Chapter 4 (1/2)
Chapter 4: Encounter
Dios scratched his head, pointing at thehis mouth
“There are two roads leading to Belk Fortress The road heading directly south, I’ a trap assassins, army corps, thieves, and bandits are there aplenty The other path is to the east, running through a e All that’s left after crossing through Mount Hiht next to the srave Grinda’s territory”
“We’ve also got cavalry We can’t possibly cross over Mount Himmel”
“Even if we choose to go south, on’t be able to escape annihilation That being the case, in order to increase the chances of saving at least a few more lives, we have no choice but to climb Mount Himmel”
Tris, as at Dios’s side, also nodded
“Let’s split into two groups As would be expected, there’s no way that all the soldiers can go via Mount Himmel Because a diversion is necessary after all Dios, take 50 infantrymen and lead the the way, abandon the wagon and do everything you can to get help frorave Grinda Is that acceptable, Hime-sama?”
Liz had a disagreeable expression, but after a while, she gave a small nod
“What’re you gonna do, Ossan?”
“I’ll cross the mountain with Hime-sama”
“You’re already pretty old, so you shouldn’t overdo it…”
“Hreenhorn”
“That so? Lately, your ar thinner”
“What!? Is that true!?”
With Liz’s joke, the Operations Command Room became just a little bit more cheerful
After being served a luxuriouseaten his fill, sat down on his bed
Like Liz said, he was received as a guest
They hadn’t questioned him, but in front of his door stood a soldier on lookout
Though the other side had one-sidedly raised their guard against hi about
He wouldn’t wander around recklessly So he could tell the was completely pointless
But if Hiro were to say that, it was possible that they’d end up treating hi to happen, then it’d be fine, but there was a possibility that Hiro could end up in a erous position
Which hy he was sitting so obediently like this, thinking about what he should do from now on
However, just as he was getting sleepy, having yet to coood idea, the door suddenly opened as someone entered crassly
—it was Liz
“Sorry A kind of urgent matter came up……”
“What happened?”
“We need to change locations, and it turns out that we’ll be departing tonight”
“……in other words?”
“We’ll have to return this place to the 1st Imperial Army, so Hiro won’t be able to stay here anymore”
“That’s………a problem”
In an unknown land, he’d be thrown out into a place where he didn’t even know left froht
Further scarier than this
Though he wanted to think about what to do froan to make a rather impatient face
There probably wasn’t any time to think
Therefore……Hiro made his decision
“Is it alright if I follow you?”
“Eh-?”
“Is that……a no?”
“You can but……it’ll be a pretty harsh journey If it goes badly, you could die Even so, do you still want to?”
“I don’t mind Either way, if I’ht, I’ll probably wind up dead”
“We wouldn’t leave you completely out to dry, you know If it’s just a little, then we could lend you some money, and even for food……”
“I owe you a meal after all There’s a possibility that I could backstab you, but……if there’s no probleo with you”
“Hiro, you’re a pretty strange guy”
“Guess so I get that a lot”
—though it’s usually only fukutarou saying so
Upon exiting into the fortress’s central plaza, we found bonfires casting light onto the surroundings
The fullthe area
I followed behind Liz, and e arrived in front of the fortress’sup to Liz
A large number of soldiers remained on standby next to the entrance
Next to the vanguard, Dios, stood aall over his body
This man handed Liz a horse with chestnut hair
“Tris, thanks for the hard work”
“Ma’am!”
Extending her gratitude, Liz mounted the horse without delay
Instantly, a roar of cheers erupted from behind her
Turning around in surprise, Hiro saw that, before he had realized it, a large crowd of fort soldiers had gathered to send them off
“Please take care, Celia・Estrea-sama!”
“Celia・Estrea-sama, banzai(1)!”
“Grantz Grand Empire, banzai!”
“May you be blessed by the Spirit King!”
“May you be blessed by the 12 Grantz Gods!”
Srandiose wave
As the light of the full rew exponentially, ure appear as beautiful as a fairy
In this face of this, the cheers flared up once more
So as to ensure that he did not stray too far away, Hiro followed after Liz’s horse
“Once we can’t see the fort……we’ll be splitting up into two groups Make sure you folloe don’t get separated”
Liz’s voice rang out from above
“Ok”
After walking in silence for about two hours, one could see the fort disappearing behind them, shrouded by darkness
The first one to take action was Liz
Ju off of her horse, she turned towards Tris and shouted
“Tris! You better guide everyone properly!”
“Hime-sama’s the one that I’m worried won’t be able to keep up with this old man!”
Tris dashed ahead of Liz
“Let’s go, Hiro!”
Liz grabbed Hiro’s left hand, forcefully dragging hi
Behind them were soldiers who broke out of their ranks, as well as the split-off soldiers who continued to advance without incident
Worries such as, ‘exactly how far do I have to run?’ and, ‘will an to fill Hiro’s head
Looking to his side, a sprinting Cerberus could be seen wearing a cool, calm face
—as expected of a wolf A little bit is fine, so would it kill you to give me some of that stamina……
As Hiro’s lian to walk