Chapter 21: 19

Chapter 018 - Black and White

“..... in other words, you are the bastards who shamelessly escaped death. Even with 20,000 soldiers and the Silver Corps, you people were neither able to capture the beasts secluding in one city or the criminal who killed my younger brother, nor defeated Hilda the [Flame Sword]?”

It was miraculous to see that, within the destroyed Alwina troops invasion headquarters, the staff officer had managed to survive; maintaining his breathing, heart beating, and hearing in full function.

At the center of Alwina Kingdom is the Imperial City, Al Hazard. At the center of the Al Hazard is a white castle, standing tall over the surrounding building. It was made from marble and famous for always beautifully shining. The interior was decorated with luxurious ornaments, the value those of numerous jewelries mounted for artistic viewing couldn’t be measured.

The person whom the staff officer serve is the master of this castle - the Spirit God, Leonardo.

The present King of the Alwina Kingdom and the strongest individual in all of Alwina Kingdom...no, the entire continent. He is an existence loved by the spirits. Red eyes with white hair, he is an Albino. In the Alwina Kingdom, it was said that humans that are Albino, or posses Albino characteristics, will grow into powerful magicians.

But, things were a bit different in his case. If infamous magician are said to be able to devastate a thousand troops, Leonardo would be able to “annihilate” ten thousand troops.

“Y, yyes, Th, that is right!”

Leonardo disliked falsehoods. The man looked down. The cold sweat all over his face confirmed that the King’s questions were like a noose, tightening around his neck.

A painful silence continued for a while. The sound of man's heartbeat beating increased with each passing second. He worried that the sound of his heartbeat could be heard by the ally standing in front of him. If this continued for another 30 seconds, his heart might reach its limit and go silent forever, atleast thats what it felt like to him.

Finally, Leonardo opened his mouth and spoke with an indifferent voice. The staff officer felt the release of tension and was assaulted by feelings to prostrating himself on the ground while asking for forgiveness; thus, it was nearly impossible for him to distinguish the real feelings behind Leonardo's voice.

“Inform the intelligent officers this, “Wake up Cicada”. One can gather as many weapons as one wants, but it is not as easy to gather soldiers. We need to buy more time.”

Although Leonardo had a strong desire to act himself, his position did not allow it.

As soon as he left Alwina, other countries would be sure to attack all the way to Al Hazard. His existence itself was the biggest deterrent against threats from another country. He also likes to manage the country with his own hands, as much as possible.

At least for people of the Kingdom of Alwina, Leonardo was a good leader who ran a good government. However, even at this moment, numerous slaves smuggled from various countries were abused, oppressed, and shed blood for the better of the [Citizens] (Referring only to human beings). A reality that had become common sense over the past thousand years ago.

In countries other than the Kingdom of Alwina, slaves are fundamentally illegal, except for criminals who were made slaves as part of their sentence. The leaders of the Kingdom of Alwina have secretly been collecting slaves from prostitution, abduction and others means, for convenient labour. They are deeply involved in the underworld society of many other countries.

A thousand years ago, they were a large nation that dominated the entire continent. facility remnants were left in each and every corner of the former Alwina territory, making the local government unable to grasp the base of their illegal activities. On the surface, they were deprived of their territories but their influence in the underworld remained strong and the profits, enormous.

Nowadays, many countries had become careless due to the Kingdom of Alwina’s unfavourable situation that had continued for many years. It was much easier to sneak spies into each country while their guard is down.They have been active in assassination of important figures and other illegal activities, which had further strengthened their foundations in the underworld of those countries. They were devouring the enemy countries from the inside out.

This secret work had been going before Leonardo took his seat as the leader of the Kingdom of Alwina.

“ You have found the characteristics of the man who defeated Hilda of [Flame Sword], right?”

“YES!! He had black hair and eyes and wrapped in jet black armor that I have never seen before. Besides Hilda, there were several other members that were defeated by him too....”

If the opponent was a beastman or other demi-human, then he will not expressed it like this. Within Alwina, beings other than humans were not treated as “Persons”.

“Then, spread the poster with that person’s feature and characteristics to the ruffians and offer them a prize money. I don’t mind if the portrait is crude, it will create more chaos that way. Make the prize 10,000 gorudol, that should make most people take the bait..”

The currency unit of this world from lowest to highest is Burodol, Shirudol, and Gorudol. 100 Burodol equals to 1 Shirudol, and 100 Shirudol equals to 1 Gorudol.

50 Gorudol one would able to support a family of four for an entire year without starving. With 10,000 Gorudol one can live and play extravagantly for several generations.

Even though it was painful to lose a subordinate with high fighting ability, he couldn’t let it be in vain. Chaos was sure to spread as the person is appropriate of the prize.

“..... the talk ends here. Leave quickly. I can not endure the sight of you bastards any longer.”

“Ex ex excuse my presence !!”

The man literally ran out of the room. Leonardo had not even given him a glance. Even ordering them of “To Conquer the city or Die”, seeing the pitiful state of the staff officer that gave the report, his urge to murder had completely disappeared.

Leonardo held a bottle of liquor in his hands. In the Castle undergrounds are numerous bottles of branded liquors that would make a collector offer a mountain of gold to obtained it, had they have any knowledge of it.This bottle was one of many treasures. Not showing an expression that he was tasting any of it, Leonardo poured it into his stomach.

Similar looking bottles were scattered around his feet, empty. Since the death of Rezado, his younger brother, Leonardo has been spending his days drinking.

His cheeks became thinner, his eyes sunk in. He looked depressed, yet those red eyes still gave off an ominous light, Leonardo was akin to a ghost, at least for those who saw his current state.

But, that is only until today.

“.............”

Suddenly, Leonardo crushed the bottle in his hand. It was still nearly half full still , but neither the fragments of bottle, nor the contents spilled from his hand. the enormous spirit power that was gathered in Leonardo’s palm made the numerous fine fragments of the glass and its contents disappear with a soft sound.

Leonardo has a duty as a King. Since his attack failed, he needed to be on defensive. He needed to handle the counter attacks and interventions from enemy countries, which would come soon. He would also need to buy some time to restore the military so he can invade again. He was, still, composed enough to remember his duties.

Nevertheless , he has no intention on giving up revenge.

Even though he often caused problems, Rezado was still his younger brother. Rezado is not someone that those beastmen or their human advocates are allowed to be killed, at least according to him...

“It will take time, but you’ll see later. I will dye this world with the blood of your enemies and those foolish beasts so even you can see, from wherever you are.....!”

Leonardo’s objective was purely to lead the human Kingdom of Alwina to reconquer the entire continent...even after all this.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Achoo*, - a sneeze echoed inside the fortress.

“Is someone gossiping about me....?”

Karito stood on top of the fortress, alone. He periodically zoomed in and out with his goggles to overlook the situation around the fortress for changes after the Alwina invasion.

Although the invasion army had retreated after receiving catastrophic damage, there was a sense of uneasiness in the Citadel Fortress Town from not knowing when the enemy will come attacking again.. Although the troops that were worn out had been reinforced with fresh reinforcements from the Imperial City and common sense said the invading army needed time to recover from the attack, they still couldn’t rid themselves of anxiety.

Because of the condition outside of the Fortress, Karito volunteered to keep watch. Since he owned a goggles with zooming function as well as a scope for sniping, Karito is a perfect man as a lookout. It was also, partly, because Karito felt awkward walking around the headquarters and barracks as an outsider. Even though they all struggled through the fierce fight together (Reona and the other does not seemed to care about it. She and Rina were helping around with odd job). Besides, it was convenient to get lost in thought when scouting alone.

“Even so… as expected, there sure are a lot of them.”

On the plains outside of the fortress, thousands corpse that had died in cruel ways were piled up. They were the corpses of Alwina soldiers.

It was simply a mountain of corpse left there without being disposed properly.

Karito had helped carry the dead Alwina soldier's corpse from inside the city to the outside the fortress. Most of the dead bodies had already begun to give off a bad stench, and because of the large injuries on the corpses, their smell became stronger. Still, if left unattended it can cause a plague thus, the bodies needed to be moved or the population would have to settle elsewhere.

For Karito, that could be said that to be the most shocking experience, besides killing people. In the <WBGO>, the corpse’s depiction had not been this awful. And when left alone, it would disappear after a certain period of time. The scene of corpses being piled up like this was rarely seen. It made him realized all over again of the difference between a war game and reality.

Among the soldiers who helped dispose the corpses, many strip the corpses of their valuable items. Even though it was natural to take items from the defeated enemy in the game, it gave a different impression when it happened in reality. It was not pleasant sight, but who could blame them. At least Karito couldn’t say anything.

The hardest work was the disposal of the Orcs’ corpse. They were heavier, stinker, and were in more pieces than the human corpses. The scenery around the area where Karito had used the small Flag-12 grenade was particularly grotesque. It was so gruesome to the point that he might have a nightmare of charred corpses from magic and flamethrowers. It was strange that he did not vomit at least once.

Even though the task was not physically challenging, the metal fatigue was terrible. Reona told him that his eyes seemed dead by the time they finished clearing all the troops.

He tried to shake off the spectacle that resurfaced in his mind, but when he turned his eyes towards the plains, a mountain of corpse greeted his sight. Literally, a mountain. The place did not differ much from a depiction of hell, that itself is a sorrowful thing.

He thought about various subjects. The things he had done and the things he will have to do, from now on. About the people he had killed, and about the woman he could not kill. Ordy, who survived the war with him, the Defence Forces, who fought until their last last breath and the residents of the town, who got dragged into the fight and died. . .

How can he reduce the sacrifices of his allies? How can he make the Alwina Army withdraw more quickly and efficiently? Of course, doing something alone makes the possibility lower, however, being troubled over things that could have been done is part of human nature as well.

For example, if only he had distributed all the restorative medicine on hand to treat the injured people and to the Defense Force Soldiers then their losses would have been lower, possibly. When Karito had finally came up with the idea, the critically injured soldiers had already died pointlessly. Even after the battle was over, he only could only stand still from shock.

Setting aside the issue whether Ordy’s group and everyone from Defense Force would have accepted Karito’s suggestion he should have at least suggested it. He could say that he was too preoccupied with surviving after being thrown into the firing area, but that would be an excuse. An excuse he wouldn't use after watching the slow death of the soldiers as a result of his actions. Karito couldn’t help but feel something heavy forming in his stomach

Even against the Alwina Army...wouldn’t it have been much better to hunt their commanding rank officers one by one rather than flashily shoot at them randomly....? No, at that time, it was best to stop the flow of the enemies that were fast approaching.

That woman, Hilda...... to be honest, Karito himself couldn’t understand why he didn’t kill her immediately, until now.

Now, when he realized that he was trying to kill a woman and he felt a sense of self loathing.

Looking back, Karito felt something strange happening to him. Could he, perhaps, be a feminist?, he thought and somehow couldn’t get rid of the uncomfortable feeling. Karito had forgotten, but because he had saved her, she would turn into a prisoner and might eventually be executed, or even encounter something more terrible than death.

No, that is not important. What is important is that Karito does not want to kill a woman with his own hands.

But what would he do if something similar happens again? Would he be able to capture them alive without taking their life, like this time? What would he do the next time if Reona and Rina were going to be killed and if the opponent is a woman?

While such thought kept spinning his head, Karito began to lost his sight of the solution. He groaned out after a awhile. Even though it felt pathetic, he decided to put those questions away for the time being.

Although it was simply postponing the problem, in the end, the answers might just come out when the time for it comes.

If possible, he did not want to be in such situation for a second time.

“or maybe next time I might just come up with an answer”

The revived Hilda had lost her memories. She had forgotten everything, the fact that she had slaughtered the Defense Force Army, cut one of Marian’s arm off, trying to kill Karito... everything.

Currently, she was retained in the headquarters’ jail, watched by soldiers. All the guards were humans as she would shiver badly and fall into a panicked state, the moment she saw a beastman. The mannerism from when she rushed to attack Karito and Marian seemed like an illusion

According to Marian’s speculation, the discrimination against the non - human race has been carved in her consciousness and turned into fear due to the memory loss.

In addition, she evoked body reinforcement magic, unconsciously. it took five soldiers to restrain Hilda’s before Marian used magic to forcefully make her lose consciousness. Since there is also a possibility that she might break free from jail, the insides of the headquarters were still being strictly guarded. Even though she had quieted down since she regained her consciousness, in order to prevent future damage, they still kept their guards up.

Due to the possibility that she might go wild again if it was not handled properly, interrogation had been suspended, for now. According to Ordy and Marian, the interrogation would start after attaching a magical seal brought by a convoy from the Imperial City.

Although there was a prisoner exchange system, where a prisoner would be exchange for a ransom or another prisoner, like during Earth’s Middle Ages, it was an impossible option for Hilda. She couldn’t identify herself due to her memory loss, and the mythril armor that Karito had “obtained” from her was too...lacking..to be used as evidence.

Incidentally, when Marian investigated the armors and various things from other Silver Corps in her spare time, she discovered that it gave the wearer a reinforcement effect. Now, he understand the reason behind those absurd physical ability.

“Nn?”

Karito caught a moving shadow between the corpses. He checked it out from the M14 EBR’s scope, instead of the goggle zooming function, so that he could take action immediately.

What he found was a dog type beast around 1 meter in length, a few hundred meters away from himself. Before, Ordy had told him there is an animal called “Funeral Beast”. Resembling a hyena, they are very sensitive to the smell of blood and frequently appear on battlefield sites where numerous fresh corpses lie around. Karito has became familiar with them in the past few days.

“Urgh, how grotesque.”

Not noticing that they were being aimed at by the muzzle, the funeral beasts devoured the corpses’ decaying intestines. Karito frowned and looked away from the scope.

While feeling unpleasant, a question came into Karito’s mind as he saw this.

“which one of us is the better one - we who kills others or the beasts who feeds on those corpses?”

Or are we much worse than both??

Yet again, he did not have enough life experience to answer his own question.

=======

Chapter 019 - Convoy (First)

“Karito, there you are. Father wants to talk to you about something.”

“Is there something else?”

“No, it’s nothing like the attack of the Alwina armies, rest assured things are fine. It is just that....”

After returning from guarding the castle walls together with other soldiers, Ordy and his daughters greeted Karito.

At that moment Ordy, who has the wildness and sharpness of a silver wolf, had a complicated expression on his face. From what Karito could read, it was news that he wouldn’t be happy with, even if he should be happy with it.

“I have received a message from the Imperial City summoning Karito. It seems like your achievement in this war has reached to the people in Royal Palace and they had become interested in you.”

“Even though I only know about half of it, but Karito’s achievements are surely amazing. I wonder if they will give Karito a medal? Good job Karito!”

“Karito-san is amazing!”

Even though the subject of interest was Karito, Reona was the one who showed delighted with her entire body. She embraced Karito tightly and pressed those fiendish mass of swellings on him. Rina also smiled happily.

However, Karito could not feel delighted. When he looked at Ordy’s face, he could not perceive those words positively, like the sisters.

In most parallel world trips, when foreigners that participate actively in that world was called by the ruling class, it always means a new trouble. As the summoned person he feels like escaping, but in front of Ordy & co, he can only nod his head. If he escapes from his duty, it would make life difficult for his acquaintances in this parallel world.

“If my paranoia is not correct, then I will probably just receive a medal or something of the sort and be done with it, but if it is the worst case situation, I may be forced to …”

“Let’s hope that things end peacefully but....”

The obligation, in this case, could mean - being forcefully detained or dragged in as a member of the Belcania Alliance troops. Of course, anyone would be interested in the numerous weapons from a different world.

If he were Ordy’s subordinate, he could probably be as he was, but then again it might not be so bad to at least secure a position in this world for himself. Rather than stubbornly asking for freedom and creating a scenario in which they will aim for his life due to being perceived as a threat, he would gladly become someone’s subordinate instead.

Rather than solitary freedom, Karito would rather be constrained between his friends, like now.

(Anyways, it would be better to move as told, for now.)

Karito nods and says.

“Understood. Let’s go to the Imperial Capital.”

“...... Are you alright? Although you are from a different world, you belonged to an army of another country right?”

He remembered having mentioned such things...

“I would not be questioned for responsibilities by the army unless I return to my original world, and personally, I don’t mind to be treated as a hired mercenary. Or perhaps, this, in a way are more problematic?”

“No, it is all right. It is said that the Royal Family, in previous wars, gave out medals to many mercenaries who participated. It also not uncommon to raise people with distinguishable merit to become an instructor for the army. But Karito, your case is different.”

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“ Certainly, the way I fought will definitely stand out in this world......”

Bombs that can explode from a distance, machine guns that can send numerous barrages, flamethrowers etc....

As he had been too showy in this war, there is no way to completely control people's mouths. The survivors of the Defence Force would open a path when they see Karito and stand at attention as if he’s their superior. They would also talk about Karito and watch his every move restlessly. Karito was quite bothered by it. To make it worse, the reinforcement soldiers, who have not see Karito fight, found the Defence Force survivor's actions strange and would start to pay attention to Karito as well. It was a viciously repeating circle.

Even if he was appreciative of Reona’s and Rina’s companionship, for Karito, who was originally just a gloomy shut-in, having so much attention was rather disturbing. He is not an army general or an idol, so was quite uncomfortable.

Since he had made such a remarkable impression, it is natural for rumors to circulate.

“Then this talk will be quick. Tomorrow morning you will ride together with the escorts of the captive in question. Reona and Rina will come along as well. We have decided to turn this town into a full-scale military base so the refugees will not able to stay.”

“Imperial City huh.... Rina has never been to Imperial City.”

“Yeah, I only know it from stories told by Onee-chan. I have been wanting to go too, but I never thought I would go under these circumstances...”

**************

Next morning

“Hey! Get up, it-is-morning-already!”

“Ummm, 5 more minutes....”

Karito, who was forcibly shaken by Reona, uttered the standard line while in half asleep state.

It was the first time in more than a year that he shared a meal and sleeping place with the residents of this different world. Compared to his old world they have a habit to go to bed earlier and getting up earlier.

Karito, who had been sleeping on a rectangular wooden box as a bed, checked the time on his PDA without thinking―――― currently, it is before 6 AM. He begged to be allowed to sleep for another hour.

“Come on, get up quickly! You are still young, don’t turn into a bagworm!”

“In my world this reply was usual....”

Although he said that, Karito raised his body, slowly, while still wrapped up in a blanket. He gave a big yawn and rubbed his drowsy eyes. His back hurt because he had slept on a hard wooden box.

Karito washed his face in order to refresh himself.

“Splish*Splash~”

“It is convenient since you don’t have to go to well and draw the water every single time”

“Thank you very much, as always.”

He poured the infinite bottles of mineral water into the wooden bucket. The cool water was the perfect temperature to wake the senses. Once Karito washed his face the remaining drowsiness was washed away with it. Compared to his body on Earth, he felt that the speed of his brain waking up was quicker in this <WBGO> body.

Following Karito, Reona and Rina also washed their faces. While Rina washed normally, Reona gathered water in her hands and shakes her head into the water, tail swinging in sync with her movements...just like a dog.

“Then, which one should I choose today?”

“ Why do you always suddenly undress right before me?”

Reona threw off the ragged cloth that covered the top and bottom, used as a substitute for sleepwear, nimbly. While complaining, Karito hurriedly leaves. This had been happening every day since they shared a room. Karito should have gotten used to it by now, but as expected, Reona’s healthy nude body was still too stimulating to see the first thing in the morning.

She made a choice from the pile of clothes in the corner of the room. They were (goods procured, with her Father’s permission, from an abandoned clothing shop). In line with her wild and active personality, she usually chooses clothes with a lot of exposure that emphasizes mobility over modesty.

As usual, today she picked up a mini skirt with plain, elongated cloth which wrapped around her chest, exposing everything but the most important parts. Even the hidden part up to the root of those tight thighs were threatened to be exposed with just a little movement. It is on the level where one does not know if the view is an eye-candy or a poison for the eyes.

In fact, besides Karito, it also gathered the gazes of several hot headed guys from Defence Force but no one dares to behave insolently. They remembered the might of Ordy’s daughter that defeated the Sky Cavalry during the defensive battle. ..... Perhaps that is the one that fostering Reona behavior.

By the way, Rina dresses like a normal village girl. She loves a sturdy apron dress with simple patterns and varying colours. Her appearance and preference is the complete opposite from her sister.

After changing, it was time for breakfast. Today’s breakfast is a provision from German army, a biscuit with jam, stuffed fat pork sausage and jelly. The drink is orange juice that had been diluted with water. It is popular with Reona and Rina because it had a different taste from squeezed fruit juice.

“The food is delicious as usual. I am really envious of the people of Karito’s world who could eat such delicious food.”

“Let me tell you this, this food here is devised for the soldiers to eat conveniently on the battlefield, ordinary people would eat differently ”

“ Different food? Does that mean that they are ate something even more delicious than this!?”

“Karito’s world sure is amazing!”

“No, I don’t mean it that way....”

With that little misunderstanding breakfast ended and they prepared to leave the barracks towards the Imperial City. Food and water could be indefinitely provided by Karito, so their belongings were just clothes.

Just as they were about to leave the two-layered wall gate which surrounds the headquarters and barracks, a voice called out to them.

“Reona, Rina., do you know where Karito is?”

“I’m here.”

“Oops! I didn’t know that you all were together. I didn’t realize at all. This is the first time in hundreds of year that I feel resentful over my unseeing eyes”

Marian came closer to the three with quick steps. When Karito raised his voice, she made exaggerated movements then sighed gloomily. Marian can “see” the existence of spirits in place of naked eyes but, she was unable to see Karito, who didn't possess even a little bit of the “spirit”.

“What’s the matter?”

“Ah, yes. It is about that lady, Hilda, you captured. I would like you to watch her until she boards the carriage, do you mind?”

“I don’t mind but is it alright for me to be watching her? Even though she does not remember anything, she can completely beat the shit out of me.”

“What are you saying? Aren’t you the one who caught her alive?”

Marian had lost one of her arms in the fight with Hilda. Relying on Karito’s voice, she extended her other arm to find his body and tug his arm to drag him towards the headquarters.

Marian’s body temperature is cool, indicating the lack of presence of life, but the softness on his arm that he felt over her robe was definitely those of an adult woman’s. Even though her figure was concealed by loose robes, the feeling of her chest on his arm gave him an estimation of her size...it is quite reasonable.

Despite thinking that he had benefited unintentionally, Karito still could not suppress his heart’s excitement as he had lived a life without having any physical contact with women. Come to think about it, what was she like under her robe?

The dungeon where Marian brought him was not much different from the dungeons that Karito had imagined. Fire from candles hung on the walls light up the dark space that the sunlight never illuminates. A gloomy and damp feeling floated around. Hilda was locked and guarded in the deepest part of the dungeon, in an isolation cell. Three fully armed human soldiers stood in front of the door.

“We will take her out of here, please open the door.”

“Yes, we’ll open it now!”

With a loud and heavy sound, the door reinforced with thick iron plates creaked open slowly. Karito grasped a shotgun loaded with a non-lethal rubber bullet as a precaution, his hand damps from nervousness.

A tattered wooden bed was the only item placed in the narrow space. Hilda was sitting on the bed with her head raised to look at Karito and Marian entering her cell. Her eyes shook with uneasiness and both her hands were restrained with alloy handcuffs that Karito provided, not wooden ones.

Hilda stood up shakily, as urged by Karito’s group, her body trembled in fright at their every movement. He could not relate her as the same person who had cornered Karito and Marian. Although there are occasional stories about personality changes from memory loss, he couldn't help but be surprised to when seeing it happen, in person.

“What will happen to me?”

“I do not plan to eat you up, so relax. I will be blindfolding you as we move to another place. I suppose it will be more convenient for you that way. Don’t worry, you will only be blindfolded until you reach the carriage. ”

“Al, alright....”

One of the soldiers approached with a cloth on his hand and Hilda shuddered again but did not resist being covered by the blindfold.

While being restrained by 2 robust soldiers on the left and right, Hilda walked out from the dungeon with her own foot. Karito watched Hilda’s every move as she followed behind Marian. Despite her field of vision is covered and both of her hands handcuffed, he noticed that her steps were unexpectedly steady. Even if she had lost her memory the result of training was engraved in her body.

They arrived at the small carriage with the escorts waiting right in front of the headquarters entrance. As soon as Hilda got in, the door of the carriage was closed and her blindfold was removed. The soldiers who had finished latching a thick steel bolt leaked out a sigh of relief. Although she looks like a weak beautiful woman after losing her memory, they were still nervous as they recognized her real self.

Feeling curious, Karito asked Marian.

“What will happen to her once we arrive over there?”

“It is hard to say. First of all, her magic power will be sealed with a magic item so she can’t use magic before the interrogation starts ― it is a standard procedure. However, in her case, she needs to remember her previous position before any talks can occur.. Well, that will be handled by the magicians who are good at mind intervention and memory tampering, so my role will be finished once I delivered her over there.”

He does not know whether it will better for her to regain her memory back or not, but Marian only shrugged her shoulders.

“I would rather have her not remembering anything.”

“I agree with that.

The two whose life had been targeted at their first encounter, laugh and share a wry smile.

Taking Marian along, they join Reona group’s and boarded their wagon. The wagon was not a military wagon that is used to carry logistics but only a common worn out wagon with an attached hood. According to Ordy, it had been obtained from the people.

The escorting soldiers were riding on horses protecting the front and back of Karito and Reona group wagon as well as the carriage where Hilda boarded. Furthermore, surrounding the escort soldiers were refugees who were traveling to the Imperial City. Besides Karito’s group, there were also a few other soldiers that is boarding their wagon.

Trying to match the speed of the refugees, their advance was much slower than when they had traveled to Citadel. The atmosphere was heavy and slow as the soldiers guarding the carriage sensed the exhaustion of the refugees that followed them like ants.

“The view is all good but tell those in front to not let their guards down, the enemies may still be lying around somewhere for an ambush. Even if we are being escorted there may be some fools who will still attack us without caring.”

“Understood.”

Worried about Ordy who had warned his coachman, Karito called out to him.

“By any chance, could the Alwina army be setting up an ambush to regain Hilda?”

“No rather your group should be alert against the gathering of remaining defeated soldiers who failed to withdraw due to their injuries and thieves”

Ordy shook his head and Marian continued after him, knocking on the wagon with the tip of the cane she held it in her only arm.

“In villages and towns which have turned into battlefields, groups of worthless lowlifes that attack the refugees who are barely hanging onto their lives will often appear.”

Among the refugees who escaped the war, a lot of people brought small valuable items such as money and jewelries with them, rather than large items like household goods.

Moreover, the people who ran were mostly weak citizens, the number of women and children being much higher, making them easy targets for sexual relief and slave trading. Escort soldiers also do not prioritize their protection so the sacrifice often expands, unilaterally.

They might also attack for the horses, but there are a lot of cases where a part of enemy soldiers and mercenaries abandoned by the main force turn into bandits and attack the refugees and neighboring villages.

“The Alwina army has withdrawn in the same direction. Although our moving speed has slowed down, since there is no deadline for Karito’s summon I had planned to escort all the refugees while delivering the prisoner, at least until the Imperial Capital.”

“Moreover it is a good chance to appeal to the soldiers to care for the refugees. Even if the people from Imperial City complain, I will cover for you, so don't worry. ”

“Thank you very much.”

“.... by the way, can you do something for this shaking?”

Perhaps they had run into a stony path, Karito almost bit his tongue from the rocking of the wagon. When he went to Citadel before the shaking was not so bad, but now it felt quite terrible. the difference of civilization here is quite far apart from cars and trains. Karito thought that it is given that the carriage was not equipped with shock absorbers.

As the wheels rolled down the road, which was not paved with asphalt, Karito could feel his butt stinging. He couldn’t believe that besides from him, everyone else were sitting down quietly. His experiences riding around a mountain stage in the <WBGO> with an ATV 4 wheel buggy was much bearable.

As a matter of fact, Karito began to feel uneasy, and his semicircular canals (of the ears) was also in a rather severe situation.

“Excuse me, I will walk....”

“Is that so? if you are feeling uncomfortable is it not much better to rest in the wagon?”

“No, thanks!”

“Even though you’re really strong, you sure are weak in weird situations .”

“Leave me alone.”

He jumped off the wagon ―and his eyes met with a child’s.

The boy seemed to be no older than 10 years old. His figure was quite dirty with soot and dust and was led by an equally tattered woman, that seemed to be his mother, walking wearily.

He was barefooted. This young body was not suited to walk on roads with lots of sharp pebbles scattered around....... and it was just right since there was empty space since he alighted the wagon.

He picked up the mother and child and ushered them inside the wagon. Reona stretched out her hands to help them board the wagon quickly. The mother and child bowed their head repeatedly in gratitude.

Even though he had turned into a murderer, Karito still has the conscience remaining in his heart to commit this kind of small kindness.

Just as the unchanging sun in another world crossed the summit and slightly sinks down, suddenly Marian leaked out a questioning “Nn?” sound and raised her face.

There was a loose large curve slightly ahead, inside the curve was a steep slope, and the forest on outside of it. She called out to Ordy, while toying with her cane, in the wagon.

“Order everyone to not go any further. Immediately”

“Understood. All members stop at once!”

Without wasting time to ask why, everyone stopped immediately. Turning to the wagon canopy, Ordy raised his voice to his subordinates to stop their advance forward. As the group of horses and carriages stopped their advance, the walking refugees to stopped in follow.

Karito looked inside the wagon and asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“..... there is quite a number of humans lurking in that forest. Apparently, the customer has become impatient.”

In the next moment, an arrow flew from the sky and pierced the area around the wagon.

It was a surprise attack

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