Ch.768Designated Driver

“—That’s how it happened.”

Jahan confessed the crushing defeat of the night battle in a gloomy tone, like the protagonist of “No Longer Human” reflecting on his life.

Before his face, shrouded in deep shadows, we could only bow our heads with solemn hearts, paying tribute to the tragedy that had swallowed him… or not.

“You guys are having fun.”

Tragedy my ass. This is self-inflicted.

They drank too much, got into a pride battle that escalated into a bed battle? I’m so dumbfounded I can’t even speak. What are you, ten or twenty years old?

Well, technically Nigel is in his early twenties… but still. If Frider had heard this, he would have died laughing and then passed out from lack of oxygen.

The rest of our companions seemed to share my sentiment, as they all let out hollow laughs while shaking their heads.

“Nigel unnie, you were unexpectedly bold…”

Lena planted an irreversible thorn in Nigel’s heart with an innocent compliment while blushing.

Millia looked at Nigel as if she’d found a compatriot after wandering in a foreign land, while Asha put away her now-useless scissors with a slightly dejected expression.

“It was a mistake… a mistake…!”

Nigel’s face, as she made her excuses, was so red that you could probably fry an egg on it.

Finding this quite amusing, Ophelia exhaled a long stream of Mana Herb smoke and snickered.

“How foolish. If you wanted to win that badly, you should have slipped something into their drink.”

There she goes again with her crazy talk.

Just like a mage, with that kind of thinking.

From eagerly collecting the World Tree’s leaves earlier to chugging something like stimulants to defend against mental attacks before.

Is this woman actually a drug dealer?

—-

After causing trouble while drunk, the two spent a long time in silence before agreeing that it was just an accident and they should forget about it.

It was just a one-night mistake, and they agreed never to mention it again.

But despite that agreement, I… no, Cascador had exposed the fact to everyone.

I knew that beast would cause trouble someday. Revealing someone’s secret that they wanted to keep hidden to the whole world.

Being unable to speak, it clearly didn’t understand human feelings in the slightest.

“Anyway… if Nigel can’t go, who should we send?”

Deliberately ignoring Nigel, who was crouched in a corner by the campfire with her face buried between her knees, we discussed how to send news of our situation to Faelrun territory.

With Nigel having messed up, only Lena and Ophelia among our party could ride Cascador… but it would be too dangerous for Lena, and Ophelia lacked the stamina for a forced march.

“If I had propellant left, I could go, but I just used it all up…”

Asha also had no good solution. Riding a horse was racially impossible for her, and she had no fuel left for her jetpack.

“Sigh… at this rate, it’ll take longer than expected.”

If we couldn’t use Cascador, we’d have to find ordinary horses to race to Faelrun territory, which could take days.

In the worst case, we might be stuck here for two weeks guarding a dead dragon’s bones.

But… well… what can we do?

If that’s our only option, we’ll have to accept it.

Let’s think positively. At least we won’t freeze to death, right? We have two mages who can make fire.

That’s when it happened.

“Um… Astika. I think I can help with that.”

When a golden savior appeared before me.

“You can help? I thought you said you needed to go down immediately to defend the Holy State.”

“Isn’t one female knight with master-level skills and the stamina for a forced march, who can also ride a unicorn, enough for this task?”

“…That’s true.”

“The Holy Brigade and I need to return, but providing one high-ranking Paladin shouldn’t be a problem. If I report that we’ve dispatched support personnel to the diocese where Astika is stationed, the Cardinal’s subordinates will readily accept it.”

Ceylon finished speaking and called over a knight who had been standing at a distance to introduce her to me.

“This is Adamante, a judge of our order. She was my junior when I was just a regular Paladin, but she was recently promoted to judge.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Astika!! Judge of Order, Adamante Clair, reporting!!”

The judge removed her helmet to reveal her face and bowed deeply with a bright, energetic voice.

Short, dull blonde hair and eyes full of determination. Her teal eyes sparkled with something like admiration.

“Uh… yeah, nice to meet you.”

“Thank! You!! To think that Astika would need me!! What an honor!! Entrust me with any task!!”

…What’s with this energy level?

Her voice, actions, and even her height were unnaturally large. She seemed at least a head taller than me. That would make her a giant even in my original world.

“…Are you sure about this?”

I pulled Ceylon aside by the shoulder and whispered in his ear.

Her height didn’t matter, but that strangely exaggerated energy level didn’t inspire much confidence.

However, Ceylon just nodded with a reassuring smile.

“Yes. You needn’t worry. Apart from her loud voice, Judge Adamante is a devout judge with impeccable skills and character. She’s a junior I’m proud of.”

“If you say so… alright, I’ll trust you.”

I nodded with relief.

Surely Ceylon wouldn’t lie to me and dump a problem on me, of all people.

—-

And so, I handed the Ring of Returning Seal to Adamante and called Cascador, asking her to deliver news of our situation to Faelrun territory.

Upon hearing my request, Adamante saluted with a deadly serious face, vowing to complete the mission with her life.

As Ceylon had guaranteed, she mounted the summoned Cascador without any issues.

I was worried that Cascador might struggle with her height, but far from struggling, he looked dozens of times happier than when I rode him.

His face resembled that of a freed slave.

The ungrateful beast seemed to have completely forgotten all the care I’d given him until now.

“Then, I’ll be off right away!! Senior Ceylon!! We may not meet again for some time!! I wish you good fortune!! May Astraea’s blessing be with you!!”

“…Yes. May Her blessing be with you too.”

With Adamante’s journey to the Empire decided, she was unlikely to meet Ceylon again soon.

After a brief farewell with Ceylon, Adamante whipped Cascador’s reins and galloped down toward the foot of the mountain range.

“Hmm…”

Thanks to Cascador, her horsemanship was impressive enough to draw a quiet exclamation of admiration from Jahan.

—-

Several hours later.

“Well then… we must return now. I apologize for not being able to assist you until the end… but we cannot leave the Holy State unattended for too long…”

“Don’t worry about it. I should be the one thanking you. Without the Holy Brigade’s support, we would have been in serious trouble.”

Ceylon and the Holy Brigade also descended the Heavenly Mountains to return to their homeland.

We had parted again less than a day after our long-awaited reunion, but Ceylon had no choice.

They couldn’t leave the Holy State’s borders unattended for long.

Dispatching two thousand Holy Brigade members was already the maximum assistance they could provide.

—-

“Everyone’s gone.”

“Yeah. But at least they built us shelters before leaving. Let’s rest here comfortably for a while.”

“Comfortably…?”

Ophelia shivered in the cold air that was already starting to creep back in, exhaling a white breath. Her expression suggested she doubted I knew the meaning of the word “comfortable.”

Of course, that wasn’t my concern.

There were far more important matters than listening to Ophelia’s complaints about being cold despite wearing Rurik’s leather coat.

“Asha, you have that bear skin from before, right? Wrap that fairy up in it and stash her in a corner. And check if her tendons might have reattached.”

“Got it!”

For example, the issue of storing the fairy guardian whose ears I’d cut off…

“Hey, pink scales. You’re still awake, right?”

Or dealing with prisoners who surrendered as soon as they saw no chance of winning.

“…Finally looking my way. You left me alone for hours; I thought you’d forgotten about me.”

“How could I forget someone like you? A two-legged pink lizard with wings.”

I’d left him alone because I was busy with post-battle cleanup, but I’d been keeping an eye on him the whole time.

Unlike Eirnesia, who was completely neutralized, this Macaoros bastard was a dangerous element who could cause trouble again once his physical and magical strength recovered.

“So, you’re surrendering to the Empire? And you’ll cooperate fully with whatever we ask?”

“More precisely, I’m surrendering to you. It’s quite humiliating to kneel before a barbarian with not a trace of elegance… but once you’re dead, elegance doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Good to see your brain works. Yes, it would be difficult to maintain elegance as a corpse with scales peeled off.”

Looking down at the calmly chattering Macaoros, I pondered what to do with this lizard.

“Since you’re so smart, can you guess what I’m considering?”

“Whether to accept my surrender or cut my throat to eliminate any possible risk?”

“You know well. I can’t figure it out no matter how much I think about it.”

I nodded, then drew Durandal from my waist and pointed it at his neck.

“Why should I let you live?”

I exuded a murderous intent that made it clear I would behead him immediately if he spouted nonsense or tried to resist.