Author's Notes / Comments:
Hello and thank you all for reading! I dearly appreciate all the time you have spent and the comments you have given, they really help keep my motivation up!
Today is my birthday and I have a very short bonus for you! If you wish to give me a present, you can do so by recommending my story anywhere you think it would fit. *hints shamelessly*
This chapter may be a little confusing and contains what some might consider to be spoilers, filling in a portion of the map not yet explained. That said, I didn't go too much into detail because I have not coloured in enough detail in my notes. Therefore, the material in here, especially naming scheme and some miscellaneous depictions, can only be considered semi-canon.
This is also something of an experiment in writing style. You may notice how the conversations are not grammatically correct, this is intentional. I'm not too sure about the effect this has, so feedback on that would be appreciated. I hope it won't be too hard for you to read.
Additionally, I also received a request to draw diagrams for what the bowguns and new model gun looks like so I went ahead and... somehow ended up with magic theory. If you missed it the first time it was mentioned, here's the link: http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh47/jon_seah/Heros%20War%20guns.png
For places to discuss the story, there are occasional updates in r/rational and rarely r/noveltranslations. There is a discussion thread on the animesuki web novels subforum and individual chapters are discussed here. I try to keep abreast of everything but you are most likely to catch me on the animesuki forum so if you have questions, that's your best choice.
That said, I hope you have been enjoying the story and I hope you will continue to do so in the future! Once again, thank you all for reading!
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The two sides of the river were dyed in opposing colours. Black and white. Thirty steps of high water separated the army from the lands of Riewind.
"Think they see us?" the scout whispered to his partner.
"We still here," the other man said, "think not. "
The scout nodded to himself. Fair observation. The new light beams made this kind of scouting hazardous.
They pulled the thin scrub closer to conceal themselves. And waited and counted time as the sun drifted across the sky.
Watching zombies opposite the river, lying down in the warm afternoon sun.
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"How many?"
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
The scout shrugged, "maybe twenty thousand. Not close enough to count. "
The war leader scowled, "any idea where they come from?"
"Saw few coats and many lighter clothing, think they from Neverfall," the scout said, ignoring the leader's worsening mood. He tucked in his thick coat around himself, keeping the chill air at bay.
"Weak willed southern sops! Sitting there waiting for zombies to kill them," the war leader banged the table, "and then we have to kill their bodies anyway! Might as well burn their cities now. If monsters eat it all, what good is farmland?!"
The scout left the tent to the ranting war leader. The snow was starting to come down, a light dusting that disappeared before it even hit you. But even the subzero air was better than staying in there.
It wasn't like he didn't understand. Despite the impossibility of defending a vast open plain, that same plain gave forth food, water and all the things that made life more than just a scrabble for survival like it was up here. Where ice covered the land as many days as not, with only the hardy thorndown leaves for eating, fuel and clothing. Retreating behind the mountain and glacier walls meant giving up a life that was full of... life.
But did that matter when you ended a zombie because of that? And the floods of zombies that multiplied with every city and town that fell to the rising tide of monsters made the situation gradually worse.
The scout walked on through the camp. Those were questions he didn't want to and didn't have to worry about. Maybe he could get to dinner early enough to get a second bowl of leaf soup or some hot water. That was a closer problem he could worry about.
He entered the large wooden hall and saw the far end occupied by the Robes of Life. Their red cloaks were said to be dyed with blood, that people disappeared in mysterious circumstances around them, but he knew better than to believe such rumours. Even so, he still sat down at the front, far away from them.
As reprehensible as their practices were, it was the only reason why he was still here to eat dinner. Why the fortresses of stone and ice held against the ever more powerful zombies. And they did seem to keep their power from being abused. Were they a good thing to have?
The scout brushed away uncomfortable thoughts to eat his chewy boiled leaves. Whispered among the southern villages with more wealth than this fort was myths about a land even further south. Beyond the vast inhospitable desert was said to be a land full of food and riches. Some even cited evidence, the number of zombies attacking them was consistently fewer than the people they killed. So where did all the other bodies go? Were the unwise choices of the southerners causing even more grief further south? Was that the reason why Riewind wasn't bearing the full burnt of the zombies' attacks?
Again, questions he didn't want to worry about.