By Zephyria 
Creak, creak—
“Step back!”
With a heavy rumble, the massive gates groaned and slowly began to part. Ignoring the warning, Leonardo lingered nearby, peering through the gap. He flinched for a moment when he spotted dozens of cavalry horses shimmering in the distance.
‘Why cavalry?’
The moment he instinctively stepped back toward the edge, soldiers on horseback poured through the open gates like a flood.
They were clad in the armor of Laina’s army, the same as Theodore’s knights. There was even a standard-bearer with a fluttering banner and a commander who appeared to be of high rank at the vanguard.
Cavalry should have been mostly excluded for tactical reasons, shouldn’t they? Just as he was wondering, the people filling the base’s courtyard hurriedly cleared a path on both sides. Then, the commander shouted powerfully.
“Everyone, begin unloading the supplies!”
The conscripts, upon hearing the order, looked bewildered. Recalling nightmares from the field camps, some hesitated and glanced toward the supply warehouses. However, upon seeing the incoming carts and wagons, they realized these were the logistics units Laina had mentioned.
“Chief Intendant Edgard, you have arrived!”
The knights of Laina who had remained at the base approached the commander and offered polite greetings. The commander leaped lightly from the horse and removed her helmet instead of returning the greeting. She swept back her haphazardly tangled hair and roughly wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead.
“Where is His Excellency?”
“He has set out with the operational unit to lure the enemy.”
“So that’s why the road was so quiet. Thanks to that, we arrived quickly.”
Though he had expected it from the voice, the commander was a woman—a rare sight on the battlefields of this era. It seemed a small, highly mobile group had moved separately to deliver supplies to the Monarch’s cavalry that had departed earlier. In that moment, Leonardo couldn’t help but be inwardly surprised by two facts.
One was that the current large amount of supplies was not everything. And the other was…
‘That face is definitely…’
The appearance of the logistics chief called Edgard felt strangely familiar. His mind scoured through past memories faster than his will could command. Soon, he found a face that was unforgettable in many ways.
‘The merchant guild leader?’
That woman who possessed nothing but malice, useless pride, and a desperate desire to live well. It was Briana Dixie, the bermuda-born merchant guild leader whom he had personally saved and let go in the frost territory. Now, she would be living across the sea in Ulyssia under a new name, Elena.
‘She was here?’
Today was proving to be a day of many surprises. While not as shocking as meeting the Sun King for the first time, he never expected to see a figure who had been fading from his mind in a recollection of memories from nearly 1,000 years ago… And knowing that she was one of the military officers following Theodore gave him a strangely peculiar sense of intimacy. Suddenly, he found himself wanting to know how she had been.
‘A logistics chief in the past; I guess that knack for business doesn’t go away.’
Whether it was out of warmth or pity, Leonardo found himself staring at her. The position of overseeing military supplies required not only exceptional talent but also the trust of the King. Although she had been cast aside as a scapegoat in his previous life, if she had joined a guild other than Delberg’s in this life, she might have secured a position and exerted her abilities to her heart’s content.
Perhaps sensing his affectionate gaze, her eyes rolled toward him. Startled, he quickly turned his head away.
Just as he was becoming nervous that she might mistake him for a weirdo, another horn blast echoed from beyond the still-open gates of the base. The pitch and rhythm were different from the previous two blasts.
The soldiers, who had been scattered in the bustle, instantly lined up before the gate.
It was the news of Laina’s victory.
The interior of the base soon became boisterous. As soon as the expeditionary force announced the success of the operation, the wounded were transported in.
Among them was a man shouting coarse curses. His skin was ragged, as if a limb had been bitten off by the creatures; raw red flesh, muscle tissue, and white bone were grotesquely exposed.
It seemed he was one of the dozen fast-moving soldiers who had lured the creatures into the Canyon of Odil. Leonardo had wondered if he was the type to talk big but avoid danger, but it seemed he was not.
Despite wounds so severe that even the other soldiers turned their eyes away in horror, the man remained spirited throughout his treatment, claiming that the operation succeeded thanks to him. And Theodore praised him, acknowledging his merit.
“If not for you, this operation would have failed. As expected of a captain of the guard.”
The man looked much happier than before. He seemed to think he had broken Theodore’s spirit, but regardless, Theodore personally ordered that Laina’s supplies be distributed even to the defense forces and conscripts who were not his own citizens. He stated that since they had suffered equally, they deserved to enjoy a warm meal.
However, Chief Intendant Edgard was appalled upon hearing the King’s order.
“Our own soldiers’ rations are barely sufficient; how can you ask us to share food that is more precious than gold on the battlefield?”
To question the Monarch’s command was an impious attitude, but as the military’s chief of logistics and a loyal subject, it was a natural reaction. She requested a reconsideration, but after glancing at the gaunt faces of the soldiers, her stance shifted.
“As long as I have my eyes open, there shall be no starving soldier in this place!”
At that, the defense forces united in a fervent voice to support her.
Thanks to that, Leonardo was also able to sit around a campfire with the conscripts who had come from the field camp and enjoy a proper meal.
Not food waste swarming with maggots, but soft, butter-scented bread and a meat stew with a deep, aged flavor. Sausages grilled over the fire, salted sheep’s milk cheese, and a few sweet biscuits.
The soldiers, wondering how long it had been since they last ate such food, buried their noses in their plates and ate greedily. He, too, was preoccupied with filling his starving stomach. However, Leonardo’s eyes and ears were directed toward only one place.
In front of a large tent. Toward Theodore, who sat facing his confidants with a pleasant smile.
Having removed his heavy armor and sitting in the seat of honor, he could not hide his innate, striking beauty, even with strands of sweat-soaked hair clinging to his face. When he poured water from a canteen over his head and rubbed his eyes and forehead, moist droplets flowed down his elegant features, adding a sense of freshness.
‘He doesn’t seem to be hurt anywhere.’
As he lowered his gaze and rubbed the corner of his lips, a mysterious atmosphere flowed.
Soon, he let out a hearty laugh and said something, and one of his confidants explained himself with frantic gestures, looking aggrieved. At that, the other confidants around them burst into laughter.
That alone was enough to tell. How deeply he was trusted by his subordinates. He displayed dignity and authority when necessary, but usually, he showed warmth to the soldiers and mingled with them without reserve. It looked truly wonderful.
He thought about how a King loved by all could be so dazzling.
‘It’s definitely not because it’s my face.’
“What are you looking at so intently?”
Whether his gaze had been directed there for too long, another face suddenly popped into his fixed field of vision. Startled, he almost dropped the wooden spoon in his hand, but a comrade he had grown quite close to—a man who introduced himself as Bram—caught it for him.
“You mustn’t spill a single drop. Do you know how precious this is?”
He placed the spoon back into the mess tin and sucked the stew off his fingers. Since receiving help during the dawn battle, Bram always approached him whenever he had nothing to do.
“Ah… it’s nothing. I just thought, ‘there are days like this on the battlefield.’”
“Exactly. It’s a good thing we’re alive, right? Thanks to you.”
Bram smiled kindly and secretly pushed a piece of his allotted biscuit toward him. The act of readily giving away food that was said to be more precious than gold was an expression of intense gratitude. He waved his hand, saying he was fine, but before long, fearing Bram might take it back, he quickly popped the biscuit into his mouth.
Seeing this, Bram let out a hearty laugh, as if it were absurd.
“I could give you one more. You’re my lifesaver.”
There is something that connects people in the same predicament without the need for words. Perhaps that was why they skipped the long, cringeworthy greetings. Instead, Bram, seemingly wanting to get closer, whispered softly.
“About the King of Laina. Rumor has it he’s such an eyesore of an ugly man that he hasn’t had a spouse or a single heir. I guess rumors really aren’t to be trusted. It’s actually the opposite.”
Leonardo glanced back at Bram. While sparks had flown in his eyes during the previous sentence, now there was a persistence that said, ‘go on.’ Bram muttered, his gaze fixed seriously on Theodore.
“I’ve never seen a man so beautiful in my life. Doesn’t he look like someone from another world? Are all royals like sculptures? The Monarch of Pallenium I glimpsed once wasn’t like that…”
“He is the King of a great nation, so wouldn’t he be different?”
“Right? A great nation is indeed a great nation.”
Bram poured out praises for Theodore as if he were possessed. He spoke of his benevolent nature for granting food to lowly beings like them, and stories of how the demon beasts fled in terror the moment his cavalry swept through the forest. He described the situation with vivid realism.
“They say the high-and-mighty hate even touching people like us, but I guess that’s not always the case. Look, have you ever seen a Monarch mingling with his subordinates like that?”
Indeed. Considering the era, it was an even more surprising sight. If he hadn’t known he was the King, he would have thought young knights were simply sharing their feelings. Of course, the moment one saw his status and spirit, it was impossible not to know he was the King.
A sense of déjà vu suddenly struck him as he recalled the special culture of the Council. The legions of the Council also had commanders and ordinary members eating the same food and mingling together. It was unclear who created such a culture, but if the Theodore of this era saw it, wouldn’t it be the scene he would be most satisfied with?
“Come to think of it, you saw the King’s face right in front of you earlier, didn’t you?”
At Bram’s question, the conscripts sitting around turned their heads in unison.
“…How was it? Was he so dazzling it took your breath away?”
Before he could think that the voice was too loud, the expectation shimmering in the soldiers’ eyes reached him first.
As the attention concentrated on him in an instant, he looked left and right, appearing flustered.
“Uh… well.”
‘You’d better choose your words carefully.’
No matter the distance, critiquing the King of another nation was something only someone with an absurd amount of nerve would do. However, Leonardo was more focused than ever.