At that moment, Idsilla bounded into the tent looking exuberant.
“Lady Calypse! I just saw Elba!”
Maxi looked up in surprise. The girl clasped Maxi’s hand, sobbing.
“The Livadonian Royal Knights just returned to reorganize, and Elba was with them! He had a new scar on his face….” Pressing her quivering lips together, Idsilla wiped the tears spilling down her cheeks on her sleeve. “But he seemed fine.”
“Th-That is…wonderful news.” Knowing the extent of Idsilla’s worry for her brother, Maxi was relieved.
The girl smiled brightly and nodded. “I overheard the soldiers talking, and it seems as though they’re going to return to the battlefront with the remaining men as soon as they’ve finished regrouping. I think they’re aiming for a decisive battle this time.”
Maxi’s face fell. The coalition army had ultimately decided to bear the risk and attempt to end the war. It was an inevitable decision. After all, even Maxi had come to realize that a drawn-out war was unfavorable for the allied forces.
Maxi swallowed dryly. “W-Will you really…not meet your brother before he leaves for battle again?”
Idsilla adamantly shook her head. “I’ll go see him when this war is over. He will return alive. I know it.”
There was such conviction in the girl’s voice that Maxi felt her pounding heart go still. Emotions surged inside her as she gazed at Idsilla’s undaunted face. Squeezing the girl’s hand, Maxi lifted up an earnest prayer for the coalition army’s victory.
—
After spending the night atEth Lene Castle, the Livadonian knights made preparations for departure the very next day. Soldiers hauled weapons and provisions onto carts, and the female clerics supplied them with ample stores of emergency curatives.
It was a massive party. With the Temple Knights and the remaining mercenaries and soldiers gone, only three clerics, five mages, thirty-five knights, and about four hundred soldiers remained at the castle. Those who stayed back stood vigilant guard at the city gates, and a squadron visited the battlefield every two days to transport the wounded.
Maxi and the female clerics tended to the injured men all day long. Even the mages helped heal the men in the infirmary, as maintaining the army’s numbers was the most pressing priority. They did not hold back on their mana usage, either. Men who arrived severely wounded were able to return to the battlefield after just three or four days. Even so, no one considered it fortunate. Maxi felt the heart-wrenching process in her bones. Whenever she thought about the soldiers who had to return to battle mere days after being on death’s door, she felt the weight of a rock lodged in her stomach.
The hardest was burying the young soldiers who returned as cold corpses. Her only solace was in knowing that thecoalition army’s relentless pursuit was gradually pushing back the monsters.
“If the coalition army continues its advance north, they will join forces with the Baltonian Royal Army near the Pamela Plateau,” Ruth said. “With Balto’s army also advancing eastward, we should be able to corner the monsters as long as everything goes according to plan.”
Hearing the good news, Maxi smiled despite her exhaustion. Ruth had taken to relaying the details of the war to Maxi after each of Grand Duke Aren’s meetings.
“It shouldn’t take more than two or three batches of provisions till the end of the war,” he added.
Hearing Ruth’s confidence in a complete victory, Maxi’s heart felt a bit lighter. If even Ruth, a skeptic to the bone, believed they could win, it must mean that the coalition army had fortune’s favor.
As she stirred a boiling pot of herbs, Maxi began calculating with her mental abacus. One would have to ride for a day and a half without rest to reach the Pamela Plateau from Eth Lene. Considering the mobility of the infantry, the round-trip would likely take two to three days at most. Since the army had taken fifteen days’ worth of provisions, sending an additional two or three batches would mean that this war would be over in less than a month and a half.
“Your remedy is spilling over.”
Ruth’s voice snapped Maxi out of her thoughts. She quickly removed the pot from the brazier and set it on a table beside her.
The infirmary was full of injured men who had arrived in the night. Even though the remaining mages were doing their best to heal the wounded, they could not restore all ofthem to full health in a mere couple of days. For this reason, they treated the patients according to the severity of their wounds. It was left to the female clerics to keep these thirty or so men alive until the mages could see to them.
Maxi rubbed her tired eyes as she transferred the detoxicant into a small vial. Ruth regarded her for a moment before furrowing his brow.
“Are you getting enough rest, my lady?” he asked, running a scrupulous gaze over her. “You look pale. You are eating properly, aren’t you?”
“I-I do eat whenever I get the chance,” Maxi mumbled, avoiding his eyes. In truth, she had not had a proper meal since Riftan’s departure. Anxiety dampened her appetite, and forcing bread down her throat only made her stomach churn.
After studying her gaunt face, Ruth let out a small sigh. “I think your nerves have grown overly sensitive, my lady. You won’t be able to hold out long in that state. We don’t know when this war is going to end, so you must take better care of yourself.”
“I…I am aware of that.”
“I don’t think you are.” Ruth plucked the vial and ladle from her hands and called for Ulyseon and Garrow, who were standing guard at the tent’s entrance. “You should get some sleep, my lady. Rovar, Livakion, please escort her ladyship to her tent.”
“Th-That won’t be necessary!” Maxi protested. “I can’t be the only one resting…while everyone else is working, so—”
