IV
Noffohm Province, the Kingdom of Fernest
Claudia, having taken a leave of absence in the lead-up to the Twin Lions at Dawn Offensive, took a trip to her family’s home in Noffohm. Originally, she had planned to go alone.
“Are we there yet?”
“You’ll see it at the top of this rise.”
“Right, of course.”
Beside her, Olivia nodded knowingly. When Claudia had informed her of her plan to return home, Olivia, without missing a beat, had announced that she was coming too. Without any particular reason to refuse, Claudia had set off from the capital with Olivia in tow, and now here they were.
“Like I told you before, there’s nothing interesting here.”
“I know. I just wanted to see your house.”
“Well, if you say so...” Claudia adjusted her pack, then walked on, heading for the house at the top of the hill. Just then, a white bird fluttering through the sky dived down toward her.
“Haven’t seen you in a while,” Claudia said. The bird was a heisel, one of the messenger birds of the Jung family. It had pure white wings that contrasted beautifully with the indigo plumage on its back. Perching on Claudia’s shoulder, it launched into a rousing song.
Olivia gazed at it, her eyes sparkling. “Hey, do you think it’ll sit on my shoulder?”
“I’m afraid that may be difficult; they’re very temperamental birds...”
Heisels were birds of prey, very proud and very wary. This one had only begun to perch on Claudia’s shoulder a few years previously. She was thinking there was no chance it would take to anyone on first acquaintance, when the heisel hopped casually over onto Olivia’s outstretched hand.
“Look, it got on.”
“So it did...” Apparently not satisfied with simply perching on Olivia’s hand, the bird looked up at her and let out a crooning cry. Neither Claudia nor anyone else in her family had ever heard it make such a sound.
“First Comet, now this. Do you know some secret to winning the trust of animals?”
“Nope, I don’t know anything like that.” Laughing, Olivia raised her arm. The heisel spread its wings wide, then took to the air once more. For a while, Olivia and Claudia watched it wheel gracefully through the sky above them.
“Shall we get going?” Claudia asked eventually.
“Yeah, let’s.” They set off once more, following the winding path up the hill for another thirty minutes, until Claudia was met by a familiar sight. Surrounded by a faded white wooden fence, and topped with its distinctive green roof, was her own house. They opened the gate in the fence and went through. There, playing at the base of the trunk of a great tree that had watched over generations of Jungs, was a small figure.
“Oh!” Olivia cried out at once. “There’s a tiny Claudia over there!”
Claudia gave a strained smile. “That is Sasha, my younger sister.”
“You have a sister?”
“I do.”
Sasha had noticed them. A brilliant smile blossomed across her face as she came dashing over to them.
“Claudia!”
“Haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Yes, I missed you!” Sasha said, leaping into Claudia’s arms. Claudia picked her up, then turned to introduce her properly to Olivia.
Sasha at once became guarded. “I’m Sasha Jung. It’s a p—a pleasure to meet you.”
Claudia sighed. Her sister’s shyness around strangers apparently had not improved.
“Sasha,” she said, “this is my sup—”
“Hello, I’m Olivia,” Olivia cut in with an open smile. “I’m a friend of Claudia’s.” Sasha’s arms, wrapped tight around Claudia’s neck, gradually loosened as she detached herself from her sister to stare intently at Olivia.
At last, she mumbled, “If you’re a friend of Claudia’s, will you play with me?”
“Of course. What game shall we play? Do you like tag? Or how about hide-and-seek?”
“Tag...no, hide-and-seek...no, I know! I want to play both!”
“Let’s do both, then.”
“Yeah!”
“General, you...you don’t mind?”
“Not at all.”
“Well, please accept my thanks on my sister’s behalf.” Claudia glanced down at Sasha, who was jumping up and down in delight, when she caught the voice of her mother, Elizabeth.
“Sasha, it’s lunchtime...oh, my!”
“Mother, I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to visit.”
“Claudia...” Elizabeth said. “My dear, if you’re coming home, you ought to send a letter ahead.”
“I’m sorry. I was given this leave suddenly.”
“This is very sudden...” Elizabeth said, watching Claudia closely. Then, her gaze turned to Olivia.
“And this charming young lady...” she said. “One of your soldiers?”
“No, mother!” Claudia cried, frantically informing her of Olivia’s name and title.
Elizabeth chuckled. “Major general? Claudia, you’ve learned a joke since I saw you last. You’ve put your mother’s heart at ease.”
“I don’t know what your heart needed easing for, but I’m not joking.”
“Claudia, a joke falls flat if you take it too far,” Elizabeth said, her smile growing thin. Claudia sighed.
Of course it sounds ridiculous, claiming such a young girl is my superior officer—and a major general to boot. Claudia had predicted this would happen, so she now asked Olivia to take out the certificate of rank she’d had her bring, then held it out to show Elizabeth.
“Take a good look. It’s the same as Father’s.”
“You’re still keeping this up?” Elizabeth sighed, casting a cursory glance down at the certificate. But a moment later, her exasperation turned to shock, and she turned, her eyes boring into Olivia.
“I-I beg your pardon, my lady,” she said, immediately switching to a gracious smile. “Please, come inside. I apologize it’s so small.” And with that, she led Olivia into the house.
Trust my mother to pull such a rapid about-face. Now we can finally go inside.
When Claudia stepped into the parlor, her eyes met those of a figure seated on the sofa. Solid Jung, current head of the Jung family and numbered in the ranks of the kingdom’s Ten Swords, marked his place in his book and cast a glance over at Olivia before turning back to Claudia. “You’ve returned, have you?”
“I’m sorry it took me so long, Father.”
Solid rose slowly, then laid his hands on Claudia’s shoulders. “I see you’ve been through some great ordeals. You’ve grown so strong I hardly recognized you.”
“Thank you, Father.” There wasn’t a hint of a smile in Solid’s face, but as he patted her a few times on the shoulders, Claudia felt a rush of fondness toward him. His gaze next turned to Olivia, who stood beside her.
“Excuse me, Father, I should have introduced—”
Solid held up a hand and Claudia fell silent. He stared hard at Olivia.
“Well, well. Major General Olivia Valedstorm, I believe?”
“You know who I am?” Olivia asked, cocking her head. Solid gave a half smile.
“You stand at ease, yet show no weaknesses. As far as I know, there’s only one girl you could be,” Solid replied. “You’ll have to excuse me. I know you’ve just arrived, but this is an excellent opportunity. Might I borrow you for a moment?”
Solid went over to the swords that hung crossed on the wall. Claudia understood his intentions at once.
“Father?!” she exclaimed.
“I’m something of a warrior too. When I meet someone strong, I can’t help myself.”
The courage necessary to stop Solid was beyond what Claudia possessed. She bowed to Olivia as the girl caught the sword Solid tossed to her.
“I’m very sorry, ser.”
“I don’t mind.” Resting the sword easily on her shoulder, she followed Solid with light steps to the garden, where the two of them faced off under Claudia’s watchful gaze.
“Very well. Begin!” Claudia announced, throwing up her hand to signal for them to start.
Olivia didn’t show any sign of raising her sword. In response, Solid did not raise his sword either. Only his legs moved as he gradually closed the distance between himself and Olivia with slow, circular steps. It was when Solid took a half step into melee range that the action truly began. Olivia activated Swift Step, instantly closing the remaining distance between them. Seeing Olivia move like that for the first time should have been a shock to anyone, but Solid didn’t even blink. He parried Olivia’s cleaving blow, then spun halfway around to give momentum to a strike at Olivia’s back. But his blade never met its mark. Olivia leapt up, seeming to fly as she passed gracefully over Solid’s head and alighted behind him. If Claudia hadn’t engaged Heaven’s Sight, she would have struggled to catch Olivia’s movements at all.
“As expected from Claudia’s father,” Olivia said. Solid didn’t respond to her praise, but there was a look of exhilaration on his face that Claudia had never seen before. Olivia slowly removed her blade from his neck.
Father would have won with that first strike if his opponent had been anyone other than the general. Even one of the Ten Swords doesn’t have the power to best her...
She quelled the rush of elation she felt, then declared Olivia the victor.
“That short battle was worth more than years of training. I have no words to thank you with, Major General Olivia.”
“Oh, you don’t need to thank me. Anyway, all this moving around has made me hungry,” Olivia said, rubbing her belly. Solid let out a hearty laugh.
“Yes, the renowned warrior Major General Olivia has come all this way to call on us! Failing to show you proper hospitality would be to bring shame upon the name of Jung for generations. Claudia?”
“I know what to do, Father.”
Leaving the two of them chatting away as though they had known each other for years, Claudia strode swiftly away.
A night passed.
“Ocean water is really salty.” Olivia dipped the tip of her tongue into the water cupped in her hands, then screwed up her face in disgust. Sasha watched her and cackled with delight.
Olivia, Claudia, and Sasha had come to spend the day at a beach an hour’s journey on horseback from the Jung estate.
“Is this your first time coming to the ocean, General?”
“Yep. Hey, those...waves, right? They’re so funny, coming and going like that.” Olivia, barefoot after having kicked off her boots, frolicked about in the waves as they rolled in and out. Taking this scene alone, she looked just like any other sixteen-year-old girl. Sasha, who was running around with her, suddenly tugged on Olivia’s skirt.
“Olivia, can you make a sandcastle?”
“A castle? Like Leticia Castle.”
Sasha nodded. “I haven’t seen the castle yet. And when Claudia made one for me last time, I didn’t really understand it...” She looked at Claudia a little resentfully. Claudia scratched her face awkwardly. Making things was not her strong suit. Despite that, she was still a good cook, but Olivia had requested that she focus on her military duties, so she hadn’t picked up a kitchen knife lately.
“You don’t want to play hide-and-seek?” Olivia asked.
“No. We’re at the beach, so I want you to make a sandcastle.”
Olivia’s gaze drifted, then she quickly issued a command for the others to bring her sand, and lots of it. Sasha cheerfully agreed; then she and Claudia got to work, Sasha with excitement, Claudia simply doing as she was told.
“Yep, this should be enough,” Olivia said, looking at the mountain of sand as tall as Claudia with satisfaction. Using a twig she’d procured from somewhere, she got straight to work creating a castle.
“Then this is like this...and this bit...I think was like this.” Olivia hummed away as she deftly moved her twig. As the mound of sand became more and more castlelike before their eyes, Sasha’s excitement mounted.
“Wonderful! Isn’t Olivia wonderful? You think so too, don’t you, Claudia?”
“Er, yes.” Sasha’s excitement was only natural. In truth, “wonderful” didn’t begin to cover it. The replica of Leticia Castle taking shape was intricate in the extreme, accurate down to the smallest details. It had passed into the realm of what could be called art.
“Claudia, I want to take it home,” Sasha said, staring straight at Claudia. Claudia forced herself to look away, then told her it was impossible. Claudia herself would have liked to take the castle home were such a thing possible. But alas, it was a sandcastle. Carrying it anywhere was fundamentally impossible. And even if they did manage to move it, it would undoubtedly fall apart on the way.
While she was musing on this, Olivia completed her Leticia sandcastle.
“Well? Do you think it looks like the castle?”
“Looks like it? It might as well be the real thing. Pardon the impropriety, General, but isn’t there anything you’re bad at? Some of us can’t bring so much to the table as you can.”
She had meant it in jest, but at the word “table,” Olivia’s smile froze.
“I— Ithinkyoucanbringyourfoodtothetable, honest!”
Claudia stared at her. “I’m sorry, you spoke so fast that I didn’t catch what you said.”
Olivia’s eyes darted around frantically, but just then, a great wave came crashing into Leticia Sandcastle. When the water receded, all that remained was a little mound of sand about half as tall. The three of them stared at it in silent shock. Then, tears welled up in Sasha’s eyes. Before Claudia could say anything to comfort her, Olivia said, “W-We’ll build the next one out of wood. Then it won’t break so easily. What do you want me to make, Sasha?”
“I want Pompom...”
“Pompom?” Olivia’s head snapped around to stare at Claudia. Apparently, even with her unrivaled love of books, Pompom the Fairy had escaped Olivia’s notice.
“Pompom is a fairy who lives in a tree, General.”
“Oh, okay! Then once we’re home, I’ll make Pompom for you right away!”
And before Claudia could stop her, Olivia scooped Sasha up in her arms and set off so quickly she might have been using Swift Step. Claudia stared blankly after them, feeling vaguely bewildered.
Before she knew it, her holiday was over. The third morning since their arrival at the Jung estate dawned, a chilly wind blowing about the members of the Jung family as they assembled to see off Claudia and Olivia.
“Well, I’m sure my daughter will only continue to be a burden on you, but I hope you won’t cast her aside.”
“Oh, I think I’m the one burdening her,” Olivia replied. Elizabeth gave her a patient smile, then turned to Claudia.
“Remember, dear, health is wealth.”
“Yes, Mother. You take care of yourself too.”
Beside Elizabeth, Solid reached out and gripped Claudia’s shoulder. “You’ve grown into a knight worthy of the name of Jung,” he said. “So long as you fight with honor, that is enough.”
“Thank you, Father.”
Solid gave her a satisfied nod, then turned to Olivia.
“I’ve received orders that I am to serve as guard to Lord Marshal Cornelius. Though our battlefields will differ, I wish you all the best in your endeavors.”
“Make sure you take good care of Lord Cornelius. He’s really old.”
“Such irreverence to the lord marshal...but I will do my best.” Solid returned Olivia’s smile with a grin.
“Very well then. Mother, Father. We’ll be off.” Claudia bid farewell to her parents, and she and Olivia set off on the road home.
“Claudiaaa! Oliviaaa! Take care!” Sasha waved enthusiastically after them, Pompom the Fairy gripped tight in her hand.
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