After Annie's fun ended and she confirmed that the ferocious dragon was not really coming to attack the camp, but was just a 'pet' captured again by some bad little girl, soon, one by one,
Under the scolding and expulsion of the generals, the camp was finally relieved, and the soldiers quickly dispersed and went about their business amidst various relishes or curses.
Immediately afterwards, the generals such as Shirji, Gus, Farnese, and Clete, who had made a false alarm and were frightened, naturally took a certain little girl who was yelling that she was hungry again.
They returned to a large tent and started the most sumptuous dinner of their day, and at the same time started discussing some issues.
"!!"
(*⊙~⊙) choked
"You just said that you can't find the 'City of Holy Light'?"
(.)
"What do you mean you can't find it?"
Σ(°～°|||)︴
While eating, Annie suddenly heard some important things that Gus, Serpico, Yassan and others were saying while pointing at the very abstract map. Then, she overheard something about a key point.
Of course she stopped eating and asked vaguely while chewing the food.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Hearing Annie's inquiry, Gus, Serpico, Yasang and other burly men were not too surprised. They just looked at each other in confusion, and no one was in a hurry to answer Annie's question.
There are some issues that they are ashamed to talk about.
"It means lost."
"It seems they can't find their way back."
"Why……"
Sighing, Crete, who had been sitting aside for a long time, quickly explained to the guys who looked a little unsightly.
"??"
く(＾_)ゝ
"But, you are so big, and you have a map, how can you get lost?!"
━(Δ∥)━ン
Anne said it was quite surprising and strange.
She had always thought that it was only when her little bear Tibbers led her carelessly or misled her to wander around that she would easily get lost. But who would have thought that now, these guys in front of her have maps and spicy food?
With multiple people as reference, you can play Lost even with an army?
"Although I am still a child, I have not lost my way recently!"
o(*︶*)o
Then, of course, Anne said in a crisp voice with a proud look on her face, as if it was a very honorable thing to "not get lost recently"?
(…)
(￢￢.)
"Is such that."
"Actually, it can't be considered lost!"
"I just can't find the way for the time being!"
Fortunately, the expressions on the faces of Gus and the other guys who were mocked by Annie did not wait until they became more exciting. On the other side, who was also staring at the map, was the witch accompanying the Legion of Light, the dog-headed strategist, and the species advisor of the magical world and the underworld.
The green-haired witch Shirji, who also held encyclopedias and other important duties, spoke.
"??"
(.)
"Can't find the way and get lost? Don't they mean the same thing?"
(`)
After blinking, Annie quickly put on a straight face and said, don't think that she can just cajole her when she is just a child.
"If it's lost, it's lost. To put it another way, it's still lost!"
(^▽^)
"You must not imitate some guys on Earth after being an official for a few days. They are very dishonest. They can often put at least a hundred ways of saying something about something, and they will try to pick the ones that sound good.
Say, and then the thief likes to shirk responsibility and make up data at will, but that is not acceptable."
(ˇεˇ)
"If you tell too many lies, clichés, and experts, no one will believe you in the future!"
s(｀ヘ;)ゞ
Then, Anne seriously reprimanded the weird uncles and Shirji and other young ladies present, saying that even if she was not an adult, she knew that lying was bad in some situations.
"No, that's not right!"
"It's not what you think!"
Seeing that Annie seemed to have misunderstood something, while Gus, Serpico and others were becoming more and more embarrassed and did not want to explain. As a last resort, Shirji had no choice but to patiently explain again slowly:
"We just can't find the way, we're not lost!"
"Since the world has undergone such huge changes, it is not just as simple as all kinds of magical creatures and monsters appearing everywhere."
"The original terrain, landforms, roads, etc. have all changed in some way!"
"For example, there used to be roads here, but now they have disappeared; and some places that were originally forests have now turned into mountains inexplicably; places that were originally wilderness and plains have now turned into canyons.
etc……"
"Just like the front, it stands to reason that there should be a village. Even if it was destroyed by the war, there should still be ruins with broken eaves and broken walls. But now, it's better. There is just a dense forest in front of us, and we can't get through it at all.
I can’t find that village either.”
"Anyway!"
"It's just that we can't find the original way back. They have completely disappeared. We don't even know if the City of Holy Light is still in its original place."
As he spoke, Shirji couldn't help but sigh again.
If there were just a few of them, it would be easy. You could use magic or the new pet Annie just caught to easily solve the problem of blocked roads. Even if you don't need to fly, you can get through the mountains and ridges.
.
But not now!
Because they are not just a few people, but three thousand elite cavalry with complete equipment and horses. It is impossible for so many people and horses to travel over mountains and ridges. They must find a feasible way back.
Just the marching route.
But unfortunately, they haven't found it until now, so everyone will have a meeting here tonight and are struggling with the issue of choosing the route for tomorrow's march.
"Yes."
"That's the problem."
"Although it is relatively certain that our city and territory are still where they should be, we cannot go back directly along the original road like when we came here before. The role of the map is also becoming smaller. We must
Find a safe road for war horses to go back!"
"perhaps……"
"We even have to carve out a new path?"
"But no matter what, the journey that was originally expected to take ten days will definitely not be completed now."
"It may take half a month or even longer?"
At this time, when Shirji finished speaking, Serpico, who also served as the secretary, also spoke, sighing and adding helplessly while pointing to the exquisite map drawn on the parchment.
And it's easy to tell from his expression that he obviously doesn't have any good ideas now.
"So that's what it's like...
(⊙o⊙*)”
Nodding, Annie understood the reason.
"That's it!"
(*^▽^*)
"Didn't I just catch a dragon today?"
(ω)
"Then starting tomorrow, can't we just let it fly to find a way for you?"
(゜▽＾*)
Little things like that were no problem at all to Anne, so she made a proposal that she thought was feasible without even thinking about it.
"dragon?"
"good idea!"
"!!"
"yes!"
"If we are flying in the sky, after knowing our current location and the direction of the City of Holy Light, it shouldn't be difficult to find a road that can provide the cavalry with a quick return, right?"
"The main thing is the mountainous area ahead. If there is a safe passage to go around, then there won't be a big problem."
"Well!"
"Then what to do?"
Gus, Yasan, Farnese and Serpico discussed with each other for a short while, and then quickly reached a consensus and cheered.
Ever since, after the problem was solved, the expression called 'relaxation' finally appeared on everyone's faces.
"But……"
"Who is responsible for exploring the route?"
"besides!"
"Annie, that dragon..."
"Is it dangerous?"
Then, Farnese hurriedly asked with some expectation.
Although a way has been found, it becomes a problem who should explore the path. After all, everyone wants to be a dragon knight. However, if it is such a huge and terrifying guy, before ensuring safety, who is it?
They don’t even dare to try it easily.
"Danger?"
(゜-゜)
"It's not dangerous, right?"
.
(,,,,)
"Although it has a very bad temper, and those who are too weak may be eaten by it or shake off directly if they ride on it, it should still be relatively safe."
o(*︶*)o
Annie blinked, then wiped the grease on the corners of her mouth, then hurriedly patted the table and assured.
"..."
"..."
"..."
After hearing Anne's assurance, Gus, Serpico, Yassan and others, who were a little eager to give it a try just now and were ready to become addicted to being a dragon knight, immediately stopped talking.
"It's better for Anne and I to go!"
"I can try to communicate with it then, and I should be able to find a way to deal with that creature."
Seeing that no one dared to come forward, the green-haired witch Shirji on the side thought for a while and had no choice but to say this.
"call!"
"Then let's decide!"
"The problem of exploring the path will be left to you, Shirji."
"Tomorrow we will continue walking north for a while, and then camp here. You have one day to find a road that allows us to safely bypass the mountains in front."
Seeing that the problem had been basically solved, Gus breathed a sigh of relief and at the same time, he reached out and pointed at a certain place on the map and gestured to Shirji.
"Then……"
"After I go back, I may have to do one more thing."
"I have some friends. Now that the world has become less safe, I must bring them back as soon as possible."
While talking in that low tone, Gus suddenly shut up and stopped talking.
Anne, Crete, Shirji and others who knew him well knew who the friend he mentioned was, so they didn't say much.
"Understood."
"Then let's continue walking north for a day tomorrow!"
"After Shirji finds a feasible path, let's speed up?"
After seeing that there were no big questions or anything to add, Serpico, who also served as the secretary, nodded, and then started to pack things up, indicating that today's meeting ended here.
"okay!"
"Everyone, let's go rest!"
"Arrange the security personnel and we will set off early tomorrow morning."
Thinking of the changes in the world I saw along the way, thinking of the 'Eagle of Light' Griffith's conspiracy succeeding again, thinking of the unknown situation of Rickett, Erica, Gott, Casca and others,
Gus felt increasingly annoyed, then waved his hands and left the tent with a dark face.
"Asan!"
"You arrange the security personnel, and the security work at night will be left to you."
Seeing that Gus had no more arrangements, and that the generals were leaving one after another, Serpico had no choice but to shout and warn the big man Asan who was about to leave.
"Staff on alert?"
"Why……"
"With that big guy around, the surrounding birds don't dare to fly over, so what's the danger?"
Looking outside the tent and looking at the giant dragon lying on the ground in frustration in the distance, Yasang first shook his head, and then directly grinned and refuted it in his loud voice.
"alright."
"Don't worry, I will arrange it!"
However, seeing Serpico's insistent eyes and thinking that the world had indeed become less safe, Yasang had to add this to express that he would take it to heart.
"correct!"
"Little guy, that big thing, do you need to feed it something?"
Suddenly, Yasang, who was about to go out, turned back and cautiously asked Annie who was eating.
"Don't worry about it!"
(￣～￣)Chew!
Before she finished speaking, Annie waved her hands with an impatient look on her face.
"When it's hungry, it will find something to eat on its own!"
(,,,,)
Yes, Annie is generally very casual when raising pets. She never cares about food or other things. She relies on them to find food and shelter on their own.
"ah?"
"in spite of?"
"Is it really okay?"
Yasang was a little dumbfounded, and then he continued to ask worriedly.
"??"
(**;)
"or……"
(**)
"Take your horses and feed them to him. Feed them ten or eight times. Maybe he will like it?"
(.)
Annie blinked and then suggested seriously.
"!!"
"Hey, feed the horse?"
"That won't work!"
"No! No!"
"Our knight's horse is a companion, but we cannot feed it!"
Yasang was startled and waved his hands to express his refusal.
"Then you still ask!"
()
"The little food you brought is not enough to fill its teeth. What should you feed it?"
(へ╬)
"or……"
(ω)
"Uncle Yasang, if you really feel sorry for yourself, he might be able to eat a mouthful of your body. Why don't you discuss it with him and decide to eat your body fat first for midnight snack?"
|ω)
Then, Anne stared at the other party with some ill-intentioned and mischievous looks, teasing and moving past him.
"!!"
"that……"
"I'll go and get busy first. You guys can eat slowly?"
Hearing this, Yasang didn't dare to say anything anymore. He said this directly to the ladies who were still sitting in the tent and eating slowly, then turned around and ran out in embarrassment.
"Asan!"
"Hello!"
"it's getting dark!"
"Remember to arrange a night watch!"
After looking at each other and exchanging glances with Farnese, and seeing that they really had nothing to do here, Serpico, who had packed up the map and other things, followed after Yasan.
"Annie?"
"That dragon..."
"Where did you catch it?"
Finally, after seeing that everyone had dispersed and that only Anne, Shirji, Clete and himself were left here, Farnese didn't know what he was planning, so he cautiously and anxiously approached again.
Annie's side asked.
"have no idea……"
()
"People just saw it lying on the top of a lord's castle causing trouble, and the soldiers couldn't help it. Then, people really couldn't find a monster that was bigger, more ferocious and more fun than it, so
, I have no choice but to capture it and bring it back!"
()
Anne flattened her mouth, and then said this nonchalantly, as if it was indeed a trivial matter.
But speaking of it, there were quite a lot of flying lizards that she had caught or burned, and many of them were thrown away when she got tired of playing with them, such as the one she caught last time in the Elden Ring World.
She threw it away after just a few days of playing with it, and she doesn't know what's going on with it now.
As for the big, stupid guy she caught today, maybe within three days, she would get tired of playing with it and throw it away ruthlessly, right?
(…)
(●￣￣●)
(Tibbers thinks that based on his understanding of his bad little master, three days is too much. One to two days at most. The poor flying reptile will probably be given away as an item.
.)
…
At this time, when Gus was worrying about something, and when Anne was whispering something with Farnese, Crete and Shirji, far to the northeast of the original Kingdom of Midland, in the blacksmith
In Gott's house, the owner Gott and Rickett were busy outside their yard.
In just three days, they erected a row of thick and sharp wooden piles around the house, yard and river bank, directly building their waterwheel workshop and house into a simple fortress.
I don't know what I'm guarding against.
In the originally wide yard, various tools and messy wood were piled up. At the same time, a tall simple watchtower was standing in the middle of the yard. At this time, Gott's daughter Erica was holding her arms.
He was looking up at something.
‘Kaga croak!!’
‘Quack’
‘Mosi!!’
‘Wow!!!’
Suddenly, there were bursts of strange noises, howls, and the sound of running footsteps in the distance.
"!!"
Then, Rickett and Gott turned around and instantly saw: From the grass in the distance, several dark-skinned beasts with strange masks and horns on their heads suddenly rushed out.
monster?
While they rushed out, they did not forget to wave the stone axes and wooden sticks in their hands, making it clear that they had bad intentions!
"not good!"
"It's that monster again!!"
"Erica!"
Upon seeing this, Gott and Rickett ran into the yard together. At the same time, they did not forget to shout to Erica on the top of the watchtower.
"!!"
"I saw!"
Soon, Erica's echo came from the top of the wooden tower, and at the same time, she aimed with the thing in her arms.
Da da da!
Immediately afterwards, a series of popping sounds like exploding beans were heard.
Then very quickly, those monsters with dark skin, strange masks and horns on their heads began to drip with blood, and then they fell down one by one on their charging path.
"solved?"
"Very good……"
"Erica!"
"Your marksmanship is really getting more and more accurate!"
Seeing that the crisis was successfully resolved, Rickett and Gott, who were on alert in the courtyard, first looked at each other, then both put down their weapons and sat down directly on the ground.
"Of course it's accurate!"
"This is the 'Iron Cone Technique' magic that Annie gave me!"
Hearing Rickett's approval, Erica, who was on guard with a gun on the tower, poked her head out again, spoke to Gott and Rickett in the courtyard below and made a playful gesture.
grimace.
"it's getting dark!"
"Erica, come down quickly!"
"We should take Casca back, otherwise, there will be more monsters at night!"
Rickett didn't pay attention to Erica's statement. He just rested for a while. After seeing that the sky was getting darker and darker, he still had to drag his tired body to stand up again, and then walked towards the wooden tower.
Erica greeted, preparing to take Casca back to the goblin mine in the back mountain together.
"But……"
"Rickett?"
"You have also seen that now, no matter it is day or night, all kinds of monsters will appear..."
"Is it still necessary to send Casca back?"
Erica didn't say much, she just slid down from the wooden tower with her delicate musket on her back and asked hesitantly at the same time.
"I……"
"I don't know either……"
After looking at the monsters jumping on the road outside, listening to the strange sounds coming from the distant woods, and looking at each other with Gott who had been busy all day, Rickett was a little undecided.
These days, they have no idea what is going on in this world. Anyway, they only know that there are more and more weird things around. Even yesterday, he saw a group of dragon-like things flying in the sky.
stuff?
And the monsters that were originally attracted by the brand aura on Casca's chest and would only appear at night now appear no matter what time, whether Casca is hiding in the mine or not. Therefore, Ricky
Te also began to hesitate a little, wondering whether he should send Cascaia back to the mine and let her stay there alone until dawn.
"Mr. Gott..."
"you say……"
"What is going on in this world?"
Rickett, who had been thinking for a long time but couldn't figure it out and couldn't make up his mind, could only ask Gaut who was beating his waist.
"I have no idea."
"but……"
"I always feel something is different..."
As he spoke, there was a crisp sound in the distance. Then, when Gott, Rickett, and Erica, who had just slipped down, all looked in the direction of the sound, they all saw:
In the forest in the distance, a pair of beautiful birds with their bodies burning with flames actually flew up. From a distance, they looked like two flying fireballs. They were dancing with flames all over their bodies, and at the same time they were emitting sounds.
A sweet chirping sound they had never heard before.
There is no doubt that that kind of bird has never been seen or heard of before. It is probably some kind of creature that only exists in legends. However, now it appears in front of them alive, which makes them unable to bear it.
I want to question the reality of this world again.
"That is……"
"!!"
"T-Troll?!"
"It seems so!"
"not good!"
"quick!"
"Erica!"
"Don't send Casca back yet. Do you still have that kind of weapon that flies out and explodes?"
"Take it out quickly!"
"Those big monsters are here again!!"
At this moment, Gott and Rickett both saw two black figures appearing in the distance. Then, while they all took a breath of cold air, they hurriedly moved toward the house to search for the card.
Scarlett's Erica shouted.
"There aren't many of those weapons left, I have to use them sparingly!"
"But there are quite a lot of this kind of explosive iron ball magic. Do you want to try it?"
"Here!"
"Just wait for them to come over and pull off the ring, then throw it out!"
"Don't throw it too close!"
Seeing that another monster came to her door, Erica of course did not bother to look for Casca in the house. Instead, she ran out cheering and immediately took out two treasures from the storage bag that Anne gave her.
A round and lumpy so-called 'Explosive Iron Ball Magic' prop was stuffed into the hands of Gott and Rickett.
——————————
Chapter completed!