CH 95.2

Chapter 95.2: Campground

I heard that there was a never-ending case of someone stealing goods along this march.

The brown bear mercenaries, which Remus and Charis belong to, were truly the exception.

Thus, the knights, soldiers, Honess and co seem to be quite troubled since they didn’t take goods for their convenience.

From Honess’ perspective, they might be no different from a group of outlaws.

It seems Portos’ subordinates had the same opinion as Honess.

But the people who were happy with the situation did exist.

「Honestly, they’re bunch of troublesome and unpleasant fellas. They even called us, who built tents inside the ramparts, cowards.」

One of the knights spoke angrily.

「Calm down everyone. Tonight is the last of your discomfort. We’re going to make them work their asses off tomorrow, which is why I allowed the supply group to give them more booze and food than usual to raise their morale.」

Portos spoke with a smile on his face.

「That’s a good idea, but… General Portos, that forest is really dangerous. Shouldn’t we stop this reckless campaign as soon as possible?」

I raised a suggestion to stop the campaign again.

「Sage-dono, why are you suggesting that again? I mean, it’s already too late to do that at this point.」

Portos told me so with a troubled look on his face.

For the warriors, fighting was their job. My suggestion was akin to robbing them of their job.

Especially for Thors’ warriors who regarded dying in battle as their highest glory.

Even if they didn’t aim for the glory in death, many of them were aiming for the remuneration from this campaign.

And after coming this far, Portos might be right about being too late to stop this campaign.

「You’re right, but… the level of danger is so high that even our group is in danger.」

I lowered my voice as I spoke.

Even minus Shirone’s childhood friend, the Dark Knight, the Silver Witch alone was a huge threat for us. So I really had no idea what gonna happen this time.

「Don’t worry about it, Sage-dono. At that time, we’re going to evacuate. Our main duty is to bring back as much information as possible.」

Portos said so with a grin on his face.

Ha~h, how many warriors are gonna lose their lives in this reckless plan?

Though it was their own choice to participate in this campaign, I couldn’t help but getting a headache over this matter.

◆Member of Brown Bear’s Mercenary; Remus

I returned to our mercenary camp when the evening sun dyed the forest in red.

Charis seemed to have gotten sweets from one of the Hero-sama’s female attendants.

In short, she would be back much later.

Since it was already dark outside, I had quite a hard time finding the way back.

The Brown Bear Mercenaries, where I belong, were camping in a rather detached place.

The reason being, our boss, Arcas, was responsible for the most dangerous place.

Well, that’s just how our boss is.

「Black-Haired Sage-sama… she’s as beautiful as rumoured.」

I recalled the event that happened before.

Receiving such high praise from such a beautiful woman was truly the highest honour for me.

I unintentionally revealed a smile upon recalling that.

「Ye seems to be in good mood eh, Remus?」

That moment, someone called me out from the side.

And suddenly tripped my feet.

The unprepared me fell at once.

「What are you doing, Torx!!!」

I turned around and yelled at the one who tripped my feet for no reason.

The owner of that voice was Torx, a fellow member of the Brown Bear Mercenary group.

There was no way I could mistake his voice.

「What are you hoping for by swinging your tail to those cowards hiding behind the wall? Aren’t we comrades here?」

「I’M HELPING HIS EXCELLENCY, THE GENERAL!! AND IN ANY CASE, THIS IS AN ORDER FROM OUR LEADER!! THERE’S NOTHING TO HIDE HERE!!」

I raised my voice as I spoke to the man who stood in the shadow of a tree.

「WHAT’S WITH THAT CHEEKY MOUTH!! YOU SURE CAN TALK FOR SOMEONE WHO CAN’T FIGHT!!」

Torx walked closer to me and stepped on ch*st.

「UGH!!」

I couldn’t breathe since he also applied his weight.

I tried to pry his foot off from my chest, but alas I was far too weak.

「Oioi, I’m only stepping lightly you know. And here you are, exhausted by that. I wonder what the young lady sees in you…」

Torx said so with a voice filled with anger.

The one he called young lady was Charis.

Torx has always been in love with Charis. Thus, he seems to be pissed off seeing me always by Charis’ side.

His age was the same as mine and he was the second strongest of our generation– the strongest was Charis.

It seems he couldn’t forgive the fact that I got close to Charis in this mercenary team which values strength above everything.

But to be honest, that was his problem.

I was looking into the darkness, looking for something to get rid of his feet off my chest.

But, his feet didn’t budge at all.

Despite the absence of the beast’s inspiration, Torx himself was a powerful warrior.

Though he claimed that he was only stepping on lightly, it was too much for my body to handle.

「Ha~h, what a miserable guy. You’re really gonna die.」

Torx spoke with a voice that sent a chill running down into my spine.

He increased the strength he put into his feet.

Oh crap!! I’m really gonna die this time!!

「WHAT ARE YOU DOING, TORX!!!」

It happened when my consciousness was getting foggy.

I heard Charis’ voice.

That moment, I felt Torx raise his feet from my ch*st.

I quickly took a breath and raised my body.

I could see pair of eyes glowing golden inside the darkness.

Those were without a doubt Charis’ eyes.

「I didn’t do anything, Young Lady. Just a little training with Remus. Right, Remus?」

「LIES!! IF IT’S TRAINING, YOU DON’T NEED TO STEP ON REMUS!! YOU’RE TRYING TO KILL HIM, RIGHT!!??」

Charis shouted at Torx with an enraged look on her face.

Charis gained night vision as part of the power of her beast’s inspiration. Thus, she could see what was happening even in the dark.

「WAIT, CHARIS!! TORX IS RIGHT, WE’RE JUST TRAINING A LITTLE BIT!!」

I stopped Charis from doing whatever she was trying to do while adjusting my breath.

I got so much hate from the warriors of our generation. The reason being I’d gained Charis’ and our leader’s attention despite being the weakest.

Torx on the other hand was really strong for his age. He was also popular amongst the young warriors.

Further inciting Torx’s wrath because Charis trying to protect me would only create a rift between Charis and the other young warriors.

That was something that we had to avoid at all costs.

Thus, I had no choice but to keep my patience to prevent the situation from worsening.

「Trust me, Charis… there really is nothing to worry about.」

I insisted with a forced smile plastered on my face.

「That’s it, Young Lady. Well, it’s time for me to go.」

Torx left after he said so.

「Remus… why did you do that?」

Charis came to my side after making sure that Torx had left the place.

It seems she wanted to know the reason why I was covering for Torx.

But, I really couldn’t tell her the reason.

I couldn’t afford to offend Torx. If the weak me and Torx fought, the members of our mercenary group would definitely side with Torx.

And when that happened, even our leader would have no choice but to banish me.

I wanted to stay by Charis’ side. Thus, I had to endure this.

「It really isn’t big deal…」

I told her with a bright voice to prevent Charis from worrying about me.