Side Story 2. Tatiana’s Day

This is a hillside somewhere in the principality. The basin-shaped land was scorched black, and in the very center stood a withered, twisted tree.

Yes, this was the exact place where Tatiana had previously scorched monsters with her magic.

Back then, she thought it wasn’t a place worth visiting twice. Yet Tatiana had now climbed up to this hillside for the ninth time. At least she was getting her sleep in the fortress town, but most of the knights were camping here, taking care of both meals and lodging on site.

Before her eyes unfolded an additional headache-inducing scene.

The mages continuously infused magic into the tree, claiming they wanted to unravel its principles. Then, without fail, monsters would be born moments later. Knights standing by would use these monsters as sparring partners and vigorously swing their swords.

Then more magic would be infused, more monsters would be born. Swords would swing, and magic would be infused again……

It was a perfect harmony, in a way. But from an observer’s perspective, one had to wonder what exactly they were doing.

“Hey, the intervals are too fast! Can’t you summon them a bit more slowly? It disrupts the flow.”

“Flow, you say…… Didn’t your side say you wanted to make it like a real battle!”

The knights and mages cooperated but occasionally glared at each other. As if they needed a referee to determine who was right and wrong, they all turned to look at Tatiana at once.

Tatiana avoided their gazes, but the mages were right about this. The reason knights came all the way here to train was because they couldn’t freely practice real combat techniques against people. If they truly wanted to make it like a real battle, they should silently swing their swords without complaining.

Meanwhile, the assassins were conducting more advanced training nearby. They had captured one monster and were analyzing its cognitive abilities and reaction speed.

Simply put, they were conducting live experiments to see if it was possible to handle them without being detected, leaving no witnesses.

And Tatiana was observing all of this, diligently recording noteworthy aspects. She was unfilteredly enjoying her hobby of watching other people’s swordsmanship.

But perhaps this is how it is for people with families—even while having fun, thoughts of her husband occasionally surfaced. She even felt guilty for enjoying this wonderful experience alone.

Of course, not many people in the world would consider this scene of monster bones and flesh flying about to be enjoyable.

Before leaving for the training camp, Tatiana had sought a sort of permission from Gideon. There should be a procedure for seeking consent from the person you live with, shouldn’t there?

‘Can I go north with the knights too?’

Tatiana felt a kind of déjà vu with that question.

It was early in their marriage. Gideon had announced he needed to go on a business trip not long after they were married. The location was also the north, exactly the same.

Tatiana had told him to go ahead back then, but she had shown signs of being somewhat uncomfortable. She might have deliberately shown it a little.

Now that their positions were reversed, was there truly not a part of her that thought, “Now you know how it feels”?

Tatiana couldn’t tell such a lie. It wasn’t that she wanted him to experience the same discomfort, but she was curious about how he would react.

And Tatiana came to think that Gideon seemed to be a more mature person than herself.

‘Do you want to go?’

‘……Yes. I suppose so.’

He confirmed just that one thing. The rest were subsidiary concerns, like whether the accommodations or meals would be uncomfortable.

But hadn’t he said once? “What, do you think I don’t have feelings?” As he said, he was indeed a person with emotions, and he did frown at certain points.

‘I heard Kay and the assassins are going too.’

‘Yeah. Why?’

‘If my guard is going, I should go too.’

‘That’s backwards now.’

It’s not that you follow your guard, but that your guard should be where you are.

He laughed as if it were absurd, but he seemed displeased about why Kay’s name had to be mentioned at this particular point.

However, the real reason Tatiana joined the training camp was indeed more about Kay’s presence than the Royal Guard Commander’s request. She was curious about what kind of training they were planning and wanted to see it with her own eyes.

Some might think of this as keeping tabs on someone. But Tatiana could confidently say this wasn’t motivated by such childish emotions.

Of course, when she was younger, she too had suffered from envying others’ achievements and talents. She thought humans were beings who had to struggle with jealousy throughout their lives. She even thought that sincerely celebrating others’ accomplishments was only possible for those born with fundamentally good hearts or through endless self-discipline.

But now that she had reached this level, another realization came. It was somewhat lonely. There were few people left who could compete with her as equals in swordsmanship.

So her comrade needs to advance for her to avoid complacency and explore new territories. If you gain insight, I’m more likely to as well. If someone opens a new world, I can surely do it too. That was the only reason Tatiana was conscious of Kay.

“I should ask to see that technique again later.”

Tatiana carefully observed the assassins and began recording something in her notebook again. Then she realized her ink was almost gone.

In one corner of the tent lay a couple of notebooks already densely filled. Only a week had passed, yet she had produced this much.

She could easily borrow writing supplies from the mages, who were no different from peddlers, but Tatiana decided to stop here for today.

After a light snack, she planned to explore the village in the afternoon.

* * *

The principality’s people glanced at the queen’s entourage walking down the main street.

After the monster incident, favorable feelings toward the Valter royal family had sprouted in their hearts. The current king didn’t stop at subjugating monsters but was implementing policies aimed at symbiosis with the principality. It was only natural that warm winds were blowing between them.

However, the tales of the queen’s exploits against monsters were perfect for stopping crying children…… They were actually often used for that purpose, so no one dared to make eye contact with her.

The assassins that Tatiana kept in tow also played a big role in this. The atmosphere made it difficult to approach casually.

Yet people kept glancing at the entourage because they were visiting a place no one had expected.

The queen and the assassins were browsing children’s toys at a toy store.

‘What would my nephew like?’

Faced with this once-in-a-lifetime dilemma, Tatiana looked serious. After hesitating for a long time, she picked up a rattle. Then she earnestly asked the assassins dressed in black clothes with masks covering their faces.

“What do you think of this? Will Evan like it?”

The assassins pondered deeply. But no one answered confidently.

Visiting a toy store instead of a weapons shop with assassins to choose a baby gift—this was wrong on so many levels, the shop owner thought to himself. But when the queen inquired, it felt awkward to just say they didn’t know, so someone managed to come up with an answer.

“Wouldn’t His Highness prefer it if Your Majesty simply created a butterfly with illusion magic and let it fly?”