CH 428.5

“Come on, keep walking! Your family will only live as long as you’re useful.”

“Kuh ……”

“How selfish ……”

“You got a problem with that? You wanna die here?”

“…… N-no ……”

A man narrows his eyes as he thrusts his spear at a soldier who was mumbling near where Akzeryus on his horse was urging his troops to march. The mumbling soldier stopped talking, turned away, and quickened his pace. 

“Hmph, are they even going to be useful? I think Me, you, and Sherida will be enough.”

“You don’t understand, Kumuda-kun! They’re also bait.”

“Bait?”

When Kemuda, a man with long green hair pulled back in a swept-back hair, asks with a furrowed brow, Akzeryus nods, holds up a finger and opens his mouth.

“That’s right. Almost all of them are ex-Everlide Kingdom people. What do you think would happen if we sent these people to hunt in war?”

“…… I see, so there is a possibility that the missing prince might get involved.”

“Hyahaha! Bingo! It’s what they call a good opportunity. If these people are sacrificed in the coming war, it won’t hurt the Berias camp. I’ve heard that they’re going to start a war starting with this one, but they’ll definitely use up the Everlide people first. They’ll use up the Everlide people before they can stage a coup d’etat, right? Hyaha!”

The king and his wife were slaughtered, but the whereabouts of the prince, who is actually the only son of the Everlide Kingdom, are unknown. Although I had thought that he might raise a flag at some point, there is no sign of him.

The only reason they keep the people alive is to treat them as slaves, and when it comes to war, they are just disposable.

“…… There is nothing that the Prince can do on his own. In fact, the sooner the Everlide people are exterminated, the sooner they will be able to find peace.”

“Sherida. Good work on the recon. Well, that’s what our Lord Founder said, too. The King of Berias seems to be a coward.”

When I said that to Sherida, who came down from the sky, Kemuda put his hand on his chin and muttered.

“No, I don’t think he’s wrong. It’s called “biting the cat”. If we execute them for no reason at all, there is a good chance that some of them will turn against us, thinking that they will be killed anyway. It’s a good idea to keep them alive, but not to kill them, in order to secure the labor force.”

“Yeah, yeah, we can’t compete with Kemuda, the [Greedy]. I’m sure we’ll be able to eradicate them on our own once we get there, but first, we’ll have the soldiers skirmish with them.”

When Akzeryus shrugged at Kemuda’s analysis, Sherida narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth.

“But there are still a few skilled men out there. We’ll have to take care of them.”

“That’s not a problem, is it? They won’t be able go all out after fighting this many soldiers, right? Hyahahaha, I’m glad I’ll be able to see some blood again.”

“I’m sure they’ll be armed to the teeth. Do not be careless.”

“That’s right. I remember when we conquered the Everlide, there was a couple who came at us until the very end. It made me cry that they were willing to die to get their daughter out of there! I was so moved that I had them both beheaded, you know? Hyahahahaha!”

When Kemuda sees that Akzeryus is laughing heartily and creepily, he lets out a sigh of astonishment and replied to it.

“How many times have we talked about this? …… Speaking of which, I see the Knight Commander of Berias is here, why?”

“I think they know someone in that town. We’re sure to win, and the king has given us permission.”

“…… I hope they’ll not slowing me down, though? We’re due to arrive in four days.”

When Sherida said this as she flew up again, Akzeryus scratched her head and flicked her nose.

“If it were just us, we’d be there by now.”

“Don’t say that. You can just go wild when the time comes.”

“…… “Heh, I’ll do that ……”

–The group arrived at the encampment.

In the middle of the night, two figures rise up from a group of soldiers far away from Akzeryus and his men and move away from the group.

“Hah …… hah ……. S-Somehow, we managed to get out of town …… I’ve got to get to the town of Gust a little faster than they do and tell them not to kill the Everlide soldiers.”

“Prince Ryde, let’s get some horses in the town ahead of us. With four days to go, we can’t take advantage of a few hours of distance now.”

“Oh …… you’re right, Lime ……. Ha, ha, ha …… My knees are shaking from the fear ……”

“Leaving the town by mixing in with the soldiers, and even though we were wearing a full-face helmet, we could have been taken into custody at a moment’s notice had we made a mistake.”

These two were Ryde, the prince of the Everlide Kingdom, and Lime, the daughter of one of his aides.

They have been hiding in the basement or in houses, but when they went to war this time, they hatched a plan to switch places.

As a result, they were able to get out as they had planned, but now they had to take action to get to the town of Gust first.

“I can’t die …… I can abandon my country. But I have to save my people ……! We’re going to use the money everyone raised for me very carefully.”

“Yes. I’m sorry that I can only use my [Dark Shadow] on myself.”

“It’s okay. If we’re out of town, there are ways to do it …… I’m afraid, but I think I can handle it with Lime.”

“I hope we have a strong man, but if things don’t go well, we can seek asylum at Reflexion.”

“…… That’s can’t be helped too, is it ……”

With the determination to save their people, the two of them proceeded through the forest.

Just a little more time until the Prince of Everlide, Ryde, meets the most powerful force in the world …… Lars Irving–