What Do You Wish For With Murky Eyes: Record of Highserk War - Chapter 9

Leetia was an adventurer from the rural areas of Myard. Possessing magical talent, her physical abilities, backed by magical power, stood out even among her peers. Leetia, who proudly made her adventurer debut, smoothly climbed the ranks, leaving behind the E and D ranks known as “Scrap,” and reached the C rank, which is Bronze. However, at that point, she reached a deadlock. Leetia, who was self-taught and had no fixed companions, might have inevitably faced stagnation.

What saved Leetia, who was struggling, was Al, an A-rank adventurer she met by chance during a large-scale request. Al, also a Myard-born adventurer, had party members from the same hometown. As Leetia became intimately connected with Al and the party members through repeated requests, she was welcomed as a long-awaited party member.

Escorting trade caravans, subjugating monsters, conquering dungeons, and engaging in activities both within and outside the Myard country, Leetia led a wide-ranging and exciting daily life. During the course of such a living, Leetia developed a faint love for Al. It was her first love, and she didn’t know how to express her feelings.

Leetia knew. And not just Leetia. Any adventurer who was a party member or had dealings with them knew. Al and Amy were dating. When Leetia became aware of her feelings, she fell into self-loathing, thinking about how foolish she was. Amy, who patiently taught the inexperienced Leetia the ways of adventurers.

Although she understood it rationally, seeing Amy entwine herself around Al’s arm like a vine made Leetia’s heart restless. It was an emotion she shouldn’t have. The night she saw them disappear into the city together, she cried all night, to the extent of failing a request.

Ironically, It was Al and Amy, and the other party members, who cleaned up the mess without a single look of disapproval. At that moment, Leetia made a decision. She resolved to take this emotion to her grave, acknowledging that some loves are unattainable. So, Leetia hid her feelings and tried to resign herself.

As Leetia spent her days in such a manner, a shocking event occurred that shook the Myard adventurers. It was the renewed invasion of Myard by the Highserk Empire. During the war at the collapse of the old Kanoa Kingdom five years ago, the Myard territory, which constituted the former Kanoa Kingdom, sought refuge with the neighboring Ferrius Kingdom towards the end of the war.

While accepting a small number of refugees from Kanoa, Myard-Ferrius struggled, but the result was that maintaining the status quo was the best they could do.

Al and Amy’s hometown was along the border, and if invaded, it would suffer immense damage. To protect their hometown, the two declared that they would return and fight. Although a temporary party dissolution was announced, other party members, including Leetia herself, declared that they would fight together and joined the battle as volunteer soldiers.

On a guild mission, Leetia had once killed a person. It was a man who enjoyed tormenting others, fittingly a member of a bandit group that had committed heinous acts. Gratitude and praise came from the captured citizens and surrounding villages, and her companions comforted her. However, Leetia still couldn’t forget the feeling and smell from that incident.

After felling three crucial forts at the border, they joined forces with the Myard soldiers who had escaped pursuit, and set up an ambush on one of the transportation routes facing the deep forest. The combination of bow and magic attacks, along with slashing, brought victory to Myard.

It was a small victory, but for the soldiers and adventurers who had been facing continuous losses, it was undoubtedly the victory they had been waiting for. Leetia also felt joy in that victory, but she couldn’t remove her consciousness from the lifeless soldier due to her own magic.

The enemy soldier, who had suffered wounds and survived, pleaded for mercy, but to silence him, a Myard soldier beheaded him. It’s war, so there’s no helping it. Everyone uttered those words. Leetia, however, continued to struggle with that fact and she was unable to accept or reconcile with it.

Reinforcements were dispatched from the Highserk Empire to annihilate Leetia and her group, but the fighting continued. Furthermore, Leetia killed two people. While she appreciated Al’s concern, she felt a strong sense of self-disgust for harboring such emotions.

On the second day of the battle with the Highserk Empire’s squadron, it appeared. A demon. There was a demon. Its appearance was that of an ordinary man you could find anywhere, except for its eyes. Only its eyes were different. Despite being black, they felt inexplicably murky. Like cutting through annoying weeds, it calmly and without emotion slaughtered the Myard soldiers.

“Ahh!?”

Compared to Al’s sky-blue eyes, all Leetia felt was terror. She concentrated magic in both hands and released it. The blade unleashed from the short sword aimed straight at the man, but it scattered in mid-air. It was a skill. It nullified the supposed reality changing magic with just one swing.

It might sound simple in words, but handling it easily—considering the angle, timing, and power—was no simple feat. It was unbelievable for Leetia, but it was the reality that unfolded before her.

“This guy–!”

Sensing danger, two soldiers intervened between Leetia and the man, thrusting their spears. It was a skillful coordination aiming for both the head and legs simultaneously; she had thought he would either evade them or focus on defense. However, Leetia, who intended to provide support with magic, witnessed an unbelievable sight in her eyes.

The skill «Heavy Strike» shattered the spear in a single blow, and the soldier was slashed diagonally. The remaining soldier quickly drew a longsword, but lost the melee, had his leg cut and, in his sluggish movement, had his throat slashed by the halberd. The surrounding soldiers were cut down one by one, falling to the ground.

The young man who talked about his family in his hometown at night, the squad leader who spoke of love for his homeland and vowed to crush the enemy, and even the rookie who admitted that he was scared of the battle—everyone.

“N-wait, ah, help!”

A fellow soldier, whose intestines were scattered, pleaded for salvation as if begging. Behind him, the same man followed. Leetia was too frightened to move.

“Give up. There’s no saving you.”

The man thrust the halberd into the throat of the pleading soldier. Trembling, Leetia stepped back, but the man advanced without changing his expression.

“Why, why are you able to kill so easily!?”

In response to Leetia’s question, the man, for the first time, twisted his eyebrows in a puzzled manner and muttered.

“Because it’s the battlefield, isn’t it? What’s so surprising about it? You’re killing too… This is a pointless conversation.”

Leetia certainly killed. When she first killed someone, she couldn’t eat for two days. Even now, her hands tremble. She hated killing. What was the man in front of her saying? She couldn’t understand, but Leetia understood that he had ended the conversation and was now trying to kill her.

Leetia screamed, concentrating her magical power to create a wind blade. It was an attack aimed at the torso, but the man evaded it in a sliding motion on the ground. The halberd spread across her entire field of vision, tainted red with the blood of her comrades. Despite her irregular breathing and scattered thoughts, Leetia’s body moved naturally.

With her left elbow bent, Leetia held the round shield diagonally upward, supporting it with her right hand while gripping the short sword. She braced herself for the incoming impact.

“Ugh, ah, ugh…”

What arrived was devastating pain. Despite Leetia’s dedicated defense, the round shield was cut through, the short sword was deflected, and unbelievably, her gauntlet was crushed, and her left arm was broken.

“It broken.”

In that moment, not only Leetia’s arm but also her heart was broken. Leetia instinctively tried to retreat, but losing her balance, she fell. The one she fell upon was a Highserk soldier whom Leetia had attacked and killed.

“At least remember where you killed someone.”

For the first time, the man smiled. Why was he smiling? She couldn’t understand. She couldn’t understand it at all.

“No…nooooo!!”

Leetia’s thoughts were on the verge of collapse. Forgetting shame and pride, she screamed with a voice that hinted at impending death. Pain did not come, and in her blurred vision, there was the back she had always gazed upon. Leetia, who emitted an inaudible scream of despair, realized that she wasn’t dead.

“Step back, Leetia!!”

A party member rushed to her aid. Al’s blue hair, swaying incongruously, felt beautifully out of place.

“Is someone like me worthy of your attention?”

“Shut up, you invader!!”

Leetia could see that the Highserk soldiers that Al had been dealing with were now free due to her own inexperience, and the Myard soldiers were at a disadvantage.

“…Ha~a, I hate this.”

The man sighed genuinely disgusted and attacked Al. The man sighed genuinely displeased and attacked Al. The other party members tried to make up for Al’s absence, but they were hindered by subsequent soldiers. Fleck, was a skilled adventurer with the skill «Iron Wall». Leetia couldn’t believe that he was being pushed back by a single soldier.

A longsword blow inflicts a wound on the large shield that has activated “Iron Wall,” a skill which repels even an ogre’s blow. While Amy and Lefty were holding their own against the enemy soldiers gathering around, there was clearly a disadvantage in Leetia’s eyes.

While protecting her broken arm, Leetia activated her consciousness. The target was the man aiming for Al. Ignoring the broken arm, Leetia unleashed a fatal strike, but it was narrowly avoided while Al deftly parried the attack. Al, like Leetia, was a user of wind attribute magic but employed «Burst», which Leetia couldn’t use.

Magic that momentarily accelerated the entire body or parts of it was something Leetia had seen – even against high-profile thieves with bounties and ogre species, it effortlessly severed armor and robust muscles. However, Al’s opponent countered it all, and Al was on the defensive. Leetia gritted her teeth, enduring intense pain, and readied herself again.

“Gah, aaagghhhhh!”

“Fleck!!”

The one who shouted was Lefty. Skilled in solo operations as a scout, proficient in setting and disarming traps, and skilled in interrogation. Lefty was the only teammate in the party that Leetia felt cold towards. Yet, Lefty now let out a scream like never before.

Following Lefty’s gaze, Leetia saw that Fleck, who despite having the skill «Iron Wall», had his large shield destroyed, and one of his eyeballs crushed. Leetia realized that she had prioritized incorrectly. Unable to imagine Fleck losing, she had prioritized her crush, which led to this mistake.

Fleck’s opponent was a man with muscles that rivaled an ogre. Judging by the ornaments, he appeared to be a squad leader-class soldier. Leetia had been taught the characteristics of Highserk Empire officers and commanders by Myard soldiers. Cold sweat ran down Leetia’s spine. Al’s opponent was just an ordinary soldier without a position. The enemy squad still had over 200 soldiers scattered in the woods.

Rather than an encirclement, just the addition of one squad meant there was no future. Leetia, conscious of her friends’ deaths, turned pale. Leetia with her peripheral vision, noticed that Amy had started rapidly shooting arrows in order to create space between Fleck and the enemy squad leader. At the same time, Leetia realized that fireballs were approaching from Amy’s side.

“Amy, move!!”

With Amy’s usual agile movements, she could have avoided it. Leetia regretted that her and Fleck’s injuries had distracted her. While Amy dodged a direct hit, half of her body was engulfed in flames, and she rolled on the forest floor like a bouncing ball.

This was war—Leetia had thought they could protect their hometown themselves. She had considered an A-rank party precious and special. Yet, the reality was that everyone was on the verge of death.

“Amyyyyy!! Crazy invaders, you beasts are no better than monsters!!”

“After killing so many, why did you think you wouldn’t die yourselves?”

“Shut up, shut up, you of all people!”

Leetia saw Al, who was supposed to be calm and composed, crying out. The soldier, who seemed reluctant to speak just moments ago, deliberately provoked Al, fueling his anger. The two-handed sword and the halberd intersected, and the halberd, winning the clash, pressed Al’s shoulder against a large tree.

“Guh, aaaaah!!”

Impaled through the left shoulder, Al continued to resist, uttering meaningless words. Sobs and tears distorted Leetia’s field of vision. The comrades who were surrounded just a few minutes ago, were on the brink of death.

“You’re not used to killing humans, huh?…How envious.”

The man drew a longsword from his waist. Leetia was convinced that he intended to decapitate Al.

“Noo, aaaah – ah, uaaah!!”

Forgetting the pain in her broken arm, Leetia cut through the air with her sword. Any delay, even for an instant, and Al’s head would be severed. Even a slight deviation, and Al would be pierced by the blade of wind. Leetia’s strike, focused to the extreme, unlocked the depths of her latent ability, and the wind swept through the forest.