Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 164 - Colossal Absence

It was rather unlike Medrauta. Even during her time at the academy, the cafeteria had always been her first stop after a match or a duel. When she was assisting Baron Dietrich's forces with Viviane, the quartermaster's tent had been the first place she visited after returning to camp. However, she found herself missing Viviane's presence and touch quite severely on this moonlit night. Even now, she couldn't feel the usual pangs of hunger that plagued her stomach after a lengthy fight.

"Shall we take a break and grab a quick bite to eat?" Viviane suggested. "We will have to discuss the moving of the battle lines during the night, so I imagine this discussion will last for at least an hour more. It will also allow Captain Vale to join us as he should finish his meal soon."

The five senior knights nodded in response, Medrauta and Eris following suit after a brief delay. When Viviane, Scarlet, and the knights arrived at the quartermaster's tent, they found it busier than expected. Although none of them were strangers to war at this point, the volume of men and women lined up in front of the tent was simply staggering. The only people who weren't surprised were Eris and Scarlet, the Avimorne duchy's civil war having more than familiarized them with such sights.

Although the revolution in the Revelo duchy could also be called a civil war, the scale of its engagements and battle lines were simply incomparable to what happened in the Avimorne duchy. While Medrauta and Viviane spearheaded Baron Dietrich's forces and cut a straight path toward Revelo Castle, the internal conflict within the Avimorne duchy's territory was far less clear-cut. Instead, the entire dukedom had practically been divided in half by the war, and its front line had stretched from border to border.

"How long do you think we'll have to wait?" Medrauta asked, her tone slightly impatient. Now that the adrenaline was almost completely flushed from her system and her need for Viviane's presence was being sated, Medrauta was quickly becoming aware of the intermittent pangs of hunger that shot through her stomach. At first, they were like the pricking of tiny needles, but they slowly grew to resemble arrows instead.

"Not too long, hopefully." Viviane said, peering at the front of the line. It was moving swiftly, but there were still around seventy or so soldiers ahead of them, and though she could technically cut to the front, it felt highly improper to do so when the soldiers were equally or even more exhausted. The fact that even Scarlet remained quietly in the line spoke volumes of the proper conduct and etiquette in this situation.

After a considerable amount of time spent waiting in line, they finally reached the front. Medrauta held her bowl out eagerly, only to be rewarded with a healthy scoop of strange slop that resembled oatmeal, but smelled nothing like it. This was accompanied by a piece of bread that was nearly rock hard. The silver-haired knight frowned, staring at the rations she was given.

"Uh..."

"What? Somethin' wrong!?" The quartermaster snapped.

"No, it's just... Did something happen at the garrison?" Medrauta asked. "I don't remember the food being this bad."

"If you don't like it, don't eat it. NEXT!" The quartermaster shouted, completely dismissing Medrauta's presence despite the knight's lingering stare.

Forced to take the dubious oatmeal and practically petrified bread with her to one of the nearby tables, Medrauta sat on a nearby fallen log with a sigh, setting the bowl and bread on her lap. At the very least, it can't be worse than the crap Charlotte cooks up...

She was soon joined by Viviane who sat next to her, a beautiful smile on her face despite being handed the same terrible rations. Medrauta stared at the bowl of slop on Viviane's lap with a concerned frown, wondering if it was really safe to let her lady eat the unappetizing gray sludge. After all, she'd only ever seen Viviane eating proper noble's dishes or standard issue field rations at worst. The knight had no idea whether Viviane's stomach could even handle something like this.

"Uh, Vivi..." Medrauta began, not sure how to broach the subject seeing as Viviane seemed to have absolutely no problem with the food she was given. In fact, she was even about to dig in right before Medrauta interrupted her. "Are you sure about eating that? I mean, did they give you the wrong thing or something?"

"No...? Why do you ask?" Viviane tilted her head in confusion.

"They know you're Duchess Castellia, right? Even when we were marching to Revelo Castle, you were dining with the baron at the noble's camp. It was always super fancy food."

"Ah. That." Viviane grinned, understanding her knight's intentions. "Don't worry, Medrauta. I don't intend to ask for the impossible. That was a special situation, but we simply don't have a supply line giving us proper food yet. It'll probably take a few more days before the supply unit they dispatched catches up to us."

Though that meant the suspicious-looking oatmeal and rock-hard bread would be the only source of nourishment for the next few days, Medrauta still found herself wanting Viviane to eat something else.

"...Right. M-Maybe I could go hunting for us or something." Medrauta suggested. She had no idea how she'd manage to find edible game within the hour, but she was sure she could manage it if she tried.

Viviane shook her head, laughing. "It's quite alright, Medrauta! This is just something I'll have to get used to, you know? We've still got a ways to go before we reach the second shield tower, and then there's the Spire after that... Besides, they gave Lady Scarlet the same thing too."

"W-What!?" Medrauta's disappointment now turned into incredulity, hardly believing her ears. "Lady Scarlet? There's no way she'll be able to down even a single spoonful of this! Those refined tastebuds of hers would explode the moment she tried!"

At that, Viviane had no choice but to burst out laughing. She nodded emphatically, grinning at Medrauta all the while. "You're right about that! You should have seen the face she made when the quartermaster filled up her oatmeal!"

Medrauta shook her head in disbelief, returning Viviane's smile. "Speaking of which, where'd she go? Don't tell me she fainted after that."

"Nearly. She said there was absolutely no way she'd sit on a log and ruin her dress, so she went off with Eris to fetch a chair and a table from one of the tents. I imagine they'll be joining us soon."

Medrauta nodded, casting her gaze around the camp briefly. "Looks like they're on their way now. By the way, you'll have an easier time with that if you dip it in the oatmeal first," she gestured to the piece of bread that Viviane was desperately trying to bite through.

"O-Oh... I suppose I should've thought of that." Viviane grinned sheepishly.

Joined by Scarlet and Eris at last, the four of them together had a surprisingly pleasant conversation over an unsurprisingly terrible meal. As strange as the oatmeal smelled, it didn't taste too different from the regular fare, though that certainly wasn't enough to stem the tirade of complaints flowing from Scarlet's lips.

Retiring to bed with a full stomach, Medrauta laid next to Viviane, falling asleep as she gazed at her lady's beautiful visage. That night, Viviane slept deeply and dreamt vividly.

Perhaps a little too vividly.