I Will Be the Greatest Knight-Chapter 46: The Most Unexpected

Higher and higher meant that the world around them became even colder. Yet still further ahead the mountain became barren and there was no more vegetation. However, that also meant that just at the tree line an old hunting cabin was erected and somehow stood the test of time despite having no maintenance in such a barren place.

The moment they saw the structure, the three apprentices and one knight began to walk more quickly.

In a pile on top of rocks along the edge of the building, there was wood stacked and Gunnar directed Irene and Felix to grab a few pieces so they could light a fire right away.

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"If one of you could handle the fire, I believe I should walk a short distance back and make sure the others haven't run into trouble," Sir Gunnar explained, deciding not to relax quite yet until his entire traveling party was inside and accounted for.

"I will do it," Irene volunteered.

Sir Gunnar nodded once before he pulled his hood tighter against his head and walked out the door, being sure to shut it tightly behind himself.

Before having to do night watch on the ancient wall, Irene was worthless at starting fires, but she found the trick of using flint with resin and, from that point forward, she would never have to be without warmth if she didn't want to.

Simply being out of the wind was enough for her to at least pull off her scarf. She also removed her gloves just long enough to try and light kindling on fire as the wood was stacked around it methodologically to ensure the best and most long-lasting burn.

"In the meantime, you can set up the beds," Irene uttered. "Since you spend so much time with maids, you must have learned a lot from them."

The night after the goblin attack wasn't the last time Irene saw Felix following Agnes around. Her eleven-year-old self might not understand what the interaction meant, but the experience gained up to being twenty made her understand very well what was going on.

Felix was clearly thrown off by her comment.

"But you won't speak a word of that to any of the knights, will you?" he asked.

For once Felix seemed genuinely worried and Irene took note of it. It was sort of sweet that even someone as much of a jokester as him could be sensitive when it came to his feelings towards someone.

"I won't," she assured him, deciding to be kind.

The two of them worked in silence for a while and when the fire was built up to a level that seemed like it would remain self-sufficient for a while, she opened the chimney so the place wouldn't fill with smoke and turned to look at the rest of the one-room cabin.

To her surprise, Felix had actually undone her blanket roll and set it up closer to the fire. If he was silently kissing up to her because she had a secret over him, she thought she ought to use it against him some more in the future.

Since the others hadn't arrived yet, Irene took a small pot from her bag and decided to heat some water. Whenever they were traveling, that was the basis of all of their meals. Even putting jerky into hot water could make a salty broth that would be better than nothing. She had fresh bread as well from the kitchen but by that time it was long since cooled off.

To their shock, the door was seemingly blown open, but in came Leif holding two birds and Erik holding one.

"If you don't mind, I think we'll clean this in here," Leif was the first to say. "You owe us for hunting while you both stayed warm inside."

"Come by the fire," Irene said, scooting over to the left side and making space. "I'll help."

Since there were three birds, Irene took one while Leif and Erik took the rest. It was much easier to clean an animal when there weren't gloves in the way so staying next to the crackling fire was a necessity.

In the meantime, the knights laid out their own blankets and started removing a few layers and adjusting their items. They had the same idea as Irene and started getting into their own stores of food.

However, she was considering pivoting since the three birds would be enough to keep everyone satiated. Birds in that season were particularly plump as they prepared for winter.

The girl considered for a moment how a couple of months ago she never would have imagined being adept at cleaning the carcasses of animals. Even the rabbit she hunted for her family was cleaned by another.

She was bursting at the seams with knowledge and, in about a month, she would turn twelve and be the same age as Leif for a few months since his birthday was in summer. It was strange to think just how different her present life was from the last time she remembered being twelve.

After eating their fill of bird meat and laying themselves in their blanket rolls, the fire continued to crackle and warm up the space around them. Despite the sun rising, everyone found sleep easily. That particular group had gotten used to the overnight schedule since they had been on night patrol for the last few weeks.

Since Irene was new to all of it, it didn't matter to her if usual routines were thrown off as they prepared for winter. She embraced it all as an adventure.

The hardships were so very hard but she woke up each day knowing she was on the right path. The thoughts were what comforted her going forward.

By the time the party was up and ready to exit the cabin to continue on the final leg of the winterization trip to the summit, it was late afternoon. They hoped that they would be able to get there by sunrise the following morning. The following day, they would go back down in hopefully less than a day since the trip down the hill was so much faster than the grueling path up.

Sir Gunnar and Irene were the first to step out of the door.

And a barrage of arrows were shot in their direction.

Despite the layers of clothing Irene wore, a gap in armor was detrimental. Even the most practiced knight and best response times couldn't stand up to the firing of a crossbow at such close range.

She was an involuntary meat shield for Sir Gunnar at that moment.