Anna told her to leave without saying anything, but there was no one who could simply turn back from the battlefield without reason.

Unless one had suffered an injury as severe as Ludwig, they couldn't receive permission to leave. Leaving forcibly would naturally result in desertion charges.

Anna had merely told Scarlett that she shouldn't be here without providing a proper explanation.

Fortunately, Scarlett knew very well that Anna, despite her gloomy and dark side, was not a person of ill character.

There was no way Anna would say such a thing without reason.

Therefore, Scarlett spoke to her teacher, Mr. Mustlang, who was in charge of her education and now served as her military officer.

She said she was too exhausted and tormented, that she wanted to give up on everything.

She asked to be sent to the temple.

She said she felt like she would cause an accident if she stayed on the battlefield any longer, like a bomb that would only explode among her own troops.

Scarlett never mentioned Anna's reason for saying such things.

She believed there must have been a reason Anna had told her not to tell Christina.

There had to have been a reason for Anna's desperate look in her eyes.

Of course, Mr. Mustlang couldn't help but be taken aback.

Scarlett, who had silently done her duties without complaint, suddenly said she was tired and wanted to be sent home. Naturally, he was surprised.

It was like playing hooky.

A soldier asking to be sent home in the middle of a warhow would that ever work? In reality, there were countless soldiers who appealed with such feelings.

And if all of them could return home as they wished, the alliance would cease to exist.

While some may want to stay for the sake of the military-provided meals, those who had experienced the fear of death would naturally want to give up on everything.

That's why Scarlett couldn't just ask to be sent home without reason.

But the important thing was, Scarlett was not an ordinary student.

As a member of the Temple Royal Class, she had accumulated much more experience than ordinary soldiers.

And Mr. Mustlang misunderstood Scarlett.

He thought that although she had been silently doing well up to this point, she was still burdened and struggling like everyone else.

He guessed that, even though she hadn't expressed it, her heart ached so much that it had finally burst forth like this.

"Alright, Scarlett, you've been through a lot. I'll speak to the higher-ups on your behalf. With everything you've done, you should be able to go home and rest. Leave the remaining work to the others. Don't feel guilty. You've done enough. You've been through a lot."

"Teacher..."

That's why Mr. Mustlang comforted Scarlett with such words.

Although there was a proper reason, she couldn't say it. So, in response to her seemingly childish request to go home, Mr. Mustlang embraced her warmly. In his arms, Scarlett couldn't help but burst into tears.

So, in the end...

Scarlett was able to return to the Imperial Capital via the warp spot without giving a proper explanation.

Because of that, she couldn't even say a proper goodbye to her friends.

Only Anna's words.

Her words telling her to leave quickly without saying anything.

She believed there had to have been a meaning behind those words.

Ordinarily, the return of a single soldier from the military wouldn't have been such a significant event.

However, in the Royal Class, where the numbers were small overall, the sudden absence of someone could not go unnoticed.

Thus, it was inevitable that there would be some commotion when Scarlett, who had performed her duties well thus far and seemed to have no issues, left without a word or greeting.

The marching troop halted momentarily for a meal break.

"Scarlett's returned? All of a sudden?"

Ranian Sesor, eating a hardtack, cocked his head upon hearing the news from Kono Lint.

"She wasn't around, so I thought something happened, but it turns out she went back."

Kono Lint, who curiously observed everything happening around him without much significance, was the first to notice Scarlett's absence.

"Is something wrong?"

"Well, I don't know. She doesn't talk much, so she might have been keeping it all inside."

Erich, who could never have a good relationship with Scarlett due to past grudges, also looked displeased.

Both had crossed too many lines to discuss their past torment. They had both become very different people from their past selves.

However, the lingering guilt and grudges did not simply disappear.

Erich ate his hardtack with a stern expression upon hearing the news of Scarlett being escorted back.

As it was a rest during the march, they had to eat preserved food in a bivouac without a mess hall, so everyone huddled together, sitting closely.

"I thought she looked sick, but if even the priests have a hard time treating her, isn't it serious? If she has to go all the way back to the capital..."

Christina remembered Scarlett's pale appearance just yesterday and sighed.

If even the holy power of the priests couldn't heal her, it was understandable why Scarlett had to leave.

Anna remained silent, quietly eating her bread without adding or contributing anything to the conversation.

After all, there weren't many people left.

Ludwig and Ellen had been taking their meals separately for a while now, not showing up at the table.

Heinrich had been moving more frequently with the Kernstadt army lately.

In Evia's case, she was serving as a messenger for the command post, so it was the hardest to see her face compared to the others.

Thus, nearly all the Royal Class second-year students were missing.

All that remained were Louis, Anna, Christina, Adelia, Kono Lint, Erich, Cayer, Cliffman, and Ranian Sesor.

The twenty-two students, who once combined classes A and B, were now reduced to this small number.

"Where did she feel sick?" Lint asked.

Christina nodded her head.

"It didn't look serious, so I gave her a tonic, but it must not have worked?"

Anna tried to silence Scarlett.

And indeed, Scarlett had followed Anna's incomprehensible instructions to the letter.

Unfortunately, Scarlett had only spoken about the archduke's golem, not who had taken her to the archduke's fortress.

"Hm? It's probably not because she's sick. You don't need to worry about that."

Anna was unaware that she would also have to silence Adelia to keep the secret.

At Adelia's sudden remark, Anna's eyes widened. Anna stared at Adelia with a desperate gaze.

But no words could be spoken through her eyes alone.

"If it's not because she's sick, then what is it?"

"Ah, well, the truth is..."

Anna could only bite her lip and watch as Adelia opened her mouth to speak.

After Adelia had finished explaining everything, Christina's eyes were wide with shock.

The others shared her astonishment.

Scarlett's power of immunity could neutralize other powers.

Upon realizing that Scarlett might have accidentally neutralized Titan, everyone couldn't help but be flabbergasted.

A power that was potentially more dangerous to their allies.

Everyone nodded dumbly, unable to argue with Adelia's claim that Scarlett had to hastily retreat.

"That's why I joined the march today to see if Scarlett really returned."

Everyone accepted this explanation.

It couldn't be helped if that was the reason, rather than her being injured.

Louis, too, listened to the story with a drained expression.

However, Christina's reaction was slightly different.

"Ah... I see...?"

As if she had discovered something.

As if she had confirmed something.

Adelia didn't know what it was, but the look in Christina's eyes was enough to send shivers down her spine.

With a meaningful smile, Christina shifted her gaze from Adelia.

At the end of her gaze was Anna.

"I wondered what the secret talk was about..."

Anna's eyes were downcast, trembling. Louis Ancton stared at her blankly as well.

"Secret talk? What's that?"

At Adelia's question, Christina smiled.

"No, it's nothing."

"..."

Adelia felt a strange sense of unease from Christina's demeanor, but she couldn't pinpoint its origin.

A short while later.

Just before the army set out, Christina sat on a rock.

Louis was at a loss for words in this situation, and Anna stood before Christina.

"Christina, it's not like that..."

"Like what?"

Christina cocked her head.

"You purposely hid facts we should know?"

At Christina's words, Anna couldn't say anything in response.

"Did you think I would do something bad to Scarlett if I knew? So you just trembled?"

Anna shuddered even more at Christina's blunt words. Christina got up from the rock and approached Anna, who was bowing her head.

Standing in front of the bowed Anna, Christina bent down even further to forcefully meet Anna's downcast gaze.

"I can't help but think you're treating me like a madwoman, but you know I didn't do all this on my own, right?"

Watching Anna tightly close her eyes, Christina whispered.

"I don't know whether it's stranger for the one who did the crazy things and went mad, or for the one who did the crazy things and pretends like they've done nothing. Anna."

They created the Immortal together.

Deciding to join hands with the Black Order was also a joint decision.

"You're not going to say you want to stop now, are you? You're not going to say you want to quit after coming this far...?"

"..."

"Why do you seem to be pretending like you have nothing to do with this lately...?"

"I... Christina..."

"Isn't that the worst thing...?"

As Anna seemed to be on the verge of tears, Louis pulled her towards himself and away from Christina.

"Enough. Anna must have... had her reasons too."

"Why, do you think I would try to harm Scarlett if I found out about this? Because Scarlett can neutralize the Immortal?"

The anger, malice, and madness in those eyes made Louis feel as if his heart would skip a beat just by meeting them.

"Christina, that's not what I meant."

"..."

"Calm down. We need to calm down."

At Louis' serious and restrained words, Christina clenched her teeth.

As if trying to suppress something.

As if forcibly pressing down something that couldn't be pressed down.

After a brief moment, Christina exhaled her breath as if spitting it out.

"...Fine, I might have been too harsh. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, Christina. I just... I thought it would be bad if more people found out..."

However, Anna had insisted that Christina must never find out about Scarlett.

Knowing she was lying, Anna couldn't help but tremble at her fingertips.

"I don't want to hurt Scarlett. There's no way I would do that. It doesn't make sense for me to do this if I were to hurt Scarlett in the process. If I were to hurt my friend, that's impossible. It would be absurd. Of course."

It was because she might be able to save her friend.

It was with that thought that she had taken on these tasks.

If she ended up hurting her friend by being consumed by the task, it would be no different than denying everything.

At Christina's rational words, Anna eventually began to shake and cry.

"I'm sorry, I was so scared... I was just so, so scared and anxious..."

Christina carefully approached Anna and began to comfort her.

"I know. I know I've lost it a bit. No, not a bit, quite a lot. I admit it. I do. I don't think I'm sane either. Of course, it's no wonder you're so worried. It's inevitable. Yeah. Yeah."

"Sniff... Sob... Ugh..."

"I admit it. I must have been a weak person. Not strong like you, who can still think properly after going through all this. I'm weak... It's because I'm weak that I became like this."

That she had gone mad because she was weak.

Christina knew that Louis and Anna were stronger than her, which is why they could still be rational.

She was broken because she was weak.

She had gone mad because she was weak.

What someone else could endure was something she couldn't.

The truth that someone else could accept was something she couldn't.

However, being mad didn't necessarily mean being irrational.

"But... You know. There are traitors in the Alliance."

"..."

"..."

"It's been several months since the Holy Knight Order switched sides. Wouldn't the other side have switched too? That would be too optimistic."

Through Ludwig, they had learned that the Five Great Religions had become the Demon King's.

At this point, several months later, the Demon King would have increased the number of traitors.

Perhaps a third.

Perhaps half.

Or maybe everyone except them.

It was possible that they had already become enemies.

"We may not be the only ones who know about Scarlett's power. There's bound to be people who will try to use Scarlett somehow. And the Demon King already knew about Scarlett's abilities from the beginning."

The fact that Scarlett's abilities could be used in that way.

From the start, Reinhardt had known about Scarlett's abilities.

But if they discovered that her power could neutralize the Immortal in the same way it neutralized the golems?

"I don't want to hurt Scarlett."

"..."

"We have to protect Scarlett."

The Demon King would try to use Scarlett.

So they had to protect her.

"That's why I was angry. Not because I hated you."

Anna tried to wipe her tears and looked up into Christina's eyes.

To apologize for not telling her an important fact because they had to protect Scarlett.

"You understand my feelings... right?"

However, in those eyes, it was hard to say that it stemmed from concern for a friend.

They were too dark and revealed ominous shadows.

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