“I swore I’d never let you go through a repeat of the Fenrir incident ever again. I’ll protect you no matter what. So do what you need to do, but don’t worry. And once this is over, I’m going to need you to heal me until I’m satisfied. I don’t think I’ll be able to hold back after watching you show so much kindness to other people. So prepare yourself,” he said.
“A-all right.”
He was definitely going to humiliate me again somehow. I could already tell.
My lips trembled. While I tried to gather myself, the maids were casually prepping armor and murmuring about the schedule ahead. I honestly wanted to curl up and die.
“Protect the leisure inn at all costs,” Anna said.
“Schedule coordination memory on,” Kate nodded.
“Make absolutely sure you don’t set foot on that ground… Wait, isn’t this the first official battle with both Prince Lucas, the Hero Knight, and Princess Cecilia, the famed Rainbow Maiden, taking the field together?” Elsa asked.
“Oh, that’s true. We’ve never had them openly work together on the battlefield before. We should record this,” Finn said.
Okay, I get Anna, Kate, and Elsa joking about it. But why is Finn so excited?!
It was true, Lucas and I had never deployed together in battle. This was our first time.
Well, unless they were counting that whole demon fox thing as an unofficial incident… But I didn’t do anything! I was just glued to the window watching Lucas the whole time!
“Everyone has backup recording crystals, right?” Dirk said. “Especially you, Finn. Make sure you’re paying attention to the shot.”
“Yes, sir.”
Dirk handed out two crystals to everyone. But that comment to Finn was a bit suspicious.
He was talking about recording Lucas, right?
The recordings Finn took were always so good… He kept his distance, but somehow, the way he framed Lucas’s combat scenes was really amazing. I really wanted to see this one later…
I can’t let Lucas’s actions as the Hero end up in Dirk’s hands! No way!
And now that I thought about it… Lucas did say he’d looked into everything. What if he recorded those too?
I glanced over at him, but before I could ask, Barnabash had returned. He rested his head on Lucas’s shoulder and let out a dramatic wail.
“This is your first time fighting together?! That’s not fair! I wanna have a love-battle anniversary with Elsa, too! I’m so jealous, I could scream!”
“Anniversary…”
“Don’t act all shy! Give me permission to fight side by side with the one I love, too!” Barnabash said.
He was a black dragon, and a ridiculously strong one at that, so I wondered if he didn’t have a lot of chances for joint combat. Barnabash might’ve been being dramatic, but maybe for divine beasts, chances to fight side by side with their mate were truly something to be sought out. A couple’s battle anniversary sounded completely ridiculous, but Lucas was looking so proud, I began getting secondhand embarrassment.
I never imagined I’d get to use my healing magic to help him. It felt inappropriate to say at a moment like this, but it actually made me kind of happy.
Thinking about what’s going to happen after this makes me want to scream into a pillow, but there’s no turning back now, Cecilia! It’s time to pull it together!
While I was locking all that resolve into place inside me, Lucas dragged Barnabash over to the window.
“Prince Islan, I’m requesting permission to use military force within Majaar. I can inform Leon afterward, but if your kingdom doesn’t officially approve me using my power here, it could turn into a serious problem,” he said.
“It’s no problem at all. Honestly, we’re lucky you’re here. But are you really going to help us?” the prince asked.
“I want to keep Cecilia safe, and I owe Princess Yana a favor.”
Prince Islan looked at Lucas in disbelief.
Lucas was totally unfazed and started laying out the plan of action.
“The wyrms are heading straight for the bazaar, where most people are,” he said. “I’ll put up a defensive barrier around the dome that divides the north and south ends. From there, Aram’s monster squad can move with Finn and Elsa into the bazaar for a sweep. If we turn the dome into a triage site, we can minimize casualties.”
“Understood,” Islan said. “I’ll have the people inside the bazaar evacuate to the dome. But what about the ones who arrive late? How will they get past the barrier?”
If even Prince Islan agrees, then this has to be the best plan.
But we would need to actively reopen and then reseal the defensive barrier for anyone trying to get in late, whether it was due to falling debris or wyrms in pursuit, and that wouldn’t be easy.
Normally, it was a simple enough task, as long as two people shared the same type of mana, like siblings or close family. Controlling a barrier strong enough to hold off a Fenrir or black dragon took immense skill, however, not just matching the types of mana.
So naturally, all eyes turned to one person. “Dirk. You handle it,” Lucas said.
“I knew you were gonna say that. Anika’s way better at syncing with your mana. We haven’t been on a mission together in ages, Lucas. You’ve gotten so good at doing everything yourself that it’s been a while since we fought side by side. Looks like your big brother’s gotta bring his A game.”
“You’ve gotten rusty because you skipped training. You wear the Herbst name, so you should act like a proper shield,” Lucas chided.
“I’m very proud of how hardworking you are, little brother, but people have strengths and weaknesses. I’m more suited to scheming from the shadows and keeping my records. Besides, staying active until death was Father’s personal goal, not mine,” Dirk said.
Wait, am I about to witness a full-on brotherly team battle?!