Chapter 685
Chapter 685
In order to faithfully follow the advice of Visquente, we traveled the remaining distance as leisurely as possible, and arrived at the walls of Levien, which were covered with numerous flags.
The flags announcing the presence of various legions, including the Allied Forces, the Kingdom Forces, and the Imperial Forces, were so numerous that even the Demon King’s Army would consider invading at least once. Even though Levien was by no means a small city, the army had built a camp outside the walls.
“This is the first time I’ve seen so many troops gathered in one city.”
Even the group including Laugh Bell stuck out their tongues as if they were fed up, but I stuck out my tongue for a different reason.
“Fuck, if someone saw that, they’d think the war was over.”
How can we afford to do that when there’s a war going on?
I don’t know the ratio because I haven’t memorized all the legion flags, but if there are a lot of Imperial and Itisel Kingdom troops there, you’ll get hit a lot for not understanding the situation.
“If others saw us, they’d think we were having a picnic. Isn’t it too complacent to say we’ve pushed the front lines a little?”
As I clicked my tongue and grabbed the reins of my car because I was so embarrassed, the guards riding next to me talking amongst themselves made me stop.
“Looking at the fact that most of them are unfamiliar with the sentence, it seems to be the army of the Kingdom Alliance. At this point, it would be correct to assume that most of those who were stationed there as garrison troops have moved.”
“Even though the terrain makes it difficult to find a good corner to attack, it’s not like there aren’t any, but I don’t know if it’s okay to move around like that.”
“Huh? What? Do you recognize all those flags?”
Up until now, I thought that these guys were just taking up my time and effort, but now they are actually learning military discipline. I looked down in surprise at their unexpected activities, but they looked up at me with blank expressions.
“Yes, I know. It was a high-ranking unit of our Demon King’s Army.”
“What does being a higher-ranking unit have to do with memorizing the flag?”
“It was a matter directly related to not only the success or failure of the operation, but also to one’s life. It takes time to train officers. Rather than dying, one of the unit’s policies was to simply retreat on one’s own.”
At that moment, the words, “You guys were officers?” almost came out of my mouth, but I thought that it could be true since their skills were definitely not bad, so I put them aside. Instead, I asked them to check the flags more closely, and they were as excited as fish in water and acted as my eyes.
“···In that respect, the imperial military flag is very easy to recognize. Because it is so well organized, even the troops carrying the family crest have a unified border on their flags, so you can tell that they belong to the empire. You just have to look at whether the crest inside is made of a living thing or not.”
“Then, since there are no biological flags there, there are no regular Imperial troops?”
“That’s right. There seem to be a few units carrying the family crest to act as envoys… but they are not the flags seen on the front lines. They are likely high-ranking nobles. I think they are probably an envoy.”
People and bowls are said to be used as they are, but this is how they prove their worth! It was a moment when my laughter and my evaluation of the group went up vertically.
“Hey, then maybe it would be better to just walk?”
“Yes? Why does that happen?”
“It means that there are a lot of people all over the world who will immediately point their swords at you and call you demons.”
The dragon isn’t the problem. When I first met them, their horns were roughly torn in half, but as time passed, their horns were gradually regaining their original majesty. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Imperial or Royal Army, but if it’s those torturer bastards, there’s a high chance they’ll just shoot arrows at you.
Even if they don’t attack, there are many problems. They think they are the best and are always looking for an opportunity to plunder. They will just keep their mouths shut and insult you.
Even though Laugh Bell and his party are former members of the Demon King’s Army, I can’t stand to see them get cursed at for no reason by those guys.
“Well, I told you to take it slow, so I’ll just walk from here.”
Anyway, since it is near Levien, the dragon knights are flying in the sky at this very moment, securing the upper hand. Even if a saddled car flies without a passenger, there will be no attack.
“You go in first and get some food.”
Now, as I commanded the self-driving car that I had become accustomed to, the car carefully secured a place to spread its wings and powerfully flew into the sky, and we followed it and slowly headed to Levien.
The road wasn’t particularly quiet. Since merchants usually accompany the military wherever they go, Levien was so crowded that it resembled a commercial city. As a result, we quickly joined a procession filled with the smell of people just by moving a little away from the hill we had climbed to inspect Levien.
We were briefly focused on us as we emerged from the edge of the forest, but it was only for a moment. Since we were wearing hoods, most people seemed to think of our horns as mere helmet decorations.
Who would have guessed that a demon would suddenly appear right next to them and walk around like a snail? This is a normal reaction, unless they are guards who have to stop and search every single person passing by. Even the mercenaries passing by just look on indifferently, so why would ordinary people say anything that’s a pity…
“Hey!? Who is this?! I didn’t expect to see a familiar face here… What the heck happened? The equipment has gotten so much better!”
···Yeah?
I was quite flustered when someone spoke to me naturally as if they recognized me, but when I looked closely, I saw that they were indeed faces I knew.
“Mr. Pimel?”
Unlike his appearance, which is like a mixture of a typical traitor and a villain, with large ears and round eyes that are twice as big as others, and a face that looks like a mixture of a thin body and a face that looks like a mixture of a typical traitor and a villain, he has a neat chest armor with a crudely engraved rose pattern on his neck.
As soon as I saw him, his name came out naturally because he had such an impressive appearance that it was hard to forget. His already round eyes grew even rounder.
“Hey! I introduced you once, but you remember my name? Brother Dok2’s memory is amazing… Oh, Dok2 disappeared and the group grew.”
He approached me with his neck stretched out in an exaggerated manner as if he was looking for Kakula’s axe. He stopped at a close distance from me, glanced at the laughing bell and the group, smiled cheerfully, and shook my hand without hesitation. Thanks to his friendly attitude, people’s eyes turned away from us even more, and I smiled back at him, secretly admiring this chance encounter.
“I didn’t expect to see you here. Are you done hunting orcs?”
“Of course! When did that happen! As soon as our Broken Rose Mercenary Corps was deployed, they disappeared in an instant! In fact, they disappeared so quickly that they made less money than expected.”
Oh, is this maybe because of me···?
At that time, I was sure that the fact that I let the orcs run away while trying to save the little adventurers might have had an effect.
“Has that much time already passed? Life is so busy that it feels like it was just yesterday.”
“What kind of life are you living in the world? It’s good that young people work hard, but it seems like you’re living so busy that you’re losing your mind! You’re going to get sick!”
Listening to his whining words… surprisingly, every word was correct. He recaptured Levien and became a warrior. He rolled around on the Eastern Front and crossed the Demon Cult territory to save the people of the Masin Church. He caught a dragon and a Demi Lich along the way…
“Now that I hear you say it, it really is true. I was brave enough not to have a headache.”
“Ugh···”
I’ve had so much going on. It’s really hard.
As I reflect on the past days when I didn’t have time to look back because I was busy living each day, I find myself feeling nostalgic. Then, Mr. Pimel, who made an equally nostalgic expression while looking at me, tapped my arm as if to console me and clicked his tongue.
“It may be funny for a mercenary to say something like this, but rest is important! Surprisingly, when you travel alone, you have no one to compare yourself to, so you end up pushing yourself even harder!”
“That is correct.”
“In that case, look around you! If you’ve been running so hard that there’s no one to look back at… why don’t you join our mercenary group? We came here to take a break and look around to see how the increasingly heated war will unfold!”
Hahaha, you can’t let your guard down with this old man.
While I was impressed by his eloquence in attempting to make a subtle sales pitch, I was also intrigued by his story of coming to Levien to have some free time.
“You’re going to Levien to have some free time? Isn’t that right in front of the Demon Lords?”
“Ah, you don’t seem to care much about this situation? Thanks to the recent advance of the Count, Levien has already taken a lot of territory from Itisel. Perhaps the front line has been pushed further than you think? We came here to support the garrison in the territory that was taken.”
“The garrison troops···?”
“Hmm, originally it was a place that the allied forces of the kingdoms had occupied, but for some reason these idiots fought the warriors of the demon god and lost. What’s more, they even went beyond the level of just bickering.”
Since it was a story that could not even compete unless it was on the scale of a mercenary corps, Mr. Pimel continued his story without hesitation, and I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
Now I’m starting to not know if the world is too small or if I’m just wandering around the world too wildly.