I Will Be the Greatest Knight
Chapter 220: Bleak

Chapter 220: Bleak

"Poison! Iro, duck!"

A shout erupted from the top of the tower. Irene did as she was asked, but it wasn’t fast enough.

A heavy body was felt above her, and she was crushed into the wet earth. She was stunned for a moment, but what took her out of it was an awful choking noise.

It was so familiar yet so foreign.

She pushed the knight who had jumped on top of her off.

It was Sir Sven. He was choking. A ring around his mouth. The poison.

Just as he did to her before, Irene tore off her glove and shoved her small fingers down his throat. His mouth snapped shut as she did, and he bit her most prominent two knuckles. It hurt, but it wasn’t enough to deter her until liquid covered her hand and she pulled her hand away.

He began throwing up the poison which was close to choking him to death.

It was on her, but it was mostly on the ground. She didn’t mind. A small price to pay for saving a knight who saved her before.

However, unlike when he saved her, she left feeling like a failure as he was dragged off to the infirmary tent, where overworked mages tried to figure out how to successfully cleanse the poison.

The constant stream of new patients certainly didn’t help anything.

Would it ever stop feeling like hell?

Irene recalled hating winter because she was bored. But now she hated winter because she had too much to do.

It seemed there was never a time she could have dry feet because they were always outdoors. The constant movement over the snow made for mud. If she wasn’t wandering the trails between tents where they often packed more dirt and rocks to hopefully negate the mud, she was trying to stay on the boards that lined the ground and made the cooking area flat and dry.

Cooking was the only time she felt warm. What she once hated, she started looking forward to.

There was no such thing as morning drills or practice. They were always warmed up enough and primed to fight.

Fight.

All they ever did was fight. To what end?

The number of knights and apprentices lost was starting to pile up. Even if the losses from the Knights of Chemois were lighter than those of Hydrogia during the major battles, it still didn’t make her feel better.

Those were people’s friends, brothers, and sons.

If she thought about it for too long, she was certain she would crumble into a pile of tears and not be able to pull herself out of it.

Not only were the deaths particularly staggering, but the poison always struck without warning. They wouldn’t see it for a while, and then something horrible would happen.

She was feeling guilty about Sir Sven, and it had been a few weeks.

By that point, coughing could be heard more often than not throughout the encampment. Everyone knew how to try and avoid the poison, but it wasn’t always possible.

There was the constant promise that they would get themselves together more and go into the Duke’s Tower. A rumor that people could still be trapped inside had struck the encampment.

Someone even went far enough to say that they saw a light in the upper levels late one night.

Since the weeks they had been planted next to the ancient wall, everyone was feeling on edge. Seeing something that wasn’t there wouldn’t be the first or last time for anyone.

Snow blindness was more common than one would think.

By that point, they had a couple of deliveries of supplies. It seemed they almost always revolved around food, more warm clothing, or boots. Considering the coldness never left, it made a lot of sense.

However, after a particularly awful goblin attack the night it snowed, a messenger was sent off by foot to summon the rest of the knights. The mages needed to conserve their mana so it was the only way of communication.

It was a time when Commander Lothian would exercise his power as one of the King’s vassals and not ask permission. In his opinion, it was an ’act first, apologize later’ sort of situation brewing in the north.

As Irene walked to the cooking area, a few apprentices were already there, and a few more arrived later. Her eyes didn’t even go towards the pile of bodies on the other end of the horse’s pen like they used to.

It wasn’t something she could simply adjust to, but it was better not to look. It was important to keep up her appetite at a time like that. Gunnar kept telling her as much.

As she began preparing porridge, Irene’s eyes drifted to someone who had just walked into the cooking area.

"Good morning, Leif," Irene said to her friend.

They were no longer on a similar schedule, so it felt like the times they saw one another were so fleeting. Their wake and sleep times were different.

She felt lonely because she missed her friend.

The teenager’s eyes looked a bit hollow, and he seemed to register late that Irene was speaking to him. His expression changed, and he seemed a bit happier since she acknowledged him.

If she could keep eliciting that response from him, it was enough for her not to give up. The silver lining to the life she led at that moment was the way others still acknowledged her. Leif, in particular, was her measurement of the situation. If he could smile at her, she could smile again.

She was happy to know she could keep smiling even when things felt unbelievably heavy.

"Oh. Good morning, Iro," he responded lightly.

There was no need to ask what he could do. They all did the same thing each morning.

"How is Sir Sven doing?" she wondered, trying to keep her voice even though the mere question made her unbelievably anxious.

"He made it through another night," Leif responded as he sharpened the knife he was to use to prepare the stew they ate each and every day. "Stanley thinks the cleansing magic he used on him might be enough to get him back on the battlefield."

"Ah, great," she responded, trying to remain positive for her friend. "We could use all the help we could get out there.

They continued with few other words as they went into automated and introspective moods that allowed them to finish their work while they were caught in reverie about easier times. Even when spring arrived, Irene couldn’t imagine feeling more positive. That would mean monsters were willing to be more active as things thawed out.

Lately, the battles had been happening in broad daylight since the monsters had decided, after the first snow, that it was too cold.

By the time lunch rolled around and it was time for the apprentices to serve those switching shifts their meals, there was a surprising amount of activity towards the southern end of their camp.

Her mouth fell open in disbelief as she saw more knights. Some even had armor more gilded than the rest.

Not only were the rest of the Knights of Hydrogia there, but the Royal Knights.

Had the King finally acknowledged them?