Chapter 329: From Departure to Confession (1)

| The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary | >>

Proofreader: Xemul

The transportation from the city to the battlefield was arranged by Yuri.

In order to launch a general offensive against the Kingdom’s army, Yuri, as the General, arranged for Loren and his team to be temporarily incorporated into a unit that would be at the front line. 

However, it was not possible to lend them horses like the cavalry, so the team was transported in wagons carrying supplies to the front line.

As might be expected of a march accompanied by a general, the number of troops involved was on another level. Loren’s team, who was sneaking in among them, watched the majesty of the army commanded by Yuri from the back of the wagon, each with their own impressions.

“You can’t even compare them to the mercenaries.”

Loren said, even though it was only natural that a mercenary group could not be compared to the regular army of a country.

Luxuria, who was sitting at the back of the truck at a distance from the other members, murmured in fascination.

“That’s what a strong man is all about”

He sighed and placed his hands on his cheeks. The action would have been acceptable if a girl had done it, but when done by a burly man like Luxuria, with a hint of colour on his cheeks no less, it made even Loren want to look for another place in the back of the wagon to get some more distance. Even on top of the supplies would be fine. 

“Gula, can’t you just dump that deleterious substance somewhere?”

“Lapis-chan, how much easier it would be if I could…”

With a straight face, Lapis suggested discarding Luxuria, but Gula’s response was less than desirable. Loren secretly wondered if he was not the only one who felt that if they dumped the guy somewhere, he would probably cause as much trouble as he could before coming back.

“But this is such a splendid army. They seem to be using good equipment, and the soldiers seem to be well-trained. I can feel their strength just by looking at them.”

“I can’t tell how serious you are at all, Lapis.”

Lapis came from the demon tribe, who were far too powerful compared to humans. Loren smiled wryly, wondering if he could take her assessment at face value, and she looked at him with a slight tilt of the head.

“Should I add ‘for humans’ then?”

At Lapis’ remark, Loren held up his index finger in front of his lips.

The person sitting on the driver bench of the wagon was a regular army soldier assigned by Yuri. Even though they were not on the wagon to prepare for departure or wait for a specific order, Loren did not think that he should say anything too carelessly without knowing who was listening, and from where.

“But isn’t this actually a pretty strong army? The Kingdom’s army that fights them must be pretty strong, too.”

“I haven’t seen them, so I don’t know.”

Although that was his answer, Loren thought that the Kingdom’s army might be somewhat inferior to the Empire’s army in terms of quality. If the Kingdom’s army was on the same level of the Empire’s army, with the help of the Evil Gods of Wrath and Pride, it would not be surprising for the Empire to have lost the battle already. The fact that this was not the case at present meant that the two sides were somehow on an even footing, even with the help of the Evil Gods.

“Well, don’t be too relaxed.”

A bad decision could turn fatal.

As Loren concluded, the order to advance rang out, and the Empire’s army began to advance, albeit slowly, toward the front line in anticipation of the decisive battle with the Kingdom’s army.

“Oh, this is so easy.”

The journey was completely safe itself.

Because of the sheer number of people marching, no monsters gathered around them. The bandits were not foolhardy enough to think they could mess with a regular army, not to mention one with a considerable number of troops, so there was no trouble to impede their progress.

However, since the army was accompanied by a general, the safety of the road must first be confirmed by scouts and such. But even so, the road trip was uneventful to the extent that Sloth was overjoyed.

And so, to the surprise of Loren and his team, they arrived at the frontline base without any incidents.

After arriving at the base, the cargo was immediately unpacked, and Loren’s team, who had no particular job to do until the battle started, decided to take a walk around the place. That was when they noticed a commotion within the compound and turned their attention to it.

“Amazing! That’s Wargenburg’s prized adventurer!”

“No wonder, he’s already been promoted to the Silver rank, and is rumoured to be on his way to the Gold rank.”

“I guess good women do tend to gather around such a heroic figure.”

Intrigued by the storm of praise coming from the crowd, Loren took advantage of his height to peer past the wall of people, but when he saw the face of the person at the centre of the commotion, his eyes went somewhat half-lidded.

“It’s too late. They are already coming this way.”

Before he could question why Klaus was coming toward them, Leila, the knight, came out of the crowd. Behind her was Laure, the priest and Ange, the magician.

Klaus was being dragged along by Leila by the scruff of his neck. Although he seemed to be resisting, Leila seemed to pay it no mind. 

“Loren! Good timing. I need to talk to you. Why don’t we go some place quieter? Now!”

“I’ve got a feeling this is going to be troublesome, but… Fine. Which place do you have in mind?”

Loren didn’t want to get involved, if possible, but the look of desperation on Leila’s face made it impossible for him to say no, so he reluctantly agreed to join up with Klaus’ team.

Within the crowd that Leila and the others had waded through, some people were asking who Loren’s team was and what they were doing, but Loren just decided to let things happen. He let down Lapis, who was perching on his shoulder, called out to the Evil Gods who were watching from the side with disinterest, then quickly left the place. 

>”Sorry, we owe you one. Do you know some place quiet?”

Leila whispered to Loren as they walked alongside, and Loren opened his mouth without thinking.

“The Commander might know.”

“There is a large tent at the east end of the base that you can use. There are snacks and drinks prepared inside, so I think you can relax there.”

Loren had not said those words in anticipation of a response. But with a timing that made everyone wonder if he was lurking nearby and waiting for the right moment to come out, Yuri passed by just then, dropped the remark, then continued walking away. 

Stunned, Loren and the others could only watch his back as he walked away without being able to say anything back.

“Loren, is that mister really human?”

“I’ve been a little sceptical lately.”

Regardless of Yuri’s true identity, Loren was grateful to have a place where they could relax, and although he still had many doubts, he decided to put them to rest and headed for the tent they had been pointed to.

“So, what happened?”

Whenever they stopped, a group of soldiers would approach and try to surround them. 

The atmosphere was friendly, and Loren knew they had not done anything wrong, but when he saw Leila and the others quickening their pace as if wanting to escape, he couldn’t help but wonder about the reason.

“The short story is, we participated in a small battle against the Kingdom and played an active role.”

“That’s not bad, is it? Did you bring down an enemy general or something?”

>”Have you heard about a fire-wielding magician who could wipe out an entire unit?”

Leila said it in a hushed voice. Loren was inwardly surprised to hear that, but he nodded his head, careful not to let it show on his face.

“Well, a bit. Just some stories, though.”

“We ran into her and had to fight her off.”

Leila’s words had a considerable impact on Loren and Lapis.

They had been exploring various means to counter the Evil God of Wrath, but if Klaus and his team had succeeded in doing so, then the Evil God of Sloth that they had brought with them would have been spared from the task.

Loren quietly looked at Dauna’s face to see if he was upset about losing his job, but he saw the guy’s eyes lit up at the prospect and exhaled, realizing that his worries were for naught.

“If it’s true, that’s great. It means your team is equal to a unit. I can see why the soldiers would be all over you.”

“If it had been done the right way, we wouldn’t have had to run off like this.”

Loren thought that he should give them a compliment, but he got a bitter remark from Leila as the response. 

As Loren wondered what had happened, Lapis asked Leila in a hushed voice.

>”I’m sorry if I got it wrong, but I heard a rumour that the magician in question was a girl. Could it be due to that fact?”

“Thank you for your great perception! We fought her off once, but twice is impossible! She was so angry that she was literally breathing fire! Still, now that we had made the achievement of having repelled her once, I’m sure that we would be sent out the next time we encountered her! I’m still young, I DON’T WANT TO BE REDUCED TO ASHES!!!”

Leila was so worked up that she couldn’t keep her voice down any longer: she began to shout as she tore at her magnificent blond hair. 

Loren looked at Klaus, who was being dragged away, wondering what he had really done to make the Evil God of Wrath retreat, even if only temporarily. The guy only let out a weak laugh of someone, who had not yet learned his lesson.

| The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary | >>