II
Three days had passed since the war council at Leticia Castle. During that time, Olivia spent every day playing energetically with the children until dusk. That wasn’t to say she was in any way neglecting her military duties. After uncovering the reason for the extinction of the Valedstorm line, she had tried to return to Windsome Castle where the Seventh Legion was based, only for Cornelius to send orders that she was to remain in the capital a while longer. In those spring days, the revelry amongst the people lulled as normalcy settled in, and the soft rays of the sun shone over—
“Give up yet?” Olivia’s cheerful voice rang out across the square.
“Like I’d give—agh!” squawked a girl with light brown hair tied with a big red ribbon. “Olivia, you did Swift Step, didn’t you! I told you, that’s cheating!” She unleashed a hail of punches at Olivia’s stomach, her hair swishing behind her. Her name was Patty Sullivan, and she was the only daughter of Arkady and Anne, the couple who ran the Ashcrow Inn, where Olivia and her friends were staying.
Olivia laughed. “Sorry, I just can’t help it,” she apologized, scratching her cheek.
“Hmph,” Patty grumbled. Never letting her gaze leave Olivia, she said, “I reckon you just hate losing.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Olivia said, remembering the one time she’d almost lost to Ashton at chess. Just as Ashton had assumed a triumphant grin, Olivia had found herself overcome by dizziness and collapsed with all her might right on top of the board. Of course, the pieces had been scattered. She still remembered the look on Ashton’s face, as though the world were ending. She’d kindly told him that the most dangerous moment is actually when you think victory is certain. He’d given her a thunderous look and then thrown a chess piece at her.
“Well, you know,” Patty said, “you’re supposed to let kids win.”
“Why do I have to do that?” Olivia asked. Sometimes in war, you would pretend to lose to lure your enemy into complacency, but this was just hide-and-seek. There was no reason she could see to let Patty win just because she was a child.
Patty, seeing that Olivia was confused, raised a finger, and said authoritatively, “That’s what grown-ups look for in a good woman.”
“A good woman?”
“That’s right. You’re a real fine lady, Olivia, so you’d better remember that,” Patty advised her with a scholarly air. Olivia was utterly bamboozled by the description of “a real fine lady.” She decided to cover her confusion by laughing. Just then, Patty’s young friend Griffin Noah popped his head out of the bushes.
“Aha! Found you, Griffin!”
“You didn’t find me, I came out myself,” he protested.
“What’d you do that for?”
Griffin, his signature green scarf wrapped around his neck, sighed in exasperation. “I waited for ages, but you didn’t come looking,” he said. “Anyway, you did Swift Step again, Olivia?”
“Yeah, she did. You tell it to her straight, Griffin,” Patty said, ushering Griffin to come and stand in front of Olivia, and staring at him.
Eventually he turned bright red and mumbled, “You...You be careful next time.”
“Okay, I will!” Olivia replied.
“Hey, Griffin? How come every. Single. Time, you see Olivia, you end up going red?!” Patty demanded, stamping her foot as she rounded on Griffin. Griffin looked away, playing dumb as he mumbled his rebuttal.
To Olivia’s eyes, Griffin’s face was clearly red. For whatever reason, Griffin tended to turn as red as a boiled octopus every time Olivia looked at him. He wasn’t the only one. Ashton and other men were the same.
At first, Olivia had worried that they had scarlet gland fever. This was an infectious disease carried by the Smellie Fly. The onset of symptoms was marked by the face turning red, followed by a high fever and, if it drew out, the worst cases ended in death. It was a terrifying disease.
Olivia had caught and forced an unwilling Ashton to imbibe a medicine she’d concocted herself, but he’d gone right on turning red. As a test, she’d given the medicine to other men, but that had produced the same result. In the end, none of them presented with a high fever, so Olivia concluded that men were simply that sort of animal.
Even Ellis often turned red for some reason, despite being a woman. Evanson had explained, “My sister’s got a special affliction. Even a healer couldn’t fix it, so don’t let it concern you, ser,” like he was apologizing, though, so she didn’t count.
“Hmph,” Patty pouted. “You’re going to be my husband in the future, Griffin. Furthermore, it’s decided that I’m gonna inherit the Ashcrow Inn! So I’ll never, ever, ever, let you be unfaithful!”
“I-I get it!” said Griffin, his voice a mosquito-like whine as he quailed before Patty. He glanced at Olivia, and she smiled at him, which made his face turn an even deeper red. Patty, seeing this, started berating him like a dog gnawing on a bone. She was the spitting image of Anne when she fought with Arkady, like a miniature version of the woman.
“Major, there you are.” Claudia appeared out of a corner of the square, a look of relief spreading across her face as she spotted Olivia. She hurried over, pushing back her rumpled blonde hair.
“Claudia, perfect timing! You can play hide-and-seek with— Griffin? What’s wrong?”
Until only moments ago, Patty had been heckling Griffin, but now, he came up behind Olivia and tugged hesitantly at her sleeve. Olivia was impressed. His stealth techniques had to be on a level with Z for him to have gotten behind her without her noticing. With training, he could probably become a brilliant swordsman.
“Is that pretty lady your friend, Olivia?” Griffin asked, peeking out past her sleeve at Claudia with rapt attention. When Claudia turned her gaze on him, he ducked back behind Olivia. It was the same way he’d behaved when Patty had introduced him to Olivia.
“Oh, right. You haven’t met her yet, have you, Griffin? This is Claudia. She’s a fellow soldier and my friend.” Olivia put a hand on his back and pushed him in front of Claudia. At first, Griffin seemed uncertain, but then he bashfully spread his fingers in greeting.
“N-Nice to meet you. I’m Griffin Noah. I’m five,” he said. Claudia’s face lit up with a smile soft as cotton fluff. It was an expression Olivia had never seen on her before.
“Aren’t you all grown-up! Introducing yourself properly like that. I’m Claudia Jung.”
Griffin gave a shy laugh then, shifting nervously from foot to foot, and asked, “Um, Claudia? Want to play hide-and-seek with us?”
Claudia squatted down and looked at Griffin straight on. “I’m sorry. Olivia and I have military affairs—we have work to do, so we have to go to the castle.”
“Oh...” Griffin replied, crestfallen. Claudia smiled apologetically, then gently stroked his silky blond hair.
“Will you ask me again next time?”
“O-Okay. I understand. Next time, for sure.” Griffin nodded like one of the bobblehead dolls on sale at the market stalls.
Patty had been watching him from behind. The formidable look on her face as she went over and seized Griffin’s collar in a viselike grip made it hard to believe she was only five years old. Practically dragging him behind her, she set off towards a corner of the square.
Olivia was reminded of the scary imp from her picture book The Endless Cook, and wondered if Griffin wasn’t about to be thrown in a pot and turned into stew.
As he gazed back at her imploringly, she smiled and waved before turning back to Claudia. The other girl stared after Griffin, worry in her eyes.
“Was there a message from the castle?” Olivia asked.
“Oh, yes. Lord Cornelius has something to say to you directly.”
“Huh. Did you hear why he kept us waiting so long?”
“I was not informed, but I imagine this will involve talk of promotion.” Claudia beamed, from which Olivia guessed “promotion” was one of Claudia’s favorite things. Before Claudia could talk too much, Olivia quickly evacuated the square. Looking back over her shoulder, she caught sight of Griffin trying to make his tiny body even smaller as Patty made him bow before her in apology.
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