Chapter 311: Who’s This Peasant My Lady?

The blinding golden light at the tip of her staff slowly faded, leaving only thin wisps of warm, radiant mana drifting into the freezing air.

Emma leapt down from the craggy ridge with practiced, feather-light agility, her light battle robes fluttering against the sulfurous wind.

The moment her boots hit the frozen highway, her eyes locked straight onto mine.

The stoic, focused expression of a battle-mage dissolved into sheer, unadulterated joy.

“Jin!”

She didn’t care about the burnt demon corpses or the staring escort guards. She sprinted across the blood-stained gravel, throwing her arms around my neck and burying her face into my shoulder.

The familiar, comforting scent hit me instantly. I wrapped my arms around her waist, holding her close as a wave of genuine relief washed over me.

“You’re alive… you’re really alive,” Emma whispered, her voice trembling as she squeezed me tightly.

She pulled back just enough to look up into my face, her bright eyes shining with affection.

She reached up, her soft hand resting against my cheek as she leaned in, her lips parting to press a kiss against mine.

CLACK!

A thin, transparent wall of pale blue mana materialized out of thin air right between our faces, stopping her cold an inch from my lips.

Cassandra stepped up beside us, her arms crossed over her high-collared tunic, her stormy grey eyes radiating a pressure so frigid it practically froze the air around us.

“A greeting hug is sufficient, Private,” Cassandra said, her voice smooth, icy, and completely uncompromising.

“Keep your lips to yourself while you’re in my presence.”

Emma’s posture went rigid. She turned her head, glaring daggers at Cassandra. The radiant golden mana around her staff sparked dangerously as a flush of irritation washed over her cheeks.

“Commander Raith—”

Before Emma could fire off an angry retort and ignite a full-blown territorial war in the middle of a battleground, I smoothly placed my hand over Emma’s shoulder, gently drawing her attention back to me.

“It’s really good to see you, Emma,” I cut in, keeping my voice soft and steady. “How have you been holding up? How are the others? Tobias, Kyle, Sira… are they all right?”

The tactic worked instantly. The golden sparks around Emma’s staff dissipated, her focus shifting entirely back to my face as her expression softened.

“They’re alive, Jin,” Emma said, taking a deep breath to smooth out her composure.

“Tobias is leading the heavy vanguard shield-lines, he’s grown broader and tougher than ever. Kyle’s been managing. And Sira…”

Emma smiled warmly, reaching out to lightly touch my hand.

“She completely recovered from the magic backlash after you saved her. She’s working alongside the high clerics in the forward medical corps. Every single one of us has been praying for your return.”

I let out a quiet, lingering sigh of relief. Hearing it directly from her felt entirely different than reading casualty reports.

They were safe, fighting, and holding their ground.

Cassandra stepped forward, her posture rigid as she cut through the warm moment with sharp, military efficiency.

“Reunions aside. This sector is under my vanguard jurisdiction, miles away from your company’s forward camp. Why are you out here alone?”

Emma’s smile vanished, her demeanor shifting back into that of a disciplined frontline soldier.

She adjusted her grip on her staff, glancing toward the smoking remains of the demon captain I had just decapitated.

“Our company commander issued a high-priority search-and-destroy mandate an hour ago,” Emma explained, her tone hardening.

“A rogue demon captain ambushed our eastern outpost at dawn. It slaughtered six of our soldiers before breaking through our outer line and fleeing toward this transit canyon. I was dispatched as the forward scout to track its mana signature and neutralize it before it could hit any civilian supply transports.”

She looked back at the pile of ash at my feet, realization dawning in her eyes. “Though… it looks like I arrived just in time to catch the tail end of your work.”

Jin narrowed his eyes, his gaze dropping to the charred remains of the demon captain slowly crumbling into ash against the frozen highway.

A single demon captain breaking through an eastern defense line wasn’t a reckless retreat.

Pushing miles past the front line to strike this specific transit canyon at the exact moment Cassandra’s convoy passed through was far too deliberate.

It had all the markings of a coordinated ambush designed to stall or eliminate sector command before the capital summit.

My mind briefly recalibrated as I processed everything Emma had shared about our old squad.

All of them fighting to survive in this brutal war… along with Cassandra, whose terrifying mastery over high-tier frost and absolute zero ice magic made her the frigid, unyielding titan of House Raith.

“This wasn’t a rogue beast fleeing a lost battle,” I murmured, adjusting my grip on Oathstorm. “It was driven here. Forced straight toward this bottleneck.”

Before Emma or Cassandra could ponder the implication further, the heavy crunch of gravel echoed from the upper ridge.

A young man in refined, silver-trimmed light armor dropped down onto the road.

He possessed sharp, arrogant features and meticulously groomed blond hair, carrying a polished rapier at his hip. He didn’t even glance at the slaughtered beasts or the lingering frost in the air.

He walked straight toward Emma, bowing his head in a deeply respectful, almost theatrical gesture.

“My Lady Emma,” the young man said smoothly, his tone laced with deferential charm. “The ridge perimeter is clear. What are your orders now? Should we rally the unit to escort you back to command?”

Emma blinked, taking a half-step back. “Aiden, I told you to hold the lookout—”

The young man straightened his posture, his eyes finally shifting away from Emma to land directly on me.

The moment his gaze met mine, his polite expression instantly vanished. His eyes narrowed into a cold, hostile glare, scanning my dark tunic and the sword at my hip with deep disdain.

Without missing a beat, he took an intentional step forward, placing himself squarely beside Emma and subtly trying to cut off my line of sight to her.

He rested his palm firmly on the pommel of his rapier, staring me down with blatant, unprovoked aggression.

“And who, exactly,” Aiden demanded, his voice dropping into a sharp, dismissive edge, “is this peasant standing so close to you, My Lady?”