Chapter 190
“I heard that the First Corps Commander, who went out with Your Highness the Prince this time, mistook the time and arrived a little late to the battlefield. By the time he arrived, our forces were already surrounded by the enemy. So, as the First Corps Commander, he gave the order to retreat in order to protect his soldiers.”
At Janik’s words, Kyle cursed inwardly. The battlefield he mentioned must have been Lake Moncha, and if the situation had already been discovered, then their position would have been exposed to the enemy as well.
But to say that he tried to join up, only to find the situation hopeless and so was forced to retreat… This was an indirect way of criticizing Kyle’s incompetence.
On top of that, while Kyle had wasted his soldiers’ lives, the First Corps Commander was now being praised for valuing and saving his men.
Noticing Kyle’s displeasure, Janik spoke up.
“I heard you were injured. Will you be receiving treatment?”
“…Yes.”
“It seems it wasn’t a serious injury, so that’s a relief.”
After enduring unspeakable pain to make it back, the place he’d returned to now felt even more dangerous, and Kyle wasn’t the only one who thought so. He looked at the haughty Janik with disdain as he replied.
“The Crown Prince of Cantabria’s power was overwhelming, more than I expected. If the First Corps Commander had faced him, escaping would probably have been impossible. In many ways, he was lucky.”
“Thank you for your concern for my nephew, Your Highness the Prince.”
The three men, each sounding out the others’ intentions, spoke for a short while before parting ways. Kyle returned to his own palace, while Janik headed for the carriage that would take him out of the palace grounds.
Climbing into the carriage bearing the large crest of the Venesi family, Janik gave an order to his waiting aide.
“Contact Lucy.”
“Yes, understood.”
Janik found himself intrigued by the Crown Prince of the Cantabria Empire, who had brought down Kyle in such a short time. Even if Kyle was known for his temper among the princes, his innate abilities were not to be taken lightly.
Who could possibly have dealt him such a fatal blow?
If the merit of victory belonged to the Cantabrian Crown Prince, that was one thing, but if it was accomplished by his subordinates, it would be an even bigger problem. Their abilities needed to be within a range he could control.
“No, in the end, ability isn’t what matters.”
What really mattered was how he could use them through his words. With a thin, twisted smile, Janik took the communication artifact from his aide.
* * *
Calix kept touching and checking his side, puzzled by a strange phenomenon. After his passionate night with Lea, it was certain the wound had opened up even further, rather than healing.
It hadn’t been a minor scratch that would disappear without a trace in just a day. But now, his side where the wound had been was completely clean. He kept looking at the spot where there was no longer any sign of injury and came up with a hypothesis.
“Did my rank increase?”
He couldn’t quite explain it, but he could sense that his power had leveled up. Thinking back to how he had decimated enemy troops using only the power of wind, without needing to use water or fire, he was sure of it.
“Well, considering I’ve been receiving very deep guiding from Sister every day…”
Thinking that way, it felt like a natural result. Still, he wondered if it was normal for one’s rank to increase this quickly. So he called for Zion.
Zion had been busy dealing with the spoils of war from the defeated Leonis troops and the issue of what to do with the Guides they’d abandoned. But, at Calix’s summons, he hurried over.
“You called for me, Commander-in-Chief.”
“That artifact I mentioned before, the one that can measure ranks.”
“Yes.”
“Did you find out anything about it?”
It was a bit much to expect Zion to handle this on top of all the other wartime matters, but he didn’t want to look weak in front of Calix.
“Yes, I’ve already requested it from my family.”
“So you haven’t acquired it yet.”
“…It’s not the kind of artifact that’s easy to get hold of.”
“Well, if my Vice Commander says so, then I’ll trust you.”
Zion’s brow twitched ever so slightly at the tone, as if Calix were picking a fight for no reason after calling him here.
“I know you’re busy, but try to get it quickly.”
Zion felt a twinge of suspicion at Calix’s request. At the same time, his worry for Lea grew. Whenever Calix was this impatient, it always had something to do with her.
“Has something happened?”
“It’s nothing like that… but now that the number of Guides has increased dramatically, I thought it would be good to know their ranks. How many do we have now?”
“If we include the Guides abandoned by the Leonis army recently, about thirty.”
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