Chapter 90

The march was going much smoother than expected.
There was a time when I thought that. I wish I could punch my past self.

“Hide! Don’t you dare move!”

We were currently trying to stay concealed.
Holding our breath and waiting for the enemy to pass.

That being said, this enemy wasn’t a soldier. It was a monster.
The thing looked more like a kaiju as the sounds of its feet echoed through the forest.

“Rig. What is that thing?”
“I believe it’s a type of Multiocular Beast. But I’ve never seen one that was this big before.”
“Neither have I.”

Any beast with eight to ten eyes on their faces were called ‘Multiocular Beasts.’
And while they did not have an Orb of Control within their bodies, some of them were terribly strong.

“This one is about twice as tall as the forest trees.”
It was no wonder that there were no villages around if something like that lived here.

A Multiocular Beast that was the same size as me would be a strong enemy already.
Instead of the ability to reason, they had highly developed aggressive instincts.

And I did not want to go up against a creature that lived only to kill its next prey.
Who would want to fight a beast that was so large you had to strain your neck to look at it? But then again, I was with Ogres.

“Ah, I don’t know about this one. I bet half of our group will get eaten if it finds us.”
Apparently, Saifo agreed with me.

In this instance, half would be eaten, while the other half would make a run for it.
It wasn’t like we had a chance of winning if we were willing to sacrifice half of our men.

Perhaps the Multiocular Beast was searching for something, as it took a few steps forward before looking around. It continued to do this while walking in a circle.

It was only when the sun started to set, that the beast finally went away.
“…Phew. Good thing it didn’t find us.”

The last thing we needed was to take on a kaiju in a place like this.
If we were going just by height, it was about three times as tall as the Gigant Centaur.

“Should we camp here for the night?”
“Aye. It would be no good if we fumbled in the dark and ended up getting caught.”

Besides, we were all quite mentally drained now.
And so it ended up being a very quiet night. Even the Ogres could not be heard talking, which was very rare.

After that, we continued to slowly make our way through Janius’s lands. All the while ready to escape into Leninoth’s country if something happened.

We noticed the change on the tenth day after crossing the border.
We were only a few days away from entering Fara’s country.

“There is movement on Leninoth’s side.”
Rig said. He looked rather nervous as he approached me.

It was just as we had finished our break and were about to start marching again.

“Movement? Were we discovered?”

“No. While we were able to confirm the presence of soldiers, it does not seem like they know we are here. I believe they are on patrol.”

“But we haven’t encountered any soldiers on patrol up until now.”
While this was Janius’s land, we were very close to Leninoth’s.

Well, it’s not like there was a clearly visible line, so I didn’t know for sure. But I believed that we were passing through an area that was just a few kilometers away from Leninoth’s territory.

“It must be that our country has begun the invasion.”
“Ahh…yes, it would be right about now, wouldn’t it?”

In order to make this plan work, there was a need for three groups to move at the right time.
And ours was the first group.

While the country prepared for war, we would quietly escape.
Our goal was to avoid any fighting until we reached Fara’s lands.

Around that time, General Gorgodan would make a big show of appearing at Leninoth’s borders.

Of course, Leninoth would send out an army to drive them back. However, Gorgodan and most of his army were giants.
So there would be nothing strange about them moving slowly.

Gorgodan’s purpose was to start a battle near the border.
By luring the enemy in and fighting, we would be able to spread out the enemy forces.

In the meantime, General Farneze would take her very best soldiers and move towards Leninoth’s castle.
Most of them would be Night Demons, so they would be able to blend in the shadows and avoid detection.

As for us, we just had to wreak havoc on Fara’s territories in order to attract soldiers into Leninoth’s lands.
My prediction was that Totoir’s army would be deployed. And we would just disappear right before their arrival.

“If Leninoth is acting now, it must mean he is wary of the surrounding countries.”
In order to focus on the war, he had to keep a sharp eye on his borders.

Apparently, Leninoth was not the type who found such measures to be too troublesome.
Well, it was a good thing for us. The more scattered his forces were, the better.

“Ah, but then it might be harder for General Farneze to sneak into the country.”

If they were discovered too quickly, it was possible that the enemy would see through the entire plan.
I could only hope that the stealth abilities of those creatures of the night would not disappoint us. Besides, there was nothing we could do to help them.

“What should we do?”
“I think it would be too dangerous to go deeper into Janius’s territory. And we should only move under cover of night from now on.”

There were many reasons to avoid being seen by the scouts Leninoth had unleashed. And though it might cause a delay for us, I preferred safety. Everything would be over if we were caught.

And so I had everyone gather together and then explained to them the change in plan.
“Our country and Leninoth’s country are likely in a state of war now. From here on, we will rest during the day and move during the night. If you are seen by anyone, report it immediately. We have to erase all witnesses. I’ll be expecting you all to be extra vigilant.”

And so it took us two days longer than planned.
However, we were able to arrive in Fara’s lands without being seen.

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Makai Hongi