Chapter 98

Even if we continued to hide in the shadows under boulders, we wouldn’t be able to escape the flying monsters.

And if we escaped into the forest, the Tree Monsters and Fairies would see us.

“They often have dangerous abilities that can only be used in the forest.”

There was ‘Forest Neighbor,’ which allowed them to read the memories of trees, and ‘Leaf Friction,’ which allowed them to pick up man-made noises in the forest.

“We’re going to run to Leninoth’s territory.”

The best thing to do was to cross the border as quickly as possible.

According to the plan, we were to make sure that Fara’s army had been dispatched before returning to Leninoth’s territory.

And considering that scouts and other personnel had been sent out from the town, it should not take long for the army to appear.

However, we needed more time.

We had to escape Leninoth’s territory before Fara’s army arrived.

“Run! Run!”

The Ogres and Kobolds kept their white hoods over their heads as they dashed through the forest.

Somehow, I felt like it probably wasn’t very effective. But it had to be better than nothing.

The Reapers remained the same. They should blend in with us if seen from far away.

“We’ll run between the two fortresses!”

The most important thing was to get away from the scouting team that was sent from the town.

That meant we were forced to go through the forest. But the Fairies would find us immediately.

We just needed to get closer to the border and…

—Piiiiii!!

“Hey, Golan. They spotted us.”

“I know!”

The sound of the whistle echoed around us.

“Hey, Golan. What should we do?”

“Run! Just keep running!”

Even I thought that I sounded a lot like Guden, our former Commander. But it couldn’t be helped.

They would catch us if we stopped running now.

“They’re getting closer.”

Painy said as she approached me. It was like she was sliding on the ground.

I mean, her feet weren’t even touching it. Reapers had it easy.

“What direction?”

Reapers were supposed to have superior sensory organs compared to Ogres.

I couldn’t even tell that the enemy was gaining on us.

“…Uhhh, from both the right and left.”

“RUN!”

It wasn’t that I had a poor vocabulary. There was just nothing else that I should say.

A few moments later, an arrow hit the ground near me.

Judging by the direction it had flown, there was someone behind us.

We had somehow managed to avoid letting them block our escape route.

“Don’t slow down. We can make it.”

I brought up the map in my head.

We would have surely passed between the two fortresses by now.

And this forest would continue until it took us near the border.

At this rate, we would surely make it.

“Painy.”

“Yes. What is it?”

“Are there any enemies in front of us?”

“…No, I do not sense anyone.”

“Good!”

The town’s scouts would have found us already.

We were making so much noise while we moved. If it was their job to protect the border, surely they wouldn’t be foolish enough to miss us.

“However, it looks like it’ll be us who succeeds in our mission.”

When Fara’s army moves, so will Leninoth’s.

Once we entered Leninoth’s lands, we just needed to hide and slowly make our way back to our country.

We continued to run for some time after that. And then the forest finally ended.

“Alright. From here on there is just a field of grass that stretches towards the border. We will likely have arrows shot at our backs, so don’t get too relaxed just yet!”

“Arrghh!”

I ran in the lead as we formed a triangle.

It was the kind of formation we might use to break through something. But that was fine. We just needed to cross the border and…

“Hey! Hey! What is that!?”

–A huge army appeared in front of us.

“It is most certainly Leninoth’s army.”

“I know that!”

I shouted at Rig.

They were lined up as if they were about to launch an attack.

But when had they arrived?

“It’s the line-abreast formation.”

“I bloody well know that too! But why so sudden…”

I didn’t understand. We were still at the step where Fara’s army might have finally started to move.

It was at this point that we were going to lure out Leninoth’s army. Why were they here?

“Hey, Golan. I don’t think we should keep running.”

Saifo said something sensible for once.

We were like arrows flying towards a line of shields.

I very much doubted that we could break through them.

“Ev…everyone. Turn ARRRROUUNNDDD!”

We breaked desperately with both feet and ran at full speed in the direction that we had come.

“While I cannot be certain, perhaps they sent armies to their borders when our country attacked them.”

“I see. The soldiers that appeared when we passed Demon King Janius’s border…maybe they were the same.”

Apparently, Leninoth was more cautious than we thought.

Once he knew that our country had attacked him, he became wary about all the other surrounding countries as well.

“Hey, the enemy is coming towards us. What are we going to do, Golan?”

Beka had been in the far back, but she was now running in the lead.

The soldiers in front of us now were likely from the fortresses.

“There’s a great Leninoth army at our rear. So we have to keep going!”

We’ll smash through the enemy and go back into the forest.

“You sure are random.”

“I had no idea that Leninoth’s army would be waiting there!”

There was a limit to what I could anticipate.

Thankfully, the soldiers that followed us from the fortresses were Goblins and Fire Foxes.

We would stomp right over them.

“…Alright. I can see the forest now. We just charge into it at full spe…..eeeedd!?”

A huge army emerged from the forest.

Judging by the situation, was it Fara’s army who had been chasing us?

“Golan, they’re coming from this direction as well.”

“All of you! Turn around! TUUURRRN AARRROUND!!”

This was bad. We would die if we charged into them.

Beka suddenly stopped. And since she was in the lead, everyone crashed into each other.

It was like a line of dominos, but this was no time for that.

And so we turned around again.

“Hey, isn’t Leninoth’s army in that direction.”

“Yeah.”

“What are we going to do?”

“Like I know. But look behind you. Fara’s army is coming after us.”

Yes, they were chasing after us.

And so we desperately…fled towards Leninoth’s army.

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