I didn’t remember seeing the name ‘Nathan’ in the original work.

Is this person really a Sword Master?

I carefully examined the man with narrowed eyes. The man, shrinking his neck, stuttered and said,

“So I… I’m just a passerby, and I was told to inform you that you shouldn’t be dozing here, no, that’s why I came here.”

Wait, what did he just say?

‘I was told to inform you that you shouldn’t be dozing…’

If someone told him to relay a message, it meant there was another person besides this man.

“Well, since you seem to be awake now, I’ll be on my way. Goodbye.”

“Wait, just a moment!”

“Yes?”

The man who had stopped abruptly turned towards me. Seeing his drooping eyebrows, he seemed to want to escape this situation quickly.

“By any chance, did you defeat the monsters ahead of our subjugation team?”

“Me, those terrifying monsters?”

The man shuddered as if even imagining it was horrible.

Judging by his reaction, it clearly wasn’t this person who had dealt with the monsters.

“So it wasn’t you?”

“I don’t have that kind of ability, and I’m certainly not the type to do such things in secret. If it were me, I would have stepped out in front of people and defeated the monsters in style.”

There was a strange edge to his words. Should I say it felt like a nuance of wanting me to understand something?

Someone who is secretly dealing with monsters other than this man.

Did that person send this Nathan to wake me up?

Then, as I suspected…

My thought process kept stuttering. My mouth had gone dry at some point.

“Then how did you come here?”

“I, I was curious about the Red Spring and came to see it. I’m going back down after just looking at it.”

Does he think I’ll believe this at face value?

If he came all the way here to see the Red Spring but didn’t deal with the monsters, he would be a corpse in front of me, not a living person.

Or is he deliberately saying something absurd to give me a hint?

“You didn’t come here alone, did you?”

Nathan’s eyes widened blankly. He just blinked, forgetting he had to answer.

“Do you know someone called Klein?”

“Huh? Well, I’m not sure. I don’t really know. Well then, goodbye.”

Is he bad at lying? Everything he’s thinking is clearly visible on his face.

Nathan ran away hastily, as if afraid I might hold him back. I was about to chase after him immediately, but my legs wouldn’t move, as if stuck to the ground.

Was I suddenly scared at the thought of facing Ian with the curse manifested?

Letting out a faint sigh, I quietly stared in the direction Nathan had disappeared. He had vanished so quickly, without a trace.

Should I chase after him now? I muttered softly, then shook my head.

Quite some time must have passed while pretending to sleep under the tree. The night watch would check inside the tents once in a while, so I couldn’t leave my post empty for too long.

It’s not like today is the only day.

As I tried to pull myself together, the sound of a buzzing wind came from somewhere.

The strong wind that had swept through the big tree finally blew towards me. As I brushed back my hair that was fluttering wildly, another sigh escaped.

“…It really was you.”

Ian is here.

He had been here all along.

Pressing down on my strangely fluttering chest, I forced myself to turn my steps towards where the subjugation camp was.

*

“My lady?”

Daisy snapped back to attention at Edwin’s call.

“Yes?”

“You need to focus. Even if it’s a wooden sword, you could hurt your foot if you drop it.”

Daisy glanced down at the wooden sword she was holding with both hands. The wooden sword Edwin had brought for her share was much smaller and thinner compared to the one Edwin was holding.

“It’s such a small wooden sword, how much could it hurt? Lady Rosebelia must be fighting with a much heavier sword…”

“Your interest is always focused on Rose, isn’t it?”

“That’s because I’m worried. Is Lady Rosebelia alright?”

Whenever she visited the duke’s residence, Daisy would list her concerns about Rosebelia. Edwin, now quite accustomed to this, replied with a slight lift of his mouth corner.

“Of course, Rose is really strong. She’s also skilled at subjugation.”

“Of course she would be! It’s Lady Rosebelia after all.”

Although she sometimes acted unexpectedly, making observers’ hearts race, she was always a reliable comrade and someone to depend on.

“This is just between us, but actually, Rose is stronger than me.”

“Hmm, I thought so. Lady Rosebelia went on the monster subjugation, but you couldn’t go, Edwin.”

“I was also selected for the list. I just couldn’t go because I injured my ankle.”

Daisy burst into laughter at Edwin’s flustered reaction, then quickly covered her mouth.

“You were injured? Is it okay for you to be helping with my training like this?”

Edwin’s expression softened as he met her wide eyes. In truth, this barely qualified as training.

They were just repeating the motion of holding the wooden sword with both hands, lifting it up and bringing it down.

“Yes. Your joy is my joy, after all.”

Daisy blushed as she glanced up at Edwin, who was smiling brightly.

‘How can he say such things without changing his expression at all?’

“How does my joy become your joy, Edwin?”

“Well, that’s…”

As Edwin trailed off, Daisy pouted her lips.

“Never mind, just tell me more about Lady Rosebelia. Lady Rosebelia is popular within the Knights Order, right?”

“Yes. As she’s skilled, many in the Knights Order admire Rose.”

“Not that. Lady Rosebelia is not only excellent as a knight, but she’s also truly beautiful…”

“Rose is certainly beautiful, but in my eyes, Lady Daisy is even more beautiful.”

Confusion spread across Daisy’s face as she curled her fingertips in surprise.

“Edwin, tell me honestly.”

“Please speak.”

Daisy approached Edwin and looked up at him with squinted eyes.

“You’re a playboy, aren’t you?”

“…Pardon?”

*

“Sir Rosebelia, how much further until we reach the ‘Red Spring’?”

“It’s around this area.”

“As expected, there are many monsters near the Red Spring.”

Even though the subjugation team was moving together, monsters kept popping up everywhere near the Red Spring, causing delays in their progress multiple times.

It seems like night will fall soon.

“Could that be the Red Spring?”

The straight pointing finger indicated the ‘Red Spring’ that Rosebelia had seen in her memories.

“That’s right.”

“It’s smaller than I expected.”

“The other springs we saw on the way weren’t like this, it’s really red… It looks just like blood.”

As someone muttered, it was an eerie shade of red.

Given that it’s called a spring, water must be coming from somewhere.

But there was no visible inflow or outflow of water. It looked more like water stagnant in a large puddle rather than a spring.

“Can we touch it?”

“No, you can’t. It’s toxic.”

The monster researcher who had approached the Red Spring said firmly.

“So how are we going to take this water?”

“We have specially made containers.”

Gail, the monster researcher, unpacked his bundle with familiarity. There were quite a few transparent containers inside.

“Should we put this down here too?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Some knights who had been helping carry Gail’s luggage put the bundles down near the Red Spring. While Gail was busy filling the containers with spring water, Gabriel looked up at the orange-tinted sky.

“The sun will set soon.”

“We’ll spread out and look for a place to set up camp.”

Gabriel, stroking his beard, nodded.

“It would be better to move a bit further away from the Red Spring.”

“Understood.”

As Renart led the Guardian Knights down, Gabriel approached Gail.

“Gail, how much longer do you think it will take?”

“It will take a while, Commander.”

“The two of us will escort this person, so the rest of you can go down first.”

Surprisingly, it was two knights from the Riley family who volunteered to escort Gail.

“You’re going to stay with just three people?”

As Lucas asked in disbelief, Pierre replied nonchalantly.

“We’re just collecting spring water for a moment, and we can carry the luggage, so you all should go down quickly.”

“Then I’ll leave it to Sir Pierre. Come on, everyone, let’s go down.”

At Lucas’s urging, the remaining subjugation team members moved downwards. After taking a few steps following them.

“Rosebelia, what are you doing there? Come on.”

“Isn’t it a bit strange?”

“What is?”

Normally, they would have tried to keep as many people as possible.

It’s barely enough to ask for help with carrying the luggage, but they’re saying they’ll carry it themselves so everyone should go?

Considering their usual behavior, they weren’t the type to say such things. Pierre, especially, wasn’t that kind of person.

“I’m going to the Red Spring for a moment.”

“Leave them be. If they want to volunteer for hardship.”

“That’s what’s strange. People who usually don’t act like this are doing so.”

Leaving Lucas tilting his head with a puzzled expression, I climbed back up the hill where the Red Spring was.

As I approached carefully, muffling my footsteps, what I saw was…

What are those two doing?

The monster researcher was slightly away from the Red Spring, while the two knights from the Riley family were closer to the spring.

They were holding something in their hands.

It looks similar to those containers Gail brought?

What’s even stranger is that instead of filling them with spring water like Gail, they seemed to be emptying something into it.

“What are you doing here right now?”