Chapter 469

The Count’s Daughter

Of course, that warning call hadn’t come from a Spada soldier, but from a fellow Crusader .

“Waah, no way! I’ve arrived at the noblemen’s camp without even noticing!”

In that military encampment, there were tents for both rank and file soldiers as well as for the generals, but the difference between the two was well established .

Particularly, in order to not fall victims to surprise attacks, the tents are arranged in a concentric pattern, with Count Bergunt’s tent in the middle of the camp . Then, the tents of knights and soldiers are arranged around it, so as to protect from assaults from any direction . Of course, they would be on the lookout not only for enemy soldiers, but for any allies who were acting weird as well .

“I was a bit shocked at first, but it seems that it was nothing but a drunk fool . ”

“But there was some sort of strange figure there…”

“I think it’s natural for monsters to move here and there, even under this blizzard . Under these conditions, it would be better to save our strength . ”

While listening to the unwilling guards’ exchange, Ai completely erased her presence like she would when hunting monsters in the hills and fields, and began to hurry onwards . Even without the power of an apostle, this kind of covert action was her specialty .

“Hmm, but should we try to get in? Tsumiki, I need you to keep quiet . ”

Tsumiki replied with a cute little caw from his yellow beak, as if saying “you should worry about talking too much yourself!”

“Okay, let’s do this!”

Ai then got on all fours like some wild animal, and proceeded onward over the snowy field . She made no sound and left no prints as she advanced through the fresh snow . Like a cockroach dashing through a kitchen .

No one notices her as she continues on her path . There were many blindspots where one could hide from the guards on patrol at that time of the night and under such weather .

As Ai began to restlessly look around the area, she noticed that there were tents everywhere with their lights still on . The regular soldiers had gone to sleep some time ago, but the great noblemen lords seemed to really like to stay up late in the battlefield .

That was certainly some good social standing they had . It must be fun to take up beautiful female knights as your personal guards .

“I want to fire an Aether arrow…”

There was no answer to the comment that came out of her bored face .

“At any rate, they’re still merrymaking at that war council of theirs, even this late at night . That old man is quite energetic, huh?”

A notoriously bigger tent than all others had caught Ai’s attention . Everything around it seemed to be in a state of high alert, with two –three at some points– layers of guards on duty . Even Ai would have a hard time sneaking in without alerting such elite knights and their sharp senses .

As good as it would feel to be able to sneak past such defenses unnoticed, Ai wasn’t that interested in getting some useless piece of information from that military meeting . If anything, it would be safe to assume that the only conclusion they could have come up with was to launch a full frontal assault as soon as the storm cleared .

“Nah, there’s not much we can get here . We should head back now–”

She started to turn around while still creeping in all fours . Then…

“–Well, I’ll be heading out now, Father . ”

A girl had come out of that big tent .

“Huh? That girl…”

She was wearing a Crusader’s pure white priestess’ robe, but she wasn’t a nun . It didn’t look like a cassock, but more like something that was custom-made so that she could use Light Magic during battle .

There was nothing wrong with seeing a priestess wearing such equipment in the battlefield .

But her appearance had caught Ai’s attention .

“Oh, so that’s that Helvetia saintess I’ve heard about… She has a cute face, but her breasts aren’t all that big . ”

Ai revealed her honest impressions while impolitely staring at the priestess’ chest . If they were as big as the Third Apostle’s pair, she would not hesitate to ask her to let her rub them, despite being an Apostle, but this poor girl didn’t have enough bust for that .

“Anyway, that black hair and those black eyes of hers…”

At long last, Ai took her eyes away from her chest and looked at her most characteristic features . She was reminded of one particular person after seeing the girl’s jet-black hair .

“Well, I guess it would be worth it to try to spy on her a little bit . ”

And so, Ai continued to crawl like some kind of cockroach spy as she tailed Linfelt, the beautiful black-haired priestess who looked dignified with every step she took .

“…Oops!”

Along the way, Ai stopped suddenly and plunged herself into the snow below her .

She then held her ears out, trying to listen to a conversation between Linfelt and her appointed knight . Rather than using Wind Magic to pick up on sounds, her technique was closer to a martial arts skill used to clearly distinguish certain sounds amongst the noise . This as well was not part of her powers as an Apostle, but something she learned to do by herself .

“What is it, Sebastian?”

“I felt as if someone was watching us… But it’s probably just my imagination . ”