Chapter 279

“I’m going to be staying in this town for a while.”
I said. Rig’s reply was simply, ‘I understand.’
It was awfully straightforward.

“Aren’t you going to ask me why?”
Rig wasn’t the type to go against my decisions unless he had a really good reason to.

However, he always asked me ‘why’ I was going to do something.
He wanted to know my reasoning for making such a decision.

“I can tell just by looking at your face, Sir Golan. Something interesting is going to happen, isn’t it? I have rarely seen you look so enthusiastic.”

How did he see me, I wonder?
He said I was full of enthusiasm. But I didn’t know what that looked like.
What if my whole body was bobbing up and down?

“I see… Well, you may just be right. Nehyor is leading his army towards this town. And I intend to fight him no matter what.”
I had already declared publicly that I would defeat Nehyor, so this was little surprise to Rig.

“Indeed, sir. Then it would be best for you to continue to hide the fact that you are here.”
“That’s true.”

There was no need to let him know that I was waiting for him.
It would be more impactful and effective if I appeared when he least expected it.

“Should I tell your men to follow suit?”
“Yes… No, I will tell them myself. And perhaps I should put on a disguise.”

There was no doubt about it. Nehyor was here for the Demon King’s Orb of Control.
That was the only explanation, according to what Melvis told me about his evolution.

And so Nehyor would not come charging into this town without a plan.
He would have likely had his men and maybe even merchants and mercenaries infiltrate this place in advance.

“A disguise? What kind of disguise…?”
“Well…”

And so I told Rig what I was thinking of.

To be precise, it involved the kind of sparkly suits that old comedians wore, and a bowtie. Also a bowler hat, swirly glasses and a beard.
And what about those whistle things that extended in three directions when you blew?

“That way, no one will recognize me.”
“Indeed. But I think it will look so suspicious that the guards will arrest you.”

…Right. Well, I wasn’t really serious.

“I’ve fought Nehyor’s men a few times now, and they’ve seen me fight. So they will likely recognize my face. That’s what we need to consider.”

“I believe they will be keeping their eyes on the castle, so you may not draw any attention as long as you stay in town… Of course, that is as long as you keep quiet.”

“So, that’s what it comes down to.”

If I went out to gather information, I would draw attention.
Nehyor would surely hear of it if I walked around town and asked people about the Wild Hunt.

“I think that you and your men should abstain from doing anything that might get noticed.”
“Yes.”
Rig was always right. I couldn’t help but think that.

And so I gathered my men together and told them that our return journey would be delayed, and that since Nehyor was close by, we would wait for him here so that we could kill him.

Upon hearing this, not only the Ogres, but even the Vampires became very eager.
They did not think well of Nehyor, who had tricked and betrayed their Vampire leader, General Farneze.

As for the Ogres, they didn’t really care about old grudges.
They simply liked the prospect of another fight.

“It would be best if they didn’t know that we were here. And so don’t get in any fights. Save your strength.”
I said.

“What?” “Are you serious!?” They shouted.
All of them were itching to get into action.

Still, I forced them to be quiet and insisted that they stay indoors as much as possible.
This was all so that we could annihilate the Wild Hunt.

“Listen. If any of you disobey my orders, I’ll break at least three of your bones on the spot. Got it?”
I said, and the discussion was over.

○ Wild Hunt – Nehyor

Nehyor and the Wild Hunt avoided any of the main roads as they made their way to Tralzard’s town.

While it was possible for them to use the roads while concealing themselves, they had already given up stopping at any villages.

“It seems like word has been spreading, and I would rather avoid leaving any more traces than we already have.”
“That would be wise. It seems that not only towns, but the villages have also been warned.”

They had stopped once in order to gather information, and found out that soldiers were coming and going from all the towns and villages in the area.

Even if they killed all of the residents of a village, patrolling soldiers would discover them in the morning.
And if they killed the soldiers on patrol, then the enemy would notice that they hadn’t returned.

If they continued to do such things, the enemy would realize what their aim was.
And so they had avoided stopping at any towns or villages on the way.

For this expedition, Nehyro had brought three hundred and fifty of his best fighters, as well as fifty who specialized in scouting.
And then there were twenty who carried the baggage.

He even thought about just taking those who could fly, and leaving the others behind. But if the enemy discovered them, they would be annihilated.

And it would not do if the captured ended up leaking information about Nehyor to the enemy.
Because of this, Nehyor had no choice but to move with the others.

“It’s unfortunate that you no longer have spies in Tralzard’s town.”
Nehyor was about to nod at Legras’s words, but he remembered something and shook his head instead.

“I called them back as soon as the assasination attempt on the tactician failed. And that’s why the damage was minimal. We had no choice.”

After that, there was the invasion from the Celestial World, which resulted in the deaths of those still in the town.
What survivors there were were used to deliver the stone.
Then it was just retreat after retreat. He had not had time to send more men to infiltrate the town.

“But still, surely we should stop somewhere and gather information…”
“That’s true. Maybe we should just make the forest our base? I don’t know…”

“There is also the problem of food. While we won’t have much time, it is possible.”
“Hmm, food, eh? What should we do…”

If they stayed too close to Tralzard’s town, the plan would fall apart the moment that they were discovered.
It would be best if they could make their base a day or half a day’s distance away when flying. Or two to three days when running.

In that case, they could spend ten or more days gathering information.
While they still had food, they would not have enough for the return journey if they weren’t careful.

In any case, there were so many of them this time.
And so they needed space, both when traveling and when setting up camp.

“Very well. While it won’t be as extensive, we’ll gather what information that we can in a short while.”
“So we will stay in the forest?”

“Yes. We’ll attack as soon as we can confirm Tralzard’s location.”
“Even if you don’t have information on the people who will be protecting Tralzard?”

“While we could wait for when the time is ripe, I would rather just attack quickly, so they won’t be able to react in time. Surely that is possible with our breakthrough ability?”

“Very well. I will prepare things for that end.”
“Yes, do that.”

And like that, Nehyor’s plan was decided.

Next Chapter

Makai Hongi