Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 343: Resolve for Battle
“Take care, Rest…”
“Rest-sama… please, be safe…”
A few days after the war council.
Rest was already set to march north on an expedition.
The preparation period for war had been extremely short, but Rest’s role was only with the vanguard. Until the main army was ready, he would be a hastily dispatched reinforcement.
Seeing him off were Viola and Primula, as Rest departed from the Clover estate.
“…The truth is, we want to go with you as well.”
“But… that wouldn’t be allowed, right?”
“Yeah… you two stay here and protect the territory. I’m counting on you.”
Rest smiled at the two, who looked apologetic.
For this deployment, only Rest and a handful of guards were leaving from House Clover.
As a newly risen noble, Rest had almost no forces of his own. The few soldiers he had were needed for policing the domain and fending off monsters, so he had no surplus to take to foreign battlefields.
Viola and Primula, too, were essential for guarding the territory. There was no way he could bring them along.
(If the two of them were anywhere near danger, there’s no way I’d be able to fight calmly. Honestly, it helps more knowing they’ll be somewhere safe.)
“Don’t worry. No way those tribesmen will be stronger than Sabnock. I’ll come back without a scratch, so I’m leaving the estate in your hands.”
“…Alright. I understand.”
“Rest-sama… please, take this.”
“…What’s this?”
Primula held something out.
It was a stone, small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. Strange letters had been carved into its white surface, as if with a blade.
“My sister and I made this together. It’s a protective stone. We carved words of prayer into it.”
“It doesn’t have any special magic on it… but we put all of our feelings into making it. Please, carry it with you.”
It was, in other words, a charm.
In Japan, during wartime, soldiers were sent off with protective charms called thousand-stitch belts. Even the crests and ornaments on samurai helmets were said to hold talismanic meaning.
Here, it seemed that stones inscribed with words of prayer served as charms for long-lasting fortune in war.
“Thank you. I’ll treasure it.”
Rest placed the stone carefully into a pouch he had been given and tucked it close to his chest.
“Take care…”
“Please, be safe…”
“Yeah, I’m off.”
Leaving them with a reassuring smile so they wouldn’t worry, Rest departed for the battlefield.
He stepped out of the mansion and joined up with his guards, who were waiting for him outside.
“Are you ready, Rest-sama?”
“Yes. Sorry to keep you waiting, Dibble-dono.”
Rest’s guard detail numbered only five.
Their leader was none other than Dibble, the butler of Marquis Rosemary’s household.
Today, he wasn’t dressed in his usual butler’s attire, but in somber black garments.
“Still… was it really alright for you to come with me, Dibble-dono? Won’t the marquis’ household be short-handed without you?”
“My lord commanded it, so you need not worry.”
Dibble answered with a cheerful smile.
It had been Rest’s father-in-law, Marquis Rosemary, who arranged for Dibble to serve as his escort.
The intention was surely to reassure his daughters by sending along the most trustworthy warrior to protect Rest.
From here, they were to link up with the other members of the vanguard before heading to the fortress on the northern border.
“Father-in-law will be joining later, right?”
“Yes. Once the main force finishes preparations, he will advance to the battlefield.”
“That’s reassuring… This will only be my second war, but I can’t help feeling nervous. Even though we’re still far from the frontlines, my heart’s already pounding.”
He’d fought countless life-or-death battles against monsters… but against humans—foreign tribes, though still people—the tension was different.
The thought of killing humans on the battlefield weighed on his chest.
“Rest assured. I feel the same way.”
“You too, Dibble-dono? That must be a joke.”
Dibble was a seasoned mage.
He was the very teacher who had taught Rest how to fight against people, and surely he was long used to human combat.
“If one ever becomes accustomed to killing, feeling nothing… that’s the end of them as a person. We are mages. To protect those we must protect, we must be willing to become beasts or demons… but we must never lose the weight of human life, whether it is the life we guard or the life we take. Bear both, and keep moving forward.”
“…That’s harsh.”
It would be easier, perhaps, to forget the weight of human lives entirely.
But Dibble would not allow such an easy path. Truly, he was a strict teacher.
“However—that doesn’t mean you should hesitate or hold back on the battlefield. There, you must kill the enemy without mercy.”
“…You really are harsh.”
Kill without hesitation, yet never grow numb to killing. Always feel the weight of life, yet cut it down.
Such a contradictory demand—and yet Dibble insisted on it. What an unreasonable master.
With a heavy sigh, Rest climbed into the carriage that would take him toward the battlefield.