The expedition team began to pack up their things after putting the head of Hakugei on a big cart.

Arturia was watching them packing their things from distance.

Crusch had left Arturia alone near the Flugel Tree because she was needed to manage the troops so that they can work well and efficiently.

Reinhard made her way toward Arturia with a smile on his face. Arturia smiled back at him and asked.

“How did it go? Are you able to fix your relationship with Wilhelm?”

Reinhard stopped beside Arturia and answered.

“Yes, thank you very much. It seems that he was willing to talk to me again. All of this was because of you, Milady.”

“I didn’t do anything. You achieved that by yourself, Sir Reinhard.”

“No, milady. It seems that you reminded him of his late wife. He was able to see himself in me when I protected you at that time, so he kind of forgives me for my mistake a long time ago.”

“Is that so? Then that’s good.”

As Arturia said that, her expression turned into a worried one. She remembered the bad feeling that she got when they slew the Hakugei, and even now that bad feeling was still lingering in her mind. She kept looking at their way back to the Capital and put her left hand on Caliburn’s handle.

Reinhard noticed Arturia’s expression and gesture. He put on a serious face and asked.

“Is something matter, Milady?”

Arturia tried to hide her uneasiness with a smile, but then she remembered something important. If she didn’t trust her knight, then who should she trust?

That was why Arturia erased her smile from her face and looked in the direction of their way back to the capital.

“I have a bad feeling, Sir Reinhard. This feeling didn’t go away since the start of our expedition, and it further enhanced after we slew the Hakugei.”

“Are you sure it’s not your imagination, Milady?”

Reinhard tried to ensure his Lady that it was all alright, but he himself put himself on high guard. He will believe in the feeling of his Lady and didn’t deny it rightfully. Even if no one believed his Lady, he will be the one who always believes in her.

“No, Sir Reinhard. Unfortunately, my intuition had always landed in the thing that I believe it to be. Something like this happened a few times, and I believe that this time there will be nothing different from the usual. That means something bad is waiting for us on our way back.”

“Should I scout the area, Milady?”

Arturia touched her chin with her right hand and then nodded her head.

“Please, Sir Reinhard. If there is nothing wrong, come back to me as soon as possible. But, if you encounter some problem, please run away. We will take a different path instead of fighting them.”

Reinhard nodded his head. He put his right hand on his chest and bowed a little.

“Please leave it to me.”

Reinhard turned away and then called his ground dragon. He saddled it and then the ground dragon ran toward the direction of their way back.

Arturia also called her ground dragon and saddled it. She asked the ground dragon to make its way toward Crusch and the other and she joined the troops.

After a few minutes, the troops had done with their preparation, and Crusch ordered a sortie

***

“Alright, let’s go back to the capital!” Crusch shouted towards the troops and they replied with an energetic shout.

All of the troops’ wounds were healed by the healer and Felix, they were in their highest and best condition after resting for a few hours.

Crusch asked Arturia about Reinhard while they were surrounded by the other people, and she answered that she ordered Reinhard to take care of the monster on their way back to the capital. Crusch’s eyes widened and then she smiled at Arturia while thanking her for the consideration.

The troops were marching at a slow speed because there was no need to hurry, so the best thing they could do was to preserve their stamina and enjoyed their way back to the capital after creating history.

Arturia was on the front of the troop with Crusch, followed by Wilhelm and Felix right behind them. They had separated for a bit from the troops behind her, and then Crusch suddenly asked.

“Arturia-sama, why did you lie to me when I asked where Sir Reinhard was?”

Arturia turned to Crusch and smiled.

“I don’t want to make the troops worried over nothing. The truth is, I ordered Sir Reinhard to scout our way back because I had a bad feeling about something.”

“Bad feeling? Why did you base something based on your feeling, Arturia-sama? Are you afraid that someone will attack us? No one with a sane mind will attack us with this much army on our end.”

Arturia also agreed with Crusch, but her bad feeling still lingered in her mind even now.

“But Sir Reinhard didn’t come back to me yet. With the speed of his ground dragon, he will reach the Capital faster if we compared it to the time that we took to get to the Flugel Tree from your mansion.”

“Come to think of it, he had gone for over an hour now.”

“Forgive me for butting into the conversation, but the path to the Capital is long, and there are lots of forests that need to be checked. I believe taking a long time to scout the area isn’t strange at all, Crusch-sama, Pendragon-sama.”

Wilhelm gave his opinion from behind. Arturia looked at him and saw him bow his head a little.

“Also, we don’t need to worry about that kid, he will be fine.”

“I know that Sir Reinhard would be fine. I am worried about the troops if we encounter something that made me this restless.” Answered Arturia.

She looked up at the sky and saw the sun had lingered right above her head. They are in the middle of the plain, so the situation in their surrounding was clear.

“Hey, who’s that nya?”

Felix suddenly shouted and pointed her index finger to the front.

Arturia quickly turned her gaze to the front and saw a white-haired man with white clothing standing in the middle of the road.

Her instinct that she got screamed at her the moment she saw the man.

“Stop!” Arturia shouted and stopped her ground dragon.

However, the troop behind her didn’t hear her shout. Wilhelm stood on his ground dragon and turned to the troops.

“Stop your march!”

Arturia’s gaze stayed on the man, and Crusch was also looked at the man with wary on her eyes.

“Who is that?” Asked Crusch.

Arturia jumped down of her Ground Dragon and put her left hand on the handle of Caliburn.

“I don’t know, but he’s dangerous. Stay here, I will talk to him.”

“Arturia-sama, that’s dangerous! We don’t know who he is.” Crusch shouted and trying to stop Arturia.

Arturia stepped forward, ignoring Crusch warning, and made her way to the man. It was strange that Reinhard was nowhere to be seen, and it was strange that Reinhard will ignore the man that stood in front of her.

When Arturia reached 5 meters in front of the man, she asked.

“Who might you be?”

“I see, you don’t know who I am! I also don’t know who you are until a few days ago, I did know the woman behind you though. You are a candidate to be the next ruler of this nation.”

“And who might you be? This is my second time questioning you.”

“You are different from the other, I see. You didn’t violate my right to speak! But, isn’t it rude to ask for my name when you didn’t introduce yourself yet?”

Even if the man in front of her is dangerous, Arturia saw the man’s point.

With her left hand still holding Caliburn’s handle, Arturia said.

“My name is Arturia Pendragon, the Knight Princess and the candidate of the next king of Lugnica.”

“I see! What a magnificent title! Allow me to introduce myself, Sin Archpriest of the witch’s cult, representing Greed, Regulus Corneas. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

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