Ā Chapter 9
If a beginning of memory exists, for her it would be a dreary forest like a pitch-black bottomless pit where not even moonlight enters.
Darkness filled every direction. Without knowing where, she pushed through the black forest, stepping onto the ground with bare feet. Her entire body throbbed and ached, but the single-minded determination to survive filled her mind.
*’I have to survive. Alive.’*
Her train of thought stopped abruptly. Because even the reason *why* she absolutely had to live didn’t come to mind.
Nevertheless, she walked and walked again.
After wandering around the dark forest for a long time, she followed a cluster of light she managed to find. In a wide clearing, she saw people busy setting up dark green barracks. Men wearing identical clothes were moving in perfect order.
*’People.’*
She didn’t know who they were, but having seen nothing but dead trees for days, she approached as if spellbound.
*Rustle.*
The moment she took a step, the sound of grass being stepped on occurred. A man sitting on a cart stacked with hay for military horses, fiddling with his sword, turned his head, and their eyes met exactly.
*’Aack! Who’s there!’*
The soldier, mistaking the figure that suddenly appeared, staggering out of the dark forest, for an enemy, screamed and fell heavily onto the ground with a thud. At the same time, the cart he had been sitting on cracked and collapsed with a loud groan.
*’What! What’s going on!’*
Other soldiers nearby, also thinking it was an enemy attack, were startled and simultaneously drew their swords from their scabbards.
But what they faced was neither an enemy with sharp blades nor the terrifying monsters that sometimes appeared. It was a small, petite girl who didn’t even reach their chest height.
Confused glances were exchanged between the soldier who had been scared and fallen to the ground, and the girl. Among them, the soldier who managed to regain his composure relatively quickly shouted.
*’Halt!’*
Startled by the already eerie sound of swords scraping against scabbards, the girl had long since frozen in place. Her body trembled at the sound, which somehow felt familiar.
With her body tensed up, the girl faced the men staring at her with unmistakable tension in her eyes.
Wondering if she might be a spy sent by the enemy, they watched her, but soon noticed the girl’s dress torn deep to her collarbone and her disheveled hair, and frowned.
*’Where did this kid come from? Is there a village nearby?’*
*’That doesn’t make sense. Even if there was a village, it’s long since been evacuated. If anything like that was still there, it would have already been ransacked.’*
*’What trick is this now? Those damned Vercelium bastards. Are they using children now, after everything?’*
This place was the true front line, where crossing the forest meant immediately facing the enemy. It was absolutely a place where civilians, especially an immature girl, should not be.
The soldiers began to murmur about the girl who had suddenly appeared. It was knights in different uniforms who ultimately stopped the commotion.
Among them, the girl, facing a man wearing particularly large, shiny armor, flinched and took a step back.
*’What is the commotion!’*
*’Sir, Commander Pahero. There’s a girl here.’*
The girl, who had kept her lips tightly shut until then, met the eyes of the man who seemed to be sizing her up.
His gaze was indescribably chilly, but it was natural that he felt like a much higher-status person than the rough men she had been looking at until just now.
*’Where have you come from?’*
Having no reason to treat her kindly just because she was a child, Pahero asked without softening his stern expression.
The girl shook her head. Since she didn’t remember anything, it was safe to say she knew nothing.
After asking her various other things, Pahero, judging from her attire that he could roughly surmise her situation, gave an order to his adjutant.
*’Take her to the garrison for now.’*
The Western Front’s garrison was at Ploheim Stone Castle, half a day’s journey from Ploheim Forest. They had been inside the forest for reconnaissance purposes.
Thus, the girl spent the night in the clearing where the temporary barracks were set up and was moved to the garrison the next day. After spending a few days there, she was to be sent to the civilian village.
However, that very night, something happened.
*Clang, clang, clang!*
The bells rang out jarringly, and from the highest tower of the old castle, built with clay mixed between stones, a scout shouted loudly.
*’Enemy!’*
It was a surprise attack.
The enemies had crossed the forest and crawled up to Ploheim Castle, where the garrison was located.
An explosion so powerful it shook the ground roared, and crimson flames flew from the sky. Fires blazed everywhere, and soldiers fell one by one from arrows flying from all directions. Amidst this scene, the girl trembled all through the dawn.
She was scared. The men’s shouts and the sharp noise of clashing metal. The time she spent covering her head, terrified that she might die like this, was painfully long.
When she finally opened her eyes, all the commotion was over.
The girl moved her body groggily. Medics were running busily, and soldiers dripping with blood were rolling on the ground.
When she came to her senses again, the girl found herself, as if spellbound, standing guard beside a wounded soldier.
Commander Pahero, who was directing the knights and walking around to assess the situation, saw the girl, with no one telling her to, wrapping a bandage around a soldier’s arm.
*’Why, Commander Pahero?’*
*’Didn’t that girl say she had no memories?’*
*’Yes. According to the medic who examined her, she doesn’t remember why she was in the forest, nor even her own name.’*
*’Hahā¦ She doesn’t look shaken either.’*
He sighed lowly.
It had been a truly hellish dawn. The large number of casualties on their side was proof of that. It was fortunate that the enemy’s numbers were small, as they seemed to only intend to cause confusion; otherwise, the unit could have been annihilated.
*’Even in front of the medic who diagnosed her with amnesia, she didn’t say a word back.’*
He changed his mind. The guide who was supposed to take the girl to the civilian village had lost his life in the chaos, and as they were shorthanded, he decided to keep the girl in his custody, at least for the time being.
That was how Flora came to live at the Western Front garrison. No one at the time predicted that she would later become the most skilled person there.
“Ploheim Forestā¦”
Flora fixed her gaze on the landscape painting on the ceiling, as if reminiscing about that day.
Although eight years had passed, Flora often recalled the time she first set foot in the garrison. Oddly enough, the frequency had increased since coming here.
Life at the ducal residence was very comfortable, but she still couldn’t fall asleep easily.
This very moment, devoid of the incessant screams and the acrid smoke-filled sound of explosions, was so quiet that it rather made her anxious.
She couldn’t sleep.
—
The work maids did was very monotonous. Basically, their job was to clean the residence and help ensure the master’s daily routine was not disrupted.
The task assigned today was also ordinary, but not in Flora’s case. Flora was diligently wiping the floor of the staircase with a dry cloth.
She might have good strength, but she had absolutely no knack for this kind of work. She held a dry towel like the other maids and moved it back and forth, but far from making the floor smooth, it was becoming rough and scratched.
Not knowing that this was because she was using too much force, it was only natural that Flora had no answer for the Head Maid’s scolding that followed.
As soon as Madame Melady, who had unleashed a torrent of reprimands, disappeared, the other maids flocked to her as usual.
“You said you worked as a maid, but how can you not even do a simple mopping job properly?”
She had known for a few days now that the maids’ gazes towards her had changed slightly. The most prominent among them was Salin.
Anyone could tell it was a sarcastic remark, but to Flora, who had been with people who used far harsher tones, it just sounded like a greeting.
“ā¦.”
“Oh my, look at her. Now she doesn’t even answer when asked.”
At their obvious provocation, Flora hesitated for a moment, wondering what to say. It was true she had lied about working as a maid, but it was also true she couldn’t mop properly.
“You’re right.”
Flora answered briefly and lowered her head again to continue mopping. Then, a shoe suddenly pressed down gently on the cloth she was holding.
Having no choice, Flora only lifted her eyes to look at them. Mary smiled cutely and sweetly, but Salin smiled in a truly strange way.
“You need to scrub harder. Don’t you know how important cleaning the stairs is?”
“Then could you show me how to do it?”
“What?”
“Because I think I might understand if you show me directly.”
It was hard to understand just by hearing it. When Flora learned swordsmanship, she learned by watching Ian’s demonstrations.
Just as she learned much faster by watching her opponent swing a sword, Flora meant it as a way of saying she would try her best.
From their perspective, however, it sounded like, ‘Why don’t you do it yourself if you’re going to nag so much?’ Salin’s expression crumpled.
“Are you telling us to do something like mopping?”
“You just said mopping was important too.”
“ā¦.”
Flora couldn’t figure out what they wanted. A moment ago, they had expounded on how important this task was, and now they were changing their words as if it were trivial. Flora found this hard to understand.
This too was a pure question, but the maid she asked turned red with indignation.
“Hahā¦ I heard you were brought here to warm a bed, and now you’re really showing your true colors.”
“I haven’t been assigned such a task yet. Is that your current job, you three?”
Flora tilted her head, looking bewildered.
Flora’s tone, which could easily be perceived as blunt, also irritated Salin. Moreover, for someone who had just been rolling around using her body, how dare she ask if they were in the same situation? Her pride was deeply wounded.
Clenching her teeth, Salin extended her index finger and pointed toward the ceiling.
“You! Stop this and go clean the attic window on the top floor of the central staircase.”
“But the Head Maid ordered me toā¦”
“When told to do something, just do it. Why are you so talkative? The Head Maid gave me these orders directly.”
It was a lie, but even if Madame Melady found out later, it wouldn’t matter. She would just flatter her a bit and offer her a piece of jewelry.
“Make sure you clean it thoroughly, from the bottom to the hard-to-reach top, so that not a speck of dust remains. If you just go through the motions, you know what will happen. This time, the Head Maid will not stay quiet.”
“Well thenā¦”
Flora recalled that the glass window in the very center of the top floor of this main building was a large single-pane window taller than a person.
Before she could even ask how she was supposed to clean that, Salin spoke quickly.
“It’s simple. Since you’re not tall enough, climb onto the roof and clean it diligently from there.”
