Riftan snorted incredulously. It was clear he still regarded her worries as baseless, but he at least did not seem to interpret her unease as a lack of confidence in his abilities. Maxi found she was content with that. Slowly but surely, Riftan was coming to realize he was as important to her as she was to him.
Maxi lifted her gaze to his face, her eyes full of affection, and intertwined her fingers with his strong, calloused ones. Riftan bent down so that she could peck his smooth cheek.
“You entrusted me with this mission… because you believed I could do it, didn’t you?”
Reluctant to answer, Riftan cast his eyes down. He eventually yielded with a groan. “That’s right.”
“Then…” Maxi said calmly, trying her best not to sound too elated, “have faith in me. I will do the same.”
Riftan scrutinized her, his face a mix of emotions. He nodded with a sigh. “You must be careful.”
“I will.”
His eyes bore into hers for a long time before he bent to give her a light kiss. He released her hand.
Fearing that she would not be able to tear herself away if they lingered, Maxi quickly pocketed her hands in her robe. She observed her husband standing amid the swirling snow for a moment, then slowly turned away.
The wind was growing increasingly violent. According to Elliot, this was a good sign. A high wind blowing toward Midna would help carry the coalition’s arrows to greater distances. At the same time, it would greatly hinder the skeletal army, whose projectiles would be loosed from above the ramparts.
After watching the distant archers launching flaming arrows, Maxi shifted her attention to Kuahel. Instead of their usual dark plate armor, the Temple Knight commander and his subordinates wore leather breastplates and wrist guards over dark, form-fitting gambesons. Armed with longbows at their backs and blades at their sides, no casual observer would have taken them for men of the cloth.
Maxi felt restless. She finally broke the silence with, “Should we not… get going?”
“We should wait a little longer,” the Temple Knight replied calmly, looking skyward. “Storm clouds are gathering. Once they cover the sun, that and the blowing snow should hide our approach to the wall.”
There was no arguing against his logic. Midna was located on an open field. Although there was a lumber camp near the wall and rock formations dotted around, the city’s manned watchtower made it nearly impossible to approach without being spotted. Willing herself to keep calm, Maxi kept her gaze fixed on the darkening sky.
Before long, everything was a dull gray, just as Kuahel had predicted. The wind blew even fiercer, and the siege seemed to intensify. The duchy’s soldiers charged toward the rampart with ladders.
Maxi watched them until the Temple Knights began to pull their hoods over their heads. She followed suit, tugging her hood even lower. Though she had concealed her neat braid beneath a gray headscarf, she feared the fabric alone would not contain her unruly hair. She cinched the headscarf’s knot and joined the knights.
“A-Are we setting out now?”
“Yes,” Kuahel replied curtly, gesturing with a nod to his subordinates.
Maxi trailed the Temple Knights, her heart pounding with excitement and fear with each step.
Things may not go as planned.
The ramparts’ foundations would be deeply rooted. For a wall of such height to hold firm, the base would need to stretch at least twenty kevettes underground. Maxi would have to find the deepest part of the trench if she wanted to dig with minimal damage to the wall. Once this was determined, she would employ tracing magic to survey the city’s layout and begin excavating soil and rock as discreetly as possible.
“My lady, it would be best to cast the concealment spell from here.”
She was trudging through the snow, lost in her thoughts, when she jerked her head up at the voice.
Elliot stood before her, his navy Remdragon cloak replaced with a dark gray robe. He was gazing up at the soaring tower in the distance.
“I see lights flickering, which means someone must be up there. We wouldn’t have to exercise such caution if it were merely an undead sentry, but-”
A gale swept past, cutting off the knight’s words. Maxi could guess what he had been about to say. If it was a necromancer and not an undead monster standing watch in the tower, they were in danger of being discovered before they even got close.
Hastily summoning her mana, Maxi cast a thin shroud over herself and the knights. The spell walled off airflow to stifle any sounds while cleverly refracting light so that they blended into their surroundings.
“Th-The spell is set. Try to stay close.”
Kuahel acknowledged her with a backward glance before starting out again. They skirted the hills and cautiously made their way to the city’s northeastern side. Before long, they came upon the trench Riftan had mentioned. Indeed, it was deep enough to conceal them from prying eyes.
Descending the steep slope, they landed on an uneven terrain of gravel, snow, and ice. Along the narrow trench, Maxi assessed the sparse fir trees and the imposing wall jutting above the rocks.
Though most of the enemy’s forces seemed to be concentrated at the siege front, there could still be sentries on this side. Moving in utmost silence was crucial to avoid detection.
“I believe this will do,” Kuahel remarked, his lengthy stride halting just before the wall.
Maxi peeled off her sweat-dampened gloves and placed her hands on the slope. It was so steep that it was practically an earthen wall in itself. Initiating a tracing spell, she gauged the thickness and structure of the rampart above.
As expected, the stonework extended deep into the ground. After meticulously probing the rampart’s interior, she began to dig with magic. For thirty minutes, she cleared through thick layers of gravel and frozen soil. Finally, at the end of the deep hole, the wall’s foundation emerged.
She groped the evenly stacked stone and mortar blocks, infusing her mana into the wall to create a small hole. Debris thudded to the ground as the rock melted and fell away. Soon, a narrow passage stood before them. The space was so small she had to bend her head to enter. A larger entrance would have been ideal, but she feared the tunnel caving in.
Maxi felt like an earth mole as she stooped and ventured into the dark passage. Debris showered her as she continued digging the tunnel deeper, and her mouth felt as though it filled with dirt with each inhale. It got to a point where she feared she would suffocate to death. This must be what it felt like to be buried alive.
Yet, she persisted until the air’s thickness became unbearable. After hours of work, she crawled out of the tunnel. Despite feeling as though she had carved a sixty-kevette passage, its true length barely stretched twenty.
Maxi collapsed onto the ground outside. She spat out a mouthful of soil, but the unpleasant taste lingered.
“This should help, my lady,” Elliot said, offering her his flask.
Maxi took it gladly and swirled mouthfuls of frigid water to wash away the grit. Afterward, she dusted off the dirt covering her face and hands.
Kuahel watched her, then asked brusquely, “Is it done?”
“N-Not yet. I still need to create an exit.”action
“Then, please hurry. We must open the gates before sundown.”
The Temple Knight seemed unwilling to grant her even a second to catch her breath. Maxi shot him a sharp glare before hastening back into the tunnel with a sigh.
As soon as she entered, there was an inexplicable noise, and something pelted her hood.
Praying it was not a bug or a worm, Maxi shielded her mouth with a handkerchief and continued her task. Finally, a rush of fresh air greeted her as she dug through to the other side. ?????????.???
After ensuring the exit was wide enough for a large man to pass through, she quickly crawled all the way back, terrified of encountering an undead monster.
“I-It’s done,” she announced upon scrambling out of the tunnel.
Elliot helped her up as she gasped for air. He offered her his flask again, which she used to rinse her mouth. She then wet her handkerchief and wiped the dirt from her eyes. Despite the headscarf wrapped tightly around her head, she suspected even her hair was caked in dirt.
“I d-did not think this task would be so unbecoming.”
“You’ve done admirably, my lady,” Elliot said proudly, extending a handkerchief.
Discarding her soiled cloth onto the ground, Maxi scrubbed her face with Elliot’s. She had never been more desperate for a bath in her life.
“Could you survey the vicinity of the exit?” Kuahel said, peering into the tunnel.
Clearly, the clergyman did not intend to allow her a moment’s respite. Maxi paused from dusting off her clothes to heave a sigh. Wordlessly, she trudged toward him and began a tracing spell to check for any sentries on the other side of the wall.
“I don’t believe… they have noticed yet,” she said, her voice lacking confidence. Undead creatures tended to be stationary without external stimuli, making them difficult to detect with magic. “But I suggest we keep our guards up.”
Kuahel stepped into the tunnel without a word, his face blank as if her advice was not even worth a response. His subordinates hovered behind him like shadows, and they sprung into action as soon as he tilted his chin for them to follow.
The knights filed into the narrow passage one by one. Maxi maintained the integrity of the tunnel walls with magic until they reached the other end. Once she was certain all the Temple Knights had safely slipped into the city, the tension in her aching back and shoulders finally eased.
