93: Why the hell are you raising the flag at the end, anyway?

When Kyle stood firm against Van, Van’s old man laughed heartily, slapping Kyle’s shoulder hard and repeatedly.

You’re getting way too cozy with him, you know!

“Hahahaha! I like you! I like you, Kyle! Yeah, how about it? You wanna take over after Orthros? Great! Then show me you can rescue Zaid!”

Van, in high spirits, prompted a confused jab from Professor Javir.

“Huh… uh… Van-sama. We haven’t exactly confirmed Zaid-sama’s in danger yet…”

Van turned a cold eye on the professor.

Think I should knock you out?

“Huh! I just saw the swamp terrain files at the Adventurer’s Guild—there’s no way his private troops could handle that! If Zaid realized he’d be wiped out, he’d have come back to the village ages ago!”

Van flat-out rejects the professor’s argument. He’s pissing me off, but he’s absolutely right.

Kyle doesn’t say it out loud, but that’s exactly why he’s pushing so hard for a rescue.

“So, Zaid couldn’t tell the difference and charged deep into the swamp—either wiped out or hiding like a rat. Clear enough? Any objections, Javir?”

The professor just shakes his head weakly. He knows that too, of course.

Kyle tightens his expression again, turning to Professor Javir.

“We really must act fast to rescue him, Javir. I have a request.”

“What is it?”

"I need you to look after my sister, Maina, while we head into the marshlands. I was planning to entrust her to Zaid, her older brother—but I never thought he’d be gone…"

"Hmm. I’d intended to accompany you, Kyle, if you’re heading into the marshlands…"

"Wait—Professor Javir?"

Even I’m startled. I can’t help but blurt it out.

"Sir? That place is a battlefield against monsters!"

Javir’s expression turns sour.

"Aye. I’m no good in combat, so I didn’t plan to go there—but if Craft and the others are there, I figured I could help guard them, at least."

He’s coming with us?!

That’s like throwing in a hundred fighters!

He’s a renowned physician, a brilliant alchemist—his presence is worth more than an entire guard force! We should’ve brought him no matter what!

I’ll protect the teacher no matter what!!

...O-oh, really now...

I blurted it out without thinking, but then I realized the problem that came with it.

Vaan’s old man probably noticed too—he waved a hand at me, careless.

“Now, now. Good news that the heavyset Jabir’s decided to come. Though I’ll drag him along whether he likes it or not. Still, if he’s going, leaving Kyle’s sister, Maina, behind in the village’ll be a worry.”

You damn fool! You’re dragging the teacher along by force!?

No—wait. The teacher wants to come.

This is getting tangled.

The teacher’s just saying she feels safe with us, so she wants to come along.

But if the teacher comes with us, who’ll look after Maina?

This old man seems to know something. I jerk my chin at him to keep going.

Van nodded, but for some reason, the teacher’s face turned pale.

“Just between us—right now, this village’s defense force is nonexistent. The fence was wood, wasn’t it? No way it’d hold up in a siege.”

I only just realized it.

Zaid’s personal troops are all gone. So the village’s defenses are nonexistent.

Few adventurers use the Zaid Village Adventurer’s Guild. Most are from Goldendoon, just stopping by to harvest rare materials from the marshlands.

Kyle’s eyes widened at that.

“Wait… so how’s this village supposed to defend itself?”

“Hire a few oddball adventurers, I suppose. But they’re not strong enough for anything beyond keeping the peace.”

Hey now… that’s a huge problem…

“If we just… divert some of the marsh-clearing squad’s strength to stay here…”

““No.””

Van and I cut through Kyle’s second-best plan without ceremony.

Damn, that was close.

To me, to Alphard, to Van—anyone who’s seen even a little fighting with monsters—this was the obvious answer.

I explain the situation to Kyle, trying to make it clear.

“Kyle… The best thing we can do right now is get Zaid’s squad out as fast as possible and get back to this village. We can tackle the marsh later, when things calm down.”

“But… that leaves the village defenseless in the meantime…”

I get where he’s coming from.

But even if we’ve got spare troops, spreading them thin is just plain stupid.

We can’t leave any forces behind here.

“Akindoo’s caravan’s got a lot of wagons camped here. Most of their guards are Goldendoon adventurers. Even if a stampede happens, we’ll manage for a few days.”

“Ah… yeah, you’re right.”

Kyle seemed a little less tense now.

I get wanting to protect the villagers, but that’s Zaid’s job. Not something Kyle needs to worry about.

Not that he’d say it out loud.

“But if that’s the case… Maina’s going to—”

Alphard grimaced.

“There’s no choice. We’ll have to take her with us.”

“I understand. I’ll redirect part of the guard force I’d planned to assign to myself to Maina. I’ll be short-staffed, but—”

Van cuts in sharply.

“Fine! Let His Majesty Van protect you!”

“—w-wait!?”

That red-haired idiot! Just outright drowned out Kyle’s words!

Kyle’s flustered face is kinda cute too!

“Van-sama!? But that’s—!”

Now it’s Javir the teacher who’s flustered.

“Just now, even Craft said the same thing. Better to stick with someone reliable than wait here days in this undermanned village, right?”

“L-logical, I get it! But—!”

Ignoring Javir’s desperate words, Van slapped Kyle hard on the shoulder.

“This Van-sama will guard you! What? I’ll carry you off if I have to! You there—Alphard, right? Don’t like my strength?!”

“N-no… strength… probably… I mean…”

Alphard stammers, but he’s not worried about strength!

Van, clearly aware of that, just keeps going like it’s nothing.

“Exactly! Exactly! Split half of Kyle’s guard force to Maina’s protection. That’ll balance things out!”

“But…”

It’s insane—but it makes sense.

No… actually, thinking it through… isn’t this about the best we can do?

A chill runs down my spine.

This guy… looks like a brute, but he’s got a sharp mind, huh?

I give Alphard a nod, signaling him to consider Van’s idea.

(Alphard, I think this is a decent plan.)

(That’s true… but can we really trust this Van fellow?)

Then just go ahead and ask him straight.

“Hey, old man Van.”

When I call him that, Jabir suddenly shouts, “You idiot student, what the hell—!” Sorry, not now. I’ll deal with you later.

I glare at Van, mentally preparing for the punishment I’ll face later.

“You. You’re really gonna swear to protect Kyle?”

Van’s smug grin vanishes. He turns his whole body toward me.

“This Van Vain. I swear upon my life, with this blade, I will protect Kyle.”

Van draws his sword in one smooth motion, holding it up before his chest. Alphard lets out a quiet “Huh?” at the sight.

For a moment, Alphard and Van just stare at each other, silent.

…Got it. I’ll leave Kyle in your hands.”

“You sure?”

“That’s a vow. Not something you can fake. Craft, I’m putting Maina in your care. The Cassper sisters too.”

“Understood. Leave it to me.”

No idea what changed in Alphard’s mind, but he’s clearly trusting Van now. Fine by me.

Originally, Kyle’s guard was supposed to be me, Alphard, Kyle’s personal troops, and the Cassper sisters.

But Alphard was in charge of overall command, so I ended up as his direct guard in practice. There’s more to it than that, but that’s for later.

"Under normal circumstances, Miss Maina is to stay with Master Kyle. Only in an emergency, Craft is to remain with the three Cassper sisters and protect Miss Maina at all costs."

"Understood."

I glanced at Alphard, and we both turned to Kyle.

"Maina. We’re going into battle now, but are you alright? If you’re scared… "

He paused, swallowed hard.

"Zaid-sama will give up. He’ll go back to Golden Dawn with you."

How much courage did it take to say that?

Kyle made it clear he’d put his sister first above all. Maina shook her head sharply.

"I’m… fine. Craft… with me… he’s here…"

"Right… yeah. That’s right. You’ve Craft-sama with you."

Paaan—Van clapped her hands together.

"Alright! It's settled! Jabil! You're getting guarded too, so stay put, got it?!"

"Aaaaahhh... What am I supposed to do now!?"

"You're still way too cautious, as always. Alright, Kyle! Give the order to march!"

"Y-yes!"

We returned to the main body of the expedition and gathered everyone.

Raidock, unaware of the situation, eyed Van standing beside Kyle with a puzzled frown, but time was too short to waste.

Kyle shouted out clearly.

"From this moment on, the marsh expedition changes course! Our mission is now to rescue Zaid and his companion! All forces, advance!"

"OOOOOHHHHHHH!!!"

Questions would come later. For now, the entire expedition answered in one loud roar.

Yeah. This was Kyle’s first battle.

And to mark Kyle’s first battle, both soldiers and adventurers alike were fired up.

We were all top-tier.

A camp that can’t lose to a hydra if it’s paying attention isn’t worth the name.

I vault onto the back of Black Dragon No. 1 with Maina.

Jitarou, noticing Maina’s tension, rides up beside us on Pony Superjet.

This pony. Raised on legendary stamina potions, stronger than any regular warhorse, yet somehow still looks exactly the same.

Just a plain old, calm dappled pony. Nothing special.

But it’s cute. Details don’t matter.

Maina’s face softens as she looks at Superjet’s lazy expression.

Maina-sama! You're safe! The extermination squad’s made it through dragon battles and survived cockatrices—plus they’ve beaten Alphard’s hell training! No matter what enemy comes, it’s a walk in the park! Easy! Easy!

Maina nodded slowly… but then—

Whoa—wait—what the hell?!

Jitarou?!

That’s a flag, right?! A damn flag?!

A flag, right?!

Why the hell am I suddenly nervous?! Damn it!

And so, with Professor Javir and the mysterious adventurer Van joining us, we sprinted full-tilt toward the marshlands.

Six days until Volume 2 hits the shelves!