Chapter 103: Bernoa’s Memory

As expected, Syria was there.

“Olivia-nim~”

Her voice was particularly sweet, laced with affection.

Yeah, the answer was obvious.

In her hands, she was holding Berna.

And Berna was soaked in blood.

“As promised, I’ve captured the Four Heavenly Kings~!”

“Ugh, damn it.”

“So.”

Sigh, Berna, you idiot.

I should’ve just killed her.

The Four Heavenly Kings, all of them, are of no help to me in my life.

“Please marry me!”

It was a half-joking comment, but a wizard’s promises are as heavy as gold.

My life is ruined.

***

The Third Legion Fortress.

Boom! Crash!

The massive magical cannonballs fired from the magic cannon struck the Third Legion’s fortress, tearing through the demon army.

It was nothing but one-sided slaughter.

The demons, hit by the magical shells, collapsed on the spot, spilling their blood and guts, turning into meat chunks.

Originally, the Third Legion had been under Berna’s command, but due to her being tied to Olivia, they couldn’t properly respond to Ashter’s surprise attack.

Unable to do anything else, the demons, driven by their instincts, rushed at Ashter’s army in a disorganized charge, falling one after the other.

“How dare these lowly demons challenge Ashter?”

“Oh, it seems even the Duke is quite skilled.”

“Lady Natalia, you are as splendid as ever.”

The lead figures, Duke Ashter and the great sword Natalia, cut down demons with their swords.

Though they didn’t deploy infantry, the number of demons advancing toward them was significant, so they formed a defensive line and continued to fire their cannons.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Especially in front of Ashter’s artillery, supported by the kingdom’s potions, the demons could only die relentlessly.

It was truly a massive weapons testing ground.

“And you’re conducting large-scale weapons tests as well.”

“Well, when else would we try them out?”

That was a valid point.

‘If not now, when would they get a chance to use these new weapons?’

The artillery continued to fire in unison as they slowly advanced toward the Third Legion’s fortress.

Their offensive was incredibly effective.

“Still, it’s almost over, but what do you think about pushing forward with the Mage Corps and the Knight Corps? At this rate, we won’t even suffer much damage. Seto could show up at the battlefield any moment.”

If this were any other land, perhaps, but this was the Demon King’s domain.

It was also where the Four Heavenly Kings made their headquarters.

The flying beasts had already settled in the mountain range, which made it possible that Seto had something to do with it.

“Berna, hmm…”

“Don’t worry about Berna.”

Natalia waved her hand.

Berna wouldn’t make it here anyway.

“Berna?”

‘She’—Olivia—stepped forward.

But there was no way she could lose.

She might even bring Berna’s head back.

One thing was certain: Berna wouldn’t be able to move.

Though Ashter’s army couldn’t confirm it during the battle, Natalia had already verified it.

Two giant meteors had fallen on the castle.

‘As expected.’

Olivia was the person she knew, after all.

So, she wouldn’t lose.

If she could cast meteors like that, it seemed like she could use her old powers as well.

In that case, Berna was no longer a problem.

Pector had probably said something as well.

In that case, Seto was the biggest problem.

“Do you think a woman as obsessed with Eldakrad-nim would leave Crad Castle?”

“Oh, that makes sense. Indeed, right now, Seto is the biggest problem. We’ll deploy the Mage Corps and the Knight Corps.”

Already, Ashter’s Mage Corps and Knight Corps were sent in to crush the Third Legion, who were already being slaughtered.

Saint Berna’s life began in an orphanage.

She didn’t know who her parents were.

When Berna first began to form her identity, she was living in the orphanage.

She lived with other orphans like herself.

Her days passed in a monotonous routine.

Still, Berna had something noble about her.

Compared to the other children in the orphanage, she appeared much cleaner and more elegant.

Her noble bloodline was clear to anyone who looked.

The other orphans followed Berna, and the orphanage director treated her kindly.

The orphanage was also near the royal capital, so it didn’t have to worry about being targeted by bandits.

The main activities in the orphanage were reading fairy tales to the children, playing with them, eating together, and sleeping together.

***

One day, when she was older, she might be adopted or leave to live on her own, but for now, she simply enjoyed peaceful days.

She thought that she would continue living in the orphanage forever.

Then, war broke out.

Not long ago, the Demon King’s army, which had only been engaging in small skirmishes and raids, launched a large-scale invasion of the kingdom.

After a long, drawn-out war, one day, Berna found the orphanage director sighing as she looked at the ledgers.

“Of all times, the orphanage budget is running low.”

Normally, the orphanage’s welfare budget was directly managed by the royal family, but with the kingdom and the Demon King’s army at war, the national treasury was drained into the war, leaving the orphanage with fewer funds.

Moreover…

As the war continued, the orphanage’s budget kept shrinking, but the number of orphans kept increasing.

It was only natural.

Half a year had passed since the Demon King’s invasion, and only then did the kingdom’s army, under imperial support, begin to regroup.

Until then, noble armies were decimated by the Demon King’s attacks, causing heavy casualties.

It was no surprise that the number of orphans had increased.

The director’s sighs grew louder each day.

The orphanage became increasingly poor.

There was no food to feed the children or clothes to dress them in.

As the management became more difficult, the once-kind director began to take out her frustrations on the children.

“Don’t you see? The orphanage is hard enough to run as it is. Do you have to make my life harder? Just stay still!”

They had only been playing as usual.

It wasn’t like she was making things difficult.

The director took her frustration out on the children.

Sometimes, she would even slap her own cheeks in anger.

Then, one day, priests were sent from the holy kingdom to support the kingdom.

Among them, a high-ranking priest visited the orphanage.

They had come to cultivate priests who would fight against the Demon King’s army in the upcoming great war.

“I feel something special about this child.”

The priest from the holy kingdom sensed a divine power in Berna and decided to take her.

At first, Berna tried to refuse.

She had heard that the path to becoming a priest was long and arduous.

It might have been better to stay at the orphanage, caring for the other children.

Or perhaps, someday, she could become an adventurer and help the orphanage in that way.

“I will sell this child.”

However, with the orphanage’s management becoming increasingly difficult, the director sold Berna to the priests from the holy kingdom.

Yeah. That wasn’t so bad.

If it meant sacrificing herself for money, that’s what she had to do.

The holy kingdom paid the fee and took Berna away.

At first, she went to the holy kingdom to study the doctrines of the Goddess, worship the Goddess, and learn miracles to become a priest.

“This child has the qualities of a saint.”

Perhaps because she diligently did what was asked of her, the pope took notice of Berna.

Eventually, she was dispatched as the kingdom’s saint.

At first, she served the kingdom’s soldiers, tending to them and purifying the monsters, but it wasn’t long before the Empire’s Ashter army came to directly support the kingdom’s troops.

“Long live Eldakrad!”

“Long live Ashter!”

Victories continued.

With the full support and joint operations from Ashter’s head, Eldakrad, the Demon King’s army was swiftly expelled from the kingdom’s territory.

Even the soldiers in the kingdom started to praise Eldakrad, calling him the rising star of the Empire.

In fact, the kingdom even tried to arrange a royal wedding to tie their bloodline with his.

And Berna was dispatched from the kingdom to Ashter.

“I am Saint Berna, dispatched from the kingdom to build a stronger bond with Ashter.”

Though there had been joint operations before, the saint had no military command outside of emergencies, and she had only watched Eldakrad from afar.

Finally, Berna met Eldakrad.

Eldakrad had the perfect appearance and physique, radiating an aura that screamed hero.

‘Perhaps this is the hero I’ve heard of.’

Berna was certain.

‘This is my light. My god.’

Berna immediately fell in love with Eldakrad.

No, it might be better to say that she was drawn to him by fate.

Otherwise, this pounding in my chest couldn’t make sense.

“I’ll give you a separate annex at my Ashter estate. You can stay comfortably with the servants.”

Eldakrad was even kind.

She had grown up in an orphanage, not knowing her parents, and became a target for the director’s frustration.

In the holy kingdom, she had to endure grueling torture and training to be reborn as a priest.

Because of this, Berna, who had lacked affection, was slowly drawn to Eldakrad’s kindness.

So, in the war, Berna fought to the death for Eldakrad.

“Great purification.”

Brilliant light healed the Ashter army’s wounds.

Even though the Ashter army was outnumbered by the Demon King’s forces, they managed to win several direct confrontations thanks to the saint’s divine powers.

The Ashter army, numbering in the tens of thousands, became elite soldiers under the saint’s blessing and turned into an undefeated force under Eldakrad.

As Berna gained Eldakrad’s trust, one day, she witnessed a shocking scene.

“Why do you keep leading the army yourself? Don’t you have excellent generals under you?”

“I can’t just send my subordinates and sit idly by.”

He had a fiancée.

She was a noblewoman from a nearby region.

A noblewoman who had been with Eldakrad since before he became the head of Ashter.

They had whispered sweet love words to each other, and although the marriage wasn’t formal due to the changing situation in Ashter, they had been like a married couple.

‘How could this be?’

Berna felt despair.

He had been the prince on the white horse for her, the light in her life.

‘But who could have predicted this?’

‘How could Eldakrad have a fiancée?’

Actually, she had faintly known.

After all, there were rumors about his fiancée among the soldiers.

‘Will she become his wife? The saint?’

• “Are you an idiot? A saint can’t get married.”
• “And besides, he already has a fiancée.”
• “He’s just born lucky when it comes to women.”
• “Hahaha, our lord is that great.”

The same rumors circulated among the soldiers.

And considering the average age of nobles at marriage, Eldakrad should have already been married.

Especially in Ashter’s case, where they needed to regain strength, it was necessary for him to marry into another noble family to grow their power.

Moreover, Eldakrad was a hero of the Empire.

It would have been strange if such a hero didn’t have a fiancée.

Still, she wanted to confront him.

By now, Eldakrad’s reputation had spread widely throughout the Empire and the kingdom.

What harm would it do if there were a blemish on his reputation for marrying a saint?

And besides, they were only engaged.

If they broke off the engagement, it would cause some gossip in noble society, but she could still marry someone else.

So, she decided to confront him.

“My lord, I love you. Please marry me.”

“That’s not possible.”

He shook his head as if he already knew.

Ah, so it’s really not possible?

Still, it’s not over.

Not yet. Just one more time.

“My lord, why is it impossible?”

“I am already engaged to someone else. And secondly, you are a saint. A saint cannot marry.”

Was he truly in love with her?

Still, it’s not over. Not yet.

In the worst case, she was willing to go so far as to say things a saint should never say.

“If you decide, I can do anything! I’ll give up my title as saint. Ashter only receives the blessing of its lord’s lineage! So, now, an engagement is nothing.”

“You are my advisor, and to me, you are like a friend. But I love my fiancée.”

He couldn’t betray the woman he loved.

With those words, the saint crumbled.