Maxi looked at him timidly. “Then…wh-what about you…and the Remdragon Knights?”
“A select few of the Remdragon Knights will accompany you. Ursuline and Elliot have volunteered.” Running his hand over his mouth, Riftan finally looked at her. It was as if his eyes were veiled behind dark, heavy drapes. “Duke Aren has offered his personal carriage, so your journey back shouldn’t be too hard.”
Maxi’s breath caught in her throat. “W-Will you…remain here?”
He did not reply, but his silence was all the answer she needed.
After anxiously biting her lip, Maxi plucked up what little courage she could and said, “Th-Then I will also—”
“Go!”
He yelled so suddenly that Maxi recoiled. Riftan’s muscular torso heaved. His large body trembled as though he could no longer contain himself. He lowered his head into his hand, clutching at his hair.
“Please, just go…. I want you to leave this place….” Riftan choked, his body swaying like a rampart about to come crumbling down.
Maxi reached out to him with quivering hands. Riftan backed away as if she wielded a knife, and his face contorted with pain.
“I can’t…bear to have you here any longer. I’m begging you. Just go.”
Something inside Maxi shattered. An angry admonishment would have been a hundred times better than being exiled from his side like this.
Riftan’s gaze contained the agony of a man torn to pieces. When he slowly closed his eyes and hung his head, Maxi found herself unable to say another word.
—
Two days later, reports camethat the coalition army had managed to drive all the monsters north. The Royal Army of Wedon, as well as a portion of the common soldiers, promptly began preparations for their return to Drachium.
Knights from Osiriya and Livadon were tasked with transporting those who could no longer fight to safe cities. A number of female clerics as well as two high priests also joined the large return party. It worried Maxi that so manywere leaving when the war had not yet ended.
“The best of our knights should be enough, Maximilian,” said Princess Agnes as she laid Maxi on a bed prepared inside their luxurious carriage. “While you were unconscious, the Remdragon Knights pursued the retreating trolls. That caused the Baltonian army to get competitive, and they also joined the fray. We destroyed practically half of the monster army within a week.”
Still anxious, Maxi gazed up at the princess’s sky-blue eyes. This massive monster army had materialized the last time they had supposedly succeeded in driving all the monsters north.
As if reading her mind, Princess Agnes smiled bitterly. “The mages found the entrance to a maze concealed at the foot of the rock face when they were investigating the landslide. The monsters must have been hiding there.”
“A-At the foot of the rock face?” Maxi’s eyes widened with shock.
Princess Agnes nodded. “Seeing as even the inhabitants of Eth Lene weren’t aware of it, it must have been made long ago. The monsters were using it as their secret base.”
Maxi shuddered. That meant thousands of monsters had been hiding right beneath their noses.
It is darkest directly beneath the oil lamp.
The fitting phrase came to Maxi’s mind. Princess Agnes’s beautiful face darkened as if ruminating on the matter also chilled her.
“They probably hid a portion of their army there before the coalition army recaptured Eth Lene Castle. A total of two thousand monsters were hiding in the maze, just waiting for the chance to strike.” The princess’s lips curled into arueful smile. “And we blindly fell into their trap. We clearly underestimated their intelligence.”
“W-Will it be…all right this time?”
“With their commander and tactician gone, the monster army is falling apart. A sizable troll army remains camped up north, but this war should still be over soon.”
The creases between Maxi’s brows refused to unknit despite the princess’s reassurance. Looking ill at ease herself, Agnes shrugged.
“It seems the coalition army has lost your trust completely.”
“I-It’s not that I do not trust them….”
The princess gave her a mischievous smile. “Don’t worry. Being thoroughly fooled by the monsters has snapped the coalition army to its senses. And perhaps it’s because they saw the full extent of a Remdragon Knight rampage, but even the Baltonians have been quiet lately.” The princess wrinkled her nose. “Then again, I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to get on Riftan’s nerves right now. I’ve never seen him like that, not even during the Dragon Campaign….”
