Between finding the remains of their carriage and appropriating a few enemy resources, An and Sir Leory managed to finagle a proper unit. Since the militia was focused on their goal to take down Sol’s unit, their abandoned carriage and resources were mostly untouched. Horses were found within the enemy ranks and were used to replace their losses.

Of the 30 Knights in Sir Leory’s unit, 22 of them survived the assault. The group did their best to locate their dead allies, however there were too many bodies littered across such an expansive battlefield that they were forced to give up.

The team pressed on while maintaining a high vigilance. Neither Sir Leory nor An thought there would a follow on assault after such a massive defeat, however extra prudence never hurt anyone. Half a day later, the group setup camp a few hours from their destination.

Sol remained in a deep sleep throughout the journey. It was only after the group arrived in Loughzar that Sol started showing signs of waking up. Despite that, she faded in and out of consciousness for another 2 days. Rather than assist and heal her, An allowed Sol’s body to naturally recover itself.

He kept his spiritual awareness focused on her condition at all times and monitored the entire healing process. While he could have sped the process up, it would have been detrimental to Sol in the long run. Ever since Sol achieved initial success in the Body Refinement stage, her body was constantly improving.

The Unchained Queen Beast model was something An tailored to Sol. Since the girl was so dedicated, Sol eventually learned to cycle the cognitive model even when unconscious. As such, her strength was always growing at a steady pace.

An’s spiritual awareness was able to make out the slight alterations to Sol’s body the cognitive model was making. He wouldn’t have been so focused if the model matched his initial design, however Sol’s constitution was something An didn’t plan for.

Sol remained asleep for such a long time exactly because her soul was altering the Unchained Queen Beast cognitive model. An was no longer sure he could predict the changes to Sol’s body after the model was altered.

Another three days passed before Sol finally opened her eyes. She felt a strength inside her that exceeded her past self. Sol’s mind was already driving at full speed the moment she woke up. Cautious eyes monitored the surroundings and a strengthened spiritual awareness spread out to explore the environment.

Her caution dissipated after sensing Sir Leory and a few other familiar Knights. Sol lifted herself from the carriage couch then froze in place. A cool breeze trailed across her naked skin after the blanket covering her fell off.

Sol’s eye twitched and a familiar presence registered in her spiritual awareness. She snatched the blanket and bundled up in it moments before the carriage door opened. An only took a glance at the pink girl before taking his seat across the aisle from her.

“Good morning kid. You slept well…”

Sol’s eyes narrowed at his statement. There was a lot Sol was unable to say during the heat of the moment, but now that the battle settled down, she felt as if everything was meaningless. With so much to say and so little desire to talk about it, Sol only kept a stink eye trained on the young boy.

“What’s up? Cat got your tongue?”

“This Lady was going to hold back, but since  this Lady’s maid is so eager to probe, then this Lady will capitulate. Was your intent to kill this Lady?! Disrespect this Lady?! Is this Lady being punished for public crimes?!”

Tears started building in Sol’s eyes after yelling her piece. Sol wasn’t stupid, how could an Assembler make it to the back line and get to her when An was hunting the enemy? Why did only one make it through? The Assembler was only a bit stronger to Sol, however she had far more control over magic.

The moment Sol recognized the enemy was an Assembler, she knew An let them slip by on purpose. To him, it might have been a joke, punishment, or test, but to Sol, it was a fight to the death.

Part of Sol was disappointed in losing the fight and was taking it out on An, however the greater portion of her anger was on the Unchained Queen Beast cognitive model. Sol didn’t even give An a chance to reply before yelling out her frustrations.

“Why did you give me such a weak cognitive model?! That woman was only at the initial success of Body Refinement yet was capable of teleporting! What about me?! I can barely keep myself from collapsing despite the effort I put in! All my magic amounted to little more than a toy! I was like an egg thrown against a rock when fighting her!!”

“A sharp egg with edges. You managed to get in a few good cuts, last I recall.”

“That had nothing to do with magic!” Frustration built up behind Sol’s tears and eventually started overflowing. For a moment, Sol wasn’t even sure why she was crying anymore. All the stress from the ambush, her first life and death fight, her weakness, An’s observations, and her general helplessness flooded out.

An felt a little awkward at her sudden outpour. The girl was typically a reserved devil scheming behind the scenes. He rarely saw her break down like this, so for a moment, he wasn’t sure what to do. Eventually, An sat beside her and provided a firm hug for her to cry into.

Sol was so mentally out of it that she forgot the situation and any propriety. She beat her small fists into An’s chest while crying. Outside the carriage, Sir Leory and his men all heard the girl burst into tears and her screams. Each of them pretended to hear nothing and continued their work.

Sol eventually cried herself to sleep and the next morning, she woke up feeling refreshed. The two finally managed to have a civil discourse, though Sol refused to wipe away her grudge this time. “Cough it out. Why did you ignore her, what was that silver thing, why am I so weak, and what happened after I blacked out?”

“In short, that woman was weak enough to serve as good training for you, so I let her through. You’re weak because your foundation is far, far, more solid than hers. That woman only started recently and her cognitive model is rather low grade. You can think of her foundation as a hollow scaffolding. Of course she could grow faster than you initially, however that’s only a temporary gain. In the long run, her foundation will be too weak and her progress will stall. The model I gave you is the exact opposite. It will give you an absolute foundation, however the trade off is that it takes longer for you to reach milestones. That Assembler was only capable of high speed movement 3 to 4 times before she was exhausted. When you reach her level, 120 to 200 times would be child’s play for you.”

“Why would someone limit themselves like that?”

“Not everyone has a high ranking cognitive model, Sol. Some develop on their own and create it as they go. They modify it as their understanding of magic deepens, however there’s often many sequela left in their foundation. What’s more concerning is that the woman was from this lower plane and was only using that cognitive model for just over a year. High power and low stamina models like that are common tactics for raising a disposable army. Your enemy might not be Prince Roland this time around. That Prince shouldn’t have access to methods like this. He would have used it long ago to snatch the throne if he did.”

Sol fell into deep contemplation at An’s observation. Certainly, with Prince Roland’s aggressive character he would have gone straight for the throne before dealing with her if he had a choice. Prince Elric could never have raised an army due to the Queen’s influence and the King’s oversight, so who else could do it?

“What if… Prince Roland was behind it? What if we assume something changed over the last year and he gained access to the Assembler’s cognitive model. Maybe he traded something for it?”

An only shook his head. “Nothing in the lower plane would…” His words stopped mid sentence and his gaze fell on Sol. flashes of intelligence strafed across his eyes and a few ideas suddenly came to mind. “It’s possible. Teaching cognitive models to the lower plane typically violates the upper planes rules, however it's difficult to monitor and catch the act. If someone wanted to hide their activities, they could use Prince Roland as a scapegoat”

“If that’s true, then Prince Roland chose to move against me before taking the throne… An, it’s about time you told me who you’re protecting me from.”

“Just a bunch of bad guys trying to touch what’s not theirs.”

“You!” It wasn’t the first time An refused to talk to Sol about her situation. ‘You’re not strong enough.’ ‘Don’t worry about something you can’t participate in.’ ‘You’ll find out eventually.’ ‘It’s a surprise.’ ‘Go away.’ Sol never received a proper answer from him and it was frustrating her immensely. 

“An! If this Lady had any idea what was coming this Lady’s way, this Lady could strategize against it. Holding back on information is only detrimental! Haven’t you read books about how the problem could have been solved if only the protagonist got the answer ahead of time?!”

“Those protagonists have a fighting chance. The difference is you’re a gnat. A bug. Your strength is so weak I could crush you with my pinky. You can’t hide anymore because your signature after becoming an Assembler is unique and I have nothing specific I can tell you because there are billions of enemies spread across space and time. Grow stronger, Sol. Only then do you have the right to fight fate.”