The Reason He Puts His Life on the Line

My sister Liese and I were racing at full speed with a cavalry regiment in tow. We'd ridden through the night, but we still hadn't caught up with Jurgen.

The path of light was made by fixing special glowing stones to poles. They looked like ordinary stones during the day, but glowed brightly at night. They weren't particularly valuable. Children could climb the mountains and collect them.

But there were an extraordinary number of them.

I'd heard it was unfinished, but I wondered how far it extended.

"How did he manage to do something like this without any help from the state?"

"Jurgen has connections to many merchants. And until very recently, he was working with Erich. That probably had a lot to do with it."

"What a frightening man."

He even used Erich...

There isn't a single ducal house that isn't involved in the struggle for the throne.

Jurgen did indeed associate with merchants connected to Erich. The reason was that Erich was the strongest candidate—and probably, more importantly, the reason was that...

"Gordon hasn't shown any hostility toward me so far, but given his temperament, he'd clash with me if he became emperor. Zandra goes without saying. So Jurgen was in contact with Erich. That's what he told me, so I'm sure of it."

"So you always put Sister Liese first."

"I only told him to do as he pleased. I never asked him to do this."

As we rode, Sister Liese muttered.

Her expression was somewhat displeased. She probably wasn't happy about having been worried over.

"Brother Erich understood what Jurgen was after, and went along with it, didn't he? This road is extremely beneficial to the state as well."

"Jurgen is thorough. Once it was finished, he was probably planning to sell it to the state for a profit."

"I can see him doing that."

In the end, his attitude was that as long as it benefited Sister Liese, that was all that mattered—but he made sure to get what he was owed. He must have been acting on several plans at once.

He really was a frightening man.

"I'm glad he's in love with you, Sister."

"What do you mean?"

"If he weren't in love with you, he'd be an absurdly troublesome duke who might intervene in the struggle for the throne after assessing the situation. He has money, and connections everywhere. Just imagining him as an enemy gives me a headache."

"Well, Jurgen is certainly capable. He'd be troublesome if he became an enemy."

"If he'd been in love with Sister Zandra, things might have become an even bigger mess."

"Don't underestimate Jurgen. He's a man who remains in love with me, you know? There's no way he'd lose his heart to someone like Zandra."

"..."

For some reason, Sister Liese said that with a slightly angry air.

Eyes widening, I shifted my gaze to the regimental commander riding a little behind us.

The commander chuckled and nodded once.

Was this one of those moments?

"Sister..."

"What?"

"Ah, never mind. I don't think there's any point in saying it."

I almost asked if she was showing off about Jurgen, but swallowed the words.

She'd only deny it if I said anything.

Even if she didn't actually see him that way...

It was clear that Sister Liese acknowledged Jurgen's worth.

As I thought that, I saw light flickering up ahead.

There appeared to be people gathered there who looked like villagers.

"Soldiers! We've prepared food for you! Eat it as you ride!"

The villagers handed portable rations to the members of the regiment as they said this.

Sister Liese and I stopped there, but the commander kept sending anyone who had received a ration ahead without delay.

"Excuse me! Whose orders were these!?"

"Hm? What is it? Didn't you hear, young man?"

An elderly woman thrust a ration and some water into my hands.

And then.

"The duke. He told us to prepare food because soldiers would be coming from behind. When he built this road, he went out of his way to make space for it and asked us to cooperate so people could receive food while riding."

"I see."

"Here! You too, pretty lady!"

Saying that, the woman thrust some food at Sister Liese as well.

Sister Liese accepted it without protest and looked around.

The cavalry regiment, which had been riding through the night, was exhausted. But perhaps because the villagers had given them food and spoken encouragingly to them, their faces looked somewhat better.

It was Jurgen's thoughtfulness.

"We'll accept this gratefully. How much do we owe you?"

"Don't worry about it! The duke leaves money in the village every month. Even when we tell him we don't need this much, he won't hear of it. He just tells us to be kind to anyone who uses this road. Though you're the first ones to actually use it. You're following the duke, aren't you? If you see him, give him my regards, will you?"

"I see... Understood. I'll be sure to tell him."

With that, Sister Liese spurred her horse onward.

I followed after her and opened the bag I'd been given along with the ration.

It contained cookies.

"You like sweets, Sister."

"Quiet. Soldiers all like sweets to some degree. They're something we can't eat at the front. This should give us a boost."

"Did it give you a boost too, Sister?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I wasn't tired to begin with."

Saying that, Sister Liese urged her horse farther ahead.

Knowing Jurgen, he'd probably prepared resting areas for the horses too.

I see, I see.

"No wonder he fell in love with you, Sister."

With that, I followed after Sister Liese.

■■■

The following day, at noon.

By then, the cavalry regiment's fatigue was nearing its peak.

The path of light ended. A fresh monster corpse lay a little farther ahead.

"It's still fresh."

"They're close."

If Jurgen and the others were close, that meant there would be more monsters too.

They must have exterminated the nearby monsters while building that road, and monsters wary of strange glowing objects wouldn't approach it. They must have taken various other precautions as well.

But that was where it ended.

Even so, we'd already set foot in the southern region. We didn't know Leo and the others' exact location, but it was only a matter of time before we arrived.

As I thought that, sounds of battle reached us from ahead.

"That's Duke Rheinfeld and the others."

"Yes."

A curt reply.

Her expression hadn't changed, but she kicked her horse to hurry it along.

She was worried after all.

"Duke... it's too dangerous to go any farther!"

"Wounded men, fall back!"

A voice I'd been hearing frequently lately rang out.

Jurgen and the others were facing a large bear-shaped monster a short distance from the road.

A Double-Headed Bear. An A-rank monster. But one of its two characteristic heads had been crushed.

Perhaps because of that, it seemed extremely ferocious. Several smaller monsters surrounded it.

Jurgen and the knights had been fighting their way through many monsters as they traveled, and exhaustion had slowed their movements. They were struggling against the group of monsters.

The Double-Headed Bear's claws swept toward Jurgen.

He barely blocked them with his halberd, but the impact sent him flying.

"Jurgen!"

Sister Liese cried out his name involuntarily.

She started to rush to him, but the moment Jurgen noticed her, he sprang to his feet and shouted.

"Don't interfere! Hurry ahead!"

"Don't be reckless! Leave the rest to your men!"

"If you have strength to spare, use it for the crisis in the south! Leave this to us!"

There weren't that many knights around Jurgen, despite his words.

They had probably spread out to keep the monsters from interfering with us.

Sister Liese ignored Jurgen and started to order her men to deal with the monsters, but Jurgen glared at her with a grim, almost demonic expression and stopped her.

"Please don't underestimate us! The knights and I can at least clear the way!"

"Enough! You've done more than enough!"

"Go on ahead regardless! Why did you come here!? Because a crisis threatening the nation is happening in the south, right!? Someone is waiting for you! Go, quickly!!"

Saying that, Jurgen charged the Double-Headed Bear and pinned down its movements.

Seeing that, the regimental commander ordered his men forward.

"Commander!"

"Please forgive me. The Duke is right. We came here to press ahead."

With that, the commander said they would go on ahead and hurried forward himself.

Even then, Sister Liese did not move.

"Jurgen... why go this far? We've already received enough support. You don't need to do this... You're not the fighting type..."

That must have been a question she'd been carrying with her all this time.

Jurgen answered while wrestling for strength with the Double-Headed Bear.

"It's simple...! Because I want to look cool...!"

It was a brutally straightforward answer.

But perhaps it was very much like Jurgen.

Jurgen was certainly the merchant type. There was no need for him to go out to the front lines and fight monsters. It might have been a foolish thing to do.

But...

"I want to look cool in front of the woman I love...! I want to be a dependable man in front of you...! Is there any other reason a man would put his life on the line...!?"

"What kind of answer is that..."

"That's how men are! I don't care if you call me a fool! I want to put my life on the line for you!!"

Saying that, Jurgen let out a battle cry and pushed back the Double-Headed Bear.

The Double-Headed Bear faltered before strength Jurgen had never shown before.

Jurgen did not miss the opening. He swung his halberd elegantly and severed the monster's other head.

"Wooooooaaah!!!!"

"The Duke did it! Follow him!"

"Haaaaaah!!"

"Wooooooooh!!"

As Jurgen raised his halberd with a mighty cry, the exhausted knights found a second wind.

I stole a glance at Sister Liese. She still looked worried.

Good. Apparently she hadn't noticed.

I thought it might be unnecessary, but I lent him a little strength.

I cast a barrier that eased their fatigue. But that was all.

It was a mystery why Jurgen had managed to push back the Double-Headed Bear when it wasn't a strengthening barrier.

At most, it had only returned him to normal strength. At this point, I might even believe in something as trite as the power of love.

"He seems to be doing fine."

"..."

"Whew... I'll stay behind. If I stay, he won't be able to do anything reckless anymore, so go on without worrying."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm tired too, and when I think about it, there's nothing I can do even if I go. Please take care of Leo."

"I see... Understood. Leave Leo to me. And don't put yourself down so much. You kept up with our forced march... You've grown into a fine man, both physically and mentally. So I'm counting on you to take care of Jurgen, all right?"

"Of course. He's my future brother-in-law."

"That hasn't been decided yet."

"What do you think? I thought that was pretty cool just now."

"Don't underestimate him. A man like Jurgen ought to be able to do at least that."

Saying that, Sister Liese spurred her horse onward.

By the time she disappeared from view, Jurgen and the others had also finished subduing the monsters. But perhaps because I dispelled the barrier, every one of them dropped to their knees at once.

Now then, let's get them somewhere safe.

"They're such a handful."

Muttering that, I urged my horse toward Jurgen and the others.