When Heidi opened her eyes on the camp bed, she found herself in the medical tent, surrounded by bandaged wounded and bustling medics.
The air was thick with the nauseating smell of blood and medicine.
“Ugh—”
Propping herself up, she looked outside; the dusk from her last memory had turned to night, with only a few oil lamps casting faint light.
This meant she’d been unconscious for hours.
Even so, her body still felt numb in waves, a testament to the severity of her injuries from yesterday.
“That damned witch, she really didn’t hold back!”
Heidi Yarte, a member of the Blade of the Goddess team, was one of the twenty heroes in this world.
Uniquely, she wasn’t a transmigrator but a local chosen by the Goddess.
She was even the princess of the Yarte Kingdom.
Despite such a status, Heidi was assigned the hero class of Guardian, a heavily armored role—bluntly, a tank, the one taking hits at the front.
She couldn’t wrap her head around it and was quite dissatisfied.
Take this time, for instance: as the team’s frontline, she was knocked out early in the battle after eating dozens of spells, lying here until now.
“Seriously, I’m a princess, shouldn’t I get a more elegant job, like Rosalyn’s…?”
A princess’s dignity wasn’t just about face; it represented the kingdom’s prestige and honor.
Getting battered and bruised in every fight, covered in dirt and wounds, was hardly a good look.
Rumor had it some nobles privately called her things like “Meatshield Princess” or “Punching Bag Majesty,” which gave her a headache just thinking about it.
Sighing, Heidi got out of bed, returning salutes from soldiers along the way as she stepped outside, where the moonlit scene made her frown.
The once-lively camp now felt desolate, with barely any patrolling guards; the wounded lay scattered, their faint moans ever-present.
You didn’t need a report to know how devastating the losses were.
Of course, this was within Eze’s pre-mission predictions, but numbers on paper hit differently when you’re standing in the aftermath.
Heidi rubbed her forehead, letting out a long sigh.
“…With the knight order in this state, how am I supposed to explain this back home?”
Reality isn’t a game; in strategy games, you mine resources, build barracks, and get endless, fearless troops to command.
In reality, armies—especially elite knight orders, royal guards, or battle mages—are precious assets; even heroes struggle to pry them from the church or nobles.
Now, the army entrusted to them suffered such losses; even with the achievement of killing the Great Witch, there’d be plenty of criticism waiting.
But Heidi wasn’t truly worried.
After all, Eze was there to handle it.
Though his combat skills were lacking, his ability to deal with these messy issues was genius-level.
Thanks to him, the Blade of the Goddess always secured the most support over the past two years, never losing a battle, letting Heidi rack up prestige with minimal effort.
And that wasn’t all.
Heidi’s Yarte Kingdom sat right on the border between human and demon territories.
In the dark years before the heroes arrived, Yarte suffered immense losses, with half its land overrun and the royal family decimated.
As a result, the royal family weakened, nobles hoarded power, and civil war loomed over succession disputes, leaving Heidi helpless and near despair.
Yet, through Eze’s maneuvering, her crumbling status was not only stabilized but even strengthened.
So, Heidi really liked Eze.
A reliable, efficient, problem-solving tool who asked for nothing in return—how could she not like him?
To be honest, she didn’t like their team leader, Liya, who was arrogant and brainless, but on this matter, she had to thank her boss.
If Liya hadn’t been so ruthless in bullying and gaslighting Eze, how would Heidi have had the chance to build a good relationship with him, leading to her current situation?
That’s right—Eze liked her.
At least, that’s what Heidi believed.
Why else would he help her so much?
It made sense; in this team, she was the only one who didn’t stress him out and would chat with him when he was down.
It’s normal for a guy to like someone like that, right?
So, Heidi even gritted her teeth and got engaged to Eze.
On one hand, it was to ward off any potential threats trying to steal her asset; on the other—
Eze’s reputation in noble circles was well-known, and tying him to her with an engagement meant even the boldest rebels would think twice.
Plus, Eze seemed uninterested in women, so he wouldn’t use the engagement to demand anything from her—what could be a more perfect win-win (where Heidi wins twice)?
Nothing better existed.
Thinking this, Heidi surveyed the chaotic camp again, shaking her head.
“…Speaking of, it’s been hours, and the camp’s still a mess. What’s that guy doing? Is he actually working?”
He couldn’t still be knocked out, could he?
If so, she’d have to check on him—after all, he was her “fiancé,” and appearances had to be maintained.
With that, Heidi headed toward the central command tent, then—
“Sigh, I wonder how Lord Eze is doing. The road back isn’t safe, and he didn’t even take a horse!”
“No matter what, Lord Eze’s a hero; we don’t need to worry that much, right…?”
“But he was so badly injured! When I carried him back, he couldn’t even speak! Have you ever seen a hero cough up that much blood!?”
“Sigh, if he was leaving, he could’ve at least told us. We could’ve sent some guards… at least to get him to Tafia!”
In the darkness, a group of knights was whispering.
Their barely audible words hit Heidi like a slap in the face.
Eze left? Where to?
Her smug smile froze, her mind going blank, but she instinctively ducked to the side, holding her breath to eavesdrop.
She could’ve just walked out and asked, but that’d make her seem desperate, which wouldn’t do.
A female knight leader sighed:
“You know Lord Eze’s temperament. He wouldn’t even take a horse—how could he let knights on duty escort him?”
“Even so… ugh, why didn’t he wait? If he’d held on until we got back to the Holy Capital, we could’ve…”
“Wait!?”
A previously silent knight leader spoke, his voice trembling with anger and dissatisfaction.
“You didn’t hear what happened in the tent this afternoon—I did! Lady Liya plans to pin all the blame for these heavy losses on Lord Eze. Even if he went back, he might get dragged off by the Tribunal!”
Eze was indeed popular among the soldiers, but that didn’t help his predicament.
Including the knight leaders, ordinary people had no say in the hero team’s internal affairs and lacked the standing to speak up.
Even if they did, it’d likely only provoke Liya, making her more extreme—so even Eze himself would stop subordinates from defending him.
“Scouts reported earlier that the road from Anlin Plain to Tafia is crawling with deserters, bandits, and slavers. If he runs into them…”
“Don’t jinx it!! Lord Eze’s taken down countless enemies—fall to a rabble like that!?”
“I’m just worried about his injuries! Sigh, I sent someone to secretly follow and protect him this evening, but he spotted them and shook them off… so he should be fine, right?”
“Should!? He’s definitely fine!!”
The chatter continued, but Heidi, hiding in the shadows, couldn’t listen anymore, her stomach churning.
That stupid woman—does she even realize what she’s done?
In this team, if anyone was indispensable, it was Eze, not her—after all, that muscle-brained idiot was useless outside of fighting.
Without Eze, the team’s collapse aside, the nobles he’d kept in check would surely start causing chaos.
If that happened, Heidi’s troubles would be massive—she might not even keep her royal status.
Two years went by fine, so why did this mess happen while she was out cold!?
After mentally cursing Liya’s ancestors for several minutes, she calmed down a bit, clutching her throbbing forehead and crouching in the shadows.
“No, no… I have to bring him back before this causes real damage!”
Even chopping Liya up in the tent wouldn’t solve anything—she needed to drag Eze back, fast.
Determined, the princess stood, silently recalling the overheard conversation.
“Tafia… the border city of Tafia. He didn’t take a horse, so if I chase now, I should still catch up!!”
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