Extra S*ave Saves the Crown Prince Chapter 32

 

The night before, when a monster appeared in Enapoke.

 

The knights were moving as they had been trained, but their urgent eyes could not be hidden.

 

“Guard the infirmary!”

 

“Spears! Bring more spears!”

 

It was already an unusual event for a monster to appear outside the fortress, but when breaches opened on both sides, even those accustomed to battle could not help but be flustered. The only reason they were able to quickly regroup was because their focal point remained steadfast and unshaken.

 

A crimson cloak rode at the front, charging at the monster on horseback. It wasn’t the best area for riding, as it was where the barracks were clustered, but the reason soon became clear.

 

He stood upright on the galloping horse with both feet. Just as he seemed to balance himself, he leapt. Grabbing the roof of a barrack with one arm, he quickly climbed atop it.

 

Tap, tap.

 

Using the horse as a ladder to the roof, he dashed across it as if it were flat ground. Just seeing the Crown Prince running straight at the monster atop the triangular roof made everyone’s fighting spirit surge.

 

Whoosh—!

 

Under the moonlight, the silver blade moved at a speed too fast to see. To counter the tall monster, the Crown Prince had chosen higher ground. The monster was threatening in size, but its speed was nothing compared to the Crown Prince.

 

Thud!

 

He leapt and landed atop the monster’s shoulder. Soon, the massive head fell to the ground.

 

“Waaaah!”

 

As the headless monster staggered and fell, the Crown Prince leapt down onto another roof. The archers, worried they might accidentally shoot their lord, kept their arrows aimed at the monster.

 

The tension that had been taut quickly turned into a great cheer. The knights rushed at the remaining monsters with spears, swords, and arrows.

 

“Sez!”

 

And it was at the moment when the Crown Prince was about to descend from the roof that he heard that scream. Even in the chaos, with the echoes of cheers still lingering, that single name rang clear in his ears.

 

“Sez! No!”

 

By the time that desperate cry was heard, the Crown Prince had already taken in the situation with his eyes. The thing he had hoped would never happen was, as always, inevitably happening. Ever since he learned she was here, this was the thing he feared most. It felt as if an ice blade had pierced his heart.

 

“Your Highness!”

 

There was not a moment to lose. Sihien leapt across the roofs, closing the distance in an instant. He jumped down onto a nearby horse and, while galloping, snatched a spear from a knight. In the blink of an eye, he was the first to charge at the monster that had seized Sez.

 

The monster, which had been running on all fours, stood up on two legs after grabbing Sez. Watching Sez being swung about, it was like watching someone break through a wind made of blades.

 

Gallop, gallop.

 

Baslo hurriedly led part of the knights after the Crown Prince, but there was still quite a distance between them.

 

Even when wounded, even when brutally slaying monsters, even when witnessing death before his eyes, Sihien’s expression rarely changed. Unlike the other knights, his face never burned with fighting spirit. He was always expressionless, just as he was.

 

But now, it was different.

 

His golden eyes were hardened, as if in pain. He had never worn such an expression, not even when his flesh was cut. Every time Sez narrowly passed over the monster’s blade-like mouth, the pain in his eyes deepened. His arm, holding the spear, was pulled back with all his strength and then hurled forward. It was a more desperate movement than ever before.

 

Thunk!

 

The spear pierced straight into the monster’s mouth. But the monster did not fall; instead, it began to rampage in pain and fury.

 

『Sihien.』 

 

That voice calling his name was vivid. Its echo still pounded hotly in his heart. A burning heat spread from his throat. Even as he ran to her, he bit his lip hard, wishing desperately that time would stop.

 

“Sez!! Aaah!”

 

The priest’s scream cut through the air, strange and sharp. The monster stomped, bringing its front legs together as if to clasp something. For a moment, Sez’s figure was obscured. Then, as if trying to rip something apart with brute force, the monster’s front legs spread wide. It was a clear movement, as if to tear ‘something’ apart.

 

Riiip.

 

But at that moment, the monster froze. It was as if the air around them stilled as well. Just as it was about to tear its sacrifice apart with all its might, the monster, with the spear still lodged in its mouth, was split horizontally and collapsed.

 

Thud!

 

With overwhelming strength, Sihien had sliced the monster in two with a single blow. Everyone knew he was in a different league from ordinary humans, but faced with such an unimaginable sight, they were all frozen in place.

 

The monster’s blood poured down over the Crown Prince.

 

“Oh, God….”

 

Someone called out to the gods.

 

Sihien paid no mind, dismounted, and hurriedly examined the monster’s front legs. The monster had been cut before it could put its strength into them. Still, an ominous feeling crept up his back and gripped his heart. And that premonition soon became reality.

 

She was gone.

 

The front legs still looked as if they were holding something, but there was nothing visible. There should have been at least a scrap of her clothing, but there was no trace at all. She had vanished before their eyes, as if she had evaporated.

 

“Sez, Sez!”

 

Priest Omont, regaining his senses, limped over and searched for her traces with him. But he, too, could find no sign of her. They even checked inside the monster’s mouth, but there was no clue at all.

 

Plop, plop.

 

The Crown Prince’s sword moved quickly, and something fell from the monster’s side. Looking closely, it was thinly sliced pieces of hide. Soon, the corpse was laid open, its insides fully exposed.

 

“Ugh. Ugh.”

 

Some of the knights bent over. Even those hardened by battle found it hard to face such a gruesomely dissected corpse.

 

“Y-Your Highness!”

 

Baslo, who had been unable to approach easily, called out to his lord in distress. His lord, regardless of the stares around him, was still searching inside.

 

He looked as if he was desperately searching for something that must never disappear, that must never be lost. He even searched the same spot again and again, combing through the corpse as if he would find even a single hair.

 

“Nothing here either!”

 

“If you find even a piece of clothing, report it immediately!”

 

And so, that night, they searched everywhere with the Crown Prince at the lead. Eventually, they even combed through the inside of the barracks, but no promising clue was found. Because the Crown Prince searched so desperately, everyone else naturally became earnest as well.

 

Her last sight was of her being shaken back and forth in the monster’s grasp. There should at least have been a body, but she had vanished without a trace. As if she had teleported away.

 

＊ ＊ ＊ 

『His Highness personally split it open and searched. Still, just in case, they couldn’t even burn it and left it like that.』 

 

Relieved to have escaped the monster, and thinking she had to return at dawn, she hadn’t fully realized what her absence overnight might have caused.

 

Right now, the emotions stirred by what Baslo told her were stronger than the nausea from the monster’s corpse. Because she had vanished so suddenly, they had searched the monster’s insides, fearing it might have eaten her.

 

He had done it himself, for her sake. The Crown Prince of the Empire, for a single slave.

 

“Hey, where is His Highness?”

 

With her vision blurring, she followed behind Baslo. She felt that if she thought too deeply, she might collapse, so she focused only on his back.

 

They stopped by the Crown Prince’s tent, then the knights’ training ground, and even the commander’s office just in case. They checked everywhere he might be, but he was nowhere to be seen.

 

They returned to where the monster’s corpse was, but still, the one they sought was not there. In the end, Baslo called over a knight who was still poking around the corpse.

 

“Yes! He was speaking with the priest in the plaza!”

 

He looked very tense. He didn’t look as tired as Baslo, but his face was still quite weary.

 

“The plaza? Got it. Good work.”

 

Baslo raised his un-splinted arm in greeting. The knight remained at attention, even for that casual salute.

 

“Oh! And burn that thing quickly.”

 

As they passed by, Baslo told him, sounding disgusted.

 

“Pardon? But His Highness….”

 

“I’ll take responsibility. Burn it.”

 

“But, still, the—”

 

The knight was visibly flustered. His rigid posture crumbled, and he looked pale, not knowing what to do.

 

“Ah, forget it. Just get ready to burn it soon.”

 

“Y-Yes! Understood!”

 

He looked like he could prepare for burning at any moment, snapping back to attention. Baslo waved his hand dismissively and moved on.

 

“He’s not here either? Where could he be?”

 

They went out to the plaza, but only those cleaning up yesterday’s wreckage were there. The priest he was said to be talking with was nowhere to be seen.

 

“Hey, have you seen His Highness?”

 

“Oh, he walked off that way.”

 

They walked in the direction the knight indicated. If he had been talking with the priest, perhaps he had gone to the infirmary.

 

“Baslo, you’re free, huh? Strolling around as if you’re on a walk?”

 

A familiar knight called out. Baslo, looking glad or perhaps relieved, hurried over to him.

 

“Arnik, is His Highness here?”

 

“Would I be hanging around here if he wasn’t?”

 

“He’s inside?”

 

“…Yeah.”

 

Arnik, after a bit of sarcasm, suddenly became serious. Then he squinted, as if looking at something dazzling.

 

“Baslo. Tell me, is the person I’m seeing right now….”

 

“Wait, I’ll go in and check.”

 

“Oh my god!”

 

Arnik’s fingers, pressed to his forehead, were visibly trembling. Surely, her own hands were shaking just as much.

 

The place where Arnik stood was one she knew very well. A small tent adjoining the plaza. The scent of herbs wafted from it—it was her home and her workplace.

 

“Your Highness. It’s Baslo. I’m coming in for a moment.”

 

Why was ‘he’ in the herb room? Baslo’s knocking and reporting seemed to move in slow motion. Arnik kept muttering “oh my god” as he looked at her.

 

Creak.

 

The door to the herb room opened. There wasn’t much space to sit in that cramped area. As the door opened, the familiar scent swept in. She had only been gone one night, but the smell felt so nostalgic, as if she had returned home.

 

Then Baslo beckoned her closer, and behind him, a familiar silhouette appeared, bowing his head. It was a natural movement, done to avoid hitting the doorframe because of his height.

 

“Ah.”

 

His black hair looked even darker in the sunlight. It felt as if all the light was gathering around him, making him shine even brighter. Beneath long lashes, his golden eyes were more beautiful than anything in this world.

 

She should have bowed deeply, but dazzled, she simply bit her lip.

 

“Sez…?”

 

As that voice reached her, her vision blurred and his figure faded away.