“Grr?”
The troll, breathing heavily, stared at the furball that had suddenly fallen. Sena awkwardly smiled.
“That’s too much…!”
However, there was no trace of fear in his voice. The troll realized it was a human and raised its large sword high into the sky.
“How could you throw Senior Sena, no matter what?”
Sylvia drew her sword and was about to rush in.
Thud-.
An arm was cut off and fell. The troll looked bewildered by the situation.
“Where do you get off just throwing people like that?!”
Sena wanted to say something harsher, but nothing came to mind when he tried to curse. So, he just mouthed silently.
Chris looked at Astria with a pleased expression.
“What do you think?”
“…”
Sylvia had already sheathed her sword.
Astria stared intently at Sena, as if intrigued.
How could such strength come from that small frame?
“Are you listening?!”
The trolls that had threatened Sena were already dead.
They were in pieces. Only then did Astria understand who had killed the troll Chris had mentioned in his story.
“At the very least, he’s confirmed to be lower Master level.”
**
“Since we’re here, let’s clear out the monsters in this area. If we do a thorough job today, things should be quiet for a while.”
At Astria’s command, they walked back into the forest. The plan was to continue the subjugation, as it was also a chance for the novice knights to gain practical experience.
Sena kept sweating and frequently looked back. Astria walked beside him, draping an arm over his shoulder and half-hugging him as they walked.
It felt as if he was being restrained to ensure he couldn’t escape. Sena made a small, tentative assertion.
“Your Majesty… it’s hot.”
“It’s winter.”
“You’re very warm, maybe a fever.”
“Am I? I suppose it can’t be helped. Something that was always precious has become even more precious.”
‘That’s not me, right…?’
Sena tried to deny reality, but as Astria’s body drew closer, he realized her attachment had grown even stronger.
It’s all over. He’ll never escape Astria. When they return, she might really put a leash on him.
“Give up, physician.”
“…Pardon?”
Astria spoke as if she could read Sena’s mind.
“You cannot escape from me.”
‘This is infuriating.’
Sena was also a man with pride.
Hearing such things repeatedly would inevitably grate on him.
‘Don’t give up, Sena.’
Sena steeled his resolve again. He couldn’t give up here. It wasn’t over until it was truly over.
“Wow, what pretty flowers.”
Sena ran to a spot near a tree where the grass was thick.
“Sena, shouldn’t we finish up and head back?”
Chris sighed and tried to reason with Sena, who was fiddling with the plants.
‘This is all because of you.’
Earlier, it had been a perfect opportunity. If it weren’t for Chris, he could have fallen out of Astria’s favor.
Sena looked around with a face full of dissatisfaction. He planned to dawdle here and be a nuisance.
Still, if he was going to pick something, he might as well pick some herbs, right?
‘Huh? This is Yarrow?’
It’s called Rowe here. It’s an herb often used to stop bleeding. There was an enormous amount of it.
Although it was a common herb, seeing so much in one place was unusual. Sena, somewhat excited, gathered a lot of rowe and put it in his robe.
“What are you doing?”
Astria asked coldly.
“Picking flowers.”
“Why?”
“Aren’t they pretty? It would be a shame to pass them by.”
Sena tried his best to look thoughtless.
“Yes. They are pretty.”
‘…Why are you agreeing?’
Rowe had white petals. Sena picked some and tucked them into the hood of his robe.
“For the record, Your Majesty, this is a completely meaningless and unnecessary action.”
“So?”
Astria looked at him as if asking what he was trying to say.
At this point, it was the perfect moment for her to get angry, but she didn’t, which left him bewildered. However, he quickly regained his composure.
“I am wasting your precious time right now.”
‘This will surely make her angry, right?’
Sena wore a triumphant smile. A physician picking flowers on a subjugation mission?
How useless can someone be!
Isn’t this a capital offense? It was practically a criminal level of being a nuisance.
“Do as you please, you insignificant furball.”
Astria sighed and turned her back. She spoke to Chris. Let’s take a short break.
“Th-Then I’ll really do as I please.”
“I said, do it.”
Sena wore a puzzled expression.
Why is she being so lenient?
For now, let’s finish what I started.
Sena crouched down and continued gathering rowe.
In the end, this battle was Astria’s loss. She felt her patience reaching its limit.
“Stop gathering and let’s go.”
“Just a little more.”
‘Yes. Just a little more…!’
She looked like she was at the end of her patience.
If he kept this up, wouldn’t he be able to see Astria get angry?
Her patience was notoriously short.
“We need to get back quickly to make a baby.”
“Don’t say weird things.”
“Otherwise, I’ll do it here.”
Sena was momentarily flustered but then smiled slyly.
“Will you hold my hand again?”
“Hand?”
However, Chris, who had been listening quietly, tilted his head in confusion, causing Sena’s hair to stand on end.
“You don’t know?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, it’s surprising. You mingled with women without even knowing that?”
“?”
Sweat dripped down Sena’s face.
‘Oh no! If Astria finds out the ‘real way to make a baby’, I’m going to…!’
He quickly stood up, clutching the herbs to his chest.
“A-Ahahaha. Sorry. Let’s go quickly.”
Astria looked at the flustered Sena suspiciously, but decided to move on. She was eager to return, as she had mentioned earlier.
**
They soon encountered monsters.
Watching the knights fight diligently, Astria uttered only one word.
“Pathetic.”
‘Starting a war right now would be impossible.’
There had never been such a disorganized group.
They got in each other’s way, tripping over their own feet, or they were too eager to catch one more monster, ending up fighting among themselves.
A total mess.
Astria sighed.
Still, since they had been chosen for the test, their individual skills were outstanding. It didn’t take long to clear out the monsters.
A brief lull.
The knights removed their helmets and sat down, wiping the sweat that had poured off them.
Astria’s gaze was fixed on a single spot.
“That is…”
Sylvia furrowed her brow and started to step forward. But she stopped immediately, feeling the murderous intent emanating from Astria.
“I ordered the Imperial Knights, not the Teutonic Knights.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Sena flinched at Astria’s rare display of anger. Why is she like this? Are their skills really that poor?
“Graaaar!”
Just then, an ogre sprang from the pile of what had seemed to be corpses. The ogre swung its solid fist.
Boom!
A knight standing right in front took the blow directly and was slammed into a tree. The shocked knights quickly finished off the ogre, but the knight who had taken the blow, known for the ogre’s tremendous strength, was now hovering between life and death.
“Move aside!”
Sena instinctively sprang forward. He laid the knight down in a comfortable position and checked his condition.
“Are you okay? Can you hear me?”
The knight’s condition was dire.
‘Unconscious. Carotid artery rupture. Breathing, but weak. Organs? …Good, protected by mana. But.’
It seemed the knight had instinctively used his sword to shield himself when the ogre struck. However, that had been the worst decision.
Fragments of the shattered sword were embedded in his body. One piece, in particular, had grazed his carotid artery.
Sena immediately felt for a pulse and channeled divine power into the area near the carotid artery. It healed quickly, but the bleeding had been severe.
‘If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve brought my suitcase…!’
At that moment, he remembered the rowe he had gathered earlier. Sena reached behind him, grabbed a handful of rowe, plucked the petals, and crushed them in his hands to apply.
Sena half-removed his robe, tore his white undershirt with his ability, and used it as a makeshift bandage, wrapping it tightly around the most critical area on the wrist.
Using his teeth to secure the bandage tightly, he then dispersed divine power over the entire body.
The knight’s condition stabilized. His breathing was steady.
‘Phew, safe.’
He sighed in relief, realizing how close it had been. As he stood up, Sena remembered something he had forgotten.
‘R-Right…! I’m supposed to appear incompetent! What have I done!’
But, but he couldn’t just leave a patient unattended. This was an irresistible force. Hopefully, they would accept it as something natural…
Sena tensed slightly and raised his head. At that moment, Astria was approaching his.
He smiled weakly.
“You gathered herbs for this? Then you should have said so.”
It seemed Sena had a knack for lying about unnecessary things.
“There have been countless times when a knight was lost needlessly.”
Sometimes people said the Empress’s heart was made of iron.
Well, Astria didn’t particularly deny that.
She wished for it, and it was the ideal image of an empress for her.
This time was no different. She had stopped Sylvia, who had noticed and tried to act.
Humans have their own duties. Astria valued that. Ending the monster’s life should have been the job of the Imperial Knights.
But she didn’t wish for their deaths. She hoped they would realize and survive on their own.
She was tired of being alone on the battlefield.
Astria didn’t wish for the knights to die.
Even if it was glorious for them.
She wanted them to live as long as possible. That was Astria’s honest feeling.
“Perhaps, this was one of those times. But today, we didn’t lose a knight. Thanks to a certain capable physician.”
Astria patted Sena’s head.
“Well done, Sena.”
‘I’m supposed to be disliked.’
It should have been a sad moment. In the end, Sena didn’t achieve what he wanted from this subjugation.
Sena’s operation had failed.
But he didn’t feel bad. Astria’s touch was warm as she patted him.
