Chapter 221: Too Close for Comfort
The Knights of Chemois already had their reunion when the other half of their knights returned in the first wave of help that arrived in the north.
As Irene wiped up the evidence of her meal preparation from before, she couldn’t help quietly side-eyeing the reunions of knights with others from within their order. She wanted to feel happy like that. They seemed so bright while she felt so unbelievably dull and sad.
Their voices filled up the space as they embraced each other. She even heard a few jokes that the others looked like hell from being on the front lines for so long.
However, she braced for the second wave of emotions that would flood the encampment for even longer than the happiness, as it always did: grief.
The knights, freshly arrived from two weeks of travel, looked confused as if to silently wonder if that was all they had left. They would search for evidence of others while those who remained would shake their heads as if to say, ’they didn’t make it.’
Their happiness couldn’t make Irene smile, but their sadness made her feel that much heavier. It was the worst winter she had ever remembered in her life.
There was a sense of self-awareness within the girl, and she knew that she needed to get herself together and head on straight.
In two days time, they were preparing to venture into the mountains and see if anything else could be gleaned from the environment. It would be far easier to track monsters in the untouched snow on the foothills that surrounded the fields.
There was a bit to look forward to. It was the first time she, Felix, and Leif would all be working together once more. For the longest time, they had taken on the roles of being their knights’ backup on the battlefield. Whenever the war horns blew, they were meant to find their knights and do whatever was asked of them.