It seems like whoever these people are. There is a lot of them. How peculiar, usually one wouldn"t travel in huge groups. It attracts far too much attention. Even her eldest brother, when heading out into the battlefield, splits his soldiers apart. With the growing number of lights, though, Lyn felt slightly alarmed. What"s with this huge group? Calm down; it"s probably a group of soldiers. They aren"t her brother"s soldiers, are they? Her brother"s people wouldn"t travel in large groups. He ensured that they were all trained not to travel that way."By the sounds of it, they are carrying weapons too." She frowned. Why would such a huge group use the forest to travel? It isn"t an enemy ambush, is it? While this town is far from the main town. It"s still a town in the Mist Kingdom.
"Lyn, by the way, your clothes stand out."
At that comment, Lyn glanced down at what she was wearing. It was the kimono her brother gave her. He had it specially tailored so she could fight in it and look elegant. Lyn thought the last part was silly. Why did she have to maintain her appearance, even now? It made little sense to her. However, she knew Kazuya liked it. Before they went to the dungeon area. Kazuya kept kissing her neck and touching her.
"What do I do? I didn"t bring anything."
Kazuya smiled, "Excuse me," he removed his black cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders.
"Black." Lyn noted that Kazuya wore darker clothes today. But, she didn"t think much of it. Maybe he wore it to camouflage himself. The dungeons are dark, even with the magic light sources hovering around. So, even though Kazuya acts like an idiot and fool at times. When it comes to entering the battlefield, he becomes a serious person, huh? Then again, whenever he is fighting. He feels like a different person.
How to put it? There is a mysterious aura surrounding him whenever he fights. Kazuya always says he dislikes violence, but whenever he fights. It feels like a hunting dog about to capture his prey — the thrill in his eyes, and the change in his tone, his words.
While the cloak wasn"t exactly the best-looking thing, in contrast to the expensive kimono she wore, it looked very shabby. However, for Lyn, it was the best thing she wore in a while. Kazuya"s scent is all over this, and his warmth. Forget the purpose of disguise; she"s very pleased with this outcome.
"Uh, Lyn, you don"t have to hug it like that. It"s nothing special," Kazuya muttered awkwardly, scratching his face.
Lyn immediately looked down, embarra.s.sed. "R—right," she stammered. She didn"t think he would catch her off guard like that. True, she was in hailing his scent a bit through the clothing. But that"s only because it"s him.
Kazuya lightly brushed their forehead against one another before he brought his fingers towards her lips and crouched them both down. "They are coming."
Lila nodded, and eventually, the lights turned into a group of people. They walked down the path Kazuya, and her cleared earlier. As she thought, they were all warriors. All of them wore the same armor and had similar equipment. Quite simple equipment, and nothing extravagant. Dull swords and s.h.i.+elds, some had one-handed swords, halberds, spears. Walking in a straight line and with their heads down. It was difficult to see who they were.
What"s with those helmets? Why are they all looking down? Walking in a perfectly straight line like that. That seems very stifling, is that some sort of trend? But, now that she saw them. Lyn confirmed who they were. Among the Empire, there is a group of Knights who aren"t n.o.bles. Individuals who did not pa.s.s the Knights examination. Usually, Knights belong from n.o.ble families. Those who go through the test and end up getting picked are n.o.bles too.
Only individuals with exceptional skills end up getting picked. Now that she thought about it. Among the group Kazuya get along with, many are not n.o.bles. A large number actually. She wonders if that was a coincidence or not. Lyn learned they weren"t n.o.bles right away, because of how Kazuya acted around them. Kazuya holds a silent grudge against n.o.bles. Even though she is an exception to that rule, Lyn still saw how bitter his face would become when he sees the n.o.ble"s mistreatment of others.
Kazuya tries to hide it from her, but obviously, he cannot hide such things for long. He always apologizes to her and rea.s.sures her that she is different. However, sometimes Lyn can"t help but feel uneasy. The only reason Kazuya can say that for sure is because Kazuya hasn"t attended a banquet with her as a Princess yet. Though they"ve attended some gatherings together, he hasn"t seen her as the center of attention.
If he does, if he saw her act like a Princess. Would Kazuya also believe her to be the same as those n.o.bles he resented? Lyn didn"t want to find out at all.
She turned her attention back to the group. These people weren"t enemies exactly. Even with her secluded lifestyle, Lyn heard of the group"s efforts to stop crimes occurring in town. They genuinely did their best. However, she questions their methods. She heard how brutish their ways were; they"d attack anybody who went against them, regardless of their ages. Lyn heard of awful stories of how they"d beat up bad guys openly on the streets to make an example of them. For some Knights, they"d take their equipment away from them and leave them stranded with a pack of wolves.
Such terrible rumors float around. Usually, Lyn wouldn"t believe such things. However, during those rare times, she can go out. She saw it with her own eyes. Those rumors about the group were true. She saw them treating those people they suspected badly. Lyn saw how they manipulated new soldiers and tricked them so they would get benefits. But, naturally, after getting cheated so many times. One wouldn"t fall for it so quickly the next time.
It"s common knowledge amongst new soldiers that they shouldn"t go near such a group. However, this group is usually operating in small towns. It"s quite rare seeing them here, in a fancy city like this. Should she make a note of it and report it to her brother? While Lyn has not followed brother Andrew"s orders in awhile. She felt this was something important. It could be a coincidence, but it"s better to be safe than sorry.
Lyn glanced over and saw a similar complicated look on Kazuya"s face. They waited until the group was safely out of sight before speaking.
"It seems like the rumors are true," Kazuya mumbled.
"Rumors?"
"Rumors that your sister is gathering a large group to strengthen her military."
Her sweat fell, "But, my sister hates anybody who isn"t a n.o.ble. She"s prejudiced."
"Right, so you would think that this group wouldn"t accept orders from her, right?"
Lyn nodded, "Ah-huh."
"But, they are most likely here on her orders. Didn"t you see how they were acting?"
How were they acting? Lyn recalled what just occurred a few minutes ago. When she was watching the men, she noticed how frightened they were. Ah, "The way my sister treats soldiers is inhumane."
Her sister controlled everything using" fear."