Well, all I can say is that mistakes were made and this is a fuckton harder than I thought it’d be.

I mean, seriously. I thought it’d be hella easy since I was used to fighting against Medrauta, so a bunch of weird lookin’ dog-shaped witchspawn shouldn’t’ve been a problem, but DAMN! Give someone else this glowing greatsword!

“Dame Esmeralda! Sir Peter’s flank is falling!” Liandra shouted. She was a second-year knight and an archer who had been given the artifact bow Failnaught, but for some reason, Dame Eirlys had seen fit to assign her to my squad. Why?

Probably just to ride my ass, honestly. Way I saw it, the squad that needed the most help was Brig’s, and she sure as shit wasn’t getting any. Stuck smack center in the approaching witchspawn army, Brig and her cohorts were probably getting pounded over and over again with wave after wave of these bullshit bitches, yet here I was holding my tits because little miss archer whore wanted me to run from flank to flank instead of... Y’know, fucking shooting them with your bow???

Whatever. I’m over it.

“On my way, fuckface!” I shouted, adding my little nickname for her as a matter of habit. I really should’ve laid off the shittalk with Mel when we were off duty.

“What did you say!?”

“On my way, Dame Liandra.”

“That’s what I thought you said.”

Oh fuck off, bitch.

I hauled ass and made it to Peter’s flank on the right in record time. Disengaging with the witchspawn weren’t exactly hard, especially when fuckface finally decided to put that bow of hers to use and start shooting. Honestly, we wouldn’t be having this much of an issue if she decided to focus on shooting instead of ordering everyone around, but eh... I can deal.

“Peter!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, breaking him free from his anxiety-induced trance. I had no idea why he was standing around lookin’ like he just took a point-blank artillery shower, but I sure as hell wasn’t gonna let him keep doin’ it.

“E-Esmeralda! What’re you doing here!?” Peter stared at me, his mouth agape as I easily cleaved through droves upon droves of attacking witchspawn with my enormous greatsword.

I don’t blame him though. I am pretty damn cool, ‘specially when I’ve got this glowing bodkin with me. Think Dame Eirlys called it “Marmyadose”, but I ain’t ever had a named weapon and that shit sounded way too fancy for me.

“Fuckface told me to come here, so I did. Hope she’s shootin’ up the center though, else it’s gonna fall without me there.” I replied.

Originally, I was supposed to be posted at the very front of our defensive position since I was the one with the big fuckin’ sword, but Liandra clearly had other ideas. I sure as hell ain’t in the mood to argue when we’re getting overrun by witchspawn though, so I’ll let Dame Eirlys chew her ass out after.

Peter shook his head, anxiety filling his eyes. “Don’t think that’s a good idea, Esmeralda. Like you said, center’s gonna fall without you.”

“You ain’t doin’ great over here either, honestly. What happened? Did those things Dame Eirlys give us run out of mana or something?”

“No, I just...” Peter hesitated before continuing. “I...”

Though I’d pretty much just wiped out their entire advance force, the witchspawn were still coming at us. All I’d done was give us a bit more breathing room. Even so, there was seriously no time for me to play psychologist and wait for Peter to spit it out.

“Who died this time?” I asked bluntly. Yeah, fuck me. It was insensitive, but the dude’s leading a whole ass flank. He starts staring off into space like he was a few seconds ago and we’re all fucked.

“...It was Iselta.” He replied, his voice almost a whisper. The other knights standing beside him hung their heads, their faces bearing an equal amount of sorrow.

I grimaced. Iselta, huh...? Wasn’t expecting it to be her.

She was pretty much the sunshine of Peter’s group. Bright, cheerful, and just a bundle of joy to be around in general, Iselta pretty much landed on her feet wherever she went. Honestly, she was pretty fun to hang out with in the mess hall after the day wound down, but damn...

“Yeah, uh, sorry. I got no clue what to say.”

Peter just shook his head, smiling. “Never change, Esmeralda.”

“Uh... Duh? Why would I? I’m fuckin’ awesome the way I am.” I grinned. Honestly, getting through shit like this was tough, and my heart went out to ‘em. And to the people who were actually good at giving pep talks. Me? I guess I just blunt-bluster my way through this shit till people get so caught off guard by my absolute lack of social ability that they get over it.

Peter laughed, shaking his head again. “I’m serious, Esmeralda. Now get your ass back to the center. We’ve got it covered here.”

I took a glance over the spiked barricades around our position. The next wave of witchspawn was actually pretty large, but it shouldn’t be too much for Peter and his men to handle so long as he got a grip on himself again. I locked eyes with him, confirming that he’d managed to master his emotions. Last thing I needed was to head back to the center and find out his flank collapsed within five minutes.

“It’s all good,” Peter stressed, reaching into a crate next to him and arming himself with one of the magic tools Dame Eirlys had supplied us. Honestly, I had no idea how they worked, but they were apparently made by Lady Merlynne before she went missing. Dame Eirlys called ‘em “mana neutralizers.”

I gave him a quick nod. “Better be. Dinner’s on me tonight, and that goes for everyone. So y’all better make it back, alright?”

“Hell yeah!” A chorus rose from the knights. 

I returned their fierce grins with one of my own before dashing back to the center of our fortified position. I’d probably take a bit more flack from fuckface again, but I’ll be damned if I let the goddamn center fall.

It took me around a minute and a half to get back, and whaddya know? I was fuckin’ right.

“Dame Liandra!” I roared as I charged into the front lines, practically throwing myself over the wooden fortifications and diving into the witchspawn wave that crashed into the barricades. I swung my sword in a wide arc, cleaving away the blasted creatures in a single blow. Like hell I’d let any of these assholes break through my goddamn wall. “What the fuck are you doing!?”

“The left flank is mine! I had to support it!” She shouted back.

Yeah, no shit. I shook my head in frustration as the cohort of knights working with me helped mop up the mess Liandra had made. I turned to one of them, a cherry-haired knight who stopped next to me. Beads of perspiration dripped from her brow, her chest heaving hard.

“Sorry ‘bout that, Coraline. You and everyone else alright?”

Coraline nodded, her bright red locks bouncing against her shoulders as she did so. “Y-Yeah, we’re cool, Esme.”

Despite her words, I could tell by her shaky stance and wavering eyes that she certainly wasn’t “cool” by any stretch of the word. Sure, Peter needed someone to snap him out of his trance and clear the witchspawn who had made it all the way to the barricades, but the center had nearly been fucked due to my absence. I had no idea what the hell Liandra was doing with that bow of hers, but I honestly wished Lady Viviane was here instead of her.

She was no knight, but she shot like Aluvsha himself. Her and Lady Sakura. I got no clue what the hell was up with the two of them, but I haven’t even seen knights shoot with the speed and accuracy that they could pull off. Well... Except Krista. She locked herself up in the range after she supposedly lost to Lady Sakura in a duel and came out a monster. Unfortunately, she wasn’t here either and I was stuck with Liandra.

Woe is me. I know. But I’m Esme, so I’ll get through it. I always do.

“Form up behind the palisades. I’ll hold the barricades alone until you’re all recovered.” I said, jerking a thumb toward the tall wooden defenses we’d set up days ago.

Coraline shook her head vehemently. “N-No! There’s no way in hell we’d leave you out here alone! Isn’t that right!?”

She directed the question to the knights who had gathered around her, facing me with stalwart gazes as I waited for the next wave of witchspawn to reach our position. All of them nodded their assent. Though they didn’t speak, their posture and determination was more than enough to convince me of their resolve.

I wanted to protest and say that it would merely be fitting for them to punish my departure by leaving, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Not when they wanted to support me so adamantly. Instead, all I could do was nod and put on my most battle-crazed grin in the hopes of driving their morale even further.

“Fine then. We’ll continue holding the line here no matter what miss fuckface says this time. But there’s one condition I’ve got for all of you.” I paused, making sure they were all listening closely to me. “Don’t any of you die, got that?”

A roar of assent came from the throats of my men as they thrust their swords high in the air. The sound of ringing steel echoed through the air as the mana neutralizers strapped onto their blades rattled from the movement. This time, a genuine grin spread across my lips. Though they were battle-weary and drenched in sweat, I couldn’t have asked for better knights to have my back.

I turned, facing the oncoming wave of witchspawn. They were about fifty feet away from our position, giving us just enough time to assume a proper formation before they crashed into the barricades before us. Dame Eirlys told us they were creatures made wholly from mana, immune to the ravages of death unless their bodies themselves were freed from Amelia’s control and returned to their natural forms.

Normally, there was practically no way to do this with Amelia and her damned Spire so close, but the missing Lady Merlynne had apparently prepared for a situation exactly like this. And thank Aluvsha for that.

I cut and thrust wildly, lashing out at everything that stood in my way. My cohorts gave me a wide berth, considerate of the giant arcs that my gleaming greatsword described. It was like wielding a pillar of light that cut through an unending tide of darkness, the blade’s special properties wiping countless droves of witchspawn out with a single blow. 

In comparison, swords with mana neutralizers attached usually took at least a dozen cuts to finally vanquish a single witchspawn. While that wasn’t much of a problem for knights, the time that it took to actually dispatch one of them added up when there were so many damn witchspawn charging at us at every second!

At least the waves come intermittently now instead of fucking constantly... I grimaced as I thought back to the weeks before when Dame Eirlys had first started this campaign of pushing back against the witchspawn that had once overrun the entirety of the capital. It was a slow, gradual effort, but we were almost finished banishing them from the academy’s surroundings. Soon, we’d push them all the way back to the Spire. Or at least, that was the plan.

As the day continued to drag on, I honestly started to lose track of time as I continued to swing mindlessly into the fray, taking out as many witchspawn as possible. At one point, I felt as though my arms would give out, but that pain and exhaustion merely drove me to continue fighting even harder, pushing my body to its utmost limits. And then, the sun finally set at last.

I collapsed right then and there. Like, seriously.  I was just fucking done. The whole rotation to Peter’s flank had completely fucked up our rhythm, and we were forced to defend multiple fronts simultaneously instead of being able to rotate them as Eirlys’ plans intended. Honestly, I shouldn’t have listened to Liandra in the first place, but then again, if I hadn’t, Peter would probably be dead by now.

I suppose there was one pretty damn good takeaway though. At the end of the day, there were no further casualties, and that was honestly the best we could’ve hoped for. Still, if only Iselta had survived, perhaps she might’ve been sitting here across the table from me and makin’ her usual jokes. Instead, the seat was empty.

That is, until Melindra decided to plop herself down and give me that intelligence-draining smile of hers. Lady Jocelyn slid into the seat next to her. Clearly, her lady was a much better sport than my lord, because he absolutely refused to eat anything from the knights’ mess hall. Seriously, what a prick.

“‘Sup, Esme? Why’re you actin’ all moody over here?”

I shrugged. “I ain’t. Why’re you buggin’ me instead of hanging out with Lady Jocelyn? You’ve even dragged her over.”

“‘Cause girl, you look down in the dumps! I mean, you just treated your entire squad to dinner, but you’re sitting alone! That’s no way to enjoy the only break time we get!”

“Mel’s right.” Lady Jocelyn said. At first, it had been extremely jarring to hear her refer to Melindra as “Mel”, but I suppose I managed to get used to it somewhere along the way. “You were pivotal in maintaining the perimeter today. You should be celebrating with your friends and comrades.”

I just shrugged. I mean, counter to what Melindra was implying, I wasn’t feeling particularly moody. I just wasn’t in the mood to revel, I guess. There wasn’t much to celebrate with Iselta’s passing, and though Peter and his men were making a good show of it, I could see they were hurting deep inside. I guess maybe I’m the one who’s bad at moving on even though I’m pretty blunt about things in the moment.

“How’d you even get so many creds to pay for all that?” Melindra said, the thought suddenly occurring to her. “We only get like, five a day.”

“And nobles get twenty. Even then, we still wouldn’t have enough to treat all these people.” Jocelyn frowned.

I grimaced. I’d hoped no one would notice, but apparently, I wasn’t lucky enough for that. At the very least, Brig wasn’t here, or she’d probably chew me out despite the actual owner being absent.

“I, uh... I used Medrauta’s card.”

“You WHAT!?” Melindra exclaimed, her eyes nearly popping out of her sockets. “Are you serious!? You’re gonna be in for a world of hurt when she comes back! You’re crazy! You’re a lunatic! You’re—”

That was enough. I promptly silenced Melindra by shoving a loaf of bread in her mouth. It seemed to do the trick, ‘cause she wasn’t screaming her head off anymore.

“Relax. She won’t know. And besides, she has a shitton. As in like, way more than anyone can ever use.”

“...R-Really?” Melindra asked as she swallowed the piece of bread. “How much?”

“‘Bout a couple thousand.”

“WHAT!?” Melindra shouted again, prompting me to shove another loaf of bread in her mouth.

“Remember what Dame Eirlys said? Our meal credits were gonna be turned into requisition credits at a ten to one ratio. She had around forty thousand or something crazy before thanks to all those duels she won.”

“Forty thousand!?” This time, it was Jocelyn who nearly knocked her seat back as she rose abruptly, her eyes widening in shock and disbelief. “Not even the ducal heirs and heiresses have that much!”

I nodded sagely. I understood very well how ridiculous it all sounded, but it was true. I too was a disbeliever at first until I saw how many credits her card held. A small little magic tool designed by Lady Merlynne, the cafeteria cards we were issued could track a special type of currency that only the academy’s mess hall and nobles’ cafe used. Of course, prices were prohibitively expensive for us knights in the cafe, but that wasn’t a problem for Medrauta.

Through incessant duels and maintaining her rank as an undefeated knight outside of matches, Medrauta had amassed an incredible amount of credits over the course of a month and half at the academy. Though she lost quite a bit thanks to her defeats during matches, her habit of dueling senior students and sometimes even senior knights helped earn it all back. Before she was dispatched on her mission by Dame Eirlys, her card held over forty thousand credits.

It was simply insane, honestly. An existence that defied all logic and more. It wasn’t something that should’ve happened or should’ve been possible in the first place, but that very card rested in my pocket right now.

I retrieved it, placing it on the table in front of me and tapping it once to display the recorded value. Both Melindra and Lady Jocelyn stared at it, unable to take their eyes off the thing.

“T-That’s... That’s impossible, Esme...” Melindra said, being the first to recover. “If... If she had so much all this time, why’d we always eat here at the mess hall!? We could’ve dined like nobles!”

“That’s what I asked her at first, but...” I shrugged. “She said she liked it better here. The cafe was too fancy and stuffy for her tastes, apparently.”

“Gaaaah! My dreams of tasting strawberry shortcake! They were so close all along, yet so far!!!”

Lady Jocelyn shook her head while Melindra despaired, comforting her knight with a pat on the back. I found the sight rather amusing, but my food was getting cold so I quickly returned to it.

I had a long day ahead of me tomorrow, after all.