The next day, after wrapping up all the aftermath and loose ends, Karine thought she could finally relax.
Outside the tent, the sounds of soldiers returning to camp mingled with the calls and counts as gear and supplies were checked and accounted for.
She lifted the heavy canvas flap, and as soon as she stepped back inside, she saw Lortissa sitting quietly, waiting for her.
She just stood there, back to the entrance, staring at the simple map hanging on the wall of the tent.
“Captain?”
Karine was a little surprised. She let the curtain fall, shutting out the noise from outside.
“Weren’t you going to report to the Count? You’re back already?”
Lortissa turned around, her face as calm as ever, betraying no emotion.
“You summarized the report perfectly. I just repeated the situation, that’s all.”
She paused, her gaze flickering over Karine’s face.
“As for the details of the battle with the Malformations, there’s nothing much to say, so it was quick.”
Karine nodded, hanging her warhammer on the weapons rack.
But she couldn’t shake the feeling that the atmosphere was odd.
Usually, Lortissa rarely took the initiative to come find her. It wasn’t unheard of, but it only happened if there was something important.
Yet now, Lortissa simply stood there in silence, emerald eyes holding something Karine couldn’t decipher.
Seeing that she wouldn’t speak, Karine broke the silence herself.
“Is there something else, Captain?”
Lortissa’s gaze finally settled on Karine:
“Yes, I’ve come to tell you… I plan to resign from the position of Captain.”
Her tone was still that same calm,
So ordinary, as if she were saying, “The weather’s nice today, I’m going for a walk.”
After speaking, she took a neatly folded letter from her breast pocket and placed it on the table in front of Karine.
The seal on the envelope was flawless, closed with red wax.
“My letter of resignation. Please, deliver it to the Count for me.”
Karine’s already tense jaw became even stiffer. She blinked instinctively, wondering if she’d heard wrong.
“Huh? What did you just say?”
She reached for the letter, but her fingertips froze in midair, then snapped back as if burned.
This was Lortissa—how could she possibly joke?
A thousand thoughts flashed through Karine’s mind, instantly connecting all the suspicions she’d had.
She didn’t even need to ask why.
Hadn’t the Captain been acting strangely these past few days?
So, the problem was obvious.
“It’s because of that mercenary, isn’t it?”
Karine’s voice was soft but filled with certainty.
Lortissa nodded frankly, without the slightest attempt to avoid the topic.
“Yes.”
A single word—firm and final.
Karine felt as if she’d swallowed water wrong, choking on it, nearly coughing.
“Are you really going to give up being Captain?”
The Captain’s position in the army.
It was the step closest to noble rank.
Even baron was a leap up in class, a glory for one, a legacy for descendants.
Countless common soldiers enlisted just to change their fates.
Especially in the Vanguard, the elite of the border army, highly valued by Count Leicester himself.
And with Lortissa’s abilities, if she stayed, her future was limitless.
Even if she never commanded the army, she’d still be a pillar of the border forces, perhaps even one of the kingdom’s greatest assets.
Rising through the army could even open a path to the royal capital and politics.
But Karine could see that in this moment, no matter how bright or brilliant those futures were, to Lortissa, they were dull and meaningless.
The young Captain’s lips parted briefly:
“Yes.”
“Is that… so?”
Even if she didn’t say it outright, Karine understood just by looking at the letter.
Having Karine deliver her resignation was the Captain’s way of leaving quietly.
The kingdom’s strongest Captain, the sharpest blade under Count Leicester, was resigning and retiring from service.
Once this got out, there was no way the Count wouldn’t try desperately to keep her.
The whole camp would be shaken.
Leaving only a letter and walking out was the simplest, most resolute way.
But she really didn’t understand.
Just what had that mercenary kid done to her Captain?
To make Lortissa go this far.
Yet, thinking carefully, no one in this world could ensnare her with tricks or schemes.
After all, she was the Golden Lortissa.
Her choices could only ever be her own.
In that silent standoff, the air in the tent seemed to freeze, the glow of the crystal lamp trembling slightly with the ripple of magic.
Silence spread between the two.
In the end, it was Karine who looked away first.
She let out a long breath, as if it carried away all her shock and heaviness.
She picked up the resignation letter, weighed it in her hand, then stuffed it casually into her own breast pocket.
“Got it.”
Her voice was back to its usual free-and-easy tone, even carrying a lazy drawl.
“If you want to go, then go.”
Lortissa looked at her quietly—this old friend of over two years.
After she parted ways with Weiss, Karine was the first person she met whom she could trust, and truly call a friend.
She too had wandered alone because of the Malformation Calamity.
But unlike herself, Karine hadn’t met someone like Weiss to protect and help her.
This strong woman, from the start, had survived by her own strength—fists and scars—carving a path through the tide of refugees on the edge of disaster-stricken towns.
Until the two of them met.
Back then, all Lortissa cared about was finding Weiss, completely mixing up the difference between soldiers and mercenaries.
It was Karine—the woman who’d seen every side of life—who clapped her on the back and boldly suggested,
“If you’re looking for soldiers, then become a soldier! There are more soldiers in the army than anywhere! Relax, if anyone bullies you, I’ll be the first to stand up for you!”
And so, Karine dragged her off to join Count Leicester’s recruitment.
In these two years since enlisting,
On the battlefield, Karine was the reliable comrade she could trust to guard her back.
In camp, she was the capable subordinate who kept everything running smoothly.
In daily life, she was the brash but attentive elder sister who could scold you while patching up your wounds.
Lortissa knew that Karine’s rough, boisterous nature was actually the armor she wore to protect herself.
Beneath that armor was a heart tougher and softer than anyone’s.
Finally, Lortissa spoke from the heart.
“Thank you, Karine.”
There was so much contained in those words.
“Thank me for what? It’s not like this is a final goodbye. Don’t act like we’re never seeing each other again.”
Karine waved her hand dismissively, stopping Lortissa as she turned to leave.
She walked to the map, running her finger along a line stretching from the kingdom’s borders all the way to the empire.
“Listen, you’re still the Captain. I’m just acting in your place.”
Karine turned, a sly grin on her face,
“I’ll tell the Count you left temporarily to investigate the cause of the disaster… mm, since the source of the Malformation Tide might be inside the empire, it’s inconvenient to act officially as a kingdom officer, so you decided to enter secretly as a private citizen—very reasonable.”
“Karine…”
“Think about it, you never followed orders anyway, always did things your own way, so this actually fits your style. The Count will understand.
Besides, whether you’re here or not, things in the unit run just fine. Honestly, with me as acting Captain, most things don’t need your signature, the process is even simpler—I just make the call myself.
Ah, except if there’s another battle, then it’s different. No one else can replace your strength. So, don’t just up and abandon the Vanguard without a word, all right? Two years—it’s enough to get attached, even if you were just renting a room, right?”
Lortissa listened quietly, not objecting.
She understood Karine.
This was her way of leaving a road open, of keeping a “home” for her.
She nodded lightly in response.
“Mm… then, goodbye.”
Lortissa turned, lifting the tent flap.
As her silhouette began to fade in the morning sunlight, Karine called out just as she did every time Lortissa set out on a distant mission, in a voice neither loud nor soft:
“Come back soon.”
The golden-haired girl’s steps paused, but she didn’t turn around,
Yet Karine saw her give a small nod.
Sunlight filtered through the crack in the curtain, casting a golden halo around her figure.