“I can’t accept this.”

Christine said those words to Theodora. Inside the camp before the other knights arrived, the commander and vice commander of the Raven Knight Order arrived early and talked separately.

“What can’t you accept?”

Theodora was preoccupied with checking the map. It was an important map that the soldiers and knights guarding the border of the Wilderness had created with their lives. Christine frowned at her nonchalant attitude. Last night’s conversation with Maxim came to mind.

‘Does your ex-girlfriend know about that curse too?’
‘No, she doesn’t. Theodora, I mean… don’t ever tell the commander or give any hint about my physical condition.’
‘Why…’
‘Don’t do it.’

Maxim’s face had looked so desperate when he said those words that Christine ended up promising not to tell the truth. That’s why her heart was burning even more now. Maxim’s face, who had laughed that ignorance was not a sin, and Theodora’s cold face now crossed Christine’s mind.

“Even if you included Maxim Apart in the investigation personnel, putting him directly in the team going near the cliff…”

A spark ignited in Theodora’s cold expression.

“It would be a big loss to include a knight with outstanding skills like him in the defense mission or a relatively unimportant mission. The stronger the knight, the more they have to sacrifice. You and I also take turns entering the investigation near the cliff, right?”

There’s nothing wrong with being ignorant. There’s always a reason for things that can’t be said.

Christine bit her lip hard. She didn’t like Theodora’s cold expression.

“Then why did you dismiss him… Maxim Apart from the position of vice commander if he’s that strong?”

At Christine’s words, Theodora frowned. More precisely, her brows furrowed with anger.

“Let’s not argue about that matter. I judged that he didn’t have the skills of a vice commander and had him step down, that’s all. He is sufficiently qualified to be a member of the Raven Knight Order.”

Theodora declared.

“But-”
“Do you not trust him? Even though you’ve been in the same knight order with him?”

Because they were in the same knight order, she knew. Without being by his side, without seeing him all this time.

A subtle tension formed between Theodora and Christine.

“…I will trust you.”
“Good.”

She couldn’t think that personal feelings didn’t influence her decision. Christine looked at her with resentful eyes. She wouldn’t waver because she firmly believed in his skills.

The marquis of the frontier entered as the tent flap fluttered.

“Is the meeting over?”

Christine and Theodora nodded simultaneously. The Carmilla narrowed her eyes at that subtle atmosphere and shrugged her shoulders.

“It’s fine. Come outside. Let’s start the investigation.”

==

Well-fed and well-groomed warhorses with glossy fur were flicking their tails. Maxim grasped the reins of the reddish-brown horse given to him and patted its shoulders. The horse made a small neigh and pawed the ground with its hooves. It was a well-controlled horse. The horses ridden to the Wilderness were resting in the stable for a break from the long journey.

“It’s a pretty good fellow.”

As Maxim muttered, an unexpected person responded.

“They gathered horses with good bloodlines from all over the kingdom.”

Camilla Faye, the marquis of the frontier, spoke while looking at the horses that were just turning their heads back and forth with no grass to graze on. Maxim looked at her, who suddenly answered his monologue with eyes filled with bewilderment.

“They are the descendants of the valiant warhorses that knights rode on the battlefield. They never get scared even when they see monsters, they can run far and fast, and if ordered to charge at the enemy, they can run faster than any other horse.”
“… You’ve taken good care of them.”

Maxim replied like that. The marquis of the frontier smirked as if it were nothing.

“I have to take good care of them. So they can be ridden at any time.”

The horse she was stroking snorted as if responding to her words. The knights and soldiers were each mounting their horses. There seemed to be enough horses to mount all the soldiers as well. She put her foot in the stirrup and mounted her horse.

“Maxim Apart.”

Maxim’s eyes met Carmilla’s, who was looking down at him.

“Yes, Marquis.”
“I know you belonged to the Raven Knight Order before it was reorganized like this.”

Maxim inwardly felt a bad premonition. Because there was a tone mixed in Carmilla’s voice that sounded displeased as she spoke to him.

“But I am skeptical, Maxim Apart. Even if your skills are enough to remain in the knight order, it’s a fact that you were a knight who fell low enough to be demoted to that knight order at one point.”

Maxim quickly mounted his horse. Beyond the saddle, he could feel the stable and solid body of the horse.

“I’ll be watching you.”

Leaving those words behind, the marquis of the frontier led his horse and took the lead of the investigation personnel.

“We’re departing! As mentioned, group 1 will head west, group 2 will head to the center, and group 3 will head east. Group 2, follow me!”

Carmilla herself was in charge of commanding group 2. Theodora led group 1 heading west, and a knight who had been serving in the Wilderness led group 3.

Maxim was assigned to group 2, along with Christine and Paola. Looking at Carmilla’s back leading ahead, Paola casually conversed with Maxim.

“Did you commit some sin against the marquis of the frontier, lad?”

He seemed to have been watching the conversation between the two on the side. Maxim shook his head with a bitter smile.

“I think I earned her dislike without knowing.”
“That lass sometimes has that side to her. How do you say this… Concluding her opinion of people too quickly.”

Paola shook his head from side to side.

“You speak as if you’ve experienced it.”
“Why not? 15 years ago, I was quite despised for being a soldier. I had a temper too, but… That might be why we clashed even more.”

Paola laughed heartily.

“By the way, what happened to the vice commander who was always with you now that you’re separated?”

Paola, who had terrifyingly sniffed out the scent of gossip, asked. At those words, Maxim slightly turned his head to where Christine was. She wasn’t approaching him on purpose and was just looking at him. When their eyes met, Christine looked at him with a strange gaze and then turned her head toward the scenery of the Wilderness.

“… That’s why I’m asking.”

Paola looked at Maxim with sympathetic eyes. Maxim was worried that he might have some strange misunderstanding in his head.

“That’s just how relationships between people are sometimes.”
“What are you two thinking of?”

At that moment, someone rode their horse to the side of Paola and Maxim. It was the troops under Carmilla who had been serving in the Wilderness.

“Are you Sir Paola Simone?”

To call him sir even, Maxim couldn’t help but be puzzled again to see Paola being acknowledged. This man, who seemed to just like chatting like an old man, was recognized by the knights of the Wilderness.

“Don’t call me sir, it’s embarrassing.”

Paola waved his hand as if uncomfortable.

“We are people who owe you a debt from 15 years ago. How can we forget to call you sir and omit the honorific?”
“I also witnessed your exploits back then, sir.”

The soldiers and knights spoke to him as one.

“It’s surprising that you’ve stayed here for so long.”

Paola clicked his tongue. Indeed, it wouldn’t be easy to serve for 15 years in such a harsh environment.

“We’ve been guarding it continuously. We’ve never forgotten our duty.”

Paola and the knights began to exchange greetings. Maxim tried to discreetly fall back and observe the scene, but a knight looked at Maxim next to Paola and tilted his head.

“…By the way, I heard that guy next to you belonged to the previous Raven Knight Order and has remained until now.”

Maxim clicked his tongue inwardly.

“How great must his skills be to remain until this investigation of the Wilderness?”

The tone was twisted and sarcastic. He had thought such things would happen after he was allowed to remain in the Raven Knight Order, but it wasn’t very pleasant to face it.

“If his skills are good, so what?”

The knight gave a crooked smile. He was blatantly disrespecting Maxim.

“Well, as long as he doesn’t piss his pants and run away when he faces the monsters here, I guess that’s fortunate.”

Paola’s expression hardened.

“Don’t criticize him in front of me. Even though I have a connection with you from 15 years ago, my comrade now is this Maxim Apart. Not you.”

Paola rebuked the knights in a rarely very decisive tone. Maxim was surprised that Paola actively stepped forward to defend him.

“…My thinking was short-sighted.”

The knights who had been mocking Maxim’s skills and whatnot grimaced and apologized to Paola. Ignoring the person who should actually receive the apology, Maxim. Paola opened his mouth to say something more, but when Maxim slightly shook his head, he let it go.

“It’s been a while since I witnessed Paola’s skills with my own eyes.”

The knight subtly changed the topic of conversation.

“We’re looking forward to it, Paola. And…”

The knight turned a sour gaze to Maxim.

“Your skills too, which Paola so highly praised.”

Maxim didn’t feel the need to answer the knight’s words. He coldly ignored him without any change in emotion or expression, so the knights’ faces distorted even more.

“Ha!”

The knights rode their horses and moved away to the front. Adding a shout on purpose was a bonus. Paola sighed next to Maxim.

“Those friends weren’t originally like that…”

Paola looked at the receding knights with a regretful look. Maxim shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing.

“They are knights who have guarded this rough place for 15 years, of course they would be.”
“… You’re really, are you just kind-hearted or…”

Paola looked at Maxim as if he was strange.

“It’s not that I’m not angry.”

Maxim said with a bitter smile.

“It’s just that it wasn’t a situation to be angry.”

The people he should truly feel rage and murderous intent towards were separate. That’s what Maxim thought.

After passing through the wilderness for a long time, the investigation personnel reached a place where the slope began to appear. Huge rocks were scattered here and there. Riding at the lead, Carmilla stopped his horse and jumped off the saddle.

“We’ll leave the horses here for now. Everyone dismount.”

Following her words, Maxim dismounted and tied his horse to a nearby rock. After confirming that all personnel had dismounted, she gave orders again.

“We’ll start the investigation. Only those guarding the horses stay. The rest follow me.”

The investigation led by Carmilla began. Maxim formed a separate team with the knights of the Wilderness and walked through the strange rocks. Coincidentally, one of them was the knight who had spoken to Paola and relentlessly mocked Maxim.

“Your name was Maxim, right?”

As expected, he approached Maxim with a ferocious expression.

“If you’re not a coward, why don’t you answer me?”

The way he spoke now was no different from the troublemakers of the previous Raven Knight Order. Maxim frowned, feeling a biological repulsion.

“What, do you not even have the guts to answer? Now that you don’t have Paola to protect you or the skirt of that pretty blonde wench, have you become mute? Paola is Paola, but doing womanly things in such a lowly knight order, you should be ashamed.”

Maxim abruptly came to a halt. The knight flinched at the momentary force exuded from him. Seeing that, Maxim spoke in an extremely dry voice.

“…I can sense monsters, but seeing you babbling on like that, I guess you can’t yet.”

The knight was about to shout with a distorted face, but an eerie cry that seemed to tear the eardrums was heard first.

Kyaaak-!

Giant lizards with six legs were crawling down the hill in a group. Maxim narrowed his eyes and looked at the knight whose face was turning red beside him.

“Are you sure you’ve been guarding this place for 15 years?”
“You bastard…”

Then, the knight prepared for battle in a sour manner.

“If you’re so great, kill those hexapedes and…”

Before the knight could finish his words, Maxim drew his sword.

“You really talk too much.”

Maxim rushed into the herd of hexapedes, leaving behind the knight who had frozen with a stupid expression. The knight’s curses and shouts, mixed with surprise, were heard from behind.

His mind. Became sharply on edge.

Maxim had to admit that the cold and sharp emotion blooming in his heart was anger.

Honestly, he was a little angry.

The fact that Christine was mentioned in a negative way from that mouth stimulated Maxim’s rage.

The hexapedes reached in front of Maxim’s eyes, roaring. He raised the sword held in both hands high like an executioner beheading. The gaze of the monster and Maxim crossed. A moment flowed as long as a day. His time began to flow again when he dropped his sword and carried out the execution.

Crunch!

The first hexapede was split in half. Another one approached right after.

Maxim delivered a single strike. The lizard’s mouth was torn in half, splattering bright red blood.

Maxim delivered another single strike. The heads of two hexapedes flew into the sky.

With another strike, another body was severed in two.

One strike at a time.

Without aura, relying only on his enhanced body, the sword he swung slaughtered the monsters. Maxim’s sword was extremely complex yet extremely simple. The sword that passed by like an oar drawing a boat’s path naturally reaped all lives on its path. The hexapedes would never know what happened to them until the end.

A chilly wind brushed past the Wilderness. Maxim’s sword, like that wind brushing the wilderness, extremely naturally swept the monsters and stopped, being thrust into the head of the last.

The smell of blood, as if suppressed by Maxim’s sword, didn’t rise until he took the life of the last hexapede, and then it vibrated the air all at once as if it had been waiting.

“…What the…”

Words trembled out of the knight’s mouth. His eyes were fixed on Maxim, who had dyed his sword with the monsters’ blood and turned his head towards him. Maxim himself didn’t have a single drop of blood on him. He slowly walked towards the knight, who was looking at him with wildly shaking eyes. The knight looked into Maxim’s eyes with an expression that couldn’t hide his shock.

“…This is…”
“Still planning to just talk?”

Maxim’s golden eyes shone coldly as he looked at the knight.