Once training was over, Eluria and Ariel ate their lunch perched on the city wall.
“Here,” said Eluria, handing Ariel a packed lunch. “This one’s for you, Ariel.”
“Oh... Thank you.” Ariel meekly looked at her. “Er, by the way, Lady Eluria...”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Are you sure we can leave the soldiers like that...?” she mumbled, pointing at the frozen soldiers down below.
Eluria nodded impassively. “I’m sure they’re cold, but don’t worry—they won’t die,” she said, taking a bite of her sandwich. “I have to say, though, your soldiers are excellent. Ten out of ten.”
“Are they now...? Well, I suppose they are the liveliest of the bunch, but...” Ariel’s pained gaze strayed off to the side. A ways from the frozen soldiers were her own troops lined up in a neat formation as they continued with their own “exercises.”
“Men! Is this training painful?!” bellowed the sergeant up front.
“Sir, yes, sir!” replied the troops in spirited unison.
“But tell me—who gave the order?!”
“Lady Ariel!”
“And what does that mean?!”
“This is a reward!”
“Exactly! Kind words and excruciating training—they are rewards to us all the same! And we can even receive the former so long as we conquer the latter! Now, my brethren—chant with me! Channel your blazing passion through your voices!”
“Her might—so huge! Her smile—so cute! And when she blushes, we all swoon! Lady Ariel, WE—LOVE—YOU!”
“Good! Now, keep it up as we train!”
Ariel pried her eyes away from the embarrassing scene and diverted her hollow gaze to the distant sky, an empty laugh spilling from her lips. “I knew they had to have some screws loose to follow a ‘traitor’ like me...but I never knew they were this weird.”
“They chose you as their pillar of support amid my difficult training... If you think of it that way, it’s not too bad. Though I won’t deny that they’re weird,” Eluria said.
“A pillar of support, hmm? Perhaps that’s why I feel like I’m about to crumble as I watch them ‘suffer’...!”
“There, there. Set all your worries aside and just have your lunch for now.”
“Okay, I will...” Ariel mumbled, taking a bite of her sandwich with drooped shoulders. The moment she started chewing, however, some light returned to her eyes. “Oh... This is delicious.”
“I know, right?” Eluria preened.
“Did you make this, Lady Eluria?”
“No, Raid did.”
“Wow. He made you such a wonderful meal... He must love you a lot.”
“I...guess so.” Eluria turned away and took another bite of her sandwich, stuffing her faintly reddening cheeks. Clearly, she was quite embarrassed.
Seeing this cute and youthful side of Eluria’s, Ariel found her lips loosening into a soft smile. “The sauce for the chicken is delectable, and he’s even prepared some other options—including soup—for you to choose between. And this bread... He baked it himself, didn’t he? I’m impressed.”
“I think he did,” Eluria replied. “Even the milk tea he usually prepares for me looks kind of complicated to make... He’s a bit of a perfectionist.”
“I was aware that you’re betrothed, but still, he’s a very good fiancé to do all this for you while being swamped with work himself.”
Ariel’s innocent remark, meant wholly as praise, made Eluria freeze in her tracks. Just a moment later, the girl began sweating bullets.
“What’s the matter, Lady Eluria?”
“Um... Raid always prepares my milk tea just the way I like it. Since he came here, he’s also been preparing my meals.”
“My, how wonderful.”
“But...he also does his work perfectly.”
“He’s currently deciphering the Sage’s Codex, yes? It will be quite the tedious task, even if it was written by another version of himself.”
Eluria’s face instantly paled, and she began shaking like a leaf in the wind. “And yet, I bothered him with making me this lunch...?!”
“N-No, not at all!” Ariel hurriedly interjected. “It could simply be that Lord Raid enjoys cooking! I hear that more men are handling housework nowadays—it must be because the gender gap has been closed thanks to the development of magic!”
“But I don’t feel like I’m doing much work...”
“Th-Then what have you been doing since you met him?”
“Usually, I’m waiting for him to wake me up, prepare my clothes, heat up my bath, or pour me some milk tea... When I’m alone, I like to read and take naps...”
“Urk! But, Lady Eluria, you know how to cook, do you not?!”
“Yes, I do.”
“Then that’s enough! That means you can help him if need be!”
“But in the Institute, we usually just eat in the cafeteria. In fact, I’ve never needed to cook for myself since I reincarnated because I’m an aristocrat; the servants did everything for me. So my skills are limited to the simple type of cooking you’d do out in the wild...” Eluria’s shoulders drooped lower and lower as the conversation progressed. “I’m strong, but so is Raid. I’m better at magic, but Raid is more knowledgeable on many other topics. He can wake up by himself every morning, he can cook, and he knows his way around social settings—formal or casual.”
Ariel grunted. “This cannot be... Your point of comparison is far too perfect! Is he even human?!”
Eluria slumped over lifelessly, her eyes gazing at nothing. “What does it even mean to be a wife—for me to be his wife, I wonder?” she mumbled, her thoughts sinking further into the abyss.
“Oh no! Your negative thoughts have steered you toward pessimistic philosophical thinking!” Ariel flailed her hands about as she struggled to think of how to cheer up the girl—when suddenly, a different voice piped into their conversation.
“Heya,” drawled Alma. “I wanted to ask you two for... Hmm? What’s up with Eluria? Did she get floaty from a post-meal nap or something?”
Walking up beside her was Tiana. “Tsk, tsk, Alma. Right now, Lady Eluria is not floaty—she is broody. She has fallen so deep into thought that she is diverting all her energy to her mind.”
“I dunno... Looks to me like she’s just staring blankly at the sky, about to drool any second now.”
“Hmph. Perhaps to you, who hasn’t known Lady Eluria long enough. But as her disciple, I can easily identify when her mind is filled with profound thoughts versus when she’s floaty!”
“How so?”
Tiana’s eyes snapped wide open, sparkling brightly. “When she’s floaty, she’s as cute as a tiny creature moving purely on instinct! And when she’s spacey, she’s as cute as a doll sitting on display!”
Alma groaned and scratched her head. “My mistake. I shouldn’t have bothered asking the fangirl...”
“Lady Alma, Lady Tiana!” Ariel exclaimed, relief flooding her expression. “I’m so sorry. Lady Eluria ended up this way because I said more than I should have...!”
“My, oh my,” said Tiana. “How many unnecessary words did you spew? I shall break an equivalent number of your fingers as punishment.”
“I had no idea it was such a heavy sin!” Ariel shrieked.
“Ignore her,” Alma said flatly. “What did you tell her?”
“Um, well... I was just talking about how much love and care went into the lunch that Lord Raid prepared for her, then she got depressed because she felt like she wasn’t doing anything for him...”
“First thing’s first—I must make it clear that I love Lady Eluria the most!” Tiana exclaimed.
“We won’t get anywhere if the fangirl keeps interrupting,” Alma deadpanned. “How about you go back to your husband?”
“What?! Alma, might I remind you that I am your—”
Before she could finish speaking, Tiana’s figure dissipated into thin air; Alma had sent her back into her magic gear. Though Tiana was seeming less and less like Alma’s ancestor, Alma seemed too exasperated to even care. She swiftly shrugged it off and turned her attention to Eluria.
“Eluriaaa,” she called. “Wakey-wakey. We’ve got something to discuss.”
“Mm...” Eluria blinked back into clarity. “Oh... Ms. Alma’s here.”
“Yep. ’Cause we’ve got something important to discuss—with His Excellency too. Come on, I’ll fill you in as we move.”
Eluria nodded. “Ariel, tell the soldiers we’re taking a break. The ones who haven’t passed can try escaping if they want...but I will turn them into ice sculptures when I find them.”
“U-Understood...!” Ariel grabbed the magic megaphone and passed along Eluria’s orders. She watched the ice come undone from the soldiers’ bodies before following behind Alma and Eluria.
“So, what did you want to talk about?” Eluria asked.
“Well, we’re currently working on gathering the forces we need to collect the remaining volumes of the Sage’s Codex,” Alma began. “But from what we’re seeing...things aren’t looking too good.”
Eluria squinted. “We lack the forces?”
“Not just forces—we lack everything.” Alma sighed. “Since the Calamities can revive due to the polluted mana, we’ll need to establish our front line as far west as possible—specifically, where the Celios Federation used to be.”
Ariel frowned. “But that’s...an entire continent away—more than, even. We don’t have enough warships to transport all the troops, correct?”
“Exactly. Because of the polluted mana, teleportation magic is off the table, and it’s not like we can just waltz through the monster-infested central continent either. Our only choice is through the sea where the polluted mana’s influence is weak, but we just don’t have the ships to transport our full force.”
Ariel winced. “Yes... Small vessels are the norm here, especially when crossing to the central continent. After all, bigger ships mean more personnel lost if they encounter a Calamity or Offspring.” Altane had owned large warships in the past, until the Calamities destroyed them—killing nearly every soldier they carried—as they attempted to flee the central continent. Since then, only submarines and smaller warships had been constructed, just enough to carry around a hundred personnel. Besides being few in quantity, these vessels were also not made for long-distance voyages; who knew if they could even reach as far as Old Celios?
“We don’t have ships large enough to carry all our forces together, nor any craftsmen who can design them for us—much less the manpower to construct them.” Alma sighed and shook her head. “We can somehow scrounge up the resources if we demolish the castle, but, well...that’s not very feasible, is it?”
“Hmm... How about using the soldiers here as builders?” Ariel suggested.
“I’m not too sure about that... Eluria may not be too happy with them as soldiers, but as magicians, they’re as good as what we call first-classers back in the Second World—that’s just how advanced magic is here. Sacrificing their training time for construction work could have a negative impact on the operation.” The plan was for Raid and Eluria to handle the Calamities while the rest of the army fended off the Offspring. Ariel’s troops were accustomed to such battle, but the same couldn’t be said for the soldiers stationed in the capital. Without proper training, they could very well be annihilated in the coming operation.
Eluria raised her hand. “In terms of combat forces, Ms. Alma, you can just give it your all.”