Leona’s legs burned with every step she took. But she didn’t care. She was with Faust. He was alive.

‘It feels so good to finally be with him! No more suppressing my emotions!’ she cheered, and her face reflected her mood.

Whenever their gazes met during the march, they were mesmerized by each other. They were lovestruck. Utterly so. Over the next hours, it happened quite often that they took a small break on the side of the road where Leona ended up in Faust’s arms.

They didn’t talk about Flora or that they had to hide anymore. All that needed to be, had been said. Of course, both of them had their doubts, fears, and thoughts to address, but for now, they enjoyed their time together.

It was about noon when Caurium arrived in sight.

Leona sighed in relief. She was tired.

“Finally.” She groaned, promptly earning her a cackle from Faust.

“The enduring soldier is at her end.”

That earned him a punch to the shoulder.

“From now on we're single again. We need to act normally.” Leona adjusted her attire and patted her cheeks.

“I’m not a very good actor…” Faust sighed but he too made himself a bit more presentable.

“You’ll just have to try.” Leona grinned.

“I'll make sure to make it easy for you~” she winked, causing Faust to groan.

‘Of course, she’s got to tease me.’ He shook his head with a loving smile.

That earned him a laugh from Leona, who caught him staring at her behind.

She flicked his chin upwards and snickered.

“Eyes up here.”

He smirked and planted one last kiss on her lips. They wouldn’t get the chance to for quite a while Faust feared, so he took her into his arms and only after a minute they parted again.

“Now we act.” He whispers and a blush paints Leona’s cheeks. She just nods cutely.

They separated and continued walking towards Caurium.

‘She is just too cute when she’s shy. I never knew she had this side to her.’ He smiled inwardly.

Just when they had parted, they heard hooves approaching in the distance and saw three riders approach them at high speed. They scurried to the side of the road to make space for them to pass, yet the riders slowed down when they saw Faust and Leona.

Their leader rode forward, and his face was one of utter surprise and relief.

“Lady Leona. What a relief. We thought you had left to search for the dead soldier.” He jumped off his horse, scurrying over. He was a small man and only lightly armed. He was a scout.

He obviously did not recognize Faust. But he was not to blame. How could he remember Faust out of over a hundred faces, when they had never even talked?

Leona was immediately at attention.

“Sir, while the entire camp laid dormant, unwilling to search for my missing bodyguard… I only had to walk down this road to find him. He’s alive.” She stepped to the side and pointed at Faust with a smile.

“Huh?” the scout’s eyes became round.

“Impossible!” he exclaimed and looked at Faust, bewildered. The two men behind him reacted similarly.

This made Faust uncomfortable. He coughed awkwardly.

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“Yet here I am. Alive and kicking.”

The scout seemed startled and then started laughing happily.

“That’s awesome news! The commander will be elated!”

They walked back to Caurium escorted by the three scouts.

When they approached the gates, they opened slowly. Aquila stood on the palisades and looked down at Faust and Leona.

“Holy shit! The bastard is alive!” he laughed and immediately disappeared from the walls. He came running right at Faust. His face was one of relief and happiness.

It was something Aquila hadn’t shown at all since Faust went missing. The man came running out through the doors and stormed toward the group before crashing into Faust, hugging him and lifting him off the ground.

The air was forced out of his lungs and Faust tried to laugh, hugging his friend brotherly.

“You bastard! Don’t you dare sacrifice yourself alone next time!” Aquila released him and slapped his back, grinning like a fool.

‘I’ve missed you too you rowdy idiot.’ Faust thought and laughed loudly.

“Feels good to be back from the dead.” He laughed.

Then Aquila seemed to realize something. He immediately grabbed Faust’s right arm, patting it from top to bottom, looking at Faust, raising an eyebrow, and then letting it go.

“You have some explaining to do.” He mumbled. His face looked bewildered.

‘I have to sell the story to the others. They can’t know I was hurt.’ Faust thought and waved off.

“It wasn’t injured, you must’ve seen it wrong in the heat of the battle.” Faust shook his head.

Aquila frowned.

“No, you were-“ he tried to speak, but a huffing Cassius appeared behind him and covered Aquila’s mouth.

“…indeed, not injured at all. We have seen it wrong. It’s good to have you back.” The small man hugs Faust tightly.

Leona heaved a sigh of relief.

‘If Aquila had only half of Cassius’ cunning and social skills.’

‘That was a close call.’ Faust thought and hugged his friend.

Aquila didn’t understand what was going on, but before he could voice his confusion Leona took him aside.

“Don’t ask questions. We will answer later.” She hissed into his ear.

Aquila understood and briefly nodded.

“You better have a good explanation.” He muttered.

Leona’s expression soured.

“More or less.”

Before Aquila could ask more questions, the group walked through the gate. Inside Trajan and Lucon stood next to one another with arms crossed in front of their chests.

Their expressions were elated but also serious.

“Why are they so serious?” Leona whispered to Cassius.

“Several groups returned today, and they all said the same thing, they encountered groups of dead orcs, lying on the ground uninjured. It’s really creepy you know.” He explained and turned to Faust.

“I think you should go talk to them…” he scratched his head.

“I guess it's time to report…” Faust sighed and walked toward the two commanders. Leona was with him.

Lucon glared at Leona when they approached.

“You got to your tent Lady Schenk!” he scolded her.

“I will talk to you, but first I need to hear Faust’s report.” He nodded in the direction of his tent.

Leona sighed and went to her tent.

“I can handle him, don’t worry.” She whispered to Faust with a grin.

Lucon and Trajan could both hear it. While Lucon’s face showed a slight blush, Faust didn’t know if it was anger or embarrassment. He could only see Trajan smirking slightly.

“Let’s go,” Lucon grumbled, and they made their way into his tent. It was the same place Lucon had told Trajan his story a few days back.

They sat down and Trajan handed Faust a cup of wine.

Lucon’s face relaxed a bit.

“I did not expect such a tumultuous hunt when we first left the castle.” He sighed and sipped from his wine.

“I did not expect to nearly evade death.” Faust sighed and took a large swig. The wine burned down his throat. Then Faust looked at Trajan.

“Kid. Welcome back from the dead. I hope you can forgive us for not sending out a search party.” Trajan spoke as he traced his beard.

Faust waved off dismissively.

“Even I thought I was dead for sure. I can’t blame you.”

Lucon placed his cup on the table and put a hand on Faust’s shoulder.

“We are happy to have you back kid. You have to forgive me; I appear grumpier than I am. I just didn’t get a lot of sleep.”

Faust just nodded at him with a smile.

“It’s all well now, isn’t it?”

Trajan shook his head, causing Faust to frown.

‘What could’ve possibly happened?’

Lucon cleared his throat.

“From the 11 groups we have sent out 10 have arrived so far. One is still missing. We have sent out search parties on the roads with medical supplies and food, but we must assume the worst. There was also an abnormally high number of injuries. And all the groups reported the same.” He paused and looked at Trajan who had a grim expression on his face.

“Unnaturally large groups of Stray Orcs,” he fumbled his beard. “But the scariest thing is that one group has reported that while they were fighting, suddenly all the orcs dropped to the floor, dead. Just like that. The other groups reported also finding corpses of orcs without any marks of injury.” He shook his head a bit helplessly.

“In all the years at the border fighting these beasts, I have never encountered anything like this.” He threw his hands in the air before coughing.

“The lack of sleep also gets to me.” There were deep purple rings under his eyes. He looked several years older than when Faust had left.

Faust found himself conflicted.

‘I can’t tell them the true story.’ He reminded himself of what Leona told him. It needed to be kept a secret.

‘Then what do I tell them?’ he thought briefly and then decided on what to tell them.

‘I will tell them that I led the orcs away while I was uninjured, and when they were about to catch me, they dropped dead. That should make sense. I hope.’

Faust cleared his throat and then, bombarded by questions from Lucon and Trajan, he told them his modified version of the story.