When the blue light of teleportation disappeared, I looked around and quickly understood that I was in Cellinia's room. I looked at the girl still holding my arm, only to find her staring at me with angry tears appearing in her eyes. I knew that she was dissatisfied with my inaction, but today's actions pushed her past her limit.
It was insensitive of me to ignore her like that, despite both of us knowing the feelings we had. But as I was about to apologize to her, I heard only one word from her.
-"Kneel."
Before my mind could even register it, my body moved on its own. What followed was an hour-long lecture about my behavior. She pointed out that while she can see why I was inactive in such matters, it's inconsiderate to expect a woman to be one taking action. While Terra was quite progressive when it came to such matters, some things still required the traditional approach of man's initiative.
She also criticized how I interacted with people, especially those who weren't familiar with me. The way I switched between seriousness, politeness, and total honesty, even in the moments that can be easily misinterpreted as flirting. Adding to that, the constitution that makes others easily open up to me, and my strength that makes me feel even more reassuring, created a lethal combination for women with troubles and those seeking protection.
At some point, the lecture turned into Cellinia voicing all her grievances to me, but I still remained on my knees, my back ramrod straight. I listened to her, nodded when needed, and just let her vent. After some time, she finally let out all the steam, ending her lecture and looking at me in silence. She just stared at me like that, waiting for me to act. So I stood up and brought her into my arms.
The next morning, we woke up together. Cellinia was lying on me, her furry ears tickling my nose. I blow slightly into them, earning a soft moan in exchange. She looked at me, no more anger, only love. We stayed together for the rest of the morning, leaving the Azure Dream only after dinner.
Our daily life slowly settled into routines, oscillating between research and training. Margaret and Shining focused on recruiting people to their cavalry and healer units, while Cellinia took over my Mageknights. Viviana now became my primary guard, as she was the freest of all my Knights. But it was Mostima who was busiest of all, to the point that she took Qingyan with her to manage everything.
They represented me in many follow-up meetings that settled the details of the matters agreed upon during the Falmouth Royal Court. After the official court where Artoria and I were present, many follow-up meetings were needed to settle on details and draft the decree, preparing for the reconvening of the core proceedings.
At the same time, Leodegrance moved forward with the engagement, setting it so that when my official appointment as Justiciar is announced, the engagement will follow suit. Guinevere has already moved to Azure Dream, starting her tutelage under me. Uncle Patrizion instantly took her under his wing, often teaching her things about Laterano and Terra in his free time.
Artoria spent most of her time with knights, recruiting and training people, starting to earn the title of King of Knights, which she'll be famous of in the future. She also began forming her group of knights, the Round Table. In true history, she received the said table from Leodegrance after her marriage, but here, he gave it to her now as an advance gift.
Morgan and Scáthach finished reading through all my research notes I made on Terra while everything was happening. Despite their usefulness not being great due to the Arts requiring Originium to work, some techniques gave them inspiration on how to progress with their own research. But Morgan couldn't allow herself to immerse herself in research right now, so she left my Azure Dream to deal with other matters.
Scáthach remained, saying that this place was much more comfortable than her cold island. She took it upon herself to retrain Apostolic Knights, making them truly an elite force. In free time, she would also advise me on the runes I planned to include in my formation, her experience helping me to save time when I was inscribing everything around the fortress.
In all of that, I would use most of my free time researching while teaching Guinevere and helping Artoria as my full-time job. Guinevere was easy to get along with; she was quiet and liked to read, but at the same time, she wasn't a pushover. She would often take part in discussions I had with others, expressing her ideas and convictions clearly, not backing down when someone opposed her.
I often sparred with Artoria's new knights, establishing quite a good relationship with them, though I never followed them into the city after sundown, Artoria made sure that I never had such an occasion. This caused me to develop somewhat of a reputation as a devoted and affectionate person, intensifying after the announcement of my engagement.
Like that, winter arrived and passed, bringing back the warmth of spring. But this season, normally associated with new life and hope, was about to become beginning of a war that will bring only death and destruction. On this day, I stood next to Artoria, listening to her speech in front of the sea of people. Today was the day of departure of the main force, meaning this was the last day both she and I would spend in this city.
I looked at the orderly standing troops, most of them young and healthy, wondering how many would end up in some nameless grave for the glory of those knights and nobles around. My thoughts continued to spiral until Artoria finished her speech, giving the order to move out. The troops started to move outside the city, but before she followed them, she turned to me one last time.
-"Eno, be careful."
-"Don't worry, you know I'm hard to kill."
She nodded and got silent. I could feel that she wanted to bid me farewell properly, but due to her pretending to be male, she couldn't do that. In the end, I ended this awkward silence.
-"I'll write to you regularly."
-"Mhmm."
-"May the Stars and Moon guide you."-I saluted her.
-"May you never know defeat."-She responded with the salute of her own.
After that, both of us mounted our horses and left toward our troops. Arion quickly caught up with my army, consisting of cavalry, healers, and Mageknights, along with my Knights leading them. Two months of intense training were barely enough to form functioning units of cavalry and healers, but we couldn't spare more time.
It would take us a little over a month to reach the meeting place near Manchester, from where our war will begin. The journey itself was as boring as it could get. I missed the convenience of cars and modern appliances from Terra, finding it a blessing that I didn't had to live on military rations and could just not eat at all.
Luckily there were no surprises on the way, no thief or band of bandits would dare to approach the army of three hundred casually. But even then, some villages we passed by were at the edge of starvation, the land itself resisting humans who wrought destruction on it.
We arrived at the meeting location a few days before the agreed time, but both King Urien and King Rience were already present, their forces camping a mile from the city. After our arrival, I took Shining and Mostima with me to meet them, preparing to finalize our short-term plans.
After some greetings, we sat down and talked about the upcoming battle. Our force amounted to around ~1,200 knights and ~10,000 soldiers, as both kings needed to leave some people to secure their lands. But this force was still far more than ~5,000 people, which the regions of York and the Midlands had.
The city of York had a standing force of ~100 knights and ~1,500 soldiers, but with its population consisting mostly of Anglo-Saxons, our enemy could conscript another ~5,000 militia when pushed to the limit. But such people were nothing more than meat shields, capable of delaying us at most. The nearest other cities were at least a week's journey away, their armies counting ~1,000 people, meaning that this battle wasn't going to be hard.
After that, the army will split into two, with King Urien heading north to push the cut off enemy beyond the Tyne, while King Rience and I will move south to secure forts and castles that will allow us to defend from any counterattack from the Anglo-Saxon main force. But before that, we needed to capture the city.
-"Manchester is a fortified city. While the fort there fell into disrepair, it was restored last year after the northern front moved."-King Urien explained.-"The standing force there will be able to defend it for long enough for the reinforcements to arrive."
-"But we can't just storm the walls. Maybe you have some handy magic to get rid of the walls, Sir Justiciar?"-King Rience turned to me.
-"I have such spells, but they will destroy the city, and we need it standing as the logistical hub. Lying siege and building siege weapons will take too long... There is only one way. I'll get the gates open with my people; you'll just need to enter and take over the city."
-"Are you sure?"-King Urien looked uncertain of my plan.
-"Yes. I can't use siege magic, but other spells will be perfect for infiltration."
-"We'll leave that to you then."
A few days later, we departed from Manchester, heading for the city of York. The army will need ten days to reach it, but I took Cellinia and my Mageknights and split from the army, arriving there three days earlier. We made a camp a few miles from the city, covering it with magic before scouting the surroundings.
-"So how's the city?"-I asked Cellinia, who arrived with the report.
-"Bad and good. Bad, we detected both magic restrictions and Shamans present both in the city and on the walls. Good, restrictions are inactive currently."
-"As expected, they are prepared but not alerted."-I nodded.-"Then we'll get moving. I hope all knights know the basics of Night Sorcery."
-"Yes, but few can sustain it for longer than ten minutes."
-"It's enough. I send Spectral Hawk to look for a caravan, and one is heading into the city. We'll take it over."
-"How many people do we need?"
-"Take just ten, rest is to rest and prepare."
Cellinia nodded and went back to camp.
Half an hour later, we were hidden by the road, observing a caravan of five carriages rolling slowly forward. There were thirty people on them, half of them armed. As they approached, I raised my hand, signaling to prepare.
Mageknights around me quickly focused, their scepters glimmering with magical power. And when my hand signaled to attack, they unleashed their Glintstone sorceries at the caravan's guards. With our surprise success, the fight ended before it could begin, as simple guards couldn't handle well-trained knights, let alone magicians.
The rest of the caravan members were captured, and I utilized some disgusting spells from Seluvis to turn them into my puppets. With that, we brought the caravan close to our camp, making some of my Mageknights replace the guards, while the rest hid in the carriages. As the night was drawing near, we set out to the city, aiming at the last moment before the gates would be closed.
Not even an hour later, we were stopped by the gate guards, who asked for the documents and quickly checked the carriages, wanting to get over with this and end their shifts. Due to their rush, they didn't detect the Mageknights covered with Night Sorceries, making our plan a success. I watched all of this from the air, with Cellinia held by me. We flew into the city, joining the caravan inside.
We waited for the night to fully settle, then set out to secure a place to stay while hidden from enemy eyes. And we found three such locations near the gate: an old warehouse, a house of one of the caravan members, and a hotel where the replaced guards could stay. After dividing everyone between those locations, I ended up with Cellinia in one of the hotel rooms. We lay on the bed, enjoying our embrace while talking about some unimportant matters.
-"Eno."
-"Hmm?"-I looked at her.
-"Can I undergo that ritual?"
-"Out of question."-I denied her.
Cellinia was talking about imbuing her soul into Primal Glintstone, a ritual with a mortality rate far beyond what I could let her risk.
-"But time won't wait for me."-She looked me in the eyes.-"I won't let death part us."
-"Don't worry, I won't allow this to happen either. I'm trying to research the Phylactery I received from Fremont, but the results are mediocre..."
She looked at me, not needing words to convey her trust in me.
-"After the matters here are settled, and when I can leave Terra for a longer duration, I'll seek the world from my dreams. I'm sure I'll be able to find a way there."
-"Will that be dangerous?"
-"Yes."-I didn't lie to her.-"The danger there is far greater than what we encountered on Terra; maybe only Solomon would be considered a major threat there. But even without this reason, I would still seek that world one day."
-"Then at least promise to take us with you."
-"I won't leave you behind. Never."
Cellinia smiled and kissed me.
-"On the subject of never leaving, where is your friend?"
-"You mean Lapland? She is in Laterano."
-"She agreed to leave your side?"
-"I ordered her to accomplish some tasks so that she could become an official Apostolic Knight, then I'll take her under my command."
-"Reasonable."
-"Why ask?"
-"No reason."
She nodded, but her eyes showed a thoughtful glint.
We slept through the night, making some reconnaissance during the next day before again hiding and waiting for the army. They appeared two days after our infiltration, making camp to rest before the attack. This caused the city to enter a fully alert state, activating magic restrictions. But those only worked on spells coming from outside, not inside.
So the next morning, we all moved from the hiding spots, moving toward the gate. The city was on lockdown, so we needed to be careful, but we managed without any hiccups. I looked at the sky with the sun high above our heads, a Spectral Hawk flying there, so that I could know the situation outside. When I noticed our army had finally moved, I ordered the attack, starting the Battle of York.