Deep inside a monster-infested forest – an area no sane person would have gone to on their own even if they were a third tier combatant – a small bonfire was lit, and around it ten figures sat as they cheerfully talked with each other. As their mouths were busied with chatter, their hands made use of branches cut and sharpened for the purpose to roast some meat and things like sausages by the bonfire, while the fire occasionally crackled as drops of rendered fat fell into its blaze.
Naturally, it was Esperanza along with the [Progenies of Yore] who were gathered around that bonfire. Given the fact that their individual power – other than Iryl – all rivaled a fourth tier combatant’s, they easily strolled within the dangerous forest as if it was their own backyard. Similarly, they did not fear being discovered by demon hunting parties, as several skills obscured the bonfire from anyone who might be looking their way.
After the group had struck three bases that belonged to the demons in quick succession, they decided that they had caused a large enough ruckus for the time being and chose to hide their tracks before the demons sent someone they couldn’t handle their way. As such, the group decisively split into three, with Ani and one of her senior-most warriors each leading another four of their compatriots towards different directions, while Esperanza led the rest another way.
Their plan was to lead the demons into a wild goosechase while hiding their real destination at the same time. Once the groups decided that they were safe from pursuit, they would head towards a meeting point they had agreed upon beforehand. None of them were particularly worried about the safety of the others, since the demons were faced with a dilemma they had no easy solutions for.
If the demons sent search parties that had enough power to fight against one of the groups, they would be too easy to notice and would never catch up to them. On the other hand, if they split up into smaller groups, they would be far too weak and were more likely to never return. The demons had focused their fourth tiers on the frontlines after all, and it was not feasible to call them back at the slightest disturbance.
As a result, the search parties only had a few low level fourth tiers – those entrusted to guard the nearby cities – and a bunch of higher leveled third tiers to rely on. That proved to be far from enough to deal with any of the intruders they faced. Shortly after the groups had split up, Ani’s group had ambushed a small team led by one of the demon fourth tiers and annihilated them without mercy. Esperanza herself found another such team catching up to her group, and thus set an ambush as they drew closer.
Not a single one of the demons escaped with their lives, with Esperanza personally taking out the fourth tier – who was notably a lot weaker than she was – in charge on her own. She then made use of [Soul Manifestation] to interrogate the soul of that fourth tier to gain a better idea of what to expect out of her pursuers.
Not that it mattered, since after two of their compatriots disappeared without a trace, the remaining fourth tiers in the hunting party refused to go out on their own from that point onward, which greatly slowed their pursuit. The fear also spread amongst the demons as every now and then, a search party would fail to return, their members simply vanishing into thin air.
That fear and the resultant delays it caused in the pursuit allowed all three groups to easily escape their pursuers, to the point that they could afford to take relaxed breaks without fear of being caught up by their pursuers. It was one such break that Esperanza had her group take in the depths of the forest, where they happily relaxed while enjoying themselves.
One side benefit of the strikes the group had done against the demon bases so far was that they also grabbed quite a few good things from those bases. They had found quite a bit of intelligence in the first base they hit, like ones delivered by the supply caravan for the base to relay further into the Demon Territories.
From what they could piece together out of the reports they found, it appeared that the human [Heroes] or people strongly suspected to be them had been sighted on the eastern side of the frontline, and had delivered a painful blow against the demon forces there. Esperanza couldn’t help but wonder if that meant Alissa was nearby, but subsequent reports that claimed sighting of said [Heroes] at several different places made it clear that it would be harder to find her old friend than she liked.
Besides, she couldn’t abandon the children she had taken charge of just to meet her old friend – who she would likely have to fight, considering their current status – once more.
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On the second base they hit, the group had lucked out as they found a more detailed map of the region they were in. At the moment Esperanza’s group carried that map. There were two scouts amongst Ani’s warriors who had general skills that allowed them to keep a mental map of an area, and that allowed them to do the same from other maps, so they simply kept a mental copy with them as they went.
As for the third base they burnt to the ground, what they found there was not valuable in a strategic or military sense, but nevertheless were things that the group as a whole greatly appreciated. Stowed in one of the warehouses of the third supply base were several crates full of luxury food and drinks, likely intended for the high-ranked people on the frontlines. Needless to say, the group didn’t burn those things down and instead absconded with the whole lot while laughing to themselves.
Of course, since the luxuries were intended for the frontlines of battle, nobody was crazy – or stupid – enough to attempt smuggling things that were easily noticeable or items that would cause their superiors to reprimand them if found out. Instead, they brought things that did not look out of place amongst the rations typically given out amongst the soldiers.
It was a move to preserve morale, as the demons had learned long ago that having the commanders feast on all sorts of delicacies while the soldiers fed on meager rations resulted in poor morale overall. While they only kept it up in appearance, it was enough to fool the eyes of most soldiers, while at the same time avoiding complaints from the privileged people.
However, instead of cheap, mass produced cheese the cheese they enjoyed would be aged, fine quality artisanal cheese made by some of the best cheesemakers in the Demon Territories. Similarly, things like jerkies and sausages would be made from the flesh of monsters that were particularly good in taste and highly nutritious, rather than from the meat of common animals.
Similarly, while the jugs and barrels look the same, the drinks within were not the same cheap ales or the likes, but were the finest products from brewers throughout the demon lands. The group ran across a sizable amount of such luxury supplies in the third resource base and left nothing behind, Esperanza gleefully filling up the remaining room in her [Soul Storage] with them.
The room would be freed up once the stuff was consumed anyway.
It was a welcome change compared to the flesh of wild monsters or wild fruits the group usually subsisted on. The “luxury” rations did not look like much, but they tasted far better than what one would have expected out of army rations. All considered, it was pretty impressive that the demons managed to deliver all sorts of rations in such quantities to the frontlines so easily, but then again they had over half the world to supply their forces.
Despite the presence of magic and the system, apparently Ephemera was still quite behind earth when it came to food preservation. Instead, the locals preserved their food by the old methods, namely by drying, smoking, or other preserving the food in salt, honey, or oil. Most of the rations that both the human and demon armies used were preserved that way.
Grains naturally also made up a large portion of their food supply, and were delivered to the frontlines either whole or in the form of flour. While there was no such thing as luxury grains or flour amongst the supplies the group had “liberated” from the demons, they did find some other things meant to go with them, like jars of honey as well as fruit preserves like jams and marmalades.
Needless to say, the group had no need to save up on their food supplies after the heist.
Esperanza couldn’t help but smile when he saw the genuine smiles on the face of the progenies. With all the fighting and killing they’ve been doing, it was all too easy to forget that they were in the end, still children at heart. Children that had chosen to follow her path on their own free will, which made her feel responsible for them.
It was a rare thing to see them smile widely and innocently like the children they were, but such a sight did occur when the group dined on some of their stolen supplies that night. While the grains were mostly delivered to the frontlines raw or as flour, there were some packs of baked goods as well amongst what they found. There wasn’t much of it, so Ani had declined when Esperanza offered her some to bring along when they split up. The older warrior had told Esperanza that she should give it to the children instead.
Now she understood why.
While those baked goods looked like hard biscuits – the sort that would often be carried aboard ships as rations for long journeys – at a glance, they turned out to be much lighter and softer to the bite, not unlike an extra dense or compacted loaf of bread in some ways. As such, they proved to be an excellent canvas to slather the honey and marmalades the group had found.
The blissful smiles of the forcibly matured children as they bit into the sweet treats, for once looking their real age, was a sight that Esperanza ingrained into her mind. Something she wished to recall and preserve forevermore.
Naturally, it wasn’t just the sweets that proved to be a big hit amongst the children. Ephemera had no laws that forbid alcohol consumption by youngsters, so most of the kids had tasted lighter ales or sweet meads before. To say the least, some of them took quite a liking to the high quality – and expensive – varieties they found amongst the supplies.
Of course, Esperanza made sure that they drank with moderation. The group was still on the run after all, and it wouldn’t do for them to slip up because one of them made a mistake due to drunkenness. Thankfully Mel-Ivas had a panacea skill that was meant to purify all sorts of poisons, and it also worked on alcohol, so Esperanza felt it was fine for the kids to have some fun, then Mel-Ivas can spare them the side effects of the drinks once they were finished with the impromptu party.
Esperanza herself found that she gravitated to the foods that had stronger flavors these days, like the heavily spiced smoked sausages, ones with strong flavors that only intensified with some roasting by the bonfire. Ever since she gained her new form, her sense of taste had been more… subdued compared to before. It was overall a good thing, however, as it also allowed her to do her early feats without feeling the need to constantly wash her mouths.
That night, the group enjoyed a rare night where they allowed themselves to be free from their worries. If all went as planned, they should reach their destination in another day, and hopefully reunite with the other groups soon after.