“Lady Cecilia, are you sure it’s really alright for me to leave like this?”
Lita kept her head down, packing up her belongings as she gave Cecilia a final confirmation.
“This place is only a day’s journey from our previous retreat camp, and that camp is just a day away from the Abandoned Outpost. Without considering the slower pace of the main force, you’ll be even faster. It’s just a scouting mission—at most, even if you go all the way to the original destination and back, you’d only need four days. Don’t make it sound like we’re parting for life and death.”
As she spoke, Cecilia’s tone softened just a little, “Besides, after seeing how valiantly you fought that night, I doubt escaping from the insect swarm would be any trouble for you.”
When did Cecilia ever see her fighting so valiantly?
Lita was confused for a moment, then recalled that for most of that night’s battle, Cecilia had been watching from the best vantage point.
Whether she was put up there or not, let’s just say—the view sure was good.
“I’m more worried about you. What if you run into danger? What if someone tries to harm you?” Lita lowered her voice.
“That won’t happen.” Cecilia walked around behind Lita and squatted down slowly, “The entire force will remain here; there’s no safer place than this. And if someone really wanted to harm me, she could have acted long ago.”
Lita turned her head and saw Cecilia watching her, as if her gaze stretched far, far away.
“Lita, right now, I have a truly dreadful suspicion.”
Early morning, outside the camp.
“All of you are here on your own will and strength. The main purpose of this mission isn’t to obtain some critically important information, but to have you all return safely. Only by returning safely can you bring the information back. So, if you encounter danger, do not engage in unnecessary battles. Above all, protect your own safety.”
At the entrance of the main camp, Cecilia held her staff in hand, her voice still as soft as a feather, yet it stirred the blood of everyone present.
Not only were countless soldiers lined up in full armor on both sides, but the imperial princess herself was seeing them off. Many people might never experience such a scene in their entire lives.
Witnessing a moment like this, quite a few even felt a reckless urge—a thought that it wouldn’t be so bad to die right here and now.
Yet, some felt a tinge of dissatisfaction.
“They say we’re supposed to go scout out the movements of those dead bugs in pairs, but she just has to send her most trusted Lita back to the camp from two days ago. Isn’t that favoritism?”
“Sigh, I agree. She even paired Lita with the strongest, Promi. If it’s about battle merits, those two are definitely at the top. Promi’s the younger sister of Silverfang. With her by Lita’s side, it’s like gilding gold—Lita’s surely getting the top merit.”
The two whispered a few words, and seeing everyone else was ready to set out, they shut their mouths.
But their hushed conversation was clearly heard by others nearby.
“That’s not a top merit—it’s the most dangerous dead end. After these past two days, who knows how much more dangerous that camp has become.”
Albel rubbed his temples helplessly, finding those two’s wild speculations ridiculous.
“But maybe it’s for the best. If they can’t even see through this, it’s better for them to go somewhere relatively safe.”
“That makes sense. But I still don’t get it—why pair Lita and Promi? One is ranked first, the other fourth. If it’s about elite squads, shouldn’t you be with her?”
Momoka shrugged.
“Besides, Promi has that gloomy personality. You two would get along, but Lita? Not really. And honestly, in terms of familiarity, I should be the one paired with Lita.”
“Then let me ask you—do you know the purpose behind the two-person groups?”
Albel shot back, and unsurprisingly, got an eye-roll from Momoka.
“I’m not stupid. Two-person teams can cover each other and maximize travel speed. Our goal is scouting and reporting, so efficiency is crucial. Besides, even if they can’t help each other, if something unexpected happens, at least one can survive to bring back the intel.”
“Exactly. That’s why the two best suited for solo action are tied together and assigned the most critical task—to go back and explore that most dangerous place.”
“Solo action? I get it with Promi—she can handle everything herself and doesn’t seem to need anyone’s help. But what about Lita?”
“Haven’t you noticed?”
As Albel spoke, his gaze landed on Lita, who carried hardly any essential gear and was prepared to travel light.
“During that night’s battle, everyone was hunting beetles, but only Lita managed without a hitch—she even actively coordinated with others.”
With a command from Cecilia, the candidates assigned to scout in various directions scattered like a burst of fireworks, fanning out from the camp and quickly vanishing from sight.
Dazzling and short-lived, as if destined to wither away.
Maggie approached Cecilia respectfully to report.
“Your Highness, the soldiers sent back to the city to request reinforcements have been gone a day and a night. If all goes well, reinforcements and orders will arrive together with the intelligence these candidates bring back. Then we can respond as quickly as possible.”
Cecilia nodded slightly, gazing in Lita’s direction. “Then let’s strengthen our defenses and quietly await their good news.”
“But, Your Highness, is it really wise for our entire army to remain on standby?”
As the army’s commander, she had to stay put, while those less experienced candidates were sent to scout instead. Maggie couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy.
“It’s alright. If the insect swarm attacks again, these well-trained soldiers are our core resistance. And if the swarm comes, the ones to meet them first will certainly be the candidates.”
“But if they run into them, won’t they…” Maggie hesitated.
“Those with the strength will fight, bringing back more information. Those lacking in strength will flee, and for safety’s sake, they can only run back to the main camp. That gives us plenty of time to prepare.”
“With my guarantee, those you worry won’t get the job done will treasure their lives even more than anyone else, hoping for that reward. That’s the greatest difference between those who cherish their lives and our fearless soldiers.”
Cecilia turned to glance at the strictly disciplined soldiers.
“And sometimes, that’s their greatest advantage.”
Lita followed behind Promi, traveling along the same retreat route from yesterday.
At first, the road was the same as Momoka’s and Albel’s, but after a while, they had to split up.
Why couldn’t she be paired with Momoka? The two of them had great teamwork.
Even Albel—he could be serious at times, but at least he was easy to talk to, right?
At worst, Johnson would have been fine!
Oh, right—speaking of which, due to Johnson’s unique circumstances, he was traveling alone.
Come to think of it, Lita knew Promi was strong, but when it came to this sort of task that required coordination, she really didn’t know how to get along with someone as quiet and expressionless as Promi.
Since Cecilia announced the temporary scouting pairs this morning, Lita had only heard Promi say, “Let’s work well together.” Since then, Promi hadn’t opened her mouth again.
Still, Lita had to admit—other than being hard to talk to, Promi’s pace was truly impressive. Lita had to stay fully focused just to keep up; it was far from easy-going.
And Promi was gradually picking up speed. At first, they started out slow, but once she realized Lita could keep up, she sped up more and more until finally settling at the current brisk pace.
For a human to reach this level, Lita already found it unbelievable.
And this clearly wasn’t even Promi’s full speed—Lita had no doubt she could go faster if she wished.
Of course, this wasn’t some Mario Kart race. They needed to keep a balance between efficiency and awareness of their surroundings, so this speed was just about right.
Forget it—just treat it as a workout.
The two of them trekked for several hours, with the same endless scenery enlarging and shrinking at the edge of Lita’s vision, over and over again. It wasn’t until the sun was high overhead that Promi finally slowed down.
“Want to take a break?” Promi finally spoke the second sentence since the two had teamed up.
Lita actually felt she could keep going, but since Promi suggested it, she figured a break wouldn’t hurt.
“Alright, let’s rest for a bit.”
They found a sunny spot and sat down on the ground. Promi took out a small piece of dry rations from her pack and started eating quietly.
Lita didn’t really need to eat, but to avoid raising suspicion, she nibbled a little as well. After an awkward, but necessary, silence, Promi actually spoke again.
“Let’s summarize our intel.”
Intel? What intel did she have to summarize? Haven’t they just been traveling the whole way?
No insect swarms, no wild beasts, just flowers, grass, trees, and stones.
Was Promi just making fun of her?
No, no, Promi was serious.
Thinking this, Lita felt a little sheepish, but Promi was gazing off into the distance, apparently not noticing her embarrassment.
“Why don’t you go first?”
“There were no signs of insect swarms along the way—they didn’t pursue us, nor did we see any traces of their hunting. Just like on our way here, we hardly encountered any medium or large animals, though we did see some faint traces of their movement. The area was rather empty, meaning the wild beasts must be hiding. Whether that’s because of the insect swarm’s influence is unclear.”
Promi spoke her longest sentence yet—and she didn’t seem done.
From the start, Promi wasn’t really taciturn; she just spoke only key information. It just so happened there was a lot of key information right now.
A whole morning’s march that seemed uneventful to Lita could be analyzed so thoroughly by Promi, making her feel a bit inferior.
It felt just like doing a reading comprehension test—she’d think there was nothing to say, yet the top student could always analyze everything in detail.
It was the same when discussing the Curse of Johnson; as soon as Promi opened her mouth, she was using technical terms. Turns out, Promi wasn’t just outstanding in combat, but also a star in academics.
A born Holy Knight!
That’s it! Traveling with her just made Lita feel dumb!
Lita had already regretted a thousand times not asking Cecilia to let her swap for an easier partner. Only then did Promi pause. “Did you discover anything else?”
“No! Nothing! Everything I wanted to say, you already covered—and way more thoroughly!” Lita waved her hands.
After lunch and a brief rest, the two resumed their journey.
Suddenly, Lita understood, if only for a moment, why Promi had chosen to rest at that exact spot.
It wasn’t really about the noon hour; it was just that, after seeing the scene before her, Lita knew she couldn’t eat another bite no matter what.
Just as they’d been ordered, it took them only about five hours to return to their former encampment.
But rather than call it an encampment, Lita would rather call it—Hell.