The Spoils of Battle

In time, the subjugation force began its withdrawal. During this process, not a single person approached Elias. Without a doubt, it was he who had delivered the decisive blow. However, because the knights and heroes had finished the beast off collectively, the credit for slaying the monster was not attributed to him alone. Instead, he was merely acknowledged as the one who had immobilized it.

(Still, after this battle, my words should carry more weight… or so I would hope. If I had gone completely unrecognized, I might’ve actually complained.)

“Frenn.”

Elias turned to the woman beside him.

“What do you think they’ll make of my contributions?”

“…Though your role was unexpected, there’s no way they can omit your name from the report. While it was the knights and heroes who struck the final blows, all of them witnessed your performance firsthand. Ignoring it outright would be impossible. Besides, battle records aren’t solely determined by the commanding officer’s report—evaluations will be made from multiple perspectives.”

“Multiple perspectives?”

“There were knights monitoring the performance of all participants. The kingdom will assess who contributed most to the operation. That much, at least, is certain.”

Elias mulled over her words.

“So, do you think I’ll be able to submit a formal petition to the kingdom over this?”

“That may be difficult.”

“Yeah… I figured. Well, in any case, we won without suffering any losses. That alone is something to be grateful for.”

At his words, Frenn nodded. Ultimately, the battle had ended in victory. And with no casualties, one could call it a perfect success.

“There’s nothing left for us here. Let’s head back.”

“…Agreed.”

“Oh, I’m coming with you.”

Misheana, who had been lingering nearby, spoke up.

“The hired help we brought along has already left. The payment will be handled by Marie, so you two don’t need to worry about that.”

“That’s a relief… Well, I suppose this was a decent achievement. But I still seem far from my ultimate goal.”

“If you’re aiming to gain recognition, wouldn’t heading to the frontmost fortresses be your best bet?”

“That would make sense… but there are already several Holy Knights stationed there. I doubt they’d go out of their way to call me over.”

Elias sighed.

“If I really want to achieve my goal, do I need enough authority to reassign personnel at will? What do you think, Frenn?”

“That might be overthinking it… However, simply slaying monsters won’t be enough. Unless they are of the caliber of this one.”

“High-profile targets, huh… Come to think of it, including Alder, there are three major threats in the North, aren’t there?”

“What if you were to take down the remaining two?” Frenn asked.

Elias merely shrugged.

“If they don’t appear, there’s nothing I can do… But it’s certainly an option.”

“Knowing you, I wouldn’t be surprised if you pulled it off,” Misheana added with a grin. “Honestly, if you’d put your full strength into it, wouldn’t Alder have gone down in a single strike?”

“…There’s no way a Rank Three threat could be taken out in one blow.”

“Really? From what I saw of your swordplay, it looked like you were holding back.”

(Sharp one, isn’t she?)

Before Elias could respond, she continued.

“You were reserving strength in case the beast did something unexpected… If you had used all of it, could you have killed it outright?”

“…That, I do not know. Regardless, under those circumstances, I never would have risked using my full strength all at once.”

“I see… Are there others as strong as you in the East?”

“If there were, wouldn’t more Holy Knights have come from there? That alone should be your answer. It’s not as though we were training under ideal conditions—our lives revolved around ceaselessly hunting monsters. This strength is merely a byproduct of that.”

At his words, Misheana narrowed her eyes in thought.

“…Alright. I’ll leave it at that for now.”

“That’s a rather pointed way of phrasing it.”

“It just… feels like you’re keeping secrets from me.”

Elias did not outright confirm or deny it. In truth, it was not secrecy but discretion—if he carelessly divulged too much about the East’s circumstances, it could lead to complications. For that reason, he had chosen to remain silent.

“…The truth is that I’m still new to the North. I don’t fully grasp the political landscape here yet. So for now, I prefer to move cautiously.”

“Alright, fine. I’ll accept that—for now.”

“…You really don’t let things go easily.”

“Well, whatever,” he said with a dismissive wave. “Misheana, how do you think Marie will react to today’s battle?”

“That depends on how the reports are written, but at the very least, she’ll acknowledge your contributions. I imagine she’ll be glad to have formed a connection with you.”

“I see.”

“Thinking of leveraging her influence for something?”

“I wouldn’t go that far… If anything, I was considering whether she might have another task for me after this.”

“Hmm… Given that we’ve now established ties, she may not expect further compensation. But if I end up getting a Northern-related request, I might ask for your help.”

“…As long as it doesn’t interfere with my own duties, I don’t mind lending a hand.”

“Wait, you have regular duties?” she asked, somewhat surprised.

“I’m not completely idle, you know.”

With that, their conversation shifted to lighter topics as they left the battlefield behind.