「Obviously! I’ve had Inglis and everyone save me, so I have to work even harder than before!」
「Fufu… Well, I guess I’ll have to take after you. Come on, Raphael. The enemy has scattered, let’s close in and destroy them one by one.」
Eris was right about the situation. The magic stone beasts have been reduced in number considerably after being hit by the valley, so they chose to spread out in all directions.
「All right! Everyone, charge! Slay those magic stone beasts one by one! Make sure to pair up to minimize the risks of injury!」
One step ahead of the Knights, the flygear that Eris rode moved forward at full speed.
「Oh? Someone’s excited!」
「I can’t have you monopolize the spotlight! Please take the wheel.」
Eris left the helm to Ripple and stood on the bow of the flying vessel. Her beautiful posture despite the high speed the flygear flew at showed that she had a physical capability far surpassing any ordinary person.
「Awright! Here we go! First!」
Under Ripple’s control, the flygear shot towards a space between two magic stone beasts.
As they passed through, Eris’ twin swords struck the magic stone beasts, one each. The swords easily cut the magic stone beasts into two. Their bodies crashed into the rocky hill below.
「There’s plenty more where that came from!」
「Of course, I’ll take on as many as we need!」
Ripple sharply turned the flygear around to track another magic stone beast. Despite the rapid turn, Eris’ posture didn’t crumble even the slightest, as she cut down the approaching magic stone beasts faster and faster.
After some distance away, Ripple took one hand off the control stick and unleashed her own attacks. Her gunfire shot down one magic stone beasts after another from the sky. It almost seemed like they could hunt down all the rest by themselves.
「They are an army of their ow!」
「They may not need us at this pace, though……！」
The Knights followed Eris and Ripple. It wasn’t good to be dependent on them, but their presence alone encouraged and motivated the Holy Knights to fight together.
With Ripple’s return, Eris and the Knights could say that they had regained their true form. They were all, respectively, dependable. And this was all thanks to Inglis, Rafinha, and everyone in the Knight Academy that had saved Ripple.
Looking down on the battlefield, Raphael called out to his sister and cousin in his mind.
(Glis, Rani… Thanks to all of you, Lady Ripple came back safely. Thank you so much! From now on, it is us who are going to protect this country! So don’t you worry, and keep up your studies and training at the Knight Academy!
However, according to Ripple, the dining hall at the Knight Academy had been destroyed, so Inglis and Rafinha might have some difficulty finding something to eat. Raphael felt sorry for them if they were facing such a crisis, so it might be a good idea to stop by Ymir on his way back after finishing this mission and bring them some preserved food from their parents’ house.
With the enemy’s declining numbers while his comrades hadn’t suffered much damage, the situation was stable enough that Raphael could afford to think about such things.
「Sir Raphael! All the magic stone beasts that came this way have been repelled!」
It didn’t take long until his second-in-command reported thusly.
「Well done, everyone! All wounded must be tended to immediately! Return to the flagship, leave only one patrol!」
The Knights nodded at Raphael’s command, and with that, the Holy Knight Order began to make its way back to Special Envoy Theodore’s private ship in high spirits.
「Raphael! Let me stay behind for a bit and have a look-see!」
Ripple offered. The rightful source is novel⁂fire.net
「Understood, Lady Ripple. But please don’t take it too hard.」
「Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’m just looking around.」
「Then I will go with you. Raphael, you and your men should head back first.」
「Understood. The main troops will return home first!」
Raphael then led his main troops back, leaving only a small group, with Ripple and Eris, for the patrol .
「Lady Eris, Lady Ripple! We’ll go and continue our patrol!」
Ripple smiled and amiably waved to the Knights as they scattered for their duty.
「So, what are we doing, Ripple?」
「Hm I just wanted to get a little bit closer to the Prisma. It looks a bit different from when I brought it here, you see.」
「Is it? I was on a different mission back then, so……」
「Some magic stone beasts were produced along the way when we carried it here before, but never in such a large number. So…」
「It is getting increasingly powerful, you say?」
「Perhaps. I think I’ll know if I get a little bit closer!」
「All right. Let’s go.」
Eris and Ripple nodded to each other and flew straight to the main body of Prisma.