Chapter of Grim Reality: Marching

“Captain.”

“Ah, Yumi. Come here.”

“Nn.”

Korwen was standing to the side and watching the mercenaries doing their last-minute checkups. He beckoned me over, so I joined him to watch the spectacle in front of us.

“And? How was your first experience standing there? In front of the men?”

“Er, kind of… nerve-racking. Standing in front of all of them.”

“Hahaha! Well, you’ll get used to it in no time!”

Would I? Maybe. If I did it often enough, I’d probably get used to it… But until then. It’d definitely be a strain on my nerves…

“Once more, for the first time you did quite well I’d say. Good job.”

“Nn… Thank you.”

Even though I only had to say a single sentence…

“Mhm, I admit I was a little worried whether it would work on such short notice when Merim suggested it but there were no problems at all. In fact, I have the feeling that they were paying better attention than usual.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes… Well, that was my impression at least. But you used your Charm magic as well, right?”

“Nn, I did. But I have no idea how effective it was...”

There were so many mercenaries after all that I had no way to measure how much it affected them… Or whether it even affected them at all. It could have been possible that the magic was way too weak to make a difference. If I were to be honest that felt more likely to be the case, even…

“At the very least, it didn’t make things worse so for now there’s no reason to hold back on it.”

“Nn…”

That was also one way to look at it.

“So, Captain, did you just want to ask about that?”

“... Of course not. There’s something I am a little concerned about.”

“Concerned?”

“Yes… I’ll be frank. Do you think it is possible for you to remove the effect of someone else’s Charm magic?”

“Huh?”

Someone else’s… Charm magic?

“Are you talking about Yumelia?”

“Yes.”

“I… don’t know. But don’t we have those magic tools to protect us?”

“... There simply aren’t enough.”

“Not… enough?”

I turned to Korwen, surprised at his words.

“We don’t even have enough to outfit half the men coming with us. Ruben gave us all the ones they could scrounge up and they even requested the ones the Academy had in store. But even then we come just a little short of a hundred.”

“... Nn, I heard about that.”

They told me that only around half the mercenaries would be able to fight directly.

“According to what they told us, there will be at least fifty worshippers and three magicians, including Yumelia herself—assuming she is that troublesome magician they spoke of. To add on that, they also have an unknown number of monsters under their command.”

“...”

“One hundred men are simply not enough to take care of that in a frontal assault.”

“That’s why you want to know if it would be possible for me?”

“Yes. But if you don’t know, there’s nothing to do about it. We’ll have to forego the frontal assault and think of something else then.”

“I see.”

A frontal assault would have likely been the fastest way of resolving this job… With that out of the picture…

“... It might take longer than a day.”

“That it will. In the worst case, we’ll have to wear them down over several days.”

“Nn…”

Over several days, he said. The whole thing might take longer than I had expected… Then again, hoping it would be finished today was… Wait.

“Nn? Captain, but… didn’t they say that right now was the only chance because part of the army was away? If we take several days…”

“You’re quick on the uptake today, aren’t you? That’s right. The longer we take, the worse our position is.”

“...”

“In the worst case, we could get assaulted from behind.”

Wasn’t that… really bad?

“Don’t worry. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. It can go the other way as well.”

“The other way?”

“When Ruben and the army dealt with the issues inside the capital city, they could send reinforcements.”

“...Will they?”

“No, they won’t.”

The heck were you telling me then?!

“Now, now, please don’t glare at me like that, okay? That was a joke, a joke I say.”

“... Really?”

“Yes, yes. Really. Haa… Or at least, half of it was a joke. They might send them. I wouldn’t bet on it, though. On the other hand, the chances that we get attacked by the other army from behind are slim as well. They shouldn’t know we are that close, after all.”

“Nn…”

That all sounded… a little… unsafe.

“But that’s not too rare in our line of work. There’s rarely a time we can say that things will go as expected. There’s also a very real chance… that the army sent to subjugate the roper fails.”

“That they fail?”

“Yes. Think about it. You have seen it yourself, haven’t you? A monster that size is dangerous.”

“Ah, is that maybe why they spoke of the possibility that we’d… encounter it?”

“Yes. I think Ruben and Will both don’t believe they will succeed in subjugating it. Judging from your and Fenna’s report, I agree with that sentiment.”

That severely diminished the chances we’d encounter the army, sure, but on the other hand…

“We might encounter that roper again.”

“Chances are pretty high, yes.”

That huge thing… was going to appear again?

“... Is that something we can even fight?”

“Not if we are busy with the worshippers as well, at least. But if we can concentrate all our fighting forces on it I’d say we stand a very good chance.”

“But then…”

“Worried?”

“A little.”

It was up to chance, to say it frankly. And in that case, there was no way I wouldn’t be worried, right?

“Understandable. If you only look at the problems, there are plenty of them. That’s what happens when people get involved. But it’s not like there are no solutions, you know?”

“Nn? Solutions?”

“Yes. There are plenty of options we have to deal with this situation. We could… Mhm… You know what, how about you think about it yourself for a little.”

“Huh?”

“There’s not much to do while we march to the village so let’s say that’ll be your assignment until then.”

He wanted me to think about it?

“Speaking of which. If you have the option between a carriage or walking…”

“Carriage.”

“Figured.”

Korwen grinned when I replied nearly instantly. Seriously, who would willingly walk the entire way? Surely not me. Especially not when I had a different option available.

“Good, good. Then come. The men should be done with their last check so we’ll have to get a move on.”

“Nn.”

Around an hour later I was on a carriage, together with Karen and the Elder. I was a little surprised that it was only us but… There was a very good reason. An unfortunate but good reason.

“Hey… Can I sit down?”

“The captain said no so no.”

“... Please? My legs are killing me.”

I was on the carriage, sure. But I wasn’t sitting down. I was standing. I was standing and holding the banner.

“Not only yours.”

“Ugh… If I had known this, I wouldn’t have said the carriage…”

Walking was preferable over this any time. The quite rough ride was doing a number on me. All that shaking…

“Then you would have needed to carry the banner, though.”

“... Maybe the carriage was better after all.”

Carrying the banner wasn’t just pure torture, it was probably impossible for me with my current strength and stamina.

“Haaa…”

I looked up at the banner, watching the mercenary flag flutter in the wind. Honestly, from down here, it didn’t feel all that impressive. Although, Korwen and Merim had tried to reassure me that it looked pretty good from a distance.

“I want to sit…”

“The more you complain the worse you will think it is.”

“Ugh…”

“You just need to hold out for a little more. We were going to take a break soon, I think…”

“I hope...”

A break I desperately needed.

I directed my gaze back to the front. There was only one other carriage in front of us, namely the one with Korwen and Merim. I was a little surprised we even had carriages like these but it seemed they were used for marching like this.

A little like the general on a horse…

You couldn’t exactly ride a warox all that well, so these were probably the only other option they had. People needed to see their general… er, their captain.

And unfortunately, since I was supposed to be the ‘face’ of the band in the future… Yeah, I had to suffer the same fate. I could only be thankful that they told me not to mind my posture all too much for now. As long as I wasn’t slouching, of course.

I fear I’ll have to stand completely still in the future… I’m definitely not looking forward to that…

At least, this time I still had some leeway. With that said, I was trying to keep my posture as straight as possible. It was the job I accepted so I better had to do it as well as I could… Excluding my complaining, of course. But once in a while you just had to vent to someone…

“Haaa… I wonder how far we are already.”

“Around… a fourth, I think?”

“A fourth… That’s pretty slow, isn’t it?”

“We are moving quite a bit slower than last time, Yumi. We have to move at a speed where everyone can keep up, after all.”

Wasn’t it me who was the most likely to lag behind, though? And we moved faster last time. Ah, but they also needed to conserve their stamina so maybe that was a reason as well.

“And the slower we move the longer I have to keep this up…”

“You’re not the only one suffering, Yumi.”

“Nn…”

Karen and the Elder were both standing as well, a little behind me. Karen didn’t seem like she had any problems at all with this. As for the Elder…

“Miss Elder, are you okay?”

“... I am fine. I am fine.”

“If you say so…”

Clad in brown and green armour, the Elder had it just as bad. Maybe even worse than me, despite not needing to hold the banner. On the other hand, the banner was a nice support for me. Sweat was running down her forehead, a sign of her exhaustion.

Her armour suited her quite well, even though it was entirely made of wood. Not that you would notice if you didn’t know in advance. Her torso as well as her arms and legs were covered in thin sheets of armour. On her head, she wore a circlet made of leaves with a few leaves standing up on the right.

But on the downside, it apparently wasn’t all that comfortable. And since she had to stand next to me as well, she couldn’t take a rest. Although, we did tell her that she could take a break. Honestly, it was mostly me who was necessary for this and Karen and the Elder were more like extras. Bonus eye candy. Nonetheless, she was quite vehement in staying next to us.

“If I had known about this… I would have prioritised comfort… It feels like the suns above want me grilled...”

“Nn…”

I directed my gaze back upwards, but this time not at the banner, instead it was directed at the sky. It wasn’t like the twin suns were shining down on us, though. That’d be tomorrow. The last day of the month, if I understood the calendar correctly.

“Hey, Yumi.”

“Nn?”

“What about the stuff the captain wanted you to figure out? Did you think about that already?”

“Ahh… That…”

The stuff about how to deal with this overall situation, huh…

“I did think about it a little, yes… Hey, Sis, do you have any idea?”

“Me?”

“Nn.”

He never said I couldn’t ask others for their opinion after all.

“I wonder… I don’t know anything about this stuff either…”

“I see…”

Letting out a small sigh, I threw a glance at Karen only to see her frowning a little.

“Did you have any ideas, Yumi?”

“Well, I do but… I don’t know how effective they are, I guess?”

“Oh? What kind of ideas were they?”

“Nn… Well, the biggest issue is the fact that Yumelia might influence the mercenaries that aren’t protected, right?”

“I think so, yes.”

Karen nodded in agreement.

“Well, in that case, what if we fight Yumelia away from the other worshippers? In that case, there shouldn’t be a worry about her Charm. But, I have no idea how we’d even lure her away.”

“Ahh... That could work, I guess…”

“Nn.”

But if we couldn’t lure her away, there simply was no point to it. On the other hand, if we could do it…

“I mean… It would probably work if she was after me…”

“No. I won’t allow that, Yumi.”

“... Figured.”

I wasn’t too keen on putting myself in danger either. But, it was an option.

“Mr Korwen will likely not allow that either, Yumi,” added the Elder.

“Huh?”

“You have taken an important position. One that cannot be filled easily. You are part of the future this man envisions. An irreplaceable part, even.”

“... I feel that’s exaggerating it a little.”

Knowing at least a part of his future plans, it was easy to believe that I was important to them. But irreplaceable?

“Hehehe, if you want to believe that, I will not stop you. But regardless of whether that be the case or not, I am certain you know other options, do you not? Many approaches can yield the desired result.”

“That’s...”

She was right, I did think of other options… But they were a lot less… Honestly, I was a little worried that I even managed to think of them in the first place…

“There are other ways as well?” asked Karen the Elder.

“Indeed. Countless ways, one might even say. But first, let’s listen to what Yumi has to say. I am a little curious about what her mind has thought of.”

Putting the pressure on me, was she?

“Nn… Well…”

I stammered, a little unwilling to tell them. But… I knew they wouldn’t let me go until I told them… So, better get it over with.

“I thought of… a few less direct, er, ways… Like… If we can’t attack from the front… We could, like… poison them…”

“Poison…”

“Nn.”

Even I knew a little bit about history in my old world. It was spotty, sure, but I still remembered some stuff.

“Mhm, poison, you say,” murmured the Elder.

“Nn…”

“Then, what kind of poison? And how do you distribute it? What about possible survivors among the villagers?”

“... Ah.”

That was… a good question. Poison was indiscriminate. Any survivors among the villagers might fall victim to it as well…

“I am not saying it is a bad idea. But remember, poison is dangerous and poison does not distinguish between friend or foe. There is also the aftermath. Imagine you poison a well. The village, nay, the entire surroundings might turn contaminated. The river is not too far from here. In the worst case, you might poison even the river. The victims would be countless.”

“...”

I was… a little shocked. I admitted I didn’t think that far ahead. Not at all. If we had gone with that suggestion…

“There are types of poison that might work. Many plants and animals are poisonous to he humanoids. Some can kill, others paralyse, and a few upset the stomach at most. Some poisons stay for long, others decay within the hour. Those that show an effect when eaten and those that only show an effect when wounded with them. You need someone who knows well what they are doing. Lest you severely regret it.”

“I see…”

“Then, ultimately, the worshippers have monsters under their thrall, do they not? Few poisons would ever affect a monster.”

In other words… It wasn’t feasible… That’s what she probably wanted to tell me.

“Still, when Mr Korwen asks, you should still suggest it to him.”

“Huh? But…”

“He surely considered the topic as well. I might have told you all the problems it has but I never said it was impossible. A well-chosen poison can save your lives.”

Then, it wasn’t entirely...unfeasible?

“Yumi, was that the only other thing you have thought of?” the Elder asked.

“Nn? There was one other thing but…”

“Go ahead and tell us.”

“Nn. Then, maybe ambushing them at night when they sleep. But they’ll have guards, right? So...”

When the guards found as and ringed the alarm, then the advantage was gone again.

“A night assault, you say. Certainly, it might work. As for guards… I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“The worshippers are, for better or worse, not trained soldiers. They are amateurs in the ways of combat. Even if they have guards, would they be capable of sounding an alarm? Do they even have an alarm? The village is not their home, it is but a temporary lodge.”

So, they might not be prepared for such an attack? That would be convenient…

“The monsters might be awake, however. But even if they would wake the fanatics, it is the night. They will be sluggish and slow to react. Tired. It will, without a doubt, give an advantage.”

“I see… So a night ambush is actually a pretty good idea?”

“It is. I would be scarcely surprised if they are planning for this already. They likely plan to reconnoitre with an ambush in mind.”

A night ambush, huh…

“Miss Elder, won’t we be tired as well at night?”

“... Ah.”

Right. Just as Karen said, we had to stay awake as well until then…

“I recall Mr Korwen saying that we will camp some distance from the village, has he not? Resting and sleeping in preparation is possible then.”

“But, won’t the sun still be up?” asked Karen.

“What, have you never slept during the day?”

“Can’t say I have done that often…”

Sleeping during the day, huh…

“Is that the case? Mhm… Still, just try to rest as best as you can then. Even if you do not sleep, your body can still rest a little if you lay down.”

“I will try…”

“Very well. Alas, we talk as if it is set in stone but we are merely talking in assumptions. Mr Korwen might have something entirely different planned. I am not as well-versed in the ways of the mercenaries.”

“From my perspective, you already know a lot…”

“Nn.”

She clearly had experience with these situations. It was noticeable, to say the least.

“... One picks up a few things with age. And lest you forget, I had the… unfortunate experience of seeing war myself.”

“Ah, right…”

She did mention that once before… But she stopped before she told us anything.

“But forget my own past. We were discussing Yumi’s task. Were those three the only solutions you thought of?”

“Nn. I couldn’t think of anything else.”

“That so?”

I threw a glance over my shoulder to the Elder. She grinned a little at me.

“Do you know of any others?” I asked her.

“I sure can think of some more. But it would defeat the purpose of Mr Korwen’s task if I were to tell you, would it not?”

“Ugh…”

That was… right… He did tell me to think about it for myself… But there were still other ways?

“Hehehe, you have time to think about it.”

“Nn… It’s a little hard with my legs hurting like this, though…”

“... I have just managed to forget about it. Why did you have to remind me about it?”

“Sorry.”

No, how did she even manage to forget about it? Wait, I didn’t notice earlier but she looked rather pale, too…

“I hope the break is soon.”

“So do I. So do I...”

A while later, we finally stopped to take a break and a rest. The Elder instantly collapsed to the ground, sitting on her behind and stretching her legs. All the while she got rid of the armour covering her, revealing her sweat-soaked clothes beneath.

After I put down the banner, I sat down next to her, stretching out my legs as well. Finally, they could rest, these jelly legs of mine.

“Yumi, Miss Elder, do you want something to drink?”

“Nn…”

“It would be… much appreciated.”

“... Here you go.”

Karen handed a waterskin to each of us so we could rehydrate. I removed the stopper and greedily gulped its contents down.

“Ahhh! Finally…”

Felt like heaven, without a doubt. Even without sweating, the water was a welcome boon.

“Good work, you two.”

“Nn…”

Karen sat down next to me and watched our surroundings. Korwen and the others that were in front of us already stepped down and were back at work, giving orders. I had no idea what orders, they were too far for me to hear them.

“Haaa… And we’re only halfway…”

“At least we can rest when we arrive.”

“Nn…”

I moved a little closer to Karen and leaned on her shoulder.

“Hehehe.”

“Yumi…”

“Nn?”

“Haa… Can’t be helped.”

She wrapped her arm around my waist and pulled me closer.

“Bliss… If only my legs wouldn’t hurt…”

“Need a massage?”

“A massage…”

That was a rather tempting offer… But, to be honest, I just wanted to lean on her right now and not move at all.

“No, I’m fine like this.”

“I see... If you want one, just tell me.”

“Okay.”

A massage, huh. Maybe she’d do it at some other time as well? That would be… nice.

“... Watching you two, I feel like honey is coming out of my eyes,” commented the Elder who was watching us.

But why honey?

Honey… Honey was… quite sweet… Usually. Oh.

“Thanks.”

“... You must be the first person to thank someone for such a comment.”

“That just means Sis and I get along, right?”

“... Awfully optimistic.”

The Elder let out a sigh and then stood up, stretching her legs.

“I shall take a small walk. I am tired for sure but I need to stretch them a little. I do not desire for them to stiffen up and make matters worse. I will come back later.”

“Nn, okay.”

“Until then.”

She climbed down from the carriage, leaving Karen and me alone again.

“There she goes… Want to take a walk too, Yumi?”

“No… I just want to sit here like this.”

“Okay.”

I closed my eyes and leaned onto Karen a little more. It was astonishing how tiring it could be to simply stand. Alas, the shaking and the constant need to balance yourself did quite a number on the legs…

“Yumi.”

“... Nn?”

“Are you sure you really want to do this?”

“... That’s quite random.”

After all, we discussed this yesterday already.

“It’s just… When you talked with the Elder about how to fight the worshippers… I don’t know… I felt worried… Especially when you mentioned being the bait… I mean, that woman… She still is after you, right?”

“Probably, yes.”

“... I just hope nothing is going to happen.”

So did I.

But that was her worry…

“It’ll be fine, sis. And this time, I have you with me, don’t I? And the Elder is there as well. The captain and everyone else too.”

“But she tricked us already once… What if they are expecting us already?”

“That’s…”

Not an impossibility. It was definitely possible. But...

“Sis…”

I looked up at her face, a little surprised to see her frowning.

“Sis, you are ruining your cute face with that frown.”

“... What?”

Her eyes turned wide at the unexpected comment. At least the frown was gone now. A lot better already.

“Hey, Sis. Will you stay by my side?”

“Of course!”

What a quick reply...

“Then, isn’t it fine? In the worst case, we can just run to safety. In the first place, the captain said we’d be in the back, right? That’s, like, the safest place, don’t you think?”

“I guess so…”

“Just think of it, she’d have to go through the captain, Merim, Ria and the other magicians and all those mercenaries to reach me. And even if she did, she’d still have to go through you. After all, I won’t leave your side either.”

“Yumi…”

“So, it’ll be fine, okay?”

I reached up with my hand and patted her head to reassure her. Usually, it was me getting my head patted…

“... Sorry.”

“Nn? Why are you apologising?”

“I know it’s a stupid worry but… I just can’t help it… When I heard that earlier… and then I kept thinking about it...”

Ah, so that was it… The spiral of worry, where once you started you kept going down with even more worry…

“It’s fine. Rather, thank you for worrying about me, Sis.”

“... Yumi.”

A slight smile reappeared on her lips, giving me some relief.

“See, I’m sure it’ll be fine. And if not, then we’ll just have to make it fine!”

“... That’s not really reassuring, coming from you.”

“...”

Rude.

Sure, it probably wasn’t, but one wasn’t supposed to point that out. I was trying to cheer her up after all...

“Thank you, Yumi. I already feel better.”

“Well… That’s fine then.”

“... You are right. There are a lot of amazing people around us. Especially Ria and the magicians...”

“Nn.”

We only saw Ria using magic a single time and it was… outright devastating. If she did that again…

“... Ah.”

“Yumi?”

“I think I know another way of dealing with the worshippers.”

“... Huh?”

“Well… think about it… if Ria can use that kind of magic…”

Even if she couldn’t wipe out all the enemies, not many would be left over after such an attack…

“Ahh… That could work… But if we go with that… couldn’t your mana crystals work as well? The… mana grenades?”

“... They could, maybe. But I can’t throw them far.”

They definitely were a very effective means of self-defence, however.

“I could probably throw them far enough to hit Yumelia, though.”

“... You’ve become quite brutal. I thought that earlier already when you mentioned poison.”

“... I have no idea what you could mean.”

And Yumelia kind of deserved it… She caused us a lot of trouble.

“... At this rate… you soon won’t even need me anymore at your side…”

“Sis, what the hell are you talking about? Of course, I need you.”

“But… You can now defend yourself already…”

“Implying I can even throw them reliably. At worst, I might blow myself up as well…”

The heck was this girl going on about now? Just when I thought her worries were gone, she started with this.

“But… it’s only a matter of ti— Mguh?!”

Without mercy, I squished her cheeks before she could continue her nonsense.

“Sis, please snap out of it. There’ll never be a time where I won’t need you at my side, okay? Never.”

After I let go of her cheeks, her eyes were downcast, averted from me.

“... Sorry.”

“Haaa… Are your nerves getting to you?”

“... Probably.”

“... Sis, come here.”

“Eh?”

I pulled her upper body towards me and forced her head onto my lap. With one hand, I took hold of her arm and with the other, I gently patted her head. I didn’t say a word, only continuing to stroke her hair.

After several minutes, Karen finally opened her mouth again.

“... It’s warm.”

“Nn.”

“I’m sorry, Yumi.”

“I don’t want to hear an apology.”

“... Thank you.”

“Nn. Better.”

Her chest was heaving up and down in rhythm with her breathing.

“I’m an idiot, aren’t I?”

“A little.”

“... Isn’t this where you deny it?”

“But it’s true, right?”

“...”

I giggled when her face contorted in discontent.

“It’s fine, I’m not any better, after all. To be honest, I also worry about this… But I have you by my side, Sis.”

“... You really know how to sweet-talk me. You’re so sly.”

“... Am I that sly?”

She told me that a few times before already… Was I… really that bad?

Karen chuckled at me, apparently thinking it was amusing.

“You are. And I’m stupid for feeling happy about it.”

“Guess we’re both stupid then.”

“We are… Haaa… Thank you, Yumi.”

“Nn, you are welcome.”

If she felt better, then it was worth the trouble, after all. Or rather, it didn’t even feel troublesome to me. Although I had to admit, I was a little angry when she said I wouldn’t need her at my side anymore. No way that was going to happen, ever.

Without a doubt, I’d break down if she wasn’t with me.

I continued to stroke her soft hair and let her enjoy my lap, glad that we sorted that out. Plus, I was certainly no stranger to this kind of feeling. Especially now… I was worried just as much. But I had to see my decision through. And I needed Karen at my side for that.

“I love you, Sis.”

“... I love you, too.”

Unbeknownst to us, we had already become a bit of a spectacle to the surrounding mercenaries with our little spat and the following flirting. No need to mention how they teased us when we noticed…

But no matter how embarrassing it was, I wouldn’t want to forget it.