LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 102
Catherine had been interrupted during meal and snack times not once, but twice in just a few days, yet this time she had no choice but to move frantically.
The parchment from the courier was terse; the command was highly concise. The urgency of the situation left no room for even the most common embellishments.
The contents were simple. Elder Iona, who was patrolling the territories belonging to the Felwinter Family, had encountered a horde of monsters and was currently in retreat. Thus, the order to urgently organize a rescue team was issued, along with the command that Catherine herself should temporarily detach some of the tower’s wizards.
There were also the usual inquiries about the rescue team’s organization timeline, who the commander would be, and other such expected details, all included in the missive from her lord, Alfred.
It was not uncommon for Elder Iona to be patrolling the territories of Felwinter. The footfalls of the Duke of Iceland were always heavy. It was only natural for Iona, as Alfred’s retainer, to act in place of the Duke’s steward and oversee matters.
Moreover, this involved the Felwinter family’s most significant assets. Conducting regular inspections of the territory’s condition was routine, not only for Iceland but also a customary task for the majority of nobles in Europa.
This patrol was no different. Of course, it wasn’t like Iceland was so vast that it required yearly inspections. This was merely the summer season for patrolling, checking, and confirming conditions.
Catherine, hastily concluding snack time, and her two attendants rushed out of the room.
“Damn it! With this kind of situation, we can’t stay still!”
“Surely Elder Iona didn’t take fewer guards, right?”
“No way! She’s the steward of the Duke’s family! And an Elder of the Triune Church, no less! Just think about how much her life is worth! The aftermath of such a person suddenly dying would be insurmountable!”
Even discounting her position as an Elder of the Triune Church, the title of steward to the Duke’s family weighed significantly more than its superficial lightness might suggest.
The steward handled the Duke’s affairs, managed the family’s resources, dealt with the territory’s administrative and judicial matters, and supported her lord. There was no way her position could be considered low.
“Just imagine if one of the pillars that supports the Duke’s family suddenly snaps.”
“Oh.”
“What do you mean ‘oh’? What about the turmoil in the territory due to the sudden absence of the steward? All those duties Elder Iona handled!”
“Will it revert to Sir Atanitas until a new steward is appointed?”
“Of course!”
Catherine grimaced as she declared this.
“I thought I could leisurely rummage through my magic tools for self-defense, but now I have no choice. When we move this time, you must stay by my side without fail.”
“U-Um, Sir Atanitas? Am I coming too?”
“Yes. You’re coming along.”
“Contractor, isn’t it dangerous for Junior Karem?”
Mary retorted without thinking. While there was no dissent to Catherine’s orders, and even if there was, it would have been a minor grumble, this was something else entirely.
“Hey, safety? Who do you think I am?”
Catherine boldly replied to Mary. In fact, she felt quite pricked with guilt. After all, her rationality acknowledged that taking Karem along was indeed risky.
Yet her body and tongue, driven by instinct, absolutely rejected that notion. No, it was only natural for nobles to have attendants accompany them wherever they went.
Even on the battlefield, a noble was followed by chefs, servants, designers, and others. So, bringing just a single personal chef who also served as a steward was really nothing extravagant.
“Hmm, well, considering the contractor is also a contractor, bringing along a commoner wouldn’t be that strange…”
Fortunately, Mary either didn’t catch on to Catherine’s underlying thoughts or trusted in Catherine’s capabilities enough to overlook it.
Preparation went smoothly, and in an instant, Mary had packed up Catherine, along with their various belongings and Karem’s, sending off the departing group.
Karem, who hadn’t seen the parchment, had no idea where the assembly point was.
However, it was obvious without needing to see. Usually scattered throughout the various districts of Winterhome, soldiers were now gathering, heading out of the castle.
By rough estimation, there were more soldiers than during last winter’s Ice Worm hunt, and even more were clashing with workers and various carts and wagons as they exited the castle.
All those people moved in unison toward a single direction.
“Sir Atanitas, is the assembly point outside the castle?”
“Yes. If I said to gather in the plaza during an urgent situation, people would possibly flood into the plaza for no reason.”
“There are so many soldiers, though?”
“How many do you think there are in the Adventurers Guild offices in Coldon?”
“Uhh…”
Karem was at a loss for words. He genuinely had no idea how many there were.
He had never cared to find out, nor did he have any reason to.
Yet there was one thing he was sure of.
“Combining them, there must be at least a dozen, right?”
“I’m not sure, but I’d say more than that. It’s much simpler just to gather outside the outer castle’s main gate rather than tell everyone to meet at a plaza.”
As Catherine had said, each time they passed a castle wall, various people, carts, and wagons joined the soldiers’ ranks, extending all the way until they exited the outer castle.
Countless soldiers, adventurers, and workers yelled out and kicked up a ruckus. The rescue team was in disarray as they checked and organized their ranks.
Naturally, Catherine and the wizards of Winterhome (along with Karem) were not participating in that chaos.
Catherine stood in one corner of an area where access was controlled by the outer castle’s gates, away from the commotion, alongside the team of mages.
“Sir Atanitas.”
Karem casually greeted Narque, who was among the mages, with a hand gesture, then spoke up.
“Is it okay for us to just stand here like this?”
“Hmm.”
“Honestly, I feel really pressured by all these gazes.”
Karem looked at those starting to fall into formation amid the chaos.
While most were busily moving, there were some who stood completely still. If that many people, more than ten, weren’t moving, it was impossible not to draw attention.
“Oh, someone’s approaching.”
“Eh?”
“The one over there. Over there.”
Karem turned his head in the direction Catherine pointed. There was a heavily-armored boy who appeared a few years older than Karem, rushing over.
“Hah! Cough! Excuse me! With a splendid pumpkin staff and long hair like a brocade woven from golden threads, might I ask if I have the honor of speaking with the esteemed Chief Magic Consultant, Sir Atanitas?”
“I’ve been waiting. Behind him are the mages from my retinue participating in the rescue team. This here is my personal chef.”
“Yessir! I am Rimus, the squire to Sir Churchill, the commander of this rescue team! Allow me to guide you to your carriage!”
The guide immediately fell silent after that.
What began as an intense first meeting led Rimus to shut his mouth and lead the party toward the carriages slightly away from the frantic space.
“These are the carriages you and your party will be riding in!”
“Hmm, all five of them?”
“The relatively smaller leading carriage is the one Sir Atanitas will be boarding! Due to the urgent circumstances, we’ve also received orders to depart as soon as the gathering of adventurers and soldiers is complete!”
Or maybe he just had a talking-too-much disposition; suddenly, that thought crossed Karem’s mind.
Sending the guide off, Karem quickly boarded the carriage following Catherine as she distributed the carriages according to their numbers.
“Oh, Narque?”
Then Narque followed behind.
“Hargh! Ah, I greeted you earlier, but it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“We’re in the same space, so why is it so hard to see your face?”
“Y-You see, I’ve had some research to do, so I can’t help it.”
“You’ll get moldy like that. You need to go outside for some sunlight, breathe in some fresh air, and get some exercise!”
“Are you my mom!?”
Narque audibly protested, covering his droopy ears with his hands.
It slipped out without thinking.
Yet it was a sincere sentiment from Karem with not a shred of deception in it.
Most of the magicians Karem had seen had stayed in their rooms, dust covering their heads as they were glued to their desks.
Admittedly, while Catherine could often be spotted moving around due to her inability to stay in one place for long, Karem viewed all the other magicians as utterly lost causes.
No, even in his past life, he went outside once every two to three days.
If Mary hadn’t periodically kicked him out for a thorough cleaning, most of these wizards would surely stick to their towers for a month or even a year without a valid reason.
“I-I am an adult elf who can act freely!”
“Could someone who hardly moves be saying that?”
“Then how about you, dwarf child who hasn’t even completed their coming-of-age ceremony!”
Narque pouted and muttered, turning away to fix his gaze out the carriage window.
Catherine glanced between Karem and Narque, eyes filled with saltiness, before letting out a sigh.
“Fighting between an 11-year-old kid and a fully grown elf, huh.”
“At least I’m acting according to my age!”
“That doesn’t make it okay to say it yourself!”
“Hmm, honestly, this is embarrassing.”
Then Karem felt his face heat up.
Even though he was technically 11 in this life, his memories clearly made him an uncle past 30, so feeling embarrassed was only natural.
“But!”
In truth, fights like this required audacity.
Regardless of how red his face became, Karem lifted his chest with all the confidence of someone with nothing to be ashamed of.
“I am indeed 11 years old!”
“Listening to you, it’s hard to believe you’re just 11.”
“Thank you for the compliment of being mature!”
“I’m not complimenting you; I’m mocking you, troublemaker.”
“Isn’t it a compliment if the listener takes it as one?”
“First, it’s important to dissect the context of the words!”
“Ugh, that’s a bit too difficult for an 11-year-old.”
Amidst the servants bonding, the formation of the rescue team finished, and Karem felt the carriage begin to move.
“Oh, are we finally setting off?”
Hardly had those words left his mouth before the carriage came to a sudden stop.
“Huh? Or not?”
“Ugh, they probably plan to give a speech before the departure.”
“A speech.”
A voice thundered like a lion’s roar.
The deep and resonating sound drilled into Karem’s mind, cutting through the noise of the cheering crowd and the exterior of the carriage alike.
The contents were unremarkable. There was little time to collect loot, none were permitted to escape without proper authorization, and rewards would be given for battlefield performance, among other things.
“By the way, Sir Atanitas, where are we going?”
“Well, I don’t know.”
“Excuse me?”
Karem looked at Catherine with incredulity in his eyes.
Even the usually unbothered Narque was dumbfounded, staring at Catherine with a vacant expression.
“No, really. The parchment didn’t indicate a location.”
Look there. Catherine pulled out the order she had received from the courier.
As expected, it was true. The parchment contained no information about the location whatsoever.
Meanwhile, the speech concluded.
The rescue team began moving quickly.