Episode 55
Episode 27. The total number of Orcs killed by Yuma and Catherine Yuma was 472. The number of Orcs handled by the Selove troops after leaving Yuma was 56.
In other words, a total of 528 orcs had disappeared from the Anten region.
It was a number that reached 30% of all monsters in the Anten region.
If the imperial regular army tried to subdue this, more than 3,000 troops had to be put in.
However, Hwangseong had no intention of injecting knights and regular troops for useless land.
If the land had been rotted by monsters to this extent, it was clear that there would be casualties among the knights.
It was an excessive loss to lose knights and soldiers for the convenience of only a few slash-and-burn families.
The troop was able to return to the plain where they let their horses loose when night fell.
It was an exceptionally bright night with moonlight and starlight.
The well-trained horses roamed around the place the party had set loose and were eating wild grass.
When Yuma and Salobe’s troops returned, the horses greeted their master with a hihhing.
“Put up the tent. We will set off at noon.”
Yuma took off her bloody armor and sat down on a rock. There was not a single piece of equipment that did not drip hardened oak blood.
“Yuma, are you okay? Why don’t you take a day or two more rest? Your body must be speechless.”
Zecca looked at Yuma’s bare body and said. There were quite a few torn wounds between the dark dried oak pits.
It was a miracle that there were no fatal injuries.
Zecca was worried that Yuma’s wounds would fester or become infected with the blood and weapons of the orcs.
As if remembering something, Zecca lifted up Sibelin and put it on Yuma’s body.
U “What are you doing?”
“I was wondering if Cybelin’s aura would heal the wound.”
“…were you originally such a stupid character? It can’t be like that. This was completely Malone. I could see that in the Inz Bikan as well.”
Yuma smiled and said. Jeka laughed and told her not to compare herself to an idiot like Marlon.
Katherine was crouching on the grass across the street, watching the two of them.
After escaping from the demon cave, Catherine felt inexplicable feelings for Yuma.
That commoner was arrogant to the point of being rude, but he was good at dealing with things like an old eunuch, and even while roasting and boiling the Jacques family in vain, like his father, he proved his strength beyond common sense.
Katherine had a very complicated and gloomy feeling, as if there was sand in her heart.
He always took pride in Yuma and treated him carelessly, but today he owed his life.
The appearance of Yuma, who was like a demon that I briefly saw when the Shelob troops lowered their camp.
It was a terrible scene she had never experienced since she was born as a daughter of the great aristocratic Jacques family.
Of course, there were fathers and brothers who commanded numerous battlefields, but Yuma seemed to have something more special.
I’d say it’s like it’s shining.
Like a character in a novel, he has the dignity of overcoming a crisis casually and never boasting about the process. And the composure that only a truly strong person can feel.
Catherine thought that commoner boy was a suitable vessel to take charge of the future of the Jacques family.
‘Compared to that commoner… I was just an immature child.’
I felt bitter.
For the first time in her life, Catherine felt inferior.
But that wasn’t all.
Along with the sense of defeat that rises from the depths of his heart, a strange feeling that somehow makes the tip of his nose feel hot when he calls Yuma by the name.
Catherine buried her face in her lap.
“I’ll wash up, so prepare some disinfectant. And tell the crew to boil water for the lady to wash herself.”
Under the leadership of Aquin and Geisel, the Cellov troops quickly completed camp preparations.
Yuma packed up his blood-soaked clothes and armor and went to the creek.
Yuma settled down some distance from the creek where the horses were drinking.
The water flow, soaked with the chill of the night, was cold as if it would freeze at any moment.
“It’s…
a cold chill as if it were piercing the skin.
Yuma scooped up some water with her palm and rubbed her whole body. The hardened blood adhered like a leech and did not come off easily.
“It’s terribly cold…
but it was so cold that it felt like the wounds all over my body from the orcs were shrinking.
Yuma endured the cold of the stream and the heat rising from the affected area as she continued to take a painful bath.
“Oh, why aren’t you leaving like this?”
It was around the time that most of the visible black blood scabs were removed. The clothes and armor had already been roughly washed.
Yuma was starting to get annoyed by the back she couldn’t reach and the blood scabs that got tangled in her hair and couldn’t come off.
Bubbly.
“huh?”
Hearing footsteps, Yuma turned her head. Catherine was walking by the creek.
“Did you wash everything?”
“It is still. What are you doing?”
Yuma looked up at Catherine and answered.
“I came to wash myself.”
“Have the crew not boiled the water yet? What are these bastards doing…
“No, your men are boiling a lot of water.”
“Then why did you come all the way here?”
Catherine stared at Yuma without answering.
She gave the hot water to Jeka and the crew and came out to the stream.
“Why don’t you use hot water?”
“Originally, when camping, mercenaries and soldiers don’t light that many fires. There’s nothing good about it. I ordered it to be cooked exceptionally for the young lady.”
“Then I will follow it.”
Yuma shrugged his shoulders and replied, ‘Yes’. Catherine sat by the creek and began to observe Yuma.
“…That girl. I’m sorry, but I have to wash myself quickly. Do you have anything else to say?”
“does not exist.”
“Ah yes.”
Yuma rubbed the back of her head and shoulders, avoiding Catherine’s gaze.
“Shouldn’t I go in only after you wash everything? so i will watch you Wash up quickly and come out.”
“Just use hot water. The water is very cold here. It must be painful.”
“It would be more painful if rumors spread that the daughter of the Jacques was weak and fussy.”
Catherine smiled bitterly. The moonlight was running through her long, red hair.
“That won’t happen. Anyway, I will wash up as soon as possible and leave.”
He said so, but there was no sign of the blood scabs sticking to his hair and back.
Yuma jumped up and played with his hands.
I didn’t want to go to sleep with this disgusting orc blood on me.
“Come and see.”
Catherine said. After making eye contact with Catherine for a while, Yuma approached without saying a word.
Katherine knelt at the water’s edge and began to remove the orc scabs from Yuma’s hair one by one.
Catherine’s long, thin fingers passed gently through Yuma’s hair.
Clap… Clap…
Every time Katherine’s palms were dipped in the creek water, there was a pleasant sound.
Yuma rested her head on Catherine’s lap and closed her eyes. Somehow, the tension was relieved, and I felt like I was going to fall asleep any minute.
Catherine was tidying up her hair, where the blood scabs were almost gone, then suddenly stopped and looked closely at Yuma’s face.
The appearance from before, which was more like a monster than a monster, was nowhere to be found, and it was a straight and elegant face.
Katherine bit her lip, suppressing the strange feeling of inferiority and defeat.
“It is done. Show your back.”
“The back is fine. I will do it.”
“Show me the price of my life I owe you today.”
Yuma turned his back to Catherine as if he couldn’t help it. The back could be washed much faster than the hair.
Yuma turned around and nodded to Catherine.
When Catherine turned around, Yuma quickly put on her clothes. The wet clothes were quite heavy.
“Take care of my washing there.”
Catherine said to Yuma who came out of the stream.
“All right.”
Her body temperature dropped because of her wet clothes, but Yuma leaned against a tree on the side of the stream.
Catherine slowly undressed and gently put her foot to the side of the stream where Yuma was. The chill that ran up his toes seemed to spread all over his body.
‘If you can’t put up with this level of discomfort, you won’t be able to follow that commoner. never.’
Katherine clenched her molars and began to bathe by the stream. Her pale skin was pulled tight from the cold.
“Why are you so strong?”
“Well, I don’t know.”
“It’s the same answer as your father. I didn’t ask about anything physical.”
“Are you talking about spirit?”
“Yes. Today you slaughtered hundreds of orcs. You looked more like a monster than an orc. How can you remain as if nothing happened even after being covered in the internal organs, skin, and blood of monsters?”
“That part is not particularly strong for me.”
“what?”
Katherine stopped rubbing her shoulder.
“Most commoners are like that.
No matter how dirty you go through, you have to overcome it somehow, you have to live like a tenacious person, and if you fall down or collapse, it’s the end…
“I don’t understand.”
“This is an area where you don’t have to know. Unless you are in a position where you have to roll from the bottom, there is nothing good to find out.”
This time, Yuma replied with a bitter smile.
“There are far more cruel things in the world than being covered in orc blood, my lady.”
In the empire, it was not uncommon for commoners to be beaten by nobles for opening their eyes the wrong way or to die while being beaten.
Mero as an example.
Look at the depravity he committed in Ferrol, a fishing village, by using his petty power, which is embarrassing to even talk about. Commoner girls like Maria had no one to protect them.
Yuma, who had lived both his lives as a commoner, knew that fact better than anyone else.
There was also a moment when he became a eunuch just because he had defeated a knight because of his good skills and talent.
Yuma, who lost the will to live and became a eunuch in the imperial castle, had to go through many hardships and be abused.
Until he met Empress Hella Rose.
‘Especially the eunuch Fornon, that son of a bitch…
Fornon was a person who had been terribly harassing Yuma, who had just become a eunuch, for several years. He was also a person who must be killed in this life.
Catherine washed herself for a long time without speaking. After the bath, the two walked side by side toward the campsite.
The crew were just about to wash their equipment after simply washing their faces with the hot water that Catherine had conceded.
“Light a fire. So that the young lady can warm herself up.”
“Didn’t you say you don’t light a lot of fire?”
“This is fine. If the young lady catches a cold, my position will be embarrassing. Except for Master and Sir Randell, there are not many people in the Jacques family who like me.”
Yuma laughed and said.
Yuma and Catherine sat at the campfire and warmed up in silence.
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