Chapter 75: CH 69

The sound of horses running through a narrow road under the night sky reverberated in the forest. I don’t care about what will happen to the demonic beasts since we trampled their habitat but I do feel bad for the forest’s wildlife.

When the horses’ breath started to get short due to accumulated fatigue, the entire army decided to stop their march.

“We will start replacing our horses. Everyone resupply your water!”

“Don’t eat any solid food! Drink only vinegar water until we arrive at our destination!”

Max and others gave orders to their team. Even for me, this is the first time I’ve ever been in this kind of high-intensity march so I had to check with Max and Augen to make sure that there has been no problem.

The reason why we forbid eating any solid food isn’t because we want to torture the army or anything. It’s because the solid food in this world is all composed of really tough food. Since our current priority is mobility, having this kind of food in our soldiers’ stomachs will only cause trouble. If only, softer solid food like bananas was here…

As for drinking vinegar water, that’s because just like in my previous world, this world also believes that drinking vinegar water is good for relieving fatigue. Though the reason why the vinegar water here is pretty strong is because people of this world like it strong.

As for changing horses, that’s a common practice in an emergency. Changing the warhorse with carthorses that have unloaded their luggage can reduce the burden on the horses. Making the horse run without any burden like cargo makes them feel less fatigued so we can use several horses in a rotation.

The army usually carries tons of cargo so this practice will only be done when the army gets an order to march at a full speed like today.

Order to ‘march at full speed’ means we will be forcing the army to march as far as possible. The army under this order can even cross 60 kilometers in just a day.

Compared to that, a normal army march will cross about 25-35 kilometers in a day. That’s around half of the march at full speed. This kind of army march isn’t something I will want to do unless there’s an emergency since even though I’m riding a horse, not running with my feet, my butt and thighs will still hurt. Not to mention it’s common for the infantrymen to become deserters when doing this kind of army march.

To make sure that no infantrymen in the rear deserted the army amid the march, Barkey’s team was traveling with them along with the wagon and carts. That’s where our supply of consumable items such as arrows and simple food was also located. We only have a minimal supply though.

For infantrymen who really can’t walk anymore, Barkey’s team will shove them into the wagon just like any luggage. There’s a chance that these infantrymen will be attacked by a wild beast or demonic beasts before Barkey’s team has the chance to pick them up though.

That means there’s a chance for the army to have casualties before we even fight. That’s why this kind of full-speed march isn’t something I want to do every day.

“The Koku stick has burned out.”

“Got it.”

The Koku stick is what we call the incense stick in my previous life. The incense stick here isn’t the incense stick with a good smell or something like that. The incense stick I am referring to is the one used in ancient China to measure time.

Since the length of the Koku stick is about the same, the time needed to completely burn them all is about the same. That’s why we can measure time using it. This, of course, can only work if the right incense ingredients are used. If you botched the recipe, you could end up with incense powder that wouldn’t burn correctly.

The stick is created by using a body part of a demon named Eater Flower. The advantage of this stick is that it won’t be affected by the humidity. By burning several sticks that have roughly the same length we will be able to count how much time has passed.

Mechanical clocks are far too big to be brought to the battlefield. Sand clocks existed but since glass is expensive the price of sand clocks is also expensive plus it can break quite easily. That’s why this incense stick like a koku stick is the best choice to tell the time on the battlefield. Its only flaw is that it obviously won’t be able to be used in the rain.

“After everyone has checked their shoes and shoelaces, we will resume our march.”

“Yes. Rest is over! Everyone, mount your horses!”

After Max shouted like that, everyone immediately mounted their house in a unison. I feel like I’m the slowest one to mount here. Officially, Zeavert house is part of the civil faction, but I feel like somewhere along the way, we ended up becoming similar to the house of the military faction.

With mixed feelings inside, we continued our march toward Valeritz.

In the end, we arrived on the outskirts of Valeritz in the evening the next day. Still, we succeeded in cutting what normally is a 3 days journey into just a day. Good work, everyone.

I instructed the soldiers to rest, while I led Neurath and Schunzel to the command center of the kingdom knights to greet them and also to discuss my army’s provision. It seems like the 2nd division is the one that arrived here first.

The strange thing here is that the knights didn’t enter Valeritz but chose to remain here, in the outskirts. Maybe Valeritz was so badly destroyed to the point there are no places where anyone can take a rest.

At that time, that’s what I thought.

“I, Welner von Zeavert have arrived.”

“Ah, yes, Viscount Zeavert. Please, come in.”

Maybe because the command center is a simple camp, I was granted entry quite easily. This is nice. With that thought in my mind, I entered the headquarters.

“I am Welner von Zeavert.”

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“Viscount Zeavert, you’ve arrived.”

“You arrived quite fast.”

Are they the captain and the lieutenant of the 2nd division? Both of them are either in the same generation as Father or even older. They look quite tired. Well, that’s reasonable.

“Our infantry will arrive a bit later though.”

“You’re marching here in a rush so that much is fine. Lieutenant, give the viscount’s army simple food and provision.”

“Yes, sir.”

Oh, this is great. Unlike us who were using a small road, the 2nd division used the main road; they must be able to bring a proper supply corps along with them.

“You see, the current situation is far worse than our prediction.”

“Are you perhaps talking about the situation in Valeritz, sir?”

For a moment, the place falls into silence. Not long after, with a bitter face, the captain opened his mouth.

“It wasn’t a pleasant scenery but you might have to take a look around Valeritz on your own, Sir”

“I..I will do so…”

I don’t know what exactly is happening here but for now, let’s just nod. After that, I will come to thoroughly regret my decision.

“Urgh…”

“This…How should I describe it…”

After saying that, both Neurath and Schunzel were speechless. I, too, don’t know what to say after seeing this scene. The things that were probably the castle walls are now just a pile of stones. There’s no sign of people… Hell, there’s not even any sign of life. How to describe it… it’s like this entire place has just suffered from an air raid.

And the worst part is that stuff which makes me think that it would be a bit better if I at least saw it during the day…

“The smell is also terrible.”

“It’s probably been a few days since Valeritz became like this so there’s nothing we can do about the smell.”

As I was listening to the conversation of the two, I gazed at the scene in front of me. Crumbled war, the burning remains of houses, and various household items scattered on the road. Along with… a blackened and dried sea of blood, meat and bones.

If it’s only a creature of the size of a rat, then the demon can swallow them whole. But on the contrary, if the demon eats a bigger creature, they leave some remains just like the scattered pieces of blood, meat and bones I am currently seeing. No one knows if they belonged to dogs, cats, horses, or humans.

No wonder the 2nd division choose to stay outside of Valeritz. The current Valeritz not only will make you feel sick physiologically but it might also be the source of infectious diseases. With Valeritz’s current state, it will be better to just burn this entire place to the ground. It’s no wonder that the Count is still missing.

Now, the group that caused this kind of atrocity is heading to Finoi. Seeing this scene makes Dreax look gentle. I might have underestimated the demon army.

“Continuously seeing this scene might make me feel sick. Let’s return.”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

I sigh as I see a small shoe with just an ankle inside of it at the corner of the road. This isn’t good. I feel depressed but at the same time I can feel anger boiling inside of me. Though the thing I’m angry with isn’t here.

Damn it. I should’ve understood that this is not a game, but I still felt nauseated when I saw that scene. I don’t want to become a person that feels perfectly calm while seeing such a massacre though.

With a rather pale expression, the three of us made our way to return to the Zeacert’s army encampment. When we were just short of reaching the simple encampment, an unexpected voice stopped our track.

“Ah, Big bro!”

Feli!? Why are you here!?

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