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Chapter 307: From Entering the Empire to Marching (2)

The Guild’s message might not have reached the military if they rushed there too quickly, so the group strolled around the town for a bit before entering. It seemed that by the time they arrived, the Guild’s contact had properly notified the military, and the official in charge immediately came out to meet them.

“You are quite fast. I heard that some adventurers were coming from Kapha, but none have arrived yet, except for you.”

A middle-aged soldier introduced himself as the official in charge. Seated at a simple wooden desk with a quill pen clasped between his fingers, he did not give off an impression of a man who had just returned from the battlefield. Loren thought that he must be a government official specializing in clerical work, judging from his physical appearance.

“We took a different route. The sooner you join, the more you get.”

It was true that they had taken a different route, though it was more of a detour than a hurried visit, and they had even taken a rest on the way. Loren did feel a little guilty about it, but he couldn’t tell the truth.

“It depends on what you can do for the war. Basically, you will only be rewarded for the work you do for the Adventurers’ Guild, but of course you will be rewarded separately from the military if you do something that affects the war situation.”

Loren wondered if the official in charge was a little less than hopeful when he said this with a smile on his face. In the first place, it was not a common occurrence for an individual to have any significant impact to influence a battlefield situation, and those who could, were usually called heroes. Someone like Klaus might think of himself as one, but an ex-mercenary wouldn’t care.

“That’s tough. It’d be better for us to work within our pay grade.”

“You could say so.”

The official in charge laughed, and Loren replied with an amiable smile.

The official beckoned Loren with a little gesture, and as Loren leaned in closer, whispered into his ears.

“But the people at the back, are you sure they are alright? You are good, but…”

Loren quietly turned his head to look behind him. Members of the group were waiting for him to finish his exchange with the official, and Loren frowned. It seemed only natural that the official would feel uneasy.

Lapis was acceptable to some degree. From the outside, even though her dress was a priest’s uniform, it did not look like something to be worn on the battlefield, and its color and design made her stand out.

In Gula’s case, her clothes were too revealing. If anyone other than her thought of going to the battlefield in a tube top and hot pants, it could only be assumed that they were anything but a sane person.

As for Luxuria and his followers, no words were needed. Although it could be said that the followers did appear to be decent, the aura created by their eyes and mannerism didn’t look decent in any way.

In general, it was understandable for people to wondered whether the whole party was alright, and Loren shared the official’s concern. However, nothing that could reassure the official came to Loren’s mind, so he went with a safe response that he managed to somehow think of.

“Well… Can’t judge a book by its cover.”

Of course, there was no way that the official would be satisfied with such an answer, but the officer seemed to reconsider, given the fact that it wasn’t his job to meddle in these things. After rummaging through the documents on his desk for a while, he pulled out the item he was looking for and held it out to Loren.

“As you may have already heard from the Adventurers’ Guild, most of the reinforcements from the Guild will be organized into units that are in charge of guerrilla missions.”

“We’ve been told a bit, but what’s the current battle situation?”

As far as Loren could see, there was no one else who seemed to have any urgent business with this official. He wondered if the guy would be willing to engage in a conversation in the name of information gathering, and decided to test the waters. The official seemed to have some free time on his hands, so he readily started talking.

“We’re in a standoff near the border between the Empire and the Kingdom.”

The official pulled out another piece of paper, which was a simplified map of the border area between the two countries. Running his finger over it, he began to explain.

“The two countries’ main forces are engaged in a standoff in the middle of the border. Several units are deployed around them, but it’s a stalemate. There are also a number of small units, whose main target would be weaving in and out of the gaps and engage in skirmishes such as reconnaissance and ambush.”

“This is quite a nuisance, isn’t it?”

Loren did not know the detailed figures, but from the experience of his mercenary time, he knew that war was a costly affair. This was true whether there were battles actively going on or not, and even just by fighting a standoff, tremendous costs must have been incurred on a daily basis. These costs should be paid out of the national treasuries of both countries, and the burden would eventually be shifted to taxpayers.

If they were going to declare war, it would have been better to start and finish it as soon as possible, but it seemed that there were circumstances that prevented the quick conclusion of the war.

“The Empire and the Kingdom have been hostile to each other for a while, but it had been little more than a series of small skirmishes. But when we found out that we could get help from the Adventurers’ Guild, we sent out a serious force, to which the Kingdom responded by also sending out a large force from their side.”

“So, after you opened that can of worms, you found out that the forces were pretty evenly matched?”

Although both sides had sent their troops to the front, a clash between two forces of nearly equal strength usually resulted in significant casualties, regardless of who won.

The Empire and the Kingdom were not the only countries in the northern part of the continent. No matter who won this war, if a third party intervened when they were exhausted, both would fall. In such a situation where the future of both countries was uncertain, both sides had become reluctant to take action.

“Currently, the Empire is said to be slightly outnumbering the Kingdom, but since this is due to the reinforcements from the Adventurers’ Guild, the combat ability of the Empire is a little worse. In general, the overall strength of both sides is about the same.”

In group battles, individual skill was almost like a margin of error, unless one was very skilled. Adventurers were skilled in battles, but few of them had any experience in large-scale group battles, and it was unlikely that they would be able to coordinate with the Empire’s army.

Although the Kingdom’s army was outnumbered, it was made up of soldiers who had originally been trained for group battles, and it did not include soldiers from other organizations. In other words, the Kingdom’s army is superior to the Imperial Army in terms of coordination and leadership.

“The Empire began conducting reconnaissance and raids using adventurers as their main axis, and the Kingdom began sending out units to counter them, which led to small-scale battles here and there.”

Loren wondered if this was actually a good use for adventurers. Someone must have thought that if the force lacked credibility to be incorporated into large-scale battles, it would be more effective to be operated as small units to some extent.

A guerrilla force was not something to be trifled with. Even if they were not much of an obstacle when fought directly, they moved fast, and it was difficult to see where they were coming from. If they were to poke a hole in a supply route or a part of the main force that was undermanned, the main force would be affected in no time at all.

This was probably why the Kingdom sent out forces to counter the attack, but this time, the small units clashed with each other, and the war seemed to have fallen further into a stalemate.

“The number of reinforcements from the Adventurers’ Guild is increasing as time goes by. I think that soon we will be able to ignore the quality of the reinforcements and balance it with the sheer number.”

“The Kingdom is not stupid, so they must know that they could be at a disadvantage if they wait too long… But the fact that they haven’t started a decisive battle is rather worrisome, isn’t it?”

“The military brass will be the one to think about that. In the meantime, could you please fill in the names of all the people on this form?”

The one who took the document presented by the official was Lapis, who had come to stand beside Loren before he knew it.

Ignoring Loren and the official, who were astonished and wondering how long she had been there, Lapis simply wrote the names of three people on the document, folded it into four pieces, and threw it to Luxuria as if throwing a knife.

Loren thought it would be no big deal since it was just paper, but the paper flew toward Luxuria in a twirl. Not expecting something to be suddenly thrown at him, Luxuria reacted too late and was struck between his eyebrows.

“Hey! It hurts more than I thought!”

“Just shut up and fill in your name and the names of the others.”

When Luxuria, who was pressing at the bleeding wound caused by the paper’s corner, raised his voice in protest, Lapis answered in a cold voice.

It seemed that the Evil God understood immediately that it would be pointless to protest any further. He did as he was told and began to fill in the names of himself and his followers on the paper while muttering complaints under his breath.

Loren asked the official something that had been bothering him, just to be sure.

“Do we have to write it ourselves?”

“No one knows if you wrote it yourself or not.”

‘I see’, Loren said, then took the piece of paper that Luxuria, who looked like he wanted to say something, held out to him and placed it in front of the official.

The official compared the number of names on the paper with the number of Loren’s group and confirmed that there was no discrepancy. Then, he casually put the number 891, his signature, and a large seal on the paper and gave it back to Loren.

“That’s all for now. The upper floor of this building is used as a lodging, so please stay there today. Show this paper to the sergeant at the entrance, and he will get you a room. There is also a dining hall, and you can have your meals there. Tomorrow, another person in charge will come to call you by this number, so please follow the instructions from there on.”

“We’d like to be assigned to some easy mission as soon as possible.”

“That… If you’re a clerical staff, you could be assigned to the rear duty, like I am.”

No one would think of asking an adventurer to do the paperwork for them. Loren knew it was a waste of time and effort, and he was about to leave the place with a bitter smile on his face when he remembered something and asked the official.

“By the way, I heard that there’s a guy called Yuri Mutshilt in the Empire. Do you know him?”

“You mean General Mutshilt? If you’re thinking of going to sell yourself directly to him, don’t do it. You’ll be treated like a suspicious person and thrown in jail.”

It was the name of the leader of the mercenary group, to which Loren had originally belonged.

Loren was surprised at how quick an answer came when he mentioned the name, but he was even more surprised to learn of the rank that preceded it, which made him unable to continue the conversation. He didn’t know how the official took his reaction, but the man continued with more information that he had not heard.

“The General came on the scene some time ago and has distinguished himself in the war against the Kingdom, so he may have an understanding of people like you. But it’s wartime, and he’s busy commanding the main army here, so if you come forward and say you’re actually the General’s bastard son or something similar, you’ll lose your head.”

It was said that during wars, there were people who came forward to military leaders claiming to be a child or a blood relative. Regardless of whether the claim was true or not, the situation was chaotic, and people wanted some help, no matter how little. General or whatever, Loren now had some clue now, so he decided to put off investigating and just go along with the story for the time being.

“That’s not what I’m thinking about… Just that I’ve heard his name being mentioned. If he’s just come to the scene a while ago, isn’t it too early for him to become a General?”

“He’s a hero in the current war against the Kingdom, you know.”

“A hero…”

Assuming that no further information was likely to be obtained from the official, Loren concluded the conversation, urged Lapis and the others to leave.

“What is he doing?”

Although it was good news to hear that the leader of his mercenary company had survived its destruction, Loren was puzzled to hear that he was now a general in an empire in the northern part of the continent. The thought that it might actually be a different person with the same name came to his mind, but the only way to confirm this was to somehow get a face-to-face meeting with the person in question. But how could an adventurer and a general of a country meet? Not knowing what to do, Loren let out a small sigh.