III
A day’s ride to the northwest of the desert town of Cefim, on an island that jutted up alone at the center of a deep lake, sat Fort Glacia. It was a remnant of the middle warlord period, and, while small, was sturdily constructed. With only a single stone bridge linking it to the mainland, one might have thought that it would be nigh unassailable with a battalion stationed there. At a glance, it seemed a fort well suited to mounting a defense.
Yet the royal army had never once regarded the fort as a valuable location over the course of the war. The reason was simple: should the bridge—the one and only escape route—be blocked, any force stationed there could then be starved out. In other words, the fort was fatally flawed from its conception. The reason their forebears had chosen such a location to build a fort was unclear. In the present day, a procession of high-ranking officers were stationed as commanders there, coming out worse in the military’s competition for success and promotion. As the fort served no purpose, it was an ideal place for shunting off unwanted candidates. The soldiers of the royal army mocked it in hushed whispers, muttering the name “Fort Sunset” instead.
Olivia, Claudia, and Ashton checked out from the Ashcrow Inn, and Katerina and Neinhardt came to see them off as they departed the capital. Twenty burly men under Neinhardt’s command came with them, clustered around Olivia, who sat astride her horse Comet. Neinhardt had assigned them as bodyguards. When he first suggested it, Olivia had insisted they weren’t necessary. She was perfectly capable of looking after herself, as was Claudia. There was no denying that Ashton couldn’t survive alone, but he’d be fine so long as she kept an eye on him. She only agreed in the end when she noticed Claudia’s thin smile. Now, their horses kicked up clouds of dust as they galloped toward their destination of Fort Glacia.
“That’s Fort Glacia, Major,” Claudia pointed out three days later as they emerged from a forest road. A cylindrical tower standing in the center of a lake rose into the western horizon where the landscape opened out. The water blazed with scarlet light that seemed as though it might scorch the sky. It was beautiful, giving the scene an air that bordered on the fantastic.
“Oh wow, it’s so pretty! Ashton! Hey Ashton, look! Isn’t it so pretty? Like a scene from a picture book.”
“We’re not here to appreciate the scenery,” Ashton said, rolling his eyes. “Must be nice to be so relaxed.”
“What’s got you down?” Olivia asked. She’d read in a book that being unable to feel anything when looking at beautiful things was a sign of depression, and relayed this to Ashton. He responded with a deep sigh.
“You can’t expect me to be cheerful when we’re here to fight the Helios Knights.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“‘Okay’?” Ashton echoed. “Olivia, you’re so flippant about everything, it’s like you don’t get nervous at all.”
“That’s what’s so great about me. Right, Comet?” Olivia patted the horse’s neck, and Comet whinnied happily.
“Don’t say that about yourself. And don’t go looking for approval from your horse.”
“Haven’t you heard of the concept of the bond between a horse and its rider? On the battlefield, it’s really important that you and your horse are in harmony. That way you can move like the horse is part of your body.” She looked back at the horse and added, “Right, Comet?” Comet whinnied again, and Olivia puffed out her chest in satisfaction.
Ashton groaned in frustration. “I can’t even argue with that because you’re right—I hate that. In the end, I still have no idea what my horse is thinking. I can’t even swing a sword properly.” His shoulders slumped and he turned dejectedly back to face the road ahead. Claudia watched all this and smiled.
They rode their horses at a walk along the lake edge, eventually crossing the single stone bridge that connected the fort to the land. At last, Claudia and the others arrived at the gates. Despite having been constructed in the middle warlord period, the fort didn’t show its age—perhaps because it had never once seen battle.
Claudia took a deep breath, then shouted up to the soldiers on the fort battlements.
“I am Lieutenant Claudia Jung, knight of the Kingdom of Fernest! Word should have reached you of our coming! Open the gate at once!”
“Y-Yes, ser! We’re opening it now!” The soldiers whispered to each other inaudibly, then disappeared from view. Claudia and the rest of the party dismounted, then waited. After not too long, there was a dull screech as the gate began to inch open. Behind them, a crowd of soldiers stood waiting for them along with a short, plump man.
“Welcome. You’ve journeyed a long way,” he said. “I am Dominic Eckhart, master of Fort Glacia.” He wore a military uniform that looked like it might burst at the seams at any moment. Three silver stars on his lapel marked him as a colonel.
“We’re honored that you would come to greet us yourself, commander. I am Lieutenant Claudia Jung of the Seventh Legion, and this—”
“Oh, I know who this is. The famous Death God, Olivia Valedstorm, is it not?” Dominic said, looking at Olivia with a knowing smile. His manner was the height of disrespect, but he was technically a superior officer. Claudia couldn’t say anything back to his face, but her first impression of him was very, very bad.
Olivia didn’t seem to mind at all. “Yes, ser! Major Olivia Valedstorm, at your service!” she replied directly.
“Isn’t that grand? You know, I heard you were a fine-looking girl, but you’re even more stunning than I expected.”
“Am I, ser?”
“Why, you’re a one-of-a-kind work of art,” he said, looking her over with a hungry look in his eyes. Claudia heard Ashton make a tutting sound behind her. I know how he feels, she thought. This man is absolutely disgusting.
She casually moved to stand between Olivia and Dominic, then asked after the soldiers assembling at the fort. He looked at her blankly for a moment. “Oh, you mean the guards,” he said after a brief pause. “They’re all here already,” he added in a tone that implied it wasn’t anything to do with him. Claudia felt rage blossom inside her, but did her best to keep her face impassive.
“In that case, they shall ride with us at da—”
“Oh, give it a rest, Lieutenant. There’s no call for that.” Dominic flapped his hand, cutting her off. Now it was Claudia’s turn to stare blankly.
“Excuse me? What did you just say, ser?”
“Going deaf, at your age? I said, there’s no call for that.” Dominic drew himself up to his full height, bellowing for the gate to be shut. As if they’d been waiting for the signal, the other soldiers moved as one to surround Claudia and the others. She couldn’t believe her eyes as she saw spears and swords made to be turned on their enemies instead turned on her and her companions.
“Colonel Dominic, what the hell are you doing? If this is some kind of joke, no one’s laughing.” Claudia put her hand on the hilt of her sword, moving once more to protect Ashton who stood behind her, frightened and dismayed. Neinhardt’s men had already drawn their weapons.
“A joke?” Dominic said, chuckling. “I assure you, there’s no one alive who hates joking more than me.” Claudia shot a quick glance about them, finding a hundred or so soldiers around them edging closer to tighten the ring. Thinking back, there had been any number of ominous signs—the suspicious conduct of the soldiers when she’d called for the gate to be opened, the commander coming out to meet them himself as though he knew they were coming, and the soldiers wearing full suits of armor. This wasn’t the first time a traitor had emerged in the royal army, but Claudia hadn’t imagined they could be betrayed by a field officer of all people, least of all one in charge of a fort.
I’m still too trusting, she thought as she activated Heaven’s Sight in expectation of the worst.
“May I know why?” she asked.
“Why? You want to know why...?” Dominic asked, then mused, “Well, why not? I can’t resist a pretty face. You know what the soldiers call this fort when they think no one’s listening, don’t you?”
Claudia was silent for a moment. “Fort Sunset,” she said through gritted teeth.
Dominic nodded, looking positively revolted. “That’s right. Despite my prodigious talents, thanks to a spot of bad luck, I ended up packed off here. Do you know how horrible it is here? No good wine, no pretty girls to just reach out and grab...” He shook his head as though this were unspeakably tragic. “It’s no better than a prison.” His reasons, as it turned out, were unbelievably selfish and childish. Claudia sailed straight past anger into dumbfounded shock.
“You betrayed the kingdom just for that?”
“‘Just’? You dare to call it just that?! You cannot begin to understand how I suffer, locked away here!” Dominic beat his commander’s staff on the ground and stamped his foot, his face beet-red. The man beside him, who looked like some sort of advisor, began frantically trying to placate the colonel. Breathing hard, Dominic at last composed himself. “No matter,” he said. “Really, I am exceptional enough that I could simply go alone, but if I present to them the Death God’s head, the imperial army will surely offer me an even better post. It is no mere coincidence that you have come to me now. There can be no doubt—this is all thanks to my good deeds and the hand of the Goddess Strecia!”
“Um,” Olivia chimed in. She looked like she wasn’t following any of this. “So, Colonel Dominic is our enemy now, is that what’s happening?”
Claudia nodded emphatically. “He has betrayed the kingdom and plans to defect to the empire.”
“Ah, okay. Definitely an enemy then!” Olivia replied. She gave a few satisfied nods.
“I hope you’ll forgive me,” Dominic said with false contrition. “It is a terrible sin to kill such a stunning beauty, yet so it must be. Right now, that head of yours is worth more than a king’s ransom. I promise you won’t suffer, at le—”
The next moment, it was already over. If Claudia hadn’t already activated Heaven’s Sight, she could never have hoped to see Olivia as the other girl shot past Dominic, faster than lightning. Everything seemed to stop; then, after a heartbeat passed, Dominic’s head toppled off his shoulders to the ground. A gush of bright red blood followed swiftly after, bubbling up like a fountain even as his body slowly crumpled. Everyone, enemies and allies alike, stared open-mouthed as Olivia called out in a voice that rang through Fort Glacia like a bell.
“That’s one down! Who’s next?”
She rested her sword on her shoulder, blood dripping from its ebony blade, and looked around, clearly enjoying herself. The soldiers surrounding them seemed to at last grasp what had happened. They scrambled to throw down their weapons before prostrating themselves facedown on the ground.
Only fifteen minutes had passed since the revelation of Dominic’s betrayal, and Olivia already had Fort Glacia in the palm of her hand.
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