Ch.842Sleepless Night
by fnovelpia
The airship that had landed in Landenburg took off again two days later, heading back into the sky after completing its mana recharge. With it went ten powerful individuals who had been selected for the Ordos assault team.
Myself, Demian, Millia, Joshua, Lacy.
Jahan, Nigel, Leonore Wittelsbach, Frider van Faelrun, and Adamante.
Though we numbered only ten, even the weakest among us was counted among the most elite of Masters—truly the best of the best.
Originally, we had planned to include Ophelia van Sigmillus in the assault team as well… but unfortunately, it seemed she would need more time to reach Landenburg, so we had no choice but to give up on that idea.
Well, it couldn’t be helped. Unlike Demian and Millia who could simply come with just their bodies, Ophelia was a mage and therefore had far too many belongings to bring along.
Various experimental tools and equipment she had set up in her workshop. All sorts of reagents and catalysts. And then there was Claire van Sigmillus, who was her older sister, younger sister, and doormat all at once.
Having to pack and bring all of those things, it was inevitable that her arrival would be delayed.
It would have been convenient if she could have loaded her belongings onto an airship and flown here like Demian and Millia, but that wouldn’t be possible with Lacy present.
If Lacy discovered Claire’s true identity, or even if not Claire herself but research materials related to necromancy, Ophelia might find herself thrown out of the airship with holy fire clinging to her entire body.
Unlike other necromancers, Ophelia didn’t use innocent souls as consumables… but would any priest exist who would take that into consideration?
Even I, who knew the original story, would have no choice but to eliminate her if she crossed the line.
Lacy would probably ignite holy fire without listening to any excuses.
So Ophelia had no choice but to travel by carriage.
—-
Heinrich, Jan, Hayden, and Michel were left behind in Hestella in case of any unforeseen situations.
If things went according to plan, this expedition could be wrapped up within a week, but how many days it would actually take was impossible to know until it was over.
To protect Hestella from potential threats that might arise in the meantime, we needed to leave behind at least one Hero and three Masters as insurance.
Recently, the monsters appearing were much more difficult to subjugate with just regular knights compared to two years ago.
Moreover, monsters weren’t the only risk factor.
If we committed all our core forces to the Ordos assault, all sorts of miscreants might target the empty Landenburg and cause trouble.
Ka’har like Aishan-Gioro Targiyan, unrelated to the current Ordos, might attack the wall, or suspicious insiders like Eleonora, Velnesia, or Aishan-Gioro Imara might finally reveal their true colors, thinking their opportunity had come.
For these reasons, despite some regret, we had to leave behind at least minimal defensive forces.
—-
A journey sailing through clouds with flocks of birds as companions—it sounds like a romantic and enjoyable trip overflowing with dreams, but in reality, it was unbearably boring.
Looking down from the deck and admiring the vast natural landscape is only entertaining for an hour or two. How could it be fun when all you see is the same grassland no matter how far you go?
If we could spar, it might be different, but for fighters above Master level to engage in combat on a flying ship would be tantamount to being desperate to crash the entire airship, so even that was impossible.
If airships ever become a common means of transportation in the future, I should advise them to equip them with gambling halls.
Even Frider van Faelrun and Adamante, who had been unable to contain their excitement at their first flight experience, lost interest after a couple of hours and returned to their cabins to lounge around.
At least Demian and Millia seemed to have no time to be bored, which was fortunate.
When I gave Millia the cabin furthest from everyone else’s rooms—as she blushed saying one room was enough—she grabbed Demian’s sleeve and dragged him inside, hardly emerging except at mealtimes.
She had said something about not being able to resist Demian’s reactions, which were now “genuinely” embarrassed, unlike before.
“Umm… how should I put this… While a good relationship between spouses is something to be celebrated…”
Their displays of affection—or more precisely, Millia’s attitude—were so blatant that even Nigel gave them looks suggesting they might end up creating a legion of children at this rate.
“Well, even you think it’s a bit excessive, right? I had no intention of interfering in my friend’s love life, but if it’s becoming problematic, I might have to order them to restrain themselves for a while. Don’t you think?”
“Ah, n-no. It’s just that, I’m not sure whether to call it excessive or… impressive…”
Nigel shook her head as if to say there was no need for that.
“Hmm…? Impressive? That?”
“Ah, um, that is… I’m sorry. I misspoke.”
Her uncharacteristically hesitant attitude. Her eyes, avoiding my gaze and wandering, briefly swept over the back of a man examining Aktlindo’s blade from a distance.
Slightly furrowed eyebrows. Trembling eye corners and flushed cheeks. Slightly bitten lips and a throat that undulated as if swallowing saliva. Twitching shoulders and fingers that fidgeted as if not knowing where to place themselves.
The unconscious reactions Nigel displayed with her entire body vividly revealed her emotions.
Desire and hesitation, self-loathing and embarrassment, regret and faint resentment.
“Hmm…”
Without needing a psychologist, her reaction was so obvious that anyone could tell what she was thinking.
You’re pent up, aren’t you?
Well, they say there are people who’ve never done it, but no one who’s done it just once. Once you’ve torn Cascador’s ticket, it’s not strange for desires to gradually build up.
Come to think of it, at the prime age of early twenties, it would be stranger to completely abstain from that side of life.
Unless you’re a devout priest, how could an ordinary person manage that?
They might be awkward with each other because their first night together was almost an accident, but just looking at her eyes that wouldn’t leave Jahan’s back, it was obvious that Nigel didn’t harbor any displeasure about that night.
So, pointing my thumb toward Jahan, I whispered with a smirk:
“Our Nigel seems to envy Millia… What do you say, should I arrange for you to share a room with Jahan?”
“Eh?! Ah, hik, uh, th-that, no, no! You misunder—no, it’s not a misunderstanding—uh, I mean, that’s not it, um, not necessary? I’ll handle—no, I’ll conduct myself properly!”
Ah, Nigel has broken down.
At Nigel’s reaction—jumping up like a cat seeing a cucumber with a face so red—I burst into laughter so hard that the cigarette I was holding almost fell out.
It was fortunate that everyone else was in their cabins; if they had shown interest in what was happening, the deck might have caught fire from Nigel, who had turned into a human furnace.
And that night, four bottles of spirits from the cabin dining room disappeared.
According to the servant in charge of cooking, a female knight with navy blue short hair ordered all four bottles of spirits in the middle of the night and took them away.
When I visited Nigel’s room the next morning, it was empty. And Jahan’s room, unlike usual, was tightly locked.
Only heaven knows what happened during the night—
“…Miss, could I ask you for one favor? An order prohibiting indecent behavior on the airship.”
“Yaaawn… It was so noisy I couldn’t sleep at all. Let me change rooms. To the one next to yours. I definitely can’t sleep over there.”
“Almighty Elpinel, protect my ears with your eternal light, Almighty Elpinel, protect my ears with your eternal light, Almighty Elpinel, protect my ears with your eternal light…”
“Ahem, it’s fortunate that Lady Nigel found someone to rely on… Though I never thought she would choose a Ka’har… but he doesn’t seem to be an evil person at least…”
“…Lady Astika. Would you permit me to camp on the deck from today…? I feel like Astraea is testing me…”
…Actually, everyone found out.
It seems Jahan’s room wasn’t as soundproof as expected. And Nigel’s voice was particularly loud.
—-
We continued on like that for three days.
Except for the incident where Nigel, sobered up and shocked to discover that everyone knew about her actions, tried to jump off the deck, it was a relatively peaceful flight.
Occasionally we encountered what appeared to be patrol cavalry groups, but the arrows they shot couldn’t even reach the underside of the airship before losing momentum and falling.
In the first place, they probably didn’t shoot arrows after recognizing our identity. Since the concept of airships didn’t exist for them, and given our high altitude, we must have looked like small birds from the ground.
They probably thought we were large eagles and tried shooting arrows.
Since it would be wasteful to use mana cannons on just a few warriors, we ignored them and continued straight toward Ordos.
If there had been a few hundred gathered, it might have been worth bombarding them, but consuming mana cannon ammunition to target just a dozen warriors didn’t make sense no matter how you looked at it.
And stopping briefly to descend and hunt them one by one would also be a waste of time.
So, around noon on the third day, we finally reached the outskirts of a massive city with the Barun River at its back.
The capital of Aishan, Ordos.
Hersella’s hometown.
Facing the cityscape that hadn’t changed at all in two years, memories of that time flashed through my mind.
When I left this place, I was just a novice who hadn’t even awakened the power of Karma, and now I’ve become humanity’s strongest in the current era, looking down at the entire city.
I guess this is what they call a triumphant return.
Though from their perspective, it’s more like the return of a traitor.
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