It’s holding up well~

Camila, hiding within some bushes on the hill, smiled bitterly. Zeke, who stood behind her, asked quietly.

“How’s the enemy’s movements?”

“No movement. They might be trying to expose us. What about His Highness Listeard? In the first place, this isn’t the time to launch an attack~”

“No, all he’s done is intercept, which is surprising.”

“Oh? How patient of him. I didn’t expect that~”

Camila secretly looked down on Listeard, thinking that he was just a brat with little to no experience in combat. Not to mention, his words and actions were those of a haughty prince.

But it turns out that he’s a pretty capable commander~

To begin with, the enemy had an advantage in regard to numbers, supplies, and geography. The Dragon Emperor was whittling down the Saber family’s private army, but that did nothing to abate the overwhelming difference in numbers.

However, Listeard clearly understood that they were there simply to buy time for Natalie to escape safely, before retreating themselves. Hence, he had no interest in defeating his opponent at all, and instead merely wanted to escape with the least number of casualties.

In particular, Listeard was constantly on the lookout for the movements of Chris Saber, the eldest son of the Saber family. He was being very meticulous with the escape. Not to mention, Listeard had already scouted the terrain around here beforehand.

He also had good chemistry with his opponents. Perhaps Chris had never fought an opponent as cautious as him before, so his instructions were sloppy. The Saber family didn’t seem to be working well together.

“If we had dragons with us, we might have won.”

“If this turns into a prolonged battle, we’ll eventually lose~ Our top priority is to return home—”

Looking around with her telescope, Camila gasped when she saw the enemy’s headquarters. She quickly put away her telescope and went on her way. Zeke asked, following closely behind her.

“What’s wrong? Did you see something?”

“It’s nothing, I just that Raccoon Boy is over there. He must be up to something~”

“Seriously—”

Zeke didn’t get to finish his sentence. All of the sudden, countless magic circles manifested in the sky. Anti-aircraft magic circles dotted the skies of Kratos.

Every single one of them sent magical power towards the ground.

“What the hell!? They suddenly attacked us all at once!!”

“They’re planning to reveal us~! We should regroup with His Highness Listeard~!”

Camila started dashing. Clicking his tongue, Zeke followed suit.

After the blast from above came a tremor, but the attack didn’t hit them. The enemy didn’t have any specific targets after all.

However, since the enemy didn’t know where they were hiding, they just attacked them from all sides to route them out. A strategy that ignored cost-effectiveness, prioritizing quantity over quality because numbers was on their side.

The mastermind behind that operation was obvious.

“I should’ve killed that guy back then!”

“Right~!? Your Highness Listeard~!”

Listeard turned around with a stern look on his face.

“They’ll discover us soon.”

“What do we do? Should we withdraw even further?”

“We could, but only to an extent. I can’t leave Hades on his own any longer…”

“—Found you.”

A voice echoed from the top of the surrounding trees. Listeard raised his head and brandished his spear.

“Everyone, go to where the blast occurred earlier! The anti-aircraft magic should still be on cooldown!”

“Aah, he’s really a nice guy after all~”

The sword that came overhead along with magical power was parried by Listeard’s blow. Camila spotted the enemy and drew her bow as well, but she missed.

“Chris Saber!?”

“I hate smart people… Well, it doesn’t matter because I found you in the end.”

They could hear his murmur, but they didn’t know where it was coming from. Listeard, Zeke, and Camila stood with their backs to each other.

All of the sudden, a black mass appeared underneath their feet.

“Zeke—!”

The enemy swung his weapon at imperceptible speed. Despite blocking it with his great sword, Zeke was mercilessly blown away. Before Camila could even ready her bow, her arm was slashed. Listeard lunged at the figure from the side, but it vanished instantly.

The next time it appeared, it was floating in the sky.

The enemy swung his weapon, a dagger, towards Listeard.

“Once I get rid of you, the rest should be easy—”

No, we won’t make it in time!

Camila had no trouble picturing what would happen next—

—Yet, in the next second, the future she envisioned went up in flames.

“Listeard, are you okay!?”

Listeard was taken aback by the voice from above, and then shouted.

“S-Sister! Why are you here… Also, what if that roasted me alive!?”

“Rosa wouldn’t make such a mistake!”

“My scorched bangs beg to differ!? …Sister, above you!”

Elynsia blocked Chris’ dagger with her spear, emitting a high-pitched sound.

At last, Chris’ face was revealed. The man who looked like black mass, clad in black, lifted his purple eyes from between his messy black bangs. He didn’t seem to have expected that.

“You’re fast, but lacking in power.”

Drawing a semicircle, Elynsia’s spear knocked Chris away, but he spun around and came to a stop atop a tree branch.

Elynsia also jumped off Rosa.

“Listeard, let me take care of this. Regroup and protect Natalie.”

“Huh!? What were you thinking, bringing Natalie here!?”

“Well, a lot happened. Jill is here too. She said she was going to marry Hades.”

At that moment, all tension left Camila’s body, and only then did she realize that she had been nervous the entire time. Rather than the exchange of lives, she was more worried about what her little master would choose. Zeke took a deep breath and stood up.

“—By the way, I’m your sister’s husband’s older sister—how should I refer to you?” (Elynsia)

“Huh? You’re a woman?” (Chris)

Camila witnessed the extremely rare sight of Listeard freezing.

Chris mumbled from the top of the tree in a voice that could easily be heard.

“Unbelievable. Even if I wasn’t serious, to think you could singlehandedly parry my attack… You’re no woman, that much I’m sure…”

“…Hoo.”

Elynsia suddenly cracked her fist. Camila immediately grasped the situation and her expression twitched.

“Gee, thanks for the opinion! I’m used to being told that I’m unladylike, a tomboy, and a musclehead, but I never thought that this daredevil here would say that to my face!”

Princess Elynsia was a fair and just woman who could be indecisive at times, she wasn’t quick to anger.

—Except, she did have some triggers.

“I applaud your boldness. Now bear witness to your own weakness.” (Elynsia)

“Ah, I see. A gorilla seems more fitting.” (Chris)

“—Everyone, quickly evacuate! Run for your lives!” (Listeard)

Camila didn’t even need to wait for Listeard to issue that command.

With Elynsia’s magical power going out of control, Camila and the others scrambled all at once. Meanwhile, another attack rained from the sky, threatening to reveal Camila and the others.

“Why does this always happen~!? It’s a complete mess~!”

“—Whatever, let’s get the culprit.”

“Huh~? Didn’t you hear His Highness Listeard’s order just now~? We’re—”

“—The Knights of the Dragon Princess.”

Camila rolled her eyes at Zeke’s nonchalant answer, before chuckling.

That’s certainly true.

Camila thought Zeke was handling it well, but apparently, that wasn’t the case.

“I see. Should we take care of the Raccoon Boy first~? He made a pass at Jill-chan~!”

“Remember, we still have to withdraw at the end. If we die here, everything will have been for naught.”

They confirmed with each other and changed direction. There was a huge explosion in the distance, but it didn’t matter.

Surely, it was just their master fighting.

---

Read a month’s worth of chapters ahead on patreon for only $2~

***T/N:

“I applaud your boldness. Now bear witness to your own weakness.” (Elynsia)

“Ah, I see. A gorilla seems more fitting.” (Chris)

HOW I MEET YOUR MOTHER

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