Heirina furrowed her eyebrows when she heard that… those numbers didn’t make much sense. She could only imagine that Reina was talking about something completely unrelated. Fortunately, she decided to explain it.
“I decided that the contents of the letter are worthy of one week of my and five hundred warriors’ services. That is all.”
“That means… that you are going to help?”
“We are three days away from the front lines, so for four days. As Long as your troops don’t turn out to be useless, this should be enough.”
That would be hard to tell, but it was a risk that they wanted to take. In the next moment, the guys behind cut the ropes that tied the group, and Zelos looked at the guy he had kicked. He had a calm expression on his face, but it was clear that his eyes were filled with anger. The group also received their weapons back.
“Send the word to everyone that we are going to the plain lands. The first five hundred that reach the river will come with me. We will be back in ten days.”
“Yes, leader.”
That guy that Zelos kicked said that and then left the room and Reina got up before tapping on her knees. The group didn’t know what to say, so they just watched her putting her spear on her back, but she was fine in being stared at while staying in silence. Heirina decided to break the silence.
“Shouldn’t we discuss the current situation of the battle while the others are getting ready?”
“No need. It doesn’t matter the situation there, we will fight in the same manner as we do. I suppose you all need to have breakfast before departing. Let’s go. We will do that before the time comes.”
Somehow, Zelos had the feeling that working with the natives will be very different from he was used to, or anyone was used for that matter. In any case, the group left the tower and soon and soon they headed to what seemed to be the version of the natives of a restaurant. The place had a bunch of caskets filled with food and some barrels with milk as well. People who were there grabbed what they wanted and paid for what they felt it was worth it. Fortunately, they used the same currency that the people from the plane lands used.
“I will pay for your food. Feel free to eat as much as you want.”
The other people of the group looked at Zelos with eyes filled with suspicion, while he just shrugged. He couldn’t understand their reaction. Reina said that she would pay for it, so why wouldn’t they make full use of her generosity? In the end, Zelos forced himself to feel satisfied by eating just a bit more than a normal person. After much thinking, Irlan finally decided to ask something that was bothering him.
“Excuse me, but how should we refer to you? My name is Irlan, by the way.”
“I don’t need to be referred to as a random title like you plain lands. The people here call me leader because I am the leader here, but anyone else can just use my name.”
“Then, Reina… Are we really three days away from the front lines? We lost our wagon and horses, so…”
“Your horses are fine. They are being kept somewhere else. As for the trip to the front lines, we can cross half of the distance nonstop using our boats. That being said, it would be better if you all kept your mouth shut about what you will see. Unless you want to get on our bad side. Regardless, what are your names?”
The group introduced themselves properly, but it didn’t look like Reina paid much attention to their names, or their appearances, for that matter. It made since all of them looked like kids from her perspective.
“Let’s get going. I have the feeling that our side will be in a bind soon enough.”
“Based on what?”
Zelos barely had time to finish his question. Heirina pushed him to the side immediately and soon showed an apologetic and nervous smile.
“I am sorry again, Reina. It is fine if you ignore this rude kid. Long story short, we are still educating him.”
“I don’t mind. We also prefer to talk with those who don’t hide their thoughts and behavior behind words or falsehoods. As to based on what I can say, I can’t tell.”
Zelos didn’t feel like asking more because he wouldn’t get a clear answer. It was obvious that the topic was a bit troublesome for them, apparently. Maybe it would reveal a lot of things about the natives.
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When the group reached the river, they found their horses on several boats… There are many other horses being moved to those small boats as well. It seemed that the natives were planning to use theirs as well. Still, despite their numbers, there were only so many people that could go… However, there were thousands of people there planning to join them. Maybe it was a coincidence, but most of them were male.
“She must be pretty popular.”
Although Zelos just pointed out the obvious, he got the suspicious look of the girl in the group… Reina just left to select the people who would go, but she just picked five people, and those five people would pick five people until they had five hundred on their end. She didn’t even wait for that; she just jumped on a boat and called for Zelos and the others to come. The people left behind looked so jealous.
Although there was enough space for the group, Reina, and the horses, there wouldn’t be much space to sleep, so they would have to endure that. Moreover, the guy who kicked Zelos jumped in and sat behind him. That was going to be a very uncomfortable trip for all intentions and purposes.
Fortunately, that guy had a trait that made him control water, apparently. He began to focus and then the boat began to move faster downstream. That was pretty handy… people with those kinds of abilities would make a killing anywhere if they wanted.
Everyone in the group looked like they were itching to ask how he could do that and what his trait was supposed to be exactly, but they knew it better than doing that.
“Eldor’s trait let him control water in many ways, but he and others focus on manipulating the water from the river for movement like this.”
“Leader…”
Eldor showed a pathetic expression but soon recomposed himself since he didn’t want to show weakness to the plains folks.
Although the talks weren’t that long and deep, Reina talked with the group a few times and explained to them a few things about their society. She didn’t have to, but despite her blank expression, she wasn’t particularly against the idea of talking with them.
In any case, while they had a start, soon other boats reached them and began to pass by them. When that happened, Zelos felt the pissed eyes of the natives. As expected, he didn’t get along with them. There was something fundamentally annoying about them that he couldn’t pinpoint.
However, along the way, Zelos found that the leader of the natives had some fans and he wasn’t popular with them for whatever reason, even though she never showed much interest in him. It was hard to imagine that she became their leader just because she was pretty, though.
“It is rare to find relics nowadays, even more so in the hands of a kid. You are a kid, aren’t you? Despite being well built for your age.”
“I guess so… what do you mean by relics? Is it because this sword has a weird effect? The blacksmith I bought this from called it cursed.”
“I suppose it can be called like that from a certain perspective. The weapon passes an aura of danger and annoyance as well…”
Zelos wondered what Reina was talking about. He never heard of weapons that had auras, but maybe that was a thing that the natives could feel or something. Regardless, at least Zelos was learning something.
“Relics or cursed weapons are tools that absorb a lot of blood on the battlefield. Either from their masters or other enemies. What can it do?”
“Nothing, it just gets heavier the more it absorbs.”
Heirina, Kaitrine, Edea and Irlan raised their eyebrows when they heard that… they never asked what the weapon could do since Zelos wasn’t the type who would reveal such a thing, but the situation was a bit different.
“I see… Considering its format, it was probably forged very far away by a blacksmith that used his own blood as materials. Some people know that they can use that kind of thing to create relics. The more rare the trait, the better. However, the process in detail is unknown, and it needs to be quick and a small amount of blood wouldn’t make it do.”
It probably just wasn’t to use some blood and mix with some ores and would be enough. It made sense… Still, Zelos got curious thanks to that. Perhaps he should study some blacksmithing once he has the chance and his farm business starts to go well even without him.
Although Zelos wanted to ask more about that, they finally crossed the final mountain of the area and then the river began to flow through a small clearing and eventually moved beyond it. Before they could let anyone see that they used the river like that, they stopped the boats on the shore and began to move the horses. The natives worked on that while Reina and the others moved a bit further from it since she asked them to follow her.
“I didn’t want to accept this call because I don’t know how she is… years ago, a certain girl was traveling around the mountain when her group was apparently ambushed by a group of bandits. The girl ran for her life since she didn’t know how to fight. She was only ten years old, after all. In the end, she ended up lost in the mountains and began to be chased by the supposed bandits. After running away for two days from them, she eventually ended up being found by my group. We were hunting some beasts and saved her just when she was about to be killed by the supposed bandits… we rescued her and then killed them. The thing is, her group was also working alongside the bandits to kill her. She ignored that fact and thanked us from the bottom of her heart.”
The group looked at each other after hearing that… this story was starting to sound weird. Still, the dots began to be connected…
“The girl was bright, gentle, and despite her situation, she was very happy. In the end, she spent some weeks with us until I decided to take her to the other side of the mountains and close to her home… That girl was the daughter of the emperor and she was the one who wrote the letter asking me for help to protect the borders. I decided to dig a bit further and learned that she is the only kid of the emperor.”
Everyone was left speechless after hearing that… still, after thinking for a short while, they began to understand the situation and why the country was kind of in a mess.