Edrick quickly made his way through the bustling soldiers.
Less than an hour after the battle ended, the camp was quickly cleared up.
While soldiers recovered weapons from the wyverns' bodies and cleaned up the broken tents, workers loaded chests and bags onto carts, while maids collected the bodies, put them in one place, and began wrapping them in tulle.
As he walked around the camp, Edrick measured the number of corpses with his eyes.
A total of seventeen.
If you add up those who were devoured by the wyverns, it seems that about twenty-five to thirty people were killed.
Considering the injured, the scale of the damage is not significant. He clenched his fists.
'A group of wyverns haunts during the season of fire...'
Usually, wyverns wake up from hibernation at the end of the season of rest and do not begin to form groups until the season of water. And since they disperse in pairs after the breeding season, it was extremely rare for more than fifteen wyverns to appear at once during the season of fire. Moreover, this area was not suitable for large monsters like Wyverns to live.
'It's not easy to end by saying that I wasn't dirty, even if I was unlucky.'
Edrick squinted his eyes as he looked at the wyvern's corpses strewn across the hills, and soon pushed the question out of his mind. Now was not the time to think about such useless thoughts. He moved his long legs without hesitation and headed for the place where the knights were gathered.
"Boss!"
Barcas, who had been giving instructions to the knights, turned his head to him.
Edrick flinched and stopped walking. His face was stained with dark red blood. His appearance was not much different, but the sight of his cold face, like a piece of marble, covered in blood, and his eyes shining coldly, gave him a strange feeling.
"Did you find her?"
Lord Sheerkhan asked in his characteristic low-pitched voice.
Edrick came to his senses and hurriedly posted a report.
"We found traces of a wyvern crash in the north. It looks like it fell into a canyon."
Barcas turned his head to look north. The torches in the hands of the knights dimly lit the shadows of the dreary forest. He didn't know what other violent monsters lurked in there.
Edrick spoke nervously
"We need to organize a search party right away. It's time to delay..."
"What kind of search is search!"
The fierce voice interrupted Edrick and turned his head away. The Prince, with his dark black hair disheveled like a lion's mane, was approaching them with his retinue.
Edrick hurriedly leaned down to take his salute. The Prince didn't even look at him and stepped in front of Barcas.
"She must have died anyway! Don't waste your time on useless things, get ready to leave right away! What if I get attacked by monsters again?"
Edrick's face hardened at the indifferent words.
Perhaps surprised by the sudden incident, the Crown Prince's face was whiter than usual. Someone who had never faced an ogre, let alone a wyvern, in his entire life was in such a mess, so it was not unreasonable to be scared. However, Edrick could not feel the slightest sympathy for the Prince, who seemed to be on his nerves.
Edrick glared at the Prince with a look of disapproval and rolled his eyes to see Barcas's reaction. He was strangely silent.
You don't want to obey the Crown Prince's wishes, do you?
Even if she was born out of wedlock, Thalia Roem Guirta was the daughter of the Emperor. Moreover, she is the eldest daughter of the current Empress. Because of the Crown Prince's personal grudge, he couldn't let the Imperial Princess fall prey to monsters. This was also a matter of his reputation as a knight.
Edrick spoke up urgently
"If you organize a search party, I will personally look for Her Highness the Second Princess, So..."
"Who dares this cheeky bastard to stand up for safety!"
The Crown Prince burst into a furious temper and grabbed his cheek.
Edrick looked up at him with a calm look. His violent behavior had caused a stir. Edrick spoke as politely as possible.
"I'm sorry. But I can't leave Her Highness the Princess like this..."
"Her Highness the Princess?"
Ha, the Prince said with a dry laugh in his face, word by word.
"Listen, you kid. There is only one Princess in this empire: Ayla Roem Guirta. Thalia... That shouldn't have been born into this world in the first place. Falling prey to monsters like this is a fitting ending for... Illegitimate child."
"Stop."
Edrick flinched at the low voice and looked at his superior. No matter how much Gareth behaved like an asshole, he was a formality that Barcas' treated. I was stunned that he had interrupted the Crown Prince and treated him badly.
As if he were not the only one surprised, the Crown Prince also looked back at him with wide-eyed eyes. But Barcas had a calm face.
"Your Highness, you should go back to your place and rest."
Barcas gave a nod to the knights standing behind the Crown Prince.
"Bring a wizard right now. We will select about ten of these shrewd people and form a search party."
The knights immediately dispersed under his command. The Prince looked at him with a dazed face, and then let go of Edrick and stepped in front of Barcas.
"Now... Are you going to rebel against me because of that?"
"I have been ordered by His Majesty the Emperor to escort the three of you."
A dry voice came out of Barcas's mouth.
"Your Highness, the Crown Prince's orders cannot be superior to His Majesty's order."
"Don't make excuses!"
The Prince stood in the way of Barcas.
"I don't think I noticed that you were so weird with Thalia's? To be honest. You...!"
"Gareth!"
At that moment, a sharp, high-pitched sound cut through the taut air.
Edrick looked at them nervously and then turned his head away. The First Princess, accompanied by two attendants, was walking gracefully among the knights.
Immediately after defeating all the wyverns, she led the maids to collect all the wounded. The Princess, clad in a thick layer of fatigue that had not yet been washed away, approached her brother and gave him a firm look.
"Lord Sheerkan is right. I can't leave Thalia like this. After all, she's our flesh and blood."
"Are you speaking sanely?"
The Crown Prince scowled at his sister with betrayal in his eyes.
"My mother suffered some kind of humiliation because of that thing, but you say that!"
"Please, be rational."
The Princess interrupted her brother with a dignified voice. Even though she was only a few minutes apart, she looked much more mature than the Crown Prince.
She looked up at her brother and continued.
"If you leave Thalia alone and return to the Imperial Palace, you and Lord Sheerkhan will be put under unnecessary custody. Why do you need to take such a risk?"
The cold words from the mouth of the First Princess, who was reputed to have a benevolent disposition, left Edrick speechless for a moment.
She added softly, as if to soothe her squirming brother.
"At the very least, let's take care of the child's body so that we can have a funeral."
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