Chapter 64: Towards the coastline

As it turned out, using the new wagon for the march appeared to be challenging.  Unlike before, when everyone could ride in the large carriage, now they had to walk like the other imperial soldiers. The demons had high physical abilities, so walking for a long time was easy for them; however, it proved tough for the young non-combatant demons. 

Consequently, Tigar and the others took it upon themselves to carry as much luggage as possible on their backs, creating room for the children to ride in the wagon. As a result, none of the children fell ill during the march, but the adult demons grew exhausted as a result. As someone who had been in the wagon all along, I felt sorry for them.Incidentally, Karelvo didn’t join the march. He was probably desperate to secure Orvo’s research as his own while staying in the imperial capital. Presumably, he focused all his efforts on developing demons from that point onward.

“Alright, alright, you’re a good boy,”

Supporting such a march behind the scenes was Mika. Unlike Tigar and the others, who lacked experience with handling the oxen and horse since they had always been riding in the large carriage, Mika, who served Orvo and Karelvo, was well-versed in caring for animals. Moreover, the ox and horse were quite fond of him, and they didn’t cause any trouble throughout the march.

It had been almost a month since the march had begun, but the demon squad members and Mika were still not quite accustomed to one another’s company. It wasn’t that Tigar and the others disliked Mika, but rather that Mika seemed to keep his distance.

He maintained a polite demeanor at all times, and even when he sleeps, he spreads out his tent a little further apart from the other demons. It was clear that he wasn’t hated, but he always seemed to be one step behind everyone. Consequently, they never grew close.

It was not a good thing for Mika to be so isolated. Well, I suppose it’s not surprising that he hasn’t sorted out his feelings after only a month or so. Even though physical wounds can be easily healed with fighting spirit or spiritual power, emotional wounds are not so easily mended.

“Ugh, it’s such a pain. The coastline, right? That’s the place where they’re being attacked from both the land and sea, isn’t it? It’s the most intense battlefield.” One of the soldiers said.

“Exactly. Even during the counterattack operation, the largest fortress was the main target, and they poured all their troops into that one spot. But isn’t it also the place where the most casualties occurred? Some members of the Imperial Guardians died, I heard.”

“I don’t want to die by any means. I would be glad if I got heavily injured; at least then, I wouldn’t have to go to the front lines.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more.”

During the march, I made sure to keep my ears open and gather information from the Imperial soldiers. According to them, the coastline front we were headed to was the easternmost front in the war against the invading army, and the most intense battles were being fought there on all three fronts.

There are two large ports in the northern part of the empire: the Carnela Port in the northeast and the Oltensk Port at the northernmost edge. Both of them were currently occupied by the enemy, and the invaders had built a large fortress on the coastline to the south.

According to the Imperial soldiers, the fortress was nearly five times the size of the other forts. It seemed a bit exaggerated, but I didn’t dwell on it. The number of soldiers mobilized for the attack was enormous, and they managed to capture the fortress, but at a huge cost of casualties.

Even the Imperial guardians were among the dead. I didn’t know who among those who stood near the Emperor had died, or maybe some indvidulas who weren’t present at the time, but if it was Remus…well, I wouldn’t be sad at all. He was a hateful guy.

“Sniff sniff…this is the smell of the sea!”

“Huh, really!?”

While I was thinking about Mika, the children on the wagon began to wiggle their noses and shout in excitement. The smell of the sea…? Was that even a thing? I decided to try enhancing my sense of smell.

As soon as I did, I caught a faint but distinct scent that I had never encountered before. It had the unique smell of something mixed with water. I didn’t know how the other demons or Imperial soldiers felt about it, but I didn’t dislike the scent.

The children were split between those who found it unpleasant and those who liked it. It was innocent of them. Interestingly, the children from the Lugall and Kadaha squads had been on good terms from the start, but now they all felt a sense of unity as if they had been one group all along. The oldest among them, Leo, had become their leader.

“Hey, do you know about the sea, big brother? I saw it once when I was younger!” 

Leo exclaimed, sounding somewhat proud as he puffed out his chest. The other children looked at him with sparkling eyes, probably because none of them had ever seen the sea before. I was curious too, but the children seemed eager to hear the story right away.

“Brother Leo, what is the sea like?”

One of the children, named Kelf, tugged at Leo’s arm and begged him to tell them more. Kelf was a laid-back child and was one of the children from the Kadaha squad. He was also the second oldest child after Leo, and was a demon who got synthesized with a creature called the Hundred Horned Deer.

The hundred-horned deer was one of the most troublesome creatures I had captured. Despite its name, it only had two horns, but it was capable of regenerating them in an instant, no matter how many times they were broken.

I remember having to fight it with the assumption that its horns would break, and each time it regenerated its horns, it changed their shape. It was frustrating to have to come up with a different strategy each time.

“The sea is basically a giant puddle of water! It’s shiny and beautiful. Well, the water is salty and not good for drinking, though.” Leo answered.

“Why is it salty?” 

“I don’t know! My dad said he didn’t know either!” Leo replied.

As I listened to the children’s mundane conversation, we arrived at our destination: the coastline front. By now, the smell of the sea filled the air….The Imperial soldiers called it the scent of the tide, but whatever it was, it was definitely wafting around the area.

The sound of the waves crashing was soothing to my ears. Maybe the sea was a better place than I had imagined. I wanted to get out of the back of the wagon as soon as possible and see the sea with my own compound eyes.

“Eugh…that’s terrible…” 

“The things we heard from the Imperial soldiers were true… the huge fortress is completely in ruins,” Zald added.

As I sat at the back of the wagon, I overheard Tigar and Zald’s hushed whispers from outside. Like me, they had caught wind of the gossip among the Imperial soldiers about the utter destruction of the fortress. This fortress, which was said to be five times larger than a typical one, was no more. But why is that? The reason was straightforward: the Imperial army had demolished it completely.

While the Empire had already captured other fortresses, they couldn’t afford to take their time with this one. They had enlisted the help of numerous powerful spiritualists, who had twisted and crushed the fortress with their sheer force.

The Empire’s ultimate goal was to obliterate the fortress entirely, and they did so mercilessly. Consequently, the most robust fortress built by the invading army was reduced to a pile of rubble. Though I couldn’t see outside from my position, the reactions of Tigar and Zald indicated that the fortress was nothing but a heap of debris.

(A pile of rubble, huh? Speaking of which, I wonder what happened to the Harlasia Kingdom. The royal capital was in shambles due to some conspiracy, but I wonder what it’s like now. Has it been rebuilt, or are they still in conflict… Not that I’m particularly interested in it, to be honest.)

The country I hatched in was the Harlasia Kingdom. With a few exceptions, I had no good memories of that country. One of those exceptions had left long before the turmoil, while another had made a spectacular escape from the arena, and the last one had died, leaving only an arm behind. To be honest, I didn’t care what happened to that country anymore.

Even if I received any information about it, I would only think, “Oh, is that so?” at best. I would certainly be surprised if I were told that the kingdom had been destroyed, but that was about it.

As we passed by the ruins of the fortress, we headed towards the new fortress that the Imperial army was building a little to the north from there. They seemed to be hastily constructing it, bringing together the Empire’s civil engineering technology, to make the strongest fortress that will support the most challenging battle on the Eastern front in the future.

Even though there was still a distance to the fortress, we could hear the sounds of construction from here. It was a testament to the power of the strongest and largest country on the continent. As I thought about that, a few cavalrymen approached us from the direction of the fortress.

“I’m a member of the 8th Regiment, 1st Division of the Imperial Army. I heard that the infamous Demon Unit is among your group. Could you tell me where they are?”

“Right here! 

The cavalry seems to have come for us. They made their demands known with a loud voice and approached us, accompanied by the supply unit. They advanced with their horses clattering and lined up beside the wagon.

The imperial soldiers on horseback all gave off a strong presence, with the leader, who must have shouted the demand, rivaling the strength of Tigar and Zald in their demon forms. He was probably one of the strongest soldiers in the imperial army and comparable in strength to the imperial guardians.

“Are you guys the former Atonement Soldiers, the only demon unit in the world right now? I’m Marcellus of the 8th regiment, 1st division of the imperial army. Starting today, you will be under the command of the 8th Regiment. Your unit will be under my direct command, so please keep that in mind.”

The strongest imperial soldier—Marcellus—proudly declared… that was our new superior. If only this male had even a little bit of a decent personality. Since I was still imprisoned and unable to do anything, all I could do was hope.