The Forgotten Field - Chapter 46

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 46
The Princess had barely finished speaking when laughter burst from the Crown Prince’s lips—a sound like air escaping from a punctured vessel.
“I see. Bringing that woman’s corpse to the Empress wouldn’t be a bad idea either.”
Merely envisioning the scene seemed to delight him, and his laughter deepened.
He seized Grand Duke Sierkan’s shoulder with one hand and whispered ominously.
“Fine. If you insist, I won’t stop you. Go ahead and search through the forest all night to find that woman.”
After giving his shoulder a forceful pat, the Crown Prince turned and walked away toward the far side of the disorganized Campsite. Following her brother, the Princess directed a measured remark toward her betrothed.
“Then, I’m entrusting that child to you.”
* * *
Once the two members of the Imperial Family departed, they immediately headed northward.
Edrick gripped a torch in one hand and cut across the Forest shrouded in oppressive darkness. He was desperately anxious that the Wyvern’s trail might have vanished during their brief quarrel.
“Be careful. You’ll tumble into the Gorge at this rate.”
Sir Theorick Hart, the senior Knight following closely at his side, whispered with concern.
Edrick merely nodded once without responding, then raised the torch to illuminate the uneven earthen path. Rocky outcroppings and a steep Slope became visible between the towering conifers.
“Here it is.”
As he pointed to the steep descent, his superior, who had been following silently, approached like a shadow.
Edrick stepped aside to allow him a view below. After briefly illuminating the Gorge beneath with the torch, Barcas withdrew a chain with a grappling hook from the pouch at his belt.
After securing it firmly in a crevice of rock, Barcas hurled himself down the Slope—a descent as treacherous as any cliff face. Edrick stood holding the torch aloft, illuminating below, and only after confirming that Barcas had landed safely did he follow, descending the Cliff Face.
Fortunately, the Gorge was not particularly deep. Carefully picking his way down the Slope by treading on protruding rocks, Edrick raised the torch high in his hand and signaled to the Knights remaining above. The waiting Knights then began descending one by one, scaling the rocks.
After observing them briefly, Edrick turned and surveyed his surroundings.
The Wyvern’s fall seemed to have inflicted widespread impact upon the Cliff Face, with boulders and earth scattered everywhere. Sifting through all these remains would require considerable time.
Edrick swept his anxious gaze through the pitch-black darkness and leaped over a massive stone. After traversing the uneven ground for some distance, he spotted a dark silhouette rising beside a heap of collapsed rocks.
He brought the torchlight close to examine it carefully.
‘So I found it after all.’
The Wyvern’s corpse lay face-down among the rubble, one wing charred black as though scorched by flame magic.
As Edrick meticulously searched the area, wondering if the Princess might be trapped beneath the creature’s body, he froze upon spotting a dark form looming in the distance.
When he brought the torch closer, he saw Barcas standing beside a large boulder. Edrick rushed toward him.
“Commander! Have you discovered anything…?”
As Edrick cried out urgently, he halted abruptly upon discovering a limp, pale form before him.
The dimly held torch cast a faint glow upon the woman’s bloodless face and disheveled hair. As Edrick stared down at her in shock, he caught sight of the large and small stone fragments covering the lower half of her body and exhaled a heavy sigh.
He had known the likelihood of survival was slim. It was a scene he had steeled himself for to some degree. Yet, upon witnessing with his own eyes the woman’s grotesquely mangled form, his blood ran cold.
Hesitating, he approached her side with trembling steps.
Her upper body remained relatively intact, but her legs were nearly crushed.
As Edrick examined her left leg, twisted at an unnatural angle and pinned beneath a large boulder, he pushed aside one massive stone. The rocks piled beside it immediately collapsed.
Darkening with dismay, Edrick suddenly lifted his head to call for assistance. Then he froze, his body stiffening upon discovering Barcas’s expressionless face—as though he wore a mask.
Barcas stood with his torso upright, quietly observing the woman. In his dry, emotionless gaze, not a trace of feeling could be found, and a chill ran down Edrick’s spine.
He knew this man and the Second Princess were virtually at odds. Yet this was someone he had known since childhood. He could not fathom how anyone could remain so composed upon witnessing her in such a state.
Edrick cried out in protest.
“What are you doing! Help me at once!”
Yet Barcas remained utterly motionless.
With a face flushed with urgency, Edrick glared at him before forcing himself to his feet. He pressed against the boulder crushing her legs with both hands, and from beneath it came the faint sound of something gasping for breath.
Edrick’s head snapped down.
Beneath the torchlight, a pallid face contorted ever so slightly. For a moment, his legs nearly buckled beneath him.
He was seized by overwhelming relief and cried out loudly.
“You’re alive! There’s still breath in you!”
As if responding to his voice, thin eyelids fluttered and unfocused eyes emerged. It was clear at a glance that consciousness was slipping away.
Edrick straightened urgently. She needed healing magic as soon as possible.
He picked up the torch he had set on the ground to summon the Knights searching elsewhere. In that moment, he saw a faint smile bloom across the woman’s ashen face.
Edrick found himself frozen, all movement ceasing. From lips cracked and beaded with blood came a barely audible whisper.
“Barcas….”
At the name that spilled out like a plea, his eyes widened, and the man who had been rigid as stone bent forward toward her. Recognizing that quiet face, the woman’s eyes wavered faintly. They were the eyes of one who had glimpsed a single thread of salvation from the abyss.
“I… knew it. I knew you would come to save me… I knew it.”
As the woman’s eyes narrowed, tears pushed against her thin eyelids and drenched her bloodless cheeks.
The man gazed down at her silently, firelight dancing across his austere face. Even his hollow, lifeless eyes gleamed with the reflection of flame. Yet he seemed to remain submerged in some deep and shadowed place.
For reasons he could not fathom, Edrick held his breath and found himself grasping the man’s shoulder.
“Are… are you all right, sir?”
Barcas lifted his head to look at him. A faint crease formed between his refined brows. His expression suggested he could not comprehend why such a question would be asked. Edrick himself did not know why he had posed it.
Why had this man seemed anything but all right?
As he stared at that composed face—unchanged from usual—with bewildered eyes, hurried footsteps echoed from somewhere nearby.
Only then did Edrick snap to attention, hastily raising the torch. Several Knights who recognized his signal came rushing over.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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