Death was an ever present company for Krieg, war did nothing else but to enforce the feeling that one day everyone would eventually die, one way or another. His duties as Leona's personal knight was seen with skepticism, not only he found his job lacking, but also saw it as an awkward way to employ him for what he did best, which was to eliminate foes. More accurately, to slay those who would try to harm her.
"Krieg!"
While on watch outside the mansion, a very young Leona came running to him with a motionless squirrel on hands. She seemed worried for the small critter but the knight knew it was too late, nevertheless he kneeled as she approached.
"Yes, Princess?"
"I found it lying near a tree, do you think it's wounded?"
"Ah… I'm afraid it's no longer alive, Princess Leona."
Her small hands gently caressed the animal's dead body while her eyes closed solemnly. A few seconds passed before she looked up to the knight again.
"Can we bury it?"
Taken aback by what he heard he couldn't help but hesitate before answering.
"Yes, of course. I'll help you make a proper burial for the little guy."
"Thank you Krieg."
They walked not far into the forest and beneath a very tall tree, the knight dug the ground with a trowel while the Princess held the deceased animal between her hands.
"Princess, do you not feel disgusted by a dead animal?"
The question seemed to confuse her as she asked.
"Why? Should I feel disgusted?"
"No that's not it, I just wanted to know since you are still holding it."
"It was alive at a certain point. I just- I just couldn't leave it alone like that."
"I see."
He continued to dig until it was a sizable hole to fit the animal entirely. Leona gently laid its body inside the small grave before Krieg covered it with soft earth. He stood up and patted her head.
"You have a very kind heart, Princess Leona."
"Huh? Why?"
He chuckled lightly.
"You'll understand it someday."
His words were echoing in his mind, he decided to make sure she would live long enough to understand it.
They were traversing at a brisk pace through the beaten path, Leona still in the knight's arms as he jogged through the dirt road that connected the two kingdoms. It was a rather open area, enough to fit two medium sized carriages side by side, normally there would be some semblance of trade, but with Eleonora's reign and the continuous assault of death angels that preyed on merchants coming from the east, it has seen less and less use.
"Sir Krieg, have you traveled beyond this road?"
"Only a few times to Akrapocalis when accompanying my lord and his wife, not beyond that however."
"I see. I have been in the citadel before but that was before I came to search for you. Queen Eleonora had other plans with the dwarves and I was here to deliver them."
"Queen Eleonora huh…"
Krieg frowned his brow, as normal as it would seem, the knight wasn't convinced by that. Eleonora was formerly a captain of the royal arcadian knights, but she was no strategist. She only filled the spot as commander for her former deeds but behind the scenes there was always Reinhardt, the sole heir and now current demon king. They used to travel together to end the war and bring peace to the continent. It took a few years, but in the end they accomplished one of their goals, but true peace would elude even the ones that didn't wish for conflict, for this world is still filled with malice.
Knowing such things, Krieg couldn't help but feel despondent. Though that didn't waver the focus from his duty, he made a vow and it had to cost his life if he was ever going to break it.
"Phoebe, I don't doubt your words, since if you ever had second intentions you would have acted on them before, but are you completely sure that it was Queen Eleonora that gave you these orders?"
"Yes, it has to. She gave them directly to me."
He couldn't help but feel a knot form in his gut. It didn't seem right, but for the sake of trusting the elf in front of him, he decided to let it go for the time being."
"I… see…"
The brisk rain was starting to fall more vigorously, giving place to stronger rain pelting their faces, albeit Leona seemed unaffected, or to be more precise, her expression hadn't changed ever since they left the mansion, as if her mind wasn't exactly there.
"Is she ok?"
Phoebe asked while staring at the princess' hollow eyes as she bounced up and down with each step the knight took. While he was worried for her mental state, he couldn't stop until there was enough of a distance between them and the Arcadian capital, cavalry wasn't common ever since the Great War but some of the royal knights had horses for traveling purposes, it wasn't a risk he was willing to take. In order to be safer, they needed a place to rest that was away from the main road and far from prying eyes.
"No, but I intend to look after her when we make camp. For now, the further away we can get from the capital the better."
"Right. I'm somewhat familiar with the terrain, so I'll help us find a proper place to rest."
"Thank you, and… I'm sorry for your comrades. We were together just for a while but without their help I don't know if we could've made it back to the mansion."
"It's not your fault. If anything it was my fault for being overconfident, I knew Laslow was a competent mage but I didn't expect our foe to have such mastery over magecraft… though I'm not sure about Laura or Jonathan, I just hope they are ok somehow."
"I will make sure to avenge them when the time comes, that much I owe you all."
Phoebe smiled beneath the dark blue cloak that covered her face, it was an unusual sign of kindness coming from him, but it was appreciated nonetheless.
Many days remained until they reached the citadel of Akrapocalis, but that was only the beginning.