The curion extermination mission in Luzarigue lasted three days. That marked the end of the students’ role—the rest would be carried out by official saints. Most of the students were exhausted due to their lack of experience fighting in Forbidden Cities, and we’d made good progress in those three days anyway. There were probably also other reasons that couldn’t be disclosed.
As had been the case during my time as a holy knight three hundred years ago, certain people were very particular about who got the finishing blow and how it would contribute to their status. Add nobility to the mix and the situation got even more complicated. I could imagine that when the city was eventually liberated, there would be childish bickering over who killed the final curion. Oh well. It didn’t concern me.
At any rate, there was one event left before we would hop back on the carriages and return to the academy—the announcement of our kill counts. How many curions had we exterminated the past three days? The top ten pairs would have their results announced, though it was limited to students only. Official saints like Blizzard who had stopped by on the first day didn’t count.
“In tenth place, we have the pair of Agrimonia and Hypericum with sixty.” The two recent additions to our squad managed to break into the top ten. They both seemed surprised at the result. After ninth place, another pair from our squad was announced.
“In eighth place, we have the pair of Linum and Cuphea with seventy-one.” The childhood-friend pair made the cut too. Cuphea’s ponytail swung with triumph, while Linum silently clasped her hands together. After seventh and sixth place, some familiar names were announced in fifth place.
“In fifth place, we have Palustris and Ozias of Gold with one hundred and three.” It was the duo who had been our opponents during the entrance exam and later our allies when we’d defeated the Pestilent Guardian Dragon. Palu had once told me that among the Colors, they had the eighth-most confirmed kills. Still, it was impressive that they had cleared one hundred in three days. There were some squads that couldn’t even break twenty collectively in a single day, so the Colors really were on another level. Seeing that the totals had reached three digits, some of the other students started whispering.
“In fourth place, we have Setigerum and Craig of Violet with one hundred and nineteen.” Setigerum was a beautiful, purple-haired girl with a mature allure that made it hard to believe she was a teenager. The princess and Cuphea would glare daggers at me if I stared at her for too long, so I managed to restrain myself.
“In third place, we have Euryops and Serrulata of Bronze with two hundred and two.” Serrulata had tan skin and black hair, and a wild sort of charm about her. I’d promised to take on her dual swords in a mock battle in the future. Conveniently, she happened to be looking back at me when I looked in her direction. I mouthed the word “impressive,” and she scratched her nose bashfully. How cute. Euryops also used a sword despite being a holy woman, which had probably contributed to their high kill count.
Only first and second place were left. The pairs of note who had yet to be announced were Orlaya and Myra, and the princess and myself. For some reason my squadmates seemed to be more nervous than I was.
“In second place, we have Orlaya and Myra of Black, with two hundred and seventy-one. And in first place, we have Astrantia and Albert of White, with two hundred and eighty-five.” An uproar broke out around us.
“Well done, you two.”
“You did it!”
“I-I can’t believe they beat Black.”
“Congratulations.”
Linum, Cuphea, Monia, and Hypericum all congratulated us. Honestly, since curions at the center of town tended to be stronger, ranking higher didn’t feel quite as impressive. Orlaya’s squad had put up those numbers in an area crawling with powerful curions. Although we had gradually been deployed closer and closer to the center, we had only defeated four curions with the Embodiment of the Spirit in these past three days. In terms of squad total, we had been handily defeated as well, and we couldn’t claim to have won based on quality of kills either. Despite that...
“You won’t even let the older sister you admire beat you, eh, Princess?” This result meant a great deal to my master—to the girl who didn’t want her talented older sister to bear the burden of defeating the Eternal Witch alone.
“R-Right!” the princess said happily.
“An excellent result,” her older sister Orlaya said as she walked over to us.
“Sister! Th-Thank you.”
Orlaya’s holy knight, Myra, was with her, as well as Serrulata from Bronze. “Just what I’d expect from you, Sir Albert,” said the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Myra. She was my adoptive brother Robert’s descendant and something like a niece to me. There wasn’t an uncle in the world who could feel bad when his niece looked at him with such sparkling eyes.
“Thanks. You did great too.” I reached out and patted Myra’s head out of habit, but fortunately she didn’t seem to mind. Seeing her giggle with embarrassment filled me with the urge to feed her tasty food.
“Whoa, Myra’s actin’ like a puppy. What relationship do you two have?” Serrulata looked at Myra and me with astonishment.
“I guess we’re kinda like distant relatives. The family that raised me was connected to Myra’s ancestors.” My explanation just barely qualified as the truth. The family that had raised me was Dan and Milna, and Myra’s ancestor was Robert. Robert was their son, so that counted as a connection.
“Huh. Myra never told me that.”
“We only just met recently, and I didn’t find out until later,” Myra explained. That wasn’t a lie either. Neither of us had had any idea about that connection when we had first met. That was why we’d pointed our blades at each other and I’d ended up giving her slanted bangs.