Arc#3 Interlude: Meanwhile, Elsewhere... (1) (Patreon)

(Author's Note: Here's the advance chapter that was supposed to come out on Sunday. Please accept this as an apology for messing up.)

*****

While Reivan was going through just another normal day, the other members of his family — in particular, the adults — weren't idling around and doing nothing.

"Reporting to Commander Stella"

As she sat atop a tree branch, Stella Aizenwald grimaced in thought. Her silky black hair was tied in a tight bun behind her head.

"Hmm..." she hummed in contemplation, her brows creased.

The valor and strength she'd repeatedly proven throughout all the battles she'd participated in, combined with the serious look painted over her face, gave her an atmosphere that made one fear approaching her for anything but the most important of reasons.

Without a doubt, most of the mounted knights around her must have thought she was brooding over something of immense importance — such as strategies to use in upcoming battles, the enemy's intentions, or just the fate of the nation in general.

'I want to have sex...'

She was, in fact, not thinking about anything relevant. Though, to the person herself, the topic was very significant.

'I miss my Roland. I miss Helen and Hector too. The kittens too. And even though I likely wouldn't meet Lady Vianna even if I was back at home right now, it doesn't change the fact that I miss her so much...'

Stella sighed as she massaged her temples, unintentionally making her subordinates flinch and gulp in anxiety.

'Damn it all! Who's idea was it for me to come here anyway...? It's not like we've run out of knights at my level!'

Her scowl deepened and her forehead creased. But then she remembered.

'It was me. I was the one who volunteered for this...'

Stella gnashed her teeth, angry at her past self's foolishness. It was all because of an idea she conceived from browsing part of the first king's notes. The royal family's ancestor mentioned that people had different ways of learning. Going off this, Stella thought that maybe there was a better way to improve her skills, other than poring over books and sparring in the safety of the royal capital.

And sure enough, she immediately discovered that she simply thrived in battle. It was like she was a fish that returned to the sea after somehow surviving on land for years.

Stella was convinced that she belonged on the battlefield.

'But...!'

Sure, her strength and skills had improved by leaps and bound, but was it really worth it? She had to endure her unbearable lust for an indeterminate amount of time!

'Damn!'

She clenched her fist so hard that her bones somehow creaked. With a sudden movement born out of sheer frustration, she bolted upward, directly shooting into the sky.

Stella, one of the few mortals capable of flight, stood atop a platform of hardened air and scanned their surroundings. Once she was sure that their location was secure, she spoke.

"Attention."

At her authoritative words, the ten knights spread out around her stood at attention, and even their giant dog-like mounts tensed up.

""Yes, Commander!""

"Captain, report."

"Reporting!" The knight at the front of the group urged his mount forward. His loud and baritone voice made it extremely easy for Stella — who was so high up — to hear him. "We have hunted down four imperial scout retinues on our way here, as well as discovered the location of their camp by interrogating one of the prisoners!"

"Oh? Good work. And where is this camp...?"

"It's, uh..." The captain hesitated, his unease oozing out even though his helmet covered his face. "It's this one, Commander."

"Oh..." Stella awkwardly threw a glance at the hundreds of corpses strewn around them. "I didn't know this was their main camp..."

She'd been scouting enemy lands while staying above the clouds, but she'd chanced upon a group of about five hundred soldiers. And although she'd been wary at first, after careful observation, all of them looked just like any other imperial conscript — ordinary men being forced into war by an imperial mandate.

As such, she'd swooped in and killed them all.

It was a rather simple and quick affair too; all she had to do was create a vacuum.

The hapless men, who were all weaker than a decent squire from Aizen, suddenly found that no matter how much they inhaled, no air would enter their lungs. The realization made them panic, hastening their impending demise. And the worst part — for them, not Stella — was that they couldn't even warn each other about it, since sound couldn't travel in a vacuum.

It had taken the vast majority of her magic power, but within a minute or two, Stella had enacted the soundless massacre of about five hundred men.

Despite this, she felt no pride or satisfaction. Only confusion.

'The empire can't possibly be unaware that sending a whole bunch of ordinary people is useless. I'm not the only one who can do things like this...'

There were loads of knights in Aizen who could slaughter the same amount of people in the same amount of time as Stella. The ten mounted knights in front of her couldn't do it since they were young — and much less talented than Stella — but given enough time, they would easily mow down swathes of conscripts. After all, Aizen's knights were, at a minimum, capable of Augmenting their physical abilities with magic power, reinforcing their bodies with Qi, and boosting themselves with Armament Energy from their Soul Armaments.

'So why do they keep sending so many of these people to their graves...?'

Stella had a somewhat ominous feeling, but she quickly silenced those thoughts. In any case, the conscripts were invaders, and it was Aizen's policy to defend the motherland fiercely and without an ounce of mercy. The lives of hundreds of thousands of these imperials could never compare to a single life from the kingdom's side.

As such, the number of people who came to invade would be the number of people Aizen's knights would slay — even if most of them were weak and innocent people who were forced into war.

"Commander...?"

Stella snapped out of her musings at the knight captain's hesitant voice. She cleared her throat and asked, "Good work. Were there any other problems? Injuries? And, the Sun God forbid, deaths...?"

"Ah..." The knight captain's hand caressed his stomach. "One of the scouts we encountered was possessed by an esper. We'd thought he was just like all the other conscripts and soldiers, so we're ashamed to admit that we let our guard down..."

"So... since there're still ten of you, and you all look healthy, I'm assuming everything worked out fine?"

"Yes, there were no deaths. Although I got injured from the esper's ambush, I managed to survive thanks to the second prince's grace."

Stella sighed in relief. "That's good. That's really good."

Losing a knight, no matter how weak they were, would be a terrible loss considering their primary purpose was to clean up a bunch of weaklings. Although death was unlikely, the knight would have had to beat it back to the backlines to be treated by a priest of Sormon if it weren't for Reivan's near-infinite supply of medicine.

'It's really like cheating. My brother-in-law's existence itself is cheating...'

But since it was to the benefit of her country, Stella was naturally thankful that Reivan had such fraudulent abilities. Lately, she'd even heard that the amount of medicine Reivan could produce with a single drop of his own blood had increased — which meant he didn't need to have blood sucked out of him as often.

It was a testament to the boy's growth.

'Speaking of growth... I wish I got to face the esper...'

The country and everybody else aside, Stella's main purpose in coming to the border was to temper herself through battle — so she actually welcomed formidable opponents. Of course, she didn't want to die, so Stella wouldn't want them to be too strong.

'Oh, wait a minute...'

"Where's the esper?" she asked.

"We've captured them, commander. " The knight captain threw out his chest, obviously a bit proud of himself. "The esper's vessel's eyes were carved out to prevent them from using their powers. At the moment, they're tied up and hidden somewhere."

"Good work." Stella sincerely praised.

It would have been one thing if they'd killed the esper, but these knights had captured the esper alive. It was a monumental feat, considering their collective strength wasn't too high. And they did it without any casualties too!

"I know that you're well aware of this..." Stella's expression turned somber. "Make sure Sormon's priests don't see you bringing them back, alright?"

"Yes, Commander." The knight captain nodded. "We'll make sure they're carted over to the labs unnoticed."

"As you should."

After, Stella asked a few more questions before nodding in satisfaction.

"That'll be all for now," she said. "Return to camp. Prioritize the esper's matters. Then take a day's rest."

"Yes, Commander!" The knight captain saluted while mounted. "If I may ask, what will the commander be doing now...?"

"Me...?" Stella thought about it for a moment, before answering. "I suppose I'll regroup with the vanguard force and pass by a few imperial fortresses?"

Aizen had a strict policy of maintaining their current territory's size, so no matter how much Argonia provoked them, Aizen would never overextend their reach by establishing territory beyond the wolf's jaw — the mountain range that cordoned the kingdom from the rest of the Sentorale continent.

'For now, that's the case.'

Stella and all the other knights knew that Aizen was just biding their time, waiting for its chance to conquer the entire continent in one fell swoop.

Until then, it would have to stay within its ancestral lands.

'But that doesn't mean we can't run around and cause havoc on our own.'

Stella's pink lips broke into a grin. With a final wave of goodbye to the knights below, she flew off — presumably in the direction of Aizen's vanguard.

#####

Three days later...

Ten of Argonia's fortresses fell into the hands of Aizen.

However, by the time the imperial forces had regrouped, ready to reclaim what was theirs, Aizen's knights were nowhere to be seen.

What the imperial forces found was rubble, dead trees, and lands bereft of even a single blade of grass.

It was as if the lands that the fortresses stood on had been cursed.