Chapter 191. Engagement – Dream
“Alright, everyone, good job.”
Leo exited the armory. He reassured the saluting soldiers, “Don’t worry about the shortage of supplies. I’ll talk to the supply officer.” He then climbed the fortress wall.
Leo was on duty.
Dressed in a crisp, red uniform, soldiers stationed atop the wall saluted him in turn. Leo accepted them with restrained motions. He patrolled the wall, inspecting the soldiers’ demeanor and attire.
His demeanor was quite earnest.
Although a novice knight should have been clumsy and struggling to understand the military lifestyle, Leo showed no such signs. In fact, he appeared so practiced that the soldiers of Avril Castle remarked, “We had expectations, but he’s no fun.”
For soldiers, a rookie knight causing a commotion is a source of entertainment. During peacetime, any mishaps within the camp were usually minor incidents, something experienced soldiers were aware of. For the past week, their attention had been fixed on the young knight Leo Dexter. They were keenly curious to see whether he would embarrass himself by being overconfident without knowing anything or if he would be overly shy and lose face as a superior.
However, he fit neither scenario. He was surprisingly knowledgeable, and if he didn’t know something, he openly admitted it. The soldiers of Avril Castle were captivated by the audacious young knight.
“Hey! You squires over there! I know having a smoke after a meal feels good, but you’re aspiring to be knights! If you smell like that, the ladies will run away!”
Leo shouted down from the wall. The negligent squires quickly stomped out their cigarettes and scampered off.
“Sir, you should also eat.”
“I suppose I should.”
A soldier smiled warmly. Leo nodded, confirmed the soldiers’ shift change, and headed toward the training ground.
The soldiers who had finished their meals had gathered at the training ground. Education was in progress, so Leo circled widely to avoid causing a disturbance and approached the lodgings where squires on guard saluted him.
“Loyalty!”
He almost burst out laughing. Turning swiftly, he saw that among the saluting squires was Lena.
“Alright, everyone, good job. Lena Einarr, come here.”
“…Yes.”
He spoke in the most businesslike tone possible. But once inside the lodge and out of others’ sight, he turned back with a grin.
“Lena.”
But Lena wore a dissatisfied expression. Pouting her lips, she complained,
“Why did you call me? I told you not to.”
Lena had become a squire.
Though she boldly announced she would take the test, she was weak, having only joined the scenario a day ago. Faced with Leo’s superior skills, she had no chance of winning but received a fair evaluation for her tenacious effort.
“You can become a squire, though you still have much to learn. Considering your age, it’s impressive.”
“A squire is fine!”
All things considered, it was a foolish choice. Continuing to learn swordsmanship from Uncle Noel would have benefited her more, but Lena wanted to at least catch up to Leo, who became a knight.
Fortunately, the lord made her a squire. It’s not an easy title to obtain, so she was lucky, but a small misfortune followed.
“Hey! Is that how a squire speaks to a knight?”
Her eyebrows furrowed, and her blood pressure rose. She glared at her smirking fiancé and sighed.
“Yes, you’re right. Sorry. Why did you call me?”
Of all people, she had to be assigned as Leo’s squire. It wasn’t strange to assign a squire to a newly made knight, but Lena was discontent.
A stranger would be better…
“I just wanted to take a break and hear my squire sing…”
“Do you wish to die?”
“Hey, saying ‘wish to die’ to a knight. That’s preposterous…”
“I’ll kill you at home. Seriously.”
When Lena’s eyes blazed, Leo, who had been twitching his face, finally laughed out loud.
“Hahaha! Alright, I’m sorry. I’ll stop. I came to have a meal. You haven’t eaten yet, right?”
“I already did.”
“What? No! You should’ve waited to eat together. Also, a squire should prepare meals for the knight.”
“A knight has hands and feet, don’t you? Go get your food yourself.”
Actually, she hadn’t eaten.
Since Leo had been pestering her to eat together for a week, she purposely waited today without eating, but she was feeling ornery. Seeing Leo’s dejected face, Lena softened.
“I’m kidding. I haven’t eaten. Let’s go eat together.”
Leo smiled warmly.
“Lena.”
He looked around the hallway to ensure no one was watching and held her hand. Interlocking fingers, he rubbed the back of her hand gently and spoke.
“Squire, is it tough?”
“What’s tough for me? I have a wonderful knight, so I have nothing much to do. Shall we go eat now? Why are you doing this?”
“Just wanted to see you.”
An answer that seemed only natural.
Leo looked down at her intently, and Lena’s neck turned red. She quickly withdrew her clasped hands and crossed her arms, but she could still feel Leo’s gaze on her. Her cheeks, nose, forehead, and eyelids gradually heated up under his eyes.
“Why… why are you staring at me like that, it’s creepy.”
Although Lena found Leo’s recent affectionate behavior unfamiliar, she didn’t dislike it. She just didn’t understand why the usually more reserved Leo was acting this way lately.
Not that Leo was doing anything untoward. If he were, she might understand that he was finally showing his lust, but most of the time he just looked at her wistfully.
“Stop it.”
Once Leo started acting like this, he wouldn’t realize how much time had passed. Feeling oddly flustered at the thought of being loved, Lena decided to respond firmly. She grabbed his nose and shook it vigorously.
“Ouch!”
“I said stop it.”
Soon, the two of them were in a corner of the lord’s castle. Although some people knew about their relationship, they didn’t want to be obvious, so they hid and shared the food they’d gotten from the dining hall.
Seeing Leo wolfing down bread so hungrily eased some of Lena’s troubled feelings. She wanted to become a knight with Leo, which made her impatient. But when Leo expressed his love for her like this, she wondered what was the big deal about being a bit late.
She would eventually catch up with Leo, and she knew he would wait for her…
“Leo, you spilled something.”
Leo probably didn’t know what she was thinking. She felt sorry for having distanced herself from him for the past week. Lena approached him and pulled his collar down while he looked to see where food had spilled on his clothes.
* * *
After that, both Leo and Lena were busy in their own ways.
If one had to compare who was busier, it was undoubtedly Lena, which was the fate of junior knights.
The emergence of mages had significantly changed the duties of junior knights. Unlike the past, where they simply had to assist knights, now the standard was for knights to pair up and blend into the battlefield, which led to a simplification of the knights’ armament—including less need for daily maintained armor.
Junior knights, therefore, had fewer tasks and were often left alone in the camp while the knights were off in battle. However, the battlefield was not so lenient as to let high-level personnel like junior knights remain idle. Junior knights were tasked with duties like guarding generals or leading squads, which required minimal training.
This was also beneficial for junior knights. Those who could not become full knights needed to find other occupations. It was fortunate if they could stay within the order as administrative knights, but most ended up as soldiers. Thus, learning command techniques while still a junior knight was advantageous.
Even though Lena didn’t want this path, she had to participate in some training out of obligation. Feeling that training time was being taken away from her, Lena’s days became even busier, and she could usually only see Leo at home after he had left work.
“So? What did you do about it?”
“That guy was trying to bully me, so I kicked him between the legs. Isn’t it funny? He became a junior knight before me, so what’s that got to do with anything?”
Lena, having taken off her leather armor and thrown it on the dresser, flopped onto the bed. Clearly exhausted, she lay down without changing clothes and stretched out. Leo sat on the edge and petted her head.
“Is that okay? You should try to get along as much as possible.”
“Ah, I tried. But he kept pushing his tasks onto me.”
Lena turned over. She seemed to enjoy Leo’s head-petting, as she adjusted herself to rest her head on his thigh.
“Honestly, shouldn’t I be the one with seniority? How dare he try to boss me around when I’ve only just arrived here? I should just gather my friends and bury him at night.”
A bit violent but not impossible. Since the castle of Avril was directly controlled by the king, the soldiers and junior knights were not locals but dispatched from the capital. They were set to leave in about three months, as the replacement forces from the capital, Bernoulli, arrived at the end of winter each year.
In contrast, Lena was a local, born and raised here. As a member of the Einarr tribe, which made up the majority of the castle’s population, and the daughter of a great warrior, she was quite popular.
Though she hadn’t become a warrior in this cycle due to becoming a junior knight, her standing hadn’t diminished. If she really wanted to, she could easily eliminate an outsider. Such incidents had happened frequently during the civil war, with many junior knights deserting due to the harsh conditions; one disappearing wouldn’t be much of a problem.
Lena seemed to consider it and said, “…Wait, that’s not a bad idea.” Leo, unable to believe what he was hearing, smacked her on the forehead.
“Ouch! Why did you hit me?”
“Because you’re thinking about killing someone. Do you want me to help? Should I have a word with him for you?”
Lena looked up at him intently. After a moment, she responded curtly, “Forget it.” Then she got up, found her pillow, and turned over.
“Just take care of your own business. You’ve been noisy lately too.”
Leo shrugged. He climbed onto the bed, crossed his legs, and looked down at Lena endlessly.
He wished time would stop at this moment.
He knew that this was the happiest time of his life. The {war} would break out before winter fully passed, and from then on, there would be no leisure. During that time, he would have to figure out how to kill people.
He desperately wished these everyday moments would continue, but cruelly, the weather kept getting warmer. The ‘sea breeze’ blowing from the continent to the ocean was gradually diminishing.
Leo stroked Lena’s hair again.
“Don’t do that.” She said, and he fiddled with her earlobe. They talked for a long time until he went back to his room, as if he couldn’t win.
Feeling better, Lena pouted. Maybe she should have asked him to stay? She regretted it, but as soon as she decided to sleep, she fell asleep.
[Achievement: Twenty Photos – Lena occasionally recalls her past weakly through dreams.]
But she didn’t dream. She had never dreamed, whether it was a nightmare or a good dream.
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