Since it took time to organize personnel and materials, the departure was scheduled for the early morning of the next day.
The final size of the team was determined to be around 400 people, composed of elite mercenaries and paladins selected from the mercenaries, as well as magicians from the imperial capital, people whom the Duke had no right to interfere with.
Because of the troubles caused by Henry's forceful seizure of power, even Duke Juliande's group of nobles had stumbling blocks when arranging supplies. But these supplies belonged to Margaret's family, and she was already holding her anger against these idiots.
To be fair, the noble lady is a romantic.
This is not derogatory. She is not the kind of person who sits around dreaming and waits for others to realize her wishes. From the very beginning of the mission in Parnilla, we can clearly see that this young lady is a real person. group.
But she is still a romantic, as pure as our little Mila.
This does not come purely from ignorance and naivety, but from the fact that even though we have witnessed many injustices and pains, we still try to believe in some good qualities.
Throughout history, people who have been able to bring about change have fallen into this category. Yes, they are activists, but not just for what is visible to the naked eye. They are not like politicians, and they do not act only for their own interests like Juliande.
They believe in beauty, even if others say it is just a fantasy, and put it into action, trying their best to capture even the smallest spark, just because they believe that one day even if it cannot bring about earth-shaking changes, it can still be passed on. Pass it on to the next person.
So when Henry brought this victory to her, Margaret cried.
If you don't know who Henry Mayer is, you can hardly understand the excitement in her heart.
If you don't understand the glory contained in the sword he raised high, you won't understand either.
When he put on that silver armor, when he put on the bright red cape, when he raised Claymore high and shouted——
Shouting——
Shouting "In the name of humanity!" and charging into the darkness, and all the people regardless of skin color, nationality, or language roared and followed and marched forward——
That scene.
How intoxicating.
Dissent and differences were abandoned.
Side by side, without hesitation.
The story became reality.
And she was in it.
So Margaret was beyond excited.
But the reality is not as beautiful as in the story after all. Before they could savor the taste of victory, Juliande and his gang jumped out to disrupt the situation.
It was as if the long-awaited birthday meal was suddenly disrupted by a prank, and the person who did it was still laughing nearby. As high as the mood of the Duke's gang was, so was Margaret's anger.
So much effort was put into the city defense battle, but in the end, a politician who had done absolutely nothing took advantage of the loopholes and reaped the fruits.
It is not difficult to expose Juliande's scam, even she has many ways to defeat him. But the shrewd Duke has won the hearts of the people for himself through the victory parade in advance. Even if it is not very stable, at this juncture when the threat of the witch has not yet been resolved, once they choose to expose and tear their faces, it is likely to cause the human camp to split into two parts. .
The supplies from Parnilla have been cut off, and the city defense weapons will definitely not be able to be used as much as this time in the next wave of attacks. Now is really not a good time to engage in civil strife.
The Duke had expected this, so he acted openly.
She could only endure it. In order to preserve their strength, they could only compromise. Even if this means that the Duke is likely to take the lead in a series of subsequent political confrontations, this is the reality. The thinking of soldiers who solve problems and the thinking of politicians who focus on their own interests have always been polarized. There is truly one voice across the country. Only when the imperial power was powerful enough could it be achieved, but now it is——
She did not continue to think deeply in this direction.
There is a limit to compromise, and it's okay to interfere with other things. When a group of lower-ranking nobles didn't know whether they were instigated or felt that they had the duke's protection and could do whatever they wanted, they came to the place where the logistics troops were and started smashing precious fresh water storage jars, wantonly contaminating precious grains, and disturbing the work of Henry and his party. When people prepare materials.
Margaret.
Angry.
She ordered her strong mercenaries to tie up these ten little nobles and lock them in a barn where the bodies of the fallen soldiers were stored for later burial. The smell of death in the gradually warming weather and the A night spent in the eerie feeling taught them a sufficient lesson, and after that, they strengthened their security in a timely manner to avoid any unwarranted disputes.
Amidst all the trivial twists and turns, the materials and equipment for these four hundred elites were finally ready.
This force is composed entirely of combatants and has no logistics because they are very different from the professional soldiers of the Empire. After all, neither paladins nor mercenaries are part of the national establishment. Their financial and material resources do not reach this level. They are used to maintaining their own weapons and armor, taking care of their horses, cooking their own meals and running camps.
As for the relatively "delicate" magicians, after all, they occupy a relatively small number of people. They are divided and move together with other people. In addition, they are accompanied by apprentices. Although many people still express concerns, it is probably not After entering the wilderness, he lost his fighting ability due to the bumps.
In addition to the logistics supply personnel, another item the team abandoned was the carriage. Although the carrying capacity of a four-wheeled carriage can be equivalent to eight to ten horses, the witch will not wait for them on the smooth road. They cannot find a smooth road when entering the intricate forest, and the weather returns When the snow melted at a level of more than ten degrees and the land became muddy, using a horse-drawn carriage would only slow down their progress greatly.
No one can accurately predict when the witch will recover. Even though they had the city wall to rely on and sufficient supplies to total tens of thousands of troops, they still paid a lot of money to weaken her to this point. Once they spend too much time on other things, this force of only four The troops of more than a hundred people may never return.
Abandoning the carriage meant that they had to travel lightly, but the armor and weapons for combat could not be vague, so in the end they had to focus on daily life and accompanying supplies.
The problem of drinking water can still be solved in the wild, but food is the top priority. Of course, not bringing food can save a lot of carrying space, but after the plunder of a large number of ghouls under the witch, it will take at least a year or two for the ecosystem in the south of Bao Forest to return to the vitality of the past. . A team of more than 400 people has to find enough food in this barren forest. No matter how excellent their wild survival abilities are, this is an undesirable plan.
Therefore, food must be carried by oneself, and it must be a variety of dry food, dried meat, etc. that are small in size, provide sufficient nutrition, and are easy to cook. In addition, pots and tableware were also selected, and strict distribution was carried out to ensure that they would not bring too much of each type of material.
In general terms, this doesn't sound too difficult, but in actual practice, just preparing one person's survival supplies is already quite troublesome. Multiply that by four hundred, and our Miss Margaret will be so busy that she can't sleep all night. It's just a matter of course.
"Hululu——"
The war horse snorted. Although the weather had warmed up to over ten degrees, the moisture caused by the melted snow made it actually feel colder. Wave after wave of cold air erodes your body along with the humidity. Even if you are wrapped in a thick cloak, it still hits you in waves, making your hands and feet cold.
The logistics troops, combat engineers and lower-level infantrymen got up long before they set off. They swept away the snow and cleared away the corpses on the battlefield.
"Even if I have seen it once yesterday, I still find it unbelievable -" Filippo, who was wearing half-armor, sighed softly next to Mira. The old butler Ferruccio stayed with the noble lady, while the young man I decided to travel with them.
The Luoan girl nodded sympathetically.
The battlefield at the entrance to the town of Scotti is littered with corpses. Undead and ghouls lie staggered on the ground. Bed crossbows, winch crossbows, and arrows fired from various bows and arrows are missing. The crossbows are also used for large-scale attacks. Falling everywhere. The soldiers cooperated in twos and threes to clean the battlefield. The people holding spears were vigilant in the aftermath. They would quickly hit any ghouls and undead that were still being drawn out. These things left a deep impression on them, even though they obtained Despite their victory, they were still frightened.
"Crack--" Although the magicians' detection results were that the black bodily fluids in these undead bodies had "lost their activity," they could still be careful. Two soldiers leveled their spears and guarded them, and the other One person held another long pole and hooked the dead body - this was the long iron hook used to pull the crossbow and defend the city before, but now it became a tool for moving the corpse.
After the corpses were piled aside, another group of soldiers came over and began to clean up the ground and recover all the weapons and arrows that could still be used.
The third group of soldiers built a fire on the other side. The open space to the west of the city wall was full of scorched marks, which were left over from the corpses that had been burned several times yesterday. The snow nearby melted the fastest, and now even the soil on the ground has dried and turned light in color.
Less glorious work than the previous battles, but necessary.
"Huh--" Mira exhaled a long breath, and the long-lost morning light gave her the illusion of being in another world. The little unicorn came closer and rubbed its head against the calf of the Luoan girl who was riding the horse. She turned her head and gently stroked its graceful neck.
"Have a safe journey, and may the gods bless you." Several soldiers cleaning the battlefield passed by them and saluted the mercenaries and knights. The voices within the army were not unified, and a considerable number of people supported their task force. The troops went to eliminate the roots. But there are also many people who, under the guidance of Juliande and others, think that they are seeking death and wasting precious supplies, so they don't look good on them.
"You elves think that disagreement or even quarreling is a great rebellion, but for humans, it is just an ordinary thing." Camilo shook his head and said to Horno, who remained silent. language.
It's not difficult to convince an elf to keep to himself. Although many people think of them as stubborn and arrogant, this is often because the humans they talk to say things that the elves think are too stupid and naive.
There are only a handful of elves in their long history who have rebelled and fled like Hornor. On the other hand, humans, when two parties have a disagreement, even if all the evidence you can produce can prove that the other party is wrong, he will still not admit that he is wrong, but will begin to deny the authenticity of your evidence. , requiring you to provide evidence to prove your evidence, and then falling into an endless cycle of debate.
Human beings behave unreasonably in some aspects, which often makes people feel very helpless.
But maybe it's like so many other things, Mira thought.
There is a good side and a bad side.
Even though it was not perfect, there were many times like yesterday when she even felt deeply helpless.
But that shouldn’t negate all value.
My teacher didn't often say this, or never said it, but he taught me this truth through his actions.
The sound of horse hoofbeats sounded, and Mira turned around. Henry, who had changed into the previous half-breastplate and black warm cloak, rode a horse and slowly approached Kramer on his back.
"I just said, that set is too conspicuous." The Luoan girl smiled slightly, and the sage shrugged.
"Where's Margaret?"
"Miss was busy until early in the morning, so she probably won't be able to get up this morning."
"Okay, let her sleep well."
"ready to go--"
"Yes, sir." "Ready to go, trumpeter!"
"Woo--Woo--"
"Woo--Woo--"
The long sound of the horn came through the window and the air. Constantine, who had woken up early to deal with various tasks, raised his head and looked here with a frown. Duke Juliande, who was writing a letter in the back, said "cut" disdainfully.
Minna tied up her ponytail and walked to the top of the city wall - she still had many things to deal with so she had to stay. The Dame looked into the distance. The team of four hundred people looked small compared to the battlefield full of corpses. Quite small.
She took a deep breath, but when she was about to speak, she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of hurried footsteps.
"——Miss, clothes!" Ferruccio's voice sounded from behind, while the "ta-ta-ta-ta" sound in front was the clear sound of Margaret's bare feet stepping on the stones of the city wall.
The noble lady's long black hair was messy, and her light blue nightgown was crooked. She grabbed the long skirt with both hands, lifted it up, and ran to Minna's side in small steps.
Margaret, who had obviously not slept enough, had two big dark circles under her eyes. She was panting all the way from the resting place, with beads of sweat dripping from her forehead.
"Hahahahahahahaha" The noble lady gasped for air and took a deep breath after gasping for air.
"You - you - want it!"
she shouted.
"Come back alive!"
Henry, Mira and Filippo stopped together. Everyone raised their heads and looked at the top of the city wall. Minna raised her eyebrows in surprise, surprised at how the little body of this noble lady made such sounds. Such a loud voice.
"I order you in the name of the little explorer's leader."
"Come back alive."
"You are all members of my glorious mercenary group."
"must."
"We must come back alive."
"Once again, let's go on an adventure together!"
She shouted like this, maybe because she used too much force, and finally she fell down on the edge of the city wall.
"As ordered, regimental commander-" Mira waved her hand.
"call--"
"Hehehehe——" The noble lady with her little face pressed against the cold city wall laughed softly. She just smiled and tears fell again for some reason.
"That's true." The blond lady smiled and shook her head, then reached out and touched her head.
"Have a nice trip -" she said, waving to everyone.
"Let's go." Henry shrugged.
The team began to move forward.
