I Will Become the Queen of the Enemy Country

Karan, who had been keeping watch near Elise’s carriage, stood up.

Warriors from Tetris rushed out of the barracks and moved hastily.

“It’s Proclizards! Everyone, take up your weapons!”

Bernard’s shout woke the sleeping forest.

Watching a flock of birds suddenly take flight, Karan looked back at Elise’s carriage.

A light turned on in Elise’s carriage, perhaps awakened by the commotion.

“Elise, it’s Karan. It’s dangerous, so don’t come out.”

Karan looked for Elise first.

There was a rustling sound from inside the carriage. Soon, a window opened and Elise poked her head out.

“What happened?”

“A monster has appeared. But don’t worry. We’ll handle it soon.”

“I’m not worried, Your Highness.”

Despite likely being scared, Elise was calm. There was no sign of surprise.

She is indeed a brave person. Karan admired Elise once again and closed the window for her.

In the meantime, Haltbin ran towards Karan.

“Your Highness, it’s a Proclizard.”

The Proclizard was a swamp monster.

Its lizard-like appearance and slippery skin were characteristic, and its skin covered in strong acid served as both a shield and a weapon.

Therefore, when dealing with a Proclizard, ranged attacks were the principle, and magicians were mobilized.

“Do we have enough arrows?”

“We have plenty, but the situation is not good. There are too many mature ones.”

Arrows were useless against mature Proclizards.

The larger it was, the more acidic it was, melting the embedded arrows.

It could slow it down, but it couldn’t inflict a fatal wound.

So when dealing with a mature Proclizard, magicians stepped forward.

It was a monster that was the opposite of the warriors of Tetris, who mainly engaged in close combat.

They had chosen a campsite to avoid them, but they appeared here.

It was an unfortunate situation that was hard to explain as just bad luck.

“Some will pack up, and the rest will secure the retreat.”

There was no chance of winning if they fought head-on. In such a situation, retreating quickly was the way to win.

“Understood, we’ll prepare right away.”

“I will put my strength into securing the retreat.”

Just before leaving Elise’s carriage, Karan expanded his senses and searched around Elise’s carriage.

Energies of wild beasts were detected, but it was not dangerous.

Karan seemed relieved as he brushed the carriage door and turned his body.

A chill ran through his eyes in an instant.

Karan was tense for the first time in a long time.

[Don’t get hurt.]

Elise’s words came back to him.

To deal with the tricky Proclizard without getting hurt, he had to be very careful.

Facing a difficult battle, Karan licked his dry lips with his tongue to suppress the excitement that was boiling up.

A few steps later, a bustling group of warriors appeared.

Karan’s forehead crinkled heavily.

“What are you doing gathering in an emergency situation?”

Karan’s sharp voice made even the tall warriors tense.

A warrior with a tense look approached Karan.

“Reporting, the Proclizards can’t get close to the campsite.”

“What do you mean?”

The warriors stepped aside so Karan could see well, holding up torches.

Karan witnessed the situation they were talking about.

Proclizards were writhing on the ground in pain.

It tried to lift its foot to somehow get into the campsite, but it failed and fell over.

It was as if a powerful barrier had been cast on the ground.

It was a great relief, but as the leader leading them, Karan couldn’t just leave this mysterious event alone.

There was no guarantee that the misfortune of Proclizards would not come to Karan’s party.

“I’ll go and see.”

“It’s dangerous, Your Highness. The ground is already a mess with the Proclizards’ body fluids. If you accidentally touch the body fluid, you could get seriously injured.”

Haltbin, who had packed up and received a report about the strange phenomenon and ran over, stopped him.

“Are you saying to just watch? Or are you saying to send someone else instead of me. Both are things I can’t do.”

Karan did not send his subordinates into situations where safety was not confirmed.

The more dangerous and difficult it was, the more Karan stood at the forefront.

That was one of the many reasons why his subordinates trusted and followed Karan.

“Your Highness, then you’ll go when the Proclizards calm down a bit.”

Haltbin couldn’t stop him. All he could do was eliminate as many risk factors as possible.

But Karan, as always, didn’t listen to Haltbin’s words.

Because the delayed time could turn into a risk factor.

That time was the time for the enemies to regroup, and for an excellent general, it was an opportunity for a surprise attack.

“I’ll be back.”

Karan, as if he knew all of Haltbin’s worries, patted his shoulder and turned towards the Proclizards.

That’s when it happened.

A rustling sound, the sound of a dress hem brushing against something.

It was a sound that didn’t fit with the dangerous area where monsters were popping out.

That’s why everyone’s attention was focused on the faint sound.

It was Elise, who should have been resting in the carriage.

“Elise, we agreed you wouldn’t come out.”

Karan immediately turned around and blocked Elise’s path. And he gestured with his eyes.

Haltbin took care of rallying the warriors.

They hid the monstrous Proclizards.

Then Elise slightly lifted her heel.

Elise wanted to see the scene that Karan was trying to hide.

Wasn’t it a spectacle she had created?

It would be disgusting, and it would be horrifying, but she had enough immunity.

‘I’ve been covered in monster blood several times.’

Elise, who only seemed weak, was a person who had participated in cleaning the gate for the subjugation battle.

Only Karan, who didn’t know that, was treating her like a greenhouse flower.

“Elise, it’s dangerous here. Please go back to the carriage. No, I’ll take you.”

“It doesn’t look dangerous. Is it a Proclizard?”

Elise stubbornly pushed Karan’s body to one side and stepped forward.

When she stood in front of the rallied warriors, the warriors rolled their eyes and looked at Haltbin.

They couldn’t decide whether to move aside or block her.

Haltbin waved his hands to both sides once. It meant to move aside.

The warriors moved aside on both sides.

Karan tried to cover her eyes belatedly, but it was too late.

Elise clearly saw the spectacle of the creature writhing and screaming in a strange voice.

A faint smile hung on the corner of her mouth.

“Your Highness, you don’t need to check. The Proclizards won’t be a threat.”

It was a tone full of certainty.

“What do you mean, Elise?”

“I’m the one who made the Proclizards like that, Your Highness.”

Everyone’s eyes widened at Elise’s words.

****

“So you’re saying you sprinkled salt around expecting the Proclizards to come?”

Inside the carriage, Karan and Elise were sitting face to face.

Karan was planning to take Elise and quietly return, but she held onto Karan.

[I’m already awake. If you have any questions, ask now, Your Highness.]

Karan, who had been looking outside, entered the carriage. It was after he had entrusted Haltbin with the task of tidying up the surroundings and the subsequent matters.

Elise immediately explained what she had done today.

“I can’t believe it.”

Karan stroked his chin. Karan was lost in thought.

What Elise had done was something that couldn’t be done if she didn’t know that the Proclizards would appear.

From preparing a large amount of salt to sprinkling it in advance.

‘I thought it was strange that she was carrying a lot of salt, which can be easily obtained in Tetris.’

It turns out it was to deal with the Proclizards.

“Are you curious how I knew, Your Highness?”

“Elise, it’s not that I don’t trust you.”

Karan quickly spoke, in case Elise felt that he was doubting her.

Elise had a look in her eyes that said she understood everything.

“Do you remember when I asked you to mark the travel route on the map before we left?”

Of course. Not only was the fact that Elise had requested a map specially, but Karan also rarely forgot anything related to Elise.

“I anticipated that the ground would become muddy as spring came early this year. And I confirmed that the place where we could camp was not far from the habitat of the Proclizards.”

“That’s right. We were close to the habitat of the Proclizards. But we were quite far from their range of activity.”

“Do you know why the Proclizard’s range of activity is narrow?”

Karan, an expert in killing monsters but ignorant of their diet, shook his head.

“The Proclizard can’t move on dry land. The dry air dries them out. Spring came early, so the frozen ground melted quickly, and it has been raining recently. It was also humid tonight.”

That’s why they had a hard time making a fire.

“They had a good environment to be active, and we happened to appear. We must have been good prey for them, who had been starving all winter.”

They were gathered, looked weak, and were off guard.

Of course, the Proclizards wouldn’t have moved and thought about every little detail.

Because they are not sentient beings.

But there was no denying that they recognized the delicious smell as prey.

“The distance is quite far for them to find us by smell.”

“We must have stepped into the Proclizard’s habitat first. You sent a scouting party around the campsite, didn’t you?”

Ah. Karan let out a low exclamation. Elise was right.

Before setting up the barracks, two warriors had looked around quite far for safety checks.

Then, the Proclizards smelled them and slowly followed the warriors.

The warriors were being followed, Karan shook his head vigorously.

“You’ve looked into it thoroughly. I said I would protect you, but I ended up getting help from you, Elise. But I have one more question. Can I ask?”

“Anytime.”

Elise was proud to think that she had helped Karan.

“How did you know that the Proclizard is weak against salt?”