Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 81 - Departure

Despite her best efforts to put on a calm and confident mask, Eirlys could wear nothing but worry on her face as she stood in front of the three pairs and their three carriages which were preparing to depart at the academy's front gate.

"You will all begin departing within the next four minutes. Please ensure that you have packed everything that you will need for the journey," Eirlys said stiffly. It wasn't the first time she'd dispatched troops or even knights on missions, but the ones who stood before her weren't soldiers.

Of course, Medrauta, Leticia, and Rosette were technically fully-fledged knights. They had been formally knighted and were legally permitted to serve as combat personnel, but that was only on paper.

They're just students... Eirlys bit her lip, shaking her head. The disappointment that she held for herself was immeasurable. ...How the hell did we reach the point where I would have to send my own damn students to the battlefield?

Indeed, none of them were supposed to see live combat before graduation. In fact, the empire's laws actually forbade ungraduated knights from serving in the military outside of extreme circumstances like the one that they were facing right now.

Of course, Medrauta wasn't worried at all. She raised an eyebrow, leaning on the side of the carriage that was supposed to take her and Viviane to the Revelo duchy. "That's the fifth time you've said that this morning, Dame Eirlys."

Eirlys clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Because I'm worried about you, Medrauta. And everyone else too, the noblewomen especially. Nobles aren't even supposed to step foot on the battlefield even in the military."

"Really?" Viviane looked at Eirlys with a curious gaze. "My father tells me all sorts of stories about him fighting on the front lines, though!"

Eirlys sighed, the look in her eyes wistful as she recalled fond memories of the past. "Yes, Duke Castellia is quite the... special case. He never could leave your mother's side even for a second. Though we knights looked down on him at first, none of us could ignore the efforts that he put in to achieve the physique he possesses today."

"I'm sure he'd be glad to hear that from you, Dame Eirlys!" Viviane grinned.

"Perhaps. Though, I gave him quite the hard time during our first war with Kaslavna whenever he came back from the front lines covered in countless wounds. I'm sure if he was born a knight he would've been quite strong. After all, he certainly trained like one."

Viviane smiled. "Is that so? Maybe I'll have to ask my mother a bit more about that. Father would never tell me how he trained."

"Perhaps because he was afraid of that." Rosaline remarked, joining in the conversation.

She was standing in front of her carriage which had been parked next to Viviane's, and despite the nervousness that she felt in her stomach, she couldn't help but be bored as Leticia was figuring out how to stuff everything they'd packed into the carriage's storage compartment.

Due to the nature of their mission, Leticia and Rosaline would most likely have to meet Lady Scarlet in a formal setting, meaning that Rosaline wouldn't be able to forgo proper dress befitting of a noble unlike Viviane.

"What do you mean, Lady Rosaline?" Viviane asked, confused.

Rosaline gestured at Viviane's outfit as if the problem was obvious. "With all due respect, you aren't seriously thinking of visiting Duke Revelo's castle in that, are you, Lady Viviane?"

Viviane looked down at herself, inspecting her clothing. She was wearing a plain and simple shirt with a leather chestguard on top coupled with shorts and leggings that afforded her mobility while still preserving her modesty as a noblewoman. A quiver full of arrows hung at her hip while her bow was looped over her shoulder.