Chapter 23: Heilon (1)
Heilon’s winter was long. To be more accurate, the winter here never ended. Even the snow melted for only one or two months. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
And I hated it. Why the hell did I set up Heilon as a cold region? It had been over five years since I came to Heilon, and this never-ending snow never failed to make me struggle. Especially, when I had to fight in a snowy mountain for hours, every second of it, I complained endlessly.
“So cold!”
The soldier standing next to me had a parched face at my dreadful face. I heard it was his first battle today, but he was still a young boy. Was his name Allen? He looked like he was in his late teens, about the same age as me.
“La..lady Fiona! Please focus on the battle!”
“I’m concentrating enough.” I flicked my fingers lightly, and a second later, the lightning bold fell right next to Allen. “Don’t worry about me, just look around calmly first.”
Allen, who fell down, looked at the place where the lightning fell with a white face. He now realized that there was a monster that had been trying to tear off his neck just until now, but it was dead. Seeing him so surprised that he couldn’t even scream, I smiled brightly. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“By the way, if you look away like that, you would become the monster’s dinner.”
Allen’s legs trembled at my words.
Huh? He was scared more than I thought. Poor him, this amount of braveness would be the joke between the soldiers. As an encouragement, I placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled softly.
“Don’t be afraid. I’m here to protect you from that.”
Allen stared blankly at me. His cheeks were flushed red, probably because of the cold. Seeing him like this made me feel like he was a little younger than me,
“Lady.. Lady Fiona!”
“Hey, don’t zone out. Dodge this.”
As I heard the blunt voice, something large was hurled towards Allen’s nose. It was the massive head of a beast, with fangs as long as my forearm. As it landed right in front of Allen, blood dripped from the monster’s severed neck, splashing onto his clothes and the snow. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“Uh… uhh…”
Allen, already shocked, was even more terrified by the gruesome sight. This was definitely not something that would comfort him.
I sighed and turned to the person responsible for throwing the monster’s head in front of a new soldier. He was calmly walking over the blood-stained snow, passing through the corpses of monsters scattered all around. His pale face was delicate yet cold, as if it had been carved from ice.
“Sigren.”
The once-youthful boy had shed his former innocence. His eyes were sharp and cold, like a hawk gliding through the sky. A finely crafted sword was held in his large, well-trained hand, with blood from the monster he had just slain dripping from its tip. Instead of a terrifying sight, there was an unsettling harmony between Sigren’s sharp beauty and the brutality of the surrounding landscape. As he approached with his long strides, his blue-grey eyes glanced at me. His lips, as if drawn with a fine brush, moved slowly. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“What?”
What the hell, was he still in puberty? What was with the way he talked? Didn’t puberty end when someone turned 19 and reached adulthood? What was up with him?
“What? What do you mean, ‘what’? If you startle people, you should apologize.”
“Abel told me to toughen up the newbies. If they’re shocked by something like this, they’re in trouble,” Sigren replied with a sour expression. He then looked down at Allen and smiled coldly. “This is just the beginning.”
It goes without saying that not only Allen but also the faces of the other soldiers around him turned pale.
Right now, Sigren’s skills were at a level where even low-ranking monsters were afraid of him and would run away. It was natural that his aura was so intense that it made people fear him as well.
I barely suppressed a sigh.
Lately, Sigren had been showing this kind of harsh attitude toward others more frequently. However, oddly enough, I’d heard from Abel that he usually had no major issues getting along with people. So, I wasn’t sure why he behaved this way in front of me, which, of course, always left me to deal with these situations.
I gently pushed Sigren on the chest, as he was intimidating the soldiers with his gaze alone. Fortunately, he flinched slightly and then withdrew his gaze.
I turned to the soldiers and grinned, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.
“Don’t worry. I was just like you at first, but I quickly got used to it. You’ll be able to do the same soon.”
One of the soldiers, his face flushed with nervousness, raised his hand.
“You have a question?”
“I… I’ve heard rumors among the soldiers that there will be a selection for Lady Fiona’s escort.”
“That’s right.”
“If I work hard, will I be able to be selected even though I’m still a rookie?”
It was an unexpected question. Well, although most of the soldiers who escorted me were veterans, it wasn’t unreasonable for these soldiers to want to join them.
“Is your name Jeremy?”
“Yes, My Lady.” Jeremy smiled broadly when I called his name. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
In my view, having a goal was always a good thing. It was even better if it motivated them to work hard and become good soldiers.
“Alright. I’ll be waiting.” I smiled lightly to encourage him.
“Yes, My Lady. I’ll do my best!” Jeremy answered loudly, though the tips of his ears turned red at my words.
He was certainly a young man, full of motivation. I watched him fondly for a moment. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“How dare you use such obvious tricks…”
For some reason, I heard Sigren grinding his teeth behind me. Seriously? He needed to stop glaring at the soldiers. What if they got discouraged again?
Somehow, as the days went by, it felt like Sigren was becoming more like Abel.
I sighed inwardly.
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