It took ten minutes, but everyone managed to enter the city… Some of the infantrymen had to fight their way into the city since the enemy's infantry recognized their forces in those brief minutes, but their wounds were light. Gaius also saw the recruits sweating cold and breathing hard. That had been quite the experience for them…

The soldiers that were already inside the city looked happy that they received some reinforcements and supplies, but Gaius and everyone else noticed that they were on their limits and they were the soldiers who had it easier on that side of the town… in any case, it took several hours and it was already past dinner time when the reinforcements were allocated to numerous parts of the cities where they had to camp… they mostly focused on the northeast and northwest side… those parts were quite empty and there was a reason for that.

“... It smells like death,” Gaius thought while he was setting his tent there. "It is even worse than the other times because people are dying after agonizing here and this is happening pretty often too."

The difficult thing about that was the fact that some people suffered for a while and tried to fight back their wounds. Thanks to that, some areas would have this weird aura on them. It didn't feel like something Gaius could ever get used to...

After finishing his own tent, Gaius began to set up Kennil’s tent as well… he was starting to get tired of working for someone else like that… It has been ten days already, after all. Still, he needed the title of a graduated soldier and the title of Captain would come well along with it as well.

In any case, even before he had his chance to have dinner, Gaius went to look after his horses and cleaned the spear that Kennil used. It didn’t receive much damage, but he didn’t have time to clean it completely since he had a meeting with the generals defending that town.

“Why does that guy have so many weapons… you only have two arms and they were all two-handed weapons,” Gaius muttered when he finished putting Kennil’s weapons near the center of the tent.

“That is because I am not particularly skilled at using any of them,” Kennil suddenly arrived and said. “I don’t have a particular interest in any of them either.”

Gaius wanted to click his tongue… he ended up saying his thoughts out loud thinking that he was alone. He felt like he also needed to learn a few tricks, like how to sense people approaching… some people have been assassinated there, after all. Regardless, it was too late, and playing dumb wouldn't work. Might as well just stay quiet and accept whatever happens. Still, what would be the worst that could happen? He was already acting as someone else's servant, after all.

“You are always quiet and expressionless, but it looks like you aren’t just a weird kid,” Kennil said and then threw some rations toward Gaius. “This is your dinner.”

Gaius was used to the rations, hard and practically tasteless, but he wasn’t expecting to have much of a meal in that atmosphere… The smell of death was something else, even though they weren’t close to the buildings of the city that had been destroyed by catapults.

“We are close to the tents where the wounded are hurt, they are dying every minute, that is why the atmosphere is like this,” Kennil explained. “The catapults can’t reach us here, but the inhabitants of the area evacuated from here out of fear.”

“I see…” Gaius said.

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“Tomorrow, the cavalry will leave the town and face the infantry on the southern side of the town, you will accompany me since our goal is to decrease their numbers further,” Kennil declared. “The other foot soldiers and the recruits will stay behind to rest and help with miscellaneous tasks.”

“Can we afford to take it slowly here?” Gaius asked.

“That is what the generals here decided and we will follow their plan,” Kennil declared. “You should rest as much as we can since we need to be battle-ready at sunrise. Also, keep your guard up. Some weird things are happening here… leave one eye open while you sleep.”

As if that was possible… but Gaius was already aware of the assassinations… he was also aware that the perpetrators hadn’t been caught yet. Those guys sure were good at working in the shadows… in any case, Gaius would be fine as long as he doesn’t stand out, the real problem was Kenill. He stood while being one of the first to cross the gates and he had a meeting with the other commanders.

“Maybe I chose the wrong path to reach my goals in this world…” Gaius frowned while he was heading to his tent. “Or maybe things are just this hard when I try to follow the hard path while keeping my powers in secret. Well, at least I am learning a lot.”

Once he got in his tent, Gaius began to chew the rations while thinking about what he should do… just following the plan of the others wasn’t going to help him reach his goals. Moreover, he didn’t even know who was calling the shots. So, he couldn’t say if they were competent or not… if they participated in the defenses of the other fallen town, they most likely weren’t.

After thinking for a while, Gaius didn't have many ideas… he was quite tired, so he was unable to focus. Still, one of the problems was sticking to his head for quite a while. He was considering a lot that he should at least a bit of magic and let people notice it… not only that would increase his chances of getting the promotion, but he also would increase his fame, and that open doors in many fields.

"I guess using Magic Arrows would be the most simple way… there is no need to do any more than that," Gaius thought. "That wouldn't make me have to worry about ammo, and I would be able to attack the enemies freely and increase my number of soldiers."

The downside of that was the fact that Gaius might attract trouble for himself as well… maybe he had to remain low until he got rid of Ekirenton and turned him into a minion. That way, he will be able to control the information about him and use him as a shield if he has to. With him under his control, he will be able to move the army of that entire state… even though the idea of sacrificing others to have a calm and convenient life didn't sit well with him.

"I guess I don't have to make this choice now…" Gaius thought. "If I am going to do this, I will have to think of some explanations in case people start to ask questions… maybe if I just wear glasses and put on a red cape and wear a tight suit, people won't think that I was the one using magic… I guess I am mixing the order of things here."

The stakes of that battle were relatively low for Gaius, so he didn't have to hurry up and make his decision… he might have a few days, but his choice will be made in a second in case one of the gates falls, though.

Despite that, Gaius went to sleep while practicing with his Magic Arrows… instead of firing them like before, he was planning to make them more physical and use them alongside the bow and his strength… which should help him gain more power while saving some mana. It also could help him surprise the enemies by not letting them know that he can magically fire them like usual.

In any case, when Gaius was about to fall asleep, he suddenly learned some new things… when the magic arrow got denser enough for him to hold it, it consumed fifty percent more mana than usual. So, fifteen points per arrow, but at the same time, they exploded upon contact. Gaius dropped the first one to see what would happen… and then some people came to check what he had done and found his sword, spear, and shield on the ground while he pretended that he just woken up.

“That was a close call…” Gaius thought and then sighed when the others left. “I guess the mana becomes unstable and explodes when it touches anything physical with this level of density.”

They won’t be able to pierce a lot of soldiers, but Gaius could find other uses for that. In the end, he managed to go to sleep feeling satisfied with the result he got… perhaps he slept too well since he only woke up when the sky was getting clearer and most of the soldiers were already up and readying themselves for battle.