Ria sat at her desk in her nightgown.
How many days have it been since Hikari marched to the front?
Every night, she reads the reports from the front.
Every night, she thinks of her knight.
The reports from the front give her a window into
They were favorable as expected; the combined territorial forces greatly outnumbered and outgunned the cultists.
The glaring wrinkle all houses care about is their casualty count.
Losing a single knight is enough for them to bang their fists on the table and threaten to withdraw.
She dug through the box of paper, looking for one very particular report.
"There it is… "
Battle logs of Knight Hikari
… Infiltrated cultists river line defenses … knocked out cannon positions … defeated cultists assassins … neutralized cultist golems … a flesh hound …
"Mmm…..!" She starts moaning as she skims through the headings.
Reading paperwork is usually extremely dull, with a notable exception she had just discovered.
"Ahh…" She rested her hands on her skirt.
"Mmm…!" She clutched the edges of her skirt, twitching in her seat.
Her legs squeezed together.
"No." She slapped her cheeks. "I must focus."
She put the report in a corner of her table.
There's a thick stack of paperwork to go through.
She disciplined herself: she'd only read Hikari's report once she finished.
But by the holy goddess of light, was the paperwork dull.
Filing of taxation, inventory checks, audits, war claims, orders to the merchant guilds for supplies, warehousing… The list goes on and on.
The stacks of paper never stop coming even as her ink bottle runs dry.
"Enough!"
Fed up, Ria grabs the battle report and jumps onto her bed.
… The RazenHeir troop marches into Carla.
They captured abandoned towns along the way.
Cleared them of boogie traps and used them as housing for wares and shelter…
"A slow start to the story for sure, but just the calm before the story."
The scouts catch the tail of the cultist retreat.
They rounded up the villagers, grabbed anything of value, and burned the town.
The scouts harassed them, slowing them enough for the knights to show up and pick off small concentrations.
The main force marched behind.
Conserving Hikari's stamina, the scouts had yet to identify a large concentration of cultists.
"They are retreating as we march, but where to? The Herdial army approaches from the west. The Moradale houses pincers them from the west. They fall back on the port city of Carla with their spoils. Perhaps they plan to evacuate by Zeppelin? But the Moradale houses have them blockaded. Perhaps they plan to make a final stand and bleed us, but to what end?"
The army on our flank reports that the biggest city in the Carla region has been heavily fortified.
They are shelling it from a distance, but it will take more to capture the stronghold.
Requests come in: the RazenHeir forces will force a crossing of the river that runs through the city to outflank it.
Once the scouts and knights have a presence in its rear, the city will be isolated and could be stormed from all sides once sufficient preparations are made.
"And so the frontline is drawn. After our troops have marched over 500 miles. Carla is a huge territory, many times the size of our estate. But here comes the good part."
Our scouts prod and prob at the riverline defenses.
They find the thinnest point in the line.
Quietly, under the cover of dark, the RazenHeir main force moves into position.
Hikari was kept back, as her conspicuous presence gives away our intentions.
"Ohh…"
Ria moaned.
Her hands shivered with excitement as she flipped the page.
We attacked, wearing down the line with our field guns.
We launched the crossing platforms; our brave scouts crossed the river.
The cultists unleashed their abominations and golems.
Our field guns fired from opposite the bank.
Just as we thought we were breaking through, the cultist sprung their trap, emerging from the forests to our flank and charging.
"Ahh…!"
Ria touches herself.
Our champion, held in reserve, counterattacks.
She slashes through the cultists' ranks and cleaves through their golems.
Aether fire rained down on our lines from afar.
Hikari jumps over the cultists' lines to neutralize the cultists' shaman.
"Ah…!"
"My lady…" A voice came from outside her room.
Ria flinched.
She hurriedly straightened her skirt and sat up straight.
Her hair was a bit of a mess, but given that it was close to bedtime, it shouldn't raise any suspicion.
"Yes? Come in"
The maid walked in carrying a box.
"What is it?"
"I brought you the shoe polish you asked for."
"Ah, yes, thank you. Put it over there."
"My lady. May I ask why you are in need of these?"
Ria swallows.
"I'll be attending the spire academy soon. I can't have all of you always tending to me there, can I?"
Ria replied with a hint of annoyance.
"Ah, yes, my lady."
The maid hurriedly left her room.
"Time to write today's letter."
She sat down at her desk and took out a blank piece of paper.
"What should I write about today? Ooh… she never replies with anything more than a two-word phrase. That's so like her. Something to liven up her mood? It must be so dull out there on the front lines. Perhaps I could talk about preparing a feast once she returns, but I may I should save that when she's closer to returning?"
She scribbled a first draft and read through it.
"No, this won't do. It's so boring."
She crumpled the paper and threw it into the pile of discarded letters.
Another one goes into the pile.
And another.
Finally, a decent draft.
Ria stood up and stretched.
"I'll polish this up first thing tomorrow morning before the courier leaves."
She walked to her balcony and stared into the night sky.
"They should be closing in on Carla right about now. Preparations to storm the city are underway. The battle will be over within days."
Badum!
Her heart pounds.
She had never felt so alone before.
But her knight will begin her march back by next week at the latest.
"Oh dear, I better go settle the logistics paperwork. They are so far advanced that getting supplies to them would be difficult."
She goes back to her desk.