Chapter 2

Airi swung her sword. Just that alone was enough to slice a soldier and his shield in half.

The soldier, in a posture that could not be considered normal, looked down at his own gruesome state, unable to accept that this was reality, and died with a bewildered look on his face.

Almost simultaneously, the sword strike from a soldier attacking from the opposite side was deflected by Airi's left hand, which slapped the flat of the sword, and a backhand punch struck the soldier's chest plate.

Due to the height difference, it only reached there, but the soldier was sent flying backward, his chest armor dented halfway down his torso.

Yerker had never seen such overwhelming combat power.

The speed and strength were far beyond that of a human.

If Airi took up the role of protecting the prince, Stina would take up the offensive.

Stina's movements were too fast. Especially from her arms to the tip of her sword, the actions were invisible despite the distance.

This was partly due to the inherent speed of her movements, but it was largely due to her extremely skilled sword handling.

Stina's sword tip stretched out to the vital points of the soldiers as if being drawn in, piercing through the gaps in their armor or forcing its way through.

Yerker, who had also learned swordsmanship, could see that it was a breathtaking sword technique.

When Airi had cut down three and Stina five, their movements changed dramatically.

The refined movements of Stina's sword were lost, and they turned into rough, powerful strikes.

If a strike hit, the part it hit would be torn off. Thus, there was no need for precise targeting; whether through armor or sword, the goal was to smash and break.

Airi, on the other hand, restrained her reliance on brute strength and instead used agile footwork to shift her weight, delivering surprisingly fast and powerful sword strikes.

Her aim was exquisite. The first strike would knock the armor away, and the second would surely pierce the vital point. In this situation, even the heaviest armor was meaningless.

Yerker saw the reason why the two changed their fighting style.

They were testing their combat techniques in a real battle, as if they were excitedly testing the sharpness of a new sword.

Yerker left the enemies in the room to the two and moved to the entrance. Airi looked surprised, but when Yerker told her he was fine, she happily joined the offensive.

Waiting at the entrance, several soldiers rushed into the room, and they were slaughtered one by one at the entrance.

Compared to the thirty soldiers who were there first, these had lighter equipment and clumsier techniques, and Yerker's skill was enough to dispatch them with one sword strike each.

"Is this a messenger reporting back?"

Yerker wanted to lock the door, but it had probably been hit or kicked by Airi and was now off its hinges.

If more than ten soldiers rushed in at once, it would be impossible to hold the entrance, so Yerker decided to participate in the fight to facilitate a quicker retreat.

The remaining enemy soldiers were two, and the lord, who had turned pale as if he had become a different creature, was begging for his life.

Airi, wiping the blood from her sword, asked,

"What will you do, Your Highness?"

"I'll take the lord. He is a Carelian noble. At the very least, I will bury him with the hands of the royal family."

Stina, with a look of exasperation, replied,

"You are quite merciful."

To which Yerker, with a mischievous smile, responded,

"I also have a little intention to avenge my grudge."

At the prince's joke amidst the blood-soaked battlefield, Stina's eyes widened, and then she burst into laughter.

"Ah, ahahaha. You are honest, Your Highness."

Stina and Airi exchanged glances and simultaneously moved, each cutting down a soldier with one sword strike.

The lord, crouching and begging for his life, was not forgiven by Yerker, who had just experienced the fear of being targeted for death.

With a half-smile, as if he didn't really believe he would be killed, the lord's head was cut off by Yerker.

The lord's head, rolling on the floor, hit the body of an enemy soldier Yerker had cut down, and the soldier, who seemed to regain consciousness from the impact, realized the desperate situation.

Seeing no one else alive around him and the lord's decapitated head, the soldier glared at Yerker, Airi, and Stina and said,

"Damn, kill them!"

To which Airi, with a full smile, replied,

"Alright!"

"“Huh?”"

Ignoring the surprised voices of Yerker and Stina, Airi, as she had said, cut off the soldier's head with one sword strike.

"Brilliant! That's what a Carelian soldier should be! Your loyalty to your lord is truly admirable!"

Yerker and Stina, who had thought there was no need to kill and that resistance was impossible, said in unison with a slight pause in their thoughts,

"“Aye”"

"Thank you. Thanks to you, I didn't die. I do have more to talk about, but for now, let's escape from this castle."

Airi, responding energetically to Yerker's words, peered out from the room's entrance.

"Your Highness, the soldiers are already surrounding us. They are hesitating to rush in... because of the lord's safety, I suppose."

Stina moved to the window.

"Hmm, the stables are over there... and the gate is open. Yes, perfect. Your Highness, the escape route is set."

Yerker, following Stina's lead, moved to the window.

"Is that so, but this is the third floor, and escaping through the window seems impossible..."

"It's fine. Your Highness seems to be in good shape, and if the worst comes to the worst and you break a leg, we'll carry you."

"Huh? No, but jumping from the third floor usually means death..."

Especially the third floor of the castle was much higher than that of other buildings.

Airi also rushed to the window.

"Hurry, Stina. The people outside are getting impatient. Your Highness, let's go."

Stina and Airi simultaneously opened the double windows and leaned out. To demonstrate that it was safe, Airi jumped out of the window without a moment's hesitation.

"Hey!"

Yerker, unable to hold back a cry, saw that the height from above was much more terrifying than from below. The people below looked no bigger than the palm of a hand from here.

Airi rolled upon landing and stood up gracefully, without any sign of difficulty or pain, and immediately waved to encourage the others to follow.

Yerker, placing his foot on the window and grabbing the frame, exchanged glances with Stina, who was smiling.

Deciding to roll upon landing like Airi, Yerker jumped, but the unexpected floating sensation made him momentarily lose his sense of position.

He managed to land on his feet but then fell backward, hitting his back hard.

Airi hurriedly helped him up, and Stina was seen jumping down.

Stina grabbed the bottom of the window frame and hung from it, supporting her entire weight with her arms before letting go. She then placed one foot on a protruding part of the wall to slow down, turned sideways, and placed the other foot on another protruding part to slow down further.

She landed silently and gracefully.

Airi helped Yerker up, and Stina asked,

"Are you okay?"

"Absolutely no problem."

Men have a sense of pride in front of women.

Despite the pain, it seemed that jumping from the third floor was unexpected for the soldiers as well, and only a few were in the courtyard where they landed.

The three rushed to the stables, took the horses, and quickly left through the open main gate.

In a typical farmer's house in the border region, a one-story building with four rooms, the family of four was huddled in a corner, trembling.

Yerker, sitting in a chair as a guard, felt a deep sense of pity when he saw their terrified expressions.

"Was there no other way?"

Hearing Yerker's murmur, a response came from the kitchen next door.

Airi, looking apologetic, replied,

"I, I agree, but... Stina..."

Stina, also in the kitchen, showed no remorse.

"Considering our position as fugitives, it is natural to kill them. But since Your Highness made such an obvious face, we reluctantly left them alive."

The family of four in the corner was trembling uncontrollably.

Finding the situation too pitiful, Yerker decided to drop the topic.

But this way, they looked like bandits, and he thought of a solution.

"That's it. Take this."

Yerker took a silver coin from his pocket and gave it to them.

"Consider it a fee for our stay. We are certainly not bandits, so we will pay a fair price for what we receive."

Stina's immediate response from the kitchen was,

"By the time you refuse, you are already a bandit."

"I am a royal and a knight! How can I do such a dishonorable thing... especially to the people of Carelia?"

Again, an immediate response from the kitchen, this time from Airi.

"Your Highness, Stina is generally right in such situations, and arguing with her makes you feel very sad, so..."

Yerker, understanding that this was an emergency, restrained himself despite having many things to say.

After a while, the two returned from the kitchen with a mountain of food.

They placed enough food for ten people on the table and began to eat, which was the purpose of their intrusion.

For the cooking, they had borrowed aprons from the house.

It wasn't to avoid getting dirty while cooking, but to prevent the food from getting dirty from their clothes. They had also rolled up their sleeves to the elbows.

They could have eaten as they were, but for some reason, they took off their aprons before eating. It might have been a habit.

Stina, with practiced movements, smoothly untied the string at the back and pulled off the apron with a small shiver.

First, she leaned back, then slightly bent her upper body, and her waist movement was strangely alluring.

It was as if she was transitioning from a housewife to a woman weaving love.

Airi, on the other hand, showed no such allure.

She also took off her apron but tried to pull it over her head without untying the string.

The string caught on the side of her face, and with a "n-" sound, it came off, and her hair fell in a mess.

At that moment, she smiled brightly.

Yerker, unable to help but stare at the two, was indeed drawn to beautiful things.

Realizing how embarrassing it was, he averted his gaze and began to eat.

It was steamed potatoes. The butter on top made it surprisingly good, and he easily finished it.

"Did you two make this? The potatoes are really potato-like... Ah, I mean, they are delicious."

Airi, looking pleased, replied,

"Yes, Stina's cooking is the best. She is decent with high-end ingredients, but when it comes to simple ingredients like these, she really excels."

Stina, seemingly unimpressed by the praise, picked at the salad.

"I'm a cheapskate. I can't help but try to make even the simplest ingredients better. High-end ingredients are delicious even without much effort."

Not liking the topic, Stina quickly changed it.

"So, what about the route after this?"

Confirming that Yerker had no immediate answer, Airi suggested options, and Stina carefully pointed out the flaws.

"Going straight down the road is the worst idea. No matter which road you take—"

"Of course, the border has a thousand permanent soldiers. So, crossing the mountains?"

"How about going down the river? We could cover a lot of distance by going down the Aire River at night."

"But we could be hit by fire arrows from the riverbank."

The two sighed simultaneously.

"Then, we have no choice but to cross Mount Rudiet. The problem is the gorge in the middle, but we'll have to leave that to chance."

"It's better than the other routes. By the way, I have one more question. Your Highness, is it okay?"

Yerker, who had been listening to their discussion while eating potatoes, was not reluctant to answer when asked.

"Yes, it's fine."

"Why did that toad father target Your Highness? I don't understand why he would attack a prince who came as an official envoy."

"Toad... I don't know why he rebelled. But for the border to rebel, they would need significant support. I've heard that regions far from the capital are strongly connected, so it might not be just this area."

Airi, after drinking the bean soup with a full smile, joined the conversation.

"Is there a reason now? I wasn't even told why Your Highness came for an inspection."

"Are you aware that there are limits on the amount of weapons a local lord can own? I came to confirm that."

Stina, understanding Yerker's explanation, looked exasperated.

"Your Highness, to be frank, are you not in disfavor with the Prime Minister?"

"The Prime Minister? Me? No, I have an older brother, but there are over thirty of us in the royal family. I doubt he even remembers me."

"But if you were offered as a sacrifice, it would make sense. Normally, inspections of local lords' weapons are not conducted frequently."

"Is that so?"

"If they strictly adhere to the weapon ownership limits, they might not be able to respond to large-scale bandit attacks. In such cases, they are supposed to request reinforcements from the capital, but such a loss of face would never be allowed. Therefore, local lords usually have their own troops and equipment."

"......So, by sending me, it was to provoke them, who were already prepared to rebel... or to make them act before they were fully prepared?"

Stina, drinking wine and shrugging, said,

"I can't say for sure about the details, but if that's the case, it makes sense why we were sent. There are people who would be happy if we disappeared."

"Did you make enemies?"

"Something like that."

Stina, eating bacon casually, said,

"Maybe to expose potential enemies and reduce the number of surplus royals. The Prime Minister is thorough."

Yerker, still trying to pierce a bean with his fork, said,

"But I have hardly ever spoken to the Prime Minister, let alone been in disfavor. I don't remember doing anything to make him hate me..."

Then he suddenly remembered.

"......For example, if I had been hated by the Marshal, I could end up in this situation. Yes, it's possible. Hahaha."

Airi, who was sprinkling salt on a piece of roasted meat, turned her head sharply towards Yerker in surprise.

"Your Highness, you are hated by the Marshal? He is a stern... a man who rivals the Prime Minister in power."

"Yes, I completely defeated his grandson in a knight school match. His parting words were, 'Don't think this is over!' But I never thought the Marshal would interfere over something like that."

Yerker, who had almost cried in gratitude to the Marshal just the other day, wanted to punch his innocent past self.

Furthermore, he understood why Helge, the Marshal's grandson, had acted strangely. He must have known that Yerker was being set up.

Yerker felt both anger and unease towards Helge. His honest opinion was, "To go this far..."

The three quickly consumed the food, but during the meal, a voice was heard from outside.

"Hey! Anyone! Is anyone there!"

Airi and Stina simultaneously glared at the father of the family huddled in the corner.

Airi, tense, asked,

"Who is it?"

The father, stuttering and trembling, managed to speak.

"I, I think it's a soldier, sir."

Stina stood up from her seat.

"Airi"

"I understand."

Airi followed, and the two headed towards the entrance of the house.

The sound of the door opening, something heavy falling, and the sound of dragging, followed by the two voices.

"......But the weakness of these soldiers is extraordinary. It's disheartening to think they are once-honorable Carelian soldiers."

"Is that so? They are all like this. The soldiers in that castle were no better."

"That's what bothers me the most. Are these weak soldiers the direct subordinates of a border lord? It's ridiculous."

"You are too idealistic about the military. Generally..."

The two returned to the