"My name is Aurelia."
She straightened her back as she spoke.
"Enkrid."
Their eyes met. Enkrid casually gave his name, and beside him, Shinar continued.
"I am his betrothed, the lord of the fairy city Kirheis, ally of the Border Guard, mistress of flame, the Golden Witch, Shinar Kirheis."
"…Quite a list. I am Aurelia Everhold, Lady Kirheis."
What to call her—she was a type a little different from the women Enkrid had met so far.
If one had to compare, it was like Kin Baisar behaving even colder than she did now.
She had less "polite breeding" and more the bearing of a blade-user, so the atmosphere was clearly different from Kin; there wasn't even a point of resemblance.
To add another comparison, she gave off something like Aisia with her will brought to full focus.
Though Aisia, for all her knighthood, showed a certain softness and flexibility, the woman before him seemed stricter than that.
Everhold was Cypress's demesne, and he was a knight of noble birth.
He had his own lands and had left his kin there—his wife and children, and so forth. Only his granddaughter remained at his side.
"She's a granddaughter of remarkable talent."
As he spoke, Cypress was like a doting fool. He was clearly delighted to boast of his blood.
"So it seems."
Enkrid answered him.
Their exchange was ordinary, but the meaning contained within was anything but ordinary.
Aurelia herself flicked a brow in something like displeasure.
It wasn't empty praise—she truly was a blade with outstanding talent. Her stance, bearing, and way of speaking—all of it testified to what she had built.
Enkrid's eye by now matched the Frog's "talent appraiser." Seen with those eyes, Aurelia was not someone here merely because she had a quick mind.
She herself felt much frustration over the lack of raw force, but Enkrid could not know that much of her inner state.
Temares knew, but it lay outside his interest, so he said nothing; Enkrid merely read on her face that the woman named Aurelia was nettled by the two characters for "talent."
"They're not aiming for the knights. In other words, the target is the neutralization of the unit."
She finished, and everyone refocused on the meeting.
"Not suitable as bait, then."
Luagarne picked up the words.
"The main body's assaults were being held off by the Order staying up all night."
One of the commanders spoke.
"Was it a method of gnawing us down by draining stamina?"
When Luagarne asked again,
"That's how I see it."
Aurelia answered without even taking a breath.
Ingis had a quick mind as well, but he felt the pace of the meeting was extraordinarily fast.
'Bold, isn't she.'
He understood because issues he had perceived on the field were being named; otherwise, he would have struggled to keep up with the give-and-take flying across the table.
"So they prepared a decoy unit from the start."
Glorp, cheeks puffed, one line expelled—the conclusion came fast.
Even among Frogs, Luagarne's intellect was exceptionally keen. She used all of it solely to satisfy her curiosity.
And because the subject of that curiosity was that those here would display their abilities, she set her mind to work. Her cheeks puffed, and her eyes rolled left and right.
A quintessential Frog expression.
Enkrid was used to it. There were even two Frogs on the Southern Front, and others were used to waiting on her words as well.
Even if that hadn't been the case, they would have waited.
Cypress, while observing the proceedings, fostered that very atmosphere.
Perhaps it should be said it was possible because he was there.
All eyes fixed on Luagarne's face.
Frogs are a curious race. Though stronger than humans and born with a fighting sense—so much so they're called a warrior race—their use of their abilities was limited.
One could say they moved only for their own interest.
Their purpose and goal are always confined to curiosity and interest. For that, they live to achieve the objectives they set. Such is the Frog.
A Frog who had tunneled this deeply among humans was rare.
One of the Frogs remaining in this unit had made planting trees their goal. The Frog who planted saplings right beside the battlefield was the unit's attraction.
If you didn't touch their apple tree, they wouldn't even go out to fight. That was a Frog.
If you asked why a Frog, not a fairy, was planting trees, that Frog would simply say, "My goal is to make an orchard here."
They were not ones to ask understanding of others or other races. Yet if you listened closely, they moved for reasons one could accept—though, of course, it was only understandable by their yardstick.
"Send part of a fast reconnaissance team where the gryphon riders can see them. Which means—the gryphon riders don't perfectly control the monsters they're mounted on, even if I'm the one in the saddle, correct?"
She struck the core again. She had taken the phenomenon and dug into the principle inside it.
Frogs are born with the ability "Able Decider," talent appraisal. Among them, Luagarne had mastered this mode of thinking. She would see the surface and draw out the cause.
"That's how I see it. To be more frank, it feels like they're using us to run test operations."
Aurelia met Luagarne's eyes as she spoke.
That was one reason they had managed to hold out at all. The gryphon riders had not simply charged the main body.
Rather than thrust a spear straight at an opening, they chased the units sent out as bait. That stalled for time, and the knights rode out to check them, and so they endured.
This, too, was one of the tactics Aurelia had deduced by watching how the gryphon packs moved.
As for how they didn't appear when it rained—was it that they couldn't control the gryphons' habit of hating rainfall?
Aurelia thought, and judged it a highly probable hypothesis.
She kept turning her mind. By nature, she had also taken part when forming the Red Cloak's battle formations.
A formation is the preparation to fight, the posture assumed right before the battle begins. You must predict the gap through which the enemy will enter. If you're wrong, someone dies. She had done her work under that pressure.
Her manner had grown stiff, of course, and she had long cast aside any exchange of hearts.
She devoted herself all day to predicting her opponent. If Cypress was the core of the Southern Front, then she was the stone that propped up that core.
In truth, there were not one or two such stones.
Enkrid listened to the exchange, grasped as far as this, and kept his mouth shut.
He let Luagarne and Aurelia project the path ahead. When he rose from his seat, gazes turned to him.
"I don't think there's any need for me to stay longer."
Enkrid said blandly.
"It's fine by me. Shall I come with you?"
Crang stepped out as well. The king who had stood like a spectator between the two Orders. None of the Royal Guard took issue with the king's attitude.
They, too, had grown used to the king's quirks. The present king lived having set aside about half his majesty—beyond mere unpretentiousness. But to that degree, he was a king who did anything for his people.
He acted, and he cared in earnest. His majesty arose from that. He was one who made the throne no more than a backdrop. How could it be a waste to stake one's life to protect such a man?
"I think I need to spend some time with another friend."
Enkrid said. His tone was so light that the two commanders, focused on the meeting, glanced over, but when no one among the Royal Guard spoke up, they closed their mouths.
"I'll just watch for fun."
Crang answered as if it were nothing. When Enkrid and Crang stepped toward the entrance, five of the Royal Guard followed. Just before going out, Enkrid sent Luagarne a glance of farewell. It meant a request. The Frog answered by puffing her cheeks once.
"Then we'll use the bait as is."
"We won't put limits on a knight's movements."
The voices of Luagarne, Aurelia, and the two commanders rang within the tent. Enkrid stepped outside. Odd-Eye was waiting before him.
"Charging in?"
Rem threw a jest. He himself could use his head well enough, but what he loved most was getting out front to fight.
His nature fit that. Among the Order, Rem moved faster than anyone. He was therefore the field captain.
Above all, he excelled at instantaneous judgment and was born to find the best path in a short span. Which was why he asked now.
Enkrid found it newly interesting. He could now hear the implication in a single line without having to think it through.
"No."
He shook his head, turned, and searched with his eyes for the other friend.
What was curious wasn't only that he didn't have to think through implications. Within his Order, a being had now learned the art of flight.
That was the core of this operation. So said his intuition, and so did the flow of events.
"Odd-Eye—no, Indomitable, I'll need your help."
Neigh.
Odd-Eye now wore an exasperated look whenever he heard the name Indomitable.
"Absurd. Do not change my name."
That was Temares. Even without a Dragonkin's interpretation, Enkrid more or less understood.
When Enkrid moved out, Shinar naturally followed as well. If Crang had his Royal Guard, this side had a fairy and a Dragonkin together.
Two fliers would be better than one.
"Can you really not turn into a dragon?"
Enkrid asked.
"I only turn into a woman."
"Do not change. I like you as you are now."
Shinar cut in.
Enkrid mounted Odd-Eye's back.
"Can you carry me and still fly all day?"
Neigh.
"As much as needed."
When Temares answered in his stead, Odd-Eye lashed a hind hoof at him.
Bang!
A kick that split the air. The Dragonkin angled his sword, Baika, and let it slide off. That letting-go trick amazed every time. He let go perfectly, even of force and noise.
Thanks to it, even though the hoof and Baika had met, there was only a light thud of sound.
"I'll take that to mean 'stop speaking for others.' Pegasus."
The Dragonkin answered the horse's heart. He had answered with an act, but true feeling is always conveyed.
Neigh.
Odd-Eye bobbed his head up and down.
"Right. Dragonkin."
This time Enkrid voiced Odd-Eye's heart.
Shinar snorted a laugh. It wasn't common, but it was something you sometimes saw in front of Enkrid.
There was a continental saying that the one who steals a fairy's smile is the greatest thief on the continent.
If so, Enkrid was a thief entire. He stole smiles not only from the fairy's face but also from the witch's.
"Let's fly."
Enkrid recognized his role. They had to seize air superiority from those gryphon-whatevers; which meant he had to get used to it first.
That was why the soldiers in the encampment spent the day watching a man riding a horse that flew through the sky.
***
"You really haven't changed."
Burnion looked up at the sky and spoke in astonishment.
"The War God watches over us."
Lapild confessed he once more felt the god's favor.
Several other soldiers felt a relief they had never known even before the rain had stopped.
"A most entertaining friend, truly."
Cypress murmured as he watched such an Enkrid.
"I only hope he doesn't topple on the first strike."
Normally, Ingis would be by his side, but today Aurelia accompanied him.
"You can tell at a glance. He won't topple. This is truly something to look forward to. In fifty years of life, it's been ages since I felt like this. I want to see the enemy commander's face."
The back of a knight rose to meet the launch of the gryphon riders. Cypress had been surprised by Rem, then surprised again by Enkrid, and when he looked over the whole Mad Order of Knights, he couldn't help but laugh.
'Where did such monsters come from?'
Who knew. More wondrous still was that they were allies.
A king who remained on the battlefield was strange, and so was the man who was the king's friend.
"Master is not fifty—if I recall, he is over seventy."
Cypress regretted his granddaughter's stiff exactitude. Was this really the time to point that out?
"Carry gentleness with you. That is the path you must take."
Temperament affects the body. All the more so at a squire's level.
Her weakness was flexibility. Knowing that, Cypress spoke as if teaching her.
"I am working on it."
His granddaughter's answer was still stiff.
Naturally, Enkrid wasn't merely riding for fun. That was only part of his daily life.
Training and tempering came first in his day. If this was the front that plugged the South, if one considered the danger and thought to sit quietly, that would not be Enkrid. He did as he always did.
And the influence of those endlessly repeated acts spread through the encampment far more widely than one might have thought.