Makai Hongi

Chapter 122

“Hey, I’m home.”

“Welcome back, Sir Golan. You seem to be very tired.”

Rig said as he greeted me.

I had rushed back as quickly as I could, which meant that I was very much out of breath.

As for Rig, he was as calm as always.

I had been worried about leaving the village these past few days, but his attitude dispersed those feelings immediately.

“I was running all night. So I’ll need to rest for a while. But first, about the soldiers. How have things gone?”

“I have already finished that. But there were additional requests from General Farneze, and they were reflected in the final selection.”

So the General had other demands? I hoped they weren’t too troublesome. But if Rig was able to deal with them, they couldn’t have been too bad.

“I’d like to see her demands and the list of soldiers you recruited.”

I accepted the documents from Rig and looked through them. And then I realized what the General was thinking.

“This…I suppose she wants me to train them.”

It said that the General wanted me to bring in Flying Eagles.

But they wouldn’t be anything like Commander Bian. These were Flying Eagles who hadn’t been in the army previously.

In the first place, Flying Eagles weren’t exactly known for their combat ability.

And so amateurs would be practically useless if suddenly drafted.

“General Farneze had this confirmed with General Miralda. The soldiers we send will be focused on training.”

“We’re going to strengthen their soldiers?”

“Perhaps they thought it was preferable to sending them out on an actual fight.”

“…Perhaps…”

This trading of soldiers had merit for us, but not for them.

They were lending us valuable soldiers. Of course, that alone would not do, so we had to send troops in exchange.

The thing was, our soldiers were overall, vastly inferior to theirs.

It would be reckless to send us to fight against their enemies.

But we couldn’t just take a vacation either.

“…So they’ll make us train with their new recruits…”

“I think that is likely.”

It was as if they were saying we were useless. But I suppose they were right.

There was too big a difference between choosing ten fighters out of ten thousand, and ten out of one hundred.

While this might be humiliating for the soldiers, we would just have to accept it.

“As for the soldiers that were selected…hmm…I see.”

Rig had chosen twenty Ogres, fifty Reapers, twenty Flying Eagles, and ten Kobolds for a total of one hundred.

Together with the one hundred that General Farneze prepared, we would make a fighting force of two hundred.

To be frank, our one hundred was weak.

It was pretty miserable. The only thing impressive were the Reapers.

“Well, it’s really just up to management. But somehow, I doubt they will receive us kindly.”

As far as they were concerned, Ogres were walls of meat, while Flying eagles and Kobolds were unfit for combat.

Are you mocking us? They might ask. And we would only be able to apologize. Not that I would do any such thing.

“So, when can we leave?”

Our first destination would be the town that was ruled by General Farneze.

It was there that we would unite with the others and then cross the border.

And since we would be traveling on foot, I wanted to get an early start.

In fact, I was hoping to get some training done on the way.

“The Flying Eagles will arrive tomorrow. So you should be able to leave the day after that.”

“I see. We can still make it in time then.”

I could leave such adjustments to Rig. He would figure things out.

The next morning, the Flying Eagles arrived earlier than planned.

I had been told that they would arrive in the evening, but they had come in a hurry.

“Well, this is a good sign.”

I appreciated that they were quick to act.

“…Or so I thought…”

But it turned out that there was a reason that they had come so early.

“This is bad.”

Said Rig as he held his head. I felt the same.

“Hmm? What is it, Golan?”

Saifo asked as he walked up to me. As always, he was so laid back.

It annoyed me a little.

Rig looked at me frantically.

“We have news from the Flying Eagles. Tell him, Rig.”

“Are you certain?”

“He’ll find out anyway.”

“Very well. …Lesser Demon King Kurulu and Lesser Demon King Rous have invaded our country.”

“Oh? So is it war?”

Saifo looked very pleased.

“Yes, it is war. Two countries have invaded us at once. And we have to defend against them.”

This was terrible.

We were planning on attacking Lesser Demon King Leninoth, and now other countries were getting involved.

Not only that, but Kurulu and Rous were coming at us at the same time.

“Sir Golan. Are those two countries in a secret alliance?”

“It would seem to be the case.”

I didn’t see why they would invade at the same time if they weren’t.

It was only a short while ago that Kurulu was allied with Nacti as they fought against Rous and Lubanga.

Why would these enemies suddenly invade us at the same time? It could only mean that the four countries had decided to join forces.

Currently, we were at war with Lesser Demon King Leninoth.

If we were attacked by those four countries at the same time, it would mean dealing with five countries at once.

“And yet we are to leave the country.”

It was possible that our country would cease to exist while we were with Tralzard’s army.

“This is very bad.”

“Aye. The only saving grace is the fact that Leninoth and Fara are still fighting.”

The battle they were waging was fierce. And so they could not send any of their men to the south. But that would only allow us a short reprieve.

Once things settled down, Leninoth’s head would turn towards us again. And he would attempt to swallow us up.

And we would not be able to win.

“…Damn it.”

To be honest, the future of our country was completely uncertain to me now.