Chapter 71 – The Later Story – Nadia Leonhart

“Lucca? Is that the young man’s name?”
“Yes…He is the only young man in our village.”

“But why can’t I still see it? Where is it?”

“He must be working somewhere. But is there really such a prophecy?”

“Yes. It is a legendary prophecy passed down from generation to generation in the Empire. Don’t you guys know?”

“Because we are ignorant farmers.”

“It’s done. It’s done, so hurry up and bring him. What are you doing! The fate of the empire depends on it!”

“I told her to send Ellie to bring everyone, but where is she and what is she doing…”

“Does the village chief not even know where the villagers are?”

“Well… Even though I’m the village chief, it’s because I don’t have any authority.”

“…Haa. That’s it. There’s no time to wait like this. I’ll find it myself. Luca! Luca! Where are you!”

“Oh, driver! If you just wait, the kids will take care of it…”

“There’s no time for that! This… This… Damn it. Luca! Luca!”

“Knight! Oh, my God. Where the hell is Luca, how can I not see him like this…”

“Damn it…Where the hell are you? Luca! The fate of the empire is up to you! Luca! Where the hell are you!”

Luca!!!

“…!”

In the memories of the past that suddenly passed by, cold dew dripped down her cheeks. At dawn, the frost that fell on the uncovered blanket was cold enough to make my bones ache, breaking through all my remaining dreams and pulling me into reality.

“Ha…”

The white breath dispersed in an instant, dampening the air in front of my eyes. Judging from the darkness inside the barracks, it seemed that there was quite a bit of time left until sunrise. In the land of demons, the sun sets earlier and rises later. It was the first thing I learned after arriving at the border area. We haven’t even arrived at the border operation area yet, but the surrounding environment is not unfamiliar.

“Whoa…”

It’s the front line.

Just a week ago, I was covering myself with cotton blankets at my mansion in the capital. Now, in the barracks without a proper stove, he was shivering in the cold, hugging a thin blanket. If it’s comforting to be alone in a barracks, is it comforting? I felt pitiful and pathetic as I was trying to find joy in insignificant facts.

Shouldn’t he have left the capital?

No, to begin with, I shouldn’t have just believed in the prophecy and left the road blindly.

…

Luca.

I repeated the name I couldn’t find that day.

The first time I heard the prophecy was in the imperial palace. On the day he was granted a knighthood and headed for his knights order, he accidentally heard the voices of the maids whispering about the prophecy. They thought it was just nonsense and giggled, but I was different. He thought that it must have some meaning that such a prophecy was still wandering around the imperial palace.

And, of course, it felt like destiny to hear about the prophecy on the day I was knighted.

After that, as I was entrusted with a non-trivial job in the Knights, that thought became even stronger. I couldn’t have been born just for this. I didn’t become an article for this. The more I spent each day in boredom, the more I became obsessed with the prophecy. In the end, one day when I heard a report that the number of deaths caused by demons was increasing, I set out on a road to find the hero of the prophecy.

There was no one who would understand, so it was not a way to properly explain and leave. Because of this, he had to wander around the entire empire with only the clue that he was a young man from a village where peppermint flowers bloom.

It wasn’t an easy road. Nonetheless, I had to do it. One clear blue summer day, when I arrived at a village where white mint flowers were in full bloom on the hillside, I finally felt that my destiny was approaching.

Even when I heard that there was only one young man in the village, I had to hold my breath to calm my beating heart. It felt like I had already become the main character of a legendary story. The teacher who unearthed the legendary hero. His only companion. I called out his name, imagining the role I would play.

But I didn’t meet him that day.

As if that was my destiny, no matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find him.

In the end, unable to meet the hero, I returned to the capital and volunteered to run to the frontlines as if desperate for my fate.

If I go to the dead line, will I be able to find my destiny?

I finally headed to the border area despite my family’s disapproval, hoping that I could get away from the eyes of having bought my title with money and regain my family’s honor.

Fallen in the cold of the north like that, I endlessly recalled old memories. After regretting the current choice, I tried to comfort myself. Wandering through the past, finally holding on to the end of reality. Even in the midst of repeating such things several times, I always had that question in my mind.

The one I couldn’t find that day was the hero who would save the world.

Or is it my last chance

…

I can’t seem to get any sleep.

I finally got up, adjusted my collar, and headed out of the barracks.

Even as dawn approached, the atmosphere at the border was relaxed. Even though it was called a vigilance, it was a fairly long distance to go to the front facing the enemy. I passed them by, frowning at the pitiful appearance.

Even in a peaceful era, such an attitude. I didn’t point out anything special because the local officers were leaving it alone, but I kept getting emotional. Knights are still dying on the front lines. There are still people fighting over there somewhere.

Of course, most of the causes of death are diseases, but that is nonsense. I’m sure it includes diseases that resulted from injuries. The demons are gradually growing in power, and the false peace is on the verge of breaking. This world needs heroes. A hero who can bring tension to a loose world.

Okay. The world is in crisis.

That’s why we need a hero.

No, you have to.

“It has to be. It must be.”

I spit out my words to myself and quickly passed the peaceful space. At first, I came out just to think alone, but as I continued to look at the sleeping people, I felt the urge to see at least one soldier awake.

“… Cool.”

In the meantime, a strong smell of cigarettes came from somewhere. I coughed at the unfamiliar smell and walked towards it with joy that I had finally found one awake. Then, I found a woman sitting in the corner smoking a cigarette alone.

“Whoah…”

Sitting on a pile of dirt, the woman smoking a cigarette had the same composure as the others. However, from her stained scars and minor scars all over her body, it was possible to guess that she had not lived an easy life. Are you a soldier from the front line? I moved closer and deliberately cleared my throat.

“Kuhm.”

“…?”

The woman glanced this way and only nodded her head in greeting. Expecting to receive a salute, I opened my mouth in a daze, quite embarrassed. But she soon regained her composure, cleared her throat again, and put her words to her.

“Are you from the front line?”

“…”

When I asked, the woman finally looked this way and put down the cigarette she was holding and answered.

“If you talk plainly to anyone, you’ll get tired of living here. Driver.”

“What?”

“My name is Vanessa, a priest dispatched from the Ennessic Church. It seems that you are new to the boundary, right?”

Were you a dispatched priest? Although I was a little disappointed that I wasn’t a soldier, I felt a little flutter at the realistic word of vigilance. I answered with a solemn nod.

“Yes. We are going to head to the front line in the morning. Did you stop here for a while to get supplies?”

“No. I’m going home. They told me to quit because I’ve done enough. I made them sacrifice their youth on a battlefield without a justification, so they must feel sorry now. It’s a relief. I’m just getting tired of seeing dead people’s faces.”

“Still, I don’t feel too bad since I’m doing my duty and going home. My family will be proud.”

At my words, Vanessa slightly raised his eyebrows. Then he smiled and said.

“It looks like you can’t sleep. Then sit over here and talk to me. There’s nothing quite as quiet as smoking alone.”

“I don’t smoke.”

“Please just talk to me. I have no intention of forcibly recommending bad things.”

She had no reason to refuse, so I slumped down in the seat next to her. It was annoying to just put my butt on the dirt floor, but I should get used to this now. As she sat down, she took a sip of her cigarette and opened her mouth again.

“Why are you here?”

“To fulfill my duty as a knight. There is nothing more dishonorable to a knight than to die in bed.”

“More than half of the knights I saw on the battlefield died in bed.”

“I’m talking about dying of old age without doing your duty. Not in the literal sense.”

When I answered a little annoyedly, Vanessa looked at me strangely. And she asked an outrageous question.

“What’s your name, knight?”

“I’m Nadia Leonhart. You can call me Knight Nadia if you like.”

“Nadia. Is that the name you were given to be called Knight Nadia from birth?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Then, that duty to be sick was given to me by some son of a bitch.”

Suddenly, cigarette smoke passed in front of my eyes. She shook her head as I chuckled and refused.

“The smell of corpses on the battlefield is much stronger than this, Knight. There is no duty or anything in front of you. Not all borders are like that, but at least the front line I was in was no different from living hell. I have to fight day and night against demons who do not even have reason. Less than half of the soldiers survive for more than a week, and there are quite a few knights who are captured alive by the demons and never come back. No one knows what happens to those who are captured.”

“…I’ve already made up my mind.”

“No. You don’t know at all until you’ve experienced it yourself. If you’ve come here for glory or honor, be kind to the orphans wandering the streets. There are more than ten soldiers who left me asking for their families. I haven’t even gotten married yet. It’s crazy.”

“I am…”

“The imperial family has already lost interest in this frontline. The humans who had been doing advance operations until recently gave up. They know that continuing to touch it will only increase the damage.

“But…”

“Just say you can’t do it anymore and take the carriage with me to the other side. That’s better. I needed some help to open an orphanage. Let’s go together.

She pointed back and looked at me. I followed her finger then turned her head back towards her.

Normally, he might have been angry at me for saying presumptuous words. However, there was something irresistible about her words, and she couldn’t resist.

Suddenly, I remembered what my father had said. He asked if he could forget about the glory of his family, so he just wanted to live a normal life.

Like other normal people. Just like that.

…

Just. Be normal

If you wished for it

There would have been no point in becoming an article from the beginning.

“It can’t be.”

Vanessa quietly lifted her head and looked at me. A bit of sympathy was reflected in those blue eyes.

“A crisis is coming to the empire. Someone has to prepare. Must.”

“Well, you might think so. Maybe a crisis is coming.”

She puffed out her cigarette one last time and brushed the rest onto her floor.

“But sometimes people create crises to seize opportunities.”

“Now what…”

“Priest!”

At that moment, a soldier came running towards us. The soldier smiled brightly in the sunlight rising over the ridge before he knew it.

“The carriage is leaving. Have you packed all your belongings?”

“What do I have with me? I only have two meager breasts and a bloody hole.”

“If you’re that lonely, you can marry me.”

“Cigarettes are harmful to babies. If I had to choose between cigarettes with my child, it would be cigarettes even if I died.”

“Ahaha…Well, anyway, congratulations on your discharge, Priest. It’s a little disappointing though. You’re no different from our hero.”

“Because a world that doesn’t need that is a truly peaceful world. Then I’ll have to go.”

Vanessa got up from her seat and roughly brushed the dirt off her buttocks. Then, before leaving her seat, she suddenly turned to me.

“If you come back alive, stop by Myler, driver. I’ll treat you to a cup of coffee.”

“…Thank you. I’ll be sure to visit you.”

“Then.”

She greeted her with a nod of her head as she did when they first met, then she walked forward without hesitation. The soldier looked at her back and saluted her, and I looked at her vaguely and opened her mouth.

“Hey, do you know when the wagons heading to the front lines leave?”

“Yes? Oh, that’s leaving soon. You’ll be joining us. What’s your name, by any chance?”

At my words, the soldier smiled and turned her head. Seeing that smile, I felt a little reassured.

“Knight Nadia Leonhart. Departing soon?”

“Yes? Leon… Hearts?”

But the moment he heard my name, the smile on his face quickly faded. The soldier stared at me for a long time before answering in a very cold voice.

“I heard that Knight Leonhart will be staying in the border area.”

“What? Who said that? I came here to go to the front line.”

“Do you have orders?”

“Yes, but I am under no obligation to show you. Why do you ask?”

“…Is that so.”

When I burst into anger, the soldier glared at me with fierce eyes. Then he added in a soft tone.

“Okay. The carriage is on the other side, so bring your luggage and come. The other side is heading to the capital, so don’t get it wrong.”

“It’s not going to happen.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter anyway.”

He hurried away before I got angry again. I finally swallowed my anger on the spot and looked at the soldier’s back.

“Damn it…”

Looking at the back of the soldier who walked away coldly, I felt intuition that life on the border would never be pleasant. Maybe, beyond not being pleasant, it might be a series of unfortunate things.

Maybe, just maybe, it might be wise to take a step back now. In a situation where everyone in the world is already laughing at me, that sarcasm won’t be added just because I’m going back.

Okay. As she said, there may be no glory to be found on the battlefield.

“…”

No.

No.

What does a cowardly priest who runs away from now on know?

And what do you know who only listens to my name and tries to judge me?

I am Nadia Leonhart. Knight Nadia.

I’ve dreamed of being a knight since I was very young. And finally got it done It took a little help from my father, but in the end I made it. That I made it!

…

Suddenly, an epic of heroes I had seen in the past came to mind. All heroes rise through hardships and adversity. Okay. I am such a hero. I’m never destined to grow old normally.

Okay.

My destiny begins now.

I don’t need any warriors.

I will definitely become stronger.

I made up my mind and stood up. There must have been dirty things clinging to his clothes like the priest before, but he didn’t care. I walked forward confidently, receiving the sun shining on my whole body. On the road to glory. Toward the shining destiny that awaits me.