By now the sky should’ve been swallowed by night. With cliffs hemming Centena on both sides like a gorge, it ought to have been pitch-black—dark enough you’d stumble over your own boots just walking the road.
But it wasn’t dark at all.
The whole world burned red under the glow of scattered fires, choked with greasy black smoke. Black-powder bombs had torn through the trees and brush; flames licked up the slopes and painted the cliffs in searing light. The smoke stung my eyes, but even through it I could make out the ground strewn with bodies. Knights. Too many knights. Most had to be Centena’s garrison… though some of them could be Father’s men. There were wyvern corpses too, their wings twisted like torn sails—but the human dead were what drew the eye. From our side of the border, it looked nothing less than despair made manifest.
“…That charge looks like sheer madness,” I muttered.
“It was sheer madness,” Panamera snorted, jabbing a finger toward the ceiling as if to punctuate the thought. “You take losses like this, even I’d feel like storming out there bare-knuckled.”
I blinked. “This isn’t some street-gang turf fight, you know!”
She gave me a puzzled look at the phrase, then folded her arms and turned her gaze grimly back out the window.
“Jests aside… I can understand both Targa and Marquis Fertio. If the fortress fell on their watch, there’d be no face left to show. Scudetto could fall and still be retaken—but if Centena breaks, it’s finished. Their own domains fall, and the kingdom itself teeters with them. If there’s no holding it, then the only answer is to strike out… even if the odds spell death.”
The hard line of her mouth told me she’d already pictured herself in the same place. Honestly, so had I. In their boots, what choice would I have left?
A soldier burst in, saluting. “Report! Targa and the Marquis have led a sally! Cavalry split in two wings, infantry in four. The horsemen charged before the cannon could fire, and broke through. The infantry spread wide—half perished, but the rest pushed deep. Thanks to them, the bombardment on Centena has all but ceased. Only the wyverns remain overhead…”
He hadn’t even finished before another blast shook the stone around us. Dust sifted down. I leaned out the slit window, craning upward. Sure enough, three wyverns wheeled above, circling like carrion crows.
Panamera clicked her tongue. “We’d reinforce the Marquis if we could—but unless those wyverns are dealt with, we’ll never make it. Well, boy? What do you propose?”
I studied the beasts’ flight. “…Why do they keep retreating back toward the cliffs? Do wyverns tire quickly?”
The knight shook his head, gesturing sharply toward the ridge. “Flying breeds endure long. No, they’re resupplying. There must be a stockpile of black bombs on the heights. We tried to cut them off, but…” His jaw tightened, shame plain in his eyes.
I nodded, thinking fast. Then turned with a grin. “In that case… sounds like a job for Arte.”
Arte drew a sharp breath, fists tightening at her chest. “Y-yes! Leave it to me…!”
The knights blinked at her, confusion written plain. One finally cleared his throat. “…Forgive me, my lord, but… who exactly are you? From your exchange with Viscount Panamera I gather you’re of noble blood, but—”
“Oh—ah! I forgot to introduce myself!” I blurted, cheeks heating. “Van Nei Fertio. Newly raised Baron. That would be… me.”
The man gawked. “…You’re Baron Van? Then it’s true? The Baron himself has come to our aid!?”
…Which Van did he mean, exactly?
But apparently he meant me, because in the next breath he was striding close with shining eyes. “Yes, the silver hair, the boyish figure—not yet ten! The prodigy, the miracle! The famed Baron Van himself! At last, hope smiles upon us—!”
He was practically weeping. And he wasn’t alone—the room filled with sniffling.
“…R-right. Well. I’ll just… go deal with the wyverns. Leaving them up there seems bad.”
“Ah! To speak so lightly of such a task—truly Baron Van! Command us in anything!”
“No, no, really, don’t trouble yourselves.”
“As you wish!”
I made a hasty retreat from the room before the flood of adulation drowned me entirely. Outside, Panamera promptly doubled over, laughing loud enough to shake the hall.
“Ha ha ha! To think you’ve grown so famous, boy!”
I scratched my cheek. “Probably just because this is Ferthio territory. I am technically family, after all.”
“Don’t be modest! You’ve half the realm swooning.”
Her grin had that teasing edge again—sadist, bully, call it what you will.
“…Feels more like the bigger the name, the bigger the headaches,” I sighed, lengthening my stride toward the stairwell. A moment later we were ascending to the rooftop.
I drew a breath, steadying myself. “Right. Time to drop those wyverns fast, then link up with the vanguard.”
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