"Lidi, I"m going then."
"Yup. Take care, Freed… Be careful."

After handing Andre over and entrusting Lidi to my father and mother, I contacted Will via telepathic communication and leapt near the place of the current engagement.
Although I"m used to it, the combat equipment is still heavy. I had to waste time to change into it, but I understand if the supreme commander doesn"t look proper, the soldiers" morale will be affected.
Clad in the combat equipment, I set out to the meeting spot reported by Will.

"Freed…!"
"Alex, huh. How"s the battle situation?"

Alex was waiting at the meeting spot inside a forest. He was also wearing the combat equipment. Alex rarely appears when war breaks out. Being a civil official, he often remains in the Royal Castle.
This time he was forced to come, but without Alex confusion among soldiers would be unavoidable. Even if I nominated Sion as a tactician, it"s basically their first meeting with him. Even if they were suddenly told that he"s the tactician, they wouldn"t simply entrust their lives to him. But seeing Alex who"s often with me, the soldiers should be able to calm down.
Seeing me, Alex showed a relieved face.

"Thanks to Sion, although skirmishes happened, there hasn"t been a direct confrontation yet. He"s avoided it. After all he"s a big deal… Ah, this way. If we turn here, we"ll arrive from behind."

While following after Alex, I further asked.

"How are the soldiers?"
"They"re okay too. They seemed confused at first, but with His Majesty"s words and my and Will"s presence, it didn"t turn chaotic. They are calm and properly listening to orders now. As expected of the Tarim"s tactician, his figure as he commands is excellent."
"I see…"

While thanking Sion in my heart, I asked Alex about the current situation in detail. Apparently, it feels like both sides are watching each other. I felt relieved hearing that it hadn"t yet reached the state of a full-blown battle.

"I"m glad you made it in time. Sure enough, we wanted refrain from seriously fighting without the general… By the way, Freed. How is Lidi feeling?"

I had already talked about Lidi with Will via telepathic communication.
Alex of course would hear that too, but after all, as her real brother he wants to know the details.

"She seems tired, but she"s doing well. Or rather, when I came to save her, she"d already escaped by herself."
"… What"s with that?"

I didn"t have time, so I only reported to Will that she was saved.
When I talked about the reunion with Lidi while we were walking, Alex stared at me in wonder.

"Haa? She fell from the ceiling?"
"Yeah. I was also surprised. The ceiling caved in… Just who could imagine Lidi would fall down with it?"
"… No one could. That girl… Even if she"s caught, she doesn"t change. As always her actions are beyond expectations."

Alex dropped his shoulders tiredly.

"Erasing slimes with neutralization magic and escaping through a vent… huh. Where is this girl heading?"
"Well, as a result nothing happened and she"s safe, so isn"t it fine?"
"Obviously. But it ain"t something a n.o.ble young lady would do. Yet she naturally came up with going inside a vent."
"I thought so too. But since it"s Lidi, I felt I could accept it thinking "Because it"s Lidi"."
"… I won"t deny it. Andre was surprised for sure. Normally it"s an unthinkable development. Locked up and attacked by slimes… huh. It"s nauseating, but I don"t think a helpless woman could escape such a situation."
"Lidi wasn"t hurt, so I don"t mind. But if something happened to Lidi… it wouldn"t end like this."
"… I bet."

Alex agreed with my words.
That"s right, the way doesn"t matter as long as Lidi is safe and can smile at my side.
That"s everything for me.
Although Alex was amazed after hearing the story, he nodded deeply.

"Well, I wasn"t worried from the time you went there. Still, like this we can fight without any worries."
"Yeah, I"ll finish quickly and return to Lidi. I promised so to Lidi."
"Is that so? As always, you"re wonderfully close."
"Of course."

Alex laughed a little and pushed aside bushes along the path. There Wilhelm"s headquarters came into sight.
We must"ve been impatiently antic.i.p.ated. Seeing us, Will and then Bertrand rushed to us. Behind them I could see Sion.

"Your Highness!"
"I"m sorry. I kept you waiting."

Bertrand knelt before me and shed tears. He must"ve been at the frontline as he had desired. His armor was full of small scratches.

"Bertrand. It"s most important you seem well."
"I don"t deserve it… More importantly, I"ve heard Princess Consort returned safely. Truly, truly… congratulations."

Perhaps unable to get more words out, Bertrand continued quietly sobbing with his head cast down.
It"s natural Bertrand would be terribly concerned, given that his own little sister led to Lidi"s kidnapping. Hearing that Lidi returned safely, the emotions he had been enduring exploded.
The relief that showed on Will"s expression as he stood next to Bertrand was also easy to understand.

"Lidi… I"m glad."
"Sorry Will. Good job enduring."
"No. All that matters to me is that Lidi returned safely… Um, is Lidi doing well? Any injuries…?"
"It"s okay. She isn"t injured and she"s doing well."
"I… see. I"m glad, really."

Will pressed a hand to his chest and breathed out. He too must"ve been anxious.
While grinning, Alex poked him.

"I"ll tell you the whole story later. You"ll be surprised for sure. That girl seems to have fallen from the ceiling."
"Ha? Ceiling? What are you saying? … I don"t understand."
"Of course! I don"t get it all either. Well, I"ll save it for later."
"Oi, Alex. Don"t say the words like later and leave me hanging! Explain immediately!"
"Ahahaha."
"Alex!"

Only Alex laughed, whereas Will frowned. Seeing the usual interaction between them, I felt my heart calm down.

"Congratulations, Your Highness Friedrich. I have kept my promise as well."
"Sion. I heard from Alex. Good job."
"Thank you."

Finally, I was called out to Sion who also came here in the combat equipment. That said, he was not wearing armor, but the same lightweight equipment as Alex. He was holding something like a conductor"s baton that suited him very well.

"I"m glad Your Highness came back before it turned into a full-blown battle. After all, the morale is completely different without Your Highness. I return the right to command. I"ll wait close by, so please use me as necessary."
"Yeah."

I helped Bertrand to his feet and exchanged information with Will, Alex, and Sion. The soldiers who noticed I came began raising cheers.
While answering by waving my hand, I moved to a place where I could watch over the battlefield.
It seemed currently both armies withdrew. I couldn"t hear any sounds of fighting.

"The other side seemed to know Your Highness wasn"t there at the beginning. Perhaps they judged it an easy win, as they made extremely light of us. It saved me, since it made fighting easy. Conversely, the opponent started being impatient. They came here a.s.sured of their victory, and yet they couldn"t have a direct fight with us. However, I expect them to move soon."