Vizayst blurted out a blubbering snide remark to Froese as his side was healed.

'You've raised a troublesome fellow,'
He was forced into it. You know that.

　Teresa's troops will always be wounded once they are unleashed instead of accomplishing their mission. The number of people going and returning was different. However, while she was highly regarded for her reliability in her mission, her troops were heavily replenished.

　Her unit is filled with rough guys, even though they belong to the military, an organization that values discipline. This is because secretly within the army, they called being assigned to Teresa's unit a derogatory term [Coffin Sending].
　In fact, it's Teresa's unit that ends up in Teresa's unit after being dispensed with as a nuisance as a commutation for punishment for mages who were also in the other units who were out of control, or for violating military discipline, etc.

　It was a plot to unseat her. It would be an exaggeration to say that it was a plan to unseat her. It was supposed to be an insinuation against Teresa, who was easily displeased in some way. However, contrary to the expectations of those around her, Teresa has successfully organized her troops. I don't know if that skill was a gift from Froese, but nothing could be more fitting than the word cooperation. Violence in numbers, and even that, one soldier is more skilled than an average mage. Even during training, there were casualties.
　They seem to have grown up in the outside world. Rather, they are more unfamiliar with living in the area of human survival.

　As such, she had left Flosse's troops and was currently taking on the defense of the Zentray continent that Ars had recaptured as the battalion's commander. Reports should have been raised that she was finishing the construction of the defensive wall.

'How many pieces of paper do you think Teresa has taken care of?
Well, I don't know how you managed it.
'Just kidding, Teresa is a tough cookie. My direction as a commander is the opposite of hers. Calling her that is really just a polite way of putting it. I'm surprised the Governor decided to use Teresa, though.
You can't afford to act like this, can you? For once, I wish it were as quiet as possible outside.

　Froese asks, pretending to think for a moment.

'Letty is putting it back, isn't she?
Of course. Thank God it was before I left.
Then it's all good, right?　You wouldn't be stupid enough to know that you're going to lose for sure.
How good is the brigadier general?

　In case you're wondering, the documents show three figures, but I don't think she can put together a rough and tumble group of people at that level. Even if she is not as good a magician as Froese, it must be said that her deftness in entrusting a large unit to her is brilliant. She had a lot of support because of that kind of quick decision making.
　Teresa is more of the type of person who screws things up with force. She has a calmness that makes her feel like she's ready to take on Viziest's provocations. If that's a bluff, he's a hell of a crook.

　Viziest understands that rankings don't equal actual fighting ability, but he also knew that they don't deviate greatly.

　However, Froese's mouth twitched, "Well? I only reply.

'I always thought of Teresa as having been moved to the left as a commander, but Teresa has only fought properly once in the two years she was under me, and I'm sure it wasn't all-out, but I'm sure it was in double digits. To begin with, my impression is that she's not a good commander. That said, she does have good instincts.

　His sense of smell to sniff out smoldering sparks was not at the level of being excellent.
　Once it was in motion, it would not listen to commands. There are no brakes. Once she started moving, she would continue to do it thoroughly until one of them went down.
　Of course, I'm cautious until she gets there.

'I'm no longer on the outside world to replace Teresa either.
If you don't take away the meaning of the word 'poisoned', Teresa's power is second only to Letty's.
'I suppose that's why. Beric did something drastic, too, but poison is poison.


　◇ ◇ ◇


　The time goes back a bit and we arrive at the hillside, moving in the hollow that was the field of the nobleman's adjudication (tenebram). My clothes, which had absorbed sweat, were now dry.
　After all, head-to-head combat makes you forget the passage of time. It was still far into the twilight, and despite the clouds that dotted the area as well as Isle's mind, it seemed to be clear and sunny.
　The infantry in the Isle camp had almost no attrition, and among the companions here, Silsila was the one with the most wounds.

　Silsila's gait as she walked next to him was the same as usual, but her ever-determined face was down now, and her mouth was tightly drawn into a single character.

　Anyone could see that he was dragging regret with him. It was a look of pent-up regret.

'Silsila, are you okay?'
'What?　I'm sorry, Isle-sama. If only I could have gotten through the archers sooner...
No, not that. Scratch, scratch, scratch.
'Ah!　Yes, sir. No big deal.
Okay.

　He turned to Silsila with a somewhat blown-out smile even though he was defeated. It wasn't a look made up as usual. So she couldn't understand what this face meant at all.
　Was she angry or even disappointed in herself?

(No, my bad habit.)

　I shake my head as if to tell myself. Then he lifted his left arm slightly, taking the pain with him.
　There was the bandage that Ail had torn off his own sleeve and wrapped around it. The knot was loose, and it was likely to fall off if I was not careful, but this was the first time I had ever seen anything like this.

　I looked back in my memory to see when it was the first time I had been injured myself.

''Ah!''
Hmm, what?
Everything....

　Silsila kept the words to her chest in a tone that made the endings seem to jump, not to tell the Lord that he had responded to the crazy voice. Yes, an old memory.


　◇ ◇ ◇


　When I was a gifted student in the Sikoren family, tucked away in the corner of the mansion as if it were isolated, I once ran out to relieve my depression after my physical training was over.

　At that time, it was still Sikoren's rule that face-to-face meetings with the incoming head of the family were not allowed. Silsila, who was twelve years old, of course knew what Ail looked like.
　When she was tired of her days of training, she was holding her knees in a corner of the mansion, in the shade of a tree where no one could get close. Silsila, sensing that she had been absently stood behind her, swung her arms out as quickly as she could.

　A dry sound rang out, breaking the whisper of leaves.

　Silsila knew she'd done it when she saw the boy, his cheeks blinking red in the blink of an eye. How many times had she been told to burn the boy standing there, even though she had been born into the House of Siquoren for him and his brother?
　She had learned to be polite to the boy, of course, and nowhere in that is it okay to raise her hand when it's education.

　There was a Lord there whom she would serve for the rest of her life.

　She immediately rubbed her forehead and spun her apologies over and over again, she could no longer serve as a follower. What that means is banishment. The name of Sikoren must be abandoned.

　With a face dyed bright blue, Silsila looked up, having to do something about her red, sunny cheeks first. Suddenly, her cheeks tingled. Thin, clean fingers, like a boy but like a girl's, applied medicine to the wound on Silsila's cheek.

　Puzzled, I looked up and saw Ail struggling to hold back the face that looked like it was about to burst into tears.
It was helplessly lovable and yet funny.

　The container of medicine that Ail clutched in his little hand was the one he always carried with him. Silsila dipped her fingers into the container, scooped up a scoop, and applied it to her cheeks.
　Gently and slowly, in circular motions.

　But the cheeks that held back the tears were strong and hard. So Silsila used her other hand to draw a circle on the other cheek as well.
　Turning around--.

　Pulling her cheek with a little strength, Silsila smiled gently like her sister. He had always smiled in images, and she had a strong impression of him, and surely Isle thought that a smiling face was the best way to look at him.

'Hola, smile, please. Because Ail-sama has a nice smile.'


　◇ ◇ ◇


　The best memory I can recall. It was at this time that Silsila decided that Isle was her master. A secret between the two of them. She had to forget then that she had met him.
　That seemed to fade away at some point and she was immersed only in her duties as a squire.

　She had thought that the Isle of those days had disappeared as she grew up. The Isle she knew had degraded like a dream, no, it had become something else. She wasn't sure if that should be called growing up, but Silsila gently put a lid on it to keep the memories from deteriorating over time.

　Still, the unshakable core that remained in his heart made him watch his actions with anxiety.

　But..........
　Looking at the arms he lifted, Silsila was glad that he hadn't changed. The ail of that time that he believed in and decided to be his master was still here, nothing had changed.

　I guess there is no difference in my own loyalty to Ail now and in the future. I'm a follower, and Ayurveda is the master. That duty must be fulfilled.

　So this is a story of Silsila's heart being a little warmer.