The Plan (2)

Selena bowed deeply at my words. She must have guessed as well.

“Yes, just as I did at the Tyburn, I am prepared to give my life to protect you.”

Selena spoke with a resolute voice.

Perhaps it was the change in her tone, or maybe I was just used to it now, but I was slowly becoming accustomed to Selena's formal pronouncements. Was this her plan all along?

However, I shook my head. Selena had a different task this time.

“No. I have a separate request for you.”

“...A separate request, sir?”

Selena raised her head and looked at me. I lifted my hand and pointed next to her.

The Rune, the portal, that I had stored in the workshop. I drew it on the floor and opened the portal.

“...!”

Selena stared at it with wide eyes.

I spoke to her, “If you go through this portal, you will see a cabin. You know it, right? It's the annex of the Roach family.”

“Yes, yes. I know it.”

“Go through this portal. Go and bring my mother, Malia, here.”

Selena seemed a bit flustered by my words, but she nodded first. She didn't ask why. Hmm, a good attitude as an escort.

“And when you come back, use a horse.”

“...Not a car?”

“Right. But it can't be just any horse.”

I loosened my tie. Fabric of Penelope. I handed it to Selena.

“This is...?”

“Constel has facilities for horseback riding. Even though it's vacation, that area will be managed. Go and show this cloth to the horses. Then one of them will come to you.”

“...Cassian, is it?”

“Precisely.”

Cassian, the wise steed that had been a great help to me at the Tyburn. Of course, Selena, who rode with me, would also remember him. Naturally, she wouldn't know what connection this cloth had with Cassian, but it was Selena's expertise to subtly gloss over such things.

“However, Frondier-nim. While Cassian is the wisest steed, he is not the fastest. He is slower than a car, and it will be even slower with two people on board. It will take several days to get here from Constel.”

“It's alright. It's worth taking those few days.”

Of course, I couldn't guarantee that the monsters wouldn't descend during those few days.

But if Cassian and Malia weren't here, there was a risk of a bigger problem in case of an emergency.

If it was the first descent, Enfer and the Knights would hold out.

And that might be a valuable chance for me to head beyond the barrier, avoiding the eyes of others.

* * *

At the time Frondier was giving orders to Selena.

Enfer was receiving a report from Sylvain.

“Compared to last year, the monsters will begin their descent within a week.”

“Do the members know?”

“Yes. I told everyone not to let their guard down.”

“Strengthen the perimeter and extend the watch shifts. Increase the number of personnel sufficiently so that the soldiers don't get fatigued.”

“Understood.”

Their conversation was no different from last year.

They always had similar conversations around this time and then annihilated the monsters that soon invaded. They just repeated that. It was a simple but arduous, bothersome, and thorough repetition of inspections. It was this that had eventually earned Enfer and the Knights the title of "Iron Wall."

However, this year there was a slightly different variable.

“...When the monsters begin their descent, your son...”

“Of course, he'll be on standby. I will have him thoroughly monitored so that he absolutely cannot leave his quarters.”

Enfer's immediate response. Sylvain, who already knew the answer, nodded.

However, there was a reason for asking even though he knew the answer.

“Your son has the qualities of a warrior. In sparring, he doesn't get overly scared of the opponent's attacks, and he shows the will to keep trying to judge the situation, whether it's the right answer or not. He truly has the blood of the head of the family flowing through him.”

“I told you to give Frondier any kind of work, right?”

“As you instructed, I had him participate in the knights' training. He followed along quite well. He seems exhausted afterwards, though.”

Sylvain's words were laced with a bit of playfulness. Seeing this, Enfer sighed deeply.

“Stop it. Frondier is a weak child. He has been since he was young. He can't compare to Azier.”

“...Well, anyone would pale in comparison to Azier.”

Is the reason the Lord worries so much about Frondier because he compares him to Azier? Sylvain briefly had such a thought.

“Frondier has talent. Compared to Azier, he may be lacking, but compared to ordinary children, he is quite excellent. Is there a reason you call him a weak child? Is it because he has no divine power?”

“Azier doesn't have divine power either. That's not Frondier's problem. It's just...”

There, unusually, Enfer paused. It wasn't that he was at a loss for words, but rather that he seemed to be deep in thought.

Slowly, his heavy mouth opened.

“Sylvain, do you believe in fate?”

“I don't quite understand what you mean.”

“If you knew in advance when and how you were going to die one day, what would you do? Would you run away, or would you accept it?”

Sylvain couldn't understand why Enfer was suddenly asking such a question. However, he answered sincerely.

“I would stand in the very place where they say I will die and fight with all my might to survive.”

“...Haha, that's right. Sylvain Serdo. That's why you're the Knight Commander.”

Sylvain felt awkward. He believed that Enfer's compliments were so rare that they could be counted on one hand throughout his entire life.

Since he had just received one, he might as well be prepared to never hear another compliment from Enfer for the rest of his life.

“Then let me ask you differently. What if it wasn't you, but someone precious to you?”