Before Departure

Brando and Nemesis returned to the camp at around dawn. The sky had begun to brighten, the stars were fading in the west, and the horizon was pale. A golden line was forming across the lake, and the first rays of dawn were breaking free from beneath its surface.

The moment they stepped out of the forest, they heard a delighted cry: "Senior Nemesis, Brando!"

Brando raised his head at the sound. Freya sat atop a tall rock, bathed in the morning light, and was the first to spot them. She had her arms wrapped around her knees. Only when she saw them did she rub her reddened eyes. She looked as though she had not slept all night, but the deep worry on her face had finally eased.

He smiled faintly. Though he still had not recovered from everything that had happened the previous night, seeing this girl from the Bucci Countryside nevertheless filled him with a warm sense of familiarity.

"Is it your turn to stand watch again?"

Freya jumped down from the rock, looking somewhat unnatural. She was too embarrassed to say she had been worried. She nodded and murmured an affirmative. But that could not fool Nemesis. The female knight glanced at her.

The girl's face flushed slightly. She looked around Brando. "Did everything go smoothly?" Everyone knew that Brando and Nemesis had entered the forest to hunt the Crystal Stag. Although most people had never heard of such a creature, she was still a little curious about his returning empty-handed.

In Freya's eyes, there was nothing he could not accomplish. To her, he was both that inexplicable reserve Militia member from Buchi and the young nobleman who had led everyone out of an encirclement. Later, he had become Tonigell's lord and helped Her Highness the