Kaede took a deep breath as she faced the wooden cabin's door. She snuck a glance back around and saw Sir Robert smiling at her from the nearby rock he was sitting on. The dutiful armiger was clearly planning on waiting outside until she finished so he could escort her back.

No way to avoid it now, the familiar thought as he turned back to the door and knocked.

Truth to be told, she still wasn't ready to face Major Karen.

How do I face someone who saved my life yet became a cripple due to my actions?

"Come in. It's unlocked," a lighthearted voice replied from inside the cabin.

Without further excuse for delay, Kaede pushed open the thick wooden door, stepped inside, and closed it behind her. The room looked similar to Pascal's expandable cabin, except only half as large and its furnishings were even more spartan -- just a simple bed, a small writing desk, and a wooden chair.

Major Karen von Lichnowsky sat in the bed. Her face was paler than Kaede remembered despite the dim lighting inside the room. She wore only a simple blouse and held a book in her left hand. Her long, wavy-red hair pooled to her right atop the bedsheets, partially obscuring the shoulder stump which was all that remained of her right arm.

"Major," Kaede nodded with a smile that was wry at best. She tried not to stare, but it felt like Karen's missing arm kept pulling her eyes in.

"Kaede... Suvoro... Suvorsky, right?" The Major pronounced with a welcoming smile. "Free feel to grab a seat."

Kaede nodded before pulling up the chair.

"I only knew you as Captain Pascal's familiar until after the battle." Major Karen spoke. "Eckhart, Sergeant Steinmetz, was the one who first told me your name. You could've said something before the battle, introduced yourself properly. Back then when we first saw you, a girl with a nonstandard uniform walking amongst our battalion, we almost wondered if you were a spy." She noted with a chuckle.

"I didn't have a formal military rank," Kaede shrugged. "So I didn't... uh, want to give the wrong impression."

"Afraid we were going to think you were a camp whore following some privileged brat?"

Kaede colored a little as she glanced away.

"Yeah... pretty much," she sighed.

She had received enough stares of that particular variety during her month at the Alisia Academy to last her a lifetime. But unfortunately for her, they hadn't ended there.

"I actually wondered that myself," Karen admitted with a slight nod. "It didn't help that you didn't care to talk to any of us. A few of the officers saw you at the Marshal's funeral, but all they'd heard was that you were of the Landgrave's household. So they thought you were his young lover."

Kaede blanched a little which instantly answered any doubts Major Karen still had. The officer then chuckled again before adding with an amused grin:

"That impression lasted right up to when you ran over and started shouting orders at me."

"Sorry about that," Kaede looked down in embarrassment.

"Don't be. Your Captain... Colonel now, I heard, came by to apologize for your falsified orders himself. Well, that and the 'fight to the last' order he passed through you. But legitimate or not, it saved my men's lives."

"What's left of them, anyway," Kaede muttered. Though Karen's words did surprise her: how come Pascal never said sorry to me for that?

Meanwhile, the Major sighed as her expression grew solemn:

"Forty-seven men from the two companies survived. I'll take that over a complete loss any day. And make no mistake: had we not pivoted to face them, those Northmen would have plowed right through our position... and possibly even the rest of the army."

Karen put down the book she held in her remaining hand and pushed herself up to sitting straight. Her long hair reached out to the nearby table and poured a cup of water. The prehensile strands then brought it over and passed it to her remaining hand. Karen took a deep drink before continuing on to explain:

"The Northmen that attacked us were elite assault troops. The combined arms they used -- repeaters, siphons, and greatswords -- is a classic breakthrough tactic for them. We were, without a doubt, the focal point of their entire offensive. Your actions," the Major stressed, "played a pivotal role in preserving the entire Weichsen defense line, and possibly saved thousands if not tens of thousands of lives. The Northmen are not exactly known for taking prisoners among soldiers."

Kaede had heard about that from Cecylia. To the northerners, a warrior who lived in defeat forfeited their dignity as a human and therefore no longer deserved mercy. It was an honor, not an obligation, to spare a fallen foe. So just like the Japanese in World War II, the Northmen often showed respect to those who fought bravely to their death, while murdering those who surrendered in ritualized executions that bordered on religious sacrifice.

"I understand, and that's why I did it, and would do it again," Kaede declared firmly. "However, that doesn't excuse when I..."

Her voice faltered as a lump formed in her throat.

"--You saved my life... and I... I gave the enemy an opening to take off your arm."

She could still remember that moment perfectly, when the rimefire she aimed at the towering berserker splashed onto the Major's forearm and wrist. Karen had lost her grip, and her opponent seized the opportunity to cleave off her entire arm just below the shoulder.

Yet, the next thing Kaede felt was her head being patted by something unusually soft. As she looked back up and met Karen's dark-green eyes, she found the Major smiling while her long, red hair awkwardly patted her head.

It was a grim smile, but it nevertheless carried the serenity of acceptance.

"I never thought I'd ever see someone so stupid, leaping over the only defensive obstacle we had and exposing her neck to Huskarl Zweihanders like that. Those things could have cut your skinny body in half even without you helping!"

The smaller girl did manage to look abashed. It was the only thing I could think of at the time that would actually make a difference.

"But you gave us the warning. You helped us stop the charge. And you never looked back, not even when you passed along that death sentence of an order," Major Karen went on. "I've always told my troops that only family will stand by and face death together. So even if my battalion is disbanded, our family remains, and you're a member of it now," Karen acknowledged her junior with a firm nod.

She then repeated Kaede's own words with a lopsided grin:

"And that's why I did it, and would do it again."

"But..." Kaede tried to interject, almost desperate to claim some blame for herself.

"Don't tell me you have your master's ego and think half the world revolves around you," Karen half-joked with a chuckle. But her sternness soon returned: "You, are not responsible for my arm. A Northman took my arm away, because I couldn't fight him and win."

Those words left Kaede speechless.

It wasn't fair. Karen couldn't be faulted for that. She had fought off so many others while protecting Kaede. And she could have stalemated that giant of a man too, if not for Kaede's incompetent 'assist'.

"Besides..." the Major continued, as though reading Kaede's mind. "My swordstaff was on the verge of breaking even before I lost my hold. If you hadn't been there, he'd have finished the job. Telling me sorry? I should be thanking you instead!"

Kaede returned another wry smile. She couldn't help but feel humbled by the woman before her. There was no way she herself could have taken the loss of an arm so well. She would have found someone to blame, someone to lash out at. Yet here she was, the very person responsible, and Major Karen was trying to make her feel better.

So this... is what a true leader of men is like.

Nevertheless, there was no way anyone could simply shrug away the loss of an arm, to accept being crippled for the rest of their life without bitter tears. The Major was a strong person. But Kaede could only guess at the lonely times when Karen must weep silently to herself.

...

By the time Kaede left the cabin, over three hours had passed. The Major had been an excellent conversationalist, and had kept Kaede entertained with many stories from her years in the military.

"Sorry that took a while." The familiar said as she met up with Sir Robert, who had been waiting outside the entire time. The handsome armiger had been drawing in a notebook which he quickly closed. His smile was flawless as he replied:

"Not a problem. Are we ready to go back?"

"Let's." Kaede nodded, before glancing at the sketchpad that Robert was putting away. "Are you an artist, Sir Robert?"

"Not really," Robert shyly scratched his cheeks as they walked back towards the city's half-collapsed walls. "But I do a bit of tailoring in my spare time. And I enjoy designing clothes."

A knight doing needlework. Definitely not what I'd have expected, Kaede thought in amusement.

"Can I see?"

"No. Sorry." A blush spread across Robert's cheeks as he spoke. "It's... kind of embarrassing."

I guess it's not just designing heraldry and tabards then.

"No worries," Kaede remarked before they switched topics to how the Princess was sending out her armigers to help organize the relief efforts. It was clear that Sylviane intended to gather as much goodwill from the people of Nordkreuz as she could before returning to Rhin-Lotharingie with, hopefully, Weichsel's help.

Then, by the time they reached the small bridge leading to Pascal's island home, Sir Robert asked:

"Did visiting the Major make you feel better?"

"I think so," Kaede thought aloud. "At least, it made me realize that it wasn't just about me and my choices, but also how my actions fit into the world around me." She then looked down upon the hands that once held the flame siphon in battle. "I may have committed murder in the most inhumane form, yet I also saved the lives of thousands in exchange."

"We often forget that ethics is not about how righteous or wretched we feel, but how our choices impact the world at large," Robert nodded in agreement. "Sometimes doing the right thing requires us to take actions that we ourselves consider loathsome, while keeping our own hands clean would be nothing less than the greatest sin."

Is that his way of saying that I did the right thing? I Kaede smiled a little as she looked at the beautiful knight. "You sound like a philosopher, Sir Robert."

"Not at all," he smiled back at the young girl. "But I am a knight. And chivalry is never as simple as it seems."