The construction of the new trade route was carried out quickly. The materials were gathered while workers had been brought in from outside. All day, Cecilia heard the sound of people busy working. Cecilia did regret it a little when tree after tree was cut down to make the new route. Even so, the opening of the path was needed for the survival of the Magenta Kingdom.
Even at night, everyone continued to work to meet their work deadlines. Torches were installed in places where workers continued their work. Those who worked using their brains should have rested in their respective tents. But Cecilia remained outside. She observed people's work directly and helped when she was needed.
Her presence increased the enthusiasm of the workers who were touched by Cecilia's dedication to helping open a trade route that would help the Magenta Kingdom's economy. The atmosphere around the workplace was lively until the sound of the wind made the smile on Cecilia's face slowly disappear.
It wasn't just her. Even the mercenaries who were initially relaxed began to get up one by one while preparing their swords. The warm atmosphere turned silent in an instant. The workers stopped joking. Some of them had tense faces as they tightly gripped the tools in their hands.
Then, they heard howls. It was faint at first, but then it grew louder than before.
It wasn't like the first attack. The wolves were preparing to attack them all out now.
Cecilia straightened her body, then took out the sword hanging from her waist. Her gaze turned serious as she called out to Robert, who was always by her side.
"Robert, please lead the workers to take shelter in a safe place. Wake up the others, too. They can't stay asleep in this dangerous situation."
Robert could also judge how serious the situation was from the tense faces of the mercenaries. Robert held his sword sheath anxiously. He then looked at Cecilia, who looked like she was going to charge to the front lines again.
"Your Highness, please come with me. You also need to be protected with the others."
Cecilia frowned, but wasn't as stubborn as she remembered her conversation with Robert. Cecilia nodded heavily. They hired many mercenaries to handle this kind of situation.
Cecilia joined Robert to wake up the sleeping people. The knights gathered to protect them, while the mercenaries were at the forefront, preventing the wolves from entering their camp area.
"Auuuu!"
Another howl was heard when Cecilia and the others were securing the people. This time, the howl was followed by rustling, then the sound of battle from where the mercenaries were.
"Stay here, don't let anyone get out of formation!"
Cecilia heard Robert's order, then looked towards the people she had gathered. Cecilia had woken up Fiona earlier. But in that safe place, she couldn't find Fiona anywhere.
Cecilia immediately tensed up when she realized it. "Where is that girl, Robert?" she exclaimed quickly.
"She... where did that girl go?"
Not only Cecilia, but even Robert didn't realize that Fiona was not there because he was busy arranging a safe place from wolf attacks. Robert drew his sword and wanted to find Fiona. But before she could, they heard footsteps moving quickly towards them.
"Wolves!"
One of the knights shouted, while the others immediately assumed a guarded pose. The wolves were not coming alone. They were surrounding them from all directions, and it made Cecilia doubt the safety of the mercenary team that was supposed to prevent the wolves from reaching them.
"Attack!"
The safe arena became a battleground in an instant. Robert forgot his original goal of finding Fiona as he helped protect the place from the onslaught of wolves. Cecilia frowned. Although she had promised Robert not to risk her life, it was not the right time for her to be quiet like a princess.
They would all be back to square one if Fiona died. Cecilia would not let that happen. No, while she could still do something about it.
Drawn by her instincts to survive, Cecilia darted towards the tent where Fiona had last been seen. At the edge of the torch-lit tent, she saw a young girl standing still, her eyes wide as she stared at the silvery shadows that moved swiftly through the trees.
"Fiona!"
The girl didn't react. Her feet seemed frozen as a wolf leaped from the darkness.
"Get down!"
Cecilia immediately drew the sword from her belt, leaped in front of Fiona, and plunged the blade right into the wolf's neck. Blood splattered, and the beast's body fell with a loud thud.
But that was just one.
Four more emerged from behind the trees as soon as one of them died. No. That wasn't what made Cecilia frown. She could handle a few ordinary wolves. However, she would have a hard time fighting the leader of the wolves.
Among the wolves that had found them, Cecilia saw a black wolf staring at her with a low growl. The wolf was many times larger than the others. It was the kind of wolf that had made the Erebos Forest region impassable for decades. The large wolf ate humans, and it enjoyed its time hunting.
Cecilia pulled Fiona behind her. There wasn't enough time. She couldn't deal with all of them without help.
"I want you to run towards where everyone is. This time, don't stop even if you want to."
"B, but... I, I-"
But the girl couldn't move. Fear gripped her body. Fiona looked like Cecilia when she had just transmigrated.
Fiona was still weak, blind to the harshness of life in an age without advanced technology. Cecilia gripped her weapon tighter. With Fiona behind her, she had to prepare for the end she most wanted.
SWOOSH!
At that moment, the wind suddenly blew, followed by the sound of hoofbeats. A silver light shot from the direction the hoofbeats came from, and one of the wolves was split in two before it could react.
Damian appeared like a shadow. He was on his horse with his long sword that glinted in the moonlight.
"For someone who doesn't know each other, you sure are worried about that girl."
Damian's voice was flat but sharp like a dagger. He jumped off his horse when the wolves started to charge. Cecilia also no longer remained silent. When the wolves attacked, she immediately killed two of them with one move of her sword.
Cecilia spun around with precision, slitting the throat of one wolf and then kicking the other. In an instant, only blood was left on the ground. They had finished off the ordinary wolves that attacked them. All of them, except for the Alpha wolf, who only moved after his comrade died at the hands of Cecilia and Damian.
"Tsk."
Damian clucked, but didn't forget to take a stance to continue the fight. People might only see Damian as a scholar. What they didn't know was that Damian was more than capable of taking down several people with his combat skills.
Cecilia had seen Damian's combat skills several times. Therefore, she could feel confident fighting the wolves if they were together with Damian.
At least two were better than one.
"Dodge!"
The black wolf was big, but he could charge at them at high speed. The effect of the attack was enormous. Although the wolf failed to hit any of them, the ground where it landed immediately sank quite deeply, indicating that they could die if they were hit by that powerful attack.
"On the right!"
Cecilia followed Damian's instructions well. She raised her sword, then blocked when the wolf attacked her from the right. Cecilia tried to kick the wolf away. But she was not a trained assassin this time. Even though Cecilia used a dangerous technique, her strength was not enough to push the wolf back.
"Move!"
Damian attacked from behind, strong and precise. He tried to slash the wolf's neck, but the wolf dodged it nimbly. Damian's sword ended up cutting through the air. Then, before he could get ready again, the wolf turned around and was ready to devour Damian.
"Damian!"
Cecilia moved quickly to save Damian by darting towards the wolf. Cecilia managed to injure the werewolf's stomach this time. But Cecilia had to pay the price for her attack by being kicked until she bounced against a tree.
"Cough cough!"
Cecilia coughed loudly. Her blurry vision saw how the wolf was about to attack Damian again. Cecilia tried to get up quickly. But even if she moved as fast as she could, she wouldn't have time to stop the wolf from eating Damian.