By Zephyria 
“Hey, you.”
It happened then.
At the chilling voice coming from behind, the soldiers, including this body, flinched and looked up. Two of Laina’s armored knights were standing tall like mountains, looking down at them. It was unclear how long they had been there.
The terrified conscripts quickly turned their heads away as if they weren’t interested. Among them, only this body and Bram remained, looking up at the knights in awkward postures.
Naturally, as their eyes met, a tension lingered in their expressions: ‘Did they hear?’ Even if the languages were different, there might be one or two people who understood. And if that were the case… he didn’t want to think about what would happen next.
“…Yes? Me, you mean?”
This body, who had dared to critique the King’s face, answered in a frightened voice. At that, one of the knights gestured to the person standing behind him.
“This is a reward for your contribution to the operational planning process.”
Another knight stepped forward carrying a tray covered with a cloth. A savory scent brushed against the tip of his nose.
“This is a gift bestowed directly by His Excellency, so receive it with gratitude.”
His Excellency…? His head turned instinctively, but his view was soon blocked by the imposing physique of the knight who had approached. The knight loomed over him like a giant and thrust a wooden tray in front of his face.
“Take it.”
As he reflexively took it with both hands, it was heavier than expected, and he almost dropped it. Barely managing to hold on by straining his arms, the knight personally lifted the cloth covering it.
A whole roasted goose, skewered and cooked, lay there with an appetizing color. As the fragrant aroma wafted in all directions, the eyes of the conscripts, who had been pretending not to notice, widened.
“T-this is….”
The perfectly cooked goose was crispy on the outside and plump on the inside, with juices flowing so much they pooled on the tray. To a soldier who had been starving for days, could there be anything more stimulating than this?
“Such a precious thing….”
“What is it? What’s going on?”
“Why are they giving it to him?”
Feeling the gathering attention and whispers, the knight who delivered the gift looked around and issued a warning.
“I do not mind if you share it, but if anyone touches it without the owner’s permission or attempts to extort it, they will be severely punished under Laina’s military law.”
Even if they didn’t understand the exact meaning, the intent was clearly conveyed by the knight’s action of gripping his sword hilt. The soldiers who had been eyeing the food quickly looked away again. However, the glancing stares were inevitable. This body blinked in bewilderment before opening his mouth.
“…Thank you.”
“His Excellency said he will call upon you occasionally when needed, so remain on standby at all times.”
“Yes? Ah, I understand!”
At the passing addendum, he bowed his head. The two knights returned to Laina’s camp without further response, giving a sharp glare to the sides once before leaving. Leonardo stared blankly at the roast in his hands.
Goose in a place like this—it might be nothing to a King, but to subordinates, it was a clear indicator of favor. His throat tightened as saliva naturally pooled in his mouth. Sure enough, the conscripts flocked around him instantly, making a fuss about what this was.
“What is all this?”
“Do you know them?”
“They gave it to you to eat, right?”
However, this body only shifted his gaze toward the one who had bestowed the gift. As his view cleared, the figure of Theodore shimmered in the distance again. He was still merely conversing with his confidants, not looking this way.
As he watched for quite a while, Leonardo wondered for the first time what this fellow was thinking, rather than himself.
‘Hey, why aren’t you eating? What if it gets stolen?’
“Shoo! Everyone, get back! The recipient hasn’t even touched it yet!”
Fortunately, Bram stepped forward first to protect the gifted roast goose from the pack of hyenas. Coming back to his senses, this body placed the heavy tray on his lap.
Then, he first tore off a large piece of the leg with his bare hands. It was quite hot, but he had no time to care. Soon, he took a huge bite in front of everyone.
Everyone blinked at this sudden action. Their expressions looked as if they were losing their minds at the sight of the dripping juices and the elasticity of the tender meat. Seeing this, this body devoured it even more greedily, as if to show off. It seemed like a silent warning not to touch it, but soon, after stuffing his cheeks full of meat and swallowing it down his throat, he spoke.
“I… couldn’t see him up close.”
“Huh?”
Responses came back as if asking what he meant. This was because they had been expecting a suggestion to eat together or a comment on the taste, more than anything else.
Ignoring them, his lips trembled slightly. Even the tip of his nose felt a bit stingy.
Perhaps because it was the first recognition he had received here, this body murmured in his main voice.
“Because I felt like I would go blind….”
He must be moved again.
He had worried that this body might be a fool who would lose his gift because he couldn’t take care of it, but he was surprisingly resourceful. He tore off the two legs and half the body of the goose to keep as his own share, and disassembled the remaining quarter with a fork to give a piece to each of the conscripts.
Of course, it wasn’t free. In exchange, he collected half a biscuit from each. Some reacted that it was too much for just one piece, but when he tried to move to the next person, they readily agreed to the trade, saying they weren’t refusing to eat it. The biscuits collected this way exceeded two palms and filled his pockets.
He took the remaining quarter and offered it to the leader of the men who was being treated inside the tent. The man was very pleased and, with the help of an elite, tore into the meat, saying he would remember his face. He didn’t seem to remember that this body had pushed his shoulder and knocked him over.
The rest he had kept for himself, he shared with Bram in hiding. Bram asked with a quite surprised look if it was alright for him to enjoy such a privilege, but when told it was a way of repaying a favor, he tilted his head but enjoyed the reward together.
And Leonardo only later realized why this fellow had acted this way. It was to expand his own influence within the defense force. Within the base and on the march, this body always lingered around the groups that formed the core of the collective.
It was unclear whether that was for survival or to obtain information. Perhaps it was both. What was certain was that by sticking to those in power, the number of people around him increased, unlike the beginning of the recollection where he was close to a loner.
He became an open friend with Bram, and they looked after each other first during meals or combat situations. This body occasionally handed out the saved biscuits to soldiers to get what he wanted, receive help, or get closer to people he wanted to impress.
‘Not bad.’
Watching this, Leonardo implicitly felt that Theodore was at the end of this body’s goal.
The reason was simple. His gaze was always trailing after Theodore. However, unlike the ordinary soldiers who could be approached with half a biscuit, the existence known as the Sun King was so far and distant that a mere conscript could capture him in his sight but never reach him with his fingertips.
Despite saying he would call him occasionally, Theodore hadn’t given a single glance this way since the first day. Perhaps there were many capable people among his subordinates, as not one of them stepped forward to act as a fluent interpreter.
The fact that he couldn’t approach him left Leonardo seized by an inexplicable frustration.
“I wish I could help with something….”
The moment he flinched was when this body spoke aloud the thoughts he had always had while looking at Theodore. Perhaps it was from that moment that the course of this recollection was clearly decided.
That he developed a slight attachment to the actual owner of this body, and became curious about what kind of person he was.
While fighting, enduring, and surviving day by day, the man’s injuries were gradually worsening. Though common on the battlefield, as the time he spent being transported in a wagon increased, the power structure of the procession was gradually reorganized.
Accordingly, there were more days when Theodore led the entire allied army, which integrated Laina’s army and the defense force. And whenever he had a spare moment, he taught the defense force swordsmanship, spearmanship, and shield techniques through Laina’s knights.
As they communicated using gestures and signs, the knights and soldiers gradually began to understand each other’s languages. Even if they maintained some distance on the surface, they built relationships of trust by occasionally eating together, sparring, or trusting each other’s backs on the battlefield.
Additionally, as if anticipating that this harmony would crack if supplies ran low, Theodore detached some of the defense force’s manpower to operate as a food procurement unit. This body was among them.
Since many of the conscripts were from serf backgrounds, they were skilled at distinguishing what was edible and what wasn’t in the mountains, and could well infer the types of beasts and demon beasts that appeared based on the nearby vegetation. Theodore organized these into records so that everyone in the unit could be familiar with them. The food collected this way was distributed under the strict management of the quartermaster, ensuring that everyone could have a warm meal without going hungry, though not as much as on the first day the defense force welcomed Laina’s army.
In other words, the unit gradually became systematized, and the survival rate also increased. It grew into a force truly worthy of the name ‘Allied Army.’
As a result, the time this body spent merely watching Theodore without being able to reach him grew longer.
Then one day. The opportunity to approach on his own terms came just as the allied army entered Santrea, the lair of the demon beasts.