The next day, Leonard woke Marianne up to resume their journey. She didn't react to the first attempt to be woken up, so he had to insist and move her a little.
"Oh, don't hurt me," Marianne pleaded, still sleepy.
"Relax, it's me," Leonard replied, laughing. "You looked lovely and peaceful sleeping, but we must leave."
"It's okay, Leonard," she replied, slightly blushing. "Hey... It would be best if you didn't look at me while I sleep."
"Ha ha ha. It's one of the advantages of standing guard."
After getting up, they went to wash and get water from a nearby stream. They had already found enough food in the bandits' temporary camp. As Marianne explained to Leonard, they were most likely in Albany territory. The best thing was to go through the Viscount's lands, then through Daphnel and Duchy Riegan, avoiding the territory of the Earl of Gloucester.
"What is the need to avoid said territory?" Leonard asked, somewhat confused.
"The earl can't be trusted very much to tell the truth," she commented as they walked through the woods. "He likely allowed the presence of the empire in his territory to avoid a major conflict."
"I see. I have never liked these diplomatic affairs."
"Me neither," she said, sighing. "My father wants me to support him in those activities."
They continued walking for a long time through the forest, and when they came out of it, through a vast green plain. Leonard found a flower, the kind that Marianne seemed to like.
"These are the flowers you liked when we were younger, right?" he asked, pulling out one of those and handing it to Marianne.
"Yes... It's true," she answered, avoiding her gaze.
"I like walking here; it is quiet and peaceful."
"Yes... it's a nice day, " she answered, slightly blushing again.
Leonard had already gotten used to Marianne's shyness, but now something was different. When he had lived with her and the Margrave, his manner had been gentle, taciturn, but there was no sign of the restlessness she saw now. "She may be intimidated by my appearance, I suppose," Leonard thought. "Or it may be that you...".
He saw a strange silhouette in the distance just before finishing that idea. It was more than one. As they got closer, they realized they were monsters.
"Damn!" Leonard exclaimed, releasing the codex from his left forearm. "I hate having to fight beasts."
"We must escape; we won't be able to just the two of us against them!" exclaimed Marianne desperately.
"You dedicate yourself to healing me; I'll take care of the rest," he replied, releasing the Freikugel axe. "You can imagine that part of my training was to fight these things alone."
"Take care of yourself, Leonard."
Immediately afterward, the young man ran across the plain at full speed. Marianne never imagined that her friend at the time could display those capabilities. His weapon seemed to be quite heavy to run like that. She remembered she had to hurry up to heal him, keeping a prudent distance from the beasts.
Getting close enough to the monsters, Leonard leaped at one, slashing its neck from its right side and killing it almost instantly. The other two monsters, more cautious, launched their poison balls toward him. According to Marianne, Leonard dodged such attacks with nearly impossible-to-see coordination and grace. «The only one I've seen move like that is the professor,» she thought while she waited for the moment to heal her friend, a moment that seemed never to come.
At one point, Leonard tried to fixate on his friend. In that instant, he realized another monster was approaching them, running from behind Marianne as if all this had been an ambush. Desperate to save her before the attack, he switched his weapon to the Areadbhar spear, hurling it and hitting the monster square in one of its eyes, causing it to fall and twitch immediately.
Realizing the danger from which she was saved, Marianne turned around and used her magic against the monster lying on the ground to deliver the coup de grace. Meanwhile, Leonard continued to fight his enemies. After a few minutes, he switched weapons to the Aymr axe, being able to kill both remaining monsters.
Once the battle was over, Marianne ran to help her friend:
"Leonard, I'll heal you right away!" she said, using her healing spell. "How can you think of fighting those monsters alone, knowing the danger it means?"
"Excuse me," he replied as Marianne tended to her cuts and scratches. "The last thing I wanted was to worry you, seriously."
"I know... but I got apprehensive," she replied, lowering her gaze slightly.
"I wish you had been close to me before. Your healing magic and the encouragement you would give me would have served me well in my training."
"But now I'm here...with you," Marianne answered, her voice soft and halting.
Leonard could see the look on her face. I was embarrassed. "Is this for me? I do not deserve it. Or rather, I can't believe it," He thought, admiring that moment when she finished serving him.
"Okay, I think you can walk with this," she replied, slightly calmer, looking at him directly into his eyes.
"Marianne, your gaze..." he said before being interrupted.
A group of soldiers were approaching them on foot and horseback. They must have been about fifteen or so, equipped enough to fight with some enemy.
"What are you doing here?" asked the man who must have been the lieutenant in charge of that battalion.
Both Leonard and Marianne were silent for a few seconds. At the moment she was going to answer something, one of the soldiers exclaimed:
"Lieutenant! The monsters we were warned about are all dead."
"How can that be possible?" he replied, looking at the two boys. "Don't tell me it was you."
"There was only one of them left when we got here, sir," Marianne replied, dead serious.
Leonard watched this conversation from the outside. Things were not going well; a certain tension was felt in the environment, but he could not resist any action from those soldiers. Not that he couldn't object either since he had no energy left to fight now.
"And what are they doing here, if I may know?" the lieutenant asked seriously. "You may not know, but they have just entered the Gloucester dukedom."
"Shit," Leonard thought, looking at Marianne. Now he understood the seriousness shown by his partner. What she wanted at all costs to avoid happened.
"I swear we weren't trying anything wrong, sir," Marianne clarified, still serious but self-conscious. "Believe us when I tell you that we only want to be sure; bands of robbers abound near the roads."
"Ah, that's not untrue," replied the lieutenant. "Despite this, we must only escort them to a border post to control their identities. Everything is very hectic right now, you know. Please take it as a safeguard for your safety."
Leonard would uncover his left forearm again when he felt Marianne's gaze. Her eyes expressed concern and some fear. He understood that he couldn't make his partner feel worse. She was very devout, and as Leonard tried to understand, killing people for the sake of it would also be an insult to his Goddess.
Both youths followed the soldiers across that plain. After an hour or so, they arrived at that post they had been told about. It was large enough to shelter a good body of soldiers, so it would likely be tough to escape from the site just like that. The sun was already setting, so it was only then that Leonard realized that they had gone off the previously prepared path.
"Well, here we are," the lieutenant said calmly. "I will ask you to enter that reception room and find somewhere to sit. It's not like we have soft, luxurious seats, miss."
"Don't worry, I'll sit anywhere," Marianne replied, frightened.
Leonard sat down first and helped his partner sit while taking her hand. Both were very close to each other while they watched how the soldiers came and went. One of the soldiers gave them a plate of strange, tasteless soup. Marianne reluctantly took it, while Leonard swallowed it in a couple of seconds.
While she thought about how disgusting that food was, she felt someone enter the room where they were. She glanced out of the corner of her eye initially. He was a very well-dressed person to be in that regiment. That person was getting closer to both. Leonard looked at him curiously while she hid her gaze. At that moment, Marianne heard a familiar voice.
"How strange to find you here, fellow Academy member!"
"Hello, Lorenz," Marianne replied, surprised. I didn't expect to meet you here either.
"From what I can see, you're not in the best of circumstances," Lorenz commented, looking at both of them. "It would not be courteous if I were unaware that we know each other and that you come from the nobility, just like me. I'll get you a tent to change your clothes and bathe."
"Thank you, Lorenz."
"And what of me?" Leonard asked, without even introducing himself.
"Regarding you, the most appropriate thing is to introduce myself as I should be," the nobleman answered calmly. "My name is Lorenz Hellman Gloucester, son of the Duke of Gloucester and his next heir. We met Marianne at officer school."
"I see; nice to meet you," Leonard said lazily. "My name is Leonard Weber, and I am just a small-time commoner. We met Marianne while I was her father's servant, Margrave Edmund."
"Good to know. Especially since you must be on your way home, dear companion," Lorenz commented with a wise air that annoyed Leonard.
"That's right, Lorenz," Marianne replied." As you can see, bandits attacked us on the way to my home. That's why we... Decided to avoid the main roads."
"That makes quite a sense, my dear," he replied calmly. "Except for the fact of the four monsters killed by you this afternoon. But we'll talk about that tomorrow. You will now be led to their tents. Good night."
In this way, Lorenz withdrew without further delay. Marianne was led to a rather colorful and luxurious store, which was out of tune with the landscape of that stall. Meanwhile, Leonard was led to a rudimentary tent close to his friend's.
Marianne washed herself and put on some clothes Lorenz's servants had left there. She tried looking outside the tent, hoping to spot Leonard, but couldn't. She had trouble falling asleep. She realized she had not slept peacefully for a long time, like the night before when her friend protected her several years ago. She felt a warmth in her chest that she couldn't recognize, but it allowed her to fall asleep faster.
The next day, Marianne got up, ate something left there, and left the tent. She could see that there was some commotion, which caught her attention. At the same time, she saw that some soldiers were arriving at that post. She recognized the armor immediately: they were Imperial soldiers.
"They are coming for Leonard; there is no doubt," she thought while great anguish was born in her. As she got closer, she could finally make out a kind of cell on wheels arranged in the center of the regiment: her companion was locked up and shackled on both wrists and ankles.
Marianne ran to find Lorenz, whom she found very close to the tent where she had slept. Approaching him, he exclaimed:
"What are they doing, Lorenz? I thought you would help us!"
"I'll help you, dear," he replied worriedly. "Maybe he hasn't told you, but his head has a price. And the one who comes looking for him is not someone you can easily oppose."
Don't tell me it's..." she answered, expecting the worst.
"Yes, that enemy we met at Academy: The Death Knight."
At that moment, the most remarkable anguish welled up in Marianne's mind. While this was happening, Lorenz gave orders to put the cell with Leonard in a sector of the regiment further away, and then, he ordered his soldiers, along with some Imperials, to wait for that dark knight to arrive. Marianne was led to her ex-tent, which would now be her cell. "I won't leave you alone, Leonard; I'll go for you," she thought as she saw how they were moving away.