Chapter 39 (39) The Cave Of The Blade And The Army of Orden: 06

Subaru and Übel waited in the tent. The canvas walls flapped gently whenever the wind picked up, letting in small drafts of cold air that made the lantern light flicker. A wooden table sat between them, empty except for a clay jug of water that neither of them had touched. Two stools, one slightly wobbly, held them both in place.

Subaru kept a straight face. Her hands rested on her knees, fingers spread, posture rigid. Every few moments she lifted a hand and slapped her own cheek, a sharp sound that cut through the quiet. Then she would reset, straighten her back, and go back to staring at the tent flap like it might attack her at any moment.

Slap.

Pause.

Stare.

Slap.

Pause.

Stare.

Übel watched her companion with the expression of someone who had stumbled upon a strange animal in the woods and was trying to decide if it was dangerous or just confused. She tilted her head, her green ponytail sliding over her shoulder. Perhaps she had been wrong about this demon. Perhaps after all the fighting and the walking and the birds that fell from the sky, she had finally discovered the truth.

"Are you okay?" Übel asked.

Subaru's hand stopped mid slap. She turned, her face slightly red from the repeated contact, and gave a thumbs up. "Me? I am absolutely fine."

The thumbs up held for a moment. Then another moment. Then Subaru slowly lowered it and returned to staring at the tent flap.

Übel opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could, the canvas rustled and a man stepped inside.

He was broad shouldered, dressed in armor that had seen real use. The metal was clean but not polished to shine, the edges worn smooth in places where a sword might rest or a shield might press. His hair was dark red, the color of old bricks, cut short and neat. His eyes matched, a shade of red that caught the lantern light and held it. He moved with the ease of someone who had spent years wearing armor, who did not need to think about where his hands went or how his weight shifted.

He stopped just inside the tent and gave a small nod. "Good afternoon. I am Wirt, the commander of this army and the eldest son of Lord Orden."

Subaru stared at him.

Her expression did not change. Her hands remained on her knees. But something in her eyes shifted, a flicker of recognition that did not belong there. She looked at his hair, his eyes, the line of his jaw. Her fingers twitched slightly, as if reaching for something that was not there.

Wirt frowned. He was used to people reacting to his name, to his title, to the armor he wore. But this was different. This was not respect or fear. This was something else, something that made him feel like he was being measured against a memory he did not share.

Übel nudged Subaru with her elbow.

Subaru blinked. Her eyes cleared. The strange tension in her shoulders eased, and she straightened on her stool, a smile forming on her face. It was not a normal smile. It was the smile of someone who had just been caught doing something embarrassing and was trying very hard to pretend it had not happened.

"Ah, good afternoon, good sir!" Subaru said, her voice pitched higher than usual. "I am Subaru! Broke and clueless beyond imagination! Nice to meet you!"

Wirt's frown did not disappear, but his eyebrows rose slightly. He had met many travelers, many adventurers, many people who came through his father's lands looking for work or passage or protection. None of them had ever introduced themselves quite like that.

"I am Übel," the green haired woman said, her voice calmer, more measured. She did not add anything about her financial situation or her mental state, which Subaru noted with a small amount of jealousy.

Wirt nodded to each of them in turn. "I see. You do not look like regular travelers. Are you adventurers?"

Subaru nodded quickly. "Yes. We are."

She was not sure when she had become an adventurer. Yesterday she had been running from birds. The day before that she had been running from a girl who could cut things by imagining them. Before that she had been dying repeatedly in a forest. But adventurer sounded better than any of those things, so she decided to stick with it.

Wirt studied them both, his eyes lingering on Übel's staff. "Oh, are you mages?"

"That is right," Übel said.

"And where are you heading?"

"Äußerst."

Wirt nodded slowly, a small smile forming on his face. "I assume it was for the First Class Mage Exam."

"Yup!" Subaru said, popping the word like she had been waiting to say it.

Wirt crossed his arms, his armor creaking softly. "Intending to join the Mage Exam. You must be quite competent mages."

Subaru opened her mouth to say something, but Übel spoke first. "You could say that."

Subaru closed her mouth. That worked too.

Wirt nodded again, his expression shifting to something more thoughtful. He looked at the tent flap, then back at them, as if weighing something in his mind. "If it is not bold of me to ask, the Exams are being held a few months from now. So could I ask a favor of you ladies?"

Übel narrowed her eyes. Her posture did not change, but something in the air around her shifted, a stillness that came before movement. "Let me guess. You want us to do something dangerous for you."

Wirt raised a hand, palm open. "Rest assured, you will be compensated accordingly."

Subaru leaned forward slightly. She barely had money. She had been living on what she could find, sleeping where she could, eating food that tasted like nothing because her demon body did not seem to want normal food anyway. The word compensated landed in her chest like a small flame.

"What is the job?" Subaru asked.

Übel glanced at her. She knew why her companion was interested. The girl who introduced herself as broke and clueless had not been exaggerating. In the days they had traveled together, Übel had noticed that Subaru's coin pouch made a sound like a two coins bouncing around in an empty room.

Wirt straightened, his expression turning serious. "We have been trying to hold off demons away from the city. We expect a large scale invasion soon, and we have lost many men recently. Plus, we do not have enough mages on the frontlines." He paused, letting the words settle. "So perhaps you could help me out.”

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