Scouting Ahead

“Why don’t we slow down a bit, Vivi?”

Viviane glanced beside her, regarding Medrauta with a slight frown as the two rode their horses alongside each other. It was early in the afternoon, but the sun was quickly approaching its zenith, its hot summer rays beating down on their backs harshly. They had ridden ahead of the soldiers as a pair, intending to assess the strength of the approaching witchspawn before regrouping with the main unit.

“Slow down?” Viviane asked, confused. “Why? Lady Scarlet’s waiting for our repo—”

“It’s just you and me right now, Vivi.” Medrauta said, reaching over and placing a finger on Viviane’s lips to stymie her protests. As an experienced rider, Medrauta was capable of retaining control over her mount easily even with only one hand on the reins. “Don’t you think we deserve some alone time together?”

“So that’s why you agreed to this so quickly...” Viviane pursed her lips, sighing. “I... It’s not like I don’t want some quality time with you, but this is hardly the time or place to be having a romantic date, Medrauta. The witchspawn have been traveling since morning, so it’s likely they’ll be able to reach us before evening. That, and...”

“And?” Medrauta prompted as Viviane’s voice trailed off. The noblewoman had seemed uncertain of something, her golden eyes drifting toward the distance as she fell silent. Despite Viviane’s troubled look, her expression conveyed a somewhat desperate sort of determination, piquing Medrauta’s curiosity and worry.

“And... I feel like I’m not doing enough.” Viviane shrugged, her shoulders sagging in a forlorn manner. “I know it’s silly to feel that way after everything we’ve been through recently. We’ve been tackling problem after problem non-stop without any rest, but still, we’ve fallen behind everyone else, haven’t we?”

Medrauta raised an eyebrow, reaching over to grasp the reins of Viviane’s mount and tug lightly, causing the horse to slow to a canter. She placed a hand on top of the noblewoman’s, speaking firmly but softly. “Viviane. This was never a competition. We’ve been doing our best in our own way, and it’s not like we’ve been doing horribly either. There’s no need to compare ourselves to the others. Let’s just go at our own pace like we always have, yeah?”

Viviane paused for a moment before leaning over and giving Medrauta a quick peck on the cheek. “Yeah, you’re right.” She sighed. “I’m not sure what came over me, but after last night, I guess I just kind of felt like I needed to catch up to Lady Scarlet so much that I lost sight of what’s most important.”

“And what might that be?” Medrauta asked, blushing slightly at the sudden kiss. Based on what Viviane had said earlier, the knight had expected that Viviane was planning to sideline all romantic advances or displays of affection until they captured the second tower, or worse, until the war finally ended.

“Well, there’s no need for me to match Lady Scarlet’s pace, is there? The only person’s pace I need to match is yours,” Viviane winked.

“W-What’s gotten into you so suddenly!?” Medrauta exclaimed, tearing her eyes away from Viviane’s gaze and urging her horse forward slightly. The kiss was one thing, but Medrauta was quickly discovering that she was actually a massive sucker for cute one-liners. “I thought you said this wasn’t the time or place for romance! T-That the witchspawn were gonna be on us at any second!”

Viviane grinned. “I suppose I did, but I gave what you said a bit more thought and decided that we might as well take advantage of the time we have together. It’s going to be another long period of fighting, and who knows when we’ll get a bit more time to ourselves? Besides, I said that the witchspawn would probably reach us by evening, not now.”

Medrauta returned Viviane’s smile as the noblewoman’s mount drew level with her own once more. The two maintained a slow and steady pace as they made their way through the forest, no longer urging their mounts to gallop quickly nor taking a straight path to their destination. Instead, they chose a winding route that took advantage of the taller and thicker trees with a large canopy, allowing the leaves to shield them from the sunlight.

“If we were in any other situation, I would’ve liked to stop here with you and have a little picnic.” Viviane murmured, her eyes searching the grassy surroundings as she noted the ideal picnic spots around them. Although the forest’s trees were numerous and oftentimes densely packed together, they weren’t particularly large or thick and it would’ve been all too easy to set up a nice blanket underneath a cluster of trees.

Medrauta nodded her agreement, choosing to remain silent as the two of them simply basked in each other’s presence even as they headed toward the enemy that awaited them. It wasn’t as if the knight had nothing to say. Rather, she simply felt that her silence enhanced the mood more than any response could. Viviane reached a hand over, taking Medrauta’s and interlocking their fingers as if in confirmation of that fact.

The position was an awkward one seeing as they were both mounted on horses, but they enjoyed it nonetheless. After all, it had been a long while since they’d held hands like this, and in the silence of the forest that was intermittently interrupted only by the chirping of birds or the scurrying of critters, it almost felt like the war was long gone. However, both of them knew that this peace was only temporary, for not even the thick foliage above them could hide the dreadful visage of Amelia’s Spire.

It loomed above the entire empire like a baleful god, laying dormant as it waited for the final catalyst that would rouse it from slumber and signal the beginning of the apocalypse. As Medrauta and Viviane continued through the forest, they eventually reached the edge of the woods where the trees began thinning out. Now that they were closer to the capital, their eyes had been inexorably drawn to the colossal Spire that dominated the horizon and the sky above. Although it had already appeared impossibly gargantuan from afar, it now looked even more unrealistically large.

Medrauta pressed her lips into a thin line, detaching her hand from Viviane’s as she stared briefly at the grim reminder that the Spire served. “Looks like we’re almost there.”

Viviane nodded, unfurling the map that she’d brought now that she had both hands free. Their destination was a rather tall hill not too far from their current position. During the morning, Viviane and the tacticians had spent most of their time organizing the most efficient route toward the second shield tower while marking particularly relevant landmarks that could serve as vantage points for scouting parties who were sent to confirm the enemy’s forces.

“Just a bit more to our left and the hill should come into sight.” Viviane confirmed, urging her horse in the aforementioned direction.

“Huh? The left?” Medrauta frowned in confusion, hurrying to change course and catch up with her lady who had already begun galloping toward their destination. “I thought it was supposed to be on the right side of the forest!”

Incidentally, Medrauta hadn’t been present at the meeting. Coincidentally, Captain Vale had been missing as well despite being the commanding officer of the soldiers currently marching toward the second shield tower. Unfortunately for the captain, Medrauta had managed to single him out amongst the troops Viviane had chased away from the library during the previous night, something that had caused him to be thoroughly questioned and disciplined by the knight until the meeting concluded and Viviane finally came to drag Medrauta away.

Viviane rapped Medrauta on the forehead with her knuckles as her knight drew close, causing Medrauta to flinch. “You wouldn’t have forgotten if you had come to the meeting instead of harassing Captain Vale over an issue that was already resolved,” she admonished.

“ I did that for you, Vivi!” Medrauta protested. “Still, I can’t believe he was about to pull a sword on you. That sure says a lot about how the empire ended up in this sorry state.”

“Yeah... To be completely frank, I had been rather puzzled by the captain’s actions,” Viviane admitted. “It might’ve been brief, but we fought alongside the captain against the witchspawn. With the entire empire cast into chaos, the last thing I expected was nearly being forced into a confrontation with our own soldiers over some books. Even if they do contain content deemed heretical by the church, it won’t kill us to wait until after the war to dispose of them, right?”

“You’re only saying that ‘cause you wanna read ‘em.” Medrauta grinned. She pulled firmly on her horse’s reins, forcing the animal to slow down and eventually come to a stop alongside Viviane’s mount. The two of them had reached the hill at last, and though the slope had looked relatively gentle from afar, it was much steeper up close. The pair dismounted, both of them coming to the conclusion that walking would simply be far easier than attempting to force the horses up the hill.

“...Maybe so, but you can’t say you’re not curious either.” Viviane said. Now that they were on foot, she took the opportunity to slip her hand into Medrauta’s, holding it tightly. Together, they ascended the hill, its elevation granting them a vast range of vision that encompassed the incoming enemy forces. Viviane tightened her grip around Medrauta’s hand for a moment, her knight’s warmth melding with her own. Medrauta squeezed back, and she found comfort in that despite the sight they saw in the distance.