CATB Chapter 23

'I think things are finally getting organized....'

With the noticeably reduced green in my field of vision, I brought my sword down on the back of a struggling monster.

'The sword marks aren't going through.'

Even though the sword I was carrying was one used by the royal family, it was among the best in terms of strength and sharpness. However, the monster's hide was so thick that I had to strike about three times just to inflict a minor wound. It didn't even penetrate to the inside.

'This would work well as armor...'

With the joy of seemingly discovering revolutionary fabric, I excitedly knocked around the monster here and there. There were several additional things I needed to check. But this bastard started trying to shoot a green ball at me, so I just killed it. I wanted to take my time and observe since there were only a few left...

I turned my gaze to the other monsters. The remaining knights in the fifth row were busily swinging their swords. Is this what a mother feels like watching her child take first steps? I was watching them with a proud heart when suddenly a strange commotion arose among the monsters. From the one that was perfectly fine gnawing on a soldier to the one whose neck was barely hanging on and still breathing, an ominous atmosphere began to swirl.

"Keeeeeek!!"

The monsters, letting out that spine-chilling scream that I never get used to hearing, began running eastward all at once. As soon as the central monsters started moving, even the western monster horde frantically rushed eastward. Their movement was so urgent and fierce that several soldiers were trampled to death.

"Ahhhhh!!!"

"Move quickly if you don't want to be trampled to death!!"

"What... what is it!!"

"The monsters are showing strange behavior!!!"

In the chaotic field, everyone followed the monsters' direction of movement. The knights we had sent east were running toward us from the opposite direction, as if their monster cleanup had finished early.

"There's no way they finished that quickly...."

Our side still had monsters that weren't all dead yet, but they'd already finished processing theirs?

The royal knights must be stronger than they look. But at this rate, those green chunks are going to collide head-on with them... Should I charge forth like a righteous hero on horseback to rescue those bastards? While I was mulling over this, a black silhouette entered my field of vision.

"Huh?"

That's Belkellion.

I'm confident because I'm relying on my 1.2 vision that boasts 100% handsome man detection within 100 meters.

'No way.....'

I recalled the monster horde that had frantically rushed at Belkellion even in the forest. Was I going crazy thinking that the Grand Duke's beauty worked on those monsters too?

First, I had to save him. No matter how skilled he was, he couldn't handle that many monsters rushing at him all at once. My leisurely composure vanished completely. If even a scratch appeared on that national treasure-level face, I firmly resolved that I would use whatever means necessary to annihilate those green abominations here and now as I turned my horse's head.

"Hiyah!!!"

Alexa roughly spurred her horse and galloped eastward. Following her movement, the surrounding knights also swiftly drove their horses. Soldiers and monsters alike all converged in one place. The soldiers' hearts were filled with strong conviction that this would be the final battle that would determine victory or defeat.

"Kek!!"

"Kek!!"

"Kek!!"

Brief death cries echoed through the air like embroidery along Alexa's path.

"That... that..."

The mouths of the knights and soldiers watching Alexa's retreating figure hung wide open.

They had reached their physical limits and were desperately fighting the monsters. Did Alexa, who had moved even more and defeated even more monsters than them, still have that much strength left?

They had not yet fully grasped Alexa's ability to become an unrivaled powerhouse—a complete cheat character—when it came to battle.

"Everyone do your best to eliminate the monsters! If we kill just those bastards, it'll be over!"

Alexa raised her voice toward them, urging them on. The bewildered soldiers soon began swinging their swords following Alexa.

As we got closer to Belkellion, there were more violent monsters.

Why the hell are they acting like this?

Belkellion, who had been mechanically swinging his sword, seemed to have spotted me.

His sword strikes became sharper. About half the monsters were still left in the field making their last desperate struggle.

At Alexa's command, knights and soldiers rushed in en masse.

Before long, the situation was being sorted out in an instant.

As Alexa and Belkellion, plus Berford who had rushed from the west, joined the fray, Garion breathed a sigh of relief at the noticeably stabilizing situation. Even though he had prepared himself to end everything here while facing the monsters, he smiled bitterly at the contradiction of being relieved as death, which had been pressing a blade to his chin, retreated inch by inch.

And another reason for his bitter smile was Belkellion.

He couldn't take his eyes off Belkellion.

Watching his indifferent sword strikes sharply, he finally arrived at one quite convincing hypothesis.

'If we had that man, we might be able to rule the continent.'

However, the above proposition required the premise of "having."

Who could keep such a monster under them?

Neither the current king nor the kingdom's one and only prince could. No, they couldn't.

Having already seen them flee with their tails between their legs at the hunting competition, Garion had completely given up any hope for them. It wasn't unexpected, but as a knight who had devoted his youth to Pellipe's royal family, the feeling of being abandoned as a subject wasn't pleasant.

Raphael III was a decent king. He was better at surviving than ruling.

Garion thought that Raphael III, who had been the third prince, was only able to rise to the throne through sheer luck. The subtle yet fierce succession struggle between the first and second princes ended with both their tragic deaths. Some say they killed each other, but no one knows the truth. The first prince died in an accident when his carriage overturned during his journey as an envoy to the Aepylle Empire, and around the same time, the second prince died a short, dishonorable death from excessive indulgence. Come to think of it, the woman the second prince had taken then was....

Garion pulled his wandering thoughts back together. Anyway, Raphael, the only remaining prince, ascended to the throne and was crowned Raphael III. After that, things flowed smoothly as expected.

Raphael III was skilled at navigating situations. He successfully maneuvered through the Aepylle Empire's cloying harassment, the power struggles among nobles, and the unexpectedly fierce battles among the concubines. The fact that Pellipe remained sound, secure, and peaceful up to now was proof of this.

However, that didn't mean he was an ideal ruler.

The reason Pellipe could firmly maintain its position against the Empire was the efforts of his lord and knights who risked their lives guarding the borders; the one who coordinated the nobles was not the king but the neutral chancellor Avankaeron; and the rivalry among the royal women ended with one concubine's death before the king could do anything.

Based on what Garion had experienced and witnessed so far, he expected Prince Wilhelm, who was certain to be the next king, would walk a similar path. No, he might do even worse.

Prince Wilhelm was smart but hot-tempered and clumsy at hiding his feelings. More than a few nobles felt displeased because of his expressions that showed everything on his face. The fact that nobles were already showing animosity toward him wouldn't help maintain Wilhelm's royal authority later.

Neither Raphael III nor Prince Wilhelm had the qualities of an emperor.

The king's qualities were also quite questionable considering today's events, but this wasn't anything new.

If Garion's thoughts were at this level, it must have struck the soldiers below even more forcefully.

A monarch must be able to handle the people.

He must constantly confirm to them that he is someone they can trust and rely on.

Since people are inherently fickle beings whose emotions bubble and simmer like porridge on the stove, no one knows when they'll turn their backs and when they'll draw close again.

For these people who pursue the primitive instinct of swallowing what's sweet and spitting out what's bitter, trust in a dependable monarch is of utmost importance. Even if that trust isn't based on fact.

The king's biggest mistake today was clearly imprinting the image of his fleeing in the soldiers' eyes. Since some of the knights who had sworn loyalty to the royal family remained and the soldiers weren't in important positions, there wouldn't be an immediate reaction, but someday the king would come to greatly regret today's events. Wilhelm wouldn't be an exception either.

How could such people keep the Grand Duke under them?

That wolf-like creature who even now seems barely held by a leash, ready to bolt at any moment.

Wolves are not animals meant to be domesticated.

Even though he's royalty, Garion wouldn't be surprised if the Grand Duke, who doesn't seem to have much attachment to the royal family even now, started a rebellion. Today he could finally completely understand why the king openly ostracized him.

Would there be anyone who could face that man...

A unique individual is dangerous. Even more so if there are no means to stop him.

For Garion, who was properly recognizing him for the first time today, he couldn't be certain whether Belkellion's existence would be beneficial or detrimental to Pellipe's survival in the future. His heart, which had been beating anxiously, made him take another breath.

'Lady Alexa is.....'

Garion's gaze reached Alexa, who was excitedly beating up monsters in the center. Since the number of monsters had decreased considerably and killing them in one blow had become boring, Alexa was toying with the monsters here and there. From Alexa's perspective, she was conducting various experiments, buy to others it just looked like she was playing around with them.

Garion momentarily wondered whether he should call Alexa "Princess" or "Commander." He had never called Alexa "Princess" nor had he ever called her "Commander." In fact, it would be more accurate to say he had never addressed her at all. Alexa was like a ghost on the battlefield. Her military prowess was desperately needed by Pellipe's army, but Alexa herself wasn't needed. The one who would call her would be perhaps Commander Berford. Well, even the Commander just called her Alexa, omitting all titles.

There was a valid reason why he was now pondering Alexa's title.

Whatever had happened, Garion was far too astute at assessing situations to simply treat the disenchanted Alexa as he had before.

'Yes... if it's that person.....'

Alexa, who boasted military strength comparable to the Grand Duke's, was a monster.

But she would be a different kind of monster from him.

That princess knew how to appear at the right moment with the right words to properly lead people.

Garion didn't think Alexa had sincerely processed the monsters to save the knights.

However, regardless of her original intentions, the knights believed so. The soldiers believed so too.

Didn't he say that trust doesn't need to be truth anyway?

There are no truthful monarchs. There are trusted monarchs.

Garion thought while watching Alexa cheerfully pounding the monsters.

'There's going to be quite a bloody storm.'

There was no more green showing any sign of movement.

After vigorously dealing with the big guys, I quickly looked for Belkellion.

Is he too quiet because he got hurt?

Without needing to search long, a noble black silhouette stood tall not far away.

'That physique... ha....'

Seeing him from a distance, his physical proportions came into view at once.

I've really gotten good at scanning these things with an eagle eye.

Face and body... ha... total package, that man.

With a pleased smile, I drove my horse toward him. He was dealing with the last remaining monster.

Thud. As the green body fell, he lifted his head while following it with his gaze.

And he discovered me. I could feel his black eyes gazing solely at me.

It would be nice if he smiled like before.

Though I'm grateful for his indifferent gaze, after seeing his faint smile earlier, I couldn't help feeling disappointed. Belkellion was also driving his horse toward me.

That made me inexplicably happy, so I grinned broadly.

"Hah!!"

"Lady Alexa!!!"

The last monster had definitely ended with Belkellion's sword, it was supposed to be over—

"Damn, I let my guard down."

Before I could finish speaking, a huge green body lunged at me.

Though I have fast reflexes, I had relaxed thinking everything was over, so it was difficult to avoid the monster rushing at me with poison.

I won't die, but I'll get hurt a bit. How unsightly.... tsk.

Since I hate pain, I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut.

Swoosh!

Something like a strong arm seemed to wrap around me, and I was uncertainly lifted through the air and roughly seated on a horse.

What's this?

The monster that had been rushing toward me crashed right into my horse. By a hair's breadth, I was snatched away by someone and managed to avoid disaster.

And Belkellion....? Huh? Already here?

He had been quite far away, but somehow appeared before my eyes and killed the monster.

His downward strike was sharper than ever.

Uh....

I had a girlish romantic thought that if anyone were to save me, it might be the Grand Duke.

But Belkellion is in front of me...

And I'm still riding on someone's horse...

Because of the urgent situation, I can still hear a rough man's breathing above my head...

The uniform of the arms embracing me from behind is stained but if it's white....

'Shit.'

At times like this, my quick perceptiveness really makes me want to die.

I slowly lifted my head.

My gaze traveled from a sharp jawline past a beautiful nose tip and finally reached the expected green eyes.

And those green eyes looked down at me too.

Though they were clearly green, they seemed to contain flickering flames, making me unconsciously shrink back.

That bastard, I only knew he was pretty, but he's got more charisma than he looks.

"You!"

"Please put me down. Thank you for the help."

Why do I keep getting entangled with this guy? Also, being with Berford seemed like it would become gossip, so I hastily tried to escape his embrace. Then Berford firmly grabbed my shoulder.

Won't let go? This bastard...

I glared at him. Hoping my will would be fully expressed.

He looked down at me intently, then slightly raised the corner of his mouth.

For some reason I felt disgusted, so my expression became fierce too.

"Get a grip, Commander. This is still a battlefield, isn't it?"

What, is this bastard being sarcastic?