I never would have become a combat operative.

Had I really been wrong?

I had always been someone who was “unqualified.”

So I worked hard to become qualified.

I’d seen people who were more injured than I was, people who were in greater pain than I was, and all I’d done was try to work harder than them.

That had been my conviction.

The guiding principle that kept me moving forward.

I still didn’t think I was wrong.

Even so, I nodded.

“…All right.”

But I wasn’t foolish enough to rebel in front of people who genuinely worried about me.

They weren’t angry.

They were worried about me.

Just like my comrades had been.

‘Stay in the rear.’

‘No! How can I be the only one…!’

‘Stay back today! What are you planning to do with that arm?!’

It was a day that made me remember the comrades who had cared about me.

I lifted my head and looked at Kael.

“I’ll stay quiet. I’ll do as you say and stay right beside Lady Seraphine without doing anything. But as for setting a trap with the troll corpses…”

“Do it. I’m saying you can.”

Kael ran a hand through his hair and let out a quiet sigh.

“I told you. Ever since the expedition began, there hasn’t been a single moment when we haven’t needed you. It’s the same now. I trust you, and I trust your judgment as well.”

His words put my mind at ease.

In the original story, they had suffered because ogres were drawn to the smell of the trolls.

It was better to prepare than to charge into them without doing anything.

“…And since we’re digging traps, how about we do one more thing? We could tie ropes between the trees so the monsters trip over them. They’re so sluggish that they probably won’t be able to get back up easily.”

“Have you ever seen an ogre yourself?”

“No. Hald told me. He said they’re slow because of how large they are.”

Kael thought for a moment before nodding.

“Then it’s worth trying. The problem is the rope. Do we have enough?”

That’s when I remembered another brilliant idea.

It appeared later in the original story, after entering the sanctuary, but trolls were huge creatures too.

They used to tear out the trolls’ tendons and use them as ropes.

“Um… What if we tear out the trolls’ tendons? Tendons are naturally tough, so I think they’d work well enough as rope.”

Monster tendons were especially durable.

Kael’s eyes widened.

“…That was mentioned in the paper.”

I nodded.

“Did you happen to read the same paper I did?”

“Maybe.”

What I had read was the original story, but let’s just call it a paper.

“I think now is the perfect time to test it, Your Highness.”

Kael agreed with me.

“We’ll start digging the traps now!”

The mercenaries, who had been gathered in the distance, snickering among themselves, turned their attention toward us.

Kael gave them a quiet order.

“Get moving.”

Only then did the mercenaries slowly rise to their feet.

They appeared to be cooperating willingly, but I didn’t trust them at all.

Seeing their attitude made me wonder if they might stab us in the back at the first opportunity.

We set up traps using the trolls’ tendons, dug several pits of suitable depth, and even tossed the troll corpses into them.

Then we climbed into the trees and decided to wait for the ogres to come.

Seraphine had placed me somewhere safe and stood guard in front of me.

“Lady Seraphine, I can’t see.”

“…Keep your promise. You said you wouldn’t do anything.”

“I know, but…”

I had to see whether the traps were working properly!

Seraphine sighed and moved aside enough to give me a clear view.

I could see the trees ahead shaking.

“Looks like they’re coming.”

“We must have spread the scent properly.”

The ground trembled as the sound of an enormous tree snapping in half rang out.

Wow. This was my first time seeing an ogre too.

They looked at least three times the height of a human, with shoulders as broad as doors.

Their hides looked incredibly thick as well.

There were four ogres in total.

I held my breath and watched them.

Perhaps because they were so stupid, they charged straight ahead without paying any attention to their surroundings.

One of them caught its foot on a tendon, staggered, and then toppled forward.

It was like watching a giant tree fall.

While it struggled on the ground, another ogre fell into one of the pits.

They really are idiots.

“WOOOOOOOOOOO!”

All the ogres charging toward us fell over or tumbled into the pits.

The moment that happened, Kael gave the signal.

Unable to even stand, the fallen ogres were practically helpless.

“Now!”

The golden aura released by Kael sliced the ogres apart.

“Go, Lady Seraphine!”

“You must stay right here.”

I nodded.

It was already a battle we’d won anyway.

“Promise!”

That was the beginning.

The knights and mercenaries leaped down from the trees like falling leaves.

The ogres never even had a chance to properly use their strength before every one of them met their death.

The ruthless men who had even harvested the ogres’ tendons were moving ahead.

Kalad glanced back.

Thanks to Kael’s group’s performance, not a single one of them had been injured.

‘Looks like that girl was the one using her head.’

Her combat ability wasn’t anything special.

At first, she’d been waving a torch around, but when they fought the ogres, she’d stayed toward the rear.

She claimed she’d injured her hand, and Kalad hadn’t gotten a proper look at her wielding a sword herself.

But she certainly had a useful head on her shoulders.

Who would have thought of tearing out tendons and using them as rope?

When she even insisted that ogre tendons would be stronger and had them harvested, Kalad had been astonished.

But that was all.

Once Rosana was eliminated, the rest of them would surely become a useless rabble.

‘What if that woman used her brains for us instead?’

Kalad narrowed his eyes.

That was a tempting prospect.

Not one of the subordinates he currently had with him was particularly clever.

Hald had been somewhat useful, but then he’d betrayed him.

Judging from the current situation, it was obvious that Kael’s group knew nothing about the final condition required by the holy relic and the sanctuary.

What if he removed only Rosana and then locked the others inside the sanctuary?

Kalad let out a satisfied chuckle.

No matter how he thought about it, there was nothing to lose.