I Will Be the Greatest Knight-Chapter 45: Seasonal Culling

Adaptability was a requirement to be a knight, Irene reminded herself.

From where she sat atop Sorrel, the frozen steam she breathed out of her nose poured out into the air around her. She breathed heavier, wishing she was as warm as a chimney.

It was night and freezing cold. The moon peeking between the thick clouds was their only light.

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"You look like a dragon," Felix commented as he squeezed his knees and forced his horse to walk a bit faster. "Now keep up or I'm going to get mad if we fall behind."

She huffed at him and shook her head. Her hair blew into her face and she was reminded that she needed to chop off her hair again but it was keeping her warm at that moment so she decided to look past it for the time being. She pulled her scarves over her mouth so her lips wouldn't feel like they were going to crack any longer.

What luck for her to have been assigned as Felix's partner as they were sent into the mountains for winterization.

Unlike the duchy's winterization—which her father was overseeing as he went through the townships along the border and ensured the people would survive the snow that threatened to blanket the lands at any moment—the knighthood's winterization was more about monster culling.

Half of their forces would clear the mountains. The other half was brushing through the valley and sparsely distributed forests in the opposite direction, ensuring that whatever ran from the knights in the mountains would be sliced down either way.

That was the decision made by Sir Gunnar and Sir Arthur who communicated using the Duke's young messenger hawk.

They had been out for an entire night and had seen so many goblins. The knights and apprentices were becoming nocturnal creatures like the goblins, relying on the full moon overhead to guide their path forward. The culling had been planned around the phase of the moon. The clouds, however, were out of their control.

The one silver lining was that goblins were becoming much easier for Irene to handle. She hardly trembled at the sight of their mere corpses. How could she not get used to it when, for the past day, she had seen so many carcasses?

"Stop!" Felix shouted.

Irene's head snapped forward and alertness returned. The cold was forgotten.

She squeezed her knees and Sorrel galloped.

"Another one?!" she cried.

What she was referring to was a tall, thin hole in the mountainside.

There were trails that went up like fingers through the rocky mountains and they all led to the summit but went around large formations of grey stone. On the large formations that jutted outward, cave systems had been carved whether by natural means or the work of monsters, no one was entirely sure.

Since it was nighttime and far too dangerous to duck themselves into caves that could be laden with goblins, all they were asked to do was cover the space with rocks and dirt if they could. They brought pickaxes with them and were asked to disturb the openings to seal shut whatever may lay inside.

Directed not to disturb the earth too much because it could lead to an all-out rockslide that would kill the knights below them, Irene and Felix both slipped off their horses with their blades in one hand and pickaxes in the other.

They took turns hitting the ceiling and once there was a large stone revealed, Irene began whacking it at the base.

As the rock came down, dropping more debris than she expected, she heard the clicking of goblins and their eerie screams before they were silenced and the dust settled.

The two apprentices froze for a long time, staring at the heap and making sure there wasn't another sound or movement.

Even though goblins stayed in caves all winter long, the hope was they would be suffocated or not be able to emerge when the valley thawed and they needed to start searching for food once more.

They both sighed, realizing that no further movements were coming from the cave and they got back onto their horses.

"It's somewhat of a shame we can't go inside and see if there are interesting weapons the goblins have stolen from men," Irene admitted a bit sorrowfully.

"If you would like to go inside, be my guest," Felix joked. "That's one place I won't follow you, partner."

He saluted at her sarcastically and she only rolled her eyes.

"Let's get going," Irene shot back. "I want to find this cabin."

There were three main paths leading up the mountains and they were told that a cabin awaited them halfway up despite it being the longest path.

Sir Gunnar and Louis were up ahead someplace while Erik, Leif, and another knight, Sir Sven, were somewhere lower which was especially why they shouldn't disturb the ground too much.

"Why? Are you feeling cold?" Felix continued.

Irene's green eyes narrowed at him and she clenched her gloved hands a bit more tightly around the reins. She was freezing. It seemed to penetrate her very core. The cold breeze could be felt through the layers of her tunic, armor, outer coat, fur, and cloak.

Only in those moments so far had she questioned her decision to become a knight instead of a pampered noblewoman who stayed indoors by a fire all winter long. What she wouldn't do for tea to warm her from the inside out.

With a shiver, she squeezed her knees harder and forced her horse to pick up speed even though the path was precarious.

The two apprentices soon made it to Sir Gunnar and Louis who were off of their horses and standing on the trial.

"It's best if we leave our horses behind the rest of the trip to the summit," the knight explained. "The horses will surely hurt their ankles or fall. That's the last thing we want going into winter."

Irene was obedient as she dismounted her horse and rolled up her saddlebags so they were shaped like a pack and more easily worn on her back. She still had questions lingering and she stepped towards the knight.

"Will the horses be alright with so many goblins nearby?" she asked.

"If they don't sense a threat to their lives or see something they want, they won't bother with the horses," Sir Gunnar assured her. "That's why we will take as much as possible. Make sure your horses' coats remain warm."

On Sir Gunnar's steed was a beautiful caparison lined with wool and showing off the knighthood's coat of arms in great detail. The apprentices, on the other hand, had simpler horse rugs much less intricate but equally as warm and woolen.

As Irene looked up at Sorrel, she gave the animal a hug around his neck and she patted his cheeks.

"In the winter I'll let you stay in the stables and get fat," she promised. "We won't be traveling much."

She then tightened the horse coat to ensure that he remained warm and she stepped onto the worn trail with the others.

"Sir Sven will know to leave the horses behind," the knight explained. "Let's press on. The sun will begin to rise and we need as much sleep as possible."

"Onto the next?" Felix asked.

"Onto the next."

Irene nodded and she pulled her scarf more tightly over her nose which certainly was red by that point.