Jade clicked her tongue as she watched the white fingertips wriggling.

“The Hias family seems to be open. Our family is so tightly closed like a rock, saying don’t even dream unless you’re a knight. And find a very good family at that.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. It’s as if they’re hoping for the legend of the old Wizard King and Knight pair.”

Rigel, still with a boyish face, muttered almost inaudibly.

Jade, about to ask what he meant, suddenly focused on something in the distance. Her eyes narrowed.

“But human hearts might not always go as intended…”

“Wait. Can you see that?”

“Pardon?”

At the same time, a loud sound that could split ears rang out from somewhere. The soldiers guarding around the camp had sent a signal.

“Monster! West direction!”

“Coming out near the stone mountain!”

Like the flow of water, or like rising smoke, monsters were rushing in packs.

Their appearances were diverse. Some were grotesquely large and some were strangely clinging to the ground. Some ran on four legs and some on two.

Someone spat out a curse.

“The sun hasn’t even properly set yet…!”

Even Jade, with her extensive experience in extermination squads, had never seen such large numbers. Moreover, the sight of them charging towards the army that came to hunt them was both absurd and brutal.

Monsters are more intelligent beings than one might think. So, these creatures are coming to hunt because they have a record of victory against an army that looks like this. Because it tasted good then.

Everyone’s gaze suddenly turned to the commanding officer who had appeared. Axel spoke expressionlessly, looking into the distance.

“Seems they’ve tasted human flesh a few times.”

As if someone had predicted it, the horses were already prepared to run. Axel’s large hand adjusted the plate on his forearm.

“Everyone remembers the objective, right?”

The same sentence flashed through everyone’s minds.

“Without mercy, spectacularly. Thoroughly enough to gain the favor of the Jisen Kingdom citizens tired of monsters.”

Axel nodded.

“That’s sufficient. I expect your skills.”

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone rushed to find their horses.

There was no need for separate tactics. Because the monsters were simply charging forward.

What they were targeting wasn’t horses or food or supplies. Not even trying to break down the castle gates or walls.

What the monsters were after was people themselves. Their flesh and blood.

The knights in charge of attacks, forming pairs, took the lead, with the wizards running behind. The wizards had to help at appropriate times with defense or enhancing attack power to kill the monsters.

Jade ran a bit slower, observing Emmit’s movements. The curly-haired knight was holding a long sword, but his arm looked stiff, as if nervous.

A shortened spell flowed from her lips. Then, a gentle warmth enveloped the knights running ahead.

It was always Jade’s principle that warmth was better than cold for loosening muscles.

The knights running ahead noticed it too. One knight, who had mainly been selected for the western border extermination squad, cackled and shouted.

“It’s weak today!”

He was referring to a time long ago when Jade had misjudged the temperature control and brought about a midsummer-like heat. The knights’ bodies loosened up, but they had to sweat inside their light armor.

Jade snorted.

“If you don’t want to get roasted, keep quiet.”

“It might be inappropriate to say this before battle, but that guy has been annoying me for the past few days. You can roast him.”

The knight’s pair wizard, clearly a woman, readily gave permission. Jade burst into laughter.

Glancing to the right, she saw a man galloping on Mimi, no, Attila.

Attila, once a playful horse of the forest, was now running as if to dominate this land devoid of greenery. Each time the hooves struck down roughly, dust scattered.

The same was true for Axel riding that horse. He blended into the background. It felt natural, without any sense of discomfort, for the knights to follow him. It seemed more fitting than chopping trees and hunting in the forest.

But that wasn’t what bothered her.

Isn’t his armor too simple in design? What if he collides directly with a monster like that? Does he think the other knights are wearing proper armor just for style?

Jade found herself pathetic for worrying more about Axel than Emmit, her temporary pair.

But even if she tried to turn her head, she couldn’t turn the direction her heart was going.

The knights’ speed gradually increased. Like in the forest, Axel reversed his grip on the sword. Just before the knights and monsters clashed, spells burst from the wizards’ mouths. Flames, ice, and sharp winds spread out as if in a frenzy.

Some might think pair wizards have it easy, staying in the back and occasionally enhancing attack power, but that was absolutely not the case.

They were truly, extremely busy. While watching their pair knight’s movements to add appropriate magic, they also performed defensive magic to prevent them from getting hurt.

This was a part everyone had to do together, but especially Jade, with her quick magical reactions, had no rest for her tongue.

“Rigel!”

“Damn, there’s not enough moisture in the air. I need to draw in some water!”

“Then you should have done that earlier!”

“Did I know this would happen! That’s why I told you to use less power!”

Rigel blamed Jade for making the surroundings dry by bursting flames everywhere, but she just shrugged with a face that said she was just doing her job diligently.

It’s true that water or earth attribute magic is better for defense. Water can be frozen to become solid, and earth is everywhere you step on, so you can make it rise.

However, while flames couldn’t physically block something, they could threaten and make them hesitate. That was enough.

Jade’s spells were, as always, outrageously disrespectful and brief. But the results were not so.

A wall of flames burst up, circling around a knight who had fallen from his horse.

Kiek, kieeek!

The monsters rushing towards the fallen prey were startled and pulled back, losing balance and falling over.

Axel didn’t miss that moment and took the lives of the beasts. He was now holding a short spear in his other hand.

Jade and Axel’s eyes met. Axel frowned – his eyes saying to move further back – but Jade ignored him and turned her head away.

As a wizard capable of directly attacking monsters, Jade was always at the front of the wizard group, so it was reasonable.

It’s none of his business when he’s not even my pair.

Grumbling internally, she looked at Emmit and saw him swinging his sword excitedly with the attack power she had added.

He was so intoxicated by his suddenly enhanced strength that he wasn’t even paying attention to his pair wizard, and Jade thought she should point that out later. Pairs were meant to complement each other, not for the knight to unilaterally benefit.

“I’ll pull the injured knight back.”

“Yeah, that would be good.”

As soon as Jade extinguished the fire, another wizard pulled the fallen knight back with a gentle wind current.

The knight, targeted by the monsters who had planned to aim for the horses, was gasping in pain. It seemed he had hit in an unfortunate direction.

“Ugh, urgh… Ah! Don’t touch, aaagh!”

“Looks like the bone is dislocated.”

Belita, a wizard strong in wind attributes, said with a frown.

“Should I go to the camp? Teleportation magic would take too long and be difficult, but I can increase speed. He seems to need immediate treatment.”

The front was blocked by knights anyway, and behind them were the wizards guarding. The number of monsters had already been reduced to less than a third.

It didn’t seem like a dangerous situation, so it looked much better to take the knight, who was rolling his eyes and trembling, back to the camp. All the healing wizards had remained in the tents.

As soon as she got the wizards’ agreement, Belita put the knight on her back and pulled the reins. The horse, propelled by the wind’s pushing force, advanced at an astonishing speed.

“Ah, I wish this would end quickly. It’s too hard to form a pair after so long.”

Someone grumbled while again overlaying the knight’s sword with a rough storm-like power. Jade had also just made flames flare up on Emmit’s sword again.

“You’re a professional, aren’t you? Isn’t it second nature since you’re together every day, even without battles?”

“Damn, I thought so too, but lately it’s getting tedious. Now I want to kick them out when they come to my room. Is this all there is to a soul-bound pair?”

“No, don’t destroy my romance!”

“You young ones. It’s better to know in advance.”

It was a moment when some vitality returned among the wizards with small talk. The youngest, and thus the most defensive and sensitive young wizard, looked back. The boy’s eyes widened.

Jade instinctively turned her head.

And Jade was faster. She immediately pulled the reins and rode her horse. The closer the distance, the more advantageous it was to exert powerful force.

At the same time, what burst from her lips wasn’t a short fragment like before, but a sharp and intense high-pitched spell.

Blue flames burst like fireworks over the dirt mound behind the wizard riding on horseback and the injured knight. The red eyes of the stunned monster rolled around to face Jade.

“Damn it. Arthur, Arthur!”

Rigel shouted in shock, calling for his pair knight. The knights who had been focusing on killing the enemies before them could now face the most terrifying monster.