The troll ambush had delayed their march, and it was dusk by the time the campaign party stopped to set up camp.

The knights patrolled the area with torches while the female clerics tended to the wounded. After being forced to march with their injuries, most of the men were in a terrible state.

Maxi went to the spring to collect water with Idsilla to boil restorative herbs. When they had distributed the remedy to all the injured, they helped the other female clerics with the dinner preparations. Though Maxi was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion, the women were not given a moment’s rest. They were only able to gather to have the remainder of the bread and watery soup after they had served the men their meals.

This arrangement did not seem unjust to Maxi. After all, the soldiers risked their lives to protect them. It was also the women’s job to bolster the army’s strength so they would always be ready to face an emergency.

Maxi finished her measly meal in the dark, laid a blanket by the fire, and settled down to sleep. Idsilla had worked in silence the whole time. She now spread her blanket next to Maxi. Not long after, Maxi heard faint sniffling.

“A-Are you all right?” she asked in a low whisper. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

“N-No… It’s just… it was so much worse than I expected…” The girl noisily blew her nose on the blanket. Her eyes shone with tears. “I’m sorry. You must think me foolish. It was I, after all, who practically forced you to come with me…”

“Th-That is not true. I came… of my own volition,” said Maxi, then hesitantly asked, “D-Do you want to go back?”

Idsilla shook her head. “I don’t want that. No, that was a lie. I do want to go back, but even so… I won’t.” She bit her lip. “Have I told you about my brother?”

When Maxi nodded, Idsilla continued in a voice as muted as dying candlelight. “Knightly honor was not the only reason Elba left for the war in his poor condition. That was the reason he gave us… But the truth is, it was to secure my dowry. My family is one of the most ancient houses in Livadon, but our fortune declined greatly during my father’s time. Whereas, the man I’m betrothed to is from a prominent family in the south…”

“D-Did his family… demand a high dowry?”

Idsilla nodded stiffly. “I told my father that I didn’t mind breaking off the engagement, but he wouldn’t listen, saying how doing so would be no different from a death sentence for a noblewoman. Elba was also adamant that he would never allow such dishonor to befall me. My father has sold what land we have left, and Elba has taken it upon himself to fight in a war. All to secure my dowry. I knew… but I acted as though I was ignorant and only pretended to dissuade him with empty words. If I had just entered the convent and became a female cleric, then Elba would not have done something so reckless… If Elba… were to suffer a fate… similar to the soldiers we buried today, I would never be able to forgive myself.”

Maxi heard a stifled sob. It seemed Idsilla had been racked with guilt for her family for a long time. It was why she had made such a reckless decision.

A perplexing emotion overtook Maxi. A father selling his land for his daughter, and a brother risking his life for his sister… It did not seem real. “I’m sorry for troubling you with my sad tales.”

“It is all right,” Maxi answered after a pause.

“I’ll be back to normal in the morning,” Idsilla declared firmly, wiping her tears with her sleeve. “The fatigue must have gotten to me.”

“You should sleep,” Maxi answered after a while. “W-We will be on the road again… at dawn.” Idsilla bobbed her head, then pulled the blanket over herself. This time, Maxi heard no sobbing, and she surmised that the girl must have knocked herself out with exhaustion.

She gazed up at the starry sky with bleak eyes. She could not believe that one born as a woman could be so loved. Would the Duke of Croyso have treated her differently had she been smarter, more beautiful, and free of impediment? She felt her heart grow cold.

Curling into a ball, Maxi pulled her blanket up to her chin.

Why was she making herself feel miserable by making unnecessary comparisons? She had Riftan, and he adored her for all her flaws. As long as he was there, nothing else mattered. Maxi squeezed her eyes shut to drive out the wretched memories of her past.

Before daybreak the next day, the party made preparations to set out once more. Sensing that her mana was somewhat replenished, Maxi used magic to heal some of the wounded. The men must have assumed that she was using divine magic, as none of them showed any surprise when she healed them.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Maxi went to the spring intending to help with the meal preparations. There was no one there, however, presumably because the women had already collected enough water.

She was about to make her way back when she paused to gaze at the clear, flowing spring. Her face and nape were clammy with sweat thanks to having the hood drawn all day.

After a brief moment of inner conflict, she crouched down and threw back her hood. She scooped up the water with her hands and hurriedly washed her face and neck.

Her clothes became soaked in the process, but she did not mind. She rolled up her sleeves and thoroughly washed her arms and even her underarms before getting up. It was then that she heard a crunching sound over her head.

Maxi froze and slowly looked up. Kuahel Leon was languidly perched atop a pointed rock. His inexpressive eyes bored into her as he took a bite of an apple.

Maxi quickly pulled the hood over her head. It finally occurred to her that the reason there were no people was that the area had been cleared to allow the commander of the Temple Knights to rest undisturbed. When she hastily tried to leave, his bored voice stopped her in her tracks.

“What possessed you to come here?”

Maxi’s heart sank.

Sir Kuahel threw his half-eaten apple into the bushes and nimbly jumped off the rock. “I’ve tried probing His Grace, the duke, but he seemed completely oblivious to your presence here… How did you manage to smuggle yourself in?”

“I-I’m afraid… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Maxi said in a poor attempt to feign ignorance while pulling her hood down to her chin.

Sir Kuahel remained silent for a while, grilling her with his eyes. Maxi could feel her mouth drying up.

“I-If you’ll excuse me, I still have work to do.”

“I have conveyed your letter.”

His words rooted Maxi to the spot like a snare. She bit her lip. She was aware that this could be a ploy to make her reveal herself, but she simply could not shake off the temptation to ask about Riftan.

“W-Was he unhurt?” she asked after a long while.

“As if anything is capable of wounding that man,” Sir Kuahel replied flatly.

Relief flooded her. Maxi felt her eyes well with tears. She looked up at the knight to confirm that he was not lying and found him staring down at her as though he were regarding something baffling.

Cocking an eyebrow, he asked, “Did you come this far just to confirm that?”

Maxi’s face flushed at the exasperation in his voice. “P-Please keep this a secret. I-I will not trouble anyone, so—”

“You don’t have to do something so extreme for that man to be safe.”

Maxi glowered at him. “R-Riftan… is not invincible.”

The knight opened his mouth as if to quip back but abruptly clenched it shut. An inscrutable emotion flashed behind his cold eyes. “You coming here will not change anything.”

Maxi was unable to answer immediately.

“I am aware of that. I-I merely… wish to see him, e-even just from afar…”

Embarrassed by her own words, the burning flush crept up to the tips of her ears.

After regarding her with an enigmatic expression, Kuahel Leon said dryly, “Calypse is most likely camped a day’s journey from Serbin Castle. It would be highly improbable for you to chance upon him.”

Masking her disappointment, Maxi replied as calmly as possible, “I-It does not matter. I will be c-content to be near him and be a-able to hear his news.”

That seemed to silence him. Maxi looked up imploringly at the knight’s impassive face. His brow furrowed ever so slightly as he turned around and grabbed the cloak he had hung on a branch.

“I do agree that it would be less burdensome for me to pretend not to know of this matter than to be forced to provide you with a personal guard. You may do as you please.”

With that, he slowly ran his eye over her with a glazed expression. Suddenly realizing just how ragged and filthy she must look, Maxi hunched her shoulders.

The knight opened his mouth to say something, but swiftly turned and left instead. It seemed as if he had stopped himself from blurting something inappropriate.

The tension in Maxi’s shoulders finally eased. It was not likely that he would interfere with her plan. Indeed, her actions were of no concern to the commander of the Temple Knights.

She returned to the camp and helped the female clerics prepare breakfast. By the time they had assessed the conditions of the wounded, the day was already bright when the party set out again.

Those who were well enough mounted their horses once more, while those who were not rode on the wagons. As a result, the already narrow wagon became even more cramped.

Wedged between passengers, Maxi nodded off to sleep. The other female clerics, seemingly bone-weary from the events of the last two days, also had no trouble dozing inside the rattling vehicle.

They traveled for what seemed like half a day when the wagons suddenly came to a halt. Maxi groggily opened her eyes. Outside the window was a towering rampart. They had reached Serbin Castle.

Maxi snapped to attention. “I-Idsilla… I think we have arrived.”

Idsilla, who had been sleeping with her head on Maxi’s shoulder, jerked awake. She leaned over Maxi and stuck her head out the window.

The tightly secured gate swung wide open, and the wagons began to roll fonvard once more. As they passed through the gate, Maxi surveyed the city. Signs of the former troll occupation lay in the rubble that stretched in every direction.

Half of the rampart had collapsed, and dark piles of ash were scattered about the place as though everything had been burned down. Had it not been for the tightly-packed rows of tents and the Livadonian banner in the center, Maxi would have thought it was a forsaken city. The soldiers made the wagons form a long line, then opened the doors to the vehicle.

“We have arrived. You may come out now.”

Maxi stepped out of the wagon along with the fifteen or so women, and one of the soldiers led them through the tents.

“Follow me. ”

As they made their way down the street, Maxi saw horses tied to a makeshift fence and soldiers hauling items around the tents. Clerics busily tended to the wounded.

Maxi strained her neck in her efforts to find a familiar face and ended up bumping into Selina. The soldier guiding them abruptly stopped.

“Women are to use this area,” he said, opening the flap to the tented barracks.

It was a low tent, its floor covered in a thick layer of hay. Bits of cloth were spread out on the hay for use as cots. Maxi scanned the interior with a dark expression. It was clear that this place was set solely for sleeping; it was utterly bereft of any private space.

The cots themselves lacked proper bedding, and the tent was so narrow that Maxi did not think they would have the space to move while they slept. Even so, one by one the women crammed themselves in.

Maxi and Idsilla chose the cots at the end, unpacked their bags, and promptly went outside. A cleric greeted them and explained their duties.

Every day, the women were expected to prepare breakfast and dinner for the army and tend to the injured. On top of that, they were also tasked with ensuring that the camp never ran out of water, laundry every ten days, managing the horses, collecting fodder, and occasionally serving the knights.

Maxi’s face turned yellow listening to the barrage of tasks, but she was in no position to complain.

She steeled herself and got to work. Though she wished to inquire about the Remdragon Knights, her heavy workload did not allow her the time to speak with any of the soldiers.

Inwardly, Maxi gnashed her teeth in frustration. Selina evidently felt so bad for her that she snuck away and collected news of Eth Lene Castle.

“It appears that Balto has sent reinforcements, and the situation isn’t all that dire.”

Maxi turned away from lighting the fire, her face streaked with soot.

“I-Is that true?” she asked with a hopeful smile.

Selina nodded. “Sir Riftan apparently played a big role during the battle. They say he managed to hold off an assailing troll army — nearly a thousand in number — with only two hundred knights. He truly is worth a hundred men.”