The conversation between the pastor and the peasant woman did not last long. When Lady Mielligi returned from riding her horse, Aurora, who had been half-crouching and talking to the peasant woman, stood up.

She had already made up her mind.

"Vallo, why don't you leave?"

"Sister, in the village she was talking about...... It seems that there is one that is the hometown of Sister Fengling. ”

When Aurora said this, Mielegi raised an eyebrow, realizing that things were not simple. Glancing at the knights on the side of the road, she opened her mouth directly after weighing it in her heart.

"Are you talking about the daughter of the Prime Minister of the Principality of Fengze?"

"Exactly. ”

Viscount Garneau, who was holding a bow and reining in his horse, was also on the side, and it was not far away, so he could hear the conversation between the two sisters clearly. At that moment, he had already guessed several scenarios that might happen next.

Chanda was an autonomous city-state, and although nominally the Count of Hogan was only required to be loyal to his crowned king, the kingdom of Rovisti no longer existed - if it did not want to be annexed by the Vulture Empire, it would have to rely on the three powers of the peninsula to maintain its independence.

"We can't afford to delay...... Garneau-sama. ”

Not surprisingly, Mielegi set her sights on herself.

Except for the guards sent by the Principality of Fengze, the rest of the armies were sent by the three peninsulars, and their commander-in-chief was ...... Thinking of this, Garneau smiled meaningfully.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Lady Mielligi?"

"If what this peasant woman said is true, then we undoubtedly have an opportunity to draw in diplomatic relations. ”

"I want to hear about it. ”

"Can you take a step to speak? ”

Mielligi approached, and Garneau turned and dismounted, and walked with him to the pass.

Looking at the still advancing convoy and the fluttering flags, Mielegi expressed her thoughts in more euphemistic terms, "Lord Garneau, I have no right to mobilize the forces of the convoy, and I would like to tell my uncle...... With his personality of gaining and losing, I am afraid that this does not attract enough attention. ”

"The Earl is just cautious. ”

Even though the person in question was not present, Garneau did not echo the slightly disrespectful words.

"That's true, but Lord Garneau, this is a good opportunity. Looking at the Zenda banner approaching this side not far away, Mi Eliji took out a sheepskin scroll with a dragon collar print from her arms, "The soldiers of Chanda belong to the supernumerary personnel of the escort army, so could you please ......?"

"Gladly. ”

Viscount Garneau, who had taken the scroll, which symbolized a certain amount of dispensing power, and had listened to Aurora's conversation with the peasant woman, whistled at his warhorse. Under the watchful eye of the baronesse, the second son of the nobleman, who had been forced to ally himself with their family, rolled over and stepped on his horse, and ran with his guards to the end of the escort army.

This hot piece of fragrant food was thrown out, but what Mielligi didn't expect was that the initiator of the incident also chased him out later.

Around 3 p.m.———

The main force of the escort army had completely entered the Grand Canyon and continued to march towards the northern valley mouth more than twenty kilometers away, while in the town of Xia Fengkou, a special team stopped to rest and replenish in the taverns and shops opened by the orcs and subhumans.

"Garneau-sama, is it really good to do this?"

Looking at the viscount, who had chartered an entire inn to house the wounded soldiers of the escort army, the new knight captain Uruk expressed his concern. Of course, it's not about chartering.

In the fierce battle with the ogres, 327 people were killed in the escort, 52 died of wounds, and nearly 200 were incapacitated. Settling the wounded in one place to avoid delaying the pace of the march of the main forces is in itself justifiable.

"Uruk, this is a beautiful difference......" Sitting on the rough wooden pouf in the orc style, enjoying the gentle massage of the subhuman maid, Garno did not forget to bring a glass of cold coconut water, it was really pleasant, "Aren't you happy for the brothers of Zenda?" Sit down and drink a glass of water first. ”

"No, I don't mean that. ”

Tossing the spear to the newly recruited squire, Uruk took off his helmet, which had six more colored feathers, and sat down next to Viscount Garneau.

Of the eighty knights on foot sent by Chanda, twenty-five were killed in the battle, and the rest were more or less wounded, although they were all dragged by death. No one will complain about just staying in the town to recuperate, but sadly, that's just a façade.

Except for a few people, the rest of them didn't know yet, and in a little while they had to set off again.

"Uruk, do you think we have a choice? ”

Without giving the new knight a chance to answer, Garneau called Han who was passing by to his side.

Glancing at the old knight with a bad face, Han who was still in the dark saluted Garneau, "Lord Viscount." ”

"Han, have you done what I asked you to do just now?"

"It's done. ”

Although they were knights on foot, this is not to say that they could not ride horses, but simply because they did not have enough money to buy good horses, they had to choose a more stable battle on foot.

And just now, with a letter of dispatch given to him by Garneau, he drew thirty horses and five carriages from the baggage team. Although there are no horses in it, it is good to be able to allocate a team of pack horses for transportation.

It is said that these horses and wagons will be used to purchase supplies from the surrounding villages, so as to reduce the cost of the troops left behind.

"Okay, Uruk, you pick 30 of the Foot Riders and set off in an hour. ”

Tossing the cup and silver coins to the maid who had served him for a while, Garneau stood up and took his helmet from the guard. Because of its own occupation as a cavalry archer, this armor has no visor.

"Yes, Lord Viscount. ”

An hour is not too long, and it is not too short.

When a group of foot knights and the light cavalry under the Viscount converged on the northwest side of the town, the five carriages that were supposed to be empty boxes were inexplicably arranged with fifty crossbowmen.

Now, even if Garneau didn't say it, everyone knew that this trip was not to buy grain and grass.

"Han, is it okay?"

Faced with Uruk's "meaningless" question, the young knight looking to the north tilted his head, which was considered an answer. This position is just enough to look directly at the statue on the left side of the Grand Canyon - the Emperor of the Mountain.

Even after two hundred years of wind and rain, the statue carved directly on the granite mountain still stands majestically, showing the majesty of the orcs through the ages.

"What are you looking at? so attentive. ”

"Behold the great men of the races that compete with us humans. ”

Looking at the colossus in the westerly sun, Uruk stroked his beard, "Mountains, speaking of which, he is one of the few orc emperors in history other than the Bimeng clan. ”

For the history of mankind, the knights on foot still hear some of it in the hymns of the church choir, and the orcs have little chance of understanding it. Uruk's words made the knights and hussars who had been prepared around them all interested.

"He's not Beamon?"

"The Emperor of the Mountains is a tiger race, just like the 'giant rock' you often see in the Chanda gladiatorial arena. If you want to talk about the story of him becoming an emperor, it can really be called a legend. ”

While waiting for the arrival of the Viscount, a group of human soldiers surrounded the old knight Uruk, listening attentively to the story, and even some orcs and subhuman residents who passed by stopped to listen.

The best spot by the fire, always reserved for the storyteller.

“...... Orcs are different from us humans, their thrones and thrones are to be fought for by strength, not hereditary. So in that duel, Shanruo, who was only two and a half meters high, defeated a prince Beamon who was more than five meters tall head-on and won the throne. Ah—"

"Uruk, sorry to disturb your story, but the team has to go. ”

The second voice that suddenly appeared surprised everyone.

"Lord Viscount. ”

"Lord Viscount. ”

The soldiers, who had been expecting the story to develop further, all retreated and saluted Garneau. Speaking of which, an hour has passed since the Viscount gave the order.

With a relatively dull sound of stepping on the ground, in the direction of the Grand Canyon, a group of cavalry with the banner of the dragon leader rushed in——— while Garneau and they were waiting, Lady Mielligi persuaded the commander of the escort army to send an eleven tomahawk cavalry back to Xia Fengkou Town to assist them.

At the same time that the ten-man commander of the Tomahawk cavalry handed over the letter to Viscount Garneau, the light cavalry and crossbowmen who received the order boarded their horses and wagons, and set out as the vanguard and the Chinese army on their way to the woodland village. The foot knights, on the other hand, were "transferred" to temporary knights on the spot and followed behind the horse convoy.

Only after the pre-arranged team was on the road did Viscount Garno order the Tomahawk cavalry led by the dragon to finally follow the formation.

"Well, that's a nice little dragon boy. ”

As the new Knight Captain, Uruk rode his horse at the end of the ranks of the Knights on Foot. When a young man from the Layton tribe rode his dragon to the side, the old knight involuntarily accosted him——— although the dragon was not as tall as a pack horse.

"Of course, 'You' is the fastest dragon of his age. ”

Caressing the smooth nape of Ailong's neck, the boy spoke with some pride of its merits.

"Hahaha, a natural dragoon scout, but it's a pity, it's a lizard, not a purebred dragon. ”

"What are you laughing at, the little lizard dragon is also a dragon. ”

"Well, that's right. ”

In the face of the retort of the Layton boy, Uruk did not continue to tease. One thing he said was right, even half-blood wurms have the innate talent of dragons, as well as the pride and loyalty of dragons.

Many excellent dragon knights have more than one dragon in their lives, but the vast majority of excellent dragons have only one knight in their lives.

"Knights and dragons are chosen by each other. ”

Like Miss Aurora's red dragon——— Han, who thought like this, involuntarily interjected. So, when Uruk and the boy cast scrutinizing glances on his face, the walking knight, who had never seen a dragon before, coughed twice in embarrassment.

This kind of feeling of a layman saying professional terms in front of an insider is really not good.

"Good afternoon, Knight Han. ”

Just when Han was tormented by the embarrassment caused by his own interjection, a slightly familiar soft greeting pulled his mind back into tranquility. The sound that was not close or far away once made him, who was facing away from the sound source, mistakenly believe that he was having auditory hallucinations.

Until, the old knights and dragoons who had walked in front of him saluted behind him.

"Good afternoon, Miss Aurora. ”

"Captain Uruk, Captain of Hyway, Gui'an. ”

"O'...... Miss Aurora?" After making sure that he was not hallucinating, Han hurriedly turned around and bowed deeply to Aurora Vallo, who took the initiative to greet but did not receive a timely response from him, "I was rude just now, I'm very sorry, please forgive me." ”

"Flutter-" Seeing Han's panicked appearance, Aurora couldn't hold back, and hid her face with her hands and laughed, "You're too restrained, Mr. Knight—okay, okay, I forgive you." ”

"Appreciated. Looking at Miss Aurora, who had changed into a smart rider's suit and rode a pony with a normal saddle, she couldn't help but worry, "Are you really planning to steal ......?"

"Han, don't ask what you shouldn't. ”

Another slightly familiar voice appeared, but this time, it caused half of the team to turn their heads. Viscount Garneau, who was supposed to be in Xiafengkou Town, didn't know when he rode a horse to follow.

"Lord Viscount. ”

"Lord Viscount. ”

After waving to the knights and sergeants, Garno rode to Aurora's side and whispered a few words to her. The latter understood, picked up the staff hanging from the side of the saddle and waved it.

"Knight Han, don't guess, judging from the description of the peasant woman, there should be many casualties in the woodland village, I studied under the Priest Kanda of the Southern Star Cathedral, and I know a little bit about healing magic, so I want to help some. ”

"Listen up to the leaders of the teams, you are still the commanders, and I am only responsible for the safety of Miss Aurora on this trip. Do you get it?"

In order to convey this call to the front of the team, Garneau deliberately used the rising conch, so Aurora, who was nearby, covered his ears and pursed his mouth and made a grimace at Han on the right.

"Yes, Lord Viscount. ”

"Yes, Garneau-sama. ”