Before a temporary command tent flying Ladon banners, the atmosphere was somewhat delicate.
An elderly man with white hair and beard, clad in heavy fur-trimmed armor, was sizing up a young woman whose style could not have been more different from his own.
The old man's face was etched with deep lines, his gaze as sharp as an eagle's. He was the very image of a northern Amphoreus warrior, one of Ladon City-State's elder representatives in this allied army.
The young woman standing before him, however, seemed like a silhouette stepping out of a fragile dream whenever she stood still.
Tall and light of frame, she was wrapped in a lavish gown that faded like twilight and butterfly wings. Its flowing hems were dotted with deep violet and muted gold patterns, as though stardust had been scattered across them.
With each almost imperceptible breath she took, a faint violet glow flowed across the fabric, like the secretive eyespots on the wings of a sleeping butterfly.
Against the rough, power-laden surroundings, she seemed utterly out of place, yet impossible to ignore.
"You're Castorice, right?" The white-haired elder's voice broke the silence, thick with obvious displeasure and suspicion.
"I heard that Okhema's chancellor, Yan Huan, possesses unfathomable strength, and even Caesar regards him highly! What does it mean for Aedilia to send only you?!"
"Where's the army you promised?!"
"Do you look down on our allied forces, or do you think rescuing your own leader isn't important?!"
Castorice lifted her eyes slightly. Her strange amethyst pupils regarded the elder without sharpness or warmth, carrying instead a calm that was both compassionate and distant.
"Or are you Aedilia's Valkyrie? Did you dress like this to confuse the enemy?!"
"...In Aedilia, I hold the post of Battle-command Saintess," Castorice answered calmly.
"Battle-command?" The elder