＊＊＊
Timona, Balthazar, and I rode at full gallop until we believed we were at a safe distance. Just as the sky was beginning to lighten, we stopped by a creek to rest.
I was only covered in dust from the night’s endeavors, but Timona’s and Balthazar’s clothes were stained in blood. It didn’t stand out much, on account of the darker colors they’d worn for the night raid, but the smell was a different story.
“Balthazar,” I said, as they were washing it off in the creek. “Is there anything you wish to say?”
Although the darkness would have obscured much, Balthazar had been fighting right next to me, and thus would have seen me doing combat with my magic. And unlike the others in our raiding party, he knew I wasn’t an intelligence operative but Emperor Carmine.
“Your Majesty fought with all the ferocity of an ancient dragon,” Balthazar said, bowing. The fact that he was in the middle of washing his jacket in the water detracted somewhat from the formality of the gesture, but whatever. “I was deeply impressed.”
“We would rather our cards remain close to our chest,” I stated.
He picked up on my meaning quickly. “Yes, Your Majesty. Thank you for granting me your trust.”
“Good answer. Know that if word spreads, you will be the first person I suspect.” Having said that, if it did leak, it would be impossible to pin it down on Balthazar. I’d used magic during coronation too, albeit I’d passed it off as my sword’s ability. Still, I’d be forced to suspect him regardless.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I understand.” Balthazar went quiet for a moment. “Your Majesty—there is a request I would make, if it pleases you.”
What, now? Given the timing, I wondered if he was about to try and haggle for benefits in exchange for his silence or something. “Speak it,” I allowed.
“Thank you. Then, I realize this may be impertinent of me, but I would like Your Majesty to address me as ‘Bally.’”
Given what I’d been anticipating, his request turned out to be pretty anticlimactic. “A nickname?” I asked. From “Balthazar” to “Bally,” huh? There had to be any number of other ways you could shorten his name, but if that was the one he wanted, I didn’t see a reason to refuse. “Very well. We look forward to your continued service, Bally.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
From how pleased Balthazar seemed, you’d have thought I’d conferred him a second knighthood. I got the distinct impression that we’d crossed a threshold of some sort, and he’d finally fully recognized me as his liege lord.
Ever since we’d left the capital, he’d been brimming with confidence—a marked difference to how he’d been in the imperial demesne—and as lively as a fish thrown back into the water. Despite that, he showed no sign of being a battle maniac either. During the raid, he’d balanced command of our unit against his personal skirmishes with impressive dexterity. I had originally entrusted him with the imperial guard because he’d seemed both skilled and trustworthy, and he was proving me completely right. In fact, he was actually exceeding the expectations I’d had for him.
The fact that I’d only had to pay attention to the enemy at the very start of the raid was testament to that; his steady command had ensured I could remain unbothered for the rest. The only enemy soldiers that had slipped past our men and managed to get near me had done so by complete chance, having lost their bearings in all the chaos and darkness. In most cases, a single sword stroke from Balthazar had been enough to ensure they hadn’t been a problem.
Timona’s presence had also been a contributing factor to why I’d been able to focus solely on destroying the cannons too, of course, but in any case, Balthazar’s sheer reliability had been a happy miscalculation.
Actually, given how capable he was, I wondered if the imperial demesne felt claustrophobic to him. My suspicion was that he himself considered fighting on the front lines to be his principal occupation, and his guard work to be outside of his field of expertise—even if he was perfectly competent at the latter, in my opinion.
All in all, he was definitely better at the helm than your run-of-the-mill platoon commander, and his individual combat skills were among the best. Even now, he seemed full of energy in the aftermath of the raid. No wonder he carried himself with such confidence.
Whoever had mentored him must have been a hell of a guy. A general, if I recalled correctly, and also his liege lord at the time. Maybe that was why Balthazar preferred serving a lord who fought on the front lines himself instead of holing up in the imperial demesne.
All of a sudden, Timona, who’d thrown his cloak back on at some point, uttered a warning. “We have company,” he said. His cloak was free of bloodstains but also completely dry. I had so few opportunities to see him use magic that sometimes I almost forgot he could. “Riders, several of them. They’re approaching our location.”
“What?!” That didn’t bode well. At all.
Although the sun was beginning to creep over the horizon, it was still dark out. The riders came from the direction of the road, lamps in their hands. Even if they weren’t pursuers from the raid, anyone from the Raul side would have good reason to view us with suspicion. Moving about without any light sources at this hour broadcast that we were up to no good. We kept our eyes fixed on the riders as they approached. I felt more nervous than when we’d conducted the raid; my whole body had broken out into a cold sweat.
When they were finally close enough that we could see each other’s faces, I released the breath I’d been holding in a long, deep sigh.
“That’s a scary...expression...” said the girl at the front of the group, no doubt oblivious to how I felt. “Is everything...okay?”
“Vera,” I greeted. “Don’t scare me like that.”
Indeed, it was none other than Vera-Sylvie, accompanied by several intelligence agents. Real ones.
“How did you know we were here?” I asked.
“The spymaster...told us to...pick you up,” she explained.
Count Palatine Vodedt did? Timona seemed to process that faster than me, because I heard him click his tongue. “Our clothes,” he said. “He must have had magical trackers sewn into them.”
I sighed, exasperated. “Does he really have so little faith in me?”
Upon closer inspection, Vera-Sylvie’s lamp differed from the agents with her—it resembled a magical tool. That must have been how they’d tracked us down. I didn’t know whether the Count Palatine truly doubted that I would keep my word or was just being overprotective, but he probably hadn’t done it out of malice, at least. He could’ve easily tracked us without sending Vera-Sylvie and his agents, and we would’ve been none the wiser.
Our groups merged, and we rode swiftly back to Chelán Hill without further incident.