Meanwhile, Erwin and his friends were gathered together beside the stone railing on the second floor.

"Why is it raining so early in the morning?" Erwin was watching the rain falling outside, splattering audibly onto the leaves of the bamboo trees in the courtyard.

"Maybe even the heavens think that it's not right for our commander to abandon us, so it's protesting in the form of rain," Kaiba chuckled.

"Come on, it's not like I want to leave you guys. You guys know what my father's like. When he sets his mind on something, there's nothing I can do to convince him otherwise," Larwood said with a resigned expression. "Last night, he barged into my room to scold me again. I just so happened to be changing at the time, so he saw the injuries on my body, and he immediately forbade me from continuing to march with our mercenary legion."

Larwood heaved a forlorn sigh, then continued, "We argued with each other for hours after that, but he was adamant to keep me here."

"I can understand that. Any father would be unwilling to allow his son to risk his life like this," Erwin said with a smile. He knew that Larwood had been carrying various injuries ever since their battle against Talan. During their battle against the Skycourt Kingdom's mercenaries two nights ago, he had sustained another wound to the shoulder in order to save Erwin and Onean. In Erwin's mind, it made sense that Duke Nandoon would be vehemently against Larwood's continued involvement with the Four Winds mercenary legion after seeing his injuries.

"So everyone's sad that Larwood's leaving, but no one cares that I'm leaving, is that right?" Chase complained with a displeased expression.

"I understand. The injuries you sustained during that battle against Talan were very severe, so it's in your best interest to stay behind," Erwin consoled as he patted Chase on the shoulder.

"Why are you consoling them when they're the ones who are abandoning us?" Kaiba asked as he turned to Erwin with a raised eyebrow.

"What can I do? I'm the legion commander now, so I have to look after everyone's feelings," Erwin said with a wry smile.

Erwin was well aware of what Chase's physical condition was like. The wound that he had sustained from Talan's second killing strike was extremely severe, and there was no way that he could fully recover from it without at least half a month of rest. Even so, he had followed Erwin and Larwood into battle when they decided to challenge the tens of thousands of Skycourt Kingdom mercenaries, a decision which, in hindsight, was far too overconfident. For the sake of his friends, Chase had constantly been pushing himself through his injuries, and it only made sense that he was deciding to take a break to allow his own body to fully recover. Besides, in his current condition, taking him to fight on the front lines would be no different from sending him to his death.

In reality, Erwin wouldn't have been surprised even if Kaiba had also told him that he also wanted to remain in Xeto. After all, all three of them were carrying numerous injuries that they had sustained on the journey here. However, Kaiba was completely unfazed by his own physical condition and was determined to continue onward.

"Then I guess this is where we part ways," Chase sighed as he looked out at the falling rain with a dejected expression.

"It's alright. Once we get to the front lines, we'll earn your share of accolades on the battlefield for you," Kaiba jibed as he patted Chase on the shoulder.

Chase opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something in reply, but decided against it in the end and merely nodded in response after a moment of hesitation.

"Look after yourselves," Larwood said in a quiet voice, and even though he was also looking out at the falling rain, it was clear that his words were directed toward Erwin.

Erwin nodded in response. For some reason, a sense of sorrow was welling up in his heart, and a lump had formed in his throat, as if something had gotten stuck in there. The mayor's manor was a predominantly gray building, and it cut a gloomy figure under the overcast sky. The falling rain further contributed to the melancholy atmosphere, and Erwin felt as if there were a heavy rock weighing down on his chest, making it slightly difficult for him to breathe.

This was the first time that the four of them had parted ways in such a depressing atmosphere.

...

"Are you there, Christine?" Erwin asked as he knocked on the door of her room on the airship.

There was nothing but silence in the room for a while before the sound of Christine's footsteps on the wooden floorboards finally rang out, and Erwin was rather taken aback by this. After all, Christine had always been an early riser these past few days, so he wasn't used to seeing her get up so late.

The door was opened slightly, and Christine peeked out at Erwin through the gap with her head cocked slightly to the side. "Brother Erwin."

There were tears swimming in her eyes, and it was clear that she had been crying just now.

"What happened, Christine? Did your father decide to throw a fit again?" Erwin asked.

The sound of coughing immediately rang out from inside. It was clear that Christine's father had heard what Erwin had just said, but he didn't dare to say anything, so he could only passively protest through his coughing. He knew that it would be unwise to get on Erwin's bad side, but he was still inclined to defend himself, and this was the only solution he could find.

Christine shook her head in response, then emerged from the room before closing the door behind her.

"I saw Uncle Lanyon and the others packing up their stuff just now. Do you no longer have any need for the airship, Brother Erwin?" Christine asked in a sad voice.

She's as sharp and observant as ever, Erwin sighed internally.

He nodded in response. "We were originally planning to go to the front lines on your airship, but the final showdown between the two kingdoms is happening in two days, and flying on the airship is not as fast as riding on horseback, so we have no choice but to change our plans. I prefer taking the airship as it's more comfortable, but this is a change forced by necessity."

Christine hung her head in a dejected silence, and Erwin was feeling rather bad for her. "I'll be returning your airship to you today, Christine. However, I'm going to have to keep all the money. Our mercenaries have to be paid for going into war with us."

Even Erwin couldn't help but be impressed by how easily such a shameless statement was sliding off his tongue. However, unbeknownst to him, Christine didn't care about the airship or the money.

"Are we going to meet again, Brother Erwin?" Christine suddenly asked as she raised her head, and tears were beginning to swim in her eyes again.

"Of course! This is not going to be some final farewell. You can just come to Sarus to find me after the war," Erwin replied with a smile. "You're a traveling merchant, aren't you? If you're going to continue in this line of work, then you'll have to pass through Sarus eventually. When that time comes, just come to Count Friar's manor to find me."

Christine's mood was greatly lifted upon hearing this, and a smile appeared on her face despite the tears that were still lingering in her eyes, and the smile was accompanied by an adorable dimple. "Alright, then it's a promise. I'm going to go look for you when I next visit Sarus. In the meantime, you have to promise me that you're not going to be so reckless on the battlefield anymore."

"Hmm? Do I look like a reckless person?" Erwin was rather taken aback to hear this.

"Reckless is an understatement! You really like to show off, and you always like to throw yourself in harm's way, especially when you're protecting the women around you. Her Highness is the princess of the Effer Kingdom and an exceptional magician, so she's definitely going to be a prominent target on the battlefield. You have to protect her, but you also have to look out for yourself," Christine said in an earnest voice as she looked into Erwin's eyes with a serious expression.

Erwin couldn't help but be impressed by Christine's observation skills upon hearing this. Despite her young age, her maturity and attention to detail were well beyond her years.

Judging from the stubborn look in Christine's eyes, it was clear that she wasn't going to take no for an answer, so he could only nod in response. "Alright, you have my word."

...

By the time the Four Winds mercenary legion had completed its preparations, Onean was already waiting outside the city with her 5,000 troops.

"What took you so long?" Onean asked with her brows furrowed in a displeased expression.

"We had to unload all of the money and equipment that we're going to use off the airship. Then there's also all of your potion-brewing things, which we had to organize and bring along with us as well," Erwin said in a resigned manner.

"Time is of the essence, so we have to make haste," Onean said as she turned her horse around and prepared to set off.

"Hey, aren't we going north along the provincial road? Why does it look like we're heading north along the coastline instead?" Erwin asked with a curious expression.

"This is a faster route," Onean explained in a concise manner, then struck the backside of her horse with her whip, and her steed immediately charged forward with a loud neigh.

Meanwhile, Erwin gave Sherry and Lanyon a hand signal, indicating for them to lead the Four Winds mercenary legion and follow along.

After that, he turned back to look at the two figures standing atop the city wall of Xeto, then smiled and gave them a wave before also setting off on his steed.

Larwood and Chase were standing atop the city wall, looking on with absentminded expressions as Erwin and Kaiba sped into the distance on horseback. Only after the two of them had disappeared from view did Larwood and Chase return to their senses.

"We've been friends for so many years, yet we're sending them off to die..." Chase's eyes were bright red, and he was biting viciously down onto his own fist, clearly doing everything in his power to suppress his own emotions.

In contrast, Larwood appeared to be a lot more restrained, and he patted Chase on the shoulder before turning and departing.

Not far away from the two of them stood another figure. It was the mayor of Xeto, Francis Hugh. He was still staring at the beautiful figure that had ridden off into the horizon with a wistful look on his face. There were some things that he couldn't and didn't dare to say. In fact, he most likely wasn't going to ever get a chance to articulate the words that were hiding in his heart.