Chapter 1116: Transport Request

The next few days were quite busy, with us clearing debris, healing the wounded, and attending to the interrogation of the prisoners we had captured. I was surprised to see the captain of the captured soldiers hitting it off with Klimt.

Perhaps the two hard workers sensed that they were similar to each other. The captain ended up persuading the other prisoners for their cooperation, so the interrogation went very smoothly.

We also sold some of our supplies to the guild, such as the item bags and enemy equipment we found.

Item bags were definitely pretty expensive, but unfortunately, the ones carried by Hideman broke when we forced them open. They were probably designed to revert back into simple bags in order to prevent any possible reuse by the enemy.

Dumping all the items bags we’ve gathered throughout our adventurers got us about 2 million gold. We might have been able to reach 3 million if Hideman’s bags remained intact. Damn, maybe I should have been more careful opening them.

Fran wanted nothing more than to head to the battlefield immediately, but we could not leave Alessa in this state. Especially since Hideman might show up again.

But now that Klimt’s wide network of spirits has begun functioning again, I doubt Hideman can infiltrate Alessa.

Since our only worry cleared up, Fran naturally thought it was time to depart. However, Klimt called her over before she could do so.

「You want me to handle a transport mission?」

「That’s right. You will be in charge of transporting supplies to the border, alongside volunteer recruits from all over the country.」

These volunteers will assist us in escorting the supplies, and then get integrated into other units when they arrive on the battlefield. Rather than joining the war as one of the recruits, Fran will take the job of squad coordinator dispatched by the guild.

「…Are you sure?」

Fran tilted her head as she questioned Klimt, confused as to why he assigned this request to her.

We’re well aware that Klimt was a man who abhorred sending children to the front lines. When we first heard he had a request for us, I assumed he was looking for an excuse to pull us away from the battlefield.

But when we heard the actual request details, he was practically telling us to go join the war. Both Fran and I were very surprised.

Klimt put on a wry smile upon seeing Fran’s reaction.

「I’m not happy with this, you know, but it can’t be helped… I believe you’ll charge into Raydoss whether I like it or not, so I’d rather you accept my request and stay where I can keep an eye on you.」

「I see.」

What do you mean, “I see”?! He’s literally saying you need to be watched because you’re too reckless!

Also, it’s pretty clear this request has another underlying motive.

Transporting soldiers and supplies will take a decent amount of time, no matter how close we are to the border. Perhaps Klimt was trying to delay Fran’s arrival at the battlefield as much as possible.

Well, I can understand his thoughts and appreciate the sentiment.

I have to say that I’ve probably lost much of my previous aversion towards killing and war.

Perhaps the gods did something to me when they turned me into a sword. I know that forcing values from modern Earth onto Fran is wrong, but sending children to fight a war is a different story. Yet weirdly, I didn’t have much aversion to that at all.

Despite knowing how wrong it is, I couldn’t bring myself to stop Fran from joining the war. That’s why I am grateful for the existence of adults like Klimt who still treat Fran as a child.

『Fran, you should accept this request.』

（I should?）

『Yeah, I think this is for the best.』

Fran seemed to want to join the war as soon as possible, so she was hesitating whether or not to accept.

「Okay, I accept.」

「Oh, that’s great. The squad will be arriving in a few days, so please remain in Alessa until then.」

「They haven’t arrived at Alessa yet?」

「Correct. Is there a problem?」

「…No.」

Damn, he got us there. Forcing us to stay here until the squad arrives. Well, I was kinda expecting that.

『Fran. I understand you want to hurry, but relax. This request is very important, you know.』

（Really?）

『Yeah. Both soldiers and supplies are necessary for a war. What would you do if you get hungry in the middle of a fight?』

（I take some food out and eat it.）

『What if you have nothing to eat in your storage or in camp? You’ll be hungry all the time. Can you still fight like that?』

（I can’t! Food is too important!）

『See? That’s why transporting these supplies is such a vital mission.』

（Got it! I’ll make sure the food reaches everyone.）

It seems she’s getting excited about the request. After putting herself in the same position as the Kranzel army, she now understood the importance of a supply line.

Fran turned back to Klimt with a sharp stare.

「W-What is it? You’re not allowed to take back your acceptance of the request, you know. Y-You won’t do that, right?」

「I promise to see this request through.」

「Uh-huh… I’m glad to see you so motivated for whatever reason. So you confirm your acceptance then?」

「Nn!」

After accepting the request from Klimt, Fran used her free time to hunt various beasts around Alessa. The idea was to secure as much food as possible in case of an emergency.

She took as many hunting requests as possible, and completed them just as fast. Half of the meat went into our storage, and the other half we sold to the guild.

「Thank you, Fran-chan! We have so much meat now!」

「Is it enough?」

「Yes, don’t worry about us!」

Nell-san happily greeted Fran after she returned with a huge pile of magic beast meat, obtained in less than half a day. Though the flavor seemed pretty average, we made up for it by targeting bigger prey.

The elephant and hippo-like beasts were especially rough and gamey. All the adventurers joined in on the butchering effort, which should result in a huge amount of jerky when they’re done.

I wonder how much meat we’ve supplied to Kranzel since returning from Gordicia? It must be a ton.

「Nell, is there any more info on the request?」

「The supply transport one? Don’t worry, we’ll be sending someone who knows the area to guide you.」

「Someone who knows the area? Even the road to Raydoss?」

「The area around the border is Raydoss nowadays, but it used to belong to a different country.」

There are currently no nations in between Kranzel and Raydoss. Well, I guess Phyllius might count, but that’s about it.

However, there were once several small countries serving as a buffer zone between the two large nations, up until 50 years ago. Raydoss ended up annexing those countries, but many of their former citizens escaped.

So it seems an adventurer from one of those fallen countries will be guiding us through Raydoss.

「What kind of person are they?」

「I’d say he’s not a bad guy. Well, all high ranking adventurers a bit… you know.」

A high-ranking adventurer, huh? So he’s a weirdo then. All of them except Fran have been weirdos.