𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟗: 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
The war situation seems to be in our country’s favor, but we seem to be having trouble with the Galavares Kingdom’s army, which keeps landing again and again.
Spring has ended, and it’s about time for summer to begin. The wind is strong. This country is known as the country of wind, as strong winds blow at the turn of the seasons. There must be strong winds on the battlefield as well. I wonder how Stephan is doing.
I was with Freiche-sama. Freiche-sama says she can’t sleep much because she’s worried about Prince Ehrlich.
“I only have nightmares when I sleep, so I’ve come to think it’s okay not to sleep if I can’t.”
“Freiche-sama, if you don’t sleep, your body will weaken. You will also be more susceptible to illness. Shall I give you a mild sleeping pill?”
“Will that prevent me from having nightmares?”
“Yes. You should be able to sleep soundly without dreaming.”
It’s a sleeping pill made from brown mushrooms. It calms the mind and induces natural sleep. It’s a top secret because there’s a poisonous mushroom that looks just like it. If someone tries to imitate it, there will definitely be deaths.
“Can Ellen-sama sleep?”
Actually, I can’t sleep well either. I don’t take any kind of medicine because it doesn’t work well on my body. If I drink a lot of sleeping mushroom medicine until I get sleepy, there’s a chance I won’t wake up.
“Actually, I can’t sleep well either.”
“Do you have someone you care about on the battlefield?”
Stephan’s face came to mind. Stephan has been with me since I was ten years old. Because Stephan was there, I could go to the market and go out. I could tell Stephan things I couldn’t tell my parents. So now I feel mentally insecure, as if I’ve lost an arm.
“Yes, someone close to me, like a part of my body, is on the battlefield.”
“Is it your fiancé?”
“No, it’s my bodyguard.”
“I see. A bodyguard… I’ve never thought of a bodyguard in that way, so I’m a little surprised.”
“He’s like a brother, a friend, and a teacher to me.”
“He’s an important person to you.”
“He’s an important person, indeed.”
I gave Freiche-sama the medicine and had such a conversation before I came back. An important person, huh.
That’s right. In this season, strong winds blow from the mountains to the sea during the day. I wonder if it would be useful to scatter fine powder that blinds the eyes. The kind that stings the eyes.
When I consulted with my mother, she grinned and said, “It’s worth a try.” “Our soldiers just need to choose the direction of the wind.”
My mother and I went to a separate building and looked at the stored snake venom, frog venom, and insect venom.
“I guess this is the place…”
“Frog venom, right?”
The poisonous frogs we breed at home spit venom at the eyes of their opponents from near their tear ducts when they feel threatened. They escape while the opponent is unable to open their eyes due to the burning pain.
We lined up as much frog venom as we had on the table and mixed it with flour we brought from the kitchen. We can’t knead it. It would turn into dumplings.
We put flour in the diluted venom and mixed it, then dried it. It’s difficult to make the water evaporate and leave the poison behind.
After many failures, we finally settled on a method of spraying the venom on the flour. We try to make it fly in the wind. I became the test subject. It’s not a poison that causes blindness.
“It hurts, it hurts, ouch…”
It’s very painful. I can’t open my eyes. It would be fine if I could wash it off with a lot of water, but there’s no way there would be that much water on the battlefield.
“Okaa-sama, don’t you think this could be useful?”
“I think so. It’s worth a try.”
We sent the poison powder along with the medicine.
Two weeks later.
The war situation seems to have become much more favorable. I thought it would be dismissed as a child’s toy, but it turned out to be very beneficial when used with the wind at the front line. On windy days, they even wrapped the poison powder in paper and attached it to the tips of arrows.
One day.
Our country’s warships, gathered from all over, occupied the bay, and the Galavares Kingdom’s ships were outside the bay. However, due to the continuous high waves caused by the strong wind, about half of the enemy ships sank, and we captured many crew members who were about to drown.
The news was delivered to our house immediately by a fast horse.
“I wonder if this will settle the matter.”
There was an excited atmosphere in the mansion. Even Hanna, who had been listless for a long time, was smiling. The day when the mansion’s guards and Stephan will return is near, they said.
As expected, the Galavares Kingdom’s army retreated. The country was in an uproar. The news of victory was reported to the royal palace.
However.
While the soldiers of other nobles are returning one after another, our family’s guards are not coming back easily. They seem to be patrolling around, wary of assaults and looting by defeated soldiers.
“I wonder if they can’t return yet.”
“It can’t be helped that it takes time to clean up because it’s our territory.”
Around the time I repeated such conversations many times, I received a call from Freiche-sama. I visited thinking it was a joyful announcement of Prince Ehrlich’s return, but it was the opposite.
“This is just between us, but it seems that the prince is missing. Even though the crown prince has returned.”
“Eh? I thought the royal family didn’t go to the front lines?”
“I heard the same, but it seems that there were enemies who had entered the inland and remained there while they were attacking each other.”
I don’t want to think that he encountered such enemies. In the first place, didn’t Prince Ehrlich have his own guards? There’s no way they would leave the prince alone.
Several more days passed. One of our family’s guards returned. He came back to report on the local situation.
“Ojou-sama, this.”
What the guard handed to me with difficulty was the silver pendant I gave to Stephan, and the handmade name tag I put through it. The chain of the pendant was torn.
My hand that received it was trembling.
“Where did you find this?”
“In the forest where the battle took place. The enemy army had invaded there early on and it was chaotic. We, who knew the terrain, and the kingdom’s army were fighting together to protect Prince Ehrlich, but…”
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