chapter 18

"Ré, sing for me?" Jeanne, who had already fallen silent, spoke to Rémy, who was surprised since she had never asked him to sing before. Rémy said, "You smell bad, go take a bath and then go to sleep." Jeanne pouted, "You didn't answer if you would sing for me." Rémy flicked Jeanne's forehead with his middle finger. Jeanne moaned cutely and looked at Rémy angrily and disappointedly.

"Don't want to?!" She crossed her arms and turned her back on Rémy's chest. Seeing that she was being playful, Rémy slyly moved his hands to her armpits. Before Jeanne could react, Rémy began tickling her armpits with his fast and precise fingers. Jeanne started laughing loudly without stopping. Amidst the laughter, Rémy asked, "So, will you take a bath now? Or do I need to try harder?" With difficulty, Jeanne replied to Rémy between her laughs: "Hahaha... no!... Hahaha... I won't lose... Hahaha."

"You asked for it." Rémy gave a confident smile, quickly turned Jeanne's body and began doing the same thing he did in her armpits. Jeanne began laughing louder and Rémy was sure that now the others outside could possibly hear her laughter. She closed her eyes due to the laughter, and in the corner of her swollen eyes, even when closed due to previous crying, were small tears that almost came out due to the tickling Rémy was doing. Jeanne shouted firmly, "No! Hahahah... I'm... Hahahahah... not gonna lose!"

"You're quite resistant, but you'll end up losing anyway." Rémy said, accelerating his fingers on Jeanne's feet, who was already out of breath. Her chest was rising and falling due to the laughter and the lack of air she was feeling. Rémy didn't stop, and Jeanne couldn't take it anymore, screaming, "Ok!... I'll do it!"

Jeanne got up from Rémy's chest and left the place where they were. Rémy waited a bit and followed her, looking at Jeanne's back as she went to take a bath. Since most of the bathrooms were for men, Jeanne took a wooden basin and entered a small house to take a bath. Rémy wondered if there was water inside, but soon had his question answered when Jeanne came out of the small house and went to a nearby well to fetch water. Rémy watched everything she did, looking around to see if there were any soldiers nearby.

Jeanne entered the small house and closed the door, leaning her back against the wooden door. She talked to herself, "Idiot," smiled and went to take a bath, taking off her armor carefully, as it was new. Meanwhile, Rémy looked around to see if anyone was around, but there was no one. When the door of the small house opened, he turned and left, returning to where he was before and waiting for Jeanne. Soon, she arrived and asked, "Are you going to sing for me?" Rémy grumbled, "Are you still thinking about that? Let's go to sleep," turning over in the place where he was lying. Jeanne called him boring and lay down next to him.

A few hours later, Jeanne abruptly woke up from her deep sleep, feeling Rémy's body moving restlessly beside her. She turned to face him and, to her shock, realized that his face was all sweaty, with furrowed eyebrows in a expression of anguish. His fists were clenched so tightly that his white fingers seemed ready to snap.

Jeanne felt her heart tighten when she saw Rémy's suffering and wondered if she should wake him up. Carefully, she took the cloth she used as a blanket and began wiping the boy's face, who seemed to be struggling in his dreams. She wondered what he might be dreaming of to be so disturbed.

But even after cleaning his face, Rémy continued to toss and turn, and Jeanne felt that she couldn't just let him suffer in his dreams. With a trembling hand, she held Rémy's hand tightly, begging God to help him. She felt a chill run through her body, and suddenly her hands began to glow, radiating a soft light that began to envelop Rémy's hand, slowly extending to the rest of his body.

Jeanne watched in amazement as the glow spread, calming Rémy little by little. His fists began to loosen, and the look of anguish on his face began to dissolve. Jeanne felt immense relief and silently thanked God for being able to help him.

She lay down again next to Rémy, feeling exhausted after the experience but grateful for being able to help him. She looked at the now peaceful face of the boy and apologized for putting him in that situation. She stayed there, next to him, for a few minutes, watching him to make sure he was sleeping peacefully before finally closing her own eyes and falling asleep again.

Rémy woke up feeling much better. He felt a lightness in his body and realized that he didn't have the dream that had been tormenting him since he killed the entire enemy army.

In the morning, Rémy woke up feeling very well. He felt a lightness in his body and realized that he didn't have the same dream that had been tormenting him since he killed the entire enemy army. He took his spear, which was near where he slept, and looked at Jeanne, who was sleeping comfortably. He decided to let her rest a little longer. As he left the place where he was, he was surprised by several soldiers running in all directions. Quickly, he grabbed one of the soldiers by the arm. The soldier, scared to realize that it was Rémy who was holding him, promptly replied, "What's going on?" The soldier informed him that Commander Étienne had arrived that day. Rémy was surprised because Étienne had left before the battle, and neither he nor Jeanne had seen him since then. He thanked the soldier and let him go, and the soldier ran as if he had never been seen before, quickly disappearing from Rémy's sight, who wondered, "Am I that scary?"

Putting that aside, Rémy returned to where he was and called Jeanne, who was still asleep. "Jeanne, wake up! Étienne has just arrived and is calling all the soldiers to go to him." Jeanne, sleepy and with dark circles under her eyes, replied, "Really? Can't we wait a bit before we go?" Rémy replied sternly, "Let's go, Jeanne. Later I'll let you sleep as much as you want, but we have to go now." Jeanne got up unhappily and said, "Ok, I'm getting up." It took her a while to get up because she was very sleepy. She quickly put on her armor, which she didn't usually wear to sleep, and put her sword on her waist. "Shall we?" she asked, taking the lead even though she didn't know where Étienne had called all the soldiers. She thought to herself that she could follow the other soldiers.

They both followed the passing soldiers in silence. It didn't take them long to arrive where Étienne was. As they looked around, they saw various soldiers approaching from where Étienne was, who realized it was time to act. He spoke loudly and clearly so everyone could hear: "My comrades, I come in order from the king to recover some villages that have been taken by our enemies! We'll take back everything they took from us, we won't leave them with anything. Let's take our lands back!"

Étienne gave the soldiers some time to understand everything he had just said. Without giving them time to start shouting, he spoke up again: "My comrades, we will succeed. We have everything on our side, God is on our side! We have a warrior who helped in the battle that occurred a few days ago, and we still have a being who defeated an entire army alone. We can't lose!"

Jeanne was surprised to be mentioned, as she wasn't expecting it. Rémy was also surprised. The soldiers looked at both of them, at least those who saw where they were. Étienne looked at Jeanne and signaled with his eyes for her to come closer. He also made the same gesture with Rémy, who began to pass along with Jeanne, as the soldiers cleared a path for them. They arrived where Étienne was, which was a slightly higher place. Étienne spoke: "I heard what you did, Jeanne. I'm impressed, truly. And you, Rémy, even more so." He gave a sigh, as he wondered if he would still be alive if he had attacked Rémy. Jeanne smiled and said, "Thank you, but I didn't do anything. I just went and God helped me." Rémy didn't say anything.

All the soldiers who had gathered looked at the three of them, waiting to hear what they would say. Jeanne asked, curious to know where they were going: "So, what are we doing here?" Étienne replied, "I'm going to a different place, and you will go with some soldiers, at least with those who want to go." Jeanne asked, even more curious to know where she was going: "So, where am I going? Together with Rémy." She made it clear that she wanted to go with Rémy, so that Étienne would know.

"You two will go to Vaucouleurs, along with some soldiers," Étienne said to Jeanne, with an air of authority in his voice. He turned to the soldiers and shouted, "The heroine goes to Vaucouleurs with her faithful knight, to protect that city, who's going with them?" The tension in the air was palpable, the soldiers began to discuss among themselves, most of them not wanting to go with them, while some raised their hands to say they were willing to accompany them.

Étienne, seeing that some were going, encouraged them, "They're your soldiers now, you have to leave tomorrow or even today." He knew it was crucial for Jeanne and Rémy to leave as soon as possible, and he couldn't afford to waste time.

Jeanne thanked him with a shy smile, "Thank you." After thanking Étienne, she came down from where she was with Rémy, who followed beside her. The soldiers who had raised their hands began to move among the other soldiers to accompany Jeanne, some hesitant, others excited. Jeanne went to a quieter place, and after a few minutes, all the soldiers who had raised their hands arrived, totaling 80 men.

Jeanne looked at each soldier, feeling the weight of responsibility on her shoulders, and spoke sincerely: "Thank you for accompanying me. I will do whatever it takes to keep your lives safe, so please lend me your strength so that I can help others." Jeanne bowed her head in respect and gratitude towards the soldiers.

"You don't have to do this," said one of the soldiers with a firm but gentle tone. "I came because I wanted to. I'll help in the best way I can."

Another soldier, with a determined expression, agreed: "Yes, we came because we want to accompany you. Together, we can make a difference."

As other soldiers gathered around, Rémy noticed that two of them were the same ones who were at the gate on the day he fought with Jeanne. He was surprised, but decided to greet them later.

With a wide smile on her face, Jeanne looked at the soldiers who were ready to follow her. "Hahaha, let's help as many people as possible!" she exclaimed, feeling grateful for the help.

But before she could leave, Rémy interrupted. "Are you going on foot?" he asked. "Why don't we get some horses from the stable? It would be much faster and more efficient."

Jeanne looked at him with gratitude in her eyes. "You're right," she agreed. "Let's get the horses."

With that, the group headed to the stable, ready to move forward and help all those in need.

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