Chapter 4: The stars of prayer, the guide to reunion

Just as no Lortisa ever bursts through the soil already golden in color,

she was not born a revered Covenant Soldier Captain from the start either.

Two years ago, the Disaster Tide that ravaged the border domains took away everything she had as an ordinary girl.

Family, home, life, hope—all vanished without a trace.

At first, all she had left was a fragile thread barely clinging to life,

no better than a living corpse.

What dragged her back from the very gates of hell was that young man,

an eccentric mercenary.

He seemed lacking in common sense, claiming to come from an unknown distant land;

his physique was ordinary, with no exceptional skills to speak of.

Yet it was this very ordinary mercenary, destined to be cannon fodder, who possessed an almost reckless boldness.

When everyone else fled the Disaster Tide in panic,

he alone ventured into the heart of the calamity.

Fully aware that the reward hardly matched the risk, he still plunged headfirst into danger.

Anyone watching would have called him a fool overestimating his own strength.

But this strange mercenary,

this one and only mercenary,

reached out to her as she lay on the roadside, near death.

Simply because of a faint whisper from the girl—her wish to “live on,”

that peculiar mercenary saved her from the brink, set aside his commission just to escort her to a safe town,

and along the way taught her how to identify danger and adapt in daily life.

When they parted, he stuffed the last few shining Afar Gold Coins he had into her hand, removed the cloak from his shoulders, and tied it around her:

“Consider this your wish fulfilled, okay? From here on, it’s up to you…”

Those words, etched into her memory alongside the pale blue ribbon that had long since faded,

remain tightly bound to her heart.

Since the Disaster Tide receded, she has searched ceaselessly for him.

Like finding a needle in a haystack.

Knowing he was a mercenary, every time she saw one, she couldn’t help but inquire discreetly.

Usually, a black-haired young man with an Eastern face is fairly recognizable among mercenaries.

But unfortunately, no leads came.

Until last night.

After two years, the sky unexpectedly shone with a familiar star again.

Still as dazzling as before, as if it could light up the entire universe—a Starfall.

Only this time, it was not the blue she remembered, but gold.

As if the heavens had finally answered her belated prayer, casting down a guiding light.

Following that streaking star piercing the night sky straight into the broken alleys of Jingri Town,

finally—

finally, she saw the figure she had longed for day and night…

“Soldier Captain—Captain Lortisa?”

The rising volume in her ear pulled Lortisa back to the training ground before her.

“Hm… Karin, is the formation complete?”

Hearing her cold tone, Karin quietly inhaled.

“Waiting on your orders, Captain.”

“Alright—entire squad, move out to the camp entrance.”

At the Soldier Captain’s steady command, the soldiers turned sharply on the Banner-Bearer’s shout,

their iron-clad boots striking the ground in unison as the several hundred Vanguard Soldiers marched out.

Their current camp was nestled in a high mountain valley on the Covenant Kingdom’s border, facing the Fernan Domain of the Zongri Empire across the gorge.

From their vantage point, Jingri Town could be seen plainly on the far side of the valley.

The town, already shadowed deep in the valley’s gloom, appeared even more lifeless under the grip of the Disaster Tide.

Like a colored map smeared with a deliberate black blotch—

silent, foreboding.

—Disaster Tide.

As the name implies, a tide of calamity.

Formless and unpredictable, no one knows when or where it will strike.

Only one certainty:

it is a natural disaster that brings destruction to all.

This Disaster Tide began within the Fernan Domain, falling under the Zongri Empire’s jurisdiction.

Although the Covenant Kingdom’s Order of Disaster Vigil Messengers had proactively sent warnings,

so far the empire’s response was limited to acknowledging “We understand the general situation,” with no concrete actions.

With the Tide’s reach ever expanding and nearing the western mountain borders of the Covenant Kingdom,

to prevent a repeat of the Disaster Tide from two years ago,

the Royal Court immediately ordered the Border Marquis to lead his forces in strict defense to stop the spread.

The Vanguard Soldiers, elite troops from the border army, were to spearhead the counterattack.

Today was the scheduled date to rendezvous with the Border Marquis’s main force.

Everything was unfolding with meticulous precision according to plan.

Watching the Soldier Captain step out of camp, Karin sensed no trace of anxiety.

Because the Golden Lortisa’s strength was sufficient; no Disaster Tide form was a match for her—

everyone said so, Karin included, always believing it.

But today was different.

Today—

the Soldier Captain…

something was off.

Karin’s keen intuition told her so.

Though Lortisa was usually as cold and unyielding as a piece of mythril steel tempered with dragon’s breath,

today seemed no different on the surface.

Others might not notice,

but Karin, having enlisted and fought alongside her in the King’s Army, knew the Captain better than anyone.

Since returning last night, Lortisa had seemed distracted.

Not so much worried about failing to eliminate the Soul-Devouring Lord, but fully absorbed in something else.

If it had only been speculation before,

just now Karin confirmed it.

It was because of the man staying in the Captain’s tent.

A mercenary.

Honestly, it was not unusual for the Vanguard Soldiers’ Captain to look out for mercenaries.

On marches, Lortisa often took the initiative to interact with mercenaries, helping tend wounds or offering aid and supplies when needed.

But those were always delegated to her subordinates—she didn’t personally intervene.

Only the mercenary she brought back last night,

gravely wounded by the Soul-Devouring Lord and barely clinging to life, required careful treatment,

Lortisa personally placed him in her tent and instructed guards to watch over him.

Even just now,

when the lead Captain had not finished forming the ranks and heard the mercenary had awakened, she dropped everything to check on him immediately…

Karin had never seen this level of care from Lortisa toward anyone.

A familiar face?

Karin frowned slightly, only realizing she had been daydreaming when the distant thunder of hooves approached.

“They’re here.”

Lortisa spoke softly, her emerald eyes fixed on the dust rising along the mountain path ahead.

The pounding hooves rolled like thunder, the march growing louder,

and the Covenant Kingdom’s flag, woven with sky totem patterns, rose high into view.