NLS Ch9

“No matter where Ashin is, make sure she doesn’t get caught up in the succession war.”

Even if Vize hadn’t specifically instructed him, Leotar had no intention of dragging Ashin into the quagmire of Ailem. That was the reason he had refused the marriage in the first place. He was already struggling to deal with his father’s affairs, and he didn’t want to handle the variable that was Ashin.

Forming a marriage alliance meant sharing many details about the families. The documents to be exchanged alone would fill several chests. Ashin wouldn’t do it on purpose, but if she were to accidentally leak information or cooperate with his father’s side, it would become a major headache. She was far from being someone who managed information well.

Besides that, there were any number of small, trivial betrayals Ashin could commit. Like running away before the wedding. Given her free-spirited nature, Ashin was certainly capable of that…

No, the truth was, he was worried that his existence would harm Ashin.

His father, the Lord of Ailem, had long been mentally ill, and the overflowing number of collateral relatives were taking advantage of this opportunity to make numerous attempts to eliminate Leotar, the only heir. If Leotar disappeared, his father was so weakened that anyone could manipulate him.

Countless assassination attempts. Unlike when he was young, they were now just a nuisance, but there was no need for Ashin to set foot in such a threatening life.

Ashin Judin. Her ever-smiling face lingered in his mind. Her playful tone and clumsy actions were hard to believe for someone who was said to be a powerful sorceress. Once she came to mind, the bothersome afterimage continued unless he consciously stopped it. It was like that when they were together at Ismil’s barracks, and since their recent engagement, the frequency had increased even more.

He recalled the day he first met Ashin:

The allied regiment, consisting of the Imperial Regular Army and the Ailem army, was passing through the Shen Gorge. It was an operation carried out according to the Commander-in-Chief’s strong insistence that they had to cross the gorge that night and strike the rear of the Pihan-Simbus army. To avoid any ambushes from the upper part of the gorge, an advance party had climbed the mountain first, and a reply had come four hours ago that it was safe.

As they were passing about halfway through the gorge, his Vice-Commander, Nigel, spoke to him.

“They say they caught and executed five scouts on the mountainside. It’s fortunate that there are no other ambushes.”

“It’s more suspicious that there are no ambushes.”

“Didn’t they suffer heavy damage in the last battle? They must be focusing all their efforts on securing supplies and reorganizing the barracks now. They may be doing their best to defend the main camp without the extra energy to spare a separate unit.”

“There may be surviving scouts.”

“Don’t worry. Even if the scouts reach the barracks, the allied forces will be faster at this rate. They’ve been marching for the past four days.”

Despite Nigel’s reasonable opinion, he couldn’t shake his concerns. If this place was breached, Pihan would essentially be giving up its rear. No matter how great the damage to the main camp, how could they leave the rear like this? If there were no ambushes, they must have set up a trap somewhere along the route.

So, he even went through the process of selecting another advance party to review the route, but something still felt uneasy. From the beginning, he had been skeptical of this operation. However, until the early stages of the war, he was just one of about ten commanders. Although he commanded a large army encompassing the warlords of the southern Empire, he did not have the authority to disobey the orders of the allied Commander-in-Chief.

At that time, no one knew that the King of Pihan was a necromancer who manipulated people’s minds and actions.

No one knew that the advance party, which had been deployed on the mountainside to ambush and eliminate Pihan’s ambushes, had become puppets attacking the allied forces.

Just as the entire regiment entered the narrow gorge, the ground began to shake.

Leotar instinctively realized that they had fallen into a trap. He expected arrows to fly soon and drew his sword, but he heard neither the sound of metal nor the shouts of the army.

He gripped the reins of his horse tightly and looked around. The mountains were lined up like walls on the left and right, centering on the gorge. It was a place suitable for an ambush in anyone’s eyes.

“Scatter as much as possible! Climb the mountains!”

At Nigel’s cry, the soldiers on both wings began to climb the mountains. But most of them couldn’t escape this narrow, long terrain.

“Watch out overhead! Prepare for arrows!”

The shouts of commanders rose from all directions.

Thump, thump! The vibrations under the ground continued.

And then,

Rumble! With a thunderous roar, the rocks of the mountain began to collapse.

Leotar watched the falling rocks and earth and thought, ‘can a landslide be controlled?’

Was it a coincidence, or was it manipulated? If it was manipulation, could something like this be possible with human power?

At that moment, someone near him muttered.

“What, there’s a sorceress there too?”

It was a small voice, but it pierced his ears clearly. Leotar lowered his gaze and looked for the owner of the voice.

It was a woman in plain clothes, looking very tired.

She was wearing several layers of outerwear, which seemed far from mobile, so she didn’t seem to have anything to do with the military, but she was wearing a badge symbolizing a commander on her shoulder.

Golden powder flowed from her outstretched fingertips.

Sorcery?

Only then did he realize that she was the sorceress Ashin Judin.

He had heard reports that the commander of the sorcery unit was accompanying them, but at the time, like other Imperials, he didn’t think that sorcery could do anything meaningful.

As if mocking that arrogance, the fine powder gathered and clumped together, creating a rhythmic flow. You could call it a transparent shield. The flow that poured out of her incessantly formed a huge curtain, reaching the landslide and the boundary of the army, and spreading widely. It was as if a silent river was crossing the air and pooling.

It seemed that Ashin was not the only one performing such sorcery, as similar-colored flows rose from various parts of the camp and connected to the curtain she had created.

Bang! Boom!

Rock fragments that rushed faster than the earth and sand collided with the curtain. The entire surrounding atmosphere vibrated, shaking even the internal organs of the body.

Rumble! Crash!

The earth and sand that poured down like a wave struck the curtain. With that huge impact, dust covered the gorge. Even though it wasn’t a direct hit, the horses screamed and the soldiers staggered, unable to maintain their balance. Blood dripped from Ashin’s nose as she blocked it all. Her emaciated body trembled as if she would collapse at any moment, but she seemed to be barely holding on, putting strength into her legs.

“Get away from the formation!”

At Ashin’s cry, the soldiers who didn’t even know what a formation was instinctively avoided the curtain and moved to the other side.

The curtain slowly disappeared. The rocks and sand, which had been trapped like water in a glass bottle, gradually poured down towards the unit. Swish, it sounded like rain falling. No soldier dared to move rashly at the overwhelming sight they were witnessing for the first time.

Thud, as the curtain completely disappeared, Ashin, who had collapsed, clutched her chest.

Before the soldiers could feel relieved, the commanders shouted for them to be on guard. Leotar also waited for a surprise attack that could start from anywhere, but the surroundings were only quiet. They must have been convinced that the landslide would sweep them away.

After a long time, Leotar, who had released his guard, got off his horse and lowered his body, approaching Ashin.

“Ashin Judin?”

Ashin raised her head. Her face, which had already been pale, was now completely bloodless.

The blood that had been roughly wiped away was dried on her cheeks, making her look even more of a mess.

Leotar took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her.

“You and your comrades saved the lives of thousands of allied soldiers. I don’t know how such power is possible… but as a commander, I express my gratitude.”

Before he knew it, soldiers who had taken off their helmets were gathered in a circle around Ashin. They had unfamiliar faces as if they had dreamed. Leotar expected that his expression would not be much different. As far as he knew, the number of personnel in the sorcery unit was less than a hundred. The personnel dispatched here must be some of them. Only a few dozen people saved a thousand people. It was a moment when his common sense was overturned.

“Are you alright? You look very tired.”

“No… usually, it’s not like this… I used too much, strength, because it was urgent.”

Her voice sounded like she was on the verge of death.

“Please… lift me up.”

Ashin reached out her hand to him. Leotar froze for a moment, not knowing her intention, and was flustered when her hand unceremoniously grabbed his. However, Ashin, who had no way of knowing his feelings, even urged him on, feebly flapping the hand she was holding.

Leotar took her hand and helped her up. A weight like paper was pulled up to him.

Even then, Ashin didn’t let go of his hand, as if it was difficult for her to stand on her own. She even leaned her body against his arm. In his hand, sweaty fingers wriggled. The hand, which still had golden afterimages, was very warm and, unbelievably, cozy. Just holding hands, such a feeling flowed into him. An energy that enveloped his entire hand as if trying to protect him. The wish that Ashin had unfolded along with the sorcery was conveyed as it was. It was a truly mysterious experience.

It was later that he learned that just as one could feel malice in a place where a curse had just been cast, one could feel the caster’s heart in a place where sorcery had just been cast.